A prerequisite for all Dems should be to first run their theories on guns past Jim Webb (or some equally qualified gun expert) to see if their notions pass the smell test. They rarely do.
Backdrop: Mexico.
As Obama lands, President Calderon is calling for our Congress to reinstitute the assault weapons ban in the U.S., though this doesn’t address the million (plus or minus) assault weapons already in circulation. What Calderon is doing is passing the buck to the U.S. because he thinks that politically, with Obama in office, the Democrats will bite. We shouldn’t.
As with all my posts dealing with firearms, because I’m not an expert on the subject, I turn to my gun expert husband, Mark, a good Democrat who is easily infuriated when uninformed Democratic politicians run amok on the subject of guns. (He considers himself a Jim Webb type Dem – as do I.)
Segue to Gov. Ed Rendell, of whom I’ve always been a fan, who was interviewed by Andrea Mitchell today talking about re-instituting the “ban” on assault weapons. In the middle of his harangue I heard footsteps coming towards my office. Uh-oh. No doubt Mark heard what Rendell was saying and wanted to see the person attached to the comments.
“Who is this bozo?” Mark asked. Well, he’s not a bozo– then I was interrupted, with Mark adding, “He is if he’s saying things like that.” Talking politics for votes, because he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, he continued.
“An assault weapon is not made for long-distance firing. The Navy Seals who killed the pirates would never have used an assault weapon.” – Ed Rendell
Not even close.
Earlier this year a team of Marine Scout Snipers were deployed to the region for counter piracy work. They are armed with the SR-25 (Mk 11) 7.62×51mm semi-automatic, an AR-10 style rifle. They may well have been the men that were deployed to take out the pirates. (source)
Translation: 308 semi-auto was likely used, which looks and works exactly like an M-16.
There is a lot of guessing as to what weapon the Navy Seal snipers recently used to take out the pirates, with one of the best accounts coming in the form of an essay: Details will emerge, but I’m guessing the three SEALs were each equipped with a rifle called the SR-25, said to be the choice of SEAL snipers. It’s a semiautomatic, for fast follow-up shots, and looks like an M-16 on growth hormones.
Another review, staying with the Navy Seals since Rendell chose to use this situation, is that the “DevGru” team, which is considered the Navy version of Delta Force, likely used the MK-11, which is the 308 semiauto rifle: Poole figures the DevGru frogmen removed the “overpowered” standard-issue Leupold scopes and opted for the Aimpoint CCO augmented by the PVS-14 night vision monocular. Though the SEAL version of the MK-11 Mod 0 is issued with suppressors, it’s unclear whether the operators used them, but I’d bet a million bucks they did.
I realize we’re in the weeds for some of you, but the point is that an “assault weapon” is exactly what the Navy Seals used, unbeknownst to Ed Rendell who went on MSNBC to flatly state the opposite of what was true.
“It is for short distance firing and they can spray out a ton of bullets at one time…” – Ed Rendell
Mr. Rendell, really, now you’re talking about a full auto, which even I know. These are extremely difficult weapons to get and incredibly expensive, that is if you possess the right paperwork.
As for Mr. Rendell talking about the cop killers piercing a cop car door, quoting my husband, “most pistol bullets would do that and so would any rifle.” Again, even I knew that.
I’ve said it before, but an assault weapons “ban” doesn’t necessarily ban assault weapons. For instance, during the “ban” people were only prohibited from buying certain configurations. The Brady Bill didn’t stop the importation of all assault weapons, it only banned folding stocks, bayonet lugs, magazines over 10 rounds, and other variations on the theme. However, you could still get an assault weapon; they just couldn’t have the banned features.
Tell me how that’s “banning” assault weapons.
Comments are closed.