- Aug 21, 2003
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Originally posted by: UbiSunt
I don't know if anyone else has noticed this but the article states
50-caliber BMG, or Browning machine gun rifle, a single-shot weapon widely used not only by law enforcement officers
Last time I checked the term "machine gun" only applies to fully automatic weapons. This is obviously a bolt-action .50 cal being described, you have to open the chamber and reload manually on these babies, therefore the article is exagerrating/lying to make the bill appear reasonable. Fully-automatic .50 cals have never been legally obtained by civilians, at least as far as I know. Further, .50 cal ammo is very difficult to obtain and usually very closely monitored.
The round the rifles in question are chambered in is the .50 BMG (Browning Machine Gun) round. It is named this because the first weapon ever to use is was the M1921 .50 Browning Heavy Machine Gun.
There are a number of NFA legal .50 BMG machineguns in civillian hands, not to mention the post-sample guns that Class III dealers can own.
.50 BMG ammo is not subject to any restrictions different from any other ammo and is readily obtainable.
