A very good friend forwarded this tome & so I thought it proper to post it for you guys!
|
Just remember this, It can happen in your area too! Grumpy
Just In: California Outlawed Most Pistols
California outlawed mid and full-size pistols
They’ve gone and done it, California outlawed possession of most full-size pistol magazines. If you own a firearm which uses magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, your weapon is illegal to possess in the State of California. Oh, make that your magazines which are illegal to possess. Enjoy your new paperweight. The law signed in by Governor Jerry Brown on Friday requires that citizens surrender their “high capacity” magazines. California’s previously enacted gun bill only prohibited the sale or import of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, but possession was legal.
That’s not all. Now a background check will be required for any ammunition sales. All ammo purchasers will be registered into a state database which labels them as a dangerous ammunition owners… or something. It’s not clear what the purpose of this database it. Do they want all rounds to have an associated serial number, so that they can track the owners?
Fox News reports (although most news outlets seem to be ignoring this):
Gov. Jerry Brown signed six stringent gun-control measures Friday that will require people to turn in high-capacity magazines and mandate background checks for ammunition sales, as California Democrats seek to strengthen gun laws that are already among the strictest in the nation.
Brown vetoed five other bills, including requirement to register homemade firearms and report lost or stolen weapons to authorities.
The Democratic governor’s action is consistent with his mixed record on gun control. Some of the enacted bills duplicate provisions of a November ballot measure by Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. Some of the vetoed measures also appear in Newsom’s initiative.
“My goal in signing these bills is to enhance public safety by tightening our existing laws in a responsible and focused manner, while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners,” Brown wrote in a one-sentence message to lawmakers.
Gun control measures have long been popular with the Democratic lawmakers who control the California Senate and Assembly. But they stepped up their push this year following the December shooting in San Bernardino by a couple who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
The bills angered Republicans and gun-rights advocates who say Democrats are trampling on 2nd Amendment rights, creating new restrictions that won’t cut off the flow of guns to people intent on using them for nefarious purposes.
“On the eve of Independence Day, independence and freedom and liberty in California has been chopped down at the knees and kicked between the legs,” said Sam Paredes, executive director of the advocacy group Gun Owners of California.
Lawsuits challenging the new laws are likely once they take effect next year, Paredes said.
Brown’s action will require people who own magazines that hold more than 10 rounds to give them up. It extends a 1999 law that made it illegal to buy a high-capacity magazine or to bring one into the state but allowed people who already owned them to keep them.
In an attempt to slow gun users from rapidly reloading, the governor signed a bill outlawing new weapons that have a device known as a bullet button. Gun makers developed bullet buttons to get around California’s assault weapons ban, which prohibited new rifles with magazines that can be detached without the aid of tools. A bullet buttons allows a shooter to quickly dislodge the magazine using the tip of a bullet or other small tool.
People will be allowed to keep weapons they already own with bullet buttons, which are often referred to as “California compliant.”
Brown also endorsed a bill making another attempt to regulate ammunition sales after a law passed in 2009 was struck down by a Fresno County judge who said it was too vague. The new law will require ammunition sellers to be licensed and buyers to undergo background checks. Transactions will be recorded.
He also opted to require a background check before a gun can be loaned to someone who isn’t a family member.
“Strong gun laws work. … What we’re doing in California is a better job of keeping guns out of dangerous hands,” said Amanda Wilcox, a spokeswoman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, whose daughter was killed by a shooter using a high-capacity magazine.
The new law appears to be depriving people of their valuable property, in violation of their Second Amendment rights. Outlawing the magazines that go in guns is effectively outlawing the guns. It’s hardly different than outlawing bullets, and then claiming that even though you removed people’s ability to use guns, you aren’t taking away anyone’s guns. But we aren’t constitutional lawyers, we’re cops.
As a group of law enforcement professionals, we support people’s right to carry firearms. We have firsthand knowledge that sometimes it takes too long for the police to get to people who need help. This problem is especially bad in sparsely populated areas where law enforcement response may exceed half an hour. Sparsely populated areas like most of California.
It always amazes me how ignorant the general public seems to be of the violence and evil that exists around them. They enact laws like this because it fits in with their idealistic daydream of how society should be. Law enforcement officers see the evil every day; we were hired to fight it. And when we are forced to use violence to fight against these evils, we also no longer fit inside of their dream and we are cast out of the society that created us.
Quite frankly, I’m surprised that California didn’t just outlaw all semi-automatic firearms. Baby steps, right?
