Open Source Defense

Investing in and writing about civilian defense.

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

https://t.co/mdMPQWVSwE

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

@MorosKostas Congrats!

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

Spotify: https://t.co/jkMLOdNi7M

Apple Podcasts: https://t.co/FomauuzXjC

Pocket Casts: https://t.co/EZgVkGa8qc

YouTube: https://t.co/3yKE9oQKlM

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

New OSD podcast interview today, with Doug Ritter the founder of @KnifeRights. Based on pure results, they're one of the most effective advocacy groups out there. See how they've changed the path of knife laws in the US, with a tiny staff and budget.

0:00 - Introduction to Knife Rights
2:43 - The landscape of knife laws
5:52 - Bipartisan strategies in advocacy
8:47 - Legal challenges and court successes
11:40 - Building relationships with legislators
14:44 - Lessons from Knife Rights for other advocacy orgs
17:50 - The origins of Knife Rights
34:20 - The Federal Switchblade Act and its impact
39:05 - The origins of knife bans and their implications
44:09 - Legal battles and the future of Knife Rights
51:44 - Knives as tools and their role in self-defense
57:06 - The future of Knife Rights and advocacy

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

https://t.co/yaz192xtJB

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

Cool tech from a company we're proud investors in. This is the only way for 2A companies to use modern ad tech tools.

[Armanet @ArmanetAds]

We are working to change how advertising is done in the Shooting Sports industry.

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

https://t.co/CuTMP6dLVQ

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

https://t.co/aKpqARLxAM

[Barry Arrington @Arrinba3870]

They say never meet your heroes because you are bound to be disappointed, and I suppose that is true as a general rule. But I recently found out it is not always true. A mutual friend put me in touch with one of my 2A heroes, Robert Cottrol. Dr. Cottrol is a professor at George Washington Law, and he and his co-author Brannon Denning have written what, for my money, is one of the best books in the 2A space: “To Trust the People with Arms.”

If you have not read To Trust, I recommend that you run, not walk, to the nearest computer and order it this minute. On second thought, you may want to wait until October when the new edition comes out.

Anyway, I ventured over to GWL earlier this week to meet Dr. Cottrol. I sat down in his office and within minutes the two of us were happily geeking away on assorted 2A topics, mutual friends, and mutual foes. And before the meeting was over, Bob gave me the benefit of a brilliant idea.

Before I tell you the idea, here’s some context: In various briefs I have written over the years, I have countered the whole “weapons of war” canard by noting that if “weapons of war” are not protected, the federal government distributes unprotected arms every time it sells a surplus Garand through the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

Bob’s idea is this. In these arguments we should not focus on the Garand. Instead, we should focus on the M1 carbine. Why? Because M1 carbines have a detachable magazine AND a bayonet lug. That makes them official “assault weapons” under the “features” test in many of the statutes. The argument then becomes “How is it possibly the case that if I live in X state, I commit a serious crime when I purchase a firearm from my own government?”

Like I said. Brilliant.

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

@PaperhackWriter Good call

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

The first was from 1873 to 1934, and saw the invention of the core designs that nearly every modern firearm still uses.

The second golden age started in 2004 with the expiration of the federal assault weapons ban. It continues through the present.

[Garand Thumb @GarandThumb1]

When do you believe the golden age of firearms was? Is it now? The 1920’s? 1960’s?

[PaperbackWriter @PaperhackWriter]

@opensrcdefense I'd say we're in a Silver Age right now and have been since about 2010 or so. An age where we're not really inventing anything new, but we're reaching peak optimization and standardization of existing designs.

[Kostas Moros @MorosKostas]

Many such cases.

