GunLinkBlog
SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range 2019
In the desert nearly an hour outside of Las Vegas, the cool air is filled with the smell of diesel exhaust and the sound of gunfire. Lots of gunfire. Like, really… a LOT of gunfire.
It isn’t some wild west shootout and, although there will be pistols at noon, they’ll be rattling off shots all day – along with rifles, shotguns, machine guns, and a whole lot more. Welcome to the 2019 SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range.
As they do every year on the day before the NSSF Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trades Show – the industry’s annual B2B expo – oficially opens its doors, nearly 200 vendors and exhibitors meet at shooting range in Boulder City to host invited media and industry buyers. Those in attendance braved the biting wind, easily 15mph all day long, to see industry leaders showcase the latest and greatest hardware that their companies have to offer. Not just to see new guns – but also to shoot them.
Given the political climate several years ago, it seemed as if a lot of firearms R&D had slowed down – perhaps for fear of increased regulation. The relentless attack on 2A rights has not let up in the latest election cycles and, when we saw that a couple familiar names were absent at Range Day, we worried that, instead of innovation, we might just find new lipstick on old pigs. While there was some of that – the same firearm lines with addition of new calibers or colors – we were treated to a few interesting items.
Senate Democrats Waste No Time Attacking Second Amendment Rights
Feinstein & Co. Introduce “Assault Weapons” Ban for 2019
Just a week into the 116th United States Congress a swarm of angry, misinformed democrat politicians have introduced legislation that would ban the sale, manufacture, and importation of hundreds of firearms by name and potentially thousands more based on largely cosmetic characteristics as well as putting the kibosh on any magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds.
Dubbed the Assault Weapons Ban of 2019, the official title of S.66 is A bill to regulate assault weapons, to ensure that the right to keep and bear arms is not unlimited, and for other purposes. Seriously? “To ensure that the right to keep and bear arms is not unlimited?” This from the people who swore an oath to uphold and defend a document that explicitly reads “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Try this on for size: infringe (verb): Act so as to limit or undermine (something); encroach on. Continue reading
Glock Introduces Two New Slimline Models – G43X and G48
G43X and G48 Officially Announced Just Ahead of SHOT Show
Several weeks after an online “leak” began creating buzz about the two new single-stack 9mm Glock pistols, the company officially announced the new additions today.
The rumor mill kicked off with word of the G43X, complete with rendered photos of what the new pistol – a G43’s 3.4″ barrel and 6″ slide atop a .75″ longer grip – would look like. This longer grip gives it a magazine capacity bump of four rounds from six to 10. As several totally-organic posters on social media pointed out that the “X” designation meant that it was crossed something, news of the G48 spread. This latest offering has a nearly identical footprint as the G19 but shaves off a tremendous 0.16″ at a loss of 5 rounds, matching the 43X’s 10 round capacity.
The GLOCK 43X and the GLOCK 48 feature the design of the Slimline series with a silver slide and are a perfect fit for everyday carry. Chambered in 9x19mm, both pistols feature a compact Slimline frame with silver nPVD finish.
“With the success of the Slimline series in the marketplace and over one million GLOCK 43 pistols sold in just three years, the Slimline series pistols have been tested, trusted and proven,” said Glock Vice President Josh Dorsey. “We listened to the consumers request for a GLOCK Slimline model with increased round capacity and both of these pistols deliver that flawlessly. GLOCK’s continued pursuit of perfection drives innovation while not straying from our promise of reliability and durability and that is demonstrated in the G43X and G48.”
Designed for comfort, the G43X and G48 combine a longer grip length with a minimal width around 1” for what the company describes as “a comfortably balanced, versatile grip that’s ideal for a variety of users.” While the two pistols share the same size frame, they have different slide lengths.
These pistols incorporate elements of the Slimline series such as the short trigger distance, a frame with a built-in beavertail, a reversible magazine catch and the match-grade GLOCK Marksman Barrel (GMB). The G43X and G48 also feature precision-milled front serrations. Both models are available in three sight configurations; standard, GLOCK Night Sights (GNS), and our personal favorite, Ameriglo BOLD.
The silver Slimline models G43X and G48 will be showcased at SHOT Show 2019 and will be available on dealer shelves beginning January 21st. The GunLink team will be sure to get some hands-on range time with the new pistols and share our experiences here and in the GunLink Forums SHOT Show board.
For more information about the new Slimline series G43X and G48, contact GLOCK, Inc. or go to https://us.glock.com/a-perfect-fit.
Legal Challenges to Bump Stock Ban Begin Rolling In
As reported Tuesday and discussed on the GunLink Forums, the Department of Justice this week issued a new regulation reversing the BATFE’s longstanding position on bump stock devices. This regulation modifies the meaning of certain words and changes the codified definition of machine gun such that it now includes language inclusive of bump stocks.
This reclassification leads to a situation faced by many hundreds of thousands of owners of such devices whereby they must now either destroy or surrender to the BATFE their lawfully purchased property or become overnight felons in possession of illegal, unregistered machine guns.
