Congresswoman: Norway gunman touted lax US gun laws
Rep. McCarthy urges limits on high-capacity clips, cites 'shame' in easy buys
WASHINGTON — The U.S. should be ashamed that its laws would allow high-capacity gun clips used in the Norwegian massacre to be sold and shipped overseas, says a New York congresswoman seeking to restrict use of such clips.
"There should be a lot of shame," Rep. Carolyn McCarthy told Politico. "We’re sending a death warrant to other parts of the world."The Democrat commented after issuing a statement saying a 1,500-page manifesto by Anders Behring Breivik detailed how he used lax U.S. gun laws to help arm himself before killing 76 people in a gun and bomb attack in Norway.
"Unfortunately now, internationally, it’s known that you can get here, buy your guns, buy your large magazines, and you’re not going to have any problem," she told Politico.
McCarthy said Breivik easily acquired high-capacity ammunition magazines from the United States. Such magazines would be prohibited from manufacture or import if her bill, HR 308, were passed and signed into law. The legislation has 109 House cosponsors.
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The sale or transfer of high-capacity magazines made after 1994 was banned under a federal assault weapons ban that went into effect that year but expired in 2004.
The National Rifle Association has decried HR 308 as more than an attack on Second Amendment rights, saying, "Firearms designed to use magazines that hold more than 10 rounds are among the most commonly owned self-defense firearms today." There would be no way to tell new magazines from old ones, which are used for law enforcement, self-defense and target shooting, the gun-rights group says.
NRA did not have an immediate comment on McCarthy's statement.
Breivik's manifesto described his purchase of 10 30-round ammunition magazines from a U.S. supplier who mailed the devices to him, she said.
Under a section of his manifesto titled "December and January - Rifle/gun accessories purchased," Breivik wrote:
"10 x 30 round magazines - .223 cal at 34 USD per mag. Had to buy through a smaller US supplier (who again ordered from other suppliers) as most suppliers have export limitations… Total cost: 550 USD."
In a section called, "How much ammo does a soldier bring to a battle?" Breivik cited a need for high-capacity "banana clips."
"He should bring a total of two ammo pouches with room for 6 banana clips and one in his rifle so a total of 7 banana clips. In addition he should bring 4 clips for his pistol. Some carry more; 8 mags for the assault rifle and 4 pistol mags."
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Breivik wrote that he failed to acquire certain weapons illegally in the Czech Republic.
"I have now sent an application for a Ruger Mini 14 semi-automatic rifle (5.56). It is the most 'army like' rifle allowed in Norway, although it is considered a 'poor man's' AR-15. I envy our European American brothers as the gun laws in Europe sucks [expletive] in comparison."
McCarthy blamed the "the easy availability of high-capacity ammo magazines in the U.S." for helping "enable a large-scale massacre."
"How many more innocent people need to die before we realize that some simple, commonsense gun safety laws in the United States could actually save lives?"
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McCarthy said the Breivik’s manifesto came just a month after American al-Qaida spokesman Adam Gadahn issued an online video calling upon terrorists to take advantage of weaknesses in U.S. gun laws.
McCarthy has reintroduced HR 308 in several sessions of Congress since the 2004 expiration of the federal assault weapons ban. It was reintroduced this year shortly after the mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that killed six and injured 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
A high-capacity magazine was used in that shooting.
High-capacity magazines were also used in the 1993 Long Island Railroad mass shooting that took the life of McCarthy's husband and seriously injured her son, leading her into a life of activism for public safety. The devices were also used in mass shootings at Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, Texas, and Binghamton, N.Y., she said.
Sickening that McCarthy would use those dead children to push her political nonsense.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'd like to spin it that way FWM, spin it until you get so dizzy you puke.
ReplyDeleteMcCarthy is striving to make sure there are fewer children who are killed by firearms in this country, and that we don't contribute to those deaths in other countries.
So, this is another instance where the Breivik bought equipment here, that he could't get there because of their more stringent gun laws.
So banning something here that shares the same technology as a PEZ candy dispenser would have saved those children in Oslo?
ReplyDeleteGet real.
