Reversing an interpretation of the Gun Control Act that has been on the books for more than four decades, ATF today posted a ruling declaring any shipment of a firearm by a manufacturer (FFL) to any agent or business (e.g., an engineering-design firm, patent lawyer, testing lab, gun writer, etc.) for a bona fide business purpose to be a “transfer” under the Gun Control Act of 1968. As a consequence, legitimate business-related shipments will now require the recipient to complete a Form 4473 and undergo a Brady criminal background check. In many instances, these requirements will force shipments to a third party, thereby lengthening the process and the time that the firearm is in transit.
What do I find troubling about this? It is not that this ruling will affect a large number of people. It is the arbitrariness (Is that a word? If not, it should be.) of it. There is no reason to have made this change. Not one firearm transferred under these conditions has been used in a crime. Yet, they feel the need to suddenly change the interpretation.
By CALLING ATTENTION to ‘a well regulated militia,’ the ‘security’ of the nation, and the right of each citizen ‘to keep and bear arms,’ our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy. Although it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation, the Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason I believe the Second Amendment will always be important.
-John F. Kennedy
The Obama administration will seek to reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 during the Bush administration, Attorney General Eric Holder said today.
“As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons,” Holder told reporters.
I will pick apart some of the things that he is attributed as saying in the article:
The AR15 is now one of the most common rifles in the USA. Part of the Heller decision was that firearms in common use can not be banned. Thus, this would fail the test. The same can probably said for other firearms they seek to ban.
The infamous “cop killer” bullets – This usually refers to ammunition designed to pierce body armor, which is already illegal to sale to civilians. The only other thing I can think they are referring to is rifle ammunition. Except for SWAT teams, police officers generally don’t wear body armor that can stop rifle ammunition. The reason is simple, it is extremely unlikely that a street cop will face rifle fire. The only other round I can think they would be wanting to ban is 5.7x28mm round. This round is often called a “cop killer” round because it was originally offered in an armor piercing configuration. Before the law changed, they stopped selling the armor piercing version of the round.
The gun smuggling to Mexico – This has repeatedly been proven to be a red herring. The vast majority of weapons in the drug cartels’ hands are stolen from the Mexican military (these were sold to them legally and with US government support). So, of course they show up as coming from the USA. Their is weapon smuggling. But, it is not the major source of cartel weaponry.
The “gun show loophole” – There is no loophole for gunshows. This is the right of every day citizens to transfer property between each other without government interference. These transactions are still illegal if the seller knows, or even has reason to suspect, that the buyer can not legally possess the weapon. Any firearms dealer at a gunshow has to still perform background checks on any buyers. Just because they are not in their normal storefront location does not change the law.
Right now many Second Amendment rights supporters are willing to give Democrats the benefit of the doubt right now. If the administration and/or party leadership manages to strongarm the Democrats in congress into passing this legislation. The next elections will make the Republican take over of Congress in 1994 look mild by comparison. Most likely, unless the Republicans completely screw up their choice for President, the next Presidential election would also go to them. The fact is, the majority of people in this country do now see gun control measures as being useless and strongly object to them. The Democrats who have been elected to Congress recently have largely been put there with understanding that they will not pass gun control. If it passes, it might destro the Democratic party for a long time.
A not inconsequential side note. The companies that produce the assault weapons (and all of the side gear), employ a good number of Americans in well paying jobs. In the current economy, passing a new AWB will hurt the economy.
Yesterday, I ran across a deal I could not pass up. Academy had a Stevens 200 rifle in 223 for $229. This is $70 less than the normal price just about everywhere. The rifle is manufactured by Savage Arms with the main difference between it and their much higher priced tifles being the lack of their accutrigger system. To give you an idea, I can buy an aftermarket trigger for less than $100 and still come out at least $100 less than the equivalent Savage rifle. I mounted my Vortex Crossfire 4-12x40mm scope on the rifle and took it to the range today after giving it a good cleaning. Being that it was raining, I chose to go to the local indoor range which limited my shooting distance to 50 yards.
At 50 yards I was getting 4 shot groups that quite literally had the holes touching each other with Hornady 55grain VMax ammunition and Ultramax remanufactured 55grain full metal jacket ammunition. Unfortunately, my reloads of 75grain Hornady VMax bullets over 22 grains of Ramshot TAC powder were all over the place. I believe this is due to the 1 in 9 twist of the barrel. To solve this problem, I plan on eventually changing the barrel for a 1 in 7 bull barrel when funds allow.
I plan on eventually replacing the stock with either a Boyds Featherweight thumbhole stock, or a Richards Tactical thumbhole stock. Though the first thing I need to do is replace the trigger. Its pull is extremely heavy. I might try using some of the tricks I’ve seen for lightening the trigger online. But, I think I will be happier with a good adjustable trigger.
I am also looking at dremeling a bit of the stock away from the barrel. The barrel is free floated in the stock. But, the left front of the stock is touching the barrel. I am also probably going to try my hand at painting the stock. Though, I am happier with the tan color of the plastic over the standard Stevens gray color you usually see.
