camels nose: the 50 BMG and our "sniper rifles"

dZ

New member
The following article is from the Idaho Observer

Desperate Tyrants endeavor to 'Restrict' .50 caliber rifles.


Being a member of The Fifty Caliber Shooters Association (FCSA) and a
frequent contributor to The Idaho Observer, I feel duty-bound to educate
the readers about the introduction of an onerous new bill in Congress
which indicates the ignorance of the authors and their contempt for the
people of this land.

The .50 BMG (Browning Machine Gun) cartridge was developed in the period
after WWI as an anti-tank, anti armored car and anti-aircraft round for
heavy machine guns. It saw extensive use in every conflict since its
inception. In the '50's and '60's some seemingly mad shooters built
their own receivers and using surplus G.I. barrels assembled enormous
rifles. I recall
seeing Idaho's own Elmer Keith in a gun magazine firing one off the bed
of a pickup truck. Over the decades the mad-scientists gave way to the
'bigger must be better' crowd and the sport of long range shooting with
the .50 BMG
evolved.

A number of makers of these giant rifles came into being to fill the
demand for the materials and accouterments needed to play this
particular game. The current issue of FSCA's Suppliers Directory lists
135 manufacturers and dealers in .50 BMG items.

The sport is not for everyone. Many get into it only to find that it is,
indeed, a science. I have seen men with Barrett semi-automatic rifles
with expensive scopes and even computers and mini wind measuring
stations on their shooting bench, fail, every day, at a 3-day match, to
hit a six-foot by six-foot target at 1,000 yards. These guys are not
alone. Many have tried
in vain to attain the mythical five shots in a 2-inch group at 1,000
yards. I am quite pleased to report that, in fact, the myth is no
longer, for just a few weeks ago, a friend, Skip Talbot of Nevada, did
achieve the dream. The very best I have ever done was a five shot group
in 7.74 inches. No minor achievement, and a medal was won. But that was
over a decade ago and now the
equipment is better, and even the well-known American ammunition maker
CCI makes primers where heretofore only European primers had been
commonplace. Even Hornady makes a marvelous bullet for the .50 BMG.

The Wall Street Journal (March 24, 1997) ran a front-page article
entitled:

Big Bang Theory: How the .50 Caliber Became a 'Fun' Gun.

The author, James Sterba, related in a fairly accurate way how the .50
caliber BMG (Browning Machine Gun) cartridge was rapidly becoming a
popular sporting round, essentially a 'Big Boy Toy', for long range
aficionados. True, there are some that can hit at incredible distances
with a .50, the most notable being the late Carlos Hathcock, a marine
gunnery sergeant that had recorded hits at 2,500 yards; but, the fact
remains that only a few can really make these guns shoot that well.

A General Accounting Office report, commissioned by Reps. Blagojvich and
Waxman could find NO CRIME committed in the USA with these guns and had
to resort to detailing attacks in Columbia by drug lords, IRA activity
in Northern Ireland, and even a plot to assassinate Castro as reasons
that these guns ought be taxed and regulated in this country. Aside
from obvious
exaggerations (shooting through six inches of steel at 1,000 yards), the
report merely paid weak lip service to the club that had virtually
created this sport, and developed most all the .50 cal innovations used
by our military today.

The result was a document that is testimony to the arrogance and tyranny
ambient in factions of our government today. Read carefully the text, a
quiz will follow.
______________________________________________________________

Military Sniper Weapon Regulation Act of 1999 (Introduced in the House)

HR 2127 IH

106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2127

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to regulate certain 50
caliber sniper weapons in the same manner as machine guns and other
firearms.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 10, 1999


Mr. BLAGOJEVICH (for himself, Mr. WAXMAN, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to regulate certain 50
caliber sniper weapons in the same manner as machine guns and other
firearms. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Military Sniper Weapon Regulation Act of
1999'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds that--

