A decade ago, Prof. John Lott wrote More Guns, Less Crime, a ground-breaking book that used advanced statistical analysis to prove that gun ownership by law-abiding citizens can reduce violent crime rates. Lott was initially assailed by the mainstream media, who refused to believe Lott’s numbers.
Now, it appears that the national media is grudgingly accepting that the increase in concealed weapon permits in many states has been associated with reductions in violent crime and in particular a notable decline in murder rates. MSNBC.com, a website known generally for its liberal-leaning news reports, recently ran an article on citizen gun carry that reveals that crime has dropped significantly in “shall-issue” states where concealed weapons permits are available to law-abiding citizens. MSNBC.com states that it is too simplistic to credit gun-toting citizens for the reduction in crime (which may have had other causes), but the statistics are noteworthy. MSNBC.com reports: “From its beginnings in the 1980s, the ‘right-to-carry’ movement has succeeded in boosting the number of licensed concealed-gun carriers from fewer than 1 million to a record 6 million today, according to estimates from gun-rights groups that are supported by msnbc.com’s research.”
Disagreement Persists as to Causes for Reduced Crime Rates
While MSNBC.com explains that the connection between lawful gun ownership and crime rates is “hotly debated” and not completely understood, MSNBC.com does acknowledge that crime rates have fallen virtually everywhere that “right to carry” laws were adopted. MSBNC.com quotes John Pierce of Opencarry.org: “Firearms in the hands of law abiding citizens prevent 1 million robberies, murders and rapes every year.” On the other hand, MSNBC.com cites a Harvard professor, Dr. David Hemenway, who claims that the available research is inconclusive and that “when it comes to concealed-carry laws, neither side can make a legitimate claim about their effects on crime”.
No matter how you feel about the new Health Care Reform Act, there is at least ONE aspect of the legislation that should please you, thanks to the Gun Owners of America (GOA). Here’s the deal — at the insistent request of the GOA, a special provision was added to the health care reform bill that expressly FORBIDs any “wellness program” (public or private) from collecting (or distributing) any information about gun ownership. Why is this important? If such information was collected, health care providers could pass on the information to insurers who might then charge gun-owners higher rates based on perceived “unhealthy lifestyles” or higher risk factors.
In addition to the ban on information collection, the GOA, through the efforts of Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, added a second critical protection to the new legislation. According to the Slate Blog, the GOA “won another provision forbidding private insurers participating in the bill’s exchanges from charging higher premiums, or denying coverage, or denying wellness discounts on the basis of gun ownership.” The “exchanges” mean the state-level insurance pools from which citizens may purchase health insurance if they are not currently covered.
Will this make a difference? You bet. One web reader, commenting on the Slate story, explained: “I’ve worked as a consultant to insurance companies and I can promise you they [the insurance companies] will not only use that data to charge you and your family more for insurance (dangerous activities), but then also pool their data and sell their data to any company or government agency that has the cash to pay the price. Is that what you wanted from health care?”
Obviously there are many other controversial issues associated with the new Health Care Reform Act. However, thanks to the GOA and Nevada Senator Harry Reid, at least firearm owners can take some comfort that health care providers and insurers will NOT be asking questions about our guns, and using the answers to raise our rates… or worse.
Marlin Firearms, now owned by Remington Arms (part of Cerberus Capital Management’s Freedom Group), is going to shut down its North Haven, Connecticut manufacturing facility. This marks the end of a legendary period of gun-making in New England. Marlin has produced firearms in Connecticut since 1870, when the company was founded by John M. Marlin.
A Marlin spokesman indicated that the plant will be closed by June, 2011, and all 265 employees will be terminated via phased lay-offs starting in May, 2010. The Marlin plant closure, announced late Thursday (March 24th), came as a surprise to both Marlin employees and North Haven community leaders. Marlin plant workers reported being “blindsided”. One worker told WTNH Channel 8 that: “We never saw this coming… we were told to attend a mandatory meeting at 3:30… And then boom [that was it].” Remington has not yet issued an official statement about the factory closure, but one insider speculated that the plant was closed to “avoid union wage pressure driving retail cost upward and making the product less competitive in the modern firearms market.”
