Open letter from Ronnie Barrett **Read**

[TreeDoc]

An Open Letter From Ronnie Barrett

Dear Fellow Citizens

In the never-ending battle to destroy our constitution, more "big lie"
propaganda is being dumped on our elected officials. The rhetoric
given forth by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) so easily deceived the
legislators of California, resulting in the banning of fifty caliber
rifles because they are powerful and their bullets punch holes when
they strike. Even single shot .50 cal rifles were banned. It's hard
to believe we live in such a dark time that someone has actually
banned a single shot rifle. But as you will see, this is the
cleverest of all gun bans, and the end goal is civilian disarmament,
the confiscation of your tools of liberty, your rifles.

What lies before us is the continuation of the misinformation
campaign, trying to coax yet another state to infringe upon the U.S.
Constitution as California did. The anti-freedom/anti-gun movement
has discovered how transparent they appear when they propose sweeping
gun bans and now are successful by biting off a little at a time.
Ever so small, many politicians are trading off your rights without
you recognizing their violations.

First we had the "Saturday Night Special" which was all affordable
handguns, then "sniper rifles" which were any scoped deer rifles.
Those were obvious, too big a scam to go unnoticed, but with the
creation and demonization of the term "assault weapon," the Clinton's
Crime bill produced a wasted 10-year setback on your freedoms and safe
gun design. Now comes another scam. This time they are shocked to
discover that rifles are "accurate and powerful."

This is the same bull the officials in the 1950's fell for when they
banned the self-unfolding knife. First the knife was demonized by
giving it an evil name, "switchblade," then we (the trusting public)
were told that the problem of gang violence was solved with its
banning. How ridiculous. It's surprising they didn't ban the leather
jacket. In reality, gang violence was and is a serious social
problem, but it was not related to manually unfolding verses
self-unfolding knives. The elected officials voting to ban an object
like a knife proved themselves unwilling or uncaring to understand the
problem, and thus, incapable of any real solutions.

The handful of people that make up the VPC are solely responsible for
the big lie on .50's, claiming fantastic destruction capabilities.
They manipulate fear by claiming terrorists will use these rifles on
targets of our infrastructure. "They will shut down our airports in
flames" they claim. VPC's Tom Diaz refers to them as "super guns"
lying to his dupable group of politicians, concealing the facts that
there are many rifle cartridges that are comparable in performance
(those will be added to the list in phase two). He is boldly telling
these officials (and all who will listen) that the risk of terrorist
attacks on these targets will be solved with the banning of powerful
rifles, in this case, the .50 caliber rifle. In reality, terrorism is
complex and will be defeated with improved intelligence. In this
instance, the officials voting to ban an inanimate object like a rifle
prove themselves to be ignorant of the problem of terrorism and are
wasting time and resources.

You must understand the brilliance of this dangerous back door
deception. Your politicians are being told that the fifty is a highly
destructive cartridge that can destroy airplanes, fuel transport
trucks and depot storages of fuel. They show videos like the one on
60 Minutes showing a 1/2 inch plate of steel being pierced by a .50
cal round while stopping a .308 caliber. This is all to confuse the
people, those with little exposure to firearms; their impression
concludes that the .50 punches holes in sensitive targets where other
rifles cannot. Had they shot actual aluminum that is used on airplane
construction, or aluminum or steel used in actual transport or tank
construction, both the .50 and the .308 will pierce along with most
all centerfire cartridges. But this, they must keep secret.

First, with the confusion of massive, (although incorrect) technical
data and the hammering of urgency, the VPC demands a ban or strict
regulations on rifles that chamber a cartridge that has the ability to
penetrate targets. Sound ridiculous? It is.

VPC's Tom Diaz appears often on TV with maps of Washington, DC,
irresponsibly instructing where to position one's self to illegally
fire on vulnerable important targets of our government, promising
these specific targets will be safe when .50's are banned. He
pressures politicians to act quickly on this URGENT legislation needed
to make these terrorist targets safe, hoping they will act before the
VPC lies are discovered.

Now slow down. A ban on a rifle because the cartridge it shoots
penetrates targets? By the legislation naming and defining the
targets that are damageable by rifle fire, and in this case, .50 cal.
rifle fire, they create a new class of rifles. This new class is not
defined by such foolishness as detachable magazines, flash hiders, or
pistol grips. Instead, the test is; does it fire a bullet that
punches a hole, and can the hole result in damage to specified and
named targets? If so, the law-abiding citizen shouldn't be allowed to
have this, so they must ban this class of rifle before they can be
misused. This is the very thing California has just passed!

