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Commemorative gun Marks DC vs Heller.

WhiteFeather

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Special Revolver Commemorates Landmark Heller Decision

Sometimes things work out, and in this case, it's a home run! Three weeks ago on my Gun Talk Radio Show, I offered the idea of a presentation gun to be given to the six original plaintiffs in what started off as the "Parker" case, and then became the Heller case. That's the case where the U. S. Supreme Court ruled on June 26 that the Second Amendment is, in fact, an individual right, and the court threw out the total handgun ban in Washington, DC.
I'd love to say it was my idea, but I got the suggestion from a listener and Truth Squad member. I liked it, so I picked up the ball and ran with it.

Now, only three weeks later, it's reality. Even better, you can buy one.

On Sunday, July 20, I'll announce on the radio the new "D.C. vs. Heller" revolver from Smith & Wesson. It's the alloy frame model 442, which is a hammerless J-frame (the small frame) in .38 Special. It's very lightweight, with rubber grips. It's a perfect self-defense revolver.

Before I get into the details, let me tell you how it came about. I initially thought that a revolver was the way to go because Fenty, the mayor of D.C., has stated that the city will not allow anyone to register semi-auto handguns. The city classifies autoloaders as machine guns, which tells you how much they know about guns. Clearly, semi-autos are the most popular type of handgun being sold, so there is nothing unusual about them. Of course, this means is that the District will be sued...again...and will lose. Fenty should be impeached for wasting public money. But, I didn't want the six people who stood up to claim their Second Amendment rights to have to wait, so we went with a revolver.

I began the conversation with Smith & Wesson, and they immediately said yes. They didn't even know what they were committing to, but they liked the idea. A week ago my son, Ryan, and I were shooting video at the S&W plant for Gun Talk TV, and we met with Tom Taylor and Paul Pluff to discuss it. Tom suggested that rather than making just six of the guns, that they make a special gun and offer it for sale to everyone. A share of the revenue would be used to fund the lawsuits which are ongoing right now.

So, that's what we are doing. A portion of the sales will go to the Second Amendment Foundation, which has been instrumental in not only the Heller case, but in funding legal scholarship on the Second Amendment over the last 20 years. SAF filed suit against the city of Chicago (which has a ban just like D.C.'s) within minutes of the Supreme Court decision on Heller.

Click Here to view photos of the special Model 442. You can see the neat laser engraving with the scales of justice, the date of the decision (June 26, 2008), and the words "D.C. vs Heller" on the scale. Note that the side of the scale holding "Heller" is weighted down -- the winner! There's also an engraving saying "The Right to Keep and Bear Arms" on the revolver.

The black finish on this gun takes laser engraving very well, and the engraved parts show up in a satin-silver finish. It looks great!

The revolver will be available for sale in early fall -- right around the corner. Honestly, I can't think of a better gift for yourself or someone in your family to note this critically-important blow for gun rights. I wouldn't claim that this will be a collector's item -- I don't think it will -- but it's going to be something special to have in future years.

I'm happy to have been able to push this through. Here's a big attaboy to the men and women who worked on this case for so long, and to the six D.C. residents who put their names on the lawsuit. Talk about having the "no shrug" attitude we talk about on the radio! They wouldn't take it anymore.

Listen in to Gun Talk for more information. We'll have Tom Taylor from Smith & Wesson and Alan Gottlieb from the Second Amendment Foundation on at 2:10pm Eastern time, July 20.

As we get more information about ordering this special revolver (expect a street price in the $450 range), I'll put it out on the air. You can buy a special gun and help continue the fight for gun rights. Not bad, indeed.

