Initial reports from Dallas described multiple snipers with AR-15s #weaponsofwar. The ongoing propaganda theme among the tabloids is that the AR-15 has become the weapon of choice for terrorists and mass shooters. CBS news reported that the terrorist in Dallas used an antique, the SKS. It now appears that the shooter used a modified Saiga IZ-240 5.45mm rifle.
Let’s get to the heart of the matter. A murder weapon does not cause murder. I does not make any difference which weapon was used, it is a heinous crime. The U.S. federal government as well as many states and cities continue to prohibit certain types of murder weapons. There are groups which want to focus on specific types of murder victims. None of this has reduced the number of murder victims in the United States.
A photo from the scene shows that the rifle was a modified Saiga IZ-240 rifle with a Primary Arms five power scope. Gun guys always want to know the details, but the reality is these shots were close and did not require a sophisticated rifle or any particular “sniper” skill. We should remember that President Kennedy was killed with an very inexpensive bolt action carbine and started the modern gun control movement.
This photo should be credited to thearmsguide.com
The SKS rifle originally reported is very similar to the unmodified Saiga IZ-240. The SKS was designed in the World War Two Russia. It is such a basic rifle that it is legal in California with no modification. With its fixed ten round magazine, the SKS is everything that the gun haters in California say a rifle must be. It has wood, no pistol grip, no flash hider or folding stock. It is used as a cheap hunting gun across the US. I am sure that at this moment, some law maker in California is writing new legislation to close the mad man with an antique rifle loophole.
SKS fixed magazine. Photo courtesy of controversialtimes.com
There have been several recent shootings and some not so recent shootings using “Assault Style Weapons”. Tabloid journalism loves writing about “Assault Style Weapons” and the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban. This term truthfully reveals the problem, these guns don’t function like assault weapons, but they have a style similar to military weapons. They look much more dangerous than large caliber hunting rifles which are actually more powerful.
The term “assault rifle” was a propaganda term coined by Hitler himself to describe the Nazi’s then new machine gun which fired a small low recoil round allowing soldiers to control full auto fire. Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership in the United States since 1934. There is a common misconception that an “assault style rifle” can spray bullets in full auto mode.
In recent terror attacks in France, the murderers used the AK-47, a real assault rifle fashioned after Hitler’s original model. Since fire arms ownership is highly restricted in Europe, the terrorists illegally bought machine guns on the world market and smuggled them into France. The AK-47 is the most widely spread weapon in the world, with 100 million Kalashnikov rifles currently in use. According to Oxford University economist Phillip Killicoat, the average global price of the assault rifle was estimated at $534 in 2005.
Below is a picture of the Saiga IZ-240 rifle as originally imported. It is legal in all 50 states and cost about $650
Photo courtesy of cheaperthandirt.com
The state of California has over a dozen overlapping ‘assault weapons’ laws creating a situation where the only people who know the laws are the poor citizens trying to obey them. Calguns.org has made a flow chart to help the law abiding keep track. The San Bernardino killers used AR type rifles purchased in California, the state with the most ridiculous restrictions in the United States. The killers illegally modified their guns in violation of California gun laws, then killed people which also violates California law. The California legislature has drafted a dozen new ineffective laws which will make most rifles in the state illegal. These new laws will be no more effective than the current laws broken by the San Bernardino killers. The Dallas killer could have purchased the Siaga IZ-240 in California with a ten day wait.
If banning rifles would stop terror attacks, I would be the first in line to give mine up. The truth is that no amount of regulation or law will stop the lawless. Terrorist cells operate internationally and have no difficulty bringing weapons across borders. The insane who wish to murder other humans use swords or any other weapon at hand if rifles are not available.
In another significant mass killing, between April and July 1994, members of the Hutu ethnic majority in Rwanda murdered 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority, using machetes. If the Tutsi’s had had a few SKS rifles things would have been different. The Hutu were not slowed by legal restrictions of firearms ownership or murder.
I grow weary of the predictable distortions and lies which come after each murder that fits the narrative. Black lives in Chicago are lost in much higher numbers than all mass shootings nation wide, but they don’t rate tabloid ink because they don’t fit the assault rifle narrative. Let’s deal with reality and human behavior. Attempts to restrict technology have never worked. New 3D printing technology is on the verge of making all gun control obsolete because anyone with internet access and a 3D printer can become a gun manufacturer.
Let’s do something different and have an honest discussion about mass killers, the insane and the terrorist. Assault is a verb describing behavior. There are effective things we can do to stop this behavior. Unilateral disarmament of the law abiding is not one of them.
Featured Photo should be credited to thearmsguide.com