"Now, we are only talking about those powerful .50 cals, right? It's
such a small class, no one will mind or even notice." That's what the
VPC's lies have lead you to believe. No, remember they are banning
rifles because specific targets named in our infrastructure are
susceptible to damage. Now tell me, what centerfire rifle cartridge
won't punch holes in those targets? What centerfire rifle cartridge
is not powerful? Not many or not any? So, in order to comply with
the spirit and intent of the law, the Attorney General or State
Secretary must add those cartridges to the banned list. The big lie
is exposed. They aren't just talking about .50's. They're after your
hunting rifles, centerfire target rifles-just about any rifle you own.

Unlike California, we cannot allow any of our local, state, or federal
officials to be deceived with any of this "big lie" gun control
propaganda. The U.S. has every gun law that could possibly be needed.
Virtually every real world scenario of firearm abuse is already
covered in some law that is currently on the books.

Many of you have inquired as to the outcome of the letter I wrote to
Police Chief Bratten of the LAPD. Unfortunately, the chief's position
did not change. He continued to use his officers in the same
deceptive practices formerly utilized with the city council. These
few officers testifying in Sacramento ultimately contributed to the
unconstitutional AB50 law being passed. It saddened me to have to
tell members of the LAPD SWAT team that they would have to send
someone for their rifle, because I refused to assist anyone or any
organization that is in violation of the United States Constitution.
In turn, the department arranged to pick up their un-serviced rifle.

Barrett cannot legally sell any of its products to lawbreakers.
Therefore, since California's passing of AB50, the state is not in
compliance with the US Constitution's 2nd and 14th Amendments, and we
will not sell nor service any of our products to any government agency
of the State of California.

I appreciate all the phone calls and e-mails from LAPD officers and
civilians during that time, encouraging and supporting our actions.
We shall see if other firearms companies will follow this path. I
know many are corporately owned and feel like they are unable to risk
the life of their company for the liberties of our nation, but if we
lose our Republic, our freedom, what good is any of it? I am in the
proud and fortunate position that many of our forefathers were in when
they risked all for our liberties.

"Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would
they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at
the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not
what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me
death!" -Patrick Henry

[TreeDoc]

This "ban large bore" insanity failed in Washington years ago, but
that didn't discourage the VPC. Now it's resurfacing in city council
meetings, in individual states, and it's being reintroduced in
Washington. NRA-ILA Executive Director, Chris Cox, once told me
"These (anti-freedom, anti-gun) guys never go away, and they never quit."

I've received thousands of e-mails and letters from you offering
encouragement and support. Our Republic, our liberty, needs and
demands your support. You must take action to guard your rights.
First, find your State Senator and State Representative. Tell them
not to fall for this scam. This lie depends on the elected official
being naive about firearms and their capabilities. Stand ready to
carry this same message to your U.S. Senator and Representatives.
Know all of your elected officials' positions on gun issues. DO NOT
ELECT ANY ANTI-GUN PERSON TO ANY POSITION!

Position yourself with me in the battles that we must fight. You need
to join the NRA, the Fifty Caliber Shooters' Association, and the NSSF
in order to stay informed. These people have been with me in the
trenches, fighting for every inch of the liberty you enjoy.

Today we draw a line; there will be no more nibbling at our freedom.
Today you stand idle no longer. Today you do something to save our
country!

<signed>

Ronnie Barrett
Owner and CEO
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc.

www.barrettrifles.com
www.nra.org
www.fcsa.org
www.fiftycal.org
www.nssf.org

[Purebred Redneck]

I guess Mr. Barett missed the part on 60 minutes where a U.S. citizen of forgien orgin legally bought hundreds of 50 cals and sold them to his mother country in a war effort.


My take has and always will be that a 50 caliber centerfire rifle has ablsolutly no practical purpose, none whatsoever. Now if we were shooting at deer at 1 mile behind a brick building, I can see...

Now I definatly do not support a bill which does not specify muzzleloaders as being the exception.
And a bill like that would never pass because the state conservation dept would in return become a lobby against the bill because it's costing the state funding.


My question is "why are there so many proposed laws in California that fail if the entire state is liberal?" Unless the state does not allow initiatives and referendums, there is no reason why anti-gun laws don't pass all the time...unless the people are not as "liberal" in the animal and gun movement as "conservatives" claim.

