From: andy@SAIL.Stanford.EDU (Andy Freeman)
Subject: Re: criminals & machineguns
Organization: Computer Science Department,  Stanford University.
Distribution: usa
Lines: 30

In article <93104.175256U28037@uicvm.uic.edu> Jason Kratz <U28037@uicvm.uic.edu> writes:
>people are getting killed by gang violence every day?  Every single day I hear
>about more people getting killed by gang violence and see some of the weapons
>that are being confiscated.

Is Kratz claiming that he can reliably visually distinguish an M-16
from an AR-15?  That he can see the difference between a semi-auto and
a full-auto UZI?  That he can see the difference between the various
versions (some full-auto, some semi-auto only) of the M-11/9?

If so, I'd love to hear the details, if only because they'll demonstrate
that Kratz is blowing smoke.

Considering that one can design a gun so that it looks just like
another gun, yet have very different properties, and that that's
quite common....

Most kids in my neighborhood were quite young when they figured out
that my parents car wasn't much like Richard Petty's, even though it
looked just like it (except for the paint job).  Things must have been
different with Kratz.

>Sure it's on TV but why does that make a difference?

No, it doesn't, but that's irrelevant.  If visual inspection of the
outside worked, TV would be acceptable, but since it doesn't, the fact
that it's just as good as seeing in person doesn't mean much.

-andy gave Kratz a chance to back down on this in private
--
