Question: Is there even a gun control debate in Romania? It would seem a prudent discussion to have considering the soviet and communist occupation in their recent history.
Answer: Actually, I don't think so…yet.
You see, before the Soviet communization of Romania, the people had the right to have guns. I remember my father telling me my granfather owned a double barreled shotgun he used to hunt doves and rabbits with and a Luger pistol from when the German troops were retreating – they were getting rid of all the equipment by simply throwing it out of the troop transport trains.
When the communists took power in 1947 following falsified elections, the first law they enacted was total gun confiscation (for the greater good of course). Then after they made sure the population was disarmed they started the arrests, imprisonments, reeducation camps and killings.
So practically since 1947 it was illegal to own any firearms in communist Romania. The only exception was for hunting purposes: only single and double barreled shotguns, only with a special permit form the police, the owner was required to be a member of a state run hunting association and the guns must be registered and locked at the police station any time the dictator was in town. Read more
The measure, passed on a 20-10 vote, was offered by a state senator who said he wants to give Texas students protection against mass shootings such as occurred at Virginia Tech University in 2007.
Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, said the right-to-carry measure also would protect students from other life-threatening situations.
“When I read about massacre in Virginia (in 2007), I felt I would feel personally guilty if it woke up one morning and read that this had happened on one of our college campuses and I had done nothing to prevent it from happening,” Wentworth explained to other senators. Read more
This past Sunday afternoon, I was busy taking my final exam as a first year law student. However, if I had not found it necessary to spend the day focused on a thorough examination of the intricate and eerily beautiful mysteries of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, I would have been down in Onalaska Wisconsin.
Why Onalaska? Because that is where Wisconsin gun owners, emboldened by Attorney General Van Hollen’s recent memo making it clear that legal open carry of a handgun is protected by the Wisconsin constitution and not grounds for disorderly conduct charges, held a massive open carry picnic at the Marvin Gardens Park.
There was an astonishing turnout. According to picnic organizer Hubert Hoffman, there were 213 attendees who signed in, 99 of which were open carrying. He also noted that he served 100 hamburgers, 100 brats, and 50 hotdogs to those in attendance.
And in addition to the wonderful work done in educating Wisconsin gun owners about their under-exercised rights, the event also raised $830.85 for Wisconsin Badger Camp which offers outdoor recreational activities to those who are developmentally challenged. Read more
Though the author never warmed to it, the .270 Winchester has plenty of reasons to prove its worth, not the least of which is its popularity.
The .270 is one of those strange and wonderful cartridges that perform on game far better than paper ballistics would have us believe. I don’t know why, but with the right bullet it simply kills game all out of proportion to its paper trail.
If there was ever a cartridge that made no sense, it’s the .270 Winchester.
The .30/06 was, like it or not, born to be king. After two years of development, in 1925 Winchester brought out “the ultimate big game cartridge.” That quote is from original Winchester literature.
Based loosely on the ’06 case and using a unique .277” diameter bullet, the cartridge became the darling of noted outdoor writer Jack O’Connor. We shooters are a fickle bunch. Why one chambering is accepted and another is not will forever befuddle me. I guess I’m not smart enough to figure it out, but the die-hard fans of the .270 are legion and fierce in their defense of their chosen round.
O’Connor trumpeted the virtues of the .270 to anyone who would listen. After a slow start, it rocketed to fame and today is in the top three of all-time best-selling rifle calibers. I’ve owned exactly one .270-chambered rifle — a Browning BAR I traded for because I wanted the scope.
Out of curiosity, I bought a couple of boxes of shells in 130- and 150-grain weights and had at the target board. I hated it. It was loud, it kicked like a mule, heated the barrel something fierce, and couldn’t put three rounds in a coffee can at 100 yards. I restocked it, sold it and never regretted it.
I have friends who bought a .270 and were so happy with it they promptly sold all their other rifles. I have seen caribou, black bear, elk, and many, many deer killed with the .270. Some of those rifles were as accurate as any you can find, and some of them were beautiful works of art.
The .270 may be a good all-around North American chambering in the minds of some, but to me it fell short because of the limited bullet weights available (now that has been corrected).
The .270 is a high-pressure round, higher by a considerable margin than other standard-length, non-magnum chamberings. The careless handloader can get into trouble with the .270, burning out barrels and treading dangerously on the maximum pressure curve to get full performance from the round.