[fabsroman]

I will admit that a .50 has no practical purpose in the realm of hunting, but who isn't to say that it doesn't serve a practical purpose for target shooters and for the militia that the second amendment says we should have.

If you really want to look at it as no gun serves a practical purpose unless it can be used for hunting, I am sure there are a lot of guns out there that would be off the list.

Then, lets look at hunting and fishing. What practical purpose do they serve other than as a hobby. There are very few people in the world today that actually hunt to live. Same goes for fishing, unless you happen to be a commercial fisherman.

What practical purpose does my trap gun serve because it can only be used to break clay and it really isn't too good in the field for anything. I don't want to see it banned any time soon.

As far as the U.S. Citizen that bought 100's of .50's and sent them over to his mother land, I would love to know how the system allowed that. What happened to the Nicks check and how could he buy that many guns without a dealers license. What exactly is the entire story on that one. My brother mentioned something about this 100 gun transaction, and when I asked him for the details he couldn't provide them to me. Is this more rumor than fact. I don't have the time to go digging today, but would appreciate any links to the "facts."

[Purebred Redneck]

I originally taped the 60 minute episode to show to high school students but I taped over it a few weeks ago.

Nics can't prevent legal people from buying legal weapons - they may just delay it.

The guy's first hand statement was that he as a citizen could buy as many guns as he pleased (which he can) by buying a few at a time and he made occasional blackmarket shipments overseas.

[muledeer]

I bought a Barrett M-99 recently. No not for hunting but for 1,000 yd shooting. I haven't shot it yet (waiting for the weather to warm up). I own alot of rifles that I don't use for hunting like an M-1 Garand, M-1 Carbine, AR-15, M1A1, 1903 Springfield, 1927A1 Thompson, and SKS. Sure you can hunt with these rifles but I prefer my Weatherbys. I do not believe the right to own a rifle or pistol be based on whether you can or do hunt with it. In fact hunting has nothing to do with firearm ownership IMO. I had been leaning towards buying a 50 for about a year and decided to move foreward with that decision after seeing Ronnie Barrett on 60 minutes.
Doc, I just can't believe Kalifornia is coming down on firearms the way they are. I grew up in Southern K and guns were no big deal. Times change!!!!
Fabs, I agree 100%
muledeer

[PJgunner]

Purebred Redneck said, "My take has and always will be that a 50 caliber centerfire rifle has ablsolutly no practical purpose, none whatsoever. Now if we were shooting at deer at 1 mile behind a brick building, I can see... "


What ridiculous reconstituted bull food! What in almighty hell does practicality have to do with it? Apparently you like muzzle loaders. I think they suck, therefore who cares if you can't have one 50 caliber or larger? I sure as hell don't! I don't much care for shotguns either, so let's outlaw those, cuz I don't care.
Now before you blow a gasket, think over what I just said. That's the result the antis want. DIVIDE AND CONQUER, and you just fell for it.
BTW, my feelings about muzzleloaders and shots is just that. I don't like them. But I damn well would not say you can't own one. How about a full auto firearm? They're a hell of a lot of fun to shoot. But look at the hoops you have to jump through to get one.
On several ocasions, I have taken the trouble to type out parts of cetain laws, still on the books including the Militia Act of 1792, Title 10 of the U.S. Code, and the fact that neither state that the National Guard is the militia, but I'm not going to do this anymore as I feel that I'm pissing up a rope. You want to find the facts, go to www.gunowners.org and go to their firearms facts section. Educate yourself.
Sorry if my post is offensive, but I'm tired of, "Well I see no practical use etc, ad nauseun" and trhe antis win another round. It's damn well time gun owner got their collective heads out of their eectal orifaces and see what's happening. You don't like 50 BMGs. So what. Don't buy one. You don't like AR-15s or AK-47, SKSs whatever, don't buy one. Nobody's twisting your arm. Just don't you tell me I can't buy one. Because I will tell where to go, and it's one hot place.
I've probably been around a bit longer than most of you here, and I've seen my gun owning rights being eroded left and right. I don't like it and I'm mad as hell.
Paul B.

[wrenchman]

I have never wanted to buy a 50 cal but i would love to meet some one that does so i could shoot it once i think it would be fun.
But as to it being destructive whats next the 338 or the weatherbys or a 7 mag.
They start by saying one gun is bad then after it is gone they go after another after all its only one gun .

