Attaboy

Hero. Just in time for Christmas.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Media

Note: If you read a media headline or hear a story blurb which contains an adjective, it’s not likely to be news, or even factual. It’s certainly not journalism.

Actual Fox News headline:

“Violence soars in Portland after defunding of police there”

Well, duh. In other news, water is wet.

• The Social Media Dilemma

Litigation

The Second Amendment Foundation, joined by the Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc., San Diego County Gun Owners PAC, North County Shooting Center, Inc., PWGG, L.P., a limited partnership, and six private citizens, filed a federal lawsuit challenging California’s one-handgun-per-month limit (which will also apply to all semiautomatic centerfire rifles starting in July), declaring the limitation a violation of the Second Amendment. The law does not apply to motion picture, television or video production companies. Defendants are California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Luis Lopez, director of the state Department of Justice, Bureau of Firearms in their official capacities. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego. The case is known as Nguyen v. Becerra.

I told you so:

• President Trump’s court appointments will leave decades-long imprint

Interesting case:

• Resale of guns does not constitute lying on federal firearm forms, court rules

Legislation

$1.4 Trillion spending bill, with millions for gun control.

Happenstance? Coincidence? Conspiracy? Look for a well-publicized mass shooting in the near future just in time to bolster support for the Biden/Harris Democrat machine’s gun control agenda. Just sayin…

And speaking of federal gun control under the new congress, it’s already started.

Mississippi Congressmen Steven Palazzo, Michael Guest and Trent Kelly have signed on as cosponsors of H.R.38 , the national concealed carry reciprocity bill. As usual, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson opposes civil rights and has not cosponsored the bill. To date, 153 Republicans and 3 Democrats have signed on.

The Mississippi Legislature is also back in session; heaven help us all.

ATF

A commenter notes that in the past, the ATF has counted identical, copied-and-pasted comments as one submission, as a means to ignore ones that it dislikes. Whenever you submit comments to ATF using a pre-worded form, please change a few words or sentences, making it unique.

After receiving 50,000 comments objecting to its proposed illegal regulation of AR-15 pistol stabilizing braces, including objections from 90 congressmen, the ATF has at least temporarily withdrawn its guidance on how to classify brace-equipped pistols as restricted NFA weapons. Look for this issue to come back under the Biden administration.

• ATF Rules Capricious, Arbitrary, Political, and Stupid
• ATF cracks down on “solvent traps” because of dimples.

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• Georgia gun store owner elected to Congress takes aim at IRS, firearm laws

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CCW scam warning

There is a new scam aimed directly at concealed carry license holders and potential applicants. According to multiple law enforcement agencies, the scam involves texts or emails warning the recipient that “today is the last day” for them to apply for a concealed carry license, and requesting personal information. Don’t fall for it.

About those evil black rifles

The total of firearms’ homicides for 2019 is 5,214. The number of homicides committed with ANY kind of rifle is 216.

The number of homicides committed with knives is 689.

So basically you can tell Gun Prohibitionists that their paring knife or box cutter is 3 times as dangerous as your AR-15 and demand that they remove all sharps from their home before you allow you children to play with theirs.

• About those “toy” guns

2020 gun sales record

The FBI has confirmed that the raw number of NICS checks performed in 2020 outpaced the 2019 number by 40%, with nearly 40 million checks for 2020. That raw number includes checks for gun sales, multiple sales, uncompleted sales, permits, and permit renewals. The NSSF-corrected figure shows that approximately 21 million of these checks were for gun sales, and 8.4 million of those were to brand-new gun owners. However, the sales likely would have been even higher had retailers had sufficient inventory to sell. The 21 million sales number exceeds 2019’s sales by 60% and breaks the all-time record from 2016 by 34%.

Local training

The Mississippi Office of Homeland Security is offering a couple of free active shooter response training multi-day courses aimed at first responders, in January-February in Meridian, MS. See the list of events here.

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When will you fight no matter how bad the odds are against you?

Trainer Greg Ellifritz suggests that you always have to fight/flee in these circumstances:

1. A criminal tries to take you to another location
2. A criminal tries to restrain you
3. A criminal puts you on the ground
4. A criminal attempts to search you

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• The Truth About Violence

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Ammo

Shipping ammo – changing from ORM-D labels

Demand – Jason Vanderbrink, President of Federal, CCI, Speer & Remington, sent the following message:

“We are making ammunition every minute of every day!
We are making all of the ammunition as fast as we can!
We are doing our damndest (sic) to meet the demand!”

Vista Outdoor has announced a price increase of 3-15% for Federal, Remington, CCI, and Speer ammunition.

