Shopping for new M&P mags, I was surprised they were expensive. About $35. Thanks to Mike V., I learned that BotachTactical has them for $19. Plus, if you use offer code “stimulus”, they’ll knock 10% off. Heh.

I’m not quite drinking the Kool-Aid yet since I haven’t even shot it. But so far, I am impressed. I like the simplicity of a point and click interface. No safeties, no locks, no magazine disconnector nonsense. If I want it to go bang, I pull the trigger. If I don’t want it to go bang, I don’t pull the trigger.

Here’s another pic:

From Gun Porn

My initial impressions are this:

I like how the gun feels. Ergonomically, it fits me. The grip angle is very similar to a 1911, though a bit fatter since it is a double stack.

The long, snag free sights are very nice. Also, the sights are not cheap looking and feeling. Only problem is they are three-dot sights. I’ll have to change that, not a fan.

The frame tool seems largely useless and is extraordinarily difficult to remove. I felt like I was going to break it when I was taking it out. Fortunately, it’s not needed for disassembly and only needs to be removed to change grips.

The slide stop teaches good habits. As far as I can tell, it does not act as a slide release. You must rack the slide to get it to move forward into battery. I kinda like that.

Trigger pull is OK. A little stacky early but otherwise crisp and has a very nice reset. Factory claims it’s 6lbs. Feels lighter than my Glock’s.

Yes, it has a big stupid lawyer written warning on the side of it. Leave gun design to engineers and gun guys. Not your lawyers.

Hope to shoot it this weekend.

NJ going after unused gift cards if you don’t use them in three years. Most states do this, actually, but the time frame is longer.

NH State House gun ban done for. With a cool pic. Well, live free or die and all.

Double amputee shoots, kills attacker.

14 year old boy shoots burglar in the face.

82 year old holds thieves at gun point.

You can put me down in the ho-hum category. But Ruger probably will sell a lot of these. Additionally, it will lead to a lot of other companies getting creative and making more pocket 9mms. Seems buying Kel-Tec designs and making them smoother and prettier and available is good business.

Improving Your Carry Gun, Removing the Bite

Huckleberry Finn to be republished for kids without the word nigger so that it’s more age appropriate. A better idea would be to, oh I dunno, have them read it when it is age-appropriate?

Yes, we’re still lightbulb blogging.

And idea to protest: Send congress a bill for replacement.

While I do like the idea, I also, in my former capacity as a consultant for Very Big Government Agency, know how this would work. The boneheads would actually pay it because they have inadequate controls. Five years later, OIG would discover they paid it and issue a report poo-pooing them. Then the agency would have you charged with fraud.

Ten underreported stories from 2010.

CTD is doing a video series on building your own AR-15. Cool.

Ian continues blogging the legal complexities. I know of two cases where the courts told the ATF that their rules were dumb and, therefore, invalid.

A gun show on Discovery Channel:

“If you can dream it, we can build it” is the motto at Red Jacket, the nation’s most unique weapons business. Owner Will Hayden and his eclectic crew of Baton Rouge, Louisiana gunsmiths and historians rise to the challenge daily on Discovery Channel’s world premiere series SONS OF GUNS, creating one-of-a-kind custom weapons. The show fires off on Wednesdays at 9PM ET/PT, starting January 26.

Had cause to celebrate and what better way than a new handgun? Picked up a Smith and Wesson M&P9 at Coal Creek Armory. Been wanting one for a while, even though I’ve never shot one. Snagged a CrimsonTrace Lasergrip to go along with it (damn you CCA for having them in stock!). A couple boxes of ammo, since I was currently sans 9mm of any kind. No luck finding extra mags. First gun purchase I’ve made in a while and I remembered something: guns are expensive. And I say that as someone who paid a fair price for every thing. Coal Creek is not more expensive than other shops. Gun, laser, ammo, taxes and transfer fees out the door for just over a grand. And I still need a holster, some more magazines, and more ammo. I figure another $160 for a holster and mag carrier. And three more mags come in at about $100. A carry gun, enough ammo for carry, and accessories come in at over $1,200. Granted, you can do without the laser and get down to under $9 bills. But I really recommend lasers for carry guns. Price is probably why a lot of people don’t carry or own guns or lack adequate equipment.