[fabsroman]

I haven't been around too long, only 33+ years and I have seen enough of this stuff to really piss me off. There was the Clinton ban on assault weapons and that was a joke. The sniper attacks that occurred in my area, by U.S. citizens, were committed using an AR-15. As long as guns are manufactured somewhere in the world, the bad guys will have them. So, you can outlaw .50's in California, but that doesn't mean that the bad guy cannot go over to Utah, Nevada, or where ever else and buy a .50. Outlaw them in the U.S. and they will be shipping them in on the black market just like this guy was shipping them out. Of course, that is if criminals really want these guns. Terrorists probably have an interest in them, but does the everyday criminal, probably not.

As far as I am concerned, the ATF must have dropped the ball on this one because I have heard of people's homes being invaded for reports of arms stockpiling in amounts less than 100's and certainly not 100 Barrett .50's.

As has been mentioned before, there are plenty of gun laws already on the books. Law enforcement should worry about enforcing those laws and getting hard time for people that use guns illegally.

As far as I am concerned, this country would be a better place ALMOST everybody were allowed to carry guns. Then, criminals and terrorists would have to think twice before they did something, and even then, the damage might be decreased.

[iwerk2hard]

Fabs,
I had the time to do the digging a few weeks ago, with the help of my father.
One of the 50 cal. guns was bought at
a store near my hometown.

I'll post again with the lonk to the 60 Minutes story.

fabsroman wrote:

As far as the U.S. Citizen that bought 100's of .50's and sent them over to his mother land, I would love to know how the system allowed that. What happened to the Nicks check and how could he buy that many guns without a dealers license. What exactly is the entire story on that one. My brother mentioned something about this 100 gun transaction, and when I asked him for the details he couldn't provide them to me. Is this more rumor than fact. I don't have the time to go digging today, but would appreciate any links to the "facts."

Quite simply put, the store owners are making legal sales. The buyers are liars, plain and simple. They fabricate stories that depict legal use of the guns, then after the purchase, break any laws they see fit to break to accomplish their goals.

http://www.ridgwayrecord.com/article...ews/news01.txt

St. Marys gun store on 60 Minutes
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 11:24 AM EST

ST. MARYS - A local business recently appeared on national television following the purchase of a gun by a former Albanian man supplying guns to guerilla forces in Kosovo last April.

According to a 60 Minutes show, which aired Sunday, Florin Krasniqi, a former Albanian currently residing in Brooklyn, N.Y., bought a .50-caliber rifle from Elk County Ammo & Arms, in St. Marys, while accompanied by a Dutch film crew.


The store, not named in the program, was referred to as a "gun store in Pennsylvania."

The .50-caliber rifle, which is legal to sell within the United States, was coupled with an estimated 200 other weapons bought elsewhere that were then shipped overseas to Kosovo.

Krasniqi's intentions, he told 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley, was to show how easy it is to purchase large caliber rifles and ammunition in the U.S.

The weapons he bought in America ended up in the hands of the Kosovo Liberation Army, he told 60 Minutes.

According to Mark Rupprecht, owner of Elk County Ammo & Arms, the store had no idea the documentary was intended for 60 Minutes.

In fact, he said this issue all started when a woman from New York called the store, saying she had an elephant hunter interested in purchasing a specific gun for a hunt. As a freelance photographer, Rupprecht said the woman wished to film a documentary in hopes of selling the footage to a Dutch TV station.

"She wanted to film this hunt in its entirety, including where he bought the gun," said Rupprecht.

This footage is what ended up on 60 Minutes.

"It's not an illegal gun to buy," said Rupprecht, adding the only thing significant about this gun is its size.

Rupprecht did order the gun on the woman's request and agreed to the filming in his store.

Rupprecht said Elk County Ammo & Arms had recently gotten its website up and running, which is how the film crew found the store.

According to Rupprecht, filming is a big part of hunting, so he found nothing unnatural about the request to film the gun purchase.

"I went along with their wishes," he said. "That was pretty much the end of it."

However, in November, he said the Office of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms came to Elk County Ammo & Arms, asking specific questions about the transaction. He said the organization checked all of the store's records.

"They did their investigation and there was nothing wrong on my end," said Rupprecht.

Then the footage showed up on 60 Minutes.

"It was very deceitful what they did," Rupprecht said of the film crew. "I don't know how you can take precautions from deceitful people."

