The MDSP have released criteria for the license to own pistols/restricted firearms in Maryland.

More info here.

I believe I've said this many times before, but I truly hate this state. This will completely affect my ability to take newbies to the range, and I abhor this infringement of my and my friends' rights.

Looks like Marylanders are even *more* screwed.

If you're shopping for anything restricted, it's now completely up to the state police to determine whether you're permitted to have it.  They're no longer using NICS.  According to a Redditor who called a few FFLs, the FBI sent a letter to all FFLs specifying "all FFLs in MD may no longer use NICS (instant background check that most dealers use) for handgun, "other" (receivers), silencer, or AOW purchases. The release of those items is now at the absolute discretion of the Maryland State Police."


In short, we're even more screwed.  There goes my suppressed SBR plan. :\



Edited to add: thanks to FightinBluHen51, I have more info.  I need to read more about it.

So SB281 went to the House.

And the final testimony was heard at almost 4AM on Saturday morning.

Here's one gem from the day:



More later.

"How did you become gunnies?"

Jennifer asked and lots of people are answering, so I figured I'd toss in my little story.

I remember, as a child, not being allowed guns.  The boys in the neighborhood had these neat guns that actually went bang, and I was insanely jealous...but terrified.  Y'see, my parents always appeared to be incredibly anti-gun.  They didn't like me having squirt guns, cap guns were a no-no, and BB guns?  Yeah, they didn't exist in my little world.  Heck, even snap-caps were absolutely verboten.  At the time, I though it was because my parents never wanted me to have any fun EVER because they were the MEANEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD.*

This got long, so hit the jump for the rest!

Quote of the day

MikeW shared his opinions of the intolerance the anti-gun crowd shows those with limited/reduced mobility:

If you only have one leg how the hell are you supposed to run away?  If you're wheelchair bound how are you supposed to duke it out with someone ablebodied?  Anti-gunners don't care.  In their world perhaps Americans with physical impediments don't exist or don't matter, but in the real world those people are frequently victimized.

Read the whole thing.

It's more important to be a nice guy.

Several celebrity gossip sites are reporting a story that seems to have come from the National Enquirer about Tom Selleck yelling at an extra on set for improper gun handling. The reports indicate that the extra was carelessly waving and playing with a real gun around the set. Mr. Selleck, who is a gun enthusiast and an NRA board member, screamed at the extra to put it down and get his finger off the trigger. The extra then asked if it was loaded and Mr. Selleck responded to the effect that you should treat all guns as if they're loaded. The story is being unbelievably reported as if Mr. Selleck was in the wrong for getting mad and yelling at the extra, seemingly in an attempt to besmirch his nice guy reputation.

When you act like a child around firearms and create a danger to yourself and those around you, you lose your right to be spoken to like an adult. I applaud Mr. Selleck for his attentiveness and assertiveness, but apparently some in Hollywood don't agree. It's more important to them to be nice and civil even in the face of improper gun handling and potentially dangerous situations. Someone had their feelings hurt, which in today's world seems to be held in higher regard than actual safety. Maybe they have short memories about the list of actors killed by blank cartridges - most famously Brandon Lee on the set of The Crow - or maybe their detachment from reality is so complete hurt feelings are their greatest concern.

Range Report: Rock Island Armory Match

I'm finally getting around to posting this...I figured today's as good a day as any, considering it's been 100 years since the pistol was given a "home" with our military.

Chris, my cousin V, and I took the pistol out to the range last Wednesday (and by "last Wednesday" I mean a month and some change ago)...and, well, I'm pleased.  This was an excellent choice for a "big kid" gun - until now my only pistol was my Bersa, and it's incredibly different from the 1911. 

So, my opinions...

The trigger is nice and light.  There is almost no effort involved, especially compared to my little Bersa.  This surprised me - I expected the trigger to be much heavier, even knowing it's a 3.5lb trigger.

