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.
New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg is at it again, this time he’s committing Federal felonies in Arizona to prove the “need” for a national gun registration database. The media is happily parroting Bloomberg’s press releases, confirming that a felony was committed at an Arizona gun show. The problem is, the illegal acts were done by Bloomberg and his “investigators”.
Bloomberg paid people to go to a gun show and buy handguns for him. Something the Mayor wouldn’t legally be able to do, as he is not a resident of Arizona. This is a straightforward Straw Purchase, defined as the illegal purchase of a firearm by one person for another. A felony committed by Bloomberg’s people, punishable by a $250,000 fine and 10 years in prison.
These transactions occurred between Bloomberg’s private investigators, Kroll, Inc and private individuals (not gun dealers). Kroll doesn’t list any locations in Arizona, so I’d love to know how the straw purchasers came up with the Arizona driver’s licenses presented to the gun seller during the transactions. I hope Bloomberg’s people didn’t violate Arizona’s Criminal Impersonation (ARS 13-2006) and Forgery (ARS 13-2002) laws.
From the ABC News article, Bloomberg and his anti-gun group Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) want to require a background check and permanent record of every firearm sale that, “would be archived in the background check database”. They want a national gun registration database and they’re willing to do anything to get it.
Will ATF’s Project Gunrunner go after Bloomberg? Will the Attorney General of Arizona pursue these alleged crimes? Or will the so-called “good” intentions of a rich man in NYC trump the rule of law?
UPDATE II: The Tribune of San Luis Obispo reports that the Bloomberg’s office claims that “the investigators were Arizona residents and broke no laws”. If no laws were broken, will anyone call Bloomberg out on his deception and false proclamations of illegal sales?
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.
The Melon Head gang needs to find a new line of work. We’ve got a new Judge that abhors melon heads.
Click the images to enlarge
Taurus Judge Public Defender won at Central Arizona Friends of NRA dinner.
I’m very happy to report that my first Friends of NRA dinner was quite enjoyable and was even better when I found out I was going home with a Judge. It only took a $20 raffle ticket at the Central Arizona Friends of NRA dinner last night to win a new stainless Taurus Judge “Public Defender”.
Taurus Judge Cylinder
Barrel Burr on Taurus Judge
It’s always nice to have a Judge on your side, especially when the Judge shoots .45 Long Colt and .410 shotgun rounds. 🙂
If you’d like to support gun safety education, marksmanship training, and shooting range improvements, go to a Friends of NRA dinner. You’ll have a great dinner, meet people with similar interests, support good causes, bid on auction items, and have chances to win some great prizes. Did I mention anything about tax deductions? You just might end up with new friends too.
Day 2 of the 2010 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Charlotte proved to be a packed day, just like the first day of the NRA convention. Staying in the center of town made for a short walk to Charlotte Convention Center and the few panhandlers I saw didn’t pester me. I should note that Charlotte’s panhandlers did have the newest and cleanest clothes I’ve seen on beggars anywhere, the Charlotte Observer should be proud.
Honored American Veterans Afield, also known as HAVA, has a booth in the main lobby area. We’ve written about the great work HAVA does, backed by the outdoor industry, to help injured and disabled soldiers transition back to civilian life. I participated in their fund raising raffle and happily departed with a few HAVA branded Smith & Wesson lockback knives. We hope you’ll support their efforts too. Despite the large attendance at the show, I was able to get a photo of the HAVA booth in main lobby area.
(Click on the pics for a larger version)
Honored American Veterans Afield
Even though the lobby was fairly easy to navigate, the show floor was very active and crowded around the popular booths.
NRA Meeting & Exhibits floor on Saturday.
Lauer Weaponry, maker of Duracote gun paints, had a display of custom painted firearms. I looked at the graffiti laden Manhattan paint scheme momentarily before this brightly painted AR-15 with a rail mounted .45 caught my eye, then apparently blinded me.
Lauer Weaponry displayed their Bloomberg edition gun paints, along with a Manhattan themed rifle, complete with graffiti.
Fed Ex was kind enough to drop off a shiny CMP Special Springfield M1 Garand today. The ‘born on’ date for this rifle is somewhere in October/November of 1943. It looks great at 66 years old and I’m sure it will be fun to shoot.
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It should do the job until I can afford a Dillon Aero.
Dillon Aero M134
UPDATE: If you’ve arrived looking for M1 Garand care and maintenance information, just about everything you need to know is at the CMP M1 Garand page. M1 Garand Armory has detailed information on heat lots, serial numbers, and more.