Also, watch out for online ammo sales scams. Be suspicious of “too good” deals and take the usual precautions.

Good defensive pistol ammo

The following is ballistics expert Dr. Gary Roberts’ list of loads that provide adequate penetration and expansion in laboratory gelatin testing and can be considered acceptable for duty/self-defense use:

9 mm:

• Barnes XPB 115 gr JHP (copper bullet)
• Federal Tactical 124 gr JHP (LE9T1)
• Federal HST 124 gr +P JHP (P9HST3)
• Remington Golden Saber bonded 124 gr +P JHP (GSB9MMD)
• Speer Gold Dot 124 gr +P JHP
• Winchester Ranger-T 124 gr +P JHP (RA9124TP)
• Winchester 124 gr +P bonded JHP (RA9BA)
• Winchester Ranger-T 127 gr +P+ JHP (RA9TA)
• Federal Tactical 135 gr +P JHP (LE9T5)
• Hornady Critical Duty 135 gr +P PT
• Federal HST 147 gr JHP (P9HST2)
• Remington Golden Saber 147 gr JHP (GS9MMC)
• Speer Gold Dot 147 gr JHP
• Speer G2 147 gr PT
• Winchester Ranger-T 147 gr JHP (RA9T)
• Winchester 147 gr bonded JHP (RA9B/Q4364)

.40 S&W:

• Barnes XPB 140 & 155 gr JHP (copper bullet)
• Speer Gold Dot 155 gr JHP
• Federal Tactical 165 gr JHP (LE40T3)
• Speer Gold Dot 165 gr JHP
• Winchester Ranger-T 165 gr JHP (RA40TA)
• Federal HST 180 gr JHP (P40HST1)
• Federal Tactical 180 gr JHP (LE40T1)
• Remington Golden Saber 180 gr JHP (GS40SWB)
• Speer Gold Dot 180 gr JHP
• Winchester Ranger-T 180 gr JHP (RA40T)
• Winchester 180 gr bonded JHP (RA40B/Q4355/S40SWPDB1)

.45 ACP:

• Barnes XPB 185 gr JHP (copper bullet)
• Hornady Critical Duty 220 gr +P JHP
• Federal HST 230 gr JHP (P45HST2)
• Federal HST 230 gr +P JHP (P45HST1)
• Federal Tactical 230 gr JHP (LE45T1)
• Speer Gold Dot 230 gr JHP
• Winchester Ranger-T 230 gr JHP (RA45T)
• Winchester Ranger-T 230 gr +P JHP (RA45TP)

Roberts’ Notes:

• Obviously, clone loads using the same bullet at the same velocity work equally well (ie. Black Hills ammo using Gold Dot bullets, Corbon loads using Barnes XPB bullets, etc…)
• Established bullet designs like the Silver Tip, Hydra-Shok, and Black Talon were state of the art 15 or 20 years ago. While these older bullets work as well as they ever did, they tend to plug up and act like FMJ projectiles when shot through heavy clothing; they also often have significant degradation in terminal performance after first passing through intermediate barriers. Modern ammunition which has been designed for robust expansion against clothing and intermediate barriers is significantly superior to the older designs. The bullets in the Federal Classic and Hydra-Shok line are outperformed by other ATK products such as the
  Federal Tactical and HST, as well as the Speer Gold Dot; likewise Winchester Ranger Talons are far superior to the old Black Talons or civilian SXT’s.

My Note:

• Many of those older loads have also been tested in gelatin, especially under the FBI or similar protocols involving intermediate barriers. Those test results are valid, regardless of whether that load appears on the above list or discussion.

Shotgun loads through sheetrock

“The most impressive performer in the test was the No. 4 buck.”

But note the difference in recoil between that particular load and the others.

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• Car shooting 101

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Walmart and ATF

Walmart plans to discontinue gun sales at 500 of its stores nationwide, and turn over those gun sales records to the ATF. Walmart could transfer the 4473 records from those stores that are ending sales to another store location that holds an FFL and still sells firearms, thus keeping their customers’ information from direct access by ATF.

I guess we still need that private FFL records repository I mentioned in a previous newsletter. But I’m guessing Walmart wouldn’t use it.

In recent years the ATF has started using high-speed scanners to catalog out-of-business FFLs’ records into a searchable database using optical character recognition software. Although federal law prohibits the creation of a national gun registry, this appears to be what is happening, not only with Walmart’s records but all other out-of-business FFL records that are turned over to the ATF at the close of business.

