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Cops

Florida Corrections Officer Dies After ‘Accidental Discharge’ of Firearm by JORDAN MICHAELS

Corrections Officer Whitney Cloud died last week in what has been described as a training “accident.” (Photo: NY Daily News)

The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) announced this week that one of its officers had died during a training accident involving an “accidental discharge.”

Whitney Cloud had only begun working for the FDC in June of this year, but she died of a gunshot wound during her training at Harry K. Singletary Training Academy at the Wakulla Correctional Institution in Crawfordville.

“We are absolutely devastated by the loss of Officer Whitney Cloud,” said Corrections Secretary Mark Inch in a Facebook post. “As a newly hired officer trainee, Officer Cloud vowed to make a difference in the lives of others and protect her community. We are immensely saddened by this unexpected tragedy.”

The agency has thus far offered little information about the incident and refused to provide additional detail when reached by GunsAmerica for comment.

“It appears she was injured by an accidental discharge during firearms training on August 26, 2021,” the department explains in the post. “No other staff were involved. She was transported to a nearby hospital where she later passed.”

The fact that “no other staff were involved” seems to indicate that Cloud somehow shot herself. But the department has not indicated that a faulty firearm was involved nor has it explained how an accident like this could take place in a controlled training environment.

SEE ALSO: Armed Citizen – ‘True Hero’ – Stops Cop Killer, Fatally Wounded By Police Accidentally

One woman who claims to have been there said in a comment under the FDC’s post that Cloud’s death was “truly an accident”:

Another woman who claims to have been Cloud’s recruiter made a similar statement. “This tragic accident has tremendously impacted the firearm instructors who were present. They are all highly skilled. Unfortunately, this was an accident,” she says.

One commenter claims the accident was caused by a faulty firearm, while others respond that she is misinformed.

SEE ALSO: Turkey Hunters, 20 and 7 Years Old, Shot in Accident by ‘Family Acquaintance’

Another suggests that the firearms training at that facility was poorly handled. “That training was one of the most nerve racking [sic] experience [sic]. I had a person beside me look down the barrel of the pistol with both of his fingers on the trigger. Prayers for the family,” he writes.

GunsAmerica has reached out to all Facebook commenters for clarification but had not received responses by publication.

When reached for comment, FDC Press Secretary Paul Walker directed all questions to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), which is incident. The FDLE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

———————————————————————————— Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. It sounds like to me that somebody was fucking around & the Range Officer did not catch it quickly enough. My condolences to the Family Grumpy

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A Victory!

Gee that really is a shame, huh?

https://youtu.be/fGGyfC5hOWY

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All About Guns

Colt Python 357 Magnum collection with barrel lengths of Blued 8“ 6“ 4“ 3“ 2.5“

No photo description available.

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All About Guns Allies

Matt Markey: ‘Gun crime’ a convenient cover for senseless behavior

Matt Markey, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio

I was 14 years old when I got my first gun — a .410 for rabbit hunting and target shooting. But for many years before my father handed me that single-shot firearm, there were countless lessons in the safe handling of guns.

There was the oft-repeated foundational edict of every firearm instructor — to assume every gun is a loaded gun and treat it appropriately.

My father instilled a sense of responsibility that goes with gun ownership and the fact that mistakes made with guns are often with you for a lifetime.

Those early years were also filled with equally important instruction in respect — respect for others, friend or foe, respect for people’s right to express their own opinions, and a broad respect for the sanctity of human life. That education was delivered most often by example, so it was natural to follow the words of my father when I saw him living by those same principles in every aspect of his life.

He both taught and showed that a gun, an automobile, a motorized boat, a mishandled fire, and a sharp knife all had that inherent ability to take a life, or seriously injure someone if not handled in a safe manner and while displaying the ultimate respect for the lives of others.

In the 50-plus years since I received that first shotgun, I have never used one to settle an argument, retaliate for mistreatment, or even a score after some perceived slight. There are a half dozen more guns in my possession now, all for hunting or target shooting, and in the most extreme case any one of them could be used, as a last resort, to protect the lives of my family if a serious threat presented itself.

I’ve never taken a gun into a bar or restaurant, never carried one on an airplane, never pulled one out after someone cut me off in traffic, never reached for a gun when confronted with another angler’s lack of stream etiquette, and never considered using a gun despite some of the threatening comments that have come my way over the past half-century.

