New Suppressor. Seems to cycle recalcitrant barrels nicely and seems pretty quiet. Odd appearance, being squarish and all.

And no, David, you can’t get one. The guys at subguns.com say it’s an import.

Here. Ya know, a lot of people say that their AR spits gas in their face. I have never noticed it.

In a follow up, Insty notes this survival kit by S&W. Personally, for a bug out bag set up, I’m more of a carbine sort of guy. Sure, I’ll have a handgun too (who says you can’t take both) but the carbine is more utilitarian and accurate.

Meanwhile, in comments, Guav asks:

I’m in the process of putting together a large preparedness pack in the event of of some natural disaster or terrorists attack that results in the breakdown of law here in the NYC metropolitan area.

I’m going to order gas masks for my wife and I, some vegetarian MRE’s (I’d eat a deer if I had to, but right now I have the luxury of remaining vegetarian :), water, first aid supplies, etc.

I’m trying to figure out what else I should include, as well as trying to figure out if I am allowed to keep any sort of firearm in my Jersey City apartment. All my guns are upstate at my friend’s house in NY.

I doubt my supplies would remain in our possession for very long without a means to defend them.

Well, my first preference in such a situation would be to stay at home. My family and I could live quite comfortably for weeks at my home even if power were cut off. We have plenty of grub, beverages, blankets, and such around the house. We even have a nice, clean creek running through our property for water. For those without creeks, make sure you fill all your pots, pans, and tubs with water just in case.

That said, at times, staying home might not be an option. So, what’s in your bag? I have a large plastic tub filled with our camping gear (gas stoves, knives, axes, fishing gear). But what else?

Personally, I’d grab Mr. Blasty and the Glock 30. I have a bout 10 loaded mags for the former and five for the latter. I’d probably also go ahead and grab El Nino for the Mrs. And I’d grab the bore snakes and some oil. And that’s it for guns. Though having a good 22 rifle is also a thought.

Other stuff includes:

food

toilet paper

flashlights: lots of them. My two favorites are my Surefire G2 Nitrolon (for lighting up the world) and my Streamlight TwinTask (which can light up the world and switch to LED mode for many hours of use)

tool box

extra batteries for everything (Seriously, I have the Sam’s Club monster pack of AAs)

First aid kit

Phones

Blankets and bedding

Kids meds

Radio

Knives and cutlery

Cups

Metal pots

Sanitizers (soaps and such)

Printed copy of the US Army Survival Manual (you can buy one, but it’s free here)

Tent

Propane for my stove

And other stuff I’m sure I’m forgetting. What’s in your bag?

Update: Perusing my archives, I found these items:

Kim du Toit’s items

Les Jones on the issue.

Counter on the issue.

Good stuff. I suppose I should revisit this issue every once in a while and keep my supplies updated.

Frank J nails it: Lapse of Assault Weapons Ban Causing Guns It Didn’t Ban to Flood the Streets!

45Superman notes CNN gun follies past. A folly CNN retracted.

Note in the CNN piece that when when the police have politically incorrect self-loading firearms, they are often referred to as merely semi-automatic rifles. When they’re not for the police, they are assault weapons. And notice also that, while non-police politically incorrect self-loading firearms are designed to be spray fired from the hip (a falsehood that comes directly from Violence Policy Center propaganda), when the police use them they mysteriously fire a single shot at a time and are more accurate.

No, this is not one of those lists where someone posts their favorite guns and then Kim tells us that Glocks and AR-15s suck. No, this is the top 10 guns used in crime as reported by the ATF (note data is from 2002):

1. Smith and Wesson .38 revolver
2. Ruger 9 mm semiautomatic
3. Lorcin Engineering .380 semiautomatic
4. Raven Arms .25 semiautomatic
5. Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun
6. Smith and Wesson 9mm semiautomatic
7. Smith and Wesson .357 revolver
8. Bryco Arms 9mm semiautomatic
9. Bryco Arms .380 semiautomatic
10. Davis Industries .380 semiautomatic

Notice 1) a trend and 2) what’s missing?

