Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Jgarrick
Jgarrick's Journal
Jgarrick's Journal
April 10, 2014
Adoptive parents in Alabama are firing back against state Rep. Alvin Holmes and the race-based, controversial comments he made during an abortion-bill debate in March. In addition to claiming that 99 percent of white legislators would force their daughters to have an abortion if impregnated by a black man, Holmes also said, "I will bring you $100,000 cash tomorrow if you show me a whole bunch of whites that adopted blacks in Alabama. I will go down there and mortgage my house and get it cash in 20 dollar bills and bring it to you in a little briefcase." Now he may need to head to the bank, as families who have done just that staged a press conference at the Alabama State House Wednesday.
“Rep. Holmes’ statements were very offensive. He implied transracial adoptions do not happen in Alabama, which is far from the truth,” notes a press release about the demonstration that was posted on the Facebook page for the group Faces of Families in Alabama. “It’s important to publicly counteract his statements with the truth. If not, it could cause children of transracial families to feel inferior, and cause some families considering transracial adoptions to change their minds.” After the press conference, the page was updated with the status, "So many families represented at the State House today because you shared your photos!"
Holmes, a Democrat, real estate agent and father of one in Montgomery, was first elected as a state representative in 1974. He made his comments during the debate of a bill that would ban abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected. Holmes did not respond to a message seeking comment from Yahoo Shine.
“Anything he can do to cause controversies surrounding race are what he’s been known for doing for years,” Beverly Owings, an Alabama mother of four adopted children including a 13-year-old biracial daughter, tells Yahoo Shine. Owings joined Facebook friend April Hadden in getting Faces of Families of Alabama off the ground. “When my daughter heard [Holmes’s] comments, she said, ‘Mom, what about our family?’ And as a mom, I knew I had to step up,” Owings explains.
(excerpt, remainder of article at link)
Families Protest Alabama Lawmaker's Racist Comments
https://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/families-protest-alabama-lawmaker-s-racist-comments-213307879.htmlAdoptive parents in Alabama are firing back against state Rep. Alvin Holmes and the race-based, controversial comments he made during an abortion-bill debate in March. In addition to claiming that 99 percent of white legislators would force their daughters to have an abortion if impregnated by a black man, Holmes also said, "I will bring you $100,000 cash tomorrow if you show me a whole bunch of whites that adopted blacks in Alabama. I will go down there and mortgage my house and get it cash in 20 dollar bills and bring it to you in a little briefcase." Now he may need to head to the bank, as families who have done just that staged a press conference at the Alabama State House Wednesday.
“Rep. Holmes’ statements were very offensive. He implied transracial adoptions do not happen in Alabama, which is far from the truth,” notes a press release about the demonstration that was posted on the Facebook page for the group Faces of Families in Alabama. “It’s important to publicly counteract his statements with the truth. If not, it could cause children of transracial families to feel inferior, and cause some families considering transracial adoptions to change their minds.” After the press conference, the page was updated with the status, "So many families represented at the State House today because you shared your photos!"
Holmes, a Democrat, real estate agent and father of one in Montgomery, was first elected as a state representative in 1974. He made his comments during the debate of a bill that would ban abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected. Holmes did not respond to a message seeking comment from Yahoo Shine.
“Anything he can do to cause controversies surrounding race are what he’s been known for doing for years,” Beverly Owings, an Alabama mother of four adopted children including a 13-year-old biracial daughter, tells Yahoo Shine. Owings joined Facebook friend April Hadden in getting Faces of Families of Alabama off the ground. “When my daughter heard [Holmes’s] comments, she said, ‘Mom, what about our family?’ And as a mom, I knew I had to step up,” Owings explains.