No doubt worse than the fact that they must now hand over their property – purchased in good faith with assurance from the BATFE that the device was, in fact, not a machine gun – without compensation, is the manner in which the regulation came about.
To be certain, the regulation is causing an uproar among factions of the firearms community with talk about violations of everything from Article I of the US Constitution’s prohibition on ex post facto laws to various and sundry elements of the Bill of Rights to include the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 9th, and 10th Amendments.
The Cato Institute published a piece rightly stating that “this regulation is not an attempt to clarify a vague law, but to seize political expediency to expand the power of the executive,” continuing that they may reserve their “right to intervene in the coming litigation.”
It should come as no surprise that the first legal challenges to the Bump Stock Ban were put into motion just a few short hours after the announcement that it had been inked by Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker given that the opening shots in this legal battle were fired by some of the more prolific opposition to the change since its early stages. Continue reading
GOA, NRA Offer Differing Views on Trump Admin’s School Safety Report
The White House yesterday announced the final report by the administration’s Federal Commission on School Safety. The full report can be read here.
Calling it a “comprehensive approach to making sure school campuses are safe places,” the commission offered a number of suggestions, including identification and treatment of mental issues, calling on media outlets to stop using names and photos of prolific attackers, and implementation of training, planning, and potentially placing armed staff.
However, the report is drawing mixed responses from pro-gun groups thanks to one contentious point: the recommendation for “extreme risk protection orders” (ERPOs), which the document describes as “also known as gun violence protection orders, risk warrants, or red flag laws, these state laws provide law enforcement (and in some instances, family members) with a legal, temporary way to prevent individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others from possessing or purchasing firearms.” So… basically firearm confiscation and removal of Second Amendment rights without due process.
In a Tuesday statement, NRA-ILA executive director Chris W. Cox highlighted some pet issues, saying “The National Rifle Association applauds the [report]. The report includes a number of recommendations for which the NRA has been advocating for years, including reforming our mental health laws, strengthening school security, and addressing an increasingly violent culture. It also calls on the media to stop reporting the names and photos of mass murderers, which only encourages copycat behavior.“
Despite the fact that existing law – specifically, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) – already “makes it unlawful for [any person 2ho has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution] to ship, transport, receive, or possess firearms or ammunition“, Cox continued to praise the ERPO language of the report. Cox continued, “Finally, we appreciate President Trump’s support for keeping firearms out of the hands of those who have been adjudicated by a court to be a danger to themselves or others in the form of state Extreme Risk Protection Orders — provided they include strong due process protections, require mental health treatment, and include penalties against those who file frivolous charges to harass law-abiding citizens.“
Sorry, Chris – that mechanism for keeping firearms out of those people’s hands, and the due process protections, are already in existing law and, on their face, appear to be precisely the opposite of what ERPOs achieve.
Gun Owners of America’s (GOA) executive director, Erich Pratt responded with a decidedly different take, calling it a continuation of the President’s “take the guns first, due process later rhetoric,” referencing the case of 61-year old Maryland resident Gary Willis, who was killed while officers were executing firearm confiscation orders. According to Breitbart, the details behind the issuance of the confiscation order against Willis were not reported; all that was known was that a niece said one of her aunts requested the order.
Pratt continued, “Instead of resorting to the ‘Minority Report’ style gun control preferred by Michael Bloomberg and Chuck Schumer, President Trump should encourage initiatives like Concealed Carry Reciprocity, repealing gun-free zones and arming teachers — all measures he has vocally supported in the past,” concluding “These Gun Confiscation Orders are a violation of Second, Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, and GOA will continue to stand for the Bill of Rights and oppose these dangerous initiatives.“
Dianne Feinstein Statement on Bump Stock Ban
In absurd reaction to ludicrous regulation, California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein issued the following statement regarding the administration’s new ban which declares the accessory to be a “machine gun.”
For readers not familiar with bump stocks, the device is a firearm accessory – a shoulder stock that is loose fitting enough to allow a rifle equipped with one about half an inch of front-to-rear play. When used as intended, the user pulls forward on the firearm (while the stock stays rearward) – pulling the trigger into the shooter’s finger causing it to fire. The recoil impulse of the round going off causes the rifle to move rearward, resetting the trigger. Subsequent, or continued, forward pulls on the firearm repeat the process, allowing for rapid fire as the trigger is quickly pulled multiple times, once for each shot, in fast semi-auto fire. Oh, the humanity… pulling the trigger quickly!
Below is Senator Feinstein’s hand-wringing statement:
“Bump stocks allow semi-automatic weapons to fire like automatic weapons, making guns like the AR-15 even more deadly. Banning bump stocks has widespread support and it’s encouraging to see the Trump administration take action on this commonsense gun safety proposal.
“However, Congress must pass legislation to ensure a ban on bump stocks and other similar devices is protected from legal challenges.
“Until March 2018, ATF maintained that bump stocks could not be banned through administrative action. Legislation is necessary to ensure a ban is implemented and regulations are not tied up in court.
“Gun Owners of America has already announced its intent to sue to block the ban from taking effect. Congress simply must act to get these dangerous devices off the streets, and I will be reintroducing my bill to ban them early next year.”
