Our RV Adventures

and the Gun Show Loophole.

Today I’m going to try and address some of the misinformation I’ve heard recently concerning guns.

Since the Newtown School shooting I’ve heard numerous commentators talking about how ‘deadly” the 5.56 ammo that was used, is.

Well, it’s so deadly that many states don’t allow it to be used for deer hunting. Not because it’s too deadly, but because it’s not deadly enough.

That’s right. The 5.56mm/.223 cal. ammo used in the most popular “Assault Weapon” is not considered powerful enough to go hunting with. It boils down to the fact that the .223 is basically a souped-up .22, like kids shoot tin cans with.

The caliber, or diameter of the bullet, is the same. But it is longer, heavier, and loaded into a case that holds more powder. Here’s a photo comparing a .223 round and a .22.

But now look at the difference between the .223 and the 30.06, pretty much the standard hunting round.

Note that I’m not saying the AR-15/.223 is not deadly. Even a .177 cal. pellet gun, much less a standard .22 can be deadly. But it is not this super-deadly round that it’s made out to be. By most standards, it’s under-powered. But the way some talk, you could take out tanks with it.

But some will point out that it’s deadly enough for the U.S. Army to use in the M-16. And of course that’s true, but its ‘deadliness’ is not why it was picked.

The M-14 that replaced the M1 after WWII both used the same .308 cartridge. The M-14 was also the first combat rifle that featured fully-automatic fire. Which required more ammo.

But more ammo was heavier to carry. So when the military was looking to replace the M-14 in the late 60’s, they went with smaller, lighter rounds that allowed more to be carried for the same weight.

Here’s a photo showing the difference between the .223 and the .308.

Of course some cynics have said that a lighter, less deadlier round was chosen for another purpose. Some military tactics say that it’s better to grievously wound an enemy than to kill him outright. A wounded enemy takes others out of the battle to care for him.

But whatever the reason, many soldiers on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan have gone back to using the more powerful M-14/.308 combination because it travels further, is not as readily deflected by intervening brush, leaves, etc., and hits harder.

Next up – High Capacity Magazines.

The first problem is to get someone to define what a “High-Capacity Magazine” is. Kind of like getting a politician to put a number to what someone’s fair share of taxes are.

Depending on the locality and type of firearm, the cutoff between a ‘normal’ capacity and ‘high’ capacity magazine is 3, 7, 10, 12, 15, or 20 rounds. The old federal ban set the limit at 10 rounds.

So for some, two rounds are OK, three is too many. Kind of funny when they don’t seem to have a problem with a standard 6 shot revolver.

But there are several problems with a ban, beside size.

1. The first problem is that, except for .45’s, pretty much every recent semi-automatic pistol comes with a standard 13-18 round mag. What do you do about these?

2. How do you ban them?

The last time they were banned in the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, the manufacture and sale of any new ones was made illegal. The sale and possession of pre-existing magazines remained legal. This just created a seller’s market for the legal ones.

3. Do you ban them all?

There are probably 100’s of millions of “would-be banned” magazines out there. According to some stats, there are 350 million firearms in the U.S. Although I wasn’t able to get an idea of how many of these are handguns, but figuring half of them are, and figuring that each one has 4 magazines to go with it, that means there could be 700 million magazines out there, probably a large percentage of them illegal “High Capacity” magazines.

As has been called for by several politicians, how do you outlaw, ban, seize, expect-to-be-turned-in, that many magazines?

And what about making 10’s of millions of otherwise law-abiding Americans into criminals overnight?

And if you outlaw 10’s of millions of magazines, how long does it take to get new, smaller ones manufactured to replace them. I saw an article the other day that said that magazine manufacturers are now back-ordered on 1 MILLION magazines that have been sold just in the last few weeks.

4. What good would it do to have only 10 round capacity magazines available to the public?

It takes less than a second to change magazines out. You simply press the magazine release button on the side of the pistol and the empty magazine drops to the floor. The new magazine you’ve taken out of your pocket and are now holding in your hand is now slammed home. Release the slide and you’re ready to go. I can do it on my 9mm in a little over a second and I haven’t practiced.

5. Why would I want a “High Capacity” Magazine?

Because I want one, and because I might need one.

You may have read recently about the mother in Georgia who was home with her 9 year old twin daughters when someone started to break in to her house. She grabbed her six shot revolver and her daughters and started retreating up the stairs. She finally ended up in the attic crawl space with the intruder following her upstairs. When he opened the door into the crawl space she shot him 5 times, hitting him in the neck and chest. As she stood over him, telling him to stay down, she realized she was out of ammo,  so she grabbed her daughters and ran.

But the intruder was able to exit the house, get into his car and drive away, although he didn’t make it far due to blood loss.