Rupprecht said there was absolutely nothing illegal about the sale, and the filming was done under false pretenses.

"The laws are very specific on what you have to do when you sell guns. Every sale we do is perfectly legal."

Rupprecht said last April's sale was similar to any other. He treated his customer with the best possible customer service. In fact, Rupprecht said he has no idea how many other stores were filmed, but he believes his footage was chosen due to the level of customer service he displays.

He said he was not letting them film for store promotion purposes, as the footage, he believed, was to be sold to a Dutch TV station.

[iwerk2hard]

Here's the link and text of the 60 Minutes story. Pay attention to the part about the elephant hunting club.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/...in681562.shtml

Buying Big Guns? No Big Deal

March 20, 2005


Florin Krasniqi supplied members of the Kosovo Liberation Army with .50-caliber rifles.

"We are the candy store for guns in the world. And it's easy for people to acquire them here."
Joe Vince, former top official, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

Joe Vince, a former top official at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Stacy Sullivan, a former Newsweek correspondent, wrote a book about Krasniqi.

(CBS) Fifteen years ago, Osama bin Laden sent one of his operatives to the United States to buy and bring back two-dozen .50-caliber rifles, a gun that can kill someone from over a mile away and even bring down an airplane.

In spite of all the recent efforts to curb terrorism, bin Laden could do the same thing today, because buying and shipping the world’s most powerful sniper rifle is not as difficult as you might think.

Two months ago, Correspondent Ed Bradley reported on just how powerful the gun is. New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly had a sharpshooter fire the department’s own .30-caliber sniper rifle and the bullets bounced off a half-inch-thick plate of steel. Then, the marksman fired the .50-caliber sniper rifle, and the bullets blew right through the steel plate.

Now, you’ll hear from a gunrunner who, just a few years ago, was able to outfit a guerrilla army in Kosovo with those powerful weapons. He was willing to talk to 60 Minutes, because now he thinks what he did was much too easy. The gunrunner's name is Florin Krasniqi, and he is seen providing a new shipment of weapons to Albanian rebels, who are about to smuggle them over the mountains into Kosovo. After a few days' journey on horseback, the guns will end up in the hands of a guerrilla force known as the Kosovo Liberation Army, which has been fighting for independence from Serbia for nearly a decade.

Krasniqi took these guns to his family's home in Kosovo. Most of them were easy to get in Albania, but not the .50-caliber rifles. "This is, we get from the home of the brave and the land of the free, as we would like to say," says Krasniqi, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Krasniqi came to America in 1989. He was smuggled across the Mexican border in the trunk of a car with just $50 in his pocket. Today, he’s an American citizen, and the owner of a highly successful roofing business.

"This is what I do for a living," says Krasniqi. "This is how we earn the money in New York. There’s a large Albanian-American community in the New York City area."

When the war broke out in Kosovo in 1998, many of the young men volunteered to fight. Krasniqi realized he’d be more valuable raising money for the guerrilla army. Then, he started buying standard equipment at a Brooklyn Army-Navy store.

"Anything you need to run a small guerrilla army, you can buy here in America," says Krasniqi. "You have all the guns you need here to fight a war. M-16s. That's what the U.S. soldiers carry in Iraq. All the rifles which U.S. soldiers use in every war, you can buy them in a gun store or a gun show."

What gun became the weapon of choice for Krasniqi? "By far, the weapon of choice was a .50-caliber rifle," says Krasniqi. "You could kill a man from over a mile away. You can dismantle a vehicle from a mile away."

He says it can also be "very easily" used against helicopters and planes.

If the power of the .50-caliber rifle amazed Krasniqi, what amazed him even more was how easy it was to buy. Krasniqi allowed a Dutch documentary film crew to accompany him to a gun store in Pennsylvania.

"You just have to have a credit card and clear record, and you can go buy as many as you want. No questions asked," says Krasniqi.

Was he surprised at how easy it was to get it? "Not just me. Most of non-Americans were surprised at how easy it is to get a gun in heartland America," says Krasniqi. "Most of the dealers in Montana and Wyoming don’t even ask you a question. It’s just like a grocery store."

And, he says there are a variety of choices for ammunition, which is easy to get as well. "Armor-piercing bullets, tracing bullets," says Krasniqi. "[Ammunition] is easier than the rifles themselves. For the ammunition, you don't have to show a driver’s license or anything."

