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Reproduction HEL-E4A Vietnam M16 Silencer by International Milspec Co

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Are Waiting Periods Constitutional? Darwin Nercesian

As I was reading transcripts of oral arguments presented to the United States First Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the Constitutionality of Maine’s 72-hour waiting period on firearm purchases, I found myself laughing frequently at the mental gymnastics on display and the idea that such an easy answer seemed so far out of the state’s intellectual grasp.

I know, I know. So, what is the answer? We’ll get to that, but first, let’s mock some anti-Second Amendment clowns whose lack of wit begs the question, how does this individual eat a bowl of cereal without accidentally drowning?

For those who actually live in America, the idea of a waiting period to take home a newly purchased firearm may seem foreign and absurd, and it is, but for those living in territories masquerading as American states, it’s just another day in authoritarian paradise.

Fortunately, attorneys representing Maine have been keen to point out their own corrupt attempts to pervert the meaning of the Second Amendment, arguing that the right to keep and bear arms does not implicitly protect the right to purchase them.

If there was ever a slimy, sleazy, and repugnant excuse for an individual, meet Christopher C. Taub, Maine’s chief deputy attorney general, whose arguments read like a brightly lit neon sign screaming, “I am not credible!” I wonder if he even noticed.

As I continued reading the transcript, I thought this line of abject stupidity might be reigned in after U.S. Circuit Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson objected to the notion, pointing out that “you gotta be able to get a firearm in some fashion.”

And she is correct, especially during a time when the government is working hard to eliminate homemade firearms. Who would have bet an Obama appointee could make such a precise and cogent statement? I certainly didn’t see it coming.

Thankfully, Erin Murphy of Clement & Murphy in Washington, D.C., representing plaintiffs in the matter, was there to throw fuel on the fire in the form of superior reasoning.

“The only thing this law is doing is restricting possession … The state doesn’t care about the transaction. Or the legal title. They care about possession.”

Great point. The transaction being complete, this has nothing to do with the purchase, only possession. Taub walked right into that like a hyena into the lion’s den.

But Taub wasn’t about to give up trashing his credibility at the mere sign of logic and reason. He argued the Second Amendment would only factor in if a waiting period “meaningfully impairs” the right to keep and bear arms.

I didn’t catch the “meaningfully impairs” section of the Second Amendment, Chrissy, but I am familiar with the term “shall not be infringed,” and like most Americans, I don’t need to litigate the simple text into absurdity.

I wish I could tell you that Chrissy walked away with his tail between his legs at this point, but the clown show wasn’t complete. Taub next argued that the right is not applicable to all Americans, as “the Second Amendment applies to people who are law-abiding and responsible.”

But this time it was a Biden appointee, U.S. Circuit Judge Lara Montecalvo, who intervened to inform Taub that he was an idiot, but in a non-pejorative “judgy” manner that my direct to abrasive lack of patience does not afford me.

“Your argument is the waiting period is checking on whether people are law-abiding, and I don’t see that,” said Montecalvo.

First of all, this is absolutely correct, as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is, well, INSTANT! In most cases, a background check yields a result while the customer is still in the store. Strike three on this gun controller.

You would think it was time for Taub to hang up the scales of justice and seek employment in a more fitting environment for his personal intellect, especially after getting beaten up by both Obama and Biden judicial appointees on matters of the Second Amendment, but you’d be wrong.

Taub then chose to pivot, arguing that waiting periods save lives. But do they? When this argument is made, gun controllers are generally talking about those who seek to obtain a firearm to commit suicide.

Judge Thompson aptly pointed out, however, that such a provision would do nothing for those who already own a gun. I will expand on this by saying that those who don’t own a firearm typically have an alternative means of obtaining one, and the legality of doing so isn’t of much concern to them, all things considered.

Further, a firearm is not necessary to commit suicide, and a waiting period does nothing to protect from the litany of other methods available to those who have their minds set. The idea of violating the Constitutional rights of so many Americans in light of these facts is unconscionable, and U.S. Circuit Judge Seth Aframe, another Biden appointee, agrees with me.

“If I have an impulse problem, there are other ways I can get a gun. You’re taking a sledgehammer to a lot of people who are law-abiding and responsible but not necessarily solving for other people. You’re creating a lot of problems without a solution,” said Aframe.

Now, before we go giving these judges too much credit, let’s look at where they may have stepped in it themselves.

“Maine’s science says that waiting three days has indicia of proving responsibility, just like a safety class proves responsibility,” according to Aframe.

This isn’t about Maine’s science. It is about the Constitution of the United States of America. But one must also consider the source, and let’s face it, Democrats will lie, manipulate, and sell their souls to eviscerate freedom. So what do we know about the source? We know they either can not or will not understand the concise plain text of the Second Amendment. That’s enough for me. If you are either too stupid or too corrupt to seize its meaning, don’t even begin to speak to me about science.

Judge Thompson, as if looking to belong to both reasonable and incompetent sides of the argument, provided this nugget of mindlessness to the debate.

“[P]eople need safety classes in order to be responsible. In order for us to tease out who has a crisis, we wait three days; that’s how you tease it out,” Thomson said.

