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Divide and Conquer – The “But”-heads

By
Keith Finch
-

From Dr. LateBloomer 

It seems that after every high-profile shooting, amidst the inevitable calls for more gun control, there are always the voices which chime in saying “I’m an NRA member, BUT”, or “I shoot [fill in the blank] BUT”, or “I grew up around guns, BUT”.

We have all seen them. They might even be friends or relatives. Let’s call these people “But”-heads, shall we? I have yet to hear one of these “But”-type arguments use enough logic or fact, only ignorance and emotion, to merit consideration. These people are willing to sacrifice to the gods of gun control whatever doesn’t fit into their particular life experience. As long as “their” chosen activity isn’t impacted, they are fine with throwing everyone else’s rights under the bus. At its core this is virtue-signaling, ignorance, and betrayal.

An example from a few years ago would be when Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) famously touted his NRA membership in a 2010 campaign ad.  

But then he came out against “high capacity magazines”, saying that he’d “never had more than 3 rounds in a clip”, and “Didn’t know anyone who goes out [hunting] with an assault rifle”.   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pro-gun-sen-joe-manchin-calls-for-action-on-gun-violence/

A more recent example of a But-head is professional baseball player and bowhunter Chipper Jones, who in the wake of the Parkland shooting denounced “assault rifles” as “belong[ing] in the hands of soldiers”.   https://www.myajc.com/blog/jeff-schultz/chipper-jones-avid-hunter-denounces-assault-weapons/65HvYylsfsLgAq7FePpvFJ/

The CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods recently showed himself to be a But-head as well.

“We’re staunch supporters of the 2nd Amendment. I’m a gun owner myself,” Stack said. “We’ve just decided that based on what’s happened with these guns, we don’t want to be a part of this story and we’ve eliminated these guns permanently.”  http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/dicks-sporting-goods-ceo-company-longer-sell-assault/story?id=53403284

It’s even possible to be “former military” and still be a But-head. Take a look at this video from CNN, featuring a retired general, who helped give us the term “fully semi-automatic” https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/02/27/ar-15s-up-close-tuchman-dnt-ac.cnn

Another term for these sorts is “Fudd”. As in the cartoon character with the speech impediment, Elmer Fudd.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fudd

But-heads, (or Fudds) are people who truly do not understand the Second Amendment or the reason it exists. They cannot process that it’s not about hunting. It’s not even truly about self-defense except in the broadest possible terms. It’s about defense against government run amok.

“The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.” – Attributed to Thomas Jefferson

These people don’t even understand how semi-automatic firearms operate or what the “scary parts” of an AR-15 are for. If they did we wouldn’t be hearing all the nonsense we do about “weapons of war”. I’d wager that if you showed any of these people a photo of an M1 Garand and asked if it was a “weapon of war” they would tell you no. Which is nonsense because the M1, being the WWII icon that it is, is a true weapon of war. It is even semi-automatic. But the M1 Garand is made of comforting wood and doesn’t have scary looking plastic accessories so it elicits no emotional knee-jerk response.

Ahh so much safer with the wood stock. Ignore the fact that it and the M16 have the same sustained fire rate, wood is safer. Image via Guns and Ammo

For those who would argue that the Founders never intended for “military style” arms like AR-15’s to be held in private hands I would like to point out that the Founders very much intended private hands to hold “military style” arms of many varieties. Not only did citizens use whatever arms they had on hand to fight the British (thus making almost any weapon a “military” one) the Founders even provided for the government to authorize letters of marque, which allowed private ships (armed with CANNONS) to operate as privateers. That’s correct private warships, Elon Musk and Joe the Plumber with an aircraft carrier. I think cannons could be safely called “military arms”, no matter how you choose to slice it. The Founders knew exactly what they were doing and trusted their own citizens far more than anyone gives them credit for.

The But-heads divide us. They seek to draw lines of virtue between themselves and other firearms owners. They seek to paint themselves as “reasonable” to those who would trample our constitutional freedoms. But what they don’t understand is that there is no such thing as “reasonable” when it comes to gun-grabbers. They are playing the long game. They seek to peel us off from one another, one group at a time. If they are successful in a grab for semi-autos, they won’t stop there and simply leave the But-heads in peace with their nice “reasonable” bird guns and bolt-action rifles. The grabbers won’t rest until all firearms are gone from citizen’s hands. Except for the criminals of course. Additionally the “criminals” who have been artificially created by noncompliance with unconstitutional laws. (See the whopping 96% noncompliance rate with the SAFE act.)  https://hudsonvalleyone.com/2016/07/07/massive-noncompliance-with-safe-act/

The Second Amendment is about single-shot chipmunk .22’s and AR’s with 30, 40, or more round magazines. It is about pump shotguns and semi-autos with magazine tubes longer than the barrel. It is about revolvers and AR-pistols. It’s about wing shooters and 3-Gunners, hunters and concealed carriers, plinkers and competitors, muzzleloaders and the tacticool. The 2A is for ALL of us, and for all of our protection.

There is no “BUT” in the Second Amendment.

“Take the guns first, go through due process second,” -Donald Trump

By
Keith Finch
-
Image via National Review

The President of the United States spoke those words in response to Vice President, Mike Pence.

