The Truth About Guns
Americans for Irresponsible Disarmament Wave the Bloody Ensign
I know that headline’s a little Inside Baseball but I reckon The People of the Gun should never miss an opportunity to denigrate those who would denigrate their natural, civil and Constitutional right to keep and bear arms. To be clear, Mark Kelly is point man for Americans for Responsible Solutions, a gun control organization with a name that the Nazis would love.
Night Vision Primer
Night Vision technology has been around since the latter part of World War II. Both German and American forces employed primitive night vision devices that used a powerful infrared (IR) light source and an anode/photocathode rig that was IR sensitive. Early units were large tank-mounted systems, but as the war drew to a close, man-portable technologies started to appear. These old active IR systems came to be known as Generation 0 devices. During the Vietnam War, the first passive Night Vision Devices (NVD) came into use. Passive systems solved a huge problem posed by the active system – namely that it was possible to see an active IR source from a long way away if you had a night vision sensitive device. Think of it like a man walking through dark woods with a flashlight – if you are standing in the woods as well, you can see the approaching flashlight long before its holder can see you . . .
Generation 1 units were completely passive. They simply magnified the ambient light 1000x. Th
Question of the Day: Do Your Guns Have Names?
If you don’t like waffling, skip to 4:20. That’s when itsAriJustAri confesses a love that dare not speak its name (in liberal enclaves). “I can’t even talk and breathe at the same time and explain how much I love Glock.” After her paean to “Jedediah,” itsAriJustAri moves on to roller blades. But not before filling us with hope and confidence that OFWGs (Old Fat White Guys) aren’t the once and future protectors of American gun rights. So . . . do you name your guns? Really?
Gear Review: Spartan Products’ Spartan Tactical Target
Tannerite targets are exciting, but you can only use them once. Paper targets are boring…useful, but boring. Sure they’ll tell you where your rounds hit after you look through a spotting scope or walk down range. Then, if you want a clean target, you have to wait for a range officer to announce the range is cold and trudge down with your staple gun and a fresh piece of paper. It’s not awful, but not optimal for recruiting new shooters. If you’re like me and shoot 3-gun or anything other than NRA high power, you want to know immediately if you hit something without having to stop and inspect your target. Salute Products’ Spartan Tactical steel target gives you the opportunity to improve shooting speed, accuracy, and efficiency with both visual and audible indicators . . .
The Spartan Tactical is a man-size steel reactive target that bre
MD State Troopers: They Shoot Deer Don’t They?
Maryland State Police announced additional deer hunting training for SWAT teams. JK. But not by much. “Frederick County’s farmers have embraced a suggestion from state troopers that helps them reduce their deer population, but any landowner can take advantage of the offer,” officer.com reports. The program links “a trooper who wants to hunt” with “a farmer who wants to have deer hunted on their farm.” Why cops? Bribery! JK. But not by much. Frederick County Farm Bureau President Charles Brault says the program’s for f
Quote of the Day: Doing Her Best Edition
“I have a very diverse district, and I understand there are a lot of diverse views in my district, and I listen to them and connect with them each day. I do my best to represent them. I voted the way I believe my constituents wanted.” – Colorado State Senator Evie Hudak, In Colorado, another recall effort over guns seeks GOP Senate control [at denverpost.com]
Daily Digest: You Can’t Take It With You Edition
The location of the next big political battle with implications for gun rights is Virginia, where the money is flowing fast and furious. Soon-to-be ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg is backing Terry McAuliffe, dumping a reported $1.1 million into the last two weeks of the gubernatorial race against the $500,000 the NRA has spent supporting Ken Cuccinelli (left). The other race of concern is for Attorney General, with Bloomberg-backed Mark Herring squaring off against NRA backed Mark D. Obenshain (right). McAuliffe is reportedly the favorite for the governor’s chair, so the people of the gun cannot afford to sit this one out. Get out, get involved, and get people riled up. . .
With the recent passage of the lead ammo ban in California, tnoutdoors9 did a test of the 223 Barnes VOR-TX 55 gr TSX (Copper). The petal sep
Rock Island Auctions: The Springfield Trapdoor Rifle
By Dan Thorngren
In terms of American military long arms very little attention is given to a predecessor of the much heralded M1903 and M1 Garand, the Springfield Trapdoor. The Springfield Trapdoor was produced for over 20 years and would experience many changes throughout its life. The rifle would take its place in history just after the Civil War, despite the justifiable hesitation of many military personnel who were all too aware about the superiority of repeaters and magazine fed rifles. It would kill buffalo by the thousands as America expanded westward and would also play a role in the wars against the Native Americans. Militarily it represents the watershed transition for U.S. forces from the musket to the rifle. Today we find out a little bit more of this rifle, its origins, the question of
Intro to Force-On-Force Training, Part 1: Technology
A common adage is that if you train as you will fight, you will fight as you have trained. For many people (including police officers, particularly in smaller jurisdictions), training is largely limited to the traditional square range where you stand at a line, point a gun at a static target and pull the trigger. While this sort of training is better than nothing, the problem is that if you find yourself in a real life and death situation, your body will experience a massive adrenaline dump, your fine motor skills will go out the window and much of what you’ve learned will be forgotten in the heat of the moment. Square range training is fine for competition and weapon familiarization, but if your aim is to train for a real life encounter with an armed attacker, square range training has serious limitations . . .
