The Legion

Update on Story: Man has been arrested for killing the couple in apartment before setting apartment on fire. http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/37576209/arsonist-accused-of-killing-2-people-before-burning-apartment-complex

http://wreg.com/2018/02/22/ammunition-explodes-as-apartment-burns-following-robbery/ MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Two victims are confirmed dead after a Parkway Village apartment complex caught on fire Thursday, causing ammunition inside the unit to explode, fire officials said. The incident started around noon at the Clearbrook Village Apartments in the 3500 block of Tall Oaks Circle. But before the chaos, Memphis Police say there was a crime. Initially they received a robbery call to the complex. Neighbor Regina Brown was home and says she saw police already on scene before she saw the flames. “I just heard ‘Get on the ground, freeze!’ so I ran back downstairs. I thought they were talking to my brother, but it obviously was the suspect. After that, that’s when the fire started,” Brown said. What we’re working to find out is how the fire started, and how did two people die? Witnesses said they heard gunshots coming from inside, but we’re told there was ammunition going off. We’re also working to find out how many people are without a place to sleep. The Fire Department told us there are about 16 units in the affected building. Now, Brown says she is holding her 1-year-old tighter while longtime residents are left uneasy and hoping for answers. “It happened so fast,” she said. “I think it’s terrible.”

I absolutely agree with this statement. Until people realize gun violence has nothing to do with guns the issue will never be fixed.

I watch a little of the CNN debate and it was typical CNN. Attack the NRA, attack the GOP, and attack guns. Dana Loesch ripped the Broward Sheriff over missed red flags and around 39 calls they made to the shooters home. I also watched President Trumps meeting at the White House which was real heart felt discussion on the issue of violence in our schools. It was a good discussion on the issue without anyone attacking each other. Until people realize that gun violence has nothing to do with guns the issue will never get fixed.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/02/20/trump-urges-ban-on-bump-stocks-other-gun-modifiers.html Published February 20, 2018 FoxNews.com President Trump on Tuesday directed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to craft new regulations to ban firearm modifiers including the “bump stock” used in the Las Vegas massacre, amid bipartisan calls to strengthen gun restrictions in the wake of recent shooting rampages. During an event at the White House, the president announced he signed a memo ordering the regulations on “bump stocks” and told Sessions he wants new federal guidelines finalized “very soon.” Trump wrote in the memo, “Although the Obama administration repeatedly concluded that particular bump stock type devices were lawful to purchase and possess, I sought further clarification of the law restricting fully automatic machineguns.” During Tuesday’s press briefing, the White House said the president opposes the “bump stock” rifle modifier, which make semi-automatic firearms fire faster. “I can tell you the president supports not having the use of bump stocks and that we expect further action on that in the coming days,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Tuesday. Sanders added that the president had ordered the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to review the regulation of bump stocks after a gunman opened fire on concert-goers on the Las Vegas strip in October, killing more than 50 people. “My understanding is that review has been completed and movement will take place on that shortly,” Sanders said. In the wake of last week’s school shooting in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 people, Sanders said Trump plans to host parents, teachers and students on Wednesday to discuss “efforts to ensure safety at our schools.” Among those attending will be members of the Parkland community and those affected by the Sandy Hook and Columbine school shootings, the White House added. Liberals have renewed calls for new gun control measures after last week’s shooting. Trump, who was backed by the NRA during the 2016 election, has expressed support for the Second Amendment and has said he’s against reflexive gun control measures that wouldn’t make a difference. Sanders said the White House hasn’t “closed the door on any front” and suggested the president would back improving the federal background check system. “The president has expressed his support for efforts to improve the federal background system and in the coming days we will continue to explore ways to ensure the safety and security of our schools,” she said.

That is a great looking handgun!!!