Categories
Classic Ammo – The 6.5mm Grendel
| 6.5mm Grendel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6.5mm Grendel showing variety of bullets—144 gr (9.3 g) to 90 gr (5.8 g)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | Rifle | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of origin |  United States |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
| Production history | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Designer | Bill Alexander and Janne Pohjoispää | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Designed | 2003[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Specifications | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent case | .220 Russian[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Case type | Rimless, bottleneck | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bullet diameter | 6.71 mm (0.264 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Neck diameter | 7.44 mm (0.293 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shoulder diameter | 10.87 mm (0.428 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Base diameter | 11.15 mm (0.439 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rim diameter | 11.2 mm (0.44 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rim thickness | 1.5 mm (0.059 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Case length | 38.7 mm (1.52 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall length | 57.5 mm (2.26 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Case capacity | 2.3 cm3 (35 gr H2O) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rifling twist | 1 in 8″ or 1 in 9″ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primer type | Small rifle | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum pressure | 52,000 psi (AR-15 bolt), 58,000 psi (case strength) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ballistic performance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test barrel length: 24 inches Source(s): Alexander Arms Pressure-safe Load Data |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 6.5mm Grendel (6.5×39mm) is an intermediate cartridge designed by Arne Brennan, Bill Alexander, and Janne Pohjoispää as a low recoil, high accuracy, 200–800 yard cartridge specifically for the AR-15. It is an improved variation of the 6.5mm PPC.[4] Since its introduction, it has proven to be a versatile design and is now expanding out into other firearms including bolt-action rifles and the Kalashnikov system.[5]
The name “6.5mm Grendel” was a trademark owned by Alexander Arms until it was legally released to allow the cartridge to become SAAMI standardized.[6][7]
Contents
[hide]
Development and history[edit]
The 6.5mm Grendel design goal was to create an effective 200–800 yard AR-15 magazine-length cartridge for the AR-15 that surpassed the performance of the native 5.56mm NATO/.223 Remington cartridge. Constrained by the length of the 5.56×45mm NATO round, the Grendel designers decided to use a shorter, larger diameter case for higher powder volume while allowing space for long, streamlined, high ballistic coefficient (BC) bullets. Firing factory loaded ammunition loaded with bullets ranging from 90 to 129 grains (5.8–8.4 g), its muzzle velocity ranges from 2,500 ft/s (760 m/s) with 129- and 130-grain (8.4 g) bullets to 2,900 ft/s (880 m/s) with 90 gr (5.8 g) bullets (similar in velocity to a 5.56 mm 77-grain (5.0 g) round). 6.5 Grendel cartridges depending on their case material and bullet weigh 14.7 to 17.8 grams (227 to 275 gr).
The case head diameter of the Grendel is the same as that of the .220 Russian, the 7.62×39mm, and 6.5mm PPC cases. This diameter is larger than the 5.56×45mm NATO, thereby necessitating the use of a non-standard AR-15 bolt. The increased case diameter results in a small reduction in the capacity of standard size M16/AR-15 magazines. A Grendel magazine with the same dimensions as a STANAG 30-round 5.56 magazine will hold 26 rounds of 6.5mm ammunition.
Timeline[edit]
 |
This section does not cite any sources. (March 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
|
7.62×51mm NATO, 6.5mm Grendel, 5.56×45mm NATO
- 1943: The Soviets develop and adopt the 7.62×39mm M43 cartridge and begin to field it.
- Late 1950s: The .220 Russian hunting cartridge is developed, based on the military 7.62×39mm M43 design.
- 1984: Louis Palmisano and William B. Davis, PhD, develop the 6.5mm PPC from the .220 Russian for the US Shooting Team for use in bolt-action rifles in the 1986 world championships. While performance was exceptional, the US Shooting Team stays with 6mm. The 6.5mm PPC is shelved and never seen again, although Dr. Louis Palmisano believes the 6.5mm PPC could be a formidable competition cartridge with new sub-100 grain bullets.
- 1998: Arne Brennan, a competition shooter and founder of competitionshooting.com, designs and orders a 6.5 PPC reamer from JGS Tool optimized for AR-15 magazine length after conducting extensive theoretical study of multiple calibers and cartridge cases.
- 2000: Arne Brennan, after thousands of rounds of testing 6.5 PPC, compares notes with Dr Louis Palmisano (creator of the 22 and 6mm PPC cartridges).
- Early 2002: Bill Alexander, an engineer who worked for the British Ministry of Defense and designer of the .224 BOZ, .499 L-W and .50 Beowulf cartridges, begins research on developing a 6.5mm Intermediate cartridge specifically for the AR-15. Eventually the 6.5mm PPC caught his attention as it would fit his existing high strength .50 Beowulf bolt. So he machined a solid brass 6.5mm PPC dummy round. It was a cartridge that was small enough to double-stack in an AR-15 size magazine.
