Maureen Dowd doesn’t get self defense … clueless about firearms

Maureen Dowd wrote an opinion piece yesterday in the New York Times. In short, she does not like Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), but she includes two myths when it comes to firearms that have been reused by the anti-gun crowd for decades.

You can read the full post here if you want to see a piece that rehashes the same Democrat arguments against Ryan and conservatives, but this is the paragraph I’d like to see her explain.

Just as Cheney, hunter of small birds and old friends, once defended cop-killer bullets and plastic guns that could slip through airport metal detectors, so Ryan, deer hunter, championed concealed guns and curtailing the background check waiting period from three days to one.

Dowd has no idea what she’s talking about. I’ll get to the “cop-killer” bullets in a second, but the “I am ignorant” statement is the reference to Vice President Dick Cheney defending “plastic guns that could slip through airport metal detectors.” Dowd must have thought I was serious when I quoted Det. John McClain in a comment the other day.

“That punk pulled a Glock 7 on me! You know what that is? It’s a porcelain gun made in Germany. It dosen’t show up on your airport X-ray machines, and it cost more than you make here in a month. …” Det. John McClain, 1990.

So Dowd really thinks plastic guns exist and can get through airport metal detectors? Really? Really Maureen? Wow. On to “cop-killer” bullets that never existed and don’t exist now. From an article written by Mike Casey.

In the mid 1960’s, Dr. Paul Kopsch (an Ohio coroner), Daniel Turcos (a police sergeant) and Donald Ward (Dr. Kopsch’s special investigator) began experimenting with special purpose handgun ammunition. Their objective was to develop a law enforcement round capable of improved penetration against hard targets like windshield glass and automobile doors. Conventional bullets, made primarily from lead, are often ineffective against hard targets especially when fired at handgun velocities. In the 1970’s, Kopsch, Turcos and Ward produced their “KTW” handgun ammunition using steel cored bullets capable of great penetration. Following further experimentation, in 1981 they began producing bullets constructed primarily of brass. The hard brass bullets caused exceptional wear on handgun barrels, a problem combated by coating the bullets with Teflon. The Teflon coating did nothing to improve penetration, it simply reduced damage to the gun barrel.

Despite the facts that “KTW” ammunition had never been available to the general public and that no police officer has ever been killed by a handgun bullet penetrating their body armor, the media incorrectly reported [they made it up] that the Teflon coated bullets were designed to defeat the body armor that law enforcement officers were beginning to use. The myth of “Cop-killer” bullets was born.

In January of 1982, NBC Television broadcast a sensationalist prime time special titled “Cop Killer Bullets.” Law enforcement officials had asked NBC not to air the program as the use of body armor by police officers was still not common knowledge and the “KTW” ammunition was virtually unheard of outside law enforcement circles. The safety of law enforcement officers took a back seat to ratings at NBC however and they not only broadcast the show, but re-broadcast it again six months later.

Following significant media hype and widespread misconceptions, Congress got into the act and proposed legislation that would have outlawed any bullet based on its ability to penetrate certain bullet resistant material. The FBI, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, and other forensic experts cautioned that the proposed ban was too vague to be enforceable. The NRA opposed the proposed law since it would have banned not only the controversial armor piercing handgun rounds, but nearly all conventional rifle ammunition as well. (Most rifle ammunition will easily penetrate the most commonly worn protective vests.)

The NRA proposed alternative legislation based upon the actual design and construction of the bullets. The final, approved version of the bill (H.R. 3132 passed in 1986) prohibited the sale of armor piercing ammunition [which may be used in a handgun] other than to law enforcement and the military. Representative Mario Biaggi (D-N.Y.) the original bill’s sponsor, stated that the final legislation “… was not some watered down version of what we set out to do. In the end there was no compromise on the part of police safety…”

If she chooses, Dowd can read more about the myths she continues to reference after decades here and here. My emphasis in bold.

No police officer has ever been killed by a handgun firing a bullet designed to penetrate a vest. Such ammunition has never been offered to the public, so no ban was needed. The bill that Cheney voted agains defined cop-killer bullets as any ammunition that would penetrate a bullet-resistent vest. Who could be against that? The fact is that all hunting rifle ammunition will penetrate the type of vest worn by most officers, so that bill would have banned all hunting ammunition.

Plastic guns were an even bigger hoax. The so-called plastic gun was the Glock handgun, which contains more than a pound of steel…

On to our future Vice President, who is fine with concealed carry and immediate background checks and approval. Look Maureen, you’ve lost here; 49 out of 50 states allow law-abiding citizens to carry a personal firearm. Sure, some places are extremely restrictive and you have to jump through tons of hoops and pay a bunch of money, but even Massachusetts allows concealed carry. Get over it Maureen. No matter how many times you claim “the streets will run with blood” it’s not going to happen.

Unless of course you’re in Chicago, where by the way, the right to defend yourself via concealed carry or open carry is denied by the government. (Chicago has 329 murders through Aug. 15. Of the total, 281 were gunshots and 29 were stabbings.)

And why Maureen, does it make sense for someone – who goes through an immediate background check – should have to wait 72 hours? Why? Give me a real-life example of how such a restriction stopped any crime … you can’t.

Don’t let liberals like Maureen Dowd get away with pulling out the old playbook and use complete myths against conservatives. Spread the word.