Category: Guns

You have got to be $^*@ing kidding me!

I’m having a hard time seeing straight over this one. Apparently, Memphis and Nashville are planning on still banning guns in certain parks, even after the state passed the law saying that they can’t.

Just to catch people up, the final language of the law stated that a carry permit holder can carry in a city park, with the exception that you can’t carry in “the immediate vicinity” of a school event (baseball games, etc). If you wander up on one by accident, you can legally turn around and leave upon learning of the event.

This is apparently confusing for some people. The city of Nashville is in the middle of building an amphitheater in of our river front parks, and the folks that are contracted to run the concert venue have a policy that they ban weapons at all of their venues. What’s Nashville’s Metro Director of Law’s response to the question of banning firearms in a facility on park grounds? “We’re in the view that we can probably prohibit weapons in the new amphitheater.”

Oh… he has logic! You’ll love his logic! See, the law also refers to “areas owned, used or operated by a local government ‘for recreational purposes,*’” and, in his view, going to see a concert isn’t recreation!

No.

Seriously.

Direct quote from Metro’s DoL Solomon: “When we think of ‘recreating,’ it’s somebody going out and doing something, not somebody sitting around,”

The article also states that it’s “still unclear” if the city will ban guns in the park around the concert venue, or if they will ban guns in the amphitheater when there’s not a concert going on. Here’s a thought…. the state law says that they can’t!

May 7, 2015
More troubles for Colt

Th folks at the Firearms Blog have noticed an article at the New York Times talking about what looks to be the inevitable bankruptcy of Colt.

On one hand, this makes me sad. Colt has a long history, and has been responsible for some important firearms. While this bankruptcy doesn’t mean the end of Colt, it does signal that there needs to be some serious changes if they’re going to continue.

On the other hand, they’ve screwed up bad. I had to resist going to their booth at NRAAM and ask one of them to comment on how an established gun company could have troubles paying their bills in the buying frenzy environment we’ve had for the past few years. We’re talking about a time where there have been instances of gun shops literally having issue keeping anything on their shelves, even after pricing their wares at what would charitably be called “inflated prices.” I didn’t go over and ask, because, well, I didn’t want to be that guy that got tossed from a booth. Also, believe or not, I’m actually a nice guy.

Of course, even a casual observer like me can tell you what happened. As TFB mentions, they decided a few years back to focus on government contracts, and all but abandon the civilian market. So, they missed out on the civilian market explosion… and then they lost a couple key government contracts…

Now they’re basically one more company that makes ARs and 1911s. Sure, they’re supposed to be nice ARs and 1911s, but beyond the name Colt stamped on the side there’s little to differentiate their ARs and 1911s from the next 20 companies that make ARs and 1911s. Oh… and they make SAA revolvers, which is a bit of a niche market, and token bolt action rifle.

I forgot to mention just how many variants of the 1911 they make. Including the Colt Mustang, they currently have 11 different series of 1911s on their website catalog. Not models mind you, series. Each one of those series have multiple models available. In the very crowded field of 1911s, they’re competing with themselves on top of the competition.

So… here’s what I think Colt should do in hopes of turning things around. Step 1. is discontinue at least half of the different 1911s they make. It really doesn’t make sense to keep that many variation in production. Step 2. would be bring back the double action revolvers. There’s still a market out there for carry, competition, and hunting revolvers. Step 3. is develop a plastic fantastic gun, or at least a modern double stack gun. Doesn’t have to be a Glock clone, but that does seem to be what’s selling these days.

Did I miss anything?

April 22, 2015
How not to impress folks that will write about you

I will write a general round up of NRAAM soon, but I feel the need to get something off my chest first.

If you’ve already listened to this past week’s Gun Blogger Variety Cast, you’d already know that Erin Palette had a “less than favorable” interaction with a certain Taurus representative. I would like to say that I was with her at that time, and I was the friend that was still standing there when she felt the need to walk away.

For those of you that haven’t listened, shortly after we walked up to the Taurus booth, one of their representatives wearing a suit (which usually denotes being higher up in the food chain than the normal guys in polo shirts) started talking to us. I believe his name was Kim Kyle and was the Florida sales rep. I’m pretty sure that he quickly figured out that we were both bloggers, since we were both wearing our respective versions of “I R SRS GUNBLGGR” T-shirts, had media badges, and had our respective websites printed on our badges.

