Category: All About Guns
And the Brass wonders why Tommy is always tired & has a bad attitude. By the way if he “lost” any of this junk, he had to pay for it out of his patheic WWII pay! Grumpy
Joe Exotic is all the rage these days. His Netflix biopic Tiger King apparently got the entire planet through its recent COVID-driven isolation. I watched a bit of it. That guy was the chemical formula for crazy.
Collecting and maintaining exotic animals isn’t as rare as you might think, particularly in locales with a little space. It’s not like every other home on the cul-de-sac has a rhinoceros in the backyard, but a surprising number of folks blessed with the room do maintain a modest menagerie just for the heck of it.
Peacocks were once a sign of means. They are undeniably attractive birds, but have you ever heard one squawk? I’d make it a week before I put that thing on the dinner table. However, in my travels I have seen wallabies, camels, and a smattering of African hoofed stock traipsing about rural American pastures. A great friend I met in my medical clinic recently related a most fascinating tale from several decades ago.
Failure to Play Well with Others Always Carries Consequences
My buddy grew up on a rural farm out West, and his father maintained an expansive pasture liberally populated with weird exotic animals. The man just enjoyed the novelty of cultivating his own miniature African savannah. His mini zoo included gazelles, kangaroos, some odd African deer, and a smattering of zebras.
These creatures were ungulates all, so it wasn’t like they would eat each other. However, creation is indeed an undeniably fallen thing. That meant that the larger, more capable beasts tended to pick on the smaller sort. Among none of these disparate residents was this a greater problem than with a certain newcomer, a big buck zebra. He had a chip on his shoulder and the bulk to make it stick.
Google tells me that an adult plains zebra will cost between $3000 and $7000 nowadays. Other species are endangered and therefore illegal to own. My buddy tells me his dad’s big buck zebra set him back several grand even back in the day.
One fine afternoon my buddy and his dad were sitting in rocking chairs on their front porch enjoying a proper chat. Their weird animals cavorted in the front pasture providing a pastoral backdrop to a proper visit. Suddenly and unprovoked the big zebra tipped up to one of his dad’s odd African deer and bit him on the head, dropping the poor little guy like a sack of cement.
Nobody likes a bully, and my buddy’s dad immediately lost his patience. Leaping to his feet and fishing about in his front right pocket the man produced a North American Arms micro revolver chambered in .22 Short. These adorable little stainless steel pistols look like they were scaled for your kids’ action figures. However, their compact dimensions mean that these tiny little wheelguns are the firearms that you can always have available. If you’re wearing clothes and own an NAA pistol you have no excuse for not being armed.
The man shouted at the offending creature and loosed a single diminutive .22 Short round over the top of the pasture to get his attention. The zebra indeed leapt back from the now terminally injured deer and wandered off to pick on something else small and helpless. My friend’s dad grumbled a bit, ensured his gun was safe and replaced it in his pocket. The rest of the conversation was dominated by what a jerk the new zebra was.
A couple of days later the zebra fell over dead. My pal says he had seemed in no particular distress until the moment he shuffled off his mortal coil. One minute he was standing in the pasture peacefully behaving in the manner of a typical zebra. The next moment he was demised. A cursory examination revealed nothing amiss, so the local veterinarian was summoned.
A necropsy by the animal sawbones revealed a single small-caliber bullet wound to the creature’s flank. Apparently, amidst his fit of justifiable anger, the wizened farmer had inadvertently popped the beast in the belly with his tiny little pistol at a surprisingly long range. Seventy-two hours later the zebra was no more.
Many folks might inquire as to the practical utility of such an underpowered and anemic little defensive gun. There are indeed literally countless other options that are more reliable man stoppers. However, I have it on reliable information that, in the right hands and aggressively wielded, one can successfully hunt African big game with these tiny little rascals.
The Gun
The North American Arms company evolved out of North American Manufacturing. North American Manufacturing had itself been Rocky Mountain Arms back when it was founded in 1972.
