Alphecca: AP Perpetuates .50 Lies

June 18, 2005

AP Perpetuates .50 Lies

Apparently, anyone can say anything, politicians can blithly repeat falsehoods perpetrated by anti-gun groups, and with little or no fact checking, the Associated Press will print them:

The National Rifle Association and its allies in the House beat back an effort Thursday to restrict gun manufacturers' exports of high-powered, .50-caliber rifles that can bring down jet airliners from a mile away.

By a 278-149 vote, the House killed an amendment by Rep. James Moran (news, bio, voting record) to block .50-caliber exports to civilians. He said the guns are dream weapons for terrorists.

Here we have two outright lies. The .50 caliber rifle cannot bring down a jet plane. See my Weekly Report HERE. That old chestnut was a fiction created by the Violence Policy Center by taking a couple lines from an 18-year-old advertising pamphlet, taking it out of context, distorting what was written, and discussing a rifle not available to civilians.

Secondly, if these are the dream weapons of choice for terrorists, how come none of them are using them? Couldn't be the $5000 dollar price tag or the size or the weight? And -- here in this country -- no .50 caliber rifle has ever been used in a terroristic act, no one has been killed by one. No plane has been brought down (here, or anywhere else in the world, actually).

So the first two paragraphs of AP writer Andrew Taylor's report are just plain bullshit. Now, while it's true that the proposed measure would supposedly have only effected US manufactured rifles being exported to "civilians" in other countries, let's face it, there's a roundabout agenda at work here.

The VPC, Brady Bunch, and other gun-banners would instantly sieze on such a bill if it passed and say, "We wouldn't allow people in other countries to own such rifles, why would we allow the sale of them, closer-to-home, to civilians here in the US where anyone could be a potential terrorist?" Because, of course, these gun-banners consider all of us law-abiding citizens to be terrorists. Heck, in Maryland, the VPC thinks that cops shouldn't be allowed guns!

By the way, the AP story also quotes the discredited CBS 60 Minutes story about about the .50 caliber rifle, as if that's supposed to be the final say on the matter. And, as usual, the NRA is painted to be the demon which caused the export-ban legislation to fail. No, Taylor, it was common sense that brought about its demise.

Posted by Jeff Soyer at June 18, 2005 08:44 AM

Comments

Although I'm a gun enthusiast, NRA member, and have a CCW permit in 4 states, I like to have my facts straight when arguing with anti-gun zealots. The claim that the .50 cal has never been used in a crime in the US may not be entirely accurate and needs to be carefully investigated.

VPC's website has a page dedicated to "criminal uses" of the .50 cal. Of course merely posessing a .50 cal seems to make you a criminal in their eyes. But of all the listings, it appears that in 4 cases a .50 cal was fired at law enforcement (although it may not have killed or wounded anyone) by a deranged individual. Counting the debacle at Waco doesn't count in my eyes.

Be careful when you argue that the .50 cal has never been used in a crime. An anti-gun idiot may actually do some research and find that it has...and then you've been discredited.

http://www.vpc.org/snipercrime.htm

Regards,
Jason

Posted by: Jason at June 20, 2005 09:51 AM

I guess the key is that I was referring to "terroristic acts" with the rifle. Granted, any crime could be considered a terroristic act but I was responding to claims by anti-gunners that terrorists (such as al quada) could use the guns to blow-up oil refineries or shoot down planes and that is what I meant.

Further, I'm talking specifically of the .50 caliber rifles they are trying to ban. There are lots of other .50 caliber guns out there using lighter ammo such as revolvers by S&W and, of course, the Desert Eagle and no doubt they have occasionally been implicated in crimes. Heck, I believe that some muskets or black-powder guns fire a ".50 caliber" ball.

Posted by: Jeff Soyer at June 21, 2005 08:31 AM

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June 18, 2005

AP Perpetuates .50 Lies

By Golly, you're reading an archived post. Click Here to head to the main page and read current stuff...

Check it out:

My group sci-fi blog novel:

Colony: Alchibah