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Waxman Seeks 50 Caliber Ban
Violence Policy Center ^ | 10/11/01 | Naomi Seligman

Posted on 10/13/2001 7:40:53 AM PDT by sailor4321

Congressman Waxman Urges Gov. Ridge, Sec. Of State Powell Take Immediate Action to Protect Americans—Letter in Response to VPC Report Warning of Tools of Terror Obtained by Osama Bin Laden

Al Qaeda Terror Network Bought 25 Barrett 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles

"Super Guns" Can Down Helicopters, Defeat Armored Limousines, Destroy Aircraft at Terminals, Ignite Fuel Tanks, From Over a Mile

Violence Policy Center Report Documents Sale, Details Terror Potential

WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Government Reform Committee, sent letters this week to the two ranking officials charged with keeping the United States safe from terrorism, Director of the Office of Homeland Security, Governor Tom Ridge and Secretary of State Colin Powell. The letters are in response to a VPC report documenting that the U.S. gun industry sold at least twenty-five 50 caliber sniper rifles to Al Qaeda according to a new 101-page study, Voting from the Rooftops: How the Gun Industry Armed Osama Bin Laden, Other Foreign and Domestic Terrorists, and Common Criminals with 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles released by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) this week. Congressman Waxman urges in the letters that immediate action be taken to remedy the serious and immediate terrorist threat posed by long-range 50 caliber sniper weapons.

Congressman Waxman is urging the Bush Administration to immediately stop granting licenses to export 50 caliber weapons to civilians.

"These 50 caliber sniper rifles in the hands of Al Qaeda, or any terrorist, domestic or foreign, have the capacity to cause horrific destruction—they are ideal tools for terror and assassination— and are easier to buy than handguns," said the study's author, Tom Diaz, VPC's senior policy analyst. "They have already been used internationally by the IRA to kill British policemen and obtained domestically by terror groups who have plotted to assassinate top U.S. officials and destroy civilian targets."

Voting From the Rooftops details the tremendous power of the Barrett M82A1 50 caliber sniper rifles—which U.S. Marines used in the Gulf War to knock out Iraqi armored vehicles from 1,750 yards away—and the gun's potential use to commit terror acts in the U.S. that could cause enormous casualties. The Barrett sniper rifle has spawned a bourgeoning market for these types of weapons which are becoming cheaper, lighter, and more widely available. There are known to be at least fifteen 50 caliber sniper rifle manufacturers—nearly double the number of companies that were manufacturing and marketing 50 calibers to civilians in 1999.

Voting from the Rooftops explains the enormous range of 50 caliber sniper rifles, the explosive power of special armor-piercing and armor-piercing incendiary ammunition easily available in the United States, and why this war-fighting power creates a grave threat to all Americans. Among the dangers the study details are:

How 50 caliber sniper rifles can create disaster at U.S. industrial facilities handling explosive, toxic, or volatile chemicals—the kind of threat terrorism analysts already warn transforms a target into a weapon.

Why a report for the Air Force warned that 50 caliber sniper rifles endanger aircraft, bulk fuel tanks, fuel trucks, and other airport facilities—terrorists can turn planes into "bombs on the ground."

The rash of 50 caliber sniper rifles found in the arsenals of domestic terrorist and extremist groups, including one that plotted to kill a state governor, U.S. Senator, and federal judges.


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Let's not let the likes of Waxman be the only voice in this matter. Here's a draft letter that can be used as a basis for our own letters to Ridge and Powell.

Tom Ridge
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
Office of Homeland Security
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Fax: 202-456-2461

Colin L. Powell
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
Fax: 202-261-8577

I am writing to urge you not to place restrictions on the possession of 50 Caliber rifles as proposed by Representative Henry Waxman. Mr. Waxman, a long time opponent of the second amendment and a gun phobe, is attempting to exploit the current situation to further his own agenda rather than security here in the U.S. This is shameful behavior on his part.

Furthermore, the Congressman's position with regard to 50 caliber rifles is based on a poorly researched, hysterical "policy paper" prepared by the Violence Policy Center, an organization which has shown no reluctence to use false and/or misleading data to support its outlandish claims. The subject "report" is no exception, amounting to little more than speculation about how 50 Caliber weapons might be used, making unsubstantiated claims about such weapons having been sold to foreign terrorists and making false implication that such weapons have been used for terror in the U.S. In fact, such weapons have not been used illegally in the U.S., but rather are a component of civilian marksmanship programs.

Rather than follow Representative Waxman's path (which leads ultimately to de facto abolishment of the second amendment), I urge you to consider that our current gun laws in the United States in fact facilitate terrorism by creating thousands of so-called "gun-free" zones (such as the four airliners that were hijacked on September 11) that would be attractive targets for terrorists. Our gun laws also unduly restrict law abiding citizens from arming appropriately to protect themselves and others in light of the increased danger we are all in as a result of this war. It is time that existing gun restrictions on law abiding citizens be lifted in order to increase deterrence against terrorism, and I urge you to make such a measure a cornerstone of your Homeland Security program.


1 posted on 10/13/2001 7:40:53 AM PDT by sailor4321 (sailor4321@home.com)
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To: sailor4321
Wouldn't it be simpler and far more productive to ban Waxman?
2 posted on 10/13/2001 7:50:04 AM PDT by Hoosier
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To: Mercuria; AnnaZ; HangFire
bump
3 posted on 10/13/2001 7:50:16 AM PDT by lowbridge
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To: sailor4321
Go away Waxman.
4 posted on 10/13/2001 7:54:35 AM PDT by caseyblane
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To: Hoosier
Announcing the Waxman Emoticon!
5 posted on 10/13/2001 7:56:25 AM PDT by RightOnTheLeftCoast
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To: Hoosier
What is it about Waxman, anyway, that makes him such a deadly snore on firearms issues? Does he have a personal stake in the issue? Is his constituency composed 70% of single women over age 50? Or is he just a committed, jackbooted statist?

