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BREAKING: Objective Factors for Classifying Weapons with “Stabilizing Braces” – ATF Draft

By
Keith Finch
-

First seen on TTAG,

The letter (at the link above) is a draft that is allegedly about to be submitted into the ‘Request for Comment’ phase of ATF rule making, where a proposed rule change is open to the publics comments via email, fax, and letter to the ATF. The ATF are required by their rule making process to address and respond to all public comments prior to issuing a final rule, which in today’s climate could make for a long process.

It is that long process, despite the aggravation it has led to for manufacturers and owners, that it is theorized the ATF has been actively seeking to avoid. Keeping their determinations and rule making shrouded and nebulous saved them from the aggravation of this process but left us, the public, out in the cold, scratching our heads as to what was and was not an SBR vs a Braced Pistol/Firearm. What was Title I and what was Title II?

The ATF appears to be making that criteria public (finally) and objective so everyone understands. They are also looking at opening the NFA register up to tax free braced firearms, listing as corresponding SBR’s and SBS’s. So if you didn’t want to pay the tax and wait a ridiculous amount of time, now might be the time.

This is not yet a published, in the official sense, document so public comment is not open yet.

When it is, we will let you know. The portal for making comments http://www.regulations.gov/ will need to reference ATF 2020R-10 in the comment to be properly attributed. Follow the rules for commenting. They may also be mailed or faxed.

“Objective” Criteria

Objective: (of a person or their judgment) not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.

Now with that defined, scroll down to Background on the document. After establishing that it is the United States Attorney General’s responsibility to enforce the sometimes conflicting National Firearms Act and Gun Control Act (they state differing definitions), it outlines that the responsibility has been delegated to the BATFE, commonly ATF, and that the FATD within the ATF makes determinations on particular firearms to allow industry members “to plan, develop, and distribute products in compliance with the law,”

Then in the next paragraph they reverse course with, “Generally, when FATD evaluates a firearm sample, it examines configuration, physical characteristics, objective design features that are relevant under the statutory definitions of the GCA and NFA, and any other information that directly affects the classification of a particular firearm sample.”

Ok, all well and good so far although we are using “objective” still in a rather vague manner… Also the fact that definitions from 1934 and 1968 might not remain all encompassing doesn’t fill me with confidence about the ATF’s ability to make good and effective policy without the authority to update definitions in some manner based on public commentary and evidentiary rationale.

But…

“Even though firearms appear to have similar features, an ATF classification pertains only to the particular sample submitted, because variations in submissions, applicable statutes, judicial interpretations of these statutes, the manufacturer’s or maker’s intent, and the objective design features supporting that intent, make the general application of any particular classification exceedingly rare.”

So.. not that useful “to plan, develop, and distribute products in compliance with the law,” after all… huh. So why did the ATF bother with ‘Determination Letters’ at all? Why did we have the ‘It’s a Brace and Braces are cool.. unless you use it like a stock, which it isn’t, then that’s not cool.. but there is no illegal way to fire a pistol with all legal components installed and a brace is a legal component like we determined so, it is cool.. but don’t intend to use a Brace as a stock..’

What say you, ATF?

“ATF’s longstanding and publicly known positions…” I would argue ‘publicly known’ is a stretch because we keep asking and getting differing and inconsistent.. one might even say subjective instead of objective answers, but go on. “…is that a firearm does not evade classifications under the NFA merely because the firearm is configured with a device marketed as a “stabilizing brace” or “arm brace.” When an accessory and a weapon’s objective design features, taken together, are not consistent with use of the accessory as an arm brace, that is, not to stabilize a handgun when being operated with one hand, such weapon, configured with the accessory may fall within the scope of the NFA, particularly where the accessory functions as a shoulder stock for the weapon. Accordingly, ATF must evaluate whether a particular firearm configured with a stabilizing brace bears objective features of a firearm designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder, and thus subject to the NFA, on a case-by-case basis.”

One problem with all that, what are the, “objective features of a firearm designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder” other than a buttstock aka ‘shoulder stock’? Seems fairly interpretive and not objective.

‘Speed Limit 70 MPH’ is objective, it is defined, we know what 70 MPH is. “Too fast for conditions” can also be objective based upon known factors like icing, vehicle performance, and observed control. But there is an environmental factor at work in that case that may or may not present a danger and ATF is essentially trying to use similar logic.

The problem is there isn’t a consistent ‘environmental’ factor. It isn’t illegal to fire a pistol from the shoulder, it is impractical to do so for conventional handgun designs, but not illegal and it doesn’t reclassify the gun. It is also less practical or impractical to fire from the hip, or one handed instead of two handed, but not illegal. So those environmental factors of use and intent are always going to be subjectively applied. Most attempts at making an objective (meaning written based on numerical and physical standards that can be objectively measured and followed) would become immediately discriminatory or arbitrarily picked. Pistols over 80oz for example, as a measure of what is too heavy to shoot one handed (ironically, why the pistol brace exists) even when objectively speaking two handed is safer and superior.

The braces exist because of somewhat ridiculous but objective definitions. Look at what the ATF states has been “designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder.” (Page 7 & 8)

They then go further and state, “No single factor or combination of factors is dispositive, and FATD examines each weapon holistically on a case-by-case basis.” Meaning, to objectively say whether or not it is a pistol or SBR/SBS/Firearm, the ATF would have to see every single firearm individually and the determination would only cover firearms made exactly to the standard of one examined.

This task and burden is objectively absurd. Especially when considering the NFA is “to regulate certain weapons likely to be used for criminal purposes,” and we can objectively prove that the two greatest factors determinate of criminal misuse are total cost of acquisition (both risk based and financial) and concealability.

It comes down to this. For every factor the ATF is trying to use to be objective, there is another they are generally ignoring for one reason or another that makes such a factor subjective. The environmental factors, as I termed it earlier, are too wide ranging, ill defined, and inconsistently applied for the ATF to issue a detailed ruling.

Solution

Objectively, SBRs, SBSs, and Suppressors/Silencers should not be NFA items. They should fall under Title I. A case could still be made that select fire weapons (machine guns) and destructive devices should remain NFA, as they differ enough from Title I firearms to a degree that a different classification becomes relevant. There is no effective evidentiary basis for saying an AR-15 with a 15.9″ barrel is more dangerous, and therefore rationally subject to additional regulation, than one with a 16.1″ barrel. The 14.5″ M4 Clones and the 20″ M16 Clones, and every AR variation on those themes of any length with stock or brace or bare tube, rationally represent approximately the same threat to law enforcement and the general public. The existence of the AR-Type Pistol and Pistol Brace serve to emphasize that point.

The solution, the objective solution, is to expand and simplify the Title I definition to encompass all manual loading and semi-automatic firearms.

I will be commenting such when comments open. You should too.

Smith & Wesson vs. New Jersey

By
Keith Finch
-

Smith & Wesson is a household name. It is recognizable at levels that companies like Bravo Company and Sons of Liberty can only imagine. Even companies like Springfield Armory, FN, and IWI, major manufacturers that have massive recognition inside the gun community do not hold this kind of recognition. It’s a fame all its own.

The just had a successful product launch yesterday too, by introducing their M&P15-22 in an AR pistol format. The 15-22 is already among the best .22 lr rifles out there for people seeking an AR like rifle. I would argue it is nearly peerless in category for how well made, how well it runs, and how well it actually conforms to the AR-15 for crossover training.

So the new little pistol is really cool and I hope they sell many many thousands, including one for me.

But all is not peachy,

Smith & Wesson Sues New Jersey Over ‘Anti-Second Amendment Agenda’

NEWARK, N.J. (CN) — A leading firearms manufacturer alleges New Jersey is engaged in an “unconstitutional fishing expedition” to try to curtail gun rights by using a new tactic: false advertising claims. 

In a federal lawsuit filed in New Jersey on Tuesday, Smith & Wesson claims New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has tried everything in his power to stymie gun sales, and that he is now sifting through decades of company advertisements and marketing materials in an extra-legal attempt to restrict the right to bear arms. -Court House News

This is a tactic we have seen before. Springfield, Colt, and Remington (RIP) have all been targeted by attacks on their old advertising material. The most famous case has been Bushmaster (Remington) and the attacks on their marketing of the XM-15, ACR, and rifles in general the wake of Sandy Hook.

The ‘Machismo’ advertising strategy has been a long and drawn out one. The defensive firearms industry lives on the fact that they generate feelings of security and self-reliance. Like every other advertisement in the world.. some land.. some don’t.

Yep.. this is one. Shame marketing always works.

