2A News: January 22, 2016 Newsletter by Jeff Pittman

Crimes

The US Code currently contains nearly 5,000 federal crimes. Try to find Constitutional authority for the federal government to police that many things. Meanwhile, the US Congress currently contains nearly 500 criminals….

Litigation

This week, District of Columbia US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, rejected the Justice Department’s claim of executive privilege used to withhold certain documents tied to the BATFE’s Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal from release to a congressional committee.

House Republicans sued in 2012 to obtain thousands of emails related to the felonious scheme in which the ATF illegally smuggled US-sourced guns across the border to Mexican drug cartels, in an effort to stir up more support for gun control laws. The documents dispute between former Attorney General Eric Holder and Congress also resulted in Holder being held in contempt of Congress.

Judge Jackson said it was inappropriate for the DOJ to continue to make a blanket assertion of executive privilege in part because the agency had already disclosed through other channels much of the information it was seeking to withhold, but left open the possibility that some of the records could still be withheld because they contain sensitive information on law enforcement techniques or “implicate foreign policy concerns.”

In other words, business as usual, and no indictments for federal criminals involved in the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

US Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) said that documents the Obama administration may now be forced to produce could implicate former Attorney General Eric Holder and his staff with participating in criminal activity. Well, duh.

Meanwhile, we have a report that at least one rifle (a 50 caliber) found inside El Chapo’s Mexican hideout was sold through the Fast and Furious gun running scheme. 34 of the approximately 2,000-2,200 guns sold and smuggled during F&F were 50 caliber rifles. The one recovered from El Chapo’s hideout is the second such 50 caliber rifle recovered with ties to the F&F operation.

Freedom Watch has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, challenging President Obama’s unlawful gun control executive orders. In addition to Obama, it also names as defendants Attorney General Loretta Lynch and BATFE director Thomas Brandon. The suit accuses Obama of circumventing Congress to “invent” new gun laws. AG Lynch defended the executive gun control actions, telling lawmakers that the president took “lawful, common-sense steps…” Note that Ms Lynch was confirmed by a Republican-controlled Senate.

Our report indicates that a series of legal challenges to Obama’s gun orders is expected, but many legal experts predict the executive action will prevail.

Earlier this month, Mississippi Congressman Steve Palazzo (R-MS) introduced a resolution to censure the president for his past “unconstitutional executive actions,” and his “blatant executive overreach” on gun control. We don’t know if this resolution has legs.

Election

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (RINO) has “pocket vetoed” a bill that would have rolled back a gun control law, passed in 2002, which mandates that all handguns in that state be “smart” guns within three years of one going on sale anywhere in the US. It also seems to me that the current NJ law violates the interstate commerce clause of the US Constitution.

Apparently Ted Cruz never bought a gun until he was 42 years old. Maybe he will learn to tie his shoes next.

We reported that Phil Robertson endorsed Cruz, but have learned that Willie Robertson endorsed Donald Trump. We do know that Trump is a salesman and a bully, and not a constitutionalist or public servant.

NICS checks

It turns out that due to the massive numbers of recent NICS checks for gun sales, the FBI has been too busy to work on appeals from prospective gun buyers who were turned down during their checks. So that’s all it takes — get busy, or any failure in the system, and you lose your Constitutional rights, because you no longer have “permission” to be a free citizen, and the government doesn’t have time to let you exercise your own rights that didn’t come from the government in the first place.

MS politics

MS Gov. Phil Bryant has appointed pro-gun State Sen. Will Longwitz (R) as Madison County Court Judge. Longwitz replaces Steve Ratcliff, who recently was elected circuit judge for the 20th Judicial District that includes Madison and Rankin counties. Longwitz will resign his District 25 (Madison, Ridgeland, NE Jackson) Senate seat, and Bryant will set a special election as soon as possible to fill the vacancy.

Mississippi’s Republican-controlled House voted this week mostly along party lines, to unseat longtime Democratic state Rep. Bo Eaton and name Republican challenger Mark Tullos the winner of the District 79 seat in a tied election. The vote gives Republicans a 3/5 supermajority of 74 in the 122-member chamber.

There is reportedly a new firearm on the market. It’s called “Da Stokes.” It doesn’t work and you can’t fire it. (Jackson, MS residents will recognize this.)

Enemies

On January 18, the Marine Corps Times sent a “tweet” urging veterans to support more gun control laws, and a Marine Corps Times opinion piece by former sergeant and current college student Matthew Hess says “Veterans should lead push for more secure gun laws.”

Apparently the writers didn’t read the Constitution that veterans swore to defend against domestic enemies. Sgt. Hess & company are now what we call oath-breakers.

