The Truth About Guns
Exploring the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns
Updated: 4 weeks 18 hours ago
Question of the Day: Mall Much?
“A Mt. Morris man who made national headlines in 2007 with his assault weapons question for then-Presidential candidate Joe Biden is now asking the Genesee Valley shopping center to lift its ban on guns,” mlive.com reports. “Jered Townsend, 36, said the mall’s policy is ‘silly’ and that people who are legally able to do so should be able to open carry and have concealed weapons.” Alternatively, carry anyway? In most states, private property owners can only “accuse” a legally armed American of trespassing and ask them to leave. Done. Also alternatively, don’t go there. Or near there. (Criminals cruise mall parking lots.) Do your Christmas shopping online or i
Idaho CCW: One Rule For Elected Officials, Another Rule For The Rest Of Us
If you had an old conviction for, say…assault with intent to commit rape, you would be expected to mention that when you applied for a CCW permit. If you failed to disclose that ‘little technicality’ you would expect to lose your CCW permit and be prosecuted for perjury, and ultimately lose your gun rights all over again. Fair’s fair, right?Not according to Idaho State Representative Mark Patterson . . .
His CCW permit was revoked after he was caught lying in his applications, but he’s allowed to keep carrying because Idaho law allows virtually all elected officials to carry concealed firearms without a permit. This law doesn’t just include the governor and state legislators: it also covers school board members, dog catchers, and highway district commissioners . . .
This obnoxious law didn’t generate much controversy until Patterson’s case hit the news. Patterson is ineligible for a CCW permit because
Texas A&M Law Prof: Repeal the Second Amendment
The Bill of Rights. It’s a document that was designed to set a standard of individual freedom in the United States, one that the American people sacrificed their lives to secure in the 1700s and extend in the 1800s, and ever since the liberal movement has sought to add new freedoms to the growing list. But for some, the idea that a person has a right to defend themselves is repulsive. For those people, like Texas A&M law school professor Mary Margaret Penrose, there are simply too many rights in that document, and it’s high time to start curtailing some of them. Specifically, Mary wants the Second Amendment repealed.
From the CT News Junkie:
Texas A&M University Law Professor Mary Ma
Quote of the Day: Stamps are Phallic Symbols, Right? Edition
“DON’T bother with the “phallic symbol” thing. They don’t understand what it means, and the ‘inadequacy’ they feel is a bit more layered than that. They might feel inadequate physically, but it may just as easily be mental or emotional. Often, they feel unprepared to compete in the modern world… because they are. DO call them out on their fear, weakness and inadequacy…but BE EMPATHETIC. Be SYMPATHETIC about their shortcomings. It’s the one thing they absolutely cannot stand. Especially when you point out that the gun itself only proves their fear, weakness and sense of inadequacy. Make them face their demons, and force them to regard the gun itself as a symbol of their fear. Do that, and they’ll eventually come to hate it on principle.” – Richard Rowe, How to Win
Daily Digest: Technology Edition
The CQB ASSASSIN is a hybrid muzzle device designed to effectively reduce muzzle rise, felt recoil, and redistribute the flash signature. But wait, there’s more! “CQB stands for “close quarters battle”, the spiked feature was designed specifically for the protection of military and law enforcement operators in a close quarters battle situation where less than lethal force may need to be applied to an enemy combatant. Extreme caution must be exercised when handling and installing this device as it is intended to cause bodily harm.” Am I the only one that gets a little squirmy thinking about that? In what situation can you imagine that “stabbing someone with your pointy muzzle device” is going to be your best or only option? . . .
Incendiary Image of the Day: Ball State University Lockdown Edition
[Facebook convo continues after the jump]
ZM 1306 writes:
My cousin goes to BSU and I got on Facebook this morning to find out that she was in a dorm lock-down yesterday. I am having a hard time containing myself. Her mother, my aunt, is anti-gun. The majority of that side of my family are not very pro-gun. I know that nothing that the University did did anything but compromise her safety and yet reading the conversation that I am going to include in this e-mail (although redacted) has me wanting to say so much. Some of the worst parts to me were “I am glad that I can feel safe here.” and “said that there was a loud explosion there on campus”, “It was a misfire by a policeman. It isn’t anything big.” There is so much wrong with this situation. I don’t know what to do or say that would not be off-putting to my relatives. currently I am just not going t
FNS-40 Contest Entry: The Problem with Guns
By Drew
To start off, I’ll offer a little background about myself and hopefully you can fully appreciate my view. I’m a 23 year old college student in a very liberal town, Boone, in a not so liberal state, North Carolina. I live off campus in “student living” that is in no way affiliated with the school, but is targeted (no pun intended) by college students and is marketed that way. Boone is home to Appalachian State University, which some of you may know from a few years ago when we became “The Giant Killers” when we beat Michigan in their own stadium. Since 2007, the University has exploded in popularity and the town has doubled in size, the majority of which are college students. Now that that’s out of the way, I’m about to tell you what I think is the problem with guns . . .
