The following is part III on the neoliberal agenda to ban BIG BORE rifles as not only a threat to the environment, but to the infrastructure of the United States. Watch for bills to be introduced following by Senators Schumer and Clinton. The pretext is a link to criminal and terrorist useage, and an environmental hazard, what else? It doesn't take much imgagination to link the big fifty ban to other big bore rifles. Open your eyes people, what in the hell do you think is next?

Curiously, isn't it interesting to note the environmentalist concern with the welfare of the petrochemical industry...one of their often and most hated targets.

Sitting Ducks
The Threat to the Chemical and Refinery Industry From 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles
Section Three: Lessening the Risk
A serious impediment to addressing the threat to America's refineries and chemical industrial facilities is that many who are knowledgeable about the environmental and safety issues concerning such plants know little or nothing about guns, much less the 50 caliber sniper rifle.76 Although some environmentalists are now becoming educated to the threat of the 50 caliber sniper rifle, much broader education of policymakers, news media, and security specialists needs to be undertaken. This report aims at that goal.

Environmentalists active on this issue generally prefer a strategy of lessening the risk at the site through "inherent safety" measures, such as employing safer materials and minimizing storage volumes.77 The Violence Policy Center recognizes the merit of this strategy, but believes that the threat of the 50 caliber as a tool of terror extends far beyond this issue. Accordingly, it urges the following strategy for dealing with the deadly consequences that are certain to follow in the wake of the gun industry's cynical campaign to market weapons of war like the 50 caliber sniper rifle to civilians.

Add 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles to the National Firearms Act of 1934

Congress should immediately amend federal law to bring 50 caliber sniper rifles under the National Firearms Act of 1934. This action would subject these weapons to the same regimen of registration, background checks, and taxation to which other weapons of war, such as machine guns and destructive devices, are currently subjected.

There should be no "grandfathering" of existing weapons to exempt them from the law, and any grace period for registration should be very short. America must know who besides Osama bin Laden possesses these deadly tools of assassination and terror.

Permanently Ban Export of 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles to Civilians

The President may not need to wait for Congress to take action on this point. He should immediately order the Department of State to review whether export of these weapons to civilians should be allowed under existing restrictions on export of weapons. If the Department finds that 50 caliber sniper rifles should not be allowed under existing restrictions, the President should call for a permanent export ban. Clearly it is not in the interest of America's national security to allow any more 50 caliber sniper rifles to end up in the hands of international terrorists, drug lords, or common criminals.

Improve Reporting and Record-Keeping Requirements

Under current procedures, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) cannot state with certainty how many 50 caliber rifles have been manufactured in the United States. Moreover, the minimum reporting requirements that apply to firearm manufacturers do not even include the reporting of model numbers.

Likewise, information regarding how many of these sniper rifles have been used in crime is extremely limited. ATF keeps track of how many times local police departments request that such weapons be traced. However, no information regarding the police department requesting the trace or the type of crime with which the weapon was associated is available.

This type of information is essential to be able to assess the level of threat posed by these weapons. ATF should immediately revamp its reporting standards to require that the manufacturers of sniper rifles report the exact number of such weapons produced each year, including the caliber and model designation and the identity of any person to whom the weapon has been transferred by the manufacturer.

ATF should also enhance the collection, analysis, and dissemination of tracing data related to all sniper rifles. Specifically, ATF should collect and make available to the public information regarding the frequency of the use of such weapons in crime, including the nature of those crimes.

Use the Civil Justice System to Hold Manufacturers Accountable

The marketing of 50 caliber sniper rifles presents a classic case, using ordinary "black letter" tort concepts, of an industry's calculated decision to sell without restraint unnecessarily powerful weapons of war as "toys"�in reckless disregard of clearly foreseeable consequences stemming from the intended and advertised use of the product.

