This just in!
Initial reports from Dallas described multiple snipers with AR-15s #weaponsofwar. The ongoing propaganda theme among the tabloids is that the AR-15 has become the weapon of choice for terrorists and mass shooters. CBS news reported that the terrorist in Dallas used an antique, the SKS. The ArmsGuide reports that it now appears that the shooter used a Saiga AK-74 style rifle.
Let’s get to the heart of the matter. A murder weapon does not cause murder. I does not make any difference which weapon was used, it is a heinous crime. The U.S. federal government as well as many states and cities continue to prohibit certain types of murder weapons. There are groups which want to focus on specific types of murder victims. None of this has reduced the number of murder victims in the United States.
A photo from the scene shows that the rifle was in fact a Saiga semiautomatic AK-74 style rifle with a Primary Arms five power scope. Gun guys always want to know the details, but the reality is these shots were close and did not require a sophisticated rifle or any particular “sniper” skill. We should remember that an air traffic controller killed President Kennedy with an very inexpensive bolt action carbine and started the modern gun control movement.
Here’s what a Saiga AK looks like:
Sites like Controversial Times had initially reported:
As the nation begins to wrap its head around what happened in Dallas, Texas last night during a protest against police shootings, certain factions are already shifting blame from the suspect in the case to the firearms used.
“When people are armed with powerful weapons, unfortunately it makes attacks like these more deadly and tragic,” President Obama said at a press conference during a trip to Poland. “In the days ahead we’re going to have to consider those realities.”
However, the rifle used by the suspect in the Dallas murders wasn’t an AR-15 variant rifle as many people originally thought. No, in fact the gun used was a 70+ year old relic that would not meet the definition of an “assault weapon” under most state laws. CBS News is reporting that the firearm used was an SKS rifle.
Unlike the Sig Sauer MCX rifle used in the Orlando terror attacks, which had similar features, controls and magazine to AR-15 style rifles, the SKS rifle used in Dallas couldn’t be more different.
The rifle has a non removeable 10 round magazine and uses a heavy, traditional wood stock. None of the features that states such as California, Massachusetts, and New York use to classify so called “assault weapons” such as a pistol grip, forward vertical grip, removable magazine or other cosmetic features. According to the Wikipedia article on the firearm:
The SKS is a Soviet semi-automatic carbine chambered for the 7.62×39mm round, designed in 1943 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. Its complete designation, SKS-45, is an initialism for Samozaryadnyj Karabin sistemy Simonova, 1945 (Russian: Самозарядный карабин системы Симонова, 1945; Self-loading Carbine of (the) Simonov system, 1945). In the early 1950s, the Soviets took the SKS carbine out of front-line service and replaced it with the AK-47; however, the SKS remained in second-line service for decades. It is still used as a ceremonial firearm today.
The SKS was widely exported, and was also produced by some former Eastern Bloc nations as well as China, where it was designated the “Type 56 Carbine”, East Germany as the Karabiner S and in North Korea as the “Type 63”. The SKS is currently popular on the civilian surplus market as a hunting and marksmanship semi-automatic rifle in many countries, including the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. Its age and numbers make it very inexpensive to purchase. The SKS was the second firearm to be chambered for the 7.62×39mm M43 round, with the first being the RPD.
While there are aftermarket parts for the rifle that can increase its magazine capacity and change its looks, it does not change the fact that this is a firearm that was designed while World War II was still taking place. Often, changing these parts greatly reduces the reliability of the rifle.
The suspect in Dallas also reportedly used a handgun of a currently unknown type.
Here is more about the SKS from firearms expert Jerry Miculek:
Source: CBS News, Controversial Times