(excerpt, remainder of article at link)
April 9, 2014
Lawmakers pushing for further gun restrictions (NY)
Proponents of strict firearms regulations are urging the state to continue to lead in the fight against gun violence. Victims' families, gun control supporters and lawmakers met on the Million Dollar Staircase last week, voicing their support for the SAFE Act and encouraging the state to adopt additional legislation to prevent gun violence. New York was among the first states to adopt stricter gun regulations following the Newtown shooting in Connecticut in December 2012 that left more than two dozen dead. The legislation increased background checks for gun sales, outlawed certain types of assault weapons, and imposed harsher penalties for gun crimes. Gun control advocates hailed the measure as necessary and effective, but said more can be done.
"New York has the fourth lowest gun death rate in the nation, I want to be number one," said Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel. "As long as children and innocents are murdered with illegal guns, we cannot stop. We, all of us, are the moderate voices asking for sensible gun laws." Schimel co-chairs State Legislators Against Illegal Guns — a group of 50 lawmakers dedicated to reducing gun-violence — along with Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, D-Manhattan.
SLAIG along with New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, Mothers Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and other advocates, are pushing for the adoption of measures including a law to require locked storage of all guns when not in the possession of the owner and for semiautomatic handguns sold or delivered in New York to be capable of microstamping ammunition with an alpha-numeric code for tracking purposes. The agenda also includes measure to limit handgun purchases to one a month, impose a ten-day waiting period before a buyer takes possession of a new firearm and ban the sale of certain .50 caliber rifles.
...
"I appreciate New Yorkers cherish their guns, but we also cherish our marriages, our children, our houses, our cars, ours dogs, and yet all these things have to be registered and are subject to regulation," said the Chair of the Assembly Health Committee, Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan. "And we do that because it's necessary to protect public health safety and welfare. That's true of our marriages, and our homes, and our children, its true of our guns."
(excerpt, remainder of article at link)
Regulation (in the modern sense of the word) for every aspect of our lives! All hail The State!
April 8, 2014
Kudos to the Democrats who voted for this.
TN Senate votes for open gun carry without permit
Source: WRCBtv
NASHVILLE, TN (AP) - The state Senate has passed a bill to allow Tennesseans to openly carry guns without a state-issued permit. The chamber voted 25-2 in favor of the bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Mae Beavers of Mt. Juliet.
Beavers said the measure would keep the background checks and training requirements in order to carry concealed firearms, but would allow anyone legally allowed to own a gun to carry it openly.
The bill would also remove state restrictions on the location of ammunition when firearms are being transported in vehicles, and would allow guns to be removed from cars on school property for the purposes of moving storing them in another part of the vehicle.
The companion bill is awaiting a vote in the budget subcommittee of the House Finance Committee.
Read more: http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/25194227/tn-senate-votes-for-open-gun-carry-without-permit
Kudos to the Democrats who voted for this.
April 8, 2014
The ATF has released this special advisory:
http://www.atf.gov/press/releases/2014/04/040714-special-advisory-test-examination-and-classification-7n6-545x39-ammunition.html
Test, Examination and Classification of 7N6 5.45x39 Ammunition
On March 5, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) received a request from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) to conduct a test, examination and classification of Russian-made 7N6 5.45x39 ammunition for purposes of determining whether it is considered “armor piercing ammunition” as defined by the Gun Control Act (GCA), as amended. Since 1986, the GCA has prohibited the importation of armor piercing ammunition unless it is destined for government use or testing. The imported ammunition about which CBP was inquiring was not destined for either excepted purpose.
The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), as amended, defines the term “armor piercing ammunition” as:
“(i) a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium; or
(ii) a full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25 percent of the total weight of the projectile.” (emphasis added)
When ATF tested the 7N6 samples provided by CBP, they were found to contain a steel core. ATF’s analysis also concluded that the ammunition could be used in a commercially available handgun, the Fabryka Bronie Radom, Model Onyks 89S, 5.45x39 caliber semi-automatic pistol, which was approved for importation into the United States in November 2011. Accordingly, the ammunition is “armor piercing” under the section 921(a)(17)(B)(i) and is therefore not importable. ATF’s determination applies only to the Russian-made 7N6 ammunition analyzed, not to all 5.45x39 ammunition. Ammunition of that caliber using projectiles without a steel core would have to be independently examined to determine their importability.
