Posted on 07/07/2005 3:44:36 PM PDT by holymoly
"Missing: One M-60 assault rifle."
That's not a message Chief Deputy Hondo Wooten wants to give area residents, but due to the large number of active duty and retired military personnel in the area, Wooten said he has little choice. When stolen from a Joplin-area gun show on Sunday, June 21, the gun was broken and whoever stole it will be trying to obtain spare parts -- possibly trying to buy the parts from current or former military personnel rather than authorized dealers.
Wooten said the M-60 assault rifle would be very dangerous if it gets into the wrong hands.
"It's a weapon which is specifically designed for combat," Wooten said. "It does have the capacity for full automatic with a cyclical fire rate of 800 to 1,200 rounds per minute."
Anyone shooting the M-60 won't need to be very accurate to kill an opponent, Wooten said.
"You don't even need to point; just hold it in their general direction and pull the trigger," Wooten said.
According to Bert Guy from Gatling Guns in Arizona, the gun was stolen from a Class III dealer at the Oklahoma Full Auto machine gun shoot. Wooten said a Class III dealer has a legitimate right to stock and possess the items stolen, but other people may not be as scrupulous.
"Fortunately this gun had broken at the shoot on Saturday so the thieves will be looking for replacement parts," Guy wrote in an e-mail message to area law enforcement agencies.
"Spread the word and let's get this gun back to its rightful owner," Guy wrote. "Let's spread the word and bust these jerks."
Guy said at least two different rewards are available for the stolen gun and more may be offered later.
Items needed to make the gun operable include an extractor, extractor spring and roller bearings, but Wooten said people may try to purchase other M-60 parts as well.
"Although the weapon is supposed to be inoperable because of a broken part, anybody with a knowledge of gunsmithing could buy what they need to make it fully operational and fully automatic," Wooten said. "We don't necessarily believe the gun is in Pulaski County, but due to the potential risk posed by this weapon, we want to make sure all law enforcement know about it."
According to the Joplin Police Department staff member handling the case, those with information about people trying to buy M-60 parts should contact Detective David Lewis at the department's main number, (417) 623-3131. Wooten can be contacted at 774-6196.
Hey Wooten! IT'S NOT AN ASSUALT RIFLE! It's a belt fed machine gun! Try to get it right! I suppose that he thinks that "assault rifle" is scarier than "machine gun." Given the fact that most in the press don't know the difference between the two, he may just be trying to stir up panic.
I have a mental picture of Chief Deputy Hondo. No, I just have an opinion of his mentality.
The guy's a blitering idiot!
"It's a weapon which is specifically designed for combat," Wooten said. "It does have the capacity for full automatic with a cyclical fire rate of 800 to 1,200 rounds per minute."
While it has "the capacity for full automatic (fire)," it does NOT have the capacity for semi-automatic fire! It's a freaking Machine Gun!
Anyone shooting the M-60 won't need to be very accurate to kill an opponent, Wooten said.
"You don't even need to point; just hold it in their general direction and pull the trigger," Wooten said.
Yes, that's right... You don't even need to point it at someone to kill them... It's all done by magic! Geez! This guy is the biggest crap-weasal I've seen in a long time.
Mark
Mark, I can make an M60 fire semi-auto. Done it many times.
Someone trained with it can do so. It's doubtful that one who stole it would be able or willing to do so. Spray and pray is "so much more fun!" - NOT. Though aimed full auto is a blast.
Mark
Thanks for admitting the error and taking responsibility for it. It shows some guts.
Welcome aboard.
Sigh. I miss my pig!
Good morning, Mr. Maurina. I'm sorry I suggested you were a girl. (Your other quotes were from other posters.) I'm part of a small group of FReepers that discusses unusual names, and yours would have been very unusual, for a girl :-).
I'm also interested in the accurate attribution of statements, which is why I made a point of mentioning that the Chief Deputy was not quoted, in whatever statement was under dispute last summer.
Have a nice day!
On the other hand, your post doesn't say that you aren't a girl.
Actually an M-60 can not be made to fire semi-automatically without major mechanical alterations. A trained operator can, however, fire fully automatically in one round bursts.
For those who honestly don't know what an "assault rifle" is (e.g. liberal lurkers), here you go...
