By permission from: Stephen P. Wenger
comments in () by Stephen P. Wenger.
http://www.spw-duf.info
Is Big Brother Really the Gun Salesman of the Year?: Since the 2008
election, media reports have proclaimed that Obama's election spurred
gun sales. While there is some truth to this, there is more to the
story than one man… The chart below displays the percent growth in
both gun sales and U.S. population. National Instant Check System
(NICS) data indicates that background checks related to firearms
purchases increased 12.1% in 2006. Between 2000 and 2004, gun owners
seemed to feel that with Bush in the White House and a Republican
Congress, their guns were relatively safe. Using NICS records as an
indicator, firearms sales actually rose to historic highs beginning in
2006. Sales growth in 2006 neared that of 2008 (12.1% vs. 13.7%).
Sales growth continued at historic highs in 2007 (11.4% growth). With
a Democratic Congress, gun owners were already concerned about federal
gun control legislation and responded by buying far more guns. If the
2006 rate of gun sales per capita held steady and mirrored population
growth, 2008 sales growth would have been 12.3%. According to this
calculation, only a portion of the 2008 sales growth might be
attributable to Obama… (I believe that Mr. Nemerov's point is that Big
Brother is merely the point of the spear.)
http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d21-Did-Obama-get-too-much-credit-for-increased-gun-sales
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Ammo Supply 101: …Similarly, in the early nineties, some government
thug wondered if it would be possible to manufacture ammunition with a
limited shelf life. They asked someone in the industry to consider
that possibility. Even though doing so was impossible, a rumor spread
that shelf-life-limited primers were coming. Shooters and handloaders
wanting to stockpile EXTRA supplies created a shortage… Recently, we
had a situation that created a similar run on certain guns and
magazines. That panic-driven run fizzled out when it became obvious
that the underlying, unconstitutional law would expire. Last fall, the
obamination occurred. This event created a panic-driven run on guns
and all related items. Unlike the previous panic-driven runs, this run
is not based upon rumor or perceived threat; every real American
should intuitively understand that this threat is very much, very
real… Here is the critical fact: Before the obamination, no related
manufacturer had the facilities to increase production more than about
40%. Moreover, even if a company did have such capacity, it could not
expect to be able to affordably obtain raw materials needed to do so -
companies that supply raw materials cannot increase capacity more than
about 40%! …
http://nationalgunrights.org/blog/?p=195
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Bloomberg and Friends Oppose New Amtrak Rule: Mayor Michael R.
Bloomberg, New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, Representative Carolyn
McCarthy, Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter, Trenton Mayor Douglas
H. Palmer, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy and Police
Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly today stood together in Penn Station to
urge the House of Representatives to reject legislation that would
allow Amtrak train passengers to travel with guns in checked luggage.
The Senate passed an amendment to the transportation and housing
appropriations bill on Sept. 16, that would force Amtrak to install a
system to screen and check firearms so passengers could legally keep
weapons in their checked bags within half a year, or Amtrak will lose
1.6 billion dollars in federal funding. Amtrak currently does not have
a system for screening weapons, nor does it allow firearms to be
carried or checked in. he bill still needs to go through Congress and
Mayor Bloomberg made an announcement to express his views…
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/22725/
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Bloomberg Groups Suffers Defections: Grassroots politics is alive and
well in the United States, as gun owners have been making their voices
heard to their mayors. In the past few weeks, gun owners have been
contacting their mayors who joined New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's
anti-gun group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG). The result: MAIG
has lost over 50 members because gun owners took action to tell their
mayors the truth about this organization. Many of the mayors who have
resigned from MAIG have indicated they were unaware of the full extent
of their anti-gun agenda. They now know they were mislead by MAIG's
claims that it was only concerned with "illegal" guns. In response to
NRA-ILA's efforts to inform voters and mayors regarding the truth
about MAIG and its anti-gun agenda, Bloomberg's group has contacted
mayors repeating their claim that they are only concerned with
"illegal" guns, claiming that NRA is misrepresenting their agenda. But
the facts are clear…
http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-u-s-mayors-dropping-out-of-mike-bloomberg-s-anti-gun-group-r-1253481106
Interesting Map: This NRA-ILA web page lists MAIG members by state but
it's even more intriguing to click on the map and see the distribution
of members.