The problem with guns, in my humble opinion, is a lack of education. I can’t even blame the media fully this time,
Kansas City Gun Crime Continues . . .
Ideally, all homicides should be investigated to determine whether or not they were justified. In the case of a Kansas City woman, she claims that after she was assaulted she was able to access her defensive firearm and shot the offender. If the investigation shows that she did not know the offender, the shooting will likely be ruled justified. Probably . . .
From kctv5.com:
According to police, a woman in her 60s answered a knock at her door and a man who she didn’t know asked for someone the woman had never heard of. When she told him he had the wrong house, the man reportedly forced his way inside.
Once inside, th
FL FFL Fights Leon Co. Gun Control with Prospect of Rapid Recall
If a picture is worth a thousand words….. see attached.
DSH Firearms is opposed to the Board of County Commissioners of Leon County’s restriction of private sales, 3-5 day waiting period and any other anti-2nd amendment effort to restrict firearm ownership in Leon County. Gun Shops have an inordinate amount of paperwork, Federal and State requirements, that already exist that restrict gun ownership in this country . . .
The burden of additional background checks for guns that already belong to private citizens is not only against our beliefs, but it also places an additional amount of employee time, paperwork and liability on our employees and stores. We are unable and unwilling to cooperate in conducting these background checks.
As one of the highest volume dealers in Tallahassee, we
BREAKING: George Zimmerman Arrested in Florida on Gun Related Charges. Again.
George Zimmerman is back in the news again after allegedly pointing a shotgun at his girlfriend in her home in Florida. You may remember George, who was charged with the murder of Trayvon Martin and was found not guilty after using a strict “self defense” claim in court (and NOT any claim of standing his ground, despite the many media reports to that effect). According to CNN . . .
George Zimmerman was charged Monday with aggravated assault, domestic violence battery and criminal mischief, after an incident at his girlfriend’s home in central Florida, said Dennis Lemma, chief deputy with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.
Zimmerman, who was acquitted earlier this year of
Milwaukee Police Hunt Man With Shotgun, Find Hunter Walking Home
In another example of our paranoid and hoplophobic society, police scoured a Milwaukee neighborhood last Saturday morning after residents reported ‘a man in camo’ carrying a shotgun down the street. Everything worked out in the end, but a law-abiding hunter found himself the object of intense police scrutiny for a little while . . .
According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
The Madison Police Department said in a statement that the man, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student, had been hunting outside the city and was unable to find parking close to his residence. He decided to walk home from his parked vehicle with an uncased shotgun, police said.
The man never pointed his weapon or made any threats, and he was not arrested or cited, the department said.
Props to the cops for keeping their co
FNS-40 Contest Entry: Granting a Marine’s Last Wish
By Michael Stephenson
There aren’t that many people I know in this world who can tell you more stories than Mr. Lee Smith. And trust me, I know plenty of story tellers. But unlike many tellers of “tall tales”, he has the papers, photos, and witnesses to prove it. Luckily for me, he’s my grandfather-in-law, so I get to hear them as often as I wish. Mr. Lee is a retired USMC Gunnery Sergeant who wore many hats during his time in the service. He did a stint in Force Recon, the training for which was designed with the sole purpose of making the standard USMC boot camp look easy. He did two tours of Vietnam as a Marine Corps Combat Photographer/Photojournalist. Since someone figured that gathering intelligence by taking pictures behind enemy lines and documenting dead Marines stacked like cordwood in the middle of the Tet Offensive was far too easy a job for a Leatherneck . . .
The Corps decided he also needed to serve as a media escort. Mr. Lee was ta
Buy A Double-Tap, Get $50 For Double-Tap Goodies
If you’re thinking of hanging some double-barreled 9mm (or .45 ACP) ornaments on your tree this season, Double-Tap Defense is offering to spice up the deal for you with a $50 credit for every gun purchased.
