2nd amendment

Op-Ed: Gun ownership is tarnished by fools among us, keep your pistol holstered

Among those of us who carry a firearm on a day-to-day basis, it isn’t uncommon to hear us cite self-defense as the primary reason we lug our EDCs around with us. Indeed, the internet is rife with stories about legal concealed carriers stopping tragedies before they can happen, or ending them sooner than they otherwise would have, but unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Last week, a story broke about a legal carrier opening fire on shoplifters at her local Home Depot… and it got me thinking… maybe some of the folks who criticize America’s love affair with firearms have a point.

During the onslaught of visitors in our home throughout the holidays, one of my more liberal-leaning relatives snuck in a remark about us gun-toting crazies, keeping a pistol strapped to our waist “and looking for a fight like this is the Wild West.” Of course, I disputed that statement, and she pleasantly back tracked, happy to suggest that I’m “different” because I received military training – perhaps unaware that she was then extending her insult only to my lovely wife, who despite not actively serving in uniform, keeps a Walther tucked in her purse.

In the spirit of the season, or maybe because my wife was digging her nails into my arm, I let it go… but it kept nagging at me. The idea that all concealed carriers see themselves as some kind of cowboy, carrying their pistol to dispense justice over personal slights, is an offensive characterization of my people – but the part that stung the most was the realization that, in some ways… it’s true.

Now, you may be an upstanding gun owner. You may follow the rules of firearm safety to the letter. You may be well-trained and practiced regarding situations that may call on you to draw your weapon. You may be the very model of responsibility… but as long as there are folks looking to draw down at Home Depot when they spot some shoplifters, we all carry that 2nd Amendment scarlet letter. When we suffer fools within our ranks (however loosely established those ranks may be), we make ourselves all look a bit foolish.

I know what you’re saying: “It isn’t fair to judge such a broad group on the actions of a foolish minority,” and I agree. It isn’t fair – but these types of generalizations exist in all walks of life, and often, are the very basis of legislation when anti-gun types start writing up new laws. To the lefty-gun hater that lives in suburban Connecticut, firearms exist only as they’ve seen them on TV, in fictional depictions, and news stories about murderers.

If your only exposure to guns comes from the media, it makes perfect sense that you’d perceive them as too dangerous to be necessary.

So, because I know that convincing anti-gunners that gun owners are overwhelmingly responsible is a never-ending battle, I’ve decided to take the fight in a different direction: I’ve decided to take the argument to fellow gun owners themselves. We all need to work to ensure that we’re all on the same page when it comes to drawing (and discharging) our firearms.

Sure, I could come up with a long think-piece about utilizing a “rules of engagement” type escalation of force when facing a potential threat… but honestly, I think it’s simpler than that. In fact, I think it really boils down to one simple rule any time you’re not standing on land you own:

Never draw your weapon unless you think someone’s life is in danger.

That sounds easy enough, but it gets murkier in practice. There’s no question that seeing someone steal stuff from Home Depot isn’t a life threatening set of circumstances, but what about when an aggressive driver gets out of his car to confront you in traffic? Or what if a rowdy drunk shoves you outside the bar you met some coworkers for a drink? The truth is, it can be downright difficult to know for sure if your life is in danger… right up until it’s abundantly clear.

I can’t make that judgement call for you, no matter how long I wax on about possible circumstances: it’s a decision that you’ll have to make in the moment, and the repercussions of that decision could potentially end a person’s life, and irreparably change the course of your own. That is the inherent responsibility of gun ownership: understanding that, tucked into your concealed carry holster is a magic wand, capable of ending lives and ruining your own. That bit of security you keep in your waistband or purse has the capacity to keep you safe from danger… or the potential to unravel someone’s existence – to take a child away from their parents, to take a father away from his children.

When you decide to carry a firearm, you make a bet with fate. You’re gambling that your judgement will be sound, your marksmanship will be adequate, and your response will be appropriately measured… and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Losing that gamble could cost your life, the lives of your loved ones, or even the life of a shoplifter that, while deserving of punishment, may not be deserving of execution.