When I read the news, I am both baffled and troubled by what I see. Twelve people killed and 42 more wounded just last weekend in Chicago — all with guns, and all seemingly the result of petty disagreements or a perceived dose of disrespect. Those dozen lives are gone forever, and a few dozen more people are likely maimed for life. All over a lack of respect for life.

I disagree with the way some headlines characterize this matter: “Gun violence proliferates” or “Wave of gun violence” or “Spike in gun crimes.” These incidents are all the result of violent people or gun-toting criminals, not the existence of guns. My guns sat there on the wall rack all weekend and did not harm a soul, because I chose not to use them in such a manner.

Stop yourself before you go to the keyboard and hit the customary default buttons — too many guns, end gun ownership, we need more regulations, blame the NRA, not enough jobs, blah, blah, blah. Full disclosure — I am not a member of the NRA and I never have been — but it is just too easy, and grossly inaccurate, to blame any organization for the thoughtless behavior of some people in our society. If you pull the trigger, the result is on you. Period.

I see thousands of flags in our cemeteries this weekend, all marking the graves of people who have served our country. In their training, and for many, during their time in the military, they handled guns on a regular basis and were skilled in the use of firearms. But they did not use a gun to shoot someone in a bar parking lot, never decided to spray an apartment complex with multiple rounds because they were mad at someone who might be there at the time, and they never shot people during a memorial service for a victim of another senseless shooting, as we experienced recently here in Toledo.

After the most recent shootings in San Jose, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked this week if there is a “crime problem” in the United States. Her reflex response was to call it a “gun problem”. From one old former redhead to one young current redhead — wrong, wrong, wrong. Murder is a crime, and there were multiple murders in this case. It is just so effortless to blame the gun and ignore the fact that those folks would all be alive if that criminal had not been intent on killing his co-workers.

When we stop talking with each other and listening to each other, then the guns seem to come out. And when we don’t want to admit the real source of these senseless shootings and killings, the excuses fly like rounds at a Camp Perry competition. But in an overwhelming majority of the cases where gunfire takes lives, it’s not the guns — it’s the trigger-squeezer that is to blame.

There are certain members of our society who should never own a gun — convicted felons, those with serious psychiatric problems, and those who have threatened violence against others — but broad brush laws that sweep up the law-abiding along with the criminal element run contrary to every word of the constitution.

What we face is a much more difficult circumstance than just “too many guns” and the programmed response that more gun laws will fix it all. We are experiencing the result of a long-term erosion of our values, which is on display each time another neighborhood argument is settled with gunfire and each time a workplace dispute results in multiple ambulance runs.

We need more respect for our fellow human beings, much more than we need another batch of gun laws.

Contact Blade outdoors editor Matt Markey at: mmarkey@theblade.com or 419-724-6068.

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Well I thought it was funny!

Can I get an Amen to that!

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All About Guns

A Kimber .38 super Pro carry

Kimber .38 super Pro carry. New with case. Two magazines 8 rounds. This is pretty . - Picture 2
Kimber .38 super Pro carry. New with case. Two magazines 8 rounds. This is pretty . - Picture 3
Kimber .38 super Pro carry. New with case. Two magazines 8 rounds. This is pretty . - Picture 4
Kimber .38 super Pro carry. New with case. Two magazines 8 rounds. This is pretty . - Picture 5
Kimber .38 super Pro carry. New with case. Two magazines 8 rounds. This is pretty . - Picture 6
Kimber .38 super Pro carry. New with case. Two magazines 8 rounds. This is pretty . - Picture 7
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Anti Civil Rights ideas & "Friends"

UNCATEGORIZEDArmslist.Com, RIP? How The U.S. Government Could End The “Craigslist For Guns’ ByPeter Suciu

2021 Gun Sales

Even as California’s population has been on the decline, and it will soon lose a congressional seat, the Golden State still maintains vast influence. As of 2015, California accounted for just 12.5 percent of the total population of the United States, yet many lawmakers seem to feel that its policies should lead the way for the rest of the country.

Definition

For supporters of the Second Amendment that has unfortunately included its gun control efforts.

California has some of the most restrictive firearms laws in the United States, and some communities have passed ordinances that make even legally owning a firearm difficult. The Golden State was first to adopt a ban on so-called assault weapons in 1989, which led to the 1994 assault weapon ban (AWB) nationwide. Just a few years later Los Angeles County banned the sale of firearms on county property – essentially killing the Great Western Gun Show, which had been the largest gun show in the country.

