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Old August 7, 2001, 10:43 AM   #6
Johnny Guest
Moderator in Memoriam
 
Join Date: August 28, 1999
Location: North Texas
Posts: 4,123
Let's Face It:

Full automatic fire on the street is merely special effects stuff.

Much as I enjoy shooting machine guns of all types, I am hard put to think up a scenario where there would be a real advantage to having a submachine gun in a fight. COOL is an entirely different matter. Law enforcement Tactical teams use them mostly for intimidation, and I believe the majority are trained for use in semi-auto, or at most, three-round burst fire. Yeah, I know this rule is often broken, and that the "machine carbine" is frequently misused.

How often is full auto utilized by police that someone doesn't get chewed out or written up? I can think of four instances in my immediate area when it caused a lot more problems for the user than it was worth, and when more conventional law enforcement weaponry would have been preferable.

The gang-bangas WANT machine guns because they SOUND so firghtening. Special effects stuff. Non-flash suppressed automatic fire also LOOKS impressive at night. Same thing: Fairly impressive to some, but seldom an advantage in "street combat."

Anyone who sets out to illegally convert a firearm to full auto, or illegally purchase one, shows that they have no regard for the law in the first place. Secondly, probably is bent on committing some additional crime, too. So, if that person was really knowledgeable about firearms use, they'd probably just pick up an automatic shotgun, saw it off, and stoke it up with buckshot. Hit probability increases, and, if the user is canny enough to have an extra barrel, there is a better chance of keeping the firearm undetected. Oh, but, I forgot my own premise: The purpose of the illegal weapon to begin with is to IMPRESS PEOPLE!

Or, if the goal is to SHOOT people efficiently, a semi-auto .22 rifle is easy to shoot well, ammo is cheap, mere ownership is not a federal felony, and so forth.

As a veteran peace officer, and with a son who's a street cop, I applaud the criminals' desire to use inefficient, expensive, piece-of-trash firearms. Even if they work, chances are that the user has not trained or practiced enough to know how to use one properly, I know I'd prefer an adversary who empties his piece, making a lot of noise, to one who has a good quality .22 rifle with ten or fifteen low-recoil shots that he might AIM at one of us. Not to mention the fact that, IF he is taken alive, he may face additional federal felony charges for just HAVING the full-auto.

Again--I am very much in favor of the law-abiding citizen's right to own and shoot Class 3 weaponry. I am merely disdainful of the street criminal who goes out of his way to obtain and convert a TEC-9 or the like.

Best,
Johnny
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