Update: From PN NJ in comments, FBI stats on guns used to kill police.

It’s all America’s fault.

Greg has prepared a quick guide for taking newbies to the range.

Over at Petzal’s, Fred fields some questions:

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives should have as its priority its efforts to combat violent crime, violent criminal gangs, and to interdict and disrupt the gun traffickers who supply violent gang members with firearms. While one way to curb illicit gun trafficking is to ensure that legitimate dealers maintain their paperwork in good order, these paperwork violations should in no way be BATFE’s focus. I would also consider giving BATFE a wider range of sanctions so that dealers’ simple paperwork violations do not result in license revocations. Finally, having a politically accountable BATFE Director, who is now subject to Senate confirmation, instead of a career bureaucrat should also help change BATFE’s priorities and make the agency more responsive.

As I’ve said before, going after the paperwork violations is a good way to inflate their numbers without the risk of, you know, getting shot.

Apparently, there’s a day for that.

Seen on a bumper sticker on the way to work:

Politicians and diapers need to be changed for the same reason.

School evacuated after finding a gun cleaning kit.

And I say that as a redneck. Glenn notes:

SO I WAS AT STAPLES THE OTHER DAY, and they were hawking this Grab ‘n’ Go Emergency Kit up front, next to the printer paper and the antivirus programs. Just further evidence of the mainstreaming of survivalism.

Mainstreaming of survivalism is an excellent way of putting it. After all, Disney is teaching our kids about survival kits and bug out bags.

Anti-gun Republican loses re-election bid. Good.

When they come pre-fisked, blogging is easy.

I was going to blast this bit by Paul Helmke in which he parrots untruths about Mexico and gun shows but Thirdpower reminded me that I already did.

And Paul gets the facts wrong on how the Columbine kids got their weapons.

Radley:

Why do candidates who propose abolishing federal agencies get painted as fringe wackjobs, while candidates who propose we create multiple new ones are viewed as inspiring visionaries?

Candidate A says, “This cabinet-level federal agency isn’t working, and hasn’t in the 30 years of its existence, despite an ever-increasing budget. Let’s abolish it and save the taxpayers money.” Candidate B says, “This cabinet-level federal agency isn’t working, and hasn’t in the 30 years of its existence, despite an ever-increasing budget. Let’s spend more money on it!”

Candidate A is invariably painted as a nut, while candidate B, who’s parroting ol’ Al Einstein’s very definition of insanity, is cast as the clear-thinking, optimistic guy with all the good ideas.

The status quo: it’s easier than thinking!

Now that Malaysia is getting into the M4 making game. I recall a bit back that China was starting to make M4s but there are several import restrictions on anything firearm related coming from China.

I don’t care who you are, that’s funny.

Man, I wish I could vote on my own raises and bonuses. Maybe I should run for Congress? Sadly, here in the real world, my raises and bonuses are based on, you know, performance.

More All AK All The Time.

Again:

It represents the worst sort of base appeal to emotions that the anti-gun side has to offer, and the article itself reads like a Brady Campaign press release. I’ll debunk the factual inaccuracies here.

Dustin notes:

This is a repeat of the same lies & propaganda spewed by CBS news earlier this month as reported in blog entries such as Days of our Trailers & Say Uncle, with new lies added in by CNN for extra putrid flavoring.

And, the funniest bit about this, comes from Carnaby:

Two days ago, on November 4, 2007, The Real Gun Guys Posted The Journalist’s Guide to Gun Violence Coverage. Two days later, on November 6, 2007, CNN.com publishd on the front page of their website Cops find themselves in arms race with criminals. Let’s have a rundown:

Sebastian: I mean, why even bother to fact check?

They don’t. They just take dictation from The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership.

All you need to know about Feldman’s book: Former ATF Director John W. Magaw, who at one time declared that the ATF is not anti-gun, has endorsed Richard Feldman’s latest anti-gun book Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist.

