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The Minority Report Released By Cummings

January 31, 2012

by John Richardson 2 Comments

Here is the full Minority Report released by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Elijah Cummings.

You will note that significant effort is put into “Bush did it” claims and that the personnel recommendations note that those involved on the ground have either resigned or be reassigned.

“Fatally Flawed: Five Years of Gunwalking in Arizona.”(function() { var scribd = document.createElement(“script”); scribd.type = “text/javascript”; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = “http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js”; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();

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Preemptive Strike By Cummings And Democrats On Oversight Committee

January 31, 2012

by John Richardson 2 Comments

In what can only be considered a preemptive strike in advance of Attorney General Eric Holder’s appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) has released a report from the committee minority staff that blames Project Gunwalker entirely on the ATF Phoenix Field Division. It explicitly exonerates senior DOJ officials including Holder and Lanny Breuer.

From Cummings’ press release:

Cummings Issues Report Detailing Five Years of Gunwalking Operations in Arizona

Comprehensive Report Finds No Evidence that Senior Officials Approved Controversial Tactic

Washington, DC (Jan. 31, 2012)—Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued a 95-page minority staff report entitled “Fatally Flawed: Five Years of Gunwalking in Arizona.” The report describes the results of the Committee’s year-long investigation into the actions and circumstances that led to multiple gunwalking operations in Arizona from 2006 to 2010.

According to a letter Cummings sent to Committee Members accompanying the report, “this report tells the story of how misguided gunwalking operations originated in 2006 as ATF’s Phoenix Field Division devised a strategy to forgo prosecutions against low-level straw purchasers while they attempted to build bigger charges.”

The report finds that this strategy failed to include sufficient operational controls to stop these dangerous weapons from getting into the hands of violent criminals, creating a danger to public safety on both sides of the border. Rather than halting operations after flaws became evident, ATF’s Phoenix Field Division launched several similarly reckless operations over the course of several years, according to the report, also with tragic results.

Cummings’ letter noted that he instructed his staff “to focus on the facts we have discovered rather than the heated and sometimes inaccurate rhetoric that has characterized much of this investigation.”

“Contrary to repeated claims by some, the Committee has obtained no evidence that Operation Fast and Furious was a politically-motivated operation conceived and directed by high-level Obama Administration political appointees at the Department of Justice,” Cummings wrote in his letter. “The documents obtained and interviews conducted by the Committee indicate that it was the latest in a series of reckless and fatally flawed operations run by ATF’s Phoenix Field Division during both the previous and current administrations.”

The report sets forth ten constructive recommendations intended to address specific problems identified during the course of this investigation.

As might be expected from the rabid anti-gunners composing the Democrat side of the committee, many of their “constructive recommendations” are calls for more gun control. They include continuing and expanding the multiple semi-automatic rifle reporting requirement, repealing the Tiahrt Amendment, enactment of a “dedicated firearms trafficking law”, and more money for ATF.

The New York Times’ Charlie Savage has a long story on this effort by the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee to shield Holder and other DOJ officials. After three paragraphs trumpeting the Democrats’ conclusions and so-called exoneration of Holder, even the Times has to admit the timing is suspect.

Still, because the report was written by Democrats, the political impact of its conclusion exonerating high-level officials of wrongdoing may be limited. Its publication comes two days before Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is to testify before the committee.

In the Times article, there is significant discussion of the letter sent by DOJ to Sen. Chuck Grassley on February 4, 2011 which falsely denied any gun-walking took place. It seems to cast the blame for the false claims on Patrick Cunningham, the former head of the U.S. Attorney for Arizona’s criminal section. Cunningham, you may recall, has elected not to answer questions from Committee investigators and has pled the Fifth.

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Rumor Confirmed – Freedom Group Buys Para-USA

January 30, 2012

by John Richardson 1 Comment

One of the rumors coming out of the SHOT Show was that Para-USA was in negotiations with Cerberus’s Freedom Group to be bought out. The release sent out today by the Freedom Group confirms that they are indeed buying Para-USA.

Madison, NC — Freedom Group, Inc., (FGI) through a wholly owned subsidiary has announced today that it has finalized an asset purchase agreement to acquire certain assets of Para USA, INC., (Para).

Founded in 1985, Para has built a solid and enviable reputation for innovation, performance and reliability. Firearms enthusiasts, serious shooting competitors and law enforcement agencies choose with confidence from a wide and growing variety of Para pistols. Para’s revolutionary high capacity frame and light double action (LDATM) trigger systems, are part of the innovation that Para has brought to the world famous 1911 design.

