A Quick Video Peek Of The 2006 Shot Show

Below we have a video taking you to the displays of Glock, Bennelli, Styer Arms.

New Stuff From HK!

HK has brought some surprises with them! For starters they have a new light rifle called the 416. It’s a select fire rifle to compete and surpass the M-16 or M-4 battle rifles.


Then there is the PDW/MP7, 4.6mm x 30 submachine gun designed to defeat soft body armor. This sounds great for some specialized law enforcement duty and our government contractors in the Iraq or Afghanistan.

You can take a peek at the little .40 caliber compact USP used to outfit the airline pilots that are part of the Flight Deck Officer Program.

Watch HK’s rep, Scott Wilson tell about the new items.

Beretta’s New Pistol Caliber Carbine for police and civilian defense.

The Beretta 92-F (or the M-9 military designation) is the official pistol of the United States Armed Forces. Yes I know that the 9 MM round was the choice of NATO. Were our government officials taking the advice of North Korea or Iran, when they dumped the venerable 1911 .45 ACP for this wimpy little round? Okay, they invited women into many military combat positions and they were thought to do better with the peashooter than a real gun.

Europeans have had a love affair with mouse guns since the beginning. They produced such lackluster performers as the .25, .32, and .380 caliber guns. The Europeans were either better shooters or just ignorant of what is really needed.

Beretta has since offered side arms in the newer and more potent .40 and now make even a .45 ACP gun, the Cougar 8045. The police agencies have gone to the .40 caliber service round to satisfy that notion that women can’t do as well with a real gun, such as the new Cougar.

With shot placement more important with the wimpy, lady rounds, the concept of the pistol caliber carbine is really attractive. Cops are notoriously bad shots, and the police agencies pathetic training budgets call for less range time.

The little light carbines that accept the same magazines as the service side arms are a good answer. They can be operated with one hand, have a longer barrel to boost the velocity of the smaller rounds and improve public safety at the same time. Better shot placement means innocent civilians and the cops will be safer.

Here’s the latest entry shown by Beretta Marketing Manager, Laurel Smith. I'll let this pro show us the ropes of this little gem. She’s easier to watch than all of the men explaining their products to me.

At last! A semi-automatic version of the FN P-90 called the PS90

The PS90, in 5.7x28mm, has a 16" barrel, permanent barrel recoil reducer and is available in dark gray and dark green finishes. It comes in three models: standard, Bolshevik Republic of California version (10-round magazine) and law enforcement.



Okay, here’s the real thing…

Life saving police equipment is not always a gun…

Dealing with any threat is a challenge and you’d think working in darkness just adds to the problem. Your tactical response and survival odds may just improve, that is if you have the right equipment.

The only shooting I was involved in happened in darkness where there was not even a streetlight. I had a somewhat useless, ordinary flashlight with nearly expired batteries with me on that fateful night.

I was attacked by a man with a .45 semi-auto Colt Gold Cup I was pistol whipped and bleeding when I ordered him to drop his gun and fired away with my little .38 S&W Bodyguard. I won that contest and survived. I also had to live with the regret that it ever happened.

I later learned this shooting may have been a needless exercise. In hindsight, had I one of the really bright SUREFIRE FLASHLIGHTS that hit the market a few years later, I could have temporarily destroyed my attackers vision and left his immediate area and called for the troops. I believe that the shooting would have been avoided had I the proper equipment.

Now I don’t leave home without a SUREFIRE LIGHT.

One of the high profile team leaders of Surefire is Corporate Development boss, Cameron Hopkins. Hopkins is the same man that was the editor of American Handgunner Magazine for many years. While visiting with Hopkins and the others from Surefire, it’s easy to understand why Surefire sets the industry standard.

Here’s Bill, he’s one of Hopkin’s trainers when he’s not patrolling the mean streets of Southern California. In the video below, Bill explains how the new breed of lights developed at SUREFIRE can save lives.

Holsters to keep cops safe...

It was long ago when I was a young Chicago cop and was looking for holsters for the various handguns that I carried. I was in luck because the companies in the holster making business were locked in a design and quality battle to make the best holsters that would keep guys like me safe while doing my job.

On the North Side of Chicago there was a storefront shop on Rogers Avenue. That was where Galco Gunleather was born. The enthusiastic, bright and young captain of the ship was a Wayne Newton look-a-like, Rick Gallagher.

Gallagher was and is an unrelenting perfectionist who was out for nothing less than to take over the industry with holsters second to none. That was a tall expectation considering that the venerable holster makers, Neal Perkins and John Bianchi had just ended their partnership and were releasing wonderful new products at breakneck speed under their own new company names. To compete, Gallagher had to somehow do better than these two industry giants.

The result of Gallagher’s sweat and labor was some very unique holster designs that were the very best of the best. From the beginning I’ve been using Galco products. I can show you my own Galco holsters made 35 years ago that are still 100% serviceable and handsome as ever. Galco grew with many of the first employees who are still with the company today. I can remember long time, senior sales rep, Bob Hansen who once swept and cleaned for Gallagher after school in order to make a little pocket money. Galco was and is a family of fine folks. As luck would have it I moved to Phoenix, Arizona and shortly found I had a new neighbor. Galco Gunleather relocated to Phoenix and has never been far away from me.

OFFICER SAFETY AND HOLSTERS

When I first became a cop there was a very troubling statistic involving cops killed in the line of duty. Over half were killed with their own service weapons. The bad guys were able to snatch weapons right out of cop’s holsters and use them. That all changed with the modern designs that were made snatch resistant. There can be no questions that Galco's often imitated products have saved lives.

Visit Galco’s website and check out their great products…

Video

A role model visits the SHOT SHOW…

At the SHOT SHOW you can always find a lot celebrities visiting. Sometimes you can meet some amazing and remarkable people like this larger than life icon.

This is flying Ace, Joe Foss. During WWII Foss was a Marine Pilot in the South Pacific. Foss was awarded the Congressional Medal Of Honor after shooting down 26 Jap Zeros. After the war Foss was made a General who commanded the South Dakota Air National Guard, became a two-term Governor of South Dakota, the first American Football League Commissioner, outdoor TV host and he was a two-term President of the National Rifle Association.

Here is video of Joe Foss at the 2002 SHOT Show where he was the celebrity guest of the fine folks at The Blue Book Of Gun Values booth. That’s the publication that tracks the values of firearms for the collectors and traders.

Sadly, Foss passed away on January 1, 2003; nearly one year after this video was taken.
April 17, 1915---January 1, 2003

Punitive taxes on ammunition to control guns...

Find out here.

THE BEST GRIPS FOR YOUR HANDGUNS

I’m a fan of custom handgun grips. Fortunately, the Singh family that founded EAGLE GRIPS has adopted me. I get a really nice discount on their products too. Okay, they’ve hosted me twice in India.

Eagle Grips will be exhibiting their fine products at the show. Of course you can visit the EAGLE GRIPS website to see what they have for you.

The holster pictured in the photo is made by Galco Gunleather.