The Truth About Guns

This past weekend, I flew out to Georgia to spend some time with Kevin Brittingham, his associates, and his mountain of machine guns. While I was mostly looking forward to catching up with Kevin and a weekend off from the busy schedule, the fact that Kevin has an extensive collection of machine guns, Maxim silencers, and other awesome things involving the ATF means that a large chunk of our time was spent on the range having a little recoil therapy. The end result is that, in the next few weeks, we will be bringing you reviews of some classic and iconic machine guns, including slow motion video and awesome pictures. In the meantime, have a sneak peek and what we’ll be bringing you . . .

“Our big thing, it’s not the gun that killed the kids. It’s the mental illness that killed the kids and his mother.” Peter Paradis, step-father of murdered Newtown school teacher Rachel D’Avino [above] quoted in Family of Newtown victim rap gun control politics [via newstimes.com]

Rep. Colleen Hanabusa is the U.S. Representative for Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District. In her HuffPo pro gun control polemic Hawaii Has Shown That Gun Control Works, Hanabusa paints a picture of a gun control island paradise, where “common sense limits on gun ownership” have helped Hawaii achieve and preserve “our low level of gun-related violence.” Oh really? Let’s take a closer look at those limits and take a peek at Hawaii’s crime stats . . .

“Hawaii’s gun laws are strict, but hardly draconian,” Hanabusa asserts. Wrong. Hawaii is a “may issue” state. Local (not state) law enforcement authorities decide whether or not residents get to exercise their natural, civil and Constitutiona

From the CBS series, Hostages. [h/t TL]

In what I hope can become a recurring “thing” for TTAG, I’ve decided to start taking pictures and giving a bit of a review on the customer experience at various gun stores I find in my travels. Today’s feature is Outpost Armory in Christiana, TN . . .

I found myself at the Outpost after returning from the Nashville Airport on a mission to retrieve a friend for a boys’ weekend (some might call it a bachelor party). Located about 40 miles southeast of Nashville on I-24, Outpost Armory moves into first place for having the highest concentration of Barrett F

As regular readers know, TTAG regularly posts press releases from the gun control industry: MAIG, The Brady Campaign, Moms Demand Disarmament, The President of the United States, etc. We do so because the People of the Gun should know what their adversaries are thinking, planning and propagandizing. In that spirit, click here for a link to a live blog of “Marching On: A Conference on Gun Violence Prev

By Pascal

The video above features the President of CCDL, Scott Wilson, talking about how the Connecticut Citizens Defense League began, what they’ve accomplished and what they are doing going forward. The CCDL began the way almost every other state-level gun rights group began. While the media loves to rail against the NRA, they forget that within each state is an organization just like the CCDL getting the word out, working the halls of politics, getting the troops ready and making sure the gun rights politicians are elected into office. Just like the NRA’s representatives . . .

Scott Wilson gets daily phone messages from anti-gun folks threatening his life. If you’re one of the many all over the USA who stood in line to testify in a hearing, only to be denied a voice and called “baby killer” by anti-gun groups, you earned your stripes for liberty and I thank you. Nobody ever said fighting for your Second Amendment r

Today at 3:10 PM Central I will be live on the radio with Kate Krueger on her radio show. Still not sure what topics we will be covering, but I’m guessing that guns will be in the mix there somewhere. Click here for the “listen live” link.

TTAG gets dozens of emails a day directing us to news stories about guns. (Thank you.) In most cases, we get links to anti-gun diatribes and heavily slanted news reports. Sometimes the polemics and “new stories” are so contemptuous of gun rights you can here distant echoes of the Nazis’ pre-war propaganda. Sometimes the bias is subtle; such as a willful reluctance to examine the antis’ stats with anything approaching scientific rigo

I meandered through the mall the other night. I was checking for changes in shoppers’ situational awareness or security, post-Kenya mall massacre. Needless to say, no. Shoppers’ heads were most definitely not on a swivel (as we armchair ninjas are wont to say). The mall cops were out and about, but in nor greater number or higher state of alert. It occurred to me that the mall offered plenty of cover and concealment and lots of points of egress. The Westgate Mall in Nairobi had only two ways in and out (a third was closed). Security check points. So . . . what if the Kenyan mall shooting happened here?

