Friday, October 06, 2017

It's A Derpfire

     I've been feeling lousy for the last week and a half -- allergies, flu shot, another kidney stone, I don't know and I'm not going to list my symptoms; I pay people to doctor at me, dislike it intensely and I don't want Random Internet Diagnosis. thank you.

     But it's jaundiced my mood, so when I read Facebook Commandos exhorting Not One Inch and furiously excoriating the NRA for "caving in on bumpfire stocks," I just want to backhand the dumb clean off of 'em.

     Alas, it doesn't work that way.  But they do not understand the fight they're in.  Bumpfire hardware was pretty much doomed at the first images of the hardware the Las Vegas mass murderer used, and that was just the thin edge of it; AR-15s and other rifles that look like military rifles, "high-caliber"* rifle ammunition, semi-autos -- they're all in the spotlight and the gun-banners are braying for blood.

     Bumpfires were never anything more than a nose-thumbing, combining the ammo-eating expense of full-auto with the accuracy of a broken squirt gun.  On principle, I dislike throwing anything at all to the wolves jackasses, but if it'll buy a little time to regroup and salvage what we can, it's worth giving up -- among other things, the SHARE Act is likely going to need a kick-start, from the way "good, solid" GOP Congressinvertibrates have been hemming and hawing over it.

     All of a sudden, thanks to one lunatic of a hobby gambler, a guy with a nice, comfortable two-airplane kind of life who decided to go kill a lot of people who never did him any harm, us working types with about $0.09 to spare if we skip lunch, are in another blamed fight over common, ordinary rifles and accessories that are in wide use.  That's a real fight, and a bitter one.  Many of the high-profile antis are staring retirement full in the face from smooching distance; they're spoiling for a big fight and would love to "leave a legacy" way bigger than outlawing a stupid toy.  Let's not let them.
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* Yeah, I don't get it, either, some halfwitted portmanteau of "high power" and "large caliber" which is then applied to the .223, a small, medium-power round.  And what's that tell you about the attitude of those who seriously use that term for .223 towards the .308 Winchester for your deer rifle, or anything of like size and power?  Nothing good.

8 comments:

B said...

I hear you, but how many steps back should we allow?

Perhaps we should accept some magazine limits too?

Caliber restrictions?

Where should we stop? How much danegeld?

Roberta X said...

It's a flippin' toy for idiots. "Danegeld," my ass, they clearly circumvent the intent of NFA; now, NFA itself is a damned wrong thing, but it needs to be fought as it stands, instead of "making a a proud stand" for a sophomoric workaround that is markedly less controllable than a true fully-automatic weapon.

...And if any infringement is "Danegeld," you've been paying it with every 4473 you fill out and every time you fork over the fee for your Indiana LTC. Where was your line in the sand for those things?

Recall the conversation between Winston Churchill and a censorious woman that ends, "We've already established what you are; now we're just haggling over the price"?

Anonymous said...

My only concern with giving up the bumpfire stocks is we should get something in return, preferably National Reciprocity for CCW.


Weredragon

The Old Man said...

M'lady, the ATF decided that the "bumpfire stock? was legal. Shall we "not waste" this opportunity by insisting on revisiting present regs?
That would be consistent with our politics. (Take it to the liberal limits and make themscream bloody murder.)
As always, YMMV.

Monty James said...

An effective flippin' toy for idiot, and controllable enough. The promotional videos on the Slide Fire site are going to be damning in court, especially the first time shooter video. A jury member will notice that the muzzle jumps around, but someone who's practiced can keep the barrel more or less pointed the same way. It looks as if the "first time shooters" (grain of salt alert) keep the rifle mostly parallel to the ground. Slide Fire's home page has a notice up:

"We have decided to temporarily suspend taking new orders in order to provide the best service with those already placed."

I'll just bet. Slide Fire's attorneys are getting ready for the deluge.

I think these things have been around for five or six years, at least. I thought gangbangers would be the first to commit some atrocity with one.

Also, Clark County SD announced that they found lots of Tannerite in that maggot's car. So, Tannerite's in play too.

FrankC said...

The Winston Churchill response was "Madam, you're ugly, but in the morning I'll be sober."

"Haggling over the price" was George Bernard Shaw.

Happy to nitpick.

Jeffrey Smith said...

Feel better, and remember, "this,too, shall pass" applies to more than kidney stones.

Roberta X said...

FrankC: I stand corrected!

The current thinking is that NRA's request to have ATF take another look at their decision on bumpfire stocks is a way to buy time and let things cool down.

I'm now hearing that though the vote was was going to be close, the SHARE Act as written was nearly certain to not pass Congress before the murders in Las Vegas, -- which has pushed the slightly less timid Senators to not want to vote in favor of it.

"Status quo ante" minus bumpfires might be a win here -- the other side is pushing very hard and their Loyal Opposition, as is so often the case, is unwilling to push back much.