Uncategorized

Spanish FR-8 “Cetmeton”

June 12, 2016 by 4 Comments

Ian at Forgotten Weapons has released another of his excellent videos on older firearms. This one is on the Spanish FR-8 Mauser. I remember seeing this for the first time in the early 1980s at a local gun store for about $150. Of course, I should have bought it then because by the time I bought my own FR-8 the price was $350 which I thought reasonable.

To me the best feature of the FR-8 is the sights. Unlike your typical Mauser notch and post sights, the FR-8 has a protected front post with an adjustable ghost ring sight.

Uncategorized

France Is Not A Developed Country

June 12, 2016 by 4 Comments

Now I know most of you are wondering about the headline. How can France not be a developed country. It has the Louvre, wonderful vineyards, exquisite cuisine, couture fashion, and was the home of thousands of brilliant scientists, artists, writers, and musicians over the centuries.

Well, according to Shannon Watts of Everytown Mayors for Demanding Mommies, it just can’t be because shootings like the one by the Islamofascist at a gay night club in Orlando only happen in America and no other developed country.

The attack by Muslim terrorists at Le Bataclan in Paris which killed 130 and wounded hundreds more is off of Shannon’s radar because it doesn’t fit her gun control narrative. France, by the way, had very, very strict gun control laws as does Belgium where many of those terrorists obtained their weapons.

Terrorists are going to kill people. It is what they do. That it was a gay nightclub fits squarely within the ISIS/ISIL playbook as they despise both Americans and gays. The thought that universal background checks or adding those on the No-Fly list to the NICS database would stop a dedicated American-born Muslim terrorist from obtaining a firearm with which to kill people is ludicrous.

Moreover, that presumes that firearms are the only weapons at the disposal of a dedicated Islamofascist terrorist. A quick trip to the local Exxon or BP station would provide the makings of a very effective terror weapon.

The only thing that I do agree with in her tweet is that we should pray for the victims.

Uncategorized

Now For Some Good News Out Of California

June 10, 2016 by 4 Comments

It seems like all the news coming out of California today was uniformly bad. However, there is one bright spot. As I reported two weeks ago, two firearms groups plus a number of individual plaintiffs sued for a restraining order against the California law that bans the use of the video feed from the California legislature for political purposes. UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh is one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs and he wrote about the case at this morning on the Washington Post’s Volokh Conspiracy blog.

As Firearms Policy Coalition reported a few hours ago on Facebook, US District Court Judge Morrison England has granted the request for a preliminary injunction against enforcement of Cal. Gov. Code § 9026.5. Professor Volokh also has confirmed that in a short post as well.

This is a win for the First Amendment and the Second Amendment. The Firearms Policy Coalition Second Amendment Defense Committee and others can now use video from the legislature in ads opposing Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s gun control initiative.

UPDATE: Gene Hoffman of CalGuns Foundation just pointed out something that I missed. The same Judge Morrison England who ruled for the FPCSADC on First Amendment grounds was the same Judge England whose decision against concealed carry in the Richards case was upheld in today’s ruling from the 9th Circuit. How ironic.

Uncategorized

More Bad News Out Of California

June 10, 2016 by

Gunpocalypse Round II will come for California gun owners on Tuesday, June 14th, as another round of anti-gun legislation will come up for a vote before the relevant committees. The release from the Firearms Policy Coalition with more details is below.

GUNPOCALYPSE, ROUND 2
California Legislature to vote on 11 anti-gun
bills in one day.
SACRAMENTO – On Tuesday, June 14th  at 9A.M., the California Legislature will
hear the most anti-gun bills it’s heard in one day; spread out over both houses
and three different committees The only description that seems appropriate is
“Gunpocalypse”. This is the second round of the same push to turn the law-abiding
into overnight criminals— aka Gunpocalypse: Round 2.
“Anti-gun legislators are playing a dangerous
game of chicken with our civil rights”, says Craig DeLuz, the Director of
Public and Legislative Affairs for the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC). “They
are ignoring their own rules, while playing fast and loose with the facts; all
to see who can beat Gavin Newsom in being the first to take away our Second
Amendment Rights.”
DeLuz is referring to a three-way race between
Senate Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), Assembly Speaker Anthony
Rendon (D-Paramount) and Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, who’s trying to qualify an
initiative for the November ballot; to see who can get their package of
anti-gun-owner bills passed into law first.
Sen. de Leon’s package of bills, most of which
will be heard in the Assembly Committee on Public Safety on Tuesday June 14th,
includes:
  •  SB 880 (Hall): Bans common and
    constitutionally protected firearms that have magazine locking devices.
  • SB 894 (Jackson): Re-victimizes victims
    by criminalizing the failure to report lost and stolen firearms.
  • SB 1235 (de Leon): Restrictions on
    ammunition purchases, creates a DOJ database of ammunition owners.
  • SB 1407 (de Leon): Retroactively requires
    serial numbers to be placed on firearms dating back at least 50 years.
  •   SB 1446 (Hancock): Confiscation of
    lawfully acquired, standard capacity ammunition feeding devices.
  • SB 1006 (Wolk):  University of California taxpayer funding for
    gun control research. (This bill will be heard the same day in the Assembly
    Committee on Higher Education.)

