UK Observer
Regular Member
John Pierce appeared on the main British Broadcasting Corporation news programme – News 24 – this evening talking about the weapon used in Newtown. He was asked by the anchor whether it was a good idea for civilians to have access to ‘high-calibre weapons that repeatedly fire off bullets .... [like] the military style weapon that Adam Lanza used’. John correctly pointed out that there were erroneous assumptions in this question, but I thought that what he then said was very misleading.
John said ‘the gun that he used was not a high calibre gun, it was 22 calibre gun. And it was not a military-style weapon it was simply a semi automatic twenty two. ... Fully automatic ... real assault weapons have been heavily regulated in this country since 1934 .... What it [the Clinton legislation] did was ban cosmetic features on common, semi-automatic sporting firearms’.
Many British viewers would be very familiar with the kinds of .22 rifles used for pest control by farmers here, but I wonder if John’s words will have rather pulled the wool over their eyes by putting the AR-15 in this same category. Perhaps some of the experts on the forum can help a novice like me understand by answering a few questions.
1. Is not the calibre of the Bushmaster AR-15 actually .223 and not .22?
2. Isn’t .223 better known to Europeans as 5.56 mm, under STANAG 4172 the calibre of one of the standard NATO cartridges?
3. Does not the combination of high velocity and yawing on impact make this a destructive round?
4. Is the AR-15 as manufactured by Bushmaster, ArmaLite, Colt, RRA, Stag, etcetera actually a (semi-automatic) civilian version of the military 5.56mm M-16?
5. Are not some current US military rifles, such as the M16A2 and M16A3, also produced in 5.56mm rather than say the 7.62 calibre of the M14 (so that any implication that ‘real’ assault rifles are necessarily of the heavier calibre is incorrect)?
6. Although the AR-15 sear/trigger mechanism is different from the M16 automatic mechanism, is it not the case that a drop in ‘lightening link’ can be purchased, which though illegal will convert the weapon to fully automatic mode?
7. Was the BBC anchor right when he suggested that even in semi-automatic mode Lanza got off more than 100 rounds?
If the answer to most of these questions is ‘yes’, then I think John owes his British viewers an apology. I like guns but I have my doubts about nut jobs running around with AR-15s. Most of all I don’t like BS – John must think us Brits will swallow any old flannel.
John said ‘the gun that he used was not a high calibre gun, it was 22 calibre gun. And it was not a military-style weapon it was simply a semi automatic twenty two. ... Fully automatic ... real assault weapons have been heavily regulated in this country since 1934 .... What it [the Clinton legislation] did was ban cosmetic features on common, semi-automatic sporting firearms’.
Many British viewers would be very familiar with the kinds of .22 rifles used for pest control by farmers here, but I wonder if John’s words will have rather pulled the wool over their eyes by putting the AR-15 in this same category. Perhaps some of the experts on the forum can help a novice like me understand by answering a few questions.
1. Is not the calibre of the Bushmaster AR-15 actually .223 and not .22?
2. Isn’t .223 better known to Europeans as 5.56 mm, under STANAG 4172 the calibre of one of the standard NATO cartridges?
3. Does not the combination of high velocity and yawing on impact make this a destructive round?
4. Is the AR-15 as manufactured by Bushmaster, ArmaLite, Colt, RRA, Stag, etcetera actually a (semi-automatic) civilian version of the military 5.56mm M-16?
5. Are not some current US military rifles, such as the M16A2 and M16A3, also produced in 5.56mm rather than say the 7.62 calibre of the M14 (so that any implication that ‘real’ assault rifles are necessarily of the heavier calibre is incorrect)?
6. Although the AR-15 sear/trigger mechanism is different from the M16 automatic mechanism, is it not the case that a drop in ‘lightening link’ can be purchased, which though illegal will convert the weapon to fully automatic mode?
7. Was the BBC anchor right when he suggested that even in semi-automatic mode Lanza got off more than 100 rounds?
If the answer to most of these questions is ‘yes’, then I think John owes his British viewers an apology. I like guns but I have my doubts about nut jobs running around with AR-15s. Most of all I don’t like BS – John must think us Brits will swallow any old flannel.