A bill to make the Colt Single Action Army revolver the symbolic state firearm of Arizona has stalled in the Arizona House of Representatives. Naming a state firearm won’t cost the state a dime, but it is an important element of Arizona’s history as it relates to the Arizona Centennial celebration. This is a one time only opportunity to celebrate our first 100 years of statehood. As noted by the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission, the Arizona’s Centennial provides Arizona and its citizens an opportunity to showcase the “state’s beauty, history and future”.
Colt SAA in Nickel - ASRPA 2011 Meeting raffle prize.
How was the Colt SAA Selected?
The Colt Single Action Army revolver (Colt SAA), also known as the
Peacemaker, was suggested by the Arizona State Rifle and Pistol Association (ASRPA), after a survey of more than 3,000 respondents chose the Colt SAA as the gun most representative of Arizona’s history. ASRPA’s Arizona lobbyist, Todd Rathner, then contacted Colt to see if they would support and help achieve the official designation.
What Is ASRPA?
The Arizona State Rifle and Pistol Association was founded in 1909 to oversee competitive shooting and firearms training in the state. ASRPA has played a crucial role in Arizona’s history, that continues to this day:
In 1910, The Arizona Rifle Team designed and used a flag when they attended the National Matches at Camp Perry. This flag was adopted as the state flag in 1917.(source ASRPA presentation)
Arizona State Rifle and Pistol Association Rifle Team early 1900s
Does This Firearm Represent Arizona?
One of two guns widely acclaimed for winning the West, the Colt Single Action Army revolver was widely used by settlers, farmers, ranchers, miners, and the Arizona Rangers for self-defense and law enforcement. It was also carried by the Arizona Rough Riders*. It has been suggested that a Ruger product would be appropriate, since Ruger has a significant manufacturing presence in Prescott. However, Ruger’s Old West style guns began production in the 1950s and are actually based on the Colt Single Action Army design, which leads us back to having the Colt Single Action Army revolver designated as the state firearm.
What Will It Cost the State?
It won’t cost Arizona a single copper penny. It’s really hard to imagine how passing a no-cost bill like SB1610 would be too much for some lawmakers, when you consider the controversial bills that have been passed this year. Speaker of the House Kirk Adams pushed through a structurally balanced budget, a rollback of the state’s excessively spendy health insurance program (ACCCHS), as well as major pension reform. The House tackled contentious issues that desperately needed to be addressed, led by someone willing to take the heat.
What Now?
The Arizona House has worked many late nights this session, tackling difficult, contentious, and controversial issues for the State. Hopefully, with the busy schedule, they just haven’t had time to update the voting calendar with the date SB1610 will be heard on the House floor.
We’re hoping they will pass this bill on Monday, so the passage can be applauded at Senator Sylvia Allen’s Patriot’s Day celebration at the Arizona Capitol on Tuesday.
Anti-gun group, The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, rolled into Arizona this week, along with their latest tool paid poster boy, Colin Goddard. Mr. Goddard was wounded during the 2007 Virginia Tech Shooting, and is now using his cred to assist the Brady Campaign with their efforts to take guns out of the hands of lawful citizens.
I am very sorry that Mr. Goddard ended up in the middle of the Virgina Tech mess, but I must question his logic. The idea that the nightmare he endured has motivated him to fight against a person’s right to defend them self is just astonishing to me. Virgina Tech was a gun-free “safe zone” when the shooting occurred, and Mr. Goddard is advocating that the colleges and universities in Arizona stay that way. Wouldn’t that mean that others are doomed to suffer the same fate (or worse) as Mr. Goddard if these misguided policies are allowed to stay in place?
I was thinking about attending one of the “forums” this week, and asking Mr. Goddard in person about his decision to fight to continue to be a victim, but fellow blogger Tam’s recent post on the subject reminded me why I generally stay away from the anti-gunners, either in person or on the interwebs:
I don’t really care about the statistics or the efficacy (or lack thereof) of gun control laws. My right to own a gun (or anything else, for that matter) is not contingent on what other people do with that right. It wouldn’t matter if everybody else on the planet misused their firearms every day, that doesn’t have a thing to do with me or mine
* Senator Gallardo is the sole sponsor of AZ SB 1586, which would require federal background checks on all firearm sales (including private) at any “firearm show” (broadly defined to include almost any gathering where firearms might be sold). Another “we’ve got to do something” bill that does nothing but restrict the freedom of law abiding citizens.