That’s why I have always preferred the .280 Remington or the 6.5/06 over it; both rounds kick the .270’s butt when it comes to ballistics with like-weight bullets, and do it with lower pressure and less recoil and noise.
But the .270 is one of those strange and wonderful cartridges that perform on game far better than paper ballistics would have us believe. I don’t know why, but with the right bullet it simply kills game all out of proportion to its paper trail.
A long-time friend and .270 fanatic provided some research on the old cartridge, including some of his favorite handloads for his six rifles chambered for O’Connor’s favorite round. I was curious to again try shooting a .270.
We started with his bench gun, a 26-pound Mauser-action/Douglas barrel contraption that resembled a field piece, with 30-inch bull barrel and railroad-tie stock. Shooting it was like being in the vicinity of a gun when it goes off but not actually touching it — I looked through the scope, touched the trigger, and bang.
After five bangs we walked the 100 yards to the target and found only one hole about .3 inches in diameter. Next up was an original pre-64 Winchester featherweight; now, this is what I remember! I don’t think I’ve ever fired a more unpleasant rifle (I know I’ll get plenty of hate mail, but come on, you guys that have one know the truth — the damn gun kicks like a bee-stung mule) and five shots were enough of it for me.
The last rifle we tried, a neat Remington 700 BDL, was almost as bad but more accurate than the Winchester. We were shooting handloads with the 130-grain and 160-grain Nosler bullets, both Partitions.
The way they kicked, I expected the 160-grain Partitions to fell redwoods. My friend told me it was the perfect elk bullet in the caliber.
Here are some of his favorite loads. Please work up carefully to them, and as we have no control over your technique or methods, we can assume no liability for their use. A Few .270 Loads
With the 130-grain Partition in Winchester cases 47 grains of IMR 4064 and a standard large rifle Federal primer, expect velocity in the 2900 fps neighborhood.
For an elk/grizzly load in the Winchester cases, try the 160-grain Nosler Partition on top of 56 grains of IMR 7828 for about 2800 fps and very mild pressure.
In my friend’s pre-64 Winchester, these two loads shot to the same point of aim at 100 yards, a handy fact if one is inclined to carry two bullet weights on a hunt. If you have a fiendish streak and like to see prairie dogs vaporize in your scope, try in the same Winchester cases a 90-grain Sierra hollow point and 60 grains of IMR 4350 for 3500 fps. (Don’t forget the hearing protection!)
These loads were maximum in our test rifles and are not to be exceeded. I’ll never own another .270, just like I will never own another .30/06. They’re for others who can appreciate them for what they are — American inventions that, in the right hands, continue to bring home the game.
Why is the .270 still around? Simply put, it works.
The amendment, sponsored by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) and attached to a credit card industry reform bill, passed the House overwhelmingly by a vote of 279-147.
For decades, law-abiding citizens have been prohibited from exercising their Second Amendment rights on NPS land and wildlife refuges, even if the state in which the land is located allows carrying firearms.
With some limited exceptions for hunting, the only way to legally possess a firearm anywhere in a national park is by having it unloaded and inaccessible, such as locked up in an automobile trunk. A Bush administration regulation partially reversed the ban, but that action was singlehandedly negated recently by an activist judge in Washington, D.C. The Department of Interior decided not to appeal that ruling.
Senator Coburn believes, like you do, that Americans should not be forced to sacrifice their Second Amendment rights when entering NPS land and wildlife refuges.
GOA worked with Coburn on an amendment that simply allows for state and local laws — instead of unelected bureaucrats and anti gun activist judges — to govern firearm possession on these lands.
The anti-gun leadership in both the House and Senate went berserk and fought to keep the Coburn amendment from being attached to the underlying bill. Sparks were flying on the floor of the House of Representatives today. Read more
Last week, 27 Senate Democrats joined Republicans to pass an amendment that allows concealed weapons in national parks.
This week, the Senate could take the first step toward overturning a gun control bill passed by their own Democratic brethren more than a decade ago.
After a soul-searching exile, the Democratic Party that regained control of both Congress and the White House in the past two election cycles is proving in many ways to be a distinctly different breed than the one that last ruled the capital.
Nowhere has that transformation become more evident than on the issue of gun control
, which was promoted by Democrats in 1992 to attract suburban voters and abandoned by Democrats in 2008 to gain support among rural voters.
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is expected on Thursday to advance the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act, which is being co-sponsored by Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.).
