The Truth About Guns

It’s been said that H&K isn’t the most customer friendly company when it comes to the civilian market, but a recent filing with the German government reveals that the (nearly) bankrupt H&K has received approval to export a new rifle based on the G36 design for the U.S. market. Designated the HK293, the rifle will come in a variety of configurations… as soon as Uncle Sam gives it their stamp of approval. Needless to say we’ll be watching for this at the SHOT Show in a few weeks. Make the jump for the proposed specs . . .

New York’s SAFE Act is a bad, bad thing. It requires people to register, sell or transfer (out of state) “assault rifles” and “high capacity” magazines. Many Empire State gun and standard capacity ammunition magazine owners have complied. Many have not. So, at some point, the State’s gonna go get ‘em. People on both sides of the law enforcement divide will die and the s will hit the fan. Meanwhile, there it is: the reason why expanded background checks, indeed all background checks and any type of registration, set the stage for confiscation. And tyranny. [h/t DrVino]

“We are thankful for God’s grace and protection given this unsettling and unprecedented incident. We are committed to providing a safe environment for our church family to worship, and firearms are prohibited on our campuses.” - Pinelake Church Executive Pastor of Operations, Rod Cadenhead, Mississippi woman struck by bullet shell after man ignores ‘no gun’ sign in church [at rawstory.com]

Today it’s CBS’s turn to spread the FUD, with news (?) of a “gun” that can be made with items that you can purchase after you clear security at the airport. To make sure we’re on the government watchlist, here’s what you need to manufacture your airport gun: a hair dryer, some 9-volt batteries, an aluminum can, a magazine, a refrigerator magnet clip, dental floss, an anti-perspirant spray can, lithium batteries, some coins, water, and a condom. It looks like something that’d be as likely to kill you as anyone else, but according to CBS12, we should all be very afraid. Click the photo above or here to see the video, which offers Myspace among its “sharing” options, but won’t give me a simple embed code. . .

Today’s Lockdown of the Day is brought to you from

“Gun-crime in the UK may still be rare, but a drive around our roads reveals that it is far closer to home than you might have thought,”

by EC in CA

Greetings from everyone’s favorite state in the Union! Just kidding. But seriously, half as a political statement and half as an expression of state pride, I decided to build an AR-15 that’s 100% “Made in California” (a.k.a. People’s Republic of Kalifornia, Commiefornia, Kaliforniastan, et al.). Why in the name of organic granola would anyone want to build a rifle from parts made in, of all places, California? Many Americans care about where their firearm was manufactured. Some people simply want it to be “Made in the USA,” but others make more specific choices as a matter of regional, state, or civic pride. We California gun owners (all 9 million of us) are no different.

Eureka! As it turns out, there are way more AR component manufacturers based in California than one would expect—many of them produce high-quality, distinctive, and (in some cases) class-leading products. It’s important to support these gun companies f

What’s the bet that West Seattle shopkeeper Robert Moore saw Crocodile Dundee. Specifically the scene where the Aussie-out-of-water tells a would-be Big Apple mugger, “That’s not a knife. That’s a knife.” The difference here: it’s a gun vs. gun comparo (duh) and Mr. Moore didn’t really have a big gun after all. I mean the Dan Wesson is a nice gun. But it’s not a big gun. Hold on. Hey, tell me you weren’t hoping he was going to reach down and brandish a 12-gauge. Hang on; isn’t that a Ruger LC9 Bobby Boy proffers at the end of the piece? Clearly, he was bluffing. But one thing’s for sure: there’s nothing small about the size of the man’s testicles. Just sayin’ . . .

What would you say if there was a shooting range next door to your high school? I would have said ‘hell, yes!’ and joined said range in a heartbeat. It would have given me a place to shoot when I wasn’t in school, and place to leave my car and shotgun while I was in class. It would have been a win-win for me and my friends, but some people don’t see it that way . . .

The school board of Waukee, Iowa is building a middle school and high school in a formerly remote parcel adjacent to the New Pioneer Gun Club. Iowa isn’t knows as a hoplophobic nanny state, but some neighbors have their panties in a wad over the construction of a new high school within 650 feet (the horror!) of a shooting range.

But here’s the deal: the New Pioneer Gun Club is a shotgun-only range with stations for trap, skeet and sporting clays. All of the firing lanes are pointed away from the schools or toward the interior of New Pioneer’s 100-a

By A-Rod

I once saw a bumper sticker that said something like “The ATF should be a convenience store not a government agency.” I know why alcohol, tobacco and firearms got lumped into one agency but I think in the last decade or two they have strayed from their mission.  About a year ago I got to thinking what if I invested in the stock of alcohol, tobacco, and firearm companies and for diversity in the stock portfolio I would include retailers that sold alcohol, tobacco and/or firearms. I wanted to keep this experiment manageable so I chose four publicly traded companies on the NYSE related to each area of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms (defense industries included) and three retailers . . .

