Tag: Guns and such

My favorite toy

Step Up To The Plate, Mr. President

Anti-Gun Nannies, The Gun Thing

A lot of the time, politics is all about action:  doing things that will make a difference, one hopes with a positive or good outcome.

But a positive or good outcome can also come from doing nothing, as Jenny Sensiba points out:

ATF just took a big hit in federal court. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix has ruled in Jensen v. ATF that the government can no longer enforce the National Firearms Act registry for things like suppressors and short-barreled rifles.

The legal logic is pretty straightforward, even in a world where case law often treats the Second Amendment like a second-class right. Last year, Congress zeroed out the $200 transfer tax in the One Big Beautiful Bill. Back in 1937, the Supreme Court only allowed the National Firearms Act to exist because it was a tax framework, barely keeping it within the theoretical powers of Congress.

With the tax now gone, the constitutional justification that anti-gun courts have had for fingerprinting you and making you wait months for a piece of paper is no longer there, leaving the court with no choice but to rule the NFA unconstitutional.

Don’t go out and assemble that SBR yet, though. Judge Hendrix put a seven-day hold on his ruling so the Department of Justice can appeal. And the ruling will only apply to the plaintiffs and their members.

But, here’s the part you might not know: The DOJ doesn’t actually have to defend the NFA. They’re under no obligation at all to appeal the ruling.

And as Sensiba points out:

Sure, career government lawyers usually file appeals automatically to defend federal laws. They see it as their job. But, the DOJ is part of the executive branch, and President Trump is the guy at the top. He’s the one who signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law that zeroed out the tax in the first place. Just as President Obama chose to have his DOJ decline to defend laws banning gay marriage, Trump can just as easily leave the NFA out in the legal cold and let it starve to death.

All it takes is one phone call to the [now confirmed] Attorney General telling the DOJ to stand down and decline to appeal.

With this satisfactory outcome:

In a week, if you’re a member or customer of one of the plaintiffs, you can order a suppressor or build that SBR or SBS. In two months, the ruling will become permanent and future administrations can’t appeal.

I guess now we’ll see whether DJT actually does believe in the Second Amendment — part of that pesky Constitution thing he swore to uphold and defend, twice.  Just one email (a phone call doesn’t cut it) to the DoJ to say:  “Stand back and do nothing.”  (One thought:  if our new USAG is the man Trump has suggested he is, he wouldn’t need any assistance from POTUS — that would be an even better outcome.)

Of course, there’s going to be weeping and wailing, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments from the Usual Suspects in the Gun Control Industry.  But hell, every time Trump does anything, there’s weeping and wailing, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments from some bunch of Lefties or other — so why should this be any different?

It’s time to get the “F” out of the ATF.

Dept. Of Righteous Shootings

Righteous Shootings

From sunny south Florida comes this lovely story:

A delivery food driver in Miami Gardens, Florida, managed to pull his gun and fatally shoot an alleged armed robber in self-defense around 1:40 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

The driver claimed he was delivering food when he was targeted for an alleged armed robbery. During the course of the incident, the driver pulled his gun and shot one of the suspects. Responding officers and medical personnel attempted to save the suspect’s life but he died at the hospital.

And the other scrote?

The deceased suspect has not been identified but police described the second suspect in the alleged armed robbery as 28-year-old Jabari Thomas, who is being held on no-bond at the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Jail.

Too bad Our Hero didn’t get a twofer, but let’s not let perfection be the enemy of the good, shall we?

When It Absolutely, Positively

Gratuitous Gun Pics, Hunting, The Gun Thing

…has to work every time it’s used, and not break, not ever.

I speak here of the dangerous game rifle — that final guarantee that the hunter won’t turn into his prey’s prey.

Now before I go any further, I need to back up a little. In the recent past, I’ve been somewhat scornful of “luxury brands” — you know what I mean:  $100,000 watches, $2million Ferraris, and, in our gunny world, $200,000 (secondhand) Purdey shotguns… the list goes on and on.

Then you get a gun manufacturer who creates a piece that is admittedly expensive – horrendously expensive — but that expense is somewhat mitigated by the fact that what their product promises is actual infallibility.  I speak here of J. Rigby’s “Rising Bite” double rifle, which is generally available only in super-manly chamberings like .416 Rigby Magnum, .470 NE (Nitro Express) and still larger diameters.  (Excuse me, I need to go and pop an ibuprofen tab because my shoulder is starting to ache, just by thinking of these massive projectiles.)

Here’s what it looks like:

And here’s the “Rising Bite” itself:

Here’s an explanation of how it works, and why it’s necessary.

