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KG-99

KG-99

The Intratec TEC-9 is a blowback-operated, semi-automatic 9mm Parabellum caliber firearm, classified by BATF as a handgun. It is made of inexpensive molded polymer and stamped steel parts. 10, 20, 32 and 50 round magazines are available. There are 3 different models, all of which are commonly referred to as the TEC-9, although only one model was sold under that name. The TEC-9 was originally designed by Swedish company Interdynamic AB of Stockholm as the MP-9, a cheap submachinegun for military applications. Interdynamic was unable to drum up any interest among governments, and the MP-9 never entered production. Unwilling to give up on the design, Interdynamic set up a U.S. subsidiary to market a semiautomatic version to civilians. Owing to its submachinegun heritage, the original TEC-9, model KG-9, featured an open bolt design which made it relatively straightforward to illegally convert it to a fully automatic machinegun. Criminals soon discovered this fact and the TEC-9 became associated in the public mind with gang violence, especially drive-by shootings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) responded in 1982 by forcing Interdynamic--now called Intratec--to convert it to a closed bolt design that is harder to make fully automatic. The closed-bolt model was designated KG-99 and marketed at first as TEC-9 and later the TEC-DC9. The fearsome reputation of the TEC-9 kept its popularity high among criminals even though few if any were able to convert the TEC-DC9 to full auto. Gun control advocates pushed for the TEC-DC9 to be outlawed, even though it was in reality little more than an oversized, inaccurate, and relatively unreliable pistol. The Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 banned manufacture of the TEC-DC9 by name, and forced Intratec to introduce a new model called the AB-10 (for "After Ban") that lacked a barrel shroud and threaded muzzle. A few years later, in 2001, Intratec went out of business and AB-10 production ceased. More recently, the KG-9 variant has found some demand among collectors due to its increasing rarity, while a sustained fall in gang violence during the late 90s has caused criminals to seek out smaller, more concealable weapons. The gun originally sold for around $200 USD, but now sells for upwards of $1000 USD. The TEC-9 is inherently inaccurate due to crude sights. It is unreliable unless full metal jacket bullets are used. It has been made with a threaded barrel for attachment of a suppressor, flash suppressor or barrel extension.

External links


- [http://www.impactsites2000.com/site3/class3_10.htm Illinois Firearm Resource]
- [http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg136-e.htm Modern Firearms]
- [http://www.nazarian.no/wep.asp?id=205&group_id=1&country_id=158&lang=0 Nazarian's Gun Recognition Guide]

Manual


- [http://www.nazarian.no/images/wep/205_tec9.pdf Nazarian's Gun Recognition Guide (MANUAL) Intratec 9 Manual (.pdf)] Category:Semi-automatic pistols Category:Modern American semi-automatic pistols ja:Intratec TEC-DC9

Intratec

Intratec was a firearm company based in Miami, Florida. The company's most famous product was the TEC-9.

History

Intratec began as Interdynamic USA, an offshoot of Swedish firearms manufacturer Interdynamic AB. Due to the lack of firearm market in Sweden, Interdynamic AB set up a subsidiary in the United States to sell the Tec-9. Called Interdynamic USA, this company eventually became Intratec, and continued to sell variants of the Tec-9. It went out of business in 2001.

Tec-9

Originally known as the MP-9, designed by Swedish Interdynamics AB, the gun was converted from a full auto version to semiauto for sale on the U.S. market. This version was introduced by Interdynamic USA and designated the KG-9. It soon became known that the KG-9 could be easily converted from semiautomatic back to fully automatic. This led to an upgraded version called KG-99, which was more difficult to convert back to full auto. Soon thereafter, Interdynamics USA became Intratec, and introduced the KG-99 as the Tec-9. The Tec-9 gained a degree of notoriety in that it was perceived as the "gun of choice" for gang members due to being referenced in "gangsta rap" music. The weapon was infamously used in a number of gang shootings, as well as in the 1999 Columbine school shootings. This model was renamed to the model AB-10 (After Ban - 10, in reference to the Assault Weapons Ban). The AB-10 did not have a threaded barrel and only came with a 10 round clip. The AB-10 was a relatively inexpensive gun and was not very accurate nor dependable.

References

[http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg136-e.htm] Category:Firearms manufacturers

Blowback (arms)


- Blowback can refer to the combination of gasses, dirt, and debris (unburnt powder, metal shavings) that most firearms produce upon firing. This can cause great irritation to the eyes and many ranges or organizations suggest or require the use of safety glasses when firing pistols.
- More generally, the term blowback is used for any negative effect one suffers from one's own weapons, such as the possibility that one's own weapons used in a nuclear war could create fallout that could be blown onto one's own troops or nation.
- Blowback is a system in which automatic or semi-automatic firearms may operate, the main other systems are recoil-actuated, gas-actuated, gatling and chain.) In the blowback system there is no positive lock between the bolt and the barrel. The mass of the bolt and force of its recoil spring act to keep the breech closed. The expanding gases from the fired round overcome this inertia and "blow back" the breech. The breech must be kept closed until the round has left the barrel and gas pressures have subsided. The weight of the bolt is the major factor in determining this, and to remain practical this system is only really useful for weapons using relatively low pressure rounds. Blowback operation is typically found only on semi-automatic small-caliber pistols and automatic submachine guns. There are also some low-velocity cannon or grenade launchers using blowback, derived from the MK 108. One of these is the Mk 19 grenade launcher. For more powerful rounds, some form of delayed blowback can be used, in which the bolt has to overcome some initial resistance while moving. There are various forms of delaying mechanism:
- roller-delayed blowback, as in the HK G3
- gas-delayed blowback, as in the HK P7
- lever-delayed blowback, as in the FAMAS

External links


- [http://people.howstuffworks.com/machine-gun7.htm Blowback action], Animation and explanation at howstuffworks.com Category:Firearm actions

9mm Parabellum

:9 mm Luger Parabellum

Handgun

A pistol or handgun is a usually small firearm that can be used with one hand. There are three commons types of pistols: single-shot pistols, revolvers, and automatic pistols. In the 15th century the term "pistol" was used for small knives and daggers which could be concealed in a person's clothing. By the 18th century the term came to be used exclusively to refer to small firearms, or additionally, and more recently, similar devices designed for the aimed discharge of projectiles by the force of gas pressure stored by means other than chemical ("air pistol"). Although all handguns are generally referred to as pistols, some restrict the term "pistol" to single-chamber handguns, such as semiautomatic or single-shot pistols, as opposed to multichambered revolvers or multibarreled derringers, and use handgun for the broader category. The term may be derived from the French pistole (or pistolet), which, in turn, comes from the Czech píšťala (flute or pipe, referring to the shape of a Hussite firearm). Other suggestions have been made—that it comes from city of Pistoia, Italy, where perhaps a manufacturer was one Camillio Vettelli in the 1540s; or that early pistols were carried by cavalry in holsters hung from the pommel (or pistallo in medieval French) of a horse's saddle. Pistols are used mainly by police officers, military personnel, or civilians who want a compact defensive weapon, or for shooting sports. Some specialized pistols are also used for hunting. Where available, semiautomatic pistols have become the weapon of choice for civilians, making them widely used outside of the police and military realms where they first became popular over the revolver. For some military usage, the widespread introduction of body armor has rendered most pistols ineffective. Personal defense weapons are beginning to replace them in some situations. Hunting pistols often have longer barrels than a typical police or military pistol, and are often equipped with telescopic sights. Consequently, they are generally less concealable and some cannot be carried in a holster.

