Should .50 Cal weapons be banned?

[Andy9o8 0]

I'm curious - and this is truly not advocacy in the form of a question. Aside from protection against govt tyranny and long, long range target shooting, what are some legitimate, practical civilian uses of a long-range .50 cal. rifle & ammo? (I mean, other than the cool factor, and I realize there is a cool factor.) Is it a practical hunting weapon? Other applications? Please advise.

[AggieDave 6]

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Other applications?

It blows apart watermelons and milk jugs like you won't believe!

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what are some legitimate, practical civilian uses of a long-range .50 cal. rifle & ammo?

Long range shooting competitions. Its fun to shoot.

Does there have to be a practical reason to own and fire one of those weapons? Is there a practical reason to most people's hobbies? Nope, infact hobbies are about as impractical as things come. Regardless if the hobby is a Trans Am 466 that you take to car shows and only drive occasionally to local drive ins or a long range rifle that you take to the range every few months and spend $100 to fire 20 rounds down range.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Andy9o8 0]

OK, then should any line be drawn between "legitimate hobby usage" and "too dangerous to permit"? For example, I've never fired an RPG but I'm sure it would be fun to do on a range (or even downtown, come to think of it). Ditto with a machine gun. Thoughts?

[JohnRich 4]

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Aside from protection against govt tyranny and long, long range target shooting, what are some legitimate, practical civilian uses of a long-range .50 cal. rifle & ammo? Is it a practical hunting weapon? Other applications? Please advise.

Long range target shooting *is* a legitimate practical application. And that's all that's needed. It shouldn't require some other purpose to be deemed legal for civilian ownership by the government. "Fun" is a good enough reason, as long as you aren't hurting anyone else with it.

But they can also be used for hunting large game like elk.

[AggieDave 6]

You can buy a machine gun. There are even competitions. It just takes a decent amount of money, a clean record and some paperwork for a Class III.

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OK, then should any line be drawn between "legitimate hobby usage" and "too dangerous to permit"?

Ok. Where is that line drawn, then? What other hobbies are not a "legitimate hobby" and simply "too dangerous to permit?" Which one of those things involve something that has been specifically permitted by our Bill of Rights?

Besides a RPG isn't classified as a firearm (as far as I know), it doesn't actually fit into your arguement. Its classified as an explosive device, just like land mines and C4. I'm sure there's a way to get your hands on some legally and there's a way to legally fire one off, BUT I bet it involved a LOT of paperwork and money.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[JohnRich 4]

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OK, then should any line be drawn between "legitimate hobby usage" and "too dangerous to permit"? For example, I've never fired an RPG but I'm sure it would be fun to do on a range (or even downtown, come to think of it). Ditto with a machine gun. Thoughts?

That line is already drawn. Machineguns, RPG's, and their owners, have to be approved by, and registered with, the BATF. You can own them, but you have to jump through some hoops to do so.

Question for those who voted for Licensing:
How do you expect licensing to prevent problems with .50 caliber rifle ownership? Do you think that the criminals and terrorists will bother to obtain a government license? Won't only the law-abiding comply with the law, who aren't the problem in the first place? Do auto driver's licenses stop anyone from driving drunk or speeding?

[AggieDave 6]

This is a good place to start to read about some of the current regulations.

http://www.atf.treas.gov/faqs.htm

Double checking, yup, the RPG is an explosive, not a firearm.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Andy9o8 0]

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the RPG is an explosive, not a firearm.

Just to philosophize a bit, I'd suggest this distinction not be included in the "where do you draw the line" question, since the 2nd Amendment only refers to "arms", and not any particular categories of arms. So, logically, the 2nd Amendment should apply to weapons of the future, which have not yet been developed. (For example, that prototype of a phaser I've been working on.)

[AggieDave 6]

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So, logically, the 2nd Amendment should apply to weapons of the future, which have not yet been developed. (For example, that prototype of a phaser I've been working on.)

Then a taser would be a firearm, right? Its not classified as a firearm, though.

What will the future bring? I don't know, my crystal ball broke last week and they're back ordered, but I know that whatever the new technology is there will be much bickering about it.

Look at the history of the crossbow. There was much debate about it, laws against it and it was the superweapon. Now its written off by much of the public as a laughable "toy" that some people enjoy.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[MikeForsythe 0]

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Should .50 Cal weapons be banned?

NO

nuff said

Time and pressure will always show you who a person really is!

[kallend 1,644]

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So I found this web site

http://www.50caliberterror.com/index2.html

Do you think .50 Cal weapons should be available to civilians? Personally I'd quite like to own one and might do just that.

Seem like good militia weapons to me. Militia weapons should be legal.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[DaVinci 0]

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Even if they were banned, would it keep them out of the hands of terrorists?

Ya know, like how you can't find a hand gun in NY

[DaVinci 0]

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Correct. But the gun-o-phobes go after the .50's because there aren't many of those gun owners around, and they can't marshal much money with which to defend themselves. The gun-o-phobes are attacking the weak animals, at the edge of the herd.

