Posted on 09/20/2005 10:59:19 AM PDT by freepatriot32
If I gave you $7,000 to spend on whatever you wanted, what would you buy? Seven thousand dollars may not be a huge sum of money, but it is still a significant chunk of change. I mean, you could buy a car, pay your room and board at EMU for the year, or have 70% of the buy-in for the World Series of Poker main event. The list is almost endless, but there is one item in particular that really struck me as surprising when I learned that my gift money could purchase it. It is the Barrett M82A1 sniper rifle, and for the fairly modest amount of seven grand, you could take one home today.
To those of you unfamiliar with the M82A1, as I was, my saying that it could be purchased for that price may not strike you as startling or worrisome. Upon researching this firearm further, my opinion rapidly changed. Just looking at the weapon, totally ignorant of its capabilities, I could tell that this was no peashooter. It looks like a modern-day cannon, but with a comfortable pistol grip slapped on the bottom. Thanks to war movies and an uncle who's a card carrying NRA member, I have seen and fired my fair share of weaponry, but never had I even seen a firearm as intimidating as this one.
Reading the gun's specs proved to be more than intimidating; it was downright scary. According to the product's website, the M82A1 "easily fires the largest commercially available cartridge in the world, the .50 caliber." The weapon doesn't just fire .50 caliber cartridges like a few other weapons, but does so with ease. What sets it apart from other .50 caliber rifles is the fact that it is not bolt action, but semiautomatic with a ten round clip. Instead of having to manually discharge the empty cartridge then load the next, you can snap off ten shots as fast as you can pull the trigger. Ten rounds at a buck from any .50 caliber rifle will leave hunters with very little to mount. I also learned that the gun has an effective range of over 2,000 yards. Hunters generally shoot at targets 150-200 yards away, so accuracy over ten times that distance is understandable, right? No, it really isn't, especially with a weapon so powerful. Unless the gun was designed for hunters planning on shooting game from over a mile away and then walking 15 minutes to go retrieve it, this weapon could not have been made for hunting.
Sure enough, the M82A1 was not created for civilian gamesmen. It was designed for use in the military and in law enforcement, both of which herald the M107 as the premier big bore rifle (the M82A1 is the civilian version). Used by the United States armed forces as well as over 40 others worldwide, the weapon has won several awards and Barrett has yet to have a contract not renewed due to the military being unsatisfied. What makes the gun so loved by armies across the globe? Not only does it boast incredible range and extremely destructive ammunition (standard rounds can go through brick walls); it has minimal recoil and is extremely easy to fire. With the recoil of a 12-gauge shotgun if fired from the shoulder and considerably less when fired from the stock bipod, it is very easy for a soldier with little practice or training to become very proficient with the weapon. This reason for praise quickly becomes cause for alarm if the gun falls into the wrong hands.
Now that I knew how effective the weapon was, I looked up what its applications are. Due to their gratuitous power, these guns are used to attack stationary or landing aircraft, tanks, armored personnel carriers and concrete bunkers. They are very rarely used on single enemy combatants, just as I rarely swat flies with a baseball bat. Like a rocket launcher with a tighter shot pattern, these rifles destroy enemy aircraft and tanks cleaner, faster and from farther away.
I think I have established the fact that the Barrett M82A1 is any target's worst nightmare, but now I think we all need to look at why I can get one of these easier than I could get a handgun. There is absolutely no reason why a civilian would need to own this weapon, yet background checks are looser on this gun than on a handgun because the M82A1 falls under the category of "hunting rifle" (Honestly, who are they kidding?). The amount of havoc that can be caused by this weapon if it found its way into the wrong hands is off the charts. Pedestrians would have to worry the least; the rounds can go through motor vehicles, walls or aircraft shells from over a mile away. Whether it be terrorism or just criminal use, no one would be safe. Another feature of the weapon that should get the thing banned is its ease of use. With minimal training, anyone could become extremely accurate with this weapon, endangering everyone within a mile radius.
Despite my firm agreement with the Second Amendment, there are specific cases where the right to bear certain arms is significantly more dangerous than what may happen if one could not. This is one of those cases. The Barrett M82A1 .50 caliber rifle, as well as all other semiautomatic .50 caliber rifles, has no place in society. They are not effective hunting weapons, and anyone could defend themselves more than effectively with a less powerful gun. This weapon is extremely dangerous and not worth the risk.