Varieties of pistol

holster Nowadays there are three main varieties of pistol: "automatic" self-loading pistols and revolvers being by far the two most common types, followed distantly by single-shot hunting or target pistols. In a pistol the "chamber," in which the cartridge is held for firing is the rearmost portion of the barrel. Thus the term "pistol" technically excludes revolvers, although this distinction is often ignored in colloquial usage, where revolvers are commonly referred to as "pistols."

Revolvers

barrel] Revolvers feed ammunition via the rotation of a cartridge-filled cylinder, in which each cartridge is contained in its own ignition chamber, and is sequentially brought into alignment with the weapon's barrel by a mechanism linked to the weapon's trigger (double-action) or its hammer (single-action). These nominally cylindrical chambers, usually numbering between five and nine depending on the size of the revolver and the size the cartridge being fired, are bored through the cylinder so that their axes are parallel to the cylinder's axis of rotation; thus, as the cylinder rotates, the chambers revolve about the cylinder's axis.

Automatic pistols

cylinder, a semiautomatic pistol from late 1990s]] Automatic pistols use the recoil or gas energy of each round to cycle the action, extract the spent case, and load the next cartridge. While the term automatic pistol is correctly applied to a semi-automatic pistol, the term automatic rifle almost always refers to a rifle capable of fully automatic fire. Due to the confusion this inconsistent naming convention causes, the term semi-automatic or self loading is becoming more common, to prevent confustion with machine pistols, which are pistols capable of fully automatic or burst mode fire. Automatic pistols may be either hammer or striker fired. Hunting and target pistols are generally single action, while defensive and military handguns made since World War II are generally double action for the first shot, single action for the rest. Some of the latest handguns now offer various trigger modes, including double-action only or a partially pre-cocked striker or hammer, and some even offer the option of changing the mode of operation with the turn of a switch.

Machine pistols

A machine pistol is generally defined as a firearm designed to be fired with one hand, and capable of fully automatic or selective fire. While there are a number of machine pistols such as the Glock 18 and later models of the Mauser C96, these are rare; the light weight and small size of a machine pistol make them difficult to control, making the the larger, heavier submachine gun a better choice in cases where the small size of a machine pistol is required. Most machine pistols have the ability to attach a shoulder stock (the Heckler & Koch VP70 would only fire single rounds unless the stock was attached) while others, such as the Beretta 93R, add a foreward handgrip. Either of these additions technically create a legal non-pistol under the US National Firearms Act, as pistols are by definition designed to be fired with one hand. The addtion of a stock or forward handgrip are considered design changes that create either a short barreled rifle or an any other weapon, and therefore such additions are generally only found on legal machine guns.

Stopping Power

Ballistics and elementary physics easily show that small arms have no "stopping power" in terms of knocking someone back from its recoil. If it did, the recoil would break the shooter's wrists. Standing enemies logically fall when any weapon takes away their strength to stand. One of the great myths about handguns is that they have true "stopping power." Handguns are comparatively anemic weapons due to the velocity of the bullets which cause low velocity wounding. Stopping power is the quality in a handgun projectile that forces a violent attacker to cease aggressive momentum when hit.

Advantages of Pistols

Pistols are smaller, lighter, faster to bring to bear, and sometimes have more safety features than other firearms. Being an emergency self-defense weapon for use under 10 meters, the effectiveness of the weapon is not comparable to the accuracy or firepower of long guns.

Pistols and gun control

Smaller pistols can also be easily concealed on a person—a trait that is particularly useful to people wishing to carry a handgun for self-protection or for those planning on committing crimes. Larger handguns, including many hunting pistols, are often much longer and thus less concealable. For these reasons, handguns are a particular focus of gun control advocates, and in many jurisdictions their ownership is much more heavily regulated than long arms. Opponents of gun control sometimes argue that wide legal ownership of pistols, including the right to carry them concealed, actually deters crime rather than increases it. They also argue that gun crimes are a small minority of all violent crimes. See the main gun control article for more details on this debate.

Other related info

In the 1780s, Alessandro Volta built a toy electric pistol ([http://ppp.unipv.it/Volta/Pages/eF5struF.html]) in which an electric spark caused the explosion of a mixture of air and hydrogen, firing a cork from the end of the gun.

See also


- weapon
- gun
- small arms
- machine-pistol
- blowback A pistol is also the mechanical components of a fuse in a bomb or torpedo responsible for firing the detonator.

External links


- [http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg00-e.htm Modern Firearms - Handguns]
- [http://www.enemyforces.com/firearms.htm ArmsWorld Firearms]
- [http://smith-wesson.com/page/orl2/Home.html Smith and Wesson Firearms]
- [http://www.nazarian.no/wepc.asp?lang=0&group_id=1 Nazarian`s Gun`s Recognition Guide on Pistols] Category:HandgunsCategory:Personal weapons ko:권총 ja:拳銃

Submachinegun

:submachine gun

Gang

:For other uses of the word, see Gang (disambiguation). A gang is a group of individuals who share a common identity and, in current usage, engage in illegal activities. Historically the term referred to both criminal groups and ordinary groups of friends, such as Our Gang. Some anthropologists believe that the gang structure is one of the most ancient forms of human organizations. Some commentators use "gang" to refer to small, informal, and disorganized "street gangs", while "syndicate" or "organized crime" are used to refer to larger, more powerful organizations, such as the Italian-American Mafia, which may control entire legitimate businesses as "fronts" for their illegal operations. The word "gang" generally appears in a pejorative context, though within "the gang" itself members may adopt the phrase in proud identity or defiance.

Gang Activities

Most commonly, the word "gang" refers to street gangs (a.k.a. Youth Gangs), groups who take over territory ("turf") in a particular city, sometimes simply for lack of something better to do, and are often involved in "providing protection" (a thin cover for extortion, as the "protection" is usually from the gang itself), or in other criminal activity. Since roughly the 1970s, street gangs have been strongly connected with drug sales (especially crack cocaine). Some commit burglaries, car theft, and armed robbery. Most members retain their gang affiliations when sent to prison (see prison gang). And drive by shootings.