- July 2002: American firearms journalist David M. Fortier and Bill Alexander share ideas for a 6.5mm Intermediate cartridge. Fortier shares his idea for a 7.62×39mm based cartridge for use in the Kalashnikov system. He shelves his idea, though, when Alexander shares what he is working on for the AR-15.
- August 2002: Arne Brennan and Bill Alexander are introduced by a mutual acquaintance at Lothar Walther USA.
- January 2003: Janne Pohjoispää, an engineer working for Lapua, and Bill Alexander begin working together on designing and finalizing what would become the 6.5mm Grendel cartridge. Pohjoispää decides against basing it on the PPC as Lapua is already producing .220 Russian brass. He redesigns it using Lapua’s .220 Russian case as the starting point. The two bounce ideas off each other and finalize the cartridge. The end result is noticeably different than Brennan and Alexander’s original 6.5mm-PPC-based design. The new design features a relocated shoulder, increased case capacity, and a thicker neck for increased case life in auto-loading rifles.
- November 2003: Alexander Arms pays for the cartridge tooling and places an initial order for 50,000 brass cases.
- November 2003: JGS produces the first reamer for the new cartridge.
- January 2004: Alexander Arms officially introduces their new cartridge, dubbed the 6.5mm Grendel, at the SHOT Show. They introduce both a line of rifles and ammunition.
- May 2006: Independent ballistic gelatin testing completed for 90 gr (5.8 g) TNT, 120 grains (7.8 g) Norma, 120 gr (7.8 g) SMK, and 123 grains (8.0 g) SMK prototype.
- Aug 2006: Pressure safe loading data is published for AR firearms with 14.5- to 28.0-inch (370–710 mm) barrels.
- Feb 2007: Production Wolf brand ammunition becomes available. Wolf Performance Ammunition becomes a supporter of the cartridge and introduces both a 123 grain Soft Point and 120 grain Multi Purpose Tactical HPBT in their brass-cased Gold line.
- Nov 2009: Hornady teams with Alexander Arms to produce 6.5mm Grendel ammunition, cartridge cases, and dedicated projectiles. They introduce a 123 grain AMAX load, which quickly gains a reputation for excellent accuracy.
- Early 2011: Barnaul of Russia begins development of a 110 grain FMJ-BT load using steel cartridge cases. Preproduction cases are delivered for testing in the fall of 2011.
- June 2014: Production 100gr FMJ Wolf Steel Case ammunition becomes available in large quantities in the US, offering an economical factory load for the 6.5 Grendel.[8]
Performance[edit]
C-Products 26-round Grendel Magazine
Proponents assert that the Grendel is a middle ground between the 5.56×45mm NATO and the 7.62×51mm NATO. It retains greater terminal energy at extended ranges than either of these cartridges due to its higher ballistic coefficient.[2] For example, the 123 gr (8.0 g) 6.5 Grendel has more energy and better armor penetration at 1,000 meters than the larger and heavier 147 gr (9.5 g) M80 7.62 NATO round.[9][10][11][12]
In order to obtain ballistics that are superior to the 7.62×51mm cartridge, a weapon with a longer barrel and firing a heavier bullet is necessary. To achieve the same results from shorter length barrels, even heavier bullets are needed.[13]
External ballistics[edit]
Muzzle Velocity Change with Bullet Weight
| Bullet velocity: 24 inch (609.6 mm) barrel | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet mass | Muzzle velocity | 1,000 meter velocity | ||||
| gr | g | ft/s | m/s | ft/s | m/s | |
| Lapua Scenar | 108 | 7.0 | 2,700 | 820 | 1,166 | 355 |
| Lapua Scenar | 123 | 8.0 | 2,620 | 800 | 1,222 | 372 |
| Lapua FMJBT | 144 | 9.3 | 2,450 | 750 | 1,213 | 370 |
As noted above, the Grendel case is very closely related to the .220 Russian case. In general, each additional grain of bullet weight will reduce muzzle velocity by 10 ft/s (4.7 m/s for each gram) and each additional inch of barrel length will increase muzzle velocity by 20 ft/s (2.4 m/s for each centimeter).[citation needed] Therefore, a handy rule of thumb is “one inch of barrel length equals two grains of bullet weight (1 mm → 5 mg)”. Specific details are available as graphs derived from Alexander Arms’ public domain load table linked below.
Sporting uses[edit]
The 6.5mm Grendel is effective in the humane harvest of medium-sized game.