Today’s North American Arms is a most personable mob. Sandy Chisolm is the CEO and a regular feature at his company’s booth at the SHOT show. Sandy and his crew are invariably good for some spirited conversation.
The current NAA lineup includes an array for stainless steel pocket autoloaders called the Guardian series. These trim little concealed carry guns come chambered in .32ACP as well as .380ACP along with a couple of odd little wildcat rounds.
The .25NAA is a .25ACP bullet mounted atop a necked-down .32ACP case. The .32NAA is a .32-caliber projectile pushed from a modified .380ACP case. These two adorable little loadings are nothing if not unique. NAA’s real forte, however, is their expansive line of single action .22-caliber revolvers.
NAA produces versions of their classic guns with swing-out cylinders and tip-up barrels. However, most of their guns utilize a five-shot removable cylinder. All of their pistols are cut from high-grade stainless steel.
A typical NAA revolver features a removable cylinder pin that can also be used to punch out empty cases once it is separated from the gun. Loading and unloading will not be done in a rush, but this is not the gun you will use to win an IPSC match. NAA revolvers are the weapons you use when your more serious iron is either empty, broken, or left behind in the gun box back home. Under those rarefied circumstances, an NAA miniature wheelgun could be the final line of defense between you and some Very Bad Things.
The manual of arms is completely straightforward. Modern NAA guns include safety notches between each chamber, so the gun can be safely carried with a full cylinder even loose in a pocket. To run the gun simply point it at something you dislike, thumb back the hammer, and squeeze. These guns technically have fixed sights, but you’ll likely never use them for real.
My .22 Short version is as cute as a beagle puppy and about as useful. I own one simply for the novelty of the thing. The larger brother in .22 Magnum, however, is a serious social tool.
My gun has a pivoting grip that folds up to cover the trigger when stowed. Deploying the gun for action takes mere moments and is intuitive. Once unfolded the grip gives you ample purchase to run the gun safely and well.
I keep mine loaded with Winchester PDX-1 .22 Magnum loads. These high-tech expanding hollowpoint rounds produce some of the most hideous-looking star-shaped projectiles in ballistic gel. Five of these rascals might not drop my buddy’s zebra amidst a proper charge, but it would certainly give an evil-doer pause were he to face one with malicious intent.
Scads of options, accessories, and sundry widgets make these good guns great. There is even a version that fires balls using black powder and percussion caps that ships straight to your door without the hassle of an FFL. I have wandered about where the Wild Things roam with my trusty .22 Win Mag mini-revolver in my front right pocket and never felt like a victim.
Your Constant Companion
Our hero a different day at the clinic was a house painter and a regular patient. He had been working on a local gentleman’s front porch when around the corner charged the homeowner’s hound in a state of remarkable agitation. Dogs are by their nature territorial, and this one was mightily perturbed at the presence of someone not of his tribe. The canine took hold of the painter’s hand and shook it with great vigor.
Before things got totally out of control the homeowner appeared and restrained the beast. My buddy’s hand, however, was by that time in dire need of attention. An hour later the man sat reclined in the treatment room at my clinic as I prepared to restore his appendage to working order. As I got down to business he related the tale of the afternoon’s excitement.
He fished about in his front pocket with his good hand and retrieved a shopworn NAA .22 revolver. He showed me the gun and explained that he had been mere moments away from using it on the excessively-territorial canine. Fortunately the dog’s owner defused the situation in time. Thank goodness the malevolent creature was not a zebra.
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Ruger No.1 .338 Win Mag
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Inkunzi Strike 20mm Grenade MG
U.S.A. — Iowa Senator Joni Ernst introduced a bill last week titled “Why does the IRS Have Guns Act,” which would prohibit the IRS from buying or storing guns and ammunition, transfer all IRS firearms to the General Services Administration so they could be auctioned off to licensed gun dealers to reduce the national debt, and move the agency’s Criminal Investigation Division to the control of the Justice Department.
