Choose Your Own Crime Stats

Assault Rifle vs. Sporting Rifle

Piers Morgan Vs Ted Nugent On Gun Control

Feinstein Goes For Broke With New Gun-Ban Bill

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)—author of the federal “assault weapon” and “large” ammunition magazine ban of 1994-2004—has announced that on the first day of the new Congress—January 3rd— she will introduce a bill to which her 1994 ban will pale by comparison. On Dec. 17th, Feinstein said, “I have been working with my staff for over a year on this legislation” and “It will be carefully focused.” Indicating the depth of her research on the issue, she said on Dec. 21st that she had personally looked at pictures of guns in 1993, and again in 2012.

According to a Dec. 27th posting on Sen. Feinstein's website and a draft of the bill obtained by NRA-ILA, the new ban would, among other things, adopt new definitions of "assault weapon" that would affect a much larger variety of firearms, require current owners of such firearms to register them with the federal government under the National Firearms Act, and require forfeiture of the firearms upon the deaths of their current owners. Some of the changes in Feinstein's new bill are as follows:

• Reduces, from two to one, the number of permitted external features on various firearms.  The 1994 ban permitted various firearms to be manufactured only if they were assembled with no more than one feature listed in the law. Feinstein’s new bill would prohibit the manufacture of the same firearms with even one of the features.
   
• Adopts new lists of prohibited external features. For example, whereas the 1994 ban applied to a rifle or shotgun the "pistol grip" of which "protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon," the new bill would drastically expand the definition to include any "grip . . . or any other characteristic that can function as a grip." Also, the new bill adds "forward grip" to the list of prohibiting features for rifles, defining it as "a grip located forward of the trigger that functions as a pistol grip." Read literally and in conjunction with the reduction from two features to one, the new language would apply to every detachable-magazine semi-automatic rifle. At a minimum, it would, for example, ban all models of the AR-15, even those developed for compliance with California’s highly restrictive ban.
   
•  Carries hyperbole further than the 1994 ban. Feinstein's 1994 ban listed "grenade launcher" as one of the prohibiting features for rifles. Her 2013 bill carries goes even further into the ridiculous, by also listing "rocket launcher." Such devices are restricted under the National Firearms Act and, obviously, are not standard components of the firearms Feinstein wants to ban. Perhaps a subsequent Feinstein bill will add "nuclear bomb," "particle beam weapon," or something else equally far-fetched to the features list.

• Expands the definition of "assault weapon" by including:
  
  • Three very popular rifles: The M1 Carbine (introduced in 1944 and for many years sold by the federal government to individuals involved in marksmanship competition), a model of the Ruger Mini-14, and most or all models of the SKS.
     
  • Any "semiautomatic, centerfire, or rimfire rifle that has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds," except for tubular-magazine .22s.
     
  • Any "semiautomatic, centerfire, or rimfire rifle that has an overall length of less than 30 inches," any "semiautomatic handgun with a fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds," and any semi-automatic handgun that has a threaded barrel.
     
• Requires owners of existing "assault weapons" to register them with the federal government under the National Firearms Act (NFA). The NFA imposes a $200 tax per firearm, and requires an owner to submit photographs and fingerprints to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), to inform the BATFE of the address where the firearm will be kept, and to obtain the BATFE’s permission to transport the firearm across state lines.
   
• Prohibits the transfer of “assault weapons.” Owners of other firearms, including those covered by the NFA, are permitted to sell them or pass them to heirs. However, under Feinstein’s new bill, “assault weapons” would remain with their current owners until their deaths, at which point they would be forfeited to the government.
   
• Prohibits the domestic manufacture and the importation of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. The 1994 ban allowed the importation of such magazines that were manufactured before the ban took effect. Whereas the 1994 ban protected gun owners from errant prosecution by making the government prove when a magazine was made, the new ban includes no such protection. The new ban also requires firearm dealers to certify the date of manufacture of any >10-round magazine sold, a virtually impossible task, given that virtually no magazines are stamped with their date of manufacture.
   