What an idiotic move...
Update: ATF Bans Importation of Russian-Made 5.45×39 “Armor Piercing” Ammo
The ATF has released this special advisory:
http://www.atf.gov/press/releases/2014/04/040714-special-advisory-test-examination-and-classification-7n6-545x39-ammunition.html
Test, Examination and Classification of 7N6 5.45x39 Ammunition
On March 5, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) received a request from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) to conduct a test, examination and classification of Russian-made 7N6 5.45x39 ammunition for purposes of determining whether it is considered “armor piercing ammunition” as defined by the Gun Control Act (GCA), as amended. Since 1986, the GCA has prohibited the importation of armor piercing ammunition unless it is destined for government use or testing. The imported ammunition about which CBP was inquiring was not destined for either excepted purpose.
The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), as amended, defines the term “armor piercing ammunition” as:
“(i) a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium; or
(ii) a full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25 percent of the total weight of the projectile.” (emphasis added)
When ATF tested the 7N6 samples provided by CBP, they were found to contain a steel core. ATF’s analysis also concluded that the ammunition could be used in a commercially available handgun, the Fabryka Bronie Radom, Model Onyks 89S, 5.45x39 caliber semi-automatic pistol, which was approved for importation into the United States in November 2011. Accordingly, the ammunition is “armor piercing” under the section 921(a)(17)(B)(i) and is therefore not importable. ATF’s determination applies only to the Russian-made 7N6 ammunition analyzed, not to all 5.45x39 ammunition. Ammunition of that caliber using projectiles without a steel core would have to be independently examined to determine their importability.
What an idiotic move...
April 8, 2014
Since 1941, comic book fans have followed the exploits of teenaged Archie Andrews and his friends. This July, they'll find out how he dies. "Life With Archie" #36 hits stores on July 16, and CNN can reveal exclusively that it tells the story of how Archie sacrifices himself to save a friend. Few details are known, but it seems fitting that Archie would go out a hero. The 37th issue one week later will end the series.
The "Life With Archie" series has been telling the stories of possible future Archie scenarios for the past few years, and so Archie will continue to be alive in the comics set in the present day. CNN spoke with Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater (son of Archie creator John Goldwater) about the upcoming issues. CNN: Can you explain the "Life With Archie" series for the uninitiated?
Goldwater: "Life With Archie" is Archie's future -- it gives readers a look into what his life would be like after high school and college, which has never really been explored. Most fans are familiar with Archie as a high schooler, hanging out at Pop's Chocklit Shop with his friends. "Life With Archie" shows what happens when Archie becomes an adult and starts dealing with grownup issues.
Each issue is normally split into two storylines -- one telling a tale of Archie married to Veronica another with him ending up with Betty. The final issue, however, will show readers Archie's final fate in both timelines -- and they're the same.
(Excerpt, remainder of article at link)
Farewell, Archie: Beloved comic book character to die
Since 1941, comic book fans have followed the exploits of teenaged Archie Andrews and his friends. This July, they'll find out how he dies. "Life With Archie" #36 hits stores on July 16, and CNN can reveal exclusively that it tells the story of how Archie sacrifices himself to save a friend. Few details are known, but it seems fitting that Archie would go out a hero. The 37th issue one week later will end the series.
The "Life With Archie" series has been telling the stories of possible future Archie scenarios for the past few years, and so Archie will continue to be alive in the comics set in the present day. CNN spoke with Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater (son of Archie creator John Goldwater) about the upcoming issues. CNN: Can you explain the "Life With Archie" series for the uninitiated?
Goldwater: "Life With Archie" is Archie's future -- it gives readers a look into what his life would be like after high school and college, which has never really been explored. Most fans are familiar with Archie as a high schooler, hanging out at Pop's Chocklit Shop with his friends. "Life With Archie" shows what happens when Archie becomes an adult and starts dealing with grownup issues.
