Patriots Day
My apologies for the oversight last week.
Celebrate Patriots Day, April 19
ATF
- ATF lies. But that’s hardly news.
What IS news is that ATF’s acting director is being demoted and replaced, even while a permanent director has been nominated by President Biden, who is being accused of running a racist administration.
The Associated Press reported that a new record-breaking 300,000 potential guns sales were blocked by FBI background checks during 2020 which was apparently double the number of denials from the previous year. The report did not indicate whether there was a corresponding rise in prosecutions. Historically, the feds have only prosecuted about 0.01% (one one-hundredth of one percent, or about 10 out of 100,000) of NICS denials. We also note that a LARGE percentage of NICS denials are false positives, meaning the buyer is not really a prohibited person and is instead being denied his/her civil rights by the federal government.
Litigation
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried (D) is suing the Biden-Harris administration, the ATF and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland over the cannabis prohibition on the 4473 form, claiming that it violates the Second Amendment rights of lawful cannabis users. Florida is one of 37 states that have legalized medicinal cannabis, which remains illegal under federal law. Fried brought the lawsuit officially as the state’s Agriculture Commissioner, on behalf of three Floridians who she claims were barred from purchasing firearms based upon their use of medical cannabis.
Legislation
California is moving to ban guns in video games.
Safe places?
- Iraq
Writer John Connor reports that according to recent (I think this is somewhat dated – JP) statistics, over the past two years the annual rate of firearms deaths for residents of Washington, D.C. has been 80.6 per 100,000 citizens. For our troops engaged in combat operations in Iraq, the rate has been 60 per 100,000. That’s because the troops are mostly armed.
- Rich, “enlightened” liberals becoming victims of their own creation. ‘Bout time.
“Cops?”
Last week we reported on the exoneration of a man for shooting at unidentified cops who did a remarkable impression of felonious home invaders. This week we have a story about a man accosted at home by two crooks impersonating cops.
Jackson Cops
We have a report that the Jackson, MS Police Department is slow to answer and respond to 911 calls, taking as long as 30 minutes to answer the phone and an hour or more to respond to downtown locations just a couple of minutes away from Police Headquarters. We also hear that the department is over 100 officers short. Be careful.
The Only Ones
President Biden breaking gun laws? Wouldn’t surprise me.
South Bound Brook, NJ, Police Officer Paul Romano was fired after an incident in which he allegedly pointed his weapon at another officer at the police station. No criminal charges were filed. Romano is suing to get his job back.
Former Addyston, Indiana Police Chief Dorian LeCourse pleaded guilty to charges in federal court stemming from a scheme to illegally acquire and resell 200 machine guns.
An interesting correlation
“Burglaries increased in zip codes with fewer gun permits, and decreased in those with more gun permits.” – National Bureau of Economic Research paper (pdf)
I would have thought the opposite, at least for cold burglaries. But then again, correlation isn’t causation.
Army Guns
The Army is replacing the M4 rifle and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon under a 10-year, $20.4 million contract with Sig Sauer for the XM5 MCX-“Spear” Rifle, which will become the new standard rifle for soldiers, and the XM250 Automatic Rifle, which will replace the SAW. The Army will also switch from 5.56mm ammo to 6.8mm. Both weapons fire common 6.8 millimeter ammunition utilizing government provided projectiles and vendor-designed cartridges. The SIG 6.8×51 FURY Hybrid Ammunition uses a patented lightweight metallic case designed to handle pressures higher than conventional ammunition, resulting in dramatically increased velocity and on-target energy in lighter weapons. I’m a bit curious about how this will affect production and available quantity of “military” 5.56 ammo on the commercial market.
Winchester has been awarded a 5-year Army contract to manufacture .38 caliber, .45 caliber and 9mm ammunition with a potential value of $145,000,000. Winchester is the largest supplier of small-caliber ammunition to the U.S. Military. This pistol ammo will be manufactured at Winchester’s facilities in Oxford, Mississippi, and East Alton, Illinois.
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Higher Education in Conservation
- Fighting for Our Hunting Heritage: The NRA-Backed Center for Conservation Excellence. You might want to pass this on to folks interested in schooling in the field.
Industry News
The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesales reports that “The firearms market ‘Surge of 2020’ [except for ammo] is effectively over.”
Henry Recall
Henry Repeating Arms Company has recently discovered a potential safety issue with H015 Single Shot Rifles and Single Shot Shotguns and is voluntarily initiating a recall and complimentary upgrade to protect the safety of its customers. Under certain conditions, it is possible that some of these rifles and shotguns may discharge without the trigger being pulled if the hammer is partially cocked and released (known in some circles as the Baldwin Effect).
Products
I have used GrovTec brand sling mounting accessories on numerous occasions for several years now, including a couple of projects in the last week. I use slings on all of my long guns and I have found the GrovTec hardware to be very well made, professional grade, well-fitting items which in my experience are of much higher quality than other popular brands. In my opinion they are worth the extra effort to find for a gunsmithing project. They are good stuff instead of cheap stuff, and are very competitively priced.
Just a reminder that Federal is marketing 100th Anniversary limited edition commemorative packaging for a lot of its ammo this year. It looks pretty cool if you’re into that sort of thing.
Speer has added a 30 Super Carry load to its Gold Dot line, and CCI has added it to the Blazer Brass family.
- 24261GD / 30 Super Carry Gold Dot hollow point, 115-grain, 1150 fps 20-count / $35.99
- 5205 / Blazer Brass 30 Super Carry 115 grain FMJ, 1150 fps 50-count / $30.99
Nosler’s new Assured Stopping Power™ (ASP) ammunition line evolved from the Match Grade ammo line and combines match-grade accuracy with a reliable, effective, hollow-point bullet. This new line of ammunition will initially be offered in common bullet weights for 9 mm, .40 S&W, 10 mm and .45 ACP. Additionally, subsonic ASP loads will be offered in 9 mm and .45 ACP. The ASP ammunition features a new JHP bullet design with a skived jacket designed to deliver controlled bullet upset over a wide range of impact velocities. The bullet profile has also been optimized to help with reliable feeding. Also, Nosler will be offering these new ASP bullets as components for reloaders. Prices start at $17.45 per box of 20 loaded rounds.
How would you like a shotgun that puts 400 pellets in a 10″ circle at 40 yards? Trulock says you can do that with its Federal Heavyweight TSS # 9 choke combined with the Federal® Heavyweight TSS 9 shotshell. You probably should get some rifle sights or scope to go along with that.