Barrett Arms (Maker of the .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle) Told California to screw off.

5.56X45mm

Milforum Mac Daddy
December 11, 2002
Via Facsimile (213) 847-0676 and
U.S. Mail


Chief William J. Bratton
Los Angeles Police Department
150 North Los Angeles Street


Re: LAPD 82A Rifle, Serial No. 1186

Point of Contact: Jim Moody
213 485 4061 Dear Chief Bratton,
I, a U.S. citizen, own Barrett Firearms Mfg. Inc., and for 20 years I have built .50 caliber rifles for my fellow citizens, for their Law Enforcement departments and for their nation's armed forces.


You may be aware of the latest negative misinformation campaign from a Washington based anti-gun group, the Violence Policy Center. The VPC has, for three or so years, been unsuccessful in Washington, D.C. trying to demonize and ban a new subclass of firearms, the .50 caliber and other "too powerful" rifles. This type of nibbling process has been historically successful in civilian disarmament of other nations governed by totalitarian and other regimes less tolerant of individual rights than the United States .


The VPC's most recent efforts directs this misinformation campaign at your state, attempting to get any California body to pass any law against .50 caliber firearms. In March 2002 the VPC caused the California State Assembly, Public Safety Committee to consider and reject the issue by a 5 to 0 with 1 abstaining vote.


Regrettably, the same material has been presented to your city council. I personally attended the council meeting in Los Angeles regarding attempts to bar ownership of the .50 caliber rifle in your city. I was allowed to briefly address the council. The tone of the discussion was mostly emotionally based, so the facts that I attempted to provide were ineffective to the extent they were heard at all. The council voted to have the city attorney draft an ordinance to ban the .50, and further, to instruct the city's representatives in Sacramento and in Washington D.C. to push for bans at their respective levels.


At that council meeting, I was very surprised to see an LAPD officer seated front and center with a Barrett 82A1 .50 cal rifle. It was the centerpiece of the discussion. As you know, there have been no crimes committed with these rifles, and most importantly, current California law does not allow the sale of the M82AI in the state because of its detachable magazine and features that make it an "assault weapon." This rifle was being deceptively used by your department. The officer portrayed it as a sample of a currently available .50 cal rifle, available for sale to the civilians of Los Angeles. One councilman even questioned how this rifle was available under current laws, but as I stated, facts were ineffective that day.


Your officer, speaking for the LAPD, endorsed the banning of this rifle and its ammunition. Then he used the rifle for photo ops with the Councilmen each of whom, in handling the firearm, may have been committing a felony. I was amazed.


Since 1968, with the closing of the U.S. Springfield Amory, all of the small arms produced for the various government agencies are from the private sector. Every handgun, rifle or shotgun that law enforcement needs comes from this firearms industry. Unless the City of Los Angeles has plans of setting up its own firearms manufacturing, it may need to guard the manufacturing sources it has now.


When I returned to my office from Los Angeles, I found an example of our need for mutual cooperation. Your department had sent one of your 82A1 rifles in to us for service. All of my knowledge in the use of my rifle in the field of law enforcement had been turned upside down by witnessing how your department used yours. Not to protect and serve, but for deception, photo opportunities, and to further an ill-conceived effort that may result in the use of LA taxpayer monies to wage losing political battles in Washington against civil liberties regarding gun ownership.


Please excuse my slow response on the repair service of the rifle. I am battling to what service I am repairing the rifle for. I will not sell, nor service, my rifles to those seeking to infringe upon the Constitution and the crystal clear rights it affords individuals to own firearms.
I implore you to investigate the facts of the .50, to consider the liberties of the law-abiding people and our mutual coexistence, and to change your department's position on this issue.
Sincerely,
BARRETT FIREARMS MANUFACTURING, INC.

barret-sig.gif

Ronnie Barrett
President
 
The guy has his own APCs, Humvees etc. I think the guy would support the 2nd Amendment. Then again, you just don't know politicians.
 
There should be a limit. No civilian needs a .50 sniper rifle.

Right now the .50 BMG is used for long range rifle competitive shooting. Doesn't matter if there is a use for it....

SHALL NOT INFRINGED

Simple enough. Not saying folks should have nukes but I think a limit on firearms is not the right action.
 
All true but how many people are killed by iPod's each year?

How many people are killed by .50BMG rifles each year?

I think it was 2 total in the history of crime.

Anti-gun folks are terrified of assault rifles and large-caliber rifles, while the majority of crimes are committed with unregistered handguns.
 
And then there's this.

zeus_000.jpg

Pretty, yes, but there is no pracical (or even few impractical) uses for a .50 Magnum. It's handheld artillery. You can't target shoot with it, it's too inaccurate and unwieldly to hunt with it, and unlesss you are afraid of being mugged by a Water Buffalo it's not a personal defence weapon. If used against a human it would not only go through the first person but the next five people it hits!
 
And put the shooter on their ass/leave an imprint of the forward sight in their forehead.

I live in South Dakota, you joke about being mugged by a buffalo, out here it's a real possibility.

As for the issue of the .50 cal rifle, I bet I can't just walk into a gun shop and buy one, I bet there's a hell of a lot of paperwork that needs to be done, I bet it's a real ***** trying to get a hold of one. The fact that there's never been a crime committed with one of these weapons speaks volumes to me. The last crime I remember off the top of my head committed with a firearm other than a pistol was the North Hollywood Shootout.

To close, I would like to pose the following question: When the inevitable zombie invasion occurs, wouldn't you like to have one of these weapons?
 
Or the civilization as we know it ends in 2012.
Time to drive over to 5.56's house. He's got more guns than people who can use 'em!
 
And then there's this.

zeus_000.jpg

Pretty, yes, but there is no pracical (or even few impractical) uses for a .50 Magnum. It's handheld artillery. You can't target shoot with it, it's too inaccurate and unwieldly to hunt with it, and unlesss you are afraid of being mugged by a Water Buffalo it's not a personal defence weapon. If used against a human it would not only go through the first person but the next five people it hits!


Handgun hunting...

The .500 S&W is a very popular cartridge for hog, deer, and other medium to large North American game for handgun hunting... It was never intended to be a self defense firearm. It's designed for hunting and backpacking. Very popular also in Alaska for bush pilots and back packers to protect themselves from bears.
 
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