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A weapons company markets an assault rifle that can fire at civilians through bulletproof vests.
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SIG Sauer’s MCX-SPEAR can fire bullets with twice the kinetic energy of an AR-15, The Daily Beast reported.
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Making the gun commercially available raises questions about getting into the hands of a mass shooter.
A weapons company is marketing an assault rifle that can fire at civilians through body armor, a report says, amid ongoing gun control debates following a series of deadly mass shootings.
SIG Sauer’s MCX-SPEAR is the civilian equivalent of the US Army’s NGSW-R (Next Generation Squad Weapon-Rifle), specially made to rip through body armor, The Daily Beast reported.
“It shoots through almost all body armor currently worn by law enforcement in the county,” Ryan Busse, a former director of a firearms company and now a senior policy analyst at the Giffords Law Center, told the outlet.
The pistol fires bullets at twice the kinetic energy of an AR-15, has longer range and has a noise suppressor that could make a shooter harder to locate, the outlet reported.
“The MCX-SPEAR was developed with direct input from US warfighters to provide greater power, range and accuracy to replace the current M4 rifle platform,” the company’s website says.
Making the weapon commercially available raises questions about the possible outcomes if it came into the hands of a mass shooter.
Policy analyst Busse told the outlet that while AR-15s are lighter and more maneuverable than MCX-SPEARs, bullets from the latter can hit much harder over longer distances.
Busse said the weapon could help mass shooters “become a long-range sniper with an AR-15-style rifle”.
SIG Sauer is also the company responsible for making the AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle used in the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting that killed 49 people.
The company said the MCX-SPEAR would be available at “select dealers,” Firearm Blog first reported in January.
In the press release, Ron Cohen, President & CEO of SIG SAUER, Inc, said it was “a rare opportunity for passionate consumers to own a piece of history.”
One of the dealers said the weapons manufacturer sent 2,500 and 5,000 of the weapons and they sold out quickly, despite the manufacturer’s hefty $7,999 price tag, The Daily Beast reported.
A SIG Sauer customer service representative told the outlet that more guns would soon be shipped to gun stores at a lower price than the “first edition” models.
“I know it’s coming,” the rep told the outlet. “We’re trying to get these things out of there as quickly as possible. Get as many guns out the door as you can.’
Powerful AR-15-style weapons used in recent mass shootings, including Buffalo, Uvalde and Highland Park, which killed 38, were all legally purchased in the US.
The Highland gunman fired more than 70 shots from the roof at the crowd of innocent parade-goers below during the frenzy in suburban Chicago.
House Democrats have been working on a bill to ban certain semi-automatic rifles in response to the recent spate of mass shootings involving such weapons.
Read the original article on Business Insider
