# .50 Rifles now banned in California.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [January 26, 2005, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737 "2005-01-26T09:08:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/1 "2005-01-26T09:08:55Z")
Well, it seems in my home state, California, [.50 Caliber rifles can no longer be sold.](http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/50bmgfaqs.htm) (If you already own one, you can keep it after registering it, but that was a little too much to put in the thread title.)
Now, this isn’t .50 caliber _machine guns_ and assault weapons, which are already banned—or at least tightly controlled, as I remember. (And are excluded from this new ban.) And .50 Action Express pistol rounds are, as far as I know, not covered by this particular ban. (To say nothing of .50 muzzleloaders.)
Now, I just wonder…what the _hell_ good is this law supposed to do, for? Stop all the murders commited with $5000 rifles fired from two miles away? Force potential terrorists to actually _drive to another state_ to legally buy a weapon to use in slightly illegal terrorist attacks?
_GAAAH!_ WT_F_? [::Frustration/Bewilderment/etc. Smiley::](http://www.thegirliematters.com/images/smilies/banghead.gif)
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### Author:  [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/2 "2005-01-26T09:43:32Z")
Because Californians are immune to .338 Lapua or .406 Cheytac? Yet another stupid feel-good law from the people that seem to be masters of stupid feel-good laws.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/3 "2005-01-26T09:55:17Z")
Far be it to me to get involved in the regularly scheduled SDMB American gun regs flamefest, but I have to say that I’m surprised the things were legal to begin with. I’ve seen the thing, I’ve spoken to guys who’ve used it, and believe me - the weapon’s not a rifle, it’s field artillary. The damn thing can go through a concrete wall - or a BMP - like it was butter. If you legalize the 0.50" you might as well legalize the RPG-7, because both basically carry the same punch.
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### Author:  [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/4 "2005-01-26T10:08:34Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> If you legalize the 0.50" you might as well legalize the RPG-7, because both basically carry the same punch.
Well that is quite the hyperbole, now isn’t it?
RPG-7: ~330mm steel.
.50 BMG AP: ~20mm at 500 meters.
Specialized and exotic rounds, of course, have much greater penetration, but the really good stuff is not available to us mere civilians.
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### Author:  [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/5 "2005-01-26T13:13:21Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#):
>
> If you already own one, you can keep it after registering it, but that was a little too much to put in the thread title.
[hijack]
I’ve never lived in a California [sub]thank God[/sub], so I don’t really know. How does one “keep registering” a firearm? Fill out a form every year through the mail?
Also, supposing I _do_ end up having to move to California. Do I have to register them even though I never _bought_ them there?
[/hijack]
[flame part]
What a fuckin’ rediculous system. As if registering firearms would prevent them from being used illegally. :rolleyes:
[/flame part]
Tripler
Oh, and this is the pit: Fuck banning the .50.
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### Author:  [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/6 "2005-01-26T13:14:51Z")
Yeah, well this ought to stop them Hatfields & McCoys from feuding. Them firing them musketballs all over God’s creation. And that dang blasted rapid 2 shot-a-minute muzzleloaders. What’s that? Wrong state you say? Wrong century? Hmmm…
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### Author:  [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/7 "2005-01-26T14:12:07Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> Far be it to me to get involved in the regularly scheduled SDMB American gun regs flamefest, but I have to say that I’m surprised the things were legal to begin with.
Oh sure, laugh now, but when the rhinoceroses overrun California they’ll be begging for some out of state .50s.
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### Author:  [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/8 "2005-01-26T14:18:40Z")
Ya, it’s stupid. But if the BMG .50 is banned, is the “new and improved” BMG .496?
Wink wink, nudge nudge. 🙂 They have specifically banned BMG rifles that fire a very specific round. THe casing and projectile are the qualifiers AFAIK, and it’s dimensions are the deciding factor.
Shouldn’t be long until a new cartridge and projectile are invented.
Sam
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### Author:  [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/9 "2005-01-26T14:35:31Z")
> [@GaWd](#):
>
> Shouldn’t be long until a new cartridge and projectile are invented.
Introducing our newest model the BMG .49999 caliber rifle! _Almost_ as great as the (now outlawed) .50 caliber original, except 50 state legal! Are you stuck owning an illegal weapon? Trade in your old .50 cal version and we’ll give you a new high-magnification scope **FREE**!
Offer void where prohibited, not available in the UK, conditions apply, blah, blah, blah, more legal stuff.
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### Author:  [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/10 "2005-01-26T14:47:13Z")
Why on earth would you want a .50?
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### Author:  [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/11 "2005-01-26T14:49:08Z")
To shoot. Why would I want any gun?
