Banned in California!

Private ownership of firearms is prohibited in many countries,
your reference to me being a fan of Hitler is quite appaling.

I oppose hunting as well. There are more humane ways
to control wildlife management, if in fact, it is needed.

I occasionally do enjoy a burger, however, I don't go and
shot a cow in order to satisfy my meat supply.

Hitler also came to power with a strong pro-life stance. He accused the Jews of killing unborn babies. Do you go around comparing the pro-life movement to Hitler?

"Clearly, with the range that it has, and the impact capability that it has, it would put an airliner or an airplane at risk if it hit that plane," adds Kelly.

Could the gun be used by a terrorist to shoot down a commercial airliner?

"It'd be very difficult. It would if it were a tactic that were even remotely possible," says Barrett. "Then our military, who happens to use the rifle, would be training their troops to do such."

But in his sales brochures, Barrett advertises the .50-caliber as a weapon that can take planes down.

"There's some military brochures that we had early on that showed that you could damage aircraft on a runway or Scud missiles and things like that," says Barrett. "Yes, you could if you have a parked target."

But not in the air? "That's correct," says Barrett.

Just this past year, the Rand Corporation released a report identifying 11 potential terrorist scenarios involving Los Angeles International Airport.

In one scenario, "a sniper using a .50-caliber rifle fires at parked and taxiing aircraft." The report concludes: "We were unable to identify any truly satisfactory solutions" for such an attack.

cjhsa, what would somebody use this particular gun for? I understand that it's obviously built for target shooting, but what would somebody do with it?

I think, somehow, it's the principle of the thing for the NRA brigade. It's a gun, therefore people should be able to own it. In a way, I understand the argument since I belong to the ACLU, which puts a premium on free speech, no matter how abhorrent.

Having said that, I think it's absurd to argue that the U.S. would be at risk if its citizens couldn't maintain their own private arsenals.

So is that an official condemnation , old europe, or have you already done your offical condemantion work today?

Hitler: Banned private ownership of firearms and confiscated them before he began rounding up jews....

"Das deutsche Waffengewerbe, das bekanntlich durch die Vorschriften des Versailler Diktats in eine überaus bedrängte wirtschaftliche Lage geraten war, ist in der noch verbliebenen Bewegungsfreiheit durch diese aus polizeilichen Rücksichten erlassenen gesetzlichen Vorschriften weiter eingeschränkt worden. Es hat sich daher seit langem bemüht, auf eine Milderung der von ihm als besonders drückend empfundenen Bestimmungen hinzuwirken.
Die Stabilisierung der innenpolitischen Lage hat es jetzt gestattet, das geltende Waffenrecht nach der Richtung durchzuprüfen, welche Erleichterungen gegenüber dem bisherigen Rechtszustand im Interesse des deutschen Waffengewerbes vertretbar sind, ohne daß eine Gefahr für die Aufrechterhaltung der öffentlichen Sicherheit eintreten kann. Denn Voraussetzung für jede Lockerung des geltenden Waffenrechts muß es sein, dass die Polizeibehörden in der Lage bleiben, den Erwerb und den Besitz von Schusswaffen durch unzuverlässige, besonders auch durch staatsfeindliche Elemente rücksichtslos zu verhindern. (...)
Wenn der Besitz von Waffen durch solche Personen nach Möglichkeit unterbunden wird, ist es vertretbar und angemessen, für die staatstreue Bevölkerung Erleichterungen in den bisherigen einschränkenden Bestimmungen eintreten zu lassen, die nicht nur der Allgemeinheit, sondern vorzugsweise auch dem Waffengewerbe und der in ihm beschäftigten Arbeiterschaft zugute kommen und geeignet sind, deren wirtschaftliche Lage zu verbessern"

The idea that the purpose of the 2nd Amendment is only to provide guns for hunting and target practice is wrong. Here's what the Chairman of the Constitutional Convention had to say:

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."

--George Washington