Subscriber Only

Given the massive U.S. and international media attention Lankford's work has received, and given the considerable impact his research has had on the debate, his unwillingness to provide even the most basic information to other researchers raises real concerns about Lankford's motives, in my estimation.

Brownells is offering a unique DIY project that beats putting shelves in the garage. The HK 416 Project is a parts kit offered by the Iowa-based retailer that allows a shooter to build an HK 416 — the type of rifle used by U.S. Navy SEALs in the 2011 raid against Osama Bin Laden. Disassembled from German military machine guns, the parts kits were available to all Brownells customers in November.

On March 29, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, issued a stern warning to Citigroup CEO Michael L. Corbat. Sen. Kennedy urged Citigroup to refrain from "penalizing Americans who choose to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights," and instead to focus on the company's many shortcomings. Sen. Kennedy also reminded Corbat that "The very fact that Citi remains operational is due entirely to the generosity of the American taxpayers." That makes this gun owner wonder if all of Citi's bailout funds have been repaid.

If you are a longtime subscriber to Gun Tests, then you'll remember when reliability was our main concern, and we often found function problems in various firearms. Now, thanks to modern manufacturing methods, today's firearms are so consistent we rarely have to say anything about how well a particular gun functions. But with these guns, we felt like we were turning back the clock. Reliability and function were once again our main concern as we collected accuracy data from the 100-yard benches at American Shooting Centers in Houston. Did we have three rifles displaying worthwhile innovation, or would the demands of creating a rifle to satisfy the demands of lawmakers spoil the progress of a proven design?

We wanted to test three threaded-muzzle bolt actions in a reference chambering well known to hunters and shooters, the 308 Winchester, along with a less-common bolt-action choice, the 300 AAC Blackout, which is more often chambered in AR-15 uppers because it has the same overall length, base diameter, and rim diameter as the 5.56 NATO round, so it will feed from an unmodified magwell in an AR-15 lower. The 300 Blackout can be loaded with lighter bullets, where it compares favorably to the 7.6239mm Soviet round, or loaded with heavier bullets that travel below subsonic speeds for suppressor use. At sea level, the speed of sound is roughly 1125 fps, with the "roughly" changing based on air temperature and other conditions.

As knowledgeable gun owners, Gun Tests readers know that paying lip service to restrictions and limitations isn't the answer. Guns aren't going to magically disappear. But gun owners, in particular, do have a responsibility to report erratic and potentially dangerous behavior in their communities. Because we have access to guns, it's up to gun owners to be the front line of responsible gun ownership and report when we see behavior like what Nikolas Cruz exhibited. We can't stand on the sidelines and say, "It's not my business" and move on. The trouble is, will we get law enforcement to follow up effectively? That clearly did not happen in the Parkland event.

In Virginia, the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Subcommittee has considered a number of anti-gun measures. Very worrisome is House Bill 597/House Bill 819, which makes it a crime to knowingly possess a device that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semi-automatic firearm.

Where is the reclassification of suppressors out of Class 3, so those of us already hard of hearing can easily buy them before we go completely deaf? Yes, I remember why it stalled — bad optics. Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) was shot on the same day a hearing was scheduled in June to make it easier for Americans to buy suppressors. I'm not sure why those two things became linked, because no suppressors were used in the Congressional baseball park attack or in the Las Vegas shooting. Aaagh! Why are Republicans so scared of the minority whining about "what ifs?"

States must improve the NICS database by submitting any and all records establishing an individual is a prohibited person, such as mental health records showing someone is an "adjudicated mental defective" or involuntarily committed to a mental institute, as well as official government records showing someone is the subject of a domestic violence protective order, a drug addict, or subject to another prohibited category. The existing background check system must be fixed, otherwise we'll just have more incomplete and inaccurate checks.

A pair of Democrats and Republicans introduced a new bill that would subject bump-fire stocks and other devices to the same regulations as machine guns and other highly regulated firearms. The bill, named the Closing the Bump-Stock Loophole Act, would add "a reciprocating stock, or any other device which is designed to accelerate substantially the rate of fire of a semiautomatic weapon" to the purview of the National Firearms Act, which currently regulates machine guns, short-barreled rifles or shotguns, silencers, and other firearms. The bill does not define what a "reciprocating stock" is or set a standard for what constitutes a substantial increase to the rate of fire of a semiautomatic weapon.

The call for stricter gun control in this environment is inevitable and has already begun. These discussions will go on for some time. But for now, Gun Tests magazine chooses to focus on the immediate and the practical. First, as we all know, guns are a fact of life in this country, and to "ban" them will never work. But we do need to have a good-faith conversation amongst ourselves about the essence of gun control. Live by the simple rules passed down from parents to children to grandchildren. Remind yourselves of the responsibilities we share and we cherish.

A day before Harvey crashed into Corpus Christi, I happened to see an 22-minute video of Edwin Walker, a gun-law attorney for the Walker & Taylor law firm here in Houston, talking about what to do with your guns in the event of an emergency like the one I'm in as I write this.