Well, it could be that they buy into their own hype and really think a .50 cal is too dangerous for regular people to own. They already think that handguns are too dangerous, so I could see how they would think anything can be too dangerous.

And lets be honest there are not many reasons to own a .50 cal other than "I want one". For me, and the Second Amendment, that is reason enough IMO.

[warpedskydiver 0]

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OK, then should any line be drawn between "legitimate hobby usage" and "too dangerous to permit"? For example, I've never fired an RPG but I'm sure it would be fun to do on a range (or even downtown, come to think of it). Ditto with a machine gun. Thoughts?

RPG's are kind of a drag...ballistics like a frisbee.

If you want something cool get a Javelin.

[JohnRich 4]

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Correct. But the gun-o-phobes go after the .50's because there aren't many of those gun owners around, and they can't marshal much money with which to defend themselves. The gun-o-phobes are attacking the weak animals, at the edge of the herd.

Well, it could be that they buy into their own hype and really think a .50 cal is too dangerous for regular people to own. They already think that handguns are too dangerous, so I could see how they would think anything can be too dangerous.

They think that ALL firearms are too dangerous for citizens to own. But they don't have the clout to go for a ban on all firearms, or even all handguns. So they attack where they can, but isolating a small segment of gun owners, demonizing them with hyped-up public scare tactics, and then moving to ban a sub-category. They succeeded in fooling the public like this on the so-called "assault weapons", causing them to be banned for 10 years. Now they're after the .50's with the same kind of tactics and lies.

February 5, 1995, CBS "60 Minutes", Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) said, regarding guns:

"If I could have gotten another 51 votes in the Senate for an outright ban, picking up every one of them, Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in, I would have done that. But I could not do that; the votes were not there."

[warpedskydiver 0]

February 5, 1995, CBS "60 Minutes", Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) said, regarding guns:

"If I could have gotten another 51 votes in the Senate for an outright ban, picking up every one of them, Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in, I would have done that. But I could not do that; the votes were not there."

[Guest]

My black powder rifles are of the same caliber (bore) - .50.

The Barrett .50 BMG rifle is just another "scary gun" that the VPC and the other gun-o-phobes are using as a vehicle to ban ALL firearms. They know it's an impractical weapon for a RHIFW (were I a RHIFW, the Barrett would be my dead-last choice [heavy, bulky, difficult to conceal, very high learning curve to use properly (to use at all, frankly. Given all the hassle of the weapon, I'd choose the RHIFW's weapons of choice - the AK and the RPG)], but the gun-o-phobes are trying to influence the ignorant via a crass scaremongering campaign, and in any such undertaking, thoughtfulness, critical thinking and reason bear no relationship - the ends justify the means. Looks like they're succeeding.

mh

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"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[Skyrad 0]

RHIFW? LOL... I stopped making up my own languages when I was three

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[Kennedy 0]

I figured out the R, H, I, and F, but I'm reaching for the "W."

Care to enlighten me?

ps - no, .50s should not be banned. People who belive banning ownership of an object will prevent bad people from commiting crimes with that object are delusional. Anyone care to guess whether convicted felons (who are banned from owning firearms) still commit crimes with guns? I think that just maybe it might be a "yes."

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
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[mnealtx 0]

Wacko?

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Trae 1]

in reply to "RPG's are kind of a drag...ballistics like a frisbee. "
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RPG's are left overs from Hitlers panzerfausts. The Russians were so impressed with them they made about 100million of em.

Wire guided ..now there's some accurate punch.

It could be argued that Browning 50's gave us our world via their extensive use in WW2

Perhaps if the banners appreciated the history of the calibre a bit more they might see why some people hold it in such high esteem.

[bch7773 0]

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You can buy armor piercing and armor piercing incendiary rounds for several calibers.

http://ammunitiontogo.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=26

Also, most rifles under 50 cal will penetrate a signifcant amount of steel plate. My 60 year old mosin nagant with API ammo would probably take out a Hummer with a well placed stot.

yep. and once the .50 cals are banned, 10 years down the road we will hear about "the dangerous military rifle that can disable police cars with a single shot" and "these 7.62 bullets go right through cop body armor". Then they will try to ban standard 7.62 rifles.

and some state, probably california, banned .50 cal. Immediately, gun makers made like a .499 caliber rifle, so the entire law was useless.

MB 3528, RB 1182

[SkyDekker 1,141]

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no, .50s should not be banned. People who belive banning ownership of an object will prevent bad people from commiting crimes with that object are delusional.

Your own government headed by Bush wants to ban bad people leading countries from having nuclear weapons so that they cannot do bad things with them. Is Bush delusional in your opinion?

[billvon 2,426]

No, that's different. Only americans deserve any rights.

[ryoder 1,397]

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No, that's different. Only americans deserve any rights.

I thought Dubya had explained to us that we had to give up that notion in order to fight the War on Terror.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.