The folks in Northern Arizona and Arizona Game and Fish have been working their tails off for fifteen years to build a proper range in Northern Arizona, and with the purchase of the private 160-acre Foster Ranch in Coconino County (about 30 minutes outside of Flagstaff), Northern Arizona is closer than ever to having a safe, modern shooting facility, where the public and law enforcement can safely shoot and train.
Unfortunately, a few people with ties to left-leaning and anti-gun organizations*, are making an 11th hour attempt to block the development of the Foster Ranch shooting range by voicing their opposition to the Coconino County Board of Supervisors. If we don’t speak up in support of the range, it is quite possible the Board will assist the opposition and try and bring a halt to the development of this much needed range.
Northern Arizona needs the development of this range to continue without further delay, so we are asking everyone in support of the range (ESPECIALLY those that live in Northern Arizona) to please contact the members of the Coconino County Board of Supervisors and kindly let them know that you support the development of a shooting range on the Foster Ranch property and do not want to see any further delays.
Here are the Supervisors phone numbers. You can also use the Coconino County Board of Supervisors Contact form, and select “Board of Supervisors” from the drop down menu to send your message through the web.
District 1 – Carl Taylor (928) 679-7151
District 2 – Liz Archuleta (928) 679-7152
District 3 – Matt Ryan (928) 679-7163
District 4 – Mandy Metzger (928) 679-7154
District 5 – Lena Fowler (928) 679-7751
*The Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of Flagstaff’s Future and the National Parks Conservation Association are the “big” backers of the very small opposition group, Friends of Walnut Canyon.
The highly anticipated second season of Top Shot premiers this evening at 10/9c on the History Channel. A while back, I made some comments about the casting for season 2 of Top Shot, and I am very pleased to see that it appears the powers that be at Top Shot listened to those of us who begged for more shooty and less “personality”.
Watching the teaser promo video for Top Shot 2, it appears that we will be getting our wish:
As a female competitive shooter, I’m especially excited about the two female competitors, Athena Lee and Maggie Reese. Not just “chicks with guns”, these ladies are two of the top female USPSA competitive shooters on the planet (so good, they were both just chosen to represent the USA in Greece for the 2011 IPSC World Shoot). To learn more about these lovely ladies, check out the interview with Top Shot’s Athena and Maggie on the Women of USPSA blog.
While at SHOT Show 2011 last week, Capitalist Pig and I made some time to visit the STI International booth. We arrived mid-morning, and their U-shaped booth was buzzing with a crowd all the way around the perimeter of the booth at least two people deep.
STI had their entire product line out on the tables, where fondling was not only acceptable, but encouraged (not always the case at SHOT Show). I’ve recently decided that I need a 1911 in 9mm, so I made sure to get my digits on the STI Spartan. The Spartan is an entry-level 1911 that’s actually made by Rock Island Armory, then STI works their magic on it, and adds some nice features that make this pistol competition worthy out of the box. The Spartan enjoys a reputation for being accurate and a great value for the price (around $650). We had a chance to shoot the Rock Island version earlier in the week, and we were impressed with the fit and finish, as well as the feel and accuracy. The RI version is less expensive at only $400-ish, but with the STI additions (better sights, trigger, hammer…), I’m leaning towards purchasing the Spartan.
As we were fondling the lovely, shiny things, Chris from STI greeted us and asked if we had any questions. Since C. Pig and I both shoot the STI GP6, we had some technical questions, and we wanted to get one of the first glimpses of the new and improved version of the GP6. Chris spent a good amount of time with us, answering all of our questions about our current pistols, then he grabbed one of the new GP6’s, and explained all the new features. Most exciting for me is the addition of interchangeable backstraps. The GP6 already has great ergonomics and feels comfortable in my small hands, but with the smaller grips, I should be able to thumb the safety and depress the magazine release button with my right hand, a major plus for competitive shooting.