“Allow due process so no one’s rights are trampled, but the ability to go to court, obtain an order and then collect not only the firearms but any weapons,” Pence said.

“Or, Mike, take the firearms first, and then go to court,” Trump responded.

The President’s bipartisan meeting on gun control revealed several opinions the President holds that should cause concern.

The most troubling is the outright denial of due process with the “promise” that it will be taken care of second. Powers and procedures like that have never been abused in our history though, at least our recent history. Talk to any older American of Japanese heritage, they will tell you.

The President is known for his comments and it may just be talk… it may not.

We will see what actually hits the legislative forms and gains support.

The Gun Control Value Menu: The Proposals

By
Keith Finch
-
Image via FoxNews

It’s time to have a meaningful conversation about Gun Control.

The ideas espoused by gun control activists and advocates inevitably coalesce into several ideas for policy change. Each of these changes have a stated goal, the same two goals in each case. Keep firearms out of the hands of “those people who shouldn’t have guns” and to save lives, “even just one life.”

So brushing aside the rabid accusations of the advocates letting emotion triumph over reason, let us consider the proposals of the gun control crowd. Going from what I consider the most extreme to the least. The goals of each proposal are not always at odds with our goals as gun owners. Usually the proposal’s weakness lies in its lack of effect.

A Total Ban on Private Firearm Ownership

Very few gun control proponents will openly admit this goal and most realize its total absence of achievable merit. This does not stop the loudest proponents who believe it is private legal firearms ownership that drives the use of firearms in violent crime.

The goal is to eliminate or drastically reduce the firearms homicide statistic by eliminating the legal protections on the right to arms. No guns, no gun crimes.

Guns are not criminal motivations though, aside from being property of value, and crimes and atrocity can be committed in their absence. The logical fallacy is that firearms are a weapon unto themselves that vastly outperform all other methods of delivering violent force.

They aren’t that good.

Firearms are generally easier to use as a tool than many other methods but not to so great a degree that it effectively nullifies other methods. No public mass shooting in the United States has outdone the lethality of bombings or vehicles used as weapons.

Removing one easy method of lethal force delivery does not remove the motivations for violence or limit other easy methods.

Non-compliance is also a critical flaw. Assuming an astronomically high compliance rate for the entirety of the nation at 90% (data out of Connecticut and New York suggest the inverse, 10% compliance) that would leave 30 to 60 million firearms. At 10% compliance we have 270 to 540 million firearms remaining.

Firearm possession cannot be eliminated and their use in outlying events of extreme violence cannot be eliminated. The resource outpour for this policy for no gain would be astronomical.

All these glaring flaws in the policy come before the complete violation of the constitutionally protected right to arms for defense of self and community and the rights of property.

Assault Weapons Ban

The 2018 version of this legislation, introduced on the 26th of February, would effectively ban the sale of the majority of popular semi-automatic rifles, handguns, and shotguns. It would not confiscate them from current owners but illegalize their future transfer.

The belief is that by removing the legal transfer of a category of weapons deemed far more lethal than their “conventional” counterparts the supply will eventually dwindle off and reduce a violent offender’s ability to cause casualties.

Weapons are durable goods. We have working examples centuries old and materials have only improved. These firearms, tens to hundreds of millions in circulation, will not ‘expire’. Assuming a 100% compliance rate (impossible) of turn in by owners upon or before death we have a century before the weapons ‘”are off our streets”.

Assuming the far more likely 5-15% compliance rate, given the available data, no appreciable threat will be removed.

An additional assumption not born out by available data is that this category of weapons is appreciably more lethal than “conventional” arms. This is not supported in any appreciable test or in the live application of force. In 1966 Charles Whitman killed 16 total in the spree at the University of Texas and wounded twice that many (one murder and one injury at over 500 yards with a bolt action rifle).

If the legally permissible firearms possess the lethal capability to accomplish atrocities in the hands of a mass murderer, the very murders that the banned firearms are banned so they are not used during commission, why are those arms not banned too? That logic forces us to again consider a total and immediate ban on civilian possession of arms.

Impossible, impractical, and unconstitutional.

Universal Background Check

Mandating that every transfer, commercial or private with a small list of exceptions, go through the Federal NICS system.

Background checks are already mandated commercially with listed exceptions. For example Michigan’s are a Concealed Pistol Licence, Federal Firearms License, or MCOLES (Law Enforcement) Certification Number.

Private checks would require public access to NICS (it is not structured for that) or require every transfer occur at an FFL. That puts non business transactions as a business burden of local FFL’s. Costing gun dealers time and money and increasing their liability for transactions that were not apart of their business since they would hold the transaction record. No business owner will put the licensure for their business, already under enough risk, in danger of loss to perform transactions that net them no gain.

Non compliance will only be an after event consideration in the same manner as lying on a Federal Form 4473. Non compliance will be rampant and easy due to the lack of any viable accountability structure. Giving someone a firearm is as physically easy as giving them a sweatshirt.

Universal Background Checks will not be universal. They will also fail to prevent anyone who passed and then subsequently commits an attack from passing. UBC’s are not pre-crime.

Any penalties handed out for non compliance will be handed out in the aftermath of other crimes, including massacres.

