Editorial

Last week was big for me: I got two 'new' guns and a very personal wanding in Houston’s Municipal Court building. Nothing sends shivers up the leg of a gun owner like a nice pat-down and wanding, I always say. And though my shivers weren’t seemingly as pleasurable as lefty commentator Chris Matthews’ were at the prospect of an Obama presidency, I’ll remember the tingles fondly anyway. The back story: One gorgeous Sunday in November last year, I was taking my daughter to church (really!) when I tapped the brakes to break my 60-mph highway cruise and began coasting off the Katy Freeway down an exit ramp to a feeder road. Still coasting at the bottom of the ramp, I saw a person 100 yards or so ahead of me standing smack-dab in the middle of the four-lane feeder road—very odd, and I thought at the time, very dangerous. That person turned out to be Houston Police Department Officer Calvillo running a radar gun, with which he clocked me doing 51 in a 35-mph construction zone.

President Obama got off the helicopter in front of the White House, carrying a baby piglet under each arm. The squared-away Marine guard snaps to attention, salutes and says: 'Nice pigs, sir.' The president replies, 'These are not pigs. These are authentic Arkansas Razorback Hogs. I got one for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and I got one for Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi.' The squared-away Marine again snaps to attention, salutes, and says, 'Excellent trade, sir.'

President Obama got off the helicopter in front of the White House, carrying a baby piglet under each arm. The squared-away Marine guard snaps to attention, salutes and says: 'Nice pigs, sir.' The president replies, 'These are not pigs. These are authentic Arkansas Razorback Hogs. I got one for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and I got one for Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi.' The squared-away Marine again snaps to attention, salutes, and says, 'Excellent trade, sir.'

Putting an end to nine years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear New York City’s request to continue a lawsuit that sought to hold firearms manufacturers responsible for the criminal misuse of firearms. The city’s lawsuit was originally filed in 2000 by then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and was continued by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. After the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act was passed by Congress in 2005, a federal judge threw out the New York lawsuit. Then in April 2008, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision, saying the new law was constitutional. Among the companies sued were Beretta USA Corp., Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., Colt’s Manufacturing Co. LLC, Sturm, Ruger & Co. and Glock GmbH.

Putting an end to nine years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear New York City’s request to continue a lawsuit that sought to hold firearms manufacturers responsible for the criminal misuse of firearms. The city’s lawsuit was originally filed in 2000 by then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and was continued by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. After the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act was passed by Congress in 2005, a federal judge threw out the New York lawsuit. Then in April 2008, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision, saying the new law was constitutional. Among the companies sued were Beretta USA Corp., Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., Colt’s Manufacturing Co. LLC, Sturm, Ruger & Co. and Glock GmbH.

Well, Barack H. Obama has been sworn in as president. Eric Holder has been confirmed as attorney general. The FBI has reported that 10 of the highest-traffic NICS days of all time have occurred since the November election. Friday, November 28, 2008, saw 97,848 clearance requests—22,716 more requests than the second-highest day, Friday, December 22, 2006. Rounding out the top five were Saturday, December 23, 2000 (74,891); Tuesday, December 23, 2008 (73,427); and Saturday, November 6, 2008 (71,832). What’s more interesting about November 6 and three other top-ten days—Friday, November 14, 2008 (69,526); Saturday, November 15, 2008 (70,528); and Saturday, December 20, 2008 (71,409)—was that they didn’t occur on Black Fridays or the last shopping days before Christmas. Coincidence? I think not

Well, Barack H. Obama has been sworn in as president. Eric Holder has been confirmed as attorney general. The FBI has reported that 10 of the highest-traffic NICS days of all time have occurred since the November election. Friday, November 28, 2008, saw 97,848 clearance requests—22,716 more requests than the second-highest day, Friday, December 22, 2006. Rounding out the top five were Saturday, December 23, 2000 (74,891); Tuesday, December 23, 2008 (73,427); and Saturday, November 6, 2008 (71,832). What’s more interesting about November 6 and three other top-ten days—Friday, November 14, 2008 (69,526); Saturday, November 15, 2008 (70,528); and Saturday, December 20, 2008 (71,409)—was that they didn’t occur on Black Fridays or the last shopping days before Christmas. Coincidence? I think not

Ruger has issued a recall on the extremely popular new LCP 380 auto. The problem seems to be that it’s possible for the gun to discharge if dropped. In Ruger’s words, they’ve received a small number of reports to the effect that the gun, '...can discharge when dropped onto a hard surface with a round in the chamber.' The company has offered a retrofit of a different hammer mechanism to cure the problem. This will be at no charge to the customer, and details how to proceed may be obtained via email to: LCPRecall@ruger.com, or by phone to the 'recall hotline' at (800) 784-3701. For your troubles, you’ll also receive a free new magazine with a finger extension, like the one that came with one of the Kel-Tec’s two magazines.

Ruger has issued a recall on the extremely popular new LCP 380 auto. The problem seems to be that it’s possible for the gun to discharge if dropped. In Ruger’s words, they’ve received a small number of reports to the effect that the gun, '...can discharge when dropped onto a hard surface with a round in the chamber.' The company has offered a retrofit of a different hammer mechanism to cure the problem. This will be at no charge to the customer, and details how to proceed may be obtained via email to: LCPRecall@ruger.com, or by phone to the 'recall hotline' at (800) 784-3701. For your troubles, you’ll also receive a free new magazine with a finger extension, like the one that came with one of the Kel-Tec’s two magazines.

For the November 2008 'Downrange,' I wrote that I was in '… a grim mood, because I believe I have seen the future, and the future has shown me that Barack Hussein Obama will become the 44th president of the United States.' Alas, that has come to pass. And at least one Gun Tests reader thought it was my fault. In an email addressed to my alter ego, Tim Woddard, former Gun Tests reader Paul Peterson of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, wrote: 'I personally was appalled at the defeatist attitude you took in this month’s [November 2008] editorial. This election is too important for all gun owners to have a gun publication roll over and give the election to the Senator from Illinois.… [Y]ou are the ONLY publication who is doing anything other than urging their readers to vote AGAINST the Senator from Illinois.… After reading your editorial, I can no longer subscribe to your magazine in good conscience. Please cancel my subscription.'

Last month’s editorial commented on the likelihood that Barack H. Obama would become president of the United States. That likelihood has become certitude. He’ll be sworn in on January 20, 2009—a little over a month from now. That fact has affected the gun market in a way I’ve seen only once before—the day after 9-11. We are seeing what I can only describe as panic buying for civilian self-defense rifles, in particular, semiautomatic AR-15s, AK-47s, SKSes, FALs, and so on. Kevin Winkle, owner of Winkle’s Great Guns and one of Gun Tests’ federal firearms license dealers, wrote me to say, 'I called the nation’s largest gun distributor today, and they were completely sold out of every brand of AR-15 and AK-47 style rifles, magazines and ammunition. They did not know when more would arrive or what the price would be.

Last month’s editorial commented on the likelihood that Barack H. Obama would become president of the United States. That likelihood has become certitude. He’ll be sworn in on January 20, 2009—a little over a month from now. That fact has affected the gun market in a way I’ve seen only once before—the day after 9-11. We are seeing what I can only describe as panic buying for civilian self-defense rifles, in particular, semiautomatic AR-15s, AK-47s, SKSes, FALs, and so on. Kevin Winkle, owner of Winkle’s Great Guns and one of Gun Tests’ federal firearms license dealers, wrote me to say, 'I called the nation’s largest gun distributor today, and they were completely sold out of every brand of AR-15 and AK-47 style rifles, magazines and ammunition. They did not know when more would arrive or what the price would be.