The Truth About Guns
Exploring the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns
Updated: 2 days 8 hours ago
Gear Review: Streamlight TLR-1 Game Spotter
In what seems like eons ago, a package arrived from Streamlight with a TLR-1 Game Spotter. Since then, I’ve mounted it on pistols and rifles. I’ve managed to drop it, beat it against hard objects, use it for hours at a time, and generally abuse it extensively. It has survived six months of hard use and come out on the other side still ticking. Oh and it’s still running on the original batteries! The Game Spotter is an insanely bright weapons-mounted light that claims to throw a beam of green light some 300 meters or so. They also say that green light preserves night vision and aids in spotting game . . .
The prevailing science says that red or green is probably best for preserving night vision, but green (they say) is better for picking out detail at night which is important for after-dusk game hunting. Having put various varmints under red,
Alburquerque “Cop Killer” Pursuit Video Released
Christopher Chase was an aspiring cop killer. We know this because, according to abqjournal.com, he had ‘cop killer’ tattooed across his knuckles. Wait, that’s nine letters. How…never mind. Chase apparently wanted to go out in a blaze of glory last October when he told “witnesses in southeast Albuquerque to call police and tell them he was ‘waiting for them,’” hoping to ambush the peace officers as they arrived. Before the whole thing was over, Chase shot four Albuquerque police officers (none fatally) before eventually taking eight rounds himself and rapidly assuming ambient temperature. The Albuquerque PD just released a sometimes-chaotic composite of video from the pursuit, highlighted by lapel cam shots of one officer shooting his AR through his own windshield as he drove.
Question of the Day: How Do You Rate Your State for Gun Rights?
I moved to Texas to escape Rhode Island’s anti-gun (and anti-freedom) culture. The Ocean State’s gun laws aren’t that bad – in comparison to neighboring Massachusetts and Connecticut. And New Jersey. And New York. Not to mention Maryland. I’m under no illusions about The Lone Star state’s gun laws. Rhode Island, for example, “allows” open carry. Texas does not. Yet. Arizona is a Constitutional Carry state. Texas is not. But Texas is getting better while the aforementioned “slave states” are not. Where do you live and what’s it like for gun rights there? Are things getting better or worse? Oh, and click on the above map of Texas from tracetheguns.com (a wholly owned subsidiary of Mayors Against Illegal Guns) to see how the gun grabbers rate your state.
Frankenstein Gun Of The Day: HK91-M4 Hybrid Abomination
Some people think that any rifle can be improved by slapping an M4 buttstock on it. Got an AK? Slap an M4 stock on it! A 10/22? Slap an M4 stock on it! A converted semi-auto RPD? Slap an M4 stock on it! When it messed with the HK91, this M4 buttstock fetish went a little too far. The HK91 may be an obsolete, overweight, brass-chewing monster that kicks like a mule, but it has earned its place in history. It should be allowed to keep its dignity . . .
An M4 Stock? Really?
The fixed buffer tube of the AR platform has always been one of the weaknesses of Eugene Stoner’s versatile design because it can’t fold for storage or transport. It also makes that annoying ‘clunnnggg’ sound when you fire it with ear protection.
The collapsing M4 stock is an improvement over the original A2 fixed stock for most military purposes, but it
North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission and United States Forest Service SWAT Suspected Poachers
Georgia Wildlife posted the above video, offering the official explanation of the genesis and “success” of a $2m anti-bear poaching law enforcement effort called “Something Bruin.” Get it? While the initiative seems on the up-and-up, that’s not exactly how a large number of North Carolinians see it – especially the ones who were on the sharp end of the investigation. That list includes one Linda Crisp, who wrote about the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission’s and United States Forest Service’s tactics for thetribunepapers.com. It’s an eye-opening exposé . . .
