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Unusual Choice Of Firearm For This Police Department

August 28, 2013 by 4 Comments

When it comes to choosing a long arm for use by its officers, most police departments recently have been going with some form of an AR-15. Thus, when the Pennsylvania State Capitol Police chose the IWI Tavor SAR for use by its officers, it caught my attention.


The Pennsylvania State Capitol Police is an 86 member department charged with providing security and protection at the Capitol Complex in Harrisburg as well as at state office buildings in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Scranton. They are also charged with investigating crimes that occur within its jurisdiction. Established in 1895, they were the first police agency in Pennsylvania to come under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and are the second oldest state police agency in the country after the Texas Rangers.

So why choose the Tavor when virtually all other departments are going with some form of AR-15?

According to the press release announcing the adoption, it was due to it close quarters capabilities.

“We ar
e honored that the Pennsylvania
State
Capitol Police have chosen
to be
outfitted
with the TAVOR® SAR
,” Michael Kassnar, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at IWI US commented.
“
The
State
Capitol Police were looking for an extremely reliable rifle that was
built specifically for close quarter
battle
and
the design of the TAVOR®
SAR
bullpup
was a perfect
fit
for
their requirements.”

There is no word on how many of these bullpup rifles were purchased nor is there any word on the exact configuration.

Prior to joining IWI USA, Mr. Kassnar had been president of Harrisburg-based Charles Daly and KBI as well as Trans World Arms LLC. Charles Daly and KBI went out of business in 2010. Given that Mr. Kassnar and IWI USA are Harrisburg-based as were KBI and Charles Daly, I would not be surprised to find out that he had a long standing personal and professional relationship with the State Capitol Police. Notwithstanding that, I do believe the Tavor should perform very well in close quarters.

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Interesting Picture From Syria

August 28, 2013 by 7 Comments

The Wall Street Journal ran an article on the conflict in Syria this past Monday. It was not the war news that caught my eye but the photo that they used to illustrate it. The photo from Reuters featured a Syrian rebel sniper preparing to shoot from inside a concrete and sandbag bunker. His weapon? A FN-FAL with a big rifle scope.

Reuters photo as seen in Wall Street Journal

If you check out the front iron sights as well as the curve of the buttstock, you know that he is using a FN-FAL.

I don’t have any training or expertise as a sniper but I think the young man might have been better served if he used a sandbag rest for his FAL and had fired from further back in the bunker so as to minimize his muzzle flash.

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We Do Raffles; They Have Billionaires

August 28, 2013 by 5 Comments

If there is anything that can illustrate the difference between the forces that want gun control and those of us who believe in freedom, it is these two stories regarding campaign money in the recall election in Colorado.

First, KVDR Fox 31 Denver reports that billionaires Eli Broad and NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg contributed a combined $600,000 to Taxpayers for Responsible Democracy. This is the committee fighting to keep Colorado Senate President John Morse (D-Colorado Springs) and Senator Angela Giron (D-Pueblo) in office.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote a personal check for $350,000 to Taxpayers for Responsible Democracy, the issues committee fighting the recalls targeting Senate President John Morse and Sen. Angela Giron.

FOX31 Denver is first to report the group’s contributions report, filed Tuesday with the Secretary of State.

Bloomberg’s contribution reportedly came just last week, according to multiple sources close to the campaign.

Billionaire Eli Broad also wrote a $250,000 check to the organization, which raised a total of $708,000 in contributions between April and Aug. 22.

The article also reports another $95,000 came from two other contributors. According to a spokesperson for the anti-recall effort, they have had 17,000 contributors. Doing some quick math, four contributors put in $695,000 and 16,996 contributors contributed an average of 75 cents each. That doesn’t quite add up to me.

Morse’s anti-recall group, A Whole Lot of People for John Morse, has raised over $450,000 while Giron’s anti-recall group, Pueblo United for Angela, has raised $586,187.

The second story involves a raffle being organized by AR maker CMMG to raise money for Colorado Citizens Protecting Our Constitution.

CMMG, a popular manufacturer of AR-pattern rifles, and the most delicious tactical bacon a person can buy, is raffling off a custom, one-of-a-kind Mk4 D special Colorado Citizens Protecting Our Constitution-edition rifle to raise money for the upcoming recall elections of pro-gun control Colorado senators.

