Gun Nuts Media

Titan T-51 Mustang – scaled replica of a P-51 Mustang. Sure, it’s not the real thing, but since I don’t have several million to dump on the real thing, the next best thing would be fine. Besides, it’s sooooo pretty. I mean, look at this. Or this. And that second one is pretty even without paint.

Now to figure out how to mount machine guns on it…

I do say, they must grow on trees lately. A Google News search for “gun control” popped up this Op-ed piece by Mike Fox, for the Bristol Herald Courier.

I don’t often do this; but I’m so very tired of people writing these things without doing any research.

I AM not “politicizing” the Tech tragedy by wanting to discuss gun control. Once the facts of the shootings became known, lawmakers across the nation immediately re-evaluated mental health treatment and college safety protocol as well as background check procedures. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine closed a loophole in background check data-mining regarding mental illness disqualifications, and Congress is currently reviewing a bill that would help all states do the same.

Well, you kind of are politicizing the tragedy, actually. Since you used it as your launch point for this article anyway. However, I agree that Gov. Kaine did the right thing in regards to the VA background check system, and I also feel like states should be required to report involuntary commitments of persons to the NICS.

Besides revamping the background check system, the federal assault weapons ban needs to be reinstated. No hunter could possibly need an Uzi, AK-47 or AR-15, and they’re gratuitous for home protection.

A quick fact check would prove otherwise. Fully automatic Uzi’s, AK-47s, and AR-15s have been illegal to the general populace for quite some time; in fact no machine gun manufactured after 1986 can be sold to a civilian. The only “Uzis” out there for you and I are semi-automatic carbines, generally chambered for 9mm. 9mm is one of the most common cartridges in America used for self defense, to use it in a carbine that functions no differently than a pistol seems pretty reasonable for home defense.

As to the AK47 and the AR15 being used for hunting, the AK47 fires a cartridge which is ballistically quite similar to one of the most venerated deer cartridges in the world, the .30-30. The AR is one of the most popular rifles being used for varmint hunting, as it’s inherent accuracy and adaptability lend itself nicely to a variety of platforms and cartridges.

Also, President Bush should sign into law a bill which would allow the U.S. attorney general to deny a gun purchase to anyone on a terror suspect watch list. Virginia limits purchasers to one gun per month, but a three- to five-day waiting period should also be enacted, as well as finally requiring background checks at gun shows for unlicensed venders.

I think that most people, when they look at that bill would realize that’s it not a good thing. The “terror suspect list” is a list of suspects, which means that they haven’t been arrested, or put on trial. Additionally, the list is secret (for good reason), but that means that anyone could be on it. I can’t support any legislation that could easily deprive a citizen of their rights without due process.

As to waiting periods – that’s always something that gets trotted out, and I can’t really figure out why. A waiting period certainly wouldn’t have stopped the VA Tech shooter. Until someone can present a valid reason why waiting periods would work to prevent crime, I’m not going to buy it.

Gun shows are another issue – there is no gun show loophole. There is no such thing as an “unlicensed dealer”, by their very definition a firearms dealer must have a Federal Firearms License.

Some conservatives mulled that if concealed weapons had been permitted on Tech’s campus, the gunman might’ve been stopped. Yet, that doesn’t mean anyone in Norris Hall would’ve had a concealed weapon or that they would’ve been able to use it to stop the gunman; after all, more than 50 people were killed or wounded in that building.

“B” does not logically follow “A” in this statement. He says that allowing students with concealed weapons permits to carry wouldn’t have necessarily stopped the shooter because 50 people were wounded. That doesn’t even begin to make sense, as I could easily say that “allowing students with permits to carry could have stopped the shooting, even though 50 people were killed or wounded”. There’s no actual logic behind that statement, and it’s frustrating because it’s really just an appeal to emotion instead of reason.

The rest of the article continues in much the same vein, appealing to people’s emotions instead of their reason, and then closes with the 2nd to last sentence being a potshot at the “NRA”.

And of course there’s the influence and power of the gun lobby.

I suppose that an anti-gun editorial wouldn’t be complete without taking cheap shots at the NRA.

If you’d like to email Mike Fox your opinion on the quality and content of his op-ed piece, he can be reached at [email protected]

If you do email, please keep it professional and courteous. People like him already have a negative opinion of most gun owners anyway.

I have been having a repeated conversation with Mrs. Ahab over the last couple of weeks. In a couple of different movies, you see the main characters or bad guys purchasing guns on the internet, which they have delivered directly to their homes.