Meanwhile, at the same
exact time Asm. Rendon’s collection of bills will be heard in Senate Public
Safety. That package consists of:

  • AB 1664 (Levine): Bans common and
    constitutionally protected firearms that have magazine locking devices.
  • AB 1673 (Gipson): Redefines “firearms” to
    include items that are not firearms.
  •  AB 1674 (Santiago): Bans buying more than
    one firearm within a 30-day period.
  • AB 1695 (Bonta): Makes it a crime to
    fail to report a gun lost or stolen.
  •   AB 2607 (Ting): Dramatically expands
    who can request a Gun Violence Restraining order.
Uncategorized

9th Circuit Peruta Decision Boiled Down To The Essentials

June 9, 2016 by 3 Comments

Today the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals released their opinion in Peruta v. County of San Diego as well as Richards v. Prieto. The court sitting en banc said to California residents that unless you were rich and famous and could afford a substantial bribe campaign contribution to your local sheriff or were a Federal judge protected by the US Marshals Service, then you had no Second Amendment right to carry concealed. In essence, the court said you were on your own and if you wanted to carry a firearm concealed for self-defense, then you were just shit out of luck.

In the summary they said:

The en banc court held that the history relevant to both
the Second Amendment and its incorporation by the
Fourteenth Amendment lead to the same conclusion: The
right of a member of the general public to carry a concealed
firearm in public is not, and never has been, protected by the
Second Amendment. Therefore, because the Second
Amendment does not protect in any degree the right to carry
concealed firearms in public, any prohibition or restriction a
state may choose to impose on concealed carry — including a requirement of “good cause,” however defined — is
necessarily allowed by the Amendment. The en banc court
stated that there may or may not be a Second Amendment
right for a member of the general public to carry a firearm
openly in public, but the Supreme Court has not answered
that question.

You may remember that a regular three-judge 9th Circuit panel had found that the Second Amendment does indeed convey a right to carry. Chief Judge Sidney Thomas, a Clinton appointee, had been in the minority in that decision and worked to get it reheard en banc.

Today he was in the 7-4 majority with the opinion written by Judge William Fletcher, a Clinton appointee. Chief Judge Thomas was also joined in the majority by Judge Harry Pregerson, a 93-year old Carter appointee; Judge Susan Graber, a Clinton appointee; Judge Margaret McKeown, a Clinton appointee; Judge Richard Paez, a Clinton appointee; and Judge John Owens, a Obama appointee.

Voting for the Second Amendment right to carry were Judge Consuelo Callahan, a George W. Bush appointee; Judge Barry Silverman, a Clinton appointee; Judge Carlos Bea, a George W. Bush appointee; and Judge N. Randy Smith, a George W. Bush appointee.

I applaud Judge Silverman for bucking the trend of Democratic appointees who voted against the Second Amendment. Perhaps the judge was familiar with the works of the English philosopher John Locke who had greatly influenced our founding fathers. In Locke’s Second Treatise Concerning Civil Government, Locke said, in so many words, that the first law of nature is a right to self-defense. In that view, it could be argued that today’s 9th Circuit decision was a crime against the laws of nature.

I am in agreement with Sebastian that it would be very dangerous for the plaintiffs to appeal this ruling to the US Supreme Court as the Court stands now. I have an interview for the Polite Society Podcast scheduled for Friday with Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation. I’m sure that will come up during the interview. I will post more on that tomorrow afternoon.

Uncategorized

Coincidental?

June 9, 2016 by 2 Comments

Two days after Hillary Clinton clinched the Democratic nomination for President, I got an ad in my email from Sportsman’s Guide advertising ammo boxes and gun vaults.

Now most of these are simple ammo cans or fabric gun cases. However, there is the Military Surplus 58-Gallon Waterproof Molded Barrel, the 47″ Mono Vault, and the Mono Vault 107S. These can be used for burying or caching firearms and ammunition.

The ad copy for the Mono Vault above says, in part:

Give your gun a proper burial! Hard-line protective Mono Vault!