Like it or not, we’re all judged by the actions of our fools. As a conservative-minded guy, I’m constantly held accountable for the crazier things those with similar political affiliations say. As a man, I’m held accountable for the cultural misogyny of creeps and monsters like Harvey Weinstein and company. As a Marine, I get asked about washouts like last week’s attempted terrorist in Northern California. If you’re a woman, a person of color, a vegetarian, a southern judge, a politician, or a firefighter… we’ve all got ideas about you and your beliefs; many born out of the actions of the most foolish and outspoken among you. It’s just how our brains work.

That means those of us who choose to place ourselves within the firearm-owning demographic have to remain constantly aware of the responsibility we carry in our holsters. Your firearm offers you the means to protect yourself and others, but it affords an equal share of destructive potential, in the physical sense, but also in the political one. Foolish behavior with a firearm serves as further evidence that firearms themselves are simply too dangerous for the public at large. As our politicians sit in their Washington D.C. offices, surrounded by armed security and blissfully ignorant of the challenges and risks facing actual human beings, it’s easy to think no one needs a gun. When they think gun, they think murder – not shooting the massive possums that keep coming after my poor little dog in the back woods of Georgia (which account for my only confirmed kills in the winter of 2017).

These things get aggressive in the winter months, and when you wake up to the sound of a possum going after your cat, you’ll hope you have a gun to take out into the darkness with you.

So, unfair as it seems, remember that your firearm makes you a part of something larger than yourself. When you carry, you’re representing gun owners all across the country, and your behavior could potentially result in legislative changes that affect all of us. Worse, you could take a parent away from their kids, a loving spouse away from their husband or wife, and that’s assuming you hit the person you’re aiming for. Taking a life is an awfully permanent thing to dispense over some jacked lawn equipment.

So unless someone’s life is in danger… keep your pistols holstered.

Feature image courtesy of Ibropalic (pixabay.com)

Op-Ed: So why exactly do you need so many guns?

As the gun debate continues to rage in this country, the social media conversation has been dominated by memes and straw man arguments bandied about by the most hard headed among both groups — with gun control and gun rights advocates both circling their proverbial wagons and congratulating one another on the new and witty ways they can agree amongst themselves.

A fortified position is intended to weather enemy contact, otherwise there’s no need for it, but when it comes to politics, we prefer our positions fortified and our opposition nowhere to be found. We don’t want to hear what they have to say, to engage with their line of thinking, or to acknowledge any merit or even humanity behind their concerns.

You can be a gun guy or not. You can believe in freedom or not. You can want to save the children or not.

From the outside looking in, it probably looks awfully silly, but to be honest, I couldn’t tell you for sure — because I’m a gun guy, and as such, I can’t help but view this topic through the skewed lens of a stakeholder. When someone that’s never touched a firearm and couldn’t be bothered to learn how they function proposes a law that makes no sense and would save no lives, I see it met with fanfare in Left-leaning outlets and I’ll admit it, I get angry.

But to be honest, I get frustrated with people on my side of the debate as well — when they make suggestions I find equally difficult to stomach. I remember the teachers I had in school and I know a lot of teachers now. I’ve got no doubt that there are plenty of educators in the country that own firearms, but most of the ones I know from my old stomping ground of liberal New England are just as scared of guns as they are of shooters. It’s not because they’re idiots, it’s because they see guns in the same way they see Great White Sharks or the Ebola Virus — a dangerous abstract they prefer to keep within the confines of their television sets. My comfort with firearms wasn’t bred into me; it developed as a result of years of proximity, training and use. I see a gun as a tool because, in my lifetime, that’s precisely what they’ve been to me — but to someone that’s never been near one, all they have to go on are the ridiculous things you see in the press.

Which brings me to the subject of this piece: why do some gun owners choose to own lots of guns and why is the press so afraid of them?

*Headline image from Scientific American*

The “research” cited in that article claimed people bought more guns under Obama because of racism, rather than because people feared he’d pursue more strict gun legislation. I guess that’s why they used the word “suggest,” because “I made this part up” doesn’t work as well in a headline.

