I use it to line my parrot's cage:
Posted on 01/04/2005 9:21:49 PM PST by neverdem
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 3 - California has become the first state to ban a powerful .50-caliber long-range rifle that gun control advocates portray as a military firearm that could easily fall into the hands of terrorists bent on assassination or shooting down an airplane.
Under the ban, which was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in September and took effect on Jan. 1, it is now illegal to manufacture, sell, distribute or import a weapon known as the .50-caliber BMG, or Browning machine gun rifle, a single-shot weapon widely used not only by law enforcement officers and the military but, more recently, by civilian sport shooters as well.
The new law limits possession to those who already own the rifle; they have until April 30, 2006, to register it or face a misdemeanor charge.
Gun rights advocates fear that the California legislation will prompt other states to follow - similar efforts have been undertaken in New York, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts and Virginia, but have failed - and enthusiasts are already devising ways to alter the gun and so circumvent the law without breaking it.
Another result of the law is that in the weeks before it took effect, people rushing to buy the limited supplies of .50 BMG's descended on gun shops throughout California. Now that it is in force, some of the gun's out-of-state makers and distributors have threatened not to sell any of their firearms or services here.
"We all think it's the first step toward banning sniper rifles," said Michael Fournier, owner of the Gun Exchange, a shop in San Jose. "They keep chipping away a little at a time. Eventually they'll try to get them all."
A lawyer for the California Rifle and Pistol Association, a lobby that fought the legislation, said that for the first time gun control advocates had managed "to demonize" a firearm that gun proponents and lawmaker allies say has never been used to commit a crime in the United States.
The lawyer, Chuck Michel, said the .50 BMG, which weighs 30 pounds and can cost $2,000 to $8,000, was typically bought by collectors, shooting range enthusiasts and skilled competitors.
"Criminals don't carry around very pricey, very heavy rifles," Mr. Michel said. "They want handguns they can conceal."
The .50 BMG rifle, patented in 1987 by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing of Murfreesboro, Tenn., was designed as a sniper weapon for law enforcement and the military; it was widely used by American troops during the Persian Gulf war of 1991.
Manufacturers say the rifle is accurate at a range of up to 2,000 yards, more than a mile. It fires bullets five and a half inches long described as powerful enough to rip through armor, much less the thin aluminum skin that covers commercial airliners.
"They can pierce the skin of an aircraft," said Daniel R. Vice, a lawyer with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a central supporter of the law. "It could be used to shoot down an airplane. And we certainly don't want to wait until a terrorist buys one before we ban it."
The legislation's author, Assemblyman Paul Koretz, a Democrat from West Hollywood, concedes that street criminals would most likely view the .50 BMG as too much gun for the typical robbery or drive-by shooting. Rather, the law is intended to help keep the weapon out of the hands of "terrorists, general nut cases and survivalists," Mr. Koretz said, citing government reports suggesting that it had been used in assassinations overseas and that at least 25 had been bought by Osama bin Laden.
Mr. Michel, the lawyer for the gun rights group, said that adopting the ban in the name of fighting terrorism was without merit.
"The terrorist can get a nuclear dirty bomb or a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher," he said. "The .50-caliber is just a peashooter in comparison."
But while there is no conclusive evidence that the .50 BMG rifle has ever been used in the United States to commit a felony, it has nonetheless been seized from American criminals' arsenals. A 1999 briefing paper from the General Accounting Office, predecessor of the Government Accountability Office, Congress's investigative arm, said, "We have established a nexus to terrorist groups, outlaw motorcycle gangs, international drug cartels, domestic drug dealers, religious cults, militia groups, potential assassins and violent criminals."
A side effect of the new law is the ill will it has instilled toward Mr. Schwarzenegger among gun rights advocates. Many of them supported him for governor, and maintain that his signing the legislation was an act of betrayal.
"You know what we call him?" said Jerry Sloan, assistant manager of Precision Arms, a shop in Escondido. "Benedict Arnold."
Terri Carbaugh, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, had made his position clear during his campaign.
"It's a military-type weapon," Ms. Carbaugh said of the .50 BMG, "and he believes the gun presents a clear and present danger to the general public."
As if the democrat party hacks give a damn about our national sovereignty . . .bah!
That is a very expensive day at the range.
is that a backstrap "safety" on there?
Exactly -- and let no one forget this.
My dad used to fire the Quad Fifties when he was in the military. I can't imagine how much fun it would be to fire those!