The legislation would overturn a section of the law that prohibits veterans who are unable to manage their finances from obtaining a firearm. The bill maintains a 1990s gun restriction on veterans found to be a danger to themselves and others. Read more
SAN FRANCISCO — The City is being sued by gun owners and gun-advocacy groups because of a local law that says firearms have to be locked up or kept disabled.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court Friday afternoon, challenges a local restriction that forces handgun owners to either store their guns in a locked container or disable them with trigger locks. Mayor Gavin Newsom signed the law into effect in August 2007.
National Rifle Association attorney Chuck Michel, who filed the case, said the locking restriction interferes with citizens’ rights to immediately defend their families.
Plaintiffs include a group of San Francisco gun owners, retired police officers and the NRA.
“These are all people who recognize the right to self-defense is a fundamental civil right that needs to be protected as well,” Michel said.
The suit also tackles The City’s ban on the sale of fragmenting bullets, which break apart upon impact, and names Newsom and police Chief Heather Fong.
Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard said locking up one’s guns is a matter of common sense.
“If even one life can be saved by this sensible law, it’s worth it,” he said. Read more
Officials said 65-year-old Bill Dunbar, who runs a coin and jewelry shop at Marconi and Walnut avenues, opened fire on two burglary suspects shortly after 4 a.m.
One of the burglary suspects was hit and died in the parking lot. The other suspect, identified as 21-year-old Sergio Antonio Arauza, got away but was found nearby and arrested, Curran added.
The deceased was identified as the suspect's brother, 24-year-old Vincent Arauza Jr.Authorities said the same shop was also burglarized on April 29.
The two burglary suspects may be linked to other recent early morning break-ins, Curran said.Curran said Dunbar was inside the store when he noticed two people wearing black ski masks trying to break in. Read more
The Senate has a chance this week to kill the most offensive nomination of an executive-branch official since President Clinton's ill-fated selection of radical black racialist Lani Guinier for assistant attorney general in 1993. Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh is unfit to be chief legal counsel at the State Department. Senators should vote him down.
Mr. Koh's repeatedly stated agenda is contrary to the American tradition of law originating in the “consent of the governed.” In its place, Mr. Koh would apply what he calls a “transnationalist” approach whereby domestic laws and even the Constitution could be brushed aside in favor of international authorities.
From various writings by Mr. Koh, we learn that American courts should “moderate” certain of our rights that create “conflicts,” such as “our exceptional free-speech tradition.” He also has encouraged outside criticism of Americans' “embrace of the First Amendment.”
The Second Amendment fares no better. In an essay called “A World Drowning in Guns,” Mr. Koh endorsed a “global regulatory” regime to outlaw firearms though “rules negotiated among governments at a horizontal, intergovernmental level and interpreted through the interaction of transnational actors.” Those laws, he wrote, could then be “internalized into the domestic statutes, executive practice and judicial systems of those participating nations.”
What he means is that international gun bans could be imposed on American citizens without a vote of the American people. Read more
Jeff Reh, general counsel for Beretta USA (the American arm of Italy-based gunmaker Beretta International), told CNBC that his firm saw sales climb 66 percent in the first quarter — roughly beginning with the inauguration of Pres. Barack Obama.
“We're still seeing an unremitted level of increased orders on the handgun side and on the rifle side,” Reh said. Read more
“For far too long elected officials and unelected bureaucrats at the federal level have passively forgotten or actively neglected the Tenth Amendment that guarantees rights not enumerated in the Constitution be left to the individual states,” said Rep. Emmer. “The willful disregard of the Tenth Amendment in relation to a citizen’s right to bear arms isn’t the only constitutional infringement that we should be worried about, but it is one that has been singled out by the new administration.”
The bill would exempt any personal firearm, firearm accessory or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in Minnesota and that remains within the boundaries of the state from federal law or regulation; including registration.
“The federal government shouldn’t be keeping track of citizens that are lawfully exercising their Second Amendment rights,” said Rep. Emmer. “Now, more than ever, citizens need be vigilant when it comes to protecting their individual liberties.” Read more
A bill designed to keep weapons out of the hands of terrorists is drawing fire from gun rights advocates who say it could infringe upon regular citizens' constitutional right to bear arms.
The Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2009 would authorize Attorney General Eric Holder to deny the sale or transfer of firearms to known or suspected terrorists — a list that could extend beyond groups such as radical Islamists and other groups connected to international terror organizations.
