Month: January 2011

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He’s Baaaaack!

January 6, 2011 by 1 Comment

Among a whole list of re-nominations sent by the White House to the Senate is that of Andrew Traver to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. I guess Obama really does think he can poke us in the eye again with this anti-gun nominee.

The website Main Justice notes that Traver’s nomination is opposed by the NRA and other gun rights groups as well as that the agency has not had a permanent director since 2006.

No word yet from the Brady Campaign on this nomination. However, Dennis Hennigan praised it last December as the beginning of the end of Obama’s “appeasement” of gun rights forces.

While I really don’t think Traver can get approved by the Senate given his record of anti-gun activism, I think his renomination actually can serve a useful purpose for gun rights. The confirmation hearings will be an opportunity to air much of ATF’s dirty laundry which has been ignored by the mainstream media. These range from gross mismanagement in the upper levels of the bureau to allegations of looking the other way to AR’s being smuggled into Mexico so that they could be traced back to the U.S.

David Codrea’s Gun Rights Examiner has a number of columns dealing with these issues as does Mike Vanderboegh’s Sipsey Street Irregulars blog. Sources within ATF are now sending substantive leaks to both of these sites because they are so disgusted with what is going on.

The dissident ATF agent website, CleanUpATF.org, is also full of details about how the bureau is being mismanaged. If one wants to get a feel for how the rank and file in the ATF are suffering under the mismanagement, this is the place to go.

Given all the dirt that can and will come out at Traver’s confirmation hearings, one must wonder if this is some sort of end game to abolish ATF which has served as lightning rod for the gun rights movement and then reconstitute its gun control functions in a less public part of the Federal bureaucracy. That would be truly Machiavellian if true!

H/T Sebastian

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Wisconsin City Pays $7500 To Woman Arrested For Legal Open Carry

January 6, 2011 by 4 Comments

Back in October, I reported on the case of Krysta Sutterfield who was arrested at gun point after wearing her pistol to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brookfield. She was arrested for illegally transporting a firearm despite having her pistol in a zipped case and not on her body. Afterwards, the district attorney declined to prosecute because the officers had no probable cause to stop her and search her car and the charges were dropped.

Ms. Sutterfield and Wisconsin Carry filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin charging her 14th Amendment rights had been violated.

This week the lawsuit was settled with the City of Brookfield paying $7,500 according to a story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and court filings. The city made the offer on December 20th and gave the plaintiffs 14 days in which to accept the offer. The plaintiffs accepted it that same day and judgment was entered on December 30th. The heart of the offer was:

a joint offer to allow judgment to be taken against them in the above referenced action in the total amount of $7,500.00, inclusive of costs and attorney’s fees. This offer is intended to resolve all claims, state and federal, arising from the incident which forms the basis for all claims by Wisconsin Carry, Inc. and Krysta Sutterfield against the above defendants. It must be accepted by both Wisconsin Carry, Inc. and Krysta Sutterfield in order for there to be a valid acceptance. This offer is not an admission of liability on behalf of these defendants, and should not be construed as such.

Despite the settlement, it does not appear that the City of Brookfield won’t make a similar mistake in the future if the comments of  Greg Gunta, an attorney for the city, are to be believed.

An attorney for the city said police will still always respond in force to calls of a person with a gun, and if turns out to be an open carry situation, that’s just the cost of doing business.

“These are kind of ‘gotcha’ cases,” said the attorney, Greg Gunta. “The courts are being used for a political stage.”

Mr. Gunta went on to suggest that if the plaintiffs really brought this case based on principle they should give the money back to the City of Brookfield for “gun education.” To think that a city whose police force was so ready to violate the Second and Fourteenth Amendment rights of it citizens could conduct “gun education” is laughable. Whatever use Ms. Sutterfield and Wisconsin Carry find for the money I’m sure will be better than that offered by Mr. Gunta.

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Free Guns For January

January 5, 2011 by

If there is anything guaranteed to chase the post-Christmas blues, free guns would be near the top of my list.

Aaron at the Weapon-Blog has just posted the list of gun contests for January. Prizes range from a S&W Model 29 to Crimson Trace laser grips.

You may want to leave a note thanking Aaron for providing this monthly service.