“And I want to thank Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson, who died in Lafayette because a mentally ill person got their hands on a gun.” — anti-gun comedian Amy Shumer, during her acceptance speech for a Critics’ Choice award on Jan. 17. The two victims Shumer thanked were shot and killed during a showing of Trainwreck in a “gun-free” theater in Lafayette, LA last July.

The Only Ones

Follow up on MS Gaming Commission training accident resulting in the death of 36-year old GC Special Agent John Gorman a year ago. We finally have a report on what happened:

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation report concluded that Gorman was called to Tunica County for a Gaming Commission simulated firearms training seminar, where certifying instructor Special Agent Robert Sharp “accidentally, with extreme negligence” shot and killed Gorman, failed to follow required safety precautions,” that the “deadly shooting incident was avoidable,” and that an Air Vac helicopter landed, but Agent Gorman then lay wounded for nearly an hour, not airlifted to a trauma unit in Memphis.

The case was turned over to a Tunica County Grand Jury. Agent Sharp was not indicted and did not face criminal charges. He is reportedly no longer with the Mississippi State Gaming Commission.

An unidentified Onondaga County, NY Sheriff’s deputy shot himself in the leg while re-holstering his weapon when exiting a juvenile detention center after dropping off a prisoner.

sandiegouniontribune.com reports that “A supervisory park ranger at the immense desert park northeast of Los Angeles [the 1.6m acre Mojave National Preserve] bought nine Colt M-4 fully automatic rifles between 2008 and 2010, and 24 grenades some years later, according to a report from the inspector general’s office from the US Department of the Interior. The purchases violated park service policy, which specifies semi-automatic rifles and requires prior approval for defensive equipment, although the policy doesn’t specifically mention flash-bang grenades.” The suspect was not identified.

New Orleans police say they have arrested a security guard in the death of her 3-year-old grandson, who apparently was shot when the gun under her pillow went off while they slept. 42-year-old Deonca Kennedy was arrested on charges of negligent homicide, second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and child desertion. Under state law, both desertion and second-degree cruelty charges can be based on criminal negligence. Negligent homicide carries up to five years in prison, and second-degree cruelty up to 40 years.

Wilmington, DE police officer Julian Michel, 26, was fired after he was arrested and charged with terroristic threatening following an off-duty incident this week in which he allegedly threatened a witness with physical violence. The threat, as reported, did not appear to me to be in any way related to terrorism, but was instead a simple thug’s threat to arrest, shoot and/or kill the victim.

The DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General officially condemned the US Drug Enforcement Administration this month, following a report that the agency had recruited a Transportation Security Administration security screener to search bags for cash that the DEA could steal. Is that the best you can do? Where are the arrests and indictments?

Police Office Shoots Robber After Black Lives Matter Protest

A St. Louis police sergeant who had just completed monitoring a Black Lives Matter protest against police shooting of black men shot a black male armed robber in the act of robbing a Kentucky Fried Chicken.

“As the robber pointed his gun at the officer, the sergeant yelled, ‘Don’t do it! Don’t do it! Don’t do it!'” according to the officer’s attorney.

I guess the crook decided his life didn’t matter after all.

Racking the pistol slide

If someone you know sometimes struggles to work the slide on a pistol, have him or her try this tutorial.

Obit

Harry L. Smith, of Greenwood, MS, passed away at the age of 75 last week. Mr. Smith was mayor of Greenwood for 13 years and was a member of the MSFOA.

Training scam

We’ve heard of a scam involving a potential “client” calling and asking a gun trainer to front the cost of transportation of the client and his group to the facility (maybe $1300) for training. The client claims he will pay the trainer back for the transportation and the cost of the training at the same time after he shows up for the class. Of course the “transportation cost” goes to the client and then he never shows up for the training and/or doesn’t pay and/or his payment is bogus.

Education

If you are not watching “The Best Defense” and “Stop the Threat” on TV, you should be.

The Army is looking for a silver bullet. Literally.

Industry news

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the introduction of Glock pistols to the US market.

The Benelli Super Black Eagle is now 25 years old. An anniversary limited edition gun is available.

