The Truth About Guns

High-concept, high production value video ads aren’t new. Hornady had their silly Zombie Max ammo videos a few years ago, and Ka-Bar recently joined them in undead-themed video amusement. The wordless video shown here is in a whole different category, though: the scenery is straight from the nihilistic The Road and the soundtrack is straight from Fallout 3.

In addition to their recent Rastafarian Zombie Under Siege parody, Ka-Bar also ventured into this grim Primary Weapons’ vision of the post-Collapse world (complete with mystery meat) in their No Ammo Required video.

These videos can pack some gripping entertainment into just a fe

Polymer AR-15 rifles aren’t anything new. Heck, you can print one out at home if you really have the urge. But while they may be “old hat” at this point, you can definitely see the appeal of a lightweight rifle — especially since pounds equal pain in any shooting environment. Historically they all suffer from the same set of issues, and generally they aren’t very good. But one company has just started shipping their first hybrid polymer design, a rifle promised to be as strong as an aluminum AR-15 but as light as a polymer rifle, and we here at TTAG were given the very first production rifle off the line to test out.

From whitehouse.gov [my choice for White House Champion of Change for Gun Violence Prevention, NRA Illinois lobbyist Todd Vandermyde, above]

Nominate a White House Champion of Change for Gun Violence Prevention

In mass shootings and in the everyday shootings that plague communities across the country, far too many Americans have been severely injured or lost their lives or a loved one as a result of gun violence. Over the last few years, a series of gun-related tragic events galvanized our country and led this Administration to redouble our efforts to keep guns out of the hands of potentially dangerous individuals . . .

“Mervin Brewer, 61, was picking up his wife outside of the Sears at Arrowhead Towne Center when he saw 33-year-old Shaashana Hough [above] allegedly pointing a gun at an unarmed security guard.” Allegedly. Interesting. “Brewer, believing his wife and others were in danger, opened fire, firing four rounds . . . Hough and her alleged accomplice, 35-year-old Michael Hough, fled the area on a motorcycle.” The rounds didn’t hit anyone. The perps were apprehended. And now . . . “Glendale police said Wednesday that it had recommended charging Brewer with unlawful discharge of a firearm. The charge will be reviewed by the Maricopa Cou

“The Second Amendment guarantees an individual right—subject to reasonable regulation and control, of course, but individual nonetheless.” Daniel Payne, Sorry, But Owning A Gun Is An Individual Right [via thefederalist.com]

The owner of a gun store (not shown) in the Parkdale Mall in Beaumont, Texas was arrested last week on charges of disturbing the peace after he was seen walking through the mall toward his store, Golden Triangle Tactical, with an AR-15 slung barrel down over his shoulder. Open carry of long guns is legal in the state of Texas. Police stopped him on December 28th after receiving calls from shoppers who said they were “very afraid” and “terrified” at seeing the weapon. He was not arrested at that time, but the weapon was confiscated. A warrant for his arrest was issued later that week, and he turned himself in on the misdemeanor charge Friday morning. The gun will remain in police custody until the case is settled.

Lancer and Magpul are the only two magazine manufacturers that I’ll trust to run in my guns. Magpul makes things that work, and Lancer makes things that work and look pretty at the same time. But while Magpul introduced their 7.62 NATO SR-25 magazines a long time ago, Lancer has only just gotten around to that. No word yet on pricing or what they look like, but here’s the press release . . .

Allentown, PA – January 7, 2014 – Lancer Systems LP, a leading advanced weapons and components manufacturer, today announced the launch of the new L7AWM, an advanced hybrid magazine that combines the strength of steel with the toughness of polymer to form a lightweight, reliable 7.62x51mm magazine.

The Lancer L7AWM incorporates a unique,

Continuing the trend in smaller optics, Leupold and its cheaper cousin Redfield have announced that they’re unveiling two new tiny optics for SHOT Show. The first is the next generation of their Deltapoint, which has a hard shut-off switch and offers the ability to change the battery without taking the optic off the gun. Redfield is also offering their Accelerator, a Deltapoint-esque red dot with a lot of the same features but at a lower price point. Make the jump for the pressers . . .

BEAVERTON, Ore. — With the introduction of the DeltaPoint®, Leupold® set thestandard for red dot sight technology. Now that standard has been raised with the launch of the DeltaPoint® 2.

The DeltaPoint 2 retains Leupold’s patented Motion Sensor Technology, which instantly detects any motion, activates the illumination and adjusts the brightness to the environment, but now also includes a

Brownells is celebrating their 75th anniversary. In addition to some bad-ass giveaways, the firearms parts giant is lifting the veil of secrecy around their operations. Pete Brownell has agreed to some face time with your humble scribe at the forthcoming SHOT Show. If you have questions you’d like me to ask Mr. B on your behalf, post them below. I’m interested in the changes Pete’s seen in the family biz over the years, regulation-wise. As represented by their decision to showcase these waffle-bottomed branded mags for “limited-capacity states.” Mentally? Constitutionally? I know, but I couldn’t resist. I reckon they’re a lot more contentious than the faux 30-rounders

A study was released recently in the Applied Economics Letters journal that comes to some interesting conclusions. It states that “… states with restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons had higher gun-related murder rates than other states. It was also found that assault weapons bans did not significantly affect murder rates at the state level. These results suggest that restrictive concealed weapons laws may cause an increase in gun-related murders at the state level.” That’s from the abstract, and on the surface it sounds pretty good. But there’s an issue.

This is the same problem that we run into with gun control advocates: they mistake correlation for causation. P

A good offense is often the best defense, but when the bullets start flying it might not be such a bad idea to have that whole defense thing covered too. That’s where items like bullet proof vests and plate carriers come into play, offering some solid protection against flying lead for your vital squishy bits. A relatively new player to this game is AR500 Armor, and they’ve sent us one of their Urban Go Plate Carrier kits to test out. And I must say that I’m pretty impressed.

