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Exploring the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns
Updated: 1 week 13 hours ago

Michael Bloomberg: I Can Outspend the NRA

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 16:36

You remember Katie Couric, right? She’s the failed nightly news anchor and failed daytime talkshow host who’s fallen out the bottom of the media machine and now has a “show” on yahoo.com. Her most recent guest is the diminutive former mayor of New York, bilious billionaire Michael Bloomberg. And as marketwatch.com is reporting, he’s flaunting his prodigious cash pile. “’I will support individual senators and congressmen that vote to make my kids safer and your kids safer.’ ‘You think you can really outspend the NRA and the gun manufacturers?’ Couric asked. ‘Oh sure,&#82

MGI Begins Shipping MARCK “Hydra” Platform AR-15 Rifles

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 16:00

 

MG Industries has been peddling their Hydra system for a couple years now, an AR-15 based rifle that can be reconfigured to a completely different caliber in just a few seconds. Can’t decide between a 5.56 rifle and a 7.62×39 gun? Why not both? Anyway, they’ve announced that they are finally shipping the guns as a complete kit in the 5.56 NATO flavor, and the price is actually downright reasonable. Make the jump for the presser . . .

OMG! Open Carry! OMG!

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 15:30

 

Make the jump for the autoplay video in question. Kristen Anderson’s set up is worth the price of admission – in that Reefer Madness kinda way. “How would YOU feel, you’re out here shopping you see this young man walking down the road with an assault rifle,” she asks, “you’re concerned so you call the police but when they show up there’s not much they can do.” You know; because it’s legal. The police trainer claiming the open carrier was “just looking for a payday” displays considerable Constitutional contempt. When the Commander says cops have a right to stop someone open carrying to check if they’re a convicted felon, he reveals his ignorance. Anyway, it’s good to see gun normalization in the news, n’est-ce-pas?

Tired of Being Told Your Guns are Bad? Ban Bossy!

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 15:00

By now you’ve surely heard of the latest campaign to boost girls’ self esteem. Facebook’s COO and the head den mother at the Girl Scouts think too many girls are being labeled as “bossy” and this somehow stunts their psychological development. Or something. Anyway they want to ban “bossy” and we’re on board with the whole program. No one is more sick and tired of bossy behavior than are America’s gun owners. Why should law abiding individuals who choose to avail themselves of their Second Amendment rights be told what guns they can and can’t own by people who know nothing about firearms? What CHL holder wants to be harangued by shrill, uninformed self-appointed nannies about where they can and can’t carry their guns? Don’t be bullied

Somebody Open the Machine Gun Registry…

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 14:30

One of the questions I occasionally get during the day at the class-3 FFL where I work is, “can I buy a machine gun?” I usually respond with the whole spiel of how “the registry” was closed and how much that tends to stink for anyone of average means who desires a full-auto weapon. Quite simply, if you don’t have a fat wallet, you don’t get to go rat-a-tat-tat. I really hate that . . .

It’s not that I’m jealous of those who can afford machine guns. It doesn’t bother me that their disposable income is much greater than mine. What bothers me is that I should be able to afford a machine gun, but I can’t because of artificial inflation caused by a “do-good” representative from New Jersey circa 1986. I don’t want to offend those of you who own them, but to be quite frank, MAC-10s are $300 guns at best. And Stens should be a cash purchase you make from your cha

CT Gun Owners Downloading “I’m Getting Arrested App”

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 14:00

Connecticut gun owners who chose not to comply with the Constitution State’s post-Newtown firearms and ammunition magazine laws are getting ready for possible confiscation and arrest. The video above from Dave Acton’s Urban Survival YouTube channel recommends that CT gun owners download the “I’m Getting Arrested” Android app. Developed by the Occupy folks, the one-click free app automatically notifies contacts when the cops come calling. (No iPhone equivalent yet.) A supplier of products designed to hide firearms told TTAG today that they’ve noticed an increase in sales to Connecticut. The Sipsey Street Irregulars reckons CT militias are already forming. Or strengthening. Or something. In any case, I wonder how the police are preparing for an order to yank the chains of otherwise law-abiding citizens turned into Class D felons by the stroke of

Stand Strong Connecticut

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 13:30

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).

