Be sure of your target and what’s behind it.

A law doing that in NY has been put on hold pending a lawsuit.

Reuters:

The United States reversed policy on Wednesday and said it would back launching talks on a treaty to regulate arms sales as long as the talks operated by consensus, a stance critics said gave every nation a veto.

The decision, announced in a statement released by the U.S. State Department, overturns the position of former President George W. Bush’s administration, which had opposed such a treaty on the grounds that national controls were better.

Update: I somehow missed the first pass, but turns out the story is a month old and covered by David.

It goes down the memory hole.

I look forward to this series from Insights Training.

Nifty.

Gun, check. Extra magazines, check. Coffee, check.

Via DAMIT, comes How Stuff Works Top 5 Most Popular Guns – and Why. The guns are:

1. Thompson/Center Arms Muzzle Loader
2. Remington 870 Pump-Action
3. Bushmaster AR-15
4. Smith & Wesson Model 10
5. Colt M1911

I wonder how they determined most popular? I imagine that the Glock is more popular than the Thompson or Bushy.

In Chattanooga, a church holds a handgun carry permit class for the congregation.

Blame the weapon.

Blame the gun culture

Blame guns in general

Blame Clinton:

A Clinton Administration revision to Department of Defense Directive 5210.56 — Army Regulation 190-14, dated 12 March 1993 — permits the Secretary of the Army to authorize military personnel to carry firearms “on a case by case basis” for personal protection within the continental United States, but forbids military personnel to carry their own personal firearms and both requires “a credible and specific threat” before firearms be issued for military personnel to protect themselves. It further directs that firearms “not be issued indiscriminately for that purpose.”

Thus did President Bill Clinton — Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army — apply to American military personnel under his command the same anti-gun policies his administration and a Democratic-controlled Congress applied to American civilians in the Brady Bill and Assault Weapons ban of 1994.

Editorials calling to end that here and here.

Of course, no one but blogs are talking about the shooter’s terrorists connections or the fact he was being watched by various fed.gov agencies for posting his jihad fantasies on the internet.

And what is with little jihadis and strip clubs?

Or not so much.

At HuffPo

Shorties

Knights Armament SR15 and a review

Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday Mikhail Kalashnikov
Happy birthday to you.

So says Rob Curtis:

Surefire sued the pants off them in district court back in April 2008. The suit was against Pentagon Scientific Corp’s infringement on Surefire’s lockout tailcap switch patent. Six months later, the court found in their favor. The company bought back some of its inventory from its dealers but never put out a statement about its demise. So, even though it’s old news, there are still people wondering if PentagonLight is really gone. It is.

I got my first copy of NRA’s Shooting Illustrated last week. To make the FTC guys happy In the interest of fairness, I should point out that it’s complimentary. It’s a good magazine that focuses on shooting and not gratuitous gun porn. Article on all sorts of mousegun .380s and one on clearing jams in your AR-15. I was impressed with it. I get quite a few gun magazines and all but two are disappointing. I like Shooting Illustrated (after just one one issue) and Guns Magazine, because it has more pix than most other magazines.

Update: Looks like I‘m not the only blogger who 1) got a copy and 2) likes it.

Heh.

At the firearm blog.

I mentioned before how I inadvertently open carried and an amazing thing happened: nothing. No one noticed. No one said anything. No big deal.

But if I was a hot librarian, it’d probably be different.

Curt: According to the local NBC affiliate, Chicago has seen a 17% increase in the use of machine guns in crime…machine guns that were purchased legally at gun stores in Indiana.

Evan Nappen, expert gun lawyer, looks at the Firearms Freedom Acts:

Both Montana and Tennessee have passed FFAs, and they are to be commended for their commitment to the right to keep and bear arms. Unfortunately, the FFAs passed in Montana and Tennessee have serious problems that make their probability for success in the courts highly unlikely. Both states’ FFAs contain items regulated by the federal government not under its power of interstate commerce, but under the federal government’s power of taxation. It specifically includes silencers and destructive devices (firearms over .50 caliber).

Grenade turned in at gun buy back program. Well, they say no questions asked.

Limbaugh, that is.

Seen at DT’s:

This pimped IDF M4 rifle has been outfitted with an off duty carry clip that keeps the 30 round 5.56mm (.223) Magazine at the ready but in a completely safe position.

