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Just What Miggy Needs!

March 21, 2015 by 4 Comments

I’m lying in bed watching one of the Saturday morning new shows and perusing Facebook on my iPad when I see a post by Miguel Gonzalez. Miggy has a post on the proper tools to kill a spider which is not, as he opines, the .45 ACP. It is a flamethrower.

Now WWII generation flamethrowers are getting harder and harder to find. Not only that, they are expensive. I see one currently on Gunbroker with an opening price of $11,900.

Fortunately, some enterprising young men are working on bringing the flamethrower to the masses. They are starting an IndieGoGo campaign which goes live on Monday. I’ve read elsewhere that the final purchase price should be in the $799 range.

So, unless you live in California where they are illegal (imagine that!), you, too, can be the owner of your very own XM42 flamethrower. Other than killing spiders and taking out ISIS/Russian/Nazi pillboxes, I’m not sure what you’d do with it but why not.

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Earl Ray Says No To Constitutional Carry In The Mountaineer State

March 20, 2015 by 5 Comments

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D-WV) vetoed SB 347 this morning it was in the interest of public safety. SB 347 which passed both houses of the West Virginia legislature by overwhelming majorities. The bill would have made the state the fifth to adopt constitutional carry. While open carry is legal without a permit, concealed carry permits require mandated training and cost $105.

From Tomblin’s press release:

“Throughout my career, I have strongly supported the Second Amendment, as demonstrated by my repeated endorsements and high grades from the National Rifle Association. However, I must also be responsive to the apprehension of law enforcement officers from across the state, who have concerns about the bill as it relates to the safety of their fellow officers. It also would eliminate the required gun safety training courses for those applying for a concealed carry permit. In light of these concerns and in the interest of public safety for all West Virginians, I have vetoed Senate Bill 347.”

Another politician who had received high grades from the NRA at one time, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), was already under fire for his opposition to SB 347 in which he said West Virginians believed in “gunsense”. That is one of the code words popular with Shannon Watts and the Everytown Moms for Illegal Mayors. The Firearms Policy Coalition said that Manchin who claims to be a Life member of the NRA needs to be booted from the organization. As Sebastian noted today, he’s not sure West Virginians much care for Manchin and we’ll find out for sure in 2018.

The West Virginia Citizen’s Defense League hasn’t not commented publicly on the veto yet and are still considering their options. However, their Facebook page has a very active comment thread on it. It appears that a veto override will require a special session of the legislature.

Legislators on both sides of the aisle are indicating that they will vote in favor of the bill when it comes up again.

Del. Rupie Phillips (D-Logan, 24) supported the legislation in the House of Delegates and promised to do so again.

“We spent a lot of time on this issue and I hate that we’re going to have to spend time again on it at the beginning of next year’s session,” Phillips said.

Meanwhile, Del. Mike Folk (R-Berkeley, 63) has said the bill will come up again in the next session. He also dismissed the supposed concern that it would put law enforcement at risk.

He dismissed claims that it would have put law enforcement officers at risk. “They assume (already) that every person is armed, so the safety issue is not a good argument,” Folk said.

He is promising to bring the proposal up again during next year’s Regular Legislative Session.

“We’ll do it again next year and we’ll make sure we do it early enough that he can veto it next year and the same thing that happened with the pain capable bill will happen with this bill,” Folk said, referencing this year’s legislative override of Gov. Tomblin’s veto of the bill that would have banned abortions in West Virginia after 20 weeks.

Given the overwhelming majorities in favor of the bill, 71-29 in the House and 30-4 in the Senate, I think it is a safe bet that when it comes up again, it will pass.

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Mas Ayoob On The New Glock 43

March 19, 2015 by 5 Comments

Massad Ayoob is one of the few who have actually handled and shot the new Glock 43. The official announcement is tomorrow but since the news embargo has been broken more and more stuff is coming out about it.

Mas has done a short YouTube video on the G43. One thing he really likes about the pistol is the trigger reach which he says is just right for the adult male hand. He also answered one question I had about it concerning magazines with a finger grip extension. They will be available.

As I said yesterday, I’m sure they will sell a gazillion billion of these little guns. I’m going to hold off judgment until I actually shoot one which should be next month at the NRA Annual Meeting. Glock is holding a media event on the afternoon before the meeting begins and I intend to be there.

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Dinner And Education Event On The Racist Roots Of Gun Control

March 19, 2015 by

Historian and blogger Clayton Cramer will be the featured speaker at an event co-sponsored by the CalGuns Foundation and the Firearms Policy Coalition on March 29th in Sacramento, California. He will be speaking on the racist roots of gun control. Other speakers include Second Amendment attorneys Don Kilmer, Bradley Benbrook, and Stephen Duvernay, CalGuns Foundation chairman Gene Hoffman, and Firearms Policy Coalition president Brandon Combs.

