Mayor to push for ban on military weapons

NEW BEDFORD — Mayor Scott W. Lang is asking the city's legislative delegation to push for a statewide ban on the sale of military-style weapons — including the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle used by a gunman last week to kill two employees and himself at the Foxy Lady SouthCoast.

"I'd like our local delegation to sponsor a bill that takes that type of weapon out of civilian hands ... any type of military weapon," he said. "This is not an appropriate weapon for a civilian to have.

"It's a killing tool. ... It's a weapon that's used to destroy an opposition army. We don't need a battlefield in the middle of our city."

The announcement came as the Foxy Lady opened its doors last night with free food and admissions passes. Mayor Lang said he is still in the process of talking to local legislators, but he expects "an enthusiastic response" to his proposed ban.

He also noted he has strong ties with federal legislators from the area and may discuss the idea of a ban with them.

Both the mayor and Police Chief Ronald E. Teachman have noted that officers were outgunned at the Foxy Lady standoff, with only their sidearms and a single-service rifle.

The AR-15 "has firepower that police do not have available to them, except in extraordinary circumstances," Mayor Lang said.

The AR-15 is the commercial version of the military M-16, and is legal for licensed gun owners to buy.

Although it lacks some of the M-16's capabilities, plans to modify the AR-15 so it matches its military cousin can be found on the Internet.

Although California has banned the AR-15, it is still legal to own and carry in other states.

Scott C. Medeiros, 35, the Foxy Lady gunman, had a Class A license that allowed him to purchase and carry an AR-15, according to police in Freetown, where Mr. Medeiros lived and maintained his firearms permit. The AR-15 was also used by John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, the 2002 Beltway snipers.

Marc Folco, award-winning outdoors columnist and author of The Standard-Times' Open Season column, voiced early opposition to Mayor Lang's proposal. He and other gun ownership advocates are meeting with the mayor today, he said.

He said the key is keeping guns out of the wrong hands, but conceded that, in the case of Mr. Medeiros, "They did seem like the right hands. There was nothing to tell police otherwise. I think he just snapped."

But he added his belief that the gunman would have been able to do as much damage even without the semiautomatic rifle.

"If (Mr. Medeiros) didn't get an AR-15, he could have used anything to cause that mayhem. He could have made a bomb."

"I don't like them," he said. "I would never buy them. But I do believe that people have a right to buy them for target shooting or collecting purposes."

Mayor Lang said he is a supporter of the Second Amendment, but added, "Let's apply some common sense to the Second Amendment and modern technology. Why not a bazooka? Why not a tank? It doesn't make sense."

This isn't the first time a New Bedford mayor has tried to have gun legislation passed. In 2004, Mayor Lang's predecessor, Frederick M. Kalisz Jr., pushed unsuccessfully for a home-rule petition that would have stiffened the penalties for carrying banned weapons within New Bedford and raised the mandatory minimum sentence for illegally carrying a firearm from one year in a county facility to 21/2 years in state prison.

Mr. Medeiros' rampage at the Foxy Lady began at about 2 a.m. Dec. 12 when he entered the strip club with the rifle and fatally shot two employees over a romantic rivalry.

The first police officers to respond to the scene didn't even get a chance to get out of their cruiser before Mr. Medeiros peppered the car with at least 24 bullets. Both of the officers were hospitalized with gunshot wounds.

According to Chief Teachman, the bullets cut through the cruiser door panels "like a hot knife through butter."

Both the chief and Mayor Lang said officers involved in the Foxy Lady standoff were outgunned.

Mr. Medeiros' rifle had a range of "1,000 feet and is deadly accurate," far greater than police-issue handguns, Mayor Lang said. The gunman hit police vehicles that were hundreds of yards away, according to police.

Chief Teachman said police are not typically trained to deal with a weapon such as the AR-15.

"Is society still willing to accept that this level of firearm is readily available?" the chief asked. "This is a legal gun, owned by a legal person, who up until (the Foxy Lady shooting) had done nothing wrong, but because he had this level of firepower at his fingertips, he was able to create a very dangerous situation."

Mayor Lang said he would like to see Massachusetts follow California's example and ban the AR-15. "If it's legal, it's a loophole that's got to be closed," he said.