“We welcome Para into the Freedom Group Family of Companies,” stated. E. Scott Blackwell, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Freedom Group Inc. “Para USA is a leader in handgun technology and their fine products exemplify quality, innovation and performance. Para is a perfect complement to our industry-leading family of brands, and our success in 2011 with the Remington R1 – 1911. We look forward to deploying both human and financial resources to continue to develop and supply current and future handguns for consumers and our channel partners. We also wish to thank all its employees for their continued dedication that has made Para a success.”

Para will continue day-to-day operations at their Pineville, NC based facility.

Steve at The Firearms Blog speculates that it won’t be too long before operations are moved from Pineville to either Ilion, NY or Mayfield, KY where Remington has their main plants. I think it might depend on whether the Para-USA facilities will allow greater production of 1911’s than the Ilion plant and at a lower cost per unit.

UPDATE: Jim Shepherd passed on this little tidbit in The Outdoor Wire about the acquisition.

Can’t say a lot beyond the releases about FGI’s intentions, but a note arrived late last night Para’s longtime PR/Media contact Kerby Smith. In it, Smith offered a little insight into how things are shaping up -at least from his perspective.

“The company that I worked for is no longer active,” Smith wrote, “and I am no longer employed…I assume that this e-mail will be shut down soon…It has been a great pleasure working with you for PARA USA, Inc.”

The Para acquisition means Freedom Group has acquired a running pistol company with proven products to plug into as many of the FGI company lines as it pleases.

Para, if allowed to continue, will have access to FGI’s extensive sales, marketing, dealer, and materials supply chain. About all that remains to be seen is how FGI will bring Para into the fold-and how they’ll position Para products. For now, the official line is that Para USA will continue its day-to-day operations from its relatively new headquarters in Pineville, North Carolina.

Steve at The Firearm Blog has more on this acquisition today as well. He mentions that two Para-USA employees were formerly senior level managers with Freedom Group.

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Linoge On NGVAC

January 30, 2012

by John Richardson 1 Comment

Linoge at Walls of the City does an excellent job at dissecting and then eviscerating the “new” gun control group National Gun Victims Action Council. He looks at its leaders and then their overview of what they want to do.

As with all gun control groups, they will eventually tell you the truth about their aims. In this case, NGVAC says “Any sane gun law will lead to the government being able to take your guns away.”

Linoge calls this “a seven-inch, ivory-handled KA-BAR shoved between the third and fourth ribs of the dorsal side of “gun control” (which is a wonderful image in and of itself) and then continues:

Why? Simple: one of the favorite talking points of “gun control” extremists – especially when someone accurately observes that registration leads to confiscation – is that no modern “gun control” organization wants to take your guns away.

ORLY?

Well, then, thank you Elliot and thank you Andrew and thank you to the rest of the National Gun Victims Action Council for providing us such an easy counterpoint to that claim – after all, why would people so viciously obsessed with firearms and the demonization of them want the government to have the ability to take our firearms away if they did not actually want the government to do exactly that?

As one of Linoge’s commenters says that one would expect NGVAC “to at least obfuscate the message in a way that doesn’t offend anyone with two brain cells to rub together.”

Indeed.

Read Linoge’s whole post. It provides a logical antidote to the pablum put out by the gun prohibitionists.

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Historical Quote Of The Week

January 30, 2012

by John Richardson

For this week’s historical quote from Proclaiming Liberty, I decided to go modern with a quote from George Orwell.

The totalitarian states can do great things, but there is one thing they cannot do: they cannot give the factory-worker a rifle and tell him to take it home and keep it in his bedroom. That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer’s cottage, is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see it stays there.

Orwell, George. “Don’t Let Colonel Blimp Ruin the Home Guard.” The Complete Works of George Orwell, Ed. Peter Davison. Vol. 12. London: Random House, 1998. 362-365. Print.

Orwell was active in the British Home Guard serving as a sergeant in command of a section. The quote above is from an article he wrote in 1941 for the Evening Standard in which he complained about old World War I officers in the Home Guard who were more interested in marching than marksmanship.

This quote is found on page 52 of Proclaiming Liberty which is available from Amazon.com for $12.95. The Kindle edition is now available for $3.95.

