A few years ago, I wrote a piece (which is still among my most viewed posts) about how Mark Wahlberg was technically not a felon, and therefore the actual shooting training he has done to support his action movie career, was in a legal gray area.
For those who don't know (hello google searchers), it is illegal in the entire United States (under federal law, as well as state laws in every state) for a felon of any sort to buy, own, receive, possess, operate, or handle a firearm or ammunition.
It is also a felony for any person to transfer, provide, or allow access to any firearm; to any person whom they know, or should reasonably know, is a felon, or otherwise a prohibited person (domestic violence conviction, restraining order, drug addict, fugitive from justice, illegal alien etc.. All are lawfully considered "prohibited persons" who cannot possess firearms).
There are actually a hell of a lot of felons (usually drugs, occasionally white collar crime) in the film industry; including a fair number of stuntmen, and actors in B grade action movies (and even a few big name stars, though usually they manage to avoid felony charges).
Sometimes, they fire guns, on film.
Isn't that illegal?
Well, yes, it is...
But it's Hollywood...
Hollywood gets around the illegality of this under the rather tissue thin veil of "prop" guns used in theatrical performances. Many of those props are in fact legally fully functioning firearms; but since you can't easily tell the difference on film, and because Hollywood can make a big stink (and they donate a lot of money), the FedGov doesn't make an issue out of it.
Note: The ATF actually DOES hassle the prop houses that build and maintain these film weapons... In fact, they've hounded many of the smaller suppliers out of business; and occaisonally even go after the big guys (one of the largest prop suppliers went through massive difficulties a few years ago).
Anyway, that's Hollywood movies, where there is that whole tissue of protection.
Jesse James, the motorcycle and custom car fabricator and reality TV star, is also a very avid firearms collector. In fact, hes even a collector of fully automatic weapons; the most highly regulated weapons in the country.
Jesse himself has had some trouble with the law, spending a few months in jail (or juvenile detention) while he was a teenager, and having caught a few minor assault charges in his teens and twenties; but he has never been convicted of a felony or offense that would prohibit him from owning firearms. He has also had his juvenile record expunged (required to become a licensed and bonded security guard in states that license them, which Jesse was for several years before founding his fabrication company).
It's actually very difficult to own a machine gun in the United States. It requires an extensive federal background check conducted by the FBI and ATF, which can take more than six months; as well as the sign-off of your local chief law enforcement officer (usually your county sheriff), in order to buy or receive one.
I'm actually surprised that, given his history, he hasn't had problems in getting his class III items (industry term for specially regulated guns like machine guns) transferred; but since his only serious offenses were juvenile and have been expunged, legally it's as if they never happened (though people who've had their records expunged often still have problems with transferring firearms).
Jesse also has a concealed carry license in Texas; which again, requires a very stringent background investigation, and a training class.
Anyway, Jesse has been into guns for a long time, has taken a number of firearms training courses, collects highly regulated weapons, and he's well known for shooting and playing with lots of cool guns on his TV shows.
He's not a novice. He should, in theory, know what he's doing
Even if they didn't know from any other source, anyone who has ever bought a gun from a licensed dealer knows that it is illegal for a prohibited person (including felons as I said above) to buy, own, or posses a firearm... it's right on the form you fill out for your federal background check (required for all purchases from a licensed dealer).
Further, Jesse's ex-wife (porn star Janine Lindemuller) is a convicted felon, and as part of their divorce, James needed to deal with guns and his wife (it can be illegal to even have guns in the same house as a felon, if the felon can gain access to the guns).
There are no circumstances under which Jesse could claim that he didn't know it was illegal for a felon to touch a gun; or for someone to give a felon a gun, even temporarily, even just to shoot under your own supervision.
On an episode of his new reality TV show "Jesse James Outlaw Garage" aired a few weeks ago, Jesse had action movie star Danny Trejo over to his ranch in Austin, to go shooting.
During this meetup, Trejo fired numerous firearms (owned by James) on film, including several fully automatic weapons (machine guns), and suppressed weapons (the industry term for what most people know as silencers). James was shown handing Trejo firearms (including automatic weapons) on film.
