The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its partners in a long-running challenge of California’s restrictive gun control policies regarding gun shows have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review in a case known as B&L Productions, Inc. v. Newsom.
SAF is joined by the California Rifle & Pistol Association, South Bay Rod & Gun Club, Asian Pacific American Gun Owners Association, Second Amendment Law Center, L.A.X. Firing Range, B&L Productions—for whom the case is named—and several private citizens. They are represented by attorneys Donald Kilmer at Kilmer Law Offices in Caldwell, Idaho, and C.D. Michel, Anna M. Barvir and Tiffany D. Cheuvront at Michel & Associates in Long Beach, California.
The case involves questions about First and Second Amendment rights, and whether the state can adopt laws and policies which abridge and impair those rights.
“We are at a point where California has essentially ignored the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2022 that eliminated the use of ‘judicial balancing tests’ when deciding Second Amendment claims,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “while trampling on the First Amendment protections of speech which is necessary for the commerce of lawful products.” Read more
If you ask Yvette Bonney to describe the grossest thing she’s seen during her job, she talks about the time she removed an abscessed lymph node from the neck of a mule deer, which Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff occasionally sees in deer.?
“All this green stuff oozed out,” Bonney says.?
She’ll also tell you about other times when she examined tick-infested heads, deer with injuries or heads that were no longer fresh but still sampleable.?
The job of a wildlife technician who samples dead animals for chronic wasting disease (CWD) isn’t always a glamorous one. But Bonney says she likes it. She arrives at her job site, which is an old Globestar camper with a folding table outside, before 8 each morning, takes out her tools and waits for the first hunter of the day. Read more
Archery season, firearm deer season and the holiday season — these are tried and true traditions that most every Michigander knows! If you’re a hunter looking for a way to give back and help protect the outdoors and wildlife you love, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources hopes you’ll take part in critical disease testing for deer you harvest.
As part of ongoing monitoring and management, the DNR is offering chronic wasting disease and bovine tuberculosis testing for deer harvested during the 2024 hunting season. Every head that is turned in will help wildlife managers better understand the scope and movement of CWD and bTB in Michigan.
Chronic wasting disease testing
CWD testing is focused on the northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula. Counties eligible for CWD testing include Antrim, Arenac, Baraga, Benzie, Cheboygan, Chippewa, Clare, Dickinson, Gladwin, Grand Traverse, Houghton, Iosco, Kalkaska, Keweenaw, Leelanau, Luce, Mackinac, Manistee, Ogemaw, Ontonagon, Otsego and Schoolcraft.
Hunters can submit samples for testing through the following options: Read more
Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)
As Michigan’s Regular Firearms deer season comes to an end, I am going to take this opportunity to explain why the choice of ammo – and, specifically, bullets – can make all the difference in outcomes. Long ago, I have come to the conclusion that a bullet with proven design characteristics and elements that produces controlled expansion is always my choice for deer hunting; varmint hunting is a different matter and is not the issue. We’re talking deer hunting.
Never before has there been more varieties in conventional store-bought ammo. Some folks may opt for price, others accuracy or just plain availability. However, without understanding what happens to that bullet when it strikes the target, may leave hunters at a distinct disadvantage afield.
Many YouTube videos exist that depict penetration and expansion characteristics when chosen projectiles are fired into ballistic gel. This is always helpful and can lead shooters to make educated decisions as to ammo choices. With this in mind, I made the video below to unscientifically demonstrate vast differences in two bullet designs: Hornady’s flex tip and Federal’s with its proprietary Fusion projectile as they strike bone.
Before going any further, it’s understood that my test is extreme; however, it demonstrates the integrity of both. My personal choice is neither, but its proven design fits the bill for me: Barnes Vortex – a copper hollow-point offering that produces controlled expansion results regularly.
Two cases in point this deer season; one is a sizeable buck that I took and another is a doe shot by my pal, Joe, with the Hornady Flex Tip. My buck was taken at 108 yards and Joe’s doe was shot at less than that.
When I decided to let that Barnes bullet fly, the deer had moved to a quartering-away position. To me that meant I’d aim a bit farther back than straight broadside shots and the suppressed .450 Bushmaster round from my Ruger American hit the mark, as evidenced by the “mule kick” and “thump” sound of the bullet. The mortally wounded deer piled up within 70 yards. Because of the angle, there was no usual exit wound, but that bullet traveled through the vitals lengthwise taking out both lungs. It’s rare for this bullet not to pass through, but the total distance of travel of the projectile after impact was impressive upon inspection.
When Joe punched his doe, he mentioned he too saw the mule kick from the Flex Tip. He didn’t hear the impact, but his hearing has diminished over the years. It was assumed to be an easy recovery, as he marked the scene, although no evidence was found: no hair, no blood and no deer.
I was back at headquarters pacifying his trusty tracking dog, Junior, when he radioed me. To give the dog some excitement, we took him along for the seemingly easy recovery. We were totally dumbfounded when after over an hour later we had no clues. For the first time, Junior, came up as empty as were our hearts.
Next morning, back at it with the dog. Same results. Nothing but someone else’s dead by that expired on my property.
The following day, I found Joe’s deer some 70 yards from the scene of the crime in plain view. Why the dog never found it, may be attributable to a lack of blood trail. Although Joe mentioned the direction of the fleeing, accompanying antlerless deer, we blew the chance to recover it before spoiling. The dog seemed to be trailing the other deer to Nowheresville.
Upon inspection of the wound, I noticed an entry hole but merely as spec of blood on the opposite side – apparently from a small bullet fragment. It was an accurate shot in the ribs but that explosive bullet never produced the exit hole we desire. Had it been shot in the same place with a better bullet, I suspect we’d have had no problem finding the prize. Dang it!