• Targets handguns in defiance of the Supreme Court. The Court ruled in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment protects the right to have handguns for self-defense, in large part on the basis of the fact handguns are the type of firearm “overwhelmingly chosen by American society for that lawful purpose.” Semi-automatic pistols, which are the most popular handguns today, are designed to use detachable magazines, and the magazines “overwhelmingly chosen” by Americans for self-defense are those that hold more than 10 rounds. Additionally, Feinstein’s list of nearly 1,000 firearms exempted by name (see next paragraph) contains not a single handgun. Sen. Feinstein advocated banning handguns before being elected to the Senate, though she carried a handgun for her own personal protection.
   
• Contains a larger piece of window dressing than the 1994 ban. Whereas the 1994 ban included a list of approximately 600 rifles and shotguns exempted from the ban by name, the new bill’s list is increased to nearly 1,000 rifles and shotguns. Other than for the 11 detachable-magazine semi-automatic rifles and one other semi-automatic rifle included in the list, however, the list appears to be pointless, because a separate provision of the bill exempts “any firearm that is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action.”

The Department of Justice study. On her website, Feinstein claims that a study for the DOJ found that the 1994 ban resulted in a 6.7 percent decrease in murders. To the contrary, this is what the study said: “At best, the assault weapons ban can have only a limited effect on total gun murders, because the banned weapons and magazines were never involved in more than a modest fraction of all gun murders. Our best estimate is that the ban contributed to a 6.7 percent decrease in total gun murders between 1994 and 1995. . . . However, with only one year of post-ban data, we cannot rule out the possibility that this decrease reflects chance year-to-year variation rather than a true effect of the ban.  Nor can we rule out effects of other features of the 1994 Crime Act or a host of state and local initiatives that took place simultaneously.”

“Assault weapon” numbers and murder trends. From the imposition of Feinstein's “assault weapon” ban (Sept. 13, 1994) through the present, the number of “assault weapons” has risen dramatically. For example, the most common firearm that Feinstein considers an “assault weapon” is the AR-15 rifle, the manufacturing numbers of which can be gleaned from the BATFE’s firearm manufacturer reports, available here. From 1995 through 2011, the number of AR-15s—all models of which Feinstein’s new bill defines as “assault weapons”—rose by over 2.5 million. During the same period, the nation's murder rate fell 48 percent, to a 48-year low. According to the FBI, 8.5 times as many people are murdered with knives, blunt objects and bare hands, as with rifles of any type.

Traces: Feinstein makes several claims, premised on firearm traces, hoping to convince people that her 1994 ban reduced the (relatively infrequent) use of “assault weapons” in crime. However, traces do not indicate how often any type of gun is used in crime. As the Congressional Research Service and the BATFE have explained, not all firearms that are traced have been used in crime, and not all firearms used in crime are traced. Whether a trace occurs depends on whether a law enforcement agency requests that a trace be conducted. Given that existing “assault weapons” were exempted from the 1994 ban and new “assault weapons” continued to be made while the ban was in effect, any reduction in the percentage of traces accounted for by “assault weapons” during the ban, would be attributable to law enforcement agencies losing interest in tracing the firearms, or law enforcement agencies increasing their requests for traces on other types of firearms, as urged by the BATFE for more than a decade.

Call Your U.S. Senators and Representative: As noted, Feinstein intends to introduce her bill on January 3rd. President Obama has said that gun control will be a “central issue” of his final term in office, and he has vowed to move quickly on it.

Contact your members of Congress at 202-224-3121 to urge them to oppose Sen. Feinstein’s 2013 gun and magazine ban. Our elected representatives in Congress must hear from you if we are going to defeat this gun ban proposal. You can write your Representatives and Senators by using our Write Your Representatives tool here: http://www.nraila.org/get-involved-locally/grassroots/write-your-reps.aspx
 

Millions of Americans own so-called “assault weapons” and tens of millions own "large" magazines, for self-defense, target shooting, and hunting. For more information about the history of the “assault weapon” issue, please visit www.GunBanFacts.com.

bill summary

Tragic letter from The Hobby Lobby CEO

The Hobby Lobby CEO and his wife.

