Weapons that can shatter concrete

Semiautomatic assault rifles have returned, and cops who face them know all too well what they can do

By PATRICE O'SHAUGHNESSY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

The Cold AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle is long, black and sleek and shoots .223-caliber ammunition, or 2-inch long bullets.

For 10 years, the sale and manufacture of the fearsome weapon was illegal anywhere in America .

Last week, as some Southern stores resumed sale of the rifle, Police Officer Darrell Corti demonstrated its destructive power.

Corti aimed the weapon at a cinderblock at the NYPD firing range at Rodman's Neck in the Bronx and pulled the trigger. The burst of gunfire rang loudly in the ears despite protective gear. The narrow bullet traveled at such a high velocity that it pierced a half-dollar-sized hole in the inch-thick side of the stone before shattering into shiny fragments.

The round is capable of penetrating some bulletproof vests.

"These are weapons of war, and to make them more readily available is certainly a concern for us," said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. "It is a concern for police officers because they're the ones at 2 a.m. who are most likely to confront these types of weapons."

More than a decade ago, the AR-15 had been routinely used by dealers to guard drug dens. Now it can be legally sold in federally licensed gun shops in certain states, along with Uzis, Macs and Tec-9s, the sinister-looking pistols toted by thugs who devastated the city.

With the expiration of the federal assault weapons ban two weeks ago, will the guns that held neighborhoods in the clench of violence in the late 1980s and early 1990s be making a comeback?

"Assault weapons will be more lethal and less expensive. High capacity magazines will be back in production for civilian sale," the Consumer Federation of America darkly concluded after polling weapons manufacturers.

New York 's own ban on assault weapons remains in effect, and the city has some of toughest gun laws in the nation, but traffickers have managed to smuggle in thousands of illegal handguns each year through Southern states, where lax laws allow multiple purchases and the use of so-called straw buyers.

Authorities are concerned that as stores now offer the higher-powered weapons, as well as certain styles favored by criminals and magazines holding as many as 50 bullets, that the weapons will make their way into the arsenals of the city's gangs and drug organizations.

"We are concerned anytime illegal firearms, whether handguns or rifles, are trafficked or possessed in New York City ," said William McMahon, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives New York office. "In the hands of criminals, any of these weapons can be deadly."

The new availability of increased firepower is a major concern. Under the ban, dealers could not sell magazines holding more than 10 bullets.

"With the magazine limitation lifted, you have in effect what amounts to putting an automatic weapon on the street," said Kelly. "A 30- or 50-round clip put in a semiautomatic, you just keep pulling the trigger and you put out an awful lot of firepower."

"They're going to shoot what they've got," said a Bronx investigator.

But the National Rifle Association said the fears are unfounded.

"We've received phone calls from numerous rank-and-file police who know this ban had nothing to do with crime," said Andrew Arulanandam, an NRA spokesman. "These guns have been available in different forms. A magazine is a piece of metal. The focus ought not to be on an inanimate object, but on the criminal, who gets guns through the black market."

The ban on 19 weapons was signed into law by former President Bill Clinton after shootouts among drug dealers claimed hundreds of innocent lives in inner cities and deranged killers armed with assault rifles grabbed headlines in pristine suburbs.

Assault rifles had such features as a folding stock, a night sight, a flash suppressor, a bayonet mount, a pistol grip and a large magazine capacity.

Of 125 guns taken off the street last year by just one firearms investigations team, 10 of them were banned weapons; most were cheap 9-mm. handguns.

With the ban lifted, some criminals may covet the status and intimidating reliability of once forbidden firepower, investigators said.

For example, the newly available Colt AR-15 bears a revered name in the gun industry, known for accurate, well-made weapons.

Likewise, the Mac-10 is twice the size of the Glock 9-mm. carried by cops, and packs a 30-shot ammunition clip.

Although the firms that manufactured some of the guns are defunct, stores may have inventories they were previously unable to sell. And authorities believe a manufacturer will fill the void. The Tec-9 is also a weapon that helped spike the city's murders to a record 2,245 in 1990.

"The Tec-9 has the same power as the Glock, but it's a bigger gun, with a big handle, and you can add a flash suppressor - and it's a very menacing gun, and that's why criminals wanted it," said a federal firearms investigator.

"Currently the Tec-9s are the biggest concern," added a detective in the firearms unit. "They're everywhere ... and in the winter, these guns are easily concealed under bulky jackets."

"It remains to be seen what the effect will be, but lifting the ban can only bring about bad things," Kelly said.

Originally published on September 25, 2004