Here’s one in .470 NE that recently sold for about $35,000:

Note the Rising Bite:

Excuse me… .470 Nitro?  I need another ibuprofen.

I should also point out that any proper double rifle is expensive (see this Karl Ferlach beauty here).

There is one last thing to be said, however.

While I yield to no man in my admiration for Rigby’s guns, I should point out that while their double rifles may well be worth the cost of ownership, I don’t think that’s necessarily true of their bolt-action rifles.  Why?

Because Rigby’s bolt actions are built on that of the venerable Mauser 98 (link in pic):

It’s lovely, but honestly:  at $25,000 secondhand?  You’re paying for the brand.  Me, I’d rather get a brand-new Mauser 98 for just over half the price (link ditto):

Same action, same durability and reliability… absent the desire to impress your hunting buddies when you uncase it at the hunting camp, it’s not really even a question.  (And yeah, I’m a sucker for just about any Mauser over some fancy English trinket;  go ahead and sue my ancient Boer ass.)

Honestly, no experienced PH is going to curl his lip when you take that bad boy out of the case to sight it in.  (Incidentally,”sighting in” at a hunting camp is not only about sighting in your rifle to check that it hasn’t been damaged in transit, it’s also to reassure the PH that you know what the hell you’re doing.)

And finally:  if anyone is thinking of doing an African safari anytime soon, let me know.  I do have some small knowledge of the topic in question, but by now that knowledge is severely out of date (although I do know a couple of good Seffrican hunting outfitters.).  Rather let me get the latest scoop from Mr. Free Market and Doc Russia, who are very experienced at the thing.  Also, you may want to be on good terms with your bank manager… the cost of a decent rifle is not the greatest expense you’ll incur.

Quote Of The Day

Anti-Gun Nannies, QOTD, The Gun Thing

From these guys, talking about the response of Virginians to the latest round of socialist-inspired gun restrictions:

“When government signals that it wants to restrict a constitutional right, people often become more determined to exercise it.”

Which is what happened in Virginia.  Somewhere out there, I can hear the chuckles of native Virginians Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.

Quote Of The Day

QOTD, The Gun Thing

From Reader Mike S.:

“Bloody High Standard pistols require as much fiddling as a Jaguar with SU carburetors.”

Made me giggle, that did.

But he speaketh da troof.  I once had a Supermatic Trophy, like this one:


…and it was absolute mustard.  But it was like an Alfa Romeo:   it was a dream to run, until it stopped working.  Which was often.

I’d just had it tweaked by Richard The Gunsmith, and took it to the range to see if it worked.  I set up in the lane, and was taking it out of the bag when another shooter came up to me.

“You wanna sell that High Power?”
“Not really.”
“I’ll give you $600, cash, right now.”
“You collect High Powers?”
“Uh-huh.  And that’s the purtiest one I’ve seen in years.”

So we settled on $700, and I used the money to buy something else — memory fails as to what gun, exactly.

Don’t You Just Hate It When…?

The Gun Thing

So yesterday I went back to the range because… well, I don’t have to explain it to y’all now, do I?

Gave the little Walther/Hammerli a good thrashing, just with .22 LR and not with the WinMag because… well, that’s a story for another time.

Anyway, all good things come to an end, and I hadn’t brought a semi-auto rifle or pistol along to finish off all the .22 ammo I had in the bag (I know, I know…).

So I decided to give the 1911 a little love and attention. so I packed the rifle away and reached into the gun bag for some practice .45 ammo, and came away empty-handed.  Well, shit.

Never mind, thinks I, I ‘ll just pop off a couple mags from what C.W. calls my “EDC” pack-out, and call it a day.

Well, I came up short there, too.  All I had was what was already loaded in the 1911… and instead of the two or three backup mags I typically carry, there was only one.

Well shit, Part 2.  No way was I going to shoot off the only two mags I had (and go home with an empty gun?  NFW, bubba).

So I blew through one mag at 50 feet (with quite a decent outcome:  apparently I haven’t forgotten how to shoot the 1911 yet)… and went home with only the one mag in the 1911.

I felt naked.  I mean:  just one mag for my carry piece? [shudder]

(I should point that really, the 1911 is just to buy me time to get to the trunk, where all sorts of other options are available, but still.)

Anyway, instead of doing a little grocery shopping on the way back, I went straight home and took care of the (miserly) EDC pack-out situation.  Then I went back out to do the extra shopping.

Lesson learned:  check your EDC supplies before leaving the house.

Oh, and one more thing.  It’s coming up to mid-July here in the Lone Star State, which means: