Are Hawaii police officers terrorists?

Seems like a legitimate question, considering this justification for banning .50 caliber rifles in Hawaii:

They said that a shot fired from the rooftop at police headquarters could precisely hit a target at the state Capitol, four-tenths of a mile away.

Presumably, anyone on the roof of police headquarters is there with police knowledge and permission, so the "Only Ones" who would be shooting up the Capitol from there would likewise be police, or police-affiliated. By the way, "four tenths of a mile" is 704 yards--a long shot, certainly, but well within the capability of many other rifles and calibers, including some that have been around for over a century.

Here's another example:

Experts said it can hit a target seven miles away. That's twice the distance from police headquarters on South Beretania Street -- to the UH Manoa campus.

Granted, seven miles is well beyond the capabilities of just about any rifle, but what the "experts" fail to mention is that even with a .50 caliber, actually hitting a target smaller than a football field at that range is about as likely as winning the lottery.

In this story, Hawaii PD Major Gregory Lefcourt not only talks about what he could hit from the roof of police headquarters, but claims that a .50 caliber round would "vaporize" the part of an animal struck with one.

"It was designed for the military," Lefcourt said. "People have said they can use this for hunting, but the damage it will do to an animal is so tremendous, it actually vaporizes the area that it strikes."

To draw a comparison, police officials displayed a .50-caliber Barrett sniper rifle and compared it with a Remington .308 rifle and an M4 assault rifle.

Lefcourt said the Barrett would be able to accurately strike a target from the top of the Police Department's downtown headquarters, where yesterday's news conference was held, to the state Capitol, a distance of 0.4 miles.

He can be seen (and heard, in an annoying, nasal voice) here:



Alright, I'm convinced--if Hawaii police are so unstable as to be a threat to go up to the police headquarters roof and blast everything in sight, they should be banned from possessing this firearm, and all others, or badges, for that matter.