Gang identification

Gangs have been known to claim colors such as red or blue, a trend that started as far back as the late 18th century and early 19th century with the rivalry of the Roach Guards and the Dead Rabbits of New York's Five Points district and later with Mexican bandits and roving marauders in what would later become the Southwest/Western United States. (In the United States, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, "gang colors" can refer to the entire design of a gang jacket.) Gangs often spread by a parent or family moving out of the gang neighborhood, and the children taking the gang culture and lore with them to a new area and recruiting new members for their old gang. This concept has been referred to as satellite gangs. Some very well known gangs are the Crips and the Bloods. Other large gangs include the Aryan Brotherhood, a mostly prison-based white power gang, the Nazi Low Riders, or NLR, the Latin Kings, the Gangster Disciples of Chicago, the Los Angeles-based 18th Street gang, and the Jamaican Posses. In the 1980s, other gangs, such as the Central American Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), the Miami based International Posse or In/p and the Asian Boyz (ABZ) emerged. At one point, there was an alleged cybergang by the name of Glock 3, but it turned out to be a hoax.

Gang types

Apart from street gangs, there are motorcycle gangs (such as Hells Angels, the Gypsy Jokers, Mongols, Vagos, etc.), as well as other clubs that might be designated as gangs based around other shared hobbies or activities. There are also numerous prison gangs or Security Threat Groups (such as the Mexican gang la Eme—the Mexican Mafia), organized criminal mafias (a term deriving originally from the Italian, but now also applied to the Russian Mafia). There are also ethnically identified gangs, such as Asian criminal gangs (such as Chinese triads, Indian thuggees, Korean gangpeh, and the Japanese yakuza, as well as Chinese-American outfits like the Ghost Shadows). It is of note that most gangs, at their inception, could be considered ethnically identified, and that many gangs (especially prison gangs) maintain some ethnic majority or stereotype.

Gang members

Individual members of gangs may be referred to as gangsters or "[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gangbanger gangbanger]s"

External links


- [http://www.streetgangs.com Los Angeles Gang Culture]
- [http://gangsinmanchester.piczo.com Manchester, England Gangs]
- [http://gangsinlondon.piczo.com London, England Gangs]
- [http://www.asian-nation.org/gangs.shtml Asian American Gangs]
- [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/10/19/BAG7O2EC7D1.DTL Asian Gang Violence in East San Francisco Bay Area]
- [http://www.nagia.org/asian_youth_gangs1.htm Asian Youth Gangs]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9216/gangs.htm Gangs]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/1995-1/gangs.htm Gangs in the Schools]
- [http://www.uic.edu/orgs/kbc/Definitions/mooredef.html Joan W. Moore and James F. Short, Jr., "Definitions of Gangs"]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-4/gangs.htm Learning from Gangs: The Mexican American Experience]
- [http://judicialinsp.pwv.gov.za/Manual/005-18.htm#TopOfPage South African prison gangs]
- [http://www.gangsorus.com/index.html Robert Walker's Gangs OR Us] (commercial specialist)
- [http://www.gangprograms.com/ Phoenix Gang Intervention and Prevention] (commercial treatment programs)
- [http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/index.html Gang and Security Threat Group Awareness in Florida]
- [http://www.stonegreasers.com/greaser/index.html Old School Greaser Gangs]
- [http://www.geocities.com/chicanoinformation/gangs.html List of all Chicano/ Surenos Gangs in southern california] CRANBERRY CADBURY
- ja:ストリートギャング

Drive-by shooting

A drive-by shooting (sometimes referred to merely as a drive-by) is an attack on a person carried out with one or more firearms from a moving vehicle (or a momentarily stopped vehicle). They often result in the shooting of innocent bystanders because of a lack of accuracy. Drive-by shootings are popular among criminals (and gang members in particular), because the shooter is already in the getaway car. One of the first documented drive-by shootings in the United States was during the Chicago, Illinois Race Riot of 1919. Drive-by shootings became common during the gang wars of the Prohibition era. The Chinese Civil War saw the drive-by shooting elevated to military tactics, when warlords fielded armored cars (regular cars replated with steel sheets) with a mounted Colt machine gun on top. Drive-by assassinations of political leaders have been common in some regions and eras; they have been used extensively in postwar Iraq. Among the most notorious drive-by shootings in the modern era are the murders of gangster Rex Ford, and rapper Tupac Shakur, who was shot on a Las Vegas street allegedly by members of the Los Angeles-based street gang, the Crips. Category:Crimes Category:Violence

1982

1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January


- January 6 - William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer".
- January 8 - AT&T agrees to divest itself into twenty-two subdivisions.
- January 10 - The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2°C is recorded at Braemar, in Aberdeenshire. This equals the record set in the same place in 1895.
- January 11 - Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara during Paris-Dakar rally. He is rescued January 14.
- January 11 to January 17 - A brutal cold snap sends temperatures to all-time record lows in dozens of cities throughout the Midwestern United States.
- January 13 - Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90 crashes into Washington, DC's 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78. Half an hour later, a Washington Metro train derails, killing three. It is the system's first fatal accident.
- January 17 - Cold Sunday sweeps over northern United States.
- January 26 - Mauno Koivisto elected the President of Finland.
- January 28 - James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces after 42 days of captivity under the Red Brigades.

February


- February 1 - Senegal and Gambia form a loose confederation.
- February 2 - Hama Massacre begins in Syria.
- February 3 - Syrian president Hafez al-Assad orders army to purge the city of Harran of the Muslim Brotherhood.
- February 5 - Laker Airways collapses, leaving 6,000 passengers stranded and with debts of £270 million.
- February 15 - The oil platform Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 rig workers.
- February 19 - The DeLorean Car factory in Belfast is put into receivership.
- February 24 - Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers scores his 77th goal of the National Hockey League season, breaking the previous record of 76. He would go on to score 92 goals that season, which remains the record.

March


- March 1 - Jimmy Page's soundtrack album Death Wish II is released by Swan Song Records
- March 10 - The United States places an embargo on Libyan oil imports, alleging Libyan support of terrorist groups.
- March 10 - Syzygy: all 9 planets align on the same side of the Sun.
- March 18 - An Argentinean scrap metal dealer raises the Argentinean flag in South Georgia
- March 19 - Falklands War approaches: Argentines land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war.
- March 26 - A ground breaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, DC
- March 29 - Royal Assent in London to the Canada Act 1982 sets the stage for the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution (see April 17 below).
- March 30 - Pakistan in Karachi Adeel Mansoor is born.

April


- April 2 - Falklands War begins: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
- April 4 - Falklands War: the British Falkland Islands government surrenders, placing the islands in Argentinean control
- April 6 - A blizzard unprecedented in size for April dumps 1-2 feet of snow on the northeastern U.S., closing schools and businesses, snarling traffic, and canceling several major league baseball games.
- April 17 - By Proclamation of the Queen of Canada on Parliament Hill, Canada repatriates its constitution, granting full political independence from the United Kingdom; included is the country's first entrenched bill of rights, called the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- April 23 - Dennis Wardlow, Mayor of Key West, Florida, declares the independent Conch Republic for a day.
- April 25 - Israel completes withdrawing from the Sinai peninsula per the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.

