Prohibitionist California Legislator Carjacked: State Senate President
Pro Tem Don Perata thought it was a panhandler knocking at his car
window Saturday afternoon in Oakland - until he saw the gun. The masked
man was pointing the weapon and said through the glass, "Get out of the
car," Perata told Oakland police minutes later... Perata says he doesn't
anticipate any new legislation coming out of the incident. "I've been
doing gun control for 20 years, and this confirms what I've always
believed," he said. "This is simply a punctuation of my long career on
this issue."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-perata30dec30,1,3433145.story?coll=la-headlines-california
---
Follow-Up On BATFE Dog-And-Pony Show: Authorities uncovered a cache of
assault weapons in a Gilbert storage locker belonging to a man with a
history of threatening law enforcement. Steve Bentley, 40, told Maricopa
County probation officials about the guns during questioning this
weekend. He was booked into a county jail Friday on suspicion of
threatening his probation officer. On Saturday, federal agents were
called to the storage facility near Elliot and McQueen roads. Inside
they found about 75 guns, most of them assault weapons like AK-47s and
AR-15s, said Peter Forcelli, a supervisory special agent with the U.S.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1229weapons-ON.html
---
NRA-ILA's Year In Review: Here are some of the top stories we brought
you in the NRA-ILA Grassroots Alert in 2007. With the 2008 election
season just around the corner, we must redouble our efforts to ensure we
are prepared to meet the opportunities and challenges we will face next
year. We will continue to provide you with information in future Alerts
to ensure our mutual success.
http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx
---
Tangentially Related: S.L.A. Marshall was a reporter turned military
historian who claimed that only 10% of troops in battle fired on the
enemy. Of note, this statistic is an integral part of Dave Grossman's
underlying premise in his book On Killing. As did David Hackworth, in
his book About Face, this article unmasks Marshall as a fraud.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/76997
---
From John Farnam:
23 Dec 07
Tracers:
American Eagle (Federal Cartridge) is now making 223 XM856, tracers.
Jensen's in Loveland, CO has a good supply. Bullets have a red tip, and
they work the same as the ones I remember!
Tracers are useful mostly with machine guns as they provide a visual
indication of exactly where the stream of bullets is going. However,
they are also useful during the rifle zeroing process, and they are very
useful as a training tool, as they show students, in real time, what a
bullet's trajectory actually looks like.
Tracers are designed, among other things, to start fires, and they
function only too well in that regard! So, one must be careful when
using them on grassy, outdoor ranges, and they should not be fired into
rubber bullet traps!
For the longest time, tracers were available only from military
sources. Not any more!
/John
(John and I disagree over whether tracers are designed to start fires
but the fact that they can do so has resulted in their prohibition in
some states. I believe that firing them also accelerates wear of the
bore of the firearm.)
24 Dec 07
Developments in the Industry:
Randy Luth, who owned DPMS (Defensive Procurement Manufacturing
Services), has sold his rifle-manufacturing business in MN to the
company that already owns Remington and Bushmaster, and which, in turn,
is owned by Damlier/Chrysler. No word on whether rifles under both
brand-names will continue to be produced.
Bushmaster and DPMS currently sell 95% of their production to domestic
law-enforcement and general commerce. The vast majority of that goes to
non-LE, individual buyers. Military sales currently account for only
five percent.
It concerns me when domestic gun producers are absorbed by large,
multi-national corporations. Their invariable devotion to "political
correctness" and leftist politics, combined with a lack of concern for
(or even awareness of) our Art and for the preservation of our Second
Amendment, makes one wonder how enthusiastic for, and innovative with,
the gun business they will remain!
That leaves only Robinson Arms, Sabre, DSA, Rock River Arms, Fulton
Armory, SA, and a few others as major, independent, American-owned
makers of military rifles. Let us hope they all remain fiercely
independent and wildly successful!
/John
(The buyer to which John alludes is Cerberus Capital Management, a
private-equity investment firm that specializes in buying companies that
are near bankruptcy. Of note, they seem to prefer to keep quiet
[
http://www.cerberuscapital.com/port_comp_pro.html] about their
investments in firearm manufacturing .)
26 Dec 07
Magazine problem with Microtec's AUG:
I talked with the formally-proud owner of Microtec's new version of the
AUG today. We were at the retailer where he bought it. It runs fine,
but the familiar waffle-pattern AUG magazines don't fit into it! Two,
ten-round magazines were supplied with the rifle, and they look, for all
the world, like the AUG magazines we're all used to. But, they're not
the same, and this unhappy ex-customer of Microtec's decided to the take
the whole package back to where he bought it.
The AUG is a handy rifle, but, when magazines aren't interchangeable,
it's an obvious deal-buster!
It's hard to understand how gun makers can commit such a faux-pas.
There are many people, with AUGs, who would be delighted to have another
copy of the rifle, but not when they can't share magazines.
/John
(As a rule of thumb, it's wisest not to invest in a newly released
firearm until it's been on the market for at least a year. The AUG is a
seductive little package until you need to fire it from your
non-dominant shoulder; then, like most bullpups, it will eject fired
cases into your face. While it is convertible between right- and
left-handed ejection, this is not something that can be done on the spur
of the moment.)
26 Dec 07
More developments in the Industry:
Cerebus, the company that owns DPMS, Bushmaster, and Remington is
absorbing Marlin as well!
/John
(As noted above, it's actually "Cerberus," named for the three-headed
dog that guards the gates of Hades in Greek mythology.)
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
