Break Time!: I will be leaving shortly for this year's Annual Training
Conference of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms
Instructors and will likely be off line until Sunday, May 27. PLEASE
HOLD ALL NON-ESSENTIAL E-MAIL (INCLUDING WISHES FOR A SAFE TRIP) UNTIL
YOU HEAR FROM ME. I get at least two dozen pieces of spam a day and do
not relish sifting through a few hundred pieces of accumulated e-mail on
my return.
---
Victory For The First Amendment: For the second time this year,
legislation infringing on American citizens' First Amendment rights was
defeated in the U.S. Congress. On May 1, anti-gun Representatives
Martin Meehan (D-Mass.) and Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) introduced H.R.
2093, legislation restricting grassroots lobbying. The "Meehan-Shays
amendment" would have defined communications by organizations such as
NRA, that were written with the intent of mobilizing citizens to contact
Congress as "lobbying," subjecting those efforts to onerous registration
and reporting requirements for the first time in American history.
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=3006
---
Colorado Limits Out-Of-State Permits: Gov. Bill Ritter signed 16 bills
on Thursday, including one barring Colorado residents from using
concealed weapons permits from other states in Colorado. Out-of-state
visitors will be allowed to use permits issued by their home states, and
not a third state, under the law (Senate Bill 34). House Majority Leader
Alice Madden (D-Boulder) said she sponsored the bill because she was
concerned people denied permits in Colorado could get them elsewhere and
use them here.
http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=70283
---
Vetoed Arizona CCW Bill May Reappear Next Year: <>In her veto message,
Governor Janet Napolitano said criminals like gang members, often carry
weapons without a permit. Johnson said her bill took that into account.
"With a law-abiding citizen it would make it a petty offense, but if it
was in the commission of a crime then the penalty would be stronger, so
I didn't agree with her veto message," Johnson said. (In Arizona, the
constitutional issue is more clearly linked to the state constitution
than the Second Amendment - I hope Senator Johnson realizes that and
was simply misquoted.)
http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=485451
---
Levy To Fenty, Take Parker To SCOTUS: Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian M.
Fenty (D) has the Second Amendment in his crosshairs. He faces a crucial
choice over the next 90 days with major implications for residents in
D.C. and across the country: Should the city ask the Supreme Court to
review Parker v. District of Columbia, a March 9 decision by the U.S.
Court of Appeals that said D.C.'s handgun ban is unconstitutional? On
May 8, the city lost round two when the appellate court declined to
re-hear the case. That leaves the Supremes as the court of last resort...
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8245
---
California Congressman Tries To Take Microstamping Federal: ...Rep.
Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., arranged for Friday's demonstration in a
basement firing range in the Rayburn House Office Building. He and Sen.
Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., are crafting a microstamping bill that aides said
has law enforcement support...Becerra is modeling his legislation on a
bill in the California Assembly that would require semiautomatic pistols
to be equipped with microscopic characters identifying make, model and
serial number.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=3190412
---
Bloomberg vs. Fraternal Order Of Police: In a demonstration of how
tenuous the prohibitionist claim is that they support law enforcement,
NYC's mayor Michael Bloomberg has denounced the FOP as a fringe
organization because it has opposed his stance on the Tiahrt amendment,
which blocks cities such as NYC from obtaining BATFE trace data for use
in lawsuits against firearm manufacturers.
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=3007
FOP Memo:
http://www.grandlodgefop.org/servlet/display/news_article?id=441&XSL=xsl_pages%2fpublic_news_individual.xsl&nocache=11941152
---
Gun-Free Zones - Illusion Of Safety: ...Well, mandating college campuses
be gun-free zones provides as much safety as holding your hands over
your eyes. Danger is either there or it's not. Holding your hands over
your eyes so you can't see danger has nothing to do with whether danger
is approaching... (Ken Blackwell is a former Ohio secretary of state and
unsuccessful candidate for governor.)
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=illusion_of_safetythe_false_promise_of_gun-free_zones&ns=KenBlackwell&dt=05/18/2007&page=full&comments=true
---
Experts Credit Video Games With Cho's Hit Rate: ...Grossman forwarded an
e-mail from Borelli, with Borelli's permission, stating: "Cho had
limited experience with real guns, but had an astonishing hit ratio,
rhythmic fire patterns, quick reloads - and fired 'tactically,' with
three shots into nearly every student killed."... "The rest is quite
obvious," Borelli wrote Grossman. "Even if [Cho] only hit each victim
once, he had a 32 percent hit ratio, which is better than most cop
shootings." (Not all instructors have been equally impressed with Cho's
marksmanship.)
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/5/18/174945.shtml?s=us
---
Oops, Wrong Permit-Holder: The Kalamazoo County (MI) Sheriff's
Department says 32-year-old Brian Smith was approached by two men as he
was entering his apartment on Mt. Royal Drive just before 2 a.m. Friday.
One of the suspects asked Smith for directions to Kalamazoo Valley
Community College and then pulled out a revolver. Smith pulled out his
revolver to defend himself and fired two shots, hitting the suspect in
his left hand. (It would be interesting to know if the assailant was
holding his revolver in his left hand as guns, gun hands and gun-side
arms often get hit in gunfights.)
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6534873&nav=0Rce
---
There's A Reason God Put Those People On An Island: As gunfights go, it
was something of an unequal contest. On one side were dozens of armed
police officers assisted by dogs, with helicopters hovering over head.
On the other were two teenage girls in cowboy outfits, with one toy gun
between them.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=455782&in_page_id=1770
---
Rule Five Reminder: A Maryland SWAT officer had a Colt M4 and a
Remington 870 shotgun stolen from the trunk of his unmarked vehicle,
which was parked, unlocked, outside his home. (Modern sedans generally
have hood releases inside and locking weapon racks, that can be
installed in trunks, are available for those long guns commonly used in
law enforcement. Rule Five: Maintain control of your firearm.)
