The Truth About Guns

The Electric Light Orchestra recommends that you hold on tight to your dreams. Jeff Lynne had less to say about your nightmares. You know those chilling dreams when you think “holy sh*t I’m in trouble there’s nothing I can do I’m going to die” and then wake up? Like that. Only real. And, hopefully, there is something you can do to avoid death or disfigurement. Something other than using your gun. After all . . .

An armed American could well find themselves in a situation where their firearms training does them no good. Most People of the Gun consider a CLICK instead of a BANG as the seminal nightmare moment and practice clearing their weapon to prepare for a failure to fire. But the chances are your gun will fire when the S hits the F—but you might not be able to fire it.

You know; the bad

Beretta introduced the ARX-160 a few years back, and we were there. Introduced as a response to the FN SCAR project, the lighter, plastic-based firearm that features some slick visuals and a couple nifty mechanical tricks that has made it a darling of the Call of Duty crowd. Unfortunately, those features don’t seem to translate really well into Lego medium. Anyway, take a peek for yourself.

Earlier this year, I visited Outpost Armory in Tennessee, and decided it might be fun to start writing about gun stores I visit in my travels. Today’s piece is on a store close to home on the southwest side of Austin that I’ve passed dozens of times on my way out to the ranch.  Set in what appears to be a former rail station, Storied Firearms is a small gun store that offers an old timey feel. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Reader David B. writes:

For some time, I have been pondering where all the .22 ammo is going. Our Wal-Mart gets a small shipment every Wednesday and our Dick’s Sporting Goods gets a minuscule amount every Thursday. Surely, I thought, the ammo has to be going somewhere. Well, I have confirmation that it most definitely is. It has been stockpiled by RETAILERS for the past several months in anticipation of Black Friday and the Christmas shopping season . . .

We, the gun owning public, have been tools used by the corporate execs to drive business at their stores and up the foot traffic as we search for a few rounds to shoot every week. The .22 shortage, for all intents and purposes, has been deliberately created–not by the ammo hoarding public or by the ammo manufacturers, but by the retailers. I noticed that Dick’s has a huge amount of .22 ammo for sale on Black Friday. They are advertising nationwide 525 rd br

“Dallas police said two children — ages 5 and 13 — found a handgun inside a home in the 1800 block of Maryland Avenue and started playing with it in the garage,” khou.com reports. “The gun discharged and a bullet struck the five-year-old, who was listed in serious c

The key to running a handgun in shooting competitions is the ability to quickly get back on target after making your shot. Hitting the first target is easy, but it’s all about how quickly you can take down the next ones. The ability to make quick follow-up shots comes only after hundreds of hours of practice on the range, or thanks to winning the genetic lottery like a Lena Miculek. A few companies have been developing some products to try and make it easier to control the recoil of a firearm and get it back on target quicker, and one of those companies has come out with a device known as the Speed Ledge.

If you lose your shotgun choke wrenches as quickly as I lost mine (about two shotguns ago, IIRC) Leatherman’s new ‘Pump’ shotgun multitool might be just the ticket. And it works on semi-autos too.

Make the jump over to The Truth About Knives for more.

Now that Nick has weighed in on his experience with the Barnes 110 gr TAC-TX in his favorite caliber, I’m going to do the same for mine. In this case, the 80 gr. TTSX pill for my .243 WIN. First, a note on accuracy. When I went to Wyoming last year to attend a class at Gunwerks, Aaron Davidson opened things by saying that the best terminally performing bullet in the world is worthless if you can’t put it where you want it. Before I can evaluate a bullet in the real world, it has to put in some range time . . .

Using my Ruger M77 Mark II with a 1:9 twist barrel, I managed to see acceptable “hunting” accuracy from the Barnes loads. There are a couple of companies churning out high quality loads usi

By now you’ve probably seen this teaser ad floating through the nether regions of ballistic cyberspace. It may or may not be genuine. Either way, there’s likely to be more traffic at GLOCK’s SHOT Show booth than a Wally World Black Friday sale. Speculation as to exactly what the gun will be is all over the board, but seems to center on one of three variants: 1) A slim, single stack 9mm 2) something in .22 LR, or 3) a late-to-the-party .380 entry. I’ll take door number one, Monty. Whether the G42 is for real or some Photoshop jockey’s idea of a good time, Gaston’s group has to come out with a new gun some day, right? If and when, what will it be?

Once again, the family matriarch has banned me from saying anything about guns. “And you’re not bringing any paraphernalia with you are you?” The subject of firearms became verboten after a particularly nasty episode; a by-marriage family member caught site of my empty holster, gathered her brood in a panic and scarpered. She had firearms-related issues, to which I am entirely sympathetic. But I caught all the flak. No surprise there. I am the black sheep of the family; the “unstable” one who never settled down. And burned through two marriages when he did. And now my fascination with that which shall not be named. And yet I’m thankful for this ongoing antagonism . . .

My family’s opposition to my life’s work has prepared me for my labor on this website. I know what it’s like to argue with someone that isn’t listening

By Joseph Z.

If one word could summarize my father, it would be the deceptively simple title of “American.” As a boy fresh in his teen years, he sheltered his sister from their violently alcoholic mother, all while attending school where he could not participate in gym for lack of money to buy proper shoes. He was the first in his family to attend college, working every free hour to pay his way. By the time he married and I and my brother entered his life, he owned his own accounting business with multiple offices . . .

