A response to the blathering of De Leon

[Subdeacon Joe]

http://www.thebangswitch.com/open-letter-to-ca-senator-kevin-de-leon-d/

 

Sir,

My name is Matt *****. I am a full-time deputy sheriff and have been
so employed for 17 years. I am a court recognized firearms expert, a
lifelong shooting sports enthusiast and in my spare time, I write
firearms and firearm related gear reviews for several media outlets,
both online and print.

I am writing this letter as I attempt to sit through the YouTube video (http://youtu.be/xI6eE_FAwao)
of your recent press conference given on January 13, 2014. As someone
quite knowledgeable about firearms, I find it extremely difficult to
listen to your presentation because almost nothing you said about these
“Ghost Guns” (a term you used repeatedly that I have never once heard
before) is factually correct.

I would like to try and both educate you at the same time as I dispel
with the lies and obfuscations you presented to the media during that
press conference.

• 3D printed plastic guns do exist, but even the one example that was
  made from the most plastic of any of them (the “Liberator”) still
  contained a metal firing pin. It was also a single shot pistol, not a
  semi-automatic firearm.
  • Side Note: firearm ammunition is all still made with metallic
    cartridge cases and metallic projectiles so even if the gun could pass
    undetected through a metal detector, the ammo could not
• 3D printed metal guns also do exist, and there is a semi-automatic
  handgun (a 1911) that was produced in that manner that has been fired
  extensively, but that technology is far from cheap or readily
  available. Additionally, since it is made of metal, it cannot pass
  through metal detectors undetected.
• The forged, 80% AR-15 lower receiver you held up, and drew specific
  attention to, during the press conference is no more an “engine”
  (horrible choice of terminology by the way) for an AR-15 than an
  un-machined, rough cast engine block is the “engine” for a car. You
  were holding a rough forging, nothing more. That forging you were
  holding still requires a great number of machine steps using expensive
  milling machines or CNC machines. During that machining process, a
  missed tolerance of 0.001” can render that rough forging completely
  useless. What you were holding was no more an AR-15 “engine” than any
  of the rocks in my garden.
  • In fact, what you described as a “lower receiver”, and held up for
    the cameras, is in fact most definitely NOT a lower receiver. If you
    doubt me, please contact the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
    and Firearms (ATF) for clarification. They will tell you the same
    thing: that item is not a lower receiver.
• I am unfamiliar with the “sniper automatic weapons” you mentioned
  that are being produced by 3D printing methods or building of “Ghost
  Guns”. I can only assume you meant a semi-automatic sniper rifle, but
  then that would be an assumption on my part and I would hate to put
  words in your mouth.
• Serial numbers have absolutely nothing to do with law enforcement
  “detecting” firearms. Serial numbers are only used as identifying marks
  so that one rifle can be distinguished from another. They also aid in
  tracking ownership of firearms, which is what I believe is your goal
  with this legislation.
• The “Ghost Gun” that you held up, which was an illegal weapon in the
  State of CA for other reasons, not the least of which was the short
  barrel, was clearly not made from plastic and was not a 3D printed gun.
  That gun was made from almost 100% metal. The only plastic parts on
  that gun appear to the be the butt stock, the pistol grip and the
  forward vertical grip.
  • For further clarification on that “Ghost Gun”
    • It is most likely a .22 caliber (.223 or 5.56mm) rifle, not a .30 caliber rifle like you stated
    • A clip is not used with most
      modern semi-auto firearms. Rather they use magazines as the ammunition
      feeding device. Sometimes, clips are used to reload the magazines
      though. Please get the terminology correct. It really does make a
      difference.
    • There are only a few guns on the
      planet that can “disperse with 30 bullets in half a second”. A fully
      automatic AR-15 (already illegal in CA) has a rate of fire of 800 rounds
      per minute. Doing the math, that is 13.3 rounds per second, or about 7
      rounds per half-second. A semi-automatic rifle, such as the one you
      were holding, can only fire as fast as the shooter pulls the trigger.
      • Spewing nonsense such as the rate
        of fire you claim, while it may play well with the media and the
        uneducated public, does more harm to your argument with intelligent
        people than you can imagine. Plus, it just makes you look uneducated.
    • Producing an AR-15 from an 80%
      receiver is in fact not illegal as you stated. Both federal and state
      laws allow for the individual to legally produce their own firearm, so
      long as a long list of criteria are met.
• The “automatic sniper weapon” you held up is nothing more than
  another AR-15. It is no more or less accurate than any of my 100 year
  old bolt-action rifles that I own. In fact, the 100 year old rifles
  that I own fire far more powerful cartridges, that are actually more
  accurate at longer distances, than the cartridge fired by an AR-15.

You assert that assembling a complete, functioning AR-15 from a
legally purchased 80% lower is a simple task. I myself have completed
that task, but I am not the average American. I have a well-equipped
shop with all the necessary machinery, and the knowledge to use that
machinery, in order to complete the lower receiver. You make it seem
that any fool with a drill press can complete the task, which is a vast
oversimplification.

I challenge you sir, to put your money where your mouth is so to
speak. Show me how easily, you personally, can complete the machine
work on that raw lower receiver forging you held up, and assemble a
working AR-15.

The incident in Santa Monica that you mention, while tragic, is not
evidence of any great crime streak or rising criminal trend in which
“Ghost Guns” are being employed. To my knowledge, that is the only
incident the State of CA has experienced where a firearm built on an 80%
lower was employed to commit a homicide. Please, correct me if I am
wrong on that matter.

Finally, while I am not surprised at all that you would have a member
of the Brady Campaign as a supporter while you are calling for more
legislation designed to make it harder for Americans to own firearms, as
a law enforcement officer, I am saddened that you used several
high-ranking, politically appointed police administrators as window
dressing to lend credibility to your argument, as you stood there
rattling off complete nonsense.

Sincerely,

- See more at: http://www.thebangswitch.com/open-letter-to-ca-senator-kevin-de-leon-d/#sthash.2hQEGmYq.dpuf

 

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217]

Bravo Matt!

[Major Pain]

Great rebuttal to rambling nonsense. Did you have a way to send it to him? Perhaps a letter to an editor or an "Op-ed" piece in the Sacramento paper?

 

Pain

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

De Leon is on record as refusing to accept any communications from outside his jurisdiction.

 

On the other hand, he certainly is a dapper little popinjay, ain't he...?

[Eyesa Horg]

Unfortunately most of the media & public will never be corrected or see Matt's well executed letter.

[Dusty Balz, SASS#46599]

someone Ponch from Chips called, he wants his hair back....jackass!!!

[The Shoer 27979]

where can I get one of those jigs he was talking about for the AR ?

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

The dude's at it again...

 

Statewide Bag Ban Proposed

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Key California legislators have reached an agreement that could lead to a statewide ban on carry-out plastic bags at
supermarkets, liquor stores and pharmacies by 2016, officials said Thursday…

 

State Sen. Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles Democrat who helped broker the deal, said it balances "the health of the planet with the preservation of people's livelihoods."

 

It's astonishing that we were ever able to live before this fella came along to save us from ourselves. I think I'll just start referring to the chump him as "The Ban Man!"