She’s aware of the simple fact that, well, unless you’re in possession of the appropriate federal license, that it is all sorts of illegal. So, she asked around at work to see if people actually knew that you couldn’t order a firearm off the internet and have it delivered to your home, legally. By and large, most people that she worked with thought that you could.

Thus, you have today’s post. I know that most of my usual readers are familiar with firearms laws, and how they relate to the internet; however if you have a friend that’s curious or unaware of how it works you can point them here.

A person who is not legally barred from possession of firearms (not a felon, etc) may obtain firearms from a dealer in another state. From the ATF:

A person not licensed under the GCA and not prohibited from acquiring firearms may purchase a firearm from an out-of-State source and obtain the firearm if an arrangement is made with a licensed dealer in the purchaser’s State of residence for the purchaser to obtain the firearm from the dealer.

In the above, “Licensed under the GCA (Gun Control Act)” means a Federal Firearms License, which come in all sorts of flavors with different various levels of access accorded to them. This is the provision which applies to sales of guns over the internet.

What that means is that you can buy a gun off the internet; however it has to be sent to a Federal Firearms License. If you’re not an FFL holder, you have to make arrangements to have the gun sent there.

When you go that FFL to pick up your new CQB Tactical Destroyer, that FFL is required by law to run a NICS check on you – even though they’re not selling you the gun. The reason is because federal law requires all dealers to run a background check whenever they transfer a firearm to an individual.

So how do people buy guns on the web? I’m so glad you asked. Websites like Gunbroker and AuctionArms work sort of like an E-Bay for guns. You can go there, browse the different categories, and place bids on firearms you’re interested in. Most of the people that sell on Gunbroker and AuctionArms are federal dealers – since they don’t want to get reamed by the ATF they will only ship guns to other Federal Licensees.

If you win your bid, contact the seller (obviously) to find out how they’d like their form of payment. Additionally, they will require a faxed, mailed, or emailed copy of the Federal Firearms License of the licensee to whom you would to have your new blaster shipped.

As you can see, it you “can” order firearms off the internet; but it’s certainly not a loophole in federal law. In some cases, it’s actually more of a hassle to order a gun from the web, on the flipside of that equation is that the internet gives me access to the inventory of gunshops all over the country so I can often find things that I can’t find at my local (and oft poorly stocked) local stores.

Yesterday I went to the opening day of the Indy 1500 Gun & Knife show, an event which I usually enjoy. I had a specific purpose in my attendance; I was looking for either a Henry AR-7 in black, or a H&R Tamer in .410.

I left disappointed, and actually slightly irritated. There was one AR-7 in the whole building, and it was one of the original Armalite manufactured, which while cool was $200. Since I can get them brand spanking new from Gander Mtn. for $185, I declined the extra fifteen bucks. There was not a single H&R Tamer in the whole building, and believe me, I looked.

Honestly, for someone who doesn’t like Glocks, 1911s, or AR-15s; a gunshow can be almost disheartening. It’s nice to run across a table of old wheelguns or nice C&R guns here and there, but then those guys are asking $45-$60 more than what I would pay for the same gun on the web.

Still, the place was pretty full for a Friday night, and a lot of people were buying. I almost talked my friend into buying a Walther P22 (SO CLOSE), and I almost bought a CZ-82 myself.

Also, if one of my four readers happens to be the guy who was talking about shooting groups the size of a baseball at 800 yards – I should have said this yesterday. Bullshit.

American University in Washington DC held a drill to establish the school’s readiness to deal with a school shooter, or “VT style” shooting.

Less than 20 minutes after officers arrived, the drill was over. The suspect in the drill was captured and killed.

That’s great. It sure makes me comfortable to know that my (hypothetical) child would only have to dodge gunfire for 20 minutes before the State arrived to make him or her safe. That’s just wonderful. What really kills me is that the administrators somehow think that 20 minutes is an acceptable response time.

Here’s the problem. It is a good response time. You can’t expect the police to be there instantly, not even for a drill – like I’ve said before, you’re responsible for your own safety. If you’ve got kids going to college, remind that the university and the police cannot protect them all the time. In fact, there’s a damn good chance that when they need protection, the police will be nowhere near.

Sebastian, by way of Jeff has a post up about how he got started shooting. Since I steal a lot of links from him, I’m going to steal this one as well.

