SECOND AMENDMENT
The .50-Caliber Flashpoint
It seems the antis have found a new whipping boy, and in some cases, state governments are listening to the trashtalk.
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It should come as no surprise that America's hardcore antigun cabal is shamelessly exploiting our legitimate fear of terrorism in order to advance a radical disarmament agenda. In this instance, the target is .50-caliber rifles. The Violence Policy Center (VPC) and its kindred spirits in Congress and in state legislatures contend that .50-caliber rifles are useful only as potential terrorist tools and therefore should be banned.
The VPC's Tom Diaz offers a lurid description of the alleged destructive capabilities of .50-caliber rifles:
"These anti-armor rifles can take out light armored vehicles, are capable of turning commercial airliners into balls of fire on the ground and of knocking helicopters out of the sky... They are capable of igniting railcars and stationary tank farms containing extremely hazardous, volatile and chemical explosives."
Diaz also alleges that .50-caliber rifles can fire armor-piercing, incendiary and explosive rounds as far as 2,000 yards in the hands of trained snipers.
This eye-popping (and inaccurate) indictment of .50-caliber rifles was enough to inspire two members of Congress to introduce legislation that would impose a federal ban on such firearms. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Jim Moran (D-VA) say that .50-caliber rifles have no legitimate civilian uses and therefore should not be available. Moran even made the unsubstantiated charge that, in the late 1980s, Osama Bin Laden obtained a large quantity of .50-caliber rifles.
State legislators are busy with their own misguided campaigns. In New York the State Assembly has already passed a ban on .50-caliber rifles. The legislation is awaiting action by the state Senate. In California the state legislature, by a one-vote margin, passed a measure making it virtually impossible to obtain a .50-caliber rifle. Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed the bill into law. Under the new law, which was sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman Paul Koretz of West Hollywood, all Californians who want to purchase .50-caliber rifles must first obtain permits from the California Department of Justice. "It would not be easy to get a permit," said Sandra De Bourelando, one of Koretez's staffers. "You would have to show a good reason why you need a permit."
It's an ominous development indeed when the largest state in the nation empowers its bureaucrats to determine who can own a certain type of weapon that has never been used in the commission of a crime. The bill also requires citizens who obtained .50-caliber rifles on or before January 1, 2005, to register their weapons with the California Department of Justice. This legislation sets several dangerous precedents that could ultimately lead to absolute government control over personal firearms.
It's puzzling that such a hue and cry has been raised over a unique type of firearm that only appeals to a relatively small number of gun enthusiasts. Everything about the .50-caliber rifle is "supersized." Some of the guns are five feet long and weigh more than 30 pounds. At a cost of several thousand dollars, a .50-caliber rifle would drain the bank account of the average American gun owner. The vast majority of .50 caliber owners are long-range marksmen, a specialized discipline requiring specialized equipment.
Even the oversize cartridges inspire awe among the uninitiated. But the capabilities of this caliber should be evaluated in the proper context. Like any firearm, the .50-caliber rifle has its strengths and weaknesses. It's hardly the sinister superweapon that the antis have so ominously described.
America's critical infrastructure--electricity transmission, transportation and telecommunications systems--unfortunately presents a target-rich environment for even a lightly armed terrorist. A .50-caliber rifle is hardly necessary to damage certain critical infrastructure elements. The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) has evaluated the terrorism potential of .50-caliber rifles and has "considered [the .50-caliber rifle] as part of a number of potential threats," said TSA spokesman Robert Johnson. "We just don't feel it is high on the list of potential dangers."
The VPC would have us believe that .50-caliber rifles are some fearsome new threat that has not been sufficiently analyzed. Consider, however, that .50-caliber cartridges have been in existence for more than 80 years. During that time .50-caliber weapons and ammunition have been exhaustively tested. The cumulative results of this testing contributed to the development in 1996 of Kevlar/ceramic body armor that effectively protects military personnel against .50-caliber rifle rounds. In 2003 the Secret Service, U.S. Marine Corps and American Defense Systems tested the resistance of modern armored glass to several types of high-powered ammunition, including .50-caliber rifle bullets. The armored glass stopped .50-caliber rounds fired from a distance of 100 yards.
There are elements of the civilian sector that have also developed effective defenses against .50-caliber rifle fire. In its report, the VPC alleged that railroad tank cars are particularly vulnerable to attack from .50-caliber rifles. Tom Darymple of the Trinity Rail Group took exception to the VPC's argument. He said that railroad tank cars are tested against many types of ammunition, including .50-caliber rifle cartridges. During testing, .50-caliber ammunition was only able to produce a small leak from one of the target railroad tank cars. The leak was equivalent in magnitude to a valve that had not been sufficiently tightened. Darymple notes that "leaks of that scale happen every day" in railroad tank cars across the U.S.
After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld released an inventory of terrorist weapons that had been found in 345 locations in Afghanistan before August 2002. The captured weapons included staggering numbers of AK-47s, mortars, recoilless rifles, RPGs, shoulder-fired SAMs and land mines. Coalition forces also discovered 50 tanks and 40 armored vehicles. Still, after 345 locations were searched, no .50-caliber rifles were found. Clearly, with such a powerful arsenal at their disposal, al Qaeda and the Taliban had little need for .50-caliber rifles.
Perhaps the Violence Policy Center should be more concerned about the 2,800 RPGs and 319 shoulder-fired SAMs found in terrorist hideouts and less about a few recreational rifles that have never been used in the commission of a crime.
It's all about setting priorities. Defending the U.S. against terrorism is a much higher priority than the dissemination of transparent antigun propaganda against a weapon that is used not by terrorists but by a small number of law-abiding gun owners.
