Assault weapons ban round up – SKS and Chai Vang edition
Local reporter Bob Hodge writes that the SKS is not an assault rifle:
“By the literal definition of an assault weapon an SKS is not covered because it doesn’t have the function of being fully automatic,” said Ryan Patrick, one of the co-owners of Guns & More on Kingston Pike. “It wasn’t covered by the 1994 assault weapon legislation, that was very carefully called the semiautomatic assault weapons ban, either. It doesn’t have a detachable magazine or a pistol grip.”
Another article states that the SKS is not rare! Chai Vang apparently didn’t use an SKS but rather a Saiga, which is also not an assault weapon. Head has also confirmed for me that early model Saigas did in fact have an H prefix on their serial numbers. It’s looking like the SKS was not the rifle used in this incident.
Judging from the comments section of this post and the recent spike in traffic for folks Googling up Chai Vang, people are definitely interested in Mr. Vang.
I was going to address the absolute stupidity of this hysterical piece on why semi-automatics apparently aren’t just normal guns but this guy already did.
The NRA will be pushing the gun immunity bill since they view the new congress makeup as favorable.
Stephen Young proves he doesn’t know much about gun laws:
Take any major American city — Chicago, New York, Detroit, Philadelphia — and statistics reveal that annually, more people get killed by handguns in any one of these cities than all of Europe combined. Why is that?
Two of those cities also have the most restrictive handguns laws in the nation so the contention that you’re about to make that regarding restricting access to guns is going to stop that is asinine.
American gun laws are the byproduct of a lobbying machine called the National Rifle Association. The gun control movement has accomplished a few minor victories, but the vast majority of modern American gun law is the work of the NRA. Compare their results to the rest of the world and you’d have to say their work is a failure. American kids are 20-plus times more likely to die of gun violence than European, Japanese, Canadian or Australian children.
Foreign governments keep guns off their streets. They don’t allow gun industry lobbyists to write their firearms laws. The safety of their citizens comes first.
Given that Canada, Australia and many countries in Europe have higher crime rates than the US, that contention doesn’t hold water. Also, the NRA hasn’t written the gun laws in this country as it has a tendency to oppose them so that claim is false as well.
November 29th, 2004 at 7:10 pm
I asked the NRA:
Various news reports on the shooting of 6 hunters in WI have described the gun used as either an SKS or a Saiga. Other than caliber these are different guns, and knowing which would be most helpful in writing letters to the editor in reply to anti-gun editorials. Do you know just which gun was involved?
Here is the reply:
Thanks for your email.
The firearm allegedly used by the murderer was an SKS. Here is what we do know about SKSs as they relate to hunting.
According to the NRA Whitetail Deer Hunting Handbook, “Experts generally consider minimum energy for a whitetail load to be about 1,200 foot-pounds at the point of impact, though 900 foot-pounds is acceptable if bullet placement is precise. Loads that produce 1,500 foot-pounds at impact are optimum.”
According to the NRA Firearms Fact Book, 7.62×39 caliber ammunition (the SKS’s caliber) produces 1,162 foot-pounds of energy at 100 yards. Certainly many, if not most, deer that are taken by hunters are shot at distances at which the 7.62×39 meets the minimum energy requirements. The venerable .30-30 Winchester produces only 1,356 foot-pounds at 100 yards. It is true, of course, that many (maybe most) deer hunters use calibers that are nearly double or more than double the power of the SKS.
Thanks again. Let us know if you have any further questions or comments.
Now I am REALLY curious just which gun it was.
December 3rd, 2004 at 3:15 pm
I concur that this rifle was a Saiga. If you look at the original court document and the official charges, it clearly matches the description of a Saiga and not a SKS. I called European American Arms (EAA), gave them the rifle serial number listed in the report and they stated that this serial number matches that of a 7.62×39 Saiga rifle manufactured in 2003.
The media statement of a 20 round magazine apparently is false, as Vang’s own statements contain the fact that he had to reload during the shootings.
December 3rd, 2004 at 8:59 pm
Yes, it’s a Saiga. Here are some photo’s, and the serial number is visible in the bottom photo.
http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=26378223
Wow – this is incredible – EVERYONE got it wrong, including the NRA (see my other comment). We first got the truth here at SAY UNCLE.
There should be an opportunity here to use this against all those advocacy groups, politicians, and editorials which have condemned the SKS for an incident which really involved a different firearm, which none of them has ever suggested banning.