I had 15 stocks to keep track of on an Excel spreadsheet. That should be pretty easy t

Last year, Nick threw me a Slogan Outdoors rubber sling and said, “Hey. This guy says this is the best sling ever. Try it out.” As you’ve come to expect, we take every bold claim with a healthy dose of skepticism around here. And we take a double shot when someone uses the superlative. A year later, after miles of walking, jogging, bending over, climbing and general abuse, I’m on board. This is the best rifle sling ever made . . .

The Slogan Outdoors UltraFlex Rifle Sling is one of those, “Hey why didn’t I think of that?” affairs. No fancy sliding buckles with thirteen straps going in every direction. Just a single piece of thermoplastic (feels like rubber to me) made into a loop with two mounts on either end. Simply attach it to your rifle, adjust it so

When I lived over in the UK, gas cost $10 a gallon. The Land of Hope and Glory is an oil-producing nation. And yet the UK boasts the highest pump prices in Europe. That’s because all but a fraction of the cost goes straight to the Her Majesty’s Government’s Department of Inland Revenue.

“Nonviolence works with rational people. Gandhi would not have worked in Nazi Germany.” Mexican poet, poet, essayist, novelist and journalist Javier Sicilia quoted in Legítimo y digno tomar pistola para autodefensa (Legitimate and worthy to take a pistol for self-defense) [via excelsior.com]

In 2010, Phoenix (AZ) gun law expert Alan Korwin paid $11,000 to CBS Outdoors, who manages Phoenix’s bus shelter ads, to have 50 ads put up advertising his gun training company. The ads read “Guns Save Lives” and “Educate Your Kids,” and also contained smaller text about gun rights and Arizona’s concealed carry law. The signs went up on October 12th. A week later, Phoenix city officials decided the ads didn’t meet a requirement that such ads provide “adequate notice” of a commercial transaction, and the next day, the ads were gone. Korwin sued and lost . . .

But he later appealed and the case will appear before the Arizona Court of Appeals in about a week. Korwin’s contention is that the city is basically usin

The Firearms Coalition has provided an alert about the proposed BATFE Obama administration rules. The new regulations would make the application for trusts and companies to obtain federal tax stamps for gun mufflers (silencers, suppressors), short barreled rifles and shotguns, full-auto guns and a few other items, considerably more convoluted. The Firearms Coaliton supplied a sample comment in an article at Ammoland to use as reference for comments, which can be 

“Stephen J. Sedensky III, State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Danbury, today released his report on the investigation into the December 14, 2012, shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and a private residence in Newtown.” That’s the intro from the state of Connecticut website were you can read a summary version of what happened in Newtown almost a year ago. [Click here for our initial analysis.] As part of the report, the State released a

Republished with permission from forcescience.org

When a 20-year-old white male, dressed in black and wearing a black motorcycle helmet, stepped through the door with his finger on the trigger of an assault rifle, it turned out to be a lucky night for police and patrons at New Jersey’s largest shopping mall. Starting at about 1730 hours Nov. 4, the gunman randomly fired multiple rounds as he roamed through the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, shooting at security cameras, advertising signs, and haphazardly into the air, spreading panic with every step. But his only human target was himself. Eventually in a secluded part of the 2.1-million-square-foot complex, he squeezed off a killing shot to his head . . .

An estimated 250 LEOs from 20 different agencies swarmed to the scene to hunt h

[From the official message on the incident:]

To the Yale Community:

As we announced to you via the Yale Alert system, the University has lifted the lockdown for campus.

The incident began when an anonymous call was placed from a phone booth off-campus to the New Haven Police at 9:48 a.m.. The caller, who did not identify himself, told New Haven Police that his roommate had a gun on the Yale campus. New Haven police shared this information with Yale Police, and both responded immediately, scouring the campus and the location of the phone booth off campus from which the anonymous ca

by Brandon Friede

The saying goes, “God made men, but Sam Colt made them equal.” Setting aside concerns about gender-specific pronouns in an age of rampaging political correctness, it’s difficult to think of a situation where this applies more than that of the physically disabled. Stand your ground laws may have put an end to the legal duty to retreat (check your jurisdiction), but some of us lack the simple ability to retreat from a threat. While I have always been a firm believer in avoiding trouble, sometimes trouble finds you, and I cannot for the life of me think of a good reason why self defense should be the sole domain of the able-bodied. I hear a lot of talk about disability rights, but without the right to defend ourselves none of it really means anything . . .

Moving beyond the realm of defensive shooting, everybody needs a hobby and depending on

“The line outside the Bryant Park skating rink on Saturday night was at least 100 deep, the soon-to-be skaters waiting their turn as a seemingly endless flow of people circumambulated the ice, racing, kissing, all bathed in a pink light,” Julie Turkewitz reports at

Click here to read the Report of the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Danbury on the Shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and 36 Yogananda Street,  Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012. The report is 48 pages long but not so long on many important details of the police response to the attack. Here’s the bit about the police response in the Executive Summary: ”The response to these crimes began unfolding at 9:35:39 a.m. when the first 911 call was received by the Newtown Police Department. With the receipt of that call, the dispatching and the arrival of the police, the law enforcement response to the shootings began . . .

It was fewer than four minutes from the time the first 911 call was received until the first police offi