The New York Times:

Working from an office suite behind a Burger King in southern Virginia, operatives used a web of shadowy cigarette sales to funnel tens of millions of dollars into a secret bank account. They werent known smugglers, but rather agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The operation, not authorized under Justice Department rules, gave agents an off-the-books way to finance undercover investigations and pay informants without the usual cumbersome paperwork and close oversight, according to court records and people close to the operation.

The secret account is at the heart of a federal racketeering lawsuit brought by a collective of tobacco farmers who say they were swindled out of $24 million. A pair of A.T.F. informants received at least $1 million each from that sum, records show.

Good to see they don’t just screw over gun owners.

I get that some people have a desire to keep their guns locked up or otherwise disabled, like folks with small children. But Zore seems a bit silly. It’s, basically, a locking mechanism based on a dummy round that locks the gun. A rotating dial is used to lock and unlock it.

And you can open it with their app.

Maybe someone has a good use for it. But I can think of a lot of solutions that cost less and are actually for sale.

Via TF

Here’s a video of a gun fight involving one:

That cop really didn’t want to shoot that guy. But he likely should have done it sooner.

Over at The Gun Feed, this made me laugh:

In Boston, drinking glasses may get banned after assaults. Massachusetts: Live free or there.

How to Reload a Semi-Automatic Pistol. The auto-forward is not a feature. But it seems to work reliably in one of my guns. I’m also an advocate of gripping the slide as I find that my thumb sometimes doesn’t quite get enough purchase on the slide stop.

Or is that cigarettes?

Ah, where Great Britain used to be: the latest campaign to Make Britain Safe Again.

The database that the media and the democrats (but I repeat myself) is off by a factor of 10.

That is, of course, who politicians blame when the tax they passed costs people their jobs:

One of the citys largest beverage distributors is planning to cut 20 percent of its workforce; grocery stores across the city are also planning to shed jobs.

Seriously, the mayor is an idiot.

Permitless carry becomes the law. I hadn’t noticed but when did the NRA start calling it “constitutional carry”?

The Forgotten AR-15: Springfields XM-15

Transferable FNC

The Baltimore Sun:

“We are convinced that the banned assault weapons and large-capacity magazines are among those arms that are “like” “M-16 rifles” ‘weapons that are most useful in military service’ which the Heller Court singled out as being beyond the Second Amendment’s reach,” Judge Robert B. King wrote for the court. Four other courts have upheld similar restrictions in other states, King wrote.

You may be convinced but you are wrong.

Hearing protection act in the works. Rubio wanting to restore gun rights in DC. And, now, a bill to allow the reimportation and sale of M1 Carbines loaned to South Korea.

Those crazy right-wingers at the ACLU.

Chris Baker:

If youre not going to bother to get out a shot timer and write down some numbers, dont tell me that a gun is capable of quick follow-up shots or that it has manageable recoil. Without any kind of objective measurement, those statements are meaningless to the audience.

The police are minutes err hours away:

The Detroit Police Department is launching an internal investigation and admitting mistakes were made after a family was stuck in their home with an intruder for more than 30 minutes.

Officers didnt arrive until hours later.

Five Reasons to Own Sixguns. In my experience, they’ve improved my shooting ability with other guns. After several cylinders through, a trigger on a plastic gun seems much more manageable.

Well, if I hadn’t just got the Ruger Match Champion, I’d probably get one of these instead.

East meets west

STI DVC Tactical 2011

A bill by Rubio to restore the right to arms in the District of Colombia. It will repeal the semi-auto ban, registration scheme, and ammunition and magazine regulations. And more.

The media and guns rarely fails to deliver:

Grown man freaked out over common tool: Thats when I noticed something remarkable: Both had strapped onto their waists angry-looking handguns.

School librarian photographed holding a gun. Local news organization implies she’s going to shoot children over late books and feels the need to disclose her salary.

Headline of hysteria over a black gun rights activist. Racist.