(1) certain firearms originally designed and built for use as long-range
50 caliber military sniper weapons are increasingly sold in the domestic
civilian market;

(2) the intended use of these long-range firearms, and an increasing
number of models derived directly from them, is the taking of human life
and the destruction of materiel, including armored vehicles and such
components of the national critical
infrastructure as radars and microwave transmission devices;

(3) these firearms are neither designed nor used in any significant
number for legitimate sporting or hunting purposes and are clearly
distinguishable from rifles intended for sporting and hunting use;

(4) extraordinarily destructive ammunition for these weapons, including
armor-piercing and armor-piercing incendiary ammunition, is freely sold
in interstate commerce; and

(5) the virtually unrestricted availability of these firearms and
ammunition, given the uses intended in their design and manufacture,
present a serious and substantial threat to the national security.

SEC. 3. COVERAGE OF 50 CALIBER SNIPER WEAPONS UNDER
NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT.

(a) IN GENERAL- Subsection (a) of section 5845 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 (defining firearm) is amended by striking `(6) a machine
gun; (7) any silencer (as defined in section 921 of title 18, United
States Code); and (8) a destructive device.' and inserting `(6) a 50
caliber sniper weapon; (7) a machine gun; (8) any silencer (as defined
in section 921 of title 18, United States Code); and (9) a destructive
device.'

(b) 50 CALIBER SNIPER WEAPON-

(1) IN GENERAL- Section 5845 of such Code is amended by redesignating
subsections (d) through (m) as subsections (e) through (n),
respectively, and by inserting after subsection (c) the following new
subsection:

`(d) 50 CALIBER SNIPER WEAPON- The term `50 caliber sniper weapon' means
a rifle capable of firing a center-fire cartridge in 50 caliber , .50
BMG caliber , any other variant of 50 caliber , or any metric equivalent
of such calibers.'

(2) MODIFICATION TO DEFINITION OF RIFLE- Subsection (c) of section 5845
of such Code is amended by inserting `or from a bipod or other support'
after `shoulder'.

(c) EFFECTIVE DATE- The amendments made by this section shall take
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.


________________________________________________________________________________

Did you notice that the phrase 'Military Sniper Rifle' is a recurring
theme? This will be their 'Camels Nose under the Tent' whereby they
will proceed to ban assorted 'military sniper' rifles, scopes,
ammunition etc.

Do you remember that I told you that the .50 BMG was developed as a
Heavy Machine Gun cartridge? Well, 'Congress finds' is pure BS, the .50
never was designed as a 'military sniper weapon', WE the PEOPLE
developed it into a long range, very accurate, shoulder-fired sporting
rifle. And it is WE who sell the guns we developed to the military, who
uses them as 'sniper weapons'. They make it sound like it is a military
weapon sneakily sold to the public.

And paragraph 2 says that they were intended for the taking of human
life and destroying radar towers, armored cars and aircraft. Please
note that Idaho has inanely prohibited the use of any rifle (be it .22
or .50BMG) that weighs more than 16 pounds. This is supposedly intended
to prevent people from 'slaughtering herds of Elk' at 1,000 yards with a
.50, but the problem was an imagined one (the crime I have heard rumor
of appears to have been some sort of heavy machine-gun mounted on a
vehicle, and a host of laws were violated), and the law, if challenged
in court, would not hold up under the auspices of the 'Americans with
Disabilities Act'. I could just imagine the frail Dr. Hawkings trying to
shoot a 15 lb. .50 BMG--it would likely kill him. If the .50 was only a
'sniping human' gun, why has their been a law for about a decade to
prevent its use to hunt elk?

Paragraph 3 states that the rifles are 'neither designed nor used by
legitimate sportsmen or hunters'. Gee, does anyone recall the military
asking Congress for money to develop these guns? NO, we, the sportsmen
and hunters designed these, and we regularly hold matches
INTERNATIONALLY ! As to the disparaging phrase 'legitimate', are they
implying that all the non-criminal shooting we do is 'illegitimate?' As
to 'clearly distinguishable from sporting rifles', do they mean the
sheer size difference? Or are they referring to the fact that when we
sell them to the military, we strip the pin stripes and airbrush decor,
and make them Spartan-looking and paint them black?