When my family and I started our company 40 years ago, we were working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture frames. Our first retail store wasn’t much bigger than most people’s living rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according to God‘s word. From there, Hobby Lobby has become one of the nation’s largest arts and crafts retailers, with more than 500 locations in 41 states. Our children grew up into fine business leaders, and today we run Hobby Lobby together, as a family.

We’re Christians, and we run our business on Christian principles. I’ve always said that the first two goals of our business are (1) to run our business in harmony with God’s laws, and (2) to focus on people more than money. And that’s what we’ve tried to do. We close early so our employees can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on Sundays, one of the week’s biggest shopping days, so that our workers and their families can enjoy a day of rest. We believe that it is by God’s grace that Hobby Lobby has endured, and he has blessed us and our employees. We’ve not only added jobs in a weak economy, we’ve raised wages for the past four years in a row. Our full-time employees start at 80% above minimum wage.

But now, our government threatens to change all of that. A new government health care mandate says that our family business MUST provide what I believe are abortion-causing drugs as part of our health insurance. Being Christians, we don’t pay for drugs that might cause abortions, which means that we don’t cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill or the week-after pill. We believe doing so might end a life after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most important beliefs. It goes against the Biblical principles on which we have run this company since day one. If we refuse to comply, we could face $1.3 million PER DAY in government fines.

Our government threatens to fine job creators in a bad economy. Our government threatens to fine a company that’s raised wages four years running. Our government threatens to fine a family for running its business according to its beliefs. It’s not right. I know people will say we ought to follow the rules; that it’s the same for everybody. But that’s not true. The government has exempted thousands of companies from this mandate, for reasons of convenience or cost. But it won’t exempt them for reasons of religious belief.

So, Hobby Lobby – and my family – are forced to make a choice. With great reluctance, we filed a lawsuit today, represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, asking a federal court to stop this mandate before it hurts our business. We don’t like to go running into court, but we no longer have a choice. We believe people are more important than the bottom line and that honoring God is more important than turning a profit.

My family has lived the American dream. We want to continue growing our company and providing great jobs for thousands of employees, but the government is going to make that much more difficult. The government is forcing us to choose between following our faith and following the law. I say that’s a choice no American – and no American business – should have to make.

The government cannot force you to follow laws that go against your fundamental religious belief. They have exempted thousands of companies but will not except Christian organizations including the Catholic church.

Since you will not see this covered in any of the liberal media, pass this on to all your contacts.

Sincerely,
David Green, CEO and Founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

Demand A Plan? Celebrities Hypocrites [Explicit Version]

Joshua Boston's Letter

Senator Dianne Feinstein,

I will not register my weapons should this bill be passed, as I do not believe it is the government’s right to know what I own. Nor do I think it prudent to tell you what I own so that it may be taken from me by a group of people who enjoy armed protection yet decry me having the same a crime. You ma’am have overstepped a line that is not your domain. I am a Marine Corps Veteran of 8 years, and I will not have some woman who proclaims the evil of an inanimate object, yet carries one, tell me I may not have one.

I am not your subject. I am the man who keeps you free. I am not your servant. I am the person whom you serve. I am not your peasant. I am the flesh and blood of America. I am the man who fought for my country. I am the man who learned. I am an American. You will not tell me that I must register my semi-automatic AR-15 because of the actions of some evil man.

I will not be disarmed to suit the fear that has been established by the media and your misinformation campaign against the American public.

We, the people, deserve better than you.

Respectfully Submitted,

Joshua Boston
Cpl, United States Marine Corps
2004-2012

"I am rewriting history"

“I am a witness to history.

“I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history.

If you remember the plot of the Sound of Music, the Von Trapp family escaped over the Alps rather than submit to the Nazis. Kitty wasn’t so lucky. Her family chose to stay in her native Austria. She was 10 years old, but bright and aware. And she was watching.

“We elected him by a landslide – 98 percent of the vote,” she recalls.

She wasn’t old enough to vote in 1938 – approaching her 11th birthday. But she remembers.

“Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force.”

No so.

Hitler is welcomed to Austria

“In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25 percent inflation and 25 percent bank loan interest rates.

Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food. Not that they didn’t want to work; there simply weren’t any jobs.

“My mother was a Christian woman and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people – about 30 daily.’

