Dave Hardy links to this very interesting article that seems to show a problem in being able to crank out more ARs and other firearms is that there isn’t enough high quality steel to be had for barrels. The numbers here are astounding.
Year: 2013
On the Popularity of the AR-15
During the first assault weapon debate, it was the AK that was the real demon. That was the first gun I bought, which I did solely because there were certain types of people telling me I shouldn’t. It was an act of defiance. I hardly shoot either of my AKs, because they just aren’t as ergonomically satisfying to me as the AR platform. It’s funny, then, that even NBS News and the New York Times are forced to acknowledge  the rifle’s popularity. Though with this kind of nonsense:
On one level, what is happening here and elsewhere simply reflects supply and demand. The gun industry has spent decades stoking demand for the AR-15 and rifles like it. Now, after the mass killings in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, President Obama wants to reduce the supply.
This is, of course, quite humorous to people who know this issue in any detail. The industry did not embrace the movement toward ARs. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming. Ask anyone with close ties to the industry, like Michael Bane. Not because they hated black guns, or bought into the gun control movement’s nonsense, but the industry is very traditional and risk averse.
Journalists just assume this stuff is true, and print it as truth, but the truth is that the gun culture changed first, and then the gun culture changed the industry. The industry did not change the gun culture. When is the left going to recognize that this is a movement composed of millions of actual people? Thinking people. People who are often smarter than the journalists who write this crap.
The Senate Fight Shaping Up
I got my second e-mail alert from NRA today asking people to call their Senators:
Every gun owner’s voice must be heard…STARTING WITH YOURS!!!
Call the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senators by name. Or, email your Senators by going to NRA-ILA’s “Let Your Voice Be Heard” webpage.
NRA is generally loath to sound the alarm if things are going well, lest they be the boy who cries wolf, which tells me the votes in the Senate are not going in the direction we want.
Whether you call or email, make sure you tell your Senators to vote NO on any gun ban…NOon any magazine ban…NO on criminalizing private firearms transfers…and NO on any gun registration scheme.
It’s funny we were so close to getting national reciprocity, and now we’re fighting bans on semi-autos, magazines, and facing the very real possibility of shutting down private sales and national registration. Some gun owners were protesting this was not going to amount to much, because the anti-gun people have no real base of support. That doesn’t really matter. What matters is gun owners have been asleep at the switch for most of the Bush years, first term Obama didn’t do anything to wake them up, and these are the consequences. Those of us that follow this issue and shoot regularly are a small minority. Most only get involved in this issue when motivated by fear or anger.
We are not facing the anti-gun crowd, save Bloomberg. We’re facing the left-wing of the Democratic Party, and they mean to destroy us. They are betting this trend is real, that the country will be increasingly urban, left of center, and more in favor of gun control. They are betting the farm that we’re on our way to extinction. Are we?
Quote of the Day
From a Cato article discussing how to promote libertarianism:
Another pithy explanation I like came from a highschool libertarian newsletter some 20 years ago: Smokey the Bear’s rules for fire safety also apply to government — keep it small, keep it in a confined area, and keep an eye on it.
We’re not too good at that these days.
Photo Sleuthing
Dave Hardy takes a look at the Skeetgate and wonders if Obama was even on the skeet range, comparing a picture of JFK on the range from years ago. It could have been taken next to the skeet range along side the road, but the ground there looks pretty open on satellite. The picture to me looks more like “Hey, I want to try out this shotgun,” rather than shooting skeet. I’m still kind of baffled why the White House even made this an issue, because it’s silly. No one expects Obama is a shooter. The photo is pretty obviously not shooting skeet, and he’s pretty obviously either not a shooter, or a real novice at it. And that would be fine, if it wasn’t for the fact that he was using a, “Hey, I’m one of you,” to pull the wool over people’s eyes so he can successfully divide and conquer.
Don’t Assume You’re Safe
Plenty of gun owners haven’t contacted their lawmakers because they believe they are nice, safe red states. Well, my mom called yesterday and wanted to read me the letter she got from her red state lawmaker – Senator Bob Corker – that just, well, didn’t seem very convincing to her. It seemed weak to her, and I tended to agree. We laughed at the fact that whoever put the letter together – assuming it was an intern – didn’t actually put all of the promised material in the letter. The problem is that the promised material was supposedly a list of ways that Bob Corker has defended the Second Amendment. As my mom put it, “Does that mean he doesn’t actually have any record to defend?”
Interestingly, a commenter was also left with the same empty feeling from this otherwise A rated Senator:
Bob Corker’s letter was very disappointing. It was an overt form letter that could have easily been sent as a response to either a pro-gun or anti-gun letter. And it referenced an enclosure regarding the Second Amendment that it did not include. Its only saving grace was that it states support for the ownership of firearms for self-protection, without offering specifics.
Personally, I would suggest calling either the local district office or the DC office and letting Senator Corker’s staff know that you’re unhappy with the response because it does nothing to indicate he actually plans to stand up for gun owners, and they don’t even care about the issue enough to read their own letter or include the materials promised. Basically, let him know that you’re really not thrilled with this unprofessional and rather unsettling response.
This post isn’t just about Bob Corker’s fairly loathsome response to his constituents. It’s a reminder that you can’t assume you’re safe just because you’re in a red state. Keep up the pressure if you haven’t written, and make sure that any unsatisfactory responses from the lawmakers are returned with another polite contact letting them know how disappointed you are.
Here in Pennsylvania, we’re dealing with a bit of the opposite. People are saying they don’t feel like they need to contact Sen. Bob Casey because he already came out in favor of a gun ban. They don’t see any reason to bother anymore. I say they need to contact him precisely because of his sudden change in position on gun rights. If lawmakers in a position like Casey’s are bombarded with pro-gun letters, emails, faxes, and phone calls, then we could easily kill his enthusiasm for his new position. There’s a big difference between a position that a Senator will carry water for the gun ban issue in a state like Pennsylvania and having him go to the leadership and say they have his vote, but he’s not willing to make this a priority issue or do any heavy lifting for them. I don’t know for sure that he’s willing to back off from his support, but I do know that silence sends the message to him that he can campaign on hating guns all day and night for the next six years and gun owners won’t lift a finger to stop him. (For what it’s worth, Bob Casey’s staff is even more incompetent on constituent service than Bob Corker’s office appears to be.)
NSSF has some advice …
David Keene Interview
The Daily Caller did a lengthy interview with David Keene, President of the NRA:
Keene has been a pretty decent spokesperson on this issue. He knows policy very well, and understands how the political process operates.
Gun Blog Salesman of the Year
Taking a look at our ad revenue numbers, I have noticed they match closely to our traffic. In November, election month, we were already about double our traffic from October. December’s figures were double Novembers, and January’s figures were double Decembers.
Granted, I’d forego all the added revenue if doing so would make my gun rights safe, and would help restock the shelves of shooty stuff so life could get back to normal. But I am quite stunned by the added influx. I hope I can continue to provide relevant information as the debate goes forward. I’m becoming more and more convinced we’re going to be in this for the long haul.
What Could Be Coming Our Way?
Chris in Alaska has a look at Nathan Haddad. He’s looking at a seven year prison sentence for each magazine, and he had five of them. I anxiously await someone from the gun control movement to explain to me how locking this man away for 35 years is going to benefit public safety. Fines are enough to deter honest people, so why throw the book at people like this? I’ll tell you why. Because they hate you. They hate guys like Mr. Haddad. He’s a gun owner. He going to get what’s coming to him.