Marlin is currently head-quartered in Madison, North Carolina. There is no indication that the production of Marlin rifles will be halted — production will likely be shifted to Freedom Group factories in other states. The Shooting Wire reports that: “According to Remington Arms sources, the facility is being decommissioned and the manufacturing relocated to Remington’s Ilion, New York facilities; the Marlin lines are not moving offshore.” The production relocation will apply to Marlin products, and, presumably, to the other brands made by Marlin: Harrington & Richardson, New England Firearms, and L.C. Smith.
Marlin’s founder, John M. Marlin, learned his trade during the Civil war, working at the Colt plant in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1870, according to Marlin’s website, Marlin “hung out his sign on State Street in New Haven, manufacturing his own line of revolvers and derringers.” The Marlin enterprise was purchased by Frank Kenna in 1924, and the Kenna family maintained ownership until Remington acquired Marlin in 2008.
Click Arrow Lower Left to Play Report from WTNH-TV Channel 8 in New Haven:
This weekend, March 27-28, the Arizona Game and Fish Department hosts its Outdoor Expo 2010 at the largest public shooting complex in the nation — the Ben Avery Shooting Facility, located just west of Interstate 17 on Carefree Highway. At the Expo, you can try out many different shooting disciplines. Plus there will be archery classes, mounted (horseback) shooting demos, wildlife info sessions, and many other outdoor activities. This is a very popular event — the 2009 Expo drew over 35,000 visitors. Both Admission and parking are FREE.
Outdoor Expo visitors will be able to test the latest firearms from companies like Glock, Smith & Wesson, and Ruger. Visitors can also try a variety of specialty shooting disciplines, such as cowboy action shooting, black powder, tactical pistol, and silhouette shooting.
Shotgun fans can shoot skeet, trap or sporting clays at Ben Avery’s enhanced Clay Target Center. Kids can shoot .22s and air guns while learning more about firearm safety. Guests (of all ages) can take an archery class or try out “3D Archery” on a walking course through the desert. There will be many exciting demonstrations at the 2009 Outdoor Expo. Visitors can witness a Dillon Aero mini-gun demonstration or even shoot a vintage Gatling Gun.
Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, has revealed that once-fired military brass is being converted into scrap metal rather than being sold in reloadable condition with revenues going to the U.S. Treasury. The destruction or mutilation of once-fired brass runs contrary to the efforts of Congressional leaders to ensure that fired military brass be resold rather than destroyed. Marbut claims that once-fired brass is now being destroyed as the result of “sweetheart side deals with installation commanders that [are] being aggressively promoted by ATK.”
According to Marbut, ATK/Alliant Techsystems has encouraged military base commanders to sell their used cartridge brass directly to ATK. The brass is then demilled and rendered down to scrap metal for use in ATK’s future new cartridge production. Marbut states: “ATK even provides portable equipment to demil tons of cartridge cases at the military installations, destroying the brass for reloading purposes. Because the destroyed cartridge case brass is not suitable for reloading, it cannot command a price driven by auction for the highest-value use of reloading. Military installation commanders sell the Alliant-destroyed brass to ATK at a private, non-auction, special price. Commanders are willing to accept the reduced price because the sale proceeds go to the commanders’ discretionary accounts and not back to the U.S. Treasury via Government Liquidations.”
As a result of this reported arrangement between military commanders and ATK, Marbut believes, millions of used military cartridge cases, which otherwise could enter the commercial market for surplus brass, are being destroyed rather than sold at auction for fair value. In a time when there are still acute shortages of reloading components, this reduces the supply of reloadable brass, while depriving the U.S. Treasury of sales proceeds. Marbut calls for Congressional action to stop the “sweetheart deals” and ensure that “expended military brass of civilian-usable calibers generated domestically goes through the public auction process.” Marbut believes that “will benefit the U.S. Treasury, America’s gun owners, and the adequacy of the ammunition marketplace.”
