Month: March 2021

State Lawmakers Disagree On Gun Bill

AB286 would increase penalties for some violations and ban the manufacturing and possession of kit guns.

Wednesday, March 17th 2021, 6:24 PM PDT

Updated:

Thursday, March 18th 2021, 7:06 AM PDT

By Paul Nelson

Legislators are discussing a bill that would increase restrictions on some gun laws. Existing law gives businesses the right to prohibit people from carrying firearms on their property. Assembly Bill 286 would take that one step further, increasing the penalties.

“This is actually giving teeth to that provision, allowing private business owners who have implemented or restricted people from visiting their premise with firearms to lean on law enforcement,” Assem. Sandra Jauregui, D-Las Vegas said.

Jauregui is the bill’s primary sponsor. She says the bill would only apply to businesses who opt in. People who violate the restriction would face a misdemeanor for the first offense, a gross misdemeanor for the second offense and a Category E felony for the third.

A big focus is on the Las Vegas Strip, where they have seen a spike in gun crimes.

“We need to make sure that Las Vegas continues to be an inviting place for the 40 million tourists who visit every single year,” Jauregui said.

Many of the resorts on the Strip already prohibit firearms in their properties. Currently, the violation is a trespassing charge.

“It is essential that we signal to our customers all over the world that Las Vegas is the safest place to be,” John McManus, Executive Vice President of MGM Resorts said.

Supporters say increasing safety on the Strip would result in more visitors and an improved economy. Some lawmakers say it could do the opposite because of some of the gun conventions at the Las Vegas resorts.

“We had one of our biggest shows, today, tell us that they would probably leave if this bill went through and that’s $100 million by itself,” Assem. Jim Wheeler, R-Minden said “Probably another $100 million in other gun shows throughout the state.”

The restriction would include hotel parking lots. Opponents say that would affect hunters. If they travel, they would not be able to have the weapon in the hotel or in their car unless it was off-property.

“I leave that in my truck and I go to that hotel, if that hotel has chosen to be a gun free zone, what am I going to do? I can’t bring my firearm,” Assem. Robin Titus, R-Smith Valley said.

Some say leaving a gun in a car, on a street leaves it vulnerable for theft. Others say it affects 143,000 Nevadans that have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

“These are people that have been licensed, trained, gone through background checks and are authorized by their county sheriff, not to mention the 27 other states that we do recognize their permits,” Dan Reid, Western Regional Director of the National Rifle Association said. “CCW holders are amongst the most law-abiding people in this country.”

The second part of the bill would ban people from owning or manufacturing kit guns in Nevada. Many refer to them as ghost guns because they do not have serial numbers. People can order the parts online and assemble them at home.

“This means that ghost gun building blocks can be delivered right to the front door of a convicted domestic abuser, a gun trafficker, a child or a white supremacist,” Emily Walton, Member of Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action said.

“These guns are untraceable,” Jauregui said. “They don’t have serial numbers so if they are used in a crime, it makes it difficult for law enforcement to be able to identify them.”

The bill would also have an affect on people who build guns as a hobby. Antique firearms and replicas would be exempt. Kit gun owners would have a grace period before they would have to sell their homemade guns out-of-state or surrender them.

“We make guns and having that as a private business and private ownership, to be outlawed is wrong,” Titus said.

“This is a long-standing American tradition,” Reid said. “People have been making their own firearms for personal use since before the American Revolutionary War. This is completely legal for personal use.”

Jauregui says she is willing to work with lawmakers to improve the bill. Her goal is to make Nevada a safer state for residents and visitors.

“We know we’re not going to prevent every single crime or every single act of gun violence,” Jauregui said. “We know that. We’re trying to prevent some of them.”

“Like all gun laws, they restrict the law abiding citizen and they do not restrict the criminal because the criminal doesn’t follow the gun laws,” Wheeler said.

Wednesday’s Assembly Committee on the Judiciary meeting was the first step in the process. The bill could still change before a vote.

All About Guns

UVF Gewehr 88: Gun Running Into Ireland in 1914

Post author By Grumpy
Post date March 24, 2021
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All About Guns Ammo

The most influential big bore hunting cartridges by John McAdams

Post author By Grumpy
Post date March 24, 2021
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Image: Big Game Hunting Adventures

Few hunters will ever truly need a big bore cartridge, but when you need one, you reallyneed one in the worst way possible. After all, sometimes bigger really is better.
However, since most of the biggest rifle cartridges were primarily used in the specialized role of stopping a charging buffalo or elephant at short range, relatively few hunters have ever shot, much less owned a big bore rifle.
Even so, there is a certain mystique about them. Perhaps that stems from a fascination many have with hunting Africa around the turn of the century. It may also just have something to do with the allure of owning or shooting the biggest possible rifle.
Regardless of exactly why some people love them so much, certain big bore rifle cartridges have really made a significant impact on the hunting world.
Before we get started, keep in mind that this is not meant to be an exhaustive list of really big rifle calibers. Instead, this article is primarily focused on the big bore hunting cartridges with outsized roles in hunting lore or cartridge development. For that reason, it does not include some more modern cartridges like the .577 Tyrannosaur and .600 Overkill or one-off novelty cartridges like the .950 JDJ.