Many of theses ads were placed next to ‘T’ supplements and other low-ball ‘you’re not as manly a man as you could man up to being’ and that is a whole trope of the advertising market. It wouldn’t be if it didn’t work.

I remember the ACR launch page having a bangin’ heavy guitar riff on repeat as you clicked the various features and links to see just how metal the ACR was. Turned out far less metal than they thought since I believe they spent more on advertising the thing then they did making certain it ran the way they advertised. It ended up alright in the end, especially as an SBR candidate, but was never the rifle the riff promised us.

But now the sights are firmly on Smith & Wesson, and Smith & Wesson is firing back.

The argument is the same drivel that has been spouted before in a new set of shoes. “Violent Video Games cause violent kids!” (which was unfortunately spouted from corners of this industry as a deflection tactic) is now “Ads cause violent outbursts from unstable people!”

By this same logic, all actors and actresses cause their stalkers. All artists, both visual and audio, cause the wild acts of violence that offenders cite were “inspired” by the piece. It is a projectionist liability and culpability that is largely meant to shift blame from an individual, who probably cannot afford to pay damages, to an entity, multi-million dollar company that has money to pay damages. It’s the simple greed of “who pays” and it is largely driven by people other than the victims.

In October, Grewal filed administrative subpoenas seeking evidence of fraudulent advertising from the gun manufacturer. The subpoenas request documentation related to advertisements that claim firearms make a home safer, an untrained homeowner could use a Smith & Wesson firearm safely and effectively to defend his home, and whether guns enhance one’s lifestyle. 

Which, as we well know, will translate into pulling studies with cherry picked data that when taken in context proves a whole of only one thing… This question is hard to answer.

Do guns make people safer? Yes, in context of proper use.

Are guns dangerous? Yes, when improperly used.

Are they dangerous in the house? See previous answer.

Do they make a household safer? See the first answer.

Do they provide a peace of mind to the owner? Do they improve the feeling of security and reduce anxiety? Do they _______?

You can frame the questions to make the answer become your foregone conclusion and that is precisely what AG’s like Grewal are looking to do in order to stick companies like Smith & Wesson with a bill that will drive them out of business. They can claim this isn’t the goal, but the data shows that it is. The most conservative estimate of defensive gun uses per year outstrip homicides by nearly 4 to 1 and deaths including suicides still by 3 to 2 (~60,000 lowest estimated DGU’s compared to ~39,000 total firearm deaths).

If we take the highest range of estimation at 3,000,000 DGU’s the rate of positive uses to negative outcomes is unquestionably positive. That is for one, admittedly crucially important, positive use of firearms in society. If we begin to factor the other hundreds of millions of positive uses from collecting, sport shooting, and hunting the numbers skew further.

It is telling to me that despite being comparably lethal we do not attack alcohol and vehicles in this manner. We don’t decry ads displaying professional drivers doing stunts like we do ads. We just tag it (professional driver) or (drink responsibly) while a firearm get pages in bright colors of their manual dedicated to safe operation and tags on the gun itself telling the new owner and operator to read the manual and use the product safely.

There is no sticker on a new cars steering wheel declaring “Warning! Unsafe handling may result in injury or death!” but there sure is a gun.

Instead, vehicles are looked at as a product to make safer and educate users further on. Don’t give me that “we license drivers!” line either, we know there are multitudes of unlicensed, suspended license, and so forth drivers on the road daily because they have places to be. Licensing is a permission slip to use publicly owned (tax payer) roads, not operate a vehicle.

So back to the topic at hand, Smith & Wesson suing New Jersey.

Good.

This witch hunt against advertising, while ignoring every effort S&W makes to have their consumers use their product responsibly, should be decried as the hollow gun ban effort that it is. For after all, there is no need to ban Smith & Wesson if you bankrupt them instead, same effect in the long run.

Or so anti-gunners hope. As we can see from the number of quality AR makers that sprung up after 2004, the market will provide. But nobody should be bullied from the market for a hollow attempt at ‘false-advertisement’ claims.

Smith & Wesson saying, “Our guns never miss what you want to hit.” would be false advertisement. Smith & Wesson tagging a photo of their M&P9 2.0 and a M&P15 with the line, “Be Secure. Be Safe.” is not false advertisement.

In 2018, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced that gun manufacturers would be listed in monthly reports showing the source for every “crime gun” recovered by police in the state. 

Murphy said months after signing the executive order that he hoped “bringing light to this topic” would spur gun manufacturers to “act responsibly and work with us to stop weapons they make from ending up in the hands of dangerous criminals.” 

State data show that more than 80% of the guns used in crimes in New Jersey came from outside of the state, with Smith & Wesson firearms among the heaviest-trafficked firearms into the state. According to the latest report, 48 Smith & Wesson-brand firearms were used in crimes in the state, the leader among all gun manufacturers. 

Do they also so voraciously go after alcohol companies, I wonder? Is every death or injury listed by brand, when they know? Does Jack Daniels or Coors get an email from Jew Jersey stating their product resulted in XX many deaths and YY many injuries last month and that they should do more to make sure alcohol doesn’t make it into the hands of dangerous drivers and abusers?

Criminal misuse of a product or use outside its intended lawful purposes is not the fault of the company who built the product. The only time you can claim otherwise would be by building a case that the product is actually intended for other uses than those described, like the recent case a against a ‘wall hanger’ manufacturer where one of the two components acted as a drop in auto-sear for an AR-15.

Good on S&W, bring them down a notch back to the land of reasonable assertions.

Scatterguns Explained – SBS, AOWs, DDs, and More

By
Travis Pike
-

Scattergun is the only name I can think of that encompasses the entirety of the shotgun based weapons. Scattergun is slang but still accurately describes every category of shotgun-like weapon out there. All these different categories of scattergun exist because of American firearm laws. While at their core, they are all shotguns, they have distinct traits that separate them into different categories. Today we are going to deep dive into the various categories and explain each one. 

Shotguns 

Your base level scattergun is a shotgun. A shotgun is a weapon that has a stock, a smooth bore, and to avoid being an NFA item, the gun must have a barrel at least 18 inches long. The important trait to remember is a stock and a barrel of at least 18 inches long. A rifled barrel of at least 18 inches can be used for slug guns, but it’s still a shotgun.

You can remove the stock and replace it with a pistol grip, but it’s always a shotgun because it once had a stock. Shotguns must also be longer than 26 inches overall. This seems easy, but with bullpup shotguns, it’s easy to slip under that length even with an 18-inch barrel. 

Short Barreled Shotguns

Short barreled shotguns are weapons designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a smooth bore barrel less than 18 inches long or an overall length less than 26 inches. These are NFA firearms and require a tax stamp, and are subject to both special state and federal laws. The barrel length and overall length can be whatever you desire when it comes to short-barreled shotguns. 

Firearms

Firearms are a category that is basically the ‘other’ on your list of firearm classifications. When it comes to the scattergun, we have firearms like the Mossberg Shockwave or Remington TAC 14. These guns have never had a stock and must have an overall length of at least 26 inches. If the scattergun falls under 26 inches overall, it becomes an NFA weapon known as an AOW. 

There are no barrel length requirements, and most work with 14-inch barrels and the KAK Raptor grips. You cannot convert a shotgun to a firearm, and if you add a stock to one of these, it can never be a firearm again. 

AOWs

AOW stands for any other weapon, and it’s an NFA catch-all, much like the term firearm for title 1 firearms. In terms of a scattergun, an AOW is a shotgun-like firearm without a stock and an overall length of less than 26 inches.

AOWs are an oddball category that includes guns that don’t look like guns, so for a scattergun, that could be a smoothbore cane gun that fires a shotgun shell. 

Destructive Devices 

Destructive devices are an interesting category that is rather expansive, and oddly enough, shotguns found a way on the list. Two weapons that were considered shotguns were randomly reclassified to destructive devices.

Ian of Forgotten Weapons and the “Street Sweeper” which is one such shotgun that became a DD

You see, any firearm with a bore over 0.5 inches is a destructive device unless it’s found to be particularly suitable for sporting use. This exemption allows shotguns with a bore .73 inches and beyond to be non-NFA items and big game cartridges that exceed .50 caliber. 

The two shotguns relabeled as Destructive devices are the SPAS 15 and the Striker 12/Streetsweeper models. Since then, no others have been added to the list, but it’s worth noting. 

Industrial Shotguns

These are the final scattergun series on the list and are likely the least prevalent. Industrial shotguns, like the Winchester Ringblaster, are designed for specific purposes, like cleaning kilns. These are shotguns only by the common-sense definition and are supported by a special mounting system and chambered in massive calibers like eight gauge.

These are not considered guns, but tools, so NFA rules need not apply to a 100-pound industrial shooting apparatus. 

Scatterguns for All

This, the many categories in which a simple scattergun can fall into. Common sense of function classifies all of these as just shotguns, but American gun laws rarely apply a common-sense test. The purpose, length, barrel length, and the presence of a stock are all factors that can determine the legality of your weapon.

Hopefully, it’s no longer as clear as mud. Maybe more like muddy water.

Springfield Armory’s Competition Ready XDM Elite 5.25 Precision

By
Scott Smith
-
This is Springfield Armory's XDM 5.25 Precision with a Talon Grip as I shot it.

     This past year has been a real bust for many USPSA and IDPA major matches. Sorry if I overstated the obvious, but they are the best place to test firearms other than a trip to Gunsite or Sig Academy. Hence I have been delinquent writing about Springfield Armory’s latest generation of the XD-M; the XD-M Elite.

     The XD-M Elites are a enhanced XD-Ms. What sets the Elite family apart from previous models are the improved cocking serrations, removable magazine wells, ambi-slide stop, match grade barrels, increased capacity(22+1 in 9mm) and the Match Enhanced Trigger Assembly. Of course Springfield kept what made the XD-Ms a success; good sights, reliable functioning, and three interchangeable back strap for a better fit.

     What really sets Elite XD-Ms apart from previous versions is the Match Enhanced Trigger Assembly. The META is for all intents and purposes a factory “custom” trigger. The flat face and internal over-travel give you a clean crisp break from day one. It has taken my 40 S&W XD-M 5.25 a couple thousand rounds to be as smooth and crisp at the 9mm XD-M Precision. I know folks will disagree, but I will put the META trigger up against any of the aftermarket match drop-in triggers for other polymer pistols.

On the left is the original XDM curved trigger. The XDM Elite Precision with its flat trigger has a better reset and is crisper.

     A feature that is not considered an enhancement by Springfield Armory but should be is the posi-bump grip safety. I have heard many folks complain about not being able to always depress the original grip safety. This was a complaint about 1911’s too until Ed Brown’s Memory Groove grip safety. Since you must depress the grip safety for the pistol to go through its firing sequence; I think this was a prudent move by SA. It is one they should incorporate in the rest of the XD line.

As you can see the Elite Series has much wider cocking serrations.

     After the posi-bump grip safety, the new cocking serrations an improvement over the original XD-Ms. The wider spacing gives you a better purchase in wet conditions and when wearing gloves. In my opinion they also look cool. Let’s face it if you can have improved function and looks, why not?

The XDM Elite Precision’s posi-grip bump ensures you deactivate the grip safety. You can see how much larger it is than the original XDM.

     I have been shooting a XD-M 5.25 in USPSA matches the last couple of years because it is chambered in 40 S&W which scores “major”. The new Elite 5.25 Precision is chambered in 9mm, which would be ideal for three gun, USPSA Production or Limited Class or IDPA’s Enhanced Service Pistol. Having the “original” and Elite would also allow me to show the changes.

The most obvious change Springfield Armory made to XD-M with the Elite Series is the removable magazine well and extended magazines. While the mag well allows for smooth fast magazine exchanges, it is not obnoxiously large like some those seen on- competition pistols. The extended capacity magazine holds 22 rounds while the “flush fit” mags hold 20.

     Field stripping the XD Precision is fast and easy. First drop the magazine, lock the slide to the rear to ensure the pistol is empty; cleaning “empty” pistols has caused a lot of injuries. Next, lock the slide to the rear and rotate the takedown lever up. Releasing the slide stop will all the slide to come off, no need to press the trigger. To finish disassembly, pull out the recoil spring assembly and barrel; you are finished. The XDM assembles in reverse order.

     After field stripping and adding lubricant to the Precision, it was off to the range. I gathered up about 100 rounds of various loose rounds and new 9mm ammunition from Black Hills-115 grain FMJ, Federal-115 grain 9BP, Hornady-124 grain XTP and three loads from Super Vel-115, 147 & 158 grain FMJs (a future article will give more details). This was a good mix of range and self-defense loads with Hornady’s Critical Defense being one of the most technical loads on the market and Federal’s 9BP being a tried and proven load.

There were no issues with our range sessions. All of the ammunition performed well. After our range testing the slide, magazine well and mag bumper were covered with Vietnam Tiger Stripe from GunSkins.

     Initially I tested the Precision with the mix of factory ammunition. With this mystery mix of bullet weights and various ojives, this would test the pistols reliability and allow me to see how well regulated the sights were. Not surprisingly, at fifteen and twenty five yards the pistol was dead on. The narrow fiber optic was bright in the daylight and easy to find through the notch of the adjustable rear sight.

With the bright fiber optic and wide notch adjustable rear sight, target acquisition is fast.

     Next I ran three magazines with a mix of the six factory loads in each one. Again the pistol was dead on. What I did notice was every so often one load had noticeably softer recoil. As I would find out during the bench testing it was the 158 grain load from Super Vel. After nearly two hundred rounds there were no issues with the XDM.

     The last step of testing was accuracy. Again I loaded magazines this time with five rounds of each variety of the test ammunition and shot them from the bench at twenty five yards. I fired three groups of each load and averaged the three groups. All six loads averaged sub three inches with several cloverleaves or touching pairs in each shot group.

When I tested for practical accuracy, shooting offhand Weaver stance at twenty five yards, I was able to keep a ten round magazine in the upper A/C of an USPSA target. For a beat up sixty year old, I figured that was plenty good. Further testing was done using it to shoot the State USPSA matches in Wyoming and Colorado showed the XDM Elite 5.25 Precision to be a performer. It was consistently hitting pepper poppers at thirty yards and eight inch plate at fifteen yards.

By the time I was done running the Precision, I had put over one thousand issue free rounds through it; save for one incident. While shooting in Wyoming, I had a failure to extract and the slide locked up on a stage. After several seconds, I was safely able to open and clear the offending case and keep shooting. One of the RO’s picked up the case for me; it had split. Even new factory ammunition can have issues. It should also be noted other than two drops of oil on the slide rails before both matches, this pistol was not cleaned.

To say Springfield Armory’s XDM Elite 5.25 Precision is a hard use pistol is an understatement. I was more than impressed with this pistol. I did little to maintain it and ran it in the dusty high desert without issue. If the panic buying of 2020 lets up in 2021 and you are looking for a true all purpose pistol; get this or any of SA’s XDM Elite series. This one made me look like I could shoot fast, accurately and I definitely had fun; you will too.  

Axeon Shotgun Light – Budget Friendly

By
Travis Pike
-

Are you serious? A dedicated shotgun light for less than 50 bucks? No way it doesn’t suck? These were the first few thoughts through my head as I looked at the Axeon shotgun light. I’ve written about Axeon before, specifically their optical goods, but the shotgun light was new to me. I grabbed it out of my own pocket for 31.50 on Axeon’s website. 

That price is insane because dedicated shotgun lights aren’t cheap. The Surefire DSF is 300 bucks and some change, the TL Racker from Streamlight is 120ish. The Steiner Mk7 was 180. I know this because I own them all, and I like them all. Shotguns are typically inexpensive firearms, at least in the pump-action American made world. My DSF 870 light costs twice as much as the used 870 I bought. Even the TL Racker costs almost half what a Mossberg 500 costs. 

Shotguns are not like rifles. A quality AR costs a lot more than a quality pump shotgun. If you are taking the shotgun route for affordability, then adding a light can be costly. The Axeon Shotgun light is an affordable means to outfit your home defense weapon with a white light. The problem is all the affordability in the world makes no sense if the light doesn’t work. 

So, does the Axeon shotgun light work? 

The Axeon Shotgun Light 

The Axeon Shotgun light is a dedicated shotgun light that is designed to work with either the Mossberg 500, Remington 870, or Winchester 1300 series shotguns. It replaces your magazine cap with the light, and the Axeon shotgun light comes with three different endcaps for the three shotguns that it works with. You could theoretically move the light from shotgun to shotgun if you owned multiple shotguns. 

The Axeon shotgun light is very simple in its design. It’s an aluminum body with two buttons on opposite sides of each other. These two buttons are designed to give your ambidextrous controls. Once the light is screwed onto the gun, the buttons are presented on the left and ride side of the gun. 

The inline design is handy and allows you to keep your shotgun sleek and lightweight. The Axeon shotgun light weighs next to nothing, especially compared to the DSF or TL Racker. It’s super small and snag-free. 

Light nerds won’t like the 120 lumens the light offers. That’s relatively low, and compared to other shotgun lights, it’s on the weaker side of light power. 

The light is powered by a single CR123 battery and has a single constant-on mode. There is no momentary, and on a light like this, that’s not a bad thing. The inline design would make a momentary mode tricky. 

The Beam

The minimal 120 lumens of light is well focused. The spill is minimal, and the beam comes out as a very focused square. This square of light is bright and is clearly made for up-close use. The beam does introduce a series of limitations into the light. The minimal spill and throw aren’t well suited for searching for a target or trying to catch a threat in a dark alley. 

The power and beam limit this light to pure home defense use. It’s not a weapon light suited for duty tasks, and Axeon even states it’s for home defense. It’s not a good light for clearing rooms, and if you are clearing rooms by yourself in a home defense scenario, you might need to reevaluate your home defense plan. 

If you hear a bump in the night or a bang at the door and you don’t have a fireteam with you, I’d suggest hunkering down with your scattergun, calling the police, and waiting for them. In this more realistic and safer scenario, the Axeon shotgun light is more than enough to identify a target. The focused beam can temporarily blind a bad guy, and because of its focus, it could be used to aim the gun in close quarters.

 

Using a light as an aiming device for a shotgun is nothing new. In a dark situation, it works, and an inline light like this incurs minimal offset. As soon as you identify your target with the light, you can accurately place a load of buckshot into it. This technique works best within 15 yards, which is well inside of most people’s home-defense ranges. 

Sorry Elon Musk, it won’t work in your mansion. 

Ergonomics and Past the Barrel Durability 

Ergonomically this light takes some practice to properly use. Grip near the end of the pump and extend your trigger finger to activate the light. Working the pump and the light together is possible. It takes some practice, but it’s possible. It’s not as easy as a pump mounted light to use and practice with, but the light itself doesn’t have to move as you rack the pump. The light stays on target as you work the weapon and pump. 

The light itself will extend beyond the barrel if you use a firearm or short-barreled shotgun. The good news is the Axeon shotgun light can seemingly take the blast. After a couple of dozen rounds of birdshot and ten rounds of buckshot, the light is unphased. Although, make sure you clean the lens after it takes some blast. 

Axeon Shotgun Light and Purpose

The purpose of the Axeon shotgun light is limited to home defense and even pest removal. As someone who lives happily in the middle of nowhere, America’s feral hog program is an issue. They are such a problem that killing them is no different than killing rats legally, and it can be done at night. A good light makes it easy to establish positive identification on a target on two legs inside the house or on four legs outside the house. 

When used within its limitations, the Axeon shotgun light is a very affordable and lightweight option for home defense. While I won’t declare it the very best option, it’s the very best option under 50 bucks. Check it out for your budget scattergun needs. 

And as always with controls near muzzles, watch your fingers.

Michigan nearing 700,000 Active CPL’s

By
Keith Finch
-
92X Centurion and a Dark Star Gear to carry it. Superb.

693,247, to be precise, as of December 1st with 22,917 pending. The lawful means of self protection remains growingly popular and with Biden winning the Presidency (officially now) the demand for firearms and ammunition will likely remain high well into 2021.

The CPL (Concealed Pistol License) or whatever acronym concealed carry goes by in your neighborhood is that base active desire for both law and independent self preservation. Sure, the corners of the gunternet preach, “Free Men Don’t Ask Permission!” but reality is we ask for permission all the time. Not because we are slaves of the system so much as we are polite participants.

When taken objectively, shifting the licensed balance back to an unlicensed norm, based on general awareness and education, would take significant infrastructure expense in a block or must be accomplished carefully over time with a continued push towards heightened firearm awareness as a society.

I’ve wrote previously that the greatest challenge to upregulating the ownership of firearms is the general education of the population in their use. In my decade instructing I’ve seen that education improve markedly, but we are turning a massive ship with a lot of momentum, to say nothing of people actively trying to turn the ship the other way to and push to greater regulation and bans.

I had a good rant about that yesterday. It was soothing, I felt better. The complex nature of society and therefore the complex nature of weapons within society is not a one and done conundrum. By the time I depart this mortal coil I would love to see 20% of Americans actively engaged, licensed, or otherwise active again in the 2A community. Not just owners (which is fine, personal choice and all) but actively participating members who train, who game, who hunt, and who participate electorally and contribute commentarial to the advancement of our free society.

Seeing active numbers continue to rise, and every month watching as blood doesn’t flow in the streets in any more dramatic fashion than any other given day gives me continued hope that the armed society/polite society model can continue its steady flourishment.

Firearms don’t reduce violence nor do they cause violence, society and people within it hold that sway. But because it is the whims of society that decide just how much and what kinds of violence are tolerable, not condoned or encouraged but merely tolerable, it is the best bet of a free man or woman to carry a tool in case it is visited upon them. It pays to be disciplined and proficient in its use as well. The self discipline of proficiency in arms translates well to a polite and disciplined people overall.

So let’s keep bumping those numbers

‘Despair!’ Over New Hampshire House Rule Allowing Carry

By
Keith Finch
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Picture unrelated but awesome. Man firing his .50 from his living room out to his outdoor range. Because he can.

This. Is. Gold.

My Turn: Breaking free of the intoxicating power of guns

Full credit to the author for bringing forth their opinion on the issue and how they feel. It is and will forever remain their right to do so. But I retain my equally opinionated rights to pick it apart as an emotive farce pretending to be logic. So here we go.

I felt despair [emphasis added] as I recently read in the Monitor that New Hampshire House Republicans have reversed the rule banning firearms and deadly weapons from the House floor and gallery.

Strong opening, you are in the irrational and highly emotive state of despair. Despair: the complete loss or absence of hope. You have lost all hope for your state, New Hampshire, and are an emotional wreck beyond rational thought and decision making over the choice to allow the carry of lawful arms into the house floor and gallery.

That rule is not unique to New Hampshire, it is something that hasn’t produced and gunfight on the floor in any locale that allows it nor resulted in the turning of any such gallery of legislative observation into a shooting gallery (Yes, I said it.. or wrote, technically) Even the heated debates in Michigan as open carriers came into the capitol resulted in no shots fired as folks protest the curtailment of the civil rights, liberties, and for many the ability to feed their families lawfully. The 20,000+ in Virginia last January resulted in not a single noteworthy incident either.

But you despair at a decision with active parallel practices in other states coming to yours? I don’t believe we can safely trust you in an aisle seat on a plane if this is your reaction to a simple rule change. Anyhow, back to the piece.

I wondered why mature, educated men and women, leaders in our state, would vote to increase the risk of attending House sessions by condoning the presence of firearms. Why did it bother me so much? And why was this reversal so important to them?

Excellent backhanded compliment! Infer that they idiots by stating, factually, they are increasing the risk by condoning the presence of firearms despite mountains of evidence (evidence being bodies) definitively proving that a location’s prohibition on firearms is no effective defense. In short any honest risk analysis (something they probably did but you didn’t bother with) would find that altering this rule is of negligible to no different a risk than was actually already present based upon the realities of physical security in the House. Furthermore, there is a net increase in safety (as demonstrated by armed self defenders) in House members and gallery attendees and observers being able to legally respond if something should occur.

It is not as if murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, or terroristic activities become a little more palatable and slightly less illegal just because a firearm is allowed to be legally present. Nor does it become easier. Oh it certainly sounds easier on the surface but this presumes a difficulty was in place previously that really wasn’t.

Would a prohibition prevent even a moderately determined assailant from causing harm greater than the comparative safety allowing Reps, staff, and visitors to be legally armed does? No, under any remotely reasonable assessment of physical security, a rule prohibiting carry is nearly worthless. A public space is incredibly difficult to secure and doing so is astronomically expensive.

Look at the failure rate of the TSA’s screens and then please preach to me how putting a rule on the books, even with some token infrastructure in place to enforce it, actually improves security measurably enough to be worth hassle…

Unless you purpose isn’t physical security but instead to signal.. your virtue!

These questions led me first to examine the source of my own feelings.

Called it.

When I was a boy, my friends and I played with cap pistols. The pistols held paper strips of caps, each cap containing a small quantity of explosive powder. When the trigger was pulled, a hammer would hit the cap and produce a cracking sound – a pretend gunshot. We wore holsters and practiced quick-draws. In our games I imagined always hitting the enemy but never being hit. We felt invincible walking around with our harmless toy guns.

When I was a teenager I lived on a farm. I hunted pheasants with my father and shot woodchucks that grazed on our garden vegetables. The kick against my shoulder when I fired the shotgun transferred to me a feeling of power and domination. Whenever I hit the prey, I felt a surge of pride and superiority. It gave me self-confidence knowing that my gun in the rack at home was always accessible to me.

