The Truth About Guns
Exploring the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns
Updated: 2 days 13 hours ago
Vice Smears Opposition to Chipman Nomination as Crazy, Far Right Militia Conspiracy
Since he was nominated, Chipman has suddenly become the face of a largely faceless agency that’s been locked in a decades-long cold war with the gun lobby and GOP, which has simmered pretty much since the ATF was made responsible for regulating firearms in America in 1968. The beleaguered agency has withstood abolition attempts by Republican presidents, been blocked from modernizing (for example, to this day, it relies on paper records to track firearm sales, since it’s been blocked from upgrading to modern systems), and hit with other rules that rendered it ineffective, as the New York Times recently laid out.
Gun Meme of the Day: A Shot at CZ Edition
Gotta switch to the middle finger after a couple mags. Four sets of 30 reps should do it.
Continue reading Gun Meme of the Day: A Shot at CZ Edition at The Truth About Guns.
Politics Kills Texas Knife Law Reform Bill
From Knife Rights . . .
Knife Rights’ bipartisan Knife Law Reform bill, HB 956, which was passed by the Texas House by an overwhelming vote of 142 – 2 and which passed the Senate last session, was allowed to die in the Texas Senate without a vote as their regular session ended.
HB 956 would have removed from statute a number of places where Location-Restricted Knives (having blades over 5 1/2 inches) are banned, including restaurants and bars that derive 51% of their income from sale or service of alcoholic beverages, amusement parks and places of religious worship.
Continue reading Politics Kills Texas Knife Law Reform Bill at The Truth About Guns.
Louisiana Legislature Passes Constitutional Carry Bill
The Louisiana legislature has sent a bill to Governor John Bel Edwards that would add the Sportsman’s Paradise to the ever-growing list of constitutional carry states. The bill would allow anyone to carry a concealed firearm who can legally own a gun and is at least 21 years old.
Democrat Governor Edwards, however, is likely to veto the bill.
From wwltv.com . . .
Edwards has defended the current permitting process as appropriate.
Continue reading Louisiana Legislature Passes Constitutional Carry Bill at The Truth About Guns.
OMG! West Virginia is Giving Away Rifles and Shotguns if You Get Vaccinated! OMG!
As demand for the Covid vaccine has begun to wane among those who still haven’t gotten the jab, cities and states have begun to employ incentives to coax reluctant holdouts into joining the ranks of the inoculated. Massachusetts is handing out $25 grocery gift cards. Ohio is giving away the equivalent of a lottery ticket. The state’s Vax-A-Million giveaway is paying a few select vaccine recipients $1 million.
Anheuser-Busch has promised to buy the nation a beer if America reaches a certain percentage of vaccinations .
NSSF: Chipman Nomination to Head ATF Helped Sell Another 1.3 Million Firearms Last Month
Oh look! Another monster gun sales month. Who could have possibly seen that coming? It’s almost as if nominating the most anti-gun individual in history to run the federal government’s firearms regulator has a measurable effect on Americans’ desire to buy the guns they want while they still can.
While the raw number of NICS background checks performed by the FBI in May was up over the year-ago total, the National Shootings Sports Association’s adjusted number for last month (the better indicator of actual gun sales) fell from the May, 2020 number.
San Jose Police Release Bodycam Video of Railyard Shooting
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office has released bodycam video of the team of officers who entered the San Jose railyard facility last week in response to reports of an active shooting. Samuel Cassidy, a railyard employee, murdered nine coworkers before killing himself as police closed in on him.
Note that unlike the Broward County Sheriff’s Department officers who formed a perimeter around Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School while the killer there continued to murder teachers and students inside, the Santa Clara responders followed protocols that have been accepted practice for dealing with mass shooting incidents since the Columbine shooting in 1999.
Continue reading San Jose Police Release Bodycam Video of Railyard Shooting at The Truth About Guns.
Shouldn’t an ATF Director Be Able to Define What an ‘Assault Weapon’ Is When He’s Asked?
No one can be an expert on everything.
But maybe, just maybe, if you advocate banning certain types of weapons and want to head the agency that ultimately would be tasked with enforcing any such ban, a basic requirement should be an ability to define that class of banned weapons.
[Biden’s ATF Director nominee David] Chipman either could not or would not do so during the hearing, when asked by Sen.
There’s More Room and Security in a Lockdown Organized Gun Safe
An organized gun safe is a happy gun safe…and one that comfortably accomodates and secures all of your guns and valuable gear. If you’re having trouble getting everything stowed in your current safe, you don’t need a new one, you just need a little help organizing it with Lockdown’s line of gun vault organization gear.
Make the most of your space with Lockdown organization gear like ultra-convenient magazine racks, handgun racks, magnetic barrel rests, slide-out drawers, or pistol hangers.
Gun Meme of the Day: A Shot at GLOCK Edition
I’ve got a few memes that poke fun directly at specific firearm manufacturers. Don’t get too bent out of shape about it.
