Indholdsfortegnelse for Volume 77, Issue 12 i Firearms News

Freelance writer and editor Mark Chesnut is the owner/editorial director at Red Setter Communications LLC. An avid hunter, shooter and political observer, he has been covering Second Amendment issues and politics on a near-daily basis for the past 20 years. Enforcement of Illinois’ recently passed ban on so-called “assault weapons” and hundreds of other firearms has been blocked by a judge who ruled that the authors of the measure apparently didn’t take into account the text of the Second Amendment or important Supreme Court precedent. Last week, U.S. District Judge Stephen P. McG-lynn of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, issued a temporary injunction on the law, blocking the so-called Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA) from taking effect. Recognizing that the law was hastily passed as…

In December of 1864, Brigadier General A. B. Dyer, Chief of Ordnance, formed a board to examine the wide variety of rifles and carbines serving in the War along with their cartridges. The board convened in January 1865 to test 65 models of breechloading rifles and carbines in order to replace all the muzzle-loaders and choose the best cartridge for the service. At the end of April 1865 the board, headed by Major T. S. S. Laidley, Commander of Springfield Armory, concluded, “Having examined and tested all the arms submitted for consideration, the Board recommends for adoption, the Peabody [a single-shot that would soon evolve into the British Martini-Henry]. Furthermore, the Board is of the opinion that the Spencer’s magazine carbine combines more advantages than any arm of this description…

Prosecutors in New Mexico decided to withdraw a “Firearm Enhancement” from the charges they have filed against actor Alec Baldwin and production Armorer Hannah Gutierez-Reed in the death of Halyna Hutchins. Both have been charged with two counts of Involuntary Manslaughter, but the jury will decide which count is applicable, so a guilty verdict would apply to only one count. The punishment, if convicted, could be up to 18 months in jail and up to a $5,000 fine. The firearm enhancement would have required a minimum sentence of five years in prison, but it turned out that the law that allowed the enhancement had not gone into effect at the time of the shooting. In their arguments calling for the firearm enhancement to be dropped, attorneys pointed out that it…

It’s been looming for weeks, but Washington’s big anti-gun push is finally here with three new gun control laws signed by Gov. Jay Inslee, making Washington the 10th state to adopt foolish, draconian “assault-weapon” bans. The new law makes the sale, import and transfer of 60 named firearms illegal along with AK-47 and AR-15 rifles in “all forms.” Along with the new “assault weapons” ban, Gov. Inslee signed into law a bill that installs a 10-day waiting period to purchase a firearm and another bill that imposes “safety training” on gun manufacturers and distributors to take steps to keep guns out of the hands of “dangerous individuals.” Bad news indeed comes in threes. This is a continuing trend of anti-gun groups attacking on the state level instead of the federal.…

Following the latest mass murder in the Lone Star State, two Texas Republican lawmakers joined with Democrats to pass anti-gun legislation that, ironically, doesn’t have anything to do with the mass murderer shooting people at the Allen Premium Outlets. On May 8, the Republican-led Select Committee on Community Safety, some succumbing to pressure after the mall attack, passed House Bill 2744, which among other things would make it illegal for anyone under 21 years of age to purchase an AR-style firearm. The measure also prohibits the sale of firearms to anyone with an active protective order or someone who is intoxicated. Republican state Rep. Sam Harless of Spring and Rep. Justin Holland of Rockwell joined Democrats in voting for the measure, which passed by an 8-5 vote. Had the duo…

We told you last month about how the Washington Post was trying to resurrect the debate over “Stand Your Ground” (SYG) laws even when the example the newspaper focused on wasn’t even a case involving SYG. What those anti-gun “journalists” at the Post didn’t realize was that their resurrection of the “debate” topic has fueled a fire on the other side of the gun-control movement, with two strongly pro-freedom federal lawmakers now planning to introduce a national Stand Your Ground measure in Congress. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, plan to introduce the measure soon. If passed, it would allow the use of deadly force to prevent “death or great bodily harm” without the duty to retreat that is still on the books in some states. “States…

The young man was born in October of 1899, the son of Russian immigrants who spoke German around the home. He was one of six children raised in a log cabin on Orcas Island near Seattle. The boy grew up hunting and fishing to survive. Along the way he came to appreciate the elegance in such an austere life. In 1913, the young man’s parents separated, and he moved to Seattle proper with his mom. He dropped out of school after eighth grade to take a job in a local sporting goods store in downtown Seattle called Piper and Taft as an errand and stock boy. He made fishing poles from scratch, restored and repaired golf clubs, strung tennis rackets, and managed stock. By 1917 he was the store manager.…