I get the basic idea here: guns are scary, so more guns are scarier — but the logic doesn’t really survive past the anti-gun curb appeal. While I’m reluctant to advertise how many guns of whatever type I own, it’s safe to say that I own more than your average gun owner and way more than your average gun control advocate would prefer. I purchased them all legally, keep them stored safely and securely, I have a license to carry awarded by my state of residence, and I’ve not only received quite a bit of training in how to handle my firearms, I continually seek more.

As far as guns go, I’m a pretty responsible American. So, why are multiple-gun owners like me so often characterized as some sort of domestic terrorist deserving of an episode of Hoarders?

I’m not trying to beat up on my left-leaning friends and family. You’re entitled to your opinion, as I am to mine, but from where I stand, my list of firearms isn’t all that different from any of the hobbies I see proudly touted by plenty of liberal folks.

I come from a racing background, and although there are lots of types of racing, many of the people in the industry carry their passion for cars and speed over into their personal lives. Souped-up daily drivers are a common facet among car guys and girls — from Roots type superchargers on classic domestics to chrome plated turbochargers on modern imports, America has long had a love affair with working on your own car, improving its performance — and yup — even racing illegally.

On average in this country, 40,000 people die in car accidents every year — but as a country, we don’t paint mechanics and car enthusiasts as murderers of children or crackpot conspiracy theorists preparing to overthrow the government. We just see them as people with a passion.

I’m not going to judge you for your souped-up Subaru Impreza, even though you’re much more likely to kill an innocent person with it than I am with any of my firearms.

Maybe it’s a money thing. It’s fair to say that I’ve invested more into my firearms than I have into other parts of my life, and one could argue that only a “crazy person” would devote so much of their disposable income to a singular interest. After all, reasonable Americans only do that with sound investments like Beanie Babies or smart phones.

*And I was mad about having to make payments on my phone.*

I’ve always been budget minded when it comes to my hobbies, and firearms are no different. I’ve never put my family in a difficult position financially because of a purchase, I discuss the guns I buy with my wife beforehand and, if I’m honest, you might be hard pressed to know that I’m the sort of guy with a lot of guns even if you took a tour of my house. Having a “collection” of firearms isn’t different than having a “collection” of anything pricey, and at least for me, it’s proven to be a much less expensive hobby than my days spent pulling horsepower out of engine bays. I didn’t set out to have a bunch of guns, I just like to tinker, and it’s cheaper to tinker with my Glock or AK than it is to throw parts at a race car.

Nobody has ever criticized me for having a lot of sockets and wrenches. I’ve never been called a child-killer while driving my old nitrous injected Mustang GT or my brother’s Dodge Viper. If I told you I liked to unwind by having a beer and bolting parts to my wife’s Honda, you’d smile and nod, but if I say I’m going to have a beer and throw a new buttstock on my AR-15, people start acting like it’s because I’ve got plans to climb a clock tower.

I carried a rifle in the Marine Corps. I carried a rifle hunting in the hills of Vermont. To me, a rifle is no different than a hammer – it’s a tool with a purpose, and I take pride in taking good care of my tools. And just like tools, different firearms are better suited for different jobs, and as such, I’ve got more than one. You’d be hard pressed to find a pit mechanic that only owns one wrench.

Listen, I’m not saying guns aren’t dangerous, nor am I saying that this nation doesn’t have any issues with firearms that we need to talk about. All I’m saying is that the debate about firearms often simmers down into ad hominem attacks that presuppose gun owners and criminals are a part of the same social group. I’m sure there’s some crossover in that Venn diagram, but for the most part, people that own a number of firearms are able to because of their financial stability, responsible behavior, and a passion for the craftsmanship and function they find in their tools.