Given their acknowledged design purpose, 50 caliber sniper rifles are clearly qualitatively different from any other class of firearm. Other firearms sold in the civilian market are at least nominally designed and sold for sporting or supposed self-defense purposes. Fifty caliber sniper rifles, on the other hand, are designed and sold for the express purpose of killing people and destroying property. Civil courts should be prepared to recognize this fact.

Therefore, a useful strategy for effective control may lie in civil litigation, a strategy that would be enhanced if states passed legislation clearly establishing strict liability for damages resulting from the use or misuse of such weapons. Such litigation could impose tort liability, including punitive damages, for manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, importers, retailers, and any others who participate in bringing to the civilian market any 50 caliber sniper rifle or associated gear (such as ammunition or optics) that is used to kill or injure a human being or to damage property.

In short, the gun industry should be held to the strictest standards of legal accountability available for the design and marketing to civilians of 50 caliber sniper rifles, as detailed in this report.

Ban the Sale of Armor-Piercing Ammunition

Military surplus armor-piercing (AP) and armor-piercing incendiary (API) ammunition for 50 caliber sniper rifles is widely and readily available. Although Congress has banned the manufacture of some armor-piercing ammunition, those restrictions apply only to handgun ammunition. The existing ban on armor-piercing ammunition should be updated and expanded to cover all AP and API ammunition. This would most effectively be accomplished through the promulgation of a performance standard in which ammunition is tested for its ability to penetrate bullet-resistant vests, ballistic glass, and armor, as opposed to the existing standard based on the bullet's content.

Enact Comprehensive Regulation of the Gun Industry

Taken together, the foregoing recommendations would significantly reduce the severe and immediate threat that 50 caliber sniper rifles pose to public safety and national security. But on a broader level, the marketing of 50 caliber sniper rifles to civilians simply highlights the chronic problems that stem from the lack of comprehensive regulation of the firearms industry.

As the gun industry markets each new deadly innovation, public policy typically responds on a reactive, piecemeal basis. This must change if we are to keep up with the industry's consistent and deadly ingenuity. The gun industry must be subject to the same type of regulation that already applies to virtually every other industry in America. The gun industry is currently exempt from even the most basic consumer health and safety laws.

Congress should act on legislation introduced by Senator Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) and Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), the Firearms Safety and Consumer Protection Act. The bill would vest the Department of the Treasury with strong consumer protection authority to regulate the design, manufacture, and distribution of firearms and ammunition. The agency would be empowered to take the steps necessary to protect the public from unreasonable risk of injury resulting from the use of firearms or firearm products. The agency would be able to set minimum safety standards for firearms and ammunition, issue recalls, mandate safety warnings and, in extreme circumstances, ban certain models or classes of weapons.

This legislation would end the gun industry's deadly immunity from regulation and permit the Department of the Treasury to respond immediately to new threats to public safety such as 50 caliber sniper rifles.

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e) The current definition of armor-piercing ammunition is based on the materials employed in the construction of the projectile and the relative weight of the projectile jacket. See 18 U.S.C. � 921 (a)(17)(B) and (C).

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Back to Table of Contents

All contents � 2002 Violence Policy Center

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The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit educational foundation that conducts research on violence in America and works to develop violence-reduction policies and proposals. The Center examines the role of firearms in America, conducts research on firearms violence, and explores new ways to decrease firearm-related death and injury.

Hey guys,
Wake up! There are numerous bills being covertly introduced in the various state legislatures to BAN BIG BORE rifles as a counterterrorism measure. These bills are showing up all over the place...CA, and CT., among others. They are after the big fifties first, then the so called "powerful" rifles and those capable of serving as sniper rifles are next. Congressman Henry Waxman from CA is expected to introuduce the measure in the House with Senators Klinton and Schumer expected to follow suit in the Senate.
You better get off your duffs and get involved.

What is the NRA position on this?

I've seen nothing in my weekly alerts as of late.

In lie of that, please keep us posted as we all need to stand by the Fifty Shootin' crowd on these issues.

BTW, what the hell is a fifty calibre sniper rifle!?!?

All my long distance punkin poppin' training required me to carry my rifle over hill and over dale....

