Lott Weighs in on "60 MINUTES"

I missed this in Friday's NR. John Lott chimes in on the major caliber CBS misstatements on 60 Minutes a week ago:

Last year it was the semi-automatic assault-weapons ban before it expired. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D., N.Y.) claimed the ban was "the most effective measures against terrorism that we have." Of course, nothing happened when the law expired last year. There was nothing unique about the guns that are banned under the law. Though the phrase "assault weapon" conjures up images of the rapid-fire machine guns used by the military, in fact the weapons covered by the ban function the same as any semiautomatic hunting rifle; they fire the exact same bullets with the exact same rapidity and produce the exact same damage as hunting rifles.

Back in the mid-1980s it was the hysteria over "plastic guns" when the Austrian company Glock began exporting pistols to the United States. Labeled as "terrorist specials" by the press, fear spread that their plastic frame and grip would make them invisible to metal detectors. Glocks are now common and there are good reasons they are one of the favorite pistols of American police officers. The "plastic gun" ban did not ban anything since it is not possible to actually build a working plastic gun.

Now it is the 50-caliber rifles' turn, especially with California outlawing the sale of these guns since the beginning of the year. For years gun-control groups have tried to ban 50-caliber rifles because of fears that criminals could use them. Such bans have not been passed these guns were simply not suited for crime. Fifty-caliber rifles are big, heavy guns, weighing at least 30 pounds and using a 29-inch barrel. They are also relatively expensive. Models that hold one bullet at a time run nearly $3,000. Semi-automatic versions cost around $7,000. Wealthy target shooters and big-game hunters, not criminals, purchase them. The bottom line is that only one person in the U.S. has been killed with such a gun, and even that one alleged case is debated.

The link to terrorism supposedly provides a new possible reason to ban 50-caliber rifles. But the decision to demonize these particular guns and not say .475-caliber hunting rifles is completely arbitrary. The difference in width of these bullets is a trivial .025 inches. What's next? Banning .45-caliber pistols? Indeed the whole strategy is to gradually reduce the type of guns that people can own.

Amen, Brother Lott! he goes on to discuss the interesting fact that the .338 Lapua is the reigning king of long-range cartridges, because of better available bullets. At the International Tactical Rifle Championships (ITRC) in Gillette, WY, last year — which we featured in the first episode of Season 3 of SHOOTING GALLERY; if you didn't see it, shame on you! Pretty soon we'll have the DVDs for sale, and it will repeat in April — the most effective cartridge (and my choice in my long-range Remington 700) was the .300 Ultra Mag. Aside from its propensity for eating barrels (figure a life expectancy of 1,000 rounds per barrel), it's an extremely efficient cartridge in the thousand yard and beyond category.