Sniper weapons should be restricted A .50-caliber BMG sniper rifle, in the wrong hands, would be terrorism unleashed. The gun is powerful enough to punch a hole in an oil tank or take down a civilian airplane. Its 5 1/2-inch long bullets can pierce an inch of armor 40 yards away and hit a target a mile away. A massive weapon, with some models weighing in at 28 pounds, it's ill-suited for hunters -- it would take out a deer and the tree behind it -- but ideal for assassins. Monday, July 28, 2003 (Mercury News) http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/6400612.htm See my opinion piece reply at http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/6442894.htm "To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists." --John Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General