Imagine how the U.S. looks to other countries given our increasing penchant for weapons, our endless mass murders attributable to the proliferation of those weapons and, on top of it, the political circus that is the Republican race for the Presidential nomination. It’s bloody embarrassing, I tell you.
And, on top of all that, we have news, from the Washington Post, that, on February 24, Tennessee adopted an Official State Rifle. U.S. states have long had official state birds, flowers, mammals, amphibians, and even rocks, but I wasn’t aware that guns were on the menu. In fact, seven states have official firearms, all adopted since 2011 after the Gun Madness set in:
But most of these Official Guns are historical relics like West Virginia’s flintlock rifle. Here are photos of all the State Guns from Wikipedia:
But note that Tennessee’s gun, the semiautomatic Barrett M82, is unlike the others. Here it is:
What the hell? The Post explains:
And as of Wednesday, the Barrett .50 caliber is now the official state rifle of Tennessee, joining an illustrious roster of other state symbols including the raccoon (state wild animal), the tomato (state fruit), and Tennessee cave salamander (state amphibian).
The gun’s inventor, Ronnie Barrett, is a Tennessee native and NRA board member who was referred to as “the rock superstar in the world of weapons” at a 2014 birthday bash attended by politicians Mike Huckabee, Lamar Alexander, Marsha Blackburn and others. The rifle bearing his name is manufactured in Christiana, Tennessee.
The M82 is not only an anti-materiel rifle, used to down tanks, helicopters, and airplanes, and to shoot through walls, but is also a sniper rifle. As Wikipedia notes:
The M82A1 is known by the US military as the SASR—”Special Applications Scoped Rifle”, and it was and still is used as an anti-materiel rifle and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) tool. The long effective range, over 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) (1.1 miles), along with high energy and availability of highly effective ammunition such as API and Raufoss Mk 211, allows for effective operations against targets like radar cabins, trucks, parked aircraft and the like. The M82 can also be used to defeat human targets from standoff range or against targets behind cover.
. . . The maximum effective range of the M107 is 1,830 metres (2,000 yd). The maximum range of this weapon (specifically the M107 variant) is 4,000 metres (4,400 yd), as quoted in the owner’s manual. Fifty caliber (and larger) rounds have the potential to travel great distances if fired in an artillery-like fashion, necessitating the observance of large safety margins when firing on a range.
Here’s the gun in action; I believe it has a magazine of 10 .50 caliber bullets, and look at the size of that ammo! This is pure weapons porn:
Why was it adopted? There’s a rationale, as the Post reports, but it’s pretty thin:
In supporting Tennessee’s designation of the Barrett .50 caliber as the state’s official rifle, Republican state Sen. Mae Beavers noted that the gun “honors Tennessee’s ingenuity and manufacturing.” But the gun’s considerable firepower makes it a formidable threat in the hands of the wrong person.
In the 1993 gun battle at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Tex., for instance, the cultists “fired a .50 caliber semiautomatic rifle at agents attempting to execute a search warrant,” according to a GAO report. In 2013, a suspect in a police standoff in Fond du Lac, Wis., fired several .50 caliber rounds during the incident, prompting police to call in a BearCat armored vehicle.
Overall, the gun safety group Violence Policy Center has identified at least 46 instances of .50 caliber guns being used in criminal activity. The public is generally uncomfortable with the widespread availability of these guns. In 2006, the General Social Survey found that 85 percent of Americans supported a ban on civilian sales of .50 caliber rifles.
Currently, however, .50 caliber rifles are unregulated at the federal level. California and D.C. ban the guns outright, while Connecticut and Maryland place some restrictions on them, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Note the large majority of Americans who oppose the sale of these weapons to civilians. Yet their sale is still legal. Thanks, NRA! By adopting this gun as the state rifle, Tennessee is flaunting its flouting of the Second Amendment, which was never intended to allow unrestricted access to guns—much less military-style guns like this.
h/t: Diane G.
““fired a .50 caliber semiautomatic rifle at agents attempting to execute a search warrant,” ”
Fortunately, police car doors are immune to all calibers of projectiles.
I recognise the weapon from Fallout New Vegas. Me and Boone took out Caesar’s encampment with this and a Gauss rifle. Good times.
Why a civilian would need one of these though is beyond me.
Features prominently in Call of Duty as well. Makes a satisfying noise in that game.
The Ani-Materiel Rifle in New Vegas fires .50 BMG, but is bolt-action unlike the M82.