Each issue is normally split into two storylines -- one telling a tale of Archie married to Veronica another with him ending up with Betty. The final issue, however, will show readers Archie's final fate in both timelines -- and they're the same.
(Excerpt, remainder of article at link)
April 8, 2014
NATIONAL HARBOUR: 23 pounds ain’t heavy. But it sure hurts when it hits you going at seven times the speed of sound. That’s what a prototype Navy weapon called a “rail gun” can do, and it does it without a single gram of gunpowder or rocket fuel — just electricity. For many missions, a rail gun is better not just than current cannon but than the laser weapons the Navy is testing this summer in the Persian Gulf (I’ll explain why in a minute). And, after years in development and hundreds of test shots on land — see the video for a small sample of the destruction — the rail gun is finally going to go to sea.
“We’re beyond lab coats, we’re into engineering now,” Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the Chief of Naval Operations, told the audience at the Navy League’s annual megaconference here, Sea-Air-Space 2014. “It’s going on a Joint High Speed Vessel in 2016.” Just in time for the Navy’s biggest gathering of the year, the Sea-Air-Space conference, the Navy released this video and issued new details of the test plan. Both rail gun prototypes will be shown off to the public in San Diego this summer, aboard the new Joint High Speed Vessel USNS Millinocket. Then the Navy will install either the BAE Systems prototype or the General Atomics one — that hasn’t been decided — on Millinocket for at-sea test shots in 2016.
It’s a crawl-walk-run approach, however. The 2016 tests will only involve one shot at a time. Firing multiple rounds in a row will wait for another series of tests in 2018. Actually installing a rail gun permanently on a combat ship — Millinocket is a transport with a civilian crew — is even further in the future. Meanwhile, while one prototype or the other is doing the tests at sea, BAE is already working on a “Phase II” rail gun with such improvements as an automatic multi-loader for rapid fire and better heat control so rapid fire doesn’t melt the barrel. (General Atomics didn’t win a Phase II contract).
Meanwhile, Pentagon officials have been impressed with the Navy’s tests and are exploring the idea of a land-based version of the rail gun for missile defense, a mission currently performed by expensive and often unreliable anti-missile missiles. So why do rail guns matter, besides generating cool clickable video? Three words: impact, range, and reloads.
(excerpt, remainder of article at link)
Navy’s Magnetic Super Gun To Make Mach 7 Shots At Sea In 2016
http://breakingdefense.com/2014/04/navys-magnetic-super-gun-to-make-mach-7-shots-at-sea-in-2016-adm-greenert/NATIONAL HARBOUR: 23 pounds ain’t heavy. But it sure hurts when it hits you going at seven times the speed of sound. That’s what a prototype Navy weapon called a “rail gun” can do, and it does it without a single gram of gunpowder or rocket fuel — just electricity. For many missions, a rail gun is better not just than current cannon but than the laser weapons the Navy is testing this summer in the Persian Gulf (I’ll explain why in a minute). And, after years in development and hundreds of test shots on land — see the video for a small sample of the destruction — the rail gun is finally going to go to sea.
“We’re beyond lab coats, we’re into engineering now,” Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the Chief of Naval Operations, told the audience at the Navy League’s annual megaconference here, Sea-Air-Space 2014. “It’s going on a Joint High Speed Vessel in 2016.” Just in time for the Navy’s biggest gathering of the year, the Sea-Air-Space conference, the Navy released this video and issued new details of the test plan. Both rail gun prototypes will be shown off to the public in San Diego this summer, aboard the new Joint High Speed Vessel USNS Millinocket. Then the Navy will install either the BAE Systems prototype or the General Atomics one — that hasn’t been decided — on Millinocket for at-sea test shots in 2016.
