The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) was primarily a response to Prohibition era gang violence. It mandated the registration of all suppressors, machine guns, short-barreled shotguns and rifles, and imposed a lengthy approval process and added enormous expense for these devices.  The $200 tax on manufacturing and transferring the covered items was exorbitant at the time, roughly $3,500 in today’s money. (more…)

Discussing firearms in public is fraught with peril. It is a subject I often tread carefully around until I know my audience. I have lost contact with friends and even family over such discussions. I have had all kinds of ugly accusations thrown at me because I defend my Second Amendment rights—such as "Fine, more dead kids, just so you can have your toys!" Thus, unless I know I am among like-minded friends, discussing the topic gives me heartburn. Nonetheless, here I go again. (m...

The anti-firearm activist and researcher Bindu Kalesan made headlines recently with her latest advocacy piece, which DRGO’s Publication Review Team gutted in Tuesday’s blog entry.  We take this opportunity to show how Kalesan is just another practitioner of a long tradition of scientific disgrace—abusing scientific credentials to advance a culture war against gun owners. And this is how the public health gun prohibition movement’s future is in doubt under our new political leadership. (more...

[Editor: With this article, we introduce the work of our Publication Review team of medical scientists and statisticians who add their expertise to countering the 'political' science endemic to anti-gun 'research'.] We have blogged about Boston University anti-gun advocacy researcher Bindu Kalesan’s commitment to attacking the very culture of American gun owners.  Now, with five coauthors and a little help from her friends at Michael Bloomberg’s billionaire-fueled gun control group Ever...

(from: learnbonds.com)[Editor: Snopes.com appears to be branching out from objective myth busting to politicized myth creation. We read Dr. Mauser's explanation on Tuesday. This is the so far unanswered request for correction he sent two weeks ago.] Barbara & David Mikkelson                                                                        Snopes.com Dear Mr. and Mrs. Mikkelson: I am writing to request that Snopes.com retract “Harvard Flaw Review,” by Kim LaCapria. This review makes...

[Editor: Here is a real time example of the false criticism that quality pro-rights scholarship receives from anti-gun academia. It matters. Reviewer Kim LaCapria has a demonstrable history of strongly "progressive", party-line bias. We'll read Dr. Mauser's request for correction on Thursday.] In the debate over gun control, it is often difficult to know which so-called “facts” are real, given the conflicting claims that are rampant. Not being able to analyze every claim we hear, it is helpfu...

[Editor: On the occasions of our November elections and last week's farewell to Fidel Castro, we present a 2-part series by Dr. Faria, reprinted by permission from Hacienda Publishing, with a message that America can always use.  Part 1 is here.] The powerful French Minister Cardinal Richelieu stated, “If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged.” (more…)

[Editor: On the occasions of our November elections and last week's farewell to Fidel Castro, we present a 2-part series by Dr. Faria, reprinted by permission from Hacienda Publishing, with a message that America can always use.  Part 2 appears Thursday.] In a previous article, “European social democracies and gun control,” I wrote that many Americans are extremely naïve when it comes to trusting the government with their liberties. In fact, there is an interesting dichotomy because citiz...