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=60334
---
Doggy-Door Alert: Phoenix police say an intruder who shot and wounded a
32-year-old woman in her home about 2:30 a.m. Friday got in through a
dog door...Investigators think the man may have confronted two large
dogs inside the house. When the woman opened her bedroom door, police
said, a man silhouetted in the hallway opened fire.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0519B1-talker0519.html
---
For Information Only:
RE: Glock failures
This has been an on-going problem here in NM. The State Police has
recently made the decision to switch to Smith & Wesson M&Ps, replacing
all their G31, 32 and 33, eventually. In addition to the ongoing
failures, the interchangeable back strap of the Smith will allow them to
fit more hands. We'll see if they hold up any better. Interestingly
enough, some of the Glock reps said they "should have never chambered
the cartridge in their guns." Of course, they'll take no steps to
mitigate the problem either.
XXXX XXXX, Bureau Chief
New Mexico Department of Public Safety
Advanced Training Bureau
(Glock's 31, 32 and 33 models are all chambered in .357 SIG and are,
respectively, the standard, compact and subcompact models.)
---
NRA-ILA Alerts: This week's alerts for various states are posted on the
NRA-ILA website.
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/State/
---
From John Farnam:
14 May 07
S&W Sigma Pistol
At a Defensive handgun Course in IN last weekend, one student brought a
Sigma pistol in 9mm. It lasted into the second day. Then, at the
eight-hundred-round mark, it broke. The slide seized into the retracted
position and could not be persuaded to go forward. We had to pull it
off the line. It was replaced with a G19, which ran fine for the duration.
We don't see many Sigmas any more, but we are seeing lots of M&Ps, and
they have all run fine, rivaling Glocks and SIGs. We, in fact, had two
M&Ps in this class, and both were trouble-free.
At last check, the Sigma was still officially "in production," but I
believe its days are numbered. In fact, in the training community, the
Sigma has achieved "throw-away" status. That is, I recommended that
this student not get his Sigma "fixed," but instead pitch it and replace
it with an M&P, Glock, SIG, or H&K. Sigmas are really not worth fixing!
/John
(When I lived on the border, where .40 S&W ammo was ubiquitous, I picked
up an older Sigma in that chambering precisely so that I would have a
pistol I could afford to lose. The full-caliber Sigma [as opposed to the
380] was designed around the .40 S&W cartridge and I was advised that
some of the people at S&W felt that it was actually more reliable in
that chambering than in 9x19mm, unlike the Glock, which was designed
around the latter cartridge and is most reliable in that chambering.)
18 May 07
At an Urban Rifle Course in IN this week, we had two military M1
Carbines, an assortment of ARs, a Mini-14, a DSA/FAL, an H&K 308, and a
SA Socom.
The Socom went down halfway through the first day with extraction
problems. The frustrated shooter substituted a full-sized M1A, which
ran fine for the duration. The front and rear sights on the H&K are
only separated by ten inches, and, not urprisingly, the shooter was
unable to hit anything, although the rifle otherwise ran fine. He
substituted an H&K-93 (which has a normal separation of front and rear
sights) and he suddenly began to hit targets normally. All ARs ran
fine as did the FAL. Three were equipped with EOTechs, and they also
worked normally for the duration. One M1 Carbine went down with a loose
rear sight.
One AR had a cloth shroud over the extendable stock tube. It interfered
with the operation of the charging handle and several times prevented a
round from being chambered. I'm not sure what this shroud's function is
supposed to be, but it did little more than get in the way.
The loose rear sight on the M1 Carbine had been epoxied in place. The
"glue-job" didn't last long. They never do!
Front and rear iron sights on the H&K, which are deliberately placed
close to each other, would appear to be a contradiction! Why would
anyone set up a rifle like that?
Comment: Tactical plans are rather like casserole recipes, except that:
(1) You don't get to know all the ingredients
(2) You don't get to know when dinner will be served, and
(3) You don't get to know who will show up, expecting to eat
Therefore, unreliable, prone-to-breakage, maladroit, poorly-designed
rifles and accessories are a poor choice when "dinner" is so
unpredictable! You are best advised to stick with rugged,
well-designed, simple, reliable equipment that will serve you well,
regardless of anyone else's dining plans.
/John
(As I recall, the rear sight on the M1 Carbine is supposed to be driven
into the sight boss from right to left. Once the base is centered, it is
supposed to be staked in place by lightly driving a prick punch or
center punch into the forward section of the sight boss just forward of
the sight base so that a small amount of metal from the boss is driven
into the ensuing "notch" created by the punch in the sight base.)
Excellent comments on serious rifles, from a Riflesmith:
"There are many acceptable serious rifles currently available, Robinson
Arms, DSA, Krebs, S&W, et al. However:
Even the best need to be broken in. Extraction and feeding problems are
not atypical with a brand-new rifle. Getting it hot with rapid fire
helps immensely in getting parts rubbed-in to working clearances. In
addition, high-volume drills, such as you do in your Urban Rifle
Program, will probably cause anything that is going to break, to break.
Two-hundred rounds is a reasonable, initial break-in. Our fighting
rifles are actually in their best condition when they are not new
anymore. The most reliable are well worn.
The Stoner System certainly has its faults, but, if kept simple, it can
work well. Parts availability for the AR-15 is unsurpassed and probably
will be for at least the next decade or two. This may emerge as an
important consideration in coming years."
Comment: Serious rifles need to be run, and run often. Shooter and
rifle must work together smoothly. Every real American needs a
reliable, military rifle, or two. Get them while they're hot!
/John
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