He almost instantly started on a 5-10 minute rant about how evil and mean gun bloggers were, and how we only spew lies. I tried to give him a couple outs, since I know that there are many out there that bash Taurus because that’s what all the cool kids do, and not because they’ve had bad experiences/done research/etc. They’re not the only company that has that issue. Some deserve it, and some don’t, and I have been giving them the benefit of the doubt. He failed to act like I might be different. Thanks to Taurus’ sales rep, I have learned that they do not wish to have the benefit of the doubt, nor would they like my good will, business, or recommendations to others.

Oh, and I very much was considering buying one of their products in the near future (the PT-22), but it looks like I will be spending about $100 more on a Beretta Bobcat instead because I’m not a fan of giving money to companies whose representative talk shit about me to my face. I will also no longer even consider telling people to consider buying a Taurus… something that I’m asked on a regular basis.

Taurus, you can thank your Florida sales rep for the loss of my business, and the business of those that trust my opinion.

April 13, 2015
URGENT REMINDER for those of you coming to Nashville for the NRA Convention

Nashville’s mayor is really, really anti-gun.

Nashville’s police chief thinks people who didn’t like Mike Brown protestors shutting down I-40 are racists.

Nashville’s newly-elected District Attorney has been on the job less than 6 months and has already had 3 major ethics scandals.

Knowing that, you need to remember the following things
It is illegal to have any alcohol whatsoever in your system and still have access to a firearm

You can go to the bar, but you can’t drink anything. You can’t even leave the gun in your car if you plan to go back to the car later.

Anti-gun signage is generally legally enforceable

There are some quirks and caveats and whatnot, but for those visiting, if you see a “no guns allowed” sign in any form, just don’t go there. We got the ability to carry in places that serve alcohol back in 2009, and the bars and restaurants around the convention center lost their everloving minds, going so far as to search everyone entering for guns, something they didn’t think was necessary when only criminals might come into the lounge armed.

Make no mistake: the business owners downtown are generally hostile to gun owners, but they still want your money. They fought tooth and nail against making it legal to carry in their establishments unless they posted a simple sign. The vast majority did not post signs initially, but announced they would. I will be surprised if we make it through the weekend without at least one arrest for violating a sign or the alcohol provision. The restaurant staff is likely to be on “high alert” looking for anyone who might be violating the law and quick to pull the trigger on calling the cops. Which brings me to my final point:

There are places that will not obviously be off limits to you, so please don’t open carry

I talked about this in Episode 29 of the GunBlogVarietyCast, but the gist is that you can’t carry in a city park or property owned or used by a school. First Avenue in downtown Nashville…if you walk on sidewalk furthest from the river, you’re fine. If you walk on the other side of the street, you’ve committed a crime because that’s Riverfront Park. Music City Walk of Fame Park is right next to the Arena* where several events are being held, and it’s the same thing. Walk on one side of the street and you’re fine. Walk on the other and you’ve got a problem.

As far as schools, you’d think it would be obvious but it’s not. There is a vast section of commercial development just west of town that’s actually owned by Vanderbilt University, and the way the law is written it’s likely a felony to carry there. Do yourself a favor before you get to Nashville: hit up Google Maps and look at the Green and Yellow portions of the map. Those are no-go zones if you’re armed.

Have fun, don’t drink, and watch for signage!

*By the way, the Convention Center is legal for carry, but the Arena isn’t.

April 6, 2015

Apparently after Kid #2, you’re bandwidth-limited to one post per month.

Don’t try to catch a falling gun.

Gunshot interrupts Smyrna town hall meeting:

SMYRNA, TN (WSMV) –
A gunshot rang out in a Smyrna town meeting on Thursday night, causing a brief moment of panic.

It was business as usual as Police Chief Kevin Arnold gave a briefing to members of the town council.

“And so we have some volunteers who will be manning the records division,” Arnold said before he was cut short by the sound of a gunshot.

Arnold sprung into action to investigate what happened in the lobby.

Well, that sounds exciting!

Lt. Earl Barnes was providing security and his gun accidentally went off when it hit the floor.

Less exciting than I was expecting, but exciting nonetheless. Strange that they issue guns that aren’t drop-safe, don’t you think?

“His handgun caught on the chair, and as he stood up, he realized that his gun was falling out,” Arnold said. “And he went to grab it before it hit the floor. And when he did, he accidentally discharged a round off into the floor.”

Oh, so, what you’re saying is that it didn’t go off when it hit the floor, it went off when he pulled the trigger. Well, I’m glad that no one got hurt. We just need to get that officer some more training.