Assault pistols... the OTHER banned meat.

KS_44

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Sun Dec-07-03 06:59 PM
Original message

Assault pistols... the OTHER banned meat.

Edited on Sun Dec-07-03 07:02 PM by KS_44

Something in the AWB no one has touched much.
Assault Pistols

Hello out there!

I have noticed much debate as of late on assault weapons, particularly RIFLES.
However, not much discussion has occurred on the subject of assault pistols.

What makes an assault pistol such a deadly instrument over a conventional pistol?
Bluntly, the way it looks.

I ask anyone to enlighten me how this pre ban Mac-11 is more deadly than this conventional pistol, a Berretta 92.
For clarification, neither are fully automatic.

Is it the threaded barrel? No
Is it the magazine capacity? No
Is it the weight? Hell No.
Is it that the Mac can accept a laser? I hope you didn’t say yes in your head to this question. No.
Is it that it can easily be converted to fully auto? If you believe this, you aren’t very familiar with government mandated pistol manufacture guidelines. So No.
Is it the looks? Absolutely.

Why is it the looks over the evil features of an assault pistol?
First a little clarification… Banned features only come into play on a pistol that has the following: A weight over 50 ounces, a threaded barrel, a magazine outside the pistol grip, or a barrel shroud. Lets discuss each feature in contrast to a legal pistol you can buy at a gun shop today. I chose the Glock and Beretta.

The threaded barrel? Some would argue that the threaded barrel offers provisions for a suppressor, AKA silencer. Well, yes it does, but how does that make it more deadly than a conventional pistol? It doesn’t. Conventional pistols can be manufactured with a threaded barrel and civilian legal silencers are sold in abundance to the conventional pistol market. Also, silencers are a heavily restricted item. You can rest assured if someone passed the 6 month $200 dollar background check the ATF performs for purchasing an suppressor, they probably aren’t a bad guy living next door.

Micro Conclusion? It isn’t the threaded barrel that makes it more deadly. If you argue otherwise, ^ read above ^. Both Pre-Ban assault pistols and normal pistols can have threaded barrels and thus can accommodate suppressors.

See that? It’s a Beretta as pictured further above, along with another conventional Glock. Both are completely legal, and multitudes of manufacturers offer suppressors for the civilian market.

What about the magazine capacity? Absolutely not, as both can accept 30 round magazines.

See the Beretta above? It has a 20 round magazine. Still the MAC has a larger magazine right? Well, many companies offered 30 round magazines for both Glock and Berretta.
This makes the argument not applicable.

In case you’re skeptical, ^here^ is a picture of Glock 30 rounders.
Conc? 30 round magazines are offered for both weapons, so the magazine capacity is a moot point.

The weight? Nope. I have no idea how weight came to be an assault feature. Not even the foggiest. The Mac-11 weighs SIX pounds unloaded. Its roughly two times as large as the Beretta as well making it very hard to conceal on ones person. The MAC-11 was once offered to law enforcement agencies with a special holster for carry; the idea flopped. Police departments that purchased the pistol for their officers soon found the weapons stowed in the armory. Surely police would want the extra firepower and mean looks of an assault pistol, right? No, it was far too big, bulky, and didn’t offer any advantages over a conventional pistol. (FYI cops don’t carry Berettas or Glocks with thirty round magazines, nor did they do this for the MAC-11. Far too bulky, thus moot point) If anything, the excessive weight of an assault pistol makes it more obvious someone has a massive pistol strapped on their waist. Shouldn’t the law be the other way around?

Conclusion? The conventional pistols are much easier to conceal, so they win this round as they are far more useful to a criminal.

Laser? I’m not going to discuss that, but I am sure someone would bring it up. Almost all pistols can accept a laser, except the MAC-11 looks meaner with one… so I guess the MAC-11 wins this round based on evil aesthetics.

Easily converted to fully automatic status? Nope. The ATF mandates every semi-automatic rifle be manufactured via specific guidelines. Certain features are prohibited (open bolt firing) and others are mandated (no firing pin shrouds) If someone was to take a file and hammer to the sear of a pre-ban MAC-11, they would end up with a pistol that fired one round and then jammed badly enough to destroy internal parts of the pistol. Why is this? The government made it that way. You see, the ATF isn’t stupid… When they outlawed fully automatic weapons, they also outlawed designs that were easily converted to fully automatic. Weapons had to be redesigned to meet ATF specifications.

Conc? No, neither can be easily converted to fully automatic weapons.

Is it the looks? Yes.
(OMIT the folding stock, as those were never installed on pre-ban macs. I just couldn’t pass up this picture, it looks soo… evil.)

Conclusion: Assault pistols are heavier, unwieldy, evil looking weapons banned based on aesthetics. If they were everything cracked up to be by the Brady Bunch, why don’t all police departments issue assault pistol variations as standard issue weapons? Read above.

On a final note, many people have configured assault weapons unwittingly. Many do not even know the AWB exists and continue to commit felonies after ordering say, a threaded barrel on the internet. (If a criminal wants a threaded barrel, the AWB cant stop him from removing 1 pin to install it. The ATF is not omniscient, and the law is uninforcible once the gun is in your home.) Next year, john doe wont have to worry about being a felon, as this ban on evil looks finally dies.

PS
Mr. Benchly will ask: If they are so useless why do RKBAs care about them?
Well, you would be foolish to admit that the AWB is not largely symbolic on both sides... point1. I want one because in a free country I can have one. Point2. It holds little value as a sporting arm, however... it is an excellent peice to add to my collection as a movie buff. It is also a fun plinker and a tiny peice of American firearm history. Point 3.

^Thats why I purchased mine... it looked so neglected sitting on the shelf for over two years.^ Rest assured, an assault weapon has been taken off the streets. Its now sitting in a safe somewhere in Texas.