The Truth About Guns

“[Wisconsin] Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced Tuesday that permit number 200,000 was printed Monday at the Department of Justice’s secure processing center in downtown Madison,” jsonline.com reports. “Wisconsin became the 49th state to license people to carry concealed weapons in 2011 with the passage of Act 35. The law took effect Nov. 1 that year and Van Hollen announced extra staffing to handle the expected rush of applicants. Van Hollen said the DOJ continues to receive 500 to 1,000 applications a week. ‘The dedicated staff is able to process the majority of these applications in less than a week’” he said in a news release. As TTAG commentator CJD observes, “If Wisconsin has 4,000,000 adults,

“It’s unfortunate. I think people have been scared into feeling they have to buy guns now, and having another 100,000 guns in Maryland is not necessarily a good thing. But ultimately the law will make people safer.” – Maryland Senator Brian Frosh in In Maryland, gun buyers busy before new law kicks in [at washingtonpost.com]

Two men got into a scuffle inside a Tigard, OR movie theater recently, during which a nearby woman thought she heard the word “gun.” The woman, who has PTSD, shouted “gun,” starting a panic inside the theater and causing theatergoers to flee, and instigating a lockdown of businesses in the mall. Police responded, and say there was never a weapon. Tigard Police Department spokesman Jim Wolf said “This was a good dry run for a real theater shooting.” [h/t: Tom in Oregon] . . .

David B. asks: “Is the NICS system shut down for the shut down? It’s a federal agency, but doesn’t it fall under police jurisdiction and is technically funded?” The NSSF answered this yesterday in their weekly Bullet Points email: “In the event of a government shutdown on Tuesday, the FBI’s NICS Section would remain fully operational and maintain normal business

Aaron writes:

Caught this on camera this weekend and turned it into a still photo. There’s a 8 3/8″ Smith & Wesson 460XVR under that fireball. Fireball was created by a hand-rolled Hornady 230g Mag over some Hodgen H110 and a Magnum Rifle Primer. Just another reminder to use the correct grip when shooting revolvers!

In the video above, formerly NRA A-rated Senator Joe Manchin says he accepted money from anti-gun agitator and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in order to “offset the unfairness going on” and the “attacks we were enduring.” That makes almost as much sense as the West Virginia pol’s opening assertion that “the Constitution has to be done through legislation.” Maybe he’s being disingenuine [sic]. One thing’s for sure: the man who almost threw the Second Amendment under the bus, schmoozing colleagues to drum up support for “universal background checks” aboard his powerboat (shades of Monkey Business), is no friend of ours. [h/t DrVino]

“A scissor-wielding madman went on a bloody stabbing spree on the Upper West Side on Tuesday morning, randomly attacking at least five people, including a child in a stroller and his ballet dancer father, before cops carted him off, authorities said.” So shouts the New York Post. Gun grabbers look at the aftermath and say, “Thank God he didn’t have a gun or someone could have been killed. The law abiding People of the Gun look at this and say, “It’s a miracle someone wasn’t killed…if someone there had a gun, there might have been fewer victims.” The city, county and state of New York like things just as they are, with citizens reliant on police to deal with the bodies and the blood long afte

There’s nothing I love more than when I log into the WordPress stats system and see another spike in traffic. The only issue is when I know that the spike isn’t sustainable, such as the massive near-doubling of our traffic in the aftermath of Sandy Hook. I knew that the ride wouldn’t last, and as traffic slipped back to “normal” levels, it was slightly concerning. But in the last two quarters, I’ve happy to see our numbers continue the previous trend of steady growth. And we are indeed firmly back on track . .

Press release:

A.G. Schneiderman Announces Arrest of Federally Licensed Arms Dealer for Violating State and Local Gun Laws in Brooklyn

(New York, NY)  Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the arrest of Hannibal Smith [not shown] for possessing assault weapons and other guns in violation of state and federal law in Brooklyn.  Smith was charged and arraigned, in Brooklyn Criminal Court today, on three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, a Class D Felony. He faces

“A licensed gun holder and gun enthusiast, Mr Haji was introduced to guns by his father, the Garissa senator who is also a former defence minister and long-serving provincial administrator,” nation.co.ke reports, which provides a written blow-by-blow account of his bravery at Kenya’s Westgate Mall. “He grew up shooting at the Athi River range and describes himself as ‘very good with pistols’. He had packed an SSK heavy blaster pistol with 14 rounds of ammunition. When he arrived at Westgate, sounds of gunfire and screams could be heard. He teamed up with a vigilante group of about 10 people from Parklands neighbourhood who had pistols, two-way radios and bulletproof vests.” Haji rescued dozens of people trapped in the mall. Because he could.

Alan Brooks writes:

Some of you may know of the stories and legends surrounding the famous “Wild West” gunfighter, lawman, and Army scout, William “Bat” Masterson. What you may not know is that in 1909 the Savage Arms Company convinced Mr. Masterson to write a guide to defensive gun use as part of a promo for their new “Savage Automatic” pistol. The pistol, while advanced for its time, was overshadowed by that other pistol that god gave to John Moses Brownin

I was in my LGS the other day when I happened to see Gun Digest’s Buyers Guide to Assault Weapons on the shelf.  That got my ire up pretty quickly, mainly because the term, “assault weapon” is meaningless. It’s like referring to my glass as a “drinking glass,” or my plate as an “eating plate.” The simple fact is that whatever you are using to attack another person with is an “assault weapon” of one sort or another. The term, “assault weapon” has been adopted and used by the anti-gun crowd to demonize a specific sub-set of semi-automatic firearms that are arguably less dangerous than many other rifles . . .

