Michigan Antique Arms Collectors Show Photo Recap

While SHOW OF SHOWS is just three weeks away the Michigan Antique Arms Collectors Show was a welcome warm up. The 500 table show offered a variety of firearms from around the world. Here is a view of just a few notable must-see items from the show. (Click images for a closer view) Read more

Newsbusters Calls Out MSNBC’s Matthews

This week our friends at Newsbusters noted that “Chris Matthews Lumps NRA in With ‘Crazy, Far-Right’ ‘Hatred’ of Obama” in response to comments made by Wayne LaPierre.

Here is how it played out:

MATTHEWS: Well, here’s something, another strain of the crazy, far right. Here’s the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre, and I’ve known this guy a long time. I’m astounded by this new accusation that the President is leading some conspiracy. Anyway, here he is, Wayne LaPierre, head of the national- not National Public Radio- National Rifle Association, at the conservative conference if Florida last week. Let’s listen to Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association.

WAYNE LAPIERRE: The President will offer the Second Amendment lip service and hit the campaign trail saying he’s actually been good for the Second Amendment. But it’s a big, fat, stinking lie. It’s all part, it’s all part of a massive Obama conspiracy to deceive voters and hide his true intentions to destroy the Second Amendment in our country. Before the President was even sworn into office, they met and they hatched a conspiracy of public deception to try to guarantee his re-election in 2012.

MATTHEWS: You know, I got to tell you, again, Ron, this- the language, “lie,” “conspiracy,” it’s almost like, I don’t know, Lincoln talking about what was going on in the Civil War below the Mason-Dixon line. I mean, this is Civil War talk about a president of the United States.

But again, missing is the fact that Obama has been anti-gun in the past, and has said he is working on gun control “under the radar.” Why is what LaPierre so shocking, except for the fact that it could get Obama voted out of the White House? Maybe that’s the real issue.

NRA Show Recap: Early Firearms

The NRA Show wasn’t just about the latest in modern firearms; there were plenty of vintage military rifles of all shapes and sizes. Here is a photo recap of some excellent collections of guns, and related items, which truly were heard round the world.

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Pro Gun Story That is Also a Feel Good Story

NECN reported that a Vermont museum has acquired a large collection of vintage firearms, noting that these antique guns help document “the history of Vermont gunmaking.”

The collection will go on display at the Shelburne Museum next spring. The news site noted:

“The 106-gun collection, amassed by Terry Tyler, consists of firearms manufactured in the state in the 18th and 19th centuries. Among them: Hunting rifles, pistols and military guns from the Mexican-American and Civil Wars, some with stocks made of tiger maple, burled walnut and other decorative woods. The exhibit, ‘Lock, Stock and Barrel: The Terry Tyler Collection of Vermont Firearms,’ opens May 15 at the museum.”

Finally, praising of the history of guns in the media.

Is Mexican Drug Cartel Crime Linked to Gun Control?

“Long before the Mexican drug cartels cut a distribution deal with their South American confederates, back when Colombian drug lords were busy corrupting their society’s democratic system, Mexico’s federal government was cracking down on private gun ownership. Its war against civilian firearms began in 1968, after civil unrest spooked the powers that be. The Mexican government closed all privately held firearm stores. From that point on, all firearm sales had to go through the Mexican Defense Ministry. It determined what guns were sold to whom at what price.” Read more

TPM Writer Misses Mark on Gun Owners

In an editorial for TPM Café writer Leonard Zeskind suggests that gun shows have transformed from a regular event that was about hunting and collectibles, into something aimed (no pun intended) at recruiting a white nationalist movement. He states this by noting:

“A few collectors remain, who display antique weapons in the same way as their cousins might collect stamps, particularly at the smaller weekend events. Nevertheless, as anyone who has been around these shows long enough to remember the time when mahogany exhibits of Civil War muskets were the rule and not the exception.” Read more