X-Post from Bansalot, corrected title: UPS delivers 5 shot, bolt action rifle to NY couple in error.

[Kang Colby]

This article dang near qualifies as "fake news" for reasons I'll explain momentarily. Let's start with the original:

A New York couple was horrified when a UPS delivery that they thought was a Christmas present turned out to be an assault rifle.

Newsday reports that Joel Berman opened the keyboard-sized case in front of his wife and 6-year-old granddaughter Wednesday night in Oceanside, on Long Island.

Instead of a toy plane they were buying for their friend's son, they found a semi-automatic rifle, scope, stand, ammo clip and copies of an Arizona man's driver's license and concealed-weapons permit. They hustled their granddaughter out of the room and called police, who picked up the weapon.

http://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/ups-delivers-assault-rifle-toy-christmas-gift-44238092

From reading that article, you'd think the gun was on the verge of climbing out of the case and chasing the family around the house.

The gun in question is a 5 shot, bolt action rifle, a Barrett M95. Thus this reporting dang near qualifies as fake news. But if you're a controller all rifles are assault rifles and all handguns are Glocks.

[guillaumeb]

1. Very true. Thanks for the clarification. However............

this model is a .50 caliber sniper rifle. Just the thing for hunting rogue elephant. Or other things.

Mr. Arizona probably intends to use it hunting squirrel and prairie dogs.

[Throck]

3. Actually there are a lot of one mile target clubs in Pennsylvania.

It takes skill and knowledge to consistently hit a 36" bullseye at 1760 yards.

[HassleCat]

4. Yeah, the real news is worse than the fake news.

I'm not sure if people are familiar with sniper rifles, but I have fired several, including one in .50 BMG, and it worries me more that a Barrett might be in my neighborhood than an assault rifle.

[Kang Colby]

10. What do you think the caliber/cartridge cut off should be then?

Generally speaking .50 BMG is where the line is drawn between title 1 firearms and title 2 destructive devices. There are some fairly obscure sporting exemptions for other larger calibers as well but to keep this simple we should ignore that.

[yagotme]

13. How about .34??

No, that would keep the .338 Lapua. Just as accurate, if not more so, at long range. .31?? All those .30 magnums, effective out to nearly a mile. .29?? All those 6.5's they've been coming out with, with a limit on bore size, larger cases will be necked down to make super magnums out of this caliber, a very efficient bullet at long range. All of them????

[Kang Colby]

14. Exactly my point.

Good post. Thanks

[oneshooter]

15. What about the

45/70
45/90
38/65
50/70
50/90

Would they be outlawed?

[Kang Colby]

16. Most people don't know what any of those are.

SWD manufactured a gun they called the "Ladies Home Companion" chambered in .45-70, back in the 90s.

Gun controllers did not like this one.

[yagotme]

17. Several years ago,

here in IL, they were going for one of the "over .50" caliber bans. Originally, they did not exclude shotgun shells, it was "all self contained ammunition". Boy, was there a backlash from hunters, bill eventually stalled/failed. The government anti's didn't know what they were talking about when they drafted that mess, and they still don't know what they are talking about. That's what gets me about posters here that get all agitated when they are corrected on errors about firearms. Know what you're discussing, or you sound like an idiot. It would be like me discussing rocket science with a physicist and telling him how everything works. "The rocket burns, and lifts the payload up." Well, duh, but there's a lot more to it than that.

[benEzra]

21. He probably intends to use it for long-range target shooting,

but you knew that.

AFAIK, not one single murder has *ever* been committed with a .50 BMG in the United States since 1919, but I may be wrong.

Ballistically, anything you can hit with a .50, you can hit with a .408 or a .338 or a .300 or a 6.5mm, which is why the gun control lobby has also expressed interested in banning everything down to the fast .30's also.

In terms of caliber and power, there are larger rifles than .50 that are considered Title 1 civilian rifles under sporting-use exemptions (the cutoff under Federal law is .51 caliber, but larger caliber sporting guns are allowed). .577 T-rex, .585 Nyati, and .600 Nitro Express come to mind. Most shotguns are .729 caliber, but operate at much lower pressures than rifles.

[Lurks Often]

2. Regardless, I suspect someone at UPS is going to be unemployed for Christmas

Since the rifle originated in AZ, it had to go through FFL to be sold to a NY resident.

If UPS did not screw up, then expect a couple of individuals to be have long chats with local and federal law enforcement, followed by a stay in a correctional facility.

[Kang Colby]

5. Probably a screw up.

I don't want to waste time speculating, but this was likely either a repair related return to the customer or bound for an FFL.

[Lurks Often]

6. Barrett is located in TN, so it isn't a repair related return.

In about a week, we'll find out the reason, but by then nobody will notice or care.

[Kang Colby]

7. A return to the customer.

Wrong label, mix up at UPS, any number of things could be the source.

[petronius]

8. Damn. As soon as I saw this, I rushed to open the appropriately-shaped box

that I just received. But, turns out it really was just fruit in there...




Which I love, so I guess it's still a win in the Petronius household!

[mackdaddy]

9. You would think they would check the signature on a Six thousand dollar package...

That is what M95's seem to be going for.

That and as others have stated it looks like it may have been being shipped between FFL holders with the documentation included.

[Kang Colby]

11. What's being reported as a concealed weapons permit is probably a copy

of the FFL license. While those are sent prior to shipment, I can see someone tossing an extra copy in the box to help avoid a situation like this.

[ileus]

12. expensive novelty item...at least that's the reason

the 3 or 4 folks that own one that I know use them for.


You need to be a reloader if you're planning on shooting these guys a bunch.

[ManiacJoe]

18. Is the ammo still around $4 per round?

[ileus]

19. I paid 34 or 39 bucks for 10 rounds

at Wal-Mart a few years ago.

I polished one of them up and use if for my gun porn pics. The rest I stored with other factory ammo I'm never going to use.

[SQUEE]

20. I have one signed by Ronnie Barrett

It was a gift from a buddy that actually works for them in Murfreesboro.

Last I priced .50 M33 Ball was going 6 a pop.