by Jim Wallace of the Gun Owners Action League is interviewed on Cam & Company regarding the microstamping bill.
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If Utah And Arizona Can Adopt State Guns, Then So Should North Carolina
Both Utah and Arizona are moving to adopt State Guns. The Utah Legislature has passed a bill to make the John Moses Browning designed Model 1911 the official State Gun. This bill is only awaiting Gov. Gary Herbert.
Meanwhile in Arizona, the Arizona Legislature is considering adopting the Colt Single Action Army revolver as their official State Gun.
In this spirit, I propose that the Tar Heel State recognize the important contributions that one of its native sons, David Marshall “Carbine” Williams, made to the development of the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1 or, as it is better known, the M-1 Carbine by adopting it as the official State Firearm.
It is estimated that over 6.5 million M-1 Carbines including all variants (M-1, M-2, M-3, paratrooper) were made by military contractors. The U.S. military used these carbines in WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Manufacturers included GM (Inland and Saginaw Divisions), IBM, Underwood, National Postal Meter, Rock-Ola, Winchester, Irwin-Pederson, Commercial Controls, Standard Products, and Quality Hardware.
While there is some controversy about Carbine Williams contribution to the final product, it did include his short-stroke gas piston and was a scaled down version of an earlier prototype in .30-06 designed by Williams.
PFC Ted Gundy, WWII Sniper, Can Still Deliver The Shot
With modern equipment, 84-year old WWII sniper, Ted Gundy can still deliver the shot. He had a 5 inch group at 1,000 yards. And they were all head shots.
Definitely the Greatest Generation.
Simple Addition Is Beyond Mayor Daley
Watching Mayor Daley at this press conference with Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) calling for more gun control reminds me of the Genesis song I Can’t Dance from their We Can’t Dance album. Just substitute “I can’t add, I can’t do math” for “I can’t dance, I can’t talk” and you have Mayor Daley.
Daley claims that 100,000 people are “shot and killed with a gun” every year on average. He makes this remark at the .25 mark of the video.
However, if you take the numbers from their own posters – 34 – and multiply that by 365, you only get 12,410. That is a far cry from 100,000. Even when you add in suicides and gun-related accidental deaths, the annual number has averaged 32,000 deaths for the years 1980-2006. This last number is from the University of Pennsylvania’s Firearm and Injury Center at Penn. FICAP has received $600,000 from the Joyce Foundation over that past few years to come up with that number.
S. 34 – The Castle Doctrine – Passes NC Senate
The Castle Doctrine bill, S. 34, passed its Third Reading tonight by a vote of 35 ayes, 13 nays. The legislature’s website doesn’t have the full vote details yet but I will put it up as soon as it is available.
S. 34 passed its Third Reading with no new amendments which is good.
The bill now goes to the State House where its companion bill, H.52, has three primary sponsors and 26 co-sponsors. On a side note, the three primary sponsors are Democrats which shows that party label is not the key ingredient in support for gun rights – at least in North Carolina.
UPDATE: Here are the voting results with the roll call on S. 34.
ROLL CALL
Legislative Session Day 19 (02-28-2011)SB 34 THE CASTLE DOCTRINE. 2nd Ed.
Sponsor: BROCK, D. BERGER, HARRINGTON
Third Reading Outcome: PASSED
Time: Feb 28 2011 7:15PM
Total Votes: 48 Ayes: 35 Noes: 13 Not: 0 Exc. Absent: 2 Exc. Vote: 0Ayes: Senator(s): ALLRAN; APODACA; BERGER, D.; BERGER, P.; BLAKE; BROCK; BROWN; BRUNSTETTER; CLARY; CLODFELTER; DANIEL; DANNELLY; DAVIS; EAST; FORRESTER; GOOLSBY; GRAHAM; GUNN; HARRINGTON; HARTSELL; HISE; HUNT; JACKSON; MEREDITH; NEWTON; PATE; PRESTON; RABON; ROUZER; RUCHO; STEVENS; TILLMAN; TUCKER; VAUGHAN; WALTERS
Noes: Senator(s): ATWATER; BLUE; GARROU; JENKINS; JONES; KINNAIRD; MANSFIELD; MCKISSICK; NESBITT; PURCELL; ROBINSON; STEIN; WHITE
Exc. Absence: Senator(s): BINGHAM; SOUCEK
Common-sense Measures – Depends On Who You Ask
The Brady Campaign put out a press release today commemorating the 17th anniversary of the effective date of the Brady Law. They claim almost 1.8 million supposed criminals, wife beaters, and mentally-ill persons were stopped by the Brady Law from purchasing firearms from FFL’s over this 17 year time period.
To commemorate the 17th anniversay, Paul Helmke has released a list of 17 “common-sense” gun control measures that he would like to see passed. They all can be “easily and quickly can be put in place to reduce gun violence.”
