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 ...
And their goal is to eventually ban ALL firearms - period. First will be the scary looking non "assault rifle", then cop killer bullets - which means any rifle over .22LR, then any semi-auto loading rifle, etc, etc, etc.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I doubt that they would allow the .22LR, especially if they have ever watched The Godfather.
A lightning link might do the trick. I've heard of them, but never seen one. Again, the link itself would be considered a "machine gun" and require all the Class III Bravo Sierra that goes along with it. So much for an "inalienable Right".
The registered shoe-string "machine gun" for an M-1 is still the most ridiculous abuse of the Class III registry I have ever heard of.
I have found this type of reaction rather common in liberals where I live. They have not applied any thought to the opinions they espouse, and when politely challenged with questions and facts the usual reaction is angry defensiveness. It is a breath of fresh air to find a liberal who will engage in thoughtful discussion. I have encountered only a small handful since I moved here.
"Which is why class III dealers get class III lowers... "
Yep. I onced researched the steps required to convert an AR to a class III machinegun. It isn't something someone without excellent machine working skills could accomplish. It also required the replacement of at least the bolt carrier with an M-16 carrier, which is not always so easy to obtain. The trigger group replacement is easy to obtain but illegal to possess without the Class III stamp, and it still requires the lower to be machined to accomodate the trigger group. Frankly, it just isn't practical.
Besides, there is little to no need for a fully auto AR.
And if I remember correctly, most full auto versions fire from and open bolt configuration where semi-auto's use a closed and locked configuration
Most machineguns and subguns do fire with an open bolt, but assault rifles do not. An open bolt is bad for accuracy since you have a very long locktime and the gun is being jostled by the closing of the bolt as you fire. It's my understanding that the BATFE also bans any open bolt guns since they are much easier to convert to full auto.
I am betting that the ATF has the Hellfire classified as a machine gun. They classified a shoestring as one.
Some open bolt guns like the Suomi are very accurate,
the Suomi rate of fire is controled by a check valve in
the end of the receiver, since tolerances are very close
the feed stroke is retarded, also the round fires slightly
before chambering completely.
The great Finnish sniper Simo Haya made many kills with his Suomi.
Kids, remember, the ATF has NO sense of humor and that
you're NEVER too old to go to prison!
Without the disconnector the bolt will just ride the bolt/
carrier, this might produce an out of battery discharge
also.
Not something to fool around with.
If you just want to spray lead, you can always bump fire
but hitting something would be another story.
But then, there's the penalty....from what I remember it's $250K fine and 5 years of A$$-Bangin' jail time...quite a deterent....
That is assuming one is stupid enough to try and rob someone who owns and most likely really likes to shoot machine guns.
That was tried about a decade back in Indianapolis, by a street punk armed with a knife, who broke into the business adjoining an Indy gun shop, waited for the owner to close up, then cut through the intervening wall, bypassing the roof/door/window alarm systems.
Surprise, surprise: the owner was still inside, having let an after-hours visitor leave. And he had his suppressed H&K MP5SD smg in hand. When told to drop the knife, the felon did not, and the shooter let fly. And missed with all 30.
And so he went to his backup plan: another MP5 family buzzgun, unsuppressed this time, and let go anmother magazine's worth. One round hit the assailant and killed him; 14 years old, as I recall.
I think the shop owner would have been *much* better served with a shotgun, but inside his store without hearing protection, and at night, maybe not- particularly if there was more than one *visitor* involved. No criminal charges, and a *no bill* from the grand jury shortly thereafter. If imperfect, not nearly as bad an outcome as might have been.
My understanding is that Simo Haya was not just a sniper and that a great many of his kills were made in close combat. For sniping I believe he used an iron sighted Moisin Nagant. Still at something like 700+ kills he must have been a phenomenal marksman.
I wouldn't hire a journeyman plumber who couldn't make a Sten subgun out of the pipes and fittings he carries on his truck.
60 rounds for one fatal hit. Not good odds if you ask me.
L
It's pretty much unheard of in modern rifle calibers, but some pistol caliber full autos will fire from an open bolt.
Mark
60 rounds for one fatal hit. Not good odds if you ask me.
Not necessarily. I spent a couple of training cycles at Ft Knox as an acting instructor on the M3/M3A1 *greasegun* to enthusiastic young tank crew rookies, and most of them were pretty good by the time we were done with them.
Of course the expected range of any real-world use of the greasegun by them woas the ten or fifteen feet across the back deck of their tank, probably while moving and with a 50-50 chance of it being at night, to discourage any unwanted and unloved hitchhikers and riders with bad intentions. And so for that purpose two greaseguns were carried aboard...but EVERYONE carried a M1911A1 .45 automatic.
The point is that a hit or two from the SMG is no more lethal or likely than one or two from the pistol- and there've certainly been many [too many!] cases of full magazines worth of *spray-and-pray* pistol fire being exchanged without result. But the usually larger magazine capacity of the SMG can be useful, and I've carried and used one since and been glad I had it.
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