Some people are just too stupid to be among us.

Ok, I was going to write my own opinion on this, but it is in a video link, so I needed a transcript. I found a transcript of the conversation on http://hobbesian.blogspot.com and he made all the points that I was planning on making...so...I give him a big thumbs up, and repost his post below. Great blog, check it out.


For those of you who can't view video, I've done a quick transcript of the conversation:

Tucker Carlson: In February you introduced the assault weapons ban and law enforcement protection act of 2007. It would regulate semiautomatic assault weapons, including weapons that have pistol grips, a forward grip and something called a "barrel shroud." Weapons with a "barrel shroud" would be regulated. What's a barrel shroud, and why should we regulate it?

Carolyn McCarthy: I think... I think the more important thing is that it also would have banned the high capacity clips

TC: Right

CM: ...that Colin Ferguson used and also the killer. But we're talking about...

TC: Okay. But I read the legislation. I'm sorry. I read the legislation it said it would regulate "barrel shrouds." What is a barrel shroud and why should we regulate it?

CM: The guns that were chosen back in... in those days were basically the guns that most gangs and criminals were using to kill our police officers. I'm not saying it was the best bill. But that was the best bill we could get out at that particular time...

TC: Do you know what a barrel shroud is?

CM: I actually don't know what a barrel shroud is. TC: Okay. Because it's in your legislation.

CM: I believe it's the shoulder thing that goes up. TC: No. It's not.

So there we have it, fearless readers. Carolyn McCarthy doesn't even understand what she's trying to ban. She doesn't even understand the language of gunsmithing well enough to hazard a coherent guess. Given a rudimentary understanding of the english language, what in the words "barrel shroud" suggest anything to do with a "shoulder thing that goes up?" Carolyn McCarthy literally doesn't even know the difference between a barrel and a stock, which means she doesn't know which end of the gun is dangerous. Why is she trying to ban them?Because someone told her they sound scary, that's why. For the education of the few of you who might not know what a barrel shroud is, I'll elucidate. A barrel shroud is a shroud that envelopes the barrel of a gun. It's generally comprised of a tube that surrounds (or "shrouds") the barrel, and it usually has holes in it. The purpose of a barrel shroud is to dissipate heat more efficiently. As a target shooter, I can tell you that even firing at a rate of 100 rounds per hour can leave your barrel a tad warm. Hot barrels are inconsistent because hot metal is softer than cold metal, which means that "barrel whip" (a microscopic oscillation of the barrel that occurs after firing that can really ruin your X-ring streak) is worse with a hot barrel. On a practical level, though, barrel shrouds on semi-automatic firearms are mostly cosmetic. They have no effect on the rate of fire, and no practical effect on the volume of fire. They add bulk and weight, and don't really help your typical shooter much. Barrel shrouds are useful for machine guns because they help keep the barrel from melting when you're putting hundreds of rounds per minute through them, but there are perhaps two or three people in the world that can fire at a rate approaching that with a semi-automatic firearm, and they're all professional exhibition shooters; and they can't sustain that rate of fire for more than six to ten rounds. A barrel shroud does NOT make the gun easier to conceal. It does NOT make the gun more dangerous, fire more promiscuously, or for longer periods of time. It does NOT attach to the "shoulder thingie" nor does it "go up".

It's difficult to carry on a conversation about "reasonable restrictions" when the other side doesn't even know what they're trying to ban.

All I can add to that is "Amen".