Here’s a pic:

From Gun Porn

Also, it is interesting to me. I used to carry full size 9mms all the time. Then, over the years, I started carrying compact 45s. Now, it looks like I’ve come full circle and am back to full size 9mms.

Will have more on the M&P later.

Breda asks. I’m partial to the Kel-Tec P3AT with Lasergrips.

Ian on the inherent contradiction in trying to separate firearms into types.

BTW, why didn’t I know about this blog sooner?

Prices of light bulbs to triple. We should indeed make our politicians feel the heat from forcing us to use inferior lighting.

The light bulb nonsense is a symptom of a far greater problem.

Precision rifle, carbine and handgun. Targets from arms length to 1,000 yds. Never heard of such. Pretty cool.

Alan Gura is coming to town:

Hightower v. City of Boston is the first case brought in federal court that directly challenges a police chief’s arbitrary authority to deny someone a license to possess a handgun and the fundamental individual right to keep and bear arms.

Michael Bane gives it a go.

Mr. C. has opened up shop at Magnum Shooters Supply.

Or, rather, support for gun control is dying.

Anti-tobacco activists are some of the worst purveyors of misinformation and hysteria. They’re as bad as anti-gunners in terms of doom and gloom but, unlike anti-gunners, the underlying concept for them is correct. Tobacco abuse is actually bad for you. But they’re still idiots. Seems RJR is marketing snus to those who want to quit smoking. This has the nanny idiots’ panties all bunched up:

Matt Myers, the president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said that Reynolds should “stop its insidious marketing of tobacco products in ways that seek to discourage smokers from quitting and keep them hooked on nicotine.”

Smokeless tobacco has been shown to be substantially safer than cigarettes. And a study shows snus beat out the pharmaceutical alternatives for quitting smoking. Some governments would rather people die than try an alternative to cigarettes. And if we listened to idiots like Myers, more people would die.

Via MKS.

Probably.

Bucking that national trend of decreased violent crime, homicides up 15% in New Jersey. They should pass some gun laws or something.

LC9. 9mm version of the Kel-Tec P3AT err LCP, I guess. Looks to be substantially larger. Another small 9mm.

Update: Stats and specs here.

Update 2: Ouch.

All the cool kids are doing it. So, why not? I wrote stuff. You read it. But that’s not much of a review without stats. So, here’s some.

Pageviews 2.3M per Google analytics: 2.9M per sitemeter.
Unique visitors: 1,5M
Avg. Time on Page 00:02:44

10 Most Read pages:

SayUncle – 1.4M
So awesome – 23K
First amendment rights as probable cause – 17K
Same planet, different worlds – 10K
Loitering with a gun – 8k
Obviously, they need separate restrooms and drinking fountains – 8k
More Radar Detector Stuff – 7k
Fourth Generation Glock Picture – 7k
Aitken Stuff – 6k
Heather’s Mommy Has Two Glocks – 5k

Top 10 referrers (not searches):

Direct traffic (someone bookmarked or typed saysuncle.com into their browser)
Tam
Glenn
Sebastian
The Firearm Blog
Robb Allen
Breda
Joe Huffman
Gun Nuts
GunPundit

Also, interesting is rounding out spots close to the top ten was twitter and facebook. Could be something to this new media thing.

What I gather from it is that most of my readers are readers. Not referrals and such. Cool. We have regulars.

Here. Looks pretty bad ass.

Bling:

From Gun Porn

From Jeff Z at subguns.com.

There is a fine line between AOWs and Short Barreled Rifles/Shotguns. It’s also fairly arbitrary and inconsistently enforced by ATF. And, despite being told by courts in some jurisdictions that ATF’s AOW rules for vertical grips are no good, ATF will prosecute you anyway. Ian looks at constructive possession:

This has been allowed to stand so far because no-one was sure if the Second Amendment guaranteed an individual right to a handgun or not, until the Heller decision. Now, of course, we have the guaranteed right to possess a functional firearm (specifically a handgun) in the home for the purposes of self-defense.

Given that, I can’t see the restrictions on SBS, SBR, or AOW standing.