Editorial

FINGERPRINTING GUNS NOT SO EASY. In a report to Californias legislature, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer acknowledges his Department of Justice finds technical limitations and a poor success rate in its attempts to expand ballistic imaging technology, designed to identify individual firearms found at crime scenes, into a database encompassing non-crime firearms.

The California Department of Justices own Bureau of Forensic Services used fewer than 800 semi-automatic handguns to test the system, and its experts discovered failure rates as high as 62.5 percent in attempts to match cartridge components with the handguns that fired them. Each year, according to the attorney gen...

THE NUTTY NINTH CIRCUIT: For better or worse, it seems that the issue of individual gun rights might be headed for a Supreme Court showdown.

The reason: Before Christmas, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals made a reasoned, if mistaken, argument that put the California court at odds with the Fifth Circuit, which held last year in U.S. v. Emerson that the Second Amendment does, in fact, protect an individuals right to firearms.

The Ninth Circuits decision came in a case called Silveira v. Lockyer, which pitted nine plaintiffs against the state of California, which a decade ago banned assault weapons. But the law made an exception for individuals who owned such weapons...

TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS? If you had wondered if Smith & Wesson could recover from its troubles and travails, perhaps an advance look at one of the companys 2003 product introductions might suggest the company is returning to good health:

The SW99 line will be expanded with the addition of a full-size .45 ACP pistol and two compacts. The .45 ACP SW99 pistol will feature a 4.25-inch barrel, 9 + 1 capacity, and weigh 25.6 ounces. The compacts will be available in a 9mm and .40 S&W version. All these SW99s will feature interchangeable backstraps, interchangeable front sights and adjustable rear sights. From our perspective, the most interesting of these guns will be the SW1911, a 191...

NATIONAL AMMO DAY. A grass-roots activist who coined the idea for National Ammo Day says hes hopeful about the results of what he calls a BUYcott.

Kim du Tuit is a self-employed database management consultant living near Dallas, and he had the idea that hunters and shooters nationwide should pick up an extra 100 rounds of ammunition last month on November 19. He says he had nothing to gain from the idea, except that he wanted to send a message to people trying to infringe on his rights by encouraging an increase in the sales of ammunition on that day.

On his website, Mr. Du Tuit wrote, There are an estimated 75 million gun owners in the United States of America. If each gun...

BATF TO JUSTICE?
Its long been debated that all or part of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, well known by its acronym BATF, should be moved from the Treasury Department to the Justice Department. Those discussions have been renewed as part of the Bush administrations overall realigning of the federal governments law-enforcement operations. Over the years, various administrations have considered reassigning ATF to other agencies. Much of the debate has historically focused on how best to handle the Bureaus two branches: its criminal law-enforcement arm, responsible for enforcing the nations firearms and explosives laws, and its regulatory division responsible for...

ROSS CARTER UPDATE
After spending 50 days in the Burn Unit of St. Johns Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, Ross Carter and Diane Hammond have returned home to Harrison, Arkansas, with continuing treatment on an outpatient basis. Carter is a well-respected gunsmith we consult on a regular basis.

One of the ways in which money is being raised to help Carter and Hammond get back on their feet is by donation of custom guns by renowned gunsmiths for raffle. One such gun was a Kimber Gold Match tuned by Richard Heinie. This is a special-edition model that was originally donated for raffle at the first Factory Gun Nationals run by Dick Metcalf of PASA Park. The raffle winner, Rog...

BILL RUGER DIES. William Batterman Ruger, founder and Chairman Emeritus of Sturm, Ruger & Company, the largest firearms manufacturer in the United States, died Saturday, July 6, 2002, at age 86.

Ruger had a hand in the original design and time-honored styling of every firearm his company has produced, and continued to work on new creations up until his death. The company has produced more than 20,000,000 firearms for hunting, target shooting, collecting, self-defense, law enforcement and government agencies.Ruger teamed with Alexander McCormick Sturm and established Sturm, Ruger & Company in 1949. Rugers first firearm introduction in 1949 was a stylish .22-caliber target pisto...

LOCKED AND UNLOADED. Knight-Ridder newspapers have reported that armed National Guard troopers deployed to airports for security following September 11 did not always carry ammunition in their pistols or M16 rifles, though they may have had access to magazines loaded with live rounds. National Guardsmen called up for security remained under the control of their states governor, who determined policy on firearms. According to Guardsmen who served at Philadelphias airport for seven months following the terrorist attacks, the armed soldiers at 16 airports around Pennsylvania were forbidden from patrolling with loaded firearms. The newspapers report that New York Guardsmen were also...

EXPLOSION INJURES CARTER. Ross Carter, a master gunsmith who has advised the Gun Tests staff on handgun and combat-shooting issues, and his companion Diane Hammond, were the victims of an explosion and fire at their North Arkansas home in early June. They were flown to the burn unit at St. Johns Hospital in Springfield, Missouri. At the time of this writing, Carter was in critical condition with third-degree burns over 50% of his body. Hammond was undergoing skin grafts. We consider ourselves lucky to know Carter, and have depended on him for honest, clear assessments of complicated issues regarding firearms design and application. We hope youll remember them in your thoughts and...

Ohio Court Says Concealed Gun Ban Unconstitutional. A three-judge panel of an Ohio appellate court has unanimously ruled that a state law barring the carrying of concealed firearms violates its citizens constitutional right to protect themselves. The 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals ruled April 10 that the 75-year-old law was vague and subjective, and effectively prohibits law-abiding citizens from bearing weapons. Ohios Constitution provides that the people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security. The plaintiffs in the case had argued that the state law prevented them from exercising that right. The appeals court decision upholds a ruling earlier this ye...

To improve the speed and efficiency of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has announced new government initiatives to streamline the approval process as well as to prevent illegal aliens and other prohibited persons from purchasing firearms. Highlights of the announcement include:

• Increased federal assistance to help states update and automate their criminal history files, and also new federal/state efforts for prosecuting those who illegally obtain and sell guns, and prosecuting those who commit crimes with firearms on school grounds.

• Under new NICS rules, the FBI will coordinate with the Immigration and Natu...

Reader Bill Vogel recently had a question that periodically requires explanation. He said:

I have just subscribed and received my first issue. I have a question. I understand what Dont Buy means. But what is the difference between Buy It, Buy, and Conditional Buy?

Buy It and Buy are two ways of saying the same thing. Most often, our rankings take the imperative verb form of a recommendation, such as on page 24 in this issue. There, we write, Springfield Armory MilSpec 1911A1, $682. Buy It. But we could have just as easily have written, Springfield Armory MilSpec 1911A1, $682. We would Buy this gun....

Conditional Buy means there is some condition...