The Truth About Guns

I love me some tactical shotguns. They’re as close to a one-stop shot as you can get in a firearm. They’re perfect for making solid objects disappear in an explosion of bits. Don’t try that at home. Or in a police patrol car. OK, Austin, Texas police officers Shelly Holmstrom and Vincent Giles didn’t try to blow the bejesus out of their squad cars with their department-issued scatterguns, but by God they managed it. The video above features a rather confused performance in terms of preparing a shotgun for police duty. To be clear, a “cruiser ready” shotgun has a full magazine, an empty chamber and the safety on. “Call ready” means a full mag, chamber loaded, safety on. And “Shoot Ready” means a full magazine magazine with the chamber loaded and safety off. As always, a finger never goes on the trigger until it’s time to shoot. All that said, a one-day suspension for the officers and some TTAG IGOTD hardware o

Mother Jones, Gawker and other sensationalist news sites are preparing to release articles beginning next Monday detailing the “assault weapons trafficking” that goes on through reddit.com. We know it’s coming — we’ve seen the emails, we’ve talked to the contacts that they’ve tried to meet with and we’ve seen the discussions — and this is being spearheaded by a gun control advocacy section of Reddit called /r/gunsarecool that dances with joy every time there’s a mass murder. Truth be told, Reddit’s gun sales sections are no different than any other website that lists firearms for sale on the net, but because Reddit is one of the most popular websites, the suggestion that a beloved site could be the source of &#

“In Operation Fast and Furious, the Mexican drug cartels found an easy way to supplement their own illegal ways. Worse yet, the Obama administration has yet to publicly hold anyone accountable for this disastrous policy. Unfortunately, guns from Fast and Furious will be found in operations like this for years to come.” – Senator Charles Grassley, Fast and Furious guns turn up at Mexican resort shootout [at cnn.com]

[h/t Dirk Diggler]

Cull of the Wild. Geddit? The New York Times headline is a riff on Jack London’s classic shaggy dog story Call of the Wild. In London’s book, Buck goes from domesticated doggie to back woods brawler. In the article about East Hampton’s deer infestation, the editorial board contrasts “privet hedges, gentle dunes and white-seashell paths . . . a vision of a natural world tamed and tailored t

Earlier this month, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America convinced Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop to inject an anti-gun litmus test into his police department’s firearm procurement process. Nine days later, 109 Garden State mayoral members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns told the world they’re happy to sacrifice cops’ safety for political correctness. A week after that, Rabbi Joel Mosbacher returned from a European civilian disarmament tour to announ

Kel Tec is known for making interesting looking firearms… and then only ever making approximately three a year per model. Despite the nifty design of, say, the KSG or the Sub-2000, there’s never any on the shelves and there’s no indications that Kel Tec is ramping up production to meet demand. Nevertheless they’re soldiering on, introducing two new rifles at SHOT Show this year that seem to be in the same bullpup-esque vein as the popular RFB and Tavor SAR rifles. All we have on them at the moment is this ad from a magazine (via PT) but rest assured we’ll get you guys more info as soon as we land in Las Vegas. Looks like we have plenty of time though — the ad notes that the 5.56 version will be available “late 2014″ with the others following eventually. Available being a relative term, I

Not everybody’s idea of “home defense” is to fire two negligent discharges into the air from a double-barrel shotgun. Some of us think it might be more effective to actually shoot the ammo *at* an invader. And for more and more people, they’re foregoing the shotgun and instead reaching for an AR. An AR-15 for home defense? Why not? Powerful, low recoil, easy to aim, high capacity, easy for smaller shooters to handle. It may not be everyone’s choice, but it is the most popular rifle sold. Surplus military ammo, though, is probably not the most suitable round for home defense. In this video, ShootingTheBull410 takes a look at Winchester’s PDX1 223 Defender; it’s purpose-built ammunition designed specifically for the modern sporting rifles and for personal defense use.

The Truth About Guns gives Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America a great deal of coverage. More than a few commentators are unhappy about this editorial “obsession.” They’ve pointed out – as have we – that Mother Demand Action (MDA) is a sham. They have nowhere near the popular-never-mind-active support of gun rights groups. So why give the doyennes of disarmament the oxygen of publicity (as Margaret Thatcher warned journalists covering the IRA)? Doesn’t that simply raise MDA’s profile and, thus, spread their message? To parap

The Age of Miracles has not passed! The Huffington Post’s gun rights kapo has penned an article that points out that Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America (MDA) is like those Hollywood Western towns: an empty facade meant to stir emotion and . . . that’s it. In fact, one wonders why the HuffPo published “Mike the Gun Guy’s” post The Confrontational Gun Control Strategy That Just Might Work. It does more to ding MDA than a hundred TTAG exposés. Well d’uh. The proggy website is read by “progress

