State considers becoming first to ban .50-caliber rifle
Silver cites attack fears, but target shooters say weapons are ill-suited for such purposes

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press
First published: Thursday, March 25, 2004

ALBANY -- The civilian counterpart of the .50-caliber firearm that became a war movie icon is being recast by some as a tool of terrorism.

On Tuesday, California's Contra Costa County approved a ban on the sale of the heavy, powerful .50-caliber firearms outside incorporated municipalities. Supporters said they hope to use the measure to leverage a broader ban, such as proposed earlier in the state legislature and in Illinois.

In New York, a ban on the sale of the large-bore firearms favored by upscale competitive shooters has become an anti-terrorism priority for the Democrats who rule the Assembly. Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said Wednesday he is considering what would be the nation's first state ban.

"The .50-caliber weapon is capable of shooting planes out of the sky, piercing armor," said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat who represents the lower-Manhattan area hit in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"Fifty-caliber guns have no legitimate purpose, and to keep them legal is supporting keeping them legal for terrorists and others," Silver said.

John Robertson of the 4,000-member worldwide 50 Caliber Shooters Association based in Monroe, Utah, said a .50-caliber firearm is too heavy, too hard to conceal and creates too little damage to be a terrorist tool. He said the bullet creates a half-inch hole and doesn't splinter to create further damage as in smaller-caliber bullets.

"We have a better safety record than your local high school cheerleading team," Robertson said.

The rifles shoot a large bullet and are accurate to within four inches at 1,000 yards at supersonic velocity, then carry more than two miles with declining accuracy. The forerunner is the .50-caliber machine gun that has been used in the military worldwide since World War I, but today's rifles available on the legal market are often single shot, bolt-action firearms.

Today, the rifles cost between $2,000 and $11,000, can weigh 50 pounds and are most often used by target shooters in competitions nationwide. Occasionally, they are used in big-game hunting in Africa, Alaska and some western states.

"If a target shooter wants them, why not?" said Ron Neudecker, who has sold a few of the rifles from his Neudecker's Guns & Ammo in Lansingburgh.

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