There's a major problem with that...
Danny Trejo is a multiply convicted felon, who served 11 years in prison for drug possession, robbery, assault, and attempted murder (which he committed at age 17).
Trejo has been friends with James for something like 20 years, having met in the late 80s or early 90s while Trejo was taking occasional security and bouncer jobs in between minor roles in action movies and B movies; and Jesse was working those same jobs before opening his own shop.
Trejo is very open about his history; talking frequently about his problems with drugs, alcohol, and gangs that led him to prison; and the 12 step program of recovery and turning to god, that saved his life in prison, and motivated him to become successful since.
Trejo is, by all reports, a genuinely good guy. He has a large family which he spends a lot of time with (he's 68 years old, and has several grandchildren from his three sons and two daughters). He does a lot of charity work, and is an advocate for rehabilitation; often speaking to church groups, homeless groups, gang outreach programs etc... He has certainly turned his life around, and is not a danger to society.
If there is any formerly violent felon who deserves to have his rights restored, it's Danny Trejo. There is really no reason why he shouldn't be allowed to shoot and own guns.
Unfortunately, it's still a felony for him to do so; and a felony for anyone to give him the guns to do it with.
It is possible under some circumstances for a felon to have their firearms rights restored; by having their records expunged, or by receiving a pardon and going through a rights restoration process with the FBI and ATF (they generally refuse to conduct this process without direct intervention of a congressman, claiming that they are not funded to do so, but they also refuse any offer to pay for the process... but that's a separate issue). TV and movie star Tim Allen went through this process a few years ago, so he could own guns and hunt again (he spent two and a half years in prison in the early 80s, for selling cocaine).
Unfortunately, Trejo has not had his record expunged, nor has be been pardoned, and his rights have not been restored.
Also, I'm certain there was no genuine criminal intent here, which SHOULD be an element of any crime; nor was any injury or any danger to any person or to society created, which should be a pre-requisite for any felony.
Unfortunately, that is not how our government chooses to interpret and enforce the law.
So, Jesse James and Danny Trejo just committed multiple state and federal felonies, which could result in prison sentences of up to 25 years, and fines running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars; on film, and broadcast to an entire nation.
... and this time, there isn't that thin tissue of "props" used in a "theatrical performance" to protect them.
Usually, Hollywood gets a pass on this sort of thing; but I think there's a pretty good shot that Jesse James is going to see some legal repercussions here. The ATF LOVES to get press attention, and some folks online are already making noises about "special treatment for celebrities etc...
On the one hand, I don't believe that someone like Trejo should be prevented from owning or shooting firearms...
On the other hand, my belief is irrelevant, and the law is what it is. If I did something like that, and was stupid enough to film it and put it up on say, youtube... I'd be going to jail. Special treatment for the wealthy or famous.. or really any kind of selective enforcement... is the worst kind of perversion of the justice system, effectively creating a special class of citizen.
Hell... maybe James and Trejo can be the test case for reformed felons having their rights restored.
Showing posts with label Class III. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Class III. Show all posts
Sunday, December 02, 2012
Friday, July 03, 2009
Friday, June 15, 2007
This Is Not A Suppressor
I have a .22 suppressor; and it’s the best thing in the world for making non gun people say “Oh god that’s so cool can I try it?”, especially women who are afraid of guns.
Part of the problem with getting new people into shooting, especially with women and kids; is the noise and flash of the discharge. Once you're used to it, it's fine; but it can be intimidating and scary for first timers, or people who are sensitive to noise (and that includes a lot of women and kids).
THe problem is, the best way to reduce the noise is with a suppressor; and they are expensive and a pain in the butt to buy, because of the national firearms act of 1934. They ARE legal in most states, but there's a $200 transfer tax that you have to pay, you have to get local law enforcement to sign your paperwork, and then you have to go through a background check that can take months.
