a Measure to Prevent .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Terror in Illinois,(Rino barf alert)

PRNewswire ^ | 3 14 05 | PRNewswire

[freepatriot32]

CHICAGO, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Anti-Terrorism and Aviation Protection Act," (H.B. 1098), passed out of the Illinois House of Representatives Human Services Committee today, a homeland security bill to prevent a terrorist from using a .50 caliber sniper rifle to shoot down a civilian airliner during landing or takeoff. Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-57th) and Rep. Beth Coulson (R-17th), the two main sponsors, have launched a bi-partisan effort to keep the most deadly and powerful sniper rifles on the market out of the hands of terrorists to protect Illinois aviation and vulnerable industrial targets.

.50 caliber sniper rifles were designed as battlefield rifles to puncture armor, attack personnel carriers and fuel tanks, and to be used for assassination due to the rifle's astonishing range and firepower, but are easier to get in Illinois than a handgun. In addition, .50 caliber sniper rifles and ammunition are easily available over the internet and at guns shows, including highly lethal ammunition such as armor piercing and incendiary rounds which are currently legal. It was because of the terrorist threat of .50 caliber sniper rifles that prompted Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to pass legislation in California to restrict the .50 caliber rifle to military and law enforcement officials only.

"Today's committee vote to keep the most deadly and powerful sniper rifles out of the hands of terrorists was the first step in preventing .50 caliber terror in Illinois," said Thom Mannard, Executive Director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. "We are urging state lawmakers to be on the side of homeland security and not on the side of giving terrorists access to .50 caliber sniper rifles."

A recent study by the Rand Corporation found that there were no adequate defenses to prevent a terrorist from using a .50 caliber sniper rifle to attack civilian airplanes at long range taxiing on the runway or during takeoff or landing, as was reported recently by 60 Minutes. The combination of distance, firepower, and lethal ammunition puts .50 caliber sniper rifles in a class all on their own. .50 caliber sniper rifles can accurately engage targets up to 2,000 yards, or twenty football fields laid end to end. Visit http://www.50caliberterror.com for more information.

[freepatriot32]

Ok this could take awhile i'll go through as many false statements as iI can before I get a headache

.50 caliber sniper rifles were designed as battlefield rifles to puncture armor, attack personnel carriers and fuel tanks, and to be used for assassination due to the rifle's astonishing range and firepower,

B.S. the 50 caliber rifle was on the civilian market 10 years before the military bought it for military use.

but are easier to get in Illinois than a handgun.

Ok this is a matter of schematics but i would say its a lot easier to come up with 500 dollars for a handgun then the $20,000 it would take to get a 50 caliber bmg rifle.

In addition, .50 caliber sniper rifles and ammunition are easily available over the internet and at guns shows, including highly lethal ammunition such as armor piercing and incendiary rounds which are currently legal.

The last I heard 50 caliber incendiary ammo was illegal for all but military personal.But why let facts and truth get in the way of a good hysterical coniption fit

A recent study by the Rand Corporation found that there were no adequate defenses to prevent a terrorist from using a .50 caliber sniper rifle to attack civilian airplanes at long range taxiing on the runway or during takeoff or landing,

Yes there is basic physics.It would be almost impossible to hit a plane with a simple gun taking off at 300 mph or landing at roughly 200 mph but even if you win the marksman lottory and hit the plane with a bullet at takeoff or landing that in itself isnt going to bring the plane down in a fiery crash.The most that would happen is that te plane loses pressure and the air masks come down.Then the pilots circle around and land a the airport safely.

[freepatriot32]

Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.

[freepatriot32]

ping

[B4Ranch]

>>The most that would happen is that te plane loses pressure and the air masks come down.<<

Study up on the subject.

[Fast1]

Nice post thanks!

[Graybeard58]

This is my state - Illinois. One of the few remaining states that won't even think about letting its citizens carry concealed or otherwise. As long as the dimwits control every branch of the government that's the way it will be.

[Disambiguator]

This phrase:

keep the most deadly and powerful sniper rifles on the market out of the hands of terrorists to protect Illinois aviation and vulnerable industrial targets.

Should read:

keep the most accurate and powerful rifles on the market out of the hands of citizens to protect gun-grabbing politicians.

There, that's more accurate.

[Zavien Doombringer]

The most that would happen is that te plane loses pressure and the air masks come down.Then the pilots circle around and land a the airport safely.

