The White House, on the urging of Senator Richard Blumenthal, is considering taking executive action to ban the transfer of “Ghost Guns” or those items that cooler heads know as DIY and 80%. A Ghost Gun Executive Order could potentially shutter the DIY firearms industry with the stroke of a pen.
But it shouldn’t take lawsuits to force the government to embrace common sense and craft regulations that reflect Congress’ intent. Selling gun parts as a do-it-yourself kit is so close to selling the gun itself, the government should regulate the kits as firearms, including requiring serial numbers and background checks for customers.
Less likely to happen in these fractious political times is Congress addressing the issue as part of a package of reforms that would ban assault-style weapons, require universal background checks for every transfer of a firearm, close the “Charleston loophole” that allows a firearm sale to proceed if the FBI doesn’t finish a background check within three days, and take other common sense steps toward making society safer.
But it shouldn’t be that hard for the Biden administration’s ATF to review its regulatory position on receivers and frames, and close the ghost gun loophole. –LA Times
I just published, The War on DIY Firearms. I detail the systematic attack on, and scapegoating of, non-serialized home built firearms and the real scale of the problem. In short, the scale is “They are handguns in criminal hands, like the all other ones. They just aren’t on a dusty 4473 somewhere.”
That, of course, does not matter to the White House and the Biden Administration. While Biden is making noises that he would prefer Congress to act, gun control groups who backed his win to the White House are calling their check due. The media attacks and noises from gun control groups, fueling the controversy of non-serialized DIY firearms, makes them the logical ‘low hanging fruit’ to push executive action against, to please and appease the displeased demanding moms and mayors.
Joe Biden is considering regulating so-called ghost guns as part of his firearms safety policies but some progressives are upset the president hasn’t done enough in his first month in office.
Biden has signed several executive orders since taking office but gun policy hasn’t been a part of them.
Now the president is considering executive action that would require buyers of ‘ghost guns’ – homemade or makeshift firearms that lack serial numbers – to undergo background checks, three people who have spoken to the White House told Politico. – DailyMail UK
The lawsuits that have been filed by Washington D.C. and Los Angeles would gain Federal Executive teeth instantly, if the White House moves in this direction. Even if the order is later overturned, the DIY industry could be crippled and Polymer80 DIY firearms could be gone. An order could include an immediate cease & desist of sale and a destruction of current inventories, both similar to the actions taken against bumpstocks that were still left on retail shelves.
The Polymer80 is in that same ‘boogieman’ position that the bumpstock was, it has been set up to take the same fall… if they can pull it off. They are assuredly the most logical target to start the push and allow Biden to prove he was “serious” about moving against guns in a strong manner.
We will update as more comes. Nothing has yet been signed but, like with bumpstocks, that will be too late.
Springfield Armory today announced the arrival of a cousin to the Hellcat OSP micro-compact pistol. The newest family member is the Hellcat RDP, or “Rapid Defense Package”. Though intended for defensive CCW purposes, the RDP bears at least some features reminiscent of a “race gun”: which is not all necessarily a Bad Thing.
Making its debut alongside the new pistol is Springfield’s new line of small red dot sights: the HEX series of optics. The first two HEX red dots are the Dragonfly and the Wasp. It’s the latter of those you see atop the RDP.
This is the newest Springfield Armory Hellcat: the Hellcat RDP, or “Rapid Defense Package”. Among the features of the new micro-blaster are a newly-released pistol red dot sight from Springfield’s own HEX series, a threaded barrel, and a “self-indexing” compensator.
Springfield describes the Hellcat RDP as being ready for “instant target acquisition”. It is “…outfitted with the all-new HEX Wasp, a low profile, micro red dot that co-witnesses with the Hellcat’s U-Dot sights. The Hellcat RDP also features a threaded barrel fitted with a patent-pending, Self Indexing compensator. Made of strong and lightweight aircraft-grade Hardcoat anodized aluminum the proprietary design reduces muzzle rise and keeps you on target, shot after shot.”
What is a Self Indexing comp? It’s a compensator designed for correctly oriented ports without shims or even tools.
“The Hellcat RDP features a compact and capable compensator that maximizes rapid fire muzzle control. Machined from 8082 aluminum and anodized matte black, the compensator has a patent-pending Self Indexing design that makes installation or removal easy and does not require shims or additional parts for proper timing.” SA
Additional features include an optional low-profile ambidextrous manual safety located at the rear of the frame and the new Gen 2 Hellcat trigger. This new trigger is intended to provide enhanced ergonomics for a wide range of hand sizes.
The RDP can be fed with either an 11- or a 13-round 9mm Springfield Hellcat magazine, providing an excellent magazine capacity for a micro compact with resorting to the use of an “extendo clip“.
I had a conversation on social media the other day that got me thinking.
I know it’s just semantics, but the way we think about preparing ourselves for the onslaught of leftist legislative infringements is important.
Rather than “Buckle-up”, as in it’s going to be a rough ride, I’d prefer to think about it as “Saddle up” instead. Saddle-up implies being proactive, getting involved, riding into the fray, working for change, being prepared for the worst, but working to make sure the worst doesn’t happen.
Connotations matter. Are we going for a passive ride that we have no control over? Or are we getting ready to ride forward under our own control to confront unconstitutional legislation? I know which description I prefer.
Do you have the names of your congresscritters, their office phone numbers, emails and addresses? Are you lighting them up? Are you supporting your local citizens’ gun rights groups? We all need to be better at that. It used to be easy to just throw money at the NRA and let them do the mud-wrasslin’ for us, but we can see how that worked out.
With 70-plus million votes for Trump in this country, and millions of new firearms owners in 2020 alone, we have a “yuge” pool of gun rights- favoring citizens to mobilize. We just need to DO it.
There are many, many alternative organizations that are not the NRA if that’s not the way you want to go anymore. A few off the top of my head are:
With the Biden/Harris administration making bold and frank threats against the Second Amendment we cannot just stand by and hope someone else steps up. That someone else needs to be you and me. Call, write, email, donate, educate, march, and spread the word.
You know what the Gadsden Flag says: Don’t tread on me.
Do know what any of the Hávamál says?
It says lots of smart things, including “The foolish man thinks he will live forever if he keeps away from fighting; but old age won’t grant him a truce, even if the spears do.”*
This is the latest design from pro-gun apparel company Anachrobellum, and it involves a little bit of both.
It’s an expansion of their Viking-themed line of Norse shirts. Like some of its predecessors, it features a Nordic berserkr, but this rager is carrying a Gadsden flag shield with Jormungandr on it in place of a rattlesnake.
In addition to “typical” Viking fare like a bearded ax, helmet, and chainmail armor, the Norseman in the image is also equipped with a variety of implements that will no doubt be familiar to Mag Life readers. Not least among those is his SBR, which, it should be noted, sports such accessories as:
• one or more PMAGs (of somewhat indeterminate FDE/coyote tan color)
Furniture and accessories of a similar nature adorn his helmet and ear pro, the mag pouches of his load-bearing equipment (LBE), and most likely the rest of his battle rattle and gear.
Those juxtapositions make sense when you consider the name. The name Anachrobellum is an amalgamation of the word anachronism and the Latin word Bellum, which means war. Anachrobellum’ss designs typically focus on a kitbash-like mix-and-match of gear from historical warrior archetypes and modern special operations personnel.