Err, no I will not wear a ribbon because, well, wearing ribbons doesn’t result in any substantive social change whatsoever. And, well, I have no problem with dirty movies. I think I will try to get me a Debbie Does Dallas ribbon, though.

So, I’m dealing with auditors from a random government agency (yay, short straw!). All is going well and no problems. Today, having not heard from them in months and assuming that they’d concluded with no findings, one of the auditors calls me and says: Well, we need to get you guys to sign a waiver as we’re approaching the end of statutory period for conducting the audit.

Me: Huh?

Them: Yeah, the statute of limitations is running out and we need you to sign a waiver stating that it’s OK if we proceed.

Me: That’s a nice big cup of the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard. You want me to grant you an extension for the sole purpose of making my life unnecessarily difficult over what amounts to an insignificant amount of money.

Them: err, well . . .

Me: Wow.

I’m torn. I’m inclined to not sign just on general principle. But that would likely have the effect of making future audits far less, err, friendly.

Send some Robb’s way.

Yeah, pretty much:

The money and support being funneled to Paul is not about Ron Paul and the totality of his message but is instead about anger at the Republican Party and the government.

Shit to do. Maybe later.

So, a former gun lobby guy is in the news. Sebastian sets us straight on why he was outed and it’s because he was to willing to compromise.

See, shooters/self-defense types aren’t the only ones taking issue with the NRA:

The NRA (Not Really an Ally), it seems, is up to its old tricks again, playing the bogus “access” card to cover its tracks with hunters, who it no longer represents due to its strident support of anti-wildlands, habitat-desecrating politicians and positions. The most recent example of this is the NRA’s opposition to protecting a part of the Browns Canyon area in Chaffee County as Wilderness.

Ahab gets to the crux of the issue and notes:

So, because he doesn’t like ATVs, but the NRA has decided to defend the access of all sportsmen, then clearly the NRA is bad, right? Unfortunately, the author let his personal bias against the NRA and off-road vehicles color his writing – and it ruined any point he may have made.

275 round, drum fed upper receiver for M-16s.

A continuing trend:

Industry Sales Up 36 Percent in Second Quarter

EXCISE TAX CONTRIBUTIONS TOP $3 BILLION . . . The latest report of Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax Collections released by the Department of the Treasury indicates that firearm and ammunition manufacturers paid more than $76.6 million in the second calendar quarter, up 36 percent over the same time period in 2006, and bringing the 15-year cumulative industry excise tax contribution to more than $3 billion. The second-quarter increase was driven by strong handgun sales, up 44.8 percent, long-gun sales, up 37 percent, and ammo sales, up 29.2 percent. It is projected that $715.5 million in sales was generated in the quarter, not including retail markup or final retail sales. NSSF continues to campaign on behalf of the industry, however, for a more equitable, pro-growth, pro-conservation excise tax payment schedule. Excise taxes are calculated as a percentage of wholesale receipts, paid quarterly by firearm and ammunition manufacturers, and earmarked for state wildlife conservation and habitat restoration programs.

Bitter has some reservations about the numbers though. Material prices have gone up and the increase in the taxes would coincide with that. But, generally, I’ve only noticed ammo prices going up while firearm prices seem to have remained constant or increased at a level that is immaterial.

Bob Krumm on Ron Paul’s outstanding fundraising:

I’ve been watching Paul’s fundraising totals, and have seen him raise more than $200,000 in less than an hour. Very impressive. He won’t win, but unlike Hunter, Tancredo, and maybe even Huckabee, he won’t be ignored either. It’s too bad that this money isn’t going to a more viable candidate.

The implication is that, because Ron Paul is can’t win, this is wasted money and effort. I disagree. People should support their favorite candidates or else you can’t encourage more candidates who share your views to run. Bob continues:

It’s also too bad that Fred Thompson, who on Federalism (where I do agree with the learned doctor) is closer to Paul’s position than any of the others, hasn’t found a way to connect with some of those voters/donors.

Good point.