Guns – Page 1089 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Armor Piercing Ammo

The regulations on armor piercing ammo are among the strangest of the federal firearms regulations. The first is that AP ammo is rather odd in its definition. The ATF defines it as handgun ammunition, but there’s a catch. If any handgun has ever been made in a specific caliber, then ATF considers that the AP ammo regulations then apply to that caliber. That’s why you can’t buy AP ammo for cartridges like 7.62×39 and several others. The 5.56x45NATO is specifically exempted from this, even though there are pistols made for it.

It’s perfectly legal to possess, purchase, sell or shoot armor piercing ammunition. It’s not legal to manufacture or import armor piercing ammunition.

In order to manufacture AP rounds, you have to hold a type 10 FFL (18 USC sec. 922(a)(7)). In order to import AP rounds, you have to hold a type 11 FFL (18 USC sec. 922(a)(7)). If you hold either one of these FFLs, it’s not legal to sell or export AP rounds, except to military, law enforcement (18 USC sec. 922(a)(8)). In addition, if you hold a type 06-08 FFL (manufactures of firearms, importers of firearms, manufactures of ammunition), then you also my not sell AP rounds to the general public.

For regular type 01-03 FFL holders, you may sell or deliver AP ammunition, but it must be entered into the Acquisition and Disposition Record (bound book). So if you have any AP rounds in your possession, that’s ok. But it’s been illegal to manufacture or import new ammunition that’s transferable to ordinary citizens for quite some time, and for the most part, it’s generally unavailable, and certainly not in any significant quantity for most calibers.

Of course, there are also various state restrictions. Pennsylvania prohibits KTW ammunition. NJ and NY have additional restrictions on AP ammo.

Knights Armament PDW

Joseph has links to some pictures of the Knights Armament PDW.Â Â Looks like Knights went with a more traditional approach, and basically has produced a variant of the standard assault rifle, only with a shorter barrel and firing an intermediate cartridge.Â One advantage to going this way is that the rifle can have iron sights.

I’m more of a fan of the compact PDW platform.Â I’d rather see a bullpup style config, with the trigger forward.Â I think a certain compactness should be key to the PDW concept.

Carolyn McCarthy Responds to Sugarmann

Via Of Arms And the Law, apparently Carolyn McCarthy has responded to Josh Sugarmann’s objections to HR2640 over at HuffPo. I wonder how many coctails the Congresswoman from New York needed to imbibe in order to dull the pain of writing these words:

The author must also consider the political realities of Washington. Despite the efforts of Mr. Sugarmann and many others, the National Rifle Association still wields tremendous influence in the halls of Congress and their blessing is required for any bill that enforces or creates gun laws.

Ouch! That had to hurt. The pain doesn’t end there, however:

In listing the three anti-gun violence organizations that have reservations about my bill, Mr. Sugarmann inadvertently addresses why the NRA has such power while the efforts of organizations working to prevent gun violence have been futile for close to a decade. The NRA is consolidated into a single cohesive unit, but the groups working for common sense gun laws are many and each possess their own agenda and points of view. Only when these groups join forces for common legislative goals will we be able to prevail not only in the halls of Congress, but in state legislatures and city halls across the country as well.

I guess she doesn’t know all the bickering that often goes on between GOA, JPFO, NRA and SAF. We are pretty united though otherwise, I’ll give her that. But we need to stay that way, which is why I get pissy when one group attacks the other to get advantage for their own group. It’s one thing to criticize, that’s fine, but I still think GOA became unhinged over HR2640. Carolyn McCarthy might get her wish though, given that the VPC is hemmoraging money at an astounding rate, it might not be too long before the gun control movement only has one group left standing.

She shouldn’t count on that translating to victory, however. The root reason we’re achieving victories over them politically isn’t that we’re united, it’s that there are a lot more of us than there are of them. If there’s a serious political movement to pass gun control, it’s completely unapparent to me here on the Internet.

Bryan Miller Time

Bryan Miller has an editorial going on NJ voices. I’d pick out a quote, but the whole thing really must be read, because it’s a continuous several pages of pants shitting hysterics. I decided to put int he comments:

Wow Bryan. That was the longest hysterical rant I’ve read in a while. I normally won’t touch Anheiser-Busch’s products, because, let’s face it: it’s not good beer. But your post has made me decide maybe I should get a six pack of Bud, if Anheiser-Busch they are so dedicated about protecting my constitutional rights from people like you.

You guys really need to come up with some original arguments. You’re still pushing crap about the 50 caliber rifle being able to destroy things like rail cars, when Sr Vice President of Trinity Trail Group said:

â€œThe assertions put forth about the threat to rail from fifty caliber rifles have no basis in reality. We exhaustively test our chemical rail car designs against all types of firearms, including fifty caliber. In almost all tests the bullet simply bounced off. The worst-case scenario we could demonstrate was a tiny leak equivalent to a hand-valve that wasnâ€™t completely closed. Leaks of that scale happen every day all across America.â€

The type of armor piercing incendiary ammunition that would light anything on fire is not available to the civilian market. Regular ammunition is not generally capable of lighting fires. The 50 BMG is not an explosive round. It’s not much different, ballistically, from other big game hunting rounds of similar caliber.

But the rifles that fire the BMG look scary, don’t they. And with many people in New Jersey having absolutely no familiarity with firearms, it sure does make them easy targets for the kind of disinformation your organization likes to push, doesn’t it?