Continue reading Gun Meme of the Day: A Shot at GLOCK Edition at The Truth About Guns.
New Interactive Belt Builder From Klik Belts [With TTAG Reader Discount]
Klik Belts has been making top shelf belts in Texas for years. Now they’re launching an interactive belt builder to let you build exactly the belt you need.
In real time you can see a 3D rendering while you pick between 9 belt colors, 7 buckle styles, width, velcro locations, and size. Here is the direct link to the “build your own belt page” Use code TTAG15 at checkout for 15% off.
Chipman’s Hearing Performance and Nerf 80% Receivers [VIDEO]
This Week in Gun Rights is TTAG’s weekly roundup of legal, legislative and other news affecting guns, the gun business and gun owners’ rights.
The Chipman Hearings
ATF director nominee David Chipman’s hearings kicked off last week, and it was… well, an unmitigated disaster.
From stating outright that he thought ARs ought be included under National Firearms Act regulation, to being called out for his myriad insulting remarks against American gun owners, to his weird Dr.
Silencer Shop Launches 4473 Cloud, Providing Cloud-Based Form 4473 Storage for FFLs
Every firearm background check involves filling out an ATF Form 4473. It’s three pages when printed double-sided, and it must be kept by the FFL (the store selling the firearm) for at least 20 years. Yes, you read that correctly. Your local gun shop is storing an absolutely absurd amount of paper 4473s.
Imagine, if you will, 20 years worth of three-page 4473 Forms and how much storage space that requires. Imagine having to perform a serial number trace and needing to find one specific 4473 in your collection of tens of thousands.
LOSE YOUR RECORDS, LOSE YOUR RIGHTS: Illinois Legislature Passes FOID Bill With the Help of ISRA
The NRA’s state affiliate in the Land of Lincoln helped negotiate a new bill to modernize the state’s much-hated Firearm Owner Identification Card Act. The Illinois State Rifle Association then went neutral on the new gun control language after its formal introduction, tacitly supporting HB562‘s passage while every other gun rights organization went on record opposing the measure.
ISRA’s surprising neutrality on the final language was actually discussed during the brief Senate floor debate before the bill passed in the Senate.
New Jersey Attorney General Weaponizes His Office to Attack Out-Of-State Gun Sellers
By Lee Williams
When I worked at a newspaper in Delaware, I was intimately aware that if I strayed across the border into New Jersey with any weapons, ammo or mags and got caught, I would likely spend the rest of my life in a state prison.
Back then, New Jersey officials were content with only targeting individual gun owners, either those who weren’t familiar with their crazy gun laws, or those from free states who may have taken a wrong turn.
Gun Meme of the Day: Weapons of War Edition
Thank you to the brave men and women who fielded this “hunting rifle” and saved the free world.
Full disclosure: this is a meme, not a real Everytown / Moms Demand Action ad. It was created to make fun of how ignorant they are on the topic for which they exist.
Continue reading Gun Meme of the Day: Weapons of War Edition at The Truth About Guns.
Gun Review: US Rifle, Caliber .30, M1 (M1 Garand)
Let’s face it. The vast majority of guns are rather boring. Not from a “yee-haw!” perspective, but from the perspective of mechanical ingenuity and history. The modern AR-15 may be the best example. As popular and functional as it is, an AR is re-packaged 50-year-old technology that’s so plastic and cold that it has no soul.
But in the world of firearms, the M1 Garand is the antithesis of soullessness. In a world of expensive special purpose firearms, it still holds its own in terms of usability and effectiveness for almost any purpose.
Continue reading Gun Review: US Rifle, Caliber .30, M1 (M1 Garand) at The Truth About Guns.
Why Doesn’t The New York Times Want to Admit That Riots Fueled Record Gun Sales?
It’s absurd to state — as if it’s a fact — that the pandemic “fueled” the surge when there were riots and the police stood down and did not protect the citizens! I personally got trained to use a gun last summer, and I fired a gun for the first time in my life. That had nothing to do with the pandemic. It was about civil disorder threatening my [Madison, Wisconsin] neighborhood and the manifest unwillingness of the city to keep order.
We Celebrate Them Because They Lived
There’s a serenity about Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery. It is a peaceful place. It’s where I choose to celebrate Memorial Day.
Some might feel it is an odd expression to say someone celebrates Memorial Day. This is the day, of course, set aside to memorialize those who have fallen in war defending our nation. Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 60 is where many of those men and women who fought and died in Iraq, Afghanistan and other far-flung places in the War on Terror are buried.
Continue reading We Celebrate Them Because They Lived at The Truth About Guns.
Gun Meme of the Day: Combing Through the Carpet Edition
Slip ping snap, oh crap
Eyes closed, breath held, listen hard
Silence. Shop Brownells.
Continue reading Gun Meme of the Day: Combing Through the Carpet Edition at The Truth About Guns.