The cartridge developer, Bill Alexander, has been quoted as saying he was looking for a cartridge with “more legs” (i.e. longer effective range) than the .50 Beowulf so that it could be used for white tail deer hunting.[2] The round’s original marketing for military and police usage created skepticism about its suitability for hunting. Despite this, there has been critical acknowledgement that it is sufficient for CXP2 class game such as deer.[14] Its manufacturer is more enthusiastic, saying that it has “flat trajectories and bullets well-suited to deer and varmints”.[15] It is similar to deer cartridges such as the .30-30 Winchester, .257 Roberts and .243 Winchester but is not in the same class as the .270 Winchester or the .30-06. Now that bolt action rifles are being offered in 6.5 Grendel it is appearing at target matches and metallic silhouette competitions.
Army and police uses[edit]
Serbia is in process of adopting a rifle made by Zastava Arms [16] in 6.5 mm Grendel caliber as main armament for its armed forces. USA manufactured rifle in 6.5mm Grendel caliber will also be adopted in armament for special forces units after it passes testing in Technical Testing Center. Three types of 6.5mm Grendel ammunition produced by Prvi Partizan Uzice Serbia will be tested for use with these rifles. [17][18][19][20][21]
Do NOT trust anyone at work until you have known them for a school year!
The Administrators are not your friend or ally!
People think that yelling is “talking” to the student
If you let them and listen. The students will teach you a lot!
If you show respect to your students you will get it back two fold.
I was extremely lucky to have such great students in my career!
We do not challenge our students hard enough or well either
While we claim to want excellence. We settle for good enough
Why not the Best? God knows we spend enough money on education!
That we try to teach too much & badly for the most part
Most School Unions are only good for taking their dues out of your paycheck!
You either have too much time or not not enough!
You will always run out of work before the end of class
Your supervisor will alway show up when a disaster has just happened in your class.
Your students will always say something shocking to a class visitor.
Students can smell Bullshit a mile away & will call you on it!
Teaching is like herding a bunch of skittish cats!
Everything at School is Political
Never count on anything to happen
There is no magic bullet in Education
Seeing a students eyes light up because they now understand something that you taught them is a little miracle to behold!
There are a lot of folks out there drawing the pay of a teacher. But there are really very few real teachers out there!
Teacher training is a joke! I just Thank God that I was in the Army. Which actually taught me a lot about real education.
I was a so so teacher & a legend in my own mind
The older I get the better I was!
After all these years, I still do not know how folks learn anything
I guess that I was one hell of an actor as I fooled them all after 24 years of teaching!
I had one of these a few years / decades ago. Where I use to keep it in my pocket as a backup gun. When I had to go into some really bad neighborhoods.
But that was when I was a lot younger & dumber. Now you could not pay me enough to do that anymore!
I also remember that it was easy to clean and I could not hit anything with it past 8 feet or so.
Categories
Buying a Rifle & What to look for!
****Trigger Warning – Adult Profanity coming up!*****
Now where was I? Oh yeah buying a Rifle! As you can see my my C.R.S.* is acting up!
Let us say that you have found a worthy candidate of a Rifle to add to you group of foster guns. As President Teddy Roosevelt (The Good Roosevelt*) would say “Bully!”.
Right! Now is the time to turn on your cold hard eyes and do a serious inventory on the condition of this Long Arm.
Now I generally start from the Butt or bottom of a rifle and move my way up.
Does this rifle have a but plate or a recoil pad on it. If so what shape is it in?
or not so good?
If it has a recoil pad. How hard is it. I have bought some rifles that the pad could break concrete.
If you have to replace the pad. Then it will probably cost you a C Note or $100 dollars to those Yankees out there.
Are there any cracks, scars, scratches,blemishes on or near the toe & heel of the butt? If yes then pass on it. Unless you get a big discount.
Yes! You can replace a stock. But that is very expensive. With either your choice of wood or a good plastic one. (I hate most plastic gun parts by the way)
So when I say expensive think at least $200 and up. IF you can find a good Gun Smith & if he has time for it. So add another couple of hundred to the tally.
NO I AM NOT TRY TO SCARE YOU! But I do want you to go in with your eyes open Okay?
Unless you can get a good deal on Ebay. But that can be a gamble at times with Ebay.
Now moving right along, Sorry that this is a very long diatribe!
Let us move along to the action of the rifle.
Does it operate smoothly?
This video will give an idea as to how it should go as concerning smoothness. The first 30 seconds is all you need to see.
If yes then you are good to go!
How does the metal of the gun look like?
Does it look uniformly clean w/o any rust, pits, stains, scars, bulges, cracks or stuff like that?
How does the inside of the barrel look like?
It should look like this
How does the trigger feel?
Ask if you can dry fire it. All this means is that you cock an unloaded Rifle and squeeze the trigger. This the best I could find on dry firing.