This prompted a response from Erin Murphy, demonstrating that the idea of “teasing it out” is speculative at best.

“At the end of three days, everyone gets the firearm. They don’t know. The state has not assured itself. They haven’t done anything,” Murphy said.

She also took a moment to remind the judges of a 2022 Supreme Court case that they may have heard of, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, pointing out that a waiting period “doesn’t fit with the historical tradition of doing something to ensure” responsibility.

Remember, this isn’t about what one might subjectively feel is a good or effective policy. This is about the law, and even though both federal and state governments have all but thrown out the Constitution, certainly a 2022 Supreme Court ruling should be fresh in their minds.

At the end of the day, the judges seemed largely confused on the subject, perhaps suggesting they should seek a job application at the local McDonalds alongside Taub, where they would be safe from having to interpret simple text, not to mention I’m not going to show up to their workplace and slap the frier basket out of their hand like I’m doing today. Aframe even questioned whether or not the right to bear arms meant that Americans have the right to bear them immediately, or if “meaningfully impaired” was some sort of standard by which there is any metric to measure. Really?

Alright. I promised a solution to the debacle, and I’m a man of my word. Are you ready for it? Apply the same standard to all the other liberties recognized by the Bill of Rights.

Start with the First Amendment. Could some sort of waiting period protect individuals from saying things that are perhaps offensive or capable of inciting conflict? It is the left, after all, that championed the “words are violence” movement. If so, would making people wait to exercise their free speech pass Constitutional muster? There’s your answer.

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I Have This Old Gun: Karabiner 98AZ

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I am so grateful!! I WANT ONE ASAP!!!

Works for me, work for you?

And don’t forget a still would be nice too! Grumpy

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The Green Machine

Enlisted vs. Officers in the U.S. Military (What’s the difference?)

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All About Guns Cops You have to be kidding, right!?!

Insult To Injury Do-It-Yourself Vasectomy With A Sawed-Off 12-Gauge By Commander Gilmore

Ex-and-future-felon Richard “Greg” Oliver probably had another use in mind for the sawed-off shotgun stuffed in his pants, but we’re sure most American Handgunner readers will applaud the way he ultimately used it: “Greg prevented a crime in progress and captured a three-time loser — himself.

The police in Martinez, Calif., were already in pursuit of Oliver following a bungled burglary attempt when the fleeing crook leaped to the top of a fence, paused to bid the gendarmes a smug adieu, and fired a single shotgun blast — into his own skivvies.

Oliver was rushed to a nearby hospital with what was, we think, delicately understated as “a severe wound to the groin.” With a horse-choking bundle of past felony convictions, he faces some long, hard time under the state’s new “three strikes and you’re out” law.

No, we don’t know why Richard is called “Greg,” but we bet he’ll have a new nickname in the joint once his, uhm, war story gets around.

And Now For The Sequel

In Connecticut, Bridgeport police rolled in response to a report of a street-corner shooting but just couldn’t believe the prone-and-moaning victim’s story. The 18-year-old male said someone driving by had popped a cap on him.

But officers wondered: If this shot was fired from a car some distance away, why is there a big, smoking, still-smoldering hole in the crotch of this guy’s pants, a single laceration on his penis, severe powder burns down’ his thigh, a sawed-off shotgun stuffed down his trousers, and a giggling girlfriend standing nearby, saying the dummy was “showing off” when he almost blew away his chances for fatherhood?

Okay, so it wasn’t exactly a case for Sherlock Holmes, but answer us this: What movie was it?

What cinematic caper convinced these clowns to experiment with the “Genitalia Gauge” concealed-carry? Or is this the kind of thing that exceptionally stupid people come up with on their own?

Man Versus Machine

 

He’s still on the loose, but probably not for long. Outside the Bank of Commerce in Del Mar, Calif., a suspect tried to bring armed robbery into the technological age.

After circling the bank in his car several times, our loser-of-the-month finally parked, then gingerly approached the apparently defenseless automatic teller machine.

Suddenly producing a club, he began viciously battering the ATM, not even shouting his demands, just mercilessly clubbing the lonely machine with blow after hammering blow, occasionally pausing to see if this mute fiscal representative had begun leaking money. It had not.

Trembling with rage and frustration, the brute ran to his car and retrieved a revolver. He then strode purposely back to the ATM, coolly brought the muzzle to bear, and fired — then ducked, slipped, flapped and scrambled as his own bullet came whizzing back at him!

The ricochet apparently missed the suspect by only a few inches, prompting a headlong retreat back to his car and an ignominious departure.

And how do we know all this? The entire scenario was captured on remote surveillance videotape.

After viewing the tape, bank chairman Peter Davis commented that aside from being excellent evidence for a criminal prosecution, it might be “… the beginning of a TV comedy show.”

Why You Should Pay Attention During Gun Safety Lectures

 

For four long, tension-filled days and nights, Missouri lawmen scoured the Show-Me state in one of the most intense manhunts in recent area history. Their quarry: a motiveless, anonymous, nondescript suspect who was wanted for the seemingly cold-blooded random shooting of a 25-year-old Butler County Sheriff’s Deputy. Tony Dow.

