The Truth About Guns

The Lone Star State is not turning purple. Texas is a red state and that’s the way it’s staying. In fact, I suspect that Texas is turning more conservative, not less. Yes, there is a significant and growing Hispanic population. Yes, that demographic tends to vote Democrat. But there’s another demographic trend that doesn’t get much ink: red state refugees fleeing to Texas. You may say I’m a dreamer; anti-gun liberals will accompany the exodus and, eventually, carry the day. But I’m not the only one . . .

Out at the range today, a bearded OFWG Cowboy Action Shooter was

You watch an entire video of a shotgun recycling testing machine. Or even part of it. Your turn! What videos have you watched that non-gunnies wouldn’t notice or even consider? Full marks for anyone who’s watched an entire Nutnfancy review. In one sitting. Without fast-forwarding.

There’s a lot of suspense in the video above. Will late night chat show host Jimmy Kimmel play the shooters’ disability for laughs in a good way or a bad way? “Five for five,” he lies to the shooters. “Straight through the heart,” he jokes. The hands-up joke—”show of hands how many of you think it’s OK for blind people to carry guns?—is especially disgusting. Although not quite as reprehensible as telling a participant she shot her dog. Let’s be clear: a blind person has a natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. They are fully capable of using their firearm to defend their lives; a gun is a deterrent both before and during a violent attack, and a suitable way to end it. Put a blindfold on Kimmel and have him walk through a dangerous part of LA at night. See how that feels. Jerk.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-gun-box

There are bedside gun safes. There are bedside gun safes with biometric locks. But there are none that will charge your iPhone while you sleep. Or look like an oversized piece of metal ravioli. And while I’m not sure what an RF signature is—I know mine is completely indecipherable—if you and you alone can open the bedside gun safe just by pressing your hand on the top of the case, that’s a win. ‘Cause that fingertip deal would be useless if your hand was covered in blood. Just sayin’. Oh wait, you gotta wear a ring or a wristband. I ain’t wearin’ no ring again ever and wristbands are so fey. My preferred choice is home carry during the day and easy access at night. ‘Nuff said. [h/t DrVino]

“Law enforcement, we walk around with a target on our backs everywhere. We’re outgunned out there. These long rifles – we don’t have the ammunition to come close to that. Little loopholes like this that we can close makes it safer for us.” – Philadelphia highway patrol officer Rick Bowes, A call for background checks on ‘long’ gun buyers [at philly.com]

The technology behind the Tracking Point rifle really is pretty amazing, but at the same time, if you can reliably do this all day long, wouldn’t it get a little monotonous after the initial giggle factor wore off? Where’s the sense of accomplishment, like when I put 9 rounds (with one flyer) in a four inch circle at 200 yards in a crossbreeze with a .22LR? It’s neat to watch her go 4 for 4 out to 1000 yards, but if the technology is that reliably accurate, then is it good, or just expected? . . .

The wharrgarbl machine was in full effect shortly after California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed several of the anti-liberty bills on his desk this afternoon. The Courage Campaign (Who?) said “Governor Brown choose [sic] to put craven poli

“Republican Joe Lhota [above], fending off repeated attacks from his Democratic rival, Bill de Blasio, that he is too right-wing to become mayor of New York City, was forced to defend himself tonight after a video surfaced that showed him telling conservatives that gun permits should be easier to obtain in the city,” politicker.com reports. Wait. Lhota’s defending himself? How about New York City liberals d

Crazy Quail is revolting. According to their press release [full text after the jump] the system is “a type of revolt against the orthodoxy of trap and skeet. Skeet offers excellent practice for the field shooter, but too predictable – the targets always follow the same fixed angles. Trap does offer a greater variety of angles, but all of the shots are going away from the shooter.  Crazy Quail offers unique presentations and unpredictability provided by the 360 degree rotating base for the enjoyment of the upland bird wing shooter or the non-hunter alike.” Makes sense to me; when it comes to practicing your ability to shoot stuff, random is righteous. If any of our readers has sampled the system please let us know below. If you go to a demo, report to guntruth@me.com . . .

Geneva, IL – Crazy Quail will headline the  Schuyler County Shooters Club shoot on October 12, 2013 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm in Rushville, IL.  The public is welcome at this event.  Crazy Quail is perfect for the beginning shooter to the most experienced hunter.  It is a great warm up for hunting season, or just for plain fun.

Crazy Quail is a live bird shooting simulator based on

If you didn’t check back to see who won last weekend’s contest – along with a StealthGear USA ONYX IWB holster – RLC2 took the prize. Unfortunately, he entered a bogus email address in the posting process. Consider this fair warning, RLC2: you have until noon tomorrow to contact us or forfeit the prize to another talented smart-ass. And just so no one else tries to scam us out of a free holster, “RLC2″ will need to tell us the fake email addy he used to verify his identity, mkay?

You can cycle the slide without the grip safety depressed. The trigger doesn’t reset when you do so. Springfield apparently has a fix figured out, and repaired guns are supposed to start shipping back out in about 10 days.