The sights are nice.  I like the large black rear sight, as it helps to make the front sight seem a bit more visible than the three-dot setup on the Bersa.  The pistol is really accurate out of the box thanks to the upgraded sights, and any accuracy issues I had were entirely operator-related.

So far, there are no reliability issues.  The three of us put 100 rounds downrange - I know, it's not enough to really test it, but it was enough to make me happy.  We had one malf, and that was due to the cheap extra mags I brought along.  With the original mag, it ate all the cheap Remington I put through it.  Next visit will involve other brands - we've got Winchester and UMC in the box at home, and I look forward to seeing how it handles those.

The grips are alright, but I intend to swap them out sometime soon.  I'm just not a fan of the checkered look (or feel - my hands is delicate!), so I'll pick up a set soon.  If Wilson ever gets the set I've been eyeing back in stock, that is.

And now, here's what you've all been waiting for (click to embiggenize):

And now I realize I need to oil it up...DANG that rear sight got rusty quick!

For new gun owners...

In honor of a good friend who recently attained citizenship here in the US (woo, conga rats!), I wanted to share two books worth checking out.

Dirtcrashr has more California-specific info, as well.

Where's the fun?

As I cruise the tubes looking for information on various firearms and gun related activities I have noticed that there is a severe lack of fun being presented in relation to this topic. Discussions are always tangled with politics. Politics are very important to gun owners and shooting sports enthusiasts, but we need to stop and think where gun talk should stop and politics talk should start. They can be separated. I’m not advocating stopping politics talk, but if we are going to get more people interested in gun related activities we need to make it less imposing and realize when the two things need to be separate and when we should talk about them together. We forget that sometimes the guns themselves are imposing enough to new shooters and that some existing shooters get tired of the same old discussions. I’ll go into this more as I think about it, but I really think that fun needs to be emphasized in order for gun related activities to move forward. Thoughts on this are welcome as I’m still hammering out my own.

Midway’s Wednesday Night at the Range on The Outdoor Channel

It’s Wednesday and for shooting and firearm info on TV you can find no place better than Midway USA’s sponsored block of shooting related programming on The Outdoor Channel. Wednesday Night at the Range The block of programming runs from 7pm onward and covers a variety of topics. There’s no emphasis on hunting here; it’s about guns, shooting sports, self defense and fun. I apologize if I sound a little fanboyish, but I feel that it’s needed programming on a wide range of shooting related topics that do not involve hunting. There is nothing wrong with hunting shows, ok some of them are pretty boring, and others are very good, but there are other reasons that people are into guns and shooting that get very little coverage in media. Some of these other aspects are only discussed on the internet or in magazines and never get any type of exposure to a general audience. Some of these topics include; match shooting, gun reviews, historical information, self defense, fun stuff, how to and others. It’s a good overview of topics which I think gives insight into what types of things gun enthusiasts do while providing information for gun enthusiasts on topics we want to see. I’m not going to review all the individual shows here, but may try and cover them in future posts. The overview approach is very good, and I can see what the producers are going for. As with anything there is room for improvement. There are topical shows that could be added like a C&R type historical collecting show and they could make new episodes of Cowboys which I feel are sorely missed. I would like to see The Best Defense: Survival added back in to the lineup as well. There are some standout shows like Shooting USA with Jim Scoutten which covers all types of popular related shooting activities, and Shooting Gallery from Downrange TV . Shooting Gallery and it’s very likeable host Michael Bane provide a look into different aspects of shooting related topics, some more mainstream like covering a production class division added to a competition shooting match, and some quirky like a gathering of Victorian and Edwardian age firearms enthusiasts and what they do when they get together. Whatever the topic, I feel its best feature is the underlying theme of the show, “fun” as in what kinds of fun things do other firearms enthusiasts do, and how could I get in on it? This approach concentrating on fun things is what I think needs to be emphasized in the shooting world. If you can’t watch all the shows in the lineup try and catch these 2. I bet, like me you’ll like them both for different reasons and you’ll see what I mean about a need for covering other topics.