-- Tom Gresham

The bold is mine and I think its a great reason for those last holdouts to stop boycotting S&W and start supporting one of the last American Gun makers.
 

thorvaldr

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I think a commemorative gun is a great idea but I strongly object to it being a revolver. To me that just commemorates DC's obstinate refusal to allow it's subjects normal "common usage" hi capacity semi autos. Somebody is going to spend a lot of money on that thing and it will sit in their safe while they carry, shoot, etc. a real gun.
 

deepdiver

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Pointman wrote:
Wasn't it Smith & Wesson that buddied up to the Clinton administration and all but patted Bill on the back for gun grabbing? Isn't that the company that made people's stomach's turn? I could be wrong, so we should check with the NRA, GOA, VCDL, heck, even the New York Times andClinton News Network.
We had this discussion before and I posted a bunch of stuff about why, IMO, to no longer boycott S&W. I don't remember it all off the top of my head and no longer have the cites together but here are the highlights (if anyone wants the cites it's in one of my posts from the last 9 months):

S&W has been sold/bought since then.

The current ownership does not/did not support the agreement.

The senior management involved in the Clinton Administration/Boston public housing agreement fiasco were employed by the prior owners, a British company -- actually, from what I can ascertain, noone involved in making or approving said agreement still work for the company, although one former manager who previously left S&W rather than support the agreement does again or at least did as of a few years ago.

S&W's position is that the agreement has voided as a function of law and no longer has, if it ever had, any force or effect - the longer time that elapses withouth the gov't trying to enforce anything, the stronger the legal position that it is void. They (S&W) do, or at least did, have a special "war chest" set aside specifically to fight against implementation/enforcement of the agreement if the gov't were to ever try to enforce it.

S&W is now again American owned and managed.
 

Tomahawk

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Thinking about it... I generally don't like commemorative machines that you don't want to use in order to protect the finish. And while it'd be nice to have a modern revolver, I'm not sure this is the one I'd spend my money on if not for the novelty. So I think I'll pass...unless I spot one somewhere in a vulnerable moment.
 

longwatch

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Heck I've already carried mine and will continue to do so. I see no reason not to carry it.:monkey
 

longwatch

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Well S&W does custom laser engraving so I'm sure you can put the artwork on their Nightguard series or the like.
 

DoubleR

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As soon as I read this, I said "I gotta get one of those", too. REALLY nice longwatch. I'm surprised it was available this soon. Where'd you get yours, if I may ask?
 

thorvaldr

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I wish you the best Longwatch, and I hope you get years of enjoyment out of your admittedly attractive new gun.

But, snubnose .38? What is this a 40's detective movie? To me, any gun other than a hi cap semi pistol or an "assault rifle" is just a symbol of oppression. Sorry, I'll shut up now.

Really, enjoy your gun.
 

longwatch

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I got it at Guns and Ammo Warehouse in Manassas. They are expecting more.

thorvaldr,
To me a snub nosed, hammerless revolver is a ultra reliable, uber concealable, close range fighting tool. For example, how many times can you fire a semiautomatic from inside your coat pocket?
 

DreQo

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longwatch wrote:
I got it at Guns and Ammo Warehouse in Manassas. They are expecting more.

thorvaldr,
To me a snub nosed, hammerless revolver is a ultra reliable, uber concealable, close range fighting tool. For example, how many times can you fire a semiautomatic from inside your coat pocket?

Good points longwatch. I used to see revolvers as dated and inferior to semi-autos, but that was before I knew a lot about guns. I can understand why it's a common misconception, though.

Revolvers are naturally much more reliable than semi-autos by mechanical design. They also have few moving parts, especially the hammerless ones, which make them ideal for extremely close quarters firing. They also have the benefit of being able to pull through a dud round, instead of having to manually extract a dud to get to the next one as you would have to do with a semi-auto. Lastly, the most powerful handgun loads available are fired from revolvers.

Are revolvers better than semi-autos? No. Are semi's better than revolvers? No. They both have their place, and any good defensive gun collection will have both. (I'm going to show this post to my girlfriend to try to convince her to let me buy a revolver :D).
 

Citizen

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DreQo wrote:
SNIP (I'm going to show this post to my girlfriend to try to convince her to let me buy a revolver :D).
Convince your girlfriend to let you buy a revolver?


That young lady has some real influence.
 
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