Bryan Litz, author of Applied Ballistics for Long Range Shooting, informed us that sophisticated new ballistics software is now available for Android OS phones. While there are ballistics programs that run on iPhones, as well as programs for Palm or Windows PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), Bryan believes that the new Ballistics App, called SHOOTER, is the first such program for Android operating system (OS) products — such as Motorola’s Droid phone and Google’s new Nexus phone.
Bryan explained: “The SHOOTER App can be found in the Google marketplace by searching for ‘Ballistics’. I became interested in this program when I got my Android phone. There are several good programs out there for iPhones and PDAs. But SHOOTER is the first program I know of for Android. In my opinion, it won’t be topped by anything else. If you have an Android smartphone, I highly recommend checking out this application. The program is easy to install and run. Outputs are available as a single-shot solution or as a table. There is a ‘Lite’ version of SHOOTER that you can download for free, and the ‘full’ version is $9.99.”
The new “Shooter” Program for Android OS has an impressive list of features:
G1 and G7 BC capability, with the option to input ‘velocity banded’ BCs.
Angle Compensation (Up or Down Angle can be measured using the built-in inclinometer).
Bullet Library which includes Litz-measured “true” BCs.
Rifle and ammo profiles (for storing load info for all your guns).
Atmosphere effects (pressure, temp, and humidity).
Spin drift (requires bullet length and twist rate inputs).
Coriolis effect (works best with GPS-equipped Android phones).
Bryan revealed: “I was heavily involved in the development of this program and can vouch for the accuracy of the solution. The actual solver is very similar to the one used in my programs and in the JBM online Ballistics Program. SHOOTER’s calculations normally match my numbers and JBM’s numbers within round-off error (0.1″ at 1000 yards).”
Leupold & Stevens, Inc. has dropped its lawsuit against Carl Zeiss Optical, Inc. for patent infringement. The lawsuit originally alleged that Zeiss, Burris, and Bushnell infringed Leupold & Stevens’ patent for True Ballistic Range (TBR®) technology. With Zeiss out, the action will proceed against Burris and Bushnell only.
While Zeiss products do allow users to input ballistic groups and display holdover values at specific yardages, it has been determined that they do not incorporate an inclinometer to compensate for uphill/downhill shot angles. Therefore, they do not infringe on US Patent Number 7,654,029 owned by Leupold & Stevens, Inc.
Bushnell Sues Leupold Claiming Infringement of ARC Patents
Leupold’s patent infringement suit will continue against Bushnell and Burris. But Bushnell Inc. has its own patent infringement action against Leupold & Stevens. In February, Bushnell filed suit alleging that Leupold infringed on Bushnell’s U.S. patents for Angle Range Compensation (ARC) and Rain Mode laser-rangefinder technology. Bushnell’s ARC and Leupold’s True Ballistic Range (TBR) are competing technologies. The courts will have to resolve whether both ARC and TBR patents can co-exist.
The 2010 U.S. F-Class Nationals kick off tomorrow, March 25th in Sacramento. Match dates are: March 25, 26, 27, and 28. The venue is the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center range in Sloughhouse, California, just east of Sacramento. The F-Class National Championship is one of the biggest long-range shooting events of the year. Match organizers expect upwards of 150 competitors from the USA and other nations including Great Britain, Canada, Australia and (possibly) South Africa.
If you have questions about the range facilities or driving directions, call Sac Valley Shooting Center at (916) 354-9668. The Center is located approximately 15 miles South/East of the city of Sacramento. To navigate to the range, take a look at the map above. The Sac Valley staff cautions: “Do not use GPS or Map Quest to get to the range. On the Dillard Road side is an unpaved, nearly impassible rock road. Use Ione Road to approach Meiss Road [from the east]“. You can also get detailed, turn by turn directions (from main approach highways), on the Sac Valley Shooting Center website.