I remember a man who worked long hours to strengthen his business, yet was never too exhausted to for early morning walks with his young sons before another Saturday at work. I remember a man who sacrificed for his family but kept such a cheerful countenance that only as an adult did I realize all he gave for us. I remember a man who loved his country and the life he built

TTAG doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about handloading. That’s probably because it’s not really that much fun. Unless you’re some kind of Zen master, handloading isn’t something you do because you love to do it. It’s something you do because you love to do what handloading lets you do: shoot your guns exceptionally accurately or exceptionally cheaply. I tend to go in for the latter of these reasons, and these are not exactly (in the immortal lyrics of Dennis DeYoung) The Best Of Times for handloaders like me. Just a few years ago I sometimes had to drive 45 miles to hunt down the rumour of bulk primers or gunpowder in stock. Handloading components are now universally available again, but the economics of ammunition have changed and it’s not always cheaper to DIY . . .

Let’s look at three common rifle cartridges: 5.56x45mm NATO, .270 Winchester and 7.62x51mm NATO, an

By: Siege 

In my pursuit of undergraduate degrees and now a law degree, I have sat through my fair share of sensitivity lectures, diversity seminars, and presentations on emotional intelligence. Through this process, I have learned how radically different some people’s world views can be. Within the gun owning community, we have developed our own language and concepts which may not connect with those who do not share our experiences. The following are guidelines on how to present these concepts to those in the progressive community, gleaned from my time living amongst them . . .

Those who follow contemporary politics will be familiar with demographic trends and the so called “coalition of the ascendant.” Simplified, the theory is that an influx of

“We don’t have to convince the country. We have to convince the lawmakers.” – Americans for Responsible Solutions Executive Director Pia Carusone, Nearly a year after Sandy Hook, nation remains torn about what to do next [at cnn.com]

Think you know who permit-to-carry holders are? Twin Cities Gun Owners & Carry Forum, with the generous help of Crucible Arms, put together this short documentary showing a cross section of Minnesota’s permit-to-carry holders. . .

Chris had a post earlier today about George Zimmerman’s “large ammo stash” from his recent arrest. That arrest was for allegedly pointing a gun at his girlfriend. From legalinsurrection.com, this: “George Zimmerman’s girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe, who called 911 accusing Zimmerman of pointing a gun at her, has been shopping around for a national m

Republished from Second Call Defense [via jpfo.org]

When counseling our members on how to prepare for the aftermath of self defense, we tell clients to expect certain things:

Expect the police to treat you like a criminal.
Expect to be handcuffed.
Expect to be questioned at length.
Expect to have your words examined in detail.
Expect to be taken to jail.

It’s not that all these things will certainly happen, but . . .

we recommend that you expect them to happen.

I’d like to believe that Britney Spears is clever enough to exploit the Virginia Tech massacre for publicity. It wouldn’t be right (on any level) but it would indicate that the paparazzi-pursued pop diva possessed low animal cunning. Which is a form of intelligence. Alas, the fact that Ms. Spears wore a VT sweatshirt before shooting a shooting sequence in the video for her new video Perfume 2 is nothing more than a coincidence. The ensuing brouhaha tells u

Folks who’ve read some of my prior editorial articles know that I don’t always toe the 2A line as much as some of the other contributors to this site. It’s ironic, some might say, given my post a couple of weeks ago lambasting G&A’s Dick Metcalf for doing pretty much the same thing that I’m about to do. Before I launch into my latest apostasy, though, I do want to offer some context. G&A is an industry publication that supports the gun industry and is for sale – i.e. it’s consumers, us, exchange money to peruse it’s content. It is primarily a guns and gear magazine beholden to its advertisers to always say nice things about the stuff they review. Metcalf and the other writers understand this. They make their living catering to the firearm consumer . . .

The San Rafael city council recently passed an ordinance that makes it illegal to smoke in your own home. The excuse ‘logic’ for this breathtaking coup of social engineering is, you guessed it, ‘public health and safety.’ The same reasoning that brought you Prohibition, anti-sodomy laws and bans on interracial marriage now invites the police into your home to snuff out your Marlboro. Cigarettes probably don’t matter to most gun owners, so why should we care? . . .

Any Government With The Power To Give You Everything You Need, Also Has The Power To Take It Away

San Rafael’s shocking intrusion into private homes applies to all multi-family residence (condos, apartments, duplexes, co-ops) of three or more units, and to any unit which shares a common wall with another residence. The only homes you can smoke in are completely separate single-family homes.

Despite the fact that

By Beetle

In my article about the Savage Trials Pistol, I discussed how Savage and Colt had a final “shoot off” to see who would win the contract to be the standard issue military sidearm. We all know the result, the Colt fired 6000 rounds without issue while the Savage had 31 malfunctions and 5 parts breakages. Therefore, the Army awarded Colt the contract on March 29, 1911 to manufacture the M1911 (or Model of 1911). Even though the contract was awarded at the end of March, it took the government and Colt some time to get production up and running. There were lots of details to sort out including how the pistols should be marked, tested, and accepted by the government. In fact, only 50 pistols were made in 1911. Today collectors call these “first day of production” pistols – they are the only 1911s actually made in 1911.