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Contra Costa redies ban on .50 caliber rifles
Contra Costa Times ^ | August 9, 2003 | Peter Felsenfeld

Posted on 08/11/2003 12:23:22 PM PDT by Socratease

County studies, readies rifle bill By Peter Felsenfeld CONTRA COSTA TIMES

All it would take is a willing mind and a powerful explosive to turn Contra Costa's hulking oil refineries into giant chemical bombs.

In an age of terrorism and readily available weapons, neither prospect can be completely discounted.

So Contra Costa supervisors are scheduled Tuesday to take aim at a readily available gun they say presents just such a threat. The board is expected to ask county attorneys to draft an ordinance that would ban the sale of .50-caliber BMG rifles in unincorporated areas.

The measure would be based on similar legislation approved in Los Angeles this summer. Supervisors say they want Contra Costa cities to follow with similar laws.

Such steps are necessary because any person could purchase the weapon, set up on a hillside and cause some major damage to a refinery, said Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond. The gun is often fired as it rests on stand.

"These are not the kind of things that are used by street gangs, because they're so big and obvious," he said. "They're more likely to be used by bad people who are intent on causing serious harm."

Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, introduced legislation this year to curb the manufacture and sale of .50-caliber rifles statewide. His bill, AB50, stalled in the Senate Public Safety Committee last month.

The weapons generally weigh between 30 and 50 pounds, and can be bought legally in stores or online for about $5,000, said Dan Lilja, owner of Lilja Precision Rifle Barrels, which manufactures barrels for the guns.

The world's most skilled marksman can hit targets with the rifle up to 1,980 yards away, according to the Fifty Caliber Club Web site.

Supervisor Gayle Uilkema of Lafayette said the guns could fire exploding bullets through 8 inches of steel, and certainly through containers transporting hazardous materials.

"There is no way we can completely shut off access to the refineries," she said. "The gun has the capability to destroy refinery equipment."

The ordinance would probably set off a firestorm of opposition from gun advocates. Chuck Michel, spokesman for the California Rifle and Pistol Association, called Uilkema's statement "utter crap."

"There's absolutely no way it can pierce 8 inches of steel."

He said the supervisors were stoking fears of terrorism to push an anti-gun agenda and mask the rifle's legitimate sporting uses.

"These rifles are legal for a reason: they're primarily used for hunting and target shooting events," he said. "If a terrorist really wanted to destroy a refinery, he could get his hands on a rocket-propelled grenade on the black market."

(Excerpt) Read more at bayarea.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: 50bmg; anotherstupidexcerpt; banglist; doesntknowhowtopost; gunban; guncontrol; idontreadexcerpts; learnhowtopost; stopexcerptmadness; thisisntlucianne; wheresthefullarticle; whytheexcerpt
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To: Bluntpoint
"Go back an play with your fairy dust!"

You'd be suprised with the performance you can get with fairy dust behind a 124gr 9mm JHP. It is, however, difficult to find a paddle holster that doesn't bulge my tights. 8^)

61 posted on 08/11/2003 1:30:27 PM PDT by AngryJawa
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To: AngryJawa
Pansy!

Real men load with fairy dust +p.
62 posted on 08/11/2003 1:31:49 PM PDT by Bluntpoint
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To: Bluntpoint
But you don't have to be a big movie star to know that condomized hamsters can really work your tickle spot!

I really don't know how to respond to that. AJ is now frightened and just a little nauseated. =8^O

63 posted on 08/11/2003 1:36:17 PM PDT by AngryJawa
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To: AngryJawa
Alergic to latex?

Try sheepskin.

This time remove the sheep.
64 posted on 08/11/2003 1:38:20 PM PDT by Bluntpoint
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To: Bluntpoint
Real men load with fairy dust +p.

Can't seem to find any recipies using that powder in Ken Waters' "Pet Loads" manual. Nothing in Hornady book either. Help!

65 posted on 08/11/2003 1:52:03 PM PDT by TexasRepublic
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To: Bluntpoint
This time remove the sheep.

Thanks for the tip, sir. Works like a charm.

66 posted on 08/11/2003 1:59:29 PM PDT by AngryJawa
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To: Flint
"I have no doubt that once they ban the .50 cal in Contra Costa (where ever the hell that is), all the terrorists will start throwing their .50 cals. away and no longer be a threat to their oil refineries. After all, the terrorists would not want to violate a town ordinance."