Now the state’s Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein is seeking to dictate California’s stance on guns to all Americans. She has already received support outside of California from two other Democratic lawmakers – Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) – in introducing legislation that could hold account online gun marketplaces for illegal gun sales. It could take aim at websites including Armslist.com and potentially auction sites such as GunBroker.com.

Armslist in the Crosshairs

The three lawmakers specifically called out Armslist.com, the “Craigslist for guns,” which is currently the largest free gun classifieds on the web. Feinstein and her two distinguished colleagues argue that online gun marketplaces such as Armslist can essentially “evade basic background check laws” by allowing unlicensed sellers to sell guns to anyone.

The lawmakers noted, “Armslist and its competitors have become rife with illegal and dangerous gun sales; unlicensed sellers comprise as many as three in four sellers on Armslist alone.”

Feinstein, Blumenthal and Whitehouse have made the case that in enacting Section 230, Congress did not intend to grant a sweeping liability shield to all companies, including firearms marketplaces, merely because they operate in cyberspace.

“Under the Accountability for Online Firearms Marketplaces Act, online firearms marketplaces will no longer enjoy sweeping, blanket immunity—a change which will help take guns out of the hands of dangerous persons seeking to evade background checks and other gun safety measures,” the senators suggested, adding that the Accountability for Online Firearms Marketplaces Act would clarify Section 230 to ensure that the law’s blanket liability shield does not apply to online firearms marketplaces.

The Accountability for Online Firearms Marketplaces Act has already received endorsement from Everytown for Gun Safety, Brady, Giffords, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Newtown Action Alliance and Sandy Hook Promise.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He regularly writes about military small arms, and is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.

 

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Anti Civil Rights ideas & "Friends"

If Past Practice is Indicator, ATF Correspondence in Rare Breed Case Will Show Much

Ammoland Inc. Posted on  by 
ATF has shown its determination in the past to get things to fail no matter what they had to add to them to make their case. (Screenshot: ATF “Test” Results Letter)

U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “Discovery in the above case rendered these gems of ATF groupthink … Imagine what the discovery is going be like in the trigger case????” Historic Arms LLC firearms designer Len Savage posted on an AR15.com thread talking about the Rare Breed Trigger case. “It will not be pleasant for ATF as I suspect their own internal emails will damn them.”

For those who have not been following that story, ATF issued a cease-and-desist order to Rare Breed Triggers over its FRT-15 Trigger, claiming it is a machinegun. The company says it will not comply with the order and has filed a lawsuit.

The previous case Savage was referring to was when ATF classified one of his submitted designs as a machinegun but had to make some major “modifications” to do it:

“ATF has a long history of using zip ties to make machine guns…See for yourself,” he wrote elsewhere in the thread, providing links to an ATF response letter revealing how they arrived at that conclusion, with the “help” of zip ties, duct tape, and chain.

This was a revelation of ATF “testing” procedures I first covered on my The War on Guns blog in 2008, presenting correspondence with ATF’s Firearms Technology Branch, and noting:

In addition to going through contortions to declare his property a machine gun and then refusing to return it, they’ve assigned his design submissions to an agent whose testimony Savage challenged.

Further detail was presented in my 2009 report after ATF arrested Savage’s submission. As I noted at the time:

With that criteria, given enough added parts that are not part of the submitted design, I know a lot of people who could turn a banana into a machine gun.

Because Savage chose to fight back – and to not hold back on how ridiculous he found ATF’s methods to be – and because that had been the way he had dealt with in-your-face ATF absurdities in other cases, it’s clear that retaliation and “getting” him back was the Bureau priority.

But don’t take my word for it. Take what’s been documented in ATF internal correspondence.

“FTB has received a response from Historic Arms,” John R. Spencer of the FTB informed his colleagues. “Mr. Savage has declined our offer to register his machinegun.”

“Let the fun begin,” Gary N. Schaible replied. As an aside, but for context, he’s the ATFer who had to provide testimonial cleanup in 1996 for the head of the National Firearms Act Branch after he was caught on videotape essentially admitting to institutional perjury:

“Let me say that when we testify in court, we testify that the database is 100 percent accurate. That’s what we testify to, and we will always testify to that. As you probably well know, that may not be 100 percent true.”

