Lies repeated often enough
Seems a police officer was killed on the third anniversary of the expiration of the ban on weapons that look like assault weapons. Cue dancing in the blood of the dead:
Miami-Dade Police Sergeant Jose Somohano was killed with an AK-47 three years to the day after the Federal Assault Weapons ban expired. Today, he will be laid to rest. The death of Sgt. Somohano is in addition to the deaths of 53 other police officers who have been killed by a firearm in the line of duty so far this year.
“Sgt. Somohano was killed with a previously outlawed weapon that was made legal by the United States Congress three years ago to the day of his death,” said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “Those who blocked renewal of that should consider the consequences of their actions, and particularly what the Miami Chief of Police has called an ‘arms race’ between criminals and the police. Our police and the public are paying a terrible price for the easy availability of dangerous weapons.”
The press noted that the officer was killed with a MAK-90. That, of course, makes Paul Helmke a liar. For a couple of reasons. All MAK-90s imported into the US were imported in the late 1980s through early 1990s. That alone exempts them from the ban on weapons that look like assault weapons. MAK-90s look like this. Note that lack of a pistol grip, bayonet lug, flash hider, grenade launcher. I can’t tell if the barrel is threaded. If it were, that would mean that it only had one of two evil features banned by the ban on weapons that look like assault weapons. So, no dice. MAK-90s were not covered by the ban.
Update: A correction from the Miami Herald:
Miami-Dade Officer Jose Somohano was killed by a Mak-90. A previous story on MiamiHerald.com incorrectly reported that sale of the Mak-90 was prohibited by the assault weapons ban that expired in September 2004.
Don’t tell Paul Reasoned Discoursetm Helmke. Via gattsuru in comments.
October 1st, 2007 at 10:17 am
Seems to slowly be under correcting, even if the rest of the article doesn’t change.
At least the Norinco MAK-90s also had some metal tack welded onto the barrel thread, so they wouldn’t have been considered as having threaded barrels by the AWB. Some MAKs did have a rather buggered design, and thus fell under the ATF’s “once a machine gun always a machine gun”, but they weren’t easily modifiable and that law is still in place.
October 1st, 2007 at 12:58 pm
I still always chuckle at the “killed by” thing. We will probably never to get the media to define “assault rifle” or “assault weapon” as long as LE plays along with them. Jack.
October 1st, 2007 at 1:48 pm
MAK-90’s weren’t imported after 1994 even though they didn’t meet the criteria for the AW ban because the Clinton Administration signed an executive order banning the importation all semi-automatics and ammunition from China. The price of MAK-90’s went from $200 to $600 overnight and the cheap 7.62×39 disappeared also, until importers started bringing it in from Russia.
Eagle 1
October 1st, 2007 at 9:00 pm
[…] …can’t blame on the expiration of the AWB? Pretty clearly they don’t have any problem blaming a police officer’s murder on the expiration of the AWB, never mind that the weapon in question wasn’t ever banned in the first place. […]
October 2nd, 2007 at 5:36 am
I’m sure Mr. Helmke will come back, and say it was the 11th round in the magazine that killed the officer, next.
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:24 am
[…] not so fast. Seems most of the weapons in use may be SKS rifles, which (like the MAK-90) were actually not covered by the ban on weapons that look like assault weapons. As I said, if you […]
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:10 am
“The press noted that the officer was killed with a MAK-90. That, of course, makes Paul Helmke a liar”
No, Paul Helmke’s been a liar for a long, long, time. This is just the latest of the lie pusher’s lies.