"You can just go into a gun show or a gun store in this country and buy a shell that will pierce armor? A civilian," asks Bradley.

"You never did that? You’re an American. You can go to the shows and see for yourself," says Krasniqi. "Ask the experts. They’ll be happy to help you."

60 Minutes asked expert Joe Vince, a former top official at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, if anyone, even a terrorist, could easily buy 50-caliber rifles.

"We are the candy store for guns in the world. And it's easy for people to acquire them here," says Vince, who adds that America is "absolutely" the best place for a terrorist to equip himself with guns.

"There’s a lot of concern about terrorists bringing weapons of mass destruction into the United States," says Bradley. "Why should we care about small arms, guns like the .50-caliber, leaving the United States?"

"Small arms are the No. 1 weapon for terrorists," says Vince. "On the newsreels about Iraq and Afghanistan, you always see the insurgents standing there with their shoulder-held rocket launchers. But in fact, that is one round, where an assault weapon can be repeatedly fired – as many rounds as you have. It’s a much better tactical weapon."

Are these small caliber weapons used more often to kill people than large weapons? "Absolutely," says Vince.

60 Minutes asked Krasniqi how he shipped .50-caliber rifles out of the United States.

"You just put in the airplane, declare them and go anywhere you want," says Krasniqi. "It's completely legal. It's a hunting rifle."

Krasniqi says he shipped the rifles to Albania, and then the soldiers carried them onto the battlefields. He wouldn’t say how many .50-caliber rifles he sent to Kosovo, so 60 Minutes asked Stacy Sullivan, a former Newsweek correspondent, who wrote a book about Krasniqi called, “Be Not Afraid, For You Have Sons in America.”

How many guns did Krasniqi ship over there? "Probably a couple of hundred," says Sullivan. "It's easy. You're allowed to take two or three at a time. He had a group of guys that were dispersed in the U.S., some in Alaska, some in Nevada, some in California, some in Michigan, some in Illinois. And they would each buy a few at a time, and they would take them over in twos and threes on commercial airlines."

Krasniqi’s team of gunrunners never had a problem getting the guns out of the United States. But they often had to switch flights in Switzerland, and authorities there wanted to know what they were doing with such powerful weapons.

"We told them ‘We’re going to hunt elephants.’ And they said, ‘There’s no elephants in Albania,’" says Krasniqi. "And we told them we were going to Tanzania, so we had set up a hunting club here and a hunting club in Albania."

"You had to set up a phony hunting club in Albania, tell the Swiss authorities that men from this hunting club were going to go to Tanzania to shoot elephants," asks Bradley.

"Yes," says Krasniqi. "I never saw an elephant in my life, never mind shot one."

Even so, Krasniqi’s team needed evidence to support the African hunting story, so he says, "We had bought an elephant in Tanzania and set up the whole documentation, so it proved to them we are just elephant hunters."

He says he paid approximately $10,000 for the elephant. But he never got the elephant. "We were not interested in elephants," says Krasniqi. "We were interested to fight a desperate war."

Krasniqi’s shipments of .50-caliber rifles gave the guerrillas a confidence and firepower they’d never had before. But they weren’t getting enough of them. So Krasniqi broke the law by shipping the rifles out in larger quantities than customs allowed.

What was Krasniqi's largest shipment of .50-caliber rifles to Kosovo? "One was on an airplane that he filled up with weapons," says Sullivan. "And I think there were about a hundred guns in there,… 100 .50-caliber rifles."

According to Sullivan, the gunrunners transported the guns on a truck to New York’s Kennedy airport and hid them inside shipments of food and clothing destined for refugees.

"They put the palettes into a plane. Nothing gets X-rayed," says Sullivan. "It's wrapped up as humanitarian aid."

The fact that Krasniqi could smuggle a large shipment of guns out of Kennedy airport came as no surprise to the man who oversaw U.S. Customs at the time, now New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

"With the volume of shipments that leave our country and come in, I wouldn’t doubt that it’s possible to ship these guns overseas," says Kelly. "There are regulations that permit rifles to be shipped overseas. They limit the number, but there are probably ways of getting around the regulations."

"I would assume it’s safe to say we don’t have the number of customs agents who could check in that kind of detail every flight that leaves the country," says Bradley.

"No, that's true," says Kelly.

Too long, continued in next post.