“We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany, where Hitler had been in power since 1933.” she recalls. “We had been told that they didn’t have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living.

“Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group – Jewish or otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone in Germany was happy. We wanted the same way of life in Austria. We were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family. Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would get their farms back.

“Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler.

“We were overjoyed,” remembers Kitty, “and for three days we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and
everyone was fed.

“After the election, German officials were appointed, and, like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order. Three or four weeks later, everyone was employed. The government made sure that a lot of work was created through the Public Work Service.

“Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn’t support his family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been re- quired to give up for marriage.

“Then we lost religious education for kids

“Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school.. The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler’s picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn’t pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang ‘Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles,’ and had physical education.

“Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance. Parents were not pleased about the sudden change in curriculum. They were told that if they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the first time. The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300, and the third time they would be subject to jail.”

And then things got worse.

“The first two hours consisted of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had sports. As time went along, we loved it. Oh, we had so much fun and got our sports equipment free.

“We would go home and gleefully tell our parents about the wonderful time we had.

“My mother was very unhappy,” remembers Kitty. “When the next term started, she took me out of public school and put me in a convent. I told her she couldn’t do that and she told me that someday when I grew up, I would be grateful. There was a very good curriculum, but hardly any fun – no sports, and no political indoctrination.

“I hated it at first but felt I could tolerate it. Every once in a while, on holidays, I went home. I would go back to my old friends and ask what was going on and what they were doing.

“Their loose lifestyle was very alarming to me. They lived without religion. By that time, unwed mothers were glorified for having a baby for Hitler.

“It seemed strange to me that our society changed so suddenly. As time went along, I realized what a great deed my mother did so that I wasn’t exposed to that kind of humanistic philosophy.

“In 1939, the war started, and a food bank was established. All food was rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps. At the same time, a full-employment law was passed which meant if you didn’t work, you didn’t get a ration card, and, if you didn’t have a card, you starved to death.

“Women who stayed home to raise their families didn’t have any marketable skills and often had to take jobs more suited for men.

“Soon after this, the draft was implemented.

“It was compulsory for young people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps,” remembers Kitty. “During the day, the girls worked on the farms, and at night they returned to their barracks for military training just like the boys.

“They were trained to be anti-aircraft gunners and participated in the signal corps. After the labor corps, they were not discharged but were used in the front lines.

“When I go back to Austria to visit my family and friends, most of these women are emotional cripples because they just were not equipped to handle the horrors of combat.

“Three months before I turned 18, I was severely injured in an air raid attack. I nearly had a leg amputated, so I was spared having to go into the labor corps and into military service.

“When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child care centers.

“You could take your children ages four weeks old to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, seven days a week, under the total care of the government.

“The state raised a whole generation of children. There were no motherly women to take care of the children, just people highly trained in child psychology. By this time, no one talked about equal rights. We knew we had been had.

“Before Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors trained at the University of Vienna..

“After Hitler, health care was socialized, free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for everything.

“When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40 people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full.

“If you needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for your turn. There was no money for research as it was poured into socialized medicine. Research at the medical schools literally stopped, so the best doctors left Austria and emigrated to other countries.

“As for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80 percent of our income. Newlyweds immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a household. We had big programs for families.

“All day care and education were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing, and housing.

“We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables.

“Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn’t meet all the demands.

“Soon, he went out of business. If the government owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed, it could be in control.

“We had consumer protection, too

“We were told how to shop and what to buy. Free enterprise was essentially abolished. We had a planning agency specially designed for farmers. The agents would go to the farms, count the livestock, and then tell the farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.

“In 1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps. The villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated.

“So people intermarried and offspring were sometimes retarded. When I arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but they were all useful and did good manual work.

“I knew one, named Vincent, very well. He was a janitor of the school. One day I looked out the window and saw Vincent and others getting into a van.

“I asked my superior where they were going. She said to an institution where the State Health Department would teach them a trade, and to read and write. The families were required to sign papers with a little clause that they could not visit for 6 months.

“They were told visits would interfere with the program and might cause homesickness.

“As time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a natural, merciful death. The villagers were not fooled. We suspected what was happening. Those people left in excellent physical health and all died within 6 months. We called this euthanasia.