Now that the Kenya mall massacre has caught the attention of the world, the “other” attacks by Islamist terrorists have begun to rise further up the Google News food chain. “Islamic terrorists dressed in Nigerian military uniforms assaulted a college inside the country Sunday, gunning down dozens of students as they slept in their dorms and shot those trying to flee,” foxnews.com reports. ”‘They started gathering students into groups outside, then they opened fire and killed one group and then moved on

Hi Robert-

I’m just wondering-

When someone gets shot in this country- does it bother you-

How about if someone you love got shot-

How about in the face-

What if they they were so disfigured you weren’t allowed to view them-

You silly bastards make me ill and so help me God, one day

we will have controls again- mark my word!!!

Geo

“They’re trying to kill me, Mama! I’m going to die tonight! I’m going to die tonight!” - Jestin Anthony Joseph in Gun misfires, prevents possible mass shooting at Fort Worth McDonald’s [at star-telegram.com]

A electrician running cable as part of a renovation at JFK Airport’s Terminal One found a MAC-11 machine pistol hidden above the ceiling of a maintenance closet on Thursday. The gun, which WABC news 7online breathlessly reports is well known for its ability to discharge its 32 round magazine in “less than two seconds,” was found in a case outside the terminal’s secure area. There was no ammo found in or near the gun . . .

nor was there any indication of who secreted the gun there or when. Port Authority police were immediately called into investigate but are “not even slightly” concerned that this is part of some plot.

Another suburban daytime break-in, another would-be burglar stopping lead. The criminal class expect members of the middle class to be away from their homes and at work during the day. Sometimes they get a surprise. Today’s tale of pistol-powered preemption comes from the south central Kansas burgh of Wichita. When officers rolled up after a report of shots fired, “The resident of the home, a 30 year old son of the (un-named) homeowner, told officers he shot at someone trying to break in, but was unsure if he hit him.” When 5-0 later stopped a vehicle matching the resident’s description, “There were three people inside the car, including someone suffering from a gunshot wound.” It probably didn’t take Holmes and Watson to make the connection . . .

And despite the flying bullets, 

The Methuen, Massachusetts police department posted about a multi-agency gun bust on their Facebook page. Judging from his reaction to commentators (in the space provided), Chief Solomon doesn’t seem to have read the Constitution very carefully. Not that it needs much reading. Anyway, one wonders if the peeps busted on the gun charges were involved in something more nefarious than simply keeping and bearing. Here’s the PD’s post . . .

On Friday September 27, 2013 detectives from the Methuen Police Department working in conjunction with members of the FBI, ATF and Dept. of Homeland Security working on a tip, seized the following firearms after an investigation.

1 – AK-47 rifle va

A Rhode Island seventh grader has been suspended for bringing a tiny toy gun to school. Meanwhile, here in Texas, your humble scribe serves as a lunch monitor at a local elementary school. The kids are playing a new game called “guns.” Two kids face each other, seated. They tap their thighs, then bring their hands up. If their guns are cocked (if they’d tapped their thighs previously and pointed their gun fingers at the sky), they can shoot the other player. Unless the other player has his or her hands across their chest (“shield”). Shoot a shield? Tap thighs, try again. Don’t forget to cock your guns. It’s fast. And yes girls and boys play. And no, the teachers and administrators don’t say a word. Two Americas.

At the overwhelming majority of shooting competitions, you will never see a truly slung rifle. Slings are commonly used for precision long-range shooting competitions, but seeing a 3-gun stage where the start position is with a slung rifle and your hands elsewhere is exceptionally rare. Still, at the 2013 FNH USA 3-Gun Championship there were a couple stages that had that exact start position, and it was just my luck that I was the one holding the timer when things went all pear shaped . . .

FNH USA is the title sponsor of the match, so all of the Team FNH USA members (including scribes shoehorned onto the team) work the match and help out wherever they’re needed. We float from stage to stage, filling in for tired range officers when they need a rest or helping reset the stage for longer courses of fire. I was giving the RO a break on stage nine and running the next squad through when the incident happened.