<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>Mike F. states,</DIV>
<DIV><BR>"Actually, we currently have more restrictions on firearms. You don't have to be 18 to own a bullhorn, or a high-speed printer or a powerful computer connected to the Internet, but you do to own a rifle. You don't even have to pass a background check to start a newspaper, but you do to buy a firearm."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>You can ignore what someone shoots out of his mouth, but you cannot ignore what shoots out of his gun. So it follows, one should be more restrictive than the other. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Constitution guarantees the right to individual freedom of speech, it does not guarantee the individual right to own an automatic firearm. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Our forefathers understood that distinction and made that distinction in the Constitution.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We have stupid laws regarding the protection of people from certain guns because we have special interest groups looking out for their interests rather than the safety of the general public. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Best Regards,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Donovan </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>--- On <B>Wed, 11/12/08, Mike Finkbiner <I><mike_l_f@hotmail.com></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">From: Mike <SPAN>Finkbiner</SPAN> <mike_l_f@hotmail.com><BR>Subject: [Vision2020] Evil Black Rifles?<BR>To: vision2020@moscow.com<BR>Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 10:10 PM<BR><BR><PRE>I have a couple of comments and clarifications.
One point brought up was to compare restrictions on free speech to restrictions
on firearms. After all, if we allow our First Amendment rights to be
restricted, why not the Second?
Actually, we currently have more restrictions on firearms. You don't have
to be 18 to own a bullhorn, or a high-speed printer or a powerful computer
connected to the <SPAN><SPAN>internet</SPAN></SPAN>, but you do to own a rifle. You don't even have
to pass a background check to start a newspaper, but you do to buy a firearm.
You can be punished for misusing your free-speech rights, but there is not a
pre-emptive restriction. We do not require people to wear gags when they attend
the theater to prevent them from yelling 'Fire'.
Of course we recognize that only repressive governments pre-emptively restrict
speech. Proposing restrictions on certain types of firearms because they
<might> be misused is just as repressive. Calls for registration of
firearm are as worrisome as Soviet style registration of typewriters.
My initial post was definitely to point out that the Assault Weapons ban was
silly because it classified weapons by their appearance. The term Evil Black
Rifle is used jokingly by people who understand that many more traditional
looking firearms had similar firepower as those banned. I may have confused the
issue by using the term self-loading rather than semi-automatic, but many people
mistake automatic (continues firing as long as the trigger is pulled) and
semi-automatic (fires one round each time the trigger is pulled) so I prefer
self-loading.
There are many self-loading hunting rifles. I believe the first common one was
the Winchester Model 1903, so they have been around for a long time. There
have been statements that it is easy to convert a self-loading rifle to full
auto. That's not true. The BATF places significant restrictions on
firearms manufacturers, even requiring changes in the design after testing to
ensure that it would require significant work to convert it to fire full-auto
safely.
You can create a dangerous situation by cutting out part of the firing
mechanism and allowing the hammer to follow the bolt into the action as it loads
a new cartridge into the chamber. In that situation it's quite likely to
fire the cartridge before the action has locked, which would blow it open and
spray shards of brass around. Not a good plan.
There have been comments about how powerful the semi-automatic versions of the
AK-47 and M-16s are.
Here's a comparison of their common cartridges with the 30-06 hunting round
showing the size of the projectile and their energy at 200 yards in foot lbs.
M-16 - .223 55gr bullet 648 ft lbs
AK-47 7.62x39 Russian 125 gr bullet 882 ft lbs
30-06 180 gr bullet 1635 ft lbs
That's not a misprint, the other two run out of power fairly fast
There is belief among collectors and other firearms enthusiasts that folks who
are philosophically opposed to firearms have chosen to start with evil black
rifles (see above) because they seem like an easy target. Self-loading hunting
rifles could be next on the list, or even more. Rebecca Peters, head of the
U.N.'s International Action Network on Small Arms in an Oct. 23, 2002,
appearance on "CNN International Interview said, "Civilians should not
have ... rifles that can kill someone at 100 meters distance." That
standard would eliminate everything except air rifles.
George Orwell is famous for "Animal Farm", the book which made the
phrase "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than
others". He also said "That rifle on the wall of the labourer¢s
cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see
that it stays there."
Restricting access to firearms is not a liberal value. It's something that
those animals who are more equal than others want. Firearms rights is not just
a redneck value. Take a look at the Pink Pistols web site, or the Jews For The
Preservation of Firearms Ownership. They are both minorities who have reason to
fear the majority.
And perhaps we should leave it at that.
- Mike
"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look
upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
-- Mahatma Gandhi
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