If the trigger have a reasonable resistance to pressure and then breaks clean. (You will feel it when you do it.)
If not – You can still think about getting it. Since you can usually replace the trigger with an aftermarket one. Which will cost around another $100.
Finally!!!! This is the last section
The last things to look for on a rifle are these things.
What kind of sight system does it have and what shape are they in?
How good is the free floating of the barrel of this rifle.
Here is some videos about Free Floating
Sight Systems
W.T.F. is he talking about?
What I mean by this is how do you aim your rifle onto the target?
The sights come in many forms.
But the Basic ones are either Iron Sights. I.E. Metal Sights attached to the gun.
Or some sort of optic sight like a Rifle scope or Light scope.
You just want to make sure that they work for you and that it is easy & accurate to use. Again you can spend some huge amounts of money if you are not careful.
More U Tubes on the subject
I hope that this article has made things a little more clearer than mud.
I wish you luck on your shopping!
Attachments area
 |
Click here to Rep
|
Sometimes you just want to turn the media off
From the The Feral Irishman;
I recently came across this Colt M1917 revolver .45 DA (dual action). According to the serial number, it was manufactured in 1920. I had a couple of friends who advised me that buying “moon clips” for shooting the pistol was the route to go.
So, I ordered some steel ”full moon clips” from a seller on Ebay. I loaded one and handily dropped six rounds at once into the cylinder and thought this is going to be dandy.
Instead, I found the cylinder “binding” up somewhat and had to help it along to rotate into battery.
After shooting, I found the empty cartridges were a bugger to remove from the moon clips.
A little more reading convinced me that later models had been headspaced to allow firing of the .45 acp without the clips.
I tried it and it worked. Since the cartridge is rimless, I had to pull each spent casing with my fingernail and that was not too bad.
Some fellow wrote on a forum I visited that he had rather load his gun with individual cartridges and poke the empties out with a wooden dowel rather that “rassle” bullets into and out of the “moons” after firing.
I am beginning to think that man is correct. At this point I have not tried any of the “half-moon” three shot clips.
It is a good shooting gun to be nigh on one hundred years old. If anyone has any experience, antidotes, insight, etc. regarding these heavy but well built firearms, I’d be glad to hear it.
George Frey/Getty Images
With 2017 quickly drawing to a close, Breitbart News thought the timing right to review the top 25 defensive gun uses (DGUs) of 2017.
And while it must be noted that these 25 examples are only a smidgen of the hundreds of thousands of DGUs that occur each year–see the academic work of Florida State University’s Gary Kleck–they nonetheless present a well-rounded summation of the various locations and circumstances in which law-abiding citizens use guns to defend their own lives and the lives of others.
Here are the top 25 DGUs of 2017:
January 2, 2017–Kay Dickinson was attacked while entering her Wilmington, North Carolina, apartment. WWAY repoted that Dickinson had just gotten off work and was going into her apartment at Colonial Parke when she was attacked.” The suspect held her at gunpoint, “beat her and then tied her up with a broken belt in her bedroom.” She was able to work free, retrieve her gun, and kill the suspect.
January 12, 2017–An concealed carry permit holder saw an Arizona State Trooper being beaten on the side of Interstate 10. The permit holder pulled over, asked the Trooper if he needed help, then intervened when the Trooper answered in the affirmative. The permit holder ordered the attacker to stop, then shot him dead after he refused to comply. It turned out that the suspect had shot the Trooper before the permit holder arrived, then climbed on top of him in a rage and began beating him on the side of the road. The permit holder saved the Trooper’s life.
January 20, 2017–Charlotte, North Carolina’s Kim Badger was attacked in “broad daylight” by a home invasion suspect armed with a baseball bat. WCNC reported that the attacker struck Badger with the bat, then pursued her through the house. Throughout the attack Badger fought to deny the suspect control of a knife that was on a counter and, eventually, to deny him access to a sword. Badger’s teenage son joined the fight to keep the suspect away from the sword. As the son fought, the mother retrieved her gun and shot the suspect dead.
January 29, 2017–Two masked suspects entered West Philadelphia’s Eagele’s Corner Chinese takeout and “announced a robbery.” According to 6 ABC, police indicated that two store owners were present at the time and one of the owners pulled a gun and opened fire. The owner opened fire, causing both of the suspects to flee. One of the suspects was struck by the owner’s gunfire and was arrested after his accomplice drove him to the hospital for treatment.
February 9, 2017–A legally armed citizen in Holland, Michigan, shot and critically wounded a suspect who would not stop assaulting a woman inside a convenience store. Holland Police issued a press release recounting the incident by explaining that “the suspect violently punched the victim several times and threw her down to the ground, and it is at that point that the [armed] customer arrives and tries to intervene.” The suspect then turned and attacked the customer who was trying to intervene, leading the customer to open fire. The suspect was shot twice and hospitalized in critical condition.