Anti-gun proponents argue that eliminating (or dramatically restricting access to) guns would have a significant effect on the overall number of gun deaths. Since suicides represent nearly two thirds of all firearm-related deaths, it stands to reason, they say, that suicides by gun would drop precipitously. The real question is whether the elimination of guns would actually reduce the overall number of suicides or just result in fewer suicides by firearm. Since it’s impossible to answer that question definitively without actually going through the exercise, we can make an educated guess as to what would happen if (more) radical restrictions on gun ownership became a reality . . .

Hypothetically, if access to guns was eliminated or severely restricted, I think that we can all agree that the number of suicides performed with a gun would drop. But does that really matter? Before you accuse me of being a heartless bastard, let me clarify. I think that most of us can agree that suicide as a concept

With the statement that he didn’t believe “that this bill’s blanket ban on semi-automatic rifles would reduce criminal activity or enhance public safety enough to warrant this infringement on gun owners’ rights,” California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed SB 374, the assault weapons ban, along with several others late Friday afternoon. Among the gun bills he did sign into law was AB 711, the blanket ban on lead ammunition for hunting, making California the first state in the nation to enact a full prohibition. Make the jump for the full roundup of gun bill dispositions . . .

SIGNED:

• Assembly Bill 48 (Skinner) bans the sale of parts and repair ki

Emily Miller is an excellent spokesperson for gun rights: beautiful, intelligent, facile and me

You may recall that we reported on an Arizona cop who was asked to wear civvies when dropping off his daughter from school. Like other gun rights friendly media, TTAG chided the Mesa School District for their anti-gun stance. Yes, well, it turns out that Officer Alan “Scott” Urkov wasn’t wearing a “standard” police uniform. He was kitted out in SWAT regalia, including a thigh-holstered handgun. [Click here for the local Fox news report.] Funny how

Having done a few reviews in my time, I’m used to companies putting conditions on my ability to test their guns. “You can have it, but it needs to be back in three weeks.” “Use only brass ammo, and don’t feed it after midnight.” “Use only the provided lube.” And when I reached out to the guys at Adams Arms about testing out one of their piston-powered AR-15 rifles, they added a caveat of their own. But it wasn’t something I was expecting. Direct quote from the email:

Would you be willing to beat the crap out of our stuff and do your best to break it under real world application? If so were in.

I had never heard a firearms manufacturer say those words before and it was music to my ears. So, what’s the most adverse conditions possible for a rifle’s operating system? Short barreled rifle, suppressed, running the full gas setting, and using Tula ammunition. Now, 300 rounds later&#823

Isn’t It All Really Terrorism? Dan Gross asks in a huffingtonpost.com editorial. That, my friends, is what I call a conversation stopper. If the American public accepts the Brady Campaign President‘s idea that all firearms-related injury and death is a form of terrorism then it’s chocks away on a police state. Dissent disappears and liberty takes a dirt nap. After all, what rights won’t the American people surrender to stop terrorism? I mean, other than the ones we’ve already surrendered during the War on Drugs and the Global War on Terror? Gross’ editorial a serious—and seriously disturbing—look behind the curtain of the gun control mindset. Check this out . . .

It seems I can’t throw a rock these days without hitting someone who swears up and down that the Beretta 93R is the best gun ever created…because they’ve used it in a video game. Despite the limited use of the firearm in the wild, its unique design and ubiquitous inclusion in first person shooter games have made it one of the more commonly used and discussed machine pistols ever designed. Hype aside, though, is it any good? I mean in real life. Ardent fanboy testimonials aside, I had to find out for myself . . .

Let’s get this out of the way up front: yes, the 93R in question really is nickel plated. I know, it’s positively pimp-tastic. Apparently this gun came into Kevin Brittingham’s posession after it was used as a prop in a movie, hence the blinged-out color scheme. But the internal parts are all original, and that&#8

Dear Mrs. Watts,

You don’t know me. While I routinely engage you on social media, I have yet to get a response. In all honesty, that is fine. I do, however, have two suggestions for you. The first is related to your group’s members, and the second is related to your group’s disorganized message . . .

#Gunsense… That’s an interesting word. I’m not really sure what it means. I doubt even you could provide a partisan-free definition. The only definition your website provides is a laundry-list of every failed gun control proposal that was put forward following the Sandy Hook shooting. But it doesn’t really matter what it means, I guess, as long as you get your hordes of motherly minions (read: 10,200 followers) to press the re-tweet button and express t

“Detroit Police Chief James Craig spoke with residents Saturday about efforts to make neighborhoods safer and revealed he’d nearly been a victim of crime in the city as well,” detroitnews.com reports. ”‘I was almost a victim two weeks ago of carjacking,’ said Craig to a stunned crowd. ‘The Chief of Police, I know. Can you believe that? I’m happy I had the presence of mind.’” To do what?  Flash his badge? Travel with a lieutenant? Drive away? The article doesn’t say. But Detroit native and TTAG reader Dirk Diggler has something to say on the subject: “crimi

“The only problems we get are from people who aren’t expecting to see (guns carried openly) at the Capitol when they come to visit. And so that’s where the tension has been in the past. People not knowing the law and seeing that on a school trip. We kind of like to have a couple extra guys around for a calming effect, in that regard.” – Michigan State Policeman Sgt. Jeffrey Held, Bring your guns, leave your signs: Michigan Capitol rules in spotlight at Second Amendment rally [via mlive.com]