The Truth About Guns

Nope. Ain’t gonna happen. Despite long lines and bureaucratic delays reminiscent of the Affordable Care Act website debacle, Constitution State Governor Dannel Malloy ain’t gonna cave to Republicans calling for an extension to the registration deadline for “assault rifles” and “high capacity” ammunition magazines. “A spokesman for Gov. Dannel Malloy said the deadline, which was set six months ago, can’t be moved because it is set by statute,” newyork.cbslocal.com reports, ignoring the President’s recent moves on the ACA. ”He added that the state government will do everything it can to accommodate people who try to register firearms in advance of the deadline. Gov. Malloy said 25,000 assault weapons were registered by late last Wednesday. H

Year-end lists have become pretty much obligatory. But when we decided to name the best of the best in the world of guns for 2013 – a first for TTAG – we didn’t want to do all the heavy lifting ourselves. Where’s the fun in that? Instead, we figured it made more sense to leave the decision-making to the collective wisdom of you, our readers. And I probably don’t have to tell you you’re an opinionated group. So now that we’ve weeded out the snark and older stuff, here are your choices for the best new products in the firearm firmament for 2013 . . .

Best Rifle of 2013 – TAVOR SAR

“One thing is clear. If you haven’t registered it, on the following day, it is completely illegal contraband.” – Connecticut Undersecretary for Criminal Justice Michael Lawlor, Gun Owners in Conn. Rush to Register Guns, Magazines [at wggb.com]

Your Lockdown of the Day™ comes to you from Millington, Michigan and is for about the most ridiculous reason you’ve heard yet (and keep in mind you’ve heard some doozies). It seems that a female volunteer went to Kirk Early Elementary and asked if she could open carry a handgun in the school. Despite having her carry permit and it being completely legal for her to do so, she was told no, and then the Millington Schools were put on “modified lockdown” as a security precaution…

until Superintendent Males and Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene had determined that the woman was off school property. The schools were placed on lockdown until they could make sure she’d left because she asked a question. Added note: The original source of the story,

“The number of law-enforcement officers killed by firearms in 2013 fell to levels not seen since the days of the Wild West, according to a report released Monday,” seattlepi.com reports. “The annual report from the nonprofit National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund also found that deaths in the line of duty generally fell by8 percent and were the fewest since 1959. According to the report . . .

Color me flabbergasted. George Zimmerman, a man who’s been brutalized by the media, the justice system and his own post-acquittal misjudgments seems to have done a remarkable thing. Rather than demand to see life’s manager or hire engineers to develop a combustable lemon to burn down the house that is his life, he’s taken to the solace of art . . .

As a guy who likes to write and has endured a certain amount of grief (mostly self-imposed) I can appreciate a guy who does something positive despite the heaping pile of rotting lemons that have been handed to him.

Moreover, the painting sold on Ebay for over $100,000.00. With 96 bids,

Demarcus Brandon doesn’t have to worry about checking in with his parole officer any more. The convicted violent felon was released last July after serving less than half of a 13-year sentence for armed robbery and weapons charges. Brandon had been shot in the neck by police several years ago during his arrest, but that wasn’t enough of a disincentive. No, the siren song of the Thug Life was apparently too strong for this felonious Odysseus to resist and he was shot dead while robbing a Chicago cell phone store last week. Maybe he should have lashed himself to the mast after all . . .

Police say that Brandon pulled a handgun and tried to rob a small cell phone store on East 87th Street, but the store clerk was packing, too. They exchanged gunfire, and Brandon’s years behind bars didn’t do much for his marksmanship skills. The clerk turned out to be a good enough shot in a tight situation, and he

Taurus‘ newest iteration of the almost-classic Model 85 isn’t what it looks like. Instead of a non-firing cutaway dealer sample, the View is a fully-functional Model 85 with a concealed hammer, round butt, and a transparent Lexan side panel. Taurus is marketing it as a serious CCW firearm, although the optional pink frame version may suffer from a deficit of street cred . . .

I’ll say it so you won’t have to: trigger discipline. But she’s ar

No trick shots today ladies and gentlemen. File this addition to the Kay Jay Dubs ballistic oeuvre as an example of “performance shooting.” It’s a more complete and polished version of our previous TP destructo video. It’s also a love story. In her own words, “with the Benelli, I just brought the gun up to my shoulder and shot – clear mind. Fluid. One can rarely explain love.” I can! Like Little Feat’s late drummer Richie Hayward, Big Ben never misses a beat. The recoil pad makes shooting full-zoot 12-gauge shells so easy a girl could do it. JK, KJW. No, she can’t have it. But if Benelli would like Ms. Weiss to become a demo shooter for the brand, I’m sure something could be worked out. Right after they sign-up for next year’s first annual Texas International Firearms Festival. Details to follow.

I have not forgotten the last time I killed an animal in cold blood, though it was half my lifetime ago. It was not the last time I killed an animal, of course; we all kill animals by proxy, we all command the steak and deputize the death. Even if we are vegan we consent to the distant dispatch of foliage-threatening deer and marauding mountain lions and unwanted pets. But this was the last time I pulled a trigger and deprived another creature of life for sport, on a whim, for pleasure. And there are evenings when I remember it, though it is counterproductive to do so, though it is meaningless, though it is weak . . .