This leaves UBC’s as an ineffective method for reducing the likelihood of a future attack or casualties during an attack.

Mental Health Screening

Adding various forms of mental health checks to the list of items necessary for purchase of a firearm is a popular topic and often spoken on by both sides of the debate.

The devil is in the details, as they say, since anything involving an individual and their medical treatment run straight into HIPAA. Medical information protections run incredibly strong and violations by practitioners or persons with access to that medical information carry very steep penalties.

Setting up a structure of adjudication that effectively addresses legitimate mental health concerns for persons at risk of causing harm to themselves and others while preserving that persons rights to legal defense, dignity, medical privacy, and to property is an immensely complicated problem. Most solutions currently in practice violate rights first and then force an individual to prove the right should not have been violated. This is wrong and should not be tolerated.

The ground these rules tread on is ill defined and high risk. Mental illness is not a crime and treating it like a crime by restricting a right considered sacrosanct does nothing to encourage someone seeking or receiving treatment from being open and honest with their providers. There are mandatory reporting structures in place and if they can be improved upon they should. Those improvements should not be structured to interfere with treatment or discourage people from seeking treatment.

Federal Purchase Age of 21 for Long Guns

Science certainly shows that 21 is a more mature age than 18. However we consider 18 a legal adult. Private purchase of a handgun is still 18 and would likely be the same for a long gun so an easy work around would exist. Adding to that work around the ability to straw purchase, as was the case in Columbine, and regardless of what age we set the federal requirement at we are simply making legal access into illegal access as is already the case with any student under 18 years in age.

Non compliance is still a critical factor. Access other than ownership is a factor. Illicit access is a factor.

Changing the age to 21 disproportionately affects the rights of those we consider adults in both the ability to vote and the ability to serve the nation in the armed forces but not keep and bear arms as is their right. We also give them access to motor vehicles as young as 14 and the lethality and damage of those is so well documented it drastically influences commercial insurance.

Enacting the change would impose disproportionately high constitutional infringements for those 18-21 for no appreciable gain. All supposed gains in safety are hypothetical or anecdotal.

Add Assault Weapons to the NFA Register

The National Firearms Act of 1934 created an list of owners for machine guns and other weapons categorized as Title II firearms. By changing the AR-15’s classification category to Title II the owners of AR’s would have to undergo a more stringent background check and be on file, with location, as the rifle’s owner. This doubles as a national firearms registry (which it is) that would cover legal owners of any weapon deemed an assault weapon and placed under the NFA.

With 8-10 million AR’s in circulation any non compliance would nullify the effectiveness of this change. This change would be wildly unpopular on the archaically slow rate of NFA transfer paperwork alone.

If NFA transfers were made as quick as NICS transactions the idea would hold more practical merit. In addition the removal or drastic reduction in the NFA Tax amounts would increase the proposals palatability. Opening the machine gun registry to new firearms, in addition to the other improvements, may even make the change attractive to gun owners. This is one of very few proposals that could be sold as a gain on both sides.

The issues that arise are numerous . Non compliance, as discussed above. Gun control advocates are highly unlikely to entertain legalization of new select-fire weapons so that incentive would not be offered to gun advocates. The speed of NFA transfers currently makes grass growing look like a display by the Blue Angels and delivering on the promise to make the process fast enough to be acceptable would be a tremendous effort.

Gun control advocates will not give credence to the ownership of the weapons they consider the problem and so owners have no incentive in the slightest to come to the table for a discussion. A scree filled lecture full of conjecture, accusations, misinformation, and demands is not a discussion.

Fix NICS

S. 2153 and to lesser degrees H.R 4477 and H.R. 4434 are bills designed to fix the lack of accurate records keeping for the FBI’s NICS system. While accurate records would not have stopped all recent transfers to mass shooters it would have stopped several legal transfers, most recently in Texas.

Fix NICS is designed to strengthen the accountability structure of law enforcement entities and their record keeping, making updates to NICS so background records are accurate and up to date.

The bill, unlike many proposed, has not been touted as a fix all that will prevent all future mass homicides. It does address deficiencies in the currently implemented system that have allowed killers to get their hands on weapons that they should not have been cleared to have.

It makes no changes to the current definitions of prohibited persons as of my last reading. It adds no names that, by law, shouldn’t already be there. It does nothing as vague and unadjudicated as use the “no fly list” for background checks but compels self certification nationally by reporting law enforcement agencies that their records are all submitted and current.

Coupled with updated follow up and, where necessary, prosecution of denied persons this has the potential to positively influence the number of people murdered each year by denying and incarcerating people who try to acquire weapons illegally through federal dealers.

It will not prevent a massacre. It will not prevent someone with no background from acquiring arms and then committing a future atrocity. It will not prevent a theft or a private transfer without due diligence.

It is one of a select few proposals that has a logical success metric. Lowering the number of improper transfers and increasing the incarceration of felons in possession or attempting possession. With repeat violent offenders making up a significant percentage of homicide perpetrators prosecuting those who, on record, attempt to buy arms through federal dealers will positively influence violent crime statistics.

 

I intend to do a similar article on pro-gun arguments. Physical security is not a simple issue, look at how it is handled in the state and national capitals. Physical security in schools is no less complex.

