I have (attempted) to post a response there. Whether the moderators will allow it remains to be seen. It was difficult to formulate a response, without referring to Helmke as a loathsome, reprehensible, despicable, dishonest sack of human excrement. But I managed. Somehow.
Here's my (attempted) response:
The firearms available to U.S. civilians are not "the types of guns we use in Iraq".
The firearms sold in the U.S., such as the AR-15, are semi-automatic ONLY. That means, when you pull the trigger, they fire one round (bullet) and one round ONLY.
The weapons used by our military are selective-fire. This means they are capable of BOTH semi-automatic AND fully-automatic fire.
Automatic weapons have been strictly regulated in the United States since passage of the National Firarms Act of 1934.
One does not simply walk into a gun store, and purchase an automatic weapon, as the dishonest Mr. Helmke would like you to believe.
Helmke states:
"...two states in the heart of the country have sustained mass shootings by people armed with by people armed with military-style assault rifles..."
Assault rifles, by definition, are selective-fire. ("Assault rifle" comes from the German "Sturmgewehr". The term, and it's defintion, are derived from the first "assault rifle", the "Sturmgewehr 44".)
The firearms used in the most recent attacks were semi-automatic only. They are not "assault rifles". Referring to semi-automatic rifles as "assault rifles" demonstrates a noted lack of veracity.
Helmke further states:
"...the type of bullet many assault weapons fire (7.62mm full metal jacket) can penetrate four categories of police body armor..."
The same is true of ALL center-fire rifle ammunition.
All classes of body armor are rated to stop certain calibers of ammuntion.
Class III & Class IV body armors are rated to stop rifle rounds (.308 Winchester & .30-06, respectively).
The other classes ("I" through "III-A") do NOT stop rifle rounds. These classes of body armor are not INTENDED to stop rifle rounds. They are rated to stop certain calibers of hand-gun ammunition, only.
Banning ammunition capable of penetrating certain classes of soft-body armor would mean a ban on ALL rifle ammunition.
If this is Mr. Helmkes' goal, I wish he would state it openly, and honestly, and without the hyperbole and misinformation.
Heck, yes! I wanna M-242 for my SUV. Hooah!
The Brady bunch is doing their blood dance right on cue.
The Mall was a GUN FREE zone, no concealed Carry even with a permit, and a massacre happened. The church shooting was stopped because a good lady was armed.
Yes, the public does get those. You of course are not the public. You are a private citizen.
Heck, yes!!
If I could have the M-16A2 I used in the Army, I would be a happy camper!!
Uh..only to look at, of course!
Good thing she doesn’t mention my 4 shot BAR 300 winmag
Yeah, What you said!
Perfect Response!
YES, YES, YES. Nowhere in the Constitution does it put a limit on the types of Arms I can have. America is free because of wealthy men who stored up all sorts of weapons that would make a lieberal or a RINO pee their pants.
Unadulterated manure.
“Helmke attended Yale at the same time that former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton [sic] and was an acquaintance of each.” Per Wikipedia.
Yet again these newspapers ask the wrong questions. You don’t need an AK-47 to go hunting or to protect your house. But you do need one to protect yourself from your government. When people CAN own AK-47s and the like, the government will be nice and pacified. When that right is taken away we will see more Ruby Ridges and Wacos.
The government that fears that its people could get ticked off and decide to violently overthrow the government (perhaps with heads on pikes) is a government that is going to tread lightly. A government that doesn’t fear that can do anything it wants.
This question has a simple answer; which is based upon the very reason that We The People have been endowed by God with the individual Right To keep and Bear Arms.
The Public should have ready access to the use of the same level and quality of Firearms that the various Agencies of the Federal and State Governments have potential contingencies and intent for use against said individual members of the Public.
What is interesting is when the Brady Campaign was still doing business as Hangun Control Inc.(1981), they put out a statement that they had no interest in controling long guns, only handguns.
At that time you could get new full auto registered firearms, imported AK-47s and a whole slew of semi-auto military style rifles not abailable today.
You have my nomination for the most informative homepage of any current or past FReeper.........Nice job!
I’ve bookkmarked it for future references...........
Hell yes! That would be nice. But unfortunately we can't, so the question is a dishonest one meant to take advantage of public stupidity and the stupidity of some presidential candidates (whose answer to the question is a good indication of what they know about anything at all.
In Sweden(?) everyone has a Military automatic "assault" weapon in their closet issued them by the government. Yet you don't see anyone getting shot up with them. Proof that guns don't kill people, criminals kill people, and the criminals in that country aren't issued that military assault rifle.
The guns used in these latest shootings were not "military assault rifles", so again the author is dishonest and misleading his readers. He again misleads his readership by suggesting these special "military assault rifles" shoot special bullets that are available to the public which can penetrate bullet proof vests. Again, if this dishonest person had any intention of being truthful he would have researched this at least a wee little bit, and found out that the bullets used by the Millitary are full metal jacketed bullets in accordance with UN rules of war. The reasoning behind this is so the bullet causes less damage to internal organs because it does not expand, "mushroom" like a regular hunting bullet, therefore increasing the chances the enemy combatant will survive being shot. He will be out of action, hurt, perhaps (hopefully) be sidelined for the duration of the conflict, but live on to tell stories about it.
These bullets are not available to the public.
Yep, good post #1. You should see the looks I get from leftists and other hoplophobes when I explain that an assault rifle is not a “high power” rifle. It is better described as a “mid power” rifle designed more for close quarter battle.
jw
We had lower crime rates when you could order anti tank weapons, anti aircraft weapons, and ammunition through the mail, than you had after the 1968 gun law preventing most citizens from obtaining them easily was passed.