Newsweek article & types of guns

U

Ulfilas

New member
A friend of mine asked me to look at the latest issue of Newsweek--jokester he is, he said there was a picture of Ted Kennedy on the cover (actually it was a Ruger :)). It was a series of reactive antigun articles, once again proliferating the myth that guns are the root of all evil. They listed all the major reported gun crimes from the past year or so (from Luke Woodham to Buford Furrow), the weapons used, etc. They said the common link to all of these crimes was firearms. They failed to mention that all of the above persons were either majorly unstable or had some major lack of moral responsibility (for the sake of focusing on firearms, of course). But enough could be debated and commented regarding that.

Being a HK owner, what caught my eye were all the firearms listed. Not a single HK to be found among them. Several Glocks and other generally cheap handguns (revolvers, .22s, etc) or rifles. It got me wondering if a persons of a certain motivation or mentality gravitated to certain choices of firearms.

Now, before I go any further, let me say this isn't an invitation to bash Glocks (nor any other brand--there were several Rugers and a couple of S&Ws in that list as well) nor put HK up on a pedestal. There's enough of that and similar stuff going on in other forums.

But out of curiosity, I'd like to find out what specific brand or model of gun is mostly used in crimes.

Any ideas, feedback, criticisms, or guffaws? :)

jth

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Exodus 22:2 -- Biblical precedent for home defense.
 
As a SIG fanatic, I, too, would like to hear about this. I have always been of the opinion that criminals gravitate toward certain types of weapons becasue they are too lazy to learn how to shoot/load/operate firearms. They're too lazy to work, so they steal, but they're to lazy to learn how to use the "tools of their trade". Any 1911s in the list of "criminal's choice" weapons? I think not.

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"Is fhe'arr teicheadh math na droch fhuireach"
-Sarabian Oomodo

If it isn't Scottish, it's CRAP!

A firearm isn't a weapon until it is used as such.
 
Jedi,

I believe I would find that very same thing if I had any data to work off of (any sources anyone can provide will be quite welcome).

I'd also go so far as to predict that moderately pricey arms like HK or Desert Eagle (I don't know about SIG's price range, but with the Swiss being about as thorough in their engineering as the Germans, I'd expect it to be right up there with HK) would more likely find their way in the hands of those who are serious about their legitimate use.

But, like I said, I'd need info to back that one up.

jth

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Exodus 22:2 -- Biblical precedent for home defense.
 
They like Ravens (and anything similiar) because they are cheap. They like TEC-9s because they are cool-looking and cheap. The bottom line is: cheap and "cool-looking". As far as "assault weapons" being the choice of criminals: can you imagine one of these thugs with a backwards-baseball cap and all, trying to conduct a discrete drug-deal on a corner while holding an M1A or AR-15? Good thing we got rid of those bayonet lugs....those drive-by bayonettings were getting out of hand!
 
It depends. Most of them (just like most law abiding citizens) are going to want what's cheap and cool looking. The "gun-nuts" (and I can assure you there are some on the other side) are going to want the best. So basically it's just like the law abiding citizens except that they don't abide by the laws.

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Arizona Morgan, The Official Armchair Warrior
 
Sorry I can't remember the link, but I saw a site from our gov that listed the top 10 guns used in crime. What supprised me about it was #10 was the Marlin .22 simi-auto rifle. The very same one as I've got. Maybe someone else can remember where I saw this posted... as it came from a link off the firing line.



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Richard

The debate is not about guns,
but rather who has the ultimate power to rule,
the People or Government.
RKBA!
 
I think this is a dangerous topic. Next thing you know, everyone will be screaming that we need to ban the weapons "most likely" to be used in crime...

bkm
 
Actually, there was a 1911 in Newsweek's list of guns used in recent shootings.

It does seem that gangbanger-types and other dirtbags gravitate toward guns like the Tec-DC9. Of course, I'd rather have some bozo try to shoot me with one of those than a HK-91 or FAL! Watch, they'll ban the cheap, crappy guns and complain that criminals are using good ones.
 
"they'll ban the cheap crappy guns and complain criminals are using good ones"
That pretty much describes what happened in places that banned "Saturday Night Specials". Criminals acquired "better" guns. Hi-cap Beretta's, etc..
So they ban hi-caps. Everybody gets a large caliber, easily concealable "pocket rocket".
Makes you wonder, if they just left things alone, would most criminals still be carrying junk firearms?
 
Wright, Rossi & Daly, in their book "Under the Gun", spoke of interviews with violent criminals incarcerated in Florida's Raiford Prison. All said that if pistols were unavailable, they would use long guns and hacksaws.

Interesting statistic: Of people shot with handguns, 2/3 live; 1/3 die. Of people shot with long guns, 1/3 live and 2/3 die. If we "magick" away all handguns, guess what happens?

FWIW, Art
 
Ooo! Ooo! I know!

Criminals will kill 6 out of 10 victims instead of 3. The sheeple will cry to the gummint to ban those evil .30-06 and .308 death-dealing killing machines. The anti-gun hunters will say, "Hey, my gun has a Legitimate! Sporting! Purpose!" The pols will say, "Tough toenails. Get your meat at King Soopers."

And the criminals will laugh themselves sick.

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A vote for the lesser of two evils is still a vote for evil.
Vote Libertarian - For A Change.
 
I don't remember the reference but I read an article a while back that said the number one gun used in crimes was a Smith and Wesson .38 special revolver.

Of course this most likely relates to how common they are.
 
Tankertom,
It stands to reason that the S&W 38 would be near the top of the list. Smith has only made over a million of them since the 1930's. Not only are they good guns but, plentiful and inexpensive.
 
YES!!!!

You go, Dennis! Right on the money!


John


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"America is at that awkward stage.
It's too late to work within the system,
but too early to start shooting the bastards."
--Claire Wolfe
 
DEVILDOG2 is right. The Tec-9 is a piece of junk. They like them because they are cheap, have an intimidating look, and are high capacity. What ever happened to ACCURACY? I guess high capacity makes up. ;)
 
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