Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Sales Of Rifles To Fort Smith Officers Stopped by Feds

Authorities in Fort Smith have stopped the sale to police officers of semi-automatic rifles that were bought with asset forfeiture money...City directors agreed in July to use the funds to buy 115 AR-15 rifles with the city to keep 15 and offer the remaining 100 to officers at a cost of $917.70...federal authorities told them ...that the money can't be used to help officers buy weapons. Assistant U.S. Attorney Debbie Groom said the matter is under review...
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Full article at 4029 TV
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The Fed's reasoning is that asset forfeiture funds can lead to police corruption. For example, some departments were making questionable stops in order to confiscate automobiles, or suspect drug arrests in order to confiscate cash from pushers. Departments below the Mason-Dixon line have a reputation for things of this nature, warranted or not...(S9)
(From LA on the Laptop)

Honduras: 300 police rifles "disappear" as drug running soars

Brazilian soldier with scoped full sized FAL
Honduran police officials gave contradictory responses on Nov. 1 to a report published the day before about the disappearance of some 300 light automatic rifles (FAL, from the initials in Spanish) and 300,000 5.56-caliber bullets from a police unit. The weapons, which were in the control of the Cobras special operations police group, were taken from a Tegucigalpa warehouse in August or September...National Police spokesperson Silvio Inestroza insisted that this was an old case, referring to the similar disappearance of 186 weapons in 2007, also from a Cobras unit. But Police Internal Affairs director SimeĆ³n Flores said that a new arms theft had been reported two months earlier, and he asked why it hadn't been investigated...
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Full story at WW4 Report
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Another example smashing the Administration and renegade Democrat lies about US civilian firearms being the main cause of Cartels obtaining guns to arm their murderous thugs. These FN-FAL's are apparently chambered for 5.56mm ammunition (not "bullets"). It is unclear if these are Belgium made or contracted weapons. (S9)
[From LA on the laptop]

Police display Abu Omar network firearms

No.5 SMLE "Jungle Carbine(1956-Malaya)
The National Police displayed on Tuesday evidence confiscated from members of the Abu Omar network, a notorious illegal weapons supplier from the Philippines.  “The suspects are part of the Abu Omar network,” National Police spokesman Saud Usman Nasution said at the National Police headquarters...The evidence, including two M16s, a “Jungle” carbine, one FN, 796 bullets and six magazines, were confiscated during the Detachment 88 raids in Tangerang, East Jakarta and Bekasi ...
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Full story at Jakarta Post
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Interesting that they described "magazines" with the correct nomenclature (not the usual incorrect "clips"), while describing the ammunition incorrectly as "bullets" rather than "cartridges". Americans often forget how oppressive Police States like Indonesia (the former "Dutch East Indies") are when it comes to firearms. In fact, many Americans lawfully own many more firearms & ammunition than this confiscated amount. The WW2 era "Jungle Carbine" is more of a collectors item, being a modified British SMLE bolt action rifle in the powerful but now obsolete .303 chambering (i.e. ammo is dwindling, although the full sized SMLE is not uncommon in south asia  with police & militia formations) - (S9)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Defence Forces to bring rifles bang up to date

Aussies w/Steyr AUG's (E.Timor')
All members of the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service are trained to use the Defence Forces' basic weapon, the Austrian Steyr AUG 5.56mm assault rifle.
Adopted in 1987, it was then a futuristic weapon with its built-in 1.5-power telescopic sight and superstrong plastic construction.
But wars in Afghanistan and Iraq forced Nato forces to upgrade their rifles by "adding on" a range of more powerful sights, laser pointers, grenade- launchers, night vision devices and even silencers.
The Steyr A1 used by the Defence Forces does not have "Picatinny" rails to mount most of the accessories considered essential in modern warfare.
Now a Defence Forces board has recommended the rifle be upgraded...Both the Americans and the British have adopted the Trijcon ACOG and other 4X (power) sights, which give greater magnification and some nighttime capability...
The Army Ranger Wing uses the Heckler & Koch HK 416, a modern rifle which can easily mount sights and lasers, but only a small stock is held by the Defence Forces.
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Full story here
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The Steyr, like the British Bullpup, have long had complaints from troops who use them in the field, and it is telling that their SF operators do not use them at all, preferring the HK. How many men have been killed due to unreliable rifles, shades of the early use of M-16's in Viet-Nam, where inferior ammunition caused malfunctions due to using cheap non-spec powder in the name of keeping down costs...Unconscionable...There is no excuse for sending men out with anything less than the best weapons available...(S9)

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Gun store owners, feds fight in court over new requirement to report sales of multiple rifles

