Posted on 10/08/2001 4:46:55 PM PDT by FSPress
WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The U.S. gun industry sold at least twenty-five 50 caliber sniper rifles to Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's terror network, a study released by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) today reports. The study, Voting From the Rooftops, details the tremendous power of the Barrett M82A1 50 caliber sniper rifles-which U.S. Marines used in the Gulf War to knock out Iraqi armored vehicles from 1,750 yards away-and the gun's potential use to commit terror acts that could cause enormous casualties. The Barrett sniper rifle has spawned a bourgeoning market for these types of weapons that are becoming cheaper, lighter and more widely available. There are known to be at least fifteen 50-caliber sniper rifle manufacturers-nearly double the number of companies that were manufacturing and marketing 50 calibers to civilians in 1999.
Forget to put the authors email address up, thought someone might want to let her know what they think of her work.
Josh Sugarmann's @ss? Who cares? When has VPC told the truth about anything?
Can some of the better informed members of the gun community tell me how a .50 cal can cause "enormous casualties?" Aren't most .50 rifles bolt-action or semi-automatic? I know they are powerful, but you can only hit one person at a time with them right?
I bought my AR-50 for the nefarious purpose of punching holes in paper at 1/4 to 1/2 mile away. There are a lot cheaper ways to cause mass hysteria and damage than a .50, like $6.00 worth of gasoline. Just more gun grabbing while standing on the bodies mouldering under the remains of the WTC.
/john
Barrett does make one. It doesn't weigh enough. That's why I went with the 44 lb. AR50. The AR also has a serious muzzle brake. Not to mention that I think the bolt action is inherently more accurate than the semi.
/john
Right- remember their incremental agenda-
1- outlaw .50 calibre rifles as "too powerful for any reasonable person to need...."
2- outlaw all telescoped rifles ( your deer gun! ) as "snipers' rifles...."
3- outlaw pump or semiautomatic shotguns ( your skeet gun or duck gun! ) as "deadly assault weapons only designed to kill lots of people...."
4- repeat as needed...
These people are desparate. And stupid. And evil. I loathe them as much as a loathe the terrorists. The terrorists try to bring down this country through violence to our citizens. These VPC maggots try to bring down this country through violence to our Constitution.
/john
Pretty much, yeah...
I haven't double-checked it myself yet (debunking anti-gun propaganda is my primary hobby, I've spent years at it), but one rebuttal I've read says that the Afghanis acquired .50 caliber Barrett rifles way back in their "freedom fighters against the Soviets" days, and that this is what the VPC is whining about.
Of course, at the same time the US government was supplying them with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, so it's hardly like they were on the "known terrorists" list, like the VPC wants you to believe. Heck, for that matter it might have been the US government who actually transferred to the Barretts to them at the same time -- I doubt the Afghanis walked into a gun shop in Tulsa and bought them over the counter.
So once again, the VPC is engaging in their favorite tactic, "telling the (partial) truth as misleadingly as possible".
They want you to believe that US gun makers are currently, knowingly shipping high-end weapons directly to Osama bin Laden. But the mundane truth is that way back when the Afghanis were on "our" side, the US government itself was providing them with US arms, both military and otherwise.
Be sure to contact the VPC and let them know what you think of their misleading, cynical, propaganda that dishonestly capitalizes on everyone's biggest fears in order to unjustly smear US gun makers.
This is, of course, horse manure. At least it's crap in the way that the VPC is trying to spin it. They'd have you believe that you can nail a tank with one of these things from "1,750 yards".
In truth, the "armored vehicles" being mentioned are probably just troop carriers with a bit of armor on the sides, and the US might have knocked them out by shooting out a tire from that distance.
I don't think so. I think the Bradycenter is the former HCI. VPC has been around awhile.
I say, if the al-Queda network has 25 of these, then we need to distribute 1000 of these firearms throughout the US to protect innocent Americans.
/john
/john
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