Protecting our God-given right to carry armor piecing 50 cal. weapons.

A measure to inject a small bit of sanity to gun law in Illinois is meeting with the usual gun-nutery.

Reps. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, and Elizabeth Coulson, R-Glenview, have introduced the .50-caliber rifle ban. If the measure passes, Illinois would become the second state in the nation, after California, with such a law.

First used by the military during the Gulf War, the .50-caliber can puncture steel armor and is used to attack personnel carriers and fuel tanks. The weapon can be used to shoot with accuracy for up to 2,000 yards -- more than a mile -- and ammunition for this weapon can penetrate steel up to an inch thick.

Of course, this prompts all sorts of logical contortions by bullet heads looking to scrape up some reason to oppose this common sense measure. The article contains many such lame attempts. But here's a couple gems.

The "after all, it's not as destructive as a 160 mm cannon." defense:

Brad Stair, a technical adviser for Armalite Inc. in Geneseo not only manufactures the .50-caliber rifle but also owns one. He said he uses the weapon for target shooting. (Target shooting?? Good God, you need a cannon like this for target shooting??!! What do you shoot at? The next town down the road's water tower?)
The bill would not lessen the terrorist threat, he said, because several other rifles out there can outperform the .50-caliber, such as .585-nyati rifle used to hunt elephants.

Evidently, by this lunatic line of thinking, you can only place controls on the most powerful gun on earth. "Sure, my gun is pretty close to a bazooka, but there's one other gun out there that's a tiny bit more powerful. Go ban that one." And of course they'd howl that if the .585-nyati gun were outlawed, we'd be overrun by elephants.

But my favorite is this one. Stair's "But what about the children??!!" defense.

Stair, who said he grew up around guns and has taught his children the importance of gun safety, worries for the freedom of future generations.

Under the Second Amendment, Stair said, civilians should be allowed to have any weapon used by the military. "They are infringing on our children's rights to have any gun they want."

"Any weapon used by the military"????!!!!! That's just flat-out insane! We should have the right to own laser-guided missiles? M-1 tanks? Rocket propelled grenades? Artillary with depleted uranium tank piercing shells? And Stair wouldn't stop there. Why not be free to have a "bunker-buster" bomb in your garage?

This guy actually says with a straight face that a rifle that can penetrate 1" plate steel from a mile away must be defended on behalf of the children?? That should be enough to lock someone up in a psyche ward. They want their legacy to their grandchildren to be the right to own a gun that will shoot completely through a cop car?

When exactly did this sort of delusional extremism become acceptable?