It’s time for the special election primary race for those seeking to win Representative Gabby Giffords’ recently vacated seat. The Republican special election primary is set for April 17, 2012, and the special election is scheduled for June 12. The Republican race for the seat is heating up now that several candidates have announced their campaigns.
The choices so far in the Republican Primary are:
Arizona State Senator Frank Antenori was the first to declare his candidacy for the seat. Senator Antenori is an Army Special Forces Veteran who co-authored the book, Roughneck Nine-One: The extraordinary Story of a Special Forces A-Team at War, about his experiences at the Battle at Debecka Pass in Iraq. His record on gun rights is great. Antenori’s experience as a legislator, his A+ AzCDL rating in 2010, and proven voting record give him a distinct advantage in the race.
Jesse Kelly will run again for the AZ Congressional District 8 seat. In 2010, Kelly was narrowly defeated in the race with Ms. Giffords. He served in the Marines for four years. After the tragic Tucson shooting at the Gifford’s event, Kelly was vilified by Democrats for his prior campaign events where supporters could shoot M16s with him. I’ll take that as a sign of his pro-gun credentials.
Martha McSally announced her intention to run for the vacant seat yesterday. Ms. McSally is the first woman to fly an Air Force fighter in combat. She is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, has a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 2010. She has also served as a national security adviser to Senator Jon Kyl. At this time, her website does not list her positions on current issues.
So far, the only candidate to come forward for the Democrat primary is Giffords’ aide Ron Barber.
The current race would allow the winner to serve in the seat through the rest of this year. The winner will need to simultaneously run in the Fall general election, but in the newly redrawn Congressional District 2 to keep the seat. The Republican contenders should make this race very interesting to watch.
Representative Gabrielle Giffords has announced her plan to resign from Congress in order to focus on recovering from her injuries. Hopefully, this move will enable her to focus strictly on recovery and rehabilitation, without the distraction of those attempting to exploit Gabby for political gain.
Her video announcement is moving and honorable.
Thank you for serving Arizona, Representative Giffords. May your recovery be speedy and complete.
Hunting Works for Arizona held a presentation and sporting clays shoot in December at Ben Avery Shooting Range Facility. Hunting Works for Arizona (HWFA) was created to promote the economic partnership that exists within the hunting and shooting communities and the greater Arizona economy.
Our membership consists of businesses representing a cross-section of the Arizona economy. These include sporting retailers big and small, restaurant owners, hotel, motel and resort operators, gas stations and convenience stores, hunting and shooting organizations, chambers of commerce and of course all the taxpayers of Arizona (hunters and non-hunters alike) who benefit economically and aesthetically from the license fees, taxes, and jobs the hunting and shooting industry provides both directly and indirectly.
How much direct economic impact does hunting have in Arizona?
$323 million in direct annual spending on lodging, food, gas, and gear.
Creating 4,700 jobs with $107.5 million in salaries and wages.
Paying $15.3 million in Arizona sales, fuel and income taxes.
A more than $429.3 million total impact on the state economy.
Ben Avery Clay Target Center
HWFA Co-Chair and Arizona State Representative Jerry Weiers noted just how expensive it can be to hunt, due to planned and unplanned expenses, as he shared a few of his hunting stories.
Mark Thomas, Director of Communications for the National Shooting Sports Foundation addressed how intertwined hunters, sport shooters, hoteliers and even law enforcement officers are effected by anti-gun and anti-hunting efforts.
Mr. Thomas noted how the intent of lead ammunition bans was not for the safety of animals. The lead ammo bans are a stealth attempt to stop all hunting, under the guise of helping the environment, despite the lack of any supporting evidence. He also noted how a ban on lead ammunition would harm not only sport shooters, but law enforcement officers as well. If lead is banned as an ammunition, our Police officers won’t be able to buy effective ammunition. Unfortunately, almost any lead substitute for bullets would be unacceptable, as the substitute metal would violate the Federal law about mythical “cop-killer-bullets“.
Mr. Thomas also explained how Modern Sporting Rifles (AR-15s) are the hunting rifle choice of today’s returning war Veteran’s and how that is no different than how WWI Veterans chose the .30-06 1903 bolt action rifle for hunting, or how WWII Veterans chose hunting rifles chambered in .30-06 like the M1 Garands they carried during their service to our country. He cautioned hunters that replacing the wood stocks of prior hunting rifles with plastic stocks didn’t change the function of the rifles. AR-15 black rifles, referred to as “assault weapons” by major media outlets, are just similar to the weapons today’s Veterans used while serving, and would be the most logical choice of hunting rifles for today’s military Veterans.
After the presentations, it was time to hit the Rattlesnake Course at Ben Avery Clay Target Center. The best way to describe Sporting Clays is, it’s like golf, only louder and more fun.
