Patrons of the Dynamik snackbar, take note: "No firearms in this restaurant.'' Posted on 01/26/2003 6:15:16 AM PST by SJackson
Patrons of the Dynamik snackbar, take note: "No firearms in this restaurant.''
But that does not apply to Dynamik owner and arms dealer Ricardo Teixeira. Two .44 Magnums are in full view on the bar and Ricardo totes a Czech CZ pistol and a 9 mm Heckler & Koch in side holsters. Outside, the shooting range reverberates with the staccato of small-arms fire.
A Hollywood film stage in Texas? Not exactly. Dynamik is a canteen-plus-armoury in the Geneva countryside, and there are hundreds of such establishments in peaceful Switzerland.
The number of firearms in this Alpine country is a multiple of the seven-million population, reflecting the Swiss tradition of the arms-bearing citizen, the heritage of the legendary William Tell, the 13th century national hero – even if his existence has never been proven.
The arms supermarket of Europe
Like used cars, small arms can be freely traded in Switzerland, or legally purchased in dozens of armouries or via the Internet.
The Swiss army is a national militia, with an army rifle in the home of every able-bodied citizen. So far, no problem. Swiss criminals may settle their scores with knives or clubs, but usually leave the official shooting-iron alone.
But even in this placid Alpine country times are changing. In 2001 a deranged burgher used his army weapon to decimate the cantonal parliament of Zug. Last year guns blazed in more than a dozen bloody family feuds.
To curb the mayhem and counter Switzerland's reputation as the ‘arms supermarket of Europe', the federal government wants to enact stringent arms control laws.
In the future, gun aficionados or collectors will need official permits to buy or exchange their hardware and police can search homes without warning for ‘particularly dangerous weapons,' – such as the lethal 50 BMG, a favourite toy of one shooting club in the Bernese Oberland. This long-range sniper's rifle with laser-scope can knock out an armoured personnel carrier from a distance of one kilometre.
Pro-Tell lobby
But the Swiss arms lobby is no less militant than its American brothers-in-arms of the National Rifle Association. The ‘Pro-Tell' lobby, grouping hundreds of thousands weekend-shooters, is lambasting the government project as "a sinister attempt to disarm the people.'' The new rules, Pro-Tell darkly warns, herald "a slide toward dictatorship."
But polls suggest that a majority of the people, women in particular, are in favour of shackling the gun toters, tradition or no. Ultimately, the issue may be decided in a nationwide referendum.
BWAHAHAHAHA! What ridiculous hyperbole from the anti-gun nutcases.
May they never be feminized.
Thank the Gods I married one that like the Big Iron. She doesn't like my 9mm, but loves the kick from the .357. Wants a .40 for herself.
BWAHAHAHAHA! What ridiculous hyperbole from the anti-gun nutcases
Can anyone explain to me, optically, how this could possibly work? Laser light travels in a straight line. Bullets don't. Also, even with optics, I don't think one is going to see a laser dot 1,000 feet away unless the laser itself is powerful enough to be used as a deliberately-targeted blinding weapon.
Do long-distance shooters even use laser scopes to take long-range shots?
You can correct for bullet drop by lowering the angle of the laser, but that only works if you calibrate it to a specific distance.
I suppose one could construct a laser-spotter with a calibrated distance scale, but that still leaves open the question of why one would bother. If one is using optics, they'll illustrate the proper point of aim more clearly at 1000m than would a laser, and if not using optics it's unclear how one will see a target well enough to know what to aim for. I suppose there might be some usefulness to having a combination of a laser and a scope, if the laser were above the scope and aimed down at a calibrated angle; in such case, the distance between the laser spot and the cross-hair point would indicate the distance to the target. Something other than the normal crosshairs would probably be good there, though; perhaps an "X"? [BTW, I've been toying with the idea of rotating my scope to show an "X" instead of a "+"; has anyone done this?
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