Feds lied & people died, to make an excuse to ban your guns
U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer questioned whether monitoring lawful gun sales is an appropriate way to stop the flow of guns to Mexican gangs. The requirement was imposed amid controversy over ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious which tried to track guns suspected of being bought by straw purchasers back to gun-smuggling ringleaders, who have long eluded law enforcement. But ATF agents lost track of 1,400 of the more than 2,000 guns identified by Fast and Furious as possibly straw purchases...
Stephen Halbrook, an attorney for Arizona-based gun dealers J & G Sales and Foothills Firearms, said previously the stores only had to turn over the data they collect on buyers — including birth dates, addresses, race and gender — in the course of a criminal investigation. He said the new requirement creates a federal database of gun buyers in violation of their privacy.
“We don’t deny the fact there is a serious problem (of guns getting into Mexico) and it needs to be dealt with,” Halbrook said, but he said the problem should be fought using more traditional law enforcement methods instead of “just a fishing expedition” to collect the personal data of buyers without probable cause.
Collyer asked whether ATF would have the authority to require the stores to report when someone buys 30 AK-47 assault rifles, and he said even then the requirement would exceed the agency’s authority from Congress and the Constitution. But he said gun sellers would typically report such a sale as suspicious.
James Vogts, attorney for the National Shooting Sports Foundation that also is suing the ATF, said the requirement applies to 8,500 dealers in the four states who have not been connected to guns recovered in Mexico. “I think the decision was hastily made, perhaps for political reasons,” he said...
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Full story @ Washington Post Politics
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Follow up from earlier "Outrage" post (and more) on this blog.  The evidence indicates the order originated from the highest levels to lie, cheat, and more to justify another unconstitutional gun ban in the USA, no matter who was hurt or killed in the process, the end justifying the means...(S9)

Should assault rifles be prohibited or banned for civilians?(Canada)

Dan Styles, who served in Afghanistan with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, spends a lot of his personal time at the shooting range near his home...his personal firearms collection contains modern, sleek, semi-automatic rifles, which he says are light, accurate, durable and pleasing to shoot.
One of his preferred weapons, for instance, is a Chinese-made M14 semi-automatic rifle. For years, the M14 served as the standard-issue battle rifle for American soldiers, and is now used by sharpshooters in Iraq and Afghanistan...Some Canadians are alarmed that registered firearms users such as Mr. Styles have legal access to such weapons, which are considered “civilianized” (SIC) models of modern military-assault rifles. Although these high-powered rifles are seldom used in crimes in Canada, many gun-control advocates want them banned in the name of public safety...“The pervasive rumour that non-restricted firearms will be broadly reclassified is categorically false,” says Julie Carmichael. “There are no plans to alter the process in which firearms are classified.”That hasn’t stopped gun-control advocates demanding just such a reclassification...
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Full biased article is from the National Post
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I have always had issue with why I should not own a semi-auto version of what I carried when I was an active duty "Snuffy".  When I was a kid, I was on Rifle Team shooting smallbore .22, so I could never see the mindset that as an older and experienced veteran I somehow "suddenly" became untrustworthy to own a simple rifle. That is how you politicize people, gun-grabbers take note. A bit of contradictory information here, still better than the usual fully ignorant comments however (I have a hard time calling an M-14 pattern rifle "ultra-modern", "intimidating", "leading edge" and "light" since the design goes back to the 1940's and that sucker gets a might "heavy" if you have to hump it for any serious distance! *LOL*). This reporter tries to ride the fence as best as possible yet shows a "love/hate" relationship, even when admitting such firearms are rarely used in crime (by "common criminals" at least: kind of difficult to mug someone or rob a bank with a 20 pound 4.5 foot long rifle, Wot?). The usual tactic of claiming "Police" & "Gun Control" advocates as a united front to ban firearms when we all know those "police" advocates are high ranking political police chief types, not the Street Cops, most of who know better. This particular article has merit, however, for the comments posted at the end, most of which are 100% spot on and crush their opponents with intellectual and factual skill. I must admit these Pro-Liberty Canadians remind me of thier California counterparts, who also have to fight with one hand tied behind their backs against the radical Prohibitionists, so don't neglect to check out the affray after reading the full article. Here is one very good one by "Eupraxsopher": Hundreds of millions of people in North America have been using hundreds of millions of rifles safely for three hundred years. The AR-15 was a civilian semi-auto rifle before the US Army saw the design and changed it into full-auto M-16 nearly 50 years ago.
Almost every rifle in the world was a military design at one point.  Semi--auto hunting rifles and shotguns have been lovingly used afield for over 100 years. They shoot the same 50 and 100 year old cartridges. So now they have a pistol grip and a cheap plastic stock. So what?
If people claim that plastic and ergonomics make such a huge difference, then how did that nutter in the UK murder so many people with an Elmer Fudd double barreled shotgun and a .22 rabbit rifle? Obviously, it's about finding and treating mental illness. The mushrooms that commit mass murder grow in the shade but most of them have violent histories and obvious flaws. Cho of Virginia Tech was under court order to get involuntary treatment for his violent mental disorder. It was never served. Want to stop violent people?  Start a violent offender registry of psychopaths and thugs, then track and inspect them at random. Watch the murder rate plummet...
Couldn't have said it better myself...Right on point, Eh?...(S9)

