The Truth About Guns
Exploring the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns
Updated: 4 weeks 14 hours ago
Intro to Force-On-Force Training, Part 2: The Practice
In part 0ne, I discussed the various technologies and players in the force-on-force marking round business. For part two, I’m going to delve into the training side of the equation. Although there are at least three companies that produce force-on-force marking ammunition, only SNC/GD’s system can be referred to as Simunitions as they own the trademark to that term. In some ways, it’s similar to the way people still refer to photocopies as “Xerox” copies even though most photocopies aren’t made on Xerox branded machines. To avoid confusion (and given the fact that the two non-Simunitions companies appear to produce superior products) I’m going to use the term, “marking round” when referring to it. Folks who get bent out of shape when people refer to magazines as “clips” will understand the importance of being precise . . .
Daily Mail: 3D Guns Are Dangerous Because They Work Too Well
A dailymail.co.uk article shows the ATF sending two messages:
1. The 3D printed guns work, so they must be banned!
2. 3D printed guns blow up, so do not make them or attempt to use them!
I don’t think either message is really effective. Both just generate more interest in 3D printed guns . . .
The world’s first printable gun has been deemed a serious safety and security concern after a gun printed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms exploded before it was even fired.
This danger is matched by the problem with fully-functioning 3-D printed guns – they work all too well.
Gun Hero of the Day: John Stossel
The fact that New York City has a de facto gun ban is not news to anyone who wants to carry a firearm legally in The City That Never Sleeps. The People of the Gun living outside The City So Nice They Had to Name It Twice also know that civilian disarmament is alive and well in The Big Apple. But Stossel’s report may be something of a surprise to Americans who live in what the liberal elite call “Flyoverland.” This report reminds the so-called silent majority that their countrymen are not free from the yoke of tyrannical gun grabbers. If nothing else, this makes Americans cherish their gun rights and, fingers crossed, keeps it as an issue that impacts their choice of political party. So props to Stossel. Now take the bastards to court. [h/t DrVino]
Colorado Recall Gets Nasty: Hudak Supporters Threaten to Kill Recall Supporters
The third recall effort in Colorado is getting heated as the deadline for collecting signatures nears. Centennial State Dems are still reeling from the recall of two state senators over their votes in favor of increased gun control earlier this year. Now they’re scared you-know-whatless that a third recall could tip the balance of power in the senate and allow their shiny new felony-generation measures to be thrown under the bus. So it’s no surprise that Dems have upped the rhetorical heat against their uppity subjects who are trying to unseat their betters. Now some rights supporters are having their lives threatened by Democrats on the streets of their own hometown (as in the video above) . . .
Not only is the rhetoric heating up, but the Democrats are pulling out every trick in the book to try and stop the petitions from being signed. Reports are surfacing that Evie Hudak and her supporters are robo-calling homes in their districts
Random Thoughts On TSA Agents
Accur81’s recent post on the topic of the rendering of full honors to the TSA agent who was murdered at the LAX airport got me thinking. I can certainly appreciate his law enforcement officer’s perspective. I’m not a cop and as such will never be able to see things the same way as a cop. That said, from where I sit, I don’t see the problem with rendering honors to Gerado Hernadez. Mr. Hernandez was a federal agent and is the first person from that agency to fall in the line of duty. When Mr. Hernandez took the job of TSA screener, I really don’t think that he considered that his life may one day be on the line, but it was thanks to the actions of a mentally disturbed individual. Mr. Hernandez was shot and killed simply because he worked for the TSA . . .
The TSA takes a lot of (often deserved) crap from this website and many other sources, but I want to offer a slightly different perspective. Fo
FNS-40 Contest Entry: Why I Use An FFL For My Private Sales
By Anonymous
I’m opposed to universal background checks, but I won’t do business with a stranger without a 4473 and stolen firearms check because I’d rather police myself than have someone do it for me. Context is everything. In full disclosure, I work in the firearms business. I’m in my seventh year as a gun dealer and my company ships more than 10,000 firearms per year. Most transactions are dealer-to-dealer transfers and I receive all kinds of correspondence from the ATF regarding changes and focuses on firearms laws . . .
