Free Republic

We continue to see politicians drudge up long-debunked arguments about how gun control somehow reduces violent crime. It isn't true, which is why, for example, the infamous 1994 Assault Weapons Ban was allowed to expire. Finally, we're seeing courts and judges rule reasonably in favor of Second Amendment rights, and even demographics once considered "anti-gun" -- like young adults and people of color -- are warming to the idea of exercising their Second Amendment rights. But the question remains, why do politicians stick to such a rigid, repetitive script on guns? Casual observers would argue this is relatively new, with...

It’s not quite 40 million guns. The number is even higher. The FBI released its annual report of all recorded firearm transactions (not individual firearms sold) and the final tally stands at a whopping 39,695,315. That last lil’ tidbit is important: These data only represent the number of inquiries submitted through the National Instant Criminal Background Check system (NICS). Each time a Federal Firearm Licensee (FFL) sells a firearm to any individual, the buyer’s background gets checked through this database to confirm he or she can, in fact, legally possess a firearm. NICS only records the buyer and not the...

Federal agents this morning raided Polymer80, one of the largest makers of firearm build kits, which are chided as ‘ghost guns’ by the left. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms seized records from the company’s headquarters near Carson City, Nevada on Thursday. The agency claims Polymer80 is illegally manufacturing and distributing firearms, failing to pay taxes, shipping guns across state lines, and not conducting background checks on buyers. The probe centers on the company’s “Buy, Build, Shoot” kits, which include parts to fabricate a handgun at home without the need to buy anything from a gun dealer. The component...

This latest Coronavirus is quite good at laying low until the time is right. For days it sits idle, remaining largely asymptomatic. Then the virus makes its move. Like a virus attempting to infect its host, some liberal U.S. senators are trying to use Coronavirus as an excuse to stop gun sales. In a letter now made public and sent April 2 to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, several Democrat senators — Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) — urged the directors of the FBI and ATF to effectively halt pending gun...

Automatic weapons are unicorns in the gun world. Every gun owners want ones. But thanks to the circus known as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, most automatic weapons and machineguns are prohibitively expensive. And with the recent ban on the bumpstock (even though the bumpstock doesn’t even meet the ATF’s definition of a machinegun) what is a freedom-loving gun owner to do? When you tire of laboriously emptying magazines with one trigger squeeze, when the Mad Minutes get boring, where do you go next? The Gat Crank might be the answer. The beauty of the Gat Crank is...

How to Install The AR-15 Barrel and Gas SystemBuilding an AR-15 upper piece by piece? Upgrading your barrel? Maybe you're swapping 5.56 or .223 for 300 Blackout like we are today. This guide illustrates how to install the AR-15 barrel and gas system. Virtually all AR-15 barrels ship with the extension already threaded and torqued. The headspace must be perfect, the index pin must align with the gas port perfectly, and torque requirements are high, usually well over 100 ft-lbs. We don't recommend trying to install the extension onto the barrel yourself. We're putting together a 300 Blackout pistol upper...

HOW TO INSTALL THE AR-15 LOWER PARTS KITInstalling the lower parts kit in your AR-15's lower receiver should take less than two hours for first-time builders. This guide will illustrate how to perform each assembly and install step with pictures and written instructions. We strongly recommend finding the right tools before you get started, lest you end up with missing roll pins and springs that flew off into the carpet, never to be found again (you don't want to put a pause on your install half-way through). This guide is applicable for both a finished 80% lower (AR-15, AR9, and...

Commanding your Second Amendment rights appropriately means knowing how to defend yourself with responsibility and confidence. That means using lethal force, if necessary. After all, your goal is to remain safe and protect yourself and your property. But stocking up on ammo and guns isn’t enough. You need to know how to shoot, and shoot well under stress. If the time ever comes, pulling the trigger will require no hesitation and a lot of confidence. You need to build your shooting skills into your muscle memory. You should practice defensive shooting drills consistently. This quick guide will teach you how...

What if you were to shop at your local Home Depot in Pennsylvania, pick up a few plumbing parts, some pipe, solder, and a few screws? Should you have to submit to a background check, or check out at the register through an FFL licensee to buy that stuff? All because the stuff you bought could be used to build a gun? While it's entirely unlikely (and unrealistic), that's the kind of precedent which could technically be set, if Governor Tom Wolf’s and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s new legal opinion is interpreted literally, as the Governor and AG clearly...

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro – yet another authoritarian, wire-framed Democrat not content with following his own state’s long-established laws – decided that his personal opinion should supersede the statutes governing the state’s definitions of what a firearm actually is. Shapiro on December 16 issued a “legal opinion” to the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner claiming that, in his view, a receiver blank – he was referring to the AR-15’s 80% lower, although there are other types – is a firearm because “it is designed or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; or...