A member of the ‘sovereign citizen’ movement used the power of the .gov on his enemies?

Dude, you’re doing it wrong. And it’s apparently ‘sovereign citizen’ at the local fish wrap:

When Newport police cited Ronald James Lyons’ bar in Newport for liquor sales without a license, Lyons walked into the police station and informed the chief his business wasn’t subject to U.S. law.

“He tried to serve me with a handwritten trespass notice,” Police Chief Maurice Shults said. “I explained to him that as long as he lived in or operated a business within the city limits, if there was a violation of the law we’d be there.”

ATF says there are 1.3 million and they are rarely used in crime.

96% of Americans say that the first amendment is important.

83% of Americans say that the second amendment is important.

From SurveyUSA.

Of course, for both amendments, fewer democrats see them as important.

How to survive an EMP attack

Running a Thompson

Sunday Smiff

Savage .25 ACP Prototype Pocket Pistols

A jury acquitted a man on a possession of a silencer charge. It looks like he had one of the MPX style brakes:

Sees defense was he possessed muzzle breaks (sic) that reduce gun recoil, not silencers that muffle the sound of gunfire, Betras said.

A U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives expert testified that only a tube had to be placed over the devices to create silencers, but a defense expert witness contradicted that, Betras said.

Richard Mann on the trend among newer serious shooters to poo poo Jeff Cooper:

Heres the other thing, and Im paraphrasing Robbie Barrkman (ROBAR) here, just about everything related to handguns today, can directly be traced to Jeff Cooper. Cooper started the defensive handgun movement that continues today, and his 1972 book, The Principles of Personal Defense, is still the best resource on that topic. Oh, and for you competition shooters out there, would you happen to know who was the founding president of IPSC? For most, I doubt it. Were it not for Jeff Cooper, you would not have a game to play and we still might be shooting PPC.

What those of you who are not all that long out of diapers may not realize is that Cooper founded the way of life you like to think youre living. At a time when this country needed it, he conveyed a message that struck at the heart of patriots and folks of good character. The sermons he delivered in print and in lecture shaped the future of firearms in America.

Yes. Cooper should be held in high regard because he was revolutionary. He was a pioneer. He contributed greatly to how modern pistol technique. And for that, I respect him. And I always liked reading his commentaries.

But shooting has changed a lot. Particularly since the advent of the internet. Now information gets around and people communicate instantly. Some of that information is bad and some is good. In fact, sorting through the good stuff and the crap would be a full time job. But the good stuff seems to rise to the top. A lot of smart people are looking at techniques in different ways. And that’s a good thing. And technology changes. And, frankly, Cooper was wrong about some things.

He’s contributed more to the shooting sports than I ever will. So I’d never bash Cooper. But that doesn’t mean the young guys are wrong and have nothing to offer.

And gratuitous gun photos.

Over at TTAG is silly listicle on 3 reasons you shouldn’t buy a Glock. They are, and I am not making this up: Grip angle, no external safety and Glocks are ugly.

That the last two would even make the list of an even somewhat notable gun writer is laughable. And the first is entirely subjective and user preference. The only thing that I don’t care for about the Glock is that the stock sights are pretty awful.

Frank Cagle has a bit in the local paper saying that the permitless carry bill is irresponsible and dangerous. And doesn’t offer any actual reasons for why the bill would be dangerous. I haven’t heard of any increase in danger in the 12 states that have passed similar measure.

And then there’s this bit of stupidity:

They call it constitutional carry under the idea that because of the Second Amendment you can’t put any restrictions on guns. Freedom of the press also allows for libel laws. Free speech doesn’t let you yell fire in a crowded theater.

The equivalent to those restrictions would be the restriction for the second amendment doesn’t allow you to shoot people. But it gets dumber:

Freedom of religion doesn’t allow polygamy, snake handling or the worship of marijuana pipes.

Well, if you can’t be bothered to research the impact of permitless carry in other states (i.e., none), you probably can’t research what is wrong with that word salad.