...and of course that's jsut MOST states. theres about 20 states ban or significantly restrict some Class III items(that's NFA regulated items like suppressors, machine guns, short barreled rifles and shotguns, and AOWs). 12 states (CA, HI, KS, MO, IA, MN, IL, MI, NJ, NY, MA, and RI) all ban suppressors outright for everyone but law enforcement.
But they're so damn fun, and useful; and honestly, the whole "criminals use silencers to conceal their crimes" thing is just a load of bull. SUppressors don't work like in the movies; it's not jsut some "pfft" of air and no sound at all. WIth most suppressed weapons, in most calibers, there's still a significant sound signature, especially indoors; but a well suppressed weapon wont hurt your ears if you fire it without hearing protection.
Heck, they're so fun and useful, that I actually need to replace my Walther P-22. I’ve managed to shoot it so much, that it’s loosened up a heck of a lot. Without the can it’s no problem, but it gets so dirty while firing with the can on that after a few mags through it it becomes a jammomatic.
I’m thinking of replacing it with the SIG mosquito; which still looks and feels like a full size gun for training purposes (in fact more so than the P22), and is of higher quality and durability than the Walther.
Alright, so, suppressors are expensive, hard to get, and may be illegal where you live; what can you do that will help reduce the crack and flash for a new shooter?
Well, you can't SUPPRESS the sound; but you can REDIRECT it. Using something called a "free air expansion chamber" you can focus the sound of the shot forward, away from the shooter; which doesn't reduce the overall noise of the shot, but it makes it quieter for the shooter, and people standing beside or behind them.
Here’s a little trick. Take a piece of waxed or glossy printed smooth faced cardboard, about 12” long, and wrap it into a cylinder about two inches in diameter. Don't use a paper towel roll unless you dip it in lacquer or epoxy first, because it WILL light on fire otherwise.
Using strapping tape or duct tape, bias wrap two layers around they cylinder to reinforce it. Then insert an inch thick stack of tightly fitting leather, neoprene, or cardboard washers into one end, with an inside diameter a tiny bit smaller than the outside diameter of your .22 rifles barrel.
Slide it over the muzzle of .22 rifle with a barrel at least 18” long. You need to make a tight and stable gas seal with the muzzle centered in the tube, and the tube parallel to the line of the bore, leaving at least 10” of free air in front of the muzzle.
Load with light subsonic rounds, and shoot.
It isn’t a suppressor, or anything close to it; what it DOES do, is RADICALLY reduce the sound signature to the rear. Essentially the sound of whatever gasses and unburned powder are left, can only expand forward; and should be mostly expended to the point they are below supersonic by the time they reach the end of the cylinder.
You are not in fact suppressing the sound at all. This is not illegal. All you are doing is making it so that the only people who hear anything louder than a BB gun are downrange.
You generally have to shoot the light subsonic loads through at least an 18” barrel, for it to work. The heavy subsonic loads use a full powder charge under a much heavier bullet than standard (50gr vs 35gr) to slow the bullet down, and there may still be a substantial amount of unburned powder and unexpanded gasses by the time the bullet leaves the barrel. The same is true in a shorter barrel.
You can tell if it will work by firing the gun (without the muzzle attachment) in the dark with the load you are intending to shoot; and seeing if there is very much muzzle flash; and if so what the diameter and length of the flash is.
Ideally there will be no visible muzzle flash excepting a little tiny ball right at the muzzle. If the flash is more than 2” or so in diameter and 4” long, the muzzle device will be FAR less effective. If the muzzle flash is more than 4” in diameter, or more than 6” long, it will barely work at all. There will be some significant effect of course; but it wouldn’t be enough to shoot without any hearing protection, which is the goal here.
You could of course make the thing bigger to contain the larger blast; in fact if you make some very lightly charged 75gr .223 (just enough powder to cycle the action on an AR); you can make one of these things work on a long barreled AR as well (you need the heavy bullet in an AR to get the action to cycle; you can use a lighter one for a bolt gun); it would just have to be 3” in diameter and have 16 or so inches of free air in front of the muzzle. Also, obviously, it would still be a lot louder than a .22lr.