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Obstructionists

January 5, 2011 by 4 Comments

It appears that some law enforcement officials in central Iowa are not too happy with the new “shall-issue” carry permits. Huxley Chief of Police Mark Pote sent a letter to local businesses last month advising them to post large signs saying no guns were allowed. In an on-camera interview with reporter Aaron Brilbeck of WHO-TV, he backtracked a bit.

 

One wonders if the phrase “with all deliberate speed” means anything to him.

Sean McClanahan of the Iowa Firearms Coalition called it what it was – scare tactics. Sean’s Des Moines Gun Rights Examiner column has more example of these tactics throughout Iowa.

H/T NRA News

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112th Congress Convenes And No More Recess Appointments

January 5, 2011 by 3 Comments

Andrew Traver is out of luck in terms of getting a recess appointment. The 112th Congress, 1st Session convened at 12 noon today.

Checking the White House website regarding any more recess appointments, the last – and only ones – were made on December 29th.

Now it remains to be seen whether Obama will renominate Traver to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. If he does, the chances of being confirmed by the Senate are even less today than they were in November. When the Senate went into sine die adjournment on December 22nd, they returned Traver’s name to the President.

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Nobody Tell Justice Sotomayor

January 5, 2011 by

New Scientist has a story today about a flightless ibis that lived in Jamaica over 10,000 years ago. What makes this bird, Xenicibis xympithecus, interesting is that it used its wing stubs as a hinged club similar to nunchucks.

Yale University research scientist Nick Longrich reported his finding in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. He has examined fossil remains of the birds. At first he thought they were just an isolated bird or two and then he found more that confirmed their use as clubs. He notes:

“We don’t know of any other species that uses its body like a flail. It’s the most specialised weaponry of any bird I’ve ever seen.”

It is speculated that this bird became extinct after humans arrived. Or as the New Scientist says, the “ninja-bird” ended “up in the pot for dinner.”

A few months prior to her confirmation as an Associate Justice, Sonia Sotomayor was part of a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals which denied the appeal of attorney James Maloney in the case of Maloney v. Rice. That case sought to overturn New York State’s ban on nunchucks even in the home as a violation of the Second Amendment. That case was remanded back to the Second Circuit for further consideration in light of McDonald v. Chicago in June of 2010. More on the case – including court documents – can be found here.

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Collaboration Is The Name Of The Game

January 5, 2011 by 2 Comments

When introducing a new pistol such as the Ruger LC9 it helps to have the accessories lined up to go with it. For example, if you can’t get a holster that fits your new carry pistol how useful is that pistol?

In an obvious sign that Ruger collaborated with other manufacturers when announcing the LC9, Crimson Trace just announced a new Laserguard designed for the LC9. It will hit dealers shelves at the same time that the Ruger LC9 will – Februrary 1st. This comes two days after Ruger announced their LC9.

From the press release:

Incorporating all the lessons learned from the LCP and SR9 models, the laserguard fits seamlessly to the trigger guard of Ruger’s latest polymer framed carry gun and features the classic Crimson Trace instinctive activation system.

 

The specifications for the LG-412 are as follows:

Beam Intensity – 5mw peak, 633 nm, Class 3R laser

Dot Size – Approximately 0.5″ diameter at 50 feet

Batteries – One 1/3N 3V lithium or two 357 silver oxide batteries; over four hours of illumination

Activation – Front-located integrated momentary pressure switch

Warranty – Three-year full warranty

This product complies with 21 CFR 1040.10
features
Polymer Housing With Rubber Overmolded
Activation Pad
Front Activation Pressure Switch
Ultra-Compact 3.3mm Diode
Precise Windage And Elevation Adjustments
Three-Screw, Tab Lock Attachment
Suggest Retail Price: $209

Having a product like this which works seamlessly with the pistol seems to me a  win-win for both Ruger and Crimson Trace.

 

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Second Amendment Is Alive In Iowa

January 5, 2011 by 3 Comments

Yesterday was the first day that residents of Iowa could apply for carry permits under the new “shall-issue” system – and thousands of them did. Under the old system, it was at the discretion of the local sheriff if a person was granted a carry permit and the firearm had to be carried concealed. This led to situations like in Osceola County where Sheriff Douglas Weber denied the carry permit for Paul Dorr because he thought he was “weird”.

The cost for the permit is a reasonable $55 for five years.

