Viewpoints

Writing on SCOTUSblog, a website that reports on Supreme Court activities, Lyle Denniston said:'On a pace that very likely will put them in the Supreme Court at its next term, three significant test cases on the scope of the Second Amendment — the “gun rights” Amendment — are moving along in the lower courts. Briefing on the core question of whether state and local governments must obey the Amendment — and thus allow private ownership of handguns, for example — will be completed in the Seventh Circuit Court by mid-March. Argument and a decision by summer appear likely.

This from Alice Tripp of the Texas State Rifle Association: 'House Bill H.R. 45, introduced in Congress on 1/6/2009, aka 'Brian Holt’s Bill,' is an interesting read. Apparently, every gun owner will need to get a license [under this bill]. To get one, you’ll need the following:

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has introduced the Respecting States’ Rights and Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.

To see how the 'community activist' model of gun control is working internationally, gun owners need look no further than the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), a London-based gun group headed by notorious gun-confiscationist Rebecca Peters.

AUSTIN, Tex. -- Howard Nemerov, writing in the Austin Gun Rights Examiner, has an excellent critique of how the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence fudged its numbers to claim too-high win rates of the anti-gun group's endorsed candidates:

However, his view on guns isn't as strong as many of us would like.

The newly sworn-in President opted not to appear at what should have been one of the most important Balls on his agenda that evening - The Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This is now posted on the whitehouse.gov website under The Agenda>Urban Policy>Crime and Law Enforcement: Obama and Biden would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun-trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade.

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.

An the opinion of many experienced shooters, the 45 Auto is the caliber of choice in self-defensive pistols. However, most of these guns, like the classic 1911 Colt, are big and heavy. Therefore, they often get left behind for a lighter piece, which generally is of lower power. If you still want the power of a 45, why not go to a smaller and lighter gun?

We found three such pistols for this test, and gave them a wring-out. They were a Colt CCO, no longer in the Colt stable but available on the used or new-old-service market for about $1250, depending on condition; the recently introduced SIG Sauer 1911 C3 No. 19GS0031, $1143; and a new PM45-series pistol from Kahr, the PM4543, $855. The Kahr was not quite the same setup but clearly had the same intent as the other two, to deliver big power in a smaller, lighter package.

Both the SIG and Colt had aluminum frames, and they featured the old Colt Officer's Model handle with the Commander-length slide. Most of our test group believes this is the ideal setup for a 1911-type 45 auto, but those with large, wide hands might prefer a gun like the lightweight Commander, which has a bigger grip. The Kahr had its usual ergonomically designed polymer grip with stainless slide, and of course was DAO. We tested with three types of ammunition, Federal 185-grain Hi-Shok JHP, Federal 230-grain ball, and with Cor-Bon 185-grain JHP. We also tried a few groups with Federal Gold-Medal Match, 185-grain TC bullets. Here's what we found.

The ammunition we choose varies largely with the type of firearm being tested. We would not expect a 22 target rifle to perform its best with inexpensive ammunition, yet very often they surprise us. And we sometimes get the worst performance with the 'best' ammo. We try to choose the types of ammunition the average user might grab and take to the range. We always try to use at least one 'premium' brand to give the gun a chance to shine. It’s nice to know you have some good guns and can outshoot all of us and all of our guns. But 1-inch groups with iron sights at 50 yards are not really bad. For example, the test 69A fired a 0.33-inch group, five shots at 50 yards, a few years ago with RWS Rifle Match. We cannot test our guns with all the available ammunition, or we’d never get to press.