“I almost feel bad for that dude sometimes,” Violent Crime Analysis Branch’s Daniel L. Pinckney wrote about Savage in an email to NFA Branch Specialist Ernest A. Lintner. “Almost.”

As an aside, it’s clear from multiple emails that Pinckney bore a personal animosity to Savage, and from the tone of this and subsequent statements, it’s not unreasonable to infer an unfulfilled “You will respect my authoritah!” undercurrent going on.

“He is setting up a good case for a retaliation case though,” Pinkney had to admit. “The more he testifies as an ‘expert’ against ATF, and the more he gets hammered by FTB for anything he submits, the better his case gets for a civil suit at some point.”

“I wonder sometimes if we don’t ‘manufacture’ a firearm in the process of getting it to work,” Lintner acknowledged. “That is if someone in the public were to be caught with that rig, would we want them charged with manufacturing? I bet yes.”

“I remember seeing the pictures once before. I do think Len is an ass, and he deserves everything he has brought on himself, but if we/they have to stoop to that level to reject one of his projects, does it make us any better than him?” Pinckney responded, again showing personal hostility toward a citizen standing up for his rights against what the analyst knew, legally and morally, to be wrong. “If anything the zip ties, chain, and metal plate should be the illegal conversion device. 😊 ” [He actually ended his email with a smiley face icon.]

“I agree – if we alter course one way or the other based on who submits it, then the tail is wagging the dog – and in a case like this one manufacturer could use the agency to damage or wreck marketplace competitors,” Lintner replied.

“The emails shown are an internal commentary of what was going down,” Savage tells me.  “Pickney and Lintner were equivalent to baseball commentators in that they were not playing the game or calling the shots, but they were reporting on the ball in play with color commentary.

“It shows the cold, callous math of folks who depend on the Department of Just-Us for a paycheck,” Savage notes. “They were just calling it as they saw it.”

It also shows how the “us vs. them” worldview results in a “team player” mentality and hostility toward “the other side,” even among functionaries not directly involved. It’s not hard to imagine those whose “professional judgments” are being publicly challenged, and whose careers can be affected by “losses,” are even more vested in winning at all costs (and resentful of vocal challengers).

Rare Breed Triggers’ Lawrence DeMonico has not been shy about standing up for himself in no uncertain terms, and in doing so has exposed the Bureau’s decision-making as political and worse.  You can bet those he won’t just roll over for are taking that personally.

Savage is right. Discovery should produce some revealing examples of that.

About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

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N.S.F.W.

TGIF NSFW

 

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All About Guns

3 American-Made Shotguns That Defined the Late 20th Century Winchester, Remington, and Ithaca built three guns that set the pace for semi-auto shotgun design in the U.S. BY JOHN GORDON

The Ithaca Mag-10 is still popular today with die-hard goose hunters.

American-made shotguns continued to evolve in the second half of the 20th Century. They had to. There was increased competition from around the world, particularly Italy—Beretta and Benelli have grabbed a large share of the semi-auto and double-barrel shotgun market in the last 30-plus years. Pump-action shotguns continued to sell well but the winds of change were blowing, and the autoloaders dominance began with three innovative offerings from Winchester, Remington, and Ithaca.

1. Winchester Model 50

The Winchester Model 50 laid the foundation for future Winchester semiauto shotguns.
Winchester has been chasing the the semi-auto shotgun niche ever since turning down John Browning’s A-5 royalty request. icollector.com

Ever since Winchester had turned down John Browning’s A-5 royalty request, they chased that niche, looking for a marketable semi-auto shotgun design. The Model 12 pump ruled the roost for decades but in the early 1950s Remington’s 870 was gaining ground fast. They needed a new shotgun and quick, so they turned to David “Carbine” Williams. Williams earned that nickname through his work on the U.S. .30-cal carbine rifles used during World War II and beyond.

The Winchester Model 50 became the fruit of Williams’ labor, and was introduced in 1954 to a somewhat lukewarm reception. It utilized a short recoil system based on a Jonathan E. Browning’s (son of John Moses) design. Val Browning also developed a unique short recoil shotgun with his Browning Double Auto.

Williams made a significant change to the original design, however, in the Model 50. The barrel was static. It did not move back into the action like the A-5 or the Double Auto. Ejection relied on a floating breech system that moved back .1 inches upon firing. That movement causes the bolt to go backwards, ejecting the spent shell and loading a fresh one in the chamber.

