Sunday, January 10, 2010

01-10-10

By  permission from Stephen P. Wenger
comments in () by the same
http://www.spw-duf.info




Elitism, Police and Guns in New York: The New York Post recently ran a story about New York State Governor Paterson's doubling the size of his security detail during the last year to "over 200" members. This comes at the expense of New York's taxpayers, who must tolerate reduced police services as a result… According to Tom King, President of the New York State Rifle and Pistol and Pistol Association, it's easier to purchase a defensive firearm than most people think. If a homeowner wants to purchase a rifle or shotgun for home defense, there are no restrictions. New York state requires licensing only for handguns, and the process varies by county. Outside New York City (NYC), it takes anywhere from 1-6 months to get a handgun license after you apply. By law, the county has six months to reject a handgun license application, usually for serious reasons like felony, drug possession and trafficking, or violent misdemeanor convictions.
By contrast, in NYC, it may take 6-9 months to obtain a license to own any firearm, and the city can deny you for any reason. New York allows home rule for cities over 5 million in population, and NYC has its own gun laws… King said that outside NYC, obtaining a concealed carry permit can be relatively easy. Some counties require a four-hour safety course, after which they issue a carry permit in lieu of a pistol license, enabling you to carry throughout the state and purchase additional handguns. King says the one exception is NYC. King notes a curious twist: While upstate carry licenses end at the NYC boundary, NYC licensees can carry anywhere… (I invite correction but my understanding is that state law requires a pistol license. Unless restricted, such a license is a license to own and to carry. Counties vary widely in policy, with some routinely issuing unrestricted licenses and some doing so rarely. I am under the impression that those counties where the judges have delegated the police to handle licensure tend to issue fewer unrestricted licenses. Broome County, where police provide the required training, may be an exception.)

http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m1d10-New-York-Governor-Paterson-boosts-private-security-detail-while-state-patrols-shrink
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RKBA in the Tennessee Gubernatorial Race: Tennesseans who support or oppose the expansion of gun rights, or who fall somewhere in between, probably will find candidates for governor this year who share their views on the issue. A Tennessee Newspaper Network survey of the major candidates - four Republicans and three Democrats - shows candidates taking a range of positions on several gun issues up for debate at the State Capitol. Those issues range from guns in bars, parks and college campuses to guns on employer-owned parking lots and on leased property. They also include whether the public can find out if someone has a state-issued permit to go armed, and whether the state should declare that guns made and sold inside Tennessee are exempt from federal regulation… Three Republicans - Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey of Blountville and U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp of Chattanooga - said they support renewing the guns-in-bars law. The Democrats - Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle of Memphis, former House Democratic Leader Kim McMillan of Clarksville and Jackson businessman Mike McWherter - and Republican Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons expressed opposition to guns in places serving alcohol… (I find it interesting that Republicans support guns in bars but Democrats oppose guns in places serving alcohol.)

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100110/NEWS0201/1100383/TN+gubernatorial+candidates+are+divided+on+guns
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Identification of Firearms: Ever wonder why so few National Crime Information Center (NCIC) inquiries on firearms result in hits? Or why so few entries seem to be recovered? Perhaps you complain about ATF tracing, that rarely finds the information you're looking for. The answer may be in the old computer term, GIGO - garbage in, garbage out… The serial number (s/n) sounds like a simple entry - but not quite so. First, which number is it? Many firearms may have multiple numbers - serial, model and parts-matching - on the firearm. Once, the S&W s/n appeared on the butt of the grip; now it's found on the frame, inside the crane. Early Ruger revolvers had the s/n on the butt; today it's on the side of the frame, below the cylinder. Since 1968, ATF has required that the s/n appear on the frame of a firearm. Thus, on any current handgun it will appear on the frame and not the cylinder, barrel or slide. However, older firearms (pre-1968) may find the number in some other location. Many older double-barrel shotguns will find the s/n hidden on the bottom of the barrels or on the flat of the frame where the barrel rests when closed… (To my knowledge, most revolvers still have the serial number stamped or engraved on the bottom strap of the grip frame. However, when it became popular to fit revolvers with oversize grips, the serial number was also placed on the frame, in the area that is exposed when the action is opened. Confusion often occurs with S&W revolvers, which often also have "assembly numbers" stamped in the same area; this may require removal of oversize grips if the person seeking the serial number is not familiar with S&W serial numbers. Model designation can also be a point of confusion. I once had a friendly disagreement with a deputy sheriff because I identified a revolver as a S&W Model 25-2. He insisted on calling it a Model of 1955 because that was marked on the barrel, in neater and larger characters than the "25-2" stamped on the frame, adjacent to the serial number. These issues take on importance to the gun owner when firearms need to be identified in cases of loss and recovery.)