Of course we’re not suggesting “laying your gun to rest”! Too much good shooting left to do. But these Mono Vaults are rugged, completely sealed capsules that could be literally buried.

The smaller MonoVault 107S pictured above is explicitly being sold as a container to bury firearms and other valuables. Sportsman’s Guide even makes a point of assuring you that it is non-metallic so that metal detectors can’t sniff it out.

MonoVaultTM 107S: think of it as a safety deposit box for your backyard.

Determined thieves can crack a wall safe in no time flat. That’s why the best safeguard is the one he never knows is there. That’s where the MonoVault comes into play. The MonoVault is an air and water-tight chamber designed to be buried on your property.

It’s large enough to hold important papers, photos and even many semi-auto handguns (including 5″ barrel 1911-style pistols). A gamma-sealed, threaded lid closes it up tight, and a secondary lift-off burial shield adds a second layer of protection. “Buried treasures” stay safe and completely undetectable until you go to retrieve them.

Now it may just be coincidental that the Sportsman’s Guide sent out an advertisement with containers for burying firearms two days after Hillary clinched the nomination. However, given her rabid anti-gun platform and recent statements, I’m not so sure. I’ll let you make the call.

Not that I’m advocating armed revolt but there is a lot of truth in the saying “if it is time to bury your firearms, then it is time to use them.” However, if you insist on burying them, might I suggest a good local business like my friend Tim’s The Old Grouch Military Surplus  instead of a large mail-order company owned by the French.

Uncategorized

Election Day In North Carolina

June 7, 2016 by

Thanks to the courts and redistricting voters in North Carolina have to go to the polls again today. In most cases, voters will only have one or two races upon which to vote – the special primary for Congress and one seat on the NC Supreme Court. Unless you live in the 2nd or 13th Congressional District, the incumbent is almost guaranteed to win. Thus, it is the NC Supreme Court primary that is the key. While nominally non-partisan, Justice Robert Edmunds is a conservative Republican and the pivotal vote on the direction of the court.

Grass Roots North Carolina Political Victory Fund is urging gun owners to get to the polls to vote for Edmunds so as keep the court conservative. Their alert is below:

VOTE TOMORROW 
  POLLS OPEN FROM 6:30AM TO 7:30PM TOMORROW
USE GRNC RECOMMENDATIONS TO ELECT PRO-GUN CANDIDATES! 
(See the list below)


Whether or not your district has a special primary race for the U.S. House, it is critical that you get to the polls and vote for the GRNC-PVF recommended candidate, BOB EDMUNDS, for NC Supreme Court in this court-ordered special election.
ROBERT H. (BOB) EDMUNDS
IS THE JURIST ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO RETAIN CONSERVATIVE CONTROL OF THE NC SUPREME COURT!

Because voter turnout will likely be low, your vote counts more than ever. 

NC Supreme Court Special Primary: Even if you don’t have a congressional primary or don’t intend to vote the congressional primary in your district, you must still vote in a court-ordered “special primary” in order to keep conservative control of the NC Supreme Court. In this race, GRNC-PVF strongly recommends you vote for Bob Edmunds.

CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE TO GRNC-PVF , and help us continue the important work of electing strong, pro-gun legislators and conservative judges.Or go to: http://www.grnc.org/grnc-pvf/donate-to-grnc-pvf 

Uncategorized

Punching Back Twice As Hard

June 7, 2016 by

Lt. Gov Gavin Newsom (D-CA) hopes to ride his Orwellian-named “Safety for All” initiative to the Governor’s Mansion in Sacramento.  In addition to banning standard capacity magazines, it would mandate background checks akin to a NICS check just to buy ammunition. Moreover, it would ban the private sale or transfer of ammunition. The LA Times reports that much of the initiative wording came from the Legal Center to Prevent Gun Violence (sic).

It appears that Newsom’s professional signature gatherers have accumulated enough names to get it on the ballot in November. Once certified, the battle begins in earnest.

The Coalition for Civil Liberties is made up of a number of diverse groups with one objective in mind – defeat Newsom’s initiative. You have the NRA-affiliated California Rifle & Pistol Association on one end and the Gun Owners of California on the other with the Pink Pistols in the middle. You can’t get more diverse than that!

Women and the LGBTQ communities are traditional Democratic constituencies in California. The Coalition is taking aim directly at those groups to drive a wedge between them and the ammo prohibitionists. They gained a lot of attention with a web ad featuring Nicki Stallard, a trans-gendered woman, and a gun rights activist. (As an aside, I’ve met Nicki at more than one Gun Rights Policy Conference)

Now they are taking it to TV with a very powerful black and white ad featuring a woman being attacked in a parking garage. HotAir reports that Republican strategist Richard Grennell is behind the ad.