March 8, 2017–A home invasion suspect who approached a family was shot and killed by the father after refusing to accept food stamps in lieu of money. WBRZ quoted East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore saying, “The [father] was at his own home with his family and was confronted by another individual who was armed. There was a scuffle which eventually led to shots being fired and the person who came to the home was shot and killed.” The father offered the suspect food stamps prior to fighting and eventually killing him.
March 9, 2017–A Houston, Texas, smoke shop owner was shot multiple times yet managed to pull his own gun and kill one of two robbery suspects. ABC 13 reported that customers were in the store when the two suspects entered. Those customers called 911 and the dispatcher could hear the sound of gunshots in the background. The store owner was hospitalized in critical condition after the uninjured suspect fled the scene.
March 21, 2017–A 21-year-old suspect kicked in his ex-girlfriend’s apartment door, then died after being shot multiple times. As it turns out, the ex-girlfriend’s brother was in the Detroit apartment and opened fire on the suspect. Police responded to find the suspect had a gun and had left his car parked in the street with the engine running.
April 14, 2017–A homeowner in Pierce County, Washington, awoke to the sound of someone trying to enter his home around 3:30 a.m. The homeowner retrieved a gun and went to investigate, ultimately firing one shot and killing 28-year-old Viktor Starovevrov. The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department responded to a call of shots fired and arrived to find Starovenrov beyond hope of survival. A 32-year-old woman and three-year-old girl were asleep in the house when the invasion was foiled.
April 23, 2017–A St. Louis 7-11 clerk was taking a smoke break around 3:50 a.m. when a robbery suspect approached and attempted to rob her. The clerk pulled her own gun and exchanged fire with the suspect, shooting him multiple times. The suspect’s wounds proved fatal. The clerk was also wounded in the gunfight, yet was in stable condition following the incident.
May 3, 2017–An Arlington, Texas, man described by witnesses as an “active shooter” was shot and killed by a concealed carry permit holder in Zona Caliente Sports Bar around 6:15 p.m. WFAA reported that the armed suspect shot and killed the bar manager and was then was engaged by the permit holder, who shot the aggressor dead. Police explained that the permit holder intervened out of fear that inaction would lead to a further “loss of life.”
May 12, 2017–A female homeowner shot and killed a suspect who allegedly brought his sevem-year-old son along for the home invasion. The San Antonio Express-News reported the suspect allegedly tried to break in through a window in the very room where the homeowner happened to be asleep. The woman heard the suspect trying to make entry into her home, armed herself, and fired at least two rounds. Police arrived in time to transport the alleged intruder to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
May 18, 2017–A home invasion suspect wearing only underwear was shot and killed after breaking into a pastor’s home in Cypress, Texas. The suspect entered the home around 2:00 a.m. and attacked the pastor and his wife. As the intruder went room to room looking for other would-be victims, he came upon an extended family member who was armed. That family member shot and killed the intruder, saving others in the home from coming under attack.
May 29, 2017–An armed neighbor in Ada, Oklahoma, came to the rescue of three children who were being drowned by their father. Cash Freeman was alerted to the situation when a terrified 12-year-old ran to his house to say the estranged father had taken the children from the mother and was trying to drown them. Freeman arrived to find the father holding three-month-old twins under water. Freeman shot the father twice, killing him and saving the children.
June 7, 2017–An Indianapolis mother protected her children by opening fire and killing a home invasion suspect who struck in broad daylight. Fox 59 reports that the mother heard someone trying to get into the apartment, then came to face-to-fact with 19-year-old Michael Hawkins. She opened fire at that point and Hawkins dropped dead “inside the doorway.” The mother and the children were not harmed.
June 17, 2017–A man was shot and killed by his ex-girlfriend after he allegedly threatened her and showed up to her house with an “assault rifle.” The incident occurred in Florida’s Pasco County around 10:30 pm. According to Fox 13 News, law enforcement officials said 45-year-old Frank Harrison had “previously threatened his ex-girlfriend.” When she saw him approaching her home she opened the front door and shot him dead before he could enter.
July 17, 2017–With a car thief on the lose near her family’s home 17-year-old Kimber Wood called her dad and asked if she could retrieve one of his guns to keep close at hand for self-defense. Her father said yes, so Kimber retrieved the gun and was ready when the suspect entered the house. Kimber and the suspect came face to face, only to have to him flee when she pointed the gun at him and ordered him to leave the home. She chased him as he fled and fired a warning shot to assure him that she knew how to use the gun.