In 2009, Arnold (undercover alias “Chad Ryan”), and Davey Webb (alias Davey Williams), a wildlife agent from Georgia, visited a gun shop in Bryson City, N.C. According to the shop owner, they stated that they wanted to get involved in bear hunting and asked for recommendations of hunting guides in the area. However,
Mexican President Tries to Buy Off Armed Revolutionaries
“President Enrique Peña Nieto said Tuesday that his government would invest the equivalent of about $3.4 billion in social and infrastructure programs for the beleaguered Mexican state of Michoacan,” latimes.com reports, “where armed vigilante groups have been clashing with a drug gang.” Ha-ha. No. The Mexican President is funneling tax money into Michoacan to help suppress an [illegally] armed revolt of the local populace against the Knights Templar cartel and their allies: the Mexican government. “The funding will go to scholarships for students, pensions for the elderly and credits for small business owners, as well as for infrastructure projects such
Quote of the Day: Is That A Trick Question Edition
“A perception of danger might be reasonable, but can any of us fairly determine whether it justifies irrevocable deadly force?” Orlando Bagwell, When Loud Music Turned Deadly [via nytimes.com]
Daily Digest: License To Move Edition
AJ sent this to help those of us in free states understand what it’s like to try to be a gun owner in Massachusetts. “We like to refer to them as privileges, because it’s easier to defend how we trample all over them.” Quite. Read on . . .
Your Lockdown of the Day™ comes from Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Shortly before 11 a.m. Tuesday morning, Renaissance Public School Academy was placed on lockdown briefly when police were called to investigate a report of a student showing a gun to a classmate. The fourth-grader had brought an Airsoft gun to school, and when another student reported it, the gun was taken from the student and secured in the school office. Principal Lisa Bergman said at no time were students in danger, but some parents opted to pick up their children and take them home early. Although
SC Governor Haley Will Sign Gun Law Reform Bill
Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina has said that she will sign the gun law reform, Bill 308. The law has been widely touted as a restaurant carry bill that removes state restrictions on people with concealed carry permits carrying their defensive firearms into establishments that serve alcohol. Second Amendment supporters have argued that they should be able to eat at the same restaurants as other citizens without discrimination by the government. The new law will prohibit legally armed citizens from consuming alcohol while in these establishments . . .
OMG! A Gun! On a No Guns Allowed Sign! OMG!
“School officials want the public to know that in compliance with state law (House Bill 0183), schools, churches, government agencies and liquor stores statewide will be posting 4-by-6-inch stickers reminding the public, particularly those with a concealed-carry license, that there are limits on where a gun can be carried,” southstar.suntimes.com reports. “While schools didn’t allow guns even before the concealed-carry law was passed, they still are required to display the reminder. Some offic
Moore Wins Fifth All-Around Individual Army Small Arms Championship
FORT BENNING, Ga. – More than 200 Soldiers from around the force competed against each other and Mother Nature at the history-making 2014 U.S. Army Small Arms Championship. Snow, ice and bone-chilling weather, combined with the highest female participation in two decades and the crowning of a five-time champ, made this year’s iteration of the Army’s premier marksmanship training event one to remember for years to come . . .
“It was interesting,” said Master Sgt. Russell Moore “It was great combat weather. It wasn’t anything our Soldiers aren’t facing around the world. It definitely affected things and you had to plan accordingly. I think it brought out the warrior in everybody.”
Cementing his legacy within the lore of the “All-Army,” Moore w
CA DOJ Gun Confiscation Team Get It Wrong
The California Department of Justice has a police squad dedicated to confiscating firearms from prohibited persons through the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS). They work from a government database. See the problem? “[Michael] Merritt said that was the night of Nov. 5. Several agents arrived at his door and started asking questions about which guns he owned. ‘I thought, he’s here to get my guns for some reason,’ Merritt described. ‘He says, ‘You have a felony here from 1970.’ I said, ‘A felony? A pot possession charge from 1970.’” Let’s talk about “gun bullies” shall we? ”‘We told them to leave the house and go get a warrant, and they said that’s fine,’ wife Karla Merritt said. ‘But, when we get the warrant and we come back, you’re going to jail,’ agents reportedly told the couple.” So Merritt handed over his guns. And then . . .
Merritt said several days after his guns were taken, an agent called back to s
California: Wine, Kimchi and Crackheads
I just got back from San Francisco, and while I realize it might not be for everyone, I really like the city. My wife does too. And it has become one of our go-to destinations for vacation. We like the food, we like the weather, we like all the wine and the sea lions on Fisherman’s Warf are pretty cool, too. Austin has a lot of things, but a certain “depth” it does not. So when we want to visit cooler weather in a city, SF is usually the ticket. That said . . .
I hate traveling around SF as I’m almost completely disarmed compared to my day-to-day life in Texas. And that bothers me quite a bit as I’m sure you, dear reader, can understand. So bothered, in fact, that I’m constantly on edge walking around the city. Factor in the high number of people muttering to themselves and the “keep it weird” vibe, and I think that’s fairly rational.