Pop quiz, hotshot. What’s the lightest production double action revolver on the market? Answer: it’s the Smith & Wesson 351PD in 22 Magnum, and we’re reviewing it today. Why? Because it’s awesome, that’s why. This is the S&W 351PD Review.
What is the S&W 351PD?
To start off the S&W 351PD review, we first have to explain a bit just what this gun is. It’s a S&W J-frame, chambered in 22 Magnum, and the frame is made of S&W’s composite aluminum/scandium alloy, so it’s incredibly light. If you wanted to buy a gun just to have the world’s lightest double action revolver, this would be the gun to get. For reference, the entire gun and grips unloaded weigh about as much as 6 rounds of 180gr JHP .40 S&W ammo. It’s 7 shots, has a gutter rear sight, and a fiber optic front sight. Like most rimfire revolvers, the trigger pull is on the heavy side, around 14 pounds to guarantee reliable ignition.
What’s it for?
Personally, the only justification that I need in my S&W 351PD review for owning one is that it exists. There’s something undeniable cool about having the lightest DA revolver ever made by mankind. However, there is a deeply practical purpose for this revolver as well. Because its of incredibly light weight and very small size, it’s the perfect deep concealment gun. It’s the gun for those moments where you really want to have a gun, but the social/employment/etc consequences of being discovered with a gun are very high. This gun is unbelievably easy to conceal.
How hard is it to shoot?
Honestly, when I started writing the S&W 351PD review, I had to go back to older videos of me shooting it. It shoots really well. Again, the trigger is rough, but with a little practice it’s easy to clean a plate rack at 20 yards, or get a sub 1.0 second draw from AIWB concealment. Because 22 Magnum has minimal recoil, it’s easier to develop shooting skill with this J-frame than it would be with a larger caliber, specifically because you’re not getting slapped around by recoil.
Okay but, really, 22 Magnum?
Yes, absolutely. A critical part of the S&W 351PD review is discussing the caliber. There are quite a few very switched on revolver gurus who believe in carrying a 38 Special with 148 grain full wadcutters, because these rounds don’t have a lot of recoil. If we’re willing to accept that no J-frame is going to be a hammer of instant death, scaling the caliber down to 22 Magnum suddenly becomes a reasonable proposition. In Lucky Gunner’s ballistic tests with 22 Magnum, it successfully achieved the FBI recommended penetration of 12-18 inches out of a Ruger LCR after defeating 4 layer denim. Plus, you can solve the reliability concerns inherent with rimfire ammo by only buying quality 22 Magnum, such as Federal, Hornady, or CCI. My personal gun has only had a few hundred rounds through it, but has never experienced a light primer strike.
Alright, what’s the catch?
Well the catch is simple: the gun is expensive. Brand new it will set you back 700-800 dollars, and that was before the Great 2020 Gun Panic. If you’re willing to spend that kind of money to get a limited use gun, it’s definitely worth it. For me, the S&W 351PD is the ultimate hide-out gun, and the king of deep concealment. It’s absolutely worth that amount of money in my eyes, but it might not be in yours.
“The idea came to me drinking a can of Asahi in Kyoto.” Says the Owner and Creator of the Multitasker Tools. Oftentimes useful products come from simple aspects of everyday life. The Multitasker NANO fits into your everyday life and makes what should be easy tasks actually easy, due to the right tool.
The Company
Multitasker Tools is a company that is known for using durable materials and genius design when creating their firearm tools. First making the Multitasker Series 3, a firearm multitool that uses Solid Billet Steel. Then creating the Multitasker Twist, “Packed into the size of a permanent marker you’ll find an Aimpoint Micro sight adjustment tool, dental pick, 3/32′ pin punch, carbon scraper, pocket clip slotted screwdriver, front sight tool, Ten 1/4′ hex bits, and 8-32 thread adapter also compatible with pull-thru style cleaning kits.”–Mutitaskertools.com.
Now, the Multitasker Tools NANO.
What is it?
The Multitasker Tools NANO is the all in one tool that you’re going to want both for your range days and firearms work at home. Created to be held in the Magpul PMAG Gen3 MagPod, it is sleek and small in design. The NANO is an easy to grab tool to make adjustments on all issued carbine optics and aiming lasers.
Why do we need it?
When users are issued or buy an optic it often comes with its own adjustment tool. A small known fact about these adjustment tools, yes fact, is that the company simply does not put as much time into the adjustment tool as they do the optic. Many times the adjustment tools are flimsy due to being made out plastic and too bulky. Multitools that users have on hand often have ill fitting screw driver blades are just not meant for optic adjustments. They will do more harm then good. The NANO allows you to forget about each of those thrown in adjustment tools and carry your own single and practical tool that was made with a tool design focus. Use it with gloves or without, it makes life easy.
The NANO shown with the Aimpoint tool that comes with the CompM5 and the turret cap that users also use to make adjustments.
Uses
Adjusting the BE Meyers MAWL
Adjusting the Trijicon RMR
Adjusting the Magpul MBUS Pro
Adjusting the Aimpoint CompM5
The Multitasker NANO adjusts all issued optics including the Aimpoint CCO, Micro T1/T2/CompM5, Eotech EXPS-3, the older Trijicon ACOG w/slotted turrets, as well aiming lasers like the BE Meyers MAWL and PEQ-15. Including being able to remove any caps on the equipment.
Carrying It
The small and easy to carry NANO is built to lock into the upcoming Gen3 MagPod. With testing and evaluation still going on with the MagPod users are using other methods to carry it too, the hole that is cut in the center of the NANO. Some are carrying it on a lanyard or keychain. Bill Blowers from Tap-Rack-Tactical is seen putting Velcro on the back of the NANO and a piece on the stock of his gun for safe keeping. Another company is currently working on making a M-LOK mounting plate for it to store on your rail.
The Nano will fit into the Magpod for the Magpul PMAGs
Specs
The Multitasker NANO was originally made out of nylon however testing proved that using nylon wouldn’t allow the NANO to be strong enough. Nothing is worse than using a tool that bends and breaks as you’re using it for what it is made for. The NANO is now made from 420 stainless steel with a Melonite finish. It is a small 1.2″ long and 0.5″ wide and weighs less than an ounce. The NANO features the Aimpoint T1/T2 turret adjusters, a slotted screwdriver, a lanyard hole, and the directional markings for the T1/T2/CompM5. The two wings on the sides will lock into the Gen3 MagPod slot. (Soon to be released)
Multitasker Tools plans to make a second NANO that is meant for pistol Red Dot Sights. It will have a smaller screwdriver and a T10 Torx. For use on the Holosun, RMR, DeltaPointPro, and Aimpoint ACRO.
Primary Arms ships the SLx 5X Gen lll with all the wrenches you need to mount the optic using the base or to a AR15 carry handle.
Over the fifty years I have been shooting, the area that has grown to offer shooters more options is optics. In my youth if you wanted high end precision optics, you purchased a Unertl. In my youth these scopes sold for $50-200 which would be $1700 today. For affordable scopes ($15-$75) we had Bushnell, Weaver, Redfield, Leupold or branded scopes such as Western Auto, Sears, Montgomery Ward which were about half of the others. These inexpensive scopes were not known for holding zero and they were prone to fogging.
Fast forward to 2021 and you can still find inexpensive scopes but they are light years ahead of what I grew up shooting, save for those from Unertl which still have a following today. One brand that has become popular with a variety of users is Primary Arms. Primary Arms is known for affordably priced, quality optics. Most of their scopes and red dots are priced under $500.00.