Arizona Representative David Gowan Shooting Sporting Clays
Federal Ammunition provided the shotgun shells for the match. Thank you Federal, Hunting Works for Arizona, and the awesome staff at Arizona Game & Fish for a great day at the range.
We’re here at SHOT Show 2012 this week, and we’ve been hunting for the coolest new products that will be hitting the market this year. One of the new shiny things that caught my eye is the .22 UZI from Umarex.
The new UZI in .22 will be available in a rifle and pistol, and Umarex said they would start becoming available in February. Both rifle and pistol accept 20 round magazines, and the rifle features an authentic folding stock, a detachable swing swivel and the traditional UZI handguard.
While I did not get the chance to shoot these great looking new guns, I got a chance to handle the rifle and pistol and they both feel solid and well made. Umarex let me know that the estimated retail price will be around $480 for the pistol, and $645 for the rifle.
It’s time for SHOT Show 2012. Time for the annual pilgrimage to NSSF’s Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, the biggest firearms trade show in America. Mz. VRWC and I will lead you to the various temptations of new guns you’ll need to buy this year.
Our GunBroker.com SHOT Glass from SHOT Show 2011. What will they have for us this year?
A couple of days ago, NSSF chief marketing officer, Chris Dolnack wrote a great post about the growing number of gun bloggers at SHOT Show. Chris noted that it’s time for the firearms industry to take gun bloggers and internet media seriously, and recognized the fact that those of us that blog about guns and shooting have the ability to take a new product and give it instant recognition.
I went back to the post yesterday to catch up on the comments, and was quite surprised to see this from a representative of GunsAmerica:
Now the question is when you are going to start qualifying internet media? We have to crawl over nobodies who can install wordpress and have nobody reading anything they write, It isn’t so hard to qualify internet media using Alexa.com and Compete.com. Why do you waste the manufacturers’ time and make the real internet media have to deal with wish I were internet journalists who are just using your stamp of approve to solicit review guns and accessories? You’ve created this giant gorilla in the room and we all have to deal with it, and you may think the industry takes your numbers seriously, but everyone sees things for what they are. If you are serious about bringing value to your exhibitors, you need to vet the press list.”
My Hi-Point 995 9mm carbine torture test is complete. I didn’t set out to conduct a torture test of the Hi-Point carbine, it just happened. I wanted a cheap, pistol-caliber carbine for shooting a tactical carbine/shotgun match at Phoenix Rod & Gun Club, to see if this was a discipline I would want to spend my time and money on. The rifle retails for only around $250 or less, making it much cheaper than a 9mm AR platform rifle for “testing the water”.
Danno, over at SandCastle Scrolls, appeared at the range on the day I was sighting in my new carbine. I couldn’t stop giggling as I created a jagged hole in the upper A-zone on a USPSA target. This proved to be way too much for Danno, as he explained in his Very Short Play in Three Scenes.
I had more than 15 rounds stuffed into the ProMag magazine. The mag hit the ground when I racked the slide. I shot the same match the following week, loading the aftermarket mags with only 14 rounds, and didn’t have any malfunctions.
I’ve shot all but one of the monthly matches in the last year, but I haven’t bothered to upgrade to a different carbine. I haven’t even taken the time to clean the one that I have. Over a year, and more than 1,000 rounds later, I’ve finally started to have a small problem with my American made rifle. At last night’s match, the bolt needed a slight tap to get the gun to go into battery for the first round on each stage. Despite the extra required nudge during loading, the rifle shot flawlessly and has never had a malfunction that wasn’t traceable to aftermarket magazines.
The little burp going into battery meant the rifle was telling me something. It was ready for a cleaning and maybe some oil. Once stripped, I was surprised that there wasn’t a pile of broken parts inside, but it was filthy.
More than a year of shooting without maintenance and it’s still cruising.
It took almost two hours to get all of the gunk out. The gunk included some of the receiver paint that had peeled off and blended into the burnt powder gunk.
It turns out that over 1,000 rounds of the cheapest, nastiest ammo I could use, fired during scorching hot duststorms and freezing rainstorms, had made the rifle dirty (shocking isn’t it). That little carbine still ran and fired every time the trigger was squeezed.
I don’t think I could ask for much more from any rifle. In fact, at every carbine match in the last year, I’ve watched rifles with much better pedigrees and significantly higher price tags malfunction on every stage. This brings me to the most important reason for cleaning the little rifle that could. True Blue Sam is hosting a Hi-Point e-postal match for November. If you have a Hi-Point carbine, join in and see how your shooting skills compare to others.
I am impressed with this inexpensive American-made rifle. It works reliably every time. If you want a fun little carbine that will shoot 9mm hollow points and is compact enough for home defense, or need something for tactical pistol-caliber competition, the Hi-Point 995 is a great choice. It is a fun little rifle to shoot for grins and giggles, that also could be considered as an affordable home defense option.
