H&K 416

Dave Hardy posts about an Army Times news article that talks about Delta Force’s new rifle, the H&K 416, and highlights the army’s reluctance to replace the M16.  For a while there was a lot of talk in the military about replacing the standard small arm, but that appears to be off the table for now.

It seemed the M16/M4 would be around a bit longer when they killed the H&K XM8, largely because they included a proprietary optics mount that would have also necessitated that the military switch out all its optics.  I think SOCOM has  adopted the FN SCAR for special forces, and I guess Delta is using the HK416 now.

The problem I have with H&K building our next generation rifle is that they have basically said there will be no semi-auto versions of them for civilians.  FN is working on a civilianized version of the SCAR.

It’s bad enough I can’t get an M16/M4 inexpensively.  It would be a real shame, if for the first time in American history, civilians can’t shoot the same type of rifle our soldiers do.

Some NFA Myths I’m Hearing

I think some gun folks may be a bit confused as to the law (an easy thing when it comes to the NFA. I won’t claim to be an expert either). I’ve heard a few pro-gun folks say recently:

Having a “machine gun” permit, you open up your house to the ATF to come in and search your house any time they want

Whether this is true or not depends. If you get a fully transferable pre-86 machinegun because you paid your NFA transfer tax, filled out ATF Form 4, and undergone the background check, police permission and fingerprinting, and the ATF issues your stamp, you’re good to go from that point. The ATF can’t just walk into your house without a warrant because you possess an NFA tax stamp (which is, in effect, your license. Legally, it’s just proof you paid the tax, which is required for possession.).

The only time ATF inspections become an issue is if you become a licensed Class III dealer (or SOT – Special Occupational Taxpayer). These days you can’t do that if you don’t have a fixed place of business, with regular hours, that’s zoned for such purposes. The “kitchen table” dealer is largely a thing of the past.

If you have a Class III SOT and FFL, you can obtain pre-86 and post-86 dealer samples. To obtain post dealer samples, you have to have a signed letter from the local police department on letterhead stating that they wish to have a demonstration of a certain machinegun. If you get a post-86 dealer sample, you’re permitted to possess firearm as long as you retain your SOT status. For pre-86 dealer samples, you may retain the firearm even after your SOT status expires or is relinquished. Pre-86 dealer samples are generally firearms imported prior to 1986, but after 1968, when the Gun Control Act made importation of fully transferable machineguns illegal. My understanding is that prices on pre-86 dealer samples are not really any lower than fully transferable machineguns.

Many collectors obtained their own FFLs and Class III SOT status to trade in these firearms before the practice was ended, so that’s where the idea that the ATF could come into your home without a warrant probably came from. If you hold a type 1 or 2 FFL, the ATF can conduct inspections at your place of busines, and if that’s your home, then they can come into your home for inspections.

If you’re thinking of getting into NFA collecting, don’t let that fear stop you. If you get a fully transferable pre-86 machinegun, along with your stamp, the only business you need have with the ATF beyond that point is filling out ATF form 5320.20, if you want to transport your NFA firearm out of your state of residence, or to a new residence out of state.

Interesting factoid. If you possess a valid C&R license, and your NFA machinegun is C&R, you do not need to fill out 5320.20; your Type 3 FFL will do. Type 3 C&R FFLs subject you to possible ATF inspection, but not in your home. If the ATF would like to audit you, they will arrange a time at an ATF office. You don’t surrender your 4th amendment rights by having a C&R license.

Ah, yes. The joys of “reasonable gun regulations”

A Little Question for the Bradys

In 2004, when the federal ban on “assault weapons” expired, many of us might remember the anti-gun people boasting that they would take the fight to the states, and had at least five to seven other states that they could get one passed in.

Well, it’s now two and a half years later.  I have one question for the gun control advocates:

How’s those state level assault weapons bans you’re working on going?  Looking real successful there.  Got a whole safe full of them.  Getting more too!  Still waiting for those bans you were talking about.  Any day now!

OK, so I’ll have a little fun rubbing it in their faces, but we still need to be vigilant.  I think we may have saved Maryland for another year, but that issue won’t die there, or anywhere.  We’re still the front line of the gun rights movement.