Or how to actually prevent gun deaths

Whenever there’s an accidental shooting, the press uses passive words about how someone was shot. Or how an object did an action like gun went off. The list goes on. But, generally, they don’t say anything about gun safety and things that actually may be helpful to other people. So, I was rather surprised by this bit in the St. Petersburg Times:

Basic gun safety in Hillsborough County shooting could have saved daughter

Firearms experts across Tampa Bay on Monday said they knew what could have saved the life of federal public defender Melissa Kupferberg.

Basic gun safety.

A message the bears repeating. Basic gun safety would eliminate nearly all accidental shootings. Hats off to the press here for getting that message out.

Update: NSSF has more, along with some resources for the press.

30 new jobs to be created when gun-barrel maker Precision Machine opens plan in Sturgis, SD

Over at Third Power’s place.

It’s here.

New Firearms & Stuff from the 2009 NASGW Show

AR receivers in living color from Hero-Gear.

Ping

Bob Owens has a look. Don’t forget, ATF said the ammo isn’t armor piercing.

The economics of customizing guns are discussed by Chris and Tam. They note that such undertakings should be for your own enjoyment as you’ll never recover your costs. True.

Les Jones, however, notes that you can get awesome deals on other people’s custom guns.

Armor Piercing Projectiles Bounce Off Bullet-Proof Ignorance. Tam tells you about the ammo restrictions.

Pick which one you want torture tested.

Seen at Joe’s:

A judge found the actions of federal agents who refused to show Zanesville residents a warrant when asked are “completely unreasonable and unjustified.”

…

At the suppression hearing in July, Marbley made it clear to agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Bosley, that he was unhappy with the way agents handled the search June 18 at the Thompson home on Kopchak Road.

…

Marian Thompson said even though she repeatedly asked for a warrant, none was ever supplied.

Marbley stated in his ruling that “one of the purposes served by the warrant requirement is informing citizens that the executing agents are acting under proper authorization when they invade the sanctity of a citizen’s home.”

From DirtCrashr.

Oh my:

While DHS was busy putting tea parties and anyone who dares fly the official military Gadsen flag on the domestic terrorist watch list, a real terrorist was spouting off online, glorifying suicide bombings and our mission in Iraq. I mean, I’m sure if I drink enough I might be able to understand the perception that a bunch of middle-class people peacefully dissenting with certain Washington policies are way more dangerous than a dude who talked about terrorist stuff on social sites and had gotten authorities’ attention six months ago.

Via insty.

in Russia?

Breda shoots an M14.

Probably like a wallet gun.

The police have sent out an alert regarding a Mossberg shotgun hidden in a Supersoaker (with pics). Some question as to the legality of even owning such a gizmo and more on that discussion here. I would say that ownership of such a weapon may qualify as an AOW.

That said, pretty deplorable device if used criminally. Officer friendly or someone sees someone standing around with a Supersoaker then winds up getting shot.

Brady Campaign draws ire from senator.

Over at nonlogic comes some wailing and gnashing of teeth because a guy who is a state rep bought his four-year-old daughter a pink .22. My little girl shot for the first time at age five. And plans for her first gun are already in the works. And she’ll only have access to it when I’m around. And it will be a fun teaching aid to teach here about gun safety.

By Mas Ayoob. I also wonder why there were, initially, several ‘confirmed’ reports of multiple shooters.

That’s a helluva toy shotgun.

3 robbed at gun point in NYC

After the Fort Hood shootings, folks are wasting no time blaming the gun and ammo. The shooter used the FN FiveseveN, which fires the 5.7X28. The round is basically a glorified .22 magnum. There is an armor piercing variety of the ammo but that is not for sale commercially. Wired has a look at the issue.

Is the default droid sound effect. I send myself email just to hear it.

Worst thing about it is that the cable is some bizarre proprietary looking thing, which means the no less than 100 cables I had that worked with my blackberry don’t work. I’ll need a car charger and all of that.

Layers of editorial oversight.

Update: the press notices.

News says Fort Hood killer used a a 5.7-caliber semiautomatic pistol. I think they mean the FN FiveseveN, which is close to a .22 caliber.

Why do we disarm our military?