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### Author:  [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/12 "2005-01-26T14:56:50Z")
> [@TwistofFate](#):
>
> Why on earth would you want a .50?
Ever seen an animal called a grizzly bear? How about a cape buffalo? A musk ox? An ill-tempered sea-bass with frickin’ laser beams (just kidding)? Dangerous animals are just that, dangerous. Hunting them with a .22 would be grounds for a Darwin award. That and big guns are cool and a lot of fun to shoot.
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### Author:  [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/13 "2005-01-26T15:01:51Z")
Anyone who has ever shot a gun knows that guns are fun to shoot. I think half the reason Certain People want to ban them is not to keep people from getting killed, but to keep people from having fun…
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/14 "2005-01-26T15:07:15Z")
I guess California ran out of _real_ problems to solve. Must be nice.
How many murders, exactly, were committed in California with 0.50 BMGs? My sources say that there has never been a single murder committed with one in the entire US, but I could be wrong, as my source is dated mid-year 2003.
Historically speaking, soccer matches lead to the deaths of far more people than civilian BMG owners ever have. So I guess we should ban those too. Makes sense. Gottaprotectthechildrenpleasesavethechildrenohnonono! :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/15 "2005-01-26T15:21:11Z")
Those guns are so cost-prohibitive to fire it’s ridiculous. [This](http://www.aaa-ammo.com/bmg.htm) says that it costs no less than $1.30 per round. That’s not even to mention that the .50 BMG itself, being so expensive, is limited in quantity, so you’d have a very small pool of people to search for if it were ever used in a murder (which it hasn’t ever been). It wouldn’t be hard to figure out that a .50 BMG was used in a murder (the body parts and the massive hole would give it away immediately), and people who buy these things aren’t exactly poor, so that right there limits your pool of suspects.
The allure of this weapon is its size. I mean, who among us wouldn’t find it cool to be on the shooting end of a weapon that large? It’s the equivalent of driving a Ferrari- almost completely impractical but oh so much fun.
Once again it’s a case of fear for fear’s sake. Anti-gun people thrive on fear to get this stuff passed.
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### Author:  [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/16 "2005-01-26T15:40:57Z")
> [@Madd Maxx](#):
>
> Ever seen an animal called a grizzly bear? How about a cape buffalo? A musk ox? An ill-tempered sea-bass with frickin’ laser beams (just kidding)? Dangerous animals are just that, dangerous. Hunting them with a .22 would be grounds for a Darwin award. That and big guns are cool and a lot of fun to shoot.
Why the fuck would you want to go hunting for any of these animals? Hunting does serve a purpose in certain cases, but I haven’t heard of anywhere that’s being overrun by Grizzlies, or the dreaded musk ox.
> [@](#):
>
> I guess California ran out of _real_ problems to solve. Must be nice.
Well, trying to correct real problems before embarking on pointless crusades designed to whup up the domestic safety feeling sure is depeche mode in the US government for the last few years, isn’t it?
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### Author:  [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/17 "2005-01-26T15:44:45Z")
Oh, and Una, the soccer argument is outdated, irrelevant and incorrect.
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### Author:  [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/18 "2005-01-26T15:45:07Z")
> [@TwistofFate](#):
>
> Why on earth would you want a .50?
I don’t know about California, but here in the Northeast 1000 yard target shooting is a popular shooting sport. The high mass, velocity, and ballistic coeffiecient of the .50 BMG round mean it’s not affected by things like crosswinds as much as other loads, and has a flatter tragectory. It’s just more accurate at long ranges.
A lot of guys use wildcats like the .30-.378 Weatherby, and believe me, you don’t want to get hit by one of those either. Not that anybody ever does.
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### Author:  [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/19 "2005-01-26T15:47:18Z")
> [@Exgineer](#):
>
> I don’t know about California, but here in the Northeast 1000 yard target shooting is a popular shooting sport. The high mass, velocity, and ballistic coeffiecient of the .50 BMG round mean it’s not affected by things like crosswinds as much as other loads, and has a flatter tragectory. It’s just more accurate at long ranges.
>
> A lot of guys use wildcats like the .30-.378 Weatherby, and believe me, you don’t want to get hit by one of those either. Not that anybody ever does.
Ok, that I can understand, but wouldn’t having the effect of crosswinds in distance shooting be more of a challenge, and thus, more sporting?
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### Author:  [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-rifles-now-banned-in-california/286737/20 "2005-01-26T15:51:19Z")
> [@TwistofFate](#):
>
> Oh, and Una, the soccer argument is outdated, irrelevant and incorrect.
Really? Nobody’s ever been murdered in the U.S. by a .50. Are you now claiming that nobody’s ever been murdered in a soccer riot? My, what pretty red tinted glasses you have…
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