The Truth About Guns
Exploring the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns
Updated: 3 days 12 hours ago
Dear Wayne – Why I’m Not Joining the NRA
Wayne LaPierre
Executive Vice President
National Rifle Association
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
Dear Mr. LaPierre,
First and foremost I would like to thank you, the NRA and its members for defending our Nations Second Amendment rights. I also thank you for sending me an offer to join the NRA . . .
From the first day I became a firearms owner I have wanted to very much become a NRA member and I still do. However, I live in the state of New Jersey and I am sorely disappointed and embarrassed in the way the national branch of the NRA has abandoned my home state and its law abiding firearms owners. This was disgustingly obvious during the 2013 hearings in Trenton where gun owners were under fire and attacked by New Jersey’s so-called lawmakers. I witnessed only our local Second Amendment associations su
Quote of the Day: Down But Not Out Edition
“The intersection of guns and health care is undeniable. As the Firearm & Injury Center at the University of Pennsylvania concluded, ‘Healthcare providers thus have a vital role in preventing firearm injuries and their impact on patients, families and communities.’ And that’s why the group Doctors for America, which Murthy co-founded, applauded Obama’s gun violence imitative (sic) last year.” – Media Matters for America’s Eric Boehlert, More Guns, Less Health Care: How The Right Wing Is Making America Less Safe [at
Daily Digest: Long-Stroke Edition
Remora Holsters is launching a new Safety & Defense Blog with a post from Randy Ferris of Violence Prevention Strategies. The post, titled Before You Draw Your Weapon, talks about avoidance strategies, de-escalation techniques, empty-handed close combat skills, and less than lethal weapons. The post is not a training program, though it recommends enrolling “in the most comprehensive training that is available to you.” It’s a discussion of having a well-rounded self-defense plan, and some things to think about along the way. “Avoidance strategies, de-escalation techniques, empty handed combat, weapons retention techniques and tactical shooting skills are all a part of a well balanced personal protection training program.” Read on . . .
Your Lockdown of the Day™ comes from Fremont, California, where three schools were locked down
PA Bill Would Hold 2A Scofflaw Local Governments to Account
Pennsylvania has a preemption statute that prevents local governments from creating their own firearm laws. Such a patchwork of varying rules and regulations would effectively chill the exercise of the right to keep and bear arms in the sate. As the law reads, “(a) General rule.–No county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this Commonwealth.” The problem is that there are no teeth to the law, as no penalties are imposed on local governments that violate it . . .
Consequently, there are over fifty local scofflaw governments in in the keystone state. From nraila.org:
Stat
Colorado Town Orders Local Gun Club to Drop NRA Membership Requirement
The Durango Gun Club has seen better days. Since it opened its doors in 1963, there haven’t been many major improvements. The club just didn’t have the money. So this year, in an effort to become eligible for grants from the National Rifle Association to improve the club’s grounds, they adopted a requirement that all members must also be members of the NRA. The problem is that the club is located on public land and the decision wasn’t popular with the city council. They’ve chosen to evict the gun club unless they drop the requirement . . .
From the Durango Herald:
In late February, Joe Perino, secretary and t
A SIG SAUER Masterpiece: The Aztec
Recently we saw what SIG SAUER’s master gunsmiths can do with some medieval subject matter. But while sharp lines and orderly curves are something of a SIG trademark, the flowing designs and intricate shapes of a typical Aztec-style piece of art are a completely different ball game. Nevertheless, SIG’s master gunsmiths seem to have come up with a winning design on that front as well . . .
While the grip isn’t authentic ivory, the inlaid gold and precious gems make up the difference in value. Ins
Spokane Baristas Packing More Than a Shot of Caffeine
Jitterz Java, a Spokane coffee house, was robbed twice in February. Given that track experience, the store’s owner has adopted some new preventative measures. She’s letting her baristas pack heat on the job. As spokesman.com reports, “…on Sunday, a man who appeared to be armed ran off after a barista grabbed her gun and called police.” The local 5-0 point out that they’ve gotten to the scene of the crimes quickly in each case. “The police arrived on scene in three minutes on Feb. 18 and 28 and in four minutes on March 16.” Not quickly enough, however. . . .