This muzzle device doesn’t work very well indoors, because channeling the sound forward is all well and good, until it reflects back at you from the walls, ceiling, and backstop.
If you want to take more effort, and make it more long lasting, use tin snips or metal shears (or for that matter, a sheetmetal shear) to cut the thing out of a sheetmetal at least thick enough to be as strong as the cardboard; and drill and pop rivet the tube together. Bias wrap the tube with a double thickness of fiberglass strapping tape (one layer biased one way, the other biased the other, and a piece double wrapped around each end to seal them on), and then dip the whole thing in vinyl tool handle dip.
Even with a strong sheetmetal you want to wrap them like this, because you don’t want the thing acting as a resonator. Dipping it in tool dip reduces the resonance even further, and gives it a finished appearance and greater durability. The heat of rapid firing will melt the tool dip pretty quickly though. You could also coat the outside with heat resistant truck bedliner, or stair tread coating etc...
For a bit more effort, and using a bit more in the way of tools you can also make the thing out of actual tubing; but again, you'd still want to wrap the thing in fiberglass tape, and coat it with something to reduce the resonance. Remember though, no baffling or sound absorbing materials can go INSIDE the tube.
Technically, as I said above, what you've just made is a free air expansion chamber. Remember, flash hiders, muzzle brakes, and free air expansion chambers are legal without an ATF tax stamp; making a suppressor is not.
What's the difference?
Well, first, a suppressor is any device that is explicitly designed to substantially reduce the sound of a shot. An expansion chamber doesn't reduce the sound, it just directs it away from the shooter. If that were illegal, then some muzzle brakes, some flash suppressors, bloop tubes, grenade launcher muzzle attachments, Golf ball launchers, really long shotgun barrels with light loads, etc... etc... would all be illegal as well.
From a technical standpoint; if a muzzle device has baffles or any other sealed chambers or constrictions in front of the muzzle, it's a suppressor; if it has no sealed constriction in front of the muzzle, it’s an expansion chamber.
This design is open to the air forward of the muzzle. Any sealed constriction at all in front of the muzzle makes it a suppressor. Drill holes between the constrictions and they are no longer sealed, and it’s legal again; but then it wouldn't do much to redirect the sound, it would just be a flash suppressor or muzzle brake.
DO NOT EVER put a cap or a baffle or washer or other constriction in the device forward of the muzzle; or you will have made an illegal suppressor. This is of course a felony.
In fact, don’t keep in your possession any spare soft washers with a .20 to .250 inside diameter, or hard washers with a .222 to .250 inside diameter (or anythign close to the diameter of the bullet you'll be shooting), that would fit snugly into the tube (or really anything that could be construed as a baffle or end cap); or you may get dinged for “constructive possession”.
Constructive possession, is where the ATF says that you "intended to make an illegal suppressor" because you have the parts to make one. Though that generally doesn’t stick, the ATF have been known to try anything, and they can still bankrupt you trying to get you on a bogus charge (and have done so to hundreds of law abiding citizens).
Oh, and it's also VERY important to note that in some states this would be an illegal muzzle device (states that don’t allow flash suppressors or muzzle brakes etc...).
It's simple, it's cheap, it's legal (at least federally) , and it works reasonably well. The only reason they aren't made commercially is because there's not a lot of profit in them, and there's a HELL of a lot of liability... plus the ATF might decide to bankrupt any company that made such a device by calling it a suppressor after the fact, like they did with the Akins Accelerator (they classified a guns STOCK as an unlicensed machine gun).
Hell, the ATF could decide to bankrupt YOU for that matter. They can say that you've made a suppressor, even if you haven't; and it's up to YOU to prove you haven't; and up to you to pay the gigantic legal bills to do so.
Part of the problem with getting new people into shooting, especially with women and kids; is the noise and flash of the discharge. Once you're used to it, it's fine; but it can be intimidating and scary for first timers, or people who are sensitive to noise (and that includes a lot of women and kids).
