Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube
Advertisement

Derp: “The Virginia Beach handgun shares a deadly feature with assault rifles”

By
Keith Finch
-

The Boston Globe ran the following letter from the Falmouth Gun Safety Coalition in response to the Virginia beach shooting. The “Derp” is strong… we will see if the analysis stands up. If you can guess the answer by the article title, you win one internet.

The recent shooting in Virginia Beach, Va., shows that the most severe gun-related problem facing our society is the proliferation of guns containing a semiautomatic mechanism.

Huh? That is a quite the new take on a firearm action style that is more than a century old. “Containing a semi-automatic mechanism” sounds like it’s some form of evil RAM chip you add to a computer to access the dark web. Not.. you know.. a series of springs so that when the action opens it will close again on a new round of ammunition. Also don’t tell the FGSC double action revolvers and rifles exist, throws this whole vibe they have going completely off.

The gun used in this incident was a .45-caliber handgun, not an “assault rifle.”

Thank you for recognizing that… I suppose. Also why is assault rifle in quotation?

The connection between the handgun used and an assault rifle is the incorporation of a semiautomatic mechanism in both.

Aaand there it is. There’s the Derp.

Let’s parlance assault rifle properly first. Once again, for the folks in the back: an assault rifle is a select fire capable (automatic or fires in bursts AND semi-automatic) intermediate caliber rifle most often fed from a detachable box magazine. If it doesn’t have the colloquially called “giggle switch” it is not an assault rifle.

Now every semi-auto is an “assault weapon.” Not assault rifle, which has a definitive set of features, but an assault weapon. An assault weapon can have any of a number of century old features as long as the sound and/or look scary enough to be put on a list.

Now nobody should remind FGSC of the Washington Navy Yard, having a pump shotgun used in an attack with a number killed of 12. Also a government employee attacking their place of work… Such a detail throws this whole angle into chaos.

This mechanism automatically ejects spent cartridges and loads new ones.

And has existed for mass public consumption for over a century. Semi-automatics are not new.

Both styles of weapons accept high-capacity magazines and can handle large-caliber ammunition.

These are nonsense words. Gun controller definition of “high capacity” seems to be a dwindling number. 30, 20, 15, 10, 7… Any capacity when used against you isn’t going to be a good situation. Assigning an arbitrary number isn’t going to help your unarmed gun banned work spaces shoot back, you’re waiting for armed help… exactly like you wanted to.

While we focus on AR-15 style weapons, literally tens of millions of semiautomatic handguns are sold to the general public.

Yep. The single most popular firearm category for years has been handgun, and the reason has been protection. Okay, Derp on.

These are the weapons that function exactly the same as the Virginia Beach gun.

Ruger LCP II .380 ACP. WITH THE SAME MECHANISMS AS ASSAULT RIFLES! – FGSC.. probably. Image via Ruger.

And every department issued or approved service handgun… and the vast majority of handguns used in self defense as the revolver declines in popularity… and the handguns of the the U.S. Military since 1912…

Our organization, the Falmouth Gun Safety Coalition, is working to achieve legislation that will ban the semiautomatic mechanism in any gun sold or owned in Massachusetts.

Sooo most guns. But don’t worry, we promise it isn’t an infringement. It isn’t, we said so. -FGSC, again probably.

These are weapons that were designed for military and law enforcement purposes only and not for the general public.

Not at all accurate. Most AR-15’s were designed from the ground up as civilian products and many are even of higher quality and newer tech than their military counterparts.

Revolvers, lever-action, pump-action, and bolt-action guns cover the full spectrum of civilian needs, whether they are hunting, personal protection, or home protection.

You know nothing, Jon Snow. Who are you to arbitrate a need? I missed the line about “unless civilians don’t need it according to you” in the 2nd Amendment. I will check again but it’s only 27 words. And as for protection, when was the last time you have been remotely close to a fight?

The semiautomatic mechanism for guns has no place in civilian hands.

It has every place in civilian hands, your imbecilic level of ignorance to speak on this topic seems very Dunning-Kruger. I should take your expertise on firearms as seriously as you should take mine on neurosurgery.

The Truth Is Being Suppressed

By
DRGO
-
(from tacticalshit.com)

The murderous attack May 31in the Virginia Beach city government building has predictably elicited outrage and opportunism by masses of sensitive, easily triggered [all puns intended] anti-gun activists and legislators. A large fraction of them are of course Democrats running for their party’s Presidential nomination.

It’s seldom that something unifies so many Americans, though it’s too frequent that the unifying motive is so irrational. Business as usual in the nation’s politics.

John Lott covered the essentials in “What Gun Control Advocates Fail to Grasp After Mass Shootings”. “Gun-free” zones are dangerous places to be in once targeted by murders, like the city employee who readily (and illegally) entered the locked building with his handguns. Other Virginia municipalities that do not forbid employee carry have had no such problem.

The night before, one “Virginia Beach shooting victim considered taking her gun to work” because she knew that employee was dangerous. But she feared dismissal if discovered, and did not. Virginia Beach was complicit in her murder because of that policy, and in all 12 deaths because while forbidding effective self-defense it did not provide any other defense.

So it’s another field day for hoplophobic hysterics. Because the shooter had no Federal or state prohibiting factors, he obtained his handguns legally.

Because of the absence of other blame, the target of opportunity became his use of at least one “silencer”, the deadly, scary accessory that permits assassins to murder people with no audible report whatsoever, and enabled him to sneak around executing his intended victims at will—NOT. (And which he may also have obtained legally.)

DRGO has repeatedly called for unrestricted access to firearm suppressors (the proper term) for the sake of millions of Americans’ hearing preservation. Dr. Wheeler wrote about them as “A Powerful Tool of Public Health” in 2015. Dr. Vaughan in 2016 pointed out the “True Public Health Issue” their expense and licensure creates. Because of our mounting concern, in 2017 we released the definitive paper on “Suppressors and Hearing” explaining the medical basis of the hearing damage that every single gunshot does to every shooter and bystander who are without protection. That paper is available here, with its “Executive Summary” here.

The best protection for everyone is a suppressor attached (or built in) to every suitable firearm (carry handguns excepted). This diminishes the impact of the blast on every ear within range without interfering with audible communication the way ear muffs and plugs do, which help only the shooter.

Noise Induced Hearing Loss is permanent and irreversible, is already present in 38 million Americans (from music and shooting), with over 100 million Americans are at risk just from using firearms. Stopping the damage at the muzzle is the most sensible intervention, as suppressors are much more effective than any ear-positioned device. Suppressors decreased experienced noise levels from instantly damaging to tolerable—but NOT quiet. Suppressed gunshots still measure from 110 to 140 decibels, a range that includes the aural assault of jackhammers. No one can ignore reports at that level, but less than 140 decibel prevents instant, permanent hearing loss.

Suppressors somehow got added in to the 1934 National Firearms Act, whose primary purpose was to reduce the availability of automatic weapons (i.e., “Tommy Guns”) to criminal gangs. There is no record of hearings or the thinking behind including suppressors, a decision that has injured Americans ever since. While over 900,000 are in use now across the nation, effective suppressors can also be made or repurposed from ordinary supplies. There have been virtually no crimes committed here with suppressors in 85 years, nor in countries like New Zealand and most of Europe where they are freely available.

Please read and publicize the truth about suppressors. The truth is that (firearms) being suppressed is an excellent thing—pro-health as well as pro-civil rights.

.

.

Robert B Young, MD

— DRGO Editor Robert B. Young, MD is a psychiatrist practicing in Pittsford, NY, an associate clinical professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

All DRGO articles by Robert B. Young, MD

BOUGHT AN M1A, NOW WHAT?

By
The Armory Life
-

I had the chance to sit down with Steve Horsman from Springfield Armory to discuss the necessary steps when you first purchase an M1A. Here’s a look at his insights about what you should do when you first get your new M1A.

I own more than a few M1A rifles, and I get a bunch of questions about taking care of my guns and best practices for new owners. You know, I’m not really doing anything significant. The two guns I shoot for competition are Super Match rifles.