.577 Nitro Express

.577 Nitro Compared to .22 CB. (Image: Wikimedia)

With the development of smokeless propellants in the late 1800s, British manufacturers wasted little time in developing what became known as the “Nitro Express” line of cartridges.
Born by adapting the old .577 Black Powder Express cartridge to use cordite, the new .577 Nitro Express 3″ cartridge was a dramatic improvement in performance over the old black powder load. It fired a 750-grain bullet at 2,050 feet per second for an astounding 7,000 foot pounds of energy.
This huge cartridge quickly developed a reputation for incredible stopping power and was extremely popular among elephant hunters around the turn of the century.

.600 Nitro Express

.505 Gibbs, .600 Nitro Express, 9.3x62mm Mauser, .308 Winchester. (Image: Big Game Hunting Adventures)

Not content with the performance of the .577 Nitro Express, W.J. Jeffery & Company developed the .600 Nitro Express cartridge a few years later. Firing a 900-grain bullet at a velocity of 1,950 feet per second with an incredible 7,600 foot pounds of energy, the .600 Nitro Express was the most powerful hunting cartridge in the world for the better part of a century.
Like the .577 Nitro, the .600 Nitro Express excelled in its primary role of stopping elephant and buffalo charges at close range.

.700 Nitro Express

.700 Nitro Express. (Image: Pinterest)

The .700 Nitro Express is the oddball cartridge on this list. It was not part of the original Nitro Express line and was instead designed by American shooters Jim Bell and William Feldstein.
As the story goes, Holland & Holland had completed production of their .600 Nitro Express series of rifles and refused to build Feldstein a new rifle in .600 Nitro. So, Feldstein and Bell designed what would become the .700 Nitro and asked Holland & Holland to build him a rifle chambered in that cartridge instead.
Holland & Holland agreed, and the new cartridge ended up sparking enough interest that the company started producing rifles chambered in .700 Nitro and even restarted production of rifles chambered in the .600 Nitro cartridge as well.
Firing a 1,000-grain bullet at 2,000 feet per second, the .700 Nitro Express packs a wallop with 8,900 foot pounds of energy. After it came on stage, the .700 Nitro took the title of the most powerful hunting cartridge sold commercially from the .600 Nitro.

4 Bore and 8 Bore

.600 Nitro, .577 Nitro, .30-06 Springfield, 8 Bore, 4 Bore. (Image: Rifle Magazine)

Now we need to go way back in time to the early days of European settlement in Africa to discuss the next entries on the list. Before the advent of smokeless powder and good quality jacketed bullets, hunters had to resort to shooting massive lead projectiles to have any hope of taking down the enormous game they encountered in Africa.
These massive firearms were the first elephant guns, and their size was denoted in the old English manner of bore or gauge (like a shotgun) instead of caliber. While hunters also used 2, 6 and 10 bore guns on occasion, the 4 bore was probably the most popular for hunting elephant, and the 8 bore was most popular for animals like buffalo and hippo.
Though there was some variation in the exact projectile sizes, an 8 bore rifle normally fired a humongous .835″ projectile, and a 4-bore fired a projectile around 1″ in diameter. These guns originally began as muzzleloaders and eventually were developed into breechloaders that used fixed cartridges.
For that reason, there was quite a bit of variation in loads for the 4 and 8 bore. A common 8 bore load was a 2 ounce (875 grains) round ball fired at muzzle velocity of about 1,600 feet per second. One popular 4 bore fired a 4 ounce (1,750 grains) projectile at around 1,500 feet per second.

For many years, these guns were the most effective means of taking down big animals like elephants. However, they had tremendous recoil and were incredibly heavy, and those gigantic lead projectiles did not penetrate well. Not surprisingly, the 4 and 8 Bore were quickly eclipsed by the Nitro Express cartridges that came along in the late 1800s.

Cops

Ex-officer on trial for deadly arrest asks to show jury an earlier George Floyd arrest (Who in their right mind would want to be a Cops today in this crazy Country of ours!?!)

By Jonathan Allen

(Reuters) – About a year before George Floyd was killed in a deadly arrest by Minneapolis police officers last May, he had a different encounter with police in which he also became distressed as an officer pointed a gun at him and ordered him out of a car.

On Tuesday, a lawyer for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer on trial for murder charges for Floyd’s death, asked the judge to allow the jury, which is still being selected, to see evidence of the earlier episode.

In the May 6, 2019 arrest, a panicked Floyd swallowed several opioid pain-killer pills as police approached and was later treated at a hospital. Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s lead lawyer, has argued that the main cause of Floyd’s death a year later, which was ruled a homicide, was the opioid fentanyl found in his blood at autopsy.