So, anyway, where is this climate of bipartisanship that Mark Shields and all the MOR talking heads were telling us about?

6 posted on 10/13/2001 7:57:16 AM PDT by lentulusgracchus
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To: Hoosier
...blush...

Let's try that again:

Announcing the Waxman Emoticon!
7 posted on 10/13/2001 7:57:55 AM PDT by RightOnTheLeftCoast
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To: lentulusgracchus
He's from Hollywood. Nuff said.
8 posted on 10/13/2001 8:02:01 AM PDT by Dan from Michigan
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

To: sailor4321
I wonder why Waxman is fixated on the .50 BMG now?

He has always tried is eviscerate the 2nd amendment, but why the focus on the .50 cal.?

Methinks it's penis envy.

5.56mm

10 posted on 10/13/2001 8:06:13 AM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: caseyblane

Uhm...Excuse me Nostrolitis, but this
is not a problem, unless in the hands
of a criminal?

 


11 posted on 10/13/2001 8:07:18 AM PDT by FresnoDA
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To: Hoosier
Wouldn't it be simpler and far more productive to ban Waxman?

Traitors need to go. Waxman won't condemn marches of pacisfists nor will support war. If Waxman is worried about terrorism then why does he focuses on guns instead of booting dangerous foreign elements? DIsgusting the way they are deflecting the anger against terrorists onto law abiding citizens. Clintonesque.

12 posted on 10/13/2001 8:07:24 AM PDT by lavaroise
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To: sailor4321
Think your letter needs the modifications that I have made below.

Tom Ridge
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
Office of Homeland Security
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Fax: 202-456-2461

Colin L. Powell
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
Fax: 202-261-8577

I am writing to urge you not to place restrictions on the possession of 50 Caliber rifles as proposed by Representative Henry Waxman. Mr. Waxman, a long time opponent of the second amendment and a gun phobe, is attempting to exploit the current situation to further his own agenda rather than security here in the U.S. This is shameful behavior on his part.

Furthermore, the Congressman's position with regard to 50 caliber rifles is based on a poorly researched, hysterical "policy paper" prepared by the Violence Policy Center, an organization which has shown no reluctence to use false and/or misleading data to support its outlandish claims. The subject "report" is no exception, amounting to little more than speculation about how 50 Caliber weapons might be used, making unsubstantiated claims about such weapons having been sold to foreign terrorists and making false implication that such weapons have been used for terror in the U.S. In fact, such weapons have not been used illegally in the U.S., but rather are a component of civilian marksmanship programs. Rather than follow Representative Waxman's path (which leads ultimately to de facto abolishment of the second amendment), I urge you to consider that our current gun laws in the United States in fact facilitate terrorism by creating thousands of so-called "gun-free" zones (such as the four airliners that were hijacked on September 11) that would be attractive targets for terrorists. Our gun laws also unduly restrict law abiding citizens from arming appropriately to protect themselves and others in light of the increased danger we are all in as a result of this war. It is time that existing gun restrictions on law abiding citizens be lifted in order to increase deterrence against terrorism, and I urge you to make such a measure a cornerstone of your Homeland Security program.

Yours in freedom and liberty,

/s/

13 posted on 10/13/2001 8:11:40 AM PDT by Norb2569
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To: sailor4321
Clearly there's not a level beyond which Rep Waxman won't sink to perpetuate his ill conceived concepts of self defense and the second amendment. With those hot hair sucking nostrils of his he better stay VERY far away from these reported airborn contaminates.
14 posted on 10/13/2001 8:12:43 AM PDT by VA Advogado
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To: sailor4321
Shouldn't box cutters, razor blades and pen knives be the first weapons on Waxman's weapon ban list.
15 posted on 10/13/2001 8:13:38 AM PDT by vbmoneyspender
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To: Hoosier
Ban Waxman - I second that.

Just think what a .50 cal would do to a terrorist in a plane cabin. While were at it lets ban that kbraqdy bitch too.

16 posted on 10/13/2001 8:15:09 AM PDT by chainsaw
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To: chainsaw
If .50's are banned, .40's won't be far behind.
17 posted on 10/13/2001 8:17:48 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: Hoosier
Waxman Seeks 50 Caliber Ban

“In the future, no bullet may be sold whose diameter is greater than that of my nostrils.”


Socialists in Congress? Click on the zeppelin, Grasshopper.

18 posted on 10/13/2001 8:20:21 AM PDT by EdZep
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To: sailor4321
With a name like "Waxman", the pun is obvious.
19 posted on 10/13/2001 8:21:41 AM PDT by PatrioticAmerican
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To: Carol-HuTex
Which side is this person on?

His own. The .50 is not a weapon that would be used to incite terror. If you want to scare a bunch of people, you don't choose a weapon that has such a low fire rate, and the ability to kill just one person.
Nope, what Henry is worried about is the idea of the "voting from the rooftops", the VPC is pushing this to scare the limosine liberals. Henry knows about the 3 boxes of political change, and figures he can get socialism pushed past the first 2. He's worried about the third box. The BMG is an effective weapon to institute the third box of political change, if it becomes necessary.

20 posted on 10/13/2001 8:22:02 AM PDT by MrB
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