Or Babes with Bullets:

I shot a gun for the first time on my 45th birthday. I admit to being scared in the beginning, but I was determined to find a new adventure to share with my husband. What I didn’t realize when I started shooting was just how much more than a new adventure I would find!

The gun that beat inflation.

The start of the next project:

From Gun Porn

Started off with a 6.8SPC marked lower from Tactical Machining. And I decided I needed a bit of color in my collection so I got some flat dark earth furniture from Cavalry Arms.

BTW, CavArms customer service is great. I called them up because for some reason the pistol grip screw I had was a bit long. I asked them if their grips maybe required a shorter screw (since their stocks don’t use a spacer, I thought it was possible). They sent me a screw and washer free. That’s good service.

By most accounts, it’s looking like a case of Sudden Jihad Syndrome. Seems the shooter was upset about being deployed overseas, which makes you wonder about his career choice since that line of work stands a better than average shot at being deployed overseas. Witnesses report he shouted allahu akbar while shooting.

And there’s that whole matter of him being investigated for his online postings of threats and suicide. So, why wasn’t he investigated? If not that, why not at least inform his commanding officers of his tendency to talk about suicide bombing? The hints were there. Another in a line of fatal intelligence failures, I suppose.

Also, Pattycakes tells us that the narrative is shifting. I think after this incident, most folks won’t approve of that kind of PC scrubbing. The press is loathe to speculate about the shooter’s religion and that being a factor. But within minutes they were speculating about stressed out soldiers going crazy. No one should be saying that Muslims are inherently violent. That’s wrong and bigoted. But tiptoeing around the issue that violent acts that have been committed by someone whose religion influenced them is not. It’s called reporting. And the press needs to stop acting like it doesn’t exist.

Of course, the press couldn’t get the guns right. In less than 44 minutes, the guns went from sniper rifles, to uzis, to M16s, and lastly we learn it was handguns. I’m surprised the press didn’t throw in a gratuitous AK-47 reference for consistency.

A look at ‘exploding’ bullets.

Saiga 20

Williamson Derringer

NRA opposes questions about gun ownership from adoption agencies. I don’t have an issue with the questions provided they are about gun safety and making certain the parents know gun safety. If ownership of guns is dis-qualifier, then that is problematic.

Man in England to be sentenced for dealing guns to criminals.

A phone call from NRA that doesn’t go well. I’m not a big fan of unsolicited calls either.

Shooter turns out to be not dead. And he also had been posting on the internet about suicide bombings.

So says Fox News. Lone gunman.

Updates as I get them at bottom.

At Fort Hood:

At least seven people are dead and 12 wounded in a shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, the base’s public affairs office told NBC News on Thursday.

The official would not give his name nor additional details. It was unknown whether victims are soldiers or civilians. One gunman was reportedly in custody and another was on the loose, NBC News said. A third shooter may be involved, according to NBC News affiliate KCEN.

Update: Shooters reportedly wearing military uniforms.

Started at a Soldier’s Readiness Center.

Update: possible third shooter.

Update:Third shooter confirmed.

Press says “sniper rifles”. CNN says “uzis”

Reports there was some sort of graduation ceremony there.

Update:NBC says possible terrorist attack but not confirmed.

Update:CNN exploring the stressed out troop angle.

Update:Military officials will not say if the shooters are soldiers or not. They do not know.

Chatter about fifth of November, Obama’s one year anniversary. But the latter the was on the fourth.

Update:Reports of M-16s by CNN.

Update:One shooter wounded. Happened at a processing center where people were filling paperwork to go to Iraq.

Update:9 dead.

Update: Fox says not a terror attack. Not sure how they’d know that definitively. But that’s the word.

Update: ATF on the way. Wait. What?

Update: Reports from local affiliate that more gun shots reported near base, possibly soldiers’ residences.

Update: Man in custody is in his 30s or 40s.

Update: FBI guy on Fox says no terrorist nexus. Probably means interview with guy in custody indicates it’s a civilian, contractor, or military guy.

Update: Preliminary reports are usually wrong. So, take the above with a grain of salt.

Also, nothing new being reported.

Press is now no longer using th terms 2-3 shooters but saying multiple shooters. Don’t know if that means there’s speculation of more or if they’re just not sure if it’s 2 – 3.

Update: reports of two in custody, one being an officer.

Update: More reports of more shooting near base.

