Rifle banned

last updated 8 January 2015

Sacramento

California has become the first state to outlaw a powerful long-range rifle that was created for the military but has recently grown popular with sportsmen. The .50-caliber Browning machine gun rifle accurately fires a 5-inch bullet from more than a mile away, and can pierce thick armor. A spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the rifles a “clear and present danger” to the public. Michael Fournier, a gun dealer, said the state was “chipping away” at gun rights for no good reason, since there was no evidence the heavy and pricey rifles had ever been used in a crime. Assemblyman Paul Koretz, a Democrat, said the law wasn’t intended to thwart criminals, but “terrorists” and “general nut cases.”