Since nominating the Scopes trial as the official state historical trial of Tennessee would *really* be going after the low-hanging fruit, I’d like instead to nominate this child (whose name I could not easily find) as the official state gun victim.
Wouldn’t be my pick for a State rifle but 50 BMG is pretty sweet. The cost of the rifle is out of sight though…I’m sure the one pictured is over $5K USD.
The base model, M82A1 is $9,000.
I’m sure at least a couple grand in glass on top of it as well…
I have shot a 50 cal before and they are incredible. Lots of kick.
I have as well – a friend’s and they’re a lot of fun. I would consider one but my range isn’t approved 50 BMG – 30 calibre family only.
I see the muzzle velocity is listed as 853 m/s, so at range that would be over 2 seconds. In the video it’s like .1 or .2 sec, so I guess they’re shooting 100 or 200 m. Candy Ass! It’s like owning a Ferrari, when do you ever actually get to DRIVE the sucker?
So I guess that makes Ronnie Barret the official moron of Tennessee?
Just the fact that a 50 caliber gun is made for civilian use or is in anyway legal for civilians to use, illustrates the height of stupidity.
Next we’ll have someone selling a 20 millimeter gun as well. It will have to be mounted in the back of your pickup since lifting it is out of the question. I’m certain the range will exceed the much smaller 50 cal. weapon. Better yet, pick up an old used F-100D. They come with 4 of the 20 mil. cannons in the nose area of the plane. Parachute is extra.
It will have to be a Toyota pick up because that’s what you see African war lords driving all the time with the gun mounted to.
I don’t know why Toyota seems to be the pick up vehicle of choice in unstable regimes.
Toyota is very popular in Africa as the engine has a reputation for longevity.
They also have a vehiclr called Isis.
That is a strange but true part of this modern terrorist business – the Toyota pickup. Usually with 20 or 30 guys hanging all over the thing. I wonder, if they got rid of the toyota pickup would the terrorist be out of business? Logistically it may be a real spoiler for these maniacs to all be on foot walking around looking for a war.
You may be in to the solution for world peace!
Toyota produces incredibly durable cars. The U.N. uses toyota’s as well. Not even Top Gear could kill a Toyota.
They’re the off-road vehicle of choice where cost is a consideration. Lower cost of ownership and maintenance. My last job in rural Tanzania, we broke something in the engine of the Landrover (shit fuel, probably) and I got called back to site from a couple of days leave to bring a Toyota up – country. The parts for the Landy still hadn’t arrived when I left 3 weeks later.
Darn. Real world reliability they can’t brag about – at least not the war lord ones.
I saw a program about this gun (Barrett light fifty) years ago. Ostensibly the argument for civilian use is that it is a hunting rifle. A hunting rifle you have to fire prone and might dislocate your shoulder if you’re holding it wrong.
20mm rifles were manufactured during world war 2 to be used as anti-tank rifles. They were not necessarily mounted on a vehicle, and again this is a gun you had to brace correctly and fire while prone if you hoped to avoid injuring yourself.
Hunting what? Land Blue Whales?
The reason whey TN adopted this particular rifle is simple; you have seen the ammunition, they are compensating for certain deficiencies.
Imagine your toddler finds this in the backseat of the car. The bullet will fly through the front seat, the mother, and via the wind shield across the five cars in front of you while the toddler himself flies out of the back.
Maybe the TN legislature can nominate for state rock the stones they have occupying their brain pans.
From the Official Firearms map, it looks like the gun lobby’s trying to surround Ohio. If Michigan and Kentucky fall, the only safe egress from the buckeye state will be across Lake Erie to Ontario.
I’m not sure that even the most hardened gun nut is going to be able to show how this gun could be practical as any form of defence.
To my, admittedly naïve, perspective it’s more like a weapon of mass destruction.
It’s not practical for self-defence nor is it the type of gun you’re likely to see in a shooting spree. It’s also very expensive so out of the reach of your average gun enthusiast. It’s a whole lot of fun to shoot though.
“My, what a big scope you have grandpa!”
“The better to pick off little children at recess from 300 yards with, deary.”
I have to say that my opinion of their choice softened quite a bit when I learned that it was designed and made in Tennessee. It’s weird to have any state gun, but if you’re going to have one that’s as good a reason as any. What else do they make in Tennessee, other than whiskey and country music?
That’s a fair point. As far as domestic whiskey, I prefer the Kentucky variety. More often, I go with a good Speyside. While Tennessee doesnt necessarily win the distilling contest, they hands down beat Kentucky and Scotland in the state gun department.
Scottish “State” Gun
Sorry, try again: Scottish “State” Gun
Haha, nice!