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/guns-ganja-firearm-owning-pot-fans-face-choice-52341084 By mark scolforo, associated press HARRISBURG, Pa. — Jan 14, 2018, 4:30 PM ET The federal government says grass and guns don't mix, and that is putting gun owners who use marijuana — and the strongly pro-gun-rights administration of President Donald Trump — in a potentially uncomfortable position. As gun-loving Pennsylvania becomes the latest state to operate a medical marijuana program, with the first dispensary on track to begin sales next month, authorities are warning patients that federal law bars marijuana users from having guns or ammunition. "They're going to have to make a choice," said John T. Adams, president of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association. "They can have their guns or their marijuana, but not both." That's the official line, but the reality of how the policy might be enforced in Pennsylvania and other states is a little muddier. That includes the question of whether people who already own guns might have to surrender them, instead of just being prohibited from making new purchases. The political sensitivity was underscored Friday when Pennsylvania regulators reversed themselves and announced its registry of medical-pot patients will not be available, as was previously planned, through the state's law enforcement computer network. Phil Gruver, a professional auto detailer from Emmaus who received a state medical marijuana card in mid-December, is weighing what to do with his .22-caliber rifle and a handgun he keeps for home defense. "It's a violation of my Second Amendment rights," Gruver said. "I don't know of any time anyone's been using marijuana and going out and committing acts of violence with a gun. Most of the time they just sit on their couch and eat pizza." State laws allowing medical or, more recently, recreational use of pot have long been at odds with the federal prohibition on gun ownership by those using marijuana. But the government has traditionally taken a hands-off approach. Since 2014, Congress has forbidden the Department of Justice from spending money to prosecute people who grow, sell and use medical pot. The picture has become murkier under Trump, a Republican whose attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has long denounced the drug. Sessions recently rescinded a Barack Obama-era policy that was deferential to states' permissive marijuana laws. Now, federal prosecutors in states that allow drug sales must decide whether to crack down on the marijuana trade. It's not clear what impact the new policy will have on gun owners who use cannabis as medicine, or even how many people fit the bill. Nor is it clear whether any people who use legally obtained medical marijuana have been prosecuted for owning a gun, although the existence of medical marijuana registries in some states, including Pennsylvania, has some patients concerned. More than 800,000 guns are sold or transferred in Pennsylvania annually, and more than 10,000 people in the state have signed up for medical marijuana. The registry change on Friday makes it much less likely the state's medical marijuana users will be flagged when going through a federal gun sales background check. A spokeswoman for Dave Freed, the new U.S. attorney in Harrisburg, said only that criminal investigations and prosecutions "will be based on a fair and transparent fact-intensive inquiry of individual cases." State police said it's up to prosecutors to decide when to bring a case. The Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has left no doubt where it stands. Last year, the ATF spelled out the marijuana prohibition in boldface type on gun purchase forms. "Any person who uses or is addicted to marijuana, regardless of whether his or her state has passed legislation authorizing marijuana use for medical purposes ... is prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition," ATF spokeswoman Janice L. Kemp said in an email to The Associated Press. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department referred questions about medical marijuana and guns enforcement to local federal prosecutors and a recent memo from Sessions that does not specifically address the issue. In Ohio, which has authorized a medical marijuana program, the office of the U.S. attorney for the northern part of the state, Justin Herdman, has said Sessions' guidance won't change his case-by-case approach. The gun-ownership ban has withstood at least one legal challenge. An appeals court in San Francisco, rejecting a challenge on Second Amendment grounds, said in 2016 that Congress reasonably concluded marijuana and other drugs raise the risk of unpredictable behavior. Meanwhile, some state and local officials, particularly in law enforcement, have sought to crack down. William Bryson, chairman of the Delaware Police Chiefs' Council, told state lawmakers in December that people who use marijuana for medical or recreational purposes should be required to have a designation on their driver's licenses. That would make it easier, he said, for police to enforce the ban. And last month, a police chief in Hawaii publicized and then quickly rescinded a directive that medical marijuana patients had to give up their handguns. Two people turned in their weapons. But marijuana activists predict a backlash should federal prosecutors begin going after gun owners who use legally obtained medical marijuana. The issue has been largely theoretical, but there would be quick pushback if the federal government took a more aggressive stance, said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Between 1998 and 2014, nearly 100,000 prospective gun purchasers went home empty-handed because they were flagged as using illegal drugs, according to the ATF. But the agency could not say how many of those used medical or recreational marijuana. Dean Hazen, an Urbana, Illinois, businessman who helps broker online gun purchases, said a 75-year-old client with a medical marijuana card was turned down when his state firearm-owner identification card was run through the federal background check system. "He's got a collection of guns at home," Hazen said, "and he's a model citizen." Even before his administration took the medical marijuana registry off the Pennsylvania law-enforcement computer network, Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, sought to assure people the state has no plans to take their guns. And last week, state House Republican Leader Dave Reed urged residents to call their congressional representative and "urge them to make gun ownership legal for medical marijuana card holders." Kim Stolfer, head of the Pennsylvania organization Firearms Owners Against Crime, pointed out that people who drink heavily or use potent but legal drugs such as opioids or antidepressants can still own a gun. "You have people that are advancing up in age that need medical marijuana and might have, say, 50 firearms and just realized they sacrificed all of those," Stolfer said. "Where are they going to turn them in and how are they going to get rid of them?"

