Military guns too accessible to public(MEGA barf alert 3-4 bags)

http://www.easternecho.com ^ | 9 19 05 | Adam Slingwein

[freepatriot32]

If I gave you $7,000 to spend on whatever you wanted, what would you buy? Seven thousand dollars may not be a huge sum of money, but it is still a significant chunk of change. I mean, you could buy a car, pay your room and board at EMU for the year, or have 70% of the buy-in for the World Series of Poker main event. The list is almost endless, but there is one item in particular that really struck me as surprising when I learned that my gift money could purchase it. It is the Barrett M82A1 sniper rifle, and for the fairly modest amount of seven grand, you could take one home today.

To those of you unfamiliar with the M82A1, as I was, my saying that it could be purchased for that price may not strike you as startling or worrisome. Upon researching this firearm further, my opinion rapidly changed. Just looking at the weapon, totally ignorant of its capabilities, I could tell that this was no peashooter. It looks like a modern-day cannon, but with a comfortable pistol grip slapped on the bottom. Thanks to war movies and an uncle who's a card carrying NRA member, I have seen and fired my fair share of weaponry, but never had I even seen a firearm as intimidating as this one.

Reading the gun's specs proved to be more than intimidating; it was downright scary. According to the product's website, the M82A1 "easily fires the largest commercially available cartridge in the world, the .50 caliber." The weapon doesn't just fire .50 caliber cartridges like a few other weapons, but does so with ease. What sets it apart from other .50 caliber rifles is the fact that it is not bolt action, but semiautomatic with a ten round clip. Instead of having to manually discharge the empty cartridge then load the next, you can snap off ten shots as fast as you can pull the trigger. Ten rounds at a buck from any .50 caliber rifle will leave hunters with very little to mount. I also learned that the gun has an effective range of over 2,000 yards. Hunters generally shoot at targets 150-200 yards away, so accuracy over ten times that distance is understandable, right? No, it really isn't, especially with a weapon so powerful. Unless the gun was designed for hunters planning on shooting game from over a mile away and then walking 15 minutes to go retrieve it, this weapon could not have been made for hunting.

Sure enough, the M82A1 was not created for civilian gamesmen. It was designed for use in the military and in law enforcement, both of which herald the M107 as the premier big bore rifle (the M82A1 is the civilian version). Used by the United States armed forces as well as over 40 others worldwide, the weapon has won several awards and Barrett has yet to have a contract not renewed due to the military being unsatisfied. What makes the gun so loved by armies across the globe? Not only does it boast incredible range and extremely destructive ammunition (standard rounds can go through brick walls); it has minimal recoil and is extremely easy to fire. With the recoil of a 12-gauge shotgun if fired from the shoulder and considerably less when fired from the stock bipod, it is very easy for a soldier with little practice or training to become very proficient with the weapon. This reason for praise quickly becomes cause for alarm if the gun falls into the wrong hands.

Now that I knew how effective the weapon was, I looked up what its applications are. Due to their gratuitous power, these guns are used to attack stationary or landing aircraft, tanks, armored personnel carriers and concrete bunkers. They are very rarely used on single enemy combatants, just as I rarely swat flies with a baseball bat. Like a rocket launcher with a tighter shot pattern, these rifles destroy enemy aircraft and tanks cleaner, faster and from farther away.

I think I have established the fact that the Barrett M82A1 is any target's worst nightmare, but now I think we all need to look at why I can get one of these easier than I could get a handgun. There is absolutely no reason why a civilian would need to own this weapon, yet background checks are looser on this gun than on a handgun because the M82A1 falls under the category of "hunting rifle" (Honestly, who are they kidding?). The amount of havoc that can be caused by this weapon if it found its way into the wrong hands is off the charts. Pedestrians would have to worry the least; the rounds can go through motor vehicles, walls or aircraft shells from over a mile away. Whether it be terrorism or just criminal use, no one would be safe. Another feature of the weapon that should get the thing banned is its ease of use. With minimal training, anyone could become extremely accurate with this weapon, endangering everyone within a mile radius.

Despite my firm agreement with the Second Amendment, there are specific cases where the right to bear certain arms is significantly more dangerous than what may happen if one could not. This is one of those cases. The Barrett M82A1 .50 caliber rifle, as well as all other semiautomatic .50 caliber rifles, has no place in society. They are not effective hunting weapons, and anyone could defend themselves more than effectively with a less powerful gun. This weapon is extremely dangerous and not worth the risk.