Frankly, I don’t care who is behind the ad. I’m just happy that it is so powerful.

Uncategorized

D-Day Plus 72 Years

June 6, 2016 by 3 Comments

A child born on D-Day would turn 72 years old today. He or she would have reached their full Social Security retirement age six years ago.

If it was a boy, he would have missed the Korean War and the Vietnam War hadn’t begun in earnest when he turned 18. If he did serve in Vietnam, he would have either been the young lieutenant or the “old man” in his early 20s serving as the squad leader or platoon sergeant.

If it was a girl, she would have been in college learning how to be a nurse or teacher when the Beatles invaded the US in 1964. Alternatively, she was a young mother with one or two children as she got married out of high school. She could have been Miss Shaw who was my third grade teacher at Park Street School and who was the first teacher I had under the age of 50.

As I noted last year, my father and many of my classmates fathers had served in WWII. The war wasn’t a so distant memory. TV shows like Combat, 12 O’Clock High, and McHale’s Navy were in their heyday. There wasn’t a National WWII Memorial and there weren’t Honor Flights taking the veterans of D-Day to see the Memorial before they passed away.

So on this day, let us remember the young men from the US, Canada, and the UK who landed on a 60 mile swath of Normandy beaches. They went into the great unknown to save the world from Hitler and the Nazis. If you know of someone who landed on D-Day, sit down and talk with them as they won’t be around much longer to tell first-hand what they went through. And, it should go without saying, thank them for the sacrifices they and their comrades made.

Uncategorized

For North Carolina Voters

June 3, 2016 by

Early voting in the Congressional primary and the election of a State Supreme Court Associate Justice has started. The election itself will be this coming Tuesday, June 7th.

I voted this morning at the Buncombe County Board of Elections. There were only two people ahead of me to vote. I think the turnout for this election and primary will be very sparse.

Recognizing the low turnout and that it is important to elect pro-gun justices to the NC Supreme Court, Grass Roots North Carolina – Political Victory Fund issued a strong recommendation for Associate Justice Robert H. (Bob) Edmunds. There are cases working their way up through the North Carolina judicial system that will impact gun owners. From what I can tell, permits and zoning for new shooting ranges are at the forefront of these cases.

I do know that Haywood County passed a range ordinance that makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to establish a new range in the county. They imposed rules that their own sheriff’s department could not meet for their shooting range. I don’t know if a suit is in the works but I wouldn’t be surprised. Thus, keeping Justice Edmunds on the court is essential.

VOTE FOR BOB EDMUNDS
EARLY VOTING IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!

Whether or not your district has a special primary race for
the U.S. House, it is critical that you get to the polls and vote for the GRNC-PVF recommended candidate, BOB
EDMUNDS, for NC Supreme Court in this court-ordered special election.



ROBERT H. (BOB) EDMUNDS

IS THE JURIST ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO RETAIN CONSERVATIVE
CONTROL
OF THE NC SUPREME COURT!



Because voter turnout will likely be low, your vote counts more than ever.



NC Supreme Court Special Primary:
Even if you don’t have a congressional
primary or don’t intend to vote the congressional primary in your
district, you must still vote in a court-ordered “special primary”
in order to keep conservative control of the NC Supreme Court. In this race, GRNC-PVF strongly recommends you vote
for Bob Edmunds.

CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE TO GRNC-PVF, and help us continue the important work of electing strong, pro-gun legislators and
conservative judges.

Or go to: http://www.grnc.org/grnc-pvf/donate-to-grnc-pvf

Voting instructions: Primary
election One Stop Early
Voting begins on May 26 and ends on June 4 at 1:00 PM. Absentee ballots
must be received by your county board of elections by 5:00 PM on June 7.
Primary voting day is June 7 between 6:30 AM and 7:30 PM. Click here to find your polling
place on election day, or click
here to find your One Stop Early Voting place.

Important
changes to voting laws: Due to ongoing
litigation, same-day registration will still be permitted during One
Stop Early Voting.
As in previous years, unaffiliated voters may vote in either Republican
or Democrat primaries. Unlike previous years, straight party voting will
not
be permitted, so GRNC strongly suggests you investigate individual
candidates. For the first time, identification is required to vote, so click here to find identification
requirements.

NC SUPREME COURT ASSOCIATE JUSTICE: GRNC-PVF strongly
recommends incumbent conservative ROBERT H. (BOB) EDMUNDS.





This
ad supporting Robert H.
(Bob) Edmunds for NC Supreme Court was authorized and paid for solely by
the Grass Roots North Carolina Political Victory Fund. Ad not
authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.