And that only happens above 8000 ft. The aircraft may be "tight" and lightly pressureized when the door closes, it truely isn't pressurized until above 8000 ft.

I am no marksmen, but I am a good shot. a plane accelerating to altitude is cruizing up to 350mph, who would be able to land a killing shot?

[Terriergal]

easier to get in Illinois than a handgun.

You gotta be kidding me. -- and I'm speaking from regulatory perspective since terrorists are going to have access to money, and price won't be too relevant.

[taxcontrol]

Minor nit about your analysis of a .50 attack on an airplane. If you are any sniper worth your salt, you would not shoot the cabin or try for the pilots. You would know that most modern aircraft can land themselves. You would go after the tires or the engines as your target of choice.

Tires would be more difficult as the only real angle worth talking about would either head on or tail on shot.

Getting a round into the engine has the greatest chance of bringing down the plane IF you can achieve a shear of the inlet fans. I'm not convinced that one BMG round could cause this type of damage. But if it was possible to shear the fan blades, it might cause a catastrophic failure of the engine assembly as the fan blades would separate and traveling at high speed, throw shrapnel in several different directions. Possibly chewing up much of the wing, fuel lines, etc. However, the this would be one d**n good shot. Not impossible, but very difficult at best.

Next option would be to puncture the fuel tanks but this unlikely to cause a catastrophic failure. More likely a puncture of the fuel tanks would slowly leak fuel - perhaps not even enough for the cockpit to notice right away. Leaking fuel is obviously dangerous but the aircraft in todays markets are designed for a lot of problems. I cant imagine that a leaking fuel tank was over looked.

In short, bringing down a plane with a .50 is no easy trick. It would take careful planning and a very good marksman. It would be a heck of a lot easier to smuggle in an anti-aircraft missile and shoot it down. A BMG would not be my weapon of choice.

[Che Chihuahua]

As if terrorists go to the local sporting goods store to buy their hardware.

"Hi, my name's Osama Been Drinkin'! Can you show me an assault rifle? Did I tell you I have a restraining order against me from wife Fatima?"

Politicians are dumber than a bag of hammers.

[Terriergal]

who would be able to land a killing shot?

You would have to have close to a head-on angle. And I'm betting a silenced/suppressed 50 isn't going to have the range required, would it? So if they're firing it unsuppressed, this wouldn't be an operation they could carry out and then sneak away from too terribly easily. It *is* possible, in my mind (they would probably have to leave the weapon behind and/or fire from a deeply wooded area and then hightail it out of there fast.) They could also do it during deer season, to cover the sound, but then they'd run a higher risk of running into other hunters and having to kill a few more people to escape.

It would seem fairly risky and would almost certainly result in being caught. But is that a concern to them?

[Terriergal]

Good post. Thanks, that makes things clearer.

I tend to agree. It seems unlikely that terrorists would use this angle. This sounds like just another attempt to curry favor with ignorant anti-gun activists.

[garyhope]

The only people afraid of a .50 cal rifle are Hillary Clinton, the Kennedy's, "hard core leftists", anti-Americans and Islamofascists, etc.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

A good question for them is what are you planning that you are so afraid of the citizenry being armed?

[Aarchaeus]

A law is obviously needed to keep this firepower out of the wrong hands. We already keep marijuana, cocaine, heroin and such stuff out of circulation by outlawing them, and keep our southern border secure by having immigration laws. Another gun control law is just one more thing to make it impossible for criminals to do nasty things </sarcasm>

[Sax]

The article refers to the rifle eight times as a .50 "sniper" rifle.

Sniper, Sniper, Sniper, Sniper... (scared yet?)

What about .50 sporting rifles, or .50 utility rifles?

[chuckwalla]

"Politicians are dumber than a bag of hammers"
I disagree.
They are effectively using stupid arguments like this one to get their agenda across of disarming us.
But why would terrorists use up all kinds of money on registered weapons when they can just smuggle RPG's, true AK's, mortars, etc into the country from the open borders and have a much easier time of taking down planes?
This is simply pols using terrorism to disarm us against the constitution.
Ramp up the hysteria and everyone will forget the 2d amendment ever existed. At least enough people to vote for them will.

[freepatriot32]

your right after i posted i realised what i did when i read the article I read incendiary bullets but got them confused with depleted uranium bullets in my mind