Alphecca

Gun Grabber Buys .50 Rifle

Another tiresome article from the Peoria Journal-Star:

Scott Vogel had never before owned a gun when he purchased a bolt-action .50-caliber rifle over the Internet a few months ago with little more than his Illinois driver's license and Firearm Ownership ID card.

Vogel, a Chicago resident and coordinator with the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, said he did so on the group's behalf to show how easy it is to obtain a weapon powerful enough to strike targets more than a mile away, one that is able to pierce armor plating and potentially ground a jet aircraft during takeoff or landing.

"It's fairly easy to do," Vogel said of the purchase, noting the seller "threw in 150 rounds" of ammunition for free for buying the rifle.

Members of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence toured the state this week "educating citizens" about the rifle's ability as what they claimed is a potential terrorist threat as well as a touting a bill in the Illinois legislature aimed at restricting possession and selling of a .50-caliber rifle.

Oh, oh! And the seller threw in some ammo. My dealer in East Burke always gives me a free box of ammo when I buy a gun from him. It's like the free "pen" the bank gives you for opening an account.

Later in the article we read:

But Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, said that if the group wasn't targeting the .50-caliber rifle, it would be a different gun.

"The point is, it's the rifle of the week they want to ban. Next week, it'll be the .49-caliber, then the .48-caliber," Pearson said.

The gun advocate said the .50-caliber rifle - which is about 5 feet long, weighs more than 30 pounds and shoots a nearly 6-inch long bullet more than one mile - is primarily used for long range target practice, but is also used for hunting bear or elk.

"It is perfectly legal under U.S. code," Pearson said.

And countering claims that purchasing the .50-caliber rifle over the Internet could more easily get it into the wrong hands, Pearson said every state requires a potential buyer undergo a state and federal background check.

And if this anti-gun group is calling itself the "Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence" then why are they even worrying about a rifle? Because (I'll answer that!) they give themselves a name that conjures up images of people brandishing handguns but their real agenda is to ban all guns including long ones.

Again, a perfectly legal sale; what's the story?