But we can do better. We can do better without useless gestures that blame and punish the law abiding, that falsely brand the advocacy organizations, and that further violate the constitutionally protected rights of this nation. We’re talking about far more than just the 2nd Amendment.

We Like Shooting 234 – Can I get Stangers at Best Buy

By
We Like Shooting
-

Welcome to the We Like Shooting show, Episode 234 – tonight we’ll talk about Welcome to the We Like Shooting Show, episode 234. Tonight we will talk about Buckeye Targets, Muzzle Breaks, SOG Spirit, 22Plinkster and more! and more!

Source: https://welikeshooting.com/show/234/

A Pediatrician Explains the AR-15

By
Keith Finch
-

The Doctor will school you now.

From Dr. LateBloomer

The “AR-15” is the common name for a style of semi-automatic rifle which is perhaps the most misunderstood firearm in modern history. To listen to gun controllers, one would think that this style of firearm had emerged from the depths of hell, become sentient, and started attacking residential subdivisions across the country. I am here to attempt to explain in layman’s terms what this firearm is, why it is so popular, and to dispel ignorance and myths about this useful rifle design.

The main caveat is that I am doctor not a gunsmith. I am merely an owner and enthusiast of this style of rifle. I have shot my own versions many times for recreation and in competition. I have torn down and reassembled them myself on many occasions. I should also note that my particular rifles spend their evenings locked up in my safe to prevent them from escaping and terrorizing the neighborhood at night. Which is more than I can say for several neighborhood dogs.

 

Semi-automatic

The “AR” is NOT, repeat NOT a “weapon of war”. Why? Current military rifles are select-fire – the gun fires a burst or continues to fire as long as the trigger remains depressed until all the ammunition is gone. There are already restrictions in place on fully automatic firearms, and there have been since 1934.

The AR-15 is a SEMI-automatic rifle – one pull of the trigger results in one shot fired. That’s all. It is NOT a “military” weapon.  Semi-automatic firearms have been around for well over 100 years. There is nothing new or insidious about the mechanics of semi-automatic firearms. People have used them for generations, and it is the dominant style of firearm in current use.

Origins

The AR in AR-15 stands for “ArmaLite Rifle” – which is the name of the company which came up with the original design in the late 1950’s. Armalite subsequently sold the rights to Colt, which went on to manufacture the full-auto military version.  “AR-15” has become the popular generic name for the style of rifle, but the AR does NOT stand for “assault rifle”, and average citizens may only purchase semi-automatic versions. Here is a timeline for those who may be interested.  https://www.ammoland.com/2016/04/ar-15-rifle-historical-time-line/#axzz57hEpGDub

Modularity

The reason for the popularity of this style of rifle is its modularity. Parts can be swapped out for different versions with relative ease. That means that the average gun owner (or pediatrician) can make his or her own cosmetic modifications without paying a gunsmith to do the work. The problem is that those cosmetic modifications are widely misunderstood by the non-gun owning public. Many people (including lawmakers) who are ignorant about how firearms actually work, assume that those cosmetic features somehow make the rifle more “deadly”, when in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. None of the features that “define” an AR in the public’s imagination change the way the firearm functions. The internal mechanics remain the same as any other semi-automatic firearm. An analogy would be to say that just because you’ve added racing stripes to a car’s paint job, and hung fuzzy dice from the rear view, doesn’t mean that you’ve done anything to actually make the car go faster.

Flexibility

One of the advantages to modularity is that the AR is easy to disassemble. It is composed of two main parts – the upper receiver and the lower receiver – which separate by pushing two pins. The reason this is advantageous is that many uppers and many lowers are interchangeable, allowing flexibility for different uses. For instance, I have a whole separate upper receiver designed for a slightly different caliber ammo, so that I can use the gun for hunting large game. I just pop one upper off, and pop the other upper on, and I’m ready to transition from target matches to deer season. Additionally, I have a bolt adapter (an internal part that slides into the gun) which allows me to shoot an even smaller caliber of ammo for steel target matches. Thus, my particular AR – with the right parts – allows me to shoot three different calibers of ammo for three different types of shooting, without having to own three separate rifles.

I’ll now attempt to explain some of the cosmetic features, and why they make for a popular and useful rifle.

Adjustable stock

The adjustable stock was one of the features singled out during the failed “Assault Weapons Ban” of the 1990’s. This feature simply allows the firearm stock length to be adjusted to fit different size users. In other words – it can be made comfortable for the arm reach of a small-to-average size woman like myself. Without an adjustable stock, I would be forced to find (and pay) a gunsmith to saw off and reshape a solid stock to fit me. Because of the AR’s modularity, I was even able to perform a swap-out of one style of adjustable stock for another – all by myself. Banning adjustable stocks sounds a bit silly and even sexist now, doesn’t it?

Pistol grip

Editor’s Note: The pink one is definitely the most dangerous evil gripping device feature allowing all the .30 caliber magazine clips to be fired in half a second. The bright hues distract the innocent with thoughts of cotton candy and unicorns as the gun stalks closer.