So, I was pretty annoyed when I saw a book published under the auspices of of a company that gets most of its revenue from 2A supporters use this inflammatory and inaccurate term. After all, we should be working to eliminate, not perpetuate this sort of thing.

Then I realized that this book was, in fact, not n

Most EDC knives aren’t equipped with four inches of razor-sharp S30V, but if you’ve got big hands and deep pockets (in both senses of the term) Spyderco’s large ‘Military’ might be just the backup blade for you. You can pocket a standard Military for about $150, but our resident Spyderco historian Jay reviewed the more expensive (and damn-near indestructible) Titanium-framed version.

Jump to The Truth About Knives for the full review.

Secretary of State John Kerry has signed the United Nations Small Arms Trade Treaty. The chances of Senate ratification are somewhere between slim and none and Slim just left town. In the wake of that historic non-event, STRATFOR‘s Scott Stewart’s taken a look at the global arms market as it applies to the Syrian civil war, republished here with permission . . .

The many and diverse efforts to arm the various actors in the Syrian civil war are really quite amazing to watch. These efforts are also quite hard to decipher — and intentionally so — since many of the arms transfers occur on the murky gray and black arms markets. Indeed, it is quite doubtful that anyone, whether Syrian intelligence, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service or the CIA really has a complete picture of all the channels used to funnel arms into the conflict. Certainly, I cann

Baltimore’s WBAL radio is reporting via Twitter that “Federal judge Catherine Blake denies (temp) restraining order from blocking gun control law in MD from taking effect. Today’s decision by Judge Blake doesn’t end efforts to halt the gun control law. The plaintiffs are seeking a prelim. Injunction.” Given the trainwreck the Old Line State’s made of the background check and licensure process in the run-up to the law going into effect, you might have expected a TRO to give the people’s dedicated servants a chance to catch up. Alas, not. Free Maryland.   [h/t Danny C.]

Billy’s back and he cares about the children. Which is why he’s pointing the metaphorical finger at domestic violence as a much bigger (if less photogenic and emotionally volatile) problem than mass shootings will ever likely be. The gist: if civilian disarmers really gave a flip about the chil’run as they profess, they’d be using their big bucks and bully pulpit to attack that problem – one with orders of magnitude more victims – rather than cynically exploiting a few discreet, if high profile, shootings. Billy makes his point in his customarily cogent, effective way. Alas, it will have precisely zero effect on those at whom it’s directed. More’s the pity.

I was thinking about some of the comments underneath the post 7th Grader Suspended for 2″ Arcade Toy Gun. There was a whole lotta nostalgia going on; reminiscences about toy guns being too cool for school. Only not. Members of our Armed Intelligentsia shared tales of wearing cap guns and holding toy rifles in class and school competitions. These days? ZERO TOLERANCE! And yet gun ownership continues to rise; Illinois gun ownership has risen from 1.2 to 1.6 million in the last three years. Still, the question remains: in the face of all the spree killings and anti-gun agit-prop, are guns still cool? I reckon the ability to defend yourself—personally—will never go out of style. You?

by Christopher Barnett

My preferred, primary carry pistol is one with a single-action-only trigger and a full-size, metal frame. I realize there are many who would question that choice and for the most part I understand and even respect their arguments. Yes, the guns tend to be boat belt anchors. Yes, there is a manual safety to commit to muscle memory. Yes, modern, polymer-frame, striker-fired pistols tend to offer excellent reliability. I get it. However, my opinion is that you should bet your life on a weapon . . .

(1) that works, given its design and the degree of care you are able and willing to provide it, (2) that you really are willing to carry every day, and (3) that promotes the greatest level of confidence *with you* among all options satisfying the first two criteria. For a while, for me, that has been a government-size 1911. I am more accurate, quicker to target and more confident with a 1911, I do not mind the size, and I would rather train to devel

Square ranges are the bunny slopes of shooting—especially the ones that don’t let you draw from a holster or rapid fire. “Real” defensive/tactical shooting means shooting while moving, and shooting at things that are moving, and shooting while moving at things that are moving. Judging from the “experimental” video above, the Marines are finally realizing that their live-fire training needs to be more realistic. On the civilian side, more and more trainers are doing the move ‘n shoot thing, though not the moving thing thing. Cops? Sigh. The problem is, of course, money . . .

Square ranges are safer and more profitable than interactive ranges. Everything is contained in a small space. Everybody does the same thing the same way at the same time. Maintenance is [relatively] minimal and predictable. Insurance costs are low. And square ranges are . . . there. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get planning

By Josh Wayner

Josh Wayner’s taken it upon himself to challenge what everyone “knows” as far as barrel length, velocity and accuracy are concerned. According to his results, the conventional wisdom ain’t all that wise when it comes to longer-barreled ballistics. The only question then is, if you buy in and go with a short barrel, can you stand the noise?

Abstract: This is an independent scientific study that has been conducted in western Michigan. This study addresses the misunderstanding of the concepts related to barrel length, muzzle velocity, and accuracy in a rifle . . .

Elements of the Study: This study was conducted with a set of standards that do not necessarily correspond to all manner of firearms. The combination of weapon and ammunition used for this study was carefully determined and analyzed for the best results. This study wa

“Every time I write that maybe, just maybe, we should talk about guns, gun lovers send me the results of an NRA-cooked survey that found that 70 percent of Americans consider the Second Amendment ‘a bulwark against tyranny.’ I say ‘cooked’ because terms like ‘bulwark’ and ‘tyranny’ are designed to push respondents to a specific response. My guess is that if I asked the same question with similarly loaded and equally unfair language — ‘Do you think the Second Amendment gives you the right to shoot an American police officer or an American soldier if you happen to disagree with the policies of a legitimately elected government?’ — much of that support would vanish.” - John Krull, Gun lovers just don’t get it [via