It seems like people on the Left can’t quite agree about how they feel about guns — one will tell you that “no one wants to take your guns” while another tweets about prying them from our “cold dead hands.” Politicians will use the phrase “common sense guns legislation,” then support a bill aimed at banning scary guns because they’re scary. That’s okay — conservatives don’t agree on everything either — but just like we can all agree that no one wants to see more children killed, can’t we also agree that, with at least one gun in over a third of all American households, most gun owners aren’t the bad guys you’re looking for.

So, let’s stop pretending that they are.

Image courtesy of the author

Radian Raptor Limited Edition charging handle in MultiCam Black

Today I’m doing a quick review on the new Radian Raptor Limited Edition Multicam Black charging handle and ambidextrous safety selector. Radian put this limited edition bundle out at a higher price point than their other Raptor charging handles to support the 2nd amendment in Oregon. All proceeds went to organizing the Defend the 2nd Rally event held in Salem last month and additional proceeds will go towards future events.

The Radian Raptor charging handle has ambidextrous controls for charging with either the right or left hand and comes with a matching ambidextrous safety selector that can be manipulated with the thumb or finger. The cool part about the Talon safety switch is you can choose to install it with the 45-degree short throw or standard 90-degree configuration.

Kelin Ray is a Corrections Officer in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest specializing in man tracking and is a member of the Inmate Recovery Team. He is a former Field Artilleryman in the Washington Army National Guard and served in Iraq as a gunner for convoy security operations. In his free you can find him Tactical Live Action Role Playing with his friends as Batman.

My primary home defense weapon

Editors note: Some questions were raised as to whether this was a legal AR-15 setup with the vertical foregrip. After doing some research and sifting through ATF documents, the answer is yes. For a full explanation of this, please reference this article. The authors AR-15 seen in this article has an overall length of 28″.

Ask 5 people who have a home defense weapon what the best home defense weapon is, and you’ll get 5 different answers, with 3 of them telling you why their way is the best way. As always, I’m not here to tell you what to do or tell you that my way is right, I’m just going to go through the thought process and experiences that drove me to my home defense weapon setup.

Short barreled AR’s or “Shorties” as we call them, have had a place in SOF for years. They are compact, maneuverable, and don’t give up round size or capacity when compared with some of the sub guns on the market. I’m not really an AR obsessed guy, and I’m sure there are plenty of short barreled guns or “pistols” out there that hold their own in the CQB world, I’m just very familiar with the platform, and have countless hours of time behind an AR and M4 platforms. I think that is a big one with home defense weapons that some people really don’t take into account. Going with something you have a lot of time behind or are willing to put time into, will help you out tremendously. If you have tons of time behind a Glock 17, why would you make the switch to a weapon system that you have less training time on for your primary home defense weapon? Doesn’t make much sense to me, but guys do it. Having something you know inside and out and will have no issues handling in darkness is probably a good place to start with the weapon. For me, that is the AR-15.

I’ll start with the meat and potatoes of the build. For the upper, I went with a complete BCM 11.5 5.56 Keymod upper. They didn’t start producing the MLOK for the complete uppers when I bought it, but I’ve had no issues with the Keymod so far. This gun isn’t getting knocked around on target or on some cliff face in Afghanistan, so I think it will hold up fine. I obviously chose the shorter barrel because in a home defense situation I’m more than likely going to be internal to the building, in tight spaces etc. Pretty self-explanatory. The BCG is BCM branded, and I went with the medium sized BCM charging handle. I’ve had 2 charging handles that had the big gangster latches fail on me before, (NOT BCM branded,) so I thought I would play it safe. The super large latches also tend to snag on a lot of shit in my experience.

The lower is a stripped Spikes lower. The lower doesn’t really make a difference to me, as a lot of them are made from the same manufacturer. Just thought the spider looked cool, and they are pretty cheap. I don’t even remember the parts kit that I used for the lower, but again, not a huge deal to me what mag release, detent, etc. I put in my gun, as long as it’s from a somewhat reputable company. The lower kit came with a Magpul trigger guard which is bigger than a standard trigger guard which I like. Onto the lower parts that matter, the trigger is a Geissele SSA (Super Semi-Automatic.) It is essentially a civilian version of the Geissele trigger that is made for SOCOM. I really liked the trigger in my work gun, and it is a solid combat trigger. Not too light, but not super gritty like the mil specs. The pistol grip is a BCM, which is more vertical than the standard A2 grip and has a nice texture to it. I have a Noveske 60-degree short throw ambi selector that I love. The short throw really makes a difference and I like the fact that the opposite selector is shorter and doesn’t get caught up on my hand when switching from safe to fire. I always rock a Magpul B.A.D. lever on both my work and home guns and think it makes a world of difference on reloads and clearing malfunctions.

