Articles by Herschel Smith

What I read in this Ammoland article struck me as plausible prior to reading the article as I thought about this.

Sources also tell AmmoLand News that Associate Deputy Director Marvin Richardson, another career bureaucrat, has an ax-to-grind against pistol braces and belives they violate the NFA but doesn’t think that they have the political capital to make a move against the millions of accessories under a Trump presidency. Those inside ATF with knowledge of the situation told AmmoLand News that higher-ups at the ATF believe that they will have the political capital and cover to go after braces under an anti-gun Biden administration.

The same unnamed sources feel that the ATF agency heads are preparing for a Biden victory. They have inferred from conversations with ATF leaders that they are actively working to defeat Trump, and this move was to designed to disenfranchise gun owners just ahead of the election. Although the heads did not say this directly, three independent sources who work closely with the agency heads have verified this interference to be the unspoken truth within the highest halls of the ATF.

It’s possible that the ATF is actively trying to undermine Trump with the gun rights crowd (that has effectively already been accomplished with the bump stock ban and support for red flag laws).  This would be icing on the cake.

On the one hand, this administration is getting hit in all quarters.  On the other hand, it’s Trump’s job to appoint good people who understand tricks like this, and we’ve already seen his lack of good judgment in the people he appoints with whom he surrounds himself (e.g., Sessions, Comey, McCabe, Barr, McMaster, Kelly, much of his white house staff, etc.).

David Codrea has more on the history of the recent kerfuffle over the “Honey Badger.”

Instead of contacting DOJ, GOA asks members to “contact President Trump and let him know that you are counting on him to put a stop to this new ATF overreach and order them to reinstate the Honey Badger Pistol’s status as a pistol equipped with a brace. Then, contact your member of Congress and insist that they cosponsor H.R. 5289, The Home Defense and Competitive Shooting Act.

I understand the sentiment, but I’m not sanguine about its chances of success.  David continues.

That GOA asks members to contact Trump instead of the DOJ is an effort to remind the president that his continued lip service about “our beautiful Second Amendment” followed by his deliberate indifference and even support for outright infringements serves only to demoralize gun owners, which in turn serves the purposes of ban-whatever-he-can Joe Biden. But the fact is, rumblings on this brace nonsense started over a year ago, and the buck for it stops squarely at the president’s desk. We know he’s not a “gun guy,” but he needs to listen to those who are, and I’m not talking about prop marriages of political convenience or do-nothing “advisory boards” designed to pander to the gun vote, but a genuine “cabinet” of serious advocates who will actually have his ear and who he will subordinate his presumptions for and listen to.

“I’m going to surround myself only with the best and most serious people. We want top of the line professionals,” Trump famously pledged in his first campaign. We’re certainly not seeing it at ATF, where the bureaucrats have either taken it on themselves to act like their inconsistent rulings are immutable law subject to no oversight.

“Unbeknownst to the general public, ATF has ordained in private determination letters that it considers ‘any firearm with a length of pull over 13-1/2 inches to be designed to be fired from the shoulder,’ thereby making it a short-barreled rifle,” the Gaetz letter observed. “However, ATF has also privately proclaimed that even firearms under this length of pull can be classified as a short-barreled rifle, if ATF identifies other (and often unspecified) applicable ‘indicators.’”

“Even more troubling are reports that these non-public standards are being used to criminally prosecute unsuspecting gun owners. Given ATF’s refusal to explain these standards, it is impossible for the public to comply with ATF’s ever-changing body of secret law,” Gaetz continued.

I think it’s generally safe to carry your pistol brace firearm to most ranges today (this does not constitute legal advice).  Depending upon the outcome of the election, this may change.  Furthermore, if Trump doesn’t hold the ATF in check, it may change anyway.

Some half a million bump stocks had been sold before the diktat to declare firearms using them to be machine guns.  Many millions more firearms sporting a pistol brace have been sold.

This is a clever strategy to undermine Trump and make gun owners smart where it really hurts.  Remove half a million votes from Trump in the upcoming election (because they were declared felons overnight) and that could swing the election given that his margin of victory was smaller than that in the last election (in spite of his electoral victory).

As for pistol braces, if even a small fraction of owners see Trump doing nothing about the ATF, the deep state has successfully undermined one of his core constituents.

Forrest Cooper writing at Recoil.

Aimpoint Micro

The T1 was later replaced by the T2 with a redesign including an even more protective body, and an improvement to the glass, reducing the blue-tint common across led-reflecting sights. While the cost of the Aimpoint T-2 Micro rides higher than similarly designed red dots, they bring with them not only the reputation of being the trend-setter, but also considerable aftermarket support. Featuring night vision settings and a 5-year battery life, the Micro Series by Aimpoint isn’t going away any time soon.

Holosun 403/503/515/530

The Holosun lineup continues to impress with a variety of options, and confuse with difficult to remember naming conventions. Early to adopt the implementation of a small solar panel into some of their designs, a Holosun can still run batteries down, but sells itself on sporting multiple reticle options that can be selected by the user. Options in dot color or to have an EOtech-like ring, Holosun has effectively found their way onto more than one professional rifle.

Trijicon MRO

Breaking the pattern of straight-tube optics, the Trijicon MRO is a red dot sight that bears a larger front aperture that turns the body of the optic into a funnel facing outward to minimize the tunnel-vision feeling of many alternatives. Ruggedized just like we expect from Trijicon, the MRO entered into the tight market and has since retained a place complete with various mounting options. Bearing similar size and weight to that of an Aimpoint T-2 Micro, but with a larger field of view and a variety of reticles and dot colors, the MRO sacrifices some durability while retaining the excellent glass quality typical to MRO.

There’s more at the link.  If readers want to supply comments or observations, fill them out in comments.

WSJ.

