The Truth About Guns
Exploring the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns
Updated: 6 days 16 hours ago
Quote of the Day: It’s a Gun Problem. Right. Edition
“I remember giving creative writing assignments to students instructing them to write a page or two on whatever they wanted to talk about. Adam would write ten pages, obsessing about battles, destruction and war. In my years of experience, I have known (redacted) grade boys to talk about things like this, but Adam’s level of violence was disturbing. I remember showing the writings to the Principal at the time. Adam’s creative writing was so graphic that it could not be shared.” – Adam Lanza’s teacher
BREAKING: Kevin Brittingham Wins Lawsuit against Freedom Group
Kevin Brittingham founded Advanced Armament Corp, which became one of the biggest silencer manufacturers in the world. He later sold the company to Remington Defense, another gun company owned by Freedom Group, but stayed at the helm raking in staggering profits while constantly butting heads with upper management. As the relationship deteriorated Freedom Group fired Kevin from the company he founded. He sued Freedom Group over the firing, a court case in which, thanks to a text message earlier this evening from Kevin confirms, he whipped FG’s ass.
The suit was over a number
The Director of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse Throws Everyone Under the Disarmament Bus
The following letter to the Editor was written by the Director of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse Susan Rogers regarding the New York Times article ‘When Right to Bear Arms Includes the Mentally Ill‘:
To the Editor:
As someone who has a mental illness, I was dismayed to read your article about guns and violence. It misses the point, which is that the United States needs much stronger gun control laws for everyone . . .
Although the prevalence of mental health
Obscure Object of Desire: South African Browning A5 Shotguns
By Tom in Oregon
Durning the FNS-40 contest I decided to rummage through the safe for an FN-related object. I found what I was looking for and since I knew where its brother was, I called my buddy and got his for a photo session. A few months back, my friend and I were negotiating a deal with a gentleman for a shop full of reloading equipment, components and whatever else the gent was looking to sell. He had several guns set to go on the auction block, too. As my friend had already bought three from him at very reasonable prices, I knew I was in, too . . .
After inspecting all of the Dillon equipment he had, a price was settled upon. We loaded everything up and were walking out the door when the gent said, “reach into one of those boxes.” I did and pulled out a shotgun that looked very familiar, but in 35 years of gun shows and collecting, I had never seen one before.
BREAKING: A&E Caves, Rehires Shotgun-Wielding Phil Robertson for Duck Dynasty
See what I did there? Injected a gun-related reference into the headline—just in case you thought that the suspension of a reality TV star for insisting that a vagina is better than an anus for sexual congress (and gays are sinners) has nothing to do with guns. As I stated from the git-go, the Robertson clan is inexorably linked to duck hunting and thus guns in the public mind. So Phil’s reinstatement (A&E press release after the jump) tells The People of the Gun . . . something. As for anti-gunners who already see gun owners as dumb, ignorant, racist, homophobic rednecks, no change. Now aren’t we glad we went through all that? . . .
As a global media content company, A+E Networks’ core values are centered around creativity, incl
TX Homeowner Shoots, Kills Burglar During Christmas Eve Break-In
When Gareth Long heard a window break at his Cedar Hill, Texas home on Christmas Eve night, he had no way of knowing whether he would meet a poorly-dressed Santa Claus, a strangely pale Grinch or a latter-day Charles Manson. So he secured his family and armed himself to investigate. Robber Joshua Slaven (above) may have been desperate, mentally ill or under the influence of drugs when he broke into the Long family home, but he still still had plenty of warnings that he was likely to encounter an armed and uncooperative homeowner. This was Texas, after all . . .
But Slaven ignored those warnings, and when he also ignored the homeowner’s repeated warnings to leave, the homeowner shot him dead. According to dallasnews.com, paramedics bagged and tagged him at 11:59 p.m. on December 24th.
Slaven turned out to be the stepson of Cedar Hill Mayor Rob Franke, who lives a few blocks d
New from Springfield Armory: Range Officer 9mm
John Moses Browning was not a luddite. The designer would have embraced any and all changes to his design that made it better. For a lot of people, a 9mm 1911 is better. Cheaper to run. Less recoil. More accurate. And . . . that’s all I got. guns.com reckons Springfield’s new nine-plus-one nine “will without a doubt be a popular range, self-defense and competition 1911. As 9mm becomes more common even with the 1911 crowd for its shootability and affordability combined, this is one handgun that Springfield will have no problems moving.” But guns.com and Guns & Ammo live in a world of unicorns and rainbows. With a $977 msrp I’m not so sure. “What if you could buy a competition-ready 1911,”
Does Exercising the Second Amendment Invalidate the Fourth Amendment?
The Rutherford Institute is petitioning the Supreme Court to hear the case of Quinn v. State of Texas, a case in which the lower courts have held that the exercise of the Second Amendment is cause to invalidate the protection of the Fourth Amendment. From the Rutherford Institute . . .
WASHINGTON, DC — Warning against encroachments on the Second Amendment right to bear arms, The Rutherford Institute has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of a Texas man whose home was subject to a no-knock, SWAT-team style forceful entry and raid based solely on the suspicion that there were legally-owned firearms in his household. Although police had obtained a search warrant for
Gun Hero of the Day: Marc Alvarez
Store clerk Marc Alvarez is a lucky man. His first unsuccessful attempt at disarming an armed robber could have led to lead. But he kept his head in the game and didn’t give up. Not only did he seem to talk his way out of trouble, ish, but he renewed his assault on his aggressor (off-camera), disarming him. According to the info at liveleak.com “By the time the two reached the beer cooler, Alvarez said he was able to ‘bum rush him into the cooler’ and take the handgun away. Alvarez turned the pistol on the robber and got him out the door. The man, trying to run away, tried to slow Alvarez down. ‘He threw a trash can at me. I blocked the trash can out of the way’ Alvarez said. As always, we understand when people capitulate to armed robbers. But we celebrate every occasion where they don’t and prevail. Never give up.