Moving towards the rear of the gun, I have an SBM4 Pistol Brace. This thing is about as close to a stock as you can get without getting your gun SBR’d. It rotates a bit on the buffer but is a solid piece of kit. The buffer tube is a KAC branded one and gives the pistol brace a bit of space between it and the receiver. (Imagine a standard adjustable stock, 1 or 2 clicks out.) For my work gun, I would usually keep the stock 1 click out for CQB, so naturally, I went with this buffer tube, being that the pistol brace is non-adjustable. Inside the buffer tube, is a Spikes Heavy buffer, which I plan on switching out. (If you guys have any recommendations for buffers that reduce felt recoil on shorties, let me know in the comments.)

My muzzle device is a KAK Mini Flash Can. It’s pretty much a small version of the Flaming Pig, but much cheaper. It’s not timed properly, but its torqued to spec, and honestly, it doesn’t need to be timed. Linear compensators definitely do what they are designed to do by pushing the concussion/muzzle blast forward, but also increase “straight back” recoil. Any of you who have fired or been next to an unsuppressed or nonlinear comped short barrel firing know the type of concussion and gas blowback these things produce. Knowing that my primary engagements with this gun would be building internal, I went with the linear comp, and I plan on suppressing sometime in the future. Overall, it definitely works and is a cheap way to make sure your eardrums don’t blow out if you are firing it indoors.

I’m sure I’ll get an earful on this, but my CQB optic of choice is an EOTECH. It’s heavy, the battery life is not as great as many other optics on the market, but it’s what I’m used to. I’ve used plenty of different optics over the years, but my combat optic of choice for average distance engagements has been the EOTECH with a 3x magnifier. I know they have been subject to some severe controversy, but I’m hooked. The 65-moa circle and 1 moa center dot make a great combat reticle. (Pro tip- if you are zeroed at 200, use the top of the bottom tick mark for POA/POI on anything 25 and in.) I like the large window as well and prefer the holographic sight over a red dot. I got the lower end 5.12 EOTECH, as it does the exact same thing as the others. I haven’t felt the need for a riser, and you can still use a non-NV EOTECH with night vision, just turn the brightness down really low. Thousands of assaulters have used an EOTech to clear structures, and I think it is still a great CQB optic. I usually turn on the EOTECH before I go to bed and adjust it with my white light on. This is important because you do not want to have your optic brightness so low, that when your white light turns on it drowns it out. It usually turns off around the time I wake up, as it has an 8-hour auto shutoff if turned on using the right side (upward) arrow. I know, I don’t have iron sights on the gun. If my EOTECH goes down on an engagement within 10 meters, I’m not going to stop and aim through iron sights, I’m going to keep shooting.

This is one thing that I am telling you need if you don’t already have it. A white light. You need to have a white light in order to positively identify your target in low light. This is especially true if you live in a house with other people, and especially, especially true if you live in a house with other people who aren’t on the same schedule as you. Whether they are in your home or not, it is your job to positively id your target. Bullets don’t come back once the trigger is pulled, and you need to be 15542529489% sure that what you’re shooting needs to die. The game changes drastically in low-light CQB situations, and you have got to be switched on. If assaulters feel the need to utilize white light overseas when clearing compounds where there is a high potential for hostiles, you should definitely have one when deciding to engage within your own home. Rule of thumb, have it mounted as far forward as you can, so it doesn’t cast a shadow over the barrel, and preferably where you can reach it with either hand. For my light, I have a Streamlight Protac HL. I bought it years ago when it first came out as a handheld, and have it positioned at the one o’clock. It’s a pretty high lumen output and has yet to fail on me. You’ll notice I don’t like to use pressure pads on my accessories very much. I think the gun community has grown far too reliant on pressure pads. By using one, (if you don’t NEED one,) you are simply adding another failure point on the weapon system. I’ve had 2 instances where a pressure pad has failed on me, and that was all it took for me to minimize their usage. I understand that some setups require using them, but pressure pads were designed as products of necessity, not primary. I usually rock a stubby grip (in this case BCM) far forward and activate my lights tail switch with my thumb. It’s a setup I’ve used for years and it’s just my preference.

