Fact Checking Factcheck.org
Factcheck takes on the NRA ad against Kerry and says the NRA is full of it. Factcheck, unlike the mainstream media, actually does try to obtain facts about guns (for example, they called a Moveon ad as misleading as they get). But Factcheck is wrong this time. Says factcheck:
The ad starts off saying, “John Kerry says he’s a sportsman, so why did he vote to ban deer hunting ammunition . . .?” In fact, what Kerry voted for was an amendment sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy that would have covered rifle bullets capable of piercing soft body armor and also marketed as “armor-piercing,” and wasn’t aimed at hunting ammunition.
Unfortunately for Factcheck, the looseness of this law would likely lead to a ban on all center fire rifle ammunition. All bullets are designed to penetrate soft targets and, the fact is, most vests are only designed to stop handgun ammunition. It’s not difficult to imagine an overzealous bureaucrat viewing all ammo as armor piercing. Also, there are two definitions for armor piercing and they are quite different. Kennedy wants you to believe that it’s ammo that pierces vests (which all center fire rifle rounds will do). But when a manufacturer refers to armor piercing ammo, they mean steal core ammo that pierces steel (such as the walls of a tank). I don’t know that the designation of marketed as armor piercing would matter much.
Additionally, Factcheck says:
The NRA ad falsely claims Kerry is sponsoring a bill “that would ban every semiautomatic shotgun and every pump shotgun.” That’s just the opposite of Kerry’s stated position, and falsely characterizes what’s actually in the bill that Kerry co-sponsored.
The law Kerry sponsored does say:
A semiautomatic rifle or shotgun originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General.
It does not say semiautomatic shotgun, just shotgun. Factcheck claims that Shotguns designed for military or law-enforcement use are generally quite distinct from those commonly used by hunters or target shooters. Factcheck then provides links to images of various shotguns. The fact is that the shotguns, with the exception of aesthetic changes, are functionally similar. The shoot 12G slugs, are pump action, and hold 3 to 9 rounds. Who cares if one has a ghost ring sight or not? Here’s one link from Factcheck to the same shotgun (Remington 870) in different configurations. At the end of the day, all those are 870s and may be banned under the bill sponsored by Kerry.
November 1st, 2004 at 10:30 am
1) The Second Amendment guarantees the right of States to have a militia, so it only covers military weapons
and
2) The Second Amendment only guarantees you a right to firearms suitable for hunting and sporting, not for military use
Is that clear?
November 1st, 2004 at 11:06 am
Its also worth pointing out, as the NRA explains in the latest issue of Free Hunters, that nearly every modern sport hunting firearm and/or round has been used for military purposes at some point.
Model 700s are of course the sniper rifle of choice in the military, but in the past they’ve also used some Model 70s.
Pump Action shotguns are quite often used for CQB situations in the military – and the 870 is used more than most.
.22lr has long been a favorite round of assassins and is re-emerging in Chechnya as a round of choice.
.30-06 is the venerable WWII military round and the most popular hunting round.
.30.30 Winchester comes in second in terms of use as a hunting round and was used extensivly by the military throughout the west in the late 1800s.