Posted on 05/21/2006 8:15:36 AM PDT by SmithL
A ban on assault rifles, pushed by the mayor of Chicago and our governor, is moldering in the state House Rules Committee. Lawmakers can take no action until they reconvene in October. And even then, there's little chance supporters can pick up the three additional votes they need to send the bill to the Senate.
But like the villain at the end of a movie, the assault rifle ban never dies. It's just wounded, waiting to come back when you're not looking. So I thought I would look into the validity of its major argument. That is, this notion that it's easy to convert a semi-automatic rifle (legal) into a fully automatic rifle (illegal), also known as a machine gun (illegal).
I've been following the debate. One point always seems to go unexplained. Once some concerned police chief declares that semi-automatic rifles are dangerously easy to convert, the discussion leaps elsewhere. No details of the conversion task are forthcoming.
So I called a spokesman for Gov. Blagojevich in Chicago. Could you explain, I asked. How do you do this job anyway? Do you need a screwdriver? A power drill? How long does it take? Could the governor's office be a little more explicit about the mechanics of the threat?
I gave the helpful spokesman a day to do a little research, then called back. He told me had learned the root of the problem is the "conversion kit," something that allows you to replace a certain part in the rifle and make it a machine gun.
I see. Do you know the name of this part? He didn't. In fact, as he readily acknowledged, he knew almost nothing about guns at all. Not that there's anything wrong with that. He did tell me: "It's very easy if . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at starnewspapers.com ...
Mark
Yes, it's obvious from the drawing that several more parts and fittings would have to be made before the thing stood a chance of working.
The ad has been running for years now, and I always figured it was just ATF trolling for a dummy.
Exactly... At a weekly "practicle shooting" match, one of the competitors had a 1911 where the disconnector broke, and on the first trigger pull, all 9 rounds (8+1) were discharged... After a moment's pause, he dropped the magazine and began to reload, but the RSO grabbed him and called a DQ... Pretty cool to watch, actually. But extremely dangerous.
Mark
That's one thing I really like about many of the FoxNews male journalists: they've actually served in uniform (Jim Angle and Brian Wilson come to mind, though I could be mistaken).
This thing is a POS. it just uses the recoil of the rifle to cause you to pull the trigger again. If you put the rifle to your shoulder it won't work
Hit and Bumped too!!
All it takes is a length of a steel wire [large paper clip would do] to tie the rear hammer hook of AK47 in the depressed [backward] position. If only the front hammer hook is operational, then one has an illegal machine gun. Your hoplophobe was ignorant and illiterate, that's all.
Cool.
AS a machinist and gun shop employee, I got asked about this frequently.
Depends on the gun. Depends on the skill level of the machinist/gunsmith. Depends on the determination of the individual doing the "conversion".
Personally I wouldn't want to risk it. Heck there are enough laws on the books that I don't know about that I could be breaking; why would I want to break the ones I do know about and jeopardize my being able to work in my chosen trade or being able to participate in a hobby I enjoy?
JM2B
Converting an AR is a PITA. It requires machine work on the receiver and new parts. It isn't a simple or reliable job.
For the Chicago mayor he has machines guns...he simply tells the police who to shoot. They've got machine guns, so why can't the citizens of Chicago?
I think that is one of those assault revolvers. They are bad, bad, bad and their only purpose is to menace society and kill people. It uses those special bullets for killing a lot of people at once.
I find that's the case on most things Liberals say.
The minute you start probing their minds about specifics,You quickly find out they ain't got a clue and wouldn't know where to buy one either.
Machine guns aren't nearly so impressive when you make good use of sights ;o)
I wasn't aware that this was the major (MSM/public) argument against semiautomatic "Assault Rifles". I thought the major argument was/is "you don't need one to hunt with". Everything else, the "violent" bayonet stud, the "high-capacity" magazine and the possibility of "conversion" to full auto were secondary issues.
If you're going to have to get precision "machining" equipment, you might as well get a copy of the British SOE plans for the Sten gun, and have at it.
My sister and brother-in-law are republicans but are totally anti 2nd ammendment. No matter the valid arguments I provide, they still hate guns. They have a half million dollar summer home up in northern michigan that the deer are loving. Well, kill the deer but hate the guns. We have reached an impasse in our discussions, they dont dare bring up firearms any more because they know I am the only one who will step forward with a vengence to support the 2nd ammendment and they cant factually support their opposition.
I know several people that claim to be Republicans,But sure seem to be Liberals when you start talking about certain issues.
They may just be misinformed or not knowledgable about those issues.
I cannot be responsible for the rantings of an immature being. If he thought he won the argument, he has never taken debate seriously.
The unfortunate thing is that no matter how ignorant he may be, he can still vote.
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