A well-made gun, the Model 50 didn’t capture the attention that Winchester was looking for. The gun did have one famous devotee, Nash Buckingham. The author shot a Model 50 Pigeon Grade shotgun later in life, looking for a lighter alternative to the heavy A.H. Fox side-by-sides he favored in his youth. That Model 50 is housed close to Buckingham’s revered Bo Whoop and Bo Whoop II shotguns on display at Ducks Unlimited national headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee.

Winchester tried again in 1959 with the Model 59. The 59 had a fiberglass-wrapped barrel dubbed the Winlite and a creative Versalite interchangeable choke system. A little too ahead of its time, Model 59 production ended in 1965.

2. Remington 1100

Remington used the same receiver for the 1100 that it used for the 870.
Still a much sought after gun, the 1100 takes some if its design from the iconic 870 pump. RemArms

Like the Auto-5 before it, the Remington 1100 changed the shotgun game forever. The 1100 wasn’t Remington’s first gas-operated shotgun, that distinction belongs to the Model 58. The 58 was innovative with a magazine cap that dialed, adjusting the gas ports to cycle light or heavy loads. Remington called it the “Dial-A-Matic” load control feature. It was not very effective. Remington later shifted to the 878 version in 1959, doing away with the dial for what they called the Power Piston, capable of cycling different loads without adjustment.

The designers of the 1100, Robert Kelley and Wayne Leek, utilized barrel ports to bleed gasses from fired shells to drive the action sleeve rearward. The sleeve is attached to the bolt carrier, and that rearward motion opens the action, ejects the shell, and trips the carrier release, feeding a new shell from the magazine into the chamber. This system was much more reliable than the 58 and 878 versions.

The 1100 was popular for a few reasons. The first was recoil reduction. Using gas to operate an action is softer on a shooter’s shoulder, leading to less flinching and better concentration on the target. The recoil of a gas-operated auto is more like a shove and less like the sharp jab associated with pumps, break-actions, and recoil-driven shotguns. If you shoot a heavy duck or turkey load in pump, it can be downright painful. The same load in a gas gun won’t emit as much felt recoil.

Another attribute of the 1100 is how well it points. Just like the 870, the 1100 fits a variety of shooters and that translates into more hits and more confidence in the gun. In fact, the 870 and 1100 receivers are identical. Since millions of shooter bought the 870 it was a smart move by Remington to use the same receiver design on the 1100.

Like the 870, the 1100, which is offered in 12-gauge down to .410-bore, is available in a variety of options for clay-target shooters, upland hunting, waterfowl hunting, big-game hunting, law enforcement.

A drawback of the 1100 is its gas system is not very light load friendly and the gun requires cleaning on a regular basis, especially with cheaper loads using dirty powders. Remington made a big change to increase the 1100s load versatility with the introduction of the 11-87 in 1987. That system regulates gas usage, sending more gasses into the piston with light loads and less for heavy loads. That gas regulation method is standard in today’s gas guns.

Read Next: The Four Best Shotguns Built Between the Great Depression and World War II

3. Ithaca Mag-10

The Ithaca Mag-10 popularized the 3.5-inch 10-gauge autoloader.
A Canada goose hammer, the Ithaca Mag-10 (top) popularized 10-gauge autoloaders. Rock Island Auction

Waterfowl and turkey hunters have become small-gauge fans in recent years because better shotshells have made small bores more effective. But when the Ithaca Mag-10 hit the market in 1975, hunters were sure they needed a bigger gun.

Big bore shotguns had a following in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly because of shotshell offerings were not as potent as modern loads. Today’s shells in 12-gauge and smaller are far superior to the early black and smokeless powder ammo. Waterfowl market hunters especially liked guns in 10- and 8-gauge for a simple reason: more shot equaled more dead birds to sell. The big 8 was outlawed in 1930s for waterfowl hunting but the 10-gauge lived on in double- and single-barreled guns that saw a fair amount of use.

Then the Mag-10 came along and offered hunters a three-shot gun that could shoot 3.5-inch shells. Goose hunters especially embraced the new Ithaca. It was tough to beat for shooting big Canadas. Equipped with 32-inch full-choked barrels, the gas-operated gun is pretty reliable, damn heavy (over 10 pounds), and still found in duck blinds and turkey woods across the country. The Ithaca had a decent run and lived on in a way after Remington bought the design in 1989, calling their version the SP-10.