Products

• 2016 Optics
  • Zeiss’ top-of-the-line Victory series V8 model scopes have an 8 times magnification range, with models including 1.1-8×30, 1.8-14×50, 2.8-20×56, and 4.8-35×60.
  • Leupold’s updated VX-3i scope line incorporates its Twilight Max light management system, which enhances brightness, color and clarity, especially in low-light conditions. By balancing the available light across the entire spectrum, the VX-3i allows for enhanced usefulness in low light.
    • Leupold says “The VX-3i has excellent light transmission, but we’ve looked at managing light for optimized performance. You can transmit 99.99% of available light, but if it’s not managed and properly balanced you won’t have the performance. In fact, the new VX-3i has the highest average light transmission across the visible spectrum, but its true performance lies in the management of that light.”
    • The VX-3i starts at $519 for the 1.5-5x20mm and 2.5-8x36mm, and going up to nearly $1300 for the 6.5-20x50mm model. All of the VX-3i scopes can be custom built by the Leupold Custom Shop to suit your option preferences. I prefer the 2.5-8×36 with a heavy duplex reticle.
  • Leupold also has its new Wind-Plex reticle that has a solid vertical crosshair with a graduated horizontal for wind holds.

• Springfield Armory’s updated SOCOM 16 CQB 7.62 rifle features a six-position AR-style stock and Magpul M-LOC attachment system in several places for mounting accessories.

• Daniel Defense’s proprietary telescoping stock is curved in at the bottom, and we have a report that many female shooters like this design, describing at “breast-friendly.”

• FN has a semiauto SAW, a belt-fed M249.

• Kimber’s K6s, their first revolver, is an all-stainless steel 23-ounce pocket size 6-round .357 Mag. with a 2″ barrel, enclosed hammer (DA only), and good trigger and sights. Claimed to be the world’s lightest 6-shot .357 revolver. $900.
  • Kimber also now has a 9mm version of its Micro pistol.

• Beretta has its M9 pistol in .22LR.

• Nighthawk Custom is making a (Browning) Hi-Power. $2900, and probably worth it.

• Rock River Arms has 1911 models guaranteed to group into 2.5″ at 50 yards.

• Browning’s 85%-sized Black Label 1911-380 is now available in a Pro Compact version with a 3-5/8″ barrel. I’m still wishing for a 9mm version.

• Benelli now has its Ethos autoloader in 28 gauge with a 3-inch chamber and 2-round magazine. 5.25-5.3 lbs. Benelli and Fiocchi have partnered to produce the “magnum” 3-inch 28 gauge ammo which they say will offer similar ballistics to typical 2-3/4″ 20 gauge loads (and 1/4 oz. more shot at the same velocity as a standard 28 ga. load) in a smaller, more nimble package. But a Benelli Montefeltro 3″ 20 gauge autoloader weighs about 5.5 lbs., so not much difference. And the new gun’s $2200 price tag is considerably more.

• Franchi has a new shotgun family, called the Catalyst, for smaller folks. The Affinity Catalyst ($1000) is an autoloader (6.6 lbs., 13-7/8″ LOP), and the Instinct Catalyst ($1600), is an over/under (7.2 lbs., 13-7/8″ LOP). Both in 12 gauge, 3″ with 28″ barrels.

• Brownells has its own AR-15 stripped lower.

• Chip McCormick’s new 10-round 9mm magazine for 1911 pistols has an integral feed ramp so that cartridges bypass the gun’s ramp and go directly from the magazine to the chamber. Slick.

• OATH expanding and fragmenting 12 ga. slugs, loaded in brass cases.

• Streamlight’s ProTac Rail Mount 1 (one cell) and ProTac Rail Mount 2 (two cell) are rail mountable versions of Streamlight’s impressive ProTac lights. Both lights have integrated rail mounts, anodized aluminum construction, a tempered glass lens, and tape switch or push button tail cap compatibility, and use the same user programmable operating modes as the regular ProTacs. The ProTac Rail Mount 1 can use a AA battery or a CR123A. Because of the differences in voltage, it has a different output level depending on the battery type.
  • Streamlight’s new ProTac HL 4 is a handheld light that is rated at 2,200 lumens and uses 4 CR123A batteries or 2 lithium ion 18650 batteries.
  • Streamlight’s new Super Siege lanterns come in yellow or coyote, 1100 lumens, rechargeable lithium ion battery.

• Four Sevens has a very small keychain light that is Bluetooth connected, so that when you lose your keys, you can go to Google Earth, and it will show you where on Earth your light and keys are. Of course if you can’t keep up with your keys and flashlight, you have no business whatsoever carrying a gun. And no, I’m not gonna tell you where to find a Bluetooth gun.