[from occupied ga]

I want one.

Me too.

[The Toll]

Yes, I believe that was the 1933 case that got the old ball rolling on your rights. I find it very odd whenever I turn on the news and see U.S. troops using very tiny pump action shotguns to make a door breach.

[cryptical]

"There is absolutely no reason why a civilian would need to own this weapon"

"...the Second Amendment is not for killing little ducks and leaving Huey and Dewey and Louis without an aunt and uncle. It is for hunting politicians, like [in] Grozny, [or back in] 1776, when they take your independence away!"

- California Rep. Bob Dornan, Congressional Record, 25 January, 1995

[DocRock]

Back in the '80s, I had a gun shop as a hobby. I sold "exotic" weapons, (also know by the media as assault weapons). I had several reporters come to my shop and interview me. When the questions always came around to large caliber semi-auto military style firearms, I would wager $1,000.00 with them that I could put more .30 cal holes in a target faster with a shotgun, (think 12 Ga. 3 inch mag. with 000 buckshot), than they could with any of my "scary" looking guns. I never had any takers.

Then always the question of "What do you need with a firearm that will shoot that many bullets?". I would always respond, "Does your car go faster than the speed limit? What do you need with a car that can go over 55 MPH?" (I told you this was back in the '80s.) A couple of the reporters said "Well in an emergency, you may have to rush to hospital." Yep, and in an emergency, I may need to put a lot of steel on target.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

yeah, that kinda freaked me out. I had no idea what you were typing about.

[TypeZoNegative]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1488026/posts?page=26

Got it on the right thread this time. Looks like I drank too much.

[thejokker]

actually this was NOT designed as a military sniper rifle or to hunt with. this rifle was developed and marketed as a long range target rifle.

long range target shooting has been an accepted sport in this country for hundreds of years. it was several years before the military became interested in this rifle for other then it's intended purpose.

[Allosaurs_r_us]

copy of my email to this windbag:

---

Who the hell are you, the Supreme Court? Have you ever even done any long range target or game hunting? I have lost the opportunity at several elk because I cannot afford a weapon of this magnificent craftsmanship.

 

Do you suppose the gang bangers down on the street corner are going to run out and buy these in order to defend their crack inventory? Get real! Criminals can't afford this kind of weapon! They can buy a couple hundred Saturday Night Specials for this kind of money.

 

Don't you have anything else better to do than stick your nose in law abiding American's freedoms? Get a life pal! It is not up to you or anyone else what I spend my hard earned money on. If you want to stop a crime, how about standing up against the American practice of killing our children before they have a chance at one single breath, of which you are certainly wasting more than your fair share of, with this kind of rhetoric.

---

[MortMan]

I'd need the special, 500mm wide-angle telescope mount!

[AMERIKA]

Dear Mr. Adam Slingwein, Don't you know that....The most dangerous weapon in the world....is....a Marine and his rifle.


http://www.bravoartillery.org/RifleCreed.html

[HolgerDansk]

Despite my firm agreement with the Second Amendment, t

The Constitution is the Law of the Land, whether you agree with it, or not.

[fella]

According to my copy of the second amendment it just says arms, it doesn't specify size or type. We've already lost the largest part of this infringable right.

[absolootezer0]

gun specs on a .50 are intimidating? guess this guy has never seen a 4-bore :)

4-bore on the right, .465 nitro express on left.

this is what they'd look like facing you :)

[happinesswithoutpeace]

NIce pics! Do you have any .416 Rigby?

[Redcitizen]

Sounds like the same attitude at the public rifle range. We were shooting a CAR-15 and a guy told the range officeer that "assault rifles should be put somewhere else" away from the regular guns. The range officer told him to shut up. By the way, the range officer had his own AR15 at the range that day.

[CodeToad]

"If I gave you $7,000 to spend on whatever you wanted, what would you buy?"

As in, "No gangbanger has $7,000 to spend on a rifle so I would have to give it to them for them to buy an M-82."

[absolootezer0]

better yet..
http://www.watsonsweapons.com/50boss.htm
slap an 50bmg upper on your ar receiver.. $1249!!!

[CodeToad]

"There is absolutely no reason why a civilian would need to own this weapon"


His first mistake is thinking we are all just "civilians". The militia is us.