This feature was also on the banned list. There is nothing nefarious about a pistol grip. It is simply a chunk of rubber or plastic which allows the user to keep a firmer hold on the firearm. Maintaining better physical control of a firearm sounds like a safety feature to me, not something “dangerous”. I have personal experience in swapping out the pistol grip on my rifle for one of a different color (an operation performed at my kitchen table), and I can confirm that this piece of hollow plastic isn’t any more “dangerous” than a doggie chew toy.

Barrel shroud

This is yet another feature that was on the banned list. Though the word “shroud” certainly sounds menacing, another name for this component is “hand guard”. The purpose of this feature is to keep the user from burning their hands on a hot barrel, because firing a gun generates heat. There is nothing dangerous or evil about keeping someone from burning their hands. In a traditional style rifle, wood serves that purpose. Modern hand guards are now available in a variety of colors, designs, and materials for those who like to personalize their firearms. (like myself)

Flash hider

This is another previously banned piece of metal. Its only purpose is to reduce the amount of flare/flash that comes out of the end of the gun when it is fired. That flash can sometimes interfere with the shooter’s vision in lower light conditions. I consider this one to be a safety feature as well, as you never want a shooter’s vision to be obscured. It in no way makes the firearm more “dangerous”.

Magazine

This is a “gun part” that is not actually part of the gun. (it is NOT a “clip” – a clip is something entirely different)

A magazine is nothing more than a spring-loaded tube that pushes ammunition upward into the gun. It works almost exactly like a Pez dispenser. A magazine is composed of a square-ish hollow plastic tube, a spring with plastic on both ends, and a bottom sliding lid to keep the spring inside. That’s it. Nothing evil there either. The capacity of the magazine doesn’t mean a whole lot because with a little bit of practice changing magazines can take about 2 seconds (even less if you are a competitive shooter). That means that in place of a standard 30 round magazine, using three 10-round magazines would take only 4 seconds longer to fire the same number of shots.

To summarize all of the above:

  1. The colloquially named AR-15 is NOT a “military” rifle, or a “weapon of war”.
  2. The AR-15 style rifle has been around for some sixty years, and semi-automatic firearms in general for over one hundred years.
  3. “AR” stands for ArmaLite Rifle, NOT Assault Rifle.
  4. The AR-15 functions like every other semiautomatic firearm.
  5. The external modifiable features of an AR-15 do NOT make it any more “dangerous” than any other semi-automatic rifle.
  6. Those external modifiable features DO however make the AR-15 more comfortable, more safe, and more user-friendly for people of all different sizes and body types, thus making the AR-15 the most popular rifle style in America.

 

USPSA Ladies Handgun Championship Sponsored by SIG SAUER

By
Keith Finch
-

CNN Analyst: Women Carrying Guns Is Not Practical

Editor’s Note: Ha! Okay.

While I’m busy informing all the armed women I know that they are being impractical (I’m certain that will go over splendidly) SIG SAUER is impractically sponsoring the USPSA Ladies Handgun Championship being impractically hosted at Rockcastle Shooting Center in Kentucky. Who is attending?

 

AUSTIN TX – A Girl & A Gun Women’s Shooting League (AG & AG) is pleased to announce that SIG Sauer is the Title Sponsor of the first-ever USPSA Ladies Handgun Championship to be held at Rockcastle Shooting Center on Sunday, October 7, 2018. This match comprises the final day of the A Girl & A Gun Fall Festival, which includes shooting clinics and competitive events for women throughout the Mammoth Park, KY, property.

“We are so honored to have the confidence of Mike Foley and USPSA to roll out the first-ever all-ladies match,” says AG & AG Founder Julianna Crowder. “We have so many talented female shooters in this sport, from A Class to Grand Masters. It will be fun for us to have an opportunity to come together for competition as well as camaraderie.”

The SIG Sauer USPSA Ladies Handgun Championship match consists of 8 fun stages with a round count of over 250 rounds. It will have a combination of challenging small, medium, and large courses of fire to test every skill level. Event staff includes experts in match design and match management to deliver an exceptional experience. The event concludes with a prize table and awards ceremony.

John Scoutten and crew will be on-hand covering the action for Jim Scoutten’s Shooting USA, and Tony Pignato will be covering the match for direct to social media production. This match will welcome more than 100 women from across the country. Membership to AG & AG is not required. Registration is open at AGirlandAGun.org/fallfest.

About A Girl & A Gun

A Girl & A Gun Women’s Shooting League (AG & AG) is a membership organization whose events have been successful stepping stones for thousands of women into the shooting community and fostered their love of shooting with caring and qualified instructors to coach them. AG & AG breaks barriers for women and girls in the area of self-defense and in pistol, rifle, and shotgun shooting sports by welcoming beginners to learn the basics of safe and accurate shooting and providing experienced shooters with advanced-level opportunities. The club has more than 5,000 members in 48 states, with chapters that host recurring Girl’s Nights Out at more than 150 ranges throughout the nation.

Assault Weapons Ban of 2018, Introduced by David N. Cicilline of Rhode Island.

By
Keith Finch
-

Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) formally introduced a bill on Monday to ban assault weapons.