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/01/09/california-zoning-law-banning-gun-shops-is-challenged-in-supreme-court-filing.html Published January 09, 2018 FoxNews.com Gun rights groups have filed a petition with the Supreme Court in the hopes that it would consider a controversial appeals court decision that limits where gun stores can open within one county in California. Businessmen John Teixeira, Steve Nobriga and Gary Gamaza joined the Calguns Foundation, Second Amendment Foundation and California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees in the lawsuit first filed in 2012 that challenged an ordinance in Alameda County that prohibits gun stores from being located within 500 feet of areas that include a residentially zoned district. Teixeria and his colleagues claim the law prevented them from opening a gun shop in San Lorenzo. The plaintiffs maintain in their appeal that this zoning law is a violation of Second Amendment rights. “You simply cannot allow local governments to ignore the Second Amendment because they don't like how the Supreme Court has ruled on the amendment twice in the past ten years,” Second Amendment Foundation founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb told Fox News. “You shouldn't be able to zone the Second Amendment out of the Bill of Rights.” Teixeira and company also said they determined there was not a single lot within the county that met the ordinance’s requirement of 500 feet. “Local neighbors who live eight lanes across an interstate and the anti-rights politicians that cater to them can't redline gun stores and the right to buy arms out of existence,” Calguns Foundation Chairman Gene Hoffman said in a statement also provided to Fox News. “Since this case was filed multiple local city and county governments have used unconstitutional zoning laws to stop new gun stores from opening and close down existing gun stores. If this was a bookstore or an abortion clinic, the Ninth Circuit would not have hesitated in striking this zoning regulation unanimously.” Back in October, an 11-judge panel in the court of appeals upheld the county ordinance with a majority saying in their ruling that the law did not violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms of would-be gun owners because there were other stores in the county where they could buy a gun. “Gun buyers have no right to have a gun store in a particular location, at least as long as their access is not meaningfully constrained," Judge Marsha Berzon said at the time. The majority also rejected the argument that gun sellers' Second Amendment rights were violated, saying there is no constitutional right to sell guns. The ruling overturned a decision made the previous year by a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit that said the Second Amendment extends to gun stores and requires governments to justify restrictions on them. That panel in a 2-1 decision said Alameda County had to present evidence to justify the restriction on gun store locations.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/01/08/dem-ordered-study-to-expose-illegal-online-gun-sales-backfires.html Published January 08, 2018 FoxNews.com A Democrat-backed study meant to expose illicit online gun sales instead seemed to show the opposite -- with hardly any sellers taking the bait when undercover investigators tried to set up dozens of illegal firearm transactions. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., as well as Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, had commissioned the Government Accountability Office report to look into how online private dealers might be selling guns to people not allowed to have them. Their efforts were based on a 2016 report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which claimed that “anonymity of the internet makes it an ideal means for prohibited individuals to obtain illegal firearms.” “Congressional requesters asked that GAO access the extent to which ATF is enforcing existing laws and investigate whether online private sellers sell firearms to be people who are not allowed or eligible to possess a firearm,” the GAO report said. Over the course of the two-and-a-half year investigation, agents tried to buy firearms illegally on the “Surface Web” and the “Dark Web,” generally by sharing their status as “prohibited individuals” or trying to buy across state lines. But the GAO revealed that their 72 attempts outside of the dark web were all “unsuccessful.” “Private sellers on Surface Web gun forums and in classified ads were unwilling to sell a firearm to our agents that self-identified as being prohibited from possessing a firearm,” the GAO reported, noting that in their “72 attempts ... 56 sellers refused to complete a transaction once we revealed that either the shipping address was across state lines or that we were prohibited by law from owning firearms.” In the other cases, the investigators' website was frozen or they encountered suspected scammers. On the dark web, GAO agents successfully purchased two guns illegally, as the serial numbers on the weapons were “obliterated” and “shipped across state lines.” But in the attempt to purchase, the GAO agents “did not disclose any information indicating they were prohibited from possessing a firearm.” Based on the findings of the study, the GAO said it is “not making recommendations in this report.” Cummings, Warren and Schatz did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment on the GAO’s findings. The National Rifle Association seized on the report to claim that online sales are in fact regulated, calling the study an "embarrassment" for the gun control lobby. “GAO’s findings showed nothing so much as that private sellers advertising online are knowledgeable about the law, conscientious, and self-policing,” The National Rifle Association said, adding that online gun sales are “subject to the same federal laws that apply to any other commercial or private gun sales.” The NRA described the study as an attempt to model the findings of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 2015 report, titled “Point, Click, Fire: An investigation of illegal online gun sales,” which found that 62 percent of private sellers were willing to proceed with a sale, even if the prospective purchaser could not pass a background check.

