Guns – Page 1102 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Disturbing ATF Assertions

Via SayUncle, we learn of some disturbing interpretations of the NFA on the part of the ATF. I do believe that the ATF has long held that “one a machine gun, always a machine gun” in regards to firearms that have been converted to only fire semi-automatically. Thus an M14 receiver is always a machine gun, no matter what you do to it subsequently. The argument being that it is readily converted to fire full auto.

I’m more disturbed about the short barreled rifle (SBR) charge. I’ve long considered registering my AR-15 carbine as an SBR, then using an M4 style upper. But I also have another AR-15 that I did not intend to convert. Does this leave me vulnerable to ATF prosecution? Remember, I hold a type 03 FFL, so the ATF can ask to inspect my records and inventory, so this is an important deal for me. It’s one of those things you’d be tempted to get a letter from the ATF saying it was OK, but we know what those are worth.

You want to talk reasonable gun control? Does the Brady Campaign want another opportunity to “work with the NRA” to “strengthen our nations laws on machine guns?” How about undertaking a major restructuring of federal law so that the ATF can’t, at whim, turn someone from a law abiding collector into a felon looking at ten years hard time in Club Fed? It’s long time to codify what “readily converted” means, in hard, clear language, that’s not easily open to interpretation by federal agencies. It’s long time to reexamine whether there’s any reasonable connection to the SBR and SBS law and public safety. Is that rifle more dangerous because it has a barrel an inch and a half longer than another one? Is that pistol more deadly because someone clipped a stock onto it? Come on Brady’s, if you guys can spin this last thing as gun control, surely you can spin this as the same. So how about it? Let’s pass some more “reasonable” laws together.

Importance of Training

Dave Hardy talks about an interesting book on combat.Â My favorite part of this post shows us the importance of training:

Necessities of training, because a person will drop back to their instincts (interesting case of an officer who constantly trained at disarming people by hand. Have someone hold a gun on him, and take it away from them, hand it back and repeat. He came face to face with an armed criminal, snatched the gun away from him — and handed it back. He survived the experience luckily.)

Ooops. Â I guess instead of practicing giving the pistol back to the trainees, he should have pistol whipped them with it.Â Â Of course, this would have probably impacted negatively on his career as a police trainer.

Quote of the Day

Comment by Sailorcurt over at SayUncle:

If the Brady Law has been such an â€œoverwhelming successâ€ why do they constantly push for further restrictions?

Referring, of course, to The Brady Campaign’s statement:

The Brady Law, which mandated that federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) check the backgrounds of prospective gun purchasers, has been an overwhelming success.

Good question!

Potato Guns

SayUncle took me back more than a few years with this post on Backyard Ballistics.

My friend Brad posing with the potato cannon we built more than ten years ago in New Hampshire. We’re all fatter and have less hair today. It could launch a spud a good 300 yards. Somewhere, I still have it, although it’s been shortened because it was too long to get back into the trunk for the drive home.

I had no idea, actually, that I could have been arrested driving that thing home. It’s a firearm both in Massachusetts and in New Jersey, and I did not have a license for either of those states. Moreover, because it’s not a firearm under federal law, I couldn’t claim FOPA. We carried with us a letter from the ATF saying it wasn’t a firearm, but didn’t realize that didn’t matter. State definitions vary.

Things you do when you’re a dumb college kid and assume you live in a free country where silly things like the constitution mean something.

Prohibited?

David Codrea asks whether we’re seeing a newly minted prohibited person.

Hospital? So he’s been involuntarily committed for having his picture taken holding a shotgun because the paranoid campus officials and authorities go bonkers even thinking of such things due to recent “threats”–none of which Meepegama apparently had anything to do with? And they think he’s nuts?

Unfortunately we don’t have details about whether this was a lawful commitment order, or SUNY merely told him to seek counseling if he wanted to stay in school. If it’s the latter, he would not be a prohibited person according to ATF regulations:

Committed to a mental institution. A formal commitment of a person to a mental institution by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority. The term includes a commitment to a mental institution involuntarily. The term includes commitment for mental defectiveness or mental illness. It also includes commitments for other reasons, such as for drug use. The term does not include a person in a mental institution for observation or a voluntary admission to a mental institution.

He would fall under the “observation” exception in the regulation, and wouldn’t be prohibited, and that’s assuming that he was ordered in for observation by someone with lawful authority under New York’s mental health laws. I’m not familiar with New York Law on the matter, but I suspect that a university official has no lawful authority in this regard.