Irresponsible Gun Owner Of The Day: Repo Man Edition
When you can’t pay cash for a car or ATV, you borrow the money and promise to pay it back. When you can’t pay the lender, they’ll eventually send someone like Otto from the ‘Helping Hand Acceptance Agency’ to take it back. When this happens, the law is pretty squarely on Otto’s side. Don’t f*ck with Otto. Don’t be like Jason W. Greber . . .
According to police, 57 year-old Greber had fallen way behind on the payments for his ATV. When the repo guys showed up to take it back, he ran them off his property.
So far, so good. Repo men are legally privileged to enter onto private property to reclaim personal property in which their employer has a perfected security interest, which is Lawyer-ese for ‘if they filed their lien, they can come take it.’
But there’s a catch: repo men are only allowed to repossess personal p
FFLs Claim Austin’s Silencer Shop is Single-Handedly Crashing ATF’s E-Forms System
When the ATF announced that they were launching a digital system for submitting the paperwork required to own and sell National Firearms Act regulated devices (gear like silencers and machine guns), there was much rejoicing. The old paper system was causing massive bottlenecks and the time and energy the ATF puts into digitizing those records before they are approved could be much better used stamping documents and mailing them back out. It promised to slice processing times down to a bare minimum. And for the first couple months people were getting their approved Form 4′s back in 60 days or less. But somewhere along the way . . .
The system started becoming unstable and nearly impossible to use at times, and some dealers reverted back to using paper as it just wasn’t worth their time to try and use a system that w
BREAKING: Ninth Circuit Makes Hawaii a Shall-Issue State
The Peruta dominos continue to fall. In an earlier decision in Baker v Kealoha, a District Court refused to rule in favor of the plaintiff, Christopher Baker. Baker had moved for an injunction against various Hawaii state agencies that had denied him a carry license. As a Ninth Circuit panel summed up the District Court’s rationale, the District Court denied the motion because, “Baker was not likely to establish that Hawaii’s restrictions on carrying firearms in public were unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, and therefore, Baker was not likely to succeed on the merits.” But that was pre-Peruta . . .
Today, though, a Ninth Circuit panel has ruled that,
In light of our holding in Peruta, the district court made an error of law when it concluded that
My Second DGU Ever
During my heyday of competitive shooting and working undercover, I ran a bit paranoid. And I shot. A lot. I competed. A lot. Every week for years. I was also teaching survival skills and shooting skills at our state police academy. Fortunately, these teachings and feelings carried over to the wife, as our kids were now in grade school. Somewhere in there, she got her concealed carry license. Out of all the guns I (OK, we) had, she settled on a Makarov in 9X18 . . .
On this day, though, she and I were on our way to a funeral for a very good friend, Al Mar of Al Mar Knives. I was in a suit, she was in a black dress. As the situation negated the usual 50-pound purse, all she carried was something called a clutch (it didn’t resemble any clutches I
BREAKING: Obama Confirms Executive Order Covers Entire Russian Arms Manufacturing Sector
A few days ago, President Barack Obama issued an executive order allowing him to use the United States government agencies to restrict certain Russian assets in the US in retaliation for the annexation of Crimea. It was speculated by some gun publications that this executive order would only cover individual Russians and their companies, and leave the majority of Russia’s arms industry to operate as usual. In a speech today, Obama confirmed our interpretation that the executive order allows him broader powers. As whitehouse.gov details, this includes, “named officials of the Russian government, any individual or entity that operates in the Russian arms industry, and any designated individual or entity that acts on behalf of, or that provide
Stand Strong Connecticut
Send your STAND STRONG CONNECTICUT photo to guntruth@me.com. We’ll post them on our Facebook album [click here to view.] Please put STAND STRONG in the subject field of your email. You can click here to purchase a Stand Strong Connecticut t-shirt (half of profits go to Connecticut Carry).