Sold it to pay for this one.

At this time you can also go to UberScoreMaster and place yourself in a squad. Here is a link: http://www.idpamatchsignup.com/osm_match_signup_main.aspx

Withdrawing

I was able to get to the range the last two days and put 600 rounds through it for the initial break-in, but still could use another 500 rounds to get it ready for competition. After this first break-in period I broke the gun down, cleaned it, and changed the recoil spring to a Wolff 7lb. I am going to use the same reloading data on this gun as I used on my other Open gun. My current load for this gun is: 115gr JHP Montana Gold 7.8gr Winchester Autocomp C.O.L. 1.165-70 174000 - Power Factor I may work up another load using Hodgdon HS-6 with the 115gr bullet to generate more gas to work the comp.

We have a new match director for Memphis IDPA and he is bringing back a sectioned IDPA match to Memphis Sports Shooting Association. The match is called 2018 Walking in Memphis Regional and will be held September 2, 2018. Mark your calendar. Link to Event Information: http://www.idpa.com/compete/competitiondetails/28454

Withdrawing

https://www.nraila.org/articles/20171206/house-passes-concealed-carry-reciprocity Dec. 6 2017 Fairfax, Va.—The National Rifle Association applauded the United States House of Representatives on Wednesday for passing the most far-reaching expansion of self-defense rights in modern American history. the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 passed with bipartisan support in a 231-198 vote. “This vote marks a watershed moment for Second Amendment rights,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director, National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action. “The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act is the culmination of a 30-year movement recognizing the right of all law-abiding Americans to defend themselves, and their loved ones, including when they cross state lines.” The bill, H.R. 38, ensures that those Americans who can legally carry a concealed firearm in one state will legally be able to do so in every other state. It eliminates the confusing patchwork of state laws that have ensnared otherwise law-abiding gun owners, and have forced law enforcement to waste their precious time and resources enforcing laws that don’t do anything to reduce violent crime. The bill also makes improvements to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, NICS. All Americans, including law-abiding gun owners, agree that violent criminals should not have legal access to firearms. However, the system is only as good as its records, and recent events have shown that sometimes the correct information is not entered into the system. This bill incentivizes states and government agencies to update the NICS with legitimate records of prohibited persons. Additionally, the bill creates an expedited process for removing records that are erroneously put in the system. Currently, when a person discovers they have been wrongly added to the NICS, it can take up to a year to get their name removed. This bill requires a response to an appeal within 60 days. “This bill ensures that all law-abiding citizens in our great country can protect themselves in the manner they see fit without accidentally running afoul of the law. We now call on the Senate to take up and pass this critical legislation,” Cox concluded. The National Rifle Association would especially like to thank Rep. Richard Hudson, Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Speaker Paul Ryan, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Majority Whip Steve Scalise for their extraordinary efforts to pass this important legislation.