That’s odd that should come up – I just learned there are *two* Dennis the Menaces!
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Mons_Meg,_Medieval_Bombard,_Edinburgh,_Scotland._Pic_01.jpg
(I was expected the Tennessee state gun to be a Civil War artillery piece.)
Well, I guess if you’re the kind of state that thinks having an official state gun is cool, then you want to make it the biggest state gun you can think of.
Good grief. It’s like the inmates are running the asylum.
Though no longer a hunter (vegetarian now) I can appreciate why my state chose the Winchester model 70. It has a well-made butter-smooth bolt action mechanism. On the other hand, I’d argue the versatile 30-30 caliber rifle has a storied history in Alaska.
Sadly, very sadly, Alaska ranks #1 in the “gun by death” category of all US states. That this statistic is the result of suicide rather than murder speaks to something deeply tragic.
Mike
Very interesting.
That we in the lower 48 hear so little about Alaska (save for Sarah) is also sad.
Yes, I apologize on behalf of my state for unleashing Caribou Barbie upon the Lower 48.
For what it’s worth, I live in the Capital and she was never welcomed here. She even refused to live in the Governor’s Mansion, choosing instead to commute by jet to her home 600 miles away AND take the travel stipend accorded to in state politicians who must travel to Juneau when the Legislature is in session (there is no road to Juneau).
She’s a real, ahem.
Lol, Caribou Barbie!
I find it amusing that she was trotted out once for Trump, then quickly shoved back under the carpet again…
This seems like an excellent choice for home defense, especially if your home maintenance is falling behind. Take out the burglar, a couple support beams, a wall or two, and if you’re lucky, explode your hot water heater.
File the insurance claim. Voila! Newly renovated house, no more bad guy and the taxpayers don’t have to pay for his trial nor yours as long as you have the Castle Doctrine on your side. There’s no downside!
LOL!
Wondering if any state had an official weapon that is bigger than a gun, a state tank say, I did a bit of googling. Texas has a state battleship (the Texas, of course). Connecticut has a state fighter, the Corsair F4U.
There is a handy website that lets you browse all the odd things states have made the official whatzit of the state: http://www.statesymbolsusa.org
That’s really crazy. Maybe the J-3 Cub in Pennsylvania makes sense. Best airplane ever and it was build in Lock Haven.
Imagine Iowa with a Battleship. No place to go.
😀
That sounds like the perfect metaphor for something…
As disturbing as private ownership of a Barrett is, keep in mind that it is still also legal in the good old USA to privately own and operate the Ma Deuce (M2 HB heavy machine gun) that fires the same round as the Barrett but with a rate of fire of 450-600 rounds/min. That’s the MG that you see mounted on top of the turrets of US tanks since WWII.
With a receiver weighing around 90 lbs, a barrel and tripod that each weigh around 45, and slugs the size of your thumb it’s hard to imagine a hunting or home defense use for the thing.
True, Pliny, but you need a special ATF permit to own an M2 (or any other fully automatic firearm, or a suppressor, for that matter) – not that people can’t get them, but few bother; whereas in most places you can get a Barrett or other .50 caliber rifle just for the cash and the waiting period.
you need a special ATF permit to own an M2?? The gub’mint’s takin’ away the ‘Murrican second amendment rahts!
Well sure. That is why we have the pickup truck. Probably 90 percent of the pickups sold in the U.S.A. are sold to guys in the city who really have no practical reason to have the thing. So this gun fits right in to this need for something to make the pickup useful. Now it all makes sense?
Doh! 😀
I can think of a few other reasons, though…you’re not going to put your Confederate flag decal on a Prius; nor your gun rack…
(Full disclosure–we have a pick-up and it’s pretty handy; we do live in the country, though, and used to have to haul hay, which had been getting my minivan pretty grody.)
You need to accessorize you truck with a big gun and those girly mud flaps. 😀
I think if I had a Prius it would be amusing to put a few Republican stickers on it, just to make sure you appeal to no one.
http://pictoraltheology.blogspot.com/2014/05/anatomical-correctness.html
Hahahahahaha
…hahahahaha.
I got the last laugh. 🙂
Ha!
LOL @ both Diana (“just to make sure you appeal to no one” !!) and Pliny tiB!
Also, Pliny, superb 2nd Amendment shirt!
I’m too stupid to fill in the missing parts of the other shirt; please help.
Diane, that one said, “Death by Cop is not a sustainable mental health policy”.
Ooh, very good!
