Media gun accuracy
It’s rare, so I feel obligated to point it out. NBC13 says of the SKS used to kill three Alabama police officers:
Gun-control advocates say 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.
They actually described the SKS correctly. Good for them. However, they bear some bad news:
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.
So, the new law will be even tougher. And, they think, there’s no way around it. I’d say otherwise. One effect of the 1994 ban was to flood the market with banned rifles and regular capacity magazines. Manufacturers saw the opportunity and stepped up production. A new ban would result in the same thing, including expanding the importation of more SKS rifles.
July 1st, 2004 at 9:28 am
It would have been even more accurate if they had said that the SKS is a Soviet-designed rifle-I think most of the ones in the country were made in China, and the majority of the most recent imports are Yugoslavs.
But hey, at least they’re not calling it an AK copycat.
July 1st, 2004 at 9:30 am
Almost forgot-it’s been so successful in the PRK that in the last couple of months in SF alone, a cop was killed with an AK clone, along with another drive-by mostlikely committed with an AK clone.
Working real well.