UPDATE: I just realized this was originally posted in May. Â Bloglines republished it, so I thought it was new.

Mental Disorders and Firearms Disability

Lynn Stuter is worried that we’re all going to be diagnosed with mental disorders, and it makes the H.R.2640 dangerous.Â Â It may be true that we’ll all be diagnosed with some kind of mental disorder, but the fact is that’s not sufficient for a person to have a firearms disability.Â Remember that you actually have to be committed to a mental institution against your will, which isn’t going to happen unless you’re as nutty as a fruitcake (and even then, it’s hard).Â Â The only other conditions that suffice for a firearms disability are outlined in 27 CFR 478.11, which we covered on Monday:

Adjudicated as a mental defective. (a) A determination by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority that a person, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease:
(1) Is a danger to himself or to others; or
(2) Lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his own affairs.
(b) The term shall includeâ€“
(1) A finding of insanity by a court in a criminal case; and
(2) Those persons found incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility pursuant to articles 50a and 72b of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. 850a, 876b.

This is far less encompassing than just being diagnosed with something from DSM IV. Â I am quite open to arguments against H.R.2640, but I’m seeing quite a lot of opposition out there that’s based on poor information and bad facts.Â When I see them, I’m going to keep pointing them out.

Via SayUncle

When Guns are Outlawed …

… only Hamas will have guns.

Back From the Range

I spent maybe half an hour at the range tonight.Â I meant to spend more, but my stack of targets wasn’t quite large enough for an extended stay.Â I’m also down to 100 rounds of 9mm, which is a most disconcerting situation.Â Anyway, I was practicing double tap reload drills for the upcoming e-postal match deadline, which is rapidly approaching.

These types of exercises are good because they expose flaws in my shooting.Â Â One thing I’ve discovered is that I tend not to hold my arm out straight when I’m rushing to aim.Â This was detrimental to my accuracy. Â I also noticed the swing up was a bitch.Â I need to practice drawing up and close, then moving out, rather than drawing out and swinging up.

Another Bunch of Corporate Cowards

The company that fired this guy is called Village Green Companies, and no, they don’t care, despite what their web site says.Â Â They sure don’t seem to care about their employees.Â Â This is true of most corporations, to be honest.Â Â There are two things that companies fear most.Â Â The first is being sued, and the second is bad publicity.

All laws aimed at employees are designed to address the former. Â They don’t really care if you die, as long as they don’t get sued for it.Â One of the primary functions of the HR department is to prevent the corporation from being sued.Â Â It isn’t to look out for you and your well being as an individual.Â Laws disarming employees have nothing to do with workplace safety, and everything to do with keeping the company from being sued.

I’m glad thatÂ Village Green Companies is taking a black eye over this.Â Remember the second thing that corporations fear is bad publicity, and that’s the only thing that’s going to make them reconsider these types of policies.

New Shooter

I took my ex girlfriend’s young brother shooting this weekend. He wanted to try it, and she said it was fine, despite the fact she’s not all that comfortable around guns herself. This was a true first time shooter, which I will typically start with long guns rather than pistol. The real question is whether to start with a .22 (best option, typically) or move up to the AR-15. Generally if someone is a little timid, I’ll go for the .22LR. If they don’t display any particular timidity around firearms, I’ll upgrade to the AR.

Guys typically like shooting the military stuff if they’ve never shot before, so I took the AK-47 and AR-15. He displayed a bit of recoil sensitivity with the AK-47, and struggled a bit more with the operating system. Consistently, people who are new shooters much prefer the AR-15 over anything else. I find they latch on to the AR-15 operating system really fast, and become proficient quickly. The sights are also easy to explain and intuitive on the AR-15. I noticed he wasn’t hitting anything with the AK, and after a brief explanation of the notch sight, I don’t think he was sighting it properly.

Setting the target out at 20 yards, with the AR-15 he was hitting groups about the size of an orange at first, from bench, then they’d loosen up. I see that a lot from new shooters, and I think it’s recoil anticipation that’s building up. His shooting with the AK was all over the place. I think the recoil was making him tense up too much and jerk the rifle too much in anticipation.

In conclusion, I think the AR-15 platform is really the best for new shooters. A more conventional looking .22 might be more apt for someone who is truly timid, because a lot of people make assumptions about military patterned guns are just aren’t correct. I’ve not had much luck with getting new people to enjoy shooting the AK-47 platform, particularly people who are recoil sensitive. For beginners, I think the AK-74 platform is a better choice. I will have to try that on my next new shooter.