The Truth About Guns
Exploring the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns
Updated: 1 week 1 day ago
Hands-On with Arsenal Firearms’ New “Strike One” Handgun
Arsenal Firearms (not to be confused with Arsenal Inc, makers of the AK-style firearms imported into the US) is probably best known for their double-barreled 1911 they came out with a couple years ago. And while we’ve pretty much written that off as a gimmicky publicity stunt, they were back at IWA this year showing off their brand new Strike One handguns. And when I say “new,” I mean “new to the US market” . . .
The Strike One has been out since 2012, and it’s seen as the top choice for the next service handgun of the Russian armed forces. Heck, it’s even featured in that insane video Robert posted a couple days ago. And there’s
Statement from Polymer80.com
The following is a statement from Polymer80 on their decision to stop selling polymer 80% AR-15 receivers:
Valued Customers and supporters of Polymer80,
Some of you may have taken notice that we are no longer offering the G150 80% lower for sale on our site. We want to be clear that:
A. We were NOT shutdown in anyway by the ATF
B. We were NOT raided by the ATF
C. We have NOT even been contacted or directed by the ATF in any way, shape or form
D. We have done this VOLUNTARILY and PROACTIVELY
We currently do NOT have an active customer list nor do we have any inventory. We are going to proactively work directly with the Science and Technology Department at the ATF to quickly get a determination letter and move forward providing a fun, affordable and legal option for gun
USA Today: “Gun Absolutists” Are The Enemy
“For a sense of how extreme some gun-rights advocates have become — and why Congress won’t pass even modest firearms safety laws — consider what happened to history professor and longtime gun enthusiast Dick Metcalf,” USA Today’s Editorial Board opines, referring to an ancient event in Internet terms. “When he recently wrote in his Guns & Ammo column that the Second Amendment right to ‘keep and bear arms’ is not unlimited, Metcalf suddenly became the enemy.” Yes, well, yes. But not according to the McPaper. The real enemy is . . .
Gun-rights absolutists asse
Quote of the Day: A D-bag Walks Into a Bar Edition
“NO CONCEALED WEAPONS ALLOWED – If you are such a loser that you feel a need to carry a gun with you when you go out, I do not want your business. Douchebag.” – notice posted on the door of Backstreets Pub in Clemson, South Carolina [via Twitter]
Daily Digest: Let Me See Your War Face! Edition
Authorities have removed a “stockpile of military firearms” from the home of a recently deceased resident of Connecticut. The items removed included a “20mm anti-tank gun on skis, AR-15s, grenades, bombs, and a flamethrower,” which were cataloged by members of the state police Emergency Services Unit, the FBI, and a team of Air Force EOD techs from nearby Westover Air Force Base. [When I Googled "20mm anti-tank gun on skis," the Lahti L-39 (above) was three of the first five results.] The 59-year-old owner, George Laning, was discovered on March 8th by a friend, having died several days earlier of apparently natural causes. He was described as a reclusive man who lived with his elderly father until he died in 2005 at age 94. Since then, Laning had lived alone . . .
and apparently left no family behind. A
Self-Defense Tip: Speed Surprise and Violence of Action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nd8w_WyDnM
“Eric Wasson disarms an armed man trying to enter Johnny Baby’s bar on University Avenue in St. Paul,” the YouTube caption reveals. What else can I say? This is how you do it. [h/t TV]
Irresponsible Gun Owner of the Day: Matt and Friend
Back in the day I spent some serious schmooze time with the developer of the FoMoCo’s Lincoln BPS (Bullet Protection Series). I learned that people intent on taking out a high-value target in an armored limo aren’t stupid. If the bad guys fire at the limo glass from a distance, they aim at the driver and/or the engine block using rifle rounds (not 9mm bullets). If they’re shooting up close, they’ll keep firing at the same spot until the protective material fails. Which it will. If the driver isn’t dead when the baddies breach the car’s armor, he will be in short order. All of which convinced me that, you have to be more than a little nuts to sit in the driver’s seat of an armored limo. To do so when someone’s shooting at you – when you have an option to be elsewhere – is beyond pointless. It’s reckless and irresponsible. Anyone who sees this video and buys an armored car from these guys gets what they deserve. Hopefully not, but there it is. [h/t DCP]
Ares Armor Makes Lemonade With “BATFE Inspected Quality” LPKs
The ATF’s jackbooted and illegal raid on Ares Armor has made headlines for days, but it doesn’t seem to have intimidated the National City, CA manufacturer one bit. Instead of bowing and scraping to the ATFE’s scofflaws with badges, they’re using the ATFE’s notoriety to help them move some of their (remaining) inventory.