From Cicilline’s webpage

The Assault Weapons Ban of 2018 will prohibit the sale, transfer, production, and importation of:

·         Semi-automatic rifles and pistols with a military-style feature that can accept a detachable magazine;

·         Semi-automatic rifles with a fixed magazine that can hold more than 10 rounds;

·         Semi-automatic shotguns with a military-style feature;

·         Any ammunition feeding device that can hold more than 10 rounds;

·         And 205 specifically-named and listed firearms.

As of this morning the full text of the House Resolution is not in the official record however Scribd has what appears to be the text here. It’s 126 pages.

From the surface it looks to prohibit the future transfer of just about every semi-automatic firearm.

The term ‘semiautomatic assault weapon’ means any of the following, regardless of country of manufacture or caliber of ammunition accepted:
(A) A semiautomatic rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any 1 of the following:
(i) A pistol grip.
(ii) A forward grip.
(iii) A folding, telescoping, or detachable stock.
(iv) A grenade launcher or rocket launcher.
(v) A barrel shroud.
(vi) A threaded barrel.
(B) A semiautomatic rifle that has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds, except for an attached tubular device designed to accept, and capable of operating only with .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.
(C) Any part, combination of parts, component, device, attachment, or accessory that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle but not convert the semi-automatic rifle into a machinegun.
(D) A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any 1 of the following:
(i) A threaded barrel.
(ii) A second pistol grip.
(iii) A barrel shroud.
(iv) The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip.
A semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm.
(E) A semiautomatic pistol with a fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.
(F) A semiautomatic shotgun that has any 1 of the following:
(i) A folding, telescoping, or detachable stock.
(ii) A pistol grip.
(iii) A fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 5 rounds.
(iv) The ability to accept a detachable magazine.
(v) A forward grip.
(vi) A grenade launcher or rocket launcher.
(G) Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder.

It then lists the 205 specific models banned from sale and transfer. ARs, AKs, SCARs, Tavors, Etc. all on the ban list.

The real insidious language is in the pistol ban.

A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any 1 of the following:
(i) A threaded barrel.

 

Every pistol which has a barrel that can be removed can accept a threaded barrel. That is nearly every modern semi-auto since the 1911.

Good news! So far they are not taking our chainsaw bayonets though, just our stash of rocket launchers. (vi) A grenade launcher or rocket launcher.

There is, of course, a law enforcement and government carve out.

These congressmen do of course support the second amendment so you can keep ones that were legal prior to the enactment of this ban but those guns die with you because they cannot be transferred.

There’s also language for establishing a government database for tracking crimes specifically with assault weapons. The FBI’s UCR is not good enough apparently.

 

As for the chances of passage. That depends entirely on Republican support. If they cave and give the support it could hit the president’s desk.

If they don’t support it they will be vilified as uncaring NRA pocketed child murder supporters just like anyone who currently owns any of the firearms covered and dares to question the logic or effectiveness of this measure.

It would be ineffective.

Of the hundreds of millions of firearms in circulation today this covers a large percentage and even assuming 100% compliance (an impossibility) this still leaves those millions in private hands for the better part of a century and does nothing against firearms not covered or people who will ignore the law.

When the law is ignored and another headline grabbing mass homicide happens this law and that tragedy can be leveraged for immediate forfeiture of all ‘assault weapons’. Just remember they aren’t coming for your guns, they respect the Second Amendment.

That confiscation would also be ineffective without 100% compliance.

 

Like I wrote last week. If someone believes private firearms are the problem and are advocating for anything less that a total ban and forfeiture they are either lying or naive.

Sunday Sermon: Accuracy > Speed

By
Keith Finch
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Can you hit your target?

If YES, how quickly?

I see plenty of video evidence all over the range of social media showcasing speed but almost, with a select few exceptions, none showcasing accuracy at anything beyond arm’s length. Many people move to the second point before thoroughly addressing the first because the second looks better on camera or that is what they are seeing over and over online.

In any fight involving gunfire there are two ways that fire can be considered accurate. Effective fire and suppressive fire. Effective fire hits the target directly, damaging and disabling. Suppressive fire controls the target’s movement.

From a personal protective standpoint effective fire is what we are dealing with. It would be a wildly rare defensive gun use that sees a civilian or LEO using a sidearm (or rifle) for suppression. With the exception of belt fed weapons or a team using multiple rifles a single defensive shooter does not have the ammunition to maintain suppression. Suppression also damages the area suppressed, a significant concern where collateral damage to bystanders and property must be accounted for.

Effective fire, shots delivered to the center mass of the chest cavity or CNS to disable a threat’s ability to fight.

What do you do to assure you can deliver those shots at necessary distances? I’ve seen shooters miss an 18″x30″ target at 5ft. The shooter was so focused on getting a shot off they didn’t bother to make sure it hit what it needed to.

https://gatdaily.com/skills-maintenance-evaluation-speed-accuracy/

The drill at the link is my humbling favorite. Dot Torture requires one box of ammunition. It works two handed, one handed, and off handed shooting. It works multiple targets. It works drawing from a holster. It works reloads. It does this all in 50 rounds using 10 small targets.

You get no points for speed in Dot Torture. Only hits count.

You may very well get no effect on a threat if you do not connect rounds.

Someone trying to kill you will not care how blindingly fast you missed them.

