Wire Story
Bill would ban sale of powerful rifle
By Logan C. Adams
Scripps Howard Foundation Wire
WASHINGTON - Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., was surprised she couldn’t lift the gun sitting on a table at a press conference and asked if it was stuck in place. After several police officers told her the 34-pound ArmaLite AR-50 .50 caliber rifle wasn’t attached, she let go.
McCarthy, whose husband was killed and son was paralyzed in a 1993 shooting, joined Reps. James Moran, D-Va., Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., and Henry Waxman, D-Calif., Tuesday to introduce the “50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Reduction Act.”
Rounds from the rifle can pierce inch-thick steel from a distance of a mile under certain circumstances and are more likely to cause fatal injuries than smaller-caliber weapons. The rifles unleash a great deal of noise and kick when fired. In fact, Armalite includes earplugs and Tylenol with the purchase of the $3,000 AR-50.
The bill would make such weapons illegal for purchase, except by the military and law enforcement, and would require current owners to register with the government. Such a law went into effect in California at the beginning of the year. A similar bill died in Congress last year.
The Violence Policy Center owns the gun and brought it to the Capitol with a police escort and without its bolt, a component necessary to fire the weapon.
“We have been told that al Qaeda representatives have acquired at least two dozen of these rifles,” Moran said. The lawmakers said the rifles could be used to target aircraft, trains and automobiles.
“This has nothing to do with the Second Amendment,” McCarthy said. “This has nothing to do with taking away the right of someone to protect themselves.”
Gun rights advocates disagreed.
“This has everything to do with the Second Amendment,” said Kelly Hobbs, spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association. “It’s unfortunate that some politicians are using America’s terrorism concerns to further a gun control agenda. After all, the hijackers of September 11 were not armed with firearms.”
The lawmakers also said that a weapon as powerful as the .50 caliber rifle should be more difficult to obtain. “It is easier in this country to buy this weapon than it is to buy a handgun,” Waxman said.
According to the FBI, 9,638 homicides were committed with firearms in 2003. Handguns were the weapon in 80 percent.
Tom Diaz, senior policy analyst for the Violence Policy Center, said that .50 caliber weapons had been used by the Irish Republican Army to assassinate officials in Europe. He also said criminals have used them, and police have found them in the arsenals of drug dealers in California, Missouri and Indiana.
One of the three rifles Marvin Heemeyer had in his armored bulldozer when he drove it through buildings in Granby, Colo., over a zoning dispute in June was a Barrett 82A1 .50 caliber rifle, according to the Violence Policy Center.
Diaz said he saw .50 caliber rifles that had been used to fire at federal agents during the raid on a religious group in Waco, Texas.
However, no American has been wounded or killed with a .50 caliber rifle in the United States, according to both the NRA and Diaz.
“There is no rifle or firearm manufactured anywhere in the United States or any other country that enjoys a safety record comparable to the that of the .50 BMG,” said John Burtt, chairman of the Fifty Caliber Institute.
The institute is associated with the Fifty Caliber Shooter’s Association, an organization of .50 caliber rifle enthusiasts. Burtt said the group has thousands of members who use the weapons mostly for long-distance target competitions.
By Logan C. Adams
Scripps Howard Foundation Wire
WASHINGTON - Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., was surprised she couldn’t lift the gun sitting on a table at a press conference and asked if it was stuck in place. After several police officers told her the 34-pound ArmaLite AR-50 .50 caliber rifle wasn’t attached, she let go.
McCarthy, whose husband was killed and son was paralyzed in a 1993 shooting, joined Reps. James Moran, D-Va., Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., and Henry Waxman, D-Calif., Tuesday to introduce the “50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Reduction Act.”
Rounds from the rifle can pierce inch-thick steel from a distance of a mile under certain circumstances and are more likely to cause fatal injuries than smaller-caliber weapons. The rifles unleash a great deal of noise and kick when fired. In fact, Armalite includes earplugs and Tylenol with the purchase of the $3,000 AR-50.
The bill would make such weapons illegal for purchase, except by the military and law enforcement, and would require current owners to register with the government. Such a law went into effect in California at the beginning of the year. A similar bill died in Congress last year.
The Violence Policy Center owns the gun and brought it to the Capitol with a police escort and without its bolt, a component necessary to fire the weapon.
“We have been told that al Qaeda representatives have acquired at least two dozen of these rifles,” Moran said. The lawmakers said the rifles could be used to target aircraft, trains and automobiles.
“This has nothing to do with the Second Amendment,” McCarthy said. “This has nothing to do with taking away the right of someone to protect themselves.”
Gun rights advocates disagreed.
“This has everything to do with the Second Amendment,” said Kelly Hobbs, spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association. “It’s unfortunate that some politicians are using America’s terrorism concerns to further a gun control agenda. After all, the hijackers of September 11 were not armed with firearms.”
The lawmakers also said that a weapon as powerful as the .50 caliber rifle should be more difficult to obtain. “It is easier in this country to buy this weapon than it is to buy a handgun,” Waxman said.
According to the FBI, 9,638 homicides were committed with firearms in 2003. Handguns were the weapon in 80 percent.
Tom Diaz, senior policy analyst for the Violence Policy Center, said that .50 caliber weapons had been used by the Irish Republican Army to assassinate officials in Europe. He also said criminals have used them, and police have found them in the arsenals of drug dealers in California, Missouri and Indiana.
One of the three rifles Marvin Heemeyer had in his armored bulldozer when he drove it through buildings in Granby, Colo., over a zoning dispute in June was a Barrett 82A1 .50 caliber rifle, according to the Violence Policy Center.
Diaz said he saw .50 caliber rifles that had been used to fire at federal agents during the raid on a religious group in Waco, Texas.
However, no American has been wounded or killed with a .50 caliber rifle in the United States, according to both the NRA and Diaz.
“There is no rifle or firearm manufactured anywhere in the United States or any other country that enjoys a safety record comparable to the that of the .50 BMG,” said John Burtt, chairman of the Fifty Caliber Institute.
The institute is associated with the Fifty Caliber Shooter’s Association, an organization of .50 caliber rifle enthusiasts. Burtt said the group has thousands of members who use the weapons mostly for long-distance target competitions.
posted by Logan C. Adams at 2/09/2005 03:54:00 PM
1 Comments:
Yeah, I turned it in to the police this morning and already received a new phone. I'll tell ya all about it tonight. :)
~Katie
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