NH: Chris Christie, Gun Control Has Consequences

[presence]

By David Jones

NEWARK, N.J., Aug 2 (Reuters) - A gun-rights group in the bellwether presidential primary state of New Hampshire has warned New Jersey Governor Chris Christie that signing gun control bills passed by his state's Legislature could have consequences if he runs for president in 2016.

The Pro-Gun New Hampshire coalition urged its members this week to call and email Christie to ask him to veto the proposed laws, posing a political dilemma for Christie as he seeks re-election in November in the Democratic-leaning state while also eyeing the national stage.

Christie has a September deadline to sign a number of firearm-related bills seen by their supporters as necessary for tackling gun violence, and the gun rights group is targeting four of those measures.

One bill would ban .50 caliber rifles, another would require police to report lost and stolen firearms to a federal database, a third would create a system for instant background checks during gun purchases and a fourth bill would ban gun sales to anyone on a watch list of militants.

"This is an acid test,"

said Sam Cohen, executive vice president of Pro-Gun New Hampshire, which describes itself as the state's largest gun rights group.

"If he decides to support these horrible bills, then we in New Hampshire are going to do everything we can to tell our voters not to vote for him in the New Hampshire primary," Cohen said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/03/chris-christie-gun-rights_n_3699162.html

 

[eduardo89]

One bill would ban .50 caliber rifles

I honestly do not understand this. There have been ZERO murders with .50 caliber rifles recorded.

 

[presence]

I honestly do not understand this. There have been ZERO murders with .50 caliber rifles recorded.

.50 is a threat to state power. One can take out military assets (humvee, power sub station, drone, etc.) with a single round from a mile away.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

.50 is a threat to state power. One can take out military assets (humvee, power sub station, drone, etc.) with a single round from a mile away.

This is why. A .50BMG round is an anti-equipment round, it's way too much round for anti-personnel. I mean, it obviously WORKS for antipersonnel, but that's not why it exists. A .50BMG at close range can degrade an APC if you are really good and know what you are doing, or something like Concord New Hampshire's new Bearcat if you are within a couple hundred yards (and at the right angle).

 

[eduardo89]

This is why. A .50BMG round is an anti-equipment round, it's way too much round for anti-personnel. I mean, it obviously WORKS for antipersonnel, but that's not why it exists. A .50BMG at close range can degrade an APC if you are really good and know what you are doing, or something like Concord New Hampshire's new Bearcat if you are within a couple hundred yards (and at the right angle).

They talk about that here:



.50BMG was never developed as an anti-personnel round. It's an anti-materiel round.

 

[specsaregood]

Christie has always been anti- 2nd amendment, campaigning on it in fact. If he flipflops to being pro-2nd then you'll know its on for 2016.

 

[anaconda]

I honestly do not understand this. There have been ZERO murders with .50 caliber rifles recorded.

Banning it will put it on the fast track for use in violent crimes. Makes sense to a good progressive, I'm sure.

 

[Occam's Banana]

I honestly do not understand this. There have been ZERO murders with .50 caliber rifles recorded.

.50 is a threat to state power.

Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner!

Gun control is NOT about the government protecting citizens from criminals.

Gun control is about protecting government criminals from citizens.

 

[eduardo89]

Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner!

Gun control is NOT about the government protecting citizens from criminals.

Gun control is about protecting government criminals from cititzens.

Why do you hate children?

 

[GregSarnowski]

"This is an acid test,"

said Sam Cohen, executive vice president of Pro-Gun New Hampshire, which describes itself as the state's largest gun rights group.

Does he mean "litmus test"?

This is the acid test

 

[Occam's Banana]

Why do you hate children?

'coz the li'l bastards grow up to be gun-control advocates!

 

[GunnyFreedom]

Does he mean "litmus test"?

This is the acid test

Actually, he probably means 'acid test.' An acid test is a kind of trial-by-fire to prove the substance of what is being tested whether it should be accepted or rejected. The phrase was used for the testing of gold, and then later as a kind of test of a person's character, LONG before LSD was invented.

The name of those parties, by the way, was taken from the much older usage that presence invoked.

 

[Pericles]

This is why. A .50BMG round is an anti-equipment round, it's way too much round for anti-personnel. I mean, it obviously WORKS for antipersonnel, but that's not why it exists. A .50BMG at close range can degrade an APC if you are really good and know what you are doing, or something like Concord New Hampshire's new Bearcat if you are within a couple hundred yards (and at the right angle).

.50 cal will shred a M113, can degrade a Bradley M2/M3, and someone knowledgeable about the M1 series tanks, can also cause some inconvenience with the .50 cal.

 

[cjm]

Christie has always been anti- 2nd amendment, campaigning on it in fact. If he flipflops to being pro-2nd then you'll know its on for 2016.

If he signs all of them, he's also anti-5th amendment (and anti-Magna Carta for that matter). Crikey.

One bill would ban .50 caliber rifles, another would require police to report lost and stolen firearms to a federal database, a third would create a system for instant background checks during gun purchases and a fourth bill would ban gun sales to anyone on a watch list of militants.

 

[Anti Federalist]

If he signs all of them, he's also anti-5th amendment (and anti-Magna Carta for that matter). Crikey.

He signed it last week, IIRC

 

[cjm]

He signed it last week, IIRC

Catch-22 Redux

citizen: "so anyone on a watch list of militants can't buy guns?"
state: "correct."
citizen: "how does one get on a watch list of militants?"
state: "if you show an interest in buying guns, you are placed on a watch list of militants"
citizen: "so if I have no interest in buying guns, I can buy them, but if I have an interest in guns, I cannot?"
state: "correct."

 

[GuerrillaXXI]

This is why. A .50BMG round is an anti-equipment round, it's way too much round for anti-personnel. I mean, it obviously WORKS for antipersonnel, but that's not why it exists. A .50BMG at close range can degrade an APC if you are really good and know what you are doing, or something like Concord New Hampshire's new Bearcat if you are within a couple hundred yards (and at the right angle).

.50 BMG does have one big advantage over other rounds for anti-personnel use: armor-piercing .50 BMG rounds will go through hard body armor from hundreds of yards away, even when that same armor can stop multiple rounds of .30-06 AP at muzzle velocity. So you can just aim center of mass instead of having to aim around body armor under extreme stress, and you can do it from a distance.

There are .50 BMG rifles out there that weigh less than 20 lbs (Serbu, Safety Harbor, Zel Custom, maybe others). I don't think that's an excessive weight. It's no M4, but if people can lug belt-fed machine guns around battlefields, they can do the same with a short-barreled .50. Armor-piercing .50 BMG rounds are still readily available on the web from www.50bmgsupply.com. With these the .50 becomes something like a "poor man's RPG."

As others have said, the eagerness to ban these rifles clearly has nothing to do with any desire to prevent crime and everything to do with the keeping potent weapons out of the hands of potential slaves. The more of these that find their way into private hands, the better.