Why Is Ammunition So Expensive?

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February 21, 2010

Over the last year, ammunition prices have shot through the roof. The price of 9mm and other small caliber handgun rounds have increased by as much as 62 percent. There are plenty of theories explaining this “sudden” price escalation, from economics to politics to political economics. The Mystery of The Really Expensive Ammo is worth solving; a gun without ammo is nothing more than a very expensive blunt instrument for hand-held assault. So here’s a rundown of the most popular—if not logical or accurate—explanations for the high price of ammunition . . .

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Paper FN F2000

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Robert Farago

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February 20, 2010

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBxFY8zUAV0

Checkt he specs of the real deal here.

Fox News Bill O’Reilly Labels Anti-Gun Confiscation Oath “An Extreme Positon”

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Robert Farago

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February 20, 2010

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvrwsZwL5vE

On Friday, Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly interviewed Mark Potok. The founder of the Oath Keepers defended his organization’s declaration that its members would not surrender their weapons under martial law. O’Reilly seemed genuinely incredulous that American citizens would resist efforts by their own government to disarm them. In the clip above, O’Reilly clearly believes that the breakdown of law—exploited by looters—justifies restricting citizens’ otherwise lawful right to defend themselves with firearms. At the end of the clip, he label Potok’s views “a pretty extreme position.” You can read the full Oath Keepers’ declaration here, or make the jump for the bullet point version. So to speak.

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New Zealand Police Neglect and Abuse Their Bushmaster Rifles

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Robert Farago

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February 20, 2010

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A report in today’s Herald on Sunday attempts to link the New Zealand police’s chronic neglect and wanton abuse of their Bushmaster rifles with the accidental shooting of teenager Halatau Naitoko. The paper makes a lousy job of it—due to a singular lack of evidence connecting the rifle abuse with Naitoko’s death. Nevertheless, the article is a stunning indictment of the New Zealand police force’s treatment of their deadly weapons. “Problems first emerged in 2006 after a study of 18 rifles, according to an email from the New Zealand Police National Armoury to police headquarters in Wellington. The email, written by a firearms expert, speculated that rifle barrels were being damaged because of sound suppressors that had been fitted to reduce noise, allowing police to comply with health and safety laws. Without the suppressors, the noise of the rifles was excessive – but the sound-dampening attachment also forced material back into the barrel of the rifle when a bullet was fired.” IGW (It Gets Worse).

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Total Recoil 1

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Robert Farago

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February 20, 2010

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NYT: “Should customers be free to sip Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Lattes at their laptop screens while brandishing a gleaming Ruger .357?”

By

Robert Farago

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February 20, 2010

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The New York Times’ Op Ed team has weighed-in on the controversy surrounding licensed gun owners bringing their firearm into restaurants. The story hit the headlines when Virginia moved to rescind its ban on concealed carry weapons in eateries, provided the licensed owner doesn’t drink excessively (go figure). Needless to say, The Gray Lady comes down on guns in restaurants with its usual combination of condescension and derision. After praising the owner of the California Buckhorn Grill chain for reiterating its gun ban, and tipping their metaphorical hat at Peet’s Coffee & Tea and California Pizza Kitchen for their firearms prohibition, the Times trains its literary guns on Starbucks. “Should customers be free to sip Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Lattes at their laptop screens while brandishing a gleaming Ruger .357?” Brandishing? Really? To its credit, the Times does not misrepresent the coffee chain’s position on the issue. “So far, Starbucks executives say yes, claiming they are quite safety-minded within a policy that ‘supports the federal, state and local laws in the communities in which we do business.'” The Times ends their dietribe [sic] by urging the Seattle caffeine vendors to erect metal detectors at all entrances to all of their 11,068 American stores. Just kidding. I think.

Taser Shares Surge on 31% Sales Increase, Shotgun Round Ready for Prime Time?

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Robert Farago

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February 20, 2010

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtHi_0Qc3Ts

Shares in Taser International ended the week with a nine percent surge, closing at $7.15 a share. That’s an 8.66 percent jump on heavily increased trading volume (5,253,646 shares). The rise followed better-than-expected fourth quarter sales figures, up 31 percent from year-ago levels. The company’s CFO sees even brighter days ahead. “We expect R&D expenses to relax in 2010, as the launch costs for Axon, [muli-shot] X3, [scary ass] Shockwave and XREP are behind us,” Chief Financial Officer Dan Behrendt told a bunch of jobbing journos on a conference call. The long-anticipated Taser shotgun round is finally making the rounds, conveniently packaged in a screaming yellow Mossberg X12 [screen cap after the jump]. Coincidentally enough, on the same day that they released Q4 results Taser announced that the New Zealand police are their new BFFs. The PC Kiwi PCs bought the complete Taser evidence collecting package.

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Utah Senator: Combine Browning Day with Martin Luther King Day

By

Robert Farago

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February 20, 2010

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From the Salt Lake Tribune:

Senate leaders say they like the idea of honoring the late Utah gun inventor John Moses Browning with a state holiday, but aren’t set on having it share a day with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Eagle Mountain , is proposing the holiday for the Ogden inventor of automatic weapons, and paired it with MLK Day to avoid the cost of adding a separate holiday. But Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, said Wednesday that sensitivity to the King holiday could make it appropriate to choose another date — either standing alone or paired with another federal holiday.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Jenkins said it’s appropriate to honor Browning, and he personally sees no conflict in doing so on a day that already honors a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

“Guns keep peace,” Jenkins said.

Major League Baseball: No Guns Allowed. Still.

By

Robert Farago

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February 19, 2010

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Last year, Major League Baseball (MLB) instituted a “no guns in the clubhouse” policy. This year, the league put signs up to that effect. And the media goes wild! Over this: “Individuals are prohibited from possessing deadly weapons while performing any services for MLB.” Vague much? Loophole a lot? You betcha! ABC News reveals that The “Major League Baseball’s Weapon-Free Workplace Policy . . . prohibits the possession or use of deadly weapons in any facility or venue owned, operated, or controlled by it.” Banned weapons include “firearms, explosives, daggers, metal knuckles, switchblade knives, and knives having blades exceeding 5 inches.” Explosives? Really? Explosives? Presumably, the player’s union-approved prohibition doesn’t include Nerf guns or baseball bats. Players and employees are allowed to carry said items in MLB parking lots where allowed by law. Oh, and Major League Baseball has granted itself permission to grant exceptions. Stalkers beware! Ish. [$20 for any TTAG reader who can email me a picture of the sign by 10pm EST]

How Did This Convicted Murderer Acquire 80 Guns?

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Robert Farago

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February 19, 2010

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The Salisbury (SC) Post reports local police recently arrested one Jessie Lee Sexton for Possession of a Firearm by a Felon. In 1982, Sexton was convicted of second-degree murder in Mobile, Alabama. After serving five years of a 15-year sentence, the felon was released from prison on parole. Captain John Sifford of the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office told The Truth About Guns that his men acted on an anonymous tip that Sexton had assembled a collection of firearms. On February 10, working with Agent Solomon of The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the Sheriff’s men went to Sexton’s Henderson Grove Church Road abode. “Lt. Chad Moose, head of the Criminal Investigation Division for the Sheriff’s Office, said when officers went to Sexton’s house to talk with him, the guns were visible,” the Post reported. “Sexton consented to a search.” Police found a collection of eighty weapons worth an estimated $20,000, including a pre-World War II German Luger prototype [picture after the jump]. And here’s the thing: a post-arrest inventory of the gun’s serial numbers revealed that not one of them was stolen.

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