It’s a crawl-walk-run approach, however. The 2016 tests will only involve one shot at a time. Firing multiple rounds in a row will wait for another series of tests in 2018. Actually installing a rail gun permanently on a combat ship — Millinocket is a transport with a civilian crew — is even further in the future. Meanwhile, while one prototype or the other is doing the tests at sea, BAE is already working on a “Phase II” rail gun with such improvements as an automatic multi-loader for rapid fire and better heat control so rapid fire doesn’t melt the barrel. (General Atomics didn’t win a Phase II contract).
Meanwhile, Pentagon officials have been impressed with the Navy’s tests and are exploring the idea of a land-based version of the rail gun for missile defense, a mission currently performed by expensive and often unreliable anti-missile missiles. So why do rail guns matter, besides generating cool clickable video? Three words: impact, range, and reloads.
(excerpt, remainder of article at link)
April 7, 2014
CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO — The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed a lawsuit today on behalf of a Second Amendment advocate whose free speech rights were violated. Last July, Jordan Klaffer was forced to remove social media postings criticizing a police officer in southeast Missouri.
Klaffer is a gun owner who frequently fires his gun at objects on private property. On May 1, 2013, Jerry Bledsoe, a police officer, confronted Klaffer while responding to a noise complaint. Klaffer videotaped the interaction, where Bledsoe issued an ultimatum to Klaffer to surrender his guns or be arrested. Klaffer refused to give up his guns and was arrested for disturbing the peace.
To express his opinion that Officer Bledsoe was using his position to harass him for exercising his Second Amendment rights, Klaffer posted recordings of the May 1 encounter on YouTube and Facebook. And, on Instagram, he posted a picture of Bledsoe alongside a photo of Saddam Hussein, with the caption "Striking Resemblance."
Officer Bledsoe retaliated by obtaining a court order that prevented Mr. Klaffer from posting videos, pictures, and text data criticizing Officer Bledsoe on the Internet. "A government order prohibiting criticism of government is the worst kind of censorship," explains Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri.
(excerpt, remainder of article at link)
Please note that this is primarily about free speech, not guns, and is therefore on-topic for GD.
ACLU Files Suit to Protect Free Speech Rights of Second Amendment Advocate
https://www.aclu.org/free-speech/aclu-files-suit-protect-free-speech-rights-second-amendment-advocateCAPE GIRARDEAU, MO — The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed a lawsuit today on behalf of a Second Amendment advocate whose free speech rights were violated. Last July, Jordan Klaffer was forced to remove social media postings criticizing a police officer in southeast Missouri.
Klaffer is a gun owner who frequently fires his gun at objects on private property. On May 1, 2013, Jerry Bledsoe, a police officer, confronted Klaffer while responding to a noise complaint. Klaffer videotaped the interaction, where Bledsoe issued an ultimatum to Klaffer to surrender his guns or be arrested. Klaffer refused to give up his guns and was arrested for disturbing the peace.
To express his opinion that Officer Bledsoe was using his position to harass him for exercising his Second Amendment rights, Klaffer posted recordings of the May 1 encounter on YouTube and Facebook. And, on Instagram, he posted a picture of Bledsoe alongside a photo of Saddam Hussein, with the caption "Striking Resemblance."
Officer Bledsoe retaliated by obtaining a court order that prevented Mr. Klaffer from posting videos, pictures, and text data criticizing Officer Bledsoe on the Internet. "A government order prohibiting criticism of government is the worst kind of censorship," explains Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri.
(excerpt, remainder of article at link)
Please note that this is primarily about free speech, not guns, and is therefore on-topic for GD.
April 7, 2014
GLOCK fanboys can slag off John Moses Browning’s gift to the world ’til the cows come home, but anyone who hasn’t punched a single ragged hole in a target at 15 yards (or more) with a properly tuned 1911 has missed out on one of the best ballistic experiences available on planet earth. By the same token, anyone who hasn’t run a GLOCK like they’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse is gun-experience deficient. What are your ten guns you (and other gunnies) should shoot before shuffling off this mortal coil?
