Shooting from the Hip

If you’re not in Las Vegas, then you’re not at the No. 1 industry event of the year: SHOT Show 2010. On our sister blog, we highlighted seven things to check out at the show. Yet following the event’s kickoff, attendees have given us much more to share. They’ve been busy blogging and tweeting about, well, everything — from Asian noodles to tactical scopes. Here’s just an iota of what you’re missing out on.

As always, there’s been product launches galore including Smith & Wesson’s Bodyguard Line, Thompson/Center Arms Company’s new Muzzleloader and Youth .22 Caliber Rifle and Glock’s Glock 22 Gen4 in .40 caliber and Glock 17 Gen4 in 9X19. And if you’re looking for more updates, The NRA Blog was posting almost hourly yesterday and should follow that trend again today.

Meanwhile, we’ve collected an assortment of videos covering yesterday’s SHOT Show madness that have been uploaded in the past 24 hours. The video below comes from the Outdoor Channel featuring Bone Collector co-hosts T-Bone Turner, Nick Mundt and Michael Waddell talking guns … what else?! “It’s an animal,” says Mundt about the gun he’s holding in the video.

Jason from Vectronix introduces us to SORD, or Shooter Objective Ranging Device, which, according to CS Tactical, is already in use by Marines and SEAL Snipers.

Matt Hughes, a nine-time UFC Welterweight Champion, says hi from the U.S. Optics booth.

Here’s a quick demo of the new American Precision Arms’ Bottom Metal.

Another demo, this one of the Premier V8 1.1-8×24 CQB Tactical Scope…

And yet another demo… check out ArmaLite’s AR15 Cutaway.

Still yearning to be in the center of the action? For the remainder of the week, we’ll highlight the top SHOT Show tweets each day. Here’s our favorites from day one…

@HunTTrader: #SHOT SHOW had 70,000 people there yesterday! @HunTTrader was one of them.

@MichaelBane: #shotshow…day 1…breakfast with my friend Larry Potterfield frm Midway USA…AM Shot Show TV interviews…PM Shooting Gallery!

@ITStactical: Official SHOT Show Asian Noodles http://yfrog.com/3lfqldj

@rachellynn: @TankaBar what exactly is a “shot show” ??

@tojo912: Is sitting in his truck,wishing he Was at shot show.

@SaundersMFG: Go to our booth at the Shot Show(#8506), mention that you follow us on Twitter or Facebook — get a special FREE gift!! Retweet this!

@Glock1911: At the SHOT Show…. I have the pistol to show!

@TammyDianeSapp: Check out my report from the SHOT Show in today’s edition of The Outdoor Wire (scroll all the way down): http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/

@downrangetv: Day 1 of SHOT Show, 2010…. the busiest in a long time!: Wow. Today was the busiest SHOT Show day that I have had i… http://bit.ly/4D6dsA

@ftmeyer: Day 1 at SHOT Show 2010. AMK’s wheel of fortune giveth and it taketh. This retailer’s spin landed on the dreaded… http://bit.ly/7UfHNO

@ITStactical: SHOT Show 2010 Best of Day 1 http://ow.ly/1niviK

It’s OK to be the gun nut in the family. What’s not OK is letting your loved ones sit around and guess what type of gun accessory they should pick up as your just-right holiday prize. To avoid further seasonal shopping stress, forward along this post to your gift-buying committee.

Dirty Bird™ Multi-Color Splattering Targets Animal Pack
Targets can be a great (and cheap!) gift. And since it’s not really humane to provide a moving/living one, these “real beast” targets ($12.99) made of NRA animal shapes like chickens, boars and turkeys will certainly make a splash at the shooting range — literally. When a target is hit, the color associated with each animal shape will explode creating a ring around each bullet hole. Animal shapes not exciting enough? Try these zombie targets ($5) then.

Flashlight Filter
Cheery colored filters in red and green are the choice tools when deceiving animals who are unable to see colored lights. That way, when you’re out in the forest at night, you won’t scare away any easy targets by spilling white light all about. For Blackhawk’s Legacy X6 flashlight ($69.99), you can pick up a filter for about $10 in red, green or blue.

Bullet Pen
With a catchphrase “make words not war,” it’s easy to love this seemingly dangerous writing utensil. The brass pen ($5-$25), said to allow you the ability to even write upside down if need be, fits inside of a .375 H&H Magnum shell for easy storage.

Read more

If you’re a gun owner and haven’t received an e-mail forward warning of the horrors of SB-2099, an alleged U.S. Senate bill that would enforce a federal tax on firearms, then you are one of the few.

This mythical bill, which has been dispelled since 2000, claims that:

• Senate Bill SB-2099 will require gun owners to put on the 2009 1040 federal tax form all guns that you have or own.
• It will require fingerprints and a $50 tax per gun.
• The bill will become public knowledge 30 days after it becomes a law.

All of the above is completely and utterly false (well, according to Snopes). But why would this rumor resurface after being disproved nearly a decade ago? According to About.com’s Urban Legends, the 2008 election was the catalyst.

The latest e-mail about the SB-2099 “bill,” is a combination of the 2000 forward and another e-mail about the Blair Holt bill, which is true. The amalgamation of both bills, however, proves false.

The recent forward resurgence caused the NRA to release a statement in August that said the e-mail ruckus had caused them to receive “hundreds of e-mails warning us about SB-2099”

“Like many rumors, there’s just a grain of truth to this one,” the statement said. “Someone’s recycling an old alert, which wasn’t even very accurate when it was new.”

The video opinion commentary below discusses SB-2099, saying that the whole thing is a hoax, and points to potentially more pressing matters for those who own firearms.