“Next came gun registration. People were getting injured by guns. Hitler said that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by matching serial numbers on guns. Most citizens were law-abiding and dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not long afterwards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not to comply voluntarily.

“No more freedom of speech. Anyone who said something against the government was taken away. We knew many people who were arrested, not only Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up.

“Totalitarianism didn’t come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little eroded our freedom.”

“This is my eyewitness account.

“It’s true. Those of us who sailed past the Statue of Liberty came to a country of unbelievable freedom and opportunity.

“America is truly is the greatest country in the world. “Don’t let freedom slip away.

“After America, there is no place to go.”

Kitty Werthmann

Proven Performance: Hornady's Critical Duty (National Rifleman Article)

Proven Performance: Hornady's Critical Duty

Criminal violence in society is inevitable, and Hornady’s’ Critical Duty is designed to defeat bad guys and the barriers they often hide behind.

By Aaron Carter, Managing Editor

There are few assurances or guarantees in life. When it comes to self-defense, that already-low number dwindles. Why? There are countless factors that affect where, when and with whom the life-threatening encounter will occur, and each changes the demands placed on defensive ammunition.

Take something as simple as victim-offender relationship, for example. From 1976-2005, “In 14% of all murders, the victim and offender were strangers,” explained the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Further, of the estimated 3.7-million burglaries committed per year between 2003 and 2007, “Offenders were known to their victims in 65% of violent burglaries; offenders were strangers in 28%.”

From these statistics, one can conclude that the offender will likely be a spouse or other family member, boyfriend/girlfriend or other acquaintance, and not a random stranger. The “closeness” or familiarity element undoubtedly increases the probability that the offense will occur at, or inside, a dwelling, being the result of a dispute, robbery or botched burglary. Inside a residence, engagement distances are typically short, and the primary barriers a bullet might be called upon to defeat are clothing, wallboard, plywood, two-by-four boards and glass—i.e., mostly common building materials.

With the exception of interrupted burglaries, though, criminals who select victims at random are more likely to assail outside the home during a robbery. “More than half of the robberies occur on streets and highways,” explained Curt R. Bartol in Criminal Behavior: A Psychosocial Approach, Fifth Edition. Outside the home, not only can shot distances vary greatly, but to the previous barrier list can be added auto glass and sheet metal, both of which apply to robberies and encounters “on streets and highways.”

Victim-offender relationship is but one of the myriad elements that can be used to gauge criminal trends; in fact, statistical data proves that even air pollution, noise, ambient temperature and moon phases affect the proliferation of crime and drive deviance. Simply stated, it is impossible to know the circumstances—to include location, shot distance and angle, barriers (even clothing), timing (day or night) and size, physical strength and mental condition of the aggressor—of a life-or-death encounter beforehand, so the ideal defensive load, then, would stop any criminal threat anywhere at any time.

Before Critical Duty
Until Critical Defense (Sept. 2009, p. 72) was unveiled in 2009, Hornady’s go-to defensive bullet was the eXtreme Terminal Performance (XTP), which was, and still is, loaded in the company’s Custom and TAP FPD lines. Introduced in 1989, it is used as often for hunting and competition as it is for personal protection purposes.

As non-bonded projectiles, XTP bullets achieve retained weights upward of 95 percent—for deep penetration—through the use of progressively thickening jackets that are “mechanically” locked to the swaged lead core. Though typically hollow-point in configuration, flat-point XTPs exist, too. Concerning the former, precise nose folds and oversize cavities work in unison to ensure uniform, consistent expansion at lower velocities, yet maintain integrity at high velocities.

Like many hollow-point projectiles, though, the cavities of XTPs can clog when penetrating clothing, and heavy garments in particular. The result is minimally or non-expanded bullets with reduced energy dispersion, limited organ and tissue damage/disruption and potential overpenetration. The problem is more apparent in compact, short-barreled handguns in lesser chamberings that are popular for concealed carry, where velocities are relatively low.