May


- May 1 - Falklands War: A Royal Air Force Vulcan bomber takes off from Ascension Island and bombs Stanley Airport.
- May 2 - Falklands War: Nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano.
- The Weather Channel airs on cable television for the first time.
- May 5 - Unabomber bomb explodes in the computer science department at Vanderbilt University; secretary Janet Smith is injured.
- May 12 - Spanish priest Juan Hernandes tries to stab Pope John Paul II with a bayonet during the latter's pilgrimage to the Fatima shrine.
- May 21 - Falklands War: Royal Marines and paratroopers from the British Task Force land at San Carlos Bay on the Falkland Islands and raise the Union Jack.
- May 23 - Falklands War - HMS Antelope of the Royal Navy explodes.
- May 24 - Iranian troops retake Khorramshahr.
- May 26 - Kielder Water, artificial lake in Northumbria, opened.
- May 28 - British troops reach Darwin in the Falkland Islands
- May 29 - Falklands War: In the Battle of Goose Green, British Paratroopers defeat a larger force of Argentine troops in the first land battle of the war.
- May 30 - Spain becomes the 16th member of NATO and the first nation to enter the alliance since West Germany's admission in 1955.
- May 31 - Falklands War: Battle of Stanley.

June


- June 6 - 1982 Lebanon War begins: Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon in their "Operation Peace for the Galilee," eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.
- June 6 - United Nations Security Council votes to demand that Israel withdraw its troops from Lebanon
- June 8 - President Reagan became the first American chief executive to address a joint session of the British Parliament.
- June 12 - 750,000 people rally against nuclear weapons in New York City's Central Park. Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, and Linda Ronstadt are in attendance
- June 13 - In Alberta, Canada 15 members of the Black Leopards Karate Club demolish a house with bare hands and feet with owner's consent
- June 13 - Fahd becomes King of Saudi Arabia upon the death of his brother, Khalid.
- June 14 - Falklands War ends: British forces reach the outskirts of Stanley after "yomping" across East Falkland from San Carlos Bay. They arrive to find the Argentine forces flying white flags of surrender. A formal surrender is agreed that day.
- June 19 - The body of "God's Banker", Roberto Calvi, chairman of Banco Ambrosiano is found hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London.
- June 22 - A British Airways Boeing 747 suffered a temporary four-engine flameout and damage to the exterior of the plane after flying through the otherwise undetected ash plume from Indonesia's Galunggung.

July-August


- July 1 - The Reverend Sun Myung Moon marries 4,150 of his followers at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
- July 2 - Larry Walters uses 45 helium balloons and a lawn chair to propel himself to 16,000 feet and flies from San Pedro, California to Long Beach.
- July 4 - Four Iranian diplomats have been kidnapped upon Israel invasion of Lebanon.
- July 9 - A Boeing 727 carrying Pan Am Flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana killing all 146 on board and eight on the ground
- July 9 - An intruder Michael Fagan visits the Queen in her bedroom for a chat
- July 11 - Italy beat West Germany 3-1 to win Football World Cup 1982 in Spain
- July 16 - The Reverend Sun Myung Moon is sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $25,000 for tax fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
- July 20 - The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs in central London, killing eight soldiers, wounding 47 people, and leading to the deaths of 7 horses.
- July 21- HMS Hermes, the Royal Navy flagship during the Falklands War, returns home to Portsmouth to a hero's welcome.
- July 23 - The International Whaling Commission decides to end commercial whaling by 1985-86.
- August 4 - United Nations Security Council votes to censure Israel because its troops are still in Lebanon
- August 20 - Lebanese Civil War: A multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the PLO withdrawal from Lebanon. French troops arrive August 21, US marines August 25

September


- September 5 - Iowa paperboy Johnny Gosch kidnapped.
- September 14 - Bomb kills President-elect of Lebanon, Bashir Gemayel. His brother is elected president on September 23
- September 15 - Princess Grace of Monaco dies from injuries sustained in a car crash the previous day
- September 18 - Lebanese Christian Militia kill hundreds in the Palestinians in Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in West Beirut
- September 25 - 400,000 march in Israel demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Menachem Begin
- September 26 - Thermals take Australian parachutist Rich Collins up to 2800 meters during a jump; he almost blacks out due to lack of oxygen. He releases his main parachute to fall to lower altitude and lands by his reserve parachute
- September 29 to October 1 - The Tylenol scare is sparked after seven people in the Chicago, Illinois area die after ingesting capsules laced with potassium cyanide

October


- October 1 - Helmut Kohl replaces Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor of Germany through a Constructive Vote of No Confidence.
- October 8 - Poland bans Solidarity
- October 11 - The Mary Rose, flagship of Henry VIII of England that sank in 1545 is raised
- October 19 - John De Lorean is arrested for selling cocaine for undercover FBI agents. He was later found "not guilty", due to entrapment.
- October 28 - The Socialist Party win the election in Spain - Felipe González is elected Prime Minister

November


- November 2 - The fourth terrestrial television channel launched in the United Kingdom known as Channel 4 with the first programme broadcasted was the game show Countdown and is still in production. S4C, the Welsh equlvalent of Channel 4 launched the previous day
- November 3 - A Gasoline tanker explodes in the Salang Tunnel in Afghanistan, killing 2,000+ people.
- November 7 - The first public demonstration of the Thames Barrier
- November 12 - In the Soviet Union, former KGB head Yuri Andropov is selected to become the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding the late Leonid I. Brezhnev.
- November 13 - The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington D.C. after a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans.
- November 14 - The leader of Poland's outlawed Solidarity movement, Lech Wałęsa, is released from 11 months of internment near the Soviet border
- November 20 - Completing a wacky 57-yard kickoff return that includes five laterals, Kevin Moen runs through Stanford band members who had prematurely come onto the field. His touchdown stands and California wins 25-20.
- November 28 - Representatives from 88 countries gather in Geneva to discuss world trade and ways to work toward aspects of free trade
- November 29 - Soviet invasion of Afghanistan: The United Nations General Assembly passes United Nations Resolution 37/37, stating that the Soviet Union forces should withdraw from Afghanistan.

December


- December 2 - At the University of Utah, 61-year-old retired dentist Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart (he lived for 112 days with the device)
- December 3 - A final soil sample is taken from the site of Times Beach, Missouri. It was found to contain 300 times the safe level of dioxin.
- December 4 - The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution.
- December 7 - First US execution by lethal injection is carried out in Texas.
- December 12 - Women's peace protest at Greenham Common - 30,000 women hold hands and form a human chain around the 14.5 km (9 mi) perimeter fence
- December 23 - The Environmental Protection Agency recommends the evacuation of Times Beach, Missouri due to dangerous levels of dioxin contamination.
- December 26 - Time Magazine's Man of the Year was for the first time given to a non-human, a computer.