If we are going to sell expanded capacity magazines to Norway which only work with PEZ candy, then I have no problems with that.
ReplyDeleteWhen you sell something which, unlike PEZ candy, fires deadly projectiles, the similarity to a PEZ dispenser is so very different as to make this analogy ludicrous.
If this typifies your thinking, then clearly when you cross the road, it resembles the 'why did the chicken cross the road' jokes.
Because, using what passes for logic with you, they're the same.
"When you sell something which, unlike PEZ candy, fires deadly projectiles, the similarity to a PEZ dispenser is so very different as to make this analogy ludicrous."
ReplyDeleteA magazine, much like a PEZ dispenser, doesn't fire any deadly projectiles. They are both just a box with a spring in them--not exactly a leap of technology between the two. Not exactly "ludicrous" at all.
However, all that aside. So what if the killer had 5 round or 10 round or 30 round magazines? What difference would it make? He had more than sufficient time to reload as often as he wished.
The police took over an hour to respond. He shot until he knew it was time to surrender. Banning a standard capacity magazine for a Ruger Mini-14 in the United States would not have saved one child in Oslo. However, a faster response by the local police would have. If they would have arrived sooner, the nut would have surrendered sooner.
Using this tragedy to push a ban on bronze-age technology is the ludicrous part. McCarthy is a hag that would crawl over any corpse to push her political agenda--a magazine ban is just politics, nothing more.
It is illegal for an out of state seller to sell me one of these magazine, so I am pretty the law was broken in this case as well.
ReplyDelete"We’re sending a death warrant to other parts of the world."
ReplyDeleteMuch like the death warrant gun owners have sent HR 308.
The large-capacity magazine argument was better represented by Loughner than this Norwegian nut. But, you know how I feel about it.
ReplyDeleteHaving to stop and reload could have allowed more kids to escape this guy. It is, along with banning guns which would have executed kids more efficiently, one more technology that contributed to those deaths.
ReplyDeleteIf it did not help him to kill people better, faster, etc., why do you think this guy bothered with it, since he was quite clear about being frugal in expending his limited funds on, if you'll pardon the expression, quite literally the biggest bang for his buck/euro?
Arguing that the technology has something in common with a candy device is the same thing as saying if you get struck by a car in a hit and run it's a joke, it's funny, nothing serious, regardless of your injuries; because it resembles 'why did the chicken cross the road' humor.
The two situations are significantly different, just like the pez dispenser and the expanded capacity magazine.
The similarity is superficial and specious for purposes of argument, or comparison / contrast.
"Arguing that the technology has something in common with a candy device is the same thing as saying if you get struck by a car in a hit and run it's a joke, it's funny, nothing serious, regardless of your injuries; because it resembles 'why did the chicken cross the road' humor.
ReplyDeleteThe two situations are significantly different, just like the pez dispenser and the expanded capacity magazine."
No. A magazine and a PEZ dispenser are not technologically different at all. They are both a box with a spring with a follower made to hold and dispense a small object one at a time.
Why do you think your favorite gun control countries in Europe along with Australia and New Zealand and probably others do not worry about accessories like magazines, adjustable stocks, "shoulder things that go up" or even silencers? They know that controlling the guns is the goal and if they do that they do not worry about a box with a spring in it.
While MikeB would be happy to support any gun control initiative, even he will tell you that banning a box with a spring in it is not an answer to gun violence.
Such a ban has never proven to be a deterrent or have any significant impact on curbing gun violence.
Now, if you want to use a car analogy, then banning a 6 passenger minivan over a 5 passenger model because one more person could possibly get hurt if it was mis used would be a better comparative of your silly box-with-a-spring ban.
So, this is another instance where the Breivik bought equipment here, that he could't get there because of their more stringent gun laws.
ReplyDeleteActually that is not true, he bought a couple of magazines for the rifle because they are cheaper. He bought the guns and everything else in Norway. Otherwise, a Norwegian customs agent needs to be called on the carpet. Here is a question. I have a early 1980s German made pistol (the shooter's pistol was Austrian). I bought two spare magazines for it from a supplier in Canada. Is Canada responsible for anything I do? It is the same logic.