The true, historical, documented definition of "assault rifle" is:
"Military firearm that is chambered for ammunition of reduced size or propellant charge and that has the capacity to switch between semiautomatic and fully automatic fire." - Encyclopedia Britannica
If it's semi-automatic only, it does not meet the definition of an "assault rifle". I.E. The SKS Carbine, which is semi-automatic only, is not an "assault rifle".
If it's chambered for either a handgun cartridge (i.e. 9mm Uzi) or full power rifle cartridge (i.e. .30-06 M1 Garand), it does not meet the definition of an "assault rifle".
Brief History:
The term "assault rifle" comes from the German "Sturmgewehr". The Sturmgewehr was a selective-fire weapon, chambered for a cartidge called the "7.92mm Kurz". The 7.92mm Kurz had a case length of 33mm, as opposed to the 57mm case length of the 7.92mm Mauser cartridge, which was the standard rifle & machine gun cartridge of the Wermacht during WW2.
Apparently any weapon that looks scary to the panty waists over at the Boston Globe
The left would very much like to re-define "assault rifle" to mean "any rifle except muzzle loaders, or rifles that employ a manually-operated bolt, pump, or lever action".
but is it elastic enough to include a "crew serviced weapon."?
Only if you're a blithering idiot, or dishonest. Which, of course, describes about 99.99% of the liberal "reporters", "journalists", MSM, etc.
LOL. Technically, you are correct. Silly, but correct. ;)
Thanks to each of the people cited below for your comments, and apologies to anyone I missed.
I believe in taking responsibility for my mistakes. I blew it, I had a ton of calls from local veterans (including a retired chaplain in my church who began his Army career in the enlisted ranks as infantry in Vietnam and used an M-60) and apologized to them, and now that I became aware of this discussion on the internet, I wanted to apologize here as well.
My only caution, speaking as one conservative to other conservatives: please be aware that reporters aren't all blithering liberal idiots.... sometimes we're just blithering idiots! After a decade and a half in the media I am very much aware of liberal bias issues, but please don't assume every error is due to liberal bias. Sometimes when a reporter fouls up a story, it just means he blew it, not that he brought bias to the table.
Responding specifically to the question by taxchick: Yes, my name can be female (think Daryl Hannah) but I am male.
However, I'm not sure what that has to do with marksmanship. I grew up with a mother (also trained as a reporter by the way) whose father was an avid hunter and taught her to be a much better shot than my father despite all of his years in the military. And after working around military installations for most of the last five years, I am very much aware that being female is no barrier to being a good shot.
Drill sergeants tell me that male recruits are more likely to be familiar with hunting rifles than female recruits, but those skills don't always transfer well to military weaponry. Also, when working with a private who knows very little about weapons, women are more likely than men to listen to directions, do what they're told, and have the steady hand that's necessary to be a good shot. And that's not just modern "blow-em-away" weapons... the best shot in our local muzzleloading club is a teenage girl whose dad and granddad were both Army sergeants and took up muzzleloaders to prove that women could shoot just as well as the guys if they put their minds to it.
Regards,
Darrell Todd Maurina
Taxchick wrote: “Good morning, Mr. Maurina. I'm sorry I suggested you were a girl. (Your other quotes were from other posters.) I'm part of a small group of FReepers that discusses unusual names, and yours would have been very unusual, for a girl :-). I'm also interested in the accurate attribution of statements, which is why I made a point of mentioning that the Chief Deputy was not quoted, in whatever statement was under dispute last summer. Have a nice day! On the other hand, your post doesn't say that you aren't a girl.”
Doggone wrote: “Thanks for admitting the error and taking responsibility for it. It shows some guts. Welcome aboard.”
Nullandvoid wrote: “Thanks.”
Patton wrote: “LOL. Welcome aboard.”
This guy is like the typical city police force official, a real ass kisser and not very bright, always sure to make the politically correct pronouncement so as not to offend the sensibilities of the poor panty waists that make up the bulk of the populace in an area like where I live (Los Angeles)! My son is an LA County Sheriff’s Deputy and he is a shooter and very firearms savvy. He often times shakes his head when he talks about some of the firearms illiterate deputies he has to work with. He says that you just have to hope you don’t get stopped by one of those morons or you will be getting very aquatinted with the criminal justice system (or lack there of!) in the county!
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