“The taxman is fully loaded at the expense of the taxpayer,” Ernst said in a statement. “As the Biden administration has worked to expand the size of the IRS, any further weaponization of this federal agency against hardworking Americans and small businesses is a grave concern. I’m working to disarm the IRS and return these dollars to address reckless spending in Washington.”
While the outcome of Ernst’s legislation is not promising – Joe Biden will likely veto her bill, should it ever reach his desk – the Senator’s efforts have drawn much-needed attention to the massive arsenal that the IRS has amassed – is amassing.
The IRS is preparing for battle. Some of the weapons and tactical equipment currently in their inventory are used by elite military commandos, not American law enforcement officers. To be clear, none of this extreme militarization occurred until after Biden took office.
“Who are they preparing to battle?” asked Adam Andrzejewski, CEO and Founder of OpenTheBooks.com, the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending. Andrzejewski’s watchdog efforts have led to federal legislation, grand jury indictments, congressional hearings, subpoenas and convictions, as well as audits by the Government Accountability Office and Congressional Research Service reports.
“It looks like it’s for domestic tax and law enforcement objectives, but the IRS has blurred the lines between civil and administrative agencies, civil and administrative duties and federal law enforcement capability. After grabbing legal power, the IRS is amassing firepower. It’s time to scale back the federal arsenal,” Andrzejewski told the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project Wednesday.
In one recent report, Andrzejewski found that IRS has spent $35.2 million taxpayer dollars on guns, ammunition and tactical gear since 2006, but the agency’s purchasing increased dramatically under Biden.
“The years 2020 and 2021 were peak years at the IRS for purchasing weaponry and gear. Just since the pandemic started, the IRS has purchased $10 million in weaponry and gear,” the report states.
The purchases included:
- $2.5 million on ballistic shields and various other gear for criminal investigation agents
- $1.3 million for tactical lights, tactical gear bags, ballistic helmets and body armor
- Nearly $1 million on Smith & Wesson M&P15s and Beretta tactical shotguns
- 3,000 tactical holsters for handguns with optical sights and weapon lights (As of this week, the IRS only has 2,100 armed agents.)
Trigger-pullers wanted
The IRS is recruiting people who won’t hesitate to put another American behind their front-sight post.
In a recent job posting, the agency says special agent candidates, “must be willing to use force up to and including the use of deadly force.”
Those who qualify will receive the best guns and gear taxpayer dollars can buy.
Here is a partial list of some of the agency’s recent purchases.
Night Vision Rifle Scopes
American law enforcement – even the IRS – does not operate with Rules of Engagement like the military when it encounters armed resistance. The last time law enforcement used ROE rather than the law, things went very wrong. Whatever the tactical situation, police are subject to criminal laws and deadly force policies, which are predicated upon the sanctity of human life.
Force – up to and including deadly force – must be reasonable. An American law enforcement officer must use the minimum amount of force necessary and can use deadly force in defense of their life or the life of another. Verbal warnings and other de-escalation attempts are always considered after deadly force is used to determine whether the force was justified.
That said, it’s difficult to understand why the IRS is equipping its agents with night vision rifle scopes, which are capable of hitting man-sized targets at distance in total darkness.
How does shooting a suspect who is hundreds of yards away and unaware of an agent’s presence – at night, without warning – comply with use-of-force statutes and policies? How is this not murder? What tactical problem are the night vision rifle scopes intended to resolve?
Ballistic Shields
When the threat level is extreme, such as a report of an active shooter, SWAT teams will deploy a ballistic shield, which is designed to complement their personal body armor and further reduce the threat.
Ballistic shields come in all shapes and sizes and are rated by bullet resistance. A Level II shield will stop 9mm and other handgun rounds. A level IV shield will stop .30 caliber armor-piercing ammunition. The greater the bullet resistance, the heavier the shield. Operators must train constantly to carry the shield and shoot a pistol one-handed. It’s awkward and requires a lot of practice.