July 31, 2017–A Katy, Texas, grandma opened fire on two home invasion suspects, leaving one dead. According to ABC 13, Harris County Sheriff’s deputies said the 60-year-old grandma was home alone when two suspects allegedly entered through the garage. Deputy Thomas Gilliland said, “Both were armed with pistols. She confronted both suspects, retrieved a handgun and fired several times at both subjects.”
August 5, 2017–An elderly homeowner in Lakewood, Florida, shot and killed a home intruder. The homeowner was in the home with his wife when they heard the suspect make entry. He grabbed a gun, confronted the suspect, then killed him. Law enforcement officials did not report how many times the suspect was shot, only that he was dead when responding officers arrived.
September 6, 2017–Three Taco Bell employees opened fire and killed an armed robbery suspect in Cleveland, Ohio. According to Fox 8, police said two suspects entered the store “wearing masks and ordered the employees to the ground at gunpoint.” There were multiple employees in the store at the time and three of them responded by opening fire. When officers arrived the suspect who had been fatally wounded was lying face down and a gun was still in his hand.
September 14, 2017–An Indianapolis father shot and killed an intruder who burst through the front door and rushed into the apartment. The father’s two young children were home at the time of the foiled invasion. CBS 4 quoted Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officer Aaron Hamer, who said, “It appears [the suspect] was yelling to get into the residence because he believed his kids were in the house. It turns out the kids inside did not belong to him.” The father and his two children were not harmed.
September 18, 2017–A female accountant shot and critically wounded a suspect who broke into her office as she was there typing alone. The suspect was fleeing police when he entered the office and the accountant asked to stop coming at her before she pulled the trigger and shot him in the neck. The suspect survived being shot, but has to undergo rehab to learn how to walk again.
September 24, 2017–Two home invasion suspects rushed into a Bridgeville, Maryland, home around 11:55 pm. Police indicated that at least one of the suspects was armed. The homeowner, home alone at the time off the invasion, wrestled with the armed suspect and shot was fired, killing the suspect. The suspect’s body was lying in the kitchen when police arrived. The homeowner was not injured.
November 5, 2017–Stephen Willeford was in his home in Sutherland Springs, Texas, when his daughter rushed inside to let him know someone was shooting congregants at the First Baptist Church. Willeford grabbed his AR-15 and a handful of bullets and ran barefoot toward the church in order to confront the killer. Upon arriving, Willeford took a defensive position behind a truck and exchanged fire with the killer, shooting him twice. The killer fled the scene after Willeford shot him, driving roughly 11 miles before taking his own life. Willeford proved anew the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
December 6, 2017–A father with a handgun license shot and killed an armed suspect who confronted the father and his family in a Popeye’s restaurant. According to Fox 29, the suspect pointed a gun at the father and “demanded his property.” The father asked that his family be released, then pulled his own gun when the suspect became distracted by individuals walking out the restroom. The father shot the suspect multiple times, killing him on the spot.
The Second Amendment is not about duck hunting or plinking, but protecting our lives and liberty from threats as they arise. The top 25 defensive gun uses of 2017 show that law-abiding Americans understand this and are putting their guns to good use.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
Untraceable “Ghost Guns” On the Rise, But Are They Legal?
Gun enthusiasts and hobbyists have long been building their own firearms by purchasing lower receivers or kits and other parts needed to assemble a firearm.
The lower receiver is a small block of metal about the size of a deck of cards where the trigger mechanism is housed and where bullets pass through. A gun cannot function without it. A finished lower receiver is the piece of the firearm regulated by federal law and must contain a serial number stamped into it.
Technology today and the hundreds or even thousands of websites selling lower receivers, kits, and parts over the internet makes it even easier. There are no background checks required to purchase these lower receivers or kits.
There are no federal restrictions on an individual making a firearm for personal use, so long as it does not violate the National Firearms Act (NFA), according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
The ATF has long held that items such as receiver blanks, “castings” or “machined bodies” in which the fire-control cavity area is completely solid and un-machined have not reached the “stage of manufacture” which would result in the classification of a firearm per the Gun Control Act of 1934 (GCA). That stage is “80 percent complete.” ATF regulations hold that receiver blanks that do not meet the definition of a “firearm” are not subject to regulation under the GCA.
Furthermore, under federal law, no serial numbers are needed on firearms that are built for personal use, making them untraceable by law enforcement.
By leaving the lower receiver unfinished— meaning only partially drilled — it fails to meet the ATF’s requirement of being more than 80 percent complete and is therefore not considered a “firearm” subject to regulations. Buyers can finish the receivers at home by finishing the drilling.
The ATF refers to such guns as unfinished receivers, though they’re also called 80 percent receivers, home built firearms, or “ghost guns.”