Update: CNN says 12 dead now

Update: reports one shooter dead.

Update: 12 dead 31 injured.

Reports that two soldiers in custody.

Update: 2 shooters in custody and one dead. Reports that they’re soldiers.

Primary shooter used two handguns

Billy Beck:

This is culturally important, ladies & gentlemen. In some ways, this is much worse than an attack by foreigners.

Yup.

MSNBC:

KCEN, which quoted a source as saying at least one of the shooters had a high-powered rifle, reported reported that at least four SWAT officers were among those wounded.

Reports that all weapons were handguns. I often wonder why the press even bothers trying to ID guns. Started out with sniper rifles, then uzis, then M16s, and now it’s handguns.

Update: Shooter ID’d: Major Malik Nadal Hasan

Not a gun, a flashlight. Wait. What?

True story. I realized that my non-gun nut friends really dig the flashlights I had. So, for birthdays and holidays, I’d get them Surefire G2s. They liked them. A friend I’d gotten one for is a contractor. He was up in an attic looking to do some repair work. He set his G2 down on a crossbeam to look at something. A few minutes later, he smelled something burning. Looked down to see smoke coming out from under the flashlight. The heat of the lamp caused the wood to start smoldering a bit.

Seems the Wisconsin AG got some grief over not filing a pro-gun Heller brief. Turns out, he needs permission from the legislature. So, he got permission for the Chicago case.

Some news outlets are looking at the weapon’s reliability.

Members of MS13 were trying to get an assault rifle to kill a federal agent. I thought they could just walk into any gun show and they were just handing them out?

A push in Wyoming to make hunters carry bear spray. Even though that 300 WinMag they’re lugging around is probably a bit more effective.

Gun fighting from vehicles.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership was for it before they were against it.

Mikhail Kalashnikov needs a guns safety lesson.

Now, with graphic goodness.

Maryland court does not incorporate the second amendment.

SAF and NRA file suit against Seattle.

A challenge to MA’s onerous storage requirements law, which, like DC’s, render guns largely useless for self defense. More here.

The push to get rid of their gun registry is moving forward.

All guns are always loaded:

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Vicente Padilla is recovering from a bullet wound in his leg after a target shooting instructor accidentally shot him.

[...]

Padilla handed the pistol to a shooting instructor, a former police captain, who didn’t realize there was a bullet in the chamber and shot himself in his hand, Padilla’s legal adviser Roberto Calderon told The Associated Press. The bullet also grazed Padilla’s leg.

G30 v. Commander sized 1911

Rubber band guns

38 Double Action 2nd Model, 1882

Suppressed Kel-Tec RFB

Taurus 9mm 1911

Yards v. meters: they’re important for bullet drop.

Ignore.

Bitter tells us that Mayors Against Guns just lost 16 more mayors in Pennsylvania.

Heh.

The idiots at Center for Media and Democracy are upset that gun makers want to do their part to raise money for breast cancer research. Smith and Wesson offered up a special edition Julie Goloski M&P JG 9mm pistol for a silent auction. Julie has a post detailing the weapon and other particulars at her blog. The auction benefits the American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. It’s part of Shooters’ Supply Aim for the Cure.

But the Center for Media and Democracy doesn’t think us icky gun owning sorts should be involved in helping do our part. How petty and stupid. You can head to Julie’s for info on how to bid on the pink S&W.

Meanwhile, the pink AR-15 offered by DPMS to benefit breast cancer research that I mentioned earlier went for over $3000. I’m sure that would really annoy those ninnies at the Center for Media and Democracy.

WizardPC tells us that:

One of the lawyers that wants the government to prohibit carry permit holders from going in restaurants that serve alcohol is defending those restaurants for selling alcohol to minors.

I thought Will Cheek was all concerned about safety and stuff?

Dave Kopel calls last night’s elections Another good night for the Second Amendment.

Pics and a report.

Gun shop owner says he’s accused of racism if he refuses certain sales:

“People asking for Glocks, because they hear about them in rapper songs,” said O’Brien, who has worked in the gun industry for 12 years. “I try to steer them back to models more suited for first-time buyers, but they say: ‘No, I want a Glock.’ And they don’t know anything about Glocks or guns at all.”

But red flags trump profit.