Enemies

Chicago anti-gun activist Catholic priest Reverend/Father Michael Pfleger, 71, has been removed from the Auburn Gresham parish and St. Sabina Church by the Archdiocese of Chicago, which said its Office for Child Abuse Investigations and Review received an allegation that Pfleger sexually abused a minor more than 40 years ago. Pfleger is the one who advocated for the murder of a legal gun shop owner.

President-elect Shotgun Joe Biden says he’s nominating left-wing liberal Merrick Garland as U.S. Attorney General. Judge Garland, 68, was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is a graduate of Harvard (social studies) and Harvard Law School and was a Justice Department lawyer. Garland was also unsuccessfully nominated for a U.S. Supreme Court seat by President Barack Obama. The NRA and GOA report that Garland is extremely anti-gun, and his judicial record indicates that he doesn’t believe we have the right to have a gun even in our own homes.

The U.S. Senate has also fallen to the opposition. Buckle up; it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

The Only Ones

Anybody have some reflective red & white tape?

An unidentified off-duty Maricopa County, AZ, Sheriff’s deputy was held at gun point and carjacked in Phoenix during Christmas week. The suspect took off in the deputy’s personal vehicle that contained department-issued property including a gun.

On-leave U.S. Army Sgt. Duke Webb, 37, was charged with murder after a shooting rampage at a Rockford, IL, bowling alley complex that left three people dead and three wounded over Christmas weekend. Webb is a Special Forces assistant operations and intelligence sergeant based at Camp Bull Simons, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

U.S. Army I Corps chief of staff Colonel Owen G. Ray, a former commander of 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, is being held on $1 million bail, accused of holding his wife and three children at gunpoint in a drunken rage and physical attack early Sunday morning (12/27) that ended in a two-hour standoff with police.

Five months after becoming the first female Green Beret, an otherwise unidentified National Guard soldier is facing a civilian misdemeanor charge for accidentally firing a pistol inside an off-base Colorado Springs apartment.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the “accidental” shooting of two hunters by an unidentified off-duty Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officer while turkey hunting last Sunday morning in Campbell County.

Alcohol Study

• Alcohol can impair hand-eye coordination after just half a beer

“For some volunteers in the study, their coordination fell off by more than 20 percent with a BAC of just 0.015 percent.”

That applies to shooting. Don’t drink and carry.

Another Study

• Getting hit in the head isn’t good for your cognition.

Well, duh again.

Yet Another Study

• One-fourth of nonfatal shooting victims under the age of 24 will be shot again within the next 10 years.

Since this study is from the Everytown gun ban group, it is automatically suspect. But, the above stat tells me that these people are pretty much either (1) stupid; and didn’t learn to stop doing stupid things, going stupid places or hanging out with other stupid people, or (2) criminals who didn’t get shot sufficiently the first time. Or both.

Jackson, MS: Unhappy New Year

Depending on the information source, it appears that Jackson had an all-time record high of at least 129 homicides last year, eclipsing the old record by about 40%. And it’s still going on, as the first homicide of 2021 was reported to have happened in the early hours of January 1.

Jackson is not the only city nationwide with a new record high homicide count. In the 57 major cities for which data is available, the murder rate is up an average of 36.7%.

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• How To NOT Get Shot by Responding Law Enforcement

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Attack at a gun range

This item is included only because it’s so rare as to be unheard of. With a few exceptions of accidents and suicides, there are almost NO cases of folks intentionally shooting each other at gun ranges. But here is one.

Hunter murdered

A 54-year old bow hunter was found stabbed and beaten to death in the area where he was hunting at a Boy Scout reservation in Pine Hill, NJ.

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Do your kids ever make bad grades? They may be on the cops’ “future criminals” list.

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Military

• They had me at “machine gun snow sleds.”
• 43-mile shot.

Did you know?

• The AN/M2 .50 BMG served in every major American WWII battle in every theater of operations around the world.
• West Pointless

Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network: What does it do?

This.

“Of the 26 times we’ve paid attorneys and experts to protect our members’ rights after self defense, all were resolved to the member’s satisfaction without going to trial.”

Frankly, I am less worried about coming up with legal defense money than I am about immediate access to a good, sympathetic lawyer and a team supporting me. I also like the idea of my dues helping out those who need assistance even if I’m fortunate enough not to.

https://armedcitizensnetwork.org/

Ayoob on defending against mob violence

Good info.

Wolves

This week the gray wolf was delisted as a federally protected species following 45 years of protection under the Endangered Species Act. This action allows states to manage gray wolves as predators under state laws.

Money saving for shooters

I really like the kitty litter one.

Rails

• Weaver vs. Picatinny

The 1987 S&W L-Frame Revolver Recall

I remember some of this. Interesting cause and solution. If you have an early L-frame, you should read it.

