The Truth About Guns
Exploring the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns
Updated: 23 hours 52 min ago
Gear Review: AIMTech Laser Training System
There’s only one way to become a better shooter: you need to pull the trigger. A lot. And while some of that needs to be live fire, more and more people are recommending that the majority of your trigger pulling should be done in the comfort of your own home with an unloaded firearm. Dry fire practice is the quickest way to acclimate yourself to a new firearm or improve your skills, and it’s dirt cheap as well. But while it’s nice to point your gun in the general direction of a notional target and squeeze that trigger, it would be even better if there was some way to know when you actually hit the target. Enter the AIMTech Systems Laser Training System . . .
As I was gearing up for my season shooting with the FNH USA pro team, I needed to get acclimated to the FNS-9 handgun in a hurry. It was very different from my usual P226, and mastering it t
OMG! Open Carry! OMG!
One open carry guy goes postal, killing himself and a cop’s daughter, and the whole movement becomes The Enemy Within. To the point where salon.com declares Gun activists have a new craze — and it’s more dangerous than you think. They must have misplaced their spears (exclamation marks). I wonder if we could condemn the entire anti-gun movement by the example of Karl Pierson, the Arapahoe High School shooter who supported gun control. Or Chris Dorner, the cop killer who also supported gun control. Anyway, to be fair . . .
Matt Valentine doesn’t lead his dietribe [sic] with open carry practitioner Robert Pratt’s murder-suicide. It’s buried in an article boasting with more psychobabble than a Dr. Phil-a-thon, all of which is designed to prove that open carry is
Security Industry: Sen. Boxer Legislator of the Year for School Safety
“The Security Industry Association (SIA) presented Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., with its award for Legislator of the Year in 2013 for her tireless dedication to school safety,” their presser proclaims. “SIA recognized Boxer as its 2013 Legislator of the Year for her efforts to enact the School Safety Enhancements Act of 2013 (S. 146) which [provides] schools with more resources to install classroom locks, lighting, fencing and reinforced doors, as well as to help them conduct security assessments and provide security training for students and staff.” S
Quote of the Day: More of the Same, Only More Edition
“This seems analogous to a corporate takeover, where a large company sees the advantage of acquiring the social media and brand of a target company, but their agendas are the same. In this case, their anti-Second Amendment agendas won’t change.” – civil rights attorney Chuck Michel, High-profile gun control groups join forces [at usatoday.com]
Daily Digest: Shining Light Edition
A Republican showdown is brewing in the state of Texas, where you can never be pro-gun enough, but it’s also a gun-rights organization showdown, as well. Senator John Cornyn is running for re-election, and is backed by the NRA. He has several challengers in the primary, but the most prominent of them is Representative Steve Stockman, who is backed by the GOA. The NRA describes Cornyn as “a consistent and passionate champion of our Second Amendment rights,” while the GOA says Stockman is the better candidate because he doesn’t just vote pro-gun, but has actively introduced legislation designed to take back some of the rights on which gun control laws have infringed. Looks like you Texans have some homework to do.
Gun Control And Murder Rates: A Tale Of Two (Washington) Cities
Washington, D.C. has some of the nation’s most prohibitive gun laws. The District’s civilian disarmament code is so strict, and its application so Byzantine, that law-abiding citizens must wade through months of bureaucratic sewage and pay many hundreds of dollars before they’re allowed to exercise their right to bear arms in self-defense. Washington Times journalist Emily Miller has basically made a career of lampooning DC’s obscene gun regulations, but she’s actually one of the lucky few who made it through the administrative gauntlet. As a result, there are no civilian CCW permits and barely 40,000 legally-owned firearms among the entire District’s population of just over 630,000. And 103 people have been murdered so far in 2013, for a murder rate of 16.3 per 100,000. Meanwhile, out on the left coast . . .
Gun Buybacks Don’t Work…And Even Gun Grabbers Know It
A recent gun turn-in event at a church in Dallas shows how effective private purchasers can be at neutralizing the “guns are bad” meme. From the story:
“Now there’s 15 less chances there’s a tragedy, and we’re glad for that,” said the Rev. Bruce Buchanan, an associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Dallas, which has The Stewpot ministry.
This is the usual theme of gun turn-in programs. Guns are bad and should be destroyed. However, as is happening al
A 1337: Red Orchestra Gets Guns Right. What Else?