The mother said she wants a bigger gun with more bullets.

This encounter turn out OK for her this time. Her 6 shot revolver worked for her this time. But what if in the heat of the moment she missed a couple of times and he kept on coming?  Would she and her daughters just be another crime statistic?

Recently in OK a woman was home alone and three intruders kicked in her front door. But she was waiting with her gun, and when they saw it, they turned and ran.

But what if they had kept coming? Want to take on 3 bad guys with 6 shots? I know I would rather not.

A blog reader recently sent me an article written by a supposed “ex-FBI agent”. I don’t know. While I agreed with some of what he had to say, I found this quote hard to swallow.

“When I came out of the FBI Academy in 1984, I was issued a six-shot revolver and 18 rounds of ammunition, and I felt well-armed. To this day I cannot for the life of me understand why someone would want to own, much less carry, a weapon with a magazine holding 15 rounds and more. If you need to do that, join the Armed Forces.”

Are we suppose to believe that he doesn’t know that for years FBI agents have carried the Glock 22 or 23 that holds 18 rounds? So he thinks they should still be carrying 6 shot revolvers?

Or that I should?

One last thing about magazines.

A clip and a magazine aren’t the same thing. This photo might help.

A clip is used to feed rounds into a weapon with a fixed magazine. An example would be the M1 Garand Battle Rifle from WWII.

A magazine actually holds the rounds and feeds them into the weapon as they are fired.

One last thing on this overly-long blog post is the fabled “Gun Show Loophole”.

In reality it is just a “Private Sale”. It really has nothing directly to do with Gun Shows. It’s just one private individual selling or giving a weapon to another private individual.

It could just as easily be called the “Father-Son Loophole”. or the “Brother-in-law Loophole”, or maybe the “Next Door Neighbor Loophole”.

Want to sell or give your spare rifle or shotgun to your brother-in-law or son without going to a licensed dealer, filling out forms, and paying a fee. You’ve just availed yourself of the “Gun Show Loophole. Don’t you feel like a real criminal now?

The vast majority of gun show sales are made by Federally-licensed dealers, who fill out the Form 4473’s, run the NICS background checks, and cross all the paperwork T’s and dot all the I’s.

Even the Department of Justice says that over 95% of gun show sales involve licensed dealers and are perfectly legal.

Yes, sometimes an individual does sell a weapon to another individual at a gun show. But it could have been done anywhere. And most of these are legal transfers too.

Your average drug lord or gang member are not getting their weapons from gun shows. They buy them on the street, or from a friendly ATF agent. (Google “Fast and Furious” for more info.)

One final note. Stag Arms, just one manufacturer of AR-15/.223 rifles, says they have now sold out their entire output for the next two years.

That’s about it. My rant has run its course. But hopefully I’ve corrected some of the misinformation that’s floating round out there.

It’s also possible I’ve introduced some of my own. If I have, let me know.

Getting down off my soapbox and putting away my moccasin stick, it’s all yours.

Coming soon. Ban knives!

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Thought for the Day:

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government, those entrusted with power have, in time and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny. – Thomas Jefferson

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Since we were gone a good part of the day, and spent the afternoon and early evening Landon sitting, it will be tomorrow before I will post my blog on “Bullets and ‘High Capacity’ Magazines.

After a cloudy, rainy morning, Jan and I headed up to Brandi and Lowell’s about 3 pm. We were going to be watching Landon for the afternoon and evening so Brandi and Lowell could get some time to themselves. While we were there we were also going to do some laundry, since our washer is on the fritz until the parts come in.

We got Landon’s car seat installed in the truck (not an easy task, believe me) and we all headed out. Our first stop was right outside the subdivision at Barcenas Mexican Restaurant.

Since it is so close to the house, we’ve eaten here for years, but don’t get to as much now.

But when we do get here, it’s always good. Jan had their delicious Ground Beef Taco Salad, and I had a big bowl of their Mexican Chicken Soup.

Landon had a Corn Dog and Fries, and a lot of chips and queso.

After dinner, we headed back through the subdivision and out the other side to Sam’s to pick up some things and let Landon pick out a book.

Our next stop was right down the road at Baybrook Mall. We got a stroller and just walked around the mall, letting Landon take in the sights. Right before we left we got him an ice cream and sat down for a while and just people watched.

After getting back to Brandi’s, we spent some time playing with Landon and some of his Christmas toys.

We finally got home about 9pm after a really fun day, but a really tiring day. Although Landon was an angel, chasing after a two year old will really wear you out.

Tomorrow afternoon the Houston Texans play the New England Patriots for a spot in the Super Bowl,

Go Texans!

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Thought for the Day:

A tiger doesn’t lose sleep over the opinion of the sheep.

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