NBC News laments: "Charlie Kirk assassin's alleged gun was powerful, vintage and hard to trace." The article notes that the rifle used by Kirk's killer "was a decades-old, German-made rifle built for use by the military in both World Wars, according to multiple law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation. So old that it may have been brought into the U.S. before laws were enacted in the 1960s requiring guns to be affixed with serial numbers or other marks to enable tracing." That apparently gives it some sort of super-power because: "'Short of the security afforded to the president, there’s no way to defend against the threat posed by this,' said Scott Sweetow, a retired official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives."
While "they’re not designed to spray a large volume of bullets at once," the article helpfully explains, "they are, in some ways, ideally suited for use in sniper-style killings."
... Because they are so ubiquitous and beloved by hunters and recreational shooters, a person toting such a rifle in a place like Utah would not arouse any suspicion.
And they are so well made that, with a decent scope, a person with basic firearm proficiency can strike a target from 150 to 200 yards away, roughly the distance of the shot fired by the Kirk assassin.
“You do not have to have gone to sniper school or have been any type of champion marksmen,” said Brian Greco, a retired NYPD officer who served in the counterterrorism unit and a Marine Corps veteran.
Believe me, someone openly hauling a scoped rifle through a college campus is going to arouse suspicion. In my area, they have even had lockdowns because of people being spotted on school grounds carrying folding shovels or umbrellas.
The article suggests it it is unlikely that the government will be seeking to ban hunting rifles (for now, it should have added) but the piece ends with another expert warning:
“A vintage firearm in grandpa’s old trunk is cool,” he added, “but it also unfortunately gives access to a firearm to someone who may otherwise have not had access or could have been denied access.”
Ah yes. The liberal's greatest fear is that someone, somewhere, might be doing something without government permission.
Bingo.
ReplyDelete"Short of the security afforded to the president, there’s no way to defend against the threat posed by this..."
ReplyDeleteYeah. It takes so much security to notice a guy carting a long-arm up to the roof. Completely unfeasible for a college campus, especially in paranoid Utah. He was so stealthy that even the people filming him getting into position couldn't *really* see him. Certainly no collusion or ineptitude in campus security.
"was a decades-old, German-made rifle built for use by the military in both World Wars..."
Wanna bet it just turns out to be a mauser action, but a newer rifle?
It very well could be. There were so many Mauser receivers and bolts left over after WWII that they supplied civilian firearms companies for decades. But, on the other hand, the large number of surplus rifles of that time period also made it the golden age of "sporterizing" old military rifles. (Here an article from 2010 discussing how to sporterize a Mauser military rifle: https://www.rifleshootermag.com/editorial/convert-mauser-custom-sporter/84522 which provides a bit of history).
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