The other major improvement for the GP6 is the addition of a decocker, which STI is working hard to make available by end of 1st quarter. This addition eliminates what I believe to be a huge problem with shooting the GP6 in USPSA (practical pistol) competitions. The GP6 is well suited for the “production” division (gun out of the box division with minimal tweaking allowed), but one of the rules for this division is that the hammer must be all the way down for the first shot, which must be in double action mode. Since the current version of the GP6 doesn’t have a decocker, the only way to be compliant with this rule is to load a magazine, rack the slide, then grab the hammer and hold on for dear life while you pull the trigger and SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY manually bring the trigger back to the forward position. If that doesn’t sound uncomfortable enough, the safety on the GP6 will not engage with the hammer all the way forward, so USPSA rules force you to put the gun back in your holster with no form of safety applied. The new decocker will eliminate these safety issues and we are looking forward to this new addition, which can be added to any existing GP6.
Similar to the Spartan, the GP6 starts its life off as the Grand Power K100, made in Slovakia, then STI magic dust is applied, and voila, the GP6 is born. STI had a very special guest in their booth while we were there, Jaroslav Kuracina, inventor of the Grand Power K100. It was a treat to have the opportunity to meet the man who created our pistols, and it was awesome of the STI guys to make sure we got the chance to meet him.
Once we were through with our GP6 lovefest, we went back to perusing the STI product line, with Jose from STI as our guide through this part of the STI shiny things tour. While pistols rule the roost at STI, they did have a small selection of rifles, including an STI branded 10-22 (which looked similar to my Tactical Solutions tricked out purple 10-22 rifle, including the TacSol barrel) and the STI sporting rifle, which was super light for an EBR and nicely balanced. It will set you back a bit more than the average AR, at about $1,200 street price, but with the extra STI magic dust on it (including custom hand guard and JP trigger group), it’s a reasonable price for a competition ready rifle.
Another item that caught our eye was prominently displayed at the front corner of the booth – the STI Limited Edition 100th Anniversary Commemorative anniversary set, which contains both an STI 1911, and a special edition 2011 (a double stack 1911). According to STI, “The set comes in a handsome velvet lined walnut box with elegant brass lock and fittings and gold leaf markings on a leather top and includes a brass plaque featuring the serial number of the collector’s edition and a specially designed 2011 STI “Challenge” coin.”
If STI was tired of us hanging around at this point, they did a great job of not showing it. We finished our tour of the STI booth by chatting with Jay, who was happy to spend some time discussing STI’s contingency program for shooters competing in IDPA and USPSA. It’s a simple and straightforward program – sign up, wear an STI shirt, win an area match and get up to $600 to spend on any STI product. My application is in the mail, now I just have to work on that winning part.
STI has a great group of people that make great products. Despite the evil media badges we were wearing (and unlike a few of the larger companies that make 1911’s), the gentlemen at STI gave us their full attention, answered all of our questions, and never made us feel like we were getting in the way of something more important. I’m happy to raid my piggy bank to buy more STI products knowing it’s going to good people who stand behind their product.
Former MLB baseball player and current television personality of the wildly-popular Buck Commander series, Matt Duff, teams up with world-class shooter and all-American girl, Jessie Abbate, for a brand new series unlike any other on the air waves. Traveling coast to coast, Duff and Abbate unveil one of NRA’s best kept secrets— the multi-million dollar, grassroots fundraising movement making up the heart of the shooting world— Friends of NRA.
The show will air at 10:30 pm EST, and you can find more information about the show on the Outdoor Channel website.
Kevin Baker of The Smallest Minority hosted a Bowling Pin Shoot today at the Tucson Rifle Club Three Points Shooting Range outside of Tucson, AZ. Looking for a good way to disassemble ammunition on my Birthday, Mz. VRWC and I made the trek to Tucson to give bowling with bullets a try.
What is a Bowling Pin Shoot? I’m glad you asked. A Bowling Pin Shoot is a race to shoot all of the bowling pins off of your table, before your competitor clears his or her table. Think of it as a mixture of drag racing, bowling, and shooting, where you race with guns and bowl with bullets. There were three “classes” of shooting; “Minor” (9mm or .38 caliber), “Major” (.40 to .45 caliber), and .22 Rimfire.
Shooting this match was a blast!
This was not my cleanest run at all, but the shooting was so much fun, that I didn’t want to bother with trying to film the other 9 or 10 runs I shot.
Perforated Pins
A big thank you to Kevin for setting up and running the match, as well as lugging the pins and tables to the range. Thanks to all of the other competitors too, whose hospitality and camaraderie truly make the shooting sports rewarding.