Hornady remedied the hollow-point dilemma with Critical Defense’s non-bonded FlexTip eXpanding (FTX) bullet. To prevent the cavity from clogging with fabric, the company’s chief ballistics scientist, Dave Emary, utilized a technology pioneered in the company’s LEVERevolution line—the proprietary red, elastomeric polymer. Not only did the material, which varied slightly in composition from that in LEVER-evolution, prevent debris from blocking the cavity, its “pseudo hydrostatic” nature, as Emary described it, contributed to uniform expansion by imparting equal pressure throughout the cavity.

Unlike the XTP, the FTX’s weight retention—upward of 99 percent (typically only the tip is absent)—is controlled solely by jacket taper, which progressively thickens toward the base. There is no mechanical “InterLock” ring to prevent jacket-core separation; at the lower velocities of Critical Defense it’s unnecessary. Emary mandated that penetration not exceed 12"; a depth sufficient to damage vital systems and structures even from side angles, and in which most of a projectile’s energy is dispersed, thereby limiting the risk of overpenetration.  At the nose, though, the jacket mimics the XTP’s in that expansion—1.7-times caliber with distinct petals—is “pre-programmed” via six precise folds.

Improving the terminal performance of low-velocity cartridges in short-barreled handguns—most noticeably .380 ACP, 9 mm Luger and .38 Spl.—was the primary design intent behind Critical Defense; however, the line has since grown to include more potent defensive chamberings, such as .357 Mag., .40 S&W, 10 mm Auto and .45 ACP, as well as unconventional ones, such as .44 Spl. and .44 Mag. Regardless of chambering, all perform similarly with regard to terminal ballistics.

With Critical Defense, Emary also addressed the issue of excessive recoil, which is especially prominent in lightweight carry handguns. Since high velocities are unnecessary to achieve the desired terminal ballistics, even through clothing, light-for-caliber FTX bullets were selected. Lightweight projectiles, combined with faster-burning propellants—necessary to achieve a more complete burn in oftentimes much abbreviated barrels—enabled Emary to reduce the recoil impulse—a welcomed attribute.

Critical Defense was optimized for close-range confrontations with clothing as the primary barrier encountered. It was not intended to fulfill all eight penetration tests for “service” ammunition, as outlined in the FBI Technical Evaluation Plan (TEP); that’s where Critical Duty comes in.

Coming of Critical Duty
“Critical Duty was developed with law enforcement officers and their tactical requirements in mind,” explained Neil Davies, marketing director for Hornady. “That being said, there are also civilians who desire rugged ammunition and bullets for personal defense.”

Developing Critical Duty proved to be an immense undertaking. “It was an evolutionary process,” said Emary. “Essentially it was the culmination of a decade-plus of experimenting. It was troublesome getting the bullet to provide overall good performance on all FBI barriers, as each interacts differently with the bullet, as well as has a different effect on the bullet. The real problem was balancing the overall design to get good performance on everything.”

The resulting bullet was named FlexLock. “Critical Duty’s FlexLock bullet has a number of apparent, and some not-so-apparent, design features that allow it to function the way it does,” said Emary. “They work in unison and, to some extent, are compromises over what they could be in order to work on each FBI barrier test consistently.”

Unlike its primary competitors’ defensive bullets, the FlexLock is not bonded. “From the outset we decided not to bond the bullets,” said Emary. “This led to a lot of experimentation with jacket designs.”

Two FBI penetration tests in particular illustrate that he’d chosen wisely. One test requires shooting through “auto glass” (A.S.1, 1/4" laminated safety glass is angled at 45 degrees to the horizontal to simulate a windshield angle, and the shot is fired with a 15-degree offset) from 10 ft.; the other mandates a repeat of the aforementioned test, except the shot is fired straight-on at 20 yds. A gelatin block that is covered with “light clothing” is placed 18" behind the barrier. 

“Glass is an extremely hard and abrasive barrier,” explained Emary. “It crushes and mangles the noses of the bullets and has a tendency to grab the jacket and allow the core to squirt out. With bonded bullets, all this crushed and mangled jacket and core material tries to hang on to what is left of the bullet and creates a large and unpredictable frontal area. The result is usually not meeting the required 12" of penetration in gelatin. The FlexLock bullet is designed to shed all this damaged material, and it looks like a wadcutter after penetrating glass and gives predictable penetration in 10-percent gelatin.”