TTAG reader A 1337 writes:
It’s rare that a video game gets guns right. Often times we are shown mags being loaded without rounds and LMG’s that need to be reloaded when you can still see rounds on the belt. This WW2 shooter, however, comes damn close to getting things right. I stumbled upon this game a few months ago, and I thought your resident gamers might enjoy it. However, if a picture is worth a thousand words, and if a video is a few thousand pictures, I thought you might be best served by a short video than a long email. Its only about a minute long, just enough for you to get the gist of it. I should mention . . .
that I was playing against mostly AI-controlled bots. That’s the reason they are kinda, um, not tactically proficient (lets face it they are pretty dumb). However against a team of players this game gets a bit brutal, with its one-shot-with-a-rifle-kills-most gameplay.
Anyway, I thought other people on th
Self-Defense Tip: A Bad Decision is Better Than No Decision
At the start of my journey into concealed carry-hood I worried about my reaction to a life-threatening situation. Would I know what to do if I had to clear leather (this was during was my pre-Kydex period)? When, exactly, should life-threatening push come to ballistic shove? And what would I do come The Moment Of Truth™? Hundreds of training hours later I’ve reached an important conclusion: I haven’t a clue. I know what I should do but I’m not 100 percent sure I’d do it. How could I be? But one thing is for certain: I will not be caught sitting on the X. You know, frozen to the spot. Whatever happens I will do someth
NFL: Fox Rejected Daniel Defense Superbowl Ad (But We Would Have Rejected It Too)
A TTAG reader wrote the following letter to the National Football League. He was angry at news that the NFL had rejected a Superbowl ad written and produced by rifle maker Daniel Defense. According to the league’s reply (after the jump), it was Fox Broadcasting that told DD to FOAD. But if Murdoch’s minions hadn’t, the NFL would have. How great is that?
Dear Sir
I’m aware of the NFL’s recent rejection of an advertisement by Daniel Defense that was to be aired during the Super Bowl this coming February. I am an avid football fan, I watch every game, I buy apparel, I go to games…when I can afford it. I’m pretty much your ideal client. However, if the NFL sees fit to take itself out of the football business and into the “culture” business, I will cease to support it in any way . . .
Decisions have consequences and whi
$23,500 Settlement For CO Open Carry Wrongful Arrest
James Sorensen open carried at a Gay Pride event in Colorado Springs in July of 2012, and this video shows him being arrested for doing absolutely nothing illegal. Open carry has been legal in Colorado Springs since 2003, but an entire squad of police somehow missed that memo. They took him to jail, and now he’s taken them to the cleaners . . .
His arrest was so blatantly unlawful that even the Huffington Post ran the story with a “Wrongfully Arrested” headline. The mayor of Colorado Springs responded fairly quickly to the Donnybrook and ordered a review of police procedure and training. It was discovered that the Colorado Springs Police Department had never updated the legal handbooks its officers carry in the field after the 2003 changes to Colorado law.
Their lack of due diligence has
Is the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Merger with Moms Demand Action a Coverup?
As we revealed last night, Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America (MDA) are now Mayors Demand Moms for Illegal Action. Or something like that. You can read the official press release after the jump, which claims that MDA has 130k members (which would mean she hasn’t added any since the May 2013 video above). Ah but are they paying members? The National Rifle Association has over 5 million dues-paying members (not to mention the cash they blow on NRA tchotckes). But who foots the bill for Shannon Watts’ anti-gun agitprop? Mayor Bloomberg! And we would have known precisely how much money made MDA Mayor Mike’s bitch if the two organizations hadn’t merged. As one of our more financially astute readers wonders . . .
“Is this merger because MDA didn’t want to file their 990 for
Question of the Day: Has Duck Dynasty Become Bad for Gun Rights?
The A&E TV network has suspended Duck Dynasty “star” Phil Robertson for his opinions on homosexuality. The hammer came down after GQ magazine scribe Drew Magary asked the born-again reality TV star to define sin. ”‘Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,’ he says. Then he paraphrases Corinthians: ‘Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.’” Robertson&
Gun Review: .50 Beowulf Overmatch Upper
The .50 Beowulf is a proprietary cartridge designed by Bill Alexander, the chef de la maison of the eponymous Alexander Arms. As a big, powerful but slow, short- to medium-distance round that’s about the size of a cocktail weenie, the .50 Beowulf is reputedly versatile enough to do the business on elk, grizzly, bison, hogzillas and your brother-in-law’s big block Chevy . . .