I have been testing a 5X Gen III Prism for the last several months. It has been mounted on a KelTec SU16A. This “folding” rifle has been in a discreet carry case and is my truck gun when traveling. With its 18.5”, 1 in 7 twist barrel it is an accurate compact rifle; especially when loaded with Black Hills Ammunition and mated with a quality optic like those from Primary Arms.
Here you can see the SLx with scope caps open, mounted to Kel Tec SU16
Primary Arms’ attention to detail starts with the base. Most OEM bases are adequate but need upgraded for serious use. This is not the case with Primary Arms’ base. PA has two bars that give seven points of contact instead of five, four of which contact three rails. This helps ensure you will not lose zero if you remove the SLx. These bars also give more even pressure once the scope is attached to your firearm. This also gives you two slots to mark to ensure your scope is properly replaced if you remove it. Lastly you can remove the mount and the scope will fit perfectly in a traditional carry handle.
This photo shows the mounting bars in the scope base.
Next Primary Arms includes custom flip-up lens covers. These are not flimsy pieces of plastic, they rival those you would spend several dollars for aftermarket. They functioned flawlessly in scorching hot or freezing temperatures. Unlike bargain scope caps these have not cracked when removed or installed in single digit temps.
Another nice feature is the removable rail on top of the scope to mount a mini red dot. Like the scope caps, this would set you back several dollars if you installed one. Unlike one you would install this rail is low profile so it will not interfere with the SLX’s operation if you do not remove it.
Primary Arms ensures you do not lose the adjustment caps by attaching the caps with a flexible strap. This is a feature generally only found on much more expensive optics You will find each click is 0.33” of vertical and horizontal movement at 100 yards. At 50 yards, I found the adjustment to be just under 0.25″.
One last feature I have grown to appreciate is the Advanced Combined Sighting System reticle. It can be turned on to red or green. There are five intensity settings for red or green. If you travel a lot, you too might find like I did; this helps when going from lush greenery to browns of desert regions.
The ACSS reticle is an inverted horseshoe with a Ballistic Drop Compensator. Primary Arms’ manual gives you the BDC for .223/5.56, .308/7.62X51, 5.45X39, 6.5 Grendel and 6.8 SPC. I zeroed my SU16 with 5X SLx at 50yrds with 55gr JHPs and the BDC was nearly dead on at 200yrds; the actual impact was 2” low; which could be caused shooting in various weather conditions. After zeroing this set-up with 55gr JHPs, I also tested the variation of POA/POI with various weights of .223Rem and found the biggest spread was 3” at 200yrds. In practical terms, that is good and I left the zero as it was. Over the last several months, the SLx was off and on the SU16 several times and zero never changed.
The side of the box gives a detailed explanation of the ACSS.
Lastly Primary Arms SLx has a feature I have not seen on many combat style optics, an adjustable ocular lens. To those with perfect eye sight, this is not a big deal. However, when you wear corrective lenses, not being able to clearly see the reticle is. It greatly affects accuracy. Primary Arms, saw fit to give the SLx an adjustable ocular lens. This makes seeing the ACSS’s BDC marks much easier; so much so I could actually use them. I am certain others will appreciate this as much as I do.
The ocular adjustment is clearly marked.
With a $329.99 MSRP Primary Arms’ 5X GenIII SLx is an awesome piece of kit. The optic is ideal for many applications; hunting, competition, duty, personal protection. If you are a rancher or farmer, the SLx would also be ideal for on the range to dispense various destructive varmints.
Overall I found Primary Arms’ 5X GenIII SLx to be an excellent scope. It now permanently resides on the KelTec SU16. I trust to protect the house or my RV when I am traveling. I cannot give any piece of kit a higher recommendation than that. If you are looking for a quality compact fixed power optic, PA’s 5X GenIII SLx should be on your short list.
ShotStop Ballistics is advising they’re running a special on a range of armor plates and backpack ballistic inserts during the month of February.
It’s not Texas or Oklahoma, but it sure could be. ShotStop ballistic plates in a rig, in the field.
Says ShotStop,
“We are hearing many armor companies have diminishing stock and slow delivery times. Not ShotStop! We are ready to take your order whether you are an agency or civilian looking for the lightest most durable ballistic technology out there.”
ShotStop was recently interviewed at length by Daniel Shaw on The Mag Life Podcast: you’ll want to hear about the level IV plate they now have!
The sale covers all their ballistic plates and BallisticBoard backpack armor inserts and will continue until the end of the month (at www.shotstop.net).
1. Use coupon code protect2021 for15% off 2. Offer is valid through February 28, 2021 3. Applies to any order of armor plates and BallisticBoard inserts 4. Limit One Usage Per Customer * While supplies last
The significance of this will vary depending upon where you live. Connecticut residents won’t benefit from the sale, and New Yorkers might only have a limited time to capitalize upon it: they’re looking at some anti-armor legislation in much the same way as California is staring down a handgun ban.
Here’s something that might be of interest to you American Jedi and self-rescuing princesses out there: ShotStop claims they have a plate that will take 8 or more green tip rifle rounds without penetration – and they offer a 15 year warranty, too.
ShotStop plates, which reportedly reduces thickness up to 45% and up to a 200% reduction in weight, are manufactured with a material they call Duritium. Duritium, they say, is a “…next generation polyethylene that has an unusually high tensile strength. This tensile strength lends itself very well to ballistics and body armor projectile, basically kinetic energy disbursement.”
The specifics of this protective pseudo-unobtanium have not been disclosed, but you can look at the protective capabilities chart and see their NIJ rating.
If you want to get into the big brain stuff, you can read the ShotStop body armor blog: because science.
“Now that we’ve gone over how you get from polyethylene used in your ketchup bottle to what’s needed for ballistic protection, let’s cover why body armor companies go through all this work to get to the final product.
Since polyethylene in body armor is made by bonding unidirectional UHMWPE over HDPE sheets, it’s easy to mold and cut to shape. When it’s compressed under high pressure and high temperature, you end up with a cohesive hard armored plate, which most might associate with heavy—fortunately, that’s not the case here.
As stated earlier, polyethylene is a type of polymer. Polymer is known for its lightweight properties. If you’ve worn body armor, you know how important it is to add as little weight as possible to your already heavy gear.
Looking for more info, or want to take advantage of their February deals? Find details of your ballistic plates online.
You can purchase the best plate carrier money can buy, but if you’re using the wrong armor for your mission, or have that carrier set up inappropriately, you could be setting yourself up for failure. Any time you’re considering a choice of potentially life-saving equipment you should be employing a critical and objective analysis of your specific needs, in the relative context of your mostly likely threats, work demands, etc. .
The KA-BAR LDK is one of many knives that make up the KA-BAR’s Master Series of Knives. Experts in several respective fields design these knives. Greg Ellifritz of Active Response Training designed the LDK. Greg is a veteran police officers, tactical firearms instructor, and martial artist. The LDK stands for Last Ditch Knife and, according to Greg, was designed to be as small as possible while dealing exceptional damage. The blade is supposed to replicate a #11 scalpel blade. Like a scalpel blade, it cuts and efficiently.
The LDK is part of the TDI series of knives. Designed to be roughly the length as a credit card, the LDK is a teeny tiny knife. It comes with a hard plastic sheath, but the small size allows it to be stashed in a wallet compartment if necessary.
The size allows it to be carried anywhere. You can carry it like a neck knife, lace it into a boot, strap it down on your gear, or even on your belt like any other TDI series knife.