http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=254&issue=011
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Fate of California Ammo Bill in Governor's Hands: …Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger has not signaled a position on the bill. But he vetoed
another version by a different author five years ago. In the veto
message, Schwarzenegger pointed out that the federal government once
had a similar law and concluded it "was simply unworkable and offered
no public safety benefit." The federal law existed from shortly after
Robert F. Kennedy's assassination in 1968 until President Reagan
signed the repealer in 1986 - a prehistoric era before the Internet
and high-tech databases. Since then - and since Schwarzenegger's veto
- several California cities have proved that, with modern technology,
they can use dealers' records as a crime-fighting weapon. They're able
to track down felons and other people - spousal abusers, the
criminally insane - who have violated the law by obtaining ammunition…
(Mr. Skelton neglects to explain that the ammunition-registration
requirement of the Gun Control Act of 1968 was repealed in the firearm
Owners' Protection Act of 1986 after representatives from F Troop
testified that no criminal case had ever been solved using those
records. And I fail to see how L.A. sheriff Lee Baca would be
inconvenienced by any bill infringing the RKBA, short of one keeping
him and his driver from being armed off duty, in which case he'd
probably claim to be on duty 7/24.)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cap21-2009sep21,1,7842504,full.column
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Massachusetts Gun Clubs Threatened by Proposed Regulation: The Turkey
Shoot at the Shirley Rod and Gun Club is not what you might expect.
First, the club buys some frozen turkeys at the supermarket. Then
there are target-shooting competitions for hunting rifles, shotguns,
and pistols. The winners take home the frozen birds. Last year, the
club gave away about 300 of them. Still, the club's Thanksgiving
tradition, its largest fund-raiser of the year, has been around for as
long as anyone can remember. But this year's Turkey Shoot might not
happen if new regulations for gun clubs are adopted. The change is
being proposed by Governor Deval Patrick's administration in the wake
of a tragic accident last fall, when an 8-year-old boy died after
shooting himself with a machine gun during a "pumpkin shoot'' at a
Westfield gun club. If adopted, the regulations would prohibit machine
guns at all public sporting club events, and require clubs to obtain
special licenses, hire a police detail, and have one certified
firearms safety instructor for every 20 people in attendance (or one
for every five attendees if children are present) at all public
events. The regulations would also require clubs to submit a safety
plan to their local police department 30 days before each event…
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2009/09/20/gun_clubs_protest_possible_legislative_changes_for_public_events/
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Oops, Wrong House: A North Syracuse [NY] resident shot and killed two
Syracuse men after they kicked in the front door to his home and
entered early Saturday morning in what police are calling an apparent
home invasion. Dead are Thomas R. Lashomb, 23, of South Midler Avenue,
and Wade A. Brown, 26, of West Matson Avenue, Officer Jeffrey Tripp,
of the North Syracuse police, said. Jeffrey J. Bush, 22, shot both men
with a pistol-grip shotgun as Bush and others struggled with Lashomb
and Brown inside the house at 115 Elm St., Tripp said. During the
struggle, Bush's 2-year-old son slept in another room… Both dead men
have a criminal history… North Syracuse police consider the shooting
deaths to have been in self-defense. No charges were filed by North
Syracuse police, but Tripp said that any charges would be up to the
district attorney's office. "If the district attorney's office feels
they need to, they will put it before a grand jury," Tripp said…
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/update_police_say_north_syracu.html
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Oops, Wrong Driver: Police said a man acted in self-defense on
Saturday when he shot a 24-year-old who tried to rob him at gunpoint.
"Little did this kid know that this 72-year-old man was a licensed CCW
(carrying a concealed weapon) carrier and he produced his own firearm
and defended himself because he was in fear of his life," said Sgt.
John Sullivan of the Dayton [OH] Police Department. Sullivan said the
24-year-old cut in front of the 72-year-old in the area of Brooklyn
Avenue in Dayton. He said the 24-year-old got out of his vehicle with
an assault rifle, pointed it at the 72-year-old and tried to rob him.