Many Reloading Accidents are Preventable

By
Keith Finch
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The following pictures are not intended to scare people away from reloading. Literally millions of rounds of ammunition are safely reloaded by consumers every year. But these pictures are intended to point out the need for quality education in order for someone to be able to reload safely. There are risks associated with either a “careless moment” or a freak accident that still could have been prevented.

The injury depicted in this first picture occurred before the reloader in question even used his priming equipment. He was filling an aluminum priming tube the way countless aluminum priming tubes are filled, by pushing the soft plastic tip against primers to push them up into the tube. The only difference is, one primer accidently ignited as it was being picked up, which caused a chain ignition of only seven other primers that had already been loaded into the tube. One can only imagine what would have happened if he had been near completing loading the 100 primers the tube was capable of holding.

Priming tubes with proper shielding (typically a steel tube surrounding the aluminum tube that holds the primers) are quite safe. But as you can see, loading that tube in the first place could be a tad dicey. This reloader now uses a vibratory tube filler. It is also possible static electricity, rather than pressure, caused this ignition. A simple $5 static-guard wrist strap could have prevented that from occurring. And SAAMI recommends all presses that use bulk priming devices be properly grounded (against static ignition) and the tubes of primers be properly shielded to protect the operator (regardless of the source of ignition).

This second picture resulted from a very experienced (thirty-year reloading veteran!) having a momentary lapse in judgment. While it is possible to safely seat a primer more deeply in an empty case (if it were not seated to the proper depth initially), it should never be attempted –as this person did – to seat the primer more deeply once the cartridge is complete, that is, including powder and bullet! While the subsequent explosion of the cartridge “only” threw shrapnel from the case as it split apart, the operator was close enough to the explosion that a piece could just as easily hit an eye.

Want to know more about these two occurrences and other avoidable risks, accidents and hazards associated with reloading? Read, “Things They Don’t Tell You About Reloading” by certified metallic cartridge reloading instructor, Joel F. Guerin. Click here (https://ReloadingAtoZ.com) to buy the book. Use coupon code “GAT” at checkout for free shipping!

We Like Shooting Double Tap 049 – I would not drink that

By
We Like Shooting
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Welcome to We Like Shooting’s Double Tap, Episode 49, Tonight we talk about gun tech, we’ll answer your questions on Dear WLS, we’ll talk about NOT GUNS, and revisit past gear

Source: https://welikeshooting.com/show/double-tap/dt049/

We Like Shooting 233 – Lack Toast Intolerant

By
We Like Shooting
-

Welcome to the We Like Shooting show, Episode 233 – tonight we’ll talk about Flamethrower Bayonet, GSG MP40, AGP Arms Mag extension, Athlon Outdoors, guns, shooting, firearms, nra, 2ndamendment and more!

Nobody is Coming to Save You… No Matter Their Job

By
Keith Finch
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Sheriff Scott Israel of Broward County

Scott Peterson, former Deputy Sheriff of Broward County, had one job.

He failed.

Four minutes, the time Peterson spent outside the building while students and faculty were under attack. Four minutes where he let them fight and die when he was the only one equipped for that fight.

His job was that fight.

He failed.

Peterson was the School Resource Officer for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He held that post since 2009. He was a 23-year veteran of Broward County Sheriff’s Department.

He was the assigned police officer. The county resource. The government response.

He failed. The government’s man extending civic protection, did not.

Scott Peterson may be the most reviled man in the country this morning. It’s a special cowardice that leaves an armed uniformed officer doing nothing while those specifically in his care are killed.

Hundreds of thousands of officers and veterans, millions of citizens are wishing today to have taken Peterson’s place… even had they died in the effort.

Peterson’s shame will live forever. He failed.

Peterson is not the title image of this article. That man is Scott Israel, Sheriff of Broward County.

Sheriff Israel, you failed.

Peterson failed in the moment. Israel failed much earlier. Israel has gladly thrown Peterson to the wolves.

The Sheriff failed to provide Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School an officer who could do the duty assigned. The one duty that surpasses all others in importance. The Sheriff too failed Peterson by putting him there in a position he was not ready or trained to shoulder. He failed to lead a department that would follow up on the information about the shooter, Cruz.

The FBI failed to communicate their information.

The systems put in place for protecting Parkland’s children…

Every. Single. One…

Failed

The loudest response to this failure is to give that system more to do. Great plan.

I read and hear vague vaporous concepts calling out for gun bans and the abolishment of the second amendment. Yet when challenged to solidify why those would be effective solutions suddenly…

“Well I don’t know exactly, I’m not an expert.” Understanding that is crucial to the value of your contribution on shaping policy.

“We HAVE to do something.” How about something effective in place of something emotionally driven but logically misguided according to readily available data that happens to be politically convenient to ignore at the moment.

“You just love guns and hate kids.” You’re absolutely right. My hatred of children drove my discussion with my close friends about the security at their children’s school. Whether or not they had surveillance and controlled access and is it effectively enforced. Are there active shooter plans and how thorough they are. Were they interested in any personally accountable steps like a panel of armor in their kid’s bags, talking with the faculty about communication between rooms and persons. Volunteering at the schools to be an extra set of eyes if nothing else.

