Editorial

Over on GunReports.com, I read about a case to be heard by the Supreme Court of the United States which might result in felony charges and jail time for any person, outlet or entity that shows or sells depictions of hunting activities. You might think that this is just a media guy whining about the 1st Amendment not protecting his Andres Serrano jars. But welcome to the world today! Depending on the outcome of United States of America v. Robert J. Stevens, if you post images of you and your favorite AR-15 on Facebook and something in the image isn’t legal everywhere, you might get fitted for a pair of S&W bracelets. The facts in Stevens are these: Robert J. Stevens of Virginia was convicted of criminal charges for producing and selling films about dogs, specifically pit bulls. Stevens’ conviction was overturned as a result of a Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision that said the law relied upon to convict Stevens was unconstitutional. But the government appealed, and the case is now being heard by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Former U.S. Representative Bob Barr wrote a chilling item in the Atlanta Journal Constitution recently. He said, 'The secret government ‘Terrorist Watch List,’ reportedly already swelled to more than 1.1 million names, will have an addendum, if gun control advocates in Congress have their way. This new addendum‚ also to be cloaked in secrecy‚ would empower the U.S. Attorney General to deny a person the ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights to purchase a firearm. 'While it is not surprising that some members of Congress are again using fear of terrorism to implement a gun-control agenda, the openly unconstitutional legislative language proponents are employing is troubling.

Former U.S. Representative Bob Barr wrote a chilling item in the Atlanta Journal Constitution recently. He said, 'The secret government ‘Terrorist Watch List,’ reportedly already swelled to more than 1.1 million names, will have an addendum, if gun control advocates in Congress have their way. This new addendum‚ also to be cloaked in secrecy‚ would empower the U.S. Attorney General to deny a person the ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights to purchase a firearm. 'While it is not surprising that some members of Congress are again using fear of terrorism to implement a gun-control agenda, the openly unconstitutional legislative language proponents are employing is troubling.

We promised GT readers an update on the A- grade we gave the Savage 30-06 AccuStock reviewed in the June issue. Last month, we said, 'The Savage 111FCNS 30-06 Springfield was easy to use, comparatively comfortable to shoot, easy to operate and easy to shoot well.…' But the grip cap fell off the gun—leaving a gaping hole—which didn’t affect function, but which certainly affected our perception of the gun’s quality. We added that, 'We’d buy this Savage; it very much deserves and gets this A-. If we get the stock resolved satisfactorily, we’ll let you know and bump that up to an A.'

We promised GT readers an update on the A- grade we gave the Savage 30-06 AccuStock reviewed in the June issue. Last month, we said, 'The Savage 111FCNS 30-06 Springfield was easy to use, comparatively comfortable to shoot, easy to operate and easy to shoot well.…' But the grip cap fell off the gun—leaving a gaping hole—which didn’t affect function, but which certainly affected our perception of the gun’s quality. We added that, 'We’d buy this Savage; it very much deserves and gets this A-. If we get the stock resolved satisfactorily, we’ll let you know and bump that up to an A.'

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.

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