Israel Faces Snipers Equipped with Steyr Mannlicher HS .50-caliber Rifle
When the Pope called for peace in the Middle East he wasn’t kidding. The region is a swirling cauldron of ethnic, tribal, political and national violence. The so-called “Arab spring” (welcomed by our President) has done nothing to stabilize the region and much to destabilize it. The Syrian civil war, for example, has shuffled the deck, giving numerous bad actors a chance to gain arms, personnel and fighting experience. Specifically, “In 2005, the Austrian Steyr Mannlicher shipped 800 long-range bolt action anti-materiel rifles to Iran,”
Gear Review: Alamo Tactical Minimalist IWB Holster
As concealed carry becomes increasingly popular, people are finding ingenious ways for new converts to the every-day-carry lifestyle to tote their firearms more discretely and more securely. Tyler Kee and Chris Dumm have each provided their input on a device from VersaCarry that was, until that point, the smallest viable option for packing a gun, but didn’t provide a whole lot in terms of retention or safety. In fact, Tyler and Chris went out of their way to NOT call it a holster, because it really isn’t. Today I present a more refined option from a local gun shop here in San Antonio (
Bryan Hyde’s Open Letter to Law Enforcement
By Bryan Hyde
Will Rogers once said: “A remark generally hurts in proportion to its truth.” I thought of that when a friend of mine who works closely with a local police agency recently told me that I’m not very popular with many of our boys in blue. They worry that I’m leading people to believe that we are headed for a police state. For the record, that’s exactly what I’m saying . . .
If my pointing out the approaching police state troubles you, it’s probably because you recognize the growing divide between the state and the people. The problem isn’t you or your ability to do your job. The problem is in how the state is using laws and law enforcement to consolidate its power over the people.
Havi
Rabbi Joel Mosbacher is a Putz
My vote for the most ridiculous story of the year: the rabbi who went to Germany to lobby foreign gun makers to adopt policies conducive to civilian disarmament. Rabbi Joel Mosbacher and some equally deluded clergymen did so oblivious, it seems, to the fact that the Nazis disarmed millions of Jews before slaughtering them like cattle. Or worse. Mosbacher took some major heat on TTAG (and elsewhere) for his main criticism: European manufacturers are selling guns though “unlicensed dealers.” Undaunted by his violent collision with ignorance, the group met with reps from GLOCK, SIG and Berretta. Now they’re back! Surprise! They learned nothing in the process . . .
Quote of the Day: GLOCK 42 Not In Poll Position Edition
“The Glock 42 is like your sexually conservative girlfriend unconvincingly trying to talk dirty to you for the first time. Just stick to what you know, or go big and take some pole dancing classes and really impress me with a single stack 9mm.” – Collion Noire, The GLOCK 42: The GLOCK No One Asked for [via mrcolionnoir.com]
Michigan City, Indiana Sgt. Chris Yagelski: Gun Buybacks Reduce Crime
Another day, another “gun buyback.” I use quote marks because the police conducting these cash-for-guns events didn’t sell the firearms to their owners. So they’re not really buying them back. They’re buying them. No questions asked. Quite why the cops would want to create a black market for firearms—other than political expediency—is beyond me. But not beyond Sgt. Chris Yagelski, the man in charge of Michigan City, Indiana’s annual Get More Buck for Your Bang Gun Drive. “Sgt. Chris Yagelski considered the two-day drive a success,” co-sponsor heraldargus.com reports. “Among the [46] guns received were a 1936 Italian rifle and a 1955 handgun in its original box, which Yagelski said was in ‘pristine condition’ and was probably never even fired. ‘Items like that are far more valuable
Chris And Joe’s Early Christmas Present: TNW Firearms Factory Tour
Saying this may risk pushing me outside of the MSNBC target demographic, but I can’t think of a better way to spend Christmas Eve than touring the factory of a firearms importer and SOT manufacturer. Joe Grine wrangled us a Yuletide invitation to the rural headquarters of TNW Firearms, and I was in gun-guy Nirvana all day. What we saw was literally mind-boggling. This rack of 9mm takedown carbines are waiting for their lower receivers, but TNW’s Aero Survival Rifle production line was only the tip of the iceberg of what we saw yesterday . . .
The massively-fun ASR is not TNW’s only indigenous design. Their other flagship product is this switchbarrel piston-driven AR,
REMINDER: TTAG Reader’s Choice Awards Voting Closes Soon
I think we’re going to close down the voting tonight after midnight, so if you haven’t made your preferences known please do so now. We’ll tally up the results over the weekend, and then present actual awards (you know, the physical kind, with plaques) to the winners at SHOT Show. You only get one vote, so make it count!
Can’t see the voting system? Click here!
Incendiary Image of the Day: NJ Gun Owners’ Boycott Edition
Thanks to a relentless campaign of civilian disarmament, the chances of a Garden State gun owner carrying concealed are less than the chances that I’ll get Michal Idan to model TTAG gear. Actually, a lot less—which [partially] explains the violation of my oath not to link to Israeli supermodels. Anyway, statistically speaking, zero percent of NJ gun owners carry concealed. Which makes this poster something of a non sequitur. Also, the poster suggests that New Jersey gun owners want draw their guns in malls, which they don’t, unless they do. Still, Anthony over at gunforhireradio.com is fighting the good fight against seemingly insurmountable