NSSF

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Cook County “Violence Tax” And Budget Public Hearings

October 25, 2012 by 2 Comments

Cook County (IL) Board President Toni Preckwinkle is going ahead with her proposed “violence tax” on arms and ammunition. It has been included in the proposed 2013 Executive Budget for Cook County. The tax officially called the Firearms and Firearm Ammunition Tax would levy a $25 fee per firearm on all new gun purchases as well as a 5 cent per round tax on all ammunition sales. The full text of the proposed Cook County Firearm and Firearm Ammunition Tax Ordinance can be found here.

The board will hold four public hearings on the 2013 Executive Budget over the next week beginning this evening. The National Shooting Sports Foundation has issued an action alert on these hearings and suggests that those who can attend one of these meetings make their voice heard. The hearing date and times are below. Note that if you want to testify you must sign up first.

Over the next week, there have been four public hearings scheduled
on the proposed 2013 Executive Budget. If possible please attend one
these hearings and testify in opposition to the tax. You must sign up first to testify.
Date Time Location
Thursday, Oct. 25 6:30 p.m. Second District Courthouse
5600 Old Orchard Road, Conf. Room 201
Skokie, IL
Friday, Oct. 26 9 a.m. Cook County Building
118 N. Clark St. Board Room, Rm. 569
Chicago, IL
Tuesday, Oct. 30 6:30 p.m. Sixth District Courthouse
16501 S. Kedzie Pkwy., Courtroom 098
Markham, IL
Thursday, Nov. 1 6:30 p.m. Fourth District Courthouse
1500 South Maybrook Dr., Courtroom 106
Maywood, IL

Even if you can’t attend one of these hearings, the NSSF suggests calling the members of the Cook County Board and expressing your displeasure over the “violence tax”. A list of board members and their phone numbers can be found here.

As Sebastian noted earlier this month, taxing a constitutional right for the purposes of discouraging it is unconstitutional. I’m sure the Second Amendment Foundation has no problems taking more money from the Chicago-area politicians in attorney’s fees. That said, I think everyone involved would just as soon see this stopped dead in its tracks at the county board level.

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Tips On Weak Hand Shooting With Doug Koenig

October 19, 2012 by 9 Comments

In another of the training segments produced by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Doug Koenig discusses how to properly shoot with your weak – or non-dominant – hand. He shows how to properly transition the pistol from the holster to your weak hand. If you are shooting a 1911, he says it should have an ambidextrous safety so that the pistol is on safe as you make the transition.

Doug makes the point that you should practice this at home by doing dry fire practice before you do it with live ammo at the range. He notes that after a few transition cycles you will start to get comfortable with it.

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Understand Flash Sight Picture

October 16, 2012 by

In another of the National Shooting Sports Foundation short training videos, Bob Whaley of Gunsite Academy discusses flash sight picture and the importance of using your sights at all times (except shooting from retention).

The flash sight picture is part of the Modern Technique promulgated by Col. Jeff Cooper. It is simply a glance at the front sight which confirms your aim as set up by your grip and stance. Whaley emphasizes that in stressful situations people revert to their training. If you train to always use your sights – even just a flash sight picture – you will use them in stressful situations. The flash sight picture is the final confirmation that you are on target before you press the trigger.

As Whaley makes clear at the beginning of the video every bullet that leaves your gun will have a 100% hit ratio. It is up to you whether it hits the intended target or something you’d rather not hit.

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Another New #GunVote Video

September 21, 2012 by

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has released another of their #GunVote videos. This one features a number of quotes from the gun prohibitionists regarding their plans for more gun control and more bans.

This video has a great ending tagline – “one vote stands between your and your gun rights – your vote.” These YouTube ads from NSSF are in a league of their own.

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27 Months And Counting

September 10, 2012 by

I missed posting on this last week but the NSSF-adjusted NICS checks show a 27th straight month of increases compared to the same month in the prior year.

The August 2012 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,042,924 is an increase of 27.8 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 815,858 in August 2011. For comparison, the unadjusted August 2012 NICS figure of 1,514,696 reflects a 16.5 percent increase from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,300,433 in August 2011.

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, this is the highest August on record.

As I note when reporting these figures each month, there is not a direct correlation between sales and NICS checks for a variety of reasons. The primary one is that a number of states such as Kentucky, Iowa, and Michigan use it for CCW purposes For example, as one reader pointed out to me last month, the Commonwealth of Kentucky runs a NICS check on each and every carry licensee monthly. Moreover, in many states, a concealed carry license substitutes for a NICS check. Thus, purchases by these CCW holders are not counted in the NICS check totals.

Nonetheless, the rise in NICS checks does show the broader trends in the firearm marketplace.

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Cory Trapp On AR Cleaning And Maintenance

September 6, 2012 by 1 Comment

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has released another of their Sportcasts. This one features Gunsite instructor and gunsmith Cory Trapp discussing how to clean and maintain your AR-15.

This video is as good, if not better, than many of the $19.99 or $29.99 commercial DVDs showing you the same information. I’d suggest bookmarking this one as you’ll want to watch parts of it over and over as a reference.

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Secondary Sights

August 31, 2012 by 5 Comments

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has released another one of its short training videos. This one features Mark Hanish of FNH-USA’s 3-gun team talking about using secondary sights for taking shorter shots in 3-gun competition.

The one thing that struck me immediately is that having secondary iron sights canted off to the side would also work well on a home defense AR-15 or MBR especially if it was a be-all and do-all rifle. That is, if it was your only rifle and you used it for a number of things including home defense.

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And The Beat Goes On

August 7, 2012 by 4 Comments

The NSSF-adjusted NICS figures for July were released yesterday and the beat goes on. July 2012 marks the 26th straight month in which the NICs figures have increased over the same period in the previous year.

The July 2012 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 853,355 is an increase of 25.5 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 680,258 in July 2011. For comparison, the unadjusted July 2012 NICS figure of 1,289,585 reflects an 12.4 percent increase from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,147,355 in July 2011.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation adjusts the raw numbers to take out the uses of the NICS for CCW permit checks. States such as Kentucky, Iowa, and Michigan use the NICS system for the background check before they issue their concealed carry permits.

NSSF is always careful to note that there is not a perfect correlation between NICS figures and firearms sales. However, they do provide a useful indication of the direction of the market. In this case, as it has been for the past 26 months, the direction is up.