Viewpoints

The Massachusetts Gun Control Act of 1998 continues to plague Massachusetts gun owners, and it has become particularly oppressive for retail handgun consumers, a Gun Tests reader writes us from the Bay State. Hes very involved in certain aspects of the regulatory process, and his background on how Second Amendment rights continue to be eroded there raised my eyebrows.

Among the many provisions of the Act are a complicated set of handgun testing requirements that apply to handguns sold by Massachusetts firearms dealers.

The first of these requirements is a handgun performance test that requires three samples in new condition to fire 600 rounds each without breakage and with no more t...

The 2000 elections should be only a week or two away, depending on when you actually receive this copy of Gun Tests. Your willingness to get up off the couch and go vote will be important if we expect to have the ability to keep and bear arms into the future. As you might expect, we have some opinions about how you should cast your vote. Since we advise you every month on how you should spend some of your money, allow us a moment to guide you on how to spend your political capital as well:

• Please vote for anybody but Al Gore for president. He will push registration down our throats if he wins, followed shortly by some sort of fee/transfer tax, followed by transfer restrictions, f...

Benelli Sport 12 Gauge
Enjoyed your article on the Benelli Sport in the October issue, but then I always like reading Gun Tests. I am pleased that you folks have the time and resources to do what the rest of us would like to do when it come down to evaluating a firearm purchase.

I have owned a Sport for the last few years and can affirm that it is truly a pleasure to shoot and own, and you are absolutely right about the recoil of a lighter shotgun.

I purchased my Sport about three years ago at one of the local gun shows from a dealer who was not from my area. I was aware of the interchangeable barrel ribs and asked him about the others, since mine only had one in the bo...

A California jurist and Gun Tests reader recently wrote me a short note that said, Enclosed please find a photocopy of United States Code Title 10, Section 311, which contains the definition of militia. Your readers concerned with Second Amendment issues may find this to be of interest.

It was. Heres what Title 10, Section 311 says:

Sec. 311. Militia: composition and classes
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of t...

We have discovered why you have so much trouble trying to reach the customer service departments of major computer companies and internet services. They're too busy giving lessons to the customer service departments of firearms manufacturers.

Does this sound familiar? Recorded Voice: Hello, thank you for calling (name of company goes here). This is our new menu. If you know the extension of the person you are calling, press number one. For customer service, press two. If you want a catalog, press three. For parts information, press four. For additional choices, press five. If you would like to hear this menu again, press six.

You press two. Recorded Voice: We're sorry, all our custome...

A group at the University of California, Davis calling itself The Violence Prevention Research Program and headed by an emergency-room physician mildly involved in the shooting sports is zeroing in on cheap autoloaders with a vengeance. Their targets are what they refer to as California's "Ring of Fire Companies": Sundance Industries, AMT, Phoenix Arms, Davis, Lorcin and Jennings/Bryco.

According to the program reports, these companies produce the vast majority of inexpensive handguns that are "disproportionately involved in violence and figure in thousands of firearms crimes a year."

Let's chill out the rhetoric a bit. Inexpensive handguns have been around since handguns were invente...

1911 Magazines
Thank you for a fine publication. After 25 years of the rest, your's is the only gun book I pay for besides American Rifleman.

Onward to my reason for this letter. Applause is in order for your December 1997 review of 1911-type pistol magazines. I definitely hope more reviews of this kind are in your magazine's future.

I, as well as many others, am relieved to know that I'm not the only one who has such variable results in my autopistols that is caused solely by faulty magazine design or execution. Even in the same make of magazines, some feed hollow point ammunition and some don't. One of my 1911 aftermarket magazines, a very well-built and smart-looking...

Smith & Wesson Model 457
In response to Mr. Lawrence S. Saval's comments on the Smith & Wesson Model 457 pistol (in the November 1997 issue). I own one and have shot several hundred rounds through it without any jams, stovepipes or failures to eject. It shoots a little low. As a matter of fact, it performs better than some of my more expensive pistols. To those of you who want a lightweight double action .45 ACP, buy a Smith & Wesson Model 457. I carry one every day in my business. I find it reliable, lightweight, snag-free and inexpensive in comparison to other pistols on the market. It's probably the most comfortable double action .45 ACP pistol to carry 8 hours a day.

Da...

We have upon us an election year. To ensure your continued ability to buy—and use—firearms, you owe it to yourself and your children to get out and vote. There are some tough contests coming up this year in some parts of the country, and they may come down to your ballot. I don’t know of any shooters who like politicians, but I know of no shooters who aren’t tied very closely to them, like it or not.

Another election, no less important, is also upon us. That is the NRA election. Whether you know it or not, there’s been some serious infighting (again) within the NRA. The current leadership has seen fit to give $200,000 worth of free advertising to their colleagues while using the same “pul...

Gun Tests subscriber, Lance A. Ito recently sent us a copy of a Washington Times editorial that is bound to give Charles Schumer, Josh Sugarman and the rest of the Brady Bunch a fit in their respective snits.

It related the downfall of a shotgun toting 17-year-old, Dervonne Marquise Moore, bent on cashing in at the expense of a Jacksonville, Florida, restaurant. According to the Times, as Mr. Moore allegedly ordered everyone to the floor and tried to force the waitress to open the cash register, 69-year-old Oscar Moore, no relation, pulled out his .22 Magnum revolver and shot him in the mid-section. Before the robber could change his order, a second patron, 81-year-old Robert Guerry, pul...

Until recently, Interarms distributed and serviced all Rossi firearms sold in the United States and Canada. According to some sources, the reason they no longer hold the contract was due to a total management change at Rossi. According to others, it was Rossi's serious debt and need for money. For whatever reason, the contract with Interarms was not renewed.

Around November of 1997, Rossi entered into negotiations and reached an agreement with Taurus of Brazil. Contrary to rumor, Taurus did not buy Rossi. The company continues as a manufacturer and marketer of long guns. What Taurus purchased was an undisclosed, but reportedly large, amount of Rossi's machinery to expand its South America...

Interarms Clarification
In your April, 1998 issue (Volume X, Number 4) on the last page titled ‘Firing Line,' it states that "Interarms imports but does not manufacture this Walther (the PPK/S).

As I told a Gun Tests representative on the telephone, Interarms is licensed by Walther to manufacture the PPK, PPK/S and TPH in the USA. These pistols are made for Interarms by an arms manufacturer in the United States per Walther specifications.

Roy Melcher
Director, Engineering & Technical Services
Interarms

Used Revolvers
This is to thank you for your article in the November, 1997 issue on buying a used revolver. While at a gun show recently,...