The Democrat Politburo shall continue to nullify our rights through executive orders, treaties, and prima facia unConstitutional statutes with Ratified Constitutional nullifications through continuing judicial tyrannies.
The socialist/fascist elites shall press their Concord Bridges until Antietam II, from which they shall hide.
Under attack by Godless supreme federal socialists' "compelling State interests" "under color of law" since 1933, American liberty shall never again be assured by our Ratified Constitutional Republic unless We the People stand up to those who have become our rulers.
Oh yea, how about these, it uses the same ammunition:
Or this, it uses a "slightly larger" (30 mm vs. 12.7 mm) round:
What a wuss.
True, but it would be useful for stopping the fleeing felons after the robbery, wouldn't it. It'll shoot right through the average engine block. :)
Not too unlikely, if you are close enough, the airplane is going fairly slow, and your rifle is a full auto, such an M-16, AK-47 or M-14, and you target the cockpit. The plane isn't going to fly itself with holes in the pilots. But with a semi-auto or other single shot per trigger pull rifle? Not bloody likely.
Bull S**t!
Even an M1, 40 years out of print, is too expensive. They're none too accessible yet in my book but bring the price of a cherry Garand down to the $300 some good loking Mauser 98's go for and I think we may have this problem solved.
But there will probably be collateral damage downrange after the round goes through the engine block. An armor piercing RPG through the driver's door with be a more appropriate approach against a car full of criminals. Unfortunately, the ammo shelf at Walmart is perpetually out of stock on RPG type devices.
You'll love this if you've never seen it before..... http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot16.htm
First they will Ban, to 50BMG, then it will be Ar-15's and the like, then it will be out semi auto shotguns, then it iwll be our hunting rifles, then it will be our pump shotguns and 22's, and finally our bows and arrows for us archers out there.... There is NOOOOO compromise with these people.. they are our enemies and we must fight them to the very end!
Sure you can hanve my guns, right after i make you look up the barrol of my 12 gauge shotgun and give you a nice BANGGGGGGGGG!
That commie puke maggot needs his head removed from an unauthorized orifice. Regardless of what the gun-grabbers want, the Constitution does not regulate the caliber of the firearms we own. We do have restrictions on our ownership of firearms thanks to a couple of stupid laws passed in 1934 and 1968 by DEMOCRATS. We should be working to get those two laws either repealed by the Congress or overturned by the courts. Let the gun-grabbers play defense for a change.
BTW, if the commie puke maggot hoplophobe got a look inside my gun safe he'd have to change his drawers. I don't own a Barrett (yet), but I do have something with a bore just as big, and it ain't a shotgun.
Yeah, the NFA is a bitch.
I guess I was only thinking about stuff you can own without saying "Uncle May I" (other than "may I buy a gun at all")
Wow, Does that mean that my semiautomatic .50 caliber muzzle loader should be banned? My goodness Whatever next? This guy has rocks in his head. Sure that gun is around. How many of us on this posting can afford to buy the Barret. Nice gun, but I converted the aiming barrel of my 90mm recoiless rifle long ago. It gets the job done.
Little Ray, You'll love his page.
Finnish, L-39 Lahti 20mm Anti-Tank
Cannon at the bottom.
SWEET!
I like miniguns.
Adam (pampers) Slingwein get a load of the future.
Exactly! The fact that he apparently isn't is telling of the liberal mindset.
I'd prefer a 1903 Springfield 1903A3 with a good nightscope.
But then I'm an atavist.
It seems that the writer doesn't like to have a rifle that is easy to use and accurate. The fact that it is 50 caliber is inmaterial. I dont believe the type of gun matters if you are on the recieving end. Dead is dead no matter what type of gun.
Planes can take a 50 caliber bullet easily. Heard there was a Boeing that lost its roof and landed. Planes have lost engines and landed . A little hole is not that dangerous unless he got a lucky shot at a pilot.
This is definiately a sniper rifle. The only people that can afford it would probably be collectors. Not many will use it to shoot game or man at 2000 yards. This is defininately not a rifle that I am concerned being in private civilian hands. May need it if war ever happens in the states.
I f someone wants to spend their money that is their right.
I just can't understand people getting scared by a big caliber weapon. I am not likely to be shot by a sniper and a 45 caliber bullet would damage me enough that a 50 caliber doesn't scare, either can kill me.
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