Additionally, my company’s FFL license is under a corporate name, so I am not required to log my personal firearms under the FFL and my personal purchases and sales are performed like any other non-dealer. Finally, I do as much continuing education through the ATF and the commercial branch of the National Shooting Sports Foundation as I can in order t
TTAG Exclusive: World’s First Google Glasses 3-Gun Video
TTAG reader Reid Baker writes:
“This is video taken from Google Glass during a 3 gun match at Best of the West on Saturday. For those who don’t know, Google Glass has two different ways to record video: using voice commands and using the touch area on the side of the glasses. The voice commands are fast and work well indoors where there is little background noise but at the match in gusting wind, I used the touch pad. Using Google Glass to record video is great because unlike a camera where you watch through your view finder, with Google Glass you complete the match (or follow your buddy) and when it is over you have a video of the whole thing. My favorite thing is seeing the shooters perspective. This really is as close to first person perspective you can get. The most surprising thing for me was how stable you head stays while shooting. This video wasn’t edited [or stabilized in post-production] at all.”
EDC For CCW: CRKT ‘Carajas’
No tarted-up 8Cr14 flipper, CRKT’s ‘Carajas’ features Sandvik steel, a ball-bearing pivot and G10 grips for less than $100. It’s also available with plain or combo edges. Jump over to The Truth About Knives for the full story and video.
Microsoft’s Gates and Ballmer Bankroll Crooked Signature Gatherers For WA ‘Expanded Background Check’ Initiative
There are two competing gun-related citizens’ initiatives working their way through the Washington State election system. The first is the pro-gun I-591, which would vaguely ban government entities from confiscating firearms without ‘due process of law.’ It would also ban state-required background checks unless required by federal law. But it’s not alone…The Good
I’ve already signed the petition for I-591, which is delightfully straightforward and short enough to post here in its entirety:
Initiative Measure No. 591 (I-591)
PROTECT OUR GUN RIGHTS
AN ACT Relating to protecting gun and other firearm rights; adding new sections to chapter 9.41 RCW; and creating new sections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:
It is unlawful for any government agency to confiscate guns or other
Long Beach Police Shooting Gallery?
The wimps at the Los Angeles CBS station don’t show the moments when Long Beach police open fire on a clearly mentally disturbed woman holding a pistol. And they buried the key fact—the two-hour timeline—in the story. “A perimeter near downtown Long Beach was established shortly after 9:47 a.m. after police received a report of a ‘person with a gun.’ Shortly after, authorities reported that Long Beach Boulevard and Elm Avenue were closed due to an ongoing investigation. It is believed the woman was a patient at a nearby mental health facility and suicidal. ‘The mental evaluation team spoke to the subject for over an hour. During the investigation, the suspect brandished a weapon,’ said Long Beach Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell.” And then they shot (executed?) her. Lots of officers lots of times.
Quote of the Day: Trending Up Edition
“There’s two things going on, you’ve got this sort of fear that someone’s going to take away my gun. That’s one side of it. But more broadly, gun ownership in the US is becoming the norm.” Dougherty & Co. analyst Andrea James, The depressing reality of America’s gun industry: It’s probably still a good investment [at quartz.com]
Weekend Digest: Flux Capacitor Edition
Amusing FUD from a small-minded small-town township supervisor in Williams Township, PA, where two men want to open a handgun ammunition manufacturing facility adjacent to The Heritage Guild shooting range. Supervisor Vincent Foglia objected on safety grounds, saying he feared that people — including those “who want to build pipe bombs” — would break into the facility. He added that the township doesn’t have a full-time police department to patrol in case a situation like that occurred. It’s not always enough to be right, you often have to be tolerant of ignorance as well. . .
What does 50 years at a police firing range get you? The city of Albuquerque, Colorado (who knew?) recently found out when they
Defensive Gun use of the Day: Winging It Edition
Over at breitbart.com, tanger100 comments on this defensive gun use above. “Guess these thug teenagers were just bored as well, that’s why they went after this hard-working man. How sad society has become. This man is working 2 jobs to provide for his family, and these thug teenagers, who run amuck with no supervision, discipline, etc. think it’s o.k. to rob someone because they are too lazy and bored to work themselves! What is this world coming too? Thank God this guy was carrying; otherwise, the end result could have been much worse.” My only quibble: society has ever been thus. In fact, society’s been a LOT worse. Violent crime rates have been descending for two decades. And society’s a lot worse elsewhere in the world. And? When it’s you or them, a firearm increases the odds that it’s gonna be you. That’s not a stat. That’s reality. [h/t Tom]
FNS-40 Contest Entry: The Intangibles of Shooting
By Stephen Masbad
There’s always that one person in the room who can’t seem to understand why I shoot. It’s often the same people who through snide, oft condescending remarks wonder how an intelligent, literate person could enjoying shooting. Surely I’m simply misguided, no? But what these people, and indeed many in the shooting community, fail to see is that beneath the veneer of camo, politics and showmanship that pervades the firearms industry lays an artistry in itself. Something that transcends simply a machine triggering a chemical reaction. It is these intangibles that have driven me to shoot . . .