THe problem is, the best way to reduce the noise is with a suppressor; and they are expensive and a pain in the butt to buy, because of the national firearms act of 1934. They ARE legal in most states, but there's a $200 transfer tax that you have to pay, you have to get local law enforcement to sign your paperwork, and then you have to go through a background check that can take months.
...and of course that's jsut MOST states. theres about 20 states ban or significantly restrict some Class III items(that's NFA regulated items like suppressors, machine guns, short barreled rifles and shotguns, and AOWs). 12 states (CA, HI, KS, MO, IA, MN, IL, MI, NJ, NY, MA, and RI) all ban suppressors outright for everyone but law enforcement.
But they're so damn fun, and useful; and honestly, the whole "criminals use silencers to conceal their crimes" thing is just a load of bull. SUppressors don't work like in the movies; it's not jsut some "pfft" of air and no sound at all. WIth most suppressed weapons, in most calibers, there's still a significant sound signature, especially indoors; but a well suppressed weapon wont hurt your ears if you fire it without hearing protection.
Heck, they're so fun and useful, that I actually need to replace my Walther P-22. I’ve managed to shoot it so much, that it’s loosened up a heck of a lot. Without the can it’s no problem, but it gets so dirty while firing with the can on that after a few mags through it it becomes a jammomatic.
I’m thinking of replacing it with the SIG mosquito; which still looks and feels like a full size gun for training purposes (in fact more so than the P22), and is of higher quality and durability than the Walther.
Alright, so, suppressors are expensive, hard to get, and may be illegal where you live; what can you do that will help reduce the crack and flash for a new shooter?
Well, you can't SUPPRESS the sound; but you can REDIRECT it. Using something called a "free air expansion chamber" you can focus the sound of the shot forward, away from the shooter; which doesn't reduce the overall noise of the shot, but it makes it quieter for the shooter, and people standing beside or behind them.
Here’s a little trick. Take a piece of waxed or glossy printed smooth faced cardboard, about 12” long, and wrap it into a cylinder about two inches in diameter. Don't use a paper towel roll unless you dip it in lacquer or epoxy first, because it WILL light on fire otherwise.
Using strapping tape or duct tape, bias wrap two layers around they cylinder to reinforce it. Then insert an inch thick stack of tightly fitting leather, neoprene, or cardboard washers into one end, with an inside diameter a tiny bit smaller than the outside diameter of your .22 rifles barrel.
Slide it over the muzzle of .22 rifle with a barrel at least 18” long. You need to make a tight and stable gas seal with the muzzle centered in the tube, and the tube parallel to the line of the bore, leaving at least 10” of free air in front of the muzzle.
Load with light subsonic rounds, and shoot.
It isn’t a suppressor, or anything close to it; what it DOES do, is RADICALLY reduce the sound signature to the rear. Essentially the sound of whatever gasses and unburned powder are left, can only expand forward; and should be mostly expended to the point they are below supersonic by the time they reach the end of the cylinder.
You are not in fact suppressing the sound at all. This is not illegal. All you are doing is making it so that the only people who hear anything louder than a BB gun are downrange.
You generally have to shoot the light subsonic loads through at least an 18” barrel, for it to work. The heavy subsonic loads use a full powder charge under a much heavier bullet than standard (50gr vs 35gr) to slow the bullet down, and there may still be a substantial amount of unburned powder and unexpanded gasses by the time the bullet leaves the barrel. The same is true in a shorter barrel.
You can tell if it will work by firing the gun (without the muzzle attachment) in the dark with the load you are intending to shoot; and seeing if there is very much muzzle flash; and if so what the diameter and length of the flash is.
Ideally there will be no visible muzzle flash excepting a little tiny ball right at the muzzle. If the flash is more than 2” or so in diameter and 4” long, the muzzle device will be FAR less effective. If the muzzle flash is more than 4” in diameter, or more than 6” long, it will barely work at all. There will be some significant effect of course; but it wouldn’t be enough to shoot without any hearing protection, which is the goal here.