I did not need another gun, but this beautiful CK Arms 45 ACP was on sale at Shooters Connection and I had to have it.

I just notice that also. I replace the story with today's story from REUTERS.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-guncontrol/top-court-spurns-challenge-to-maryland-assault-weapons-ban-idUSKBN1DR1SE WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court, which has avoided major gun cases for seven years, on Monday declined to hear a challenge backed by the National Rifle Association to Maryland’s 2013 state ban on assault weapons enacted after a Connecticut school massacre. The court turned away an appeal by several Maryland residents, firearms dealers and the state NRA association, who argued that the ban violated their right to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment. The justices sidestepped the roiling national debate over the availability of military-style guns to the public. The case focused on weapons that have become a recurring feature in U.S. mass shootings including the Nov. 5 attack at a Texas church that killed 26 people, the Oct. 1 attack at a Las Vegas concert that killed 58 people, and the 2012 massacre of 20 schoolchildren and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which prompted Maryland’s law. Assault weapons are popular among gun enthusiasts. The challengers, who had sued Maryland’s governor and other officials in 2013, appealed a February ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia that upheld the state’s law. The 4th Circuit, ruling 10-4, said it had no power to extend constitutional protections to “weapons of war.” Maryland’s ban outlaws “assault long guns,” mostly semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15 and AK-47, as well as large-capacity magazines, which prevent the need for frequent reloading. Backed by the influential NRA gun lobby, the plaintiffs said in a court filing that semi-automatic rifles are in common use and that law-abiding citizens should not be deprived of them. “The sands are always shifting with the Supreme Court,” Democratic Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said. “I hope that this means they have reached a conclusion that they are not going to fiddle with assault weapons bans across the country.” The Supreme Court last year left in place assault weapon bans in New York and Connecticut. “It’s inexplicable to me that people would allow the use of assault weapons when they see the carnage that has been inflicted on innocent victims around the country,” Frosh added. The NRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. FLORIDA CASE The Supreme Court on Monday also declined to hear a second gun-related case in which a Florida man convicted of openly carrying a firearm on the street sought to challenge that state’s ban on such activity. Defendant Dale Lee Norman, who had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, was convicted of openly carrying a handgun in 2012 near his home in Fort Pierce, Florida. In March of this year, the Florida Supreme Court rejected Norman’s challenge to the so-called open-carry ban, saying it did not violate his right to bear arms. The U.S. Supreme Court issued important rulings in gun cases in 2008 and 2010 but has not taken up a major firearms case since. It has repeatedly refused to second guess lower court decisions upholding state and local restrictions on assault weapons, which filled a void after a federal ban on these firearms expired in 2004. In a landmark 2008 ruling, the Supreme Court for the first time found that the Second Amendment protected an individual’s right to gun ownership under federal law, specifically to keep a handgun at home for self-defense. In 2010, the court found that right extended to state and local laws as well. Since then, gun rights advocates have been probing how far those rights extend, including the types of guns and where they can be carried. The 4th Circuit, in upholding Maryland’s law, noted the disproportionate use of semi-automatic assault rifles in mass shootings and said these weapons are like the military’s M-16 machine guns, which the Supreme Court in its 2008 ruling agreed may be banned. There was also little evidence that such guns are well-suited for self-defense, the 4th Circuit added. The National Rifle Association criticized the 4th Circuit for finding that “the Second Amendment provides absolutely zero protection to the most popular long guns in the country and standard-capacity ammunition magazines that number in the tens of millions.