That would be great to replace all those with beer bellies and tiny…
Speaking of confederate flags – I see we have a couple of houses right here in no place, Iowa, flying these despicable items. I have thought about stopping by and asking the question – Do you know which side of the conflict Iowa was on? Or, did you just come in from Alabama? I honestly do not know the place I once grew up.
If you once hauled some hay in the vehicle, then you have a clear conscious. Might want to leave a few patches of hay in the back, just to make it look good.
Randy–that’s quite discouraging! Probably not the sort of folks you want to provoke though!
I got a kick out of my husband this winter–always likes to talk about how good the truck (4WD) is in the snow, but got it stuck in the yard twice, spinning its wheels in mud & slush. (Meanwhile his Subaru [AWD] worked like a charm.)
AH, My Subaru Forester does pretty well also. It’s many times better than a pickup anytime.
😉
I have one. An Iowan one. Ya’ know, … … red.
Its name is CC Rider. Ya’ know, … … Cherry Chrome Rider. Truckie for short.
And it’s (not a he nor a she is It) a 25 – year – old Frontier Nissan.
I love it. Have had it & another Nissan afore it for decades. I drive it everywhere. In town and out. For all chores and errands & a woman alone needs to be able — always — to haul shit. My pewter Passat (named MyPP’at = cuz I couldn’t think of anything else for ‘My Pewter PassAT), my ‘dream’ car, languishes inside the garage and is out only to squire others around including all o’the grandbabes.
Truckie has no gun rack but does have somethin’ else .noooot. at all liked by others, most especially not by male humans: a homemade neon sign in its back window to go along with the peace symbol and the EvolveFish affixed, too, to its gate which reads, “Sexism: The Original Sin.”
When I and others behind me are stopped at a light turning green, you cannot imagine the speed and the noise with which the vehicles’ drivers behind me, pull out and try every which maneuver possible to get around that back window sign just as fast as they possibly can get. It is my free speech of course; but, in this particular case, I am thinking that immediate and violent accidents could quite be caused by those readers’ physical reactions to their being behind Truckie and reading that sign on its gate.
Still it has been there for years. Nothing untoward yet, and I have not (and, likely, will not) removed it.
Blue
ps No ‘free speech’ have I ever applied to MyPP’at. It is a y2003, is to last me until I am ashes soooo I would like it not to get, well ya’ know, … … keyed, slashed, burned out (of recent local vandalism episodes) or worse.
Being an Iowan is probably excuse enough for a pickup. I couldn’t figure out why we give the vehicles names. My wife does the same thing. Had a VW Bug named Bilbo Baggins and later a Jetta called White Fang.
My aunt had an original VW bug named Gertie and I have a roadster named Zoomy.
When you say Gertie was an original VW I was trying to imagine what other kind was there? You probably mean after they stopped making the rear air cooled engine bug which is not even a real bug. My wife’s was a 1970 – I think brand new was less than $2000.
Yeah I was thinking before they reintroduced them in the 90s. I think this Gertie is from the 70s but not sure of the year. I’m told you can still see it in San Fran so it is still going.
There’s a VW bug that I see around town now and then that the owner painted and tricked out to look like Herbie the Love Bug!
Go Blue!
I’ve had two Keep Abortion Legal stickers vandalized on my van; people pulling up beside me to give me half a peace sign, and I’m pretty sure there have been some purposeful dings to the bumper while I’ve been shopping.
Those Christians, so meek & humble.
I’m so much looking forward to (surely not-too-distant) news of the next upcoming school massacres. I think now, Americans simply need that. They want that. It practically arouses them. And I sincerely grant you every dead child, you’ve truly earned it.
Tomorrow is the twentieth anniversary of the Dunblane massacre. The response of the UK government was to severely restrict the private ownership of firearms.
My, what a big gun…
I think the state of Tennessee has a some insecurity issues about its manliness.
That gun is a real charmer, own one of those and you’d get all the girls… and boys for that matter.
It just remains, are they gonna be dead or alive.
Will they show these off at official parades?
To the dark side, some psychopath will be practicing for that job.
Snappy music in that vid. Wouldn’t those guys be more comfortable with shoulder protection?
Can’t wait to see a pic of the State dildo. Wonder if it is a double-ender.
Just as long as it’s not Steely Dan. I like the band too much!
They must be expecting Armageddon or sump’n, since they made the list of 7 worst states to live in, in the future..