In the fall of 1992 I was wandering through a small patch of thickly wooded ground south and east of Miami University. Perhaps eighty acres at most, behind a trailer that itself sat a hundred yards back from a country-maintained two-lane. It was fifty degrees out and the trees were bare. My tennis shoes crunched on the leaves

There’s just something about a lever-action rifle. They’re ingrained in our history. They’re in every good western and even a few sci-fi flicks. The characters that preferred them are almost as infamous as the lever action itself. The rifle played a part in settling America’s frontier. In short, the lever-action is among a few gun designs that are practically built into America’s DNA. And yet, I had shot one but once . . .

Luckily for me, Henry Repeating Arms came to the rescue, sending me not one, not two, but three of their infamous lever action .22s; the H001,

Just traveled through Syracuse airport. Upon exiting the terminal, travelers face these round-up (as in “cattle corral”) doors [pics above and after the jump]. They open automatically. Upon opening, several people are supposed to corral themselves inside and the door will automatically close and another opens on the other side. I was so appalled with the fatal implications in an emergency that I stopped a passing airport police officer to discuss. He said that they were there to allow people to leave the terminal while keeping people from entering. The sole purpose was so TSA does not have to post an officer there. I asked “what happens in an emergency, when people stampede the doors?” . . .

He replied that they will open automatically when the alarm

There are two definitions of legally diminished capacity in New York State. The first applies to the state’s ammunition magazines, now limited to no more than ten rounds. (And you can only load seven rounds in them, unless you’re at a shooting range.) The second definition applies to people so stupid or whacked-out on drugs that they can’t be held legally responsible for their own actions. The governor and most of the state assembly fall into this category. Smith & Wesson’s new Model 929 is a nine-shot revolver based on the N-Frame Mode 29. Loading it up with nine rounds of 115-grain jacketed hollow points, it’s a wonderful way for a New Yorker to defend his home, skirt the retarded provisions of the SAFE Act and send a big FU to the ass-clowns who passed it…all at the same time. If only that barrel were a little shorter…

To be fair, Tannerite has always sold its product as a long-range shooting accuracy indicator. Who needs binoculars to check whether or not your rifle round hit the bull when the target explodes on contact? Sure, it’s fun. And yes you can use Tannerite’s binary  to blow shit up. But that’s not the point is it? Know what I mean? Nudge nudge wink wink. But just in case it is, the company now sells its chemicals with a target, so you can mix up just the right batch to create a “binary rifle target.” Semantically, I’ve got issues; a binary rifle target should be in two pieces. But practically and commercially it’s a hit! As in BOOM! And I like the tagline – “A reward for accuracy” – because it sure is. As for the name – “Kill Shot Target”

If you ever needed clinical proof that our nation’s gun laws are certifiably insane, here’s a prime example. A Pennsylvania State Trooper, who carries a gun on a daily basis while enforcing the laws of the Commonwealth is federally prohibited from carrying – or even possessing – a firearm while off-duty with no way to restore his firearms rights. Ever. Of course, there are two ways of looking at any story. The first paragraph is only the nice way of describing this gun law fustercluck. If you’re more cynical (like me), read on . . .

Michael L. Keyes is a PA State Trooper with a history of mental illness. Seven years ago he repeatedly tried to kill himself by overdose and was involuntarily committed. After a year of mental health treatment, he was cleared by his psychiatrist and started a long legal battle to get his job back.

It may or may not be the quickest or most ergonomic way to charge an autoloading rifle, but slapping down a Heckler & Koch side-charging handle makes you feel awesomely high-speed and low-drag. Foghorn and I independently fell in lust with the Parabellum Armament AK side-charger gas tube when we handled it at last year’s SHOT Show range day, and we’ve both been a little bummed that it got bogged down in development. If you’ve got the side-charging AK jones, the good news is that your fix will finally hit the shelves next month . . .

“If gun owners are the minority, that minority has turned into a majority and recalled two senators. Every time pro-gun control advocates reveal their stance, they end up paying for it at the polls. They are taking a beating on the gun issue in Colorado.” - Colorado State Shooting Association president Tony Fabian, Colorado sees record number of gun background checks in 2013 [at dailycamera.com]

Home made gun range. Errant bullet. Next-door neighbor dead. “Know your target and what’s behind it.” Do the math.

“’I love my police officers, I really do’ said Carmen Quinones, a member of the project’s volunteer resident watch and a public housing resident for 40 years. ‘But they’re not protecting our buildings. We’re still being robbed. We’re still being mugged.’” And there you have it: proof positive that the police can’t prevent crime. Well, proof positive for anyone with a brain. Gun control advocates and their statist supporters would insist there aren’t enough police. Or education or economic opportunities for disadvantaged youth. Something, anything other than the simple idea that people in pubic housing sho

Conventional wisdom holds that country and western singers are all red state, God fearin’, gun-lovin’ good ol’ boys (and girls). But as George and Ira Gershwin would have told you, it ain’t necessarily so. Remember the Dixie Chicks? Now comes Oklahoma boy and former oilfield worker Toby Keith. A newly opened Woodbridge, Virginia restaurant that sports his name is drawing all kinds of attention for it’s prominently-posted no firearms policy. And, as you can see above, Moms Demanding Illegal Mayoral Action are all over it like a hobo on a ham sandwich . . .

After Keith’s fans directed a withering shower of opprobrium toward the dis