The Los Angeles Police Department has guidelines concerning the use of ballistic shields. Officers must first pass a Ballistic Shield Operator course before they can carry one into harm’s way. The course specifies the type of tactical situations where a ballistic shield should be deployed. They include but are not limited to the following:
- Breaching (doors and windows)
- High-risk vehicle stops
- High-risk handcuffing
- Door entries
- Room clearing
- Hallway movement
- Rescuing wounded officers under fire
These types of tactical situations are the purview of SWAT teams and military special forces, not the IRS.
What’s in the IRS’s Gun Safe
The IRS issues Smith & Wesson M&P15 rifles to most of its special agents. It’s a good, serviceable patrol carbine – more than adequate for most needs. However, the agency issues HK416s to select agents. The difference between an M&P15 and an HK416 is staggering. Smith & Wesson designed their carbine for civilian end users. Heckler & Koch designed the 416 for special operations forces. It is currently the weapon of choice for the most elite units in the world, including Tier One JSOC teams. IRS even issues Heckler & Koch magazines with the rifles, which are much more reliable, but cost as much as 10-times more than traditional AR magazines.
Why do IRS agents need the same rifle carried by Navy SEALs or members of the Army’s most elite special missions unit?
While the IRS issues .40 cal. Glock handguns to its agents, documents show the agency has purchased a limited number of 5.7x28mm handguns and ammunition, although the type of ammunition has not been specified.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives classifies the 5.7x28mm SS190 duty round, which has a steel penetrator, as armor-piercing handgun ammunition. The manufacturer restricts the ammunition to military and law enforcement customers.
The 5.7x28mm weapon system gives IRS agents the capability of defeating most civilian body armor with a handgun.
IRS Responds
The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project asked the IRS to explain why they need ballistic shields, HK416s, night vision rifle scopes and other highly specialized equipment.
Here is their response:
“IRS-CI special agents are sworn federal law enforcement officers who conduct criminal investigations into tax violations, money laundering, cybercrimes, as well as organized crime involving drugs and gangs.
The agency’s approximately 2,100 IRS-CI special agents regularly execute and serve search, arrest, and seizure warrants; conduct covert operations; and interact with the public in law enforcement settings.
They must participate in annual firearms training, briefings, and practical exercises to demonstrate they are proficient to carry firearms. Firearms and related tactical gear are – and have been – necessary equipment for CI special agents for more than 100 years,” said Carissa Cutrell, a member of the IRS Criminal Investigation division.
Takeaways
It’s clear the IRS geared up so they could start raiding.
Last week a joint IRS/ATF team raided Highwood Creek Outfitters in Great Falls, Montana. ATF agents were prohibited from seizing the gun shop’s 4473s, but the IRS agents weren’t. They seized hundreds of the forms.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen expressed concern over the seizure, asking, “What the hell does the IRS need with 4473s?” By now, I’m sure he realizes they were all handed over to the ATF.
History has shown us that whatever a federal agency buys, it will eventually use. The only question is who will IRS point their HK416s and night vision rifle scopes at now that the raids have begun.
Most Americans are sick of watching Biden weaponize federal agencies to further his partisan political objectives. The ATF was weaponized first, and they’re going door-to-door right now, conducting unconstitutional knock-and-talks under the guise of firearm inspections.
If Joe Biden is allowed to fully weaponize the IRS like he did the ATF, he will be able to exert his executive authority whenever he wants without congressional oversight. Anyone who objects or complains could be shot without warning, at distance, at night, without ever seeing who fired the fatal round.
As Senator Ernst noted, this is a grave concern.
About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
———————————————————————————– WOW A “a grave concern” , what no hope & prayers? Like that will really help a lot in this fight! All I can say is until we start throwing some of these ass clowns in a cell with Bubba fo a LONG TIME.* Nothing is going to change for the better for this country. Grumpy
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