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Narcissist In Chief

January 29, 2012

by John Richardson 1 Comment

The Free North Carolina blog had this posted yesterday. The behavior shown by President Obama towards Governors Jindal, Perry, and Brewer due to a minor criticism of him is classic narcissistic behavior. Instead of focusing on what is important such as the oil spill in the Gulf, Obama flies off the handle at something routine and minor which he perceives is a criticism of him.

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A Roundup Of Endorsements For The NRA Board Of Directors

January 29, 2012

by John Richardson 5 Comments

If you are a NRA Life Member or an Annual Member of five consecutive years (or more), you are eligible to vote in the elections for NRA Board of Directors. The Board is comprised of 76 members with 25 being elected each year and the 76th being elected at the Annual Meeting.

This year there are 31 candidates running for 25 positions. Of these 31, 29 were nominated by the Nominating Committee. The remaining two candidates were nominated by a petition of the membership which requires at least 250 signatures. These two candidates are Maria Heil of New Freedom, PA and Steven Schreiner of Englewood, CO.

Here is a roundup of endorsements that I’ve been able to find.

From Sebastian and Bitter at Shall Not Be Questioned: Scott Bach, Joseph DeBergalis, Jeffrey Crane, David Coy, and Joel Friedman. In their endorsements, they explain their rationale for supporting each of these five candidates which is too long to excerpt here. Nonetheless, I think they give solid reasons for each candidate they endorse.

From Jeff Knox of the Firearms Coalition: Maria Heil.

This year I am only endorsing one candidate, Maria Heil, and asking voting members of NRA to cast ballots with only Mrs. Heil’s name marked. While I do not know Mrs. Heil personally, she comes highly recommended by friends whose opinions I deeply respect. I think Mrs. Heil would be a diligent worker for our rights as gun owners – and as NRA members – within the Board of Directors. I believe she would bring some much-needed new energy to the board.

From Col. Robert Brown of Soldier of Fortune magazine: Steve Schreiner, Scott Bach, Bob Viden, Joe DeBergalis, Wayne Anthony Ross, and Manny Fernandez. Col. Brown gives special emphasis to Steve Schreiner in his endorsements. He also specifically does not recommend Grover Norquist.

From Tom King on behalf of the NY State Rifle and Pistol Association: Joseph DeBergalis

From the Texas Firearms Coalition: David Coy and Don Saba. They endorse Coy due to his financial expertise and its importance to the Board and they endorse Saba for his work in debunking junk science being propagated by anti-gun and anti-hunting organizations.

From the New Jersey Second Amendment Society: Scott Bach and Robert Viden.

I have known Scott Back since I founded the NJ2AS and he has been continually supportive of our efforts. I wholeheartedly endorse Scott and Bob for re-election to the Board. I hope that you will join with me in voting for our New Jersey representation on the NRA.

From the Fifty Caliber Institute: John C. Sigler, Ronnie Barrett, Joe DeBergalis, Robert Viden, David Coy, Steven Schreiner, and William Bachenberg. All of these men are members of the Fifty Caliber Shooters Association and Sigler is President of the Fifty Caliber Institute. Of course, in .50 caliber circles, Ronnie Barrett needs no introduction.

From 3Gun Nation: Joe DeBergalis. They note he has been the Match Chairman of a number of 3Gun events including most recently the Rumble on the Range in Las Vegas which was held concurrently with the SHOT Show.

Two candidates for the Board – Scott Bach and David Coy – have made their own YouTube promo videos. You can find Bach’s here and Coy’s here.

I’m not endorsing anyone because I don’t know any of the candidates personally. That said, there are a number of worthwhile candidates out there. If you are eligible to vote, then do your research and VOTE. As Jeff Knox notes, ” It is an embarrassment that the greatest political action organization in the country generally gets participation from only about 7% of their members eligible to vote, but that’s the case.”

As to a voting strategy, if there is only one or a small number of candidates that you really want, vote only for them. To do otherwise dilutes your vote and makes the lesser candidates (in your opinion) equal to your favorites. While it has been criticized, bullet voting as it is called is effective tactic for helping to elect your preferred candidate or candidates.

UPDATE: Joe DeBergalis has posted a campaign flyer here which does include the organizations that have endorsed him.

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A Tale Of Two Networks

January 28, 2012

by John Richardson 1 Comment

Yesterday, the lead news story on both ABC and CBS was the growth of the U.S. economy in the fourth quarter of 2011. How they treated this news was a study in contrasts.