The small nature of the Last Ditch Knife means it’s a genuine last resort tool. When your down to your wits and fists, the LDK adds a little extra.
Handling the LDK
The LDK’s unique design makes it a bit challenging to picture how it’s used. The hole isn’t designed for your finger to fit into when presenting the knife in a fighting grip. Instead, the handle fits around your trigger and middle finger, and the blade is held in a punching grip. The idea is simple, and the LDK adds some serious sting to every punch you throw.
The hole in the KA-BAR LDK serves a purpose. When the knife is positioned against a flat surface, you can’t get a great grip on the knife. In this situation, you put a finger through the hole to draw the knife and transition to a punch grip from there.
The LDK allows you a discrete force multiplier that will stab and slash a bad guy. It’s certainly more of a stabber than a slasher, but the incredibly sharp blade will easily cut through flesh if raked downwards. Sometimes you are forced to draw blood, if forced to draw it.. draw a lot of it. Fighting with a knife isn’t elegant.
Breaking the Blade Down
The KA-BAR LDK is a simple knife. Its small and the thin design keeps it out of the field of ‘utility’ knife. It’s not for your everyday EDC tasks by any means. It’s a purpose-built defensive tool designed to give a last-ditch object beyond your fist alone. The LDK weighs only 2.4 ounces and measures right around 3.5 inches long overall.
The LDK is made from one of those fun to type stainless steels, specifically, 9Cr18. Stainless steels vary significantly in quality, and this is one of the budget steels out there. Not a bad choice for a knife designed to be used in a life and death encounter. It’s essentially disposable.
It’s not a knife for work, so this stainless steel is fine for this design. In fact, it benefits from having stainless steel’s resistance to corrosion. The LDK is a knife that could be carried very tightly to the body and will likely be exposed to sweat, which would rust a carbon blade.
The grip is textured with two points for increased retention and to provide a good grip. A good bit of jimping allows for a guided grip on the knife.
Carrying the Blade
I’ve experimented with carrying the knife in a variety of ways. As a neck knife, it absolutely disappears under a shirt. I carry with the handle down so I can reach up the shirt and pull the blade. The sheath has seven various lashing points for attaching cables or pocket clips.
I tried the old boot carry method I’ve seen advertised with the TDI series since 2007. The LDK is ultra-small and fits well on a boot. It’s also nearly invisible under a pair of pants.
The only downside is getting the boot on and off presents a challenge. The boot laces can’t be loosened and the tongue has a lot less leeway when trying to pop the boots on and off.
I’m dreaming of an excellent pocket carry knife with the LDK. If I find some kind of wedge to attach to the sheath that will keep the sheath in my pocket when I draw the LDK, I see a ton of value in pocket carrying the knife.
This Little Fella
The KA-BAR LDK is a teeny tiny knife that could be carried in both a three-piece suit or a Speedo. The Last Ditch Knife truly lives up to its name and adds a little sting to your punches when you have no other option. It can be easily hidden and tough to find in a cursory search. The LDK isn’t a versatile knife, but in its niche, it’s effective.
Federal law currently allows the transfer of firearms without a background check if processing takes more than 3 days
It’s not a loophole. It isn’t a legal exploit. It was deliberately built into the background check system to prevent denial by inaction. It is an accountability measure making it incumbent upon the government to do the job they demanded that they had to do in order for someone to buy a firearm commercially.
Government: We have to check if you’re a prohibited criminal before you can have this gun.
Citizen: Okay, what proof do I have that you will do that in a timely manner, because I am not a criminal?
Government (With Brady): We will give the dealer a date, three business days hence (.gov business days) on which you are allowed your firearm if we haven’t tendered a result.
Government (exempt from Brady): Eh, we’ll get around to it.
CLACKAMAS COUNTY, Ore. (KOIN) — A gun control bill introduced by Oregon Democrats has drawn a huge amount of passionate testimony both in support and opposition.
House Bill 2543, sponsored by representatives Lisa Reynolds and Janeen Sollman, would ban the transfer of a firearm without a successful background check. Currently, federal law states that if a background check is not completed within three days, a firearm dealer can sell someone a gun.
Which would defeat the entire purpose of the Brady Transfer date holding the government to account and deliver a decision in a reasonable timeframe.
NICS
For anyone currently a little lost on today’s rant, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, called NICS (Nick’s), is not always instant. Heck, it isn’t always operational, as it seems to crash hard once or twice in any given month and stops much of firearms commerce, delaying the right of people to purchase the arms they may keep and bare.
The system has evolved from the phone tree that went online in 1998 to an online portal, but the process is still the same.
NICS checks through the years
An FFL collects the necessary ID information from the 4473 form and gives that to the FBI. The FBI checks to see if the transferee is a prohibited person and returns a result to the FFL. Proceed, Denied, or Delay.
It is this group, Delay, that the Brady Transfer Date gives a date to release the firearm from the FFL to the buyer. Now, the FFL is well within their rights to wait out the background check to completion, even after the given date passes. But not all checks get completed, some just expire with no final resolution beyond the delay. This Brady Date Transfer is a decision of the business, the FFL, and could be made for a number of reasons so long as it still complies with NICS.
In short, there are two ways the gun can be transferred, Proceed or Brady Transfer Date, but the FFL is under no obligation to complete the business transaction if they feel doing so would be wrong, harmful, or liable under a situation not caught by NICS, even if NICS delivers a Proceed.
Common Example: Here in Michigan it is marijuana. Marijuana is a controlled substance federally, and so long as it remains controlled you are a prohibited person from purchasing a firearm. It’s right on the 4473. So if you openly admit to a dealer that you actively use marijuana, or are visibly impaired or reek of it even, NICS isn’t going to catch that but the dealer can’t transfer you the firearm without perjuring their knowledge of the transaction. Doing that transfer is risking their business, because they gave a firearm to an admitted prohibited person or a person they suspected of being prohibited. A more extreme example would be someone stating they intended to shoot or intimidate someone with the firearm but were cleared by NICS, but it is the same type of refusal of service, the FFL doesn’t know if that was a joke or not and what if it wasn’t? Worth losing the reputation?
I worked for a store a few years ago that caught a bunch of attention, a lot of it negative, because we had a spree killer shop in our gunstore. He bought a jacket. This got spun into ‘body armor’ or ‘tactical protective clothing’ and seven other flavors of bullshit, all of which implied that we had supplied the ‘Uber Killer’ on his insane night in Kalamazoo.
We. Sold. A. Fleece Jacket, 5.11.
I know FFL networks who notify each other of odd characters in the same manner that casinos flag card counters, its their lookout, their liability, and their business.
Sidenote: If you get irate at a dealer for saying no or not using the transfer date, please remember that you’re worth about $75-100 in their lives for that transaction (assuming a common handgun) and you are asking them to risk the loss of their entire business and livelihood on your $75-100. You are a stranger, a customer, not their forged-in-the-fires-of-strife comrades in arms. Don’t be a douche.
‘Charleston Loophole’
They are talking about Charleston, South Carolina by the way, not anywhere in Oregon. Like all good gun controller policies they’ve stamped a tragedy on it for extra ‘gravitas’ in their bill. This was the infamous church massacre in 2015, that left 9 dead, when a 21 year old white supremacist shot members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church congregation.
