$1 million Prizes to Make Guns Safer

Smart Tech Challenges Foundation, founded by a number of entrepeneurs is planning to give awards for innovations that makes guns safer.

Ya, sounds pretty much gun control fare, and the article states most entries are biometric.  That said, nothing prevents us pro-gun folks from submitting.

• Anyone have any ideas for an automatic squib round detector?
• Or idiot detector has detected idiot not following the 3/4 rules.

They did say the initiative “In no way do our efforts challenge the right to bear arms” focusing on safety rather than gun control. That said, always skeptical of such claims.

That said, clicking on the applications only seems to collect “user information”, with no place to submit proposal. And frankly, I see no reason to collect date of birth. If you want to verify an age, just ask for year of birth, that’s wholly sufficient.  Frankly, the website is piss-poor, especially for one claiming venture capitalist funding – I could throw up better in a couple of hours. I’ll laugh if CNN got taken by a SCAM contact harvesting group…

But it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s just gross incompetence common in the gun control group world.

***

As for innovations, smart technology, etc. I am fine with it…even mandating it for new guns.  Just require every police officer to utilize such, and I’ll accept it. Cause if it’s good enough for the line of duty, then it’s good enough for me. And if it’s not good enough for the line of duty, it surely is not good enough to keep my precious family safe.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/29/technology/innovation/smart-gun/index.html?source=cnn_bin

Skeletonized AR15

X Products “Ultimate Skeletonized AR15” – RECOIL

H/T
http://www.recoilweb.com/x-products-ultimate-skeletonized-ar15-38529.html

Folks can debate the merits of such a design.  Regardless, it’s a pretty nifty look.

My initial thoughts on the merits and demerits are thus:
+ reduced weight
+ reduced materials
+ advanced engineering structures can in fact be stronger than solid members (we see this in architecture all the time, where a beam is designed to direct the flow of forces providing far far more strength for the weight)
– open areas provide places for objects and dirt to get into and cause jams
– impact durability is reduced
Okay, now with all that said, is it just me…or do you want to paint this red and blue and add a launch tube to shoot sticky nets, and call it the “SpidAR Gun”

Something akin to this cycle but done to a skeletonized AR15.

Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47, dies at 94

A sign of a truly great design is that it outlasts its inventor. As great as the Ford Model T was, it’s life was but a few years. Even the VW Beetle, perhaps one of the longest running ageless designs saw its day.

But the AK-47 is still being manufactured and used today after nearly 6 decades. Also realize that the AK-47 is a “Generation 2” assault rifle. Meaning it followed shortly after the very first German models.

(This is akin to being a Motorola MicroTAC 9800X in the cell phone world.)

In 2009, Kalashnikov told CNN that two main qualities described the AK-47: simplicity and reliability.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/23/world/europe/mikhail-kalashnikov-dies/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Fun with X-rays

The following article/gallery features a bunch of items that were X-rayed by a large scanner.  Car, robot, plane (done in sections), but half of them are firearms.  So I thought my readers might enjoy.

3D Printed Metal 1911 – using laser sintering

“Solid Concepts is a world leader of 3D Printing services, and our ability to 3D Print the world’s first metal gun solidifies our standing. The gun is a classic 1911, a model that is at once timeless and public domain. It functions beautifully.”

http://blog.solidconcepts.com/industry-highlights/worlds-first-3d-printed-metal-gun/

Solid Concepts 1911

This is actually a manufacturing leap.  Not an at home type project, as my understanding is that laser sintering 3D printing machines are extremely expensive. But technology gets cheaper as it ages (unless it is a medical device under FDA regulation).  And the potential of this technology being affordable in 20-30 years is not an impossibility.

Metal production offers a lot of advantages over plastic, obviously. And this project appears more so to be used by a 3D laser sintering company to show how good the technology is; demonstrating the ability to produce a barrel that withstands high pressure, and the fine tolerances a 1911 pistol requires.

Either way, I find it rather exciting.

I seem to have lost a pallet of AR15s

Shipping warehouse apparently loses an entire pallet of AR15’s (63 rifles) being shipped from Colt in Connecticut.  The sheriff’s list the value of the rifles at $800 each. 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/23/justice/missing-ar-15-arrests/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

OKAY, anyone else know where I can get a Colt AR rifle for a mere $800?

Ruger SR-762

Ruger has just announced a variant of their SR-556 design, now built around and chambered for the NATO 7.62/.308 cartridge.

