Archive for the 'Guns' Category

The judge [correctly] dropped the weapons charge.

The problem with the Wisconsin statute is not a problem of pluralization but definition. It is not clear that the statute actually bars possession by Rittenhouse. Indeed, it may come down to the length of Rittenhouse’s weapon and the prosecutors never bothered to measure it and place it into evidence.

In Wisconsin, minors cannot possess short-barreled rifles under Section 941.28. Putting aside the failure to put evidence into the record to claim such a short length, it does not appear to be the case here. Rittenhouse used a Smith & Wesson MP-15 with an advertised barrel length of 16 inches and the overall length is 36.9 inches. That is not a short barrel.

Of course it’s not an SBR.

One might claim that he found a gunsmith to shorten the barrel for him, reinstall the flash hider, and not inform Rittenhouse that it was now an SBR.  But of course that would be stupid.  Kyle would gain nothing whatsoever from losing an inch or two off his barrel length.

Besides, I can look at it and tell that it’s not an SBR.  And besides again, I know how to use a tape measure.

And besides one more time, the entire team of prosecuting attorneys needs to be flogged in broad daylight, stripped naked, and marched to the town square and put in stocks as an example to children everywhere.

I have previously called for criminal charges against Thomas Binger, the PA in the Kyle Rittenhouse case, for having suborned perjury in the case.  He’s an awful man without scruples or ethics of any sort.

Now we find out that he’s just plain dumb.

Prosecutor takes the AR (an admitted exhibit), says his assistant has “ checked it to be sure it isn’t loaded.” Then, without himself opening the action to confirm unloaded, raises it and points it in the direction of the jury!

Source.

Folks, this isn’t a game, show or circus act, even though the PA’s been allowed to turn it into that.

Let’s make it clear.  It wouldn’t have even mattered if he had performed a chamber check himself, or if 100 people had done that.

It’s called defense in depth, where there are redundant means of ensuring safety.  Nuclear Power Plants are designed that way.  Commercial aircraft are designed that way.

Gun safety is managed that way.  Perform a chamber check, and then handle the weapon as if it’s loaded.

Do not point the weapon at anything you don’t intend to destroy, and know your backstop.  In this case he has his finger inside the trigger well on the trigger.  He’s violating two of the most sacred rules of gun safety.

It would have been entirely legitimate had someone from the jury stood up and shouted, “Stop pointing the gun at us, you moron!”

Source via TCJ correspondent, WiscoDave.

Outdoor Life, What Really Happened to Jim Zumbo.

In his blog, Zumbo slammed ARs and the hunters who use them.

“We [meaning traditional hunters] don’t need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them,” he wrote, and suggested that game agencies should “ban” ARs from the field. “Excuse me, maybe I’m a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our fraternity…. I’ll go so far as to call them ‘terrorist’ rifles.”

The rest of the article seems like an attempt at rehabilitation of Zumbo’s reputation in the firearms community.

I don’t really care what he thinks about hunting with AR-15s, or anything else.  He owes me no apology, and I don’t demand any.

In fact, I don’t care what you hunt with, as long as you do your dead level best to ensure an ethical kill that leaves little room for pain and suffering.

If you want to bow hunt, that’s fine with me.  If you want to use a crossbow, that’s fine with me too.  I own a crossbow because I have shoulder issues that prevent a good, full length draw.  If you want to hunt with an air rifle or a rock, that’s fine with me, or a muzzle loader, or a bolt action, or a lever action.

If you wanted to hunt indigenous game (e.g., white tail) with a machine gun, I would probably object because you’re killing for the sake of killing rather than for meat.  I agree with killing for the sake of killing if it’s an invasive species or a pest like wild pigs (if we continue to let them roam and reproduce, soon enough we won’t be able to grow the crops necessary to feed ourselves).

But I do have a problem with Zumbo, and this is it.  He sees the hunting and shooting community as a “fraternity.”  He wants to sick law enforcement on those who don’t agree with him or who are different.  Or at least, he did.

Any man who wants to turn law enforcement on me is my enemy.  Sports shooting, precision rifle shooting, 3-gun competition, 2-gun competition, IDPA competition, hunting, tactical training, or just plain range shooting for the fun of it, are in my book all legitimate sporting endeavors, not fraternities.

A fraternity gets to decide who becomes a member and what the rules are.  Liberty and freedom means not having to join a fraternity.  Jim can think whatever he wishes about hunting with modern sporting rifles.  I couldn’t care less.  What he cannot do is tell law enforcement to tell me I’m under arrest.

And no, I wasn’t a member of a fraternity in college.  I won’t be part of Zumbo’s fraternity either.

This, seen at Ken’s place.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, ATF, raided the Skelton Tactical gun shop, in Osage Beach, at approximately 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 9.

According to the gun shop owner Jim Skelton, approximately fifteen agents entered the shop, seven deep, in full riot gear, bearing automatic weapons.

[ … ]

He sold an 1898 black powder 30-40 firearm over the counter, without a background check. According to Skelton, the sale of an 1898 30-40 does not require a background check.

And I bought a CVA inline muzzle loader and had it shipped directly to my door.  Look mom, no FFL!

Because.  You know.  The law.

Stupid.

Tikka can’t make a bad rifle.

At SOFREP.

It’s a straight throw bolt action shotgun.  My first thought when seeing this was “I wonder if this is an AOW, Firearm, short barrel shotgun, or what?”

The article answers that.

The actual M26 MASS is an NFA item that would be considered an AOW or short-barreled shotgun. The 7.5-inch barrel ensures you got to get ATF permission and pay a tax stamp. However, C-More also advertises a title 1 model with an 18-inch barrel known as the M26 CMC. The gun has an MSRP of $1,399, so be prepared to spend some money. Plus, it doesn’t seem like they are easy to find either.

I honestly don’t see much utility in this, but leave it to the ATF to ruin the fun in everything.

Shooting Illustrated.

For EDC, a larger dot of 6, 8 or even 10 MOA in diameter will serve your purposes much better than the currently popular smaller dots of 1, 2 or 3 MOA. The reasons are almost infinite, but some more obvious than others.

Assuming time is of the essence when engaging an adversary with your EDC pistol, the speed with which the red dot can be located and superimposed over the target is of supreme importance. The bigger the dot, the easier it is to find and direct to the target. Some may argue that a big dot is not as accurate as a small dot, therefore might not be as effective because it covers too much of the target. Let’s stop and examine that thinking by doing a little math.

A 10-MOA dot covers roughly a 10-inch diameter area at 100 yards. That subtends down to 5 inches at 50 yards, 2.5 inches at 25 yards and 1 inch at 10 yards.

I won’t judge another person’s shot-delivery capabilities under the stress of a life-or-death situation, but it would seem that a 10-MOA dot would be sufficient when considering the statistical data of the encounter being in close proximity. For the average citizen, my definition of close proximity can be thought of as the inability to escape the situation, making the use of a deadly weapon the only available choice to prevent grave bodily harm or death. This is not legal advice, just my perspective. Keep in mind that time and distance almost always have an impact on one another during a dynamic event.

I don’t know.  Based on the pictures presented of various dot sizes, I don’t like the large ones.  I don’t really have a hard time picking up iron sights.  I’m not sure how that translates to red dots.

What size do readers carry, and why?