• Weatherby’s new Vanguard Camilla Rifle, its first female-specific hunting rifle, was designed specifically for women, with a 13″ length of pull and higher Monte-Carlo style cheekpiece for smaller framed shooters. It comes with the Weatherby sub-MOA guarantee, a match quality adjustable two-stage trigger, 20″ barrel, and satin finish, Turkish A-grade walnut stock with rosewood forend and grip caps and classy fleur de lis checkering. Calibers will be .223, .243, 7mm-08, and .308. Around $750.
  • Weatherby has also changed up its product line for 2016 and beyond, changing its flagship rifle line, the Mark V to the New Mark V, which includes some “significant design changes” (streamlining and ergonomics/fit), and includes several models, such as the New Mark V Accumark and the Range Certified (RC) Accumark RC. $2,300 and up.

• Pedersoli now has its (Winchester Model) 86/71 .45-70 lever action rifle in the “Boarbuster,” model with a stainless receiver and barrel and synthetic stock.
  • Pedersoli also has its .45 Colt “Ithaca” model, similar to the old 20 gauge Ithaca auto and burglar gun – essentially a sawed-off pistol-gripped shotgun. It will also fire .410 shotshells.

• Taylor’s Firearms has 1886 and 1892 take-down leverguns in .45-70 and .44 Magnum respectively. The 1886 Ridge Runner Takedown is available in matte black or chrome.

• Both Pedersoli and Taylor’s are making nice Colt 1873 SAA copies.

• Thompson/Center Arms has the new T/C Compass, an affordable bolt-action rifle.

• Howa has a new bolt rifle called the Empire, with a jeweled bolt, knurled handle, 22″ barrel and a flush fit detachable box magazine. $956 bare or with a Nikko Sterling scope for an extra $130 or so.

• Sako (“Sock-O”) has a Sako/Tikka hybrid called the Sako A7.

• The Safariland Pro-Fit 575 IWB Holster has an adjustable J-Hook and adjustable cant for highly concealable inside-the-waistband use. In one size only, the Model 575 can reportedly fit more than 100 firearms. $50.

• We hear that Comp-Tac’s Two O’Clock Kydex holster with adjustable rise works well for women.

• Winchester Ammo’s new Varmint-X shotshell load with Shot-Lok technology is available in a 12 ga., 3-inch load with 1½ oz. of plated lead BB size shot at 1,300 fps. Shot-Lok Technology includes a liquid gel that surrounds the pellets in the shot cup and then hardens, protecting the pellets until it fractures and the pellets exit the barrel. Winchester says to expect more than 12″ of penetration at 40 yards. Lead BB size shot is very impressive and a good alternative to buckshot when you don’t need the weight and potential range of buckshot.

• CCI has its new CCI Big 4 handgun shotshell loads with No. 4 lead shot for larger pests at longer distances. The 10-round packs will be available in 9mm Luger, .38 Spl./.357 Mag., .44 Spl./.44 Mag., and .45 Colt. $18-20. The usual shot cartridges use No. 9 shot. I have used No. 5 shot in some of these cartridges and found the patterns to be lacking.

• Cor-Bon’s Urban Response pistol ammunition is similar to Powerball, but designed for slightly less penetration, but explosive expansion.

• Kabar has a pretty cool ice scraper.

• Mantis Knives Vicious Circle self defense jewelry

• The Franklin Armory Binary Firing System for ARs allows one shot with each pull of the trigger, AND one shot with each release of the trigger — sort of an automatic double tap. But it sounds to me like once you pull the trigger, you can’t avoid the second shot.

• Tactical Solutions’ Ascent22 Suppressor is intended for .22LR, .17HMR, .17HM2, and .22WMR calibers. 4.1 oz., 5.9″ long. $360.

• Air Venturi has the H&N Smart Shot BBs for .177 airguns. These are lead BBs with a double copper plating. Lead BBs don’t ricochet much and are heavier than steel BBs (7.4 grains vs. 5.1 grains), so they tend to hit harder too. Remember that since they are lead, they may not function well in guns that use a magnet for ammo manipulation. $17 per 750.

• Blue Force Gear’s new Uloop is an innovative alternative to conventional sling swivels and studs.

• Brigand Arms’ AR-15 handguards are made from braided carbon fiber tubes shrouded by a protective jacket, making them very stiff, strong and light. They will support 100 pounds of force in any direction. Weights run 2.9-5.9 oz. depending on length.

Quotes

“Please, NEVER step out your door, no matter where you live — not to the backyard, the barn, the mailbox or your Maserati — without a gun, a light, a knife and an attitude.” — “John Connor”

“John Moses Browning designed the .45ACP cartridge and the inimitable 1911 pistol launching it specifically to knock suicidal Muslim jihadists in the dirt. It worked then and it works now.” — Will Dabbs, MD

“Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.” — George Bernard Shaw