More info on the event is below. If you are in the Sacramento area on the 29th, this sounds like an interesting event. On a personal note, it is great to see Clayton doing a public event like this given his stroke about a year and a half ago. If you can’t make the event, Clayton has put together a YouTube video on the topic including PowerPoint slides.

Sacramento, CA – Firearms Policy Coalition and The Calguns Foundation have announced a special dinner and education event featuring noted Second Amendment historian Clayton E. Cramer, who will give his talk The Racist Roots of Gun Control.
Cramer will be joined at the March 29 event by firearms law and policy experts including noted civil rights attorneys Donald Kilmer and Bradley Benbrook, Calguns Foundation Chairman Gene Hoffman, and Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs. Speakers will be taking questions from the audience following the talks.
Tickets for the event, which can be purchased at FPC’s website, are $60 per person and include a filet of beef, chicken, or salmon dinner. College, university, and law school students can purchase tickets at a reduced rate of $30 per person.
Event: The Past, Present, and Future of Second Amendment Policy and Litigation — A Special Evening with Historian Clayton E. Cramer and Friends
Date: March 29, 2015
Time: 5:30 p.m. guest check-in & mixer; dinner 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. (or until Q&A concluded)
Location: Embassy Suites Sacramento – Riverfront Promenade (link to hotel website) (link to Google map)
Speakers and topics will include:
  • Historian Clayton E. Cramer: The Racist Roots of Gun Control
  • Attorney Donald Kilmer: Gun Violence Restraining Orders and the Growing Problem of Constitutional Conflicts in Public Policy
  • Attorney Bradley Benbrook: Firearms-area Litigation and Emerging Second Amendment Jurisprudence
  • Attorney Stephen Duvernay: Active litigation case updates
  • The Calguns Foundation Chairman Gene Hoffman: The Minimum Necessary Right to Keep and Bear Arms – What, Why, and How We’re Doing So Far
  • FPC President Brandon Combs: What to Expect In and From Firearms Policy and Litigation Going Forward
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For All The Glock Fanbois Out There

March 18, 2015 by 3 Comments

Glock is really pushing its pending announcement of their new G43 single stack 9mm pistol. They are planning a news conference on Friday at which they will presumably announce the new pistol.

Not to steal their thunder but thanks to publishing schedules a picture has leaked out. In the digital world you have control as to when something hits the newsstands. However, in the analog print world, production and distribution of the magazine takes weeks and sometimes things hit the shelf ahead of the official announcement. It appears that in some places the latest issue of Recoil Magazine is now on the shelf. And in that issue is a feature write-up on the G43 which is seen below.

I had really expected them to wait until the NRA Annual Meeting to announce it as that was the impression I was given at the SHOT Show. I had also received an invitation to a press event on the Thursday before the NRA Annual Meeting from Glock which reinforced that impression. According to the Recoil article, it will debut in Nashville and start shipping after that.

In case you can’t read the dimensions from the photo, the G43 is 3.39 inches tall, 6.26 inches long, and weights 1.12 pounds. A comparison of the relative thickness of the G43 can be seen in the middle of the page shown in the picture. To the left of the G43 is Glock’s .380 ACP G42, while to the right of it is the double stack G26.

I noted on The Polite Society Podcast recorded on Sunday that Glock now has a lot of competition in the small single stack 9mm market from S&W, Springfield, Ruger, Kahr, Beretta, and a bunch of other companies. I think the competitive pressures of the market have forced Glock’s hand on this. Even though there are many other worthy choices, Glock will still sell a bazillion of these G43s just because it is a Glock.

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My Response To The ATF Framework

March 16, 2015 by 3 Comments

Given that I put the “pro” in procrastinate, waiting to submit my comment on the ATF Framework (and M855 ban) until the last day is par for the course. While I have submitted other comments using some of the comment generators, I really wanted to submit a fairly comprehensive comment as to why the ATF Framework was flawed. My comment is a mixture of original research along with some good research done by others.

The BATFE is accepting comments through the close of business today. While they have decided to punt a final decision until a later date and have suspended the ban on the M855 bullet for now, I thought it was important to get this on record. Below is my comment which I submitted by fax just a few minutes ago.

I do plan to send copies of this comment to Senators Burr and Tillis and to Rep. McHenry. I am pleased to note that all three signed the Congressional letters to the BATFE demanding an end to a potential ban on the M855 bullet and cartridge.

