A Moment with Ronnie Barrett

You have to love Ronnie Barrett. What’s there not to love about a man who invents a super-powerful super-accurate .50 caliber BMG rifle? And, not only does he sell it the military he also proudly sells it to us civilians. In fact, he invented his Barrett .50 caliber rifle for civilian long-range competition, not as a military rifle.

He’s a no compromise, take no prisoners kind of guy. When California banned the sale of his rifles, he refused to do business with the state. Here’s a link to a picture we took at NRA’s convention last year. He displayed it very prominently at his company’s booth on the convention floor. He even got the last laugh on California when he created a .416 caliber rifle that fires a cartridge based on the .50 BMG round. It’s legal in California.

I get an e-mail newsletter called The Shooting Wire, a new offering from The Outdoor Wire. It interviews Barrett (it’s a new newsletter and they don’t have a link for each newsletter—at least not one that I can find). The interview features his no nonsense approach to gun rights. Here are a few highlights for your enjoyment:

[The Outdoor Wire:] Do the people living around you feel differently than you about firearms and rights?

BARRETT: No, I think most of us share the same core values. I don't think the majority of people in the 'red' or 'blue' states are all that different. The left wing has had that 'explained' to them in the last few elections. They're still not in touch with reality.

TOW: That's certainly not very politically correct?

BARRETT: I'm for plain talk. It can get you arrested in some places, but not here. The anti-firearms groups count on ignorance. The more light shined on the facts about gun control, the more they run like cockroaches….

And here is what he has to say about the Violence Policy Center’s gun control arguments:

BARRETT: They run from one argument to another. They argued some guns were 'too-small' - and they lost. Now they're arguing some guns are 'too-big'. They'll lose that argument too, if they have to fight facts. The people who keep pushing to outlaw firearms are either ignorant - or sinister.

And finally he talks about the firearm industry and its need for civilian sales:

BARRETT: …When politicians say "we'll ban sales of this caliber or that rifle to anyone except the police department and the military" who do they think will be making those items? We don't have a "U.S. Springfield Armory" anymore - the government shut them all down years ago. If we could only sell to the military, every firearms company in the United States would fail. The industry condition is that fragile….

Ronnie Barrett you’re the man.