To be fair, the only thing that AR500 Armor actually manufactures is the Level III steel plates that go inside the plate carrier, the rest is made by Condor and sold in the kit. But if Bushmaster can get away with using other people’s parts and re-branding them as their own then I’m going to let these guys slide as well.

The kit comes with two NIJ certified Level

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmqly9v8pk8&feature=youtu.be

I’m a bit of a lone wolf. Or, as my teachers used to say, Robert doesn’t play well with others. This time, I did. I assembled, organized and managed a team of creative gunnies to create a cohesive, dare I say kick-ass video. Of course, we had inspiration. Dan, Nick, Alan, Barry and I are huge Kirsten Joy Weiss fans. We admire her marksmanship, professionalism, passion and perseverance. Not to mention her mad editing skillz. And the way she rocks a trench coat. I’m sure this video will be a big step in KJW’s journey to fame and fortune. For me, it will always be a reminder that no man is an island. And if he is, he sure ain’t safe from helicopter-born snipers. Know what I mean?

By Rock Island Auction Company

The sun is rising, warming the cool morning air and providing a halo for the surrounding hotels and business buildings. Already collectors are awake. Showered, combed, adorned in jeans, some wear cowboy hats and nearly all of them wear glasses – attesting to the slowly climbing age of this group. Some carefully select their continental breakfast, others munch it quietly while reading their morning paper, but most talk excitedly to friends and strangers about the event that will come alive in a short time: the gun show. Coffee is almost not needed. The air is abuzz with conversation while buttons from previous conventions flash like their animated eyes as stories are told and passions are shared. Soon a conference center or hall or casino or fairgrounds will fill with firearms enthusiasts, dealers, collectors, and window shoppers, packing the empty spaces between the tables fi

You wear one of these. OK, it’s not that funny. (It is, in fact, Revision Military’s IHPS small arms helmet. “The helmet’s optimized shell design contours the shape of the wearer’s head, increasing their area of coverage and protection while reducing system weight and unneeded space. The system weighs less than existing combat helmets and includes upgradeable mandible and visor protection. It also features an innovative retention and netted suspension system with dial-in comfort settings and high-impact ba

The problem with shotguns is that the ammunition is huge and awkward. As a result, the traditional way to keep a shotgun running has been a tube magazine running along the bottom of the barrel. It works well for things like skeet and hunting, but when you get into “tactical” uses or competition shooting the game becomes a test of who can stuff rounds in their gun faster. The VEPR-12 semi-automatic magazine fed shotgun from Molot seems designed to change the game.

Semi-auto AK-style shotguns aren’t new, and we’ve reviewed them before on the site. My

Wolf—the same people who make ammunition so questionable that using it voids the warranty on many a firearm—has announced that they’re stepping into the world of optics and night vision devices. And while the brand is somewhat questionable, the specs look really good. MAC has the exclusive scoop on Wolf’s new lineup of optics, and he’s given me permission to share some of them with you . . .

The fact that caught my eye is that the night vision scopes aren’t the Gen 1 intensifier crap we’ve seen from other vendors—they’re Gen 2+ or Gen 3 tubes. AKA “the good stuff.” Which is what has my hopes up that these will actually turn out to be solid products at a good price. Here’s what Tim has to say about them:

“I urge everyone to be extremely cautious with their firearm…I know from personal experience how easy it is to discharge a firearm accidentally.” That’s Kentucky state legislator Leslie Combs stating the painfully obvious. Well, obvious unless you’re an elected official. As yahoo.com quotes fellow Dem Rep. Jeff Greer, ”She was emptying the weapon and she thought that it was empty and pointed it away and down and pulled the trigger and it went off. Thankfully, no one was hurt. I know she feels terrible about it. … It’s just an unfortunate event.” Yes, a very unfortunate event. Unfortunate that she’s too pig-ignorant to know that simply dropping the magazine doesn’t ensure an empty gun. Unfortu

“Universities are typically non-threatening environments that see violent crime only in rare occasions, and mass shootings such as the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 are even rarer. If students are allowed to carry firearms on campus, that environment will likely gain a tense atmosphere of fear and paranoia that is detrimental to the classroom setting and could open the door to increased violence . . . Though it may be comforting to know you could have a firearm ready to defend yourself from violent crime, this is an extreme measure for far too rare of a circumstance on college campuses.” –  Alex Rosenthal, No need for guns on campus [via usforacle.com]

We’ve been saying that the NRA needs to reach out to minorities since we first hit the net. Maybe not all the people in this video. But the point remains. That doesn’t mean that the NRA should “moderate,” “sugar coat” or “compromise” its pro-Second Amendment stance. But it should do more to get African American, Hispanics and the LGBT community to join the NRA. MrColionNoire is an excellent spokesman, but America’s largest gun rights group needs on-the-ground activists to get it done. Specifically, it needs to do what it can to get minorities to jump through all the hurdles needed to keep and bear arms. Gun owners first, NRA member second. If that’s even possible.

Carolyn McCarthy has been one of the most outspoken advocates for gun control in the United States. Elected after her husband was shot and killed on the Long Island Railroad, she championed the original Assault Weapons Ban along with Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and just about every measure that would restrict the ability for Americans to exercise their right to keep and bear arms. News comes today that she will not be seeking re-election, instead retiring at the end of this term. I for one am sad, since we’ll have to find a new poster child for politicians attempting to regulate something which they have literally no idea how it works or what it does. But I’m sure one will be forthcoming. From the AP report:

Senior Democratic aides say two House Democrats — Carolyn McCarthy of