This is going to be my project rifle. Some guys rebuild cars. I am going to try my hand at rebuilding rifles.
Overall, if you are looking for a cheap bolt action, I heartily recommend the Stevens.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is now equating those who support the Second Amendment with racists. This irritates me to no end. They ignore the fact that gun control laws in this country began as laws to keep firearms out of the hands of minorities. This march is not targetted at just Obama. It is targeted at all parts of the federal government as a message that we will not stand for infringement of our rights. If the NAACP/LULAC/NOW or any other rights groups marched on Washington, would they be saying that it is not needed because Obama has no intentions of restricting their rights? I have a real problem with how they are saying because the Second Amendment rights movement has won a few victories we should sit down and shut up.
(I know there are no pictures, and this post is worthless without them. I might have pictures this weekend.)
With trading in a rifle and pistol I don’t particularly care for, I found myself able to purchase a Harrington & Richardson Handi-Rifle combination package with both a 30.06 and a 20 guage barrel from Davidson’s. This is a single shot rifle that I can easily convert switch out calibers by changing barrels.
First thing – Davidson’s needs to check their pictures and descriptions. They had this pictured so that you think the 20 guage barrel has a scope mount, it does not. Because of this, I am looking at mounting a scope rail on the 20 guage barrel. H&R says to not drill & tap their shotgun barrels. So, I am thinking I will try what Have seen others on a forum have done, glueing the rail to the barrel where H&R normally drills& taps for scope mounts.
Second thing – Fit & finish. I own another Handi-Rifle from before Remington bought H&R and moved their production facilities. IMNSHO, it is a better made rifle. The new rifle has a lot of visible machine marks and the extractor on the 30.06 barrel does not always work properly. I understand the people at the new factory might have ramp-up time to learn. However, I expect the same quality since I am paying the same price.
I was a little worried about the recoil, since this rifle has a synthetic stock. The recoil is the same as every other 30.06 I have ever fired. I fired 60 rounds before I decided to stop shooting.
Accuracy is something I’m still not sure on. Toward the end, I was getting better groupings. However, due to the low mass of the barrel, I would have to let the barrel cool for a few minutes ever 4-5 rounds.
Overall, I am giving the rifle a 7 out of 10 stars.
When people on the government’s terrorist watch list have tried to buy guns or explosives in recent years, the government has let them the vast majority of the time.
That’s the finding of a new report by the Government Accountability Office, sent to lawmakers last month and released publicly Monday.
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The GAO provided the report in response to a request from Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-New Jersey. The GAO said Lautenberg had requested an update to a 2005 report.
In a statement Monday, Lautenberg said, “this new report is proof positive that known and suspected terrorists are exploiting a major loophole in our law, threatening our families and our communities. This ‘terror gap’ has been open too long, and our national security demands that we shut it down.”
The statement said Lautenberg is introducing legislation that would give the U.S. attorney general “authority to stop the sale of guns or explosives to terrorists.”
There is a huge problem with this, nobody on the terrorist watch list has been found guilty of anything. At one time, Senator Edward Kennedy was on the list. The list just has names. And, if your name is similar to someone’s name on the list, you are hit with the same restrictions (this has happened to two-year-old). If we allow the government to arbitrarily restrict this Constitutionally protected right, what is to stop them from restricting others? What is to prevent them from putting all of the current (or future) administrations’ opponents, on this list? What will prevent them from adding you, your friends, and/or your family to this list? This very list is the problem. Unless it is modified such that being put on the list is the result of a court action, where the accused is allowed to defend him/herself, the terrorist watch list needs to go away.
A 26-year-old Phoenix man accidentally killed himself early Sunday while explaining gun safety to two Sierra Vista residents.
Samuel Benally Jr. was at an apartment on West Tacoma Street when he said guns should be kept unloaded because people could point them at their heads, said Sierra Vista police Sgt. Brett Mitchell.
Benally then demonstrated by putting his own 9mm Ruger, which he believed to be unloaded, to his head and firing it, Mitchell said.
The first rule of gun safety is, treat all firearms as if they are loaded. This guy was a moron.
Report: Illegal Immigrants Face Abuse In the South I have news for these people, it’s not just the South. It is all across the country. It is the reason I believe we need to go after the employers of illegal immigrants, and set up a good guest worker program. This would practically eliminate the the problems these people face.
The Obama administration is considering prosecution of former Bush administration officials for giving legal advice on torture. This is a very bad thing. It sets up the scenario of the party in power being afraid to relinquish it when they are voted out of office. Part of what has made the government of the USA stable is the fact that government officials do not face imprisonment or death with a change in power. By going after these officials, they will be adding destabilizing factors to future changes of power. I will admit that the Republicans started this by going after Clinton for what was, in wider and long term view, a trivial matter. But, it doesn’t make doing this right.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has incorporated the Second Amendment.
This is a good thing. It means that they have ruled that the Second Amendment applies to the federal, state, and local levels of government. Now, we need to get it to the Supreme Court so it will apply nationwide.
