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GAO Warns of Sniper Rifle Sales
By JIM ABRAMS Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Military sniper rifles like those used to stop Iraqi tanks during the Gulf War are now in the hands of thousands of civilians, including suspected terrorists and drug dealers, according to congressional investigators.
Agents from the General Accounting Office, the investigative wing of Congress, found that long-range, armor-piercing .50-caliber rifles are readily available through dealers, gun shows and the Internet. Buyers only need to prove that they are 18 years old and don't have a criminal record.
The agents also told a Democratic-organized hearing Monday that sellers of armor-piercing ammunition used in the semiautomatic weapons were willing to do business with them even when the agents, pretending to be buyers, said they wanted to attack armored limousines or ``take a helicopter down.''
GAO agent Robert Hast said the long-range weapons gained popularity after they were used to attack Iraqi tanks in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The weapons are highly accurate up to 2,000 yards -- meaning a marksman could stand at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington and hit a target at the Pentagon in Virginia -- and can be effective at distances of 7,500 yards.
Most deer hunters, by contrast, shoot at ranges of 150 to 200 yards.
Gast said that because gunmakers are not required to provide information on the caliber of weapons they sell, it's not clear how many of the high-powered weapons are in circulation. But one major producer sold more than 2,800 to civilians in the 1987-98 period, he said.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has tracked several of those sniper rifles to a Mexican drug cartel, suspected terrorists, a mentally ill cop killer and the Branch Davidians during the 1993 siege near Waco, Texas.
``There is a subculture growing in this country about the use of these weapons,'' said Tom Diaz of the Violence Policy Center, calling them ``the ideal tool for assassination and destruction.''
Diaz urged Congress to pass legislation putting .50-caliber rifles under the same restrictions imposed on machine guns and weapons of war, and banning armor-piercing ammunition.
Rep. Rod Blagojevich, D-Ill., who commissioned the investigation with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., plans to offer legislation restricting sales of the weapon.
James Schmidt, head of an Arizona ammunition manufacturer and a director for the 50-Caliber Shooters Association, said the rifles were not a social threat because they were heavy, costly at more than $6,000 and difficult to use for rapid-fire shooting. ``This is not a rifle that one would carry very far,'' he said.
Diaz said the weapons were being sold in ``an increasingly weird cultural context'' that ``glorifies the sniper mystique.''
He said two .50-caliber sniper rifles were used by the Branch Davidians in the 1993 siege near Waco, Texas, one reason law enforcement officials had to use armored personnel carriers.
AP-NY-05-04-99 0226EDT
Copyright © Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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I like guns!
By JIM ABRAMS Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Military sniper rifles like those used to stop Iraqi tanks during the Gulf War are now in the hands of thousands of civilians, including suspected terrorists and drug dealers, according to congressional investigators.
Agents from the General Accounting Office, the investigative wing of Congress, found that long-range, armor-piercing .50-caliber rifles are readily available through dealers, gun shows and the Internet. Buyers only need to prove that they are 18 years old and don't have a criminal record.
The agents also told a Democratic-organized hearing Monday that sellers of armor-piercing ammunition used in the semiautomatic weapons were willing to do business with them even when the agents, pretending to be buyers, said they wanted to attack armored limousines or ``take a helicopter down.''
GAO agent Robert Hast said the long-range weapons gained popularity after they were used to attack Iraqi tanks in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The weapons are highly accurate up to 2,000 yards -- meaning a marksman could stand at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington and hit a target at the Pentagon in Virginia -- and can be effective at distances of 7,500 yards.
Most deer hunters, by contrast, shoot at ranges of 150 to 200 yards.
Gast said that because gunmakers are not required to provide information on the caliber of weapons they sell, it's not clear how many of the high-powered weapons are in circulation. But one major producer sold more than 2,800 to civilians in the 1987-98 period, he said.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has tracked several of those sniper rifles to a Mexican drug cartel, suspected terrorists, a mentally ill cop killer and the Branch Davidians during the 1993 siege near Waco, Texas.
``There is a subculture growing in this country about the use of these weapons,'' said Tom Diaz of the Violence Policy Center, calling them ``the ideal tool for assassination and destruction.''
Diaz urged Congress to pass legislation putting .50-caliber rifles under the same restrictions imposed on machine guns and weapons of war, and banning armor-piercing ammunition.
Rep. Rod Blagojevich, D-Ill., who commissioned the investigation with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., plans to offer legislation restricting sales of the weapon.
James Schmidt, head of an Arizona ammunition manufacturer and a director for the 50-Caliber Shooters Association, said the rifles were not a social threat because they were heavy, costly at more than $6,000 and difficult to use for rapid-fire shooting. ``This is not a rifle that one would carry very far,'' he said.
Diaz said the weapons were being sold in ``an increasingly weird cultural context'' that ``glorifies the sniper mystique.''
He said two .50-caliber sniper rifles were used by the Branch Davidians in the 1993 siege near Waco, Texas, one reason law enforcement officials had to use armored personnel carriers.
AP-NY-05-04-99 0226EDT
Copyright © Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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I like guns!