Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Will Alabama Shooter Bring 'Assault Weapon' Ban to Front Burner?

Gun owners are right to wonder if this is the event that will be the catalyst for making a new 'assault weapon' ban a priority. [More]
Today's Gun Rights Examiner column asks if this will be the triggering event.

Also get the latest from my fellow GREs.

Please read and share.

UPDATE: Bloomberg News is reporting the killer "fired about 30 rounds from an automatic weapon..." Informed gun owners will understand the significance of this. Did the reporter get it right, or is this more intentional or uninformed misreporting?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

The enemies of Liberty will use anything as an excuse to rape our civil rights.

Longbow said...

The question should be,

"Will the Alabama shooter be the catalyst for public vigilance and awareness?"

or,

"Will the shootings in Alabama finally cause people to realize that their safety and security is their own responsibility?"

Lonbow

Anonymous said...

Let's wait to hear the full story and get the facts. Some news releases are explicitly saying automatic weapon, others simply mention a rifle and other firearms.
In any case, I sincerely hope that we are long past those innocent gullible days when the public could be suckered into draconian laws that had nothing at all to do with the tragedy they were hung from. At least we gun owners know better than to roll over this time. At the very least, fight the lies with facts at every opportunity. Point out that stricter laws have no effect on these incidents. Look at the shooting in Germany for example. And the authorities can not and will not protect you from random violence. Only you, the person on the scene have that responsibility. And that task is much more doable when you have the proper tools, say for example the sidearm and patrol rifle common to most all law enforcement these days.

Anonymous said...

We have got to stop doctors from issuing all of these mind controlling drugs. And when they do the person thats taking them needs to check in once a week to see if they are flipping out on those drugs.
Its not the guns, its the drugs.
I keep telling everyone if we don't blow the cover off of this drug problem its going to end up making gun owners criminals.

BobG said...

The Brady Bunch will probably be starting their blood dance before the day is over.

Anonymous said...

This morning's paper says semi-automatic. Also says a local police chief was hit by a bullet but saved by his vest. Maybe it was a pistol-caliber carbine. It certainly was sufficient to kill the unprepared, on a pleasant early Spring day. Mostly family members, then anyone he encountered. From Condition White to Condition Black in seconds. But don't worry, the System will keep you safe.
He moved fast and did a lot of human damage in two counties. At least 10 reported dead. One man with apparently one gun. Both sides will take away lessons from this, our opposition the exactly wrong ones, as usual, of course.

Anonymous said...

...and now it would appear that the shooter "had trained as a police officer":

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090311/ap_on_re_us/south_alabama_shootings

...curiouser and curiouser.

--Cousin G

John said...

Here's a list of the weapons used... No indication of the 'automatic' status of the bushmaster, but as you know, the SKS is not an assault rifle and is not fully automatic.

www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20090311/NEWS/90311038

"McLendon was armed with two assault rifles, an SKS and a Bushmaster, using high-capacity magazines taped together; a shotgun; and a.38-caliber handgun. At this time we believe that he fired in excess of 200 rounds during the assaults."

Anonymous said...

Curiouser and curiouser...

news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Ala-Shooting/ss/events/us/031109alabamashootin/im:/090311/ids_photos_ts/r719956714.jpg/
U.S. Army soldiers from Ft. Rucker patrol the downtown area of Samson, Alabama after a shooting spree March 10, 2009. At least 10 people including the suspected gunman and his mother were killed in the shooting spree and car chase in southern Alabama on Tuesday, authorities said. REUTERS/Mark Wallheiser

Anonymous said...

The Brady Bunch is off and running:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20090311/pl_usnw/national_gun_violence_prevention_organizations_call_for_effective_federal_assault_weapons_ban_in_wake_of_alabama_rampage_shooti

Anonymous said...

Comment on the 1995 article on misreporting. In 1940, my father's AAA Massachusetts National Guard unit was federalized. Since he was six foot tall and one of the larger privates in the unit, the weapon he carried for defense of the battery was a BAR - a Browning Automatic Rifle. Other weapons in the TOE include 0.50 caliber M2 machine guns. Apparently, one of the reasons the unit was federalized was because it was better equipped than Regular Army units.

Anonymous said...

Re: update.

he people may still be uninformed, but the reporters are not. We have They intentionally misreport. They lie.

Anonymous said...

O.K., I don't know what happened in the last post, but I said that the reporters know the differences, as we have told them time and time again. They have an agenda that does not involve the truth. They intentionally misreport. They lie.