The next step up on the training continuum is the “tactical” style of training. The tactical model tends to be more dynamic – sometimes you
This Is What Happens to a Disarmed Populace: Michoacan is a Failed State Edition
The U.S. media continues to ignore the terrible fate of Mexico’s disarmed, disenfranchised and terrorized population. The story of the attempts of civilians to arm themselves and their success when they do are buried—along with Mexican journalists. Please read this article—republished with permission from borderlandbeat.com—through to the last sentence.
Miguel Patino Velazquez bishop Apatzingán accused Michoacan of being a “fai
Chino, CA Police Officer Injures Three in Grade School Negligent Discharge
In the grand tradition of DEA agent Lee Paige (above), a Chino, California police officer injured three students when he negligently discharged his firearm during a, um, safety demonstration at Newman Elementary School this morning. As latimes.com tells it, “The students — whose ages were not immediately known — suffered what were believed to be minor injuries and were taken to an area hospital as a precaution, said Tamrin Olden, crime prevention supervisor for the Chino Police Department…. ’We’re still sorting out the extent of the injuries and how it happened,’ Olden said.” . . .
We can only hope that like Paige’s performance, the un-named Chino copper’s demonstration was memorialized on video for your eternal viewing pleasure. There
DC Police Raid Home, Arrest Man for Possession of Single Shotgun Shell and Spent Cartridge
To say that anit-gun paranoia is out of hand in some of our large cities is an understatement. That’s particularly so in Washington, D.C., where one would expect that the local officials would have actually read the Constitution (since it’s showcased right there in the city), the levels to which the police are willing to go to persecute gun owners is simply astounding. Today’s shining example of the idiocy of D.C.’s gun laws and the danger they pose to the American people comes to us via Emily Miller at washingtontimes.com. . .
Mark Witaschek, a successful financial adviser with no criminal record, is facing two years in prison for possession of unregistered ammunition after D.C. police raided his house looking
What’s Missing from Montana’s Ursine Advice for Hunters?
“With big game rifle season to open Saturday, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) reminds hunters that bears are still out and active throughout the fall.” And so FWP offer the following advice for hunters who may encounter Grizzly bear-shaped predators.:
- Always carry bear spray, have it within easy reach and know how to use it.
- If you are going to be alone in bear country, let someone know your plans.
- Watch for fresh bear sign.
- After making a kill, get the carcass out of the area as quickly as possible.
- When field dressing the carcass, keep your can of bear spray within easy reach.
- Use special precautions if y
Hunting Coyotes After Midnight
Tyler’s mom thought that there might be some critters taking advantage of her pond late at night. The thing was practically overflowing thanks to the recent rains and attracting all sorts of nocturnal visitors. She wanted to find out if a local group of coyotes were using her pond for a clubhouse and I needed an excuse to try out some night vision monoculars that Optics Planet had sent my way. After asking around for a couple other goodies from some of our favorite gear suppliers, I marched out of the warm farmhouse into the cold and dark Texas night to investigate . . .
We as humans are engineered for daylight hunting. That’s what we’ve evolved to do; go hunt and gather during the day and then crawl into a tree and sleep all night. So when we venture into the darkness, we’re entering an environment for which we weren’t designed to operate. We don’t have the natural night vision required to get the job done,
The Best Thing About Long-Range Rifle Shooting Is . . .
The time gap between pulling the trigger and the ping of steel. (I was shooting .338 Lapua from an AI chassis. Guess the yardage.) I love that pause! Stretch it out to 1000 yards and you can make a cup of instant coffee while you wait. Hey I said instant. What do you like best about long range shooting?
Attorney General Eric Holder: I Heart Police Militarization
Just before the head of Interpol told the world that arming citizens is the best way to protect against terrorist attacks on “soft targets” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder assured cops attending the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference that they’re The Man when it comes to spree killings. “In order to prevent additional casualties, it is often patrol officers — not necessarily SWAT teams — who serve as the tip of the spear in responding to these incidents,” he said. “That’s why all law enforcement officers must have the best equipment and most up-to-date training to confront these si
Gear Review: JP Enterprises Silent Captured Buffer Spring for the AR-15
The buffer system on an AR-15 can be noisy. Which is kind of expected, since it’s a giant spring that sproings back and forth right next to your ear every time the gun goes bang. In normal guns this isn’t a problem, but when you’re running something whisper quiet (like a 300 AAC Blackout rifle) it becomes very noticeable. Thankfully, John Paul at JP Enterprises has a solution for that very problem: the silent captured buffer spring . . .
First, let’s outline the problem a little more clearly. This video was s
ATF Redacts Parts of Fast Furious Whistleblower Book
There’s been a fair amount of controversy surrounding ATF Agent John Dodson’s new book The Unarmed Truth: My Fight to Blow the Whistle and Expose Fast and Furious. Initially, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (And Really Big Fires) blocked the book, claiming it would hurt morale and “have a detremental [sic] effect on our relationships with [the Drug Enforcement Administration] and FBI.” They retreated from that position and blocked publi
Open Carry on the March
By Dean Weingarten
I have come to expect the New York Times to denigrate America’s gun culture and the Second Amendment at every opportunity. It’s interesting that they fail to note in their coverage of the Alamo protest that Texas is one of only six states that have banned the open carry of handguns. This small and shrinking minority of states (Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Mississippi recently changed their laws to recognize the constitutional right of open carry), which consists of California, Texas, Illin