Cleaning

The first step I do is clean the rifle. There’s a misconception going around that guns that come from the factory aren’t clean. They really are clean, but they’ve been test fired. I want a fresh start before heading out to the range.

One of the things Springfield does is test fire them up to 10 times per gun. That varies depending on which gun it is. The Super Match rifles are zeroed at 100 yards, so you know you’re getting a gun that is close to dialed. 

For cleaning, I’m a big fan of Bore Snakes. I’ll put a little CLP on a Bore Snake and run it through a couple times. I make sure the breach on the bolt face is cleaned. That goes for every time I bring the gun in from practice. I get to know the gun. The M1A isn’t like the new AR-15 rifles, and not many people have a ton of time behind them.

Sighting In and Optics

Some folks don’t pay attention to how they adjust the sights on an M1A. They’re much like the Garand rifles. There are two dials on the back to adjust the sight. The owner’s manual is a great place to start when familiarizing yourself with your M1A. After I understand what I’m in for, I take it to the range for sighting in. Yes, it is zeroed from the factory, but I want to verify. Plus, not everyone likes their guns sighted in at that distance. My suggestion would be to dial the sights in for the distance that you will most often shoot. For me, I zero the guns at 300 yards since that is the distance that many M1A matches hit.

That is pretty much it. There’s not much to get to know and adjust your M1A. Take the M1A CQB, for example. When I first purchased the gun I already knew I wouldn’t put an optical sight on it. I read through the manual, even though I’ve had plenty of time around the gun, but a little re-familiarization with a platform is good to do every so often.

One thing I have noticed about the variants of the M1A platform is people’s desire to scope the M1A. If you’re going to scope the M1A, you might as well go with a full-size gun. Springfield offers scope mounts that allow shooters to scope their M1A. But, again there folks that rush into putting on the optic. We all know how that ends. They don’t put it on right and can throw off the windage by several feet at a hundred yards.

Read on at The Armory Life

Sig’s Traditional Match Elite, Ready to Run Out of the Box

By
Scott Smith
-
Sig Sauer Traditional Match Elite in Black Multicam "Battleworn" by BDL Custom Finishes

If you are a 1911 traditionalist, then you will like Sig Sauer’s Traditional Match Elite 1911 in the worst weather conditions. To ensure the pistol gives you a good purchase the front strap has crisp factory checkering, dark checkered custom wood grips and checkered mainspring housing. For ease of operation the TEM ships with extended ambidextrous controls. The safety and slide stop are sized to be easy to operate without being so large they snag clothing. These standard features that you would expect on a custom 1911, not a factory pistol.

Even with a Cerakote finish the checkering is still sharp, but not cutting sharp.

To ensure you can operate the slide with wet or cold hands, there are front and rear cocking serrations. All of the sharp edges have been beveled so you don’t tear up your holsters or hands during clearing drills. Sig installs a rugged adjustable rear sight with two dots to match the single dot on the front post.

You can see the “P Series” style extractor, factory ambidextrous safety and perfectly fitted grip safety. I blacked out the tritium vials in the rear sight.

Unlike most 1911s, the TME completes the slide assembly with a short plug and flat wire recoil spring not a full length guide rod. Some will argue this being a poor system, because the spring kinks. In twenty plus years I have never seen a 1911 recoil spring kink or fail to operate properly, with the flat spring that should be virtually impossible.  The short plug allows you to clear jams that you could not otherwise quickly clear. On more than one occasion because of old case failures, I have cleared a 1911 using a door or window frame. The short plug allows you to use the slide to gain this leverage and get the slide open; with a full length guide rod you cannot do this.

This image gives you a good view of the short plug and front cocking serrations.

The TME ensures reliable case extraction by using a spring loaded external extractor. This has been a point of contention with purist for years. In non-45, 1911s; proper extractor tension is vital and this set-up ensures the extractor has consistent tension every time. In the short time I have been running this 1911 it has had several thousand rounds shot through it on a square range and in U.S.P.S.A. competition There have been zero failures to extract or feed properly. If this system works on Sig’s other duty weapons, there is no reason to poo poo it on their 1911s.

For testing, we used several offerings from Hornady, Remington and Sig’s Elite Performance line. The ammunition we used had bullet weights from 115 grains to 147 grains, it was full metal jacket, hollow points and frangible. From its first trip to the range the TME showed no preference for bullet weight or ojive design. Accuracy right of the box was point of aim, point of impact at 25 yards; with all bullet weights. Sig has taken its years of experience from building duty pistols and somehow put it in this 1911 and built a pistol that simply performs well. This pistol consistently fired sub-3” groups all day long. The best group was fired with Sig’s Elite Performance 124 grain hollow point and Remington’s 100gr Disintegrator frangible cartridge with groups averaging 2.25”, Hornady’s 125 grain HAP load was close at 2.5”.

The TME with all the test ammunition.

To ensure the TEM fed ammunition reliably, Wilson Combat and Tripp Research 9mm-RG magazines were used. Both of these magazines hold ten rounds and have been proven to be 100% reliable. Tripp offers a weighted base pad to ensure their magazine falls free every time.

These pistols are practically perfect out of the box and with three changes. First for my over fifty eyes, I installed 0.100” fiber optic sights from Dawson Precision, the factory sight is a tritium dot that is great for CCW not so good for competition. It has been my experience this size sight gives me a fast accurate sight picture and is much easier to see than a wide white dot sight.

Dawson Precision’s fiber optic sights are some of the best on the market, they give a bright clean front sight.

Next the factory grips were replaced with Hogue’s Extreme G10 Grips with Piranha texturing. The TME had the black Magrip kit with arched mainspring housing installed. This grip gives you a flush fitting magwell, so there is not a need to have one fitted. This is the slickest set of grips I have used on a 1911.

The funnel of the Magkit gives you a perfect size magazine well for carry or competition.
As you can see the Piranha texture is fairly aggressive. The mainspring housing can be had as an arched or flat.

Recently I made the last change, have BDL Custom Finishes apply a Black Multicam “Battleworn” Cerakote finish to it. A lot of folks like stainless steel because it can handle bad weather conditions, but I find it to be boring. I thought the Black Multicam was ideal. It is stealthy, looks cool and Cerakote will enhance the weather resistance.

BDL Custom Finishes “Battleworn” Cerakote makes your firearm look likes its been around the block. It is sealed so bare metal is not exposed.

If you are looking for an out of the box match ready 1911 the Traditional Match Elite should be at the top of your list. With a MSRP of $1164.00 available in 38 Super, 9mm or 40S&W you won’t go wrong. You will find Sig’s Traditional Match elite will get you out to the range to shoot. It will help you shoot fast, shoot accurately and it ensure you have fun.

I use a Galco Gunsite Holster for USPSA and range work. You can see it has been well used.
Putting the Sig TME through it’s paces. Rudy Project Traylx and Safariland Liberator HP are my go to eye/ear protection.

Questions About Suppressors?

By
Keith Finch
-

After a recent article a few emails came in seeking further information about the suppressor/silencer situation. Well via an email the MCRGO (Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners) pushed out on the same topic the NSSF has this helpful infographic that addresses many of the questions about suppressors.

Here are a few of those questions that stood out though. The main questions on suppressors.

1. Is it ‘Suppressor’ or ‘Silencer’

Yes.

Quite simply either term is both technically and legally correct. “Silencer” is the patented term by Maxim. Gun muffler would also be technically correct as the design theory is nearly identical to a car muffler.

2. How quiet do they get really?

The best “ratings” (reduction under ideal environmental and preparatory conditions) are usually 30-35 decibels dependant on the suppressor. Usually putting the quietest guns at 130+. That decibel rating is just under the momentary or impulse safe levels to prevent hearing damage, usually listed at 140db.

3. What purpose do they serve in society?

PPE.