Unknown dates


- The Vietnam Memorial is built in Washington D.C.
- A brief but severe recession begins in the United States.
- Seattle officially dubbed the Emerald City after a contest held to choose a new city slogan.
- George Stigler wins The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
- Eric Dammann / Future in Our Hands, Anwar Fazal / Consumer Interpol, Petra Kelly, Participatory Institute for Development Alternatives (PIDA) and Sir George Trevelyan / Wrekin Trust win the Right Livelihood Award.

Births

January-May


- January 1 - David Nalbandian, Argentine tennis player
- January 1 - Anna Williams, model
- January 2 - Cyrus Farivar, American journalist
- January 5 - Janica Kostelic, Croatian skier
- January 12 - Dontrelle Willis, American baseball player
- January 13 - Guillermo Coria, Argentine tennis player
- January 15 - Benjamin Agosto, American skater
- January 17 - Dwyane Wade, American basketball player
- January 19 - Jodie Sweetin, American actress
- February 9 - Ami Suzuki, Japanese singer
- February 10 - Mon Redee Sut Txi, a Malaysian athlete
- February 10 - Justin Gatlin, American athlete
- February 17 - Adriano Leite Ribeiro, Brazilian footballer (soccer player)
- February 22 - Jenna Haze, American actress
- February 28 - Andres Nuiamäe, Estonian soldier (d. 2004)
- March 2 - Ben Roethlisberger, American football player
- March 3 - Jessica Biel, American actress
- March 11 - Thora Birch, American actress
- March 25 - Danica Patrick, American race car driver
- March 25 - Sean Faris, American actor
- March 30 - Jason Dohring, American actor
- March 30 - Javier Garcia Portillo, Spanish footballer (soccer player)
- April 1 - Sam Huntington, American actor
- April 8 - Judy Star, American actress
- April 13- Donal Moynihan, Gaelic Footballer
- April 22 - Kaká, Brazilian footballer (soccer player)
- April 24- Kelly Clarkson, American singer
- April 30 - Kirsten Dunst, American actress
- May 6 - Chaylon Brewster, Canadian HipHop Producer and East Coast Music Award Winner
- May 9 - Rachel Boston, American beauty queen and actress
- May 15 - Veronica Campbell, Jamaican athlete
- May 17 - Tony Parker, French basketball player
- May 18 - Eric West, American actor and singer
- May 20 - Petr Čech, Czech footballer (soccer player)
- May 26 - Yoko Matsugane, Japanese model

June-October


- June 1 - Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgian tennis player
- June 3 - Yelena Isinbayeva, Russian athlete
- June 8 - Nadia Petrova, Russian tennis player
- June 10 - Tara Lipinski, American figure skater
- June 11 - Diana Taurasi, American basketball player
- June 11 - Eldar Rønning, Norwegian cross-country Skier
- June 21 - Prince William of Wales
- June 25 - Mikhail Youzhny, Russian tennis player
- June 30 - Lizzy Caplan, American actress
- July 1 - Hilarie Burton, American actress and VJ
- July 8 - Sophia Bush, American actress
- July 8 - Hakim Warrick, American basketball player
- July 12 - Antonio Cassano, Italian footballer (soccer player)
- July 18 - Priyanka Chopra, Indian actress and beauty queen
- July 18 - Ryan Cabrera, American musician
- July 19 - Jared Padalecki, American actor
- July 24 - Anna Paquin, Canadian-born actress
- July 25 - Brad Renfro, American actor
- July 29 - Allison Mack, American actress
- August 2 - Hélder Postiga, Portuguese footballer (soccer player)
- August 7 - Yana Klochkova, Ukrainian swimmer
- August 8 - Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
- August 9 - Tyson Gay, American athlete
- August 19 - Erika Christensen, American actress
- August 28 - LeAnn Rimes, American singer
- August 30 - Andy Roddick, American tennis player
- August 31 - José Manuel Reina Páez, Spanish footballer (soccer player)
- September 3 - Fearne Cotton, British television presenter
- September 4- Alessandra Rubi Streignard Villarreal, Spanish actress, model, and singer
- September 7 - Lorne Berfield, American actor
- September 9 - Ai Otsuka, Japanese singer and songwriter
- September 13 - Nenê, Brazilian basketball player
- September 22 - Billie Piper, English singer and actress
- September 27 - Lil Wayne, American rapper
- September 30 - Lacey Chabert, American actress
- October 7 - Robby Ginepri, American tennis player
- October 11 - Salim Stoudamire, American basketball player
- October 13 - Ian James Thorpe, Australian swimmer
- October 15 - Saif Saaeed Shaheen, Quatari athlete

November-December


- November 2 - Kyoko Fukada,Japanese actress, model and singer
- November 10 - Heather Matarazzo, American actress
- November 11 - Brittny Gastineau, American model and socialite
- November 12 - Anne Hathaway, American actress
- November 13 - Kumi Koda, Japanese singer
- November 29 - Ashley Force, American race car driver
- December 3 - Michael Essien, Ghanaian soccer player
- December 13 - Anthony Callea, Australian singer
- December 30 - Kristin Laura Kreuk, Canadian actress

Deaths

January-June


- January 19 - Elis Regina, Brazilian singer (b. 1945)
- January 30 - Lightning Hopkins, American musician (b. 1912)
- February 5 - Neil Aggett, South African labor leader (suicide)
- February 11 - Eleanor Powell, American dancer (b. 1912)
- February 11 - Takashi Shimura, Japanese actor (b. 1905)
- February 12 - Victor Jory, Canadian actor (b. 1902)
- February 17 - Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist (b. 1917)
- February 17 - Lee Strasberg, American actor (b. 1901)
- March 2 - Philip K. Dick, American author (b. 1928)
- March 5 - John Belushi, American actor (b. 1949)
- March 6 - Ayn Rand, Russian-born author (b. 1905)
- March 19 - Randy Rhoads, American guitarist (b. 1956)
- March 28 - William Giauque, Canadian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
- April 5 - Abe Fortas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1910)
- April 15 - Arthur Lowe, British actor (b. 1915)
- May 1 - William Primrose, Scottish violist (b. 1903)
- May 8 - Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (racing accident) (b. 1950)
- May 29 - Romy Schneider, Austrian actress (cardiac arrest) (b. 1938)
- June 2 - Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, President of Pakistan (b. 1904)
- June 8 - Satchel Paige, baseball player (b. 1906)
- June 12 - Karl von Frisch, Austrian zoologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1886)
- June 14 - Arthur Coles, Australian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1892)
- June 18 - Curt Jurgens, German actor (b. 1915)

