According to a poll published on April 29, five senators -- including four Republicans -- who voted against the Manchin/Toomey compromise background check bill on April 17 could face a backlash by voters back in their home states in 2014 elections.
                 
Public Policy Polling, a Democrat-leaning consulting firm based in Raleigh, N.C., surveyed constituents of five senators who opposed the measure: Republicans Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio, and Dean Heller of Nevada, and Democrat Mark Begich of Alaska.
               
The PPP says its surveys found 60 to 72 percent public support in each state for expanding background checks to require them in sales at gun shows and on the Internet. [ Read Full Post ]

Hunting big game with a rifle is not permitted in many parts of the country. Gun hunters in those areas are left to tote shotguns that are usually better suited to dumping grouse at close quarters than collecting venison at longer range. A modern saboted shotgun load is perfectly capable of delivering lethal performance at distances well beyond 100 yards. But can you put that projectile where it needs to go?

Dave Klotz of Da Mar Gunsmiths, a small shop located in Weedsport, N.Y., says you can with some modifications to your shotgun.

Here’s what Klotz did to my Remington 870 at a cost of $487. [ Read Full Post ]

When Connecticut legislators passed Senate Bill 1160 on April 4, they essentially outlawed an industry that employs 3,000 state residents and generates $1.75 billion annual taxable revenues.
               
The state's firearms manufacturing industry, which includes Hartford-based Colt, Southport-based Sturm, Ruger and Co. and New Haven-based Mossberg & Sons, warned lawmakers all winter that if they adopted Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy's gun control package, they would move their operations elsewhere.
               
The first gunmaker to follow up on that threat is Bristol-based PTR Industries, which announced on April 9 on its Facebook page that it will take its 40 jobs and $50,000 weekly payroll to another city in another state. [ Read Full Post ]