Category: Guns

I collect guns, there I said it. Those of us that collect have to speak in whispers about or hobby. We have been called gun nuts and several other things by the media. We are questioned about why we have so many, or asked what we need them for. Few other hobbies draw as much criticism as an avid gun collector. I don’t hunt, I do not have any moral objection to and will gladly assist my friends that do. I am adamant about firearm safety.
One of the things I enjoy most is seeing kids under proper supervision learn to shoot. I am often asked what I recommend as a first real rifle for a kid, my answer is a Henry Lever action .22 caliber youth model. It’s made in the USA and I do not think a finer rifle can be had at any price. I know for a fact that if you send the president of that company an email he will respond personally. Now I have not been paid a dime or given any incentive to say kind things about that company. I will say everyone who has shot my .45 colt big boy or my .22 have owned one of their own within a few months.
I am going to talk about one of my favorite guns in my collection. It is a Mossberg model 44 US trainer .22 caliber. Mine was made as close as I can figure in June of 1943. It has a bull barrel with Lyman peep sights that are original. I found it in a pawn shop several years ago and after some haggling got it for 55 dollars. I already had a Mossberg Model 35a and figured that the 44 US would shoot as good or better.
I had wanted a Model 44 US for a very long time. I fell in love with it when I was 11 years old and went to Boy Scout camp for the first time. At that time the rifle and shotgun merit badge course was taught by an active duty Soldier on loan from Ft Bragg. We used the model 44. He was very strict about range safety but he let us have fun. It was at that camp that I became fascinated with how a firearm worked and the things that would cause them to malfunction.
All of my kids learned to shoot first with the model 44 and then with my 35a (I scoped it). They have all been given a Henry of their own with one exception, my middle son wanted my Marlin Model 60 that my parents had given me as a boy. A range trip with one or more of my kids consist of several guns being taken. They love the AKs and ARs as well as the bigger stuff like the 1903 or the 1919 (Yes I have one) but when it comes down to who can out shoot the other the .22s come out. Tic Tac Toe at 100 yards, looser has to clean. More often than not I loose but I don’t mind. I still love the smell of Hoppes 9.

The pistol in the in the photo is my 1953 Colt Detective Special.  38 special with original mother of pearl grips.  It is in near mint condition.

ABC News releases their poll in conjuction with the Washignton Post which reveals that 63% of Americans see the issue of gun violence as a mental health issue rather than a gun control legislation issue.

One reason is that 63 percent see mass shootings as more a reflection of problems in identifying and treating people with mental health problems than as the outcome of inadequate gun control -– a view expressed by many gun rights advocates.

These attitudes relate closely to priorities. Among people who see mass shootings as a mental health issue, just 30 percent prioritize enacting new anti-gun violence laws, while 62 percent prefer protecting gun rights…Views on gun control are highly politicized. Seven in 10 Democrats prefer enacting new gun laws while the same share of Republicans prioritize protecting gun rights. Independents divide more narrowly, 50-43 percent for gun rights vs. gun laws.

Eighty-two percent of Republicans, moreover, blame mass shootings on mental health care failures rather than inadequate gun control; it’s 65 percent among independents and much lower among Democrats, 46 percent.

Most of the shooters in the media’s most publicized mass killings were committed by people who had mental health issues which should have flagged their purchase of those guns, there were also a few that should have been flagged because of their criminal records. The fellow in Charleston South Carolina, for example. The whole background check debate revolves around a National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, that isn’t working the way it’s supposed to work.

According to the FBI “The National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, is all about saving lives and protecting people from harm—by not letting guns and explosives fall into the wrong hands. It also ensures the timely transfer of firearms to eligible gun buyers.” Well, it’s not doing that, and loading the system down with even more background checks, like those transfers between friends and family, isn’t going to make the system more reliable and it’s not going to protect society until the bugs get ironed out.

SJ sends us a link to a story from Pageland, South Carolina about Brent Nicholson of Union County, North Carolina who was arrested for being in possession of more than 10,000 stolen firearms;

“His name always popped up regarding stolen property and we finally got enough info for a search warrant,” Brooks said.

Sheriffs deputies in Union County also had their eyes on Nicholson.

They said several cases involving stolen guns lead back to him.

Investigators believe he was buying the stolen guns and hoarding them.

But they don’t think he was re-selling them.

The sheriff says that he’ll work to return the stolen weapons to their owners which is unique in this day and age, but it looks like the BATFE is now involved, so I’m sure they’ll do their best to prevent that from happening.

This should have the anti-gunners in the media spinning like a loom. Gallup reports that in their latest poll (October 7-11) which asked Americans, with a random sample of 1,015 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, if trained armed and licensed citizens would make us safer. More than half responded that it would. Here are the demographics of the respondents;

Most states have some sort of permitting process allowing the carrying of concealed weapons, but the requirements and procedures to carry weapons vary significantly by state. The Gallup question did not get into detail on specific requirements other than mentioning that the person with the concealed weapon would have to pass a criminal background check and training course.

Among key subgroups, Democrats and those with postgraduate education are least likely to believe that more concealed weapons would make the U.S. safer. Republicans and gun owners are most likely to say it would make the nation safer. Younger Americans are more likely to choose the “safer” option than those aged 30 and above.

The poll also said those same people supported stronger background checks, whatever that means, and that 3/4 of respondents opposed banning handguns. According to the article, an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that the Second Amendment protects our right to own firearms, privately.

The folks at Ammunition To Go wrote to tell us that they want to give you some 9mm ammo, so without further adieu;

Here’s how it’ll work:

Find a new shooter who hasn’t been to the range and experienced the joy of shooting before.
Download a target off our site and take them to the range.
Snap a photo of the new shooter with their target and upload it to our site.
You’ll get a coupon code that’s good for two boxes of free 9mm ammo from Magtech – along with free shipping.

We have 100,000 rounds of Magtech 9mm ready to ship right now. We’re hoping to find 1,000 Ammo Ambassadors to take 1,000 new shooters out to the range in the next few weeks.

I’m sitting this one out – I don’t have any 9mm guns. With things going the way they are in the political world, a couple of free boxes of ammo might come in handy for you guys, though.

I’ll add that Ammo To Go is a good company – I’ve been using them for years and never had a bad bullet and just as important, their prices are competitive.