A suppressor is personal protective equipment. They are hearing protection. That is their primary and nearly sole practical function. They are fun, its cool tech. But it is ultimately a better form of protecting hearing than just plugs or earmuffs and the suppressor helps anyone near the firearm regardless of if they personally have hearing protection or are wearing it properly.

I shot a suppressed rifle for hundreds of rounds over this past weekend. It is still “loud” in the overall meaning of the term. You could hear it being fired anywhere on the range, even with non-electronic hearing protection.

The CZ PDW Brace – Slick and Sleek

By
Travis Pike
-

The CZ Scorpion is one of my favorite sub guns. I own three of them at this point and my standard model is my oldest. To put things into perspective the first brace to ever grace it was the classic SIG brace, also known as the SB 15. The CZ PDW Brace from SB Tactical is a welcome upgrade to that classic brace. The CZ PDW Brace is brand new and was developed hand in hand with Manticore arms. The Brace comes stock on the Micro Scorpion and has recently been released as a separate option to retrofit your Scorpion.

Inside the SB Tactical CZ PDW Brace

What’s cool is the SB Tactical variant has two adjustment slots to change the length of the brace. The Micro Scorpion model only has one. The brace is also a high-quality piece. The only nonmetal portion is the rubberized brace portion on the end of the CZ PDW. The CZ PDW is made from 6061 hard coated anodized aluminum. It looks amazing and comes in FDE and Black.

Using the CZ PDW Brace

Installing it takes no time at all. Just slide it on and it’s secure. The brace collapses to a small package and adds 3.25 inches to the rear of the gun. In the mid position, the brace’s length is 7 inches and when fully extended it’s 9.25 inches. Deployment is very quick, just grip and rip it. It will extend to the mid position. To extend it to the final position depress the top button and pull it.

The top button is ambidextrous and also collapses the brace. It’s simple and effective. The Brace comes with a velcro strap and securing it over your arm should be done with the weapon unloaded. Its a one sized fits all design and it latches over my massive forearm easily enough. It certainly aids in supporting the big CZ Scorpion pistol. It balances it very well and allows you to more easily use something like a red dot optic.

Now, the ATF has said you can shoulder braces. If you choose to take that route you will have a very small brace to press against your shoulder, or to use as a cheek rest. But it’s not going to provide you with much of a cheek rest. The steel bars aren’t exactly supportive. The good news is that the big and heavy Scorpion only shoots a 9mm round. The recoil is minimal and the metal bars aren’t digging into your cheek.

Bang Bang Time

The CZ PDW brace on a CZ Scorpion is a great way to improve the handling of your weapon on the range. It’s much easier to reach out and touch a target with the brace installed. Out to 50 yards, you’ll have no problems with small target engagement. Move back to 75 to 100 yards and you’ll still tear up the torsos of a man-sized target.

The additional braced support allows you to stabilize the weapon, which means you’ll see less movement when aiming, increase your overall control over the weapon, and you’ll be able to resist recoil and muzzle rise easier.

This all results in a more effective weapon. The CZ PDW brace does have some wiggle to it, as do most PDW stocks. This means you won’t have the best lock up, but on a 9mm sub gun, this isn’t a critical issue. At the range that this gun is effective a little bit of movement isn’t going to be a serious detriment to your accuracy.

The Complete Package

The CZ PDW brace aligns you in a manner that allows you to very easily utilize the sights on the CZ Scorpion. The low bars replicate the lower position and sloping design of the original CZ stock. This was a smart move and guarantees everything is aligned and accessible. Beyond the sights, this placement is comfortable and allows you to see the ejection port and controls without having to contort your head into a difficult position.

When I ran this gun with the AR buffer tube adapter and the SB15 brace I found it to be somewhat high, and it didn’t allow proper coordination with the weapon’s sights. The CZ PDW brace has no such issue.

The CZ PDW brace is not the only CZ brace out there, but to me, it certainly looks the slickest. The SBT Evo is more traditional and does have a more supportive design. The CZ PDW brace is the quickest to deploy and swings into action in a flash. Pull it rearward and you are ready to go. It makes concealment and deployment from a small bag easy and quick.

Finally, it also just looks cool. I know looks shouldn’t matter, but let’s face it the CZ PDW brace looks sexy on the gun. That PDW look is a natural one for sub guns and gives a reduced overall bulk compared to other braced options.  The Braces from SB Tactical are famed for a reason, they work, they look great and they are functional. I have SB Tactical braces on my MPX, my KPOS Glock kit, my Mossberg Shockwave, my 80 percent lower AR pistol, and now two of my Scorpions.

U.S. Marine Corps Adoption of M18 Underscores Success of SIG SAUER Modular Handgun System Program

By
Keith Finch
-

NEWINGTON, N.H., (June 17, 2019) –SIG SAUER, Inc. is honored to announce that the United States Marine Corps (USMC) is set to adopt the M18, the compact variant of the U.S. Army’s Modular Handgun System (MHS), as their official duty pistol.

“The Marine Corps announcement to put the M18 in service with the Marines is a very exciting development for SIG SAUER, and a true testament to the success of the MHS program,” began Ron Cohen, President & CEO, SIG SAUER, Inc. “The Marine’s procurement of the M18 brings the adoption of our Modular Handgun System full circle, as this means, beginning in 2020, either the M17 or the M18 will be officially in service with every branch of the U.S. Military.”
 
The M18 is a 9mm, striker-fired pistol featuring a coyote-tan PVD coated stainless steel slide with black controls.  The pistol is equipped with SIGLITE front night sights and removable night sight rear plate, and manual safety. 

Recently, the M18 successfully completed a MHS Material Reliability Test that consisted of firing three M18 pistols to 12,000 rounds each for a total of 36,000 rounds in accordance with the MHS requirements.  Comparatively, the U.S. Army’s legacy pistol was only tested to 5,000 rounds making the test duration for the M18 pistol 2.4 times greater than that of the legacy pistol.  In this testing, the M18 experienced zero stoppages despite being allowed up to twelve stoppages.  Additionally, the M18 passed a parts interchange test, and met stringent accuracy and dispersion requirements.

“The success of the MHS program is the direct result of the indisputable performance and superior quality of the M17 and M18 pistols, and the commitment and dedication of the men and women of SIG SAUER to those that serve in the defense of freedom,” continued Cohen. “We are very proud, and humbled, to have earned the trust of every branch of the U.S. Military through their acceptance of the MHS program and adoption of the M17 and M18 pistols.”

Currently, the M17 and M18 are in service with the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.  The USMC will begin their acquisition of the M18 pistol in 2020. 

About SIG SAUER, Inc.
SIG SAUER, Inc. is a leading provider and manufacturer of firearms, electro-optics, ammunition, airguns, suppressors, and training. For over 100 years SIG SAUER, Inc. has evolved, and thrived, by blending American ingenuity, German engineering, and Swiss precision. Today, SIG SAUER is synonymous with industry-leading quality and innovation which has made it the brand of choice amongst the U.S. Military, the global defense community, law enforcement, competitive shooters, hunters, and responsible citizens. Additionally, SIG SAUER is the premier provider of elite firearms instruction and tactical training at the SIG SAUER Academy – a world class, state-of-the-art, 140-acre training facility. SIG SAUER is headquartered in Newington, New Hampshire, and has more than 1,700 employees across eight locations, and is the largest member of a worldwide business group that includes SIG SAUER GmbH & Co. KG in Germany. For more information about the company and product line visit: sigsauer.com.

Giving Firearms or Gear a New Look

By
Scott Smith
-

If you are like me with many firearms to choose from, we find it hard to justify a new purchase. The option is to upgrade what we have. While it is easy to head out to your local big box store for a can of spray paint which wears poorly, I suggest having a professional do a finish that will last. One of the leaders in the industry is BlownDeadLine Custom finishes in Clinton Township, Michigan.

This Star Wars themed helmet is one of the items that put BDL Finishes on the map as a major player in the industry.

