The Truth About Guns


Gun Tweet of the Day: Shannon Watts Edition
Shannon, Shannon, Shannon. When you tell so many lies about guns and gun owners (90% want universal background checks!, ‘gun bullies’ intimidated us!) it gets hard to recognize the truth. But there’s no reason to tell a fib just because you’re embarrassed. Our man Alan Brooks saw the Moms Demand Action doyenne leaving Saturday’s SXSW civilian disarmament seminar and asked if she had a second for a quick photo. Figuring everyone must be a devoted fan, she said, “Sure!” After the pic, Alan then shook her hand and thanked her. And that’s the whole story behind the photo that’s provoking so much conversation (follow the subsequent tweet war
The Truth About Kel-Tec
Everyone knows that many of Kel-Tec’s firearms are difficult to find. At normal dealer price, as opposed to paying way over MSRP, they can be nearly impossible to get. Due to how clearly supply lags behind demand in many cases, there’s a lot of finger-pointing and blame, a lot of well-intentioned ‘suggestions,’ and plenty of rumors. All of which were in evidence in the comments to my PMR-30 review from six months ago and in basically every Kel-Tec-related post before and since. Recently I had the chance to talk to Kel-Tec and get a high level overview of why this problem actually exists and what the company is doing about it. Unless it’s specifically quoted below, the following is mostly my paraphrasing rathe
Quote of the Day: Do You Feel Like We Do Edition
“College campuses are, as they should be, wide-open environments encouraging interactions among students, faculty and staff. So it only makes sense that an institution of higher learning such as [St. Petersburg College] would also want to exercise its in loco parentis due diligence in making sure everyone on its campuses feels safe.” – Daniel Ruth, Guns on campus? What could go wrong? [tampabay.com]
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).
Pirates Repelled by Armed Defense
Buried in an LA Times Entertainment section article about two dead former Navy Seals is some interesting news about the Maersk Alabama, the ship that was attacked by Somali pirates (not pictured above) in 2009 and featured in the movie “Captain Phillips.” In the last paragraph of the article, it’s casually mentioned that the same ship was attacked three more times in the next two years . . .
From the LA Times:
But while Phillips’ story — and by extension, “Captain Phillips” — had a happy ending, the Maersk Alabama has not been so fortunate, facing further pirate assaults in recent years. The ship was attacked a second time in 2009, again in 2010 and yet again in 2011. Each time, though, the assailants we
Beer Review: Guns and Oil’s Maverick Lager
RF snapped a pic of Guns and Oil Brewing Co.’s Maverick Lager at his local HEB [not shown]. “I’m so confused!” he posted on Facebook. The folks over at G&O caught wind of his anguish and reached out and offered TTAG a T-shirt, a couple of can koozies and a case of beer. We’ve awarded the shirt and koozies to our last caption contest winner. RF contacted me, the resident home brewer, to test the product. Although this website adheres to its brand remit like Lambourghini, here’s the exception that proves the rule: TTAG’s first [and only] beer review . . .
Brewer: Guns
It Should Have Been A Defensive Gun Use: Bus Terminal Octogenarian Head Stomp Edition
“Danika Riley, 40, was ‘stomping’ on the elderly man’s head and kicking him with her work boots when Port Authority cops spotted the 7:30 a.m. attack,” nydailynews.com reports. “The octogenarian resident of West New York, N.J., was waiting outside the ladies room for his wife when Riley attacked him for no apparent reason.” Once again, New York’s civilian disarmament regime left one of society’s most vulnerable members defenseless against a violent attack. “The Port Authority police said Riley has an extensive criminal history in New York, Oklahoma and Washington state that includes drug
Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition: VA Allows Sunday Hunting
Despite having no rational reason to do so, the Commonwealth of Virginia has prohibited hunting on Sundays from time immemorial. Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Wednesday signed into law legislation to allow Sunday hunting. It’s been a long road to repeal the old blue law preventing hunting on the day of rest and an official ceremony is expected soon to note this accomplishment . . .
