The Truth About Guns

“It doesn’t matter what the issue is. The instant knee jerk reaction is, they’re coming after our guns. And that’s not it at all.” – Tucson city councilman Steve Kozachik, City councilman asks gun stores to post suicide prevention signs [at kvoa.com]

A parent volunteer at Newington Elementary School in Summerville, South Carolina is demonstrating how to be a bad parent and a bad gun owner in one shot. Stick with me here, I’m breaking this one into sections. On February 6th, police were called to the school because a 2nd grader had found a gun in her book bag. Reports say that when the child discovered the gun, she immediately called her teacher over and told her. The student’s mother works as a parent volunteer at the school. Now, we back up a day, and hear from another volunteer (we’ll call her “A”) that the same mother had bragged to her about having a gun . . .

opening her purse and showing her a black and pink pistol (actual gun not shown). When questioned by “A” about the wisdom of having the gun, her response was that she had a concealed weap

By Brandon L. Maddox

Articles on the subject of getting your own FFL license have been generated a lot of discussion, but there seems to be a lot of confusion out there as to the process. So let’s start with answering some of the FAQs.

Q:Can I get a Federal Firearms License for only personal usage?

A: No, the ATF will not issue an FFL for 100% personal usage. Do you have friends you can help with FFL transfers from gunbroker.com purchases, etc? If so, your FFL wouldn’t be 100% personal usage . . .

Q: If I have an FFL, can the ATF show up day or night and harass me?

A: Pe

“Men… remember Valentines Day is about one week away…why not the gift of safety?” asks the Rosenberg Texas Police Department’s Facebook page. “Women…tag or share with the one who needs a little nudge in the right gift giving direction…” Three-hundred and fifty-two comments later – minus a few less-than-enthralled gun control advocates – and I think we have a winner! The 

This story just keeps getting better/worse. It all started when New York’s Director of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services used his handgun’s laser as a pointer to illustrate a Powerpoint presentation. And, in doing so, lasered the heads of his audience. In a secret subterranean room in the bowels of the New York State Police HQ. Where he was prohibited from carrying a firearm. This earned Jerome Hauer TTAG’s not-so-coveted Irresponsible Gun Owner of the Day award. And then, weeks later . . .

Mr. Hauer responded to the firearm

When guns are outlawed, only outlaws have guns. And then you have what the civilian disarmament folks call the “Wild West.” In other words, could the antis be any more wrong? Sure, it’s possible. It’s just hard to see how. Unless you read the journalists’ reports from south of the border. You know, the ones who haven’t been kidnapped, tortured and killed. [h/t TC]

When you’ve paid off a debt, that debt is paid. Right? Not when that debt is a debt to society and you’re a convicted felon. When you’re convicted of any crime with a maximum penalty of more than 364 days in jail you’ll lose your rights to vote, serve on juries, and possess firearms. And you don’t usually get them back, even after you’ve served your time and paid your fines and complied with the terms of your probation. United States Attorney General Eric ‘J. Edgar’ Holder thinks this is unfair for many felons. He wants them their voting rights to be restored automatically so they can vote Democratic. But what about their rights to possess firearms? . . . crickets . . .

You might not have much sympathy for felons, and in many cases you shouldn’t. Felonies used to mean serious crimes like murder, rape, robbery and arson. Anyone who commits such crimes against another person, IHMO, has permanently forfeited their right to be trusted with

“I see precious few cases where a homeowner has warded off an intruder with 10 or more bullets.” So sayeth U.S. District Judge William Alsup said at the outset of a hearing in San Francisco, where the NRA and four CA gun owners are challenging San Francisco’s ban on standard-capacity ammunition magazines. “You have zero evidence … that these oversize magazines are used for common self-defense.” I never cease to be amazed by the amount of fail a judge can fit into so few words. With apologies to the Black Eyed Peas,

Dallas had a significant open carry event on Sunday with dozens of gun owners participating. myfoxdfw.com estimated the total at 60. “The demonstration by about 60 members of Open Carry Texas was meant to bring awareness to their cause, which is for the Texas Legislature to allow any citizen to carry a pistol in the open just as the law allows carrying of long guns.” Weird that the reporter didn’t mention that both likely candidates for governor, Greg Abbot (R) and Wendy Davis (D), have come out in support of open carry . . .

