Range Wars
There’s a shotgun club at the base of the Smoky Mountains for trap shooters. Seems the local busy-body contingent thinks that the lead from the range is bad for the local watershed and, of course, the noise is a problem. Another reason to remove the onerous regulations regarding sound suppressors and ammunition. After all, suppressors and some more environmentally friendly ammo would make everyone happy.
You can suppress shotguns, right?
April 24th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Yup.
One of the more depressing things of being a gunny is how, umm… pissy other gunnies get when you attempt to make some of the items they’ve paid dearly for cheaper.
Each time I bring up suppressors and how we should push to get them off the NFA list, I get hounded about it from suppressor owners. “It won’t make the prices any cheaper so don’t bother”, “It won’t happen”, “A $200 tax and waiving of my 4th amendment rights is acceptable to protect my hearing”, etc.
It’s the same thing with machine guns. Auto owners don’t want to see their $10,000 investment suddenly become worth $1000. So, rights have a price tag that even those who say they support your rights are willing to accept.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:52 am
I built and registered a 20 ga suppressed single bbl shotgun some years ago. It sounds about like a .22 short and is a lot of fun to play with. Jack.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Guns and Ammo ran an article last year on a shotgun which used an extended barrel (about 2x normal length) with small holes along it, which was developed by a crow hunter to allow quieter shooting. The plan was to market the gun to wildlife agencies for use in urban wildlife control (ducks on city ponds) and to sportsmen for less noisy shooting. The article claimed that the almost absurdly long barrel actually made the gun swing onto flying targets quite well.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:17 am
The quiet shotgun is called the Metrogun. How very politically correct, and what great marketing! How could anyone object to a shotgun specifically designed for quiet use in urban areas?
Here is the “silenced shotgun” website: http://www.metrogun.com/
April 24th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I read the article. Apparently, the lead is only bad on Sundays.
April 24th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
This just has to be an NFA item. Can anyone explain why it would not be? Maybe it is and they just don’t go into the details. Also, some states don’t allow sound suppressors for hunting. Jack.
April 24th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Jack, even though longer barrels do quiet weapons considerably, atf has never held that they are suppressors. Which is odd because they once said a flash suppressor that made a teensy difference was also a ‘sound moderator’.
April 24th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Anyone here agree / disagree with a push to de-NFA suppressors? Not today, mind you, I have a new rifle I must cling to when I get home.
April 24th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
For the record: lead ISN’T water soluble; That’s why it was used in plumbing for so long. Also, for the same reason, lead isn’t very mobile in soil. Calling ranges an environmental hazard is a BS argument.
The only reason lead is a problem in water pipes is because the chemical additives corrode it, and it flakes off. It isn’t ‘dissolved’ by/in the water.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
There is a Tennessee Statute (the number escapes me at the moment) that says noice from a public shooting range is not considered disturbing the peace. If he’s in compliance (which it seems he is), I’d tell them to have a nice day and move on to something else.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
When I hear gun fire in the distance, it’s like a breath of fresh air. That’s the sound of freedom, which is why so many people hate it with such passion.
Yes; de-NFA suppressors. Get rid of the NFA entirely for that matter. It was passed under false pretence (as a revenue raising measure– that’s why AFT is part of Treasury) in a flagrant move to circumvent the Constitution. It’s time to get over FDR and move on.
Many in the BATF would protest of course, and understandably so– it would mean the end of many careers. No problem; give them each a big fat severance package. We’d all win, and without so big a fight.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Oh, and all those “pre ban” magazines I paid 100 bucks each for during the “assault ban”? They’re now worth about 10 bucks. Do you see me complaining? I couldn’t be happier about it. For the moment I have more freedom, and that’s worth a hellofalot more.
I once had a conversation with a class III dealer about this. He would have stood to lose 10s of thousands of dollars, yet he was all for ending the NFA. Same reason.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
I’m all for ending the NFA, the GCA of ’68 and the whole 1986 new machine gun ban!!
April 25th, 2008 at 5:53 am
Aren’t most if not all waterfowl loads steel shot anyway?