15
March 2015
Denise
Brown
Enforcement
Programs and Services
Office
of Regulatory Affairs
Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
99
New York Ave. NE
Washington,
DC 20226
By
fax: 202-648-9741
Dear
Ms. Brown:
I am
writing in response to your solicitation of comments regarding the proposed ATF
Framework for Determining Whether Certain Projectiles Are “Primarily Intended
for Sporting Purposes” Within the Meaning of 18 USC 921(a)(17)(C).
Specifically, your agency requested comments regarding how it best can
implement the withdrawal of the exemption for M855/SS109 ammunition while
minimizing disruption to the ammunition and firearm industry and maximizing
officer safety.
While
I am pleased that your agency has decided to back down from this proposal to
ban M855/SS109 ammunition for now, I would still like to make my opinion known
in the event that your agency revives this proposal and framework.
The
ATF Framework states that M855/SS109 ammunition was previously “not classified
as ‘armor piercing’ under the statute because there no handguns that could ‘use’
it.” (p. 6) This statement by ATF is erroneous. Prior to the passage of the
LEOPA and the granting in 1986 of an exemption from classification as armor
piercing to M855/SS109 projectiles, there was in fact a semi-automatic handgun
that did fire the 5.56×45 cartridge. This was the Bushmaster Armpistol
introduced by Gwinn Firearms Company in 1977. After the purchase of Gwinn
Firearms Company by Bushmaster, it was continually made up through 1990. This
pistol used standard M16/AR-15 magazines much like the more modern AR-15
pistols do today. Photos of the Bushmaster Armpistol may be seen on the
Internet at http://www.biggerhammer.net/armpistol/variants.html.
Furthermore,
BATFE does not have any statutory authority to prohibit civilian distribution
or possession of M855 cartridges under 18 USC 921(a)(17)(B) regardless of any “sporting
purpose” determination made by the Attorney General under 18 USC 921(a)(17)(C).
Nor does the BATFE have any statutory authority to prohibit civilian distribution
of NATO STANAG 4172 specification cartridges (SS109) under under 18 USC
921(a)(17)(B). The statutory language of under 18 USC 921(a)(17)(B) defines
armor piercing projectiles as follows:
            (B) The term “armor piercing
ammunition” means—
(i)           
a projectile or projectile core which may be
used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of
traces of other substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys,
steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium; or
(ii)         
a full jacketed projectile larger than .22
caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a
weight of more than 25 percent of the total weight of the projectile.
The
projectile specified in M855 specification ammunition, US Army TACOM ARDEC
Drawing 9342869, has a combined steel and lead core. 18 USC 921(a)(17(B)i
specifies that the core must be constructed entirely of one of the specified
substances. M855/SS109 projectiles fail this test.
Continuing, 18 USC 921(a)(17)(B)ii states that the
projectile must be “larger than .22 caliber designed and intended for
use in a handgun”. Again, the M855/SS109 specification ammunition fails this
test as a) the projectile is not larger than .22 caliber; b) MIL-C-63989C (AR),
the US Army specification covering M855 cartridges does not mention handguns as
a use for which the cartridge was intended; and c) the gas port pressures
requirements established in Section 3.10.3 of MIL-C-63989C (AR) constructively
exclude the “AR Type handguns” cited in the ATF Framework as an application for
M855 cartridges.
The sporting purposes exemption given to M855/SS109 based
cartridges in 1986 was made in error. They were not then nor are they now what
can be classified as “armor piercing”. As such, no exemption for sporting
purposes was even needed. I will leave it to the BATFE to determine the
historical rationale for this superfluous action.
BATFE Director Jones in his recent Congressional
testimony has expressed concern about the ability of any 5.56×45 bullet to
penetrate soft body armor. Virtually all center-fire rifle cartridges used in
hunting and target shooting will penetrate soft body armor which was only designed
to stop pistol caliber bullets. 5.56 bullets and especially M855/SS109 bullets
are no more amenable to misuse by criminals than any other rifle cartridge. I
would ask that BATFE permanently retract their proposal to ban M855/SS109 based
ammunition. 
Finally, your intended framework for future
determinations of “sporting use” regarding ammunition that can be used in
handguns is flawed. Under Category II, the BATFE states that the presumption
that a cartridge is “primarily intended for sporting uses” only applies to
those cartridges for which the only handgun readily available is a single shot
handgun (bolt or break-open). There currently exist revolvers readily available
that chamber such cartridges as the .30 Carbine, the .30-30 Winchester, and the
.45-70. These revolvers are large, heavy, can mount scopes, and are intended
primarily for the sporting purpose of hunting and target shooting. To presume
that a revolver weighing five pounds has anything other than a sporting purpose
is, to be blunt, ridiculous.
Thank you for consideration of my comments.
Sincerely,

John P. Richardson
Uncategorized

Quote Of The Day

March 13, 2015 by 3 Comments

The quote of the day comes from Hershel Smith at The Captain’s Journal. He reviewed the testimony of BATFE Director B. Todd Jones at the Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday. During his testimony, Jones said all 5.56 rounds were a threat to LEO safety as more people buy AR-15 pistols.

