The Gun Thing – Page 20 – Splendid Isolation

In an unprecedented move, twenty armed Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents carried out a raid on a gun store in Great Falls, Montana, seizing all Form 4473 – documents that record buyer’s information during firearms transactions.

“We have now confirmed that both the IRS and the ATF were at Highwood Creek Outfitters in Great Falls around 7 am this morning. Both the IRS and ATF would not say why they were there,” KMON Radio reported.

“A spokeswoman for the IRS would only say they were there on official IRS business. The ATF says it was providing assistance to the IRS. We attempted to enter the store today and were stopped by agents at the door who would only say that the gun store is closed and will reopen tomorrow,” the news outlet added.

Considering that this raid was conducted under the auspices of the fine folks at the IRS, one would question whether the agents needed to confiscate the 4473 forms — which, lest we forget, contain absolutely no financial information.

However, ’tis an ill wind that blows absolutely no good, and there’s this little snippet:

Highwood Creek Outfitters is America’s largest online firearms and accessories mall, according to its website. The store is known for selling what Van Hoose calls “fun guns,” including AR-15’s and AK-47s.

And they did all that despite my never having heard of them before. Sadly, I’m not in a position to give them any business at the moment, but if any of you are thinking of making an online purchase of a gunny nature, you might want to give HSO a look.

As for the Gummint thugs… [taking the Fifth here, Boss]

Long Time Coming

June 19, 2023 Kim du Toit Legal Stuff, Rights, The Gun Thing

I’ve always maintained that it’s an injustice for someone to lose their Second Amendment rights because of a criminal record imposed by the commission of a non-violent crime. By all means, deny the Second to recently-paroled armed robbers and the like — but for non-violent offenses like forgery or tax evasion? No.

Seems as though some judges are coming to the same conclusion.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held this week in Range v. Garland that the government cannot disarm people convicted of minor, nonviolent offenses.

Unless I miss my guess, this is headed straight for the Supremes — and they’d better get it right.

Sale Item

June 15, 2023 Kim du Toit Gratuitous Gun Pics

I have long loved shooting the Browning Buck Mark .22 pistols, having owned several in my lifetime. They are accurate, have an excellent trigger, and the only small drawback to ownership thereof is that stripping them for cleaning can be a PITA until you get used to it — unlike say the Ruger pre-Mark IV models, which were almost impossible to reassemble without assistance.

Anyway, here’s Browning’s excellent Buck Mark Micro Bull Barrel, on sale at Collectors:

What makes this model so special? As Collectors notes, it has a threaded, suppressor-ready barrel.

And they have four of them on sale.

Read into that what you will.

And Texas residents should note, there are some interesting legal developments coming up re: the issue of Texas-made suppressors and the Supreme Court. But I’ll cover those in a separate post later, once the dust has settled.

I have to say that I’d like to own one of these little sweethearts anyway, but this may be a deal-closer.

Mae’s Top 10

June 9, 2023 Kim du Toit Gun/Ammo Tests, History

Some while back, I linked to C&Rsenal’s wonderful series on WWI guns, but then I spotted a little addendum, namely Mae’s Top 10 Rifles.

Now, as the lady in question has fired almost all WWI-era rifles — and certainly more of them than I’ve fired — I think it behooves us all to pay the show a visit. Here are her top ten WWI rifles, in no specific order (so as not to spoil the surprise at the end):

Mauser K98 TZ (8x57mm)

SMLE No.1 MkIII* (.303 Enfield)

Mannlicher-Schoenauer 1903 Carbine (6.5x54mm)

Ross Rifle MkIII (.303 Enfield)

Arisaka Type 38 Carbine (6.5x50mm)

Ottoman Mauser 1903 (7.65x53mm)

Springfield ’03 (.30-06 Spfld)

Serbian Mauser 1908 Carbine (7x57mm)

Carcano Moschetto 91 (6.5x52mm Mannlicher)

Enfield 1917 (.303 Enfield / .30-06 Spfld)

Some of Mae’s choices are seriously, shall we say, eclectic nay even controversial, but all of them are very well supported (and Othias’s reactions to them are alone worth the price of admission). Have fun as you pick your way through her arguments.

For the record, I have absolutely no quibble about the composition of her list — I’d shoot any of them without a qualm, and carry any of them off to war.

And by the way: I actually agree wholeheartedly with her #1. It is unquestionably one of the rifles I most regret having to sell during Great Poverty Era I.

For those who haven’t seen my own (and I think vastly inferior) take on the topic, see Great War Rifles.

Stick To Souls, Padre

June 6, 2023 Kim du Toit Religion, The Gun Thing

From Da Church:

Amid a mounting debate in America over the constitutionality of gun control, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark has entered the fray with a different argument: That people should voluntarily forgo their Second Amendment rights for the betterment of society.

“I honestly believe it is the best thing we can do to change the culture of violence that threatens us today,” Tobin said.

“Let’s voluntarily set aside our rights in order to witness the truth that only peace and never violence, is the way to build a free society that is lived concretely in our homes, our neighborhoods, our communities, our nation and our world,” he said.

Tell you what, Yeronner: you introduce unicorns into your liturgy first, because that’s where your “never violence” wishful thinking leads to.

And “setting aside rights” never ends well — as the revocation of the First Amendment’s freedom of worship would show you, after about half a second’s thought.

Just… shuddup, you self-righteous asshole.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the range.

Hickock’s Last Rifle

June 5, 2023 Kim du Toit Gratuitous Gun Pics, Gun/Ammo Tests

…in which ol’ Hickock45 goes through a whole bunch of his favorite bolt-action rifles, and decides which would be the last one he’d ever sell. Here’s the list (in case you don’t have time to watch the video):