Anyone donating at least $5 to Colorado Citizens Protecting Our Constitution fund with the donation code “CMMG” will automatically be entered into the raffle. It’s that easy.

 Missouri-based CMMG had this to say on their Facebook page about why they are doing this.

In July, Colorado had sweeping legislation aimed at disabling their citizens’ Second Amendment rights go into effect and CCPOC wants to recall the biggest supporters of the legislation, Senators Giron and Morse. With your help, CCPOC can send a message to the state of Colorado – and the country – that laws like bans on magazine capacity over 15 rounds and background checks for every firearm transfer are not tolerable.

The recall effort is and has always been a grassroots effort.  It is symbolized by Victor Head and his fellow plumbers who organized the effort against Giron. I don’t see big donations coming from Kohler and American Standard to them unlike the donations that Bloomberg has made to his arrogant puppets John Morse and Angela Giron. With it likely that voters will have to vote in person rather than by mail, it will come down to whomever has the better ground game. Money can buy a lot of things but it really can’t buy passion and passion may be what wins these recall elections. Passionate voters will get to the polls and I hope that helps our side in this David versus Goliath contest.

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“Sickness In Our Souls” – John Morse

August 27, 2013 by 3 Comments

Jon Caldera, President of the Independence Institute, hosts a program on Colorado Public TV called Devils Advocate. In one of his shows, he quoted Colorado Senate President John Morse (D-Colorado Springs) saying that those who opposed his gun laws had a “sickness in their souls”. Morse is now objecting that he was taken out of context and that isn’t what he meant. Morse said he wasn’t referring to gun owners but violence in general.

Caldera has the transcript of Morse’s comment and says what Morse said is exactly what he meant. He has now challenged Morse to come on his show and explain himself.

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Why Check If You Won’t Prosecute

August 26, 2013 by 2 Comments

Dom Raso has another excellent commentary video up. This time he takes on background checks. As he correctly notes, to the average person background checks sound like a good idea. Unfortunately they do nothing to stop violent crime.

In the most recent statistics, 76,000 people lied about their eligibility to purchase a firearm on the Form 4473. Of these, only 13 were prosecuted according to Dom. We in the gun culture know that it is a Federal felony to lie on the Form 4473 and each question lied about counts as another chargeable crime. We don’t lie because we are honest people. Criminals lie because that is what they do and because they are smart enough to know that virtually nothing is going to happen to them if they do lie. Given that, what incentive is there not to lie if you are a criminal? The answer is none and that is why background checks do nothing to stop crime.

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Management Changes At Colt

August 26, 2013 by 3 Comments

A month and a half after reuniting the two halves of Colt – Colt Defense and Colt’s Manufacturing Co. – they have announced a management change. Even though Colt’s Manufacturing Co., or New Colt Holding Co. as it was legally known, was the one bought, it is their CEO, Dennis Veilleux, who will now become the CEO of the reunited company.

While I know the rationale for reunification was to secure the consumer market for Colt Defense in the face of an uncertain and turbulent defense market, one must wonder if the directors of Colt also had in mind new leadership as well. It is one of those things that we’ll never know unless someone privy to the private discussions among the directors makes it public.

The Outdoor Wire has their release and I’ve reprinted parts of it below:

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Colt Defense LLC, a leading developer and manufacturer of small arms for the global military, law enforcement and sporting markets, today announced the appointment of Dennis Veilleux as President and CEO effective immediately. Mr. Veilleux was most recently President and CEO of New Colt Holding Corp., which was acquired by Colt Defense last month. Mr. Veilleux replaces Gerald R. Dinkel, who will remain on Colt Defense’s Governing Board.

Commenting on the leadership transition, Governing Board Chairman Daniel J. Standen said, “During his tenure as CEO, Gerry Dinkel has been instrumental in Colt’s transformation into a more diversified business, including the recent completion of the acquisition of New Colt Holding Corp. We are grateful to Gerry for his valuable contribution to the Company and look forward to supporting Dennis Veilleux as the new CEO of the re-unified Colt. Dennis has 27 years of experience in the firearms industry and has achieved considerable success in his stewardship of New Colt Holding Corp.’s growth in the commercial firearms market. We believe this succession positions Colt Defense well to address the different opportunities and challenges faced by the business.”