[iwerk2hard]

Tracking weapons as they leave the country is like finding a needle in a haystack, unless federal agents are already tracking the smugglers and their activities. Vince, a former ATF official, says Congress should pass a law that would enable law enforcement officials to maintain computerized records of gun sales, something the gun lobby strenuously opposes.

Right now, Vince says there isn't a central database for gun purchases. "There is no national registration whatsoever," says Vince. "If we had computerized all the sales of firearms, we could be looking at patterns of activity."

And Vince says this includes all those .50-calibers purchased by Krasniqi and his team of gunrunners: "People normally buy firearms for hunting, for sporting purposes and self-defense. But you don’t buy 50 of the same type of weapon – or more in this case. It would obviously, through any type of analysis, ring buzzers with customs or anybody else investigating this."

How would Krasniqi describe the gun laws in this country? "More liberal than the wildest European imagination," says Krasniqi. "You can imagine them being liberal, and they are more liberal than that."

"But you wouldn’t have been able to buy guns for the Kosovo Liberation Army if the gun laws in this country were stricter," says Bradley. "And I’m hearing you say you’re anti-gun. How can you be anti-gun when you’re buying guns to free your people?"

"I took advantage of a liberal law here in this country to help my old country," says Krasniqi. "And I believe in my heart I did it for the good. But some people can do it for the bad."

[gd357]

Here's the problem as I see it.

1.) the government is restricting the tyoes of guns we can own. I can almost buy into the automatic restrictions, but now they're going after semi-autos, and even single-shots just based on caliber??? Give me a break.

2.) Most of the people making these laws have no idea what purpose ANY gun is used for. In short, we have very few hunters/shooters deciding what constitutes a legal firearm.

3.) Any hunter is free to use any legal firearm to take whatever game they are pursuing. I prescibe to the dead-is-dead theory which basically states that a .50 BMG is not too much gun for whitetails.

Now, we could say that .50's are military weapons, and have no use for civilian purposes. However, I'd say that a .50 BMG would be just the ticket for Alaskan brown bears, cape buffalo, or anything else capable of inflicting damage on the hunter pursuing said quarry. I'd also agree that a .50 would buck wind a lot better than a smaller round, and therefore would be useful for long range target shooting and similar activities. I don't have a .50 BMG, although I plan to own one in the future. I don't want a non-hunter who isn't familiar with firearms telling me that I can't own one simply because it is considered a "military only" caliber.

gd357

[Tater]

Well, I don't have a use for a .50 and probably never will. I think their a ridiculous waste of money. A lot of people think the same thing about my tattoos. I do, however, support an idividual's right to waste the money on one. Just because I don't have a use for a .50 cal doesn't mean others don't. And another thing, people buy and sell guns of all types and calibers for illegal purposes every day. Are they going to ban my AR15 because some nutjob buys 100 and sells the to the Columbian drug cartel?

[Andy L]

This is nothing but typical Feinstein, Kerry, Gore and Kennedy, (along with a few others, but no doubt started by a memeber of this crew), ploy to take one more step at getting our guns.

PBR, I have a truely hard time understanding you. I have talked to you in private and other places, and it appears to me that you actually do like to hunt and shoot. Then, you come off with more of this extremeist liberal bunk.

Just because you dont like 50 cals, or someone at your local range was a little rude with their AR15s while you were shooting you 22lr, has no bearing whatsoever on whether or not they should be legal or not. What does have a bearing is another brick in the wall, chink in the armour, toehold, or whatever you decide you want to call what the liberal, anti gun movement, aimed at taking mine and your weapons away from us.

The way I see it, 50cal will probably be construed to cover the most popular black powder rifles and the new SW500 pistol as well. And, Ill give you a clue, the "bad guys" are gonna get these weapons, no matter what.

Its like banning fully automatic weapons. Ok, I cant own one, unless I wanna go to jail. Should I decide to flip out and go on a shooting spree, I would bet all I have, I could own one before dark. And then, go on my shooting spree. What has the law accomplished? I can still get it, just not legally. The sane Andy thats typing this cant own a automatic weapon, but the whacked out one thats ready to kill a bunch of folks can have one in a matter of hours. What purpose did this law serve?

So "you" dont like 50 cals. (Or ARs or other assult weapons from your other posts and discussions.) So what. Dont buy one. But, do you like your hunting and shooting weapons that you do own? Well, you better start paying attention and get rid of this "I dont want one, so its ok to ban it attitude."

Thats the exact liberal extremeist attitude thats gonna take all of our weapons. Soon.

Andy