NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY PASSES BAN ON .50 CALIBER RIFLES

May 27, 2005--By an 86 to 51 vote margin, the New York State Assembly today passed AO4471, a bill that would outlaw the sale, possession and use of .50 caliber rifles.

The move by the state Assembly follows efforts by legislators in several other states to mirror a ban passed in California. (See Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Signs Ban On .50 Caliber Guns, Ammunition ).

The bill, sponsored by Representative Patricia Eddington (D-Suffolk), was lobbied for heavily by Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-New York).

"We must change our pre-9/11 gun laws to stop terrorists from legally obtaining weapons of mass destruction like the .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle," McCarthy says on her website. "We saw the devastation terrorists can create armed with only boarding passes and box cutters and yet we have done nothing to prevent anyone, even those on terrorist watch lists, from obtaining weapons designed to shoot down airplanes. It's time to listen to common sense and ban the .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle."

The bill would require anyone who currently owns a .50 caliber rifle to surrender it to the state police. The owner would receive what the bill refers to as "reimbursement for the fair market value."

As the bill is now written, it would ban any centerfire caliber over .50" in diameter. Thus, many big-game cartridges such as the .700 Nitro would also be banned. Further, the language of the bill would appear to ban 12 gauge shotguns with rifled barrels.

The bill will now move on to the state Senate, where it is unclear at this point how much support it enjoys. Governor George Pataki has not yet indicated whether he would sign it.

Editorial note: The .50 BMG cartridge has been around for over a century, and has been used by both military as well as civilian shooters. There have been only two documented uses of a .50 caliber rifle in a crime.

Further, the claim that an individual can shoot down an airliner with a .50 caliber rifle is a straw man argument. The aluminum skin of an airliner is so thin that almost any hunting caliber rifle will penetrate.

What's more, trying to hit an airliner that is moving at 180 miles per hour on either takeoff or landing would require shooting skills that exceed those of even top marksmen.

That's why air defense troops use a .50 cal machine gun with an integrated computerized sight, a thermal viewer, a direct datalink to AWACS, a laser rangefinder, and a rate of fire of 950-1100 RPM, and other high-tech means to bring down enemy aircraft.

Those who advocate banning .50 caliber rifles either know these facts, or are completely ignorant. Either way, today's vote in New York state is confirmation that many gun owners' worst fear--confiscation--is not at all an unreasonable fear.

 

   
 

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