Bearing in mind that virtually all rifle cartridges have the speed and power to penetrate kevlar vests, Hershel had this warning for those in the shooting community who only shoot their Remington 700s or Winchester Model 70s during the opening day of deer season and don’t want anything to do with those tacticool rifles and the people that shoot them.

Here’s a warning flag to all the Elmer Fudds out there who only care about your bolt action hunting rifles, and think this stuff about AR-15s is all just a bunch of made up theater to bother pampered folk like you. They want your rifles and ammunition too. You do understand that, don’t you?

One need only look across the pond to our British cousins to what can happen. First it was the fox hunters who got thrown under the bus. Then it was the pistol shooters post-Dunblane. Too many people said it was only the rich that can ride to the hounds and too many people said what do pistols have to do with shooting grouse and pheasants.

It is like that hit song from 1970 – United We Stand – from the British pop group Brotherhood of Man:  United we stand, divided we fall. Our opponents know that and we should always remember it.

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Insurrectionism! The CSGV Answer For Everything

March 12, 2015 by 7 Comments

I was looking to see what the reaction of the gun prohibitionists was to BATFE’s decision to postpone any immediate decision on M855 and their proposed framework. After checking the Brady Campaign’s website and finding nothing, I came to the conclusion that I’d have to start slumming it. Yes, I went to the Facebook page of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic).

I knew I’d find off the wall comments there and I wasn’t disappointed. However, these comments came from CSGV and not one of their followers who project their own violent tendencies upon us.

When asked why we “prize” green tip bullets, the answer was not because they are cheap or because they are accurate. The official answer was, not unexpectedly, “because of insurrectionism.” And in response to another person who asks why citizens need “armor piercing” bullets, the official answer is to kill law enforcement officers and military service members when we sense “tyranny”.

When I read these answers to the Complementary Spouse, she just looked at me like I was insane and then said, “Are they really that stupid?”

I’m not sure if Ladd is that stupid but I’m sure he would have made a good commissar if he had grown up in Stalin’s USSR.  He certainly is good at spouting the party line no matter how ridiculous it sounds.

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Is Your Senator On This List?

March 11, 2015 by 3 Comments

Following on the heels of the letter sent by House members to the BATFE came one from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and signed by 52 other senators.

You can read the letter here.

I was pleased to see that both Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Sen. Thom Tills (R-NC) were among the signatories of this letter. I’m batting three for three as my Congressman, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) had signed on to the House letter.

As Sen. Grassley noted in another press release, every senator was invited to sign on to his letter to the BATFE. It was signed by 53 out of 54 Republicans and zero out of 46 Democrats. The lone Republican refusing to sign the letter was, as might be expected, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL). That the few supposed Second Amendment supporters on the Democrat side of the aisle did not sign is, in my opinion, shameful.

Here are the 52 Senators besides Sen. Grassley that signed the letter:

Senators joining Grassley on the letter include Mike Rounds (R-S.D.); John Thune (R-S.D.); Cory Gardner (R-Colo.); Tom Cotton (R-Ark.); John Hoeven (R-N.D.); Joni Ernst (R-Iowa); David Vitter (R-La); Michael Crapo (R-Idaho); Jerry Moran (R-Kan.); David Perdue (R-Ga.); James Risch (R-Idaho); John Isakson (R-Ga.); Steve Daines (R-Mont.); Dean Heller (R-Nev.); Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.); Richard Burr (R-N.C.); Roy Blunt (R-Mo.); Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.); Bill Cassidy (R-La.); John Boozman (R-Ark.); Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.); Ted Cruz (R-Texas); Thom Tillis (R-N.C.); Orrin Hatch (R-Utah); Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.); James Lankford (R-Okla.); Richard Shelby (R-Ala.); Deb Fischer (R-Neb.); Thad Cochran (R-Miss.); Shelley Capito (R-W. Va.); Pat Roberts (R-Kan.); Pat Toomey (R-Pa.); Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska); John Cornyn (R-Texas); Ron Johnson (R-Wis.); Michael Lee (R-Utah); John Barrasso (R-Wyo.); Marco Rubio (R- Fla.); Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.); Dan Coats (R-Ind.); Bob Corker (R-Tenn.); Tim Scott (R-S.C.); Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.); Ben Sasse (R-Neb.); Roger Wicker (R-Miss.); Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.); Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.); Rand Paul (R-Ky.); John McCain (R-Ariz.); Rob Portman (R-Ohio); Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska); and Susan Collins (R-Maine).

If your senator is on this list, I have a suggestion. Send them a nice thank you email. It is something people rarely do and it will help reinforce their good behavior. You can find your senator’s contact info here.