(Edit, adding my list)
1. Colt 1911A1
2. S&W Model 29 .44 magnum
3. Colt SAA
4. Thompson SMG
5. M1 Garand
6. AK-47 (or variant)
7. AR-15
8. Barrett M82 .50
9. Glock
10. Browning Hi-Power
Question of the Day: What Are the 10 Guns Everyone Should Shoot Before They Die?
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/04/robert-farago/question-of-the-day-what-are-the-10-guns-everyone-should-shoot-before-they-die/GLOCK fanboys can slag off John Moses Browning’s gift to the world ’til the cows come home, but anyone who hasn’t punched a single ragged hole in a target at 15 yards (or more) with a properly tuned 1911 has missed out on one of the best ballistic experiences available on planet earth. By the same token, anyone who hasn’t run a GLOCK like they’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse is gun-experience deficient. What are your ten guns you (and other gunnies) should shoot before shuffling off this mortal coil?
(Edit, adding my list)
1. Colt 1911A1
2. S&W Model 29 .44 magnum
3. Colt SAA
4. Thompson SMG
5. M1 Garand
6. AK-47 (or variant)
7. AR-15
8. Barrett M82 .50
9. Glock
10. Browning Hi-Power
April 6, 2014
HONOLULU —The Department of the Attorney General released its annual report on Thursday detailing statewide and county firearm registration statistics for calendar year 2013. A record total of 22,765 personal/private firearm permit applications were processed statewide during 2013, marking a 4.6 percent increase over the 21,864 applications processed in 2012. Of the applications processed in 2013, 94.6 percent were approved and resulted in issued permits; 4.3 percent were approved but subsequently voided after the applicants failed to return for their permits within the specified time period; and 1.0% were denied due to one or more disqualifying factors.
The 21,544 permits issued statewide in 2013 cover a total of 60,757 firearms registered in the State, a major, 20.6 per cent increase from the previous record of 50,394 firearms registered in 2012. Just over half (30,802, or 50.7 percent) of the firearms registered during 2013 were imported from out-of-state, with the remainder (29,955, or 49.3 percent) accounted for by transfers of firearms that were previously registered in Hawaii.
Firearm registration activity increased in 2013, continuing a pattern that has been recorded over the course of the 14 years for which these data have been compiled and reported. From 2000 through 2013, the number of statewide permit applications processed increased 350.8 percent, the number of firearms registered increased 446.2 percent, and the number of firearms imported increased 426.1 percent.
While there has been an increase in firearm registration activity in Hawaii since 2000, the number of firearm-related violent crimes and the proportion of violent crimes involving firearms relative to other weapon types remained low and stable through 2007 and subsequently decreased.
(excerpt, remainder of article at link)
Good news!
Hawaii firearm permits reach record level in 2013
http://www.kitv.com/news/hawaii-firearm-permits-reach-record-level-in-2013/25311236HONOLULU —The Department of the Attorney General released its annual report on Thursday detailing statewide and county firearm registration statistics for calendar year 2013. A record total of 22,765 personal/private firearm permit applications were processed statewide during 2013, marking a 4.6 percent increase over the 21,864 applications processed in 2012. Of the applications processed in 2013, 94.6 percent were approved and resulted in issued permits; 4.3 percent were approved but subsequently voided after the applicants failed to return for their permits within the specified time period; and 1.0% were denied due to one or more disqualifying factors.
The 21,544 permits issued statewide in 2013 cover a total of 60,757 firearms registered in the State, a major, 20.6 per cent increase from the previous record of 50,394 firearms registered in 2012. Just over half (30,802, or 50.7 percent) of the firearms registered during 2013 were imported from out-of-state, with the remainder (29,955, or 49.3 percent) accounted for by transfers of firearms that were previously registered in Hawaii.
