Viewpoints

In a landmark ruling, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans held October 16 that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right of individuals to keep and bear arms. The court rejected the arguments of the Clinton administrations Justice Department that the Second Amendment does not apply to individuals but merely recognizes the right of the state to arm its militia.

The case, United States v. Emerson, arose out of a Texas divorce suit in which a restraining order had been issued against the husband, Dr. Timothy Joe Emerson, who was subsequently charged with violating a federal law that prohibits the possession of firearms while under such a...

.348 Winchester Followup
I was thoroughly enjoying the May 2001 issue of Gun Tests, when I read the following quote in your article on Monster Handguns: The .500 was based on the .348 Winchester case, supplies of which were drying up a few years back. However, with Buffalo Bore churning out good loads in good brass for the .500, and with several new rifles chambered in .348 Winchester on the market, the brass supply problem is gone.

This last line cause me to stop in my tracks! Ive been shopping for a reasonably priced Winchester or Browning model 71 for years. Most of the good Winchesters are priced beyond my means, and Ive have never laid eyes on a Browning of recent...

The events of September 11 are still fresh, and they sting, and even infuriate me. Every day seems to bring a new insult, either the mounting confirmed death toll (which seems to have settled around 6,000), or a new videotaped message from Osama bin Laden.

Beyond the daily irritations, however, more serious factors are at work. For instance, there is a new emphasis on security that Americans will have to live with, primarily at airports. I dont have a problem with that, except that I wont be able to carry my 3-inch Spyderco pocketknife on board airplanes any more. Thats a shame; it was handy for opening packages of crackers.

Since Ill have to put up with inconveniences small and la...

.32 ACP Cover Photo
I hope I am not the only one who noticed, but the person holding the Beretta on the cover (and on page 10) of the October 2001 issue has her thumbs crossed in the old revolver style hold. Hope she has good health insurance for all the stitching shell need on that left thumb when the slide comes racing back. -

-Fred Dahnke
from ix.netcom.com

No, youre not the only one who noticed, and youre right. I missed this technical flaw when I photographed the image and in the editing process. Mea culpa.

-Todd Woodard

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.32 ACP Bias
Thanks for the review of the .32 caliber guns. Your disd...

I am still shocked at the images on the television. Terrorists hijacked four airplanes today, September 11, 2001, and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center buildings in Manhattan, and a third into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. A fourth plane went down in western Pennsylvania. Its target, or even if it was part of this coordinated attack, is unknown as I write this.

Certainly we are all saddened by the human toll these attacks have wrought. Public officials in New York City and in Washington wont even hazard a guess yet. However, at the minimum several hundred died on the planes themselves and scores, likely thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, died in the explosions, fires,...

Glocks .357 SIGs
While reading your excellent article comparing the .357 SIG pistols (August 2001), I noticed that the Glock 31 had a trigger pull of 2.8 pounds while the Glock 32 had a trigger pull of 7.0 pounds and the Glock 33 had a trigger pull of 7.5 pounds. Your article did not mention a target trigger installed in the Glock 31. I mention this because a target trigger pull of 2.8 pounds would, in my opinion, be considered as unsafe for a duty firearm.

I also noticed that the Trigger Span DA of the Glock 31 was different from the other two Glock pistols. The Glock 31 was 2.7 inches, while each of the other Glocks was 2.8 inches. This difference may be due to the inst...

GUN BUYBACKS END. The Bush administration has announced that it will no longer fund a controversial gun-buyback program by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The legality of the program, which was launched by former HUD secretary Andrew Cuomo, was questioned from the start because it diverted federal money earmarked for eliminating illegal drugs from public housing projects.

A preliminary study of the HUD-funded program conducted by a University of Missouri-St. Louis researcher concluded that they are not effective. There is no evidence that they directly reduce gun violence in the form of assaults or gun homicides.

VANGUARD SAFETY UPGRADE. We...

In your July 2001 issue, you selected the Glock 17 and 26 as the best duos. I agree. These guns have long been my favorites for personal defense weapons. But I was surprised that you failed to tell your readers about two of the main features that make these guns compatible. First, the 17s magazines will fit in the 26, which will includes the pre-ban high-capacity models. They protrude out the bottom of the grip, but that gives you a place for the little finger that you were looking for. This also makes extra magazines available.

Also, both guns can use the same holsters, especially belt slides and the Fobus paddle. These two guns are truly companions that offer tremendous firepower when...

Gun Wisdom
As I write this, theres a big United Nations conference going on that seeks to control the so-called illicit gun trade between nations. This is chilling, because there are few countries in the world outside the U.S. which respect gun ownership. Its not too big a reach to think that gun confiscationists worldwide will take any trade restrictions on any firearms they can get anywhere, since their ultimate agenda is to take everyones right to self-defense away wherever they can. That makes controlling people-and murdering them in the name of the good of the state-much easier to accomplish.

I received an unsigned email the other day that included a few additiona...

Strong Chamber Walls
Regarding the matter of our .480 Ruger Super Redhawk chamber walls (May 2001), please be advised that no less than four major metallurgical and engineering publications have run feature stories about our breakthrough metallurgy utilized in the new .480 and .454 Ruger Super Redhawk revolver cylinders.

I hope you will inform your readers that your writers concern about chamber-wall thickness was unfounded, and that our pioneering efforts have resulted in new materials and construction which safely permit the use of a six-shot cylinder for all factory loadings of these powerful new cartridges. Extensive research and testing was of course done upon these cy...

Many shooters will be happy to learn that Smith & Wesson, or whats left of it, has been purchased by Saf-T-Hammer Corp., the Scottsdale-based firearms-safety and security company.

Smith & Wesson, a brand name for 147 years, would be at the top of any list of immediately identifiable corporate logos recognized worldwide, said Bob Scott, president of Saf-T-Hammer and former vice president of Smith & Wesson.

Tomkins Corp., a subsidiary of U.K.-based Tomkins PLC, sold Smith & Wesson for $15 million in cash, with $5 million paid upon closing and the balance due in May 2002. As of the close, Smith & Wessons total assets were approximately $97 million, which includes two manufacturing fa...

Whither The Gun Industry?
A suggestion: You might want to test a Carbon-15 as a continuation of your Lightweight AR-15 test in the June 2001 issue. That gun has been getting a number of positive gun reviews elsewhere, which is very suspect. The gun is being sold at a significant discount by CDNN Investments, which might be an unintended indicator of quality and corporate longevity.

I called the company to ask about reliability (the ultimate test of any AR), and got an unfriendly non-answer, which might be the only test that I need.

This led me to think that it is almost impossible to get an unbiased review of guns these days outside of your magazine. I believe that the...