UNITED STATES F–CLASS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2010
DATES: March 25, 26, 27, 28, 2010
LOCATION:
Sacramento Valley Shooting Center
P.O. Box 1407
15501 Meiss Road
Sloughhouse, California
Ph. 916-354-9668
Heard of the World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities (WFSA)? Probably not. But this international consortium has been working to preserve the freedom to own and use sporting firearms worldwide. Steve Sanetti, President of the U.S.-based National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), explains that hunters and shooters around the world rely on WFSA to protect their rights, though they may not know it. “The average hunter or sport shooter in America, Italy or any other place . . . is only vaguely aware of what is in store for us in this new globalized environment.” According to Sanetti, the WFSA plays a vital role in monitoring international threats, such as environmental bans on traditional ammunition, which can affect shooting sports worldwide.
With politically powerful forces (including the U.N.) pushing to curtail gun ownership internationally, the WFSA helps national gun owners’ organizations respond to such threats. Over the past year, WFSA has had many successes, but the WFSA faces big challenges ahead: the Int’l Arms Trade Treaty, the U.N. Firearms Protocol, efforts to establish international small arms control standards, environmental restrictions on ammunition and reloading components, and attempts to ban ownership of firearms.
The WFSA’s annual meeting took place recently at the IWA trade show in Nuremberg, Germany. There, Sanetti called for the WFSA to become a bigger, more powerful organization so it can better represent the concerns of more than 100 million sport shooters worldwide.
WFSA Works to Halt Semi-Auto Gun Ban in Finland
“Last month . . . a government commission in Finland recommended the banning of all semi-automatic handguns — 200,000 of the 600,000 guns legally possessed by the citizens of Finland,” said Sanetti. “This was shocking . . . and it could be a portent of things to come.” He pointed out that firearms used in the Olympics, for waterfowl shooting and for target shooting all share the same basic semi-automatic action. “We cannot fall into the trap of saying that certain guns are good and certain guns are bad,” emphasized Sanetti. The WFSA’s Project on Myths works to counter this and other distortions about firearms and their use. To learn more about the WFSA, visit www.WFSA.net.
On April 19, 2010, thousands of concerned Americans will convene in Washington, DC in a mass demonstration of support for individual rights under the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment March, in the planning for over two years, is designed to “galvanize the courage and resolve of Americans” while demonstrating that the PEOPLE do not want Washington politicians passing more anti-gun legislation. The brainchild of Skip Coryell, author of “RKBA: Defending the Right to Keep and Bear Arms”, the Second Amendment March promises to be the largest pro-firearms demonstration ever held in DC. In addition, there will be “satellite” marches in state capitols nationwide.
Co-sponsored by the Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA), the Second Amendment March will take place from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on April 19, 2010. Attendees will assemble on the northeast corner of the Washington Monument grounds, and the entire program will take place there. There will be many notable speakers at the April 19th event, including Larry Pratt, (Exec. Director of Gun Owners of America), Rep. Paul Broun (Georgia 10th Dist. Congressman), Lt. Col. David Grossman (U.S. Army Rangers Ret.), and Philip Van Cleave (Pres., Virginia Citizens Defense League).
We urge all our readers who live within a couple hours of Washington to consider attending this March. Despite the favorable ruling in the Heller vs. DC Supreme Court case, firearm rights are still under attack across the country. A big turn-out at this event could have a powerful effect on setting National firearms policies in the future.
The directors of the Second Amendment march need volunteers to provide directions at the rally, and to man information booths. CLICK HERE to learn more about state events. Click the link below to donate.
A decade ago, Prof. John Lott wrote More Guns, Less Crime, a ground-breaking book that used advanced statistical analysis to prove that gun ownership by law-abiding citizens can reduce violent crime rates. Lott was initially assailed by the mainstream media, who refused to believe Lott’s numbers.
Shotgun fans can shoot skeet, trap or sporting clays at Ben Avery’s enhanced Clay Target Center. Kids can shoot .22s and air guns while learning more about firearm safety. Guests (of all ages) can take an archery class or try out “3D Archery” on a walking course through the desert. There will be many exciting demonstrations at the 2009 Outdoor Expo. Visitors can witness a Dillon Aero mini-gun demonstration or even shoot a vintage Gatling Gun.
Bryan Litz, author of 
Heard of the 