Isn't "military weapon" redundant? Look around the round world, and there are entire villages massacred with small-caliber firearms, machetes, and even torches.

Mayor Lang said he is still in the process of talking to local legislators, but he expects "an enthusiastic response" to his proposed ban.

Strike while the iron's hot. Or, in this case, before the lead or the bodies go cold.

He also noted he has strong ties with federal legislators from the area and may discuss the idea of a ban with them.

Name dropper.

Both the mayor and Police Chief Ronald E. Teachman have noted that officers were outgunned at the Foxy Lady standoff, with only their sidearms and a single-service rifle.

WTF is a "single-service rifle?" Best I can decode this, it's a single ... service (i.e. issued) rifle, and if so, they weren't outgunned. Unless the rifle was in a smaller caliber than .223, which I find difficult to believe.

The AR-15 "has firepower that police do not have available to them, except in extraordinary circumstances," Mayor Lang said.

Then it's time to get with the program, Mayor. During the North Hollywood bank heist in 1997, police were outgunned by two heavily armed and armored robbers -- and I have to give props to the LAPD for having the presence of mind to borrow rifles from a nearby gun shop. It's a near-miracle that the two perps were the only two fatalities.

Since then, a lot of police departments have started replacing or augmenting the standard-issue "riot" shotguns with rifles. It requires extra training, but criminals don't sit still, and cops should be constantly in training anyway.

Although it lacks some of the M-16's capabilities, plans to modify the AR-15 so it matches its military cousin can be found on the Internet.

So can plans for an OKC-style fertilizer bomb or a nuclear device. Hell, I once found a recipe for ricin online. Guess where? The US Patent and Trademark Office. Turns out someone patented a ricin-producing process in the '50s, and they had to detail the process to protect it. Anyone with the skills to make a souffle and a bucket of castor beans could make a toxin potent enough that a pinhead-sized pellet would mean certain death, courtesy of Uncle Sam.

Then we're all lucky Medieros was a dumbass. If he'd walked into the Foxy Lady with a shotgun, or a lever-action 30-06, the body count would likely have been higher.

The AR-15 was also used by John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, the 2002 Beltway snipers.

Exactly right, except for the part where it's completely wrong. I mean, an AR-15 and the Bushmaster XM-15 are both chambered in .223, so I guess they're kind of the same, in the sense that an 8-shot Lady Smith handgun is the same thing as an Uzi because they're both 9mm.

"If (Mr. Medeiros) didn't get an AR-15, he could have used anything to cause that mayhem. He could have made a bomb."

He could have used a sword or a knife or a length of metal pipe, and probably harmed more people in a crowded place. But murder-suicides aren't usually about body count; they're about going out with the proverbial bang. By walking in with a macho-looking rifle, he got to live out his Rambo fantasy.

Mr. Folco said he does not own any military-style weapons himself.

I do. Not military-style, but straight-up military. A Walther P-38 my great-uncle, a captain in Army intelligence, took off a dead German officer in France in 1944. It's in perfect working order, and I've fired it. I don't think I will again. Its value is as an heirloom, not a weapon, and trust me when I say that recoil suppression has come a long way in the last 60+ years. For a 9mm parabellum, it kicks like a mother.

I'm surprised his "why not" list didn't include an aircraft carrier or an ICBM with a 10-megaton MIRVed warhead. I mean, of you're going to jump into hysterical hyperbole, why not go whole hog?

More silliness about "military weapons," a scare phrase that has no relation to actual power or utility. Any reasonably competent hunter with a passable deer rifle -- or even a varmint gun, for that matter -- would be more than a match for an unpracticed loon with an AR-15.

According to Chief Teachman, the bullets cut through the cruiser door panels "like a hot knife through butter."

So would handgun bullets. So would arrows or crossbow bolts, for that matter. The parts of modern car door panels that aren't plastic are thin aluminum. Ducking behind the door in a shootout is better than standing in the open, but only because it's harder to aim at an unseen target. Any cop who thinks that a car door is an effective shield ought to be taught otherwise.

Chief Teachman said police are not typically trained to deal with a weapon such as the AR-15.

Sounds like a deficiency in the training regimen, Chief. How about ya see to that?

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