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/senators-near-bipartisan-deal-gun-control-sources-say-n821256 WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators Thursday unveiled legislation to improve background-checks for gun sales, a narrow measure that attempts to address the recent spate of mass shootings. The bill represents an incremental update to existing law but has the best chance of any effort to pass through Congress in recent years, with the weight of support from senior Senate Republicans behind it and no public opposition from the gun lobby. The bill, crafted by Sens. John Cornyn, R.-Texas, and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., would attempt to better enforce current law and strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check system to ensure all background check information is uploaded. According to a description of the bill, first obtained by NBC News, the “Fix NICS Act” offers a handful of solutions to help get all the necessary records uploaded, including asking federal agencies and states to produce plans to upload and verify the criminal and mental health records necessary to bar unfit purchasers from buying a weapon. Because the federal government can't force states to comply with uploading requirements, it creates incentives like grants for states to do so. It also adds accountability measures like withholding political appointees bonuses for agencies that fail to do so. The bill also directs federal funds to ensure that domestic violence crimes are added to the background-check system. This is the third attempt to fix the background-check reporting system since 1995. The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 provided millions to encourage the states to improve their data sharing. That was preceded by The National Criminal History Improvement Program, the first effort to give the states an incentive to report more records. “For years agencies and states haven’t complied with the law, failing to upload these critical records without consequence,” Cornyn said in a statement announcing the effort Thursday. “Just one record that’s not properly reported can lead to tragedy, as the country saw last week in Sutherland Springs, Texas. This bill aims to help fix what’s become a nationwide, systemic problem so we can better prevent criminals and domestic abusers from obtaining firearms.” “This deal will strengthen the background check system and save lives. Our bill marks an important milestone that shows real compromise can be made on the issue of guns," Murphy added. The National Rifle Association, a powerful gun lobby that gives heavily to elected officials, won't oppose it. “The National Rifle Association has long supported the inclusion of all appropriate records in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System," Jennifer Baker, NRA spokeswoman, told NBC News. And the National Shooting Sports Foundation has also endorsed, clearing the way for the Senate to move ahead. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., have also signed onto the bill, as have Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. Cornyn, Murphy, Blumenthal and Heller are represent states with the most deadly mass shootings: the Sutherland Springs church shooting, Sandy Hook, and the concert massacre in Las Vegas. Both Murphy, who has advocated for gun control legislation since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2013, and Blumenthal hinted at an agreement earlier Wednesday on Twitter. Meanwhile, Cornyn, the Senate majority whip, told reporters Sunday, "We need to fix this broken background check system." The last time gun control legislation came close to passing was after Sandy Hook when Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., fell four vote shorts of passing their bill to strengthen background checks. Their bill was more expansive than the current one. It would have required background checks for gun purchases at gun shows and online. The proposed legislation comes as funerals are taking place for 26 churchgoers gunned down in tiny Sutherland Springs, Texas. The shooter's domestic violence conviction should have blocked his purchase of a rifle used in the massacre, but was not submitted to the background check system by the military.

