Lies and misdirection from gun grabbers is nothing new. But in an attempt to catalog the plethora of misinformation coming from the gun fearing wussies, I feel compelled to point out this story from the gun ban group, Ceasefire Maryland. (emphasis mine)

Three police officers were shot to death yesterday when they approached a house in Birmingham Alabama to serve warrants. The bullet proof vests the officers were issued were no match for the SKS assault rifle, named by officials as the weapon used in the killing. The SKS rifle is a copycat of the AK 47 assault rifle. It is cited by the ATF as the rifle most frequently used to kill law enforcement officers and is readily available in the US despite the current federal assault weapons ban.

Nevermind the fact that just about any rifle cartridge (other than the .22) will pierce body armor. This is a blatant lie. Other than the fact that they fire the same round, the SKS is nothing like the AK-47. Just to clarify what they mean by "copycat", here's their definition:

The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban prohibited the manufacture, transfer, and possession of 19 specific semi-automatic assault weapons, such as AK-47s, AR15s, and UZIs. However, the gun industry immediately began to evade the law by making minor cosmetic changes to assault weapons, renaming them, and marketing them as "copycat" models. "Copycat" assault weapons are functionally identical to those banned by the 1994 law, which is why the assault weapons ban must also be strengthened.

Actually gunmakers weren't "evading" the law, they were complying with it. But that's not the point. Did you get the part about "copycat" guns? A "copycat" firearm is one that was created to be functionally identical to guns banned by the 1994 law. They claim that the SKS is a "copycat", thus it must have been created to circumvent the ban on AK-47s. Right?

Now for a brief history lesson. AK-47 stands for Avtomat Kalashnikova Obrazets 1947. It was produced in, you guessed it, 1947 and became the main battle rifle of the Soviets in the 1950s. The SKS was created by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. The modern SKS rifle, the 7.62x39 SKS 45, was adopted from older SKS models in, you guessed it, 1945. According to Wikipedia, the "SKS is said to be the precursor to the AK-47, but it is of a much heavier construction than the AK-47". Chinese and Soviet Bloc states created other incarnations of the SKS in the 1950s and 60s. It was used early in Vietnam before being replaced by the much superior AK-47.

That said, it's impossible to make the case that the SKS rifle is a "copycat" of the AK-47. AK-47s and AK clones are still being produced today, but SKS rifles are imported surplus rifles manufactured in the 1960s. An AK-47 costs about $350; an SKS $125. That's quite a big difference for a post-ban "copycat" rifle.

Finally, here are some photos. Here is the SKS.

Here's the AK-47.

The differences between the two rifles are numerous and astounding. Most obvious is that the SKS lacks a pistol grip, and detachable magazine. That means it's not classified as a so-called "assault weapon" under the Clinton Gun Ban. Then again, neither is this AK-47. It has has both a pistol grip and detachable magazine, but none of the other "assault weapon" features such as bayonet lugs or a folding stock. Although it's not abundantly clear by the photos, the AK is also about a foot shorter than the SKS. The SKS most certainly cannot be "fired from the hip" which is one of the tenets of the 1994 ban. Plus, this particular rifle was manufactured over 25 years before the ban took effect. If this rifle was tailor made to circumvent the ban as alleged, the Ruskies had amazing foresight.

That these Alabama police officers were killed is tragic. But just about any .30 caliber rifle round would have easily penetrated their vests. That holds especially true for your average hunting rounds (like the .308) which are usually much larger than the 7.62x39 that the AK and SKS shoot. Banning the SKS is not the solution.