The successful, bipartisan effort was achieved by the NSSF-led Sunday Hunting Coalition which includes NRA, CSF, Cabela’s, Bass Pro and SCI, among other hunting, sportsmen’s and wildlife management organizations.
The legislation allows Sunday hunting on private land during designated hunting seasons by hunters who have the written permission of landowners. According to
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).
Incendiary Image of the Day: Ankle Holster Edition
That’s TTAG contributor Alan Brooks on the right, above, who had just taken one for the team by covering the South by Southwest anti-gun confab (read his account here). And we bet you know who that is on his right. Obviously wanting something to hand down to his grandchildren, Alan used his prodigious powers of persuasion to convince Bloomberg sock puppet and Moms Demand Action gun-grabress-in-chief Shannon Watts to pose for a happy snap. The best part: Shannon didn’t know Alan was packing at the time. And somehow the gun didn’t break loose and shoot anyone. Eat your heart out, Dirk.
Listen to RF on ‘Kate Krueger Talking Gun’ This Afternoon
RF will be a guest on the Kate Krueger Talking Guns program this afternoon at 4:00 PM Eastern, 3:00 PM central. They’ll discuss the possibility of gun confiscation Connecticut and Maryland, Milwaukee’s pro-2A sheriff, guns on campus in Idaho, Facebook’s latest non-announcement announcement and more. You can listen in here.
Gun Grabbers Disrupt the Gun Lobby at SXSW. Or Not.
South by Southwest (SXSW) is the annual music, film, and miscellaneous lecture festival that clogs the streets of Austin every March with tens of thousands of out-of-towners who don’t know how to use frontage roads. This year it also drew the heads of some of the foremost anti-gun organizations in America. Mark Glaze, the Executive Director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, lead a panel discussion on Saturday that featured Shannon Watts, the Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America founder, Peter Ambler, founder of Americans for Responsible Solutions and Stephen Geer, also of Mayors Against Illegal Guns . . .
Of all of the throngs choking the capitol at SXSW this week, a crowd of only 40-50 turned out to tepidly welcome the gun grabbers to the most liberal city in Texas. The title of the discussion was “Dis
Question of the Day: Why Don’t You Carry?
Reader Matt W. writes:
I don’t carry. I support the RKBA without any ifs, ands or buts. Any. I live in a pro-gun town in the pro-gun state of Idaho. I am thrilled we are about to make concealed carry legal on college campuses. I’m a financial planner, one of the youngest people to get the certified financial planner marks in the country. I view concealed carry like a life insurance premium, which I have and sell a lot of. Given the stats, I don’t pay the carry “premium.” So many people in Idaho pay it already . . .
Just “the implication” — to quote Dennis Reynolds of IASIP – of all these other “policyholders” here in the land of potatoes and elk, allows me to to walk around statistically safe every single day. I’m certainly not sa
Aftermath of a Defensive Gun Use: A Law Enforcement Perspective
Sgt. Patrick Hayes [not shown] writes:
A recent TTAG thread dealt with the immediate aftermath of a defensive gun use. The responses ran the gamut from full cooperation with the police to saying nothing at all. As a 20-year law enforcement veteran I have investigated several DGU cases. In each case the shooter was cleared of any wrongdoing. Each was ruled as self defense and a lawful use of force. I live and work in Georgia, a pro gun state, and unfortunately that does make a difference . . .
In Georgia when a person claims lawful use of a firearm, we investigate to determine if the facts support that claim. We process the scene, take witness statements and interview the shooter and the person who was shot, if possible. Notice I didn’t use the word victim. In a DGU the shooter is the victim.