The so-called “Charleston loophole” allowed a man to purchase the gun used in the 2015 massacre at South Carolina’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, according to CBS News. The shooter was prohibited from buying guns but managed to buy one after his background check remained incomplete for more than three days.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but that sounds like a failure of government to devote proper resources to background investigations. How much time should it take? How much time is it reasonable to deny someone their rights on the off chance that one of the 39,000,000 people who were run through NICS last year might pop up as prohibited when it delayed the transfer, not issued a denial? That’s what the delay is for, to give the system and an investigator a reasonable amount of time to check them out, if the system cannot produce the ‘not-so-instant’ answer that the National Instant system promises in its title.
How much infringement on their right of possession is allowable? Oh, don’t like it phrased that way? Tough.
Loophole is a stupidly misused term, generally when someone wants to make something sound like it was unintentionally or accidentally not considered. The Brady Transfer Date was deliberately added for government accountability. You can’t just be denied because nobody got around to doing the job… or the current sitting administers are hostile to gun ownership.. hypothetically.
The FBI failed Charleston in 2015, and 9 people died because a warped, delusional, racist young man got his hands on a gun through a store. I can’t recall what Roof’s specific prohibition was but if the NICS record had been up to date the purchase would have been denied. The FBI failed. Law Enforcement failed. The government failed.
They will fail again, and again, and again, they are human. So cram your ‘loophole’ jargon and own the failures of government.
In 2020, a record-breaking year for gun sales, around 11,500 background checks took longer than three days to process, according to Oregon State Police data.
How many of those were in Portland? How many people did you deny the means to defend themselves and their families while a part of the city was literally taken, and the cops were told to do nothing? Remember CHAZ? Remember emergency services being denied entrance until enough morons got hurt or killed? Remember the looting, the extortion, the assaults? Remember the sound cloud rapper wannabe warlord who just leveled his own brand of justice in CHAZ? And you want to tell someone that you’ll get back to them, eventually, when they want a firearm?
Meanwhile, Lord SoundCloud was handing out guns at random from the trunk of car. That feels like a safe, fair, and balanced situation for anyone still trying to comply with the law of the state at large, but realistically knows they’re hosed if they need emergency services that were being denied entry.
Acknowledge the government failed. Acknowledge it will do so again.
Additional OSP data submitted to the legislature revealed 94% of background checks were approved in 2020 (marginally lower than the 5-year average of 96%). Just half a percent were denied, and about 3% were pended for research.
Many gun sellers won’t sell a firearm without an approved background check, even if the three-day time limit is exceeded. OSP spokesman Timothy Fox told KOIN 6 News in an email that he had never heard of a dealer “releasing” prior to completion of a background check, but that “there is no required reporting to OSP.”
“A lot of dealers aren’t going to do that because of any potential civil liability,” firearm dealer Steve Riehl said. Riehl, who said he has discussed the issue with firearms lawyers, errs on the side of caution, even though some background checks have been taking upwards of three weeks to process since the pandemic began.
That is there purview, their individual purview to deny or delay service from their business. It should not be made a policy of the government just because some FFL’s chose to exercise their discretion and wait.
Rep. Sollman, said her office collected data that, while not concrete, suggested around 2,200 checks may have slipped through the loophole during the past two and a half years. The data is a “rough amalgamation of statistics from a few different years that applies national data to Oregon-specific numbers,” so it only provides a general idea of the magnitude of the problem, Sollman wrote in an email after KOIN 6 News requested more information about how that figure was reached.
Wow, we want to talk about loopholes? How about the statistical error ‘loopholes’ did you allowed into your data, Rep. Sollman? When correlating that data, what parameters did you use and how did you make certain they were relevant? I’m not saying you did anything wrong, using scaling data is a useful tool, but maybe we should wait say.. three days, to let you research it further under tighter controls for your data and get us a better answer than ~2,200. Which is a nice round and somewhat scary number… over a two and a half year period. That’s an interesting time frame to choose, 30 months? Why not one year? Was 880 not poignant enough a number of ‘loophole’ slip throughs to warrant your push on this bill?
Do we have any follow up data on NICS or background checks going to denial? Follow ups if the firearm was transferred? What happened? Were they feloniously charged? Did the firearm get recovered? How seriously do you actually take a denial, not just a timed out delay that became a final denial? Is that data even talking about just denials, or are you including the checks that had no resolution at all?
The theoretical 2,200 doesn’t mean anything unless we have causative negative outcomes we can show, and in proportion to the checks that timed out. I bet if we did you would be telling us about them, Rep. Sollman.
But no, we got scaled theoretical data over an oddball time period that happened to generate a number that an everyday individual will feel is large and concerning. We didn’t even get a real world example from the state of Oregon, or the year. We went back to the outlier case of Charleston, SC, as if a deranged racist would have absolutely, without question, stopped the plotted mass murder when NICS told him no a few days later.
Or maybe, it just wouldn’t have been the government’s fault for allowing the transaction to proceed because they couldn’t be bothered to complete an instant check over a several day period.
But why would we want to hold the government accountable? Silly me.
Hopefully you read the title of this article and clicked in because your gut reaction was “oh hellllll nah” or something along those lines. Good! Today I’m going to ask you to engage in a little thought experiment with me. We often hear “well guns should be regulated like cars” or “regulate guns like cars” from anti-gun people who have no idea how either of those things are regulated. Today we’re going to explore what would happen if guns were actually regulated like cars, and why that argument is absolutely nonsense.
We must have rules
Before we get started, let’s set the ground rules for this thought exercise. This is important because we need to have a consistent logical framework throughout this article, or we just end up in a rhetorical mudslide. So, the rules: owning a gun = owning a car; driving a car on public roads = carrying a gun in public, concealed or otherwise. Those are the base comparisons we’re using, just to keep things simple and consistent.
So, the next time someone says “we should regulate guns like cars” you can say “hell yes we should.” Think about it! To own a car that lives on your private property and you don’t drive on public roads there are…no restrictions. I can buy a car tomorrow from someone on the internet, have it delivered to my house, and as long as it stays on my property the government doesn’t have to get involved at all. Plus, there are no restrictions on what vehicle you can own. Do you want a massive V8 that goes 200mph? Cool, knock yourself out. Want SxS off-roader? Okay, just buy it. If we regulated guns like we regulated cars, I could buy a short barreled full auto AR15 with a suppressor and a D100 drum mag and there would be no regulation, as long as it stayed on my property.
This could be a full auto if we regulated guns like cars
Driving in public = carrying in public
“But Caleb,” you’re saying, “cars that can’t leave your property are kind of useless, right?” Well wrong, but hey let’s talk about driving on public roads. Operating a car in public is analogous to carrying a gun in public, so yeah let’s 100% regulate guns like cars. If guns were regulated like cars, here’s what I need to do to get a carry permit: take a test so simple we expect teenagers to pass it, pay a small fee to the government, and then boom not only can I carry in public, that carry permit is valid in all 50 states, no questions asked. Plus if we draw this analogy a little further, many public schools would offer classes to help you pass the carry test!