That's when the 72-year-old pulled out his weapon and shot the robber
twice, once in the abdomen and once in the arm. The robber is expected
to survive his injuries. Police didn't expect to file charges against
the 72-year-old. They said the attempted robber would face a charge of
aggravated robbery. (It sounds as though the 72-year-old man with the
handgun was bit more "willing" than the 24-year-old man with the
rifle.)
http://www.whiotv.com/news/21012459/detail.html
http://www.examiner.com/x-2206-Cleveland-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d21-Acute-failure-of-the-victim-selection-process
"It's not always being fast or even accurate that counts, it's being
willing. I found out early that most men, regardless of cause or need,
aren't willing. They blink an eye or draw a breath before they pull
the trigger - and I won't."
- "J.B. Books," John Wayne's character in The Shootist
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Bear Spray or Firearm?: For years, the centerpiece of Interagency
Grizzly Bear Committee's bear spray campaign has been a simple slogan:
Carry bear spray and know how to use it. For years, the Interagency
Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) has urged big game hunters in grizzly
country to "use a weapon only if bear spray is unavailable." For years
the IGBC, which includes the National Park Service, US Forest Service,
US Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho fish
and game departments, has failed to provide hunters with essential
information on how to use their firearm effectively for self-defense
in grizzly country. For years, the IGBC has claimed that research
shows bear spray is more effective than a firearm during dangerous
encounters with grizzlies. Results? Grizzlies injure too many hunters.
Hunters kill too many grizzlies. Less than 50% of all big-game hunters
carry bear spray. It's rare for a hunter to use bear spray. With fall
hunting seasons getting underway, the IGBC has just begun it's 2009
bear spray campaign. If the IGBC wants better results, it needs to
make eight major changes…
http://www.newwest.net/citjo/article/2009_bear_spray_campaign_endangers_hunters_grizzlies/C33/L33/
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In Japan, of All Places: A bear injured nine people at highway rest
stop in central Japan before being shot dead in a souvenir shop, a
firefighter said Sunday. The black bear seriously injured four men
Saturday afternoon in Nyukawa, a small mountain town about 140 miles
west of Tokyo, said firefighter Tomohiko Akano. The 4-foot bear first
attacked people at a bus parking lot then entered a lodge where it was
trapped in a souvenir shop and shot dead by a hunter, according to
media reports… (Reportedly, it is easier to get licensed to own a
hunting firearm if you live in rural Japan than if you live in one of
the larger cities.)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32934268/ns/world_news-asiapacific/
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Ruger Announces .22 LR Version of "EBR": Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.
(NYSE-RGR) announces the introduction of the Ruger® SR-22™ Rifle, an
autoloading, rimfire rifle that combines the legendary reliability of
the Ruger® 10/22® with the ergonomics and configurability of the new
AR-style Ruger SR-556™. The new SR-22 Rifle allows shooters to use
economical .22 LR ammunition, while still enjoying the look and feel
of an "AR" and experiencing the reliability they have come to
appreciate from Ruger. Because it utilizes the unique rotary magazine
supplied with the Ruger 10/22, the SR-22 Rifle offers the same gold
standard for reliability in autoloading rimfire rifles. Like the
10/22, the AR-style SR-22 Rifle also has an extensive array of
accessories available, allowing shooters to select a custom
configuration that best suits their tastes and needs…
http://www.ammoland.com/2009/09/21/sturm-ruger-sr-22-rifle/
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US-Made AK-74 Clone Debuts: Arsenal, Inc introduces its own AK-74
rifle chambered in 5.45X39. Combining 21 century technology with
original Mil-Spec design features, Arsenal has succeeded in producing
America's first ever AK-74 built on an original Russian Kalashnikov
platform. Bringing the flat shooting, superior ballistic
characteristics of the5.45X39 round together with the world's most
reliable battle rifle ever made, Arsenal is sure to re-invent history
with the addition of this rifle to its product line. Each SGL31 will
come standard with Arsenal's own, new production, US made, AK-74
muzzle brake that uses modern day CNC technology to improve upon an
already highly effective brake. As with all Arsenal products, this
brake is made with original Mil-Spec designs, insuring the
effectiveness of the brake is never compromised and only improved
upon… (Hornady is currently offering a hybrid 5.45x39mm round that
uses nickel-plated primed cases imported from Russia and high-quality
American bullets.)
http://www.ammoland.com/2009/09/21/arsenal-sgl31-5-45x39-rifle/
