TAKING “PREPAREDNESS” TO THE NEXT LEVEL. Reader James Rummel writes:

I read the Popular Mechanics article that you linked to, the one that discusses the various Terminators that have been introduced over the years. Thank you kindly for brining it to my attention.

Speaking as an old shooting enthusiast, I noticed while watching the two available episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles that the various weaponry deployed against the kill-crazy deathbots wasn’t very effective. They are just too well armored, too well built. But I suppose a .50 sniper rifle would still make some holes since it was designed to defeat armor.

I have wondered why the anti-gun lobby wants to ban the .50’s, even though they have yet to be used in a crime. Maybe they have sold out to the enemy of all mankind in the hopes that they will be spared? It makes as much sense as any for their irrational hysteria against these weapons.

I also noticed that the Terminators in the TV show will shut down for a few minutes if they come in to contact with electric current, even current as mild as standard house current. Popular Mechanics back in October mentioned a new TASER device that could be fired from a standard shotgun. This increased the range from 15 feet to over 100. It might very well be the only hope for mankind!

You might be wondering why I am so interested in the subject, a TV show based off of a fictional war where a computer network named Skynet nukes most of humanity before trying to exterminate the survivors. But did you know that the British have already set up a military satellite communications system which is named Skynet?

Right about now I bet you’re thinking that adding a .50 Barrett and a few TASERS to your home defense arsenal might not be a bad idea.

“Adding?”

UPDATE: Reader Darren Duvall, MD emails:

Your correspondent Mr Rummel is incorrect that the .50 BMG has not been used in a crime. A police officer was killed in Colorado with one in 1995 or 1996.

I’m not anti-50 cal, but it does pay to be as accurate as possible when it comes to contentious issues. The VPC and their hoplophobic ilk are against .50 caliber rifles because they are a small segment of the firearms market that can be marginalized, period. It is entirely accurate to say that they are virtually never used to commit crimes.

My personal choice for an anti-Terminator weapon is an EFP. A molten copper slug at 5,000 fps beats the Taser. If the Terminators attack, it may turn out that the Iranian defense plants are our last, best hope. Weird world.

Heh.

ERROR CORRECTION UPDATE: The above contains an error:

This is absolutely untrue. The incident he refers to is the death of Deputy Sheriff Timothy Mossbrucker in Jefferson County, Colorado in April of 1995. Deputy Mossbrucker was killed by Albert Petrosky as the deputy responded to a “shot fired” call at a small shoping mall. The suspect had gone there to kill his wife and her boyfriend (her boss) after he found out they were having an affair.(he did kill both of them) He then waited in the parking lot for the cops to show up (I suspect so his death would be a suicide by cops). Deputy Mossbrucker was the first unit in. The suspect shot him three times through the windshield of his police unit killing him instantly with an 7.39 SKS rifle.

The problem was, Petrosky had thrown every gun he owned into the bed of his pickup to go have his 15 minutes of glory. Included in those firearms was a LAR Grizzley big bore 50 BMG. There were also 5 empty 50 caliber casings in the bed of the truck that probably were thrown into the bed the last time he had been out shooting the rifle. There is no evidence to indicate he fired the 50 BMG during his shootout with the cops.

The suspect was taken into custody a short time later but committed suicide in his jail cell before he was ever brought to trial.

The reason they claim he killed the deputy is the press was allowed access to the crime scene about an hour after the shooting and the photographer took a photo of the LAR Grizzley and the fifty cal ammo. He just created the headlines “Deputy Killed By 50 BMG” for the next day’s paper.

That’s from John Burtt of the Fifty Cal Institute, via Prof. Joseph Olson.