We reviewed the Double Tap last summer, and the major operative word from the review seemed to be ‘ouch!’ Ouch for the substantial recoil, and ouch for the $499 minimum price. Maybe Double-Tap took this to heart. The $50 credit (only redeemable at the Double Tap online store) can almost buy you a fitted Pelican case, and if you wait a few months it should get you a fitted rubberized overgrip to reduce recoil just a little bit.
Click here for the full credit details.
Dems Still Don’t Understand 3D Printing, Homemade Guns
The “Undetectable Firearms Act” expires at the end of this year, and Democrats are aflutter over the idea that scary plastic guns could soon be making their way onto the market. As proof that the law is urgently needed, they keep holding up Cody Wilson’s 3D printed Liberator handgun to illustrate the frightening future that they hope to legislate away. But the more they use that example, the more it becomes obvious that they have no idea how to handle the home-built firearms revolution and it’s scaring the ever-living crap out of them . . .
The Undetectable Firearms Act requires that any f
BREAKING: TrackingPoint Fires 15 More Employees Including CFO
We broke the news last week that Jason Schauble, TrackingPoint’s CEO, was freshly out of a job. Now we’re hearing that the purge continues — 15 more employees are heading towards the unemployment line, including the company’s CFO . . .
TrackingPoint was, to the outside observer, doing extremely well. They’ve sold out their initial run of “precision guided” rifles and according to the guys who run their testing and zeroing range they’re having to crank out more guns every week than they expected just to keep up with demand. Now, not only are they manufacturing their own rifle, but they’re tooling up to start work
Question of the Day: Does Open Carry Make Us Safer?
“An armed society is a polite society,” Robert Heinlein opined. “Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” Bet you didn’t know about that second part. It applies here. The driver who aimed the gun at the camera thought he could get away with brandishing a firearm because he assumed the brandishee was unarmed. (I assume.) Which highlights the importance of open carry. If the other person doesn’t know you’re armed they don’t have to be polite. If they do, they do. Don’t they?
The History of Mauser – As Told Through Its Pistols
By Beetle
“The best way to make a little money in the gun business is to start with a lot of money.” This saying describes how hard it is to be successful in the gun business. For every Samuel Colt and Oliver Winchester there have been men whose involvement in firearms was filled with disappointment. It can be said that the story of Paul and Wilhem Mauser fits into the latter group . . .
Mauser is best known for its bolt action rifle. In fact many people still consider the Mauser bolt design to be one of the best, if not THE best bolt action design. It’s certainly been proven throughout history, as the Germans used the Mauser bolt design in both WW1 and WW2 on their main battle rifles. Even the Americans adopted the Mauser bolt for the Springfield 1903. Some small design changes were made,
Megan Fox Puts A Hex on Murderer’s Father
“A wisecrack about bombshell actress Megan Fox spurred a South Miami teen to murder his father, a jailhouse informant told jurors Tuesday,” miamiherald.com reports. “Jason Beckman, on trial for killing his politician father in April 2009, confided to fellow jail inmates that just before the shooting, the young man had asked his father about the raven-haired Transformers star.” Nope. He didn’t ask Dad for Fox’s character’s name (Mikaela Banes). “‘His father told him he wouldn’t know what to do with that,’ the inmate, Michael Nistal, told Miami-Dade jurors. [Jason] Beckman, who prosecutors say talked openly for years about hating his father, grew enraged. ‘So he went and got a shotgun and blew his [father's] head off. He missed his [father's] head and shot his [father's] face and part of his [fathe
FNS-40 Contest Entry: Getting the F out of OFWG
By Bryan Shu
In light of the recent events at LAX, one thing that caught my attention was that a number of people suffered “evasion injuries.” Now you have to ask yourself this question: when the defecation hits the oscillation, do you want to be that guy that twists his ankle in the open and out of concealment? I’m not here to join the “hit the gym” chorus, I’m here to shout it in your face in November because if you wait until January 1st to roll around, there’s an 80% probability you’re going to give up. Humor me. It’s complicated, but there’s a hierarchy to how you invest your time and the dividends paid out. The number one thing on your list should be . . .
Sleep & Recovery
Eight hours. Eight hours. Yes, I know you have kids. Eight hours. Get 3 REM cycles and you’ll be more alert, burn more fat, and your chronic pain will melt away. If you
Quote of the Day: Better Living Through Science Edition
“Our approach to gun safety has always been holistic. We always knew that there were other ways to approach this issue than standing in front of your senator’s office, yelling until you’re red in the face about legislation.” – Sandy Hook Promise founder Rob Cox, Promoters see technology as key to gun safety [at gazette.com]