[jedimarkus77 @jedimarkus77]

"the sword of SBRocles"

Nicely done @opensrcdefense 🫡😎😊

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

https://t.co/W5e32S7rv6

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

@punishedkomrade Hope springs eternal

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

Some upgrades, like formally repealing the pistol brace rule and getting rid of SBR engraving. But a pro-2A DOJ can show more after 15 months of work. Six years ago, we made a list of 10 pro-2A moves a president can do. At this point, 2 are done and 8 aren't:

- Repeal Bush 41’s assault weapon import ban
❌ Not done

- Redefine “armor-piercing ammo” to re-allow banned ammo types
❌ Not done

- Redefine 922(r) out of existence
❌ Not done

- Bring back kitchen table FFLs, and make a new internet-sales FFL (this is in the 2017 ATF white paper)
✅ Done

- Repeal the photos and fingerprints parts of ATF Rule 41F (an Obama-era rule change), so that trusts don’t need photos and fingerprints for their members. (Careful here: Rule 41F also changed “you need CLEO approval” to “you just need to notify your CLEO, but they can’t stop you” — that was a very important positive change to keep.)
❌ Not done

- Expansive allowance for pistol braces. Make it official that anything goes.
✅ Done

- Grant a blanket lawful purposes exemption for gun possession to people in the country on nonimmigrant visas (tourists, students, etc.)
❌ Not done

- Machine gun amnesty
❌ Not done

- Presumptive approvals for Form 1s and Form 4s. They approve it instantly, and then can claw it back months later or whatever if you get denied. This is how NICS checks already work — if you don’t get a yes/no within 3 days, you can take the gun home and then they just claw it back if you eventually get rejected.
❌ Not done

- C&R firearms are defined as any gun more than 50 years old, or *any gun that the ATF deems to be a C&R*. They could add a massive influx of modern guns to the C&R list. Basically all the cool ‘70s–‘90s guns. There’s no reason the Steyr AUG and MP5 and FAL and the like shouldn’t be considered classics. Hell, AKs too.
❌ Not done

[Firearms Policy Coalition @gunpolicy]

The ATF has posted summaries of the new regulations, which include:

1) Repeal Biden's pistol brace rule
2) Revising "engaged in the business" rule
3) Revising machine gun definition in response to Cargill decision
4) Remove requirement for FFLs to post info about Youth Handgun Safety Act
5) Revising 4473 form, including allowing electronic forms and increase the time NICS checks remain valid
6) Allow FFLs to keep electronic records
7) Replace indefinite retention of 4473s with definite time periods of 20 or 30 years
8) Allow “Non-Over-the-Counter” firearm sales by FFLs to residents of the same state
9) Repeal interstate NFA transport notice requirement for trips under 365 days, with all others no longer requiring approval before transport
10) Joint NFA registration for married couples
11) Remove NFA CLEO notification
12) Clarify that "common, reasonably necessary activities during travel" are covered by FOPA transportation protection
13) Allow import of dual-use frames, receivers, and barrels
14) Clarify that "training rounds" are not ammunition
15) Eliminate engraving requirement for people making NFA firearms out of existing serialized guns
16) "Clarify that a person receiving assistance in only one functional area (such as financial management) would not, on that basis alone, be considered prohibited" under mental health disqualifier
17) Requiring biological sex on ATF Forms
18) Clarify when a transaction is a straw purchase
19) Formally define "willfully" for firearms violations
20) "Remove the list of former Soviet countries from which ATF currently denies applications to permanently import most firearms and ammunition, retaining only the Russian Federation"
https://t.co/2jEGvzSwdE

[Open Source Defense @opensrcdefense]

Not sure if this means the ATF will allow in-state FFLs to ship straight to your door, but if they do, the gun market is going to the moon.

[SAF @2AFDN]

A good change that would make some sales easier, though of course state laws will make this meaningless in places like California.

For free states, life continues to improve for gun owners.

[WhiteHelljumper @WhiteHelljumper]

When I decided to buy an SVT, I was wondering why the hell they were so expensive, because several million were made. Apparently it's because they were banned from import by Bush 41 under that assault weapon import ban, so there's actually not that many in the US. It's based on an EO that Bush issued, so would actually be rather easy for Trump to reverse it.