Thursday, July 1, 2010

Wolverines!!



Uh huh. Gunloonery isn't about insecurity issues. You bet.

That's why I have to take my shirt off while posing with assault weapon. Yessir. Yeah, I know I'm in my parents house and all. But I have the night shift at the Quickie Mart.

Won't be there much longer:

Adam Coughlan, 29, was arrested May 21, 2009 after a raid of his Lake Hiawatha home turned up more than 40 firearms and ammunition. Authorities said he was converting weapons into illegal assault weapons, and was captured on electronic surveillance arranging to sell an AK-47 automatic firearm at a Quick Chek in Parsippany.

15 comments:

  1. He didn't have to go on the internet to buy a kit. He could have just bough a filed down firing pin from Jadegold.

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  2. It's impossible to turn an AK-47 into an illegally fully automatic weapon. I know it is, I've been told that it is--many, many, many times--by responsible Type 2A's. Oh, no, wait; they said it could be but it wouldn't and even it was possible it was none of my f'in bizness, 'cuz I'm not a gun owner and I want to confiscate all their weppins! 11tyone.

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  3. My son is a psychologist and specializes in seeing young men [14- 28]. So many of them have an obsession with guns and the gun-mystique, that he decided to take gun classes at a local fire arms dealer in order to better understand the 'mentality' of it all.

    Just yesterday he was at the indoor 'firing range' with a small caliber gun [22mm] while all around him were 'beefy guys' trying to hit the target with their 357's. He told me that they seemed obsessed with their great fire-power although none of them can close to hitting the target.

    Many of them, he went on, were acting in an unsafe manner, not following the clear range rules of the class they attended. In fact, the man next to him was asked to leave because of his dangerous use of his 357.

    Apparently there is a certain mentality associated with weapons-worship that neither my son nor I can understand.

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  4. Demo: Y'know, I've been told the same thing from our NRA gun experts. They tell me it would take a team of Swiss and German Mechanical Engineering PhDs, working around the clock for months, utilizing the most sophisticated tools, machinery and lab equipment to make a conversion. And, even then, it probably wouldn't work.

    And you can't ever, ever, ever buy kits or parts 'cuz gunloons are so honest.

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  5. A 22 MM gun would be illegal under the National Firearms Act.

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  6. Hmm Wouldn't a "a filed down firing pin" not be the part which would enable fully automatic fire.

    From my full-auto days in the military, I seem to remember that the weapon would keep the bolt from closing when the trigger was depressed in the full auto mode and would stop the bolt opening again in the semi-auto mode and require another pull of the trigger to fire.

    Somehow, I think the part that Aztec Red is referring to is a sear, not a firing pin.

    But then again, I know nothing of firearms.

    In fact, I would leave anything beyond field stripping, cleaning, and clearing a jam to a trained armourer.

    Gotta remember that all of us "anti-gunners" have no idea of what firearms do. It's cause of that ignorance that we are "anti-gunners".

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  7. From the artice:

    Coughlan, who said he hails from a "do-it-yourself" family and has crafted his own guitars, converted the guns because he "enjoyed the mechanical challenge. I’m sorry I broke the law and made a serious mistake."

    No, it is not so easy a caveman can do it.

    Laci: “Somehow, I think the part that Aztec Red is referring to is a sear, not a firing pin.”

    AztecRed was referring to one of those sage quotes by jadegold.

    What is the point here? Full-auto is illegal, the parts are illegal, and the process is illegal… and he is doing hard time. More gun control?

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  8. Sorry, TS, but full-auto isn't illegal; possession of one without a Class III is.

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  9. TS: As i've sagely noted, some semi-autos aren't difficult to convert; some are and would require the weapon to be essentially rebuilt.

    Some variants can easily be converted by anyone who has a decent grasp of what he learned in HS shop classes.

    The point the gunloons try to make is that it's prohibitively difficult to convert any semi-auto. That simply isn't true--a fact that is borne out by the manuals that are on sale at gunshows (for "educational" purposes only) and on the internet. In point of fact, many gunloon forums will discuss how conversions can be made.

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  10. Laci,

    I think Aztek's firing pin comment was directed at Jade and his considerable experience.

    "From my full-auto days in the military, I seem to remember that the weapon would keep the bolt from closing when the trigger was depressed in the full auto mode and would stop the bolt opening again in the semi-auto mode and require another pull of the trigger to fire."

    What military were you in? The Budapest Militia or something? What kind of full auto firearm is that?

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  11. Tenn Budd: “Sorry, TS, but full-auto isn't illegal; possession of one without a Class III is.”

    Agreed. For brevity I was referring to this particular case. I am pretty sure NJ does not allow any class III weapons, license or not.

    Jadegold: “Some variants can easily be converted by anyone who has a decent grasp of what he learned in HS shop classes.”

    Yeah, open bolt semi-autos. That is why the ATF regulates them as if they were full-auto. Now please enlighten me with your knowledge of firearm conversions. What about a closed bolt semi-auto AK-47 pattern in this case allows it to be converted easier than any other closed bolt semi-auto on the market? Be specific.

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  12. No, TS, YOU tell us--or tell us why it's so difficult that nobody without a lot of tools and skills couldn't do it. You guys ARE the experts.

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  13. Democommie: “No, TS, YOU tell us--or tell us why it's so difficult that nobody without a lot of tools and skills couldn't do it. You guys ARE the experts.”

