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[David Minton <dminton AT mindspring.com>]

On 11/12/04 3:27 PM, "Alan MacHett" <machett AT ibiblio.org> wrote:

> Well, a person has to pull the trigger and, being the nuanced creatures
> that we are, certain facts about people must be taken into consideration.
> Gun control laws have mostly dealt with handguns, assault rifles, and
> automatic weapons because they pose the most danger from a human
> standpoint.  Handguns are easily concealed, therefore more readily used
> for criminal intent; so are sawed-off shotguns, which is why they, too,
> are illegal.  The same logic and legal intent applies to switchblade
> knives, for comparison.  Assault rifles and automatic weapons are designed
> to kill more and faster.

If you look at one of my previous posts, you will see the origin of the
Assault Rifle, at least as far as the US Military goes. While I guess you
could conclude the purpose was to produce a weapon that could "kill more and
faster," I think that a crude simplification. It was determined that M1 was
no longer effective, and a smaller caliber, selective-rate fire weapon would
be more effective at 300 yards (see below).

http://www.thegunzone.com/556dw.html

June 1952: The Operations Research Office publishes Hitchman's report:
"Operational Requirements for an Infantry Hand Weapon." Hitchman finds that
the majority of combat rifle use does not exceed 300 yards, and that
marksmanship is severely degraded by terrain and visibility at ranges beyond
100 yards. In fact, the chance of being struck by a rifle bullet is seen as
being nearly as random as being struck by a fragment from a high explosive
shell. The time and amount of target exposure had more bearing on whether a
target was hit versus marksmanship skills. Given such, an infantry weapon
designed to provide controllable "pattern-dispersion" within a 300 yd range
might be preferable to a weapon that provides precise single shots at longer
distances. Furthermore, at the shorter ranges, a smaller caliber weapon
might give acceptable "wounding effects" and allow for controllable "salvo
or volley automatic" fire. The key to effectiveness is control; an
uncontrollable automatic weapon is seen to be no more advantageous than a
semi-auto counterpart. Hitchman projects that a four round salvo with a
predictable 20" spread might provide double the hit probability at 300 yards
over a single shot fired from a M1 rifle. A lighter, smaller caliber
cartridge would have the side benefit of allowing enough ammunition to be
carried for an equivalent number of fired salvos to the individual cartridge
capacity of the current rifle.

> The legal intent of limiting those weapons should be obvious.

It is so obvious, that it was done in the United states in 1934. Note that
Assault Rifles are classified as automatic weapons, even those only capable
of selective fire or "burst" firing mode.

http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcfullau.html

 It has been unlawful since 1934 (The National Firearms Act) for civilians
to own automatic weapons without special permission from the U.S. Treasury
Department. Automatic weapons are subject to a $200 tax every time their
ownership changes from one federally registered owner to another, and each
new weapon is subject to a manufacturing tax when it is made, and it must be
registered with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) in its
National Firearms Registry.

 To become a registered owner, a complete FBI background investigation is
conducted, checking for any criminal history or tendencies toward violence,
and an application must be submitted to the BATF including two sets of
fingerprints, a recent photo, a sworn affidavit that transfer of the NFA
firearm is of "reasonable necessity," and that sale to and possession of the
weapon by the applicant "would be consistent with public safety." The
application form also requires the signature of a chief law enforcement
officer with jurisdiction in the applicant's residence.

 Since the Firearms Owners' Protection Act of May 19, 1986, ownership of
newly manufactured machine guns has been prohibited to civilians. Machine
guns which were manufactured prior to the Act's passage are regulated under
the National Firearms Act, but those manufactured after the ban cannot
ordinarily be sold to or owned by civilians.

...

 Since 1934, only one legally owned machine gun has ever been used in crime,
and that was a murder committed by a law enforcement officer (as opposed to
a civilian). On September 15th, 1988, a 13-year veteran of the Dayton, Ohio
police department, Patrolman Roger Waller, then 32, used his fully automatic
MAC-11 .380 caliber submachine gun to kill a police informant, 52-year-old
Lawrence Hileman. Patrolman Waller pleaded guilty in 1990, and he and an
accomplice were sentenced to 18 years in prison. The 1986 'ban' on sales of
new machine guns does not apply to purchases by law enforcement or
government agencies.