Idaho Fish and Game has been receiving an increasing number of reports of black bears getting into garbage and other attractants.
After repeated incidents of accessing unsecured residential garbage, a yearling black bear was euthanized north of Hailey on Thursday, November 14, 2024. The young male that weighed approximately 100 pounds had twice broken into a garage to find food and there were signs of the bear attempting to get into a house. Since the bear was showing increasingly aggressive behavior, the decision was made to trap and euthanize the bear to protect public safety.
Over the last several months Fish and Game has been receiving an increasing number of reports of black bears getting into garbage and other attractants in subdivisions and neighborhoods throughout the Wood River Valley. Since early August, well over 100 reports have been received by Fish and Game, with the common theme of a bear getting into residential garbage or other food sources. Read more
The holidays are here, and time is running out on the FN Season of Savings rebate program, which features cash-back offers on purchases of most new models in the FN 509®, FN 510®, FN 545®and FNX™-45 series. Be sure to act quickly as the rebate program ends December 31, 2024.
The rebate applies to all FN 509 models except for the Edge series and includes recent releases such as the FN 509 Fullsize, FN 509 Compact MRD with Compensator and FN 509 Tactical with Cerakote gray or bronze finish. The rebate also includes all FN 510s, FN 545s, FNX-45 tactical pistols and those with optics bundles and five-magazine packages.
FightLite® Industries, a division of ARES Defense Systems® Inc. is pleased to announce that the second US Patent for their HERRING® Model 2024™ – Modern Lever Action Rifle has been granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office. “LEVER ACTION FIREARM AND KIT FOR CONSTRUCTING THE SAME” has been granted US Patent Number US 12,152,844 B2 today and joins a previous, related patent “BOLT CARRIER MOVEMENT MECHANISM PROVIDING PRIMARY EXTRACTION FORCE MULTIPLICATION, FIREARMS COMPRISING SAME, KITS FOR CONSTRUCTING FIREARMS COMPRISING SAME, AND BOLT CARRIER GROUPS FOR ENABLING SAME” granted in May , 2024 under US Patent Number US 11,988,479 B1.
The HERRING® Model 2024 is a family of high performance, extremely accurate and modular lever-action firearms that provide for flexible caliber and magazine reconfiguration at the user-level, without tools to support virtually any shooting profile. HERRING® is a clean-sheet revival of the lever-action concept and significantly advances the state-of-the-art for lever-action rifles and pistols bringing them fully into the 21st Century.
Invented and designed by company CEO Geoffrey Herring and his team at FightLite Industries; HERRING® raises the bar for the lever-action repeating gun by incorporating the latest materials, techniques, and practices into a modern, lightweight, accurate and user-configurable, caliber and magazine convertible lever-action firearm family.
Designed with performance, configurability, ergonomics, ease-of-use, optical compatibility, and hard-working utility in mind, HERRING® leverages many standard AR-15 type components to provide for different calibers, barrel lengths, optical sights, silencers and accessory mounting needs. Also like an AR-15, the HERRING® Model 2024 utilizes off-the-shelf AR-15 bolts, barrel extensions and barrels which gives it even greater flexibility and high-velocity, modern cartridge options. Read more
Davidson’s, one of the nation’s top firearms, ammunition, optics, cutlery, and accessories wholesalers, has received the last shipment of its very limited production run of the exclusive PPK/S “Exquisite”.
This limited production of 1,000 units has been completed after the initial partial shipment sold out quickly. Just in time for the holidays, Davidson’s has received its final inventory of this exclusive and, once they’re gone, they’re gone.
At the time of its invention over 80 years ago, the PPK inspired an entirely new category in the firearm industry, now widely known as the concealed carry pistol. To fill the need for performance in a concealable package, Walther broke the mold of pocket pistols and full-size military pistols to bring undercover officers a more practical and reliable option, the PPK.
The PPK/S maintains the timeless features, essence, and elegance of the original with an additional extended grip allowing for added capacity and improved ergonomics.
Davidson’s pays tribute to the heritage of the PPK and PPK/S with this very special model – the Exquisite. The Exquisite combines fancy-grade Turkish walnut grips with a brushed stainless finish, high-coverage scroll engraving, and 24KT gold appointments including inlays, hammer, trigger, magazine release, and grip screw. All have special serial numbers prefixed with “JB”.
Befitting its elegant status and look, the Exquisite comes packaged in a Walther-branded hardshell foam-fitted case and includes a Certificate of Authenticity.
European American Armory Corp launched a new double-stack 1911 that single stacks rounds at 25 yards. The next generation handguns from EAA are sure to be a thorn in the side of their competitors due to excellent manufacturing quality, low price, and consistent availability.
The Girsan Witness2311 Match, now shipping, is a full-size, double-stack 1911 chambered in 9mm. It features a reverse-crowned, bull barrel system that provides superior accuracy and the aesthetics of this new model has industry heads turning. Designed with competition, personal protection, and law enforcement duty in mind, this Witness2311 supplies the demand of every role. Full-length accessory rail, removable magazine well, extended beavertail, ambidextrous thumb safety, one 17-round magazine and one 20-round magazine are all included. The Match’s aggressive grip texturing allows for a solid purchase on the gun in any environment and the two-tone Cerakote finish offers scratch protection and a sleek look. The slide is RMS/RMSc optic-ready under the fully adjustable rear sight cap and the Witness2311 Match 4.5lb trigger and hard travel case come standard. At an MSRP of only $989, EAA Corp backs up their Why PayMore campaign with real savings without sacrificing quality or features. Read more