Actually, since they are only proposing "an ordinance that would ban the sale of .50-caliber BMG rifles," the terrorists would not have to break the law, but would have to be inconvenienced into buying a rifle in an incorporated part of the county, or ANY WHERE ELSE IN THE FREAKIN' WORLD(!).
67 posted on 08/11/2003 2:01:01 PM PDT by Atlas Sneezed
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To: Lazamataz
I have a puppy gun. I use it to launch puppies over the Atlanta skyline.

LMAO. Holy $%!^, that had me crying. This whole tread has me laughing.
68 posted on 08/11/2003 2:11:38 PM PDT by CollegeRepublican
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To: CollegeRepublican
What? You think Laz is kidding?
69 posted on 08/11/2003 2:17:49 PM PDT by AngryJawa
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To: Bluntpoint
Frigit?
70 posted on 08/11/2003 2:27:47 PM PDT by handk
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To: handk
Schwartzeneggerian pronunciation of "frigid".
71 posted on 08/11/2003 2:29:53 PM PDT by AngryJawa
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To: Beelzebubba
once they ban the .50 cal in Contra Costa (where ever the hell that is),

Bedroom community east of SF. Chevron and Shell have MAJOR refineries here, along with a bunch of small firms. After the legislation is passed, the terrorist will focus on the refineries on the otherside of the bay, in Solano county and I'll feel much safer.

72 posted on 08/11/2003 2:41:09 PM PDT by Drango (Democratic fundraising....If PBS won't do it, who will?)
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To: Socratease
This is silly. You outlaw .50 caliber and pretty soon somebody will tape two .25 caliber guns together and there you are. They want to be safe about this, they're gonna have to outlaw duct tape. And electrician's tape. Masking tape's OK, but it always tears wrong on me and then you get this little string of tape going round and round and round the spool and you have to pick it apart with your fingernail and get adhesive stuff underneath, which is really gross. Nobody after a refinery's gonna put up with adhesive under his nail, that's for sure. Doesn't it make you mad when that happens with toilet paper? Not the adhesive stuff, I mean the little string going round and round and round the roll and you have to wipe really bad and then you try to tear it and the whole roll comes apart in your hand and there isn't a spare so you end up with this wad of tissue fragments that comes apart when you use it and now you've got the stuff all over the place and stuck on the sole of your shoe too.

That's why we need gun control.

73 posted on 08/11/2003 2:45:38 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Central_Floridian
The round I was referring to was the SLAP (saboted light armor piercing) round that I have. It has a tungsten penetrator rod that is supposed to do pretty nicely against most lightly armored vehicles.
74 posted on 08/11/2003 2:57:36 PM PDT by SLB
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Comment #75 Removed by Moderator

To: Socratease
Feh...who needs .50 cal?...gimme one of these...hehehe...
76 posted on 08/11/2003 3:07:43 PM PDT by Brian Mosely
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To: Bluntpoint
I heard Arnold wants to get businesses back to California so he can set up some programs that would help the less fortunate of us afford a .50 rifle.
77 posted on 08/11/2003 5:46:07 PM PDT by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (Soccer Mom's flee the Rats for Bush in his flight suit: I call this the Moisture Factor. MF high!)
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To: Bluntpoint
First all you bastards shoot all the buffalo, now you are wiping out our great herds of galaxies.

Sickening!

I didn't do it, nobody saw me, you can't prove a thing. Hey! Those photos are inadmissable as evidence! And besides, I'm busy trying to find the real buffalo-slayer....

78 posted on 08/11/2003 5:50:50 PM PDT by archy (Keep in mind that the milk of human kindness comes from a beast that is both cannibal and a vampire.)
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To: Lazamataz

Nuke50 BMG


"Sure, it's all fun and games ...until someone loses a major metropolitan city."

79 posted on 08/11/2003 5:51:12 PM PDT by FreedomPoster (this space intentionally blank)
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To: FreedomPoster
"Sure, it's all fun and games ...until someone loses a major metropolitan city."

And then it turns downright hilarious :)

80 posted on 08/11/2003 6:03:50 PM PDT by Centurion2000 (We are crushing our enemies, seeing him driven before us and hearing the lamentations of the liberal)
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