One would imagine that after Sept. 11, every conceivable effort would be made by state and federal authorities to limit the extent to which terrorists could operate in America. As far as ideas go, this one is far from revolutionary-it's common sense. Everyone, it seems, agrees that we ought to be gunning for more stringent national security measures. Everyone, that is, except for the National Rifle Association.
The NRA, not surprisingly, is acting aggressively to derail a proposed gun-control initiative in the Illinois state legislature. What is surprising, however, is the gun they are protecting is designed to destroy airliners. The weapon in question is the .50-caliber sniper rifle.
The .50-caliber round, about the size of a man's hand, is enormously powerful. The sniper rifle variant was originally designed for use in the U.S. Special Forces. The rifle allows the lightly armed and armored Special Forces to contend with the armored forces of conventional units, like tanks. In the Gulf War, U.S. Marines used the weapon to destroy Soviet-made armored personnel carriers, complete with two inches of steel plating, from a distance of 1,700 yards: That's 17 football fields. From a mere 200 yards, the weapon can punch clean through a 600-pound safe. If I climbed up to the top of Section O in Camp Randall, I could put a round through Sellery Hall.
In all honesty, I would hold the weapon in a geek-like state of reverence, if it weren't for the fact that any 18-year-old with sound immigration status and no felony convictions could walk into a gun store and walk out with a weapon perfect for a Grand Theft Auto-worthy rampage.
One of the more hackneyed responses in the NRA's arsenal is the claim that unrestrained access to firearms would result in a safer society-because if society is armed, an individual is less likely to act against society. In 2004, a journalist located the .50-caliber on the Internet (you can too, at www.gunsamerica.com), flew to Houston to purchase it from the seller, and returned home with the weapon without ever having to file any paperwork, except the cash he paid the dealer.
According to CNN, \A used .50 caliber rifle can often be purchased with no background check at all."" Well, looks like the NRA's vigilante vision of society is already here. Are you feeling safer yet?
A vice president of Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, the main producer of the weapon, has been quoted as saying, ""I'm not ashamed of what we're doing. We sell most of our guns to military customers or people approved by the government.""
But I have to wonder how Barrett would describe their less benign clientele-like al-Qaida. It was proven al-Qaida purchased 25 Barrett rifles for $150,000, (whether the company knew at the time is unknown) between 1988 and 1989 during the investigation of the bombings of the American embassy in Kenya.
Guns in general have an incredible shelf life, and these rifles are no exception. The 25 .50 caliber rifles represent a clear and present danger to the lives of American troops and civilians. It is clear the rifle has been recognized by al-Qaida as a weapon of choice, and this, if for no other reason, justifies banning the sale of the weapon in the United States.
The NRA, however, thinks otherwise. When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill outlawing the weapon in California, they went crazy citing it as a precedent that would be used to take away every other gun. They sent out massive action and alert e-mails to their members, which contained their righteous refrain of, ""You can take my gun from my cold dead hands."" Apparently Osama bin Laden agrees.
Additionally, a myriad of arms experts have repeatedly warned against the potential use of the rifle against commercial airliners. Globalsecurity.com analyst and former Israeli Lt. Colonel Gal Luft calls the .50-caliber ""lethal against slow-moving planes,"" and believes a plane taking off would be extremely vulnerable to the gun. Still not convinced? Hear it from the horse's mouth-investigative journalist Eli Knitisch discovered that Barrett has claimed in its promotional literature that its weapon is ""capable of destroying multi-million-dollar aircraft with a single hit delivered to a vital area.""
The question of the .50-caliber rifle is not one of gun control but national security. Our Founding Fathers did not intend the Second Amendment to allow private citizens to wield cannons designed for destroying British Men o' War. This weapon is designed for destroying armored vehicles, not for personal protection. Its only practical application is on a battlefield, and when used in the civilian realm, it is an offensive instrument of terror.
By defending this weapon, the NRA is actively stymieing advances designed to make America less hospitable to terrorists. It is evident, therefore, that if a stronger America is our aim, the NRA and the .50-caliber rifle should be our target.