Win a Kel-Tec KSG – Last Day!

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 13:00

You know you want one. You’ve been intrigued since Kel-Tec announced the KSG. But like most new Kel-Tecs, you figured you’d be old and grey before you actually ran across one in the wild. And that may still be the case. But here’s your chance. Click here to enter from your laptop or here from your mobile device, and you could be taking home your very own desert tan KSG. How cool is that?

Defensive Gun Use Of The Day: Inferior Firepower Edition

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 12:00

The first rule of gunfighting is — we all know this, right? — have a gun. Once you have a gun, conventional wisdom suggests your choice of caliber is not of primary importance. There are, of course, limits to this conventional wisdom. A 23-year-old Georgia man discovered that no legitimate defensive caliber begins with “point one seven seven” . . .

Let’s head to Channel 11-Atlanta for the details:

Ryan Jones was shot at around 4:30 p.m. Sunday outside a house in the 9900 block of Bells Ferry Road near Holly Street in Canton.

Witnesses told Cherokee County Sheriff’s investigators that Jones arrived at the house with a BB gun and demanded to be paid for a debt he claimed he was owed.

A person inside the house, 43-year-old Brian Turner of Woodstock, shot Jones with a shotgun. Turner was a guest at the house, according to Cherokee County S

When Holstering, Coolness is Overrated

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 11:00

By Johannes P.

The story about Police Chief David Counceller’s negligent discharge due to a stray windbreaker drawstring in the trigger guard brought to my mind a recent article written by firearms trainer Pat Rogers (above), who tackles the issue of after-action holstering in the April 2014 issue of SWAT Magazine (pages 53-57).  Don’t waste time trying to look cool, the former Marine Chief Warrant Officer says: take a glance and make sure you’re not about to do something stupid . . .

To some, speed holstering looks cool. It shows mastery of man over machine, and style points are important in some endeavors. But herein lies the problem. Numerous negligent discharges occur when holstering. The main

Indiana Gun Reform Bill Clears House and Senate

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 10:30

SB 229 passed in the conference committee, the Senate 38-10, and the House 75-24, and now goes to Governor Mike Pence for his signature. Yesterday was the last day the legislation could be passed, so it went right down to the wire. The substance of the bill is fairly straightforward and consists of three reforms. The first removes traps in existing law for legal gun owners, things like “roaming gun free school zones” that were created whenever school children went for an official function . . .

Second, people who legally have guns with them in their vehicle may pick their children up at school without breaking the law. They aren’t allowed to take their defensive

Gun + High School Bathroom Selfie = BUSTED.

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 10:00

Stupid is as stupid does, but ‘stupid’ does not begin to describe the two yoots who brought a family member’s handgun to San Francisco’s Balboa High School. And then posted a selfie with it from the boy’s bathroom . . .

Their selfie was of course spotted by another student, because that’s why you post things on Facebook.

The other student promptly dropped a dime on the Dysfunctional Duo, and I (for once) kind of understand why they got ratted out. Snitches may get stitches, after all, but the classmates of Dylan Kliebold and Eric Harris got killed. Luckily these two weren’t Kliebold and Harris. They were just Dumb And Dumber.

From the

Rob Pincus Runs for NRA Board of Directors

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 09:30

TTAG contributor and I.C.E. Training proprietor Rob Pincus is running for a seat on the National Rifle Association board of directors. As he details at his web site, Rob figures being elected would enable him “to reach more people and, possibly, effect more change and positive movement. If elected, I would also do what I could to make the organization itself more responsive to the issue that I care most about in our community: Training, Education and Educating America’s Middle Ground on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms and what it means to be a Responsible Firearms Owner.” Here’s his statement on his positions regarding open carry, constitutional carry and mandatory gun training . . .