License and registration, please
“Okay okay, I’m tracking this,” you’re saying, “but what about insurance and registration? You have to have that!” Yes, you do. And it’s so widely available that policies are easily affordable to everyone. Can you imagine a CCW insurance market that was as competitive as the car insurance market? You’d be able to get everything from basic protection all the way to super insurance policies. It would be amazing since I’m a big believer in CCW insurance anyway. Again, this is just a thought exercise. Which brings us to registration. People get a little squicky when you talk about registration, which makes sense. But! Let’s follow this analogy. If I buy a beater truck to drive around my range, it doesn’t need to be registered unless I’m going to drive it on the road. So that short barreled full auto AR15 you bought for home defense? No registration. You just own it because it’s yours. The only guns you’d have to “register” would be your carry guns, and in some states you already have to do this. And again, there are basically no limits on what you could register. If you want to carry the gun equivalent of a Dodge Charger Hellcat…you can. Oh, and if you wanted to build your own car in your garage? Perfectly legal no questions asked.
Last, let’s talk about sport shooting. Let’s say you don’t want to carry a gun, you just want to compete. Cool! You never need to register anything. Think about all the amateur race drivers who trailer unregistered, un-plated cars to events every weekend. So if you want to take your gun from your home to a shooting event, it would be the same rules. Just make sure it’s locked up in accordance with FOPA’s travel guidelines, and you’re good. Maybe be a member of a shooting sport organization? I don’t know.
Let’s regulate guns like cars!
But the point here is simple: when someone says “let’s regulate guns like cars” it’s usually because they have no idea how guns or cars are regulated. All they think is “loldurr drivers license and insurance” are required, when in fact…regulating guns like cars would actually be pretty cool.
“Ghost Gun…” The terrifying term first popularized by a moron (and California State Senator) named Kevin de Leon back in January of 2014. But Los Angles is suing Polymer80 over their DIY firearms as DIY’s.. the terrible ‘Ghost Gun’ have been an increasing portion of the firearms recovered during investigations. The news story at the link states 40%, 700 guns total, were ‘Ghost Guns’ and says that 86% of those 700 had at least some parts from Polymer80. So this is all their fault!
The full quote that immortalized this stupid term…
de Leon, saying stupid things and winning stupid prizes.
“This is a ghost gun,” de Leon begins, holding an unloaded rifle in his hands. “This right here has the ability with a .30-caliber clip to disperse with 30 bullets within half a second. Thirty magazine clip in half a second.”
Those are certainly all words…
Senator de Leon was then mocked thoroughly for his utter and total ignorance of anything related to how a firearm operated. He was trying to get a bill passed that would mandate DIY firearm makers in California apply to the DOJ for a serial number for their home build before completing it. Which would be another wet blanket proposal that does nothing but irritate the law abiding, while the felons who ignore laws ignore that one also.
Federally, a serial number is required for commercial manufacturing. Technically anyone who is building a firearm to sell it, who also need the appropriate FFL, needs to serialize it. Off hand I believe the number is still 50 firearms in a calendar year built and/or sold requires the Federal Firearms License. Those firearms built for personal use do not require a serial number. Federal law and the ATF maintain this standard. Federal law additionally doesn’t recognize the building of a firearm if the firearm receiver is not more than 80% complete. An item either is or is not a firearm, ‘designed to become a firearm’ is not a legal category, which is how we got the 80% number. Regardless of what the item can be finished or built into an 80% receiver is nota firearm.
The receiver or frame itself, the part that does or would bear the serial number, is also the legal firearm (or not a firearm) and that part only is the regulated part as a firearm. Barrels, springs, slides, bolts, strikers, etc. are all not firearms, just the serialized or would be serialized part is/will be.
So let’s take a look at the CBS piece, and take it apart for a good cleaning. (As always, story in italics with my responses in between)
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The city of Los Angeles is suing Polymer80, believed to be one of the largest sellers of “ghost gun” kits and parts.
The lawsuit was filed in partnership with Everytown Law, which called ghost guns – weapons that don’t have serial number and are therefore untraceable — the fastest-growing gun safety problem facing the country. The lawsuit seeks an injunction ordering Polymer80 to stop sale of its ghost gun kits.
They don’t sell a ghost gun kit. They sell firearm parts and a part that is not a firearm until it is finished by someone into a firearm, just like a raw injection mold or forged piece of aluminum isn’t a firearm. Whether the person who finishes it is legally allowed to finish it, or take possession in any way of a finished one, is ultimately their felony to risk if they aren’t. Just like possessing a serialized firearm or acquiring one outside an FFL/DoJ approved channels. Sorry guys, criminals commit crime by not following the rules. Making more rules for them not to follow around legal products for everyone else.. is just silly.
“Nobody who could buy a serialized gun and pass a background check would ever need a ghost gun,” City Attorney Mike Feuer said in a statement. “Yet we allege Polymer 80 has made it easy for anyone, including felons, to buy and build weapons that pose a major public safety threat.”
You clearly don’t understand the anti-authoritarian and contrarian streak within humanity, my good fellow. They might ‘need’ it for no better reason than that it makes you grumpy, Mr. Feuer. Stating they don’t ‘need’ it proves, in a sentence, how disconnected you are from your arms buying public. They are sick of the garbage the political elites keeps feeding them while saying they aren’t violating their Second Amendment rights, they just have no choice in the matter.
These also don’t pose a ‘major’ public safety threat, they pose the same threat as every other illegally obtained firearm. They happen to be the illegal flavor of the moment for 4 in 10 of your firearms related cases it appears, but what about the other 6? Do we have data to support that the removal of the Poly80’s would have significantly reduced the crimes committed? Or would another method have been easily attainable and used in place of the Poly80?
Also, I love the very targeted and purposeful use of this picture…
(credit: LA City Attorney’s Office via CBS LA)
It’s smaller in the desktop browser format on their site, and to their credit there are some Polymer80’s in the back it appears… behind all the AR-15’s in the foreground. Such a subtle way to imply that Polymer80’s aren’t just ‘Ghost Guns’ but ‘Assault Weapons’ too.
When they aren’t… it’s just a Glock handgun. Not a Glock brand Glock handgun, but functionally it matches the models 17, 19, 20, 21, etc. that are all still on the approved firearm list for the State of California.
Polymer80’s ghost gun kits and components are frequently sold online and can be purchased by people prohibited from legally owning guns due to their criminal history or mental health status, according to Feuer.]
Yep, and people with suspended licenses for drunk driving are still fully capable of buying booze and putting a car in gear. Also people buying things on the internet!? How dare they!
[Ghost guns are increasingly being recovered at Los Angeles-area crime scene investigations, and Feuer says more than 700 weapons recovered by the LAPD in 2020 were made up of Polymer80 parts.
Just as we can track the market preference prior to the Poly80 to cheap, available, concealable handguns in the criminal circles, the Poly80 fits all those critical facets too. So do, I’d wager, many or most of the other 60% of recovered firearms that are not Poly80 ‘Ghost Guns’. Many likely defaced, stolen or illegally transferred, and still fitting cheap, available, and concealable as priorities. The Poly80 just happens to have an obvious, but still illegal, exploit criminals have used.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the recent spike in Los Angeles crime may be due to the rise in ghost guns.
“‘may’ be due to the rise in ghost guns.“
Ha! Haha! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
That’s what you’re going with!? In a year long span since a worldwide pandemic kicked off, a year of lockdowns, a year of riots and civil unrest, a year of unemployment and strained work opportunities due to government mandated methods to curb infections, a year where the cops admitted they wouldn’t come to help you (unless you ‘really needed it’ so it was probably too late) because they didn’t want their officers infected, and a year that saw record shattering legal gun purchases due to the extreme national strain? You think its the ‘Ghost Guns’ driving that crime wave?
