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Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
50 Caliber Sniper Rifles and the Threat to Chemical Facilities
8/27/2002
Press Release
Violence Policy Center
1140 19th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
www.vpc.org
Contact:
Naomi Seligman
Phone: (202) 822-8200
Violence Policy Center And Greenpeace Hold Joint Briefing Detailing The Threat of 50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Terrorist Attacks on Chemical Targets
New VPC Report Sitting Ducks Detailing 50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Terrorist Threat to Refinery and Hazardous-Chemical Facilities Released at Briefing--Potential Devastating and Deadly Effects
Washington, DC - Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, federal officials have warned the chemical and refinery industry that hazardous-materials plants could be turned into weapons of mass destruction. The attacks--which made enormously destructive bombs out of passenger jets--woke the world to the fact that familiar objects we tend to think of as relatively benign can become terrifying weapons inflicting catastrophic damage. The Violence Policy Center (VPC) released Sitting Ducks: The Threat to the Chemical and Refinery Industry from 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles on Tuesday, August 27, 2002, at 12:30 PM at the National Press Club. Lisa Finaldi, Greenpeace Toxics Campaign Coordinator, joined the VPC in detailing the effects of this deadly threat on population centers across the country.
Sitting Ducks provides detailed information about a serious threat to refinery and hazardous-chemical facilities: the 50 caliber sniper rifle and the armor-piercing, incendiary, and explosive ammunition it is capable of firing accurately over thousands of yards. The U.S. Army's manual on urban combat states that 50 caliber sniper rifles are intended for use as anti-materiel weapons, designed to attack bulk fuel tanks and other high-value targets from a distance, using "their ability to shoot through all but the heaviest shielding material."
The ease of obtaining these weapons of war is illustrated by the alleged possession and intended use for terror by Dr. Robert J. Goldstein, arrested this past weekend. Despite its awesome and destructive firepower 50 caliber sniper rifles are easier to purchase than handguns in the US.
An analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that at least 123 plants in the United States keep amounts of toxic chemicals that could place more than one million people in danger if released, 700 plants maintain amounts that could endanger at least 100,000 people, and more than 3,000 plants maintain amounts that could affect 10,000 people.
http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/alerts/reader/0,2061,553611,00.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Edited by - josey1 on 08/28/2002 05:44:21
8/27/2002
Press Release
Violence Policy Center
1140 19th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
www.vpc.org
Contact:
Naomi Seligman
Phone: (202) 822-8200
Violence Policy Center And Greenpeace Hold Joint Briefing Detailing The Threat of 50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Terrorist Attacks on Chemical Targets
New VPC Report Sitting Ducks Detailing 50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Terrorist Threat to Refinery and Hazardous-Chemical Facilities Released at Briefing--Potential Devastating and Deadly Effects
Washington, DC - Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, federal officials have warned the chemical and refinery industry that hazardous-materials plants could be turned into weapons of mass destruction. The attacks--which made enormously destructive bombs out of passenger jets--woke the world to the fact that familiar objects we tend to think of as relatively benign can become terrifying weapons inflicting catastrophic damage. The Violence Policy Center (VPC) released Sitting Ducks: The Threat to the Chemical and Refinery Industry from 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles on Tuesday, August 27, 2002, at 12:30 PM at the National Press Club. Lisa Finaldi, Greenpeace Toxics Campaign Coordinator, joined the VPC in detailing the effects of this deadly threat on population centers across the country.
Sitting Ducks provides detailed information about a serious threat to refinery and hazardous-chemical facilities: the 50 caliber sniper rifle and the armor-piercing, incendiary, and explosive ammunition it is capable of firing accurately over thousands of yards. The U.S. Army's manual on urban combat states that 50 caliber sniper rifles are intended for use as anti-materiel weapons, designed to attack bulk fuel tanks and other high-value targets from a distance, using "their ability to shoot through all but the heaviest shielding material."
The ease of obtaining these weapons of war is illustrated by the alleged possession and intended use for terror by Dr. Robert J. Goldstein, arrested this past weekend. Despite its awesome and destructive firepower 50 caliber sniper rifles are easier to purchase than handguns in the US.
An analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that at least 123 plants in the United States keep amounts of toxic chemicals that could place more than one million people in danger if released, 700 plants maintain amounts that could endanger at least 100,000 people, and more than 3,000 plants maintain amounts that could affect 10,000 people.
http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/alerts/reader/0,2061,553611,00.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Edited by - josey1 on 08/28/2002 05:44:21
Comments
Tue Aug 27,10:55 AM ET
By Alison McCook
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Suicide rates tend to be higher in US regions where a higher percentage of households have guns, researchers report.
More people kill themselves using guns than by all other suicide methods combined, according to Dr. Matthew Miller and his colleagues at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts.
While this study does not show that owning a gun increases the likelihood that household members will try to kill themselves, the authors note, the findings do suggest that a relationship between the two factors exists.
"Although our study is unable to determine causation, our results are consistent with the notion that instrumentality as well as intent affects the rate of suicide," they write.
Each year, an estimated 30,000 people commit suicide in the US--nearly twice the annual number of murders. More than half of suicides involve firearms, according to Miller's team.
The results of their study are based on data gathered between 1988 and 1997 from all 50 states in the US. The data included how many homes have guns, and the rate of suicides using guns or other methods among men and women of different age groups.
Reporting in the September issue of the journal Epidemiology, Miller and his colleagues found that in all 50 states and nine US regions, suicide rates were highest where a higher percentage of households owned guns. Specifically, residents of the six states with the highest rate of gun ownership were almost four times as likely to kill themselves using a gun as residents of the four states with the lowest rate of household gun ownership.
This relationship existed regardless of the gender and age of the people who committed suicide.
In an interview with Reuters Health, Miller summarized the findings in one point: "Where there are more guns, more people are taking their own lives."
Miller added that owning a gun may, in fact, increase the rate of successful suicide attempts because guns are far more lethal than most other suicide methods. He explained that many attempts at suicide are impulsive, in which people consider the act for only minutes before trying to carry it out. While members of households without guns may attempt suicide as often as gun owners, the latter may be more successful in carrying it out.
"The accumulating weight of evidence indicates that some people are likely put at greater risk of suicide because a gun is around," Miller said.
He noted that one of the highest rates of suicide using firearms occurred among children between 5 and 14 years old. In order to protect children and others at risk, the researcher said that general suicide-prevention strategies should be coupled with specific interventions related to firearms.
For example, Miller suggested that guns be designed to permit only the authorized owner to fire them. Health professionals can also step in, he added, educating patients about the risk of suicide associated with keeping a gun around the house, especially one that is loaded or unlocked.
SOURCE: Epidemiology 2002;13:517-524.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020827/hl_nm/guns_suicides_dc_1
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
"The hysteria mongers, hard at work once again"
"But the general public, most policymakers, many in the media, and even some who are responsible for providing security to such facilities do not know that the 50 caliber sniper rifle is the equivalent in firepower of rockets and mortars
http://www.vpc.org/studies/duckcont.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878