Powerful Gun, Who Should Obtain Them?

A recent article on MSNBC News about an extremelly powerful gun, the .50-caliber rifle created by Ronnie Barrett (founder of Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc.), posed some issues involving who should be able to obtain the gun and its uses. "It weighs about 30 pounds and can hit targets up to 2,000 yards away with armor-piercing bullets." Currently the gun is provided to both the military and citizens who may use them for hunting or other uses. A lot of people, including Tom Diaz, "a senior policy analyst with the Washington-based Violence Policy Center," argue that providing these guns to citizens can be a threat and makes them available to terrorists who would be capable of even bringing down an airplane with the gun. Anybody of the age 18 and older has the ability of obtaining such a powerful gun by simply passing a background check. Money and profit of course plays a big role in this rather easy access to the rifle. Selling the guns to citizens is important even though most of the profit comes from the U.S. military, which spent about $8 million dollars on Barrett's firearms last year, since "military and police orders can fluctuate year to year":

"It's like, what does a 55-year-old man do with a Corvette? You drive it around
and enjoy it," said Barrett, 51, whose customers include doctors, lawyers, movie
makers and actors. "I know all the current actors who are Barrett rifle
shooters, some Academy Award-winning people. But they don't publicize it. They
love to play with them and have fun. Shooting is very fun."

That is if you're not the one being shot at...

Looking back in history to the foundation of Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc., ever since the 1980's the company has been providing the military with weapons. The United States has used the .50-caliber rifle since the 1991 Gulf War and is currently using it in the War in Iraq.
"For years some state and federal lawmakers have sought to limit or ban the gun's sale, as California did this year." The gun is quite powerful, but extremely easy to be obtained it is quite ridiculous. According to a 1999 research it was found that the guns are easily provided to civilians through markets with mild restrictions, making them more easily obtained than handguns. The gun's sale has to be limited, even if it is the major profict of Barret's industry. Maybe he should look for a part-time job which doesn't ivolve making or selling powerful guns to 18 year old or older civilians.