(BTW, anyone notice COVID deaths have suddenly gotten really quiet in the news? Funny that… not even an attaboy for Joe that they’re going down, if they are…)
“These are the weapons that our officers are coming against. These are the weapons that are being used on other Angelenos. They are being used by individuals who have no right, or ability to otherwise have lawful possession of a firearm,” Moore said.
Nice of you to slip ‘lawful’ into the statement, Chief Moore, that way you can be ‘technically correct’ and all. Because ability, as in physical ability, they have all day, all night, and twice if they have both hands. We can debate about their right to own a firearm again if they have completed a term of sentence, but legal ability sums it up.
The complaint accuses Nevada-based Polymer80, Inc. of violating California law by aiding and abetting in the manufacture of handguns that that do not comply with safety specifications required under the state’s Unsafe Handgun Act, failing to comply with certification and serial number requirements, and unfairly competing with licensed gun dealers who because their parts do not require background checks.
I already pointed out earlier that these are Glocks in all but name, and those are on the list, because Glock still pays your sin tax for them to stay on that list. But I also know that isn’t how your list of atrocious arbitrary ‘safety’ works. I’ll just mention it for the audience that a functionally identical handgun is on the list so that ‘Unsafe’ point is moot.
According to Feuer, Polymer80 shipped approximately 9,400 items to California customers between January of 2019 and October of 2020 – including at least 200 “Buy Build Shoot” kits that contained the parts necessary for a fully functional, untraceable gun.
Untraceable? Hardly. Credit card records and shipping addresses are still things, are they not? Just because you cannot pull a 4473 form in a formal ‘trace’ doesn’t make these untraceable or leave no evidence.
Speaking of a 4473 trace, we act like that is some instant 10-digit grid to a firearm’s location and ownership (for those unfamiliar with what a “grid” is, it would provide a GPS location accurate to within 1 meter. Military GPS usually uses 8 or 10 digit grids because being accurate within 10 meters or 1 meter of a location is usually precise enough, especially for artillery) when all it does is give the last time the gun was transferred away from an FFL once you find the last FFL that dealt with that particular firearm. The listed transferee might still own it or they might not. Traces aren’t magic, they’re background data that must correlate with a great deal of other points to provide useful information, and their lack of inclusion isn’t going to prevent prosecution of someone who had a firearm illegally from being prosecuted because they had a firearm illegally.
Polymer80 does not conduct background checks on its website, but simply asks buyers on its website to check a box verifying they are eligible under state and federal laws to purchase, own and use the components they are buying, according to Feuer.
Polymer80 doesn’t make firearms, please acknowledge that legal reality. They do not have to conduct a background check for parts that are not firearms. Can the parts be made into a functioning firearm? Yes. That is the DIY point. But working within the given legal realities, this is how the law functions. Polymer80 receiver/frames are not firearms. No background check. The onus for being in compliance with the law, if/when the Polymer80 is made into a firearm is on the assembler/finisher. Just as it would be if they went to the hardware store and made a firearm from those items, or 3D printed components and assembled a firearm that way.
The lawsuit also claims Polymer80’s advertising misleads customers in suggesting the purchase and possession of the company’s kits do not “reach the necessary state of manufacture or completion to constitute a ‘firearm’ under federal law.
They don’t. They checked. That’s why they are ‘80%’.
However, Feuer alleges the ease and speed in which a Polymer80 kit can be assembled into an operable weapon does in fact meet that federal definition, in violation of the law.
That is his opinion, not fact, and it is probably based upon the ATF raid against Polymer80 which is alleging the ‘Buy Build Shoot’ kits themselves violated the definition, the bundled SKUs specifically.
That is a stretch and the ATF knows it. The relevant part, the Polymer80 frame/receiver, isn’t the item under scrutiny, it is the total kit. Which means if the components had been purchased separately, instead of bundled, it would fall outside the definition of a firearm once again. So now we are playing some mighty egregious semantic games and dressing it up like they are coming down hard and fast on the DIY guns in the name of stopping their abuse by criminals. In reality they are thinly attacking the 80% definition.
The legal case might still fall in the ATF’s favor, which would mean the ‘Buy Build Shoot’ goes away, and may even mean records of BBS buyers get handed to the ATF so they can track down the unintentionally illegally transferred firearms. The reality, as they well know, is that this is a genie that has long left the bottle and is sunning himself by the sea-shore. Even a hard judgment against Polymer80 just means a new ’80’ will be built in its place, right at whatever the new line is and until they complain enough and arbitrarily move that line again.
The only other thing they can do is kick the hornets nest and have Congress move to ban DIY firearms, which won’t stop them, just make them illegal for no appreciable gain while burning a lot of the very little political capital they have. That with the nation still in hard times, lockdowns, and economic stress.
But as a piece of agitprop to imply that Polymer80 type firearms are the enemy, that they are illegal when they are not, that they are AR-15’s when they are not, and that they are the source of crime in Los Angeles… not a bad attempt, I guess.
Lights, switches, and cords. How do we keep it manageable, clean, and professional looking? Lights have been around for some time within the firearms industry. With that prevalence comes products to finally get those cables out of the way during weapons handling.
A beautiful product that won’t break the bank. This WireGuide System involves small M-LOK pieces that allow the user to wire your cables through the individual piece/pieces within the system and can be mounted anywhere on the rail.
There are three wire guide style options to route your cables and can be bought separately. 90 Degree Clamp: Routes the cable 90 degrees to bring it up from along side the rail to the top if need be. Thru Clamp: Using two separate channels this clamp feeds the wire parallel to the M-LOK slots. End Clamp: Used to grab the slack left and keep it encapsulated and close to the gun so it does not snag on anything
The individual pieces are small enough for two to fit into one M-LOK slot if needed.
Two 90 degree clamps used to route the cables in a right angle to travel up the rail. https://arsonmachine.com
Specs
Quality materials within products are a must. The Arson Machine M-LOK WireGuide System is made with 6061-T651 aluminum and uses Type III hard anodizingin black. A subtle yet thoughtful addition are the Grip Rings added to the piece. Arson Machines states it was added on the “top surface of each part to help with grip and help reduce visual signature.”
Arson Machine Upgrades
GripRings added to the clamp. Photo by NSZ85
Installation
When installing the WireGuide System you will want to use a small amount of Vibra-Tite or a medium-strength threadlocker on the M-LOK screws. When tightening, go just until snug then stop tightening. Many will overtighten M-LOK which can break the mount or damage the rail.
Why Can’t I DIY?
Paracord melted onto a barrel of a M4.
Well, you can. However it isn’t good practice due to the harmful effects it could have on the gun. Guns run hot. Anything that runs hot has the ability to melt things. Melt things such as your plastic zip ties, tape, or paracord. Often times operators will also wire it under the gas tube without noticing which makes it melt even hotter and quicker. So what? Heat dispersion is now changed. As well as the lengths you may go through to replace a gas tube or clean off the melted product. During time in the Army we saw paracord for optics melt to a gas tube after one trip to the range. It is just not worth it.
Firearms are investments. Treat them as such. Use quality products. We will spend hundreds of dollars on lights and switches and then won’t spend 12 dollars to properly mount them.
From the Product Designer and Developer
The developer, Jason Gifford, for the Arson Machine WireGuide System has both an engineering and military background. While talking the terms “simple and small” came up many times. He talked on the industry wanting to overcomplicate things and when doing that, the solution actually creates more problems. When talking about the “what and the why” behind the WireGuide System the developer stated, “We want to keep it as modular and small as possible. WireGuides are meant to corner the market on “small”, or at least that’s my intent. Any variations or modifications, will by design be in the direction of other products. IE; big and or janky.”