Further compounding my fear (irrational or not) was a story one of my wife’s friends told to me several weeks before our trip. A resident of Oakland, she was chased do
UK Physics Teacher Fired for BB Gun Accident
“I can’t believe a teacher thought it was appropriate to take a gun into a school. Surely there are safer ways to do this experiment than taking a deadly weapon into the classroom?” This from an anonymous parent speaking to (or existing entirely in the imagination of) dailymail.co.uk. The deadly weapon: a BB gun. The teacher in question: Richard West of St Peter’s Collegiate, Wolverhampton [UK]. The experiment: measuring the deceleration of a pellet as it passed through sheets of paper. The problem . .
Obscure Object Of Desire: Glockworx/Zev G34 Race Gun
I’m not a GLOCK fan. I know they’re probably the most simple, reliable, functional handgun ever made, and I respect them for that. But I respect them from a distance. I’ve never owned one, nor have I desired to. Until I saw this muzzle-to-magwell custom G34 from Glockworx . . .
G34s aren’t that common to begin with, but my pal Cory left no part unmodded in trincking out his 9mm long-slide. All of the parts and work were done by Glockworx/Zev Technologies, and Cory’s more-or-less complete parts list includes:
- Technologies Magwell
- Extended Mag Release
- Dragonfly Cut Slide
- Stainless Recoil Rod/15lb spring
- Fixed Rear Sig
Housekeeping: TTAG Crests 2m Unique Readers Per Month
This Saturday, while I was out shooting with three members of the Young clan, The Truth About Guns quietly passed an important milestone: two million unique readers per month. [Google Analytics screen cap after the jump.] To put that in context, here are some stats from an April 2013 article at adweek.com: “American Rifleman and America’s 1st Freedom, both of which are benefits of NRA membership, saw their circulations increase 14 percent to 1.9 million and 8 percent to 545,019, respectively, in the first half of the year versus the year-ago period. Handguns
Question of the Day: Should The People of the Gun Stop Rallying?
“The ranks of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association nearly doubled over the past year amid outrage to New York’s gun-control law, but the group doesn’t plan to hold major protest rallies this year,” democratandchronicle.com reports. “Thomas King, the group’s president, said the membership increased from 24,000 to 41,000 over the last year, and the group has raised $200,000 for its lawsuit to overturn the controversial SAFE-Act . . . ’My opinion is that the time for protests are over,’ King said. ‘It’s a time to concentrate on overturning the legislation in the courts. That is where we will be putting most of our s
Gun Review: FNH USA FNS-40L Long Slide
By Michael Stephenson
Folks, the three-gun craze has been good to us gun owners. After years of everything from “zombie green” revolvers to glow-in-the-dark ammo, it’s nice to see functional improvements being made to new products. FNH USA enters the already competitive “out-of-the-box” competition handgun market with its new(ish) FNS Long Slide line (in this case, the FNS-40L). But with guns like the XDm Competition and M&P Pro already having a strong foothold, and at least three new handguns being released in the category this year (GLOCK 41, FNS-L, and the PPQ Long Slide), does the FNS-40L stand out? The answer is…maybe . . .
Now before the flaming begins, let me say this: I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I’m grateful to the folks at TTAG for choosing me as
EDC For CCW: Ka-Bar Neck Knife
We typically think of EDC knives as folders, discreetly clipped inside a pocket. But they’re not the only game in town when it comes to last-ditch defensive blades. If you’re open to new ideas (and if your jurisdiction allows concealed carry of 4-inch fixed blades) you might consider the Ka-Bar Neck Knife.
Jump to The Truth About Knives for more.
How ATF’s Electronic NFA Form System is Ruining my Business
This is not an exaggeration. Our federal regulators have a site that is designed to handle NFA transactions electronically, and it’s failing miserably and nobody seems to know why it’s barely operational. As of this writing, logging in is simply not possible, and filing ATF Form 3 or Form 4 or checking existing drafts just isn’t happening. This is incredibly frustrating to me and others in the industry and the how and why it’s ruining my business, but let’s preface this article with the fact that we’ve discussed problems with the ATF’s eForms back in August . . .
I’m well aware that being in the NFA business isn’t for the faint of heart. Your retailer should know how to do a Form 4 – and if they don’t, you’re looking at delays in getting your s