Over the last few weeks, since

NC Hunter Takes Out 500 Pound Porker with AR-10

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 09:00

“Under starry skies on Feb. 28, Jett Webb of Conetoe ensured there will be one less mouth to feed in the Indian Woods section of Bertie County – and a real big mouth, too,” northcarolinasportsman.com reports. “Webb took down a massive wild boar that bottomed out a set of scales certified to 500 pounds that’s used for weighing tobacco bales. Michael Mansell, president of the White Oak Ranch Hunting Club, said he weighed well over 500 pounds.” Wow, that’s a heavy president. JK. “‘He pegged the maximum weight capacity of the certified scales with his head and shoulders still on the skinning shed floor,’ Mansell said. ‘It was a true bea

Quote of the Day: Where Less is Always More Edition

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 08:00

“Max McGuire, a political science graduate student at Villanova University and Cranbury resident, said attempting to stop mass shooters with the law would be ‘like lowering the speed limit to stop drag racers.’” – Matt Friedman in Lower capacity for gun magazines approved by NJ Assembly panel [at nj.com]

Stand Strong Connecticut

Fri, 03/14/2014 - 07:00

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).

Daily Digest: Breaking Up Edition

Thu, 03/13/2014 - 21:00


Columbus Police Swat Snipers are checking out a new kind of ammunition that is designed to be safer for bystanders and hostages during hostage situations. When those occasions arise, police are often faced with suspects that are behind some form of bullet-resistant glass, and firing conventional rifle rounds through it can result in fragmentation of the round or spalling of the glass to the detriment of all who are behind it, without regard to innocence. The new round is designed to penetrate the glass without shattering it or breaking up itself. The round appears to be effective against both the very thick plastic that you might find in a convenience store and . . .

against car windshields, where it punches right through without any separation whatsoever. The article says it “stays intact until it meets the intended target,” but given the bullet’s appearance of being a turned piece of solid metal, I’m not sure it d

Oath Keepers Heat-Up Looming Confiscation Confrontation

Thu, 03/13/2014 - 20:00

Molon labe. That’s the sentiment spreading throughout what TTAG used to call “slave states” (i.e. the states where citizens’ Constitutional rights are under direct and emphatic attack). This video cuts close to the bone, asserting that citizens have a right to shoot armed police officers coming to confiscate their firearms. We don’t have any information about the who, what, where and when of this but it’s not out of line with what fellow Oath Keepers are saying, or at least suggesting. (Click here for a Stand Strong portrait from an Oath Keeper in our Facebook album.) Speaking of Facebook, the

This Open Carry Tale is No Fish Story

Thu, 03/13/2014 - 19:00

Florida is one of five states that generally ban the open carry of firearms. As with all such states, exemptions to the general ban are included in the law. Florida Second Amendment supporters are pushing for a restoration of open carry rights in the state. Toward that end, they’ve organized a number of open carry events under the exception for open carry to, from, and during fishing in the state . . .

Spacecoast321 at opencarry.org relates what happened when he attempted to join one of these events a few days ago:

Well after a lengthy hiatus I was finally able to go the Open Carry fishing event in Melbourne. Sadly I RSVP’d too late, about an hour before the event, on MeetUp and the host (I later

OMG! Gun Bullies! In Austin! OMG!

Thu, 03/13/2014 - 18:00

It’s been almost three days since the Moms Demand Action crowd had something to be outraged – OUTRAGED! – about. Fortunately, Texas is full of gun owners safely going about their business, so yesterday’s Come And Take It Texas open carry march through Austin provided just the excuse Shannon and her sisters needed to work up a Class 5 tizzy. The Moms’ reaction was, well, predictable. From their Facebook page: “THIS IS NOT NORMAL: Yesterday, the same gun activists who tried to intimidate our moms at a Dallas restaurant last year marched through the streets of Austin with guns. “The rally was held in response to a panel Moms Demand Action participated in at South By Southwest last Saturday” . . .

Shannon’s shrieking shrews let

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