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 AmericansLetter 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, DCU.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 destructionthey 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 rifleswhich U.S. Marines used in the Gulf War to knock out Iraqi armored vehicles from 1,750 yards awayand 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 manufacturersnearly 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 chemicalsthe 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 facilitiesterrorists 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.
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.
So, anyway, where is this climate of bipartisanship that Mark Shields and all the MOR talking heads were telling us about?
He has always tried is eviscerate the 2nd amendment, but why the focus on the .50 cal.?
Methinks it's penis envy.
5.56mm
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.
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/
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.
In the future, no bullet may be sold whose diameter is greater than that of my nostrils.
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.
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