The List:
•Close the” Gun Show” Loophole: Extend Brady Background Checks to All Gun Purchases
•Close the Terror Gap: Prohibit Gun Sales to Suspected Terrorists
•Stop the Sale of Large Capacity Ammunition Magazines (aka Big Bullet-Blasting Boxes)
•Restore Justice to Gun Violence Victims: Repeal the Gun Industry Legal Protection Act
•Repeal Tiahrt Restrictions on Disclosure of Crime Gun Data
•Require Licensing of Gun Owners and Registration of Gun Purchases
•Strengthen ATF Authority to Regulate Gun Dealers and Crack Down on Corrupt Dealers
•Require Gun Owners to Report Lost or Stolen Guns
•Improve the National Violent Death Reporting System Date, and restore firearms research funding for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
•Restrict Large-Volume Gun Sales
•Require Licensed Dealers to Adopt Safeguards to Prevent Gun Thefts
•Require Licensed Dealers to Perform Background Checks on Employees
•Prohibit The Transfer of Gun Inventory Without Background Checks After a Dealer’s License Has Been Revoked
•Prohibit Gun Possession by People Convicted of Violent Misdemeanors
•Prohibit Gun Possession by Persons Convicted of Violent Acts as Juveniles
•Repeal the 24-hour Brady Record Destruction Requirement
•Support new technologies to help law enforcement more effectively trace crime guns and supporting development of safety features to childproof guns
Just reading through the list I learned new words. For example, I didn’t know that my standard capacity AR-15 magazines were actually Big Bullet-Blasting Boxes. Somehow I doubt the MidwayUSA catalog will have a category for Big Bullet-Blasting Boxes.
Moreover, I was somewhat surprised to learn that the Brady Campaign has taken upon itself to speak for NRA members. At least that is what the Brady Campaign claims:
Most Americans, law enforcement officials and a majority of NRA members agree with the Brady Campaign’s goal to keep deadly weapons out of the hands of criminals, domestic abusers, the dangerously mentally-ill and others who should not have them. None of these 17 recommendations would prevent or impede law-abiding citizens from owning firearms.
What the Brady Campaign forgot to report was how many battered spouses were killed by their abusers in the pre-NICS era of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act due to the five-day waiting period. I guess inconvenient details such as that don’t make for good PR.
Weird Coincidences
I was just reading a release from the Brady Campaign trumpeting the 17th anniversary of the effective date of the Brady Law which is today. The Brady Law went into effect on February 28, 1994.
Another anniversary happens on February 28th as well. On February 28, 1993, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (as it was then called) stormed the Branch Davidian compound outside of Waco, Texas beginning what would become a 50-day siege. Ultimately, four ATF special agents were killed and 78 members of the Branch Davidians died from either the raid or the fire that ended the siege.
I am not saying that there is any relationship between the two events but just that it is odd that both took place on February 28th.
NC Castle Doctrine Bill Scheduled For Final Vote Tonight
The North Carolina State Senate has put the Third Reading or final vote for S. 34 – The Castle Doctrine – on the Senate calendar for this evening’s session. It passed its Second Reading with a 37-13 vote. Normally, it would have had the Third Reading then but for an objection from one of the anti-gun senators.
In something of an anomoly, one of the senators voting against the bill in the Second Reading was St. Sen. Ed Jones from eastern NC. Senator Jones is one of the co-sponsors of S. 34 and is still listed as a co-sponsor.
S. 34 as passed out of committee is a strong bill with support from both the NRA and Grass Roots NC. The fear is that the anti-gun legislators will attempt to add amendments which will weaken the bill. GRNC sent out an alert last evening telling members to ask their state senator to pass the bill as it is currently written.
Recovery From Slide Lock
Sheriff Jim Wilson has some good instruction on how to recover from slide lock if you haven’t been counting your rounds. I have to admit I’m bad for this and plan to add this to my training.
Real Military Surplus Stores
When I was a kid, Army-Navy stores were common and they were filled with surplus items from WWII and Korea. Since it was before the Gun Control Act of 1968 you even found racks of old Mausers and Springfields full of cosmoline. If you wanted to play Army (how un-PC is that!), they had all the stuff you needed.
Today it is rare to find a real military surplus stores that has actual surplus items and not crap made in China. Usually the closest they come to surplus is selling ribbons, medals, and insignia for wannabe SEALS and other “SpecOps Operators.”
I am fortunate that I have a real military surplus store little more than 5 miles from my house. The Old Grouch’s Military Surplus sells the real thing whether it is surplus USMC motorcycles, wooden practice shells for a 3″ naval gun, or an Alice pack. You keep going back because you just never know what they will somehow lay their hands on. They are located in beautiful downtown Clyde, NC, population 1,324. The store is right across from an old naval gun that is the town’s war memorial as you can see in the picture below.
Thanks to the second generation in the business, the Old Grouch’s son Tim, they now have both a blog and an online presence. They even have a Facebook page! If you are some of the more unusual surplus items along with the common stuff, I suggest giving them a try. If you are ever visiting western North Carolina, drop in to see what a real military surplus store looks like.
Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast just put out a video review of surplus Italian Army alpine rucksacks sold by Old Grouch’s. I have one of the bunch that they sold earlier minus the assault pack. I concur with Jack that they are well made.