http://www.lawofficer.com/news-and-articles/columns/Laska/firearm_investigations_1.html;jsessionid=F5C87B94F3164527C5E1EB7504CC9EDD
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Coatings and Plating: This is a fairly technical article, intended for gunsmiths. It provides some useful information, particularly if you function in an environment where people brag about all the additional money they spent on a gun after the initial purchase. I have two comments. Several years ago, a friend showed me a 1911 pistol that had just been returned to him with NP3, a Teflon-based coating. I found the pistol itself a bit slick to handle but was favorably impressed at how nicely the coated magazines fed and ejected from the magazine well. I don't know if they would have done so as smoothly if only the magazines had been coated. The discussion of plating leaves me with a question. In conventional plating, it is a rule to plate a white metal onto a red metal and vice versa. Thus a steel gun will receive a "flash" plating of copper before being plated in nickel. There is no mention of this in the linked discussion. I have never been fond of conventional nickel plating, in part because I don't like the glare off the bright nickel when shooting in sunlight. Owners of nickel-plated guns are cautioned about the use of conventional cleaning solvents containing ammonia. The reason for this is that if the nickel layer gets scratched deeply enough, the ammonia can leach out the underlying copper, leading the overlying nickel to flake off.

http://www.gunreports.com/special_reports/accessories/American-Gunsmith-magazine-Coatings-teflon-Electroless-nickel-plating1766-1.html?ET=gunreports:e608:183810a:&st=email
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Winchester 94: My Christmas gift to myself was a carbine I'd always wanted: a lever action Winchester complete with saddle ring. It was the iconic gun of the Western movies. If it was good enough for John Wayne, it was good enough for me… My example also an old working gun, and also a Winchester Model of 1894, but in the more common .30-30 chambering. The serial number dates it to the year 1926. This short-barreled rifle's gray patina indicates that it spent much if not all of its 84 years on this Earth in the woods or on a farm, and so do the many dings on its time-darkened walnut stock and fore-end. It still has the old-style steel crescent butt plate, which can make the mild recoil of the .30-30 actually hurt. Yet its bore is bright and smooth, and its well-worn action works like glass.  I took it to my hundred-yard range, and from my solid Caldwell bench rest table it still kept all its shots in a group the size of a deer's heart with both 170 grain and 150 grain hunting loads. It had been sighted for the latter, and I left it that way. For the relatively small deer around where I live, a good 150 grain softnose at sedate .30-30 velocity will do just fine… (I share this because I recently learned a disappointing lesson about the Winchester 94. Unlike Winchester's 92's, which were designed around the WCF cartridges [e.g., .44-40 WCF, etc.] the 94 was designed around the .30-30 and related cartridges. Late in its production, rather than reintroducing the 92, the 94 was offered in Magnum revolver cartridges and .45 Colt. This apparently required machining a round-bottom groove the length of the forward tab of the carrier, which lifts the cartridge from the magazine to the chamber. This seems to weaken the carrier and breakage of this part is fairly common. If you already own a 94 chambered for a revolver cartridge, you may wish to purchase a spare carrier from Browning, while they are still available. If you are contemplating a lever-action rifle in a revolver chambering, consider a Marlin 1894 or one of the replicas of the Winchester 92. By the way, when I purchased my Winchester 94 Trappers, back in 1999, the first thing I did was to unscrew and remove the saddle rings so as not to have them rattling at inopportune moments.)

http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/2010/01/07/blast-from-the-past/
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