Firearms

USS Brooklyn March 1943

Eighty-one years ago, during WWII, in Casablanca harbor, my father was stationed aboard the USS Brooklyn as an Electrician’s Mate, Second Class. Dad went on to become a Chief Warrant Officer in the US Navy.

USS Brooklyn CL-40 in Casablanca harbor – March 1943

The first of the nine Machine Gun Cruisers*, USS Brooklyn was commissioned in September 1937. With a primary armament of fifteen 6”/47 guns in five triple turrets, each 6”/47 gun had a maximum rate of fire of 8-10 shells a minute. Theoretically, a Brooklyn-Class cruiser could fire a total of 120-150 6” rounds a minute at a target.

USS Brooklyn survived WW2 and was put into reserve in 1946, in 1951 she was transferred to Chile, where she was renamed O’Higgins. Serving for 40 years in the Chilean Navy, she was sold for scrap in 1992, but foundered and sank while under tow to shipbreakers in India. One of her 6”/47 turrets is preserved at the Chilean Navy base at Talcahuano.

LIFE Magazine Archives – J R Eyerman Photographer

*Machine Gun Cruisers typically refer to naval vessels equipped with multiple machine guns for anti-aircraft and anti-small craft defense. The Brooklyn-class cruisers, for example, were armed with several M2 Browning machine guns alongside their main artillery, enhancing their combat capabilities during World War II.

I find the installation and use of the .50 BMG M2 Machine guns to be particularly interesting:

The .50 Browning Machine Gun (BMG) round is one of the most widely used service ammunition. Also known as the .50 Browning and the 12.7x99mm NATO, it is currently listed as military ammunition for the U.S. and at least 30 other countries. However, civilian shooters also enjoy .50 caliber shooting – using this rifle round for long-range hunting and shooting competitions. Developed in the early 1900s by John Moses Browning, the .50 BMG is a scaled-up version of the .30-06.; No stranger to military and law enforcement use, .50 BMG ammo has been fired from WWII fighter aircraft and is still used today on helicopters and ground vehicles.

Once the DOJ and the SCOTUS gets off their collective asses and removes the infringements on ALL firearms and accessories, we might want to own one of those. The ammo, however, is quite expensive and could burn through your weekly allowance in one quick hurry when you go down to the range to have some fun.

2025 Concealed Carry Map and
Winterizing the Small Arms

At some point in 2025, Damsel and I, along with the dogs, will be travelling in the RV, the purpose of which is to visit some of the places where our ancestors lived and died. Since we both wish to be armed wherever we go, it is helpful to know where our permits to carry will be recognized, so we visit USA Carry to consult their interactive concealed carry maps. After clicking on Arizona and Utah (where we have permits), our map looks like this:

There are 39 states (in blue or green) that recognize our Utah or Arizona permits. Fortunately, most places we intend to visit accept our CCWs. There is one small exception in one of the no-carry states on our proposed route. We’re thinking about how to handle that one, but I’m sure it will work out. Perhaps National CCW Reciprocity will happen by our travel date (not holding our breath).

The other arms-related issue here is getting everything winterized. Today, I inspected, dusted off and oiled up several of the inventory. At this point, we’re about halfway done with them. The (clickable) image below shows my semi-auto long arm and the maintenance setup on the patio atop the Spa cover.

The winterization of the rest of the inventory should be done by next week. That effort will include several pistol-caliber carbines which have yet to be taken to the range (by us). Maybe we will take them out and get them dirty before their winterization.

30 Dec 2024 by CapnBob Arizona CCW Firearms Notions Retirement Wanderlust

Nineteenth Blogiversary

Well, here we are passing another milestone for this blog. We have had an interesting year thus far, with all the political nonsense going on, attempted assassinations of DJT a couple of times and the endless calls to save “democracy,” when we actually need to save our Constitutional Republic.

The political Left is intent on destroying the Constitution and the original nation envisioned and realized by the Founders. They can’t do that as long as there are several hundreds of millions of firearms owned by good, patriotic Americans, thus the endless calls for “assault weapon” (i.e. a political term for commonly owned carbines) bans and “red flag laws,” also a ploy to take lawful weapons from folks without due process.