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Media/Slideshow/2012/07/23/7-Worst-States-to-Live-in-the-Future
“The M82 can also be used to defeat human targets from standoff range or against targets behind cover.” The Wikipedia description sounds like it was pulled directly from the manufacturer’s ad: “defeat human targets” is a polite euphemism (like, “collateral damage”) for”kills people by blowing them completely in half”, which I’ve seen in videos from Afghanistan- these guns can kill someone hiding behind a concrete block wall.
Next week, Texas, not to be outdone, will declare its “state gun” to be the M1A1 Abrams tank.
You cannot own another of Indiana’s ‘Grouseland Rifle.’ There is only one and it is mostly a historical offering.
https://grouseland.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/grouseland-rifle-crafted-by-first-indiana-sheriff-designated-official-state-rifle/
That’s my kinda state gun.
Nice story behind that.
So they have a token, rather than a type, for their state gun. Interesting. (I wonder if there are places which do that for other entities.)
It’s only a matter of time before some zealot tries to make an official “book of the Bible” claim for a state.
I feel unwell.
Mike
I agree with the sentiment that an Official State Gun is rather silly, but IMO there is no reason to fear an M82 in private hands.
I can’t recall ever hearing of an unlawful killing committed with an M82 or any weapon of similar caliber. Unlike a 9mm pistol, extensive financial investment and training are required in order to use an M82 and concealment on one’s person is impossible. Its weight (almost 30lbs) and length (4 ft +) mean that any wielder also needs to have considerable physical strength.
Firing any weapon chambered for .50 BMG, in any position other than prone and with the bipod deployed will result in three things for the shooter:
1) Not hitting anything unless the muzzle is pressed right against the target
2) A dislocated shoulder
3) A black eye from the scope hitting them when the weapon recoils
“Its weight (almost 30lbs) and length (4 ft +) mean that any wielder also needs to have considerable physical strength.”
Oh, good to know it’s toddler-safe.
I know you are being facetious, but it is true that you will never hear about a toddler killing his playmate with an M82 he found under his parents’ bed.
I think you just stumbled on how to reduce gun deaths: make the guns too big to lift!
Negasta–simultaneously facetious and factual then. 🙂
Diana, you have a point. Hard to get ’em on airplanes, too.
There is a good point there. My gun-collector friend’s most dramatic item was his Vickers machine gun:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Vickers_Machine_Gun_YORCM_CA78ac.JPG
However, it was probably also his least dangerous weapon, since it takes a crew of three or four to effectively set it up and operate it.
But practicality be damned. I see Texas hasn’t got an official gun yet, which is surely shocking. So for the Lonely Star State I nominate a *real* BFG:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/GAU-8_meets_VW_Type_1.jpg/640px-GAU-8_meets_VW_Type_1.jpg
(It would need something bigger than a Toyota ute to mount it on though)
cr
I once saw a TV programme about the gun culture in America which showed a couple of hundred gun nuts who had gathered in a field in Oklahoma (I think) to hold their annual “Shoot For Freedom” (uh?).
So there they were, all blasting away at targets with their rifles, shotguns, etc., except for one man who was sat behind a Vickers just like the one in the photo,
Yup, that’s pretty much it. 50 BMG is a rich, marksman’s gun. Bloody expensive to shoot as well I’ll add. Guys that I know that own them don’t bring them out that often.
Sorry, just to counteract the silliness that I hear about big calibers and small male appendages – I’ve seen ladies shoot 50 BMG ass well…
I guess that’s penis envy in this line of reasoning.
There is a video of gun mishaps circulating on social media; one user who shared it commented: “do we need less guns or less idiots?[sic]”
I commented: “less idiots” will naturally result in “less guns”.
That’s what I have been thinking for years. Guns are like television. Getting bored with life, nothing to do, unable to entertain oneself.
I’ve got a garden to attend… Spring is coming.
This is not what Patti Page had in mind.
Ouch great, another reason to worry about Tennessee.
My eldest son will be going to University
in Tennessee on a scholarship. I looked up
the crime stats and it seems rated among
the worst, sometimes the very worst, state
for violent crime.
Getting worried….
I found this bit interesting:
“Raufoss Mk 211 [ammunition]”
I’ve been to that tiny town (in southeastern Norway (center of Vestre Toten)) and there is an armory there, still in action. One of the old Armory buildings houses an art gallery. In front is a (inactive) cannon shell for a decoration.
They are proud of their armory tradition.
Insanity writ large.
Interesting statistic in last weekend’s Financial Times-‘ Gun ownership in the US is at its lowest point since records began. Less than one-third of Americans own a firearm or live with someone who does, compared with about half the population in late 1970’s early 80’s’.
Source: NORC at the University of Chicago.
So where did all the guns go?