July-December


- July 29 - Vladimir Zworykin, Russian-born inventor (b. 1889)
- August 15 - Hugo Theorell, Swedish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
- August 23 - Stanford Moore, American biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
- September 11 - Wilfredo Lam, Cuban artist (b. 1902)
- September 14 - Grace Patricia Kelly, American actress and Princess of Monaco (b. 1929)
- October 4 - Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist (b. 1932)
- October 8 - Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, Canadian-born peace activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1889)
- October 18 - Bess Truman, First Lady of the United States (b. 1885)
- October 22 - Savitri Devi, French-born writer and philosopher (b. 1905)
- November 10 - Leonid Brezhnev, Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1906)
- November 15 - Vinoba Bhave, Indian educator (b. 1895)
- November 29 - Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (b. 1908)
- December 24 - Louis Aragon, French writer (b. 1897)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Kenneth G. Wilson
- Chemistry - Aaron Klug
- Medicine - Sune K. Bergström, Bengt I. Samuelsson, John R. Vane
- Literature - Gabriel García Márquez
- Peace - Alva Myrdal, Alfonso García Robles

Fields Medalists


- Alain Connes, William Thurston, Shing-Tung Yau

Templeton Prize


- Billy Graham Category:1982 als:1982 ko:1982년 ms:1982 ja:1982年 simple:1982 th:พ.ศ. 2525

Closed bolt

A semi or fully-automatic firearm which is said to fire from a closed bolt is one where, when ready to fire, a round is in the chamber and the bolt and working parts are forward. When the trigger is pulled the firing-pin or striker fires the round, the action is cycled by the energy of the shot sending the bolt to the rear which ejects the empty cartridge case, the bolt then goes forward feeding a fresh round from the magazine into the chamber, ready for the next shot.

Comparison with open bolt design

Pros


- More accurate for the first round:
  - No movement of working parts to inhibit accuracy.
  - Round seats consistently in the chamber.
- Action can be locked forward to further reduce noise in a suppressed weapon.
- Can carry an additional round in the chamber, increasing ammunition capacity beyond the magazine's limit

Cons


- More complicated and expensive to manufacture.
- Less heat dissipation from closed chamber.

Closed bolt weapons


- HK MP5
- HK G36
- HK G3
- FNAB-43
- Mini-Uzi
- M16
- FN FNC
- AK47
- L85A1

Mixed mode weapons


- FG42

See also


- Open bolt Category:Firearm actions

Assault weapons ban

The Federal Assault Weapons Ban, or AWB, was a provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a federal law of the United States that included a prohibition on the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons manufactured after the date of the ban's enactment. The ten-year ban was passed by Congress on September 13, 1994 and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton the same day. The ban expired on September 13, 2004, as part of the law's sunset provision.

Provisions

The Federal Assault Weapons Ban is only a small part (title XI, subtitle A) of the very large and extensive Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. In total, there are 33 "titles" (sections) of the act. All firearms addressed in the ban are semi-automatic firearms, that is, firearms that fire one shot each time the trigger is pulled. Neither the AWB nor its expiration affects the legal status of fully-automatic firearms, which can fire more than one round with a single trigger-pull; these have been regulated by the National Firearms Act of 1934, and illegal to produce since the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986. During the period the law was in effect, it was illegal to manufacture any firearm that met the law's definiton of an assault weapon or any magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds, except for export or for sale to a government or law enforcement agency. Possession of illegally imported or manufactured equipment was outlawed as well, but note that the law did not ban the possession or sale of assault weapons or high-capacity magazines that were manufactured before the ban took effect. This provision for "pre-ban" weapons created an artificially inflated price point in the free market for such items, a disruption in the market that lasted until the ban sunset. A variety of well-publicized multiple murders involving military-style semi-automatic rifles in the late 1980s and the early 1990s were exploited in lobbying for the ban's enactment. These incidents included:
- The January 17, 1989, schoolyard shooting in Stockton, California, in which the murderer killed five children before shooting himself (a.k.a. Stockton massacre); a semi-automatic version of the AK-47 was used in the murders
- The January 25, 1993, murder of two people in front of Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia, by Mir Amir Kansi; here, again, another civilian version of the AK-47 was used in the murders.

Definition of assault weapon

The law created an arbitrary and confusing definition of assault weapon: Certain models (all of which apply to only semi-automatic weapons), such as the Colt AR-15, TEC-9, all Kalashnikovs (including the AK-47), Uzi, and others were banned by name; other firearms were banned for having certain cosmetic features: Semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines and two or more of:
- Folding or telescoping stock
- Conspicuous pistol grip
- Bayonet mount
- Flash suppressor, or threaded barrel designed to accommodate one
- Grenade launcher Semi-automatic pistols with detachable magazines and two or more of:
- Magazine that attaches outside the pistol grip
- Threaded barrel to attach barrel extender, flash suppressor, handgrip, or silencer
- Barrel shroud that can be used as a hand-hold
- Unloaded weight of 50 oz or more
- A semi-automatic version of an automatic firearm (the stated inspirations for this section were the Uzi and Intratec TEC-9, both of which were featured in high-profile multiple-murder crimes) Semi-automatic shotguns with two or more of:
- Folding or telescoping stock
- Pistol grip
- Capacity of more than 5 rounds
- Detachable magazine

Expiration of the ban

On March 2, 2004 (108th Congress, 2nd Session), Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) added a 10-year extension to the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, Amendment 2637, to S.1805, the Senate's Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. While the amendment was agreed to by a vote of 52-47, S.1805 picked up several other amendments, and the National Rifle Association withdrew its support of the bill. The sponsor Larry Craig (R-ID) asked for a vote, and S.1805, with the Feinstein Assault Weapon Ban renewal amendment, was voted down 8-90. S.1805 was widely hailed by Democrats as the only viable vehicle for a renewal of the AWB before its expiration. President George W. Bush had promised to sign into law legislation to renew the ban provided that Congress passed such legislation (which it, ultimately, did not do). Bush was criticized for not doing enough to encourage the House and Senate to pass renewal legislation. The expiration came in spite of the increased national attention to gun violence stemming from the rash of school shootings in the late 1990s and early 2000s as well as the controversial Michael Moore propaganda film Bowling for Columbine, which was released in the fall of 2002.