Foregoing bonding required innovative thinking to ensure integrity against the prescribed barriers while also achieving proper penetration, which the FBI TEP describes as follows: “It is desirable that the service projectile consistently penetrate an average of 12" to 18" throughout gelatin tests, with no shot less than 12" and no shot greater than 18" … .” Emary returned to Hornady’s roots for the solution; he combined a larger-than-normal mechanical locking ring—InterLock—with a high-antimony lead core, which is preferable in applications calling for high-retained weight. The latter could not be utilized if bonding was to take place, thereby reducing control over bullet deformation and expansion for optimal performance in gelatin. A sectioned FlexLock reveals an unusual, disproportionately heavy midsection with the lead-alloy core in a quasi-arrowhead/hour glass shape; it’s easy to understand how jacket-core slippage is prevented.

Unlike Critical Defense’s FTXs, Critical Duty’s FlexLock bullets are noticeably heavy-for-caliber. For example, in the 9 mm Luger and 9 mm Luger +P loads a 135-gr. version is used, and in .40 S&W the projectile weighs 175 grs. (which meets the Bureau’s call for a .40-cal. projectile “no less than 155 grs, nor exceed[ing] 200 grs.”). “Heavy for caliber is a function of the barriers that are expected to be defeated and yet have the bullet still achieve a minimum of 12" of gelatin penetration,” said Emary. “Lightweight bullets do not have the momentum to defeat barriers and achieve the required penetration depth.” Because of the bullet weights and the standard propellants used, recoil is more noticeable than with Critical Defense; however, it is by no means intolerable.

Hornady’s flexible, red elastomeric tip material is used on the FlexLock. Whereas FTX tip’s primary duty was to prevent cavity blockage, with secondary service aiding uniform expansion, the FlexLock does the aforementioned, as well as ensuring the cavity doesn’t collapse in upon impacting steel. “This is where the FlexTip material shines, “ Emary said. “The combination of the jacket taper design and FlexTip material prevents the nose from collapsing and forces the nose of the bullet to deform around the tip. You end up with a bullet looking like a toadstool. In essence, the bullet is ‘pre-expanded’ by the steel and performs just like a normal bullet in gelatin.” Reportedly, typical expansion across-the-board is 1.487 times caliber in 9 mm Luger, 1.617 in 9 mm Luger +P and 1.415 in .40 S&W. Average weight retention percentages, excluding the glass tests, are 99.8, 99.4 and 98.8, respectively.

Critical Duty also borrows from Critical Defense in its use of nickel-plated cases and clean-burning propellants with flash deterrents added. The former enables easier chamber checks in low-light conditions, as well as enhances feeding, extraction and corrosion-resistance, while low-flash propellants preserve vision at night. Since Critical Duty was developed around full-size handguns, standard propellants—unlike Critical Defense’s progressive type—were utilized.

Put To the Test

Earning an FBI contract for “service” ammunition requires fulfilling the numerous conditions outlined in the TEP. Of the “Phase 1” requirements, though, the most difficult for manufacturers to meet are likely the penetration tests, with each simulating a real-world threat. It was for this very reason that I traveled to Hornady’s Grand Island, Neb., facility last fall—to witness Critical Duty in action. All testing was conducted using a Glock 17 (9 mm Luger) firing the 135-gr. +P load.

Of the eight tests, arguably the most difficult are “steel” and “auto glass.” It was here, respectively, that the evaluation began. For the steel test, two sheets of hot-rolled automotive sheet metal with a galvanized finish are spaced 3" apart, a calibrated gelatin block is draped with light clothing and placed 18" behind the metal, and the shot is taken from 10 ft. Propelled at 1165 f.p.s., the FlexLock easily pierced the steel layers and heavy clothing, and it attained a depth of approximately 13" in the ballistic gelatin. The recovered bullet weighed 133.1 grs. and measured 0.501" at its widest. As Emary had stated, it indeed resembled a toadstool. As for the glass test (described previously), which Emary equated to shooting through 1/4" of concrete, the bullet retained 67.1 percent of its original weight and expanded to 0.443", yet it still penetrated about 13¾" of gelatin. A second glass test was unnecessary.