We’ll hang in there, if we get everybody we know to get registered and vote this fall to oust the swamp creatures in congress and to elect those who defend the Constitution. Just do it.

Enough of that – now, we’re entering the third season of this year as the sun heads south of the equator for shorter days and cooler temperatures. Our blog will continue to post on occasion about our personal travels and events as well as posting about holidays and other significant occurrences.

Thanks for reading all these years and see you on the next posting. Happy Autumn, even though Arizona is still enjoying our “second spring.”

By the way, there was a partial eclipse of the moon on the 17th of September. I got this shot when the shadow was nearly at maximum obscuration . . .

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel SL1
Aperture: F22
Exposure: 1/200sec
Focal Length: 250mm
ISO: 800
Lens: Canon EF-S55-250 f/4 IS STM

22 Sep 2024 by CapnBob Beltway Kabuki Blogosphere Firearms Technobabble

Monsoon Days Are Upon Us

As of a few weeks ago, our Monsoon Season has brought us a few showers, but not in the usual summertime quantity nor have they been very intense. We’re not complaining about the lack of damaging rainfall at all, but as to not getting a good soak now and then. The image above (I later learned) is of a cell located over Yarnell, AZ, a town 30 miles north of here. They had a good prolonged rainfall just up there around eleven AM local, while we have had didley squat.

Later in the day, some intense, dark clouds drifted over us, but again, no significant precipitation. Damsel took the following photo of a Turkey Buzzard circling overhead beneath the clouds:

After the time of the previous photo, I took the dogs for a walk and distinctly smelled wet creosote, but observed no rain. I presume that the Good Lord will eventually bring gentle, soaking rain our way as He always does.

Image courtesy Foxtrot Mike Products
In other news, we have been monitoring some of the court proceedings regarding our rights to keep and bear arms. There are some good decisions and some bad decisions about various aspects of arms and accessories. We anticipate that one of these days the US Supreme Court will gather their collective cajones and grant certiorari for one or more of the “Assault Weapons” cases where various Communist states (California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, etc.) are unconstitutionally restricting the right to keep and bear those “commonly in use for lawful purposes” firearms. Maybe I will live long enough to see that become a reality.

03 Aug 2024 by CapnBob Arizona Beltway Kabuki Environment Firearms

Proposed ATF Rule Threatens
Almost Anyone Selling A Gun

For the first time in American history, the federal government will require virtually every person who sells a gun privately to be a licensed gun dealer – and every person who buys one privately to register the sale with the federal government!

(Image: A Double whammy – either the “Punisher” or the Gadsden Snake will subject me to be put on an FBI “domestic terrorist” watchlist.)

As you know, gun registration is the first step towards confiscation and by becoming a licensed gun dealer, gun owners would be forced to submit to warrantless searches by ATF agents looking for even the slightest violations.

To make matters even worse, the ATF can throw the book at any gun owner who runs afoul of the new rule! If you sell a gun and the ATF determines you made a “profit,” you can be jailed for 5 years and fined $250,000!

Time is running out for comments against the proposed rule. The on-line comments form is at REGULATIONS.GOV. Go there and leave your comment in opposition to this bizarre (and unconstitutional) proposed rule. The comment period ends December 07, 2023, so just do it NOW. Copy and paste is OK.

The following are a couple of comments made by others in opposition to the NPRM:

From John Crump at Ammoland:

I strongly oppose the proposed rule that redefines who is “engaged in the business” of selling firearms. The new rule will burden American gun owners by creating a grey area where they can inadvertently break the law.

The new requirement circumvents Congress by creating a de facto universal background check rule. Congress has chosen to leave background check laws for private gun sales to the state governments. This rule will override the authority of the states with overburdensome federal regulations and strip state’s rights.

The regulation will not make us any safer. The vast majority of guns used in crimes are stolen. States that have enacted universal background checks did not see any reduction of crimes committed with firearms. I strongly encourage the government to work on real solutions to solve the epidemic of violent crime and stop using firearms as a scapegoat for failed policies.