So am I

Withdrawing

https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/09/06/why-gun-stocks-plunged-in-august.aspx Without the threat of gun regulation, gun companies are finding it harder to sell guns. Sep 6, 2017 at 8:35AM Gun stocks dropped like a rock across the board in August. Sturm, Ruger & Company Inc (NYSE:RGR), American Outdoor Brands Corp (NASDAQ:AOBC), and Vista Outdoor Inc (NYSE:VSTO) all dropped double digits, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, as a wave of bad news hit the industry. The domestic gun industry is actually suffering from operating conditions that are too favorable, which sounds a little crazy on the surface. But when you dive into the numbers it's entirely predictable that gun stocks are having a terrible 2017. What happened in August The drop in gun stocks last month was largely due to confirmation that people aren't buying as many guns as they were a year ago. Sturm, Ruger & Company's sales fell 22% to $131.9 million in the second quarter of 2017 and net income fell 53% to $10.2 million. Vista Outdoor's fiscal first quarter sales for the quarter ended July 2, 2017, fell 9.8% to $568.7 million and net income dropped 42.8% to $16.7 million. American Outdoor reported a 3.6% increase in sales for the fiscal fourth quarter ended April 30, 2017, the most recent data available, but that included the acquisition of Taylor Brands, Crimson Trace, and UST Brands in the past year. The macro data reinforces the decline in sales as well. Purchases run through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System dropped from 2.2 million in July 2016 to 1.7 million in July 2017. There's little urgency to acquire a gun with President Trump in the White House and Republicans controlling Congress, so sales will naturally drop. The irony of gun stocks What's odd about gun companies is that the drop in sales in 2017 was easily predictable. There's typically a surge in gun sales when either a Democratic presidential candidate wins office or when there's a mass shooting. It's sad but true that the threat of restrictions is really what drives gun sales in the U.S. The fact that Republicans will control both the White House and Congress for the next 18 months and the executive branch until 2021 puts significantly less urgency on gun purchases. And with a favorable policy environment for the next few years, it's unlikely sales will spike soon. What to do with gun stocks now A decline in gun sales will certainly take a bite out of earnings as manufacturing and operating costs are spread over fewer sales. For now, gun makers aren't expecting the tough operating condition to result in net losses in the foreseeable future, indicated by guidance for the next few quarters. What investors will want to keep an eye on is the long-term sales trend. If revenue continues to drop double digits it will be harder and harder to stay profitable, even if the policy environment for gun makers appears to be favorable. It's ironic, but the worst thing that can happen to gun stocks is a government that's in favor of gun ownership, which investors are seeing very clearly in 2017. 10 stocks we like better than Sturm, Ruger & Company When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Sturm, Ruger & Company wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/09/05/us-virgin-islands-governor-orders-seizure-citizens-weapons-nra-threatens-to-sue.html Published September 05, 2017 FoxNews.com The governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands has ordered its national guard to seize guns, ammunition and other weapons from its citizens as the territory prepares for Hurricane Irma to make landfall. Gov. Kenneth Mapp, an Independent, signed an executive order Tuesday instructing Adjutant General Deborah Howell “to take whatever actions she considers necessary” to maintain public order, The Times-Picayune reported. The order, obtained by The Daily Caller, states that Howell is “authorized and directed to seize arms, ammunition, explosives, incendiary material and any other property that may be required by the military forces for the performance of this emergency mission.” FEAR GRIPS FLORIDA THAT MONSTER HURRICANE IRMA COULD BE WORSE THAN HARVEY The National Rifle Association announced its “strong opposition” to Mapp’s order in a press release Tuesday. “People need the ability to protect themselves during times of natural disaster,” Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action said. “This dangerous order violates the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens and puts their lives at risk.” In 2005, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin signed a similar order allowing seizure of guns, assault rifles and other weapons, ahead of a forced evacuation from those still living in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. The NRA filed a lawsuit after Katrina claiming New Orleans violated gun owners’ constitutional right to bear arms and left them “at the mercy of roving gangs, home invaders, and other criminals” after the hurricane. Congress later passed the 2006 Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act, which was meant to prohibit future confiscation of weapons during an emergency. HURRICANE IRMA'S STORM PATH: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW “When 911 is non-existent and law enforcement personnel are overwhelmed with search-and-rescue missions and other emergency duties, law-abiding American citizens must be able to protect their families and loved ones,” Cox continued. “The NRA is prepared to pursue legal action to halt Gov. Mapp's dangerous and unconstitutional order.”

Gilbert's Guns have the Gen 5 Glock 19 available also. https://www.gilbertsguns.com/glock-19-gen-5-9mm-pistol.html