Chiappa began making Spencer Carbines in .56-50 around the turn of the century. I acquired one from Cimarron and began thinking of a Hawken Spencer. A discussion with John King led to this project. Unable to get a .50-caliber barrel with the correct bore and twist lead to a Green Mountain tapered octagon barrel in .45. This led to Pacific Tool & Gauge and RCBS for discussions about reamers and a set of dies to neck down the Starline 56-50 case to .45 caliber, thus modernizing the 56-46 into be a centerfire round capable of using the wide range of .45 pistol bullets. RCBS even labeled the dies “Spencerini 56-46” in honor of the quirky nickname King and I gave the project. The gun came in at 11 pounds, 6…

Everyone knows Henry rifles, right? The nearly indestructible, offered in a host of calibers, tube-loaded lever action rifles, right? Well, be prepared to step out of the box, because the All-Weather Side Gate is here. Henry took their excellent rifles, and using the heat-treated alloy steel model they plated it with a layer of industrial hard chrome. Why? Because stainless isn’t. If you make a stainless steel alloy stainless enough that it won’t rust, you can’t harden it. In doing so, you will have larded in so much nickel and chromium that it won’t take a heat-treatment process and harden up. If you lean out the mix to the point you can harden it, it will rust. Well, actually stain and corrode, but that’s not what we expect out of…

AFlorida measure that would have rolled back the law restricting adults aged 18 to 20 from purchasing long guns and that was being strongly backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis met an untimely death when the session ended on March 5. DeSantis, a Iraq War veteran, had said the restriction on adults who can legally do most other things older adults can do is “unconstitutional.” "If we're going to say as a society that the age of adulthood is 21 then that would be one thing,” De-Santis said in response to a question asked at a May 3 press conference. “But it's not. I mean, you send people out when they're 18, they can vote when they're 18. And so, it's a constitutionally protected freedom, I don't think that there's basis…

Lawful Americans aged 18 through 20 years old, who have been prohibited from buying handguns for decades, received some welcome relief earlier this week. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Virginia ruled that the longtime ban forbidding citizens under 21 from purchasing handguns is “unconstitutional,” and heavily quoted from last year’s Bruen decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to explain his reasoning. U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne was nominated to the bench back in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush. On Wednesday, that appointment paid off for young Americans. “Because the statutes and regulations in question are not consistent with our Nation’s history and tradition, they, therefore, cannot stand,” Judge Payne wrote in his opinion. The case stems from a 20-year-old who attempted to buy a Glock pistol last…

Forget “Toys ‘R’ Us” kids…I Was a Smith & Wesson Bambino! If you were lucky enough to win the “awesome childhood mega-lottery” and grow up in a family that treasured the outdoors and promoted firearms proficiency and safety, chances are there was a term that followed you throughout your fledgling years as a young shooter. This term was “logical progression” and it meant that the firearms you initially had access to were small caliber weapons with simple and safe to manipulate actions. For many of us, our humble beginnings consisted of “learning the ropes” with the aid of Red Ryder BB guns (“Black Bart” attacks and “a compass in the stock with this thing that tells time” optional), variable pump air rifles or single-shot .22 rifles. Once familiar with these…

Prior the arrival of the Spencer rifle and carbine to the post-Civil War surplus market, there was no sporterizing of military arms beyond simple barrel shortening to remove a bayonet lug or make a gun handier. Some rifled muskets were reamed smooth-bore as shotguns, but that was about the extent of it. None of the myriad other arms supplied to the U.S. Army were of much interest to civilians since almost all had quirky actions firing unique cartridges not very suitable for much of anything a civilian might encounter. Few were repeaters. The Spencer, however, finished the war with long, dramatic, press accounts of its prowess in battle and the carbine was issued in greater quantities than any other carbine. The public had no way to measure cartridge power except…

Just a week after a court issued a temporary injunction blocking Illinois’ ban on many common semi-auto firearms and regular capacity magazines, another court has granted an emergency stay, which means the ban is back in effect after the short reprieve. Last week, U.S. District Judge Stephen P. McG-lynn of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois issued a temporary injunction blocking the so-called Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA) from taking effect. Judge McGlynn, in his court opinion, mentioned how the law was hastily passed after a public mass murder last July 4. “As Americans, we have every reason to celebrate our rights and freedoms, especially on Independence Day,” Judge McGlynn wrote. “Can the senseless crimes of a relative few be so despicable to justify the infringement…

How is the National Marine Fisheries Service seeking to charge herring fishing vessels as much as $700 a day to monitor what they catch even vaguely related to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) redefining braced pistols as short-barreled rifles (SBRs)? That’s what the U.S. Supreme Court is set to determine. Last week, the high court announced it would hear the case Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which revolves around the excessive powers usurped by various federal agencies over the past few decades. Representatives from the fishing industry say that even though a law passed by Congress allows for the monitors on herring boats, the agency is making up its own rules by forcing the owners of the boats pay for that monitoring. The case seeks to…