If you don’t want to get your dander-up, don’t. Nurse your hangover in [relative] peace. Don’t read the “legal arguments” from Buffalo Federal District Judge William M. Skretny, who ruled yesterday that New York’s SAFE Act is constitutional (except for the bit about only being able to load seven bullets). Nor do I recommend you read the New York Daily News’ editorial on the decision The gun nuts lose again. Or Moms

If RF had his way, there’d probably be a giant banner across the top of the website proclaiming our awesomeness with one of those cheesy “visitor counter” widgets. But I made a deal a few years back: keep the cheerleading to a minimum and I’ll do a full stats breakdown every quarter and post it for all the world to see. Well, another quarter just ended and that means it’s once again time to draw back the curtain and give you, our readers, an eye-full of the site’s latest stats. And if I could use three words to describe how we’re doing, they’d be “better than ever.”

The first quarter of this year spiked our stats so hard that it took nearly six months to get back to the normal trajectory. There’s a standard and predictable growth pattern that we’ve seen in terms of readership, and anything beyond that tends to freak me out just a little bit. But ever sin

“The driver, 30-year-old Norman Gurley of Michigan, was pulled over for speeding,” dailycaller.com reports. “A highway patrolman noticed wires running to a secret compartment in the car and arrested Gurley, even though there were no drugs in the compartment. The officer also claimed he smelled marijuana in the compartment — giving him probable cause to search it — though none was ultimately discovered. It makes no difference whether police find drugs or not, according to a new Ohio law that prohibits secret compartments.” True story. As TTAG tipster One_if_by_land1776 points out, “welcome to the world of pre-crime.” And say goodbye to Fourth Amendment protections.

“Pro-gun activists are worried about losing their guns and moms are worried about losing their children. You tell me who’s going to win.” – Shannon Watts, Founder, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America quoted in The new leaders on gun safety in 2013? Moms [via msnbc.com]

FNH USA is the current manufacturer for the M16A4 and M4 series rifles for the U.S. military, so it might come as a bit of a surprise that despite the insane demand for AR-15 rifles in the United States FNH USA didn’t make a version of the firearm for civilian sales. But starting in 2014 FNH USA has announced that they’ll finally be producing two models of AR-15 rifles for the civilian market, one with a fixed A2 stock and one with a collapsible stock.

Word on the street is that the guns won’

The way the day was originally scheduled, Robert’s post about the rubber band man would be the last thing we published this year. And I just… I can’t let that happen. So instead, please enjoy this video of exploding watermelons. And have a happy New Year.

What this has to do with holiday season consumerism I have no idea. Something to do with being cheap I think. Anyway, I’m glad onshoulders got this done [just] before the New Year so we can distract you from all the Year in Review recaps, which somehow place more importance on What Does the Fox Say? than New York’s SAFE Act. Go figure.

Dear VPC Supporter,

Before the New Year, I’m sending one last message to ask for your help.  In 2014, the Violence Policy Center will be moving full speed ahead as we educate the public about gun violence prevention and advocate for meaningful change. Before the year ends, please make a tax-deductible donation to the Violence Policy Center and join our efforts for a safer America. Here are just a few of the Violence Policy Ce

The wife and I have had our conceal carry permits for some time now, and the time to renew rolled around again late in 2013. Honestly, I dread dealing with the government at all, so I put it off for as long as possible. Finally, on a day we both had a little spare time, we headed downtown. My wife, wise in the ways of the world, suggested calling ahead to make sure they were going to be open until 5:00. I called the Sheriff’s office and a pleasant woman said yes, they’d be open until 5:00, but that the deputy in charge of renewing licenses wouldn’t take renewals after 4:00 PM for some inexplicable reason. Since it was 3:50 PM at the time, we knew we weren’t going to make it, turned around and headed back home . . .

A few days later, I arrived at the Civil Courts building. It’s a magnificent edifice, an embodiment of the ideals of justice, even as its minions inside struggle to meet tho

Scenario: You usually aren’t a gambling man, but when your friend, the Class 3 FFL, wagered his knowledge of foreign gun laws against yours, you couldn’t resist. Your friend insisted that he knew British gun law like the back of his hand. Ask him anything, he said. If he was wrong, he’d let you have your pick of two integrally suppressed guns from his shop. He would even eat the cost of the $200 transfer tax. Well, your friend wasn’t quite the expert in UK gun laws he thought he was and lost the bet . . .

On top you have the: Underground Tactical M&P 15-22 Integrally Suppressed. It’s a fun and compact package that’s whisper quiet. You can shoot all day long on the cheap and you won’t bug the neighbors.

On bottom, you have a