A quick question: Certain rifles and weapons are sometimes labeled "high powered" -- often by pro-assault-weapons-ban folks, but also by people who seem to support gun rights (e.g., people organizing certain shooting events). But I take it that the "power" of a shooting rests on (1) the mass of the bullet, (2) the design characteristics of the bullet, (3) the amount of gunpowder in the round, (4) the length of the barrel, (5) the accuracy of the gun, and (6) the size of the magazine.
Items 1, 2, and 3 are functions not of the weapon but of the round. Item 4 mostly relates to whether the gun is a rifle or a handgun, and in any case to my knowledge isn't much thought of as a "high power" matter. Item 5 relates to total deadliness, but again in a way that I'm unaware is usually connected to whether the gun is a "high power" gun. And item 6 is a function of the magazine; though assault weapons bans do sometimes focus on the size of the built-in magazine or the intended magazine, many semiautomatic handguns and rifles can take magazines of varying sizes, including very large ones. But if this is so, then why the talk of "high powered" guns, not just from pro-gun-control people but also from others? Eugene _______________________________________________ To post, send message to [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/firearmsregprof Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