In paragraph 4, they refer to 'Extraordinarily Destructive Ammunition'
being 'freely sold in interstate commerce'. This has a double meaning to
the verbiage. By the use of the phrase 'Destructive', they seek to
classify the ammunition as 'Destructive Devices' and it then can be
severely taxed and regulated, but more importantly, that designation
would allow the State Department to prohibit the importation of surplus
ammunition (most of our ammo and reloading components come from
overseas.) And the phrase 'freely sold in interstate commerce' is a
keyword to attract tax-hungry congressmen who
would gleefully tax anything they are allowed to tax (their authority
comes from the 'commerce clause'!) and thus the stage is set for the
total registration, taxation and prohibition of .50 BMG ammunition.

Paragraph 5 addresses the 'virtually unrestricted' sales and
availability of these guns and ammunition. Well folks, if you have ever
bought a handgun, rifle, or shotgun, you are aware of the 1968 Gun
Control Act, the federal form 4473, Brady Law restrictions, NICS
(National Instant Check System). The .50 BMG rifles are NOT excluded
from these laws; and, a background check IS required to purchase one
over the counter. Well, IF you COULD purchase one 'over-the-counter',
you see, prices range from $2,995 to $10,000, so you won't find very
many at your local K-Mart (besides, Rosie O'Donnell would
have a cow). The ammunition is sometimes available for under $2 a round
for old surplus, new manufacture can be as much as $6 each. Components?
Try $25 to $30 a hundred for primers, and bullets can be bankrupting!
When I shot competitively, the special Silicon Bronze 764 grain
triple-boat-tail true radius bullets cost me $3 each, wholesale! I
remember shooting 120 of them in one match. $360 wholesale just for the
bullets, not to mention primers, powder and brass ! No, availability is
limited to true believers, not the average Joe. I suppose that
Bin-Laden could get his mitts on one, but then again, a real terrorist
could even get a U.S. gov't one if he wanted. 'National Security' is a
phrase that scares me, by their using it, they imply that thousands of
Americans are 'risks' (and perhaps ought be neutralized ?) Egad ! These
guys wrote this verrry carefully so as to damn a lot of innocents.

Now, this bill is in the 'ways and means' committee because it is a tax
issue, rather than ban these guns outright, they seek to add them to the
same class as machine-guns and silencers. This allows them to register,
tax and regulate them. Should this have been a bill placed in the House
Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, it would be tossed on the
fact that no record of any significant crimes exist; but, as a tax
measure, they ply on greedy tax-and-spend types to get it passed.

They did not do their homework well. You see, the definition they use
is simple enough: '.50 caliber sniper weapon means any rifle capable of
firing a centerfire .50 caliber cartridge'. But, besides the .50 BMG,
this verbiage includes such historical antiques as the 1873 Trapdoor
Springfield Rifle in caliber .50-70 (a centerfire .50 caliber), as well
as the old Remington
Rolling Block in .50-70 (both of these are veterans of the Indian Wars
of the 1800's), AND such classics as British Double Rifles in 500 NITRO
(antique elephant rifles of the last century), 500 Jeffries, etc.

I can just see myself laying down my antique 'Indian Wars' 1873 .50-70
rifle at the local ATF offices and being fingerprinted, photographed and
TAXED. Ahhhh, what fools these mortals be !