Of course, there are some that aren’t happy with the new law. I hate to pick on librarians as my Mom was a school librarian for many years. And, of course, there is everyone’s favorite reference librarian Breda as well. However, some Iowa librarians seem to be in a snit over the new law.

Dee Crowner, director of the North Liberty Community Library, told LJ the city administration there has been working on the issue and that the library would abide by whatever policy the city chooses. However, she said the new law “scares the bejesus out of me.”

“Our library is in a community center that houses the recreation center, the aquatic center, the telecommunications department, and the library,” she said. “You can imagine how busy we are with people of all ages…. Why would anyone want to carry a gun in plain sight in a public place? For the power, to scare people, for the rush?”

H/T Mark Vanderberg

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WSJ Covers Zoot Shooters

January 4, 2011 by 1 Comment

Michael Bane is pleased and Paul Helmke is having heart palpitations. The Wall Street Journal just ran a front page story on the American Zoot Shooters Association – and it was favorable.

The story notes the contrast between the quest for authenticity of the Zoot Shooters and cowboy action shooting. While zoot suits are more properly associated with the 1940s, the Zoot Shooters’ stages are more from the Roaring 20s and 30s.The story notes that some cowboy action shooters criticize them for it. However, “Judge Roy Bean” – co-founder of the Single Action Shooting Society – had this reaction:

Among them was Harper Creigh, the 74-year-old founder of cowboy action shooting, who goes by the alias Judge Roy Bean.

“I at first thought they hated us,” Mr. Huss said.

Instead, Mr. Creigh said he knew who Mr. Huss was and told him that about 25 years ago he and a buddy contemplated creating a shooting sport with Tommy guns called the “Roaring Twenties.” The idea never came to fruition. “If I wasn’t so old and beat up I’d probably jump in and get involved,” Mr. Creigh says.

It is good that the Wall Street Journal is running stories on action shooting. Stories such as this help remove the stigma from the gun culture that the Brady Campaign and some in the mainstream media have tried to propagate.

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I Didn’t See This Coming

January 3, 2011 by 6 Comments

After building suspense for it throughout the New Year’s Weekend, Ruger annouced they are introducing the LC9 effective February 1, 2011. It is a slightly larger 9mm version of their popular LCP .380 pistol. MSRP on the LC9 is $443.

From their press release:

The LC9 has a 3.12″ barrel, is 6.0″ long and 4.5″ tall, making for a very compact 9mm pistol. The LC9 is impressively narrow at a mere .90″ wide, and weighs only 17.1 ounces with an empty magazine. Featuring a black polymer (glass-filled nylon) frame and blued alloy steel slide and barrel, the lightweight, full-featured Ruger LC9 offers the versatility and capability of the popular 9mm cartridge in a highly compact, reliable, and user-friendly pistol…

The LC9 is a double-action-only, hammer-fired, locked-breech pistol with a smooth trigger pull. Control and confident handling of the Ruger LC9 are accomplished through reduced recoil and aggressive frame checkering for a positive grip in all conditions. The Ruger LC9 features smooth “melted” edges for ease of holstering, carrying and drawing.

Specifications:

Caliber: 9mm Luger
Capacity: 7+1
Sights: Adjustable 3-Dot
Barrel Material: Alloy Steel
Barrel Finish Blued
Slide Material Through-Hardened Alloy Steel
Slide Finish Blued
Grip Frame Black, High Performance, Glass-Filled Nylon

There has been a lot of talk on the blogs, podcasts, and forums that pocket or micro-9’s were going to be the next wave after the slew of .380s introduced in the last couple of years. It looks like Ruger took that seriously and wants to be one of the first out with a pocket 9. SigSauer introduced their Sig P290 which is another of the polymer pocket 9’s not that long ago. I’m sure we will see a number of these pocket 9’s introduced at SHOT.

As to whether I want to buy one, I’d have to shoot it first. I could see the recoil on something this small being rather snappy. Still, this new LC9 did catch me by surprise as I was expecting a full-size SR45. Maybe that is being left for introduction at the SHOT Show.

UPDATE: Michael Bane reviews the LC9 and compares it head to head with the LCP in the video below. He also has a full post on the micro or pocket 9’s here. In the comments there has been some criticism of the external manual safety. Bane comments that he likes it for carrying outside of a holster such as a fanny pack or a Wilderness Tactical Safepacker.