The shop keeps a low profile, which with all the firearms and parts that come in and out of the shop is a good idea. When I ventured up to BDL, what I found was a large garage type building with paint booths, drying ovens, file cabinets full of stencils, loads of finish and dozens of parts in various stages of preparation and/or finished. There were vaults with numerous one of a kind finished firearm, helmets with a wide array of camo patterns and auto parts. It seems Michael Sigouin the proprietor of BDL has a passion for fast sports cars.

To get crisp lines, BDL uses stencils they cut in house.

Michael and his family bring their passion for art, firearms, and sports cars to finishing firearms and various shooting/outdoor kit. The company is so well thought of they are one of the few Cerakote authorized shops that is licensed to Crye Multicam’s various patterns and to use the pattern to create unique camouflage patterns for the consumer or OEM vendors.

This was a batch of rails being finished for one of the many manufacturers that BDL does custom work for.

According to Michael traditional Multicam and Black Multicam are the most popular finishes. The various flag themed patterns and crazy multicolor finishes are also very popular. They also do many single color or combination solid finishes such as a black slide and grey frame on a pistol. No matter the finish the work is art for your firearms, knives, or whatever you need done.

Turnaround times vary as to the quantity of in-process work that is in the shop and what you are requesting. If you want your items to be done in Multicam and BDL is doing that version of Multicam, odds are your parts will be in that batch. Your in shop time will be decreased if you have your firearm in its component parts, so they do not need to have their gunsmith come in and take it completely apart. BDL will not simply finish over pins and sights; they want complete thorough coverage. Cleaning solution and oil left in the small holes will prevent the Cerakote from properly adhering to and curing on the metal or polymer.

I am not a fan of black or stainless firearms so I had BDL do three stainless pistols; a Sig X5 Competition, a Sig 1911 and a full house custom Springfield Armory done by Ted Yost. No doubt there are folks who will be groaning that this ruins perfectly good stainless steel firearms. I tend to disagree, it makes them easier to care for, more corrosion resistant and it makes them “mine”.

Stainless steel is virtually impervious to weather but it is boring, BDL gave this Yost Custom 1911 and Sig Sauer X5 character.
I also had BDL give this Sig Sauer 1911 a facelift.

I had BDL do three different looks. The X5 was done in traditional Multicam, the 1911 in battleworn Black Multicam and the Yost 1911 in a red/blue camouflage. These three patterns all look good and are not over the top crazy.

BDL did the Yost 1911 in a blue and red pattern finish, it looks good and wears well.
The Sig 1911 is done in Black Multicam, “battleworn”, the finished product looks like it has lived rough but is sealed against more wear.
This Sig Sauer X5 has seen many three gun matches and is showing very little wear.

How well do the finishes from BDL wear; amazingly well. The X5 and Yost 1911s have been heavily used for the last two years shooting USPSA and three gun. I shoot them out of a Safarliand GLS which is a polymer holster. Some folks say polymer or kydex holsters cause finishes to wear more quickly than leather; I have yet to see the difference. That said, after dozens of matches and hundreds of presentations, I have seen virtually no wear of the finish.

When shooting USPSA I use a leather Galco Gunsite holster which keeps the Cerakote looking new save for a little muzzle wear.
The Multicam on the X5 shows more wear from being tossed into dump barrels shooting three gun.

BDL Custom Finishes does amazing work. If you want to see more of their work check them out on facebook https://www.facebook.com/bdlCerakote/ This past year BDL added laser engraving to their line-up and it is just as amazing as their Cerakote work. You will not go wrong having BDL do a custom finish on your favorite firearm(s) or most anything you want to give a new look.

Here Are 8 Stubborn Facts on Gun Violence in America

By
DRGO
-
(from dailysignal.com)

[Ed: This is a piece from March 14, 2018 in The Daily Signal by John G. Malcolm, vice president of the Institute for Constitutional Government and director of the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation. It remains highly relevant and is republished for educational purposes per The Daily Signal‘s copyright policy.]

In the wake of the tragic murder of 17 innocent students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, students, educators, politicians, and activists are searching for solutions to prevent future school shootings.

As emotions morph from grief to anger to resolve, it is vitally important to supply facts so that policymakers and professionals can fashion solutions based on objective data rather than well-intended but misguided emotional fixes.

Are there ways to reduce gun violence and school shootings? Yes, but only after objectively assessing the facts and working collaboratively to fashion commonsense solutions.

Here are eight stubborn facts to keep in mind about gun violence in America:

  1. Violent crime is down and has been on the decline for decades.
  2. The principal public safety concerns with respect to guns are suicides and illegally owned handguns, not mass shootings.
  3. A small number of factors significantly increase the likelihood that a person will be a victim of a gun-related homicide.
  4. Gun-related murders are carried out by a predictable pool of people.
  5. Higher rates of gun ownership are not associated with higher rates of violent crime.
  6. There is no clear relationship between strict gun control legislation and homicide or violent crime rates.
  7. Legally owned firearms are used for lawful purposes much more often than they are used to commit crimes or suicide.
  8. Concealed carry permit holders are not the problem, but they may be part of the solution.

Each of these facts is firmly based on empirical data. Here’s a deeper look.

1. America is relatively safe, and the trend is toward becoming safer.

  • According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, violent crime has been declining steadily since the early 1990s.
  • The 2011 homicide rate was almost half of the rate in 1991, and according to the Pew Research Center, the 2013 gun-related death rate was half of the rate in 1993.
  • The number of nonfatal firearm crimes committed in 2011 was one-sixth the number committed in 1993.
  • In the past few years, there have been minor increases in certain types of violent crimes, mainly in large metropolitan areas. However, these increases are nowhere near those seen in the 1990s and are largely related to gang activity.
  • It should be remembered that it takes at least three to five years of data to show true trend lines. It appears that the collective homicide toll for America’s 50 largest cities decreased modestly in 2017 after two consecutive years of increases.

2. The principal public safety concerns are suicides and illegally owned handguns.

  • According to the Pew Research Center, almost two-thirds of America’s annual gun deaths are suicides. Since 1981, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began publishing data, gun suicides have outnumbered gun homicides. In 2010 alone, 19,392 Americans used guns to kill themselves.
  • Most gun-related crimes are carried out with illegally owned firearms—as much as 80 percent according to some estimates.
  • The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports prove that the overwhelming majority of gun-related homicides are perpetrated with handguns, with rifles of any kind accounting for less than 3 percent of gun-related homicides. In 2013, 5,782 murders were committed by killers who used a handgun, compared to 285 committed by killers who used a rifle. The same holds true for 2012 (6,404 to 298); 2011 (6,251 to 332); 2010 (6,115 to 367); and 2009 (6,501 to 351).
  • More people are stabbed to death every year than are murdered with rifles.
  • A person is more likely to be bludgeoned to death with a blunt object or beaten to death with hands and feet than to be murdered with a rifle.

3. A small number of factors significantly increase the likelihood that a person will be a victim of a gun-related homicide.

  • Where do you live? Murders in the United States are very concentrated. According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, over 50 percent of murders occur in 2 percent of the nation’s 3,142 counties. Moreover, gun-related homicides are heavily concentrated in certain neighborhoods within those counties: 54 percent of U.S. counties had zero murders in 2014.
  • Who is your partner? According to a recent scholarly article in the Hastings Law Journal, people recently or currently involved in an abusive intimate relationship are much more likely to be victims of gun-related homicide than is the rest of the population, especially if the abuser possesses firearms.
  • Are you in a gang? According to the Department of Justice’s National Gang Center, particularly in urban areas, significant percentages of gun-related homicides (15 percent to 33 percent) are linked with gang and drug activity. Gang-related homicides are more likely to involve firearms than non-gang-related homicides are.
  • Are you a male between 15 and 34? The majority of standard gun murder victims are men between the ages of 15 and 34. Although black men make up roughly 7 percent of the population, they account for almost two-thirds of gun murder victims every year.
  • Women and children are more likely to be the victims of mass shootings and homicide-suicide shootings than they are to be the victims of a “typical” gun-related homicide.