Ignorance on Parade

Someone go explain to this guy that you hunt birds with shotguns and not rifles, and that the vast majority of us that have so called “assault weapons” use them for competitive and recreational target shooting, and not for poaching bald eagles.

It’s amazing these people don’t even bother to learn anything about the people they malign.  I think it’s important to counter a lot of these bogus arguments, but we have to be polite and keep to the facts.  If you just insult people, no one will take you seriously, and you’ll just give them more reasons to justify their hatred of our community.

Maryland Assault Weapons Ban – SB43

Pro-Gun Progressive has the scoop:

[T]he first question I was asked was universally “what do you need with an assault weapon.” I explained that it wasn’t a question of needs, but a question of rights, but then quickly moved into the pragmatics of the issue–I responded that the most commonly used target and competition shooting rifle in the US was the AR15, probably followed closely by the M1A. I pointed out that the weapons they were looking to ban do indeed have sporting purposes, and that hundreds of thousands of law abiding Americans use them lawfully every day.

I’m glad to see my evil twin representing us so well. It’s very important that the false meme that these rifles have no sporting use is debunked and stomped on. That’s never been true, except in the Bradys’ collective minds.

Good showing to everyone in Maryland. Two hundred and ten folks will definitely make the politicians pay attention. The best news of the day:

As for the bill’s fate, last I heard was that Sen. Jacobs was fairly certain it would die in committee. But this is a dangerous one, and needless to say it bears watching.

Indeed, but color me impressed guys. I think you just killed an assault weapons ban in a fairly anti-gun state! Good show!

Don’t Hate Me!

There’s a few things about the making of this blog that I feel it’s time to reveal publicly. I once said it would be a cold day in hell when I left the LiveJournal world to start a real blog, because I had a hard time finding things to say, even on there, and figured blogging wasn’t worth the trouble. So what got me into it?

Well, the truth is, I started this blog to impress a chick. Some of you might have already figured out who I’m talking about. About three months ago, a love interest I had been persuing for some time finally said it wasn’t ever going to happen. A little discouraged, I was talking to a friend, when an idea popped into my head:

Sebastian: I think I totally need to figure out how to meet Bitter Bitch
Friend: ?
Sebastian: http://www.pagunblog.com/thebitchgirls/?p=5982
Sebastian: Namely the comments
Sebastian: She’s single and seemingly unattached!
Sebastian: I need to start posting crap on my LJ about how much is sucks not to have a girlfriend
Sebastian: Now… is she sort of quietly hinting she digs guys over 30? :)
Sebastian: Single, gun toting chick who only dates guys over 30? Where do I sign up?

This was really just a joke, because I figured it was a snowballs chance in hell of actually scoring a date with her, but eventually, Bitter made a fateful post:

I’m gonna be up forever now. Damn. Use the first day of the year as a sick day? :)

No, I’m better than that. But my ass may be dragging tomorrow. On Google Talk as bitter.chick if anyone else is up and bored.

I saw an opportunity, so I added her to my GTalk client. A  few days later, she responded:

Bitter: hello?
Sebastian: hi
Bitter: i saw you added me, so i thought i would be friendly
Sebastian: Yeah… saw your post last night…
Sebastian: I’m Sebastian… BTW

And then finally:

Bitter: why are you mostly just a commenter? you seem to have really good comments, how have you resisted the drug that is blogging?
Sebastian: I’ve thought about it, but I don’t know if I could keep up enough volume to keep people interested

Well, that was all that really needed to be said. A few days later, I registered the domain, set up WordPress, and got started. There was no way I was going to miss a chance to impress Bitter! My inner traffic whore was to be released.

As we kept talking, it became increasingly obvious this was going somewhere. We agreed to meet at the National Aquarium at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, and then have some drinks afterwards. We lost track of time talking to each other, and didn’t end up leaving the bar until close to midnight, and I didn’t get back home until 2AM. After that it was definitely going somewhere. We haven’t gone a weekend without seeing each other since, and that was more than a month ago at this point.