Now if you, Mr. John Q. Public, think that this law would not affect
you, keep in mind that for a few years now some custom manufacturers
have re-barreled upper receivers for AR-15 rifles that fire
the.....yup..... .50 Action Express cartridge for the Desert Eagle
pistol (.50 AE). This round is, in fact, a centerfire .50 caliber
cartridge ! And YOUR AR-15 is CAPABLE of
firing it ! Therefore, the possibility exists that this bill, seemingly
seeking to restrict rifles that can 'destroy radar towers', will be
readily determined to include ALL AR-15 type rifles ! Tricky !
Remember the old Handgun Control Inc. (HCI) 5-year plan....ban
possession of all military semi-automatic rifles, .50 caliber (all
types). With Clinton in the White House, if this bill gets the support
he can muster with his 900 FBI files, we may have a real problem. It is
obvious that the tyrants have a great fear of an armed people, and seek
to incrementally disarm us, they show their colors (yellow) by the
introduction of this bill.

It was some 12 years ago that I wrote a proposal hoping to sell some .50
BMG rifles to the military for use as 'Sniper Weapons' in combat. I
recall telling them that, conceptually, these guns could be used for
'the destruction of materiel, taking out Radar Domes, microwave dishes
and other critical infrastructure, armored cars...etc."

We had better raise the alarm, for if they get this one through, we will
have a problem, a very big problem.

T. Allen Hoover
Copyright 1999
 
The supream court needs to "define" the words "infringed" and "not."


How about necking .50 BMG brass to take a .45 caliber bullet?

------------------
"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."


RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE



[This message has been edited by Kodiac (edited August 11, 1999).]
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Do you remember that I told you that the .50 BMG was developed as a Heavy Machine Gun cartridge? Well, 'Congress finds' is pure BS, the .50 never was designed as a 'military sniper weapon', WE the PEOPLE developed it into a long range, very accurate, shoulder-fired sporting rifle. And it is WE who sell the guns we developed to the military, who uses them as 'sniper weapons'. They make it sound like it is a military weapon sneakily sold to the public.[/quote]
DZ-
God Bless your ability to cut thru the BS and call it like it is!
Great post!.
Rich
 
We all need to continue remembering the anti-self defense strategy to slice off pieces of the RKBA that they can successfully attack and destroy. Note again the Carter Center 'conspiracy' reported at http://www.interaccess.com/ihpnet/notonetxt.htm .

Actually, as I recall, this strategy is well-founded (ironically enough) in war, no? When confronted by a larger, more powerful enemy, you choose to attack with massive force when your small army can overwhelm an even smaller portion of your enemy, right? (I'm sure Sun Tsu, Giap and others were much more eloquent in their description of the theory.) This would appear to be the same technique, albeit with political intent (perhaps subsequently followed by carnage, no?).

So, now it's time to demonize .50 BMG firearms. The 9mm, .25 and .32 ammunition must go. Spouse abusers and child molesters must not have firearms. You can't possess a firearm in the wrong place, such as near a school (where you could actually defend children). Only one gun per month. Don't put the wrong features on your firearm. Oh, and by the way ... we don't want to take away anyone's guns ...

I don't know how stupid some of my fellow Americans really are, but it's clear that we're all getting a chance to find out, in real time. ;)
 
Its not a question of how stupid are our fellow Americans. It really is how stupid are we ?

------------------
Better days to be,

Ed
 
Good historical observations: The .50 cal BMG "sniper" rifle was developed by _civilians_ for responsible, legitimate use and then adopted by the military, not the other way around.
 
If they are going to make .50 BMG firing weapons Class III, don't forget the court findings in the J.D. Farmer case.

Basically, the court (Superior Court, I think) ruled that congress didn't have the right to ban any weapon, but on the other hand, the ATF didn't have to issue/approve any permits either (manufacturing, anyway)...

So, they're not banned, you just can't get them legally w/o a permit that the ATF doesn't have to issue.

------------------
Beginner barbarians probably had the idea that every house they broke into would be full of untouched loot and frightened, unarmed victims. It just doesn't work that way, my friend.
 
more data on the 50bmg for those that missed it the first time arround

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"walk softly and carry a big stick, one that goes bang in .308 is fine"
 
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