Industry news

Sportsman’s Warehouse is being acquired by The Great American Outdoors Group, which owns Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s.

Roundhill Group LLC, the new owner of RemArms, is already fighting with the United Mine Workers of America labor union, which represented former employees of Remington Arms.

The USFWS has new interactive map that identifies a total of 623 ranges across the United States, including 183 archery ranges, 285 firearms ranges, and 155 archery and firearms combined shooting ranges.

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• Good advice on spotting scopes

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Products

You know that ammo prices are way up, if you can even find it. But gun prices are up too.

FREE – Handgun Hunter Supply has teamed up with J.D. Jones, of SSK Industries, to digitize and give away original issues of The Sixgunner magazine. The Sixgunner was the bi-monthly publication of the now defunct Handgun Hunters International and is the quintessential periodical on handgun hunting ever. Sign up for free at www.handgunhuntersupply.com

Check out Frankford Arsenal’s new Pile Driver Bullet Puller. Pretty cool.

Savage Arms’ new Impulse American-made rifles feature a unique straight-pull action built around Hexlock, a robust lockup in which six hardened steel bearings lock the bolt in place inside the receiver’s barrel extension (the barrel extension is clamped inside the receiver with four cross bolts and has the Savage barrel lock nut to set headspace). As pressure increases, Hexlock’s hold tightens, securing the bolt. Once the round has left the barrel and the pressure subsides, the action can safely open again with a straight rearward pull of the bolt handle. The Impulse rifles also feature Savage’s AccuStock®, Accufit®, and AccuTrigger®, and come in three flavors: Big Game (.243 Win. to .300 Win. Mag.), Predator (.22-250 Rem. to 6.5 Creedmoor), and Hog Hunter (6.5 Creedmoor to .300 Win. Mag.). 8.4+ lbs. ~$1400-ish.

The TriStar Bristol Side-By-Side Shotgun

CZ-USA now lists suppressors on their website. I particularly like the Rimfire Integral models.

Gemtech Suppressors recently released the Gemtech Integra 15-22, a new integrally suppressed complete upper receiver that is designed to work exclusively with the Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 rifle. $616.

Leupold’s DeltaPoint Pro reflex sight has “Motion Sensor Technology” which automatically deactivates illumination after 5 minutes of inactivity, AND automatically reactivates instantly as soon as any movement is detected. Presumably it’s similar to Holosun’s “Shake Awake” feature that’s been offered for a while, at half of Leupold’s price.

Leupold’s new DeltaPoint Micro Red Dot Sight for handguns is fully enclosed, mounts directly to the rear sight dovetail and is low-profile – it has the same height as factory iron sights. Current models fit Glock and Smith & Wesson M&P pistols only. $520.

Crimson Trace has two new scope lines out: its “HARDLINE” scopes are designed for tactical and competition use, while the “BRUSHLINE” units are geared for hunting. FIFTY new scopes in all, which is too many to detail here. Do your own homework.

The Rock Island Armory BBR 3.10 is a 70-series 1911-style subcompact .45 pistol with a 10-round double stack magazine and attendant beefy grip size. 3.10″ barrel, 33 oz. $700.

KelTec’s P50 is a pretty unique pistol chambered in 5.7x28mm that uses repurposed FN P90 magazines with a 50-round capacity (2 included). $1000.

Camo Ammo. Don’t drop it in the woods.

Suppressed Gatling Gun. Doesn’t that reduce the fun factor?

Modern Motion’s Vulcan Safe Lift. Uber-cool.

Kubey Knife Co,. Ltd. Never heard of them? I recently bought one of their Chinese-made knives and it appears to be very well made with top-end materials. Check them out here: https://geoknife.com/. Please note that you cannot use the offered discount code toward sale items.

MTM Case-Gard’s new plastic P50SS pistol ammo boxes use a SLIDING top. Great for field use.

MTM also has a new P200 plastic ammo box that appears to be for centerfire pistol rounds and has two flip-top lids and a 200-round capacity.

Federal Premium has two new Hydra-Shok Deep loads: .380 Auto Hydra-Shok Deep 99 Grain, and 38 Special +P Hydra-Shok Deep 130 Grain. Federal says they “expand aggressively, pushed at ideal velocities,” and provide “consistent penetration beyond FBI-recommended 12-inch minimum in bare gel and through heavy clothing” and perform “reliably through any barrel length.”

Cutting Edge is offering machined copper bullets, primed cases, and loading dies and data for the .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge. Interesting.

Quote

“Limiting government is the single most important instrument for guaranteeing Liberty.” – Walter Williams 1936-2020