Deficiencies in the ban

Classification of assault weapons has proven extremely difficult since there is no basic functional difference between the types of firearms targeted for these bans and many very common hunting and target-shooting firearms. For the level of danger that most firearms are characterized by such as caliber, rate of fire, muzzle velocity, accurate range, magazine capacity, etc., assault weapons are identical in function to just about any semi-automatic firearm. The features banned by the law, however, were primarily superficial accessories such as bayonet mounts and flash supressors, so when a weapon is banned as an assault weapon, the gun manufacturers complied with the law by removing the banned items, making the required superficial changes which render it legal again. For example, the AB-10 is a post-ban version of the TEC-9, made legal by changing the name and removing the (cosmetic) barrel shroud and barrel threading; the XM-15 is an AR-15 made legal by changing the name and removing the flash suppressor; post-ban AK-47s are sold under different names with the bottom of the pistol-grip attached to the stock, creating a "thumbhole stock", or by removing both the threaded barrel and the bayonet lug. Furthermore, an imported "thumbhole" stock "assault rifle" could be legally modified into a "post-ban" legal rifle with a military style pistol grip so long as the weapon contained no more than 10 imported parts. These parts varied from weapon type to weapon type, making the identification of "illegal" weapons difficult. Muzzle brakes, (a device that diverts the gasses ejected from the barrel) were also ruled "legal" by the BATF a short time after the ban went into effect. These muzzle attachments were legal to attach to a threaded barrel, so long as it was welded in place. The sheer number of exceptions, and legal gray areas made the determination of "pre-ban" and "post-ban" weapons difficult for both the consumer and law enforcement. This in part contributed to the demise of the AWB. Even though the manufacturing and sale of magazines that can hold more than ten rounds to civilians was prohibited, this prompted the importation of large quantities of pre-1994 manufactured magazines from other countries. Former Warsaw Pact countries had a huge surplus of AK-47 magazines of various capacities, that could fit a variety of both pre-ban and post-ban AK-47 variants. The lack of distinguishing functional characteristics between assault weapons and other firearms was implied by Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center (VPC), years before the federal ban was passed. In his March 1989 paper titled "Assault Weapons: Analysis, New Research and Legislation," Sugarmann wrote that, "[Assault weapons] are a new topic. The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully-automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons – anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun – can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons." Kristen Rand, legistative director of the anti-gun VPC, said a few months before the expiration of the ban, "The 1994 law in theory banned AK-47s, MAC-10s, UZIs, AR-15s and other assault weapons. Yet the gun industry easily found ways around the law and most of these weapons are now sold in post-ban models virtually identical to the guns Congress sought to ban in 1994."[http://www.vpc.org/press/0403awpass.htm] Others claim that the gun manufacturers were following both the letter and the spirit of the law by removing exactly what the law banned. One effect of the ban was to raise the price on previously manufactured rifles, and previously existing normal capacity magazines. Its expiration has led to lower prices on the limited capacity rifles and magazines manufactured in accordance with the law.

Assault weapons ban in local politics

New York State, Massachusetts, and California have enacted their own versions of the ban. New York's version of the law is very similar to the Federal version, but New York's version does not have a sunset provision. The expiration of the federal ban created a problem for the New York State ban. According to the laws of the State of New York, a magazine with a capacity of more than 10 rounds manufactured after September 14, 1994 cannot be legally possessed by anyone other then a law enforcement officer. A provision of the Federal law required the date of manufacture to be stamped on every newly manufactured magazine. Because that requirement is no longer in effect, the New York requirement becomes virtually unenforceable.

Impact the ban has had on crime

The official US Department of Justice study done on the Assault Weapons Ban concluded that the ban’s "impact on gun violence has been uncertain, due perhaps to the continuing availability of grandfathered assault weapons, close substitute guns and large capacity magazines, and the relative rarity with which the banned weapons were used in gun violence even before the ban" [http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/173405.pdf] John Lott performed another study, which appears in his book The Bias Against Guns. He writes, "(The study) examines the first four years of the federal law as well as the different state assault weapon bans. Even after accounting for law enforcement, demographics, poverty and other factors that affect crime, the laws did not reduce any type of violent crime. In fact, overall violent crime actually rose slightly, by 1.5 percent, but the impact was not statistically significant. The somewhat larger increase in murder rates—over 5 percent—was significant, but not all states experienced an increase." Others further argue that the ban did little to decrease crime because many criminals could still easily obtain weapons illegally. [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C103454%2C00.html]

See also


- Firearm case law
- Gun Control (in USA by state)
- National Firearms Act
- Gun Control Act of 1968
- Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
- Gun politics in the United States Category:Legal history of the United States Category:1994 in law Category:United States federal firearms law

USD

:USD redirects here. For other uses, see USD (disambiguation). The United States dollar, or American dollar, is the official currency of the United States. It is also widely used as a reserve currency outside the United States. Currently, the issuance of currency is controlled by the Federal Reserve Banking system. The most commonly used symbol for the U.S. dollar is the dollar sign ($). The ISO 4217 code for the United States Dollar is USD; the U.S. dollar is also referenced as US$ by the International Monetary Fund. In 1995, over $380 billion (380 G$) in U.S. currency was in circulation, two-thirds of it overseas. As of April 2004 nearly $700 billion [http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/20040426/default.htm] was in circulation, with an estimated half to two-thirds of it still being held overseas [http://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/coin/default.htm]. The United States is one of many countries that use a currency known as a dollar. Several countries use the U.S. dollar as their official currency, and many others allow it to be used in a de facto legal capacity. See dollar. The colloquialism buck is often used to refer to a U.S. dollar. This term, dating to the 18th century, may have originated with the colonial fur trade. Grand, sometimes shortened to simply G, is a common term for the amount of $1,000. Banknotes' nicknames are usually the same as their values (such as five, twenty, etc.); however, the $1 bill is often called a single, and the $100 bill has gotten the nickname benjamin (after the portrait of Benjamin Franklin that it bears).

Overview

The U.S. dollar uses the decimal system, consisting of 100 cents (symbol ¢). In another division, there are 1,000 mills or ten dimes to a dollar; additionally, the term eagle was used in naming gold coins. However, only cents are in everyday use as divisions of the dollar; "dime" is used solely as the name of the coin with the value of 10¢, while "eagle" and "mill" are largely unknown to the general public, though mills are sometimes used in matters of tax levies and gasoline prices. When currently issued in circulating form, denominations equal to or less than a dollar are emitted as U.S. coins while denominations equal to or greater than a dollar are emitted as Federal Reserve notes. (Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the note form is significantly more common.) In the past, paper money was occasionally issued in denominations less than a dollar (Fractional Currency) and gold coins were issued for circulation up to the value of twenty dollars. U.S. coins are produced by the United States Mint. U.S. dollar banknotes have been printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for the Federal Reserve since 1914. They began as large-sized notes. In 1928, they switched to small-sized notes, for reasons that have yet to be explained. A logical explanation would be to reduce costs in producing bills, by allowing more bills to be printed on the same amount of paper. small-sized note Notes above the $100 denomination ceased being printed in 1946 and were officially withdrawn from circulation in 1969. These notes were used primarily either in inter-bank transactions or by organized crime; it was the latter usage that prompted President Richard Nixon to issue an executive order in 1969 halting their use. With the advent of electronic banking, they became unnecessary. Notes in denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, and $100,000 were all produced at one time; see large denomination bills in U.S. currency for details. See History of the American dollar for more info about the currency's history.

