[sniper69]

Hello all, figured you would find this interesting. I can't believe how stupid this guy is.
http://www.nbc13.com/news/3470583/detail.html

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The rifle believed used in the recent slayings of three Birmingham police officers would be illegal under a bill now before Congress, a move supported by some of Alabama's top law officers in the wake of the deaths.

"It's a military weapon all day long," Montgomery police Chief John Wilson said Monday of the SKS, a semiautomatic rifle whose rounds can penetrate the protective vests worn by most police officers. "That's all it is, and it needs to be used for nothing more than that."

But while Wilson and Mobile police Chief John Cochran said the SKS and similar semiautomatic rifles should not be available to the general public, Alabama's U.S. senators and others in the congressional delegation historically have opposed gun-control measures.

Gun-control advocates said the SKS, a Soviet-made rifle that preceded the AK-47, is the semiautomatic rifle most often used against police officers. Authorities in Birmingham have said it was used in the June 17 killings of officers Robert "Bob" Bennett, Harley Chisholm III and Carlos Owen.

The three officers were wearing protective vests when they were shot while trying to arrest a man on a misdemeanor assault warrant. Two men, 27-year-old Nathaniel Woods and 24-year-old Kerry Marquise Spencer, are charged with capital murder in the officers' deaths.

The SKS and the Bushmaster rifle -- a cousin of the U.S. Army's M-16 used in the January deaths of two Athens officers in north Alabama -- both are readily available at gun stores throughout Alabama because they are not among the "assault weapons" banned by Congress in 1994.

That could change soon. A federal bill that would make permanent the ban, which ends later this year, also would broaden the definition of "assault weapon" to include the SKS, Bushmaster and similar models.

A comparable law already is in place in California, said Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Violence Policy Center.

"The beauty of this approach is that we know it's working in California and the manufacturers haven't found a way around it," Rand said.

It's unclear, though, whether the measure will pass. The Senate in March narrowly approved a 10-year extension of the ban without the broader weapon definition, and Alabama Sens. Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby both voted against that bill.

The two Republicans were traveling Monday and unavailable for comment, but press officers for each noted their opposition to gun-control measures in the past.

A spokesman for Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, said the congressman opposed the permanent ban but was unavailable for further comment.

Even with a ban, it could prove difficult to eliminate the rifles.

Jim Cavanaugh, regional director for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said there are "millions of them in circulation," owing to the SKS' popularity as a lightweight, easily concealable weapon that's relatively inexpensive -- around $200 or less.

"It's not a bad rifle or a good rifle, it's just a rifle," Cavanaugh said.

Wilson, the Montgomery police chief, wrote an opinion piece for Sunday's Montgomery Advertiser in which he said the weapons were "easy to conceal, they shoot a multiple amount of rounds, they're easy to convert to full automatic -- there are too many evils in those guns for the general public to be walking around with them."

"They're very dangerous weapons, they're powerful weapons and they're not the weapon of choice for hunters or anything like that," said Cochran, the Mobile police chief. "They're simply powerful weapons for self-defense, but likewise can be used for killing. They're war weapons."

"I think it's a fine rifle," Larry McCoy, a Mobile gun shop owner, told the Mobile Register for a Monday story about the SKS. "I think most people buy them to hunt with, but you can use them for self-protection."

Wilson, however, said: "They are not good for hunting, and people can make that argument all they want to and it's wrong, because I used to own one. All they are are assault rifles."

 

[sniper69]

his editorial piece in the montgomery advertiser (BTW the link is dead but is included).

From the Montgomery Advertiser: www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWS/StoryOpinionedvoice627w.htm



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chief says assault rifles made just to kill people

By John Wilson

There is not a bigger proponent in the world for the right to bear arms than I am, but nobody, absolutely nobody, other than law enforcement and the military, has any business with any of the kind of rifles like the one reportedly used to kill the three officers in Birmingham less than two weeks ago.

An SKS, an AK-47, a Mini-14 -- there are absolutely no practical uses for those guns and the kinds of rounds they shoot.

They are not good for hunting, and people can make that argument all they want to and it's wrong, because I used to own one.

All they are are assault rifles. They're easy to conceal, they shoot a multiple amount of rounds, they're easy to convert to full automatic -- there are too many evils in those guns for the general public to be walking around with them.

If you're in law enforcement, yes, there is a use for them; if you're in the military, certainly there is a use for them; but the general public has absolutely no business with those kinds of weapons.

None of the body armor that our rank and file officers wear could stop the kinds of rounds fired by assault rifles such as the SKS, which is reportedly the gun used against the officers in Birmingham.