And it’s all perfectly legal.
These self-assembled and untraceable “ghost guns” are becoming increasingly more popular amongst gun enthusiasts across the country and is becoming big business for parts manufacturers and for dealers selling kits.
Elite Custom Railing in Holly Hill, Florida, for example, specializes in unfinished lower receivers for a do-it-yourself AR-15. A company spokesperson said they sell between 100 and 150 lower receivers each day.
It is just one of six companies in Volusia County alone engaged in manufacturing and/or selling kits or unfinished receivers that allow buyers to assemble military-style, semi-automatic rifles at home.
Another Volusia County company, Stone Mountain Gold ‘n Guns in DeLand, will sell the “80% receivers” to a customer only in person and not over the internet as others in the county do. A manager said he will complete the sale only if he feels comfortable with the person buying the receiver. Stone Mountain sells about 20 a month, according to the manager.
The ATF and some law enforcement agencies have expressed a concern about these homemade firearms, believing that the availability of the untraceable receivers will encourage criminals and terrorists to start building their own weapons.
Port Orange Police Chief Thomas Grimaldi said in an interview in the Daytona Beach News-Journal, “We’re making it easy for the criminals. I have a concern — a huge concern over that.”
Mary Salter, ATF Tampa Field Division public information officer, believes some criminals are purchasing non-serialized and therefore untraceable firearms because their intent is to commit crimes.
“ATF, and law enforcement, in general is seeing homemade firearms without serial numbers at crime scenes,” Salter said. “Tracing firearms found at crime scenes to the original purchaser is a valuable tool in law enforcement,” Salter added. “When a homemade firearm is found at a crime scene, investigators are left with a dead end, where a trace of a firearm may generate valuable investigative leads.”
“With advancements in technology in regards to 3D printers,” Salter said, “CNC milling machines, and the availability of receiver blanks, it has become much easier for a person to build a firearm. “When a “homemade firearm is found at a crime scene, it means investigators are virtually left with a dead end,” said Salter.
And in California, Graham Barlowe, resident agent in charge at the ATF’s Sacramento Field Office, said he started seeing crimes involving untraceable guns about two years ago. In November of this year, Barlowe’s undercover agents arrested eight men for manufacturing and selling illegal firearms, seizing about 90 un-serialized firearms out of the more than 230 illegal firearms found. His agents have also found electronic mills that carve a complete receiver in 12 minutes.
“It is one of the biggest problems in Northern California for our office, if not the biggest problem,” Barlowe says. He estimates that his office has seized about 500 un-serialized receivers since 2013.
The Santa Monica shooter, John Zawahri, used a rifle made from parts he purchased online to kill himself and five others on June 7, 2013.
And in neighboring Arizona, between 2009 to 2011, ATF reported that it seized 191 of the 80 percent receivers in Tucson that were headed to Mexico to be assembled, possibly by cartels.
In Florida, law enforcement officials claim the unregistered guns can make it easy for criminals to arm themselves with untraceable weapons.
However, others disagree with that assessment, claiming the skill and equipment necessary to build the firearms is anything but easy and, therefore, makes this approach more costly and time-consuming than simply acquiring an already completed firearm. A milling machine (or at least a milling guide kit), for example, can cost around $1,500, and it could take weeks to complete an AR-15 kit.
And to complete an unfinished lower receiver, a person must carefully mill or drill out a portion of the inside of the receiver, which can take many painstaking hours. Without a properly milled lower received, a functioning firearm would be impossible to produce.
Many believe manufacturing a homemade weapon is generally too costly, too troublesome, and too expensive for criminals.
Furthermore, FBI statistics indicate semi-automatic weapons are used in less than one percent of crimes in the U.S. Most criminals use handguns, and most guns used in crimes are stolen. Criminals looking to buy a weapon can get them from private sales without a background check and do not have to go through the trouble and expense of building their own rifle.
Rob Dunaway, President of American Spirit Arms in Scottsdale, Arizona, says most of the customers who buy the incomplete receivers are people who like to personalize their semi-automatic rifle and or more worried about changes to the gun laws.
“Some people buy them to store them for potential future use,” Dunaway said.
Previous attempts to regulate “ghost guns” in California failed, when a bill that would have allowed the manufacture or assembly of homemade weapons but required the makers to first apply to the state Department of Justice for a serial number that would be given only after the applicants underwent a background check, was vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2014.
However, earlier this year, Gov. Brown did sign a bill requiring people who build guns from these 80% receivers to register them and get a serial number. That law takes full effect in 2019. — by Michael Wisdom, Senior Contributing Editor, Texas & U.S. Law Shield Blog