Firearm registration activity increased in 2013, continuing a pattern that has been recorded over the course of the 14 years for which these data have been compiled and reported. From 2000 through 2013, the number of statewide permit applications processed increased 350.8 percent, the number of firearms registered increased 446.2 percent, and the number of firearms imported increased 426.1 percent.
While there has been an increase in firearm registration activity in Hawaii since 2000, the number of firearm-related violent crimes and the proportion of violent crimes involving firearms relative to other weapon types remained low and stable through 2007 and subsequently decreased.
(excerpt, remainder of article at link)
Good news!
April 6, 2014
A U.S. congressman made an official inquiry into whether or not the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has plans to ban the importation of Russian military surplus ”7N6? type ammo, while gun groups are calling for action. “I am troubled that such a reliable, cost-effective and popular choice, such as the “7N6? offering … would be banned for import by the BATFE after years of trouble-free import and use,” wrote Arizona Rep. Matt Salmon.
According to the letter, some gun and ammo dealers had their paperwork put on hold by the BATFE during routine transactions involving the importation of 7N6 ammo around March 28. Once word got out, speculative details gained momentum via social media. While the BATFE has yet to give an official response, according to the National Rifle Association, the agency is allegedly in the process of determining if 7N6 constitutes as “armor piercing ammunition” when fired from a handgun.
Federal law defines ”armor-piercing ammunition” as any projectile or projectile core that may be used in a handgun and is constructed entirely from one or a combination of metals or alloys. In addition, the projectile is larger than .22 caliber and has a jacket that makes up more than 25 percent of the total cartridge weight. However, 7N6 bullets are constructed with a soft steel core, making it more ideal for plinking and target shooting than piercing body armor.
“Should you confirm that the “7N6? offering of the 5.45×39 cartridge has been or will be banned or otherwise restricted for import into the United States, I ask that you provide my office with a detailed statement as to why the BATFE has elected to do so and under what authority it has elected to take such action,” Salmon said.
(excerpt, remainder of article at link)
Let's hope that 5.45x39 importation isn't restricted...it makes a (relatively) inexpensive round for those of us with AK74-style rifles.
Congressman makes official inquiry into ATF ban on "7N6" ammo
http://www.guns.com/2014/04/05/congressman-makes-official-inquiry-atf-ban-7n6-ammo/A U.S. congressman made an official inquiry into whether or not the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has plans to ban the importation of Russian military surplus ”7N6? type ammo, while gun groups are calling for action. “I am troubled that such a reliable, cost-effective and popular choice, such as the “7N6? offering … would be banned for import by the BATFE after years of trouble-free import and use,” wrote Arizona Rep. Matt Salmon.
According to the letter, some gun and ammo dealers had their paperwork put on hold by the BATFE during routine transactions involving the importation of 7N6 ammo around March 28. Once word got out, speculative details gained momentum via social media. While the BATFE has yet to give an official response, according to the National Rifle Association, the agency is allegedly in the process of determining if 7N6 constitutes as “armor piercing ammunition” when fired from a handgun.
Federal law defines ”armor-piercing ammunition” as any projectile or projectile core that may be used in a handgun and is constructed entirely from one or a combination of metals or alloys. In addition, the projectile is larger than .22 caliber and has a jacket that makes up more than 25 percent of the total cartridge weight. However, 7N6 bullets are constructed with a soft steel core, making it more ideal for plinking and target shooting than piercing body armor.
“Should you confirm that the “7N6? offering of the 5.45×39 cartridge has been or will be banned or otherwise restricted for import into the United States, I ask that you provide my office with a detailed statement as to why the BATFE has elected to do so and under what authority it has elected to take such action,” Salmon said.
(excerpt, remainder of article at link)
Let's hope that 5.45x39 importation isn't restricted...it makes a (relatively) inexpensive round for those of us with AK74-style rifles.
Profile Information
Member since: Sat Mar 22, 2014, 06:58 PMNumber of posts: 521