4. The perpetration of gun-related murders is often carried out by predictable people.

5. Higher rates of gun ownership are not associated with higher rates of violent crime.

  • Switzerland and Israel have much higher gun ownership rates than the United States but experience far fewer homicides and have much lower violent crime rates than many European nations with strict gun control laws.
    • While some will argue that the guns carried by Swiss and Israeli citizens are technically “owned” by the government in most cases, this does little to negate the fact that many citizens in those countries have ready access to firearms.
  • Canada is ranked 12th in the world for the number of civilian-owned guns per capita and reports one of the world’s lower homicide rates—but even then, some provinces have higher homicide rates than U.S. states with less restrictive laws and higher rates of gun ownership have.
  • Although many gun control advocates have noted that “right to carry” states tend to experience slight increases in violent crime, other studies have noted the opposite effect.
  • Higher rates of concealed carry permit holders are even more strongly associated with reduction in violent crime than are right-to-carry states. The probable reason for this is that right-to-carry studies often include “open carry” states, which have not been shown to correlate with more people actually carrying or even owning firearms. Rates of concealed carry permit holders are better indicators of the number of people who actually possess and carry firearms within a given population.
  • Further, as with most correlations, there are many other factors that can account for increases in concealed carry permits—including the fact that people who live in already dangerous neighborhoods seek out means of self-defense. The Huffington Post noted that the rate of concealed carry permit requests in Chicago has soared in recent years after the city loosened restrictions, in large part, according to the Chicago Tribune, because law-abiding residents are increasingly worried about rising rates of violent crime in the city.
  • The rate of gun ownership is higher among whites than it is among African-Americans, but the murder rate among African-Americans is significantly higher than the rate among whites.
  • Similarly, the rate of gun ownership is higher in rural areas than in urban areas, but urban areas experience higher murder rates.

6. There is no clear relationship between strict gun control legislation and homicide or violent crime rates.

  • The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence ironically makes this clear with its ratings for states based on gun laws. “Gun freedom” states that score poorly, like New Hampshire, Vermont, Idaho, and Oregon, have some of the lowest homicide rates. Conversely, “gun control-loving” states that received high scores, like Maryland and Illinois, experience some of the nation’s highest homicide rates.
  • The Crime Prevention Research Center notes that, if anything, the data indicate that countries with high rates of gun ownership tend to have lower homicide rates—but this is only a correlation, and many factors do not necessarily support a conclusion that high rates of gun ownership cause the low rates of homicide.
  • Homicide and firearm homicide rates in Great Britain spiked in the years immediately following the imposition of severe gun control measures, despite the fact that most developed countries continued to experience a downward trend in these rates. This is also pointed out by noted criminologist John Lott in his book “The War on Guns.”
  • Similarly, Ireland’s homicide rates spiked in the years immediately following the country’s 1972 gun confiscation legislation.
  • Australia’s National Firearms Act appears to have had little effect on suicide and homicide rates, which were falling before the law was enacted and continued to decline at a statistically unremarkable rate compared to worldwide trends.
  • According to research compiled by Lott and highlighted in his book “The War on Guns,” Australia’s armed and unarmed robbery rates both increased markedly in the five years immediately following the National Firearms Act, despite the general downward trend experienced by other developed countries.
  • Great Britain has some of the strictest gun control laws in the developed world, but the violent crime rate for homicide, rape, burglary, and aggravated assault is much higher than that in the U.S. Further, approximately 60 percent of burglaries in Great Britain occur while residents are home, compared to just 13 percent in the U.S., and British burglars admit to targeting occupied residences because they are more likely to find wallets and purses.
  • It is difficult to compare homicide and firearm-related murder rates across international borders because countries use different methods to determine which deaths “count” for purposes of violent crime. For example, since 1967, Great Britain has excluded from its homicide countsany case that does not result in a conviction, that was the result of dangerous driving, or in which the person was determined to have acted in self-defense. All of these factors are counted as “homicides” in the United States.

7. Legally owned firearms are used for lawful purposes much more often than they are used to commit crimes or suicide.

  • In 2013, President Barack Obama ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess existing research on gun violence. The report, compiled by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, found (among other things) that firearms are used defensively hundreds of thousands of times every year.
  • According to the CDC, “self-defense can be an important crime deterrent.” Recent CDC reports acknowledge that studies directly assessing the effect of actual defensive uses of guns have found “consistently lower injury rates among gun-using crime victims compared with victims who used other self-protective strategies.”
  • Semi-automatic rifles (such as the AR-15) are commonly used as self-defense weapons in the homes of law-abiding citizens because they are easier to control than handguns, are more versatile than handguns, and offer the advantage of up to 30 rounds of protection. Even Vox has published stories defending the use of the AR-15.
  • AR-15s have been used to save lives on many occasions, including:
    • Oswego, Illinois (2018)—A man with an AR-15 intervened to stop a neighbor’s knife attack and cited the larger weapon’s “intimidation factor” as a reason why the attacker dropped the knife.
    • Houston, Texas (2017)—A homeowner survived a drive-by shooting by defending himself with his AR-15.
    • Ferguson, Missouri (2014)—African-American men protected a white man’s store from rioters by standing outside armed with AR-15s.
    • Texas (2013)—A 15-year-old boy used an AR-15 during a home invasion to save both his life and that of his 12-year-old sister.

8. Concealed carry permit holders are not the problem, but they may be part of the solution.

  • Lott found that, as a group, concealed carry permit holders are some of the most law-abiding people in the United States. The rate at which they commit crimes generally and firearm crimes specifically is between one-sixth and one-tenth of that recorded for police officers, who are themselves committing crimes at a fraction of the rate of the general population.
  • Between 2007 and 2015, murder rates dropped 16 percent and violent crime rates dropped 18 percent, even though the percentage of adults with concealed carry permits rose by 190 percent.
  • Regression estimates show a significant association between increased permit ownership and a drop in murder and violent crime rates. Each percentage point increase in rates of permit-holding is associated with a roughly 2.5 percent drop in the murder rate.
  • Concealed carry permit holders are often “the good guy with a gun,” even though they rarely receive the attention of the national media. Concealed carry permit holders were credited with saving multiple lives in:

.

.

Robert B Young, MD

— DRGO Editor Robert B. Young, MD is a psychiatrist practicing in Pittsford, NY, an associate clinical professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

All DRGO articles by Robert B. Young, MD

Pay It Forward… The When and Why

By
Keith Finch
-

From Jase Winner

One of the things that scares me most about my life in this community is not being able to pay forward all that I have received. That I won’t be able to put in as much as I have taken out. That the phrase, “just pay it forward later,” I’ve been trying to piece together for the last three years will forever be prevalent. I will never be able to pay it all forward, because I have received a LOT over the years.

“Just pay it forward later”. It’s taken me about 3 years to finally start to grasp this concept. Which when you think about it, that means I was 13 the first time someone told me to pay it forward later. That also means I was just 13 the first time somebody in this industry helped me out. Through these last 3 years I have only grown and expanded my reach… which means catching more attention. This also means more help. Which means a lot of paying up to do. I’m not complaining, I am super thankful for all that I have received, but I’m also conscious of it too. I think that’s a good thing.

When I was but a wee little lad I thought “later” meant when I was 40 or something. But to my surprise it turns out “later” really means anytime that’s not this second. Paying it forward means helping someone else out, like someone had done for you. For example: It’s showing Sally how to safely handle a firearm, helping little Billy out with some gear to start his journey into the world of shooting, or just being a good American and EDUCATING someone about the 2nd Amendment. Repaying the kindness of others to someone else… There’s a million ways to pay forward the opportunities or materials afforded to you. It’s about capitalizing on those opportunities when you are in the position to do so.

If you know the circle of friends and associates I keep, you can understand how it often feels like I’m walking amongst giants. These giants have helped me, giving me resources, advice, and knowledge to make me a better shooter as well as a better person. How am I supposed to live up to their expectations of me? How am I supposed to pay back all that these folks have given to me? Carefully… or not? And therein lies the challenge. I don’t have a solid answer for you, but I can certainly try.