But

Over at Ammoland.com, Bay State brief Andrew F. Branca tackles a question put to him by a reader: “Will prior training in martial arts or firearms be held against you after a SD event?” (a.k.a., a Defensive Gun Use of DGU). 

This question actually comes in a million flavors. Among the most common I hear is “will taking a tactical shooting class be held against me in court?” and of course “will learning the law of self-defense, either through your book or seminar, be held against me in court?” We should state at the outset that an aggressive prosecutor will make almost any argument that will help him advance his compelling narrative of guilt and lead to you receiving the most serious conviction and the longest sentence. Sadly, sometimes—as in the Zimmerman

Over at modernserviceweapons.com the delectably named Hilton Yam offers a beginner’s guide to 1911 malfunctions. You got your vertical stovepipe (above), horizontal stovepipe, feedway stoppage, high angle failure, double feed/failure to extract, and failure to extract in conjunction with magazine failure. While I love me some 1911, I’m loathe to carry one, both for its ammo capacity limitations and the potential – make that certainty – that it will fail. C’mon admit it. It’s not a question of “if.” It’s a question of “when.” The odds that a 1911 will fail when you need it most, especially if you keep it well maintained, are lower than a snake’s belly. So . . . is it worth

Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. Having counseled me not to fall in love with the Caracal C in the first place, Ralph may laugh at my progress through the U.A.E. gat grieving process. But it is what it is. Or was. The C was my EDC (everyday carry) gun. Now, it isn’t. And the time is fast approaching when I will have to say my final goodbye to my C. And the mags. And the awesome RKBA Kydex holsters that carried it. But not straightaway . . .

Caracal’s having issues with the shipping procedure. Something abou

At last count, we had well over sixty entries in our Can Can Concealment unconventional carry gear give-away. And with such a great response, the question then becomes how to pick three winners. So we thought it makes sense to leave it up to you, our dedicated and discriminating readers. Check out all of the entries on our Facebook page here and like your favorites. We’ll continue to take submissions (send them to guntruth@me.com with ‘Can Can Submission’ in the subject field) up until midnight Sunday. Then we’ll give everyone time to view the entries and like their

We recently posted a review of the R51 9mm pistol. Remington’s new concealed carry pistol was one of the most anticipated guns coming out of the SHOT Show this year. Remington was kind enough to send us two for testing and evaluation. Unfortunately, the gun tends to pound the shooter’s hand, making practice less likely. It’s also all-too-easy to re-assemble the R51 incorrectly. An incorrectly assembled R51 will not function properly. The slide lock may lock back before all the rounds in the magazine are fired. We stand by these findings. But we have responded to reader feedback with some changes to the review . . .

In the original version of the review, Nick stated that the R51 tames the snappiness of +P ammunition. Some readers wondered how that squared with his assertion that the

“What we are witnessing is the ongoing self-delegitimization of the US federal government. It is impossible to pretend any longer that there is a rule of law in the USA. It is impossible to pretend any longer that the government is the servant of the people. Like the fire to which George Washington compared it, the dangerous servant has become the fearful master. This is why the American people are arming at a rate that has never been seen before. They are not afraid of crime. They are afraid of their government. On some inarticulate level of consciousness, they are aware of this: an unreasonable, ineloquent master who knows only the use of intimidation and force is bound to resort to the latter when the former fails.” – Vox Popoli blog

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed a bill into law today allowing concealed carry permit holders to carry their weapons into establishments that serve alcohol. The law still allows establishments to bar guns from their premises, if they so choose. The South Carolina chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is predictably having kittens over the new law, and vowing to ensure that SC businesses are fully informed of their right to prohibit firearms on their premises. There are specific sign requirements to make that happen, which MDAGSA also decried, saying “the state has made requirements for signs prohibiting firearms so complex, it has been difficult for businesses to meet these requirements.” Or maybe they just don’t want to.

In the latest example of the rule that “criminals don’t care about background c