From the Arizona Citizens’ Defense League (AZCDL):

1. ATF is wrong to suggest a single firearm sale—or no sale at all—might require a license. ATF’s rule does not specify a certain number of firearms sold but instead suggests that “even a single firearm transaction, or offer to engage in a transaction, when combined with other evidence, may be sufficient to require a license.”

However, the statutes enacted by Congress clearly do not intend to regulate the conduct of an individual who merely sells a single firearm. Instead, 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(11), (21), (22), and (23) contemplate regulating someone who “regular[ly]” and “repetitive[ly]” either (a) manufactures and sells or (b) purchases and resells multiple “firearms.”

2. ATF fails to protect unlicensed conduct exempted by Congress. Congress also expressly exempted “occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby.”

3. Wrongfully licensing constitutionally protected activity will lead to warrantless searches and additional constitutional violations. Selling a single firearm—which might make you a newly-minted gun dealer—could subject you to warrantless searches of your home and firearm collection. This is a clear violation of both the Second and Fourth Amendments, and runs totally contrary to the Supreme Court’s Caniglia decision in 2021, wherein the court ruled unanimously that warrantless searches for firearms as part of a “welfare check” is unconstitutional.

4. ATF suggests it might deny a license to applicants who the agency ordered to become licensed due to prior sales without a license. Catch-22!

5. ATF’s backdoor Universal Background Check includes Universal Firearms Registration. So-called “Universal Background Checks” are only enforceable with a gun registry. This rule proposes that private citizens be regulated by the federal government as gun dealers, forcing them to run background checks on every firearm transaction in a backdoor attempt to require private citizens to eventually turn over these registration papers (i.e. Forms 4473, Multiple Sales Reports, and Acquisition and Disposition logs). Failure to do so will be considered a federal crime. The Biden Administration described this as “moving the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation.”

Again, the link to the regulations.gov page is here:

NPRM Comments Link

05 Dec 2023 by CapnBob Beltway Kabuki Firearms Gun Grabbers Second Amendment

Braced Pistol Injunction

Image: Foxtrot Mike FM9B 9mm Braced Pistol

We have been following several of the unconstitutional edicts set forth by the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms’, Tobacco and Explosives (ATF) for several years now. Of particular interest to us would be the ATF’s conversion (magically) of braced pistols to become short-barreled rifles (registered and taxable under the NFA), even though there are millions of these items in use by law-abiding Americans for lawful purposes.

After declaring that braced pistols are not Short Barreled Rifles (SBRs) in the past, the ATF suddenly (as prompted by the 2nd Amendment hating Biden administration) decided to enact a rule (not a law) to declare these pistols as SBRs in January of this year (2023). Since then, there have been several legal challenges to the rule. Recently, a Texas-based Federal District Court judge issued a nationwide stay preventing the ATF from enforcing its rule on pistols equipped with stabilizing devices.

From Ammoland:

The case, Britto v. ATF, challenged the “Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces’” rule. The ATF created the regulation after an executive order by President Joe Biden directing the Bureau to deal with pistol braces. The ATF would reverse years of classification letters and revoke previous determinations issued to brace manufacturers.
The Britto case challenged the rule, claiming the ATF pistol brace rule violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The plaintiffs felt the final rule wasn’t a logical outgrowth of the proposed rule. The proposed rule had a point system (ATF Form 4999) that helped individuals determine if their firearm would be considered a braced pistol or short-barreled rifle (SBR). Most of the comments during the public comment period addressed concerns with the form.

The bottom line is that the ATF and other law-enforcement agencies are enjoined from enforcing the rule for all braced pistols, nationwide. However, the fight is not over by a long shot since the ATF has unlimited tax plunder to continue fighting this ruling all the way to the Supreme Court. In the meantime though, we may all continue using our braced pistols in whatever manner we please.

It now seems to be a good idea to continue (or start) supporting those pro-2A organizations that are making these rulings possible:

Firearms Policy Coalition

Second Amendment Foundation

Gun Owners of America

National Association for Gun Rights

Look for the 501(c)(3) foundation of each of the above entities if you want your donations to be tax deductible. Thank you in advance for your support.

Damsel and I each have a special interest in this litigation process.