A sling is a pretty good thing to have on a home defense weapon. You never know when you might have to go hand to hand, detain, or render first aid in a home defense situation. My preference lies with the VTAC slings. Padded ones are better in my opinion, but I had this one laying around, so it went on the gun. A good rule of thumb when adjusting and taping the sling, is that when fully extended, you should be able to comfortably to a strong to weak side transition of the rifle. As far as where to attach the sling, it should be attached in a manner that allows you to clear malfunctions (i.e. pull the charging handle back,) conduct reloads, and fire without interfering. I personally don’t like my sling to extended past my support hand. Attachment points for me are pretty minimalist. I hate QD swivels and push-button sling attachments. I’ve had probably 4 or 5 fail on me at different points throughout my career so I ditched them entirely. This was mainly due to longer duration missions in wet areas. Normally I route the sling through the stock and then use a Magpul Paraclip as my quick release somewhere on the rail system. Unfortunately, my Noveske endplate had a QD attachment so that’s what I ended up going with, as routing a sling through the pistol brace really doesn’t function too well. The sling attachment point on my rail is just a gutted piece of 550 cord, square knotted with safety knots. It works well, and it didn’t cost $50. Magpul Paraclips are the best sling attachments I’ve ever used, and I couldn’t speak more highly of them if I tried. They can be purchased individually so you can place them on the sling of your preference.

A habit that I have yet to kick is putting a cleaning rod segment on the side of my rail with zip ties. As long as it is an inch or two longer than the barrel, a cleaning rod is good to have. I don’t use them for cleaning at all, but if a round gets stuck in the barrel, you can shotgun the rifle, take the bolt out and jam the round out with the rod/Gerber/rock or whatever. A round getting stuck in the barrel is definitely not common, but it happens. We shoot tens of thousands of rounds every year and a round in the barrel isn’t that uncommon when putting that many rounds downrange. Many people in Regiment do the cleaning rod trick, and I’m sure in other places as well. It’s the one malfunction that you more than likely won’t be able to treat in a fight without a cleaning rod. Also, if you do force on force or UTM style training, you know the struggle of having multiple rounds stuck in your barrel.

I use a standard 30 round GI mag with a tan follower. My ammo of choice for home defense is Hornady TAP 55gr Urban. I live in the suburbs and all the homes around here have siding, so my biggest safety concern is over penetration. There are no real barriers throughout my home I can foresee shooting through, and Hornady TAP has great ballistics and a good track record with law enforcement. If I end up going through more than 30 rounds (hits only) during a home invasion, that’s a bad day that I haven’t really planned for.

The paint job is accomplished with a rattle can and some burlap to spray through. Nothing fancy, just Rustoleum camo colors. Start with a light coat of tan, alternate with brown and OD green. It’s the way we do it in Ranger Battalion and it’s the way I do it now. The paint job isn’t super relevant to home defense but figured it could come up. I’m sure Cerakote or Duracoat is a better solution, but they are also expensive. This paint job was used with paint from work and took about 10 minutes. If it starts to look bad I can just spray more on (or strip it off).

There you have it. My home defense gun setup. This was just to give you my idea behind a good home defense setup, and maybe provide some insight into things you might not have thought about before. Either way, your home defense gun is based on your experiences and what you can make work. Stay vigilant, have a plan, and when in doubt keep shooting.