So how did he get there?
Funnily enough, arfcom. Jason was searching for an IR set up and found a thread on light set ups. His eyes and mind forgot the light and went to the terrible practices of users tieing their equipment down. After an hour of searching for a cable management system on the internet he realized that what he was looking for, a small and modular system, didn’t exist.
The first model printed by Jason was a hit with LE personnel, 2 more models later and the first batch was sold out before another batch could even be finished.
The developer ends our conversation with this. “Simple problems require simple solutions. We are holding low voltage wires on a weapon, simple. We are not sending cars into space. We will leave that to Elon.”
A simple solution to a simple problem, keeping your cables tidy.
Tucked away in a corner of the frozen north are two firearms accessory companies that are pushing the limits in their respective space. When people think “hotbed of gun industry activity” they probably don’t think of the suburbs near the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St Paul; and yet that’s where two innovative companies are producing game changing products in two vastly different sectors. Meet PHLster and HIPERFIRE.
You’ll get caught up in the…Hiperfire?
HIPERFIRE, pronounced “Hyper-fire” is short for HIgh PERformance FIREarms; hence the portmanteau creating the name. If you’re at all involved in the AR15 market, or the 3-gun and pistol caliber carbine scene, you’ve definitely heard of them. If you haven’t, well it’s your lucky day because we’re on the inside of one of the most creative trigger manufacturers in the US. HIPERFIRE focuses on the development of high performance triggers for AR platform rifles, including the SIG MPX. One of their triggers was featured in Keanu Reeve’s AR15 from John Wick 2 – that’s right, the sweet TTI AR that he used to blast those henchmen in the catacomb shootout. That’s a HIPERFIRE trigger.
“And this is where we grow the triggers to be big and strong.” – Nate, probably
What’s new?
In our recent tour at the HIPERFIRE facility, I spoke with Nate Rinehart, HIPERFIRE’s vice president of operations about their manufacturing and some upcoming products. All their triggers are made right here in the United States, and there are plans to expand the trigger line. Right now, across all lines they’re shipping 300-500 triggers a day, and that’s working around the supply chain problems that everyone is having with COVID-19 related shortages. However, the biggest news? AK trigger coming soon. That product expansion would place HIPERFIRE in the driver’s seat for the tactical rifle trigger market, meaning you could upgrade your AR, your MPX, or your AK with their product.
Put it in your pants
The other Minnesota company I visited is PHLster, which old heads like me might remember was West Philadelphia born and raised. They moved their operation to the Twin Cities a couple of years back, and have spent the time since then just absolutely running shop on the concealed carry game. Don’t like the switches on your TLR-1 or X300? PHLster fixes that. Want to carry medical discreetly? No problem. Want to carry a full size pistol in silkies? Say hello to the product that’s changing the concealment game: Enigma from PHLster.
Put all this down your pants
Dominate the market
I spoke with Jon Hauptman, the CEO of PHLster about their new product, Enigma. It’s a chassis system that allows you to attach most “wing” compatible holsters and carry without a belt. Scrubs, sweatpants, a kilt, whatever. Jon expected that Enigma would sell well to the hardcore CCW crowd, but he wasn’t expecting it to be a runaway success. Shipments sell out in minutes, and the back order is hundreds deep. That’s impressive going from a part-time kydex bender 10 years ago to a concealed carry thought leader.
The cold doesn’t bother me anyway
Sure, it gets cold enough in Minnesota to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. But that hasn’t stopped the Twin Cities from turning into a hotbed for industry innovation.
Image at GerbrandDefense, not in CA, but metaphorically illustrative
Hat tip to TFB for pointing this one out and publishing on it, but the ‘De-Certification’ of handguns in California continues their slow crushing process to ban handguns altogether, and they are getting away with it under their micro-stamping requirement.
Now, not every De-Certified handgun (list here) has been de-certified for the same reason, there are a multitude or reasons including some legitimate (ish) ones for why a handgun would be removed. The model might not exist anymore, the manufacturer might not either, and this does not prevent them from being privately transferred as I understand it.
As of January 1, 2001, no handgun may be manufactured within California, imported into California for sale, lent, given, kept for sale, or offered/exposed for sale unless that handgun model has passed firing, safety, and drop tests and is certified for sale in California by the Department of Justice. Private party transfers, curio/relic handguns, certain single-action revolvers, and pawn/consignment returns are exempt from this requirement. –CA AG Website
California has to approve every single retail available model of handgun, this is at the expense of the manufacturers to maintain. And since the microstamping requirement came to be implemented in 2013, by our current Vice President. New handgun model flow to California essentially stopped.
Current models already approved were/are maintained as sellable, but that is a challenging process. Any improvement made or any change made to the handgun requires recertification. Change the shape of your magazine release? Re-certify. Make the striker out of a better steel? Re-certify. Upgrade a part materially to increase its function or endurance. You guessed it, re-certify.
Once a handgun drops off the list through entropy and/or attrition it cannot be sold commercially anymore. CA Compliant is a dying breed, and the political elites of CA are fine with that. It was their goal all along, and they will parrot the entire time that their stacked supreme court said it doesn’t violate the Second Amendment.
“Impossibility can occasionally excuse noncompliance with a statute. But impossibility does not authorize a court to go beyond interpreting a statute and simply invalidate it.” – Supreme Court of California
Basically the Supreme Court played the skip card in UNO and said that just because this law is impossible to comply with doesn’t mean it is unconstitutional, but it might excuse not following the law… might. But that wasn’t what this case was about, obviously. Humans flying under their biologically granted own power is impossible, but certainly not unconstitutional.
They passed the buck to SCOTUS, who may deliver a favorable ruling… eventually. California’s own courts may strike the law down if forced, but only when the approved handgun list is actually at or near zero in order to demonstrate numerically it is in violation of the Second Amendment. There are still 805 certified models as of current. So obviously [sarc] this isn’t a violation of the Californians’ right to a handgun, they can still get 805 of them brand new. No infringement whatsoever, none to be found. Being entirely cut off from new handguns by an impossible to comply with, but not unconstitutional, law is just a weird anomaly and totally not the intention of the gun controllers who actively want to ban firearm ownership. Call it a gun law loophole that just happens to ban handguns bit by bit.
What does this mean right now?
Well right now it means that, for example, a new in box or used Walther P99 QPQ cannot be sold any longer. If you have one already, you’re okay, but you couldn’t go find a new or used one at a store. It doesn’t matter anymore that it was approved, it is not any longer and cannot be sold. Sorry to anyone who had one on the shelf.
This isn’t nearly as concerning outside of CA, we can get new handguns like the new PDP instead of the old P99. California can’t, they rely on older models for their whole commercial stock and have done so for a few years now. They may be New-in-Box (NIB), but they are old models and even if the model hasn’t changed but was upgraded in some way, that CA compliant design hasn’t been upgraded.
For example, the list of Walther’s you can buy are all .22 caliber, and the P1 (a P38 variant), that is it. FN’s, two 10 round variants of the Five-seveN, that’s it. Glocks appear to be stuck on Gen3’s. Beretta has nothing newer than the PX4’s. And the sad list goes on. As these models entropy and it isn’t worth the company’s time to keep producing them, or renew their certifications for dead products to serve an actively hostile state, these too will drop off the list.