Throughout my short life, I have found that I dislike handouts. As my dad so eloquently put it, I have “a natural allergy to handouts”. Fun little side story that’s totally related, my disdain for handouts is how the JWSS T-Shirt brand got started. When I was just starting out in this world of shooting I started a Go-Fund-Me to help pay for registrations, ammo, and travel costs. The problem I always had was that I didn’t want to promote the GFM and thus be asking for money. So in response to my allergy, I designed some T-Shirts, because at least with a T-Shirt you receive something in return for your investment in me. I felt waaay more comfortable promoting for T-Shirt sales than my GFM. I no longer felt like I am taking without giving (especially because my T-Shirts are pretty freaking cool)

This article comes from a conversation I had with my dad about why I find it so difficult to ask for things. I feel like every time you take out of the jar of life, you must put something back in; this is one of the principals I have ingrained in my life. That life is a give and take. So when I ask for something I feel like I’m taking something out, and I fear that I will never be able to put in as much as I have taken out. Just like paying it forward… How do you give more than you take?

From what I’ve heard and what I’ve somewhat seen, taking out more than you put in is a problem in this industry. I’ve heard plenty of horror stories of “influencers” and “good guys” taking out of that jar, more and more, until the jar is empty. They take a little here and there until they’ve ruined not only their own reputation, but a good thing for plenty of other people too. I don’t want to be that guy. 

When the opportunity arises, just take a few minutes out of your day to pay forward what you have received, and I’ll try to do the same.

This industry, or better yet this country and world if you really want to get into it, would be so much better off if everybody saw how screwed up it is to take more than you give.

To be clear, I’m not talking about just freebies either, I’m talking about the “good guy discount”… taking without giving back.  I’ve had a lot of folks that I’ve met, offer me “Industry Guy” pricing on various things. Items that I both want and need. But I’m hesitant to take folks up on their offers.  I don’t want to be the guy that asks for too much, or ruins a good thing for others.

For example, I want to rebuild my training class rifle.  My competition rifle is a Midwest Industries and it’s perfect, but my tactical rifle is a Franken Gun that we put together when I first got into 3-Gun.  I have a long list of wants and needs for the rebuild, but how to go about taking people up on their offers is a challenge for me.

How do I say “Hey Bob, you said to contact you if I needed _______?” That just seems like a tenuous way to maintain a relationship, you know what I mean? Even if I was a “somebody” in this industry I’d still feel bad about that email or phone call because there’s no way of knowing whether or not they are getting the proper return on hooking me up. A proper return on their “investment” in me. That’s what it is too, an investment, and if someone hooks you up it’s your job to make good on that investment.

I’m no whizzbang shooting star and I’m not a leader of the social media world, I’m just Jase.  I’m just a dude who genuinely appreciates those who have helped me get where I am, the friendships and contacts I’ve made along the way.  Trying to navigate how/when/why to reach out to any of my contacts is a conundrum. It’s a challenge we must each figure out, not just in the Industry, but in life.

At the end of the day, I know I’ve got some phone calls and emails that need to happen.  I just hope there is enough balance in the give and take, that I can feel good about it and those who have offered me the hand of friendship and support.

In conclusion, Pay It Forward and don’t take more than you give. Do the right thing and try to put in just as much, if not more, as you have taken out. Always be thankful for what you have, and above all, don’t be the douchebag that empties the jar, no one likes you, because you’re a douchebag. The shooting/firearms/equipment industry isn’t a bottomless pit of freebies, or deeply discounted good guy pricing.  Those things all cost money, money that comes out of a company’s bottom line if it isn’t coming out of a consumers pocket. As patrons of the industry it is our place to support these companies, and emptying their jar isn’t the way to do it. We all need to find those moments in our lives when we can pay it forward and capitalize on our good fortune to help others… It’s part of being a good person!

Now in the meantime before the next article here’s a list of things to do:

  • Read a book- I’d recommend Violence of Mind by Varg Freeborn or Black Knight Squadron by John Chapman
  • Go to a class (especially medical because I’m sure plenty of you are overlooking that part of your training, check out Dark Angel Medical)
  • And if all of those other options fail you, just find a nice peaceful place outside to take a nap, cause I don’t care who you are, a nap sounds amazing!

Until my next moment of introspective brilliance,

-Jase

#AlphaholicsAnonymous

Peltor Sport Tactical 500 Ear Protection

By
Dr LateBloomer
-

This spring I had the opportunity to try out some new ear and eye protection – The Peltor Sport Tactical 500 and 3M SecureFit safety eyewear 400 series.

I took these products through their paces over the past month or two and am very pleased with what I found. I’ve been using a lower level set of Peltor ear protection since last year, and loved them, but THESE are a whole other set of awesome!

Power wise, the Peltor 500 electronic earmuffs take two AA batteries, which is a feature I love. AA batteries are always easy to find. No running around trying to find odd size batteries right before a match. I’ve got a bunch of half-used lithium AA batteries left from when I swapped them out of my game camera, so this is a good way to use them up and ought to keep me powered for years. These muffs also have a USB rechargeable battery pack option, if you are a “rechargeable” kind of person. I personally tend not to be proactive enough for that, but if you are – this jam’s for you.

Also in the power department, I like that there is a “battery low” warning that signals the wearer every ten minutes. That’s an advantage at a match. It’s nice to have some warning to replace the batteries before they just cut out on you mid-stage. There is also an auto shut-off feature with options of two hours or four hours. This is helpful for those of us *Ahem* who forget to turn off our ear protection before dropping them into the range bag.

The Peltor Tactical 500’s are also Bluetooth compatible. This will be extremely helpful for me when I am on-call while at the range. Pairing to my iPhone was a snap and there was an audible “Bluetooth Connected” voice confirmation.

I tested this feature out on the range recently while someone else was shooting. I listened to a variety of my favorite music. I’m a fan of a cappella and close vocal harmony, so my choices sometimes challenge cheaper speakers.

The audio quality from these Peltors was wonderful and did not interfere at all with the noise suppression from the gunfire. I also tried a phone call to myself and this worked very well too.

Additional features of these great electronic muffs include:

-Clear Voice Tracking Technology – which seeks voice tones out from background noise to help make conversation (and range commands) clearer.

-Adaptive Suppression Time – which sets suppression time to the measured energy in the gunshot.

-Dosimeter – allows for increased audio input volume in noisy environments.

-Limiter – sets audio input maximum sound pressure to a level of 82 decibels.

All of the above features can turned on or off via the setup menu.

The on/off button on these ear muffs is easy to find by feel, and gives an audible “Power on”/“Power off” voice confirmation. The volume controls are also easily palpable on the right ear cup while the muffs are being worn. I like that I don’t have to take them off in order to fumble with buttons. Having to take your muffs off to mess with them kind of defeats the purpose of ear protection, ya know? No worries with this design.

The control “buttons” are easy to feel.

The Peltor Tactical 500 cushioned ear cups provided a comfortable fit and excellent sound suppression when using my Aero Precision AR 308 (the loudest gun I own). I tested this not only from behind the trigger, but also from behind and to the side of another shooter using a muzzle brake. I felt the concussion from the brake in my chest, but it did not have the same effect on my hearing. The noise suppression was very effective. The Peltor Tactical 500 earmuffs  have a listed Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) of 26 decibels with proper fit and use.

The 3M SecureFit safety glasses are easily my favorite range glasses. Unlike virtually every other kind of eye protection I have worn over the years, these do NOT give me a headache. The temples are soft and flexible and do not dig into my scalp under pressure from my ear muffs. The nosepieces are soft and comfortable also.

The temples and earpieces are very soft and flexible.

Mine came in a 3-pack with lens colors of clear, sunglass “shaded”, and a smoky gray “indoor/outdoor”. This gives me options for days when the weather starts out cloudy but brightens up as the afternoon wears on.