If the facts indicate a defensive gun use, we contact the District Attorney and
Quote of the Day: Heat and Hostility Edition
“Having a gun in a game seldom means that one shot gets fired. It means that thousands do. It means that, when we play in these gun-filled game worlds, we live in places where our heroes are merciless, where we/they aim for the head, where everyone we see is defined, at first glance as 1) a person to shoot or 2) a person to spare. There’s a heat to these worlds and a hostility. These gun-filled game worlds feel cynical, angry and, worst, reduced. So little feels possible. When two people see each other in these worlds, most likely, one will shoot the other to death.” – Steven Totilo in The Disappointment of Video Game Guns [at kotaku.com]
Weekend Digest: Barely Human Edition
More than 80 years ago, John Dillinger’s gang stole a Thompson submachine gun from a police station in Auburn, Indiana. Thursday, after spending all but three months of that time in FBI custody, the gun was returned to the Auburn Police Department, where plans are in the works to preserve and display the historic gun “for all to enjoy when visiting Auburn and sharing in its diverse, small-town history,” according to Police Chief Martin D. McCoy. The gun was stolen on October 14, 1933 . . .
along with bulletproof vests, ammunition, and several other firearms. It was recovered in Tuscon, AZ in January, 1934, following a shootout with the Dillinger gang. Tuscon PD held onto it until 1966, when it was transferred to the FBI’s custody, and it remained there on public display for most of the remaining years from then until the present day.
Your Lockdown of the Day™ for today comes from Tehachapi, California. Friday af
Reminder: Vote Your Guns
TTAG reader DCW writes:
I threw up in my mouth a little while watching this. Frosh is the head of our Senate Judiciary Committee and is currently running for Attorney General in Maryland. He was one of the key players in passing SB281 (The Firearms Safety Act of 2013) which banned “assault weapons”, limited magazine capacity to 10 rounds, and instituted licensing requirements to purchase a handgun. If you’ve never owned a handgun or regulated firearm before 10/1/13, a first-time buyer’s $600 GLOCK will run $900 and up because of required training, fingerprinting, and a $50 fee paid to the state. Myself and 40-50 other 2A supporters, testified in front of him during the Senate’s gun bill day this past Wednesday and he didn’t take any of us seriously and was even absent for a good share of the proceedings. I’ll also mention that the only anti-gunner in the crowd was the white-haired woman in the video above and she left about an hour into
IWA: NiteSite IR-Based Night Vision ‘Scope’
Night vision is expensive and annoying. Even after shelling out thousands of dollars for the latest and greatest in intensifier tubes, you still need to figure out how you’re going to get your existing optics to work with the new device. And then re-zero it. And then practice some more. It’s generally a pain in the butt. But for those who want an inexpensive solution to add some nocturnal capability to their rifle, NiteSite has a new product that fits the bill . . .
Nite Site’s new system is a set of devices that strap onto your existing scope and give you some basic night vision capabilities. The system is infrared-based, meaning it’s cheaper to produce but needs an IR emitter to function.
There are three parts to the system. The camera is attached to the eyepiece through the use of a rubb
Why Crossfit Makes Me a Better Shooter
Last weekend I shot the 3-Gun Nation Southeast Regional Championship in Clinton, SC. The match included a variety of stage designs and terrain – everything from close-and-fast stages in bays, to a shotgun jungle run through the woods, to a 50-yard sprint up a hill. It tested the shooter’s ability to quickly blast targets at distances of three yards, and to precisely reach out and touch targets at 300 yards – sometimes within the same stage. It tested the shooter’s mental ability to break down and execute a complicated stage plan, and it also tested a shooter’s fitness . . .
Due to the widely varied nature of the match’s challenges, the match can be likened to Crossfit. For those who may not be familiar with Crossfit, the official definition is “constantly varied, high intensity functional movement.” Crossfit workouts vary in style, length, and movements on a daily basis; the only repeat workouts are benchmarks that can be used to track
NRA-ILA: “The Rule of Law is in Tatters in the ‘Constitution State’”
Make the jump for the best press release I’ve ever read by the NRA. Clearly, America’s oldest civil rights organization is kicking things up a notch, responding to events more quickly and amping up the rhetoric without falling prey to Chicken Little pronouncements. That’s a good thing, but a bad sign . . .
“On April 4, 2013, Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy (D) signed Senate Bill 1160 into law, unleashing one of the most draconian gun control laws in the nation on his constituents. Among other things, the 140-page law bans large classes of firearms and