Given that CNN has been caught lying about “assault weapons” before, this story probably shouldn’t come as any surprise. But it’s just amzing how they keep parading out the same bullshit propaganda and expect people to believe it, or anything else they say for that matter. “Most trusted name in news,” my ass.
After rambling a bit about some new “arms race” between the police and bad guys which has led to police carrying AR-15s (despite the fact law enforcement has been using the carbine for decades), they jump right into the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership talking points.
Across the country, at least 62 police officers have been gunned down this year — a record pace, said Robert Tessaro, the associate director for law enforcement relations for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
As a result, the Brady organization supports police officers arming themselves with high-powered weapons “to protect themselves and their communities,” he said.
He lays the blame squarely on lawmakers who allowed the assault weapons ban to expire in 2004.
Never mind that the number of police killed with rifles– “assault” flavored or not –has decreased since the ban expired (and on that note, those new FBI numbers contradict those quoted in the story about the “surge” in cop killings I posed about last month). Ignore the fact more are killed with handguns and cars than with “assault weapons.” And most of all, ignore the fact that over the years, more officers have been killed with their own weapon than by so-called “assault weapons.” It’s easier to just blame the scary looking guns, right?
Designed to be fired from the hip, assault rifles such as the AK-47 can spray at a rate of up to 600 rounds a minute in full automatic mode. It is the weapon of choice for guerillas and gangsters.
First off, the semiautomatic rifles affected by the ban don’t spray anything, let alone at 600 rounds per minute. They fire one shot per trigger pull. And designed to be fired from the hip? Ummm…
See that big hunk off wood on the back of the rifle? That is designed to go against your shoulder. Ergonomically speaking, it’s eaiser to fire an old fashioned stock from the hip, as seen in this 50+ year old television show using a 100+ year old rifle:
There’s no doubt that urban street warfare, aided by a proliferation of cheap automatic weapons, has come even to Palm Beach County, once high society’s vacation mecca and a retirement destination for northern snowbirds.
“They don’t have .38s anymore. They have AK-47s. …They have automatic weapons now,” said Sgt. Pfeil.
“The streets of South Florida are being flooded by AK-47s and assault weapons from old Soviet bloc countries. It’s driven the price down, making the availability greater,” said Chief Timoney.
The Miami police department evidence room has seized AK-47s, AR-15s and an assortment of other automatic and semiautomatic weapons piled on shelves from floor to ceiling.
Chief Timoney says he started noticing an increase since the federal assault weapon ban lapsed in 2004.
Ahhh, now the whole bullet spraying thing makes sense. They’re mixing machine guns and, err, everything that’s not a machine gun. There are a couple of glaring problems here, however.
It has been illegal to import machine guns for civilian use into the US since 1968. This law did not change in 2004.
The sale of new, domestically produced machine guns to civilians was banned in 1986. This law did not change in 2004.
It has been illegal to import semiautomatic copies of AK-47s and such since 1989. This executive order did not change in 2004.
Or, in other words, CNN and Chief Timoney are lying about the lapse of the “assault weapon” ban flooding the streets with machine guns. Then they contradict themselves on how many murders involved so-called “assault weapons.” No doubt because they change the definition all the time.
Assault weapons have been used to kill eight people and wound 25 here over the last two years.
The Miami Police Department said 15 of its 79 homicides last year involved assault weapons, up from the year before. So far this year, 12 of 60 killings have involved the high-powered arms.
So of a total 8 people killed with “assault weapons” in two years, 15 of them were in one year, and 12 in the next? Were some of them zombies or something? Either way, the FBI indicates that twice as many people are beaten or kicked to death than killed with any type of rifle. Shall we ban hands and feet? Four times as many people are stabbed to death. Want to ban all sharp objects too? And “high-powered arms?” Err, assault rifles (even the real full auto ones) are, by definition, rifles that use an intermediate cartridge. Which means they are less powerful than a typical hunting rifle.