We decided things were going so well, it was time to stop beating around the bush with undisclosed locations and mysterious other bloggers. We’ve decided we like each other enough to become an official couple, and be seen at parties and other social events together.

No matter how much time I spend with Bitter, or how much time I spend talking to her through GTalk, I never tire of her company or conversation. I can’t ever imagine that changing at this point either, because we seem to be wonderfully compatible. And I’m glad she got me into blogging, because it’s a lot more enjoyable than LiveJournal.

But don’t hate me, please, for taking an alluring, young female gun blogger off the market! It started out as a joke, I swear! I sure am glad that it didn’t turn out that way, though. We’ll be attending the NRA convention in April, so if you’d like to say hi (or strangle me for snatching her up), let me know. We’ll also be passing through Roanoke, VA, Knoxville and Nashville, TN, Waurika, OK, Northern Texas, and a few other places in that vacinity very soon, and we’re regulars in the Philadelpia and DC area, so if you’d like a chance to strangle meet me, and meet Bitter, be sure to let me know!

Early Good News from Maryland

The other Sebastian says some very interesting things about the hearing for the MD Assault Weapons Ban. For one, the anti-gunners mentioned the Zumbo statements. For two, he says in the comments about 210 people turned out. That’s a good turnout for a committee meeting! State legislature committee meetings usually don’t attract any attention. That’s likely to get the politicians nervous, and that will work in our favor. I anxiously await PGP’s full report, and will link when it goes up. Good job Marylanders!

Transformational Weapons

High powered lasers have the potential to completely change the nature of the battlefield.  A few years ago I read about the MTHEL – Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser, and later Northrop-Grumman’s SkyGuard.  This is a system meant to shoot down rockets and artillery shells on the battlefield before they have a chance to reach their targets.  The problem with the current systems is that they are powered by a chemical reaction, and are difficult and expensive to operate in the field.  They can also not maintain a very high rate of fire.

That’s why it was very interesting to read a few days ago that they’ve developed a 67kW solid state laser at Lawrence Livermore.  Solid state lasers would have the potential for more rapid and sustained fire, and would be vastly more practical to use on the battlefield.

This kind of thing is a transformational technology though.  If you can deploy it in sufficient numbers, it has the power to make conventional ballistic ordnance obsolete on the battlefield.

Dave Hardy Warns of False Flags

Of Arms an the Law has some thoughts about “false flag” operations:

The problem here is that folks who like the first may assume (as traditionalists) that traditional values apply. People may be taken at their word. The other side is not obsessive, but has rational limits. If they say they only dislike AR-15s and certain handguns, they must mean it. There are no “false flag” operations. A group with shooters and hunters in their name is a group of shooters and hunters, and a blog named “The Gun Guys” must be run by gunnies.

That’s an interesting observaton I hadn’t thought about before.  It’s my hope with “Gun Control and Hunting Day”, I’ll be able to unmask some of this.  It’s not my intention to drag out the whole Zumbo thing.  As far as I’m concerned that’s water under the bridge now.  But I would like to get a collection of writing out there that associates gun control with its effects on hunters.  Hopefully this will turn out.  I’ll be working on it a bit more tonight.

Working on A New Feature

Back when I got the blog started, I decided to do an all day feature called Full Auto Day.  The entire Jim Zumbo affair, and the shooting and hunting communities response to it, has prompted me to start work on another all day feature called “Gun Control and Hunting Day”, where it’s my intention to highlight how gun control laws, both on the books and proposed, in the jurisdictions the anti-gun folks uphold as their models, has harmed the hunting communities in those states by making firearms difficult, or very risky to own.

I’m hoping that the feature will be seen by hunters, and help them understand that the same culture of urban sophisticates that wants to take away our black rifles, doesn’t really care what it does to hunting.  It’s all part of a lifestyle, way of thinking, and philosophy, that’s utterly repugnant to these types of folks.  None will be spared in the end.

Posting might be a bit light, as working out all the posts, along with the research, will take some time.  By all means, if you think you have something I should cover here, let me know via comment or e-mail.