“THE STUPID EVIL TERRORIST NRA IS PREVENTING THE GOVERNMENT FROM PROTECTING US!!!” No firearms rights organization had any hand in the influencing the FBI or Broward County Sheriff (Who seems to be politically opposed to the NRA anyway). Feelings to the contrary are just that, feelings.

Unproductive emotional projectionist concepts do not produce good policy.

 

Nobody is coming to save you.

Again. Still. And always. The first responder to a situation in front of you… is you.

We Like Shooting Double Tap 050 – Imbecile

By
We Like Shooting
-

Welcome to We Like Shooting’s Double Tap, Episode 50, Tonight we talk about gun tech, we’ll answer your questions on Dear WLS, we’ll talk about NOT GUNS, and revisit past gear

Source: https://welikeshooting.com/show/double-tap/dt050/

Strength and Disability

By
Keith Finch
-

From Dr. LateBloomer

I have always been a relatively strong woman physically. Not in a “gym rat” sort of way, but in a naturally “built like that” kind of way. I’ve never been the wispy, delicate sort. As a result, I have always taken for granted my ability to easily rack a slide and handle a double action revolver trigger. Although I understood on an academic level that some women had trouble with these things, it was not something that I had to take into consideration on a regular basis. Until now.

For the past few months I have been dealing with a slowly creeping nerve impingement issue. The result is numbness, tingling, and slow loss of grip strength and fine motor skills. It is worse in my non-dominant hand, but the right is also involved. My physician and physical therapist have been working on pinpointing and correcting the cause, but these things take time.

I realized this morning that the local IDPA season starts in about 6 weeks. I also realized that this hand issue may affect my shooting choices. Although I have never managed to get classified in revolver (I was out of town when the past few classifiers were held), I have puttered around with shooting my S&W 686SSR at matches for the past few seasons. With this revolver, stages requiring support-hand-only shooting have been challenging but do-able. This year, I fear they may be impossible.

The little bit of basement dry fire I have attempted confirms that I’d best leave the wheel gun at home in the safe and shoot semi-auto SSP instead. Even racking the slide on my Glocks and M&P takes much more effort than it used to. This is deeply concerning to me, but I am hoping that this is a temporary condition.

Nonetheless, I am trying to be philosophical, and take this situation as a learning experience. The elderly, the disabled, and the less physically strong may have to deal with obstacles in learning to shoot which I have heretofore taken for granted. I’m going to do my best to pay attention to these things as I go along in the future. Life, as they say, is the ultimate teacher.

So, I’m going to take this opportunity to urge firearms instructors and internet keyboard warriors to occasionally “disable” themselves in some way, and then try to shoot like that. Besides the obvious non-dominant hand use, perhaps try wrapping a hand in an ace wrap and then shooting with that hand to adversely affect grip and dexterity. Using double or triple layer trauma gloves will affect touch sensitivity. Try smearing lip balm over shooting glasses to simulate cataracts. Tie shoelaces together or use a locking knee brace to simulate mobility issues.

Not only would all of these drills be a good “tactical” exercise in how to stay in the fight if one is wounded, it might also grant some clarity and understanding about the challenges faced by future students or comrades. We know that the elderly and disabled are often chosen as targets by the criminal element. Understanding their physical challenges may help us as instructors better help them to be able to defend themselves with firearms.

If nothing else, you will have moved your own self farther up the learning curve, and that is never a bad thing.

 

Let’s Make a Deal: President Trump’s Line on Gun Control. Proposes Bans

By
Keith Finch
-
Image from CNN coverage of the speech

Yesterday the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, signed a memorandum directing the attorney general to set rules “banning all devices that turn legal weapons into machineguns.”

“GUN AND MAGAZINE BANS. Gun and magazine bans are a total failure. That’s been
proven every time it’s been tried. Opponents of gun rights try to come up with scary
sounding phrases like “assault weapons”, “military-style weapons” and “high capacity
magazines” to confuse people. What they’re really talking about are popular semiautomatic
rifles and standard magazines that are owned by tens of millions of
Americans. Law-abiding people should be allowed to own the firearm of their choice.
The government has no business dictating what types of firearms good, honest people
are allowed to own.” – From Donald J Trump on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

This view apparently hasn’t held, was never held to begin with, or is simply not politically convenient right now so they are going to play on technicalities .

“Whether we are Republican or Democrat, we must now focus on strengthening Background Checks!” President Trump tweeted.

It appears bans are and ‘universal background checks’ may be back on the table from the President who promised, “The Second Amendment to our Constitution is clear. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon. Period.”

 

Readers, I am a reasonable man with friends and family who run the political opinion spectrum. I am willing to entertain and discuss any possible solution to help respond to, reduce casualties from, and prevent attacks.

I am not willing to give merit to meritless ideas for the sake of security theater. I am not willing to let a platitative measure that feels good and will fail to prevent a massacre pass on merits it does not possess.

I’ve been part of the security industry for over a decade. This has all been in a post 9/11 world. I’ve seen effective security and I’ve seen security ‘shows’. I’ve participated in both. It was part of the various jobs and individual assignments. There were situations we could handle and situations we couldn’t, regardless of the public perception.

 

“The eight-year assault on your Second Amendment freedoms has come to a crashing end.” – President Donald J. Trump

Until it was restarted because “Do Something” Trumps “Do Something Effective”

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