Some balk at the suggestion such a mundane, earthy thing as shooting could ever be considered art, yet what is art, truly? It’s hardly something simple to define (though easy enough to defile), and yet paradoxically is simple at its core. Art, whether in a painting, a sculpture, o
Debate: The 2nd Amendment Has Outlived Its Usefullness
TTAG Commentator Danny says “I didn’t even want to watch the video to see what went wrong. Even after the public polls were almost completely against the idea, the ’2nd Amendment is outdated’ group won this debate. How the hell does that work?” Dunno. But I do know that our natural, civil rights are enshrined in the bill of rights. Which, thank to the Founders, isn’t easy to change. Thank God. Oh, and my Richard Luger Indianapolis debate antagonist, Juan Pacheco, doesn’t want the first five of our encounters videotaped. Huh.
LAX TSA Agent Bled-Out Waiting for Medical Assistance
Turns out Transportation Security Administration Officer Gerardo Hernandez was left unattended for 33 minutes after being shot at LAX airport on Nov. 1. It was one of those “secure the perimeter” deals—despite the fact that the shooter was in custody five minutes after the TSA Agent was shot. And one of those “why the hell didn’t one of his colleagues administer first aid” deals. “Representatives for the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Fire Department and Los Angeles Airport Police said they couldn’t comment on the ongoing investigation until extensive reports are finished.” One wonders if these “extensive” reports will be released before the report on the Newtown massacre—where delayed police response may have cost lives. And which report will be the bigger whitewash. [h/t/ DrVino]
FNS-40 Contest Entry: Is Using a TASER Considered Lethal Force?
By Henry Bowman
When most people think of TASER CEWs (Conducted Electrical Weapon), they envision their use by police in gaining compliance from resistant suspects. TASERs are an additional tool in the use of force continuum and are generally considered “less lethal.” That means they fall into the same category as pepper spray, bean bag rounds or batons, in that they can be deployed even when a suspect’s actions do not meet the three criteria for legally employing lethal force . . .
For those who may not know, lethal force is justified when an aggressor displays the ability, opportunity, and intent to cause serious bodily injury or death. However, my titular question is not posed in application to police, but rather to the armed citizen. Could using a TASER to diffuse a bad situation in which lethal force is not legally justified, land someone in hot w
Housekeeping: New Anti-Flaming Comments Policy
“The bedrock belief of the modern pro-gun movement is insurrectionism—the perverted notion that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to shoot and kill elected officials, law enforcement officers, and military service members when one personally senses ‘tyranny.’ And pro-gun activists are never shy about indicating they are prepared to use violence to get their way if the policy and lawmaking process moves in a direction they don’t like.” So, according to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence’s article PRO-GUN ACTIVISTS FANTASIZE ABOUT ASSASSINATING PRESIDENT OBAMA IN DALLAS, gun rights advocates are proto-terrorists at best, terrorists-in-waiting at worst. To back up this assertion, the unnamed author at CSGV scraped comments from
Question of the Day: What Are You Prepared to Do?
If it comes down to it and you fear for your life or that of a loved one, can you actually shoot an attacker? What if your gun jams or you run it empty? Can you get past the ‘ick’ factor and, in Diana Liedorff’s example, jam a pencil in someone’s eye? Nick’s Team FNH USA teammate advises that you think through those scenarios before you’re presented with one. As Jimmy Malone famously asked, what are you prepared to do?
Articles of Impeachment for Attorney General Eric Holder
H.RES.411 — Resolved, That Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited… (Introduced in House – IH)
HRES 411 IH 113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 411
Impeaching Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors . . .
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 14, 2013
Mr. OLSON (for himself, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. YOHO, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. FLORES, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. BRIDENSTINE, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. STOCKMAN, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, and Mr. MASSIE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the