Ah, the “I’m just a good ole’ boy like you guys, so listen to my enlightened opinion as if it were gospel.” card. A ploy used to invalidate differing opinions if they differ too far from yours while simultaneously making you seem the ‘everyman’ (or everyperson) so that your position is the only one that is moderated with reason. Almost… ‘common sense,’ eh?

“The kick against my shoulder when I fired the shotgun transferred to me a feeling of power and domination.“

I just get a sore shoulder, but I’m glad you had a good time turning this into a philosophy lesson instead of a physics equation. It would be shame if you then used this formative experience as a ‘naïve younger point’ in order to imply that folks who hold skill at arms in higher regard or esteem as a personal trait are still somehow juvenile and immature in their beliefs.

Later, during my college years I found myself discussing human ethics with friends. The establishment of the draft, which included a process for applying for conscientious objection to war, led to bull sessions among friends about the ethics of war and the killing human beings. We consulted philosophers and theologians. Some of us began to gravitate toward a position of nonviolence. However, to choose this commitment meant burying childhood and teenage feelings of elation and puffed-up ego accompanying gun possession and use.

Oh, look. You’re doing that.

Then, at 24, I was drafted into the Army. My anxiety about having to kill in battle led me to volunteer to train to be a medic. But it did not save me from rifle training. And it did not save me from a resurgence of the old excitement and feelings of power guns gave me in my youth. More distressing was having those old feelings return while shooting at human-shaped targets. I enjoyed hitting those targets and keeping score. It felt good and empowering. My ethic about rejecting the use of deadly firearms was overwhelmed by the thrill of the firing range.

Skill in arms is intrinsically and quantifiably valuable. It’s okay to enjoy the skill and still not want to kill someone.

Well as long as you don’t become projectionist and assume that because you and others you hung out with in college have moral or ethical quandaries about taking human life, yet do not seem able to validate that under certain circumstances killing someone is entirely justifiable and that war, conflict, and conquest are an inalienable part of the human experience despite what you and your crew of early 20-somethings believe you’ve figured out about the utopian human experience.

It seems human nature includes an inclination toward invincibility, superiority, and security. They are the reward for embracing firearms and deadly weapons. They give a person the arrogance of the legendary gunfighter who seeks to have the fastest draw in the West. They bask in the thrill of possessing force and power over all comers.

Oh… look… you’re doing that…

It’s not about you. It is about the people who differ from you. The differing outlooks and perspectives you will interact with and may come into conflict with. Physics man, equal and opposite reactions. The force required to stop an undesirable act is equal to or greater than the force being acted out.

The differences between each individual, each family, each group which will ascribe varying values to differing skills and ideals should not be demeaned so casually.

You can hold the belief that all war is immoral and that there is never a circumstance that justifies then ending of human life to you. To fail to recognize that not everyone holds that same opinion, and that some of those folks are righteous while others are nefarious, is truly juvenile.

However, this arrogance mocks civility, destroys relationships and leads to the moral decay of the nation…

Says you. Your opinion. Your projection of your morality.

…Human beings can aspire to do better. Our New Hampshire legislators can aspire to do better…

Based upon your projected definition of better? What about those who feel better with the freedom of a free people to freely carry their lawful arms at their convenience? For such people recognize that the bearing of arms against their personal harm and the harm of their community is as natural to the sovereignty of an individual as their rights to speak their mind, redress a grievance or breach of contract fairly in a court, or vote for their representation.

…They can begin by focusing less on “Live Free or Die” and the Second Amendment. No law can regulate attitudes. They can begin by abandoning the arrogance of the right to carry weapons…

Then why are you trying to regulate their attitudes!? So you can feel better? What about those whose peace of mind and physical safety you compromise with your feelings?

Your personal moral ultimatum does not translate to actual physical security. The Army didn’t teach you to declare, “The enemy cannot bring arms here.” and simply expect the enemy, the antagonizing body or force, to comply. The Army taught you to take a knee, face out, eyes up, scan your sector, and drink water. To be ready to repel an enemy assault by fire and close combat, not a civil tone and attitude.

Now you use the arrogance of disarmament to project that because the vast majority of people around you are not actively seeking to harm you, that therefore means that nobody is seeking to harm anybody, and that the only flaw in this utopian pile of projectionist wishful thinking are those naïve immature (remember setting that connection up earlier) people who “arrogantly” carry arms, just in case someone seeks to harm them.

You do not allow for the remotest possibility that their carriage of arms comes from pragmatism or realism, it can only be arrogance and immature feelings of power, because of your little philosophy lesson. The lesson which set up anyone who disagrees as immature by comparing their attitudes to the one that you held during your self ascribed immaturity. The irony is the sheer arrogance of believing it is only arrogance that drives this decision.

You want your attitudes to prevail, to regulate the attitudes of the House and the public, while openly admitting attitudes cannot be so regulated. Kind attitudes, friendly dispositions, and good intentions do not turn the blade or bullet of someone who has decided that for them to succeed and advance their motive, you must die. Force is a simple equation that does not ascribe to an altruistic moral authority.

So having acknowledged that, which is the safer pragmatic option. To have the flotation device in case of a water landing or to arrogantly proclaim that merely allowing the inclusion of the flotation device makes crashing into the water a greater risk as pilots will arrogantly flout their defiance of water because everyone can float.

…The old days when U.S. legislators brawled on the floor of Congress and challenged each other to duels are past – hopefully…

But their days of being shot for being the wrong team sure as hell aren’t.

…Our leaders can begin with a spirit of hospitality and trust of constituents…

They are trusting them to carry guns around them. That seems quite hospitable and trusting. The House trusting a free people and their membership body to act responsibly, civilly, and with discipline in their defense and conduct. Should any singular individual or group with ill intent and contrarily aligned goals decide that force is now the way to enact their variant on morality, that now openly carries the risk of deadly defensive reprisal.

…They can begin to develop the skills of empathy, negotiation, reconciliation, and trustworthiness. These skills are far more effective in building relationships and defusing conflicts than waving threatening guns

So now they are waving them? Threateningly? Maybe they should have a rule against that?

It is a crime to brandish firearms in New Hampshire illegally. Anybody that uses a firearm in a threatening way, such that it puts another person in danger, is guilty of misconduct. Attempting to put someone in fear of physical injury or imminent death is criminal threatening.

Oh look, they do.

We need the example of our legislators to help us turn our country from a dependency upon violent coercive power.

What other power do you honestly believe the state wields? I know what you were getting at but as I just pointed out above it is as illegal to do that in New Hampshire as anywhere else and it shows a fundamental misunderstanding that a state is just a legitimized wielder of force. We have agreed, through the formation of rules and representatives, that this force is legitimate force. “Violent Coercive Power” is all a state ultimately has, ultimately is, we just agree (with variances) to the rules to try and keep that power working in our collective best interests.

Well at least we haven’t seen a skewed statistical appeal to authority.

The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime conducted a worldwide small arms survey. It reported that the United States experienced 29.7 firearms homicides per million people in 2012. The next highest country was Switzerland with 7.7 per million. These statistics do not describe our aspirations for civility, equality, and justice for all.

Oh look.. a skewed statistical appeal to authority.

Funny how the same UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) lists the United States 94th in the world for intentional homicide rate out of 230 nations and territories. Switzerland, the country listed as ‘next’ is 204th. But isn’t it convenient that we ignore 93 countries (to include Russia whose rate is 65% higher than ours), none of whom have the private arms we do (because nobody does, ‘Merica!), that have a greater rate of intentional homicide than we do? Or are we back to just caring about “gun” deaths, which are much deadlier deaths than other murders.

The cherry picked parts of Europe does not a convincing argument for ‘civility’ make. Unless you’re saying older, smaller, more homogenous societies have lower murder rates.

Let’s look at it another way. The nation with the second largest number of arms in private hands is… India, with an estimated 71,101,000 guns. 61,401,000 of those are unregistered. Why do I mention that? Because its one of those scary gun control words.

Now how many people were murdered in India? 41,651 (2018)

Based upon available data what how many were killed with a firearm? An estimated 4,027.

Now the United States, where 16,214 (2018) people where murdered. By guns? 10,265 according to the FBI, but their numbers are not the same as UNODC’s, FBI listing only 14,123 murder victims. The CDC lists 13,958 firearm homicides for 2018 and 18,830 homicides in total (including justifiable I believe which may not accrue in UNODC numbers) so we’ll call firearms significantly higher as a method of injury. We have 400,000,000 of them to their 71,000,000 so that makes sense.

And yet India managed to put 25,437 more people into their graves intentionally, than the United States. More than 2.5 times as many people murdered than the ‘uncivil’ gun toting Americans. But thanks to the enormous population of India, that 2.5x body count being the second highest in the world, they are 118th place to the United States’ 94th place for homicide rate.