Author – Tim M. is an Army Ranger who has served in Afghanistan and is currently a K9 handler for ARSOF. In his free time he enjoys shooting, working out and hitting the trails with the dog.

Bump Stocks banned: New Rule Revealed

It’s been more than a year since a gunman carried out a massacre assisted in Las Vegas using rifle equipped with bump stocks. Immediately we heard calls to ban such accessories and devices, with President Trump showing an interest in doing so. He’s stated several times they were working on a bump stock ban, and today they got their wish. The new rule was posted today by the ATF that was signed by acting Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker.

The new ruling is going to classify bump stocks as machine guns. With the Hughes amendment closing the machine gun registry owners of bump stocks now have 90 days to destroy or turn in their devices. No compensation will be offered for turned in bump stocks as of now.

This is a massive overstepping of regulatory bounds, and it’s classifying an amalgamation of plastic as a machine gun, even though it is in no way a firearm. Bump firing can be done without a stock, and most of us who’ve shooting all our live have figured out how to do it with a belt loop.

Bump Stocks Ban Summary

You can read the full text here, but the summary is as follows.

SUMMARY: The Department of Justice is amending the regulations of the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to clarify that bump-stock-type
devices-meaning “bump fire” stocks, slide-fire devices, and devices with certain similar
characteristics are “machineguns” as defined by the National Firearms Act of 1934 and
the Gun Control Act of 1968 because such devices allow a shooter of a semiautomatic
firearm to initiate a continuous firing cycle with a single pull of the trigger.

Specifically, these devices convert an otherwise semiautomatic firearm into a machinegun by
functioning as a self-acting or self-regulating mechanism that harnesses the recoil energy
of the semiautomatic firearm in a manner that allows the trigger to reset and continue
firing without additional physical manipulation of the trigger by the shooter.

Hence, a semiautomatic firearm to which a bump-stock-type device is attached is able to produce
automatic fire with a single pull of the trigger. With limited exceptions, the Gun Control
Act, as amended, makes it unlawful for any person to transfer or possess a machinegun
unless it was lawfully possessed prior to the effective date of the statute.

The bump stock-type devices covered by this final rule were not in existence prior to the effective
date of the statute, and therefore will be prohibited when this rule becomes effective.
Consequently, under the final rule, current possessors of these devices will be required to
destroy the devices or abandon them at an ATF office prior to the effective date of the
rule.

The Truth About Bump Stocks

Bump stocks are dumb, tacky and useless. That doesn’t mean they should be banned, in fact, I’m not sure how this ban is even legal without compensation. I’m not a lawyer, but they were approved by the ATF and bought in good faith.

I owned one a while back after the Vegas shooting it was gifted by a friend who didn’t care for it. Specifically, I acquired it to examine and write an article about them. In the time I possessed it I found it to be largely useless, dumb, and using my belt and a rubber band was easier overall. I could aim from the shoulder, but accuracy was garbage. It would literally fall off sometimes.

I quickly gave it away when I was done. These are dumb items, but the power to ban them by decree should have every gun owner up in arms for lack of a better word. Why? Because as a gun control advocate has already said, “When they give us that inch, that bump stock ban, we will take a mile.”

Feature image Courtesy of Slidefire.com

Toms Shoes for Rifle Magazines – A Buy Back Movement

Send in your new or used Toms shoes and get a rifle magazine.

Last week, Tom’s Shoes announced they were going to donate five million dollars to anti-second amendment organizations. Adams Arms decided they were going to help make a stand against the foolishness.

Have a voice and help send a message. Send those poor quality and overpriced shoes in to:

Adams Arms
Mags for TOMS
1551 Gunn Highway
Odessa FL 33556

You must include a note with your shipping address and email address. It must be legal to ship a 30 round mag to your state, or if you live in a restricted state, Adams Arms will send you a 10 round magazine.

Before you send in your shoes, post a picture with #shoeburn #magsfortoms and #shallnotbeinfringed and help spread the word.

I wonder if my kids will notice a couple pairs of shoes missing? Oh well.