It's a single shot machine gun. ;^)
Yeah. There is a safety on the back of the grip. Its a great pistol. NRA's gun of the year.
http://www.springfield-armory.com/prod-xdpstl-long.shtml
I just ordered the 9mm version in black. What sucks is i gotta wait 30 days till i can pick it up. :(
Till then i'll be blasting away at the range with my S&W .357mag model 66-2.
http://www.kalionzes.com/sw357mag/SWmod66-2.jpg
Let's see...an article written by a New York Slimes reporter?...about gun control? Nah! Say it ain't so Joe, say it ain't so(kid in scene with Shoeless Joe Jackson in 8 Men Out).
"It fires bullets five and a half inches long described as powerful enough to rip through armor, much less the thin aluminum skin that covers commercial airliners."
So it fires bullets nearly five and a half inches long eh?
Well, I hate to break the bad news for you there little liberal NYT reporter, but as stated by a couple earlier posters, the casing AND projectile(commonly known as a "bullet" by those of us who have an F-ing clue) is actually 5 7/16's inches long TOGETHER!
IN FACT, the actual "bullet" (projectile) is EXACTLY two and one quarter inches in length...as I have one sitting in front of me here. Also, it is (at it's widest point) EXACTLY one half inch across...hence .50 caliber, OR 1/2".
Another fact...even the "bullets" on the 25mm Bushmaster cannon(think main gun on the Bradley Infantry/Cavalry Fighting Vehicle) AND the "bullets" on the GAU 8 30mm on the A-10 Thunderbolt II(AKA, Warthog) are not "Five and one half inches" in length.
The NYT really needs to "go away" as they(liberal writers) have relegated this "rag" to being no more useful than a liner for a cats litterbox!
I have to disagree with you here. This is another attack on the 2nd amendment in CA. Without the right ot keep and bear arms you won't have any freedom, illegal immigrants or no. This is a problem in CA that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. We need to stop both the eroding of our 2nd amendment rights and illegal immigration. It doesn't matter if only one person in CA wants to own a .50, to ban it is a bigger threat then the aliens and Arnold sucks as a governor and will never get my vote in the next election.
So you'll vote democrat before you'll vote Arnold???
Hmmm...
Please don't subject the kitties to looking at that!
Man, let me tell you, just firing the BMG .50 is an experience you wouldn't forget, especially on the old free mounts that weren't locked in and you had to lay over the gun to fire it,I am talking mounted on a vehicle, no way you could aim it and you just watched the tracers and walked it into the target. The quads are not to be believed. Of course they were mounted on a "fixed" mount, in other words the mount was controlled by gears and foot pedals and was not free wheeling, so in reality the fun was watching the target dissapear! Firing the single was more fun on the free mount because you got to control it and feel that puppy jump. Firing from a ground mount took some practice and the mount would tend to dig into the ground a bit. Just thought I would share.
I would vote for a Democrat to get Arnold out of office because he IS a Democrat, using the name Republican. I do not vote a blind party ticket and if that bothers you well too bad. We need a real republican as governor and more in congress. We need to get the blue cities to turn red but fat of that. Ahhhnold pulled the wool over peoples eyes, haven't you ever listened to the things this guy says? As for the 2 gun bills he vetoed they would have collapsed anyway because of the stupidty of them. Registering bullets? This shows what kind of brain the Dems have. Arnold knew the Dems wouldn't gripe about the vetos on those 2 bills, they were most likely a setup to get the .50 bill passed without a veto. Yes, I would most likely vote for just about anyone to get him our of office so that the election after that, we could run a decent republican.
If you vote for arnold you ARE voteing democrat hes a rino whore that needs to be recalled now instead of waiting until the next scheduled election
The NYT really needs to "go away" as they(liberal writers) have relegated this "rag" to being no more useful than a liner for a cats litterbox!Maybe the cat is just allergic to soybeans, but the NYT does a lousy job at that as well.
Wait'll the news comes out about the the .510 DTC Europ. -- then the scat will really hit the fan.
The .510 DTC cartridge is 100/1000ths shorter with a steeper shoulder angle than the 50 BMG cartridge. Since the wording of the law goes into great detail on the specifics of what ".50 BMG" means, rifles built to chamber the .510 cartridge are exempt.
MSM ewspapers are famous for gross errors and non sequiturs. If a MSM newspaper ever published an edition with none of these, the world would come to an end.
ewspapers -> newspapers
or "ewws" papers
I use it to line my parrot's cage:
I think they should have made it a .499 caliber. Don't forget, the National Firearms Act does permit the Secretary of the Trreasury to designate any gun with a caliber of .50 or greater as a "destructive device". This is how they got rid of the Street Sweeper.
-cm
I got one of these XD-9's back in Nov. Awesome gun!
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