Mike Bloomberg’s gun control group outspent the NRA in Virginia’s election by multitudes, hoping to clinch new seats and make unconstitutional inroads against the Second Amendment in the Old Dominion. Bloomberg’s plan unfortunately appears to have paid off: Senator Richard L. Saslaw, Bloomberg’s bought-and-paid-for Democrat, recently introduced legislation that would effectively outlaw most semiautomatic firearms in the state. Bill SB 16, introduced by Saslaw on November 18, states, “It is unlawful for any person to import, sell, transfer, manufacture, purchase, possess, or transport an assault firearm.” The bill greatly expands the state’s arbitrary definition of an “assault firearm” to include...

In the spirit of preserving the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms, this guide covers all available firearms' 80% lowers, frame blanks, and receiver blanks that can be legally purchased and built at home with basic hand tools. The following platforms are included: AR-15, LR-308 (DPMS AR-10), AR-9, the Glock-compatible polymer pistol platform, and the 1911 platform. New to this? Learn what an 80% lower is first. This guide compares all available receiver blanks and 80% frames that you can currently buy and build. All AR receivers in this guide feature mil-spec fittings (a buffer tube diameter of...

The 300 Blackout AR-15 Build GuideI've had questions come through from a builder or two about 300 Blackout and its compatibility with existing build kits, parts, and the AR-15 platform. This is a dual-purpose round originally developed for the U.S Military's M4 platform by request of overseas operators. Advanced Armament Corp. (AAC) developed the round for approval by SAAMI in 2011. 300 BLK provides ballistic performance similar to 7.62x39mm and affords a shooter the ability to fire supersonic or subsonic cartridges (suppressed or un-suppressed) without any modifications made to the rifle or pistol. This quick little guide explains the 300...

Afternoon folks - with all the how-to's and material posted over the last few months, I realized I never posted the core guide for all past AR-15 guides. How to Complete an AR-15 80% Lower ReceiverThis instructional and visual guide covers how to complete a typical billet or forged lower receiver for an AR-15, using an 80% lower. A drill press and router are used for drilling and cutting the fire control cavity with the jig, as opposed to a milling machine. Like most jigs designed for this project, a router isn't necessarily required. Plunge cuts can instead be made...

If you were an ATF agent or prosecutor handling the case of Joseph Roh, you probably lost quite a bit of sleep over the past five years. That’s because Roh, who was charged in 2014 with illegally manufacturing and selling AR-15 rifles in California, recently almost forced a judge to upend decades of ATF precedent and policy.Mr. Roh’s attorney made a surprisingly simple argument in court that got him off the hook — and it almost demolished the ATF’s very definition of what a gun is, too. Through a series of concessions and deal-making, Roh walked free. The ATF agreed conditionally to drop...

Not content with micro-stamping, background checks for ammo, and outright bans on handguns that aren’t individually tested to be “safe”, California is back on the gun control warpath. If state Sen. Anthony Portantino’s bill passes in a final vote in the Legislature this week, California residents will soon be barred from buying more than one semiautomatic rifle a month. Purchases of any semiautomatic rifles will also be off-limits to anyone under the age of 21. Portantino’s bill originally called for limiting monthly purchases on all long guns – shotguns and bolt-action rifles included – but he decided to exclude those...

(This post is part of the running hobby topics posted on a regular basis, How to Build an AR-15 and gunsmithing with an 80% lower)The AR-15 (and its .308 equivalent) is a unique weapon. It's just one of a few weapon platforms that chambers both commercial and military ammunition. While .233 Remington is a universal round, 5.56 NATO is not. There are a plethora of cartridges that fall under the NATO umbrella, each of which is largely produced for the armed forces and the civilian market by the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant. This guide compares 5.56 NATO cartridges, including...

This next iteration of AR-15 gunsmithing and building covers the buffer, recoil spring, and how to "tune" your black rifle or pistol. For the usual readers, feel free to bookmark like the rest. AR-15 BUFFERS, SPRINGS & WEIGHTS EXPLAINEDIt’s a small, unremarkable little part, but it’s one of the most important pieces in your AR-15: We’re talking about the buffer. The buffer and recoil spring in your AR platform helps manage recoil but more importantly, it controls the action of the bolt carrier group (another guide is available for the AR-15 BCG, too) and it helps your weapon cycle any...

The biggest gun control case in over a decade might end up on the desks of America's highest court -- and for once, gun control advocates don't want it to. New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York Last January, the Supreme Court announced it would take a case in New York City, one of the largest Second Amendment cases in the past 10 years. This is also the first case that might be heard since Justice Anthony Kennedy retired and the Court's seating dramatically shifted to a more conservative, potentially "gun-friendly" status. The Court's current...

New York state Attorney General Latitia James just told 16 different websites and gun makers to stop selling receiver blanks and gun-making kits to residents of New York. James' office put out the letter with some excerpts that are pretty damning for the Second Amendment: "Your website offers unfinished lower receivers that require simple milling in order to manufacture unregistered and unserialized assault weapons, despite the fact that such manufacture and possession are illegal in New York. Assault weapons are illegal in New York, and the sale and/or advertisement of these products violates New York law. I hereby demand that...