The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …
Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the famed AK-47, has died at 94.
The story highlights that he was self-taught, never finished high school, and was a tank mechanic before inventing the rifle. They also report he invented a lawnmower. He also made several adaptations to tanks that were eventually adopted by the entire Red Army.
Moms Demand Action may become Bloomberg’s Helicopter Mommies Merged with Illegal Mayors with the news that Bloomberg is merging the two groups now that he’s leaving office. Now the gun control women won’t just be known for anti-gun antics, but they carry the weight of Bloomberg and his attempts to control everything you eat and everything you do – just like a helicopter mom.
The District of Columbia has changed their registration law, and they estimate as many as 40-50,000 gun owners may face up to a year in jail if they don’t make an effort to learn about the change in the law.
On Jan. 1, DC gun owners will have 90 days to jump through the entire gun registration process all over again. This means in person stops at the police department and all sorts of bureaucratic headaches. However, not jumping through these hoops (all over again) will mean that in 180 days, they are illegally possessing firearms and will face jail for it.
The media is highlighting that there are concerns that not all gun owners will learn about this change in the law, and that could cause unintentional non-compliance with extreme consequences.
The oral arguments on this challenge were held this week, and Gene Hoffman has an update.
According to law enforcement, Florida is on track to reach 1 million background checks for gun purchases in 2013. The brisk holiday gun-buying season has already driven them over the total number of background checks run last year.
You’d think that pro-gun control folks would be happy any time a gun is purchased through a federally licensed dealer because it means there was a background check conducted and records will be kept.
But, no, that’s not good enough. The fact that someone is able to buy a gun at all is a problem for them.
That’s the message sent to us with a bill introduced in Virginia to ban all FFLs from selling rifles and shotguns to out-of-state residents who pass the background checks.
Link here. It’s a very in-depth article, and there are a lot of potential takeaways, including how remarkably dumb our opponents were. But I would note I’m rather skeptical of the sources of some items in this report, as I suspect they are mostly Joe Manchin’s office, and other people who have a vested interest in discrediting NRA. Generally speaking, NRA won’t speak to investigative reporters, so if there’s a source for, say:
In their conversations, Cox told LaPierre that he did not yet have a clear sense of how their congressional allies were reacting to the Newtown shootings. Cox’s instinct was that the N.R.A. should stay quiet for the time being, as it had done following past shootings. Instead LaPierre decided to respond forcefully, without consulting the N.R.A.’s lobbyists or its full 76-member executive board. One week after the shootings, he stood behind a lectern at the Willard InterContinental hotel a few blocks from the White House and broke into a blistering attack on the news media, the movie industry and video-game manufacturers while defiantly declaring, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.â€
It would be interesting to know who’s talking to the enemy (The NYT is the enemy). I suspect a leak from a member of the Board. A lot of people are upset that the report states they were working with Manchin’s office. I would note the source for this is likely Joe Manchin’s office, who aren’t exactly enamored with NRA these days.
But I’ll accept that it’s true, for the sake of argument. Even if it’s true that they were negotiating over the bill, I would kind of expect NRA to be sure, if there aren’t votes to stop it, that what passes is less of a disaster for gun owners. Note this from the article:
The N.R.A. declared war on those who helped pass the 1994 assault-weapons ban, most of whom were Democrats, but while the bill was being crafted, the N.R.A. worked with two of its House Democratic allies, John Dingell and Jack Brooks of Texas, to weaken it so that if it did pass, it would apply to only a limited number of firearms and would expire a decade later. (It did not pass again.)
As it was this time, we had the votes to kill the Manchin-Toomey deal outright, so it was done. Did GOA have anything to do with that? I’m sure they believe they did, and I’m also sure they likely told that to the author of this article. But does anyone seriously want to argue that we’d have been better off if Dingell and Brooks hadn’t negotiated to get important element like the sunset provision? Does anyone feel confident after failing to outright repeal the bill in 1996, we’d have had any luck now?
Too many people think politics is all binary choices. It’s not that kind of game. If you can buy yourself a little insurance, in case the vote goes badly for you, you do it. If we hadn’t done that in 1994, we’d all still be living under the federal assault weapons ban, and that ban would have looked more like California’s than what eventually passed.
Happy Monday. On Wednesday Bitter and I head down to the National Archives to do some research, so posting may be scarce Wednesday. We’ll see. But for now, here’s the news:
I’ve seen gun clubs who can raise more money than this in a single fundraiser.
60% of Americans believe it should be illegal to hit “print” if what you’re printing is a gun. People fear what they don’t understand, and what people fear they usually want to make illegal. We still have a lot of work to do.
Remember, the American Academy of Pediatrics is the enemy. If you’re a doctor, and a gun owner (and there are a lot of you out there) I wouldn’t associate with these groups. Here’s more on the left-wing medical establishment and guns from Howard Nemerov.
Why are anti-gunners so violent?
The most loved and hated gun in America. If it’s a popular gun, they will hate it.
NRA Board aspirant Brandon Webb gets a warm AR-15.com welcome, along with some speculation about who’s backing him. Anyone who thinks America has a “gun problem” has no place on the NRA Board. Fortunately, I don’t think he stands much of a chance.
More recalls over guns, this time in Rhode Island.
The Heller II case is still proceeding.
ATF contemplating more regulation changes? As Prince Law notes, even the act of considering such a thing is a crime. But who’s going to prosecute? Certainly not Holder’s DOJ. This Administration doesn’t follow any of the usual rules.
Joe asks a good question when it comes to ammunition.
Cuomo is a non-factor for 2016. Now his people are acting like he was never interested in a run. Everyone knows that’s not true. He flushed his political ambitions away on gun control.
Jason managed to finish, after much frustration, the complete buildout based off his CNC milled M1911 receiver. It was unusual, in that he took a standard M1911 CAD model for an aluminum receiver, cleaved it in two, and then added screws so it could be easily bolted together after milling. By cleaving it in two, it allowed for easier machining. Today we decided to head out, despite the generally awful conditions, and give it a test fire. The results surprised me:
I should note that Jason was TCWing to keep his hand away from the ‘splody parts, should something go badly wrong. I couldn’t help making the joke in the video. I expected it to go bang, but I didn’t figure we’d empty the 50 round box of .45 without trouble, given how much frustration went into fitting it, and given that it was a cheap parts kit. Seriously, the magazine looked like it could have been manufactured near the Khyber Pass.
Jason brought his 7 year old daughter along, because good parenting should involve stoking your children’s curiosity about experimental home firearm building. Jason brought his .22LR AR-15 pistol along to keep the girl amused, and I do have to say she’s an excellent shot! I had never considered the utility of an AR-15 pistol for teaching kids, but it works a lot better than you might expect. It’s long enough that muzzle discipline is easy to enforce, like a rifle, but you don’t have the issue of badly sized stocks. She also seemed to do quite well with the EOtech sight.
But aside from that, while it wasn’t the most accurate 1911 I’ve ever fired, it certainly did well enough for a 1911 that cost a few hundred bucks. The project still isn’t totally complete, since he plans on attempting home anodization, which apparently involves a nice bath of acid, a high voltage power supply, and a wife who is remarkably tolerant about what you are doing in the kitchen.
… was outspent 7 to 1 by gun control groups, according to Adage.com. I’d wager good money the vast majority of that money came out of Bloomberg’s pockets. We can’t outspent Bloomberg; 14.1 million dollars is the change in his sofa cushions. But we can defeat him with real grassroots energy.