Bryan Miller is also executive director of CeaseFire PA, because it wasn’t enough to destroy everyone’s second amendment rights in New Jersey. Now he has to do it in my state too. Fortunately, unlike New Jersey, we have a very clearly worded right to bear arms provision in our state constitution, and an active shooter community. He will not find his ideas so receptive on this side of the Delaware.

Go register and leave a comment.Â Be polite, and factual.Â We can’t let these folks misleading of the public go unanswered.

Top Ten Suggestions

A lot of other people have linked Rob’s great suggestions for Paul.Â I will too.Â Â It’s deserving of a high google rank.

Turning off Comments?

I guess they got tired of all us gun folks using their bandwidth.Â Â I figured something was going to give when I saw that some of you were talking about reloading (for those of you coming from the Brady Campaign, that means making your own cartridges) in their blog comments.

We wish the Brady’s the best of luck with their new and improved blog, that no one will read now.

Harassment in Maryland

If you think Maryland will just be harassing criminals with this new initiative, you’re nuts.

Leading officials from Maryland, the District and Prince George’s County will announce a set of initiatives today aimed at cracking down on gun trafficking, tightening laws that govern firearms use and improving information-sharing among law enforcement agencies.

The effort will focus on stepping up inspections at firearms shops, increasing the number of sting operations at gun shows and ensuring that people on parole or probation sign notices acknowledging that they are prohibited from owning firearms, authorities said.

Ah, the old “targeting gun shows” routine. Â Where have we seen that before?Â Of course, we know criminals don’t target gun shows themselves, so this is going to be another case of authorities harassing legal gun buyers.

I’d also like to know how that signed piece of paper is going to keep the criminal from obtaining a gun and shooting someone.Â I’m pretty sure that criminals really don’t care whether they are prohibited from owning a gun or not. Â But hey, at least they are doing something, right?

AK-47 Sales in South Carolina

Showing that the smaller papers are more prone to avoid the pants shitting hysterics of the big city papers, The Rock Hill South Carolina Herald manages to produce a pretty balanced article:

Take a drive along Cherry Road, and you’ll see David’s Pawn Shop advertising the weapons on its marquee, “AK-47s Now In Stock.” Owner David Dresner said he started selling the Romanian-made weapon recently, and it’s been a big hit with collectors and for those taking target practice. Some individuals also use the guns for hunting, he said.

But I thought they didn’t have a legitimate sporting purpose?

Dresner said the AK-47 he sells is a semi-automatic rifle just like the ones used by Iraqi police allied with U.S. troops in the Middle East. It looks similar to the famed Russian AK-47, a fully automatic machine gun made popular during the Cold War. Those guns, however, are only sold to individuals specially licensed by the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, he said. And they carry a $25,000 price tag.

Good to see this mentioned. I doubt the Iraqi police are using semi-autos, but they appear to get the distinction.

“AK-47s should not be available for sale. There’s really no argument,” said Zach Ragbourn, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign, the nation’s leading gun-control lobby. “They’re designed to attack people, period. They’re not for hunting or a fun collector’s item.”

Well, it wouldn’t be a “balanced” article if it didn’t get a few Brady mis-characterizations in there. Designed to attack people? I’ve spent a lot of time with my AK-47, and it’s never once tried to attack me. Maybe there’s something wrong with it.

But not fun? Zach, Zach, Zach. I know you’ve commented on here once or twice, and I know you guys are occasional readers, so I’ll make you an offer: I’ll take you guys out to shoot both my Kalashnikovs, and if you still think it’s not fun, afterward drinks are on me.

Ragbourn said the term “assault weapon” was coined by the gun industry years ago as a marketing tool. He said any weapon capable of firing multiple rounds in a split second shouldn’t be offered on store shelves.

“A 100-round magazine is not a cosmetic feature,” he said. “It’s nothing but a bunch of lead in the air in a short amount of time.”

I’m pretty sure that term was invented by politicians. Assault Rifle was invited by the Germans (Sturmgewehr) in World War II. But what we shoot aren’t, they just look like. I don’t have a 100 round drum magazine. They take too long to load, and then take too long to shoot, because we’re not talking about machine guns here. You knew that right? Of course you did, but you hoped no one else would.

Sugarman Not too Pleased With NICS Deal

Josh Sugarmann of the Violence Policy Center, takes the a look in the gift horse’s mouth, and doesn’t like what he sees. Hey Josh, the Brady Campaign figured out that they could spin this as a victory to their supporters and donors, and were lucky to have the media gobble up the notion like they are wont to do with anything you guys tell them. It even tricked enough gun owners to get the NRA in hot water with its constituents.

But Josh, buddy, seriously… take the spin and go with it. I mean, you wouldn’t want to ruin Paul Helmke’s fundraising efforts by getting the notion out there, among yours and Brady’s donors, that HR2640 wasn’t actually a gun control law, would you? If that’s the case, that means you guys haven’t won a victory in, what is it now? 14 years.

Preemption: It’s not Just for Philly Anymore

Looks like other towns are violating Pennsylvania’s preemption statute.Â Actually, violations of preemtion are all over if you look.Â I never pay attention to it. Â If one of the local townships wants to try to enforce it on me, I’ll gladly take them to court.