Ruger SR-762

http://ruger.com/products/sr762/features.html

I’m kind of excited, and here is why…

When the SR-556 came out. I really liked it. I liked the lines and configuration and the piston action (always debatable).  There was one draw back, it’s not a standard AR. And one of the biggest selling points of the AR is that it is universal, replacement parts are available from hundreds of manufacturers.  Perhaps why it is the proverbial SHTF rifle, along with the Glock being the proverbial SHTF pistol. They are just so ubiquitous. So while I really liked it. I decided it probably makes more sense for me to first purchase a base AR15.

That said, I long thought that the SR-556 had an interesting potential not realized. The originall SR-556 could be set to a single-shot, non-reloading state. In order to hunt deer in PA, the rifle must be both of a significant cartridge and a single-shot action. I had long thought that were they to offer a replacement “hunting” piston that only allowed the action to be a single non-reloading shot, and were to offer it in a larger cartridge such as the .308 then Ruger’s AR system would make for a superb AR based hunting rifle platform.

Ruger has resolved one aspect of that idea, and the second one I wager would be fairly easy to do.

What happens when you can’t “buy” a gun with a credit card?

Sound crazy?

Paypal already refuses such. What would happen if VISA/MasterCard followed suit? How many individuals are buying a $1,500 AR15 with ca$h from a gun shop?  

Its a frightening possibility, but one that could be very real in the future.  One we need to be ready to fight against. Don’t doubt this is an angle anti-gunners haven’t considered.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/28/americas-largest-gun-shop-abruptly-dropped-by-credit-card-co-and-the-reason-will-have-you-shaking-your-head-in-disbelief/

Bump…Fire that is…

A company is selling a combination of a belt fed semi-automatic rifle, and a stock that facilitates “bump firing”.  For those unfamiliar with the concept, bump fire is essentially utilizing the recoil so as to press the gun back against your finger triggering another round.  The firing mechanism is still a semi-automatic, and you still only fire one bullet per trigger pull. The point is to remove the human muscle activity of pulling the trigger and replace it with a mechanism triggered by the use of recoil and rubber bands.

The result, a hoky setup that draws the attention of anti-gun CNN.  And sounds like the product which is made by Slide Fire in Texas is marketed by those totally unfamiliar with the fact that we have an entire multi-million dollar enemy who seeks to disarm America and loves using comments lise these

“It sprays like a fire house” – Brandon Renner, sales and marketing manager for Slide Fire.

Thank you, thank you…you just had to give the Bloomberg trolls some soundbites.  Come on gun community, whether you think it’s a right, whether you think it’s right, we still need to be very mindful of not handing ammunition to our foes. No, I’m not saying it’s wrong to develop such. I’m just saying that making statements like “sprays like a fire hose” is unnecessary and unwise .

http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/12/news/companies/slide-fire-gun/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Common Sense drives Obama an Biden to enact policies that have 0% affect on crime.

 “It’s simple, it’s straightforward, it’s common sense,” Biden

Ain’t no such thing in the world of “gun control”.

President Obama to ban re-import of guns provided U.S. allies (except for museums and government). And this is a brilliant example of common sense because this stops criminals how?

In fact, I would argue this will leave more weapons in international criminal hands. Which will be more likely to find their way to South America and get smuggled up from Mexico. “We are about being anti-gun, not anti-crime.” 

Furthermore, President is seeking to ban NFA trusts. For those unfamiliar, it is a legal account that holds ownership of NFA Title III weapons (fully automatic, short barrelled shotguns, etc).  The reason these are used are many. It facilitates inheritence, it allows multiple family members legal access, and in cases where one lives in an area with an anti-gun sheriff or police chief, it allows ownership without the need for the local chief’s approval.

And as the NRA points out, none of this affects criminals. This is all restrictions on non-issue elements.

First off, only a few hundred rifles are used in crimes a year. Less than half of those would even fall under silly so-called assault weapon designations (you know, modern rifles utilizing plastic and ergonomic features like adjustable stocks).  The NFA trust guns are highly regulated, and the number of legal fully automatic rifles used in crimes basically wouldn’t even show up in a bar graph.

But this is the “common sense” gun control advocates advocate for.
“Sooner or later, we are going to get this right,” Obama said….”The memories of these children demand it”…

I so hope this is true. I so hope so. I really hope that one day America will get it right. Namely, the last 4-5 of these shootings have clearly involved people with serious mental health issues.

And yet after every incident they push for gun control and disarmament. And the subject of improvement mental health access and reporting is never addressed.  Lougher was reported for his risk of safety to himself and others. And the system broke down. Yet we still cannot get this avenue addressed.

But they want to take away our guns….why?

 http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/ap-exclusive-obama-offers-gun-control-steps-20104584