The Truth About Guns

Glenn Beck’s Mercury One charity promotes the populist broadcaster’s personal responsibility perspective. In a recent TV rant, Beck “reveals” that three of his M1 peeps watched residents of an unnamed Illinois town devastated by a tornado reject federal aid. [Click here to watch the segment.] Although the article accompanying the clip doesn’t mention it, Beck says the residents met Uncle Sam’s minions in a church parking lot “with guns.” Beck—the man who told TTAG that

Remember the “Trayvon Amendment” that we posted a few days ago? You know, the one that “repealed” the Second Amendment, labeled the NRA as a terrorist organization and levied a tax against gun owners to pay reparations to black people? Well, they saw our post, read the replies in the comments section and decided to post a little something extra themselves. Make the jump for their response to our collective WTF . . .

Your movement is exactly that. Excrement. Bile. Bodies in the street due to your religion of carrying weapons of mass destruction to protect your truck and your tooth.

My

On Monday we met Lone Star Arms honchos Mike and Christina Rogers at Best of the West in Liberty Hill. That’s where they demo’d their impressive, highly modified Saiga-12 IZ-433 for us, showing us just what the sometimes-maligned AK-patterned semi-auto shotguns are capable of when done up right. Watch this space for a full review next week. In the mean time, Mike took on sharpshot Kirsten Joy Weiss in a TP-blasting smoothbore showdown. Kirsten sported RF’s Benelli M4. Mike shot his upgraded Saiga. Who won? Watch the replay after the jump and you make the call . . .

In the state of Virginia, concealed carry is allowed generally everywhere, except where the owner of the property has specifically posted “no guns allowed” signs. Most stores don’t prohibit it, so law abiding citizens freely carry concealed handguns through their doors every day. Naturally, the Moms Demand Action crowd see the ability for law abiding citizens to be able to defend themselves as a problem and have decided to inject themselves into the situation . . .

Sr. Yeager is right: it doesn’t really matter what kind of target you shoot at. That said, if you’re shooting for self-defense, make sure to check your group size (rather than ultimate accuracy). If your group is smaller than your hand you’re not shooting fast enough. If it’s bigger than your hand you’re shooting too fast. More than that, have someone call out a part of your target. Moving from target to target (no shoots are vital) improves your gunfighting abilities a hundred times more than itty bit groups. Now then, what targets do you use when you’re at a square and/or outdoor range?

Ahead of the release of part of the official police report on the Sandy Hook Elementary School spree killing, courant.com reports that the police responding to the school did so in a less-than-timely manner. “Among the aspects of the response under scrutiny was a decision by the first responding Newtown officer to park nearly a quarter mile away at the top of the driveway to the school and wait for other officers to arrive, sources familiar with the investigation said. Those officers moved to the school on foot along the tree line . . . Dispatch records indicate the first 911 call came in just before 9:36 and the first officer arrived at the school at about 9:37:30. The dispatch tapes indicate there were

The Smith & Wesson M&P .40 CO2 pistol for this review was provided by Pyramyd Air.

Here at TTAG, when we aren’t wading into the political morass, we spend a fair amount of time reviewing guns, gear, and training. One area that’s been sorely lacking is a discussion about BB and Airsoft weapons. Granted, some people argue that BB and Airsoft are ultimately toys that have no place on a gun blog, but those people would be wrong. BB and Airsoft guns have numerous applications for firearm aficionados. For many people, a BB gun was their first experience with firearms. Just about everything that you would teach a kid about a bullet flinger a

Matt in FL found this gem buried inside a kinda dull report on Texas’ move towards open carry (or not) at star-telegram.com: “’When we become aware of protests or demonstrations in our city, Arlington police officers closely monitor the situation for the safety of our community, the demonstrators and counterdemonstrators,’ police spokeswoman Tiara Ellis Richard said. ‘It’s important to note that no two situations are alike; therefore our officers approach these incidents on a case-by-case basis. It’s important that neither off

Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) press release:

Weeks before the twentieth anniversary of the law that requires gun buyers to pass background checks conducted by licensed firearm dealers, many states are still failing to share data about people who are barred from owning firearms because they are seriously mentally ill with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), according to the latest information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  These record-sharing failures leave dangerous gaps in the database designed to keep firearms from the wrong hands.  According to the data, fifteen states have reported fewer than 100 records over the last twenty years . . .

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 30, 1993, requires that individuals pass a background check before purchasing a firearm from

“Backers said they didn’t extend the law to police to prevent complications in the bill’s passage.” - New Gun May Trigger Old Law; New Jersey Measure Would Require That Pistols Be Operable Only by Specific Users [via wsj.com]

OK, so now we see the whole sequence of events leading to an open carrier being fined $2000—the maximum allowed under Texas law for “interfering with the duties of a Temple police officer,” a Class B misdemeanor. And it’s crystal clear that the Temple Texas police officer Steve Ermis’ gun grab put the LEO into a situation where he (the cop) felt threatened. And justifiably so; Grisham reached to regain control of his rifle. But again, Ermis initiated and then escalated the situation. After he cuffed the soldier, well, things just played out as they do these days. Except maybe the cop lasering Sgt. Grisham with his own .45 (3:40 in). At the end of the day, Grisham’s anger is more than understandable. Their decision to arrest him seems to be based on nothing more than their own stupidity.