“The similarities are incredible, it’s the exact same behavior in two incidents almost exactly one year apart,” Nelson told the court, noting Floyd called out for his “mama” in both arrests, according to video footage.

Prosecutors opposed the move, saying the defense was seeking to dirty the character of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who died in handcuffs after the May 25, 2020 arrest. Video of his death in which Chauvin, who is white, pushes Floyd’s head into the road with a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes ignited global protests against police brutality and racism.

Matthew Frank, a prosecutor in the Minnesota attorney general’s office, said the request showed “the desperation of the defense to smear Mr. Floyd’s character by showing that when he is struggling with an opioid addiction, like so many Americans do, it’s really just evidence of bad character.”

In body-worn camera footage from the 2020 arrest, foam can be seen around Floyd’s mouth as police order him out of his car on suspicion he used a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes.

Nelson wants to show the jury evidence supporting his argument that the foam resulted from Floyd swallowing drugs. Pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine were found in Floyd’s car; semi-chewed versions of such pills were found in the back of the police car where officers had struggled to get Floyd to sit, Nelson said.

Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill, overseeing the trial in a heavily guarded tower in downtown Minneapolis, said he planned to rule on Nelson’s request on Thursday.

Cahill said he might allow evidence about a paramedic’s findings in the 2019 arrest, saying it could be admissible evidence of Floyd’s “bodily response” to ingesting a large amount of drugs.

But he said he would quickly quash anyone suggesting to the jury: “Don’t feel sympathy for him because he was taking drugs.”

Prosecutors argued the prior arrest and Floyd’s blood pressure on a date more than a year earlier were not relevant to the charges against Chauvin. They said the police response then, involving different officers than in 2020, was not comparable, not least in that Floyd survived.

In 2019, officers spoke calmly with Floyd and sat him in the squad car before he was taken to the hospital.

“Mr. Floyd had a history of hypertension, there’s no doubt about that,” Frank, the prosecutor, told the court. But it was wrong to argue that “he was on notice and so therefore he somehow gave up the right to be treated reasonably by police officers.”

The other three officers are due to go on trial later this year on charges of aiding and abetting Chauvin. The Minneapolis Police Department fired all four officers the day after the deadly arrest.

Chauvin, 44, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty, saying he followed his police training, and has appeared in court each day in a suit and tie taking notes on a yellow legal pad.

The court has seated nine jurors since the trial began last week, and plans to have opening arguments commence on March 29.

However, the defense has asked the judge to reconsider a request to move the trial to a different county after the city of Minneapolis announced last week it would pay $27 million to Floyd’s family to settle their federal wrongful-death lawsuit. Cahill said he is considering the request amid concerns publicity around the announcement may influence jurors.

Cahill said the jurors who were seated before Friday’s announcement will be recalled on Wednesday morning so he can question them on whether the settlement creates bias.

“The $27 million settlement is unfortunate,” Cahill said on Tuesday. “But let’s face it, it’s not just a legal decision, it’s a political decision, and I think people realize that.”

Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted on the most serious charge.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Dan Grebler)

A Victory! All About Guns

Tennessee Senate advances ‘permitless carry’

Post author By Grumpy
Post date March 23, 2021
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NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) – The Tennessee State Senate passed legislation on Thursday that would strip the requirement for gun holders to get a permit.

It’s a part of legislation that was part of Gov. Bill Lee’s key issues for this legislative session.

Gov. Lee unveils key bills in 2021 legislative package

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee outlined key administration bills in his 2021 legislative package on Thursday.

As the law stands now, Tennesseans must have a permit to carry a gun. To get that permit it requires training, background checks and even fingerprinting.

Some lawmakers said the new law would change very little.

Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, said the bill the legislature tried to pass last year was sidelined due to COVID initiatives.

Johnson said 31 states have laws that don’t allow gun owners to get a permit. He also said the focus should be on criminals who commit crimes with guns, not on everyday people.

“In existing law right now, you can carry a firearm in an automobile without a permit, you can carry it one a motorcycle without a permit, you can carry it on a boat without a permit,” Johnson said. “Certainly you can have it in your home or business, so really all this bill fixes is now you can walk from your vehicle to that business with that loaded weapon and not be in violation of a Class C misdemeanor.”

Debate over concealed carry permits continues in state legislature

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) – New legislation could be passed for concealed carry gun owners in Tennessee to no longer be required to get a permit.

Lawmakers on the other side of the issue are nervous.

They said if a gunowner can’t pass a background check because of a felony record or they’re unable to pass a training class, why put them in public with a loaded firearm.

“You can believe in the Second Amendment and believe in responsible gun ownership,’ said Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville. “But understand that not just every knucklehead needs to be walking around the streets carrying a loaded firearm.”

The bill is currently working its way through House committees. It could be heard on the floor by the full house next week.