These range glasses are listed as blocking 99% UV and are impact resistant with an ANSI Z87.1 rating. The sunglasses version is cool-enough looking for non-dorky street wear, too. This is a plus for travel. Why pack another set of sunglasses for the drive to the match when you can just wear your SecureFits on AND off the range?

In the same vein, I’ll be flying to Texas for a hunt in November, and I plan to use my Peltor 500’s as in-flight audiobook listeners. Why pack another set of earphones when these will be in my carry-on anyway? Multi-use for the win!

I heartily recommend both the Peltor Sport Tactical 500 Earmuffs and the 3M SecureFit 400 series safety eyewear if you are looking for high quality and functionality in your personal protective equipment. I think they are the bees knees.

Democrats Introduce Bill to Remove Commerce Protections in the Firearms Industry

By
Keith Finch
-

Because nothing says “this will curb violent acts” like making people who were not involved pay more of the price. Commerce protections were passed in 2005 with the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. This prevented frivolous suits against firearms industry companies just because their product was involved in an incident.

You don’t get to file a lawsuit against Ford if you get hit by an F-150 unless something failed in the F-150 that caused the incident. You don’t get to sue Ford if you’re deliberately hit with an F-150. Someone straight murdering a bunch of people with a vehicle is not grounds for a lawsuit of the vehicle manufacturer on the grounds they “knew” their car could be used to kill.

Lawsuits are about negligence, if the company did something wrong and you got hurt. They do not cover the deliberate acts of people outside of that company’s control. Drunk driving and vehicular homicide are not the fault of Ford, Toyota, Budweiser, or the friggin’ Easter Bunny.

From NPR

House and Senate Democrats introduced legislation Tuesday they say will allow victims of gun violence to have their day in court.

With the shooter right? The direct perpetrator of the violence and accomplices. No?

Nope, the company who happened to make the gun, whether it was purchased legally, stolen, or what have you…

The Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act aims to repeal federal protections blocking firearm and ammunition manufacturers, dealers and trade groups from most civil lawsuits when a firearm is used unlawfully or in a crime.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., one of the bill’s co-sponsors, said since PLCAA became law, state and federal courts have “dismissed numerous cases against the gun industry,” adding that other cases were likely not brought at all.

Schiff, surrounded by members of gun violence prevention groups including Moms Demand Action, Brady and March For Our Lives, said the purpose of the legislation was to “correct the error Congress made” nearly a decade and a half ago.

“Responsible actors in the gun industry don’t need this limitation on liability. And the irresponsible ones don’t deserve it,” Schiff told reporters at the announcement of the bill.

Because no one would ever bring a frivolous lawsuit against anyone else, right? Why don’t “responsible actors” need this limitation? All it will take is an activist judge or sympathetic jury. Some idiot like the prosecutor in Chicago who let Smollett walk from leading the Chicago PD on an entirely fabricated hate crime hoax, an imbecile of that caliber will absolutely let a suit stand just because Smith & Wesson or Glock built a gun.

Lawrence Keane of the NSSF echoed my earlier point.

“You would no more charge or blame Ford or General Motors for drunk driving accidents,” Keane said, adding that the current law is “working exactly how Congress intended it.”

But… that isn’t a good reason for everyone.

“All we’re doing through this proposal is giving victims of gun violence their day in court,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a co-sponsor of the Senate version of the bill. “Every other industry has to pay punitive damages if it intentionally and purposefully violates [a] standard of care” toward the community.

What standard of care are you alleging the firearm industry is violating? *cough* guns existing *cough cough*

“That will provide a powerful incentive as it has done in tobacco, in automobiles, in pharmaceutical drugs, for safer products,” Blumenthal added.

“Safer Product” is the deceptive misnomer they want to grind as Democrats remove commerce protections for the firearm industry. The tactic is obvious, they will argue that guns themselves are not safe at all. They will then, as done in California, impose impossible standards and idiotic technology additives to firearms that objectively do nothing but cannot be met by gun makers. Defacto the product becomes illegal because it is ‘unsafe.’

This won’t be a case where a firearm injured someone by malfunction or a dealer illegally transferred a gun they should not have. Those scenarios are already fully criminally and civilly liable. There is no protection for a faulty product or breaking the law.

What Democrats are alleging here is that somehow there is some extra magical protection. ‘Something’ exists for firearms makers that the manufacturers of other potentially dangerous products like farm equipment, vehicles, or power tools don’t have. They do not have any such ‘get out of liability free’ card.

If I pickup a drill and use it per directions and the gears bind, injuring me, I can sue the manufacturer. Same thing with a firearm. If the gun grenades in my hand I can go after them if that was their fault. If I get my knee drilled by a mafia thug looking to collect money I don’t get to sue Makita. If I get my knee drilled by a 9mm from a Smith & Wesson from the same mafia thug it isn’t Smith & Wesson’s fault. Mafia thug and the Mafia who employs him, yes they’re at fault. If Smith & Wesson had run a series of ads saying that using their product line to solve road rage incidents or collect money was the intended use, that could absolutely make them at liable.

I’ve seen some damn goofy advertising in this space…

Via TFB

But illegal violence has not been on that list of marketing topics.

The Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act is a shameless bloody shirt waving attack on 2nd Amendment rights disguised with a pretty title. SAFE Act 2.0? This isn’t about justice. Justice is perpetrators convicted and imprisoned. Justice would be empowering people with the means for their own protection.

A political capital grab for Democrats? Yep, this that certainly is.

Review: “Crime Signals: How to Spot a Criminal Before You Become a Victim” by David Givens

By
DRGO
-
(from armedcitizensnetwork.org)

[Ed: This book review is reposted with permission from the Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network‘s June 2019 Journal. It is written by Gila Hayes, ACLDN’s Operations Manager and Journal Editor. Crime Signals is out of print, but copies are readily available , e.g., on Amazon.]

“Crimes rarely go unannounced, without prior notice, clues, or warnings,” David Givens, an anthropologist and specialist in nonverbal communication, writes in Crime Signals. “Murderers, sexual predators, terrorists, and thieves all emit telling cues before their misdeeds.” These include poor eye contact called “gaze avoidance” and other cues. With terrorism and crime on the rise, citizens are warned to remain alert to suspicious behavior, but what they should notice instead “is really anomalous behavior,” he explains.

Anomalies might include someone with an obviously weighted-down backpack inside an upscale shopping center, a car with lots of able-bodied passengers pulling in to a handicapped parking space near a store entrance, customers all standing motionless inside a convenience store, a person in running clothes smoking a cigarette beside a parked van and more. All of these anomalies suggest that the person is acting out a pretense to obscure what is really planned. Rarely is the acting perfect.

“What,” Givens introduces, “do their bodies say when they lie?” He details how “hands, shoulders, lips, and eyes” will tell the truth, despite words to the contrary. Later chapters detail how skilled liars manipulate eye contact, illustrating that presence or absence of one “sign” alone isn’t proof positive. Aggressively pointing index fingers or complete absence of gestures, vehement assertions of innocence, aggressive displays of anger or a flat, unemotional, disconnected demeanor can all support a conclusion of untruthfulness.

Conversely, truth telling is often accompanied by “raising the eyebrows, lifting the toes while seated, and rising up on the toes while standing—to add emphasis at the end of their sentences,” he quotes FBI profiler Joe Navarro. Still, the study of faces, as illustrated by wife-killer Scott Peterson’s emotionless face or a rage-filled abusive spouse as seen at other murder trials, alone is not enough. Predicting who will or identifying who has killed relies on a confluence of anomalies.

Just as we’re taught to watch the hands to detect danger, Givens notes that, “Hands are such incredibly gifted communicators that they always bear watching, especially in matters of truth or falsehood.” Likewise, touching one’s lips with hands or objects such as a pencil or pen can signal lying. Infamous news images of documented lies illustrate shoulder shrugs, palms-up gestures called “hand shrugs,” averted gazes and thin, tight-lipped expressions.