That’s good news for anyone who might find himself confronted by a savage Silverado. The icing on the cake is Alexander Arms’ contention that its complete Beowulf Overmatch upper will mate perfectly and shoot properly on all the milspec 5.56 lowers that you might have laying around in your garage or closet, and that you won’t need to modify a damn thing, including the seemingly wimpy 5.56 recoil buffer.
Well, color me slightly skeptical. To put Alexander Arms’
New from CMMG: Mk4 RCE Rifle
I’m pretty much convinced that Robert is screwing with me. He knows my disdain for the practice of changing one or two minor features on an AR-15 and calling it “new” burns hotter than the surface of the sun. And yet he sends me press releases like this. CMMG already makes AR-15 rifles, but they’ve changed the rail system and fiddled with one or two other items and…presto change-o! Something new for the SHOT Show! The “recon” style AR-15 was pioneered by John Noveske, incorporating a long floating handguard and (typically) an 18″ barrel. The CMMG version stops at 16″. It’s available in 5.56 and 300 Blackout, which is nice. Make the jump for the presser . . .
Fayette, MO—For the past decade, CMMG has delivered precision-machined AR rifles known for their exceptional function, accuracy and reliability. The latest rifle to embody these features is the CMMG Mk4 RCE, available in 5.56x45mm NATO or .300
Electric Cartridge Primers: Gone But Not Lamented.
Raise your hand if you remember these electric novelties. Now raise your other hand if you ever actually fired one. I’m willing to bet that the number of AI who ever touched off a round of Remington’s ‘Etronx’ electric primer ammo can be counted on the fingers of a Yakuza soldier’s left hand. Where have they gone, and what are they doing there?
Firearms inventors may have some great ideas, but they can’t really start from a blank slate if they want their products to fit in the existing market. Few really new ideas have ever hit the jackpot in the civilian firearms market, so it’s not unusual to see a new products stumble out of the gate. It is unusual to see anything fall so flat on its face as electric primers, however. Especially when they’re backed by the engineering and marketing resources of Big Green.
Remington’s gambit to change primer technology was a huge flop. After years of research and development, they released the ‘Etronx’ electric primer and a special Model 700 designed to fire it and
Quote of the Day: Rainbows and Butterflies Edition
“Instead of knee-jerk vitriol against the NRA and the millions of law-abiding gun owners they represent, wouldn’t it be something if the President, or folks at the Brady Campaign, called up Wayne LaPierre and said, ‘You know a lot about gun laws and gun owners. What can we work on together?’” – S.E. Cupp, Guns aren’t the problem – it’s the way we talk about them [at nydailynews.com]
BREAKING: Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Mayors Against Illegal Guns Merge
We almost called this one, pointing out that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) was bankrolling Shannon Watts’ Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America (MDA). We certainly highlighted the fact that MDA had replaced MAIG as the most potent PR weapon in the gun control movement’s relentless campaign to disarm Americans. And now the two become one. In a statement released today Bloomberg said . . .
“Gun violence is, unfortunately, an issue that affects every community, and coming together with Moms Demand Action today will streng
Daily Digest: Veg-O-Matic Edition
In yet another example of gun laws that will only trip up the lawful, Washington, D.C. is requiring all gun owners in the District (link contains auto-play video) to re-register their firearms with the police within 90 days, starting January 1. Letters will start going out soon to anyone who registered a firearm in the District between 1976 and 2010. The re-registration will require a trip, in person, to the police station, and will be good for three years, at which point the registration will have to be renewed (but hey, at least that one can be done online or by mail). Anyone who fails to re-register can be cited for possession of an unregistered firearm, and…
could face a fine of up to $1,000 and/or up to 1 year in jail. Remember,
Jim’s Christmas List 2013
Back when Podcasting was all the rage, I did one with an old college buddy. We ran it for about five years and then as family and work obligations took over, had to shut it down. One of my favorite episodes was always the “What’s On My Christmas List” edition we would do in late November/early December. We don’t do the podcast any more, but I still like making lists, so without further ado, I present a few items for you gift-buying consideration…
Compact Binoculars - Depending on your preferences and budget, there are three decent sets out there that I have come across. First up are the