Who was first?

Brazil is first in murder, with 57,358. Yet only 17,510,000 firearms (about half of which are registered with the government) and a population a little over half of the US at about 211,000,000. Their firearm homicide rate is 5x ours here in the US.

Is Brazil not seeking to be a civil country? Wouldn’t the fact they have 1 gun for every 23 we have and that half are registered with the government show that they are a country seeking civility by rejecting arms?

Or does using more data make for a different story? A more complex story, perhaps, where virtuous signaling of virtues signaled toward American civility have to contextualize and deal with harsh and unforgiving realities, like that not everyone virtuously virtues as you do.

Some people hold other traits as virtuous, and that is fine. So perhaps rein in projecting yours and you won’t be so bothered with mine.

We deserve better. It begins by refusing to feed the emotional high of guns on the floor of the Legislature.

I hope to soon read in the Monitor that the rule banning firearms and deadly weapons from the House floor and gallery has been reaffirmed. It will be a start on the long road to real freedom from violence and coercion.

You really don’t understand how the state enforces its authority… *sigh*

You have no freedom from violence.

You have no freedom from coercion.

Hell, you have no freedom from catching a cold.

You have in place a State, which is an agreed upon (within societal margins) mechanism for both violence and coercion.

You have the freedom to respond to violence and coercion, not the freedom from. Either through the mechanism of the State, laws, lawsuits, criminal proceedings, and so forth, or through your right to defend yourself and/or your community from great and immediate harm through force.

But that’s just like.. my opinion, man.

Is Lethal Weapon a Christmas movie?

By
Caleb Giddings
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Today we’re answering one of the most important questions in the holiay season: Is Lethal Weapon a Christmas movie? It absolutely is, and not just is it a Christmas movie, it’s one of the best Christmas movies.

Why are we even answering this question? Because it’s important. If you need to know if Lethal Weapon is a Christmas movie, the first thing you need to understand is that all great Christmas movies share a similar central theme: redemption. If you look at holiday classic White Christmas, the entire movie carries themes of redemption in it. Even more obviously, so does the one of the all time greatest movies ever: It’s a Wonderful Life. In fact, Lethal Weapon follows an extremely similar theme to the Jimmy Stewart classic.

In Wonderful Life, Stewart’s character is despondent, and near suicidal, when he jumps off a bridge to save someone. In Lethal Weapon, Martin Riggs is similarly suicidal and despondent, and jumps off a building to save someone. This action starts his journey of redemption, as Murtaugh acts as a human version of the angel Clarence. Throughout Wonderful Life, the angel takes Jimmy Stewart on a journey that shows him the value he has added to people’s lives. Similarly, Murtaugh takes Riggs on the same journey, showing him that even though he doesn’t feel worthy, Riggs can change people’s lives for the better. Mostly by shooting bad guys in the face, but still.

At the end of the movie, Riggs literally grapples with the enemy. Just like Jimmy Stewart grappled with his demons the whole movie, but can only overcome them with the help of Clarence, in the end of Lethal Weapon, it takes the team of Murtaugh and Riggs to put the bad guy down for good. The movie ends on a symbolic note as Riggs joins Murtaugh’s family for Christmas dinner. As you can see, not only is Lethal Weapon a Christmas movie, it’s one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time.

Project ChildSafe – End of Fall Update

By
Keith Finch
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PCS is one of single greatest resources for firearm safety information. Especially when it comes to addressing the serious and vexing questions of kids, teens, and vulnerable adults. Anti-gun advice amounts to shouting at the top of their lungs that “GuNz BAd!” and provide no resource that doesn’t amount to “you should get rid of them” in any substantial form. This has unfortunately culminated in the loudest resources being agenda driven instead of solution drive. PCS is solution driven, reducing accidental deaths and suicides through proven methods and active engagement unique to the individual human beings that are involved.

Holidays are times of high stress and situational and seasonal depression, let’s be sure we are taking care of each other and keeping each other safe and sound through the holidays.

Project ChildSafe Supporters Newsletter Fall 2020

All of us at the National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®) and Project ChildSafe® hope you and your loved ones are doing well, staying healthy and staying safe. As the nation’s leading firearm safety program, we’re committed to education and doing all we can to support our partners in spreading the message of safety in their communities. 

Over the last several months, we’ve seen a significant rise in gun sales and first-time gun ownership, making it more important than ever for the gun-owning community to be the biggest advocates for practicing – and promoting – responsible firearm ownership and storage. So, we’ve been hard at work creating new resources for gun owners to use and share. As a program developed by gun owners, for gun owners, Project ChildSafe is grateful for your support, and we look forward to continuing our work with you to help prevent firearm accidents, thefts and misuse, including suicide.

In this issue:

  • New Mental Health Resources for Parents of Teens
  • Helping the Veteran Community and Others through Suicide Prevention Education and Awareness
  • Emphasizing Firearm Safety for the Holidays
  • Enter Our Safety Sweepstakes
  • Connecting with Project ChildSafe on Social Media

New Mental Health Resources for Parents of Teens

Today’s teens are dealing with higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns than any generation before them. That’s why NSSF, Project ChildSafe and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) developed a new resource for parents to help them recognize signs their children may be struggling with mental health issues. The guide offers advice on how to talk to kids about suicide and make homes safer for those who may be at-risk.

We encourage you to share these resources with others in your community who can help spread the word about mental health and suicide prevention, including local parents, school counselors, community resource officers, educators and school district officials, parent teacher organizations and others. The resources can be viewed on Project ChildSafe’s website and the materials can be downloaded and saved below:

Helping the Veteran Community and Others Through Suicide Prevention Education and Awareness

Every year during Suicide Prevention Month in September, Project ChildSafe emphasizes the role safe firearm storage plays in preventing suicides. This year, we focused on reaching veterans and their families.

Helping the Veteran Community and Others Through Suicide Prevention Education and AwarenessSuicide rates among veterans have increased significantly over the past decade. To help slow this trend, Project ChildSafe developed a Veteran Firearm Safety resource that includes advice on how to discuss safe firearm storage with a veteran who may be at risk of suicide, as well as crisis intervention information. To amplify the resource, we teamed up with veteran, Paralympic powerlifter and 2019 “Warrior of the Year” Omar Avila to spread the message of firearm safety and suicide prevention on social media.

NSSF and AFSP have also previously developed a Suicide Prevention Toolkit to help firearm retailers, shooting ranges and gun owners nationwide understand risk factors and warning signs related to suicide. In addition, we partnered with AFSP, the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Concealed Carry Association to produce a webinar on Protecting Mental Health and Preventing Suicide During COVID-19.

We can all help save lives by working together to provide education and encourage veterans, their friends and their families to have a brave conversation about suicide.

Emphasizing Firearm Safety for the Holidays

Safety SweepstakesAs we enter the holiday season amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Project ChildSafe reminds everyone to practice responsible safety measures at home, including safe and responsible firearm handling and storage. The holidays may be different this year, but it’s important that families continue to practice home safety, while recognizing that the holiday season can be a challenging time for many. With these challenges in mind, Project ChildSafe is launching its 2020 Holiday Safety campaign to remind gun owners of the importance of firearm safety and safe storage, and provide tools that may help keep themselves and their families safe during this unprecedented holiday season. Be sure to check out our social media channels for a regular cadence of these resources, or visit the library on our website.

Enter Our Safety Sweepstakes

As you may know, Project ChildSafe puts extensive effort into promoting practices to help mitigate the risks of firearm accidents, theft and misuse. To encourage our supporters to assist us in spreading the message of firearm safety this holiday season, we are launching our Holiday Safety Sweepstakes. By making a donation to Project ChildSafe, you have the chance to win some great prizes from sweepstakes sponsors like Yeti, Crossbreed Holsters, Brazen, and Benelli.

Connecting with Project ChildSafe on Social Media

Follow Us On Social MediaOne of the easiest ways to learn about firearm safety is to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and share our content to help keep safe storage top of mind for your online community. We regularly share advice and tips about safe firearm storage, and your engagement will help us reach more gun owners across the country.

We Want to Hear from You!

Please send us feedback, ideas and suggestions on what’s working in your community, and how we can improve the program. You can email us at pcsstaff@projectchildsafe.org.

We thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to continuing to work together to reduce firearm accidents.

Sincerely,

Bill Brassard

Bill Brassard, Jr. 
Senior Director, Communications 
National Shooting Sports Foundation

National Rifle League: HUNTER Series

By
Anna Martinez
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Words with the President/Founder

Talking to Travis Ishida, the President and founder of the National Rifle League and now the NRL: Hunter Series his passion for this series shown through.