Givens notes that gaze behavior is culturally-dictated and can be faked by one skilled and experienced in deception. Likewise, clever con men learn to charm and convince through “body language, facial expressions, and posturing.” Touch, dramatic or flamboyant gestures, conspicuous charm, and repetitious rituals can all serve to beguile victims. Watch and understand what people do, as that’s more truthful than what people say, he later stresses.

Intermittent explosive disorder, attacks to derail a perceived trap and territorial aggression are discussed as triggers that “may quickly ignite into violence.” Givens explains that the study of proxemics, popularized by Edward Hall in The Silent Language was particularly insightful, since, as Givens notes a bit later, because silence when talking is ordinary is “one of the most commonly recognized danger signs.”

Givens discusses facial expressions–both intentional and unintentional–beginning with eyes that are narrowed or extraordinarily wide (which he dubs flashbulb eyes and names a “visceral sign of emotion”), blinking, and the constriction or enlargement of the eyes’ pupils as dictated by the sympathetic nervous system, drawing examples from news photos of prominent criminals like Charles Manson.

He details “assault warnings afforded by facial sweating, skin color, pulsing arteries, biting movements, flashbulb eyes, and rapid blinking, visible and audible changes…in the way we breathe.”

Nonverbal cues given off by sexual predators are discussed at length, including watching and testing for submissive victims, forward through additional stages into physical abuse. Lists of warning signs are useful not only to avoid victimization but also for family members and friends who wonder if a loved one is falling victim to a predator.

Visual indicators given off by terrorists is the subject of an interesting chapter in which Givens addresses use of color and symbols, and physical behavior that has tipped off immigration officials, airline staff, and others who have interdicted terrorists. “Anxiety is a telltale sign that something is wrong. Eyes widen, fingers fidget, voices tremble, foreheads glisten with sweat,” he details. While one anomaly alone might not set off internal warning sirens, several in tandem certainly should.

An engaging aspect of Crime Signals is the author’s use of notorious evil-doers as examples to help readers envision the gestures and expressions that reveal a truth obscured by words. He talks about analyzing the motions and content of a TV network interview with Saddam Hussein, as one example that will be remembered by many. The OJ Simpson trial, the trial of Martha Stewart, Bill Clinton and priests convicted of sexual molestation illustrate other points.

Gang clothing, hair styles, tattoos and jewelry, gestures, swaggering gait and even dances all communicate messages the watcher ignores at his own peril but each comes with subtle distinctions to separate the genuine from the imitation. “Recognizing how the body language of gang members differs from wannabes who mimic their actions is a good way to protect yourself from harm,” he writes. His discussion of criminal gangs explains how group unity is communicated through appearance and gesture.

Givens then draws interesting comparisons between gang leaders and corrupt corporate moguls. One leading trait is bullying. “Psychologists identify bullying as one of the most stable of all human behaviors. It may begin in childhood and continue as an adult coping style. 

‘Bullies turn into antisocial adults,’ Hara Marano wrote in Psychology Today, ‘and are far more likely than nonaggressive kids to commit crimes, batter their wives, abuse their children—and produce another generation of bullies,’” Givens quotes.

He details one disgraced executive who had a “hair-trigger temper, publicly belittled people in meetings, and launched aggressive tirades at critics and colleagues alike.” While some use “confrontational body language and strident tones of voice,” others use gifts with strings attached to exert control. “Anthropologists today agree that when accepted, gifts incur strong obligations. Accepting a gift carries an implicit obligation to reciprocate in kind,” he writes.

Body language of thieves is dissected. The strategy of acting like people with good reason to be in a location lets thieves work in plain sight, but a robber working the streets relies on catching you unawares or lulling you into unmerited trust, he writes. Detecting an intended home invasion uses unintentional cues an innocent-looking decoy gives away that their clothing and physical features conceal: “If their body language seems abnormally tense or anxious, it’s because they’ve arrived on your porch fully primed for action. You will see adrenaline-charged demeanor, men standing taller, moving faster, showing tense hand gestures. That they lean forward and crowd your doorway telegraphs eagerness to come in. They poise to spring forward should you barely crack open the door,” he writes.

Givens theorizes that crime is basically theft, so closes his book synopsizing, “Crime—whether violent, conniving, or petty—is almost never completely unpredictable. Nonverbal signs betray criminals throughout their misdeeds. As we’ve seen, crime signals are best decoded prior to unlawful acts.” Crime Signals was entertaining reading that also contained useful lessons for the reader who wishes to be more alert to impending danger. I enjoyed it.

.

.

Robert B Young, MD

— DRGO Editor Robert B. Young, MD is a psychiatrist practicing in Pittsford, NY, an associate clinical professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

All DRGO articles by Robert B. Young, MD

XD-S, A FIST FULL OF HARDBALL

By
The Armory Life
-

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated with small pistols. Whether it was a .45 caliber cap and ball “Philadelphia Derringer,” a two-shot cartridge firing over/under Remington .41 caliber rimfire, or a semi auto AMT Backup in .45ACP. I’ve always thought compact guns, whether pistol or rifle, were practical firearms to own. As long as you stay within the practical and realistic expectations placed on the chosen firearm, you are good to go.

I’ve owned an AMT Backup .45 for about 20 years. I owned a Star Firestar in 9mm for years before that, and I still have a Keltec PF-9, 9mm. These days my Springfield Armory XD-S 45 (the original) is my go to. I have found my XD-S 45 to be accurate, very compact, and easy to control.

Springfield Armory Inc. recently sent me a “Mod.2” XD-S 45 to try out and I must say, all the improvements that were made were favorable. Let’s discuss some of those improvements.

The Grip

The first and most visibly noticeable modification / improvement is the grip texturing. Although I have no problem with the texture of the original XD-S I already own, I like the smoother and more refined Mod.2 grip texture better than the original. Along with the grip texture, is the extended beavertail above the web of the firing hand which, incidentally, places your grip higher in relation to the bore’s axis, and thus improves control of the pistol.

The Sights

The XD-S Mod.2 is now available with a “Pro-Glo” tritium front sight from Ameriglo. Although I like the fiber optic on my original XD-S, a tritium front sight is a great option to have on a factory pistol. Couple this with the “One-handed, Rackable” steel rear sight (a squared off shelf meant to catch on a belt or other hard edged surface), it is a great improvement over the original. 

Shooting Impressions

I will say that, for me, the Mod.2 shot and performed no better than my original XD-S (which does really well)…

Click here to read the rest with our friends at The Armory Life

Barnett Predator Flash Sale!

By
Keith Finch
-

Yep, that simple. Barnett has their flagship crossbow discounted to $799.99. The Barnett Predator Flash Sale is live now.

The Predator boasts a 430 feet per second bolt velocity with 156 foot pounds of kinetic energy. With archery seasons across the nation open or opening to crossbow use this is a great opportunity to slide into the market for well under normal retail.

I’m not the one to speak on this bolt launcher, mine isn’t here yet, so here’s what Barnett is saying.

It’s not just a predator, it’s THE Predator® – the very top of the food chain. For hunters who want the biggest hits possible, the Predator harnesses 430 feet per second backed by 156 foot-pounds of kinetic energy. We complemented that power with a Carbonlite™ riser that removes extra weight and adds balance. The unique RUCS System unfolds for further balance, pushing the back of the bow up while gravity weighs the front down.

This behemoth bow comes packaged with Barnett’s most advanced scope, featuring seven layers of multi-coated polarized lenses. It also includes three arrows, a side-mount quiver, rope cocking device and lube wax. If all these add-ons aren’t enough, four picatinny rails make sure you can outfit the Predator with everything else imaginable.

The Frictionless Release Technology™ creates a free-floating roller between the sear and the trigger – offering a smoother, lighter trigger unlike anything else on the market. Nock sensors and anti-dry fire give you peace of mind for double the safety, and a three-pound, zero-creep release gives you confidence to make the shot. Once you go TriggerTech, you’ll never go back.

Sale is right here guys!
1...287288289...393Page 288 of 393
© All rights reserved © 2023 GAT Daily. Designed by GAT Marketing