The latest, but probably not final, installment in the saga of C.J. Grisham came yesterday when the jury sentenced him to a $2000 fine and no jail time for being found guilty of interference with the duties of an officer. Grisham says he’s pleased he wasn’t sentenced to jail time, but that he plans to appeal the verdict. He apparently rejected giving the jury the option of sentencing him to probation, saying if he had to go to jail, that was something he was willing to do rather than go through the risk of being on probation. “I didn’t want to be under the thumb . . .

and give the state another reason just to get me to violate parole. It’s just too easy these days. Obviously if a guy can get arrested for walking down a road while hiking with his son, I have no guarantees that I wouldn’t be charged with another bogus crime,” he said. “I would much rather go to jail for my convictions

“Illinois, the last state to allow concealed carry, is expected to begin issuing permits in April under a law that goes into effect on the first of the year. Traffic stops already are among the most dangerous activities for officers, and throwing newly legalized handguns into the mix could have tragic consequences, officials said.” Before I get to C[r]ook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s asinine comments about the prospect of American citizens in The Land of Lincoln exercising their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms [via mychicagotribune.com] I just want to say this: Illinois cops have to deal with concealed carry during traffic stops

U.S. Army Press Release:

FORT BENNING, Ga. – Soldiers from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) recently spent a week sharing their expert marksmanship skills with the nation’s future leaders and competitive shooters. Members of the USAMU Action Shooting team hosted the annual Action Shooting Junior Clinic at Fort Benning, then packed their bags for the Lone Star state and visited the cadets at Texas A&M University. ”From working with junior shooters to future leaders in our military on how to improve their marksmanship skills, it’s been one of the greatest and most rewarding feelings I can say I’ve had in my military career,” said Staff Sgt. Lee Dimaculangan . . .

The junior clinic’s sixth iteration was amon

“The notorious white supremacist Craig Cobb was taken to jail in handcuffs on Saturday after ‘patrolling’ around Leith, North Dakota with rifles and threatening citizens,”

By Tiger McKee [via tacticalwire.com]

Becoming efficient and effective with any tool relies on consistency; performing everything the same way, using proper technique regardless of the circumstances. This is especially true for defensive skills, when success or failure depends on your ability to perform under stress. Applying the Four Safety Rules consistently allows you to operate firearms safely. Let your mind wander for a fraction of a second, forget you’re holding a lethal weapon, and you make a mistake. Mistakes with firearms are embarrassing at best, but tend to be on the ugly side . . .

Not only do you have to focus on what you’re doing, you also have to pay attention to those around you. How many ti

There was a discussion on Reddit the other day about what makes someone a “mall ninja.” If you’re unfamiliar, that’s a derogatory term for someone who fancies themselves a “tactical operator,” dresses solely in tactical clothing and buys a lot of useless crap for their firearms. Some of the Reddit readers wanted to put a numerical limit on the number of attachments, like “anything more than three is a mall ninja” or some such. My argument is that it isn’t the number of attachments — it’s the quality. This pile of junk is exactly the example that proves my point. On a quality rifle with a real silencer, this would be a pretty good setup. But done on the cheap, this POS isn’t only the ugliest rifle I’ve seen in months, but also possibly the most illegal. The guy claims to have bought the oil can can through an FFL, but is it really registered, or did the FFL just sell him a thread adapter he picked up off the internet? Who knows. 

Now that RF has summoned me back to the TTAG ranch in addition to manning the helm at The Truth About Knives, I’ve decided that it’s time to check back in with some of my old gun and gear reviews to see how they’ve held up in the long run. I’ve been running the Leupold VX-R Patrol for over two years now, which is almost as long-term a test as TTAG can boast of. How’s it doing? . . .

Let’s Get Re-Acquainted, Shall We?

A bit of catch-up is probably in order, since the original gear review went live in December of 2011. The Leupold VX-R Patrol is a variable-power tactical riflescope with a 1.25-4x adjustment range, a 30mm main tube, and a 20mm objective. On the outside, the scope is 9.5 inches long and weighs 11.5 ounces without a base or rings.

“Two New Mexico state police officers are under investigation and a mother and her 14-year-old son are facing charges after a routine traffic stop turned to chaos when the teen physically confronted one officer and another officer fired shots at a minivan carrying children.” Now there’s something you don’t read about every day. The money shot [from officer.com]: “[Officer] Elias Montoya, shot at the vehicle as it drove off. Montoya wrote that he fired his weapon ‘at the left rear tire in an attempt to immobilize the vehicle.’” Strangely, I believe that. Which doesn’t make it any better. Nor does this . . .

Eighth Judicial District Attorney Donald Gallegos th