I had a little chin wag with Brent Carlton yesterday. The president of comm2a.com (Commonwealth Second Amendment) and I discussed the case of Stan Sokolowski, a Lowell gun collector whose guns were stolen from his vault. The police investigation of the theft quickly became a police investigation of Mr. Sokolowski. Well, slowly, actually. The po-po interrogated Mr. S. for seven hours. Whilst checking out the crime scene, the cops found hand-loading supplies [allegedly] in excess of the Massachusetts Fire Marshall’s regs. They charged Sokolowski with illegal manufacture of explosives. Needless to say, the State yanked his firearms ID card; Sokolowski is now a gunless gun collector. Unarmed. So many important lessons here . . .
Gear Review: MGM Full Size IPSC Target
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0skGFbbleAs&feature=player_embedded
I’ve moved. I’m now ten minutes from a free, city-owned and operated shooting range—newly renovated thanks to a N.R.A. grant. My previous range was well-appointed: RO’s, target stands, soda machines and targets for sale. While there are no membership fees or RO’s who are convinced that even looking at the “blue line” deserves a warning, there’s no pop, targets, target stands or clear yardage indicators. Defining yardage will be easy; I’ll simply wait for some after-hunting or holiday sale and will pick up a cheap laser rangefinder. Selecting my own target stand was a harder decision than I’d anticipated. It had to be portable enough to fit in the trunk but substantial enough to survive the early morning gusty conditions so common here in the desert southwest . . .
Incendiary Item of the Day: Eco and Baby Friendly Teething Toy
I’ve procreated. I’ve done my bit to perpetuate the species and keep Social Security solvent for another 4.27 seconds. But I don’t recall ever dropping a wooden teething toy in the crib when junior was sprouting choppers. While the kid was quite the bruiser and probably could have handled barbed wire, we always used gum-soothing devices that were a little more mouth-friendly, less porous, and didn’t have the potential to splinter. But that’s just us. Of course, by using plastic stuff as we did, I’m sure we depleted the ozone layer and drowned a few polar bears. At no time, though, did we ever worry about grandma’s shrieking disapproval at seeing the little tyke with the barrel of a gun in his mouth…
What Could Possibly Go Wrong: Cokeman Edition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS2botDNobY&feature=player_embedded
Despite my hissy fit over the unofficial gun blog black list, I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about other firearms blogs. Don’t get me wrong: I read them all. We link to them as the occasion merits. But I never stop to wonder what TTAG should be doing that they’re doing. We do what we do and . . . that’s it. But this? This is different. The video troll Cokeman (a.k.a. “the new FPSRussia“) has targeted AR15.com, glocktalk.com and now, everydaynodaysoff.com. I’m feeling left out! So I put it to you, our Armed Intelligentsia, to antagonize Cokeman into creating a video love letter for TTAG. Start with this: what could possibly go wrong shooting a gun into magazines and papers in the comfort of your own home? And on a personal note, Cokeman, can you video something that’s safe (my lawyer made me say that) that safely (I pay that guy big bucks) demonstrates us your marksmanship? Just curious is all.
Gun Review: Smith & Wesson Governor (Take Four)
[I found this review by LC Judas in the comments’ section.]
Okay, originally I was in the impulsive gun market after a grip failure on a SIG Equinox. My resale would cover a Governor new. I wanted to see if the cylinder would handle hot .45 LC rounds without making me understand shrapnel from experience. I found nothing but indications that hot loads are a bad idea in this gun. After reading [TTAG’s initial take on the Smith & Wesson Governor] and all the comments included I have a couple things to add. The first problem is we have four crowds yelling here, not two . . .
ATF Death Watch 82: Stonewall
Department of Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano doesn’t remember exactly when she became aware of Operation Fast and Furious, the ATF black bag job that armed members of the Sinaloa cartel with some two thousand weapons, three of which drug thugs used to murder U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. “Senator, I would have to go back and check,” Napolitano told Senator John McCain at yesterday’s hearing of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. FYI: Terry was killed on December 14, 2010; you’d think Ms. Napolitano would have scanned her calendar app by now. That particular perjury aside, Napolitano has now testified under oath that she didn’t know about F&F “while the operation was underway.” What does that tell you?
Quick Summary of the Proposed National Right to Carry Act (H.R.822)
The “National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011,” known also as H.R.822 or “The Streets Aren’t Red Enough Act” by the Brady Campaign has been talked about a lot in the news, but not many news organizations have taken the time to actually read through the damned thing and parse it out for their readers (despite the fact that it’s currently only six pages long). Seeing as I’m a bit of a legislation nerd I figured I would give it a go and walk you guys through exactly what’s being proposed.
Lucky Gunner Poll Reveals American Ammo Hoarders
I laugh when the legacy media gets its proverbial knickers in a twist when cops confiscate a couple of hundred rounds of ammo. Click here for the raw data.
Taser a Victim of its Own Success
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HOI9fcNvTk&feature=player_embedded
Press release:
There is a story that is national news concerning an incorrect report about a NY DJ’s father using a “TASER” on a Marine during a Cowboys vs. Jets game this past weekend that was attended by President George W. Bush for the 9-11 activities.
The story has unfortunately gone viral and while the device in question was definitely not a TASER® brand device, I wanted you to know that we are trying to get as many of these stories corrected as possible – just a heads up as I’ve had a lot of inquiries.
Steve Tuttle
Vice President of Communications
Question of the Day: How Much Do You Pay for Transfers?
I’ve only bought one gun over the intertubes. It was my first gun, a cheap POS Russian shotgun I bought when I first took up trap. Still have it, too, if anyone’s interested. Anyway, I prefer to patronize my local sellers. That doesn’t mean I won’t buy a gun from an on-line dealer if the savings are big enough. But as long as my local dealers can keep things close enough, they’ll get my business. I’m going to be reviewing some guns for TTAG, though, and that means having guns shipped to me from the manufacturers. Which means transfers. So I’ve searched local FFLs to see what they charge and got fees from $15 to $50. Fifty bucks to process some paperwork and make a phone call seems on the steep side to me. You, too? If you buy on-line, how much do you usually pay for a transfer? What’s reasonable?
Defending the Self-Defense Case Pt. 2
[The following was written by attorney Lisa J. Steele for nacdl.org. It is republished here with the author’s permission. Click here for part 1.]
Perception, Memory, and the Eyewitness
A lengthy discussion about eyewitness memory and perception is outside the scope of this article. The nature of a self-defense situation generally means that the client and the witnesses will not be able to accurately recall what happened. This is normal. Self-defense situations develop very quickly. Bystanders who were not paying attention to the situation may not take notice until after a loud noise or sudden movement. Thus, they may miss important cues that led the client to believe he or she was in imminent danger. Once a weapon has been displayed, weapon focus will cause the witnesses to watch it, and perhaps miss other important events during the incident . . .
ArmsDealer.net Launches Free Firearms Classifieds, Site Redesign
Dan Pehrson, the man behind the PAFOA forum, launched his website ArmsDealer.net earlier this year. We did a post about it back then, detailing the benefits of having a searchable database of local FFLs, gun shops and ranges based on your location. The latest version of the site now includes a mobile version of the site as well as a searchable classified ad section for firearms that’s completely free to use, unlike Gunbroker which takes a cut of the final sale price or eBay which won’t let you sell firearms at all. To promote the new section Dan is giving away some free goodies to a few lucky gun nuts. Click here for the details. In my opinion this site has a lot of potential to be very useful (especially to new shooters), so I recommend checking it out.