Though some shooters might not agree, there is other news happening on the gun front besides the latest goings-on at S&W. Here’s a sampling of informational nuggets for your careful consideration:
Army Reserve Programs Standing Down? An email from Helmut J. Hein Lynn Belcher, assistant branch chief, Individual Training Branch, U.S. Army Reserve Command, started in classic military form: “It is my sad duty to inform you that the USAR is the first military organization to cancel competitive marksmanship activities. Hopefully, the USAR will be the only one to do so.”
To those of us who have been in awe of Reserve shooters at the Camp Perry national matches or in international competitions, this is a sad development. One of this country’s great institutions is falling prey to a Clinton-led garroting. Big surprise.
You’ll Like This. The National Shooting Sports Foundation and seven police firearms companies have filed suit in federal court against Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Andrew Cuomo, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and mayors and other officials of 14 municipalities, charging them with an illegal conspiracy in restraint of trade and in violation of the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.
Robert Delfay, president of the NSSF, said, “We are here to expose a plan that brazenly places political self-interest above police and citizen safety.” NSSF is the voice of the firearms industry, with more than 1,800 members who are involved in all aspects of the shooting sports. The firearms companies involved in the suits are Beretta U.S.A. Corp., Browning Arms, Inc., Colt’s Manufacturing, Inc., Glock, Inc., SIG Arms, Inc., Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., and Taurus International Manufacturing, Inc.
USPSA Adds Three New Divisions. The United States Practical Shooting Association, which sanctions the sport of Practical Shooting, has once again expanded the scope of competitive equipment. To bring in more shooters and a wider variety of brands, the USPSA is now offering awards in three new divisions.
Limited 10 Division: Allows for guns to be modified in nearly any fashion save optical sights and porting, but limits ammo capacity to 10 rounds in the magazine.
Revolver Division: Allows shooters to fire factory-made wheelguns available to the general public.
Production Division. Allows shooters to use currently available self-defense guns. Minimum caliber is 9mm. Maximum capacity is 10 in the mag, notch-and-post open sights only, and trigger actions that avoid cocked-and-locked carry.
These new USPSA divisions will provide fresh test criteria for our staff. We can’t wait to find out which of the currently available handguns will give us the winning edge in these new areas of competition.
-Todd Woodard
