Viewpoints

The National Rifle Association has filed suit against the city of San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom and Police Chief Heather Fong, taking aim at city laws it contends violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

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.

I was surprised at the lack of accuracy of the SA58 in your recent test. I’ve had a different experience. The rifle I shot was bought in early 1999 and was/is pretty much the 'standard' FAL version: carrying handle, 20-inch standard barrel, sheet-metal barrel guard (not quite standard, but close), typical iron sights, plain old factory trigger. My accuracy results for representative five-shot groups ran 3.25 inches, 2.6 inches, 2.75 inches, and 3.25 inches at 100 yards, using iron sights and Winchester white box ammo. My worst group was better than your best group from the data chart. That’s without a scope, without a fancy trigger, without a fancy barrel, and with white box only. Either DSA quality has hurtled downhill in the last few years, or there was something wrong with your rifle—or possibly I got a really sweet and unusual rifle (that’ll be the day). You can probably guess I’m voting for number two. I’ll also say that you can only test the rifle you have, not the one you don’t; so if you got a lemon, them’s the breaks.

I was surprised at the lack of accuracy of the SA58 in your recent test. I’ve had a different experience. The rifle I shot was bought in early 1999 and was/is pretty much the 'standard' FAL version: carrying handle, 20-inch standard barrel, sheet-metal barrel guard (not quite standard, but close), typical iron sights, plain old factory trigger. My accuracy results for representative five-shot groups ran 3.25 inches, 2.6 inches, 2.75 inches, and 3.25 inches at 100 yards, using iron sights and Winchester white box ammo. My worst group was better than your best group from the data chart. That’s without a scope, without a fancy trigger, without a fancy barrel, and with white box only. Either DSA quality has hurtled downhill in the last few years, or there was something wrong with your rifle—or possibly I got a really sweet and unusual rifle (that’ll be the day). You can probably guess I’m voting for number two. I’ll also say that you can only test the rifle you have, not the one you don’t; so if you got a lemon, them’s the breaks.

In a recent Gun Owners of America email, the group called out Republicans who support gun control, in particular Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania.

Three professors of finance and economics in Texas wrote a gun rights–related op-ed piece that was distributed to several newspapers in the state last week. In the article, they said, 'As college professors, we want to reduce the odds of a Virginia Tech massacre happening on a Texas college campus. That's why we encourage the Texas Legislature to allow concealed carry on the state's college campuses.'

An article on NJ.com said the state Supreme Court will tackle gun control today when it considers whether cities and towns may enact laws limiting the sale of firearms. The justices will hear arguments on Jersey's City's attempt to limit handgun purchases to one per month. An appeals court last fall overturned the 2006 ordinance, saying the city had overstepped its bounds because state law already monitors those sales. The lower court said municipal governments don't have…

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.'

I am a longtime subscriber and will continue to be for the indefinite future. I have the highest regard for your publication and consider it to be an invaluable resource to assist me in selecting firearms for future purchase. Your conscientious, almost scientific, approach to testing methods seems fair and reasonable. It is comforting to know that, since you don’t accept commercial advertising, your advice is far less likely to be biased in favor of one brand over another for fear of irritating any certain manufacturer and thus losing an advertising revenue source. You are the Consumer Reports of firearms in my opinion—and for that, you deserve great respect. However, unlike Consumer Reports, you do not test virtually every product currently in production in a particular category. This is your prime failure, I think. For example, I was excited to find that your January 2009 issue included a report on 6.8 SPC AR-style rifles, a particular caliber and type of rifle I intend to purchase very soon. However, I was also immediately disappointed to see your report did not include those two brands currently at the top of my list for consideration—Barrett and Bushmaster. This follows a pattern that has a long history and is my primary disaffection with your magazine. You only cover a small slice of what is available. This doesn’t give me the warm and fuzzy that I’ll be buying the best rifle; only that I’ll be buying the best among those few you tested.

I am a longtime subscriber and will continue to be for the indefinite future. I have the highest regard for your publication and consider it to be an invaluable resource to assist me in selecting firearms for future purchase. Your conscientious, almost scientific, approach to testing methods seems fair and reasonable. It is comforting to know that, since you don’t accept commercial advertising, your advice is far less likely to be biased in favor of one brand over another for fear of irritating any certain manufacturer and thus losing an advertising revenue source. You are the Consumer Reports of firearms in my opinion—and for that, you deserve great respect. However, unlike Consumer Reports, you do not test virtually every product currently in production in a particular category. This is your prime failure, I think. For example, I was excited to find that your January 2009 issue included a report on 6.8 SPC AR-style rifles, a particular caliber and type of rifle I intend to purchase very soon. However, I was also immediately disappointed to see your report did not include those two brands currently at the top of my list for consideration—Barrett and Bushmaster. This follows a pattern that has a long history and is my primary disaffection with your magazine. You only cover a small slice of what is available. This doesn’t give me the warm and fuzzy that I’ll be buying the best rifle; only that I’ll be buying the best among those few you tested.