Stock lower parts kits (LPKs) for AR rifles are as common as Ford F-150 trucks, but Ares is banking on the infamous raid to make their plane-Jane LPKs just a little more desirable.
Since the ATFE turned the Ares Armor offices upside down and ‘inspected’ everything in their illegal search for, well, something worth searching for, Ares is marketing these LPKs
Another Polymer 80% Lower Manufacturer Stops Taking Orders
Following the raid on EP Armory and Ares Armor, companies selling polymer 80% lower receivers across the country are reacting by halting new sales of their products and scrubbing their websites of all references to them. One such company is polymer80.com. They made their own 80% polymer lowers in competition with EP Armory and used a very similar process. Their videos and pictures are MIA from the website, but you can see one of their products in the “unboxing” video above. In the wake of the raid, they’ve completely ceased operations and are now in the process of getting the ATF’s blessing on their manufacturing methods before starting back up. Rumor has it that Ares Armor and Poloymer80 are in talks to start selling their lowers to the public once the letter comes through, replacing EP
U.S. Army Testing $25K Tracking Point Rifles
Back in January, the United States Army announced that it had procured six Tracking Point scopes for testing on their new .300 Winchester Magnum XM2010 sniper rifle platform. Cool? Oh yeah. Worthwhile? Hmmm…..
Kit Up! reported that these Tracking Point-equipped XM2010s cost between $22,000 and $27,000 each, and that the Army is playing with a half-dozen of them. Somewhere. Doing something.
“While we don’t know the depth to which the system will be tested, we can showcase the platform it is on, including our working in-house version,” Tracking Point officials said. “Our networked tracking scope and guided trigger are integrated with the XM 2010 enhanced sniper rifle for military testing purp
Moms Demand Action Claims “Victory” That Never Happened. Again
There’s a certain amount of schadenfreude that comes from seeing a mortal foe fail in such an amazingly public and obvious way. Slide Fire had a billboard in Chicago promoting their bumpfire stocks. The billboard is now gone. Moms Demand Action recently put the above image on their Facebook page, claiming credit. According to them, it was their pressure that brought about the billboard’s disappearance. However, thanks to a post on Facebook, we know the truth . . .
From Slide Fire Solutions:
We leased advertising space for the Chicago billboard to run for two months, and that time has come to an end. Removal of the billboard had nothing to do with negative pressure, but was
Video: Making a Modular Silencer
When I was strolling the aisles at IWA, I ran into quite a few companies manufacturing modular silencers — cans for which you could expand or reduce the length and effectiveness depending on what you wanted to do that day. It’s a nifty concept, and while I don’t see it being available in the US anytime soon, it’s still nifty to see how these things are made. Idar from Sonic Silencers sent me this video showing the whole process from start to finish — take a look!
Stand Strong Connecticut
Send your STAND STRONG CONNECTICUT photo to guntruth@me.com. We’ll post them on our Facebook album [click here to view.] Please put STAND STRONG in the subject field of your email. You can click here to purchase a Stand Strong Connecticut t-shirt (half of profits go to Connecticut Carry).
Gun Tattoo of the Day: Maine SWAT Team Called Out for Gun Tat
“Michael Smith went outside shirtless after being awakened Tuesday morning, yelling at tree removal workers to get off his property,” pressherald.com reports. “The workers thought they saw a gun in his waistband and called police.” As Norridgewock, Maine doesn’t have its own police department, some bright spark called out the Staties – who responded with a SWAT team. Make the jump for a snap of an “assault rifle” wielding cop taking-up position near Mr. Smith’s house, and a money shot quote from the man himself. The po-po didn’t file any charges because “[Maine State Police Trooper Scott] Duff sai
Question of the Day: Does the U.S. Government Want to Disarm Americans?