First, ABC which trumpeted the news as the best growth in 18 months which it was. What was not said is that the growth in GDP of 2.8% was less than the expected 3.1%. The stock market reacted negatively and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 74 points.

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Next, CBS discussed the same story and even interviewed the same economist – Diane Swonk of Chicago’s Mesirow Financial – as did ABC News. However, unlike ABC News, they gave the full story. Included in Anthony Mason’s report was the fact that much of the growth came from business restocking inventory and that the recovery was weak. They also discussed how the stock market reacted negatively to this information.

If you had just interviewed President Obama like Diane Sawyer did this week, you don’t want to release information that doesn’t portray him and his policies in the most positive light. However, it doesn’t say much for your network and honesty.

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My Five “Dream” Guns

January 28, 2012

by John Richardson 8 Comments

Robb Allen started it with his post about his five most wanted guns. SayUncle and Bob Owens (and others, I’m sure) have continued this theme today.

Here are my five – actually, it’s six because I just couldn’t narrow it down that much – that make the dream list. It is an eclectic list with both modern and old guns on it. Some of the guns are frankly rather esoteric but they caught my eye long ago and have become stuck in my brain.

The first gun on the list is the Model 41 Johnson Rifle. It was designed by Melvin Johnson, Jr., a Boston lawyer, due to what he saw were flaws in the M-1 Garand and the Pederson rifle. It was used in combat during WWII by the Dutch in Indonesia before they were overrun by the Japanese and by the Marine 1st Parachute Battalion. A variant of this firearm was the Johnson Light Machine Gun. I have a Garand, a M-1 carbine, and a Springfield 1903 and the Johnson would round out this collection very nicely.

The second gun on my list would be the Mannlicher-Schoenauer 1903 carbine in 6.5×64 M-S. The Mannlicher Schoenauer features the classic full Mannlicher stock, the archetypal butter-knife bolt handle, and a rotary magazine. It was a favorite of Hemingway who featured it in his short story The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. The great African hunter Karamojo Bell used it to take many an elephant despite the cartridge’s small size.

The third gun on my list is a modern bolt action rifle made by Dakota Arms. It is their Model 76 Classic or Classic Deluxe in .257 Roberts. Why this caliber? I think it is one of the most versatile older calibers and could be used for everything from varmints to whitetail deer. Besides, I’ve wanted a rifle in this caliber since I was in my early 20s and why not have a really nice example of it! It combines many of the features of the rifleman’s rifle – the pre-64 Winchester Model 70 – with the strength of more modern steels and alloys.

The fourth gun on my list is actually quite practical and is meant to be carried. It is a Signature Grade Browning Hi-Power SRT by Ted Yost of Heirloom Precision. It starts with a 9mm Browning Hi-Power and then goes to town with features that make it both reliable and eminently usable. It is also very attractive in my opinion.

The fifth gun on my list is the Smith and Wesson Registered Magnum revolver in .357 Magnum. Introduced in 1935, these revolvers were essentially custom guns. The pistol was made to order and could be had in any barrel length from 3.5 inches to 8.75 inches with 1/4 inch increments. From a history of the revolver:

To further enhance the ownership experience of purchasing a .357 Magnum, Smith & Wesson established a registration process by which customers could receive a special certificate stating their ownership of a specific serial-numbered revolver. The certificate also indicated the specifications of the firearm, such as barrel length, sight choice installed by the factory at the customer’s request, and walnut grip shape/type. Over 5,000 certificates were issued before Smith & Wesson discontinued the registration process.

I almost went with the Colt Python but ended up with the Registered Magnum because it is was the first .357 Magnum.

The final gun on my list is perhaps the most eclectic. It is the French-made Darne double-barrel side by side shogun. As with many things French, it has a style all its own along with a unique functionality. Unlike any other double-barrel shotgun, it does not break open on a hinge. Rather, it has a sliding breech that slides back for loading. The net effect is a lightweight shotgun that is also very strong. The shotgun is made in Saint-Etienne which has been a center for arms making in France since the 1600s.

This was a lot of fun coming up with my list and I welcome your list of five (or six!) dream guns in the comments.

UPDATE: Other bloggers have now posted their lists. I have to say Tam’s list makes my Darne shotgun look very mundane!

MadMedic, Extrano’s Alley, Michael Bane, Traction Control, and Miguel at GunFreeZone have all posted their lists.