California considering curb on 50 caliber rifles

[Roy M. Silvernail]

On Saturday 02 August 2003 20:27, Harmon Seaver wrote:
> On Sat, Aug 02, 2003 at 11:21:54AM -0700, Steve Schear wrote:
> > 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
>
>    What crap, eh? The bullet is more like 1.5" -- even a 20mm doesn't have
> a 5.5" bullet.

You forget that this is the popular press.  Doubtless they're describing the 
full length of the round, including casing.