Politicians, as a rule, make my butt pucker

Regards,

~Holmes

It is always interesting (but depressing) to see show many shooters post loudly how using the assault rifle for deer or using the 50 BMG and 338/378s all set up for extreme range is not hunting.

Hunting does not require a scoped a 270 or 30/06.

Bow and arrow
muzzle loader
black powder cartridge
30/06 etc open sights
30/06 etc scope
7mm to 300 mag in 13 pound bench style gun
338/378 to 50 BMG in 25 pound plus gun
etc.

Each step only increases the range at which it can be done.

I would like to know at what point "hunting" cuts in or cuts out.

Mike

Will you guys please get the word out to the rest of your forum members, and have them spread the word to the shooting and hunting fraternity far and wide? I am running a check to see if similar legislation is appearing in the other fifty states. The answer so far, is YES big time. Its on the agenda in CA and in CT. Moreover, the City of LA has an ammunition ban pending. This issue according to my sources, is a RED HERRING. What they really are after are all longarms. Sources say Congressman Henry Waxman of CA. will serve as the whip in the House, and Chuck Schumer and Senator Klinton will do the same in the Senate. Schumer had a proposed bill ready to go several years ago to ban rifles with telescopic sights as sniper rifles...so get ready. The war is on in earnest and the target is us.

Could somebody from your forum be detailed to liaise with the folks over at Marlin Talk and the Alaska Hunting Forum. That would help smooth the commo links and coordination.

Regards and Thanks.

Naconah,

I've gone to the VPC site and copied off that material as well as some other propaganda there and sent it out on all my private lists.

Thanks for the heads up.

John,

Thanks for the response. I was not very familiar with these radicals until I visited their site as a result of this thread. They really are "out there." I'll bet some of these mental pygmies are actually pleased when they see a school yard shooting as it somehow justifies their narrow agenda and gives them a chance to shout, "I told ya so."

Mike,

I agree with your premise. All firearms/hunting/fishing enthusiasts must hang together or.... well, you know how the saying goes!

Regards gentlemen,

~Holmes

Very Good,
Thanks gentlemen. I am attempting to research who sits on the board, whether there are covert links to the intel agencies, and who or what is the source of their financing. This should get real interesting in a real hurry. Here we have an apparent non profit organization drafting laws for implementation in the various legislatures extra jurisdictionally...amazing. CA and CT have pending legislation that appears lifted right out of the VPC proposal.

This is over the top

I really hope this gets beaten as things like this will impact upon hunters world wide.

I have being saying for ages that all outdoor enthusiests need to keep together as after they take our guns there coming for our fishing rods, our trail bikes, our 4WD's our whole way of life as far as I am concerned; and they make me sick.

Several of the members on Marlin Talk have volunteered to keep us updated on what is going on with the proposed big bore and ammunition ban, and to maintain links with other shooters and other forums. We need HELP FAST. If you guys will contact everyone, and I mean everybody that you know who enjoys the outdoors and let them know what is afoot, it will really help. Contact the trade magazines and publishers, contact the chambers of commerce, contact all outdoor sports associations and civil liberty groups. In Washington State, wilderness areas, and access to them is rapidly disappearing as pressure by antis has resulted in game and state conservation departments blowing up bridges, spiking roads, and closing off entire areas to outdoorsmen. This means, RV'ers, fishermen, and nature wanderers and campers. So, that means big bore shooters are only one element in a plot to deny us our birthright and heritage.

I just find it amazing the out right lies they spout!! The gun manufactors/ATF don't know how many 50's have been made/sold!!! Right they know exactly how many were made an who owns everyone of them!!! Or they know atleast where they got stolen from!! For those of you that think you bought them with no paper trail unless you've went back the the manufactorer and erased there data banks they know atleast what gun dealer they went to before you got it on the sly!!! Every model and serial number of every gun manufactored or imported in the last twenty or more years has been given to the ATF by the Manufactor in compliance of the laws!!