Critics say the names of suspected terrorists could be drawn from existing government watch lists that cover such broad categories as animal rights extremists, Christian identity extremists, black separatists, anti-abortion extremists, anti-immigration extremists and anti-technology extremists.
“It doesn't say anything about trials and due process,” said Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America. “This is one of the most outrageous pieces of legislation to come along in some time. It's basically saying, ‘I suspect you, so your rights are toast.'”
Terrorist watch lists came under fire last month after a Department of Homeland Security report warned that right wing extremist groups may be expanding their membership in the midst of current economic upheaval. While the report stated that such groups were not believed to be planning any terrorist attacks, it went on to state they might do so in the name of issues like abortion, immigration and gun control. Read more
NOGALES – Federal agents tap on car windows, opening trunks, looking in vain for contraband.
“We're sucking up a lot of exhaust out here,” supervisory Customs and Border Protection officer Edith Serrano says, shrugging in her uniform.
This is what the Obama administration's new commitment to help Mexico fight its drug cartels looks like.
President Obama this spring promised his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderón, that the United States would fight two of the biggest contributions U.S. residents make to the drug cartels Calderón has vowed to eradicate: cash and weapons, the latter hard to come by in Mexico.
The Associated Press fanned out to the busiest crossings along the Mexican border – San Diego, Nogales, El Paso and Laredo – to see how effective the inspections are.
The findings? Wads of U.S. currency headed for Mexico, wedged into car doors, stuffed under mattresses, taped onto torsos, were sniffed out by dogs, seized by agents and locked away for possible investigations. No guns were found as the reporters watched; they rarely are. Read more
Some companies, like Sportsman’s Warehouse in Phoenix, have had to post signs letting people know that handgun ammo and other popular rounds are sold out.
On Wednesday, the store started a new policy that customers can only buy two boxes per day.
Manger Mark Russell said no one could have ever expected this level of demand.
Jenni Rigs works the cast register and said she was seeing people buying boxes of ammunition by the cart full.
Rigs thinks they are hoarding or stockpiling ammo. Read more
If you want basic or advanced handgun training, the “Armed Self-Defense” series, over the next two weeks, will provide you guidance on:
Equipment selection and storage;
Basic firearm safety and courses available;
What to do after you take a basic course;
Concealed handgun permits; and
Intermediate and advanced-level training to include tactical considerations, malfunction drills and more.
TOO BASIC FOR YOU? MAYBE NOT
Even if you have owned and shot guns for years, you may find things here you have never thought about: The segment on ABC’s “20/20” a few weeks ago did its best to convince people they don’t stand a chance when using guns for self-defense. While nothing could be further from the truth, the reality is that the more training you get, the better your chances will be – and this applies not only to you, but to your wife, husband or aging parent.
Although I am a defensive handgun instructor with upper level courses under my belt, upcoming segments will feature interviews with Tom Iradi of Eagle Rock Training Systems, whose experience far exceeds my own.
PRACTICAL PISTOL TRAINING
The last segments will cover two actual courses taught at Eagle Rock: “Practical Tactical” Phases I and II. These one-day courses, held back-to-back, are designed to introduce gun owners to the skills and mindset necessary for armed self-defense. This column will feature extensive photographs and coverage as I embarrass myself by honing rusty skills. Read more
The epicenter of the earthquake you may have felt last month originated in Helena, Montana.
Several states have passed so-called Tenth Amendment resolutions in recent years to protest the usurpation of power that the federal government has engaged in. However, most of these resolutions have no teeth.
What Montana has done is to actually interpose itself so as to protect its citizens from the unconstitutional mandates that have been passed at the federal level.
Gary Marbut, a former GOA Board Member and the current head of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, is the intellectual author of this legislation. He says that almost a dozen states are considering — or have already introduced — similar bills. Marbut is expected to talk about the new law on Fox's Glenn Beck show this Friday (5 pm EST).
This effort is not the first act of interposition on Montana's part. This is the state that has effectively, by law, decreed that every law-abiding citizen within the state is authorized to carry a firearm within a school zone; the state that nullified the federal requirements of REAL-ID (read: National ID card); and which had even threatened to leave the union if the Supreme Court ruled against Second Amendment rights in the Heller case.
Looking to go armed, but are stuck in the weeds as to what to arm yourself with? Here are 20 excellent concealed carry gun options that will keep you on the defensive.