"Homemade Firearms" proliferate (Africa)

In Cameroon, the growing spread of homemade firearms is causing concern amongst the population. Alarmed by the rise of domestic accidents and roadside robberies, the authorities are looking for ways to curb the possession of these illegal and dangerous toys..."The firearm Giulien Tchouangang used is a homemade 5.5mm calibre rifle which was modified into a 12 mm calibre that is used for hunting," says Sergeant Wassaing Albert, who heads the Bangou gendarmerie...Tchawako Jean does not have a licence to carry firearms and says he inherited the gun from his father, as is customary in Cameroon. "Our firearms are handed over from father to son. These weapons are used for hunting and to parade during traditional ceremonies."...homemade weapons are illegal. "First, you need authorisation from the prefecture to purchase a gun, then a licence to carry it," he explains. Since the law on the possession of firearms is very strict, roadside robbers are increasingly using homemade firearms. Attempts to the control the spread of these deadly toys have met with opposition from traditional chiefs, who perceive such measures as an attempt to undermine their power...
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Biased "analysis" from AllAfrica
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So, this "author", fond of using loaded terms such as "toys" in reference to firearms, claims the laws are "strict", yet seems astonished that people will not be stopped by these laws and will...*gasp*... build "homemade" firearms. This is what results when you keep people ignorant and curious about arms rather than teaching respect for the capabilities of firearms. Again, the technological genie is out of the bottle, never to be returned, despite the pipe dreams and totalitarian efforts of the firearms prohibitionists...(S9)

Firearms advocates dislike registration of long guns, ban on open-carry

California gun advocates are taking aim at a series of new laws that require rifle and shotgun registration while making it illegal to openly carry unloaded handguns in public.
"There will be lawsuits, that's for sure," said Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, a nonprofit gun rights lobby.
Gov. Jerry Brown cleared a multitude of legislation from his desk over the weekend, including five bills impacting gun ownership.
Four of the five bills were authored by Southern California legislators, and the fifth was penned by a San Francisco lawmaker.
"I just don't think it's going to benefit (California gun owners) in any way whatsoever," said Daniel Vaca, an employee at Kittles Outdoor and Sport Co. in Colusa.
Vaca, who has worked at Kittles for five years, said he fears the new laws will severely hamper rifle and shotgun sales throughout the state.
"In all reality, it's just crazy to register long guns," Vaca said. "I think if you have to register your gun in California, then people will just stop buying them here all together."
Many otherwise law-abiding citizens may be tempted to simply purchase their weapons out of state, Vaca speculated...
However, the governor faces heavy criticism and possibly lawsuits over his implementation of the open-carry ban and long-gun registration, which Paredes called "a form of tyranny."
"The signing of (the concealed weapons law) and the veto of AB 427 was like a gentle kiss on our cheek while he was punching us in the stomach with the others," Paredes said. "It is a full assault on the Second Amendment by a governor who used to have a good record on guns, but he destroyed that over the weekend."
Some industry experts noted that while the governor has signed the new laws, the state Attorney general decides exactly how vigorously they will be enforced....
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Full article @ Colusa Sun Herald
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More tyranny against the already long suffering law-abiding firearms owners of California by two-faced forked-tonged politicians and the meddling, cowardly do-gooding fools that know what's best for you no matter if you like it or not, victim. Tell me what sense it makes to obtain a CCW if you are hiking in the mountains, or why impossible to conceal long rifles must now be treated like concealable handguns?. No, this is merely more of the same draconian infringements that can be gotten away with against the law-abiding because this state has no RKBA in their state constitution. Understand that the anti-self defense gun haters, who futilely seek to reverse firearms technology: a genie impossible to stuff back in the bottle, will never stop until you can own nothing, and they will then even ban rocks and bottles after that...Unless you stand up for your rights beforehand. Whatcha' gonna' do when they come for you?...(S9)