Question of the Day: Do Your Non-Gun Friends Think You’re Nuts?
“You don’t need guns to protect your property,” Frankie Tierney writes in a comment underneath this YouTube video. “You don’t even need guns to protect yourself. There are literally hundreds of self protection weapons out there that doesnt kill. we can take known stuff like pepper spray and a stun gun. But we can also take stuff like a baseball bat. But In reality we only need a phone and our feets so we can get the f*ck away from danger and call the cops. Nothing material is worth risking your own or others life for.” Two words: Dr. Petit. Question: do you have friends who think this way? Do they think you’re nuts? [h/t mattdg91]
Hands-On with Arsenal Firearms’ New “Strike One” Handgun
Arsenal Firearms (not to be confused with Arsenal Inc, makers of the AK-style firearms imported into the US) is probably best known for their double-barreled 1911 they came out with a couple years ago. And while we’ve pretty much written that off as a gimmicky publicity stunt, they were back at IWA this year showing off their brand new Strike One handguns. And when I say “new,” I mean “new to the US market” . . .
The Strike One has been out since 2012, and it’s seen as the top choice for the next service handgun of the Russian armed forces. Heck, it’s even featured in that insane video Robert posted a couple days ago. And there’s
Statement from Polymer80.com
The following is a statement from Polymer80 on their decision to stop selling polymer 80% AR-15 receivers:
Valued Customers and supporters of Polymer80,
Some of you may have taken notice that we are no longer offering the G150 80% lower for sale on our site. We want to be clear that:
A. We were NOT shutdown in anyway by the ATF
B. We were NOT raided by the ATF
C. We have NOT even been contacted or directed by the ATF in any way, shape or form
D. We have done this VOLUNTARILY and PROACTIVELY
We currently do NOT have an active customer list nor do we have any inventory. We are going to proactively work directly with the Science and Technology Department at the ATF to quickly get a determination letter and move forward providing a fun, affordable and legal option for gun
USA Today: “Gun Absolutists” Are The Enemy
“For a sense of how extreme some gun-rights advocates have become — and why Congress won’t pass even modest firearms safety laws — consider what happened to history professor and longtime gun enthusiast Dick Metcalf,” USA Today’s Editorial Board opines, referring to an ancient event in Internet terms. “When he recently wrote in his Guns & Ammo column that the Second Amendment right to ‘keep and bear arms’ is not unlimited, Metcalf suddenly became the enemy.” Yes, well, yes. But not according to the McPaper. The real enemy is . . .
Gun-rights absolutists asse
Quote of the Day: A D-bag Walks Into a Bar Edition
“NO CONCEALED WEAPONS ALLOWED – If you are such a loser that you feel a need to carry a gun with you when you go out, I do not want your business. Douchebag.” – notice posted on the door of Backstreets Pub in Clemson, South Carolina [via Twitter]
Daily Digest: Let Me See Your War Face! Edition
Authorities have removed a “stockpile of military firearms” from the home of a recently deceased resident of Connecticut. The items removed included a “20mm anti-tank gun on skis, AR-15s, grenades, bombs, and a flamethrower,” which were cataloged by members of the state police Emergency Services Unit, the FBI, and a team of Air Force EOD techs from nearby Westover Air Force Base. [When I Googled "20mm anti-tank gun on skis," the Lahti L-39 (above) was three of the first five results.] The 59-year-old owner, George Laning, was discovered on March 8th by a friend, having died several days earlier of apparently natural causes. He was described as a reclusive man who lived with his elderly father until he died in 2005 at age 94. Since then, Laning had lived alone . . .
and apparently left no family behind. A