You could of course make the thing bigger to contain the larger blast; in fact if you make some very lightly charged 75gr .223 (just enough powder to cycle the action on an AR); you can make one of these things work on a long barreled AR as well (you need the heavy bullet in an AR to get the action to cycle; you can use a lighter one for a bolt gun); it would just have to be 3” in diameter and have 16 or so inches of free air in front of the muzzle. Also, obviously, it would still be a lot louder than a .22lr.
This muzzle device doesn’t work very well indoors, because channeling the sound forward is all well and good, until it reflects back at you from the walls, ceiling, and backstop.
If you want to take more effort, and make it more long lasting, use tin snips or metal shears (or for that matter, a sheetmetal shear) to cut the thing out of a sheetmetal at least thick enough to be as strong as the cardboard; and drill and pop rivet the tube together. Bias wrap the tube with a double thickness of fiberglass strapping tape (one layer biased one way, the other biased the other, and a piece double wrapped around each end to seal them on), and then dip the whole thing in vinyl tool handle dip.
Even with a strong sheetmetal you want to wrap them like this, because you don’t want the thing acting as a resonator. Dipping it in tool dip reduces the resonance even further, and gives it a finished appearance and greater durability. The heat of rapid firing will melt the tool dip pretty quickly though. You could also coat the outside with heat resistant truck bedliner, or stair tread coating etc...
For a bit more effort, and using a bit more in the way of tools you can also make the thing out of actual tubing; but again, you'd still want to wrap the thing in fiberglass tape, and coat it with something to reduce the resonance. Remember though, no baffling or sound absorbing materials can go INSIDE the tube.
Technically, as I said above, what you've just made is a free air expansion chamber. Remember, flash hiders, muzzle brakes, and free air expansion chambers are legal without an ATF tax stamp; making a suppressor is not.
What's the difference?
Well, first, a suppressor is any device that is explicitly designed to substantially reduce the sound of a shot. An expansion chamber doesn't reduce the sound, it just directs it away from the shooter. If that were illegal, then some muzzle brakes, some flash suppressors, bloop tubes, grenade launcher muzzle attachments, Golf ball launchers, really long shotgun barrels with light loads, etc... etc... would all be illegal as well.
From a technical standpoint; if a muzzle device has baffles or any other sealed chambers or constrictions in front of the muzzle, it's a suppressor; if it has no sealed constriction in front of the muzzle, it’s an expansion chamber.
This design is open to the air forward of the muzzle. Any sealed constriction at all in front of the muzzle makes it a suppressor. Drill holes between the constrictions and they are no longer sealed, and it’s legal again; but then it wouldn't do much to redirect the sound, it would just be a flash suppressor or muzzle brake.
DO NOT EVER put a cap or a baffle or washer or other constriction in the device forward of the muzzle; or you will have made an illegal suppressor. This is of course a felony.
In fact, don’t keep in your possession any spare soft washers with a .20 to .250 inside diameter, or hard washers with a .222 to .250 inside diameter (or anythign close to the diameter of the bullet you'll be shooting), that would fit snugly into the tube (or really anything that could be construed as a baffle or end cap); or you may get dinged for “constructive possession”.
Constructive possession, is where the ATF says that you "intended to make an illegal suppressor" because you have the parts to make one. Though that generally doesn’t stick, the ATF have been known to try anything, and they can still bankrupt you trying to get you on a bogus charge (and have done so to hundreds of law abiding citizens).
Oh, and it's also VERY important to note that in some states this would be an illegal muzzle device (states that don’t allow flash suppressors or muzzle brakes etc...).
It's simple, it's cheap, it's legal (at least federally) , and it works reasonably well. The only reason they aren't made commercially is because there's not a lot of profit in them, and there's a HELL of a lot of liability... plus the ATF might decide to bankrupt any company that made such a device by calling it a suppressor after the fact, like they did with the Akins Accelerator (they classified a guns STOCK as an unlicensed machine gun).
Hell, the ATF could decide to bankrupt YOU for that matter. They can say that you've made a suppressor, even if you haven't; and it's up to YOU to prove you haven't; and up to you to pay the gigantic legal bills to do so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)