Travis is someone who cares about growing the shooting sports in a fair, honest, and educational way. He has been involved in the hunting community for over ten years and has filmed epic hunts for 5 years. A word that was brought up in conversation many times was the word “ethical.” Travis talked about hunting as something that should be done properly and ethically. If you take a shot that is too far, not placed correctly, or shot with the correct round, how is that an ethical shot to take? Yet so many hunters are going out there without the proper knowledge and gear.

Thus NRL HUNTER. A place to bring the gear and equipment that you use to take those shots every year and put it to the test in a scored event. The same bloodstained jackets and rifle you got that prized deer with last winter.


Something that also was brought up many times was the type of competitors and other series within the National Rifle League. Travis stated. “If we have the same race gun competitors that we see at the 2 day NRL matches show up to NRL HUNTER then we screwed up.” He stated to “leave your sponsor jerseys at home”. This isn’t the palace for it. This is the place to do hunting right and to show those that may not know what right is the proper gear to hunt with and why. The priorities or NRL HUNTER are simple, Education and Verification. Educate others about the gear and equipment used and verify your own.

What is it?

As the NRL HUNTER website states “Hunting isn’t merely a a hobby or a pastime, it is our way of life.”

nrlhunter.org/about/

NRL Hunter is a series to pay homage to the shooting style that the vast majority of Americans participate in each year, hunting. Equipped with lighter rifles, less power scopes, ranging equipment and real moving targets, hunters are the main reason that much of our equipment even exists. The goal of NRL hunter is to bridge the gap between those shooters and our current competition shooters.

Who should compete?

NRL HUNTER was created to allow hunters to come out and prove their gear. Prove that their rifle, rangefinders, even clothing is able to confidently and ethically kill an animal. This Series isn’t for the gamers or the race gun guys it is for those that first want to prove their gear and for those that want to learn how to properly hunt.

This is the type of discipline in which it is all up to you. It is up to you to find your targets, range your targets, and engage your targets. Many shooters love that, some are not accustomed to that as they normally receive their targets and distances in a match book. The divisions are very inclusive as they allow the hunters that often don’t get to compete against the heavier calibers a chance to really show up to these events.

The Rules/Divisions

There are three divisions, factory, light, and heavy. Between those there is also a ladies classification and young guns classification. Within each division there is a maximum weight limit and minimum power factor. Power factor is the Bullet Weight in (gr) multiplied by Muzzle Velocity in (fps). 

Factory Division has an approved list of factory rifles that are allowed to compete. Note: Factory means factory. No custom barrels or modifications done to the rifle. Factory means it needs to be kept as it would coming directly off the line.

Open Light Division has a weight restriction of 12 lbs maximum with a minimum power factor (PF) of 380,000.

Open Heavy Division has a weight restriction of 16lbs maximum with a minimum PF of 380,000.

What do the matches consist of?

From the NRL Rules

“The match will consist of Blind Stages.

  1. This means no stage briefing, distances, nor stage descriptions are provided.
  2. Competitors will be required to find, range, and engage all targets on the clock as an individual.”

There will be a 4 minute time limit to find the targets, range your targets, build your positions you so choose, and engage each target. Distances will be from 100-1000 yds.

Another cool thing about these stage set ups is that each target will created to be a realistic sized animal as you would see and engage while hunting.

Train Up

The first NRL HUNTER match in Nehawka, Nebraska is giving a 4 hour train up included in the match fee. This will be given by two very experienced precision rifle shooters within the community.

Scoring and Championship

First and foremost, the shooter must be a NRL HUNTER (NRLH) member in order for their scores to be counted toward the championship. The scoring works a bit different in this series than the two day NRL matches. In order to qualify for the championship match you only need to shoot one match with a high enough score that qualifies you. Other series you need three or so during the regular season. There will be 180 spots for the champsionship with each division porprationed for slots based on the amount of competitiors within that division.

When are the matches?

Sites

https://nrlhunter.org/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/nrlhunter

https://www.youtube.com/nationalrifleleague

Monolithic Polymer AR-15’s (KP-15)

By
Keith Finch
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Apparently I am destined to speak on Polymer today more than any other topic.

Polymer80 Kits, took direct legal fire last night and I got further confirmation that my hypothesis (that it is the fact P80 BBS is sold as a ready to complete kit) is the source of the complaint. There are a few ways to ‘solve’ this depending on what the ATF is driving at but that is for a different discussion.

Right now let’s join Ian on Polymer AR-15’s, ones with serial numbers and that are firearms from the factory.

I jumped into the polymer lower game a few years ago when New Frontier Armory released what was a very fair but unsuccessful attempt at making it viable. They broke, mine personally didn’t but several bought on my recommendation did and I very quickly went back to 7075-T6.

Polymer is obviously a viable firearm material. It has worked in handguns for decades and rifles that were designed around it, like the SCAR or G36, work very well too. The problem came in when shoehorning materials in place of other ones without accounting for where a firearm takes stress, like why we cannot use aluminum for gun barrels. Shape isn’t the only thing a material is required to maintain.

So AR-15 Polymer never really caught on because the parts were load bearing, aluminum could withstand it that load, and the cost savings simply wasn’t there between the two materials as a ‘Mil-Spec’ lower.

But, as Ian shows us in the video, Colt knew some of that. Not like we know today, but even back then the goal wasn’t just make the lower polymer, it was to simplify the lower assembly into a much smaller number of parts. Less parts equals less failure points (if the simplified part holds up) and less logistical complexity. It means whatever parts get rolled into the simplified part are no longer a cost factor or a supply liability. Its for those reasons that companies consistently try and ease the cost burdens of manufacturing in ways that do not, or do not within acceptable margin, compromise the product. This works out with varying degrees of success (or lack).

What Would Stoner Do?

There was a bit of kerfuffle on the Social Medias about this being the end of the WWSD project and people adamantly (and accurately) point out that we have an answer for ‘what would Stoner do’ from after the AR-15’s development and sale to Colt.

Eugene Stoner went on to work with Knight’s Armament Company, and the SR-25 and SR-15 resulted. So that’s obviously what Stoner would do because he did, right?

Not so fast friendo (and yes it was a friend who raised the KAC banner) I think we are under representing the point of what the WWSD project looked to do. It was recreating the original AR-15 concept in modern terms and materials, not playing off the heavily evolved M16 and M4 iterations. Yes, Knight’s is what Stoner did. But I believe the KP-15 is strongly in line with what Stoner, Fremont, and Sullivan would do from a blank slate perspective and not a product improvement perspective.

It’s tinged heavily subjectively because we are both allowing and omitting certain tech. Current trends suggest the AR-18 type operating mechanism to be, internally, what is desired and we are not going to divorce ourselves from ancillary equipment like PEQs and lights any time soon. WWSD was a thought exercise, and good one, and this was a concise answer. It is not the only answer but it is a logical one.

So should you avoid buying the KAC SR-15 and get a KP-15 to build out instead?

No.

I encourage getting one of each to cover your bases. However from a cost efficiency perspective, building out a KP (even adding some Knights parts) is going to be a very attractive base. The compromise is basically limiting yourself to a fixed stock and pistol grip, minor items when considering a generically efficient light fighting rifle.

BREAKING: ATF Raids Polymer80

By
Keith Finch
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Ghost-Gun Company Raided by Federal Agents

The headline at The Wall Street Journal posted about two hours ago says much. Probably the most well known manufacturer of DIY 80% parts was raided by the ATF.

Of course, WSJ makes a point to keep using the fearmongering buzzword “Ghost Gun” but theatric semantics aside this was a fight that was probably going to land eventually.

For anyone who has been social distancing since long before 2020, “Poly80’s” are frames that can be finished with some hand work and a jig into complete frame and then install standardized firearm parts within, Glock being the most popular. 80% AR-15’s are also in circulation but since Polymers are easier to work with than aluminum and handguns are more popular than rifles, the P80 kits are the hottest product in the category.

WSJ says,

Federal agents on Thursday raided one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of ghost-gun parts, a sign that federal law enforcement is cracking down on kits that allow people to make weapons at home.

The raid target, Nevada-based Polymer80, is suspected of illegally manufacturing and distributing firearms, failing to pay taxes, shipping guns across state lines and failing to conduct background investigations, according to an application for a search warrant unsealed Thursday after the raid took place.

The probe focuses on Polymer80’s “Buy Build Shoot Kit,” which includes the parts to build a “ghost” handgun. The kit, which Polymer80 sells online, meets the definition of a firearm, ATF investigators determined according to the warrant application. That means it would have to be stamped with a serial number and couldn’t be sold to consumers who haven’t first passed a background check.