WASHINGTON—Attorney General William Barr has told top Republicans that the results of a wide-ranging inquiry into the origins of the FBI’s 2016 Russia investigation won’t be made public before the election, according to people familiar with the matter.

President Trump and his allies in Congress and his campaign had hoped the findings would be released before Nov. 3, potentially shedding new light on the underpinnings of the investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Because it might demonstrate that the entirety of the Obama administration was crooked, including the VP.  Or it might show that the Barr/Durham effort was as much of a white wash as we expect it to be, showing that they too are part of the deep state.

In other words, it will show the truth, one way or the other.  It’s the job of Washington bureaucrats to bury the truth.  The people need to make decisions based on what the FedGov tells them – not the truth.

Video: https://t.co/zT9RJYizwy pic.twitter.com/EhTJUX2fxE

— Rob (@2Aupdates) October 9, 2020

Because police need offensive weapons, while you only need defensive weapons.

Idiots.  It has to do with how the weapon is used.  Besides, I’m surprised the judge didn’t say something like, “You’re flat out wrong according to Supreme Court precedent.  Tennessee v. Garner says police can only use firearms for the same reason all other citizens can use them – for self defense.”

Via WiscoDave.

60 Field Intelligence Officers apprehend an individual with this illegal firearm! #OneLessGun @NYPDBklynSouth @NYPDnews @NYPDShea pic.twitter.com/EJhMI5Mvdd

— NYPD 60th Precinct (@NYPD60Pct) October 6, 2020

“60 Field Intelligence Officers apprehend an individual with this illegal firearm!”

Um … what?

In honor of the current kerfuffle over the Honey Badger and the misadventures of the ATF, I thought I would leave you with my favorite animal.

Military.com.

The U.S. Army Reserve is investigating Democratic North Carolina U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham, who is a Reserve officer, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The statement follows news reports that Cunningham, who is married and has children, had an affair this year with public relations consultant Arlene Guzman Todd of California, whose husband has served in the Army, according to published reports.

“The Army Reserve is investigating the matters involving Lt. Col. James Cunningham. As such, we are unable to provide further details at this time,” Army Reserve Lt. Col. Simon Flake said in the statement.

An Army document states that Cunningham is assigned to the 134th Legal Operations Detachment with the Army Reserve Legal Command and that he had deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. On his campaign website, Cunningham touts that he has served as a military prosecutor.

The military prohibits adultery and other activities that it says are detrimental to the “good order and discipline in the armed forces” or bring discredit to the armed forces. Soldiers can be prosecuted for it.

After news of this affair and a possible second affair were made public late last week and on Monday, the campaign said this is a personal matter and Cunningham will not drop out of the race.

What a swell guy.

If the state of NC had any honor, the citizens would hang him from the nearest oak tree.  But given Mecklenburg and Wake Counties, who knows?  He could still win.

I received a mailer a few days ago showing Cunningham in his cammies (obviously from a deployment to enforce onerous ROE on the troops), and on the second page was his claim to fame.

He proudly earned the Bronze Star for “taking on corrupt military contractors.”  And he’s pathetic enough to tout that in a mailer.

That’s right.  He earned a Bronze Star for “taking on corrupt military contractors.”

What kind of a jackass commander puts someone in for a Bronze Star for something like that?

What kind of trash trots that out as something special?

Hey Cunningham.  My son saw heavy combat in Fallujah, earning the CAR.  What did you do during your deployments?

Jerk.

Michael Yon.

Locksmiths very busy in Portland due to boiling crime rate.  Creating fire hazards in some apartment buildings as emergency escapes are being locked closed.  Amazing fire hazards created.  Arson is a weapon of choice of the communists.  Do the tenants even know their fire escapes are being locked?

Unintended consequences is something the modern generation hasn’t yet come to terms with.  In fact, forget unintended consequences.  Just consequences.  They don’t understand them yet.

And the girl running against the current mayor of Portland is self-identified Antifa.  Can you imagine a better way to destroy a city?  And of course, that’s the intent, isn’t it?

Outdoor Life.

We actually know precious little about this new squad weapon, since military procurement is shrouded in classified secrecy. But here’s what we do know: It will be chambered in 6.8mm. The projectile it fires will be a copper slug tipped with steel to pierce the body armor of “peer adversaries” at long range. And it will be capable of belt-feeding and the high rates of fire required by the successor to the SAW, as well as slower rates of fire but more precisely placed shots from squad-deployed carbines. Also in the Army’s requirements: Despite shooting a heavier bullet, the gun, together with its ammo, must be 30 percent lighter than the current platform firing the 62-grain 5.56mm load. The Army’s new 6.8 is not to be confused with the 6.8 SPC, based on a .30 Remington case. The external dimensions of the new 6.8 are bigger, both in diameter and length, and require a new magazine configuration, according to sources.

[ … ]

We’re covering this arms race because if the history of military small-arms procurement teaches us anything, it’s that technology developed for the battlefield eventually shows up in the deer stand. The Springfield Rifle, the .30/06, the AR platform, the .223/5.56 round, nearly all of John Browning’s inventions, plus hundreds more innovations were developed for military use. How soon will we see the 6.8 cartridge and associated weapons platforms come to our sporting-goods stores?

Okay.  Well, color me unimpressed.

Solid copper slug, with no proof that it will tumble and fragment upon impact like the 5.56mm does?  No experience yet in feed reliability?  No time in the field yet with guys banging those weapons and cartridges around?  No in-situ experience with effects on rifling?  No experience yet on the effect of increased muzzle velocity on barrel lifetimes?

And this cartridge is supposed to replace the M4 & 5.56mm Stoner system, a battle tested and proven platform and cartridge, and the soft tip .270, which has taken more deer than any other round in America (outside of the 30-30)?

So give it a half century to prove itself.