Fresh-faced rookies, dreaming of locker-room notoriety, checked every bar and roadhouse while seasoned detectives pumped their snitches for a name, a license plate, that snippet of scoop that would “make their bones” and get ’em back into the captain’s good graces.

After all, it ain’t every day a hometown Missourian gets to slap the shackles on a for-real cop-shooter. Probably one of them long-haired California cocaine cowboys, whattaya bet?

Then Tony rained on the parade. Deputy Dow, faced with the snowballing effects of his subterfuge, finally admitted he had shot himself while foolin’ around, tossing his gun in the air.

It was not immediately known if he had seen the movie “Maverick,” but it was immediately guessed he may soon be considering other career options. Good guess, we guess.

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505 Gibbs

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All About Guns Our Great Kids

Forging the Future Aluminum’s Journey from Rarity to Ubiquity By Will Dabbs, MD

The AR-15 rifle is the most popular long gun in America.
It is built around upper and lower receivers cut from
aircraft-grade aluminum.

Aluminum is a ubiquitous material in modern society. Back in 1956 when Gene Stoner and a few others designed that first AR-15 rifle around aluminum receivers, they literally changed the landscape. In the 1980s, everybody in the combat handgun world was churning out high-capacity, aluminum-framed pistols. Nowadays, we discard or recycle aluminum beverage cans by the zillions.

One of the neat things about aluminum is the way it sort of heals itself. Pure aluminum is highly reactive when exposed to air. However, the resulting aluminum oxide is exceptionally stable. This results in a natural microscopic protective coating on exposed surfaces. In applications like window frames, mechanical trauma from repetitive use results in tiny scratches that instantly oxidize, ensuring a robust material that resists environmental degradation.

Aluminum is relatively soft and easy to both extrude and machine. There are dozens of recognized aluminum alloys. Most AR parts are formed from 6061, which includes trace amounts of silicon, magnesium, copper and chromium. The 7075 alloy includes zinc in place of the silicon.

The 1980s was the decade of the “Wonder Nines.”
These high-capacity 9mm pistols were built
around aluminum frames.

Digging Deeper

Aluminum is indeed fascinating stuff. It has an atomic number of 13 and is roughly one-third of the density of steel. Aluminum is the 12th most common element in the universe and the third-most common element in the Earth’s crust right behind silicon and oxygen. It accounts for 1.59% of the Earth’s mass. The stuff is everywhere.

Despite the fact that aluminum was so common in nature, back in the late 1800s it was actually considered a precious metal. Gram for gram, aluminum once cost more than both gold and silver. Napoleon III reserved his aluminum flatware to impress visiting dignitaries. Lesser visitors got the silver.

In 1884, the Washington Monument was capped with a six-pound piece of aluminum. The total national output of aluminum that same year in the United States was only 112 pounds. Aluminum was revered similarly to platinum. How was it that such an abundant material might have been considered so rare and valuable a short century or so ago? That all depends on how you refine it.

While there are scads of elemental aluminum in the earth’s crust, prior to the late 1800s, it was terribly difficult to access. Most elemental aluminum is found in the form of a natural ore called bauxite. By 19th-century standards, extracting usable aluminum from this ore was nigh impossible.

Nowadays, lots of guns are built out of aluminum. This custom takedown AR short-barreled rifle and this FN SCAR-15P carbine are counted among them.

Find a Need and Fill It

In 1886, a 17-year-old college student named Charles Hall was sitting in a chemistry class when his professor told him about the aluminum quandary. Hall’s professor actually said that if someone could devise a cost-effective method for extracting aluminum from bauxite, he would become the richest man in the world. Intrigued, the teenager went home determined to find a better way.

For the next five years, Charles Hall toiled in a workshop he had erected inside his family’s woodshed. Eventually, his perseverance paid off and he discovered a unique process that would produce aluminum from bauxite using electricity. At age 22, Charles Hall was indeed about to change the world.

Bizarrely, at exactly the same time in France, another 22-year-old, this one named Paul Heroult, discovered the identical technique. The resulting electrolytic extraction of aluminum from bauxite has become known as the Hall-Heroult Process.

AR-15 receivers are lightweight, ubiquitous and strong.

Changing the World

Because both men discovered the process at the same time, neither established a monopoly. However, there was more than enough sweetness to go around. The young Charles Hall founded Alcoa, short for Aluminum Company of America. In 2023, Alcoa’s total revenue was $10.55 billion.

Extracting usable aluminum is still a terribly energy-dependent undertaking. As a result, most aluminum smelters are located in places where electric power is cheap. Production of one kilo of aluminum requires the equivalent of seven kilos of oil energy. That compares to 1.5 kilos for steel and 2 kilos for plastic. Today, 5% of the electric power produced in the United States goes toward smelting aluminum.

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A Remington Model 1100 in 12GA

This was the first auto shotguns that I ever shot way back in the late 1960’s. Needless to say I had a blast with it and have never looked back! Grumpy

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You have to be kidding, right!?!

Too soon?

Yeah I can be one cynical and sick SOB at times! But I did hear you stiffle a giggle back there! Grumpy