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We Didn’t Skip Starbucks This Saturday!

August 25, 2013 by 8 Comments

In honor of “Skip Starbucks Saturday”, the Complementary Spouse and I treated ourselves to some nice coffee at our local Starbucks this afternoon. They weren’t busy when we got there but that soon changed.

Since the demanding Moms like to use handwritten messages so much, I decided to do the same as you can see below.

The Complementary Spouse went a step further and wore her Keep Calm and Carry t-shirt that we picked up at last year’s Gun Rights Policy Conference.

I, by the way, was pocket carrying my little Sig P238 in my cargo shorts. The Starbucks was not posted so everything was cool.

One of my favorite pictures of the day comes from Brandon Combs of the Firearms Policy Coalition who snapped a picture with the barista holding a “I Love Guns and Coffee” patch. He made it into a nice poster shown below.

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Cheers, North Dakota!

August 24, 2013 by 5 Comments

In the list of states with the highest consumption of beer, North Dakota is number one. Drinkers of legal age in North Dakota drank an average of 45.8 gallons per person. The overall US average is 28.2 gallons per drinker of legal age.

Rounding out the Top Five after North Dakota are, in order, New Hampshire, Montana, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. I would have expected the drinkers in Wisconsin, the home of beer and brats, to have come in higher. I also thought Texas would have made the list.

The other thing I notice about this list is that all are Northern states with long and dark winters. I guess beer helps the residents get through them.

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Journalism Ethics? Yeah, Right

August 24, 2013 by

In a column posted earlier this month, Rob Cox, global editor of Reuters Breakingviews, says it would be good business for Starbucks to ban guns in their stores.

Still, the economic downside for Starbucks may be much greater than the company has let on. The current furor could explode into a nationwide call for a boycott – something that many gun control organizations are now publicly embracing, particularly following an insensitive, though legal, call by one gun rights group for its members to parade their weapons at the Starbucks in Newtown, Connecticut – where 20 children and six educators were massacred in an elementary school last December by a gunman wielding an assault weapon with high-capacity magazines.

The truth is, Starbucks and its shareholders may have more to lose than gain by resisting the adoption of a policy like the one it has for its own corporate headquarters that asks gun owners to check them at the door.

This column predated the call by Moms Demand Action to boycott Starbucks today by a few weeks. However, I think it highly likely that Mr. Cox was well aware of the impending boycott today.

Why?

Because Mr. Cox, in addition to his work for Reuters, is a founder of the gun control group Sandy Hook Promise and is their Development Director. He discloses his role as a founder of Sandy Hook Promise at the bottom of his column.

I don’t know whether Mr. Cox is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. If he is a member, shame on him for ignoring the Society’s Code of Ethics. It states that journalists should “Act Independently”.

Act Independently
Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public’s right to know.

Journalists should:

  • Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.


  • Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.

  • Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and shun secondary employment, political involvement, public office and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity.

  • Disclose unavoidable conflicts.

  • Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable.

  • Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.

  • Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; avoid bidding for news.

If Mr. Cox and the rest of the mainstream media ever wonders why gun owners (and conservatives and libertarians) have such a distrust of the media, he need only look to this column and his role as a founder of Sandy Hook Promise. Knowing of his role in a gun control organization, who would ever believe anything that he wrote or edited for Reuters that concerned firearms? The answer is no reasonable person because it would be it be slanted against guns whether consciously or unconsciously.

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How To Inspect Your M&P Shield

August 23, 2013 by

Smith & Wesson has issued a recall on their popular M&P Shield pistols made before August 19, 2013. They have identified a condition whereby the trigger bar pin could damage the lower trigger in such a way as to cause the drop safety feature not to work. If a pistol with this condition were to be dropped, it could fire unintentionally. While S&W thinks this condition may only be present in some more recently manufactured Shields, they are being cautious.

To help determine if your M&P Shield is one of the pistols with this defect, Smith & Wesson has released a YouTube video showing exactly how to determine if the trigger bar bin is not functioning correctly.

Kudos to S& W for not only issuing the recall but posting this video showing owners on how to inspect their pistol for this potential defect. If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, then a video ups that by a factor of 10.