1. I grew up in a house full of guns, Father Ahab was Deputy Sheriff with LA County and he enjoyed shooting.
2. I didn’t really get “into” the gun culture until I was at the Academy.
3. I got my first BB gun with I was 13, and my first real firearm when I was 16.
4. To this day I do not own an AR-15, AK47, or even a 1911. I once owned a 10mm Glock which I profoundly regret selling.

When I say that I grew up in a house full of guns, I mean full of guns. I at least knew were dad kept his guns, and where he kept the ammunition. However, I was raised at a point to believe that touching dad’s guns without his permission would lead to sudden and instant death – so I left them alone unless I had permission.

My best friend growing up was seriously into muzzleloading, and we would go to the range a lot with his family and shoot muzzleloaders and my .22 Magnum. This sparked my interest in shooting during my high school years; which lead me to research competitive shooting.

When I started as a 4/c at the Academy, I joined the pistol team in my freshman year and starting shooting competitively. This is what really got me into the shooting sports. There were some really good people on the pistol team, but the one person that really got me into shooting was a guy named Bill Kotowski, or just “Ski”. He was a junior during my freshmen year, kind of took me in a bit and kept me out of too much trouble. Beyond that, he also went shooting with me outside of the Academy during my sophomore year.

After the Academy and while I was in the Reserves I kept shooting. I had a couple of memberships here and there. I really got back into the sport hardcore when I moved to Virginia and had access to the NRA range. It really exposed me to a whole different side of the gun culture; and it was during that time that I became interested in the actual right to keep and bear arms.

Now that I’m back in Indiana, I’m (obviously) still shooting a lot and very active in the pro-gun movement. I’m guessing that my story is pretty similar to that of a lot of people – raised around guns but not too aware of the actual right to keep and bear.

Today is the opening day of the three day Indy 1500 gun and knife show and your humble author will be in attendance for Friday’s festivities. I love gun shows as I’ve mentioned before; they provide a great opportunity to find that one gun that your local gunshop doesn’t stock but that you really, really want.

(sarcasm warning!) They’re really great, because I can hang out with terrorists and buy fully-automatic AK47s without a background check or a driver’s license! (end sarcasm)

Honestly though, the “gun show loophole” meme is really annoying, because maybe 12 seconds of research would turn up the fact that it doesn’t actually exist. The 1500 doesn’t even allow private sellers to sell “firearms”, they can sell black powder guns, antiques, etc – but to sell actual functioning firearms at this gun show you have to have an FFL and be in full compliance with the law.

I’m looking for either a .410 shotgun or a Henry AR-7 at this show – the .410 has practical use and the AR-7 has “wicked gadget factor”, which will always get my attention. It should be a good time, and I’ll offer a follow-up report for you guys at the conclusion.

Don’t you hate it when the crazy people have some of the same labels as you? A friend of mine directed me to this blog entry by someone who seems to be a bit of a fan of Sam Brownback. I have no inherent beef with Brownie, he doesn’t seem like too bad of a guy despite some of his positions. The blog entry on the other hand, is 31 flavors of delicious crazy.

What’s even worse than the debate raging in American schools about the teaching of the soulless doctrine of evolution, is the non-debate over an issue that rational Americans have foolishly conceded to the secular among us: the issue of Heliocentrism, or the idea that the Earth revolves around the Sun.

I find it moderately disturbing that people exist who question things like that. Questioning the revolution of the Earth around the Sun is like, well, it’s like questioning gravity. What’s even worse is that this doesn’t appear to be satire, as there are other posts in the blog that take just the same (crazy) tone as this one.

But here’s the real prizewinner right here.

Look, people, even your Heliocentric hero Galileo recanted his idiotic notions about the Earth revolving around the Sun. If he’s your so-called reliable source on this, I think it does wonders to shatter the idea’s credibility that one of its main proponents backed away from it so abruptly.

According to the historical record, Galileo only recanted because he was order to do so by the Catholic Church; which was part of his sentence for heresy. I believe that legal term for that would be “under duress”, which is a nice way of saying that it doesn’t really count anyway.

What I find frustrating by ideas like this isn’t that they exist; if you want to hold some crazy belief about the Earth being the center of the solar system, that’s fine. My concern is two fold in nature: 1) that the people who hold these ideas believe that their crazy theories are just as valid as scientific fact, and 2) that because of the crazy person’s use of a label like “Christian” they’re just enforcing the constant negative stereotype being driven down people’s throats.

I don’t want people to think that all Christians are ignorant, hateful people just because some (loud) Christians are ignorant, hateful people.