Bang! Bang! You Aren't Just Shot, You're Eviscerated!

From The Gun Guys on one nasty bit of "home enthusiast" equipment:

Here’s a nice editorial from over the weekend about the .50 caliber ban currently working its way through the New Jersey legislature. The Philly Inquirer lays out exactly why this weapon is so dangerous, and why the only way to really prevent it from being used against our citizens is to get it off of gun store shelves completely.

The measure, which unfortunately has been detoured, takes aim mainly at what gun-control advocates call the .50-caliber sniper rifle. Gun-rights advocates call it the .50-caliber bmg.

By either name it is a weapon of great velocity and long range. It is used against enemy fortifications in battle. Place this rifle’s .50-caliber bullet alongside a .22-caliber bullet, and it is like an elephant next to its calf. (The new law would also outlaw a handgun version of the weapon, though in each case current lawful owners would be exempt.)

A police officer’s body armor cannot stop this bullet. Some versions of this bullet are incendiary or armor-piercing. The weapon can be devastating even if fired from more than a mile away. Imagine it in the hands of terrorists targeting planes at takeoff or landing. The alleged Fort Dix conspirators come to mind.

Corraling this weapon is sensible to do and will pose little inconvenience to recreational users, except to deprive them of using it for target shooting. It cannot be used for hunting in New Jersey; the state already prohibits hunting with all cartridge-firing rifles.

Not to mention that with the five inch bullet used in this firearm, any hunting target that gets shot at won’t have much left of it anyway. The fact is that leaving this weapon available to anyone with cash and an ID (and, at gun shows, just anyone with cash) is opening the door for any terrorist in the United States to walk into a gun store and walk out with a military grade weapon (a weapon that’s both used by and against our troops in Iraq).