Posted on 02/16/2003 8:38:11 PM PST by conservativefromGa
John Strauss
Assault rifles offer a bit too much for home defense
February 14, 2003
As store shelves throughout the city are emptied of duct tape and plastic sheeting by people concerned about terrorist attacks, other folks think the best defense is a good offense.
Don Davis said gun sales at his Westside store have doubled since the latest terrorism alert. He said the $599 AK-47 is a top seller.
Davis became locally famous a few years ago with endlessly repeated TV commercials in which he cocked a finger at the camera and cackled, "Folks, I don't want to make money -- I just love to sell guns."
It turns out that terrorism sells.
"For me, when times are bad, business is good," Davis said Thursday.
He was at a trade show in Florida this week, shopping for gas masks for customers suddenly nervous about chemical or biological attacks.
At his Don's Guns, manager Ben Chance let me test-fire the AK-47 and a $999 Bushmaster, similar to the military M-16, in the store's indoor range.
The Bushmaster delivers a high-velocity round very accurately with little kick. The AK-47 will give you a jolt, but with that kick you get a larger round capable, they say, of going through a car's engine block.
Just what you need to stop terrorists invading your subdivision.
Of course, some people might end up with guns simply for home protection. And if that's the case, Chance says, an old-fashioned shotgun might do the trick.
"A 12-gauge is a nice gun to have in the house. You don't have to aim the gun. You just point it in the general vicinity, and you're actually going to hit what you're pointing toward, because (the shot) scatters."
Business also was up at 500 Guns on the Westside and at Pop Guns Trading Post on the Eastside. But managers at those stores said that had more to do with the arrival of income tax refund checks than Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein.
"There have been a few people come in and express concern," said Mike Hilton, the manager at Pop Guns. "But overall, people tend to be pretty complacent about it, to be honest."
Hilton said he recommends that someone who wants a gun take a training course. Then, once he has an idea of their skill level, he'll suggest a firearm -- often a small revolver.
He's not big on the AK-47 in this case. If used for self-defense, it's likely to "overpenetrate" -- go right through the attacker, through the wall of your home, through the wall of the next house and into somebody there.
Guy Montgomery, manager of 500 Guns, also recommends a revolver -- not a battlefield rifle -- for home defense.
Still, there's a magnetism about the assault weapons. Firing one of these guns is the shooting equivalent of twisting the throttle on a squat Harley -- lots of noise and simple, raw power.
They're fun, but they may not be real practical.
So if you're convinced al-Qaida is down the street and you want to establish a defensive perimeter in the front hallway, do the neighbors a favor.
Just borrow dad's old shotgun.
Due to the loose tolerances which lead to less a less accurate rifle as you mentioned it is.
Interesting. I will definitely have to do some more research!
Face it,if they had it would have been a VERY short movie.
Well,they were supposed to be the ancestors of today's birds. Can't see anybody pulling up to a drive-in window and ordering a bucket of T-Rex wings,though.
I'm pretty sure Dillon (the reloading press people) sell it through their free booklet "The Blue Press". They even have a toll free number you can call,but I don't know what it is anymore.I'm also pretty certain they have a web site. Do a search using "Dillon" and "reloading presses". Dillon himself is seriously into full-auto weapons,and has a bunch of them.
Actually, the word is that Steven Spielberg has "got religion" and will no longer allow ANY positive, favorable portrayal of guns or their use in his films. This DESPITE the hipocrite's having what is reported to be the finest gun collection in H'wood, shy of Heston.
After all, it was HE who digitally removed all the guns from "E.T." and replaced them with radios!
Of course, this does not apply to films like "Saving Private Ryan", wherein the guns are used against people he doesn't like.
I don't think I'd want to take one on willingly with less than a .460, and even THEN I'd want a larger-than-stock magazine.
For bigger game, like Brontos or Brachiosaurs, in the 30-70 ton range, a .50 would probably be best. Opinions? I KNOW it's pure speculation, but hell, it's fun.
You betcha! Especially blunt trauma caused by penetration from the wad! Think "plastic slug",and you won't be far off the mark. I've seen the plastic wad cup from light field loads in 20 gauge penetrate a galvanized steel 30 gallon trash can. And at typical room distances,that IS what you would be dealing with.
I'm assuming, for discussion's sake, that we are limited to non-destructive devices, AND that we would want to preserve as much of the meat as possible.
Believe it or not, in a discussion of this same topic in my shop, one guy SWORE that he could do it with his trusty bow and arrow. Lucky for him, he'd never had to prove it. He was a weird one, BTW.
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