The tragic proliferation of Sniper Rifles
I would like to take a moment to comment on the
proliferation of Sniper Rifles.
Sniper Rifles are typically equipped with a
high-powered scope, and every single one of them can
blow through the body armor cops wear. They can even
penetrate multiple police cars. Does the Second
Amendment protect cop-killer Sniper Rifles? The NRA
certainly thinks so, along with the powerful gun lobby
that wants your children and your law enforcement
officers to be at risk from these weapons of mass
destruction. Some of these Sniper Rifles can even
penetrate ballistic or armored glass, lightly armored
vehicles, and armored limousines. Senator Ted Kennedy
attempted to solve this with an important bill that
would have banned armor piercing ammunition and
protected lawful firearm commerce:
"Another rifle caliber, the 30.30 caliber, was
responsible for penetrating three officers' armor and
killing them in 1993, 1996, and 2002. This ammunition
is also capable of puncturing light-armored vehicles,
ballistic or armored glass, armored limousines, even a
600-pound safe with 600 pounds of safe armor
plating.....
..It is outrageous and unconscionable that such
ammunition continues to be sold in the United States
of America.."
Should our elected officials live under the threat of
reprisal on their lives from disgruntled constituents?
The Gun Lobby seems to think so. We disagree.
Sniper Rifles can be equipped with precision optics
above even what the Military uses, allowing a sniper
to deliver rounds within millimeters of accuracy -
enabling them to engage targets at distances of well
over one hundred meters. Is there a pressing need to
be able to kill with accuracy at that distance? It is
too far to justify as self defense. It is too far for
hunting. It is only useful for those who wish to
murder from afar.
Large caliber Sniper Rifles such as the .50 Browning
Machine Gun can derail freight cars, shoot down
aircraft and helicopters, damage vital ground
equipment such as power substations, fuel tanks, and
air traffic control, and cause complete chaos. For
more information on why large caliber machine-gun
rounds must be banned, visit
http://www.50caliberterror.com. A shipment of large caliber machine-gun
round sniper rifles made by Steyr turned up in Iran,
and are being used on our own soldiers, as the .50
bullets easily defeat their body armor, their
up-armored humvees, and even APCs.
Many forward thinking, progressive politicians such as
Ted Kennedy, Chuck Schumer, Barbara Boxer, Nancy
Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama have voted
against Center-Fire Rifle Ammunition of types for
Sniper Rifles, but due to the pressure and massive
financial resources of the gun industry, the necessary
steps to protect our homes and lives have not been
attained.
Sniper Rifles have been used by murderers and spree
killers for years, with notable incidents such as the
Beltway Snipers, the Clocktower Sniper, and more.
ANY rifle configured and equipped as a sniper rifle
has no sporting purpose especially as a hunting rifle.
They are too big and heavy to take to the field.
Designed for distance shooting, they are useless for
the ranges at which game animals are normally shot,
and when used on sporting sized game at range they
often just wound the animal, inhumanely forcing it to
die slowly while the would-be hunter tracks it to
finish it off. Most Sniper Rifles fire atypically
large cartridges and ultra high velocity ammunition
that can travel much greater distances that standard
ammunition. The danger imposed from missed shots and
ricochetes from these specialty rounds is
unreasonable.
Most of these rifles carry multiple rounds, with
either an automatic mechanism, or a quick toggle
action to rapidly move another bullet into the breech,
ready to fire into another victim. In most states,
they are nearly unrestricted. Anyone over the age of
18 can buy one. If they can't pass a background check,
they skirt the NCIS system by going to a gunshow, or
finding a private sale in the newspaper. A murderer
camped at a distance from a public gathering could
quickly turn it into a massacre dwarfing anything we
have seen before in the United States, if they had a
Sniper Rifle. If they adopted hit and run tactics,
entire portions of our country could be shut down.
Sniper Rifles shoot a high powered bullet that is
almost always fatal. They are designed for one thing-
delivering powerful overkill with deadly precision.
You don't need the kind of power and accuracy that can
kill a man at five hundred yards for hunting rabbits
or defending your house.
We should also give commendations to France because
many years ago they designated any firearm capable of
shooting military ammunition as a military arm,
illegal to posess without a special permit and
unlawful to use for hunting. The 223, 308, 7mm mauser,
30-06, and 6.5x55 have no place in the hunting fields
of France. Firearms shooting these calibers are
military weapons only designed for killing PEOPLE and
should be kept out of the hands of the general
population. Because they have no hunting purpose,
there is no reason for civilians to own them.
Every state in the USA has hunting equipment rules
that limit the caliber of firearm used to take game.
They also limit the types of rifles, length, magazine
capacity, etc. States should amend these hunting
regulations to restrict the use of "sniper" rifles,
specialty "sniper" cartridges, and "sniper"
ammunition. Limits on weight, barrel length, bipods
and tripods, thumbhole stocks and pistol grips, night
vision type scopes, scopes of excessive magnification,
super magnum and high velocity ammunition, and
military slings should be imposed. They have no place
in the hunting fields of America and hunting usage
should not be used as an argument for civilians to own
such firearms and weapons. There are more than ample
hunting rifles, cartridges, and rounds of ammunition
to choose from without them.
Let us hope that in a safer, saner America, we will
succeed in our efforts to restrict the deadly spread
of long distance murder rifles.