So now, after all this time on the market, the P80 BBS kit is a firearm. Despite the fact that it isn’t, by ATF’s own rules it isn’t. It cannot be readily assembled into a firearm upon arrival, the frame has to be finished with tools by the purchaser. Building a personal firearm without serializing it is legal.

Just because someone found a way to engineer this into an easy industry doesn’t make it against the law. But, here is my guess.

Polymer80’s, like SB Braces, are deliberately engineered solutions that take advantage of federal laws and definitions as they stand. It isn’t the fault of the consumer or manufacturer that the law is poorly written, devices are poorly defined, or that arbitrary rules can be engineered within to deliver the product someone wants.

What I find most interesting is the target of the probe. Always consider the target, just like the Honey Badger case.

The Polymer80 Buy Build Shoot Kit is not the only variation on the theme the Poly80 makes. But it is the most complete, even coming with the bits needed to complete the tool work on the P80 frame to assemble. I believe it is this completeness, that everything is provided in single kit, that is being measured against the “80%” definition by the ATF to say that these are firearms.

Will that hold up in court? We will see. Engineers using rules in ways the rule makers didn’t anticipate, so the rule enforcers who didn’t make the rules have to bend them and come up with creative coverages, so that the engineers who followed the rules have to change their gizmo to fit the new meaning of the old rule…

Tedious.

But not unexpected, this was a fight that was coming to a courtroom sooner or later. Whether it was because federally something shifted and a law got passed or the more likely scenario we are currently seeing. The ATF saying an unfinished frame without a serial number is a firearm when before it was not and they are demanding serial numbers and back taxes.

We will keep you updated as we know more. Most noteworthy, no charges have been filed yet, making this almost certain a battle of definitions.

The TDI Sharkbite – By KA-BAR

By
Travis Pike
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Last month I discussed the G-10 made Lumber Pencil, this month, we are talking about the KA-BAR TDI Sharkbite. The TDI series was specifically designed for law enforcement as a last-ditch self-defense weapon when someone is struggling for their gun. It’s an oddly angled blade that is certainly eye-catching. The Sharkbite is an all-polymer version of the TDI and is designed to be a discreet weapon. The Sharkbite is made entirely from a polymer called Ultramid. 

According to the interwebs, Ultramid is a high-strength polymer that is impact resistant very strong. The material can take a beating and not break, bend, or be ineffective. Ultramid isn’t a material most of us are not familiar with in the tactical world, but it seems to be a perfect material for a polymer stabbing implement. 

The Sharkbite Blade

The all-polymer blade of the Sharkbite looks like a shark’s tooth, and obviously, that is where the name comes from. The blade is technically a spear point. The tip is quite pointy, and the blade feels abrasive and somewhat sharp. The sharp tip point is the weapon’s key to success. Trying to slash with this tool would create some discomfort for sure, but it won’t be a debilitating technique for self-defense. This thing is all about stabbin’.

The blade’s 2.6-inch length isn’t much, but it will penetrate and stick pretty well. I piled up several layers of cardboard, posted them against a pole, and went after it. I struck and punched the cardboard repeatedly with the Sharkbite. The Sharkbite penetrated deeply and surprisingly easily. Like Doom guy, it rips and tears until it is done. 

I’m legitimately surprised. The Sharbite’s polymer blade has some bite to it. More than I expected. The next test was some meat—a good chunk of chicken that would soon become fajitas warranted my wrath. I awkwardly stabbed at the chicken as it sat at a slight angle on a cutting board. It dipped right through like that pound of chicken breast was nothing. I did it so hard it hit the board and dulled the tip. 

Sharpening a plastic blade isn’t a thing, so I used a metal blade to whittle up my own point to it. That’s why the tip looks a little crazy now. The little polymer blade is cheap and can be easily disposed of after use, and this is a tool you use for purely self-defense purposes. Buy two, one for carrying and one for training. 

The Ergonomics

The weird angle to the blade makes a normal TDI a quasi punch dagger, but it retains the ability to slash and cut. The Sharkbite is 100% a punch dagger. The weird angled design appears to be slightly more 90 degrees ish than a standard TDI. This makes it easier to use as a push dagger than a slashing tool. 

The handle is short and sweet and designed to be small and easily concealable. The handle allows for the thumb to sit on top of the handle and to increase your total retention. The Sharkbite stays put when driven and punched with. There is no movement, and the knife isn’t going anywhere. 

The only downside is when a portion of the knife gets driven back into your finger from impact. It’s just the name of the game when it comes to a knife like this. 

Sheath and Carry

The little blade weighs 2.4 ounces, and that’s it. That’s nothing. It is hardly hard to carry. The sheath allows for a multitude of carry options. It can be worn on a belt, around the neck, in the pocket, put through MOLLE, or laced in your boot. The sheath is billy, but I found that it works well for pocket carry. 

The bulkiness keeps the sheath in your pocket and makes it easy to draw the weapon from. The retention is based around two posts in the center of the blade. Press it down, and you can free the blade from the sheath and draw it. The tip is completely covered, but most of the knife’s blade is not. The Sharkbite can be mounted with the handle left or right in the knife for an easy draw regardless of how you wear it. 

The Law and the Sharkbite

The Sharkbite is invisible to metal detectors, but it’s still a weapon. It’s not a good idea to violate the law with the Sharkbite. Do you know how an 80 percent lower is technically not a gun? Well, the Sharkbite isn’t a loophole like that. It’s a weapon. The Sharkbite is better suited for defeating metal detectors in areas that have no force of law but enforces draconian disarmament policies. Carry this on a plane, and you are getting on a watch list. Carry this into a convention where metal detectors are based on a private policy with no law to back them up, and you’re good to go. 

That is where the Sharkbite shines. It’s a weapon and will likely fall under your state’s knife laws. Most knife laws are laxer than gun laws, so carrying this in various places where a gun is a no go is it’s the best strength. The Sharkbite certainly has some bite for a polymer weapon and delivers a good bit of pain for a plastic knife. 

Beretta’s ‘Countdown to Christmas Sale!’ is actually rather solid.

By
Keith Finch
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92X Centurion and a Dark Star Gear to carry it. Superb.

Oh no, a sales post!

Yes, a sales post. One I clicked on because after grabbing a threaded barrel and a spare magazine the whole cart drops by 25%… in 2020. 25% off in 2020 on gun stuff. That’s insane! And appreciated! I wanted a threaded barrel. Mayhaps you find a couple things you “need” too. *cough* magazines *cough cough*

Hint: Don’t skip the apparel section either.

Shop BerettaUSA.com During Their Countdown to Christmas! Spend $200 and Get 25% Off Sitewide with Code: GIVE25 from 12/9 to 12/15 at Midnight EST! 12/15 is the Last Day to Order for Ground Shipping
Click! Order! Ea.. ur Save!

But, without a doubt, you can fill out your APX’s ancillaries. Kit out a little extra on your Sako. Grab a .22 Conversion for your 92. Or be ready to add a compensator or suppressor to your existing gun with savings on a threaded barrel and a couple extra magazines.

Spending $200 is easier than we give it credit for… I checked my last Brownell’s and BigTex carts, tis easy.

I ordered, I’m not sure if I’ll do comp or can yet, but I’ll do something. The 92X is far too pleasant to shoot just stop modding at just the trigger. For those that are asking and will continue to ask about the holster, Dark Star. Trigger mod is the Extreme-S (which on its own will be eligible for the sale).

Shotgun stuff too?

Of course shotgun stuff too. I just haven’t gotten around to grabbing my 1301 yet, Travis is the shoulder claymore guy. But the standard array of Beretta brand goodies are available.

Tis the Season For Classic Movies

By
Keith Finch
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Of course we are talking about Die Hard. It’s the Hollywood Action Christmas Movie Classic that defines the archetype.

I honestly am down on a YouTube rabbit hole of various topics and this one is just fun. I’m also starting to read this great Scot’s spy action novel series and so far that’s a lot of fun too. So today, Wednesday the 9th of December 2020, is just for fun. The Critical Drinker (Will Jordan) is an amusing diversion for us all midweek, while still being on topic because Die Hard is a wonderful seasonally appropriate movie.

Plus everyone wants an MP5 and and an AUG after watching this. It’s okay, those are really cool guns and owning them is fun. I’ve owned a variant of both, and wish I still did, probably will again when I get around to it just because they have iconic status that has been propelled in no small part by this film.

So with that, kick back and relax and enjoy 12 minutes of Scottish prose on the merits of Die Hard and then be ready to que it up and enjoy it all over again in the next few days as you inevitably give in to the temptation to stream this wonderful Christmas classic.

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