Large Revolver Debuts

Re “A Powerful New Revolver Is Already Drawing Fire,” Feb. 14: Congratulations, Smith & Wesson, on your exciting new weapon of massive destruction. I’m sure the corporate parties have already begun. The Los Angeles Police Department’s Lt. Bruce Harris commented that this gun is just too big to be slipped under your shirt. But has that ever stopped a criminal from hiding a weapon under a car seat, in a glove box, trunk, gym bag or folded newspaper? How long before the first accidental misfire due to its 4.5-pound weight? The first drunken domestic slaughter? The first police officer goes down? The first child?

Rich Kaylor

Los Angeles

*

So Smith & Wesson’s new .50-caliber revolver is more gun than anyone needs? Who, exactly, decides what we need, and what is just “too much”? While anti-gun lobbyists Luis Tolley and Josh Sugarmann dismissed the idea that the new big-bore revolver would be useful for hunting, I wonder if either man has hunted.

Could a person in bear country have “too much” power to defend him- or herself while sleeping in a tent? Though no handgun can reliably stop a charging bear, bigger is better. As with other legal products, maybe we should let consumers decide what they need, not special-interest lobbyists.

Mike Barranco

Irvine

*

Re “City Ban May Include .50-Caliber Handguns,” Feb. 15: L.A. City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo’s politically correct grandstanding has reached new heights of ludicrousness. Smith & Wesson’s .50-caliber revolver is not concealable, holds only five rounds, has recoil and muzzle blast so severe that rapid fire is impossible, costs almost $1,000, uses costly ammunition and will be virtually impossible to steal due to limited sales. I thought small, concealable, rapid-fire, high-capacity, semiautomatic pistols were the criminal’s weapon of choice. Smith & Wesson introduces a revolver designed for long-range metal silhouette target and hunting enthusiasts that possesses none of the characteristics “prized” by criminals, and it still warrants a ban on sale and possession. What’s next? Large-caliber single-shot handguns?

Mr. Delgadillo and Mr. Tolley, please show some character and state your real agenda -- a total ban of all handguns in L.A., not meaningful laws aimed at criminals’ firearm misuse.

John Macri

La Verne