United States coins

Main article: United States coinage In normal circulation, there are coins in the denominations 1¢ (penny), 5¢ (nickel), 10¢ (dime), 25¢ (quarter), 50¢ (half dollar; uncommon), and $1 (uncommon). Dollar coins have not been very popular in the United States. Silver dollars were created from 1794 through 1935 with many gaps; then a copper-nickel dollar of the same large size was minted from 1971 through 1978. The Susan B. Anthony dollar coin was introduced in 1979; these proved to be unpopular because they were often mistaken for quarters, thanks to their nearly-equal size, their milled edge, and their similar color. Minting of these dollars for circulation ended in 1980 (collectors' pieces were struck in 1981), but, as with all past U.S. coins, they remain legal tender. As the number of Anthony dollars held by the Federal Reserve and dispensed primarily to make change in postal and transit vending machines had been virtually exhausted, additional Anthony dollars were struck in 1999. In 2000, a new $1 coin featuring Sacagawea was introduced, which corrected some of the mistakes of the Anthony dollar by having a smooth edge and a gold color, without requiring changes to vending machines which accept the Anthony dollar. However, this new coin has failed to achieve the popularity of the still-existing $1 bill and is rarely used in daily transactions. The failure to simultaneously withdraw the dollar bill (the Save the Greenback Act of 1995 banned its phasing out) and weak publicity efforts have been cited by coin proponents as primary reasons for the failure of the dollar coin to gain popular support. Some cynics also point out that the Federal Reserve makes more profit from dollar bills than dollar coins because they wear out in a few years, whereas coins are more permanent. As most vending machines are incapable of making change in banknotes, they commonly only accept $1 bills, though a few will give change in dollar coins. Also, some banks, such as Bank of America only distribute dollar coins through the same mechanisms as one would purchase foreign currency. Reaching into the past, the United States has minted other coin denominations since 1793: half-cent, two-cent, three-cent, twenty-cent, $2.50, $3.00, $4.00, $5.00, $10.00, and $20.00. Technically, all these coins are still legal tender at face value, though they are far more valuable today for their numismatic value, and for gold and silver coins, their precious metal value. The United States Mint also produces gold and platinum bullion coins, called "American Eagles", all of which are legal tender though their use in everyday transactions is virtually non-existent. The reason for this is that they are not intended for use in transactions and thus the face value of the coins are much lower than the worth of the precious metals in them. The American Silver Eagle bullion coin is only issued in the $1 (1 troy oz) denomination. The American Gold Eagle bulllion coin denominations (with gold content) are: $5 (1/10 troy oz), $10 (1/4 troy oz), $25 (1/2 troy oz), and $50 (1 troy oz). The American Platinum Eagle bullion coin denominations (with platinum content) are: $10 (1/10 troy oz), $25 (1/4 troy oz), $50 (1/2 troy oz), and $100 (1 troy oz). The silver coin is 99.9% silver, the gold coins are 91.67% gold (22 karat), and the platinum coins are 99.95% platinum. These coins are not available from the Mint for individuals, but must be purchased from authorized dealers. The Mint also produces high quality "proof" coins, intended for collectors, in the same denominations and bullion content, which are available for individuals. The largest denomation of currency currently printed or minted by the United States is the $100 bill and the $100 troy ounce Platinum Eagle.

International use

karat A few nations besides the United States use the U.S. dollar (USD) as their official currency. Ecuador, El Salvador, and East Timor all adopted the currency independently. The former members of the US-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, including Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands and the Marshall Islands, chose not to issue their own currency after becoming independent. Additionally, the local currencies of Bermuda, the Bahamas, Panama, and a few other states can be freely exchanged at a 1:1 ratio for USD. The currency of Barbados is similarly convertible at a 2:1 ratio. Argentina used a fixed 1:1 exchange rate between the Argentine peso and the U.S. dollar from 1991 until 2002. In Lebanon, one dollar is equal to 1500 Lebanese pound, and is used interchangeably with local currency as a de facto legal tender. The exchange rate between the Hong Kong dollar and the United States dollar has also been linked since 1983 at HK$7.8/USD, and Pataca of Macau, pegged to Hong Kong dollar at MOP1.03/HKD, indirectly linked to the US dollar roughly at MOP8/USD. Several oil-producing Gulf Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, also peg their currencies to the dollar, since the dollar is the currency used in the international oil trade. The renminbi used by the People's Republic of China had been informally and controversially pegged to the dollar since the mid-1990s at Y8.28/USD until July 21, 2005. Likewise, Malaysia had pegged its ringgit at RM3.8/USD since 1997. However, on July 21, 2005, both countries removed their respective pegs and adopted managed floats against a basket of currencies. The dollar is also used as the standard unit of currency in international markets for commodities such as gold and oil. Even foreign companies with little direct presence in the United States, such as the European company Airbus, list and sell their products in dollars, although some argue this is attributed to the aerospace market being dominated by US companies. At the present time, the U.S. dollar remains the world's foremost reserve currency, primarily held in $100 denominations. The majority of U.S. notes are actually held outside the United States. According to economist Paul Samuelson, the overseas demand for dollars allows the United States to maintain persistent trade deficits without causing the value of the currency to depreciate and the flow of trade to readjust. Not long after the introduction of the euro (€; ISO 4217 code EUR) as a cash currency in 2002, the dollar began to steadily depreciate in value on the international scene. After the euro started to rise in value in March 2002, the U.S. trade and budget deficits continued to increase. By Christmas 2004 the dollar had fallen to new lows against all major currencies, especially its rival the euro. The euro rose above $1.36 /€ (under 0.74 €/$) for the first time in late December 2004, in sharp contrast to its lows in early 2003 (rate of $0.87/€). Beginning in late May into early June though the Dollar rose sharply against the Euro as European states reported stagnation in the overall EU economy and doubts were raised over the EU Constitution which was voted down in two member states: France and The Netherlands. As unemployment rates rise in the Euro zone and economic growth slows the EU may see a drop in the value of the Euro against the Dollar for at least part of 2005 although the Euro is expected to maintain its strength, if in a slightly diminished manner.

Origin of the name dollar

The United States dollar derives from the Spanish 8 reales coin which was composed of just under one ounce of silver. This coin was popular among American colonists, who called it the Spanish dollar, the name having derived from a German coin of similar size and composition known as the thaler. The first dollar coins issued by the United States mint were of the same size and composition as the Spanish dollar and even after the American Revolutionary War the Spanish and U.S. silver dollars circulated side by side in the United States. Although private banks issued currency backed by Spanish and U.S. silver dollars, the federal government did not do so until the American Civil War. For further history of the name, see Dollar.

The dollar symbol

Main Article: Dollar sign There are various stories on origin of the "$" sign to represent "dollar." Because the dollar was originally the Spanish 8 reales coin, it is suggested that the 'S' derives from the number '8' which appeared on the coin. The most widely accepted explanation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, is that "$" is a corruption of the letters "PS" (for 'peso' or 'piastre' - especially the former, as each letter could represent each syllable of "Pe-So") written over each other in Spanish. Eventually, the 'P' was reduced to a vertical line - | - since the hump disappeared into the upp