These rounds are small caliber, they are very high velocity. The SKS is a 7.62 millimeter round and it is the equivalent of the .308 American round. Our everyday vests stop none of these types of rounds. They are way too high velocity.

I can't be more sincere when I say I believe everybody ought to be able to have their hunting guns, their .22 rifles, and their shotguns for dove hunting. But these other types of guns should not be sold.

Just look at what John Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo did with theirs. They used a very similar rifle using a very deadly, very fast, very powerful round of the type that penetrate our vests and kill officers.

The vests that most police officers wear on a daily basis have to be somewhat comfortable because it is hot and they have to wear them all the time. We treat officers all the time for rashes because the vests are so hot.

If I could buy the kind of vests that would stop these kind of rounds for every officer out there to wear every day I would; the money is not an issue. But if we bought them for everyone, they still could not physically wear them every day.

The only kind of vests that would stop these rounds are the kind the tactical force people wear. That's what the military wear in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it's not practical to think that a police officer could wear them riding around all day in a police car. It's just not going to happen.

The other alternative is to do everything we can to get those kinds of guns off the street and out of the hands of people who have no business with them.

It was heartbreaking to come back from Kansas City, where our department and the local U.S. attorney were recognized by the U.S. attorney general for having one of the most improved U.S. attorney districts in getting illegal guns of the street, and learn of something like what happened in Birmingham to these officers.

U.S. Attorney Leura Canary and the people in her office have done more to remedy this problem than anyone else will ever do.

If the current ban on the other assault weapons is allowed to expire in September, we are going to see more of what happened in Birmingham.

A lot of people are going to crucify me. They are going to ask, "What about high-powered hunting rifles? Aren't they just as dangerous?"

First, those guns are intended for hunting purposes only, and I am not advocating at all that people not be able to buy them legally. But I can't remember when an innocent person or a police officer was shot with a bona fide $700 Browning hunting rifle. It just doesn't happen very often. You just can't conceal them.

Second, you have to cock them. They are not automatic. They are not made that way. They are made to go out and shoot a deer or whatever. Some people will argue that you can "shoot through a vest with a .270 Magnum." Sure you can, but it is very limited in its ability to shoot multiple rounds.

You can't convince me if that guy in that house in Birmingham had a Remington deer rifle and those three officers showed up and he had to cock that gun, that he could have killed three police officers. They would have shot him first.

What about home protection? No one is going to go out tomorrow to buy his wife one of these assault rifles so she can keep it by the bed.

These guns do have a purpose, but the purpose is to kill folks.

I would like for the public to see the hundreds of assault rifles we have in our supply room at the police station that have been taken from people. There is no excuse for that. It makes me angry and breaks my heart.

 

[Custer]

Typical politician who happens to be a LEO.

 

[scubadvr]

They just don't get it. Always about the psyco that goes out and kills someone with a gun. I know, lets make cars illegal because they kill people too. Concealable SKS, who are they kidding. The police chief gives the typical knee jerk reaction, take away the evil gun, distoy the evil gun, if there are no more evil guns than we can all sit in a circle, drink Coke and sing in perfect harmony...as we get our heads bashed in by those that would kill with, without, or inspite of any gun law. Last, forget the fact that there are those (terrorists) that the government ie. law enforcement, can't protect us from because they are too busy reading the 911 commitee report. All 600 pages which says in a nut shell the government screwed up big time. Yea you Democrats and Repblicans continue your political shit while America, aka "Rome" burns. What have you done to our country?

 

[yosuthnmasa]

:bsflag:

 

[bigblock]

Wilson said he used to own an SKS. I wander if he sold it to a criminal at a gunshow?

 

[sniper69]

I think the best part is in an unrelated story where he got pulled over for drunk driving in shorter, AL and was never given a breathalizer test, he was let go. If that had been you or me (seeing he probably had some sort of weapon in the vehicle) we would have had the book thrown at us so to speak. There has been a lot of different comments about his indiscretions with alcohol. :drunk:

 

[yosuthnmasa]

Sniper,

Shorter? I drive though there all the time on my way to Pensacola! I could've been there when he was drunk! This sorry basta**. There are too many hypocrites in this world. Sometimes I wish I was a journalist or reporter so that I could report on all these sorry people who throw so much anti-gun propaganda out there. I could really :bull: on them and there day for a change.

 

[sniper69]

Yep in Shorter. One funny thing is Wilson is stepping down from being Chief of police effective immediately. He is taking his vacation time etc. So Montgomery is trying to find a new chief. Hopefully they get someone that is pro-gun.