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This is a blog of liberal stance and independent mind

Sunday 16 December 2012

You Can Own These Guns Legally

You’ve heard the immortal words of “Dirty” Harry Callahan: “this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off”. But in the USA, you can buy and own guns that put weapons like that in the shade. Blowing someone’s head clean off? You can wipe them out completely with a weapon like the Barrett M82 sniper rifle, which packs .50 calibre ammunition.


Yes, a round rather larger than that in the .44 Magnum, and with the capability of firing it around five miles. The M82 is effective – accurate – at distances of over a mile. It has a delivery that can penetrate armour plate. It is widely used by the military. Owning one of these is not a necessary part of keeping your home and its occupants safe. But it can be legally owned in the USA.

Maybe you want something a little more mainstream? Well, the Bushmaster M4, which was used to such lethal effect at Sandy Hook Elementary School, is more widely available, and it too is legal for the citizen to own. It was also the weapon of choice for the “Washington Sniper” attacks of October 2002. This assault rifle is a civilian derivative of the Colt M4 carbine.

Making the M4 legal, though, extends to it being “only” semi-automatic, plus the barrel is a little longer. It can still deliver over 700 rounds a minute, which means that it too is a little over the top when it comes to personal protection. But this and the M82 are rather obvious: folks can see you’re packing some serious heat. Well, there is also a legal and lethal product that gets round that problem.

Easily concealed about one’s clothing, the Glock semi-automatic pistol is light and can take a magazine holding up to 33 rounds of ammunition. That magazine is a clip that can be changed in a few seconds. This was the chosen weapon of Jared Lee Loughner, who targeted Rep Gabrielle Giffords and killed six in the space of a single minute. He’d have killed more if he hadn’t fumbled the reloading operation.

And, just in case this hasn’t sufficiently underscored how lax the US’ gun laws are, consider this: the world’s most widely available military assault rifle – over 75 million are known to have been made – can be legally purchased and owned by a US citizen. I give you the AK-47 aka Kalashnikov rifle, rugged, dependable – and reliably lethal. Your local gun dealer will have more information on this product.

Mind you, the AK-47 is old enough technology to “only” deliver 600 rounds a minute. But it, too, is way more than a self defence device. It’s the kind of weapon you would acquire if embarking on a terror operation or minor war. And there are guns like these in households across the USA right now. All you need to do is to drive over to the local gun store and hand over the money to arm yourself to the teeth.

Don’t forget your driver’s license, mind. They don’t sell this kit to just anyone.

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