    “lots of tools and skills” CAN do the job, Demo. Jade is the one making the claim that some semi-autos (an AK clone in this case) can be converted by “anyone who has a decent grasp of what he learned in HS shop classes”. If he knows something to make this claim, he can certainly tell us why. I don’t think he will ever attempt to answer the question though. What about an AK clone makes it easier than any other semi-auto on the open market?

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  14. Democommie: “You guys ARE the experts.”

    Actually, I will go ahead and guess that Jadegold has spent a lot more time researching the full-auto conversion topic than me. He sees it as a black-eye for gunowners, so he is looking for blog fodder. I have no interest in doing illegal conversions, so it is not what I spend my time on. So Jade, you have an opportunity here to educate me on the specific mechanical differences that make one semi-auto easy enough to convert that it should require extra regulation/bans (I am not sure what you are calling for). Right now, I don’t know what the point of this post is other than “the guy pictured is a gunloon”. Basically what I am asking is which semi-autos are “easy”, why, and what do you want done about it?

    Aside from the question of “easy” (which also depends on one’s definition of easy), there are some other fundamental logic points that need to be addressed by anyone taking the “full auto conversion” stance for the control/banning of certain semi-autos.

    First, you’d have to conclude that items that can possibly be converted into something illegal needs to be controlled the same as the illegal item itself. Do you want to apply this same logic to non-gun related items such as household chemicals that can be converted to illegal bombs or drugs? Or is it best to just make the act of converting or parts needed specifically and only for the conversation illegal?

    Second, it’s obvious that this is not an “assault weapon” issue. Full-auto conversions exist from everything from Ruger 10-22s to Glocks and I think we all can agree that it has absolutely nothing to do with the things that define an “assault weapon” (pistol grips, bayonet lugs, flash suppressors, folding stocks, shoulder things that go up, etc..). Even Jade would have to admit this. Focusing on ARs and AKs, is just a VPC type con-job.

    Finally, I have another comparison. Rather than bringing up cars or something, I’ll keep it nice and relevant and stay on firearms. Is the argument is that something that can be converted to a class III NFA controlled weapon needs to be controlled as it were that weapon? Well, the NFA also controls Short Barrel Shotguns (SBS, or “sawed-off shotgun”) with the same regulations as automatic weapons. I’ll assume gun controllers support this. Now, I don’t want to be accused of disseminating illegal conversion information on the internet- but I’ll just say the conversion from a legal shotgun to a sawed-off shotgun is “easy” and can be done with tools readily available at any hardware store. It doesn’t even take a “mechanical challenge” or a Bridgeport milling machine. Do you apply the same “can be converted” logic to all shotguns? How about all rifles, since Short Barreled Rifles are also a class III NFA weapon? If your argument is that these short barreled weapons are different than full-auto, ask yourself which one happens more often? Which ones are used in crimes more often?

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  15. Democommie: “You guys ARE the experts.”

    Actually, I will go ahead and guess that Jadegold has spent a lot more time researching the full-auto conversion topic than me. He sees it as a black-eye for gunowners, so he is looking for blog fodder. I have no interest in doing illegal conversions, so it is not what I spend my time on. So Jade, you have an opportunity here to educate me on the specific mechanical differences that make one semi-auto easy enough to convert that it should require extra regulation/bans (I am not sure what you are calling for). Right now, I don’t know what the point of this post is other than “the guy pictured is a gunloon”. Basically what I am asking is which semi-autos are “easy”, why, and what do you want done about it?

    Aside from the question of “easy” (which also depends on one’s definition of easy), there are some other fundamental logic points that need to be addressed by anyone taking the “full auto conversion” stance for the control/banning of certain semi-autos.

    First, you’d have to conclude that items that can possibly be converted into something illegal needs to be controlled the same as the illegal item itself. Do you want to apply this same logic to non-gun related items such as household chemicals that can be converted to illegal bombs or drugs? Or is it best to just make the act of converting or parts needed specifically and only for the conversation illegal?

    Second, it’s obvious that this is not an “assault weapon” issue. Full-auto conversions exist from everything from Ruger 10-22s to Glocks and I think we all can agree that it has absolutely nothing to do with the things that define an “assault weapon” (pistol grips, bayonet lugs, flash suppressors, folding stocks, shoulder things that go up, etc..). Even Jade would have to admit this. Focusing on ARs and AKs, is just a VPC type con-job.

    Finally, I have another comparison. Rather than bringing up cars or something, I’ll keep it nice and relevant and stay on firearms. Is the argument is that something that can be converted to a class III NFA controlled weapon needs to be controlled as it were that weapon? Well, the NFA also controls Short Barrel Shotguns (SBS, or “sawed-off shotgun”) with the same regulations as automatic weapons. I’ll assume gun controllers support this. Now, I don’t want to be accused of disseminating illegal conversion information on the internet- but I’ll just say the conversion from a legal shotgun to a sawed-off shotgun is “easy” and can be done with tools readily available at any hardware store. It doesn’t even take a “mechanical challenge” or a Bridgeport milling machine. Do you apply the same “can be converted” logic to all shotguns? How about all rifles, since Short Barreled Rifles are also a class III NFA weapon? If your argument is that these short barreled weapons are different than full-auto, ask yourself which one happens more often? Which ones are used in crimes more often?

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