Subsequent tests revealed FlexLock’s performance against bare gelatin, heavy clothing, plywood and wallboard, respectively. Against bare gelatin, which effectively represents a shirtless subject, from 10 ft. the FlexLock penetrated about 14¼" to 14½" of gelatin, where it was found to weigh 134.2 grs. and expanded to 0.544". Versus “heavy clothing” at 10 ft., the bullet expanded to 0.500", weighed 133.9 grs. and penetrated 15¾" to 16" of gelatin.

The final barrier tests conducted were against plywood and wallboard. The former consisted of one piece of 3/4" AA fir plywood, the latter two pieces of 1/2" gypsum board spaced 3½" apart, and both with a gelatin block with light clothing placed 18" behind and shot from 10 ft. After boring through plywood, the FlexLock attained a depth of about 16", where it weighed 134.0 grs. and expanded to 0.504". Against wallboard, the bullet penetrated nearly 13¾" of gelatin, weighed 134.3 grs. and measured 0.571" at its widest.

Regardless of the barrier it encountered, the FlexLock caused the most damage between approximately 1" and 6" of penetration; considering the chest-to-back depth of the human body, that’s about ideal. It’s comforting to know that, even after engaging barriers, the FlexLock will still deliver.

With barrier testing complete, I tested Critical Duty for accuracy and consistency. From a 4" Springfield Armory XD pistol outfitted with a LaserMax LMS-Micro atop a Hyskore Utility Bag rest. The 135-gr. 9 mm Luger load averaged an excellent 2.08" for five consecutive, five-shot groups at 25 yds. Equally impressive was the load’s consistency: through an Oehler Model 36 chronograph, at 15 ft. the load averaged 1001 f.p.s.—Hornady’s number is 1015 f.p.s.—and the standard deviation was 10.

Critical Duty is available only in 9 mm Luger and 9 mm Luger +P (135 gr.) and .40 S&W (175 gr.).

Hornady’s website prices it at $28.75 per 25 (9 mm Luger and +P) or 20 (.40 S&W). Cabela’s prices it at $21.99 for 9 mm Luger, and $22.99 for 9 mm Luger +P and .40 S&W. Currently .45 ACP is being designed, and .357 SIG and 10 mm are also likely candidates.

Given what I’ve observed, Critical Duty is a remarkable product that delivers as touted. It is little wonder why states such as Kansas, South Carolina, Idaho, Nevada and Utah have contracts for it, thereby enabling all their departments and agencies to order the ammunition. Of the few “absolutes” in life, count Critical Duty’s performance among them.

Test Results:

Bare Gelatin Test 9 mm Luger 135-gr. +P

Auto Glass Test 9 mm Luger 135-gr. +P

Heavy Clothing Test 9 mm Luger 135-gr. +P

Plywood Test 9 mm Luger 135-gr. +P

Drywall Test 9 mm Luger 135-gr. +P

Sheet Metal Test 9 mm Luger 135-gr. +P

Are You Living in a “Death Spiral” State … And If So, What Should You Do About It?

A writer at Forbes Magazine has identified a phenomenon called the “death spiral states.” Sounds intimidating, right? Fox Business Network’s Melissa Francis broke down what you need to know on America Live today.

The category includes 11 states where private sector workers are outnumbered by people who are dependent on the government. That number would include state workers, and people who are receiving welfare or pension. For example, in California the ratio of “takers versus makers” is bigger than one. If you own a software company that employs 100 people, you’re supporting 139 other people in the state who are on the “takers” list.

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Credit worthiness was the second factor worked into this equation. To calculate that, Forbes looked into large debts, uncompetitive business climate, weak home prices and unemployment trends for each state.

So what’s the takeaway? If you live in one of the states on the list, there are things you can do such as rent instead of buy a home.

New Mexico ranked at the bottom of the list, with 153 takers for 100 workers. For the full “death spiral” list, check out the clip below!

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Chuck Woolery on Assault Weapons

Success Council on Gun Control

JESSE VENTURA on Gun Control

Stand your Ground Gun Laws

M4/AR-15 Charts and info

M4 Explaination from www.tacticalyellowvisor.net.