Gun Thread (2-10-2013)

Housekeeping

This thread will henceforth be known as the "Gun Thread".

When I started it, "Guns & Hunting" seemed like a good idea. Like "NASCAR & Hot Rods" or "Boats & Fishing".

But that was before the left's full-court press for gun control. And, of course, they love to say things like "we do skeet all the time" or "we respect traditions of hunting" ... blah, blah, blah ... to obfuscate their true aim of banning all firearms.

The fact is, the federal & state governments can and do regulate hunting as much as they want, and there's really no 2nd amendment issue invoked at all. Not so with firearms ownership in general.

I think having a thread called "Guns & Hunting", even if just in a very small way, reinforces this non-existent linkage, so I'm going to drop the "& Hunting". I'll still post on hunting some, but it'll be in a separate thread.

Los Angeles Destroys Another Gun Grabber Myth

Just a couple of weeks ago, New York passed a very restrictive gun control law in the dead of night. In their haste, they forgot to exempt law enforcement officers and former law enforcement officers, to which I say "good!". Especially as to the latter.

My dad has been an LEO for over 35 years, so I understand why people who carry a firearm on the job for that long would feel entitled to keep carrying one. But, I'm sorry, a better word for "former law enforcement officer" is "civilian".

Like the 'we heart hunting' dodge, this is another one the left uses to subvert 2nd amendment rights. Why, of course the police should be exempt from [assault weapons ban, high-capacity magazine ban, etc.].

And then came Christopher Dorner, a spree-killer ex-cop, to prove why these guys should be the only ones with guns, as I'm sure the relatively lightly-armed citizenry (thanks to California's gun control laws) in the area of the manhunt will attest to.

Speaking of the manhunt, we appear to be in a race as to whether Dorner will kill more innocent people than the officers trying to find him.

Attorney Glen Jonas said Maggie Carranza, 47, and her mother, 71-year-old Emma Hernandez, were delivering Los Angeles Times newspapers around 5:15 a.m. in Torrance when the officers opened fire on their vehicle.

Jonas said, "There was no warning. There were no orders. No commands. Just gunshots."

But wait, there's more:

David Perdue was on his way to sneak in some surfing before work Thursday morning when police flagged him down. They asked who he was and where he was headed, then sent him on his way.

Seconds later, Perdue's attorney said, a Torrance police cruiser slammed into his pickup and officers opened fire; none of the bullets struck Perdue.

None of these people even remotely match the description of the suspect. The only common thread is that they were all driving trucks. So it sure is blindingly obvious that only law enforcement personnel have the requisite training and skills to responsibly own firearms.

The only saving grace in these stories is that trigger-happy cops are apparently very bad shots.

Fighting Fire With Fire

With the above in mind, every gun manufacturer should do what LaRue Tactical just did (emphasis added):

NEWS RELEASE: 02/08/2013 LEANDER, TX.

Updated Policy for State and Local Agency Law Enforcement Sales:

Due to the recent and numerous new Anti-gun/Anti-2nd Amendment laws passed and/or pending across our country, LaRue Tactical has been forced to reconsider how we provide products to state and local agencies.

Effective today, in an effort to see that no legal mistakes are made by LaRue Tactical and/or its employees, we will apply all current State and Local Laws (as applied to civilians) to state and local law enforcement / government agencies. In other words, LaRue Tactical will limit all sales to what law-abiding citizens residing in their districts can purchase or possess.

State and local laws have always been a serious focus of this firm, and we are now dovetailing that focus with the constitutional rights of the residents covered in their different areas by the old and new regulations.

We realize this effort will have an impact on this firm’s sales – and have decided the lost sales are less danger to this firm than potential lawsuits from erroneous shipments generated by something as simple as human error.

Thanks in advance for your understanding.

Mark LaRue

* * This policy does not apply to Military / Federal Agencies * *

Well done.

Gun Of The Week

Marksmanship Award

Practice Makes Perfect

Moron 'Derak' sent in the following request:

could you discuss marksmanship practice for the range? I don't want to just empty 50 rounds at one target for no good reason. Is there an approach to target shooting ie. mozambique drills (is that the correct terminology?). videos and target types used would be good.

No matter what topic you're talking about, practice for an activity should mirror the activity itself as closely as possible. No different with guns.

You can be an awesome shot with a rifle and also be craptacular at wingshooting. The best way to get better at it is to spend time behind your shotgun shooting sporting clays or, as I often refer to it, "doing skeet shooting all the time".

For self-defense using a handgun, participating in IDPA matches or something like that is better practice than just sending lead downrange at a paper target. If you want to really go all out, there are programs like Gunsite that provide great training.

That said, every round you fire, even if it's just at a stationary target on the range, trains your muscle memory a little more and, especially if you're new to shooting, isn't wasted time by any means.

I trust you good folks will throw in your $0.02 in the comments.

Related: How 'The Karate Kid' Ruined The Modern World

Gun Of The Week - Answer

That, of course, is the Winchester Model 1897 Assault Trench Gun. I know it's really called "Trench Gun", but it has a bayonet lug, so I figure they just left off the "assault" part by accident. This is another one of John M. Browning's excellent designs, and I'd love to find one in good shape to add to the collection.

The Cuomo

Defense Distributed continues to improve their 3D-printed magazine.

In response to the upsurge in gun violence, politicians are proposing restrictions on the number of bullets that handgun and rifle magazines can hold. And just as they do, new printing technology blows holes right through that debate. The 3-D printing gunsmiths at Defense Distributed are about to release blueprints for an upgraded magazine that won’t degrade even after you fire hundreds of rounds.

It's not all that hard to make a traditional AR magazine if you have the skills to do so. But that doesn't drive the left nuts like ZOMFG!!11! 3D-printed plastic guns! Calling it "The Cuomo" is just icing on the cake.

Tips

If there are topics you're interested in seeing in the gun thread, please send them to AoSHQGunThread at gmail. You can also send them to me on Twitter at @AndyM1911.

posted by Andy at 12:30 PM

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