“If I don’t feel right about a sale, I won’t sell it,” O’Brien said. “Because I’m white, bald and tattooed, they think I’m racist when I refuse a sale.”

Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester chastises the Republicans for hypocrisy.

An 8 months pregnant woman kills a car burglar

67 year-old shoots at two home invaders, killing one.

AL woman shoots home invading ex-boyfriend in self defense

Mas Ayoob says expect them to make some 1911s soon.

AR-15s

Ruger Blackhawk 45

The Gun Tool looks pretty neat.

Related: Glenn loves his skeletool. I agree.

Al Gore would be proud.

Crimson Trace will be marketing a green laser sight. At the ParaUSA shoot, the Crimson Trace guys told us that green was harder to pull off and that battery life was an issue with them gut they were working on them. I guess they worked on them.

NBA player pulled over with a lot of guns:

West was pulled over after making an unsafe lane change while driving northbound on a three-wheel motorcycle, police said. Investigators say West, 26, had a loaded 9mm Beretta pistol tucked in his pocket, a loaded .357 magnum Ruger revolver strapped to his leg, an 8.5 inch knife and a pistol-grip shotgun in a guitar case slung over his back. West was carrying 112 shotgun shells, police said.

I don’t know why twitter is not updating.

New book delves into the world of custom guns by Charlie Sisk.

A bit back, someone shot a Smith & Wesson .460 revolver. They made the mistake of putting their left index finger between the cylinder and the back of the barrel. The pressurized gas escaping the cylinder nearly amputated the shooter’s finger. So, he sued figuring that S&W should have warned people of the proper way to hold a revolver. Trouble is, S&W did have that in the manual. He lost.

Of course, this suit did go forward. Which is odd. After all, the anti-gunners and the press (but I repeat myself) told us that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act wouldn’t even let someone sue those darn gun makers.

Justin:

So, 8 years of moderate practice with a pistol and I’m twice as fast using a carbine I’ve never shot before.

Anybody wonder why I sometimes recommend pistol caliber carbines for home defense? They’re far easier to get on target and make hits with than a regular pistol.

In the second quarter of 2009, $1.14B in sales of firearms and ammo:

Pistols and revolvers: $33,552,785.73 / .10 = $33,552,857.30 = $335.5 million for handguns

Long guns: $42,373,696.86 / .11 = $385,215,426.00 = $385.2 million for long guns

Ammunition: $46,157,400.88 / .11 = $419,612,735.27 = $419.6 million for ammunition

For a 1911.

Mauser C96

Hi Standard Sentinel Deluxe

Pink Guns

Seen at Rusty’s:

a Vermont state legislator recently introduced a bill requiring all unarmed Vermont citizens to pay $500 for the privilege of not owning a gun.

…

Under the bill, adults who choose not to own a weapon would be required to register their name, address, Social Security number, and driver’s license number with the state. Those of military age, with the exception of police and members of the armed forces, would be required to pay the $500 fine.

At first, I thought this can’t be serious until I read the VT constitution:

That every member of society hath a right to be protected in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property, and therefore is bound to contribute the member’s proportion towards the expense of that protection, and yield personal service, when necessary, or an equivalent thereto, but no part of any person’s property can be justly taken, or applied to public uses, without the person’s own consent, or that of the Representative Body, nor can any person who is conscientiously scrupulous of bearing arms, be justly compelled thereto, if such person will pay such equivalent; nor are the people bound by any law but such as they have in like manner assented to, for their common good: and previous to any law being made to raise a tax, the purpose for which it is to be raised ought to appear evident to the Legislature to be of more service to community than the money would be if not collected.

Update: Seems it’s an old item from years ago. Still, pretty funny.

The Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Ownership’s Dennis Henigan:

I am not arguing here that higher rates of gun ownership cause higher rates of crime, violent crime, or homicide.

Doesn’t that run counter to everything your sham of an organization has been telling us for years? I mean, that’s like the organizations whole point.

How to tell if your local police range accepts federal funds: They open it up to the public once per year and let you sight in your shotguns. The sheriff in The City (My The City) does that too. See, if you accept federal funds for your range, the range must be open to the public. So, instead of following the spirit of the law and opening the ranges up, they follow the letter of the law and open it up only once per year.

Veteran LAPD officer shipping guns to Belize.