Weer'd World

This article is just too funny.

The pistol used by a disgruntled designer to kill a former co-worker outside the Empire State Building on Friday is among the more lethal handguns on the American firearms market.

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the shooter, Jeffrey T. Johnson, 58, used a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol that held eight rounds. Law enforcement officials said Mr. Johnson bought the pistol in Sarasota, Fla., in 1991. Mr. Kelly later identified the gun’s manufacturer as Star, a Spanish company that is no longer in business. Mr. Johnson did not have a concealed-carry or residential permit in New York, so his possession of the weapon was illegal in New York City, according to city officials.

The .45-caliber semiautomatic was the standard sidearm for the American armed forces for much of the 20th century. The semiautomatic feature means that the gun reloads automatically after the trigger is pulled and a round is fired; it fires larger rounds than most handguns, making it difficult to handle, but powerful.

“If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re probably not going to be able to hit the broad side of a barn with it,” said Joseph F. King, a former United States Customs Service special agent. But, he added, “If you can put a round in center mass of the body, or the head, he’s probably not going to make it.” The firearm, powerful as it may be, is not the subject of much of the debate about gun control.

LOL, I won’t lie, my chest puffed up a little from the smoke being blown up my ass, as I’m carrying a .45 right now. Still its bullshit. Ballistics tests really show that .45 ACP and 9×19 really aren’t that different. Also when compared to most pistol loads .45 ACP runs under much lower SAAMI pressures than most other cartridges, making its recoil impulse a LOT less than most rounds, so even tho its big and powerful, its fairly mild to shoot. Not that I expect somebody at the New York Times to be able to grasp any of that.

Also does anybody know their Stars that well? I assumed when I heard 8-shot .45 that it was an M1911 or a SIG P220, or maybe a S&W 45006. I don’t know Stars that well, It could be their kinda-sorta 1911 clone, or maybe its something else. I know the M1911-type gun is 7+1.

Still what’s hilarious is Joan Peterson’s take on this:

The gun used by the shooter was purchased legally in Florida. New York has very strict gun laws but people intent on getting guns know they can go to states where it is easy to buy a gun.

Yep, according to Joan, he went down to Florida to buy a gun with intent to murder his former Boss…back in 1991.

You gotta love the antis, they’re so knowledgeable on what gun laws should be passed, and how that will help us….and they do this with ZERO working knowledge of how any gun laws actually work.

If he bought the pistol legally in Florida, that means he was a Florida resident at the time. He then ILLEGALLY brought it into NYC when he moved there, and years later when he was fired from his job, decided to ILLEGALLY carry it, and ILLEGALLY murder his former boss.

Joan might be evil enough to know the laws and circumstances and use it to push the “Iron Pipeline” argument for taking liberal gun states and forcing them to confine with the anti-freedom shithole laws because THEY have horrible violent crime problems.

Somebody in the comments was kind enough to supply her the data (PDF), which point out that NYC is no different than any other place in America. Criminals get their guns locally, and the guns that come from out of state are small, and given the time-to-crime numbers, its most likely those guns were stolen or illegally transferred to criminals AFTER the owner had MOVED to New York.

Remember, if my collection gets stolen, a bunch of my guns would trace to Maine and New Hampshire, and the gun I’m carrying would trace to Texas. Doesn’t mean I’ve done anything illegal, or that there is an “Iron Pipeline” just means the ATF doesn’t have their dirty fingers in every aspect of my life.

Criminals will get their guns, the question is, why are we disarming the good guys?