TTAG reader MP emailed us this letter without any explanation. No explanation needed. It’s a trap! Vets ask for their free gun locks, the VA notes their participation in the program. When a vet returns for psychological counseling, they Doc declares them PTSD. The authorities to confiscate their weapons. After all, if there is some kind of insurrection, the vets will be the government’s most formidable opponents. Or not. Maybe I/we are just being paranoid. I mean, does the U.S. government really want to disarm the citizenry? Are various federal agencies – the ATF, DOJ, NSA, etc. – all working in that direction? More to the point, are they doing so in any kind of coordinated way. Tin foil hats on boys! We’re goin’ in!
Gun Review: Sam Yang Dragon Claw Air Rifle
We don’t review many air guns here at TTAG, but it’s a segment of the American gun industry that’s growing right alongside traditional firearms. Thanks to modern enhancements in compressed air technology the guns are getting more powerful and more accurate every year. In fact, it’s gotten to the point where hunting medium sized game with an air rifle is actually a feasible option. Sam Yang Industries have come out with a series of air rifles designed to fill that specific niche — air rifles for hunting — and their “top of the line” model is the Dragon Claw. Air Venturi is the US importer and they were nice enough to send me one to review . . .
The last time I fired a
Anti-Gun Grandstanding Politico of the Day: MO Rep. Joshua Peters
Given my job and RF’s new home base in Austin, I have reason to travel to Texas from time to time. You know, Texas – that nirvana of gun rights where every cow poke totes a six shooter and guns are ingrained in the culture like nowhere else? Yeah, well that’s mostly a load of horse hockey. Texas’s gun laws have a long way to go before they approach the freedoms firearms owners in a lot of other states enjoy. Places like…Missouri, for instance. Yes, the gun laws in my home state make Texas looks like, well, Maryland by comparison . . .
Well almost. Missouri has concealed carry almost everywhere, a statewide preemption law that covers everything except open carry (and that may change soon, too.) None of those ludicrous 30.06 or 51% signs that can turn almost any business into an instant felony zone. Still, that doesn’t m
Don’t Believe the Ammo Conspiracy Theories. At Least Not This One
By Brandon Robinson
The recent closure of the 150 year old Doe Run lead smelting plant in Herculaneum, Missouri caused quite a stir. Conspiracy theories continue to abound in a community used to finding new gun control schemes under every rock from D.C. and San Francisco. For many, this closure was, at best, an example of the heavy-handedness of the EPA, again wreaking havoc on a beleaguered manufacturing sector. At worst, the closure was a malicious attempt by the Obama administration to use the EPA’s thugs to further squeez
TTAG Exclusive: Interview with Ares Armor’s Dimitrios Karras
I just got off the phone with Dimitrios Karras, owner of Ares Armor (which was recently raided by the ATF). Ever since the ATF’s visit they’ve gone completely radio silent, and the lack of information has made it hard for even us to keep track of what’s really happening. There’s a lot of conflicting information floating around, and he wanted a chance to clean things up and explain exactly what was going on. It’s still not 100% clear even to Karras, but I’ll take a shot at laying out the facts of the case . . .
It all started over a hunk of plastic.
A firearm only becomes a firearm when it becomes fully functional. Raw materials — even those destined to become firearms — are not regulated like a firearm until all the manufacturing processes have been completed to make it operational. But that creates a loophole for do-it-yourself gun owners, since the
Quote of the Day: Putin Gets It Exactly Backwards. Or Does He? Edition
“Our Western partners headed by the United States prefer not to be guided by international law in their practical policies, but by the rule of the gun. They have come to believe in their exceptionalism and their sense of being the chosen ones. That they can decide the destinies of the world, that it is only them who can be right.” – Russian President Vladimir Putin, Putin says U.S. guided by ‘the rule of the gun’ in foreign policy [via Reuters]