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 Recently,
a handout was passed out in Springfield claiming that .50 caliber firearms were
used by Osama bin Laden. This statement is misleading. In the late 1980s, the
CIA supplied Afghanistan with .50 calibers to fight the Soviets. The guns were
shipped to through a US Navy ordinance depot. The fact is this was two years
before bin Laden arrived in Afghanistan. The purpose of the guns was to ambush
Soviet helicopters as they flew low through the Afghanistan valleys to attack
the Mushahadin. The Mushahadin would deliberately attack Soviet military
contingents in certain places, knowing the Soviets would counterattack using
helicopters. The .50 calibers were set up near the top of the mountain ridges so
they could fire down upon the helicopters at very short ranges of 50 to 200
yards. By shooting downward, they were shooting at the plane’s most vulnerable
spot, the topside. The particular target of the Mushahadin was the Soviet
HIND-D, an attack helicopter that was used against ground troops.
What the anti-gunners failed to tell you is that the .50 calibers did not work
well – they were too big, too cumbersome, and were not powerful enough to down
the slow moving helicopters, even at distances as close as 50 yards. The
anti-gun forces would have you believe the .50 calibers simply reached out and
plucked airplanes out of the skies by the hundreds. That was not so! If .50
calibers were not able to down close, slow-moving helicopters, it is
preposterous to believe they could hit a jetliner a couple miles up in the sky.
The anti-gunners are attempting to give the .50 caliber mystical powers, powers
it does not possess. This is a blatant attempt to mislead the state legislature
and stampede the general public by the use of fear mongering tactics.
The weapon of the terrorist is the bomb, not the gun, because it can be
delivered in an infinite number of ways against any type of target and is
capable of inflicting mass destruction. Everyone can tell this is the case by
simply recalling the media reports from Iraq, Israel, Indonesia, and
Afghanistan.
The initiatives to ban .50 caliber firearms go much further than just misleading
and incomplete information; one has to question what the end result will be.
After examining the bills that would ban the .50 calibers and the so-called
“assault weapons,” one discovers the ban would have no effect on criminals, but
would actually turn thousands of law-abiding citizens into instant criminals.
These bills would create databases, diminish the right to privacy, lead to
confiscation of legally purchased property, and create untold costs to
taxpayers. As an example, when Canada attempted such a scheme, the cost was
estimated at four million dollars; it is now two billion dollars, and climbing.
These bills attack a non-problem at a potentially great expense in terms of both
dollars and personal freedom. I do not believe this is good public policy for
the state legislature or any other governing body to proceed down such a
slippery slope.
The Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) is in the forefront fighting for our
gun rights – we need your support. If you’re not already a member of the ISRA –
join today. To become a member or for more information, please call 815.635.3198
or visit this web page to
join
on-line or download an
application.
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