November Another Record Breaking Month for Gun Sales

Cam Edwards at Bearingarms.com has the story here.

The Great Gun Run of 2020 continued at a record-setting pace in November, according to new analysis from the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The firearms industry trade group estimates that over the course of the past month there were 1,949,141 background checks performed on gun sales; a whopping 45.2% increase over November of 2019 and the most guns sales ever in the month of November.

That brings this year's total to 19.1 million, which is almost 4 million more than the last record setting year - 2016.  With one month left in the year, look for the total to top 20 million for this record breaking year.

NoVA Sharpshooters Host the 2020-2021 Virginia USA Shooting Pistol Junior Olympics State Championship

By Mark Budgeon 

Every year USA Shooting invites shooting clubs across the United States of America to host qualification matches called Junior Olympic State Championships (JOSCs). These events allow junior athletes to compete shoulder-to-shoulder with their counterparts from across their resident state as well as non-residents. For the past three years, the NoVA Sharpshooters have hosted these qualification matches at the Arlington-Fairfax Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America.

This year athletes, parents and coaches all pitched in to put this event together in spite of the COVID 19 pandemic. Following Virginia guidelines, the club successfully hosted the Sport Pistol and Air Pistol JOSCs allowing 26 athletes to compete for qualification scores and potential invitations to the USA Shooting Junior Olympics planned for 2021.

On Sunday morning, November 22nd, seven athletes from the NoVA Sharpshooters and Team LocoMotion met at the Rifle Pistol Range for a 60 shot Sport Pistol match. Suman Sanghera placed first winning the Junior Women gold medal and also recognition as the Virginia State Champion. Josephine Mou won the silver medal and Lauren Creese won the bronze. For the junior men, Victor Mou won the gold medal, Ethan Jardines placed second winning the silver medal and William Regala won bronze.

Sport Pistol JOSC (L to R): Suman Sanghera, Ethan Greenhaw, Josephine Mou, Ethan Jardines, Lauren Creese, Victor Mou, William Regala

After the sport pistol match, these seven athletes participated in the air pistol JOSC held across the road at the Sills Air Range. Nineteen junior athletes from the NoVA Sharpshooters, Team LocoMotion (Purcellville), Rockin’ Rockets (Rockingham County 4-H), Lafayette Gun Club (Grafton) and an independent shooter from Frederick, Maryland competed in the 60 shot match. Since there were six or more competitors in each gender category, a state champion could be named for both the junior men and the junior women.

For the junior women, Suman Sanghera again placed first winning the gold medal and recognition at the state junior women champion. Makenzie Anne Wygans from the Lafayette Gun Club won silver and Christina Alvarez won bronze. For the junior men, Bhavjeet Sanghera placed first winning the gold medal and recognition as the state junior men champion. Victor Mou won silver and William Regala won bronze.

Air Pistol JOSC (L to R): Makenzie Anne Wygans, William Regala, Christina Alvarez, Victor Mou, Suman Sanghera, Ethan Greenhaw, Josephine Mou, Zachary Dantzlerward, Madeline Matney, Connor Shea (nine athletes not pictured)

These athletes scored high enough to earn automatic invites to the 2021 Junior Olympics: Suman Sanghera (sport and air pistol), Bhavjeet Sanghera (air pistol) and William Regala (air pistol). When all the clubs across the country complete their matches and report their scores, USA Shooting will establish cutoff scores for each event and age category. Then USA Shooting will extend invitations to athletes for the 2021 Junior Olympics. The Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs is the traditional location for the USA Shooting Junior Olympics. However, the facility is restricted to preparing the USA Team for the Summer Olympics. USA Shooting will announce the location for the Junior Olympics at a later date.

Congratulations to these junior athletes and their parents and thanks to coaches Lei-Ann Chang, Tim Greenhaw, Jennifer Alvarez for taking the time to lead the program. Only in its fourth year, the NoVA Sharpshooters Junior Shooting Program has grown to be the largest and most successful junior international pistol program in the state of Virginia.

Gun Ban Groups Pushing Biden to Take "Executive Actions" on Gun Control

Bloomberg's gun ban online publication "The Trace" writes this morning that gun ban groups are urging Biden to take seven steps to enact gun control without legislative approval:

With control of the Senate hinging on the double-feature runoff in Georgia and Democrats positioned for a slim majority at best, party officials and advocates — as well as a collection of 85 gun reform organizations — are pressing the incoming Biden-Harris administration to take swift executive branch actions to curb gun violence. As my colleague Chip Brownlee breaks down, Biden does have significant power to direct agencies, launch rule-making processes, and appoint leadership around the agenda of strengthening gun restrictions and increasing resources for reducing shootings. Among the possibilities: cracking down on untraceable “ghost guns,” creating an interagency task force, banning the importation of assault weapons, and restructuring the ATF to enforce existing gun laws.

This is the second piece this week that mentions ATF's regulatory ability. Earlier this week, John Crump wrote at Ammoland.com that during an ATF conference call, Acting Director Regina Lombardo told those on the call that the Biden transition team has reached out to the ATF to find out what the agency’s “top priorities” are.  

Also this week, Mark Oliva appeared on Bearingarms.com's Cam and Company to dicuss the possibility of a Biden backdoor gun ban.  Oliva told host Cam Edwards that there's reason to believe that Biden and his anti-gun allies are already looking at ways to do a run around Congress and the Constitution.

The idea of "Executive Actions" just stands our Constitution on it's head.  The Founders did not envision as system of government where the executive branch could create laws.  That is the purview of the legislative.  Elections indeed have consequences.

Georgia Run-off Election is Ground Zero for Gun Rights

There are two races for the U.S. Senate in Georgia that will determine whether gun owners have a firewall against a President Joe Biden and his gun ban schemes.  As Gun Talk Radio host Tom Gresham said last week, and reiterated on his radio program yesterday, gun owners need to step up and do what it takes to insure that Democrats do not win those two seats.

If you don't want what happened in Virginia to happen nationally, VSSA urges you to make a donation to help win the Georgia Senate run-off elections.

Abigail Spanberger: I Support the Second Amendment, But...

Seventh District Democrat Representative Abigail Spanberger likes to say she supports the Second Amendment and even tries to shore up that claim by saying she carried a gun during her time with the CIA and that she grew up with guns in the house.  She repeated that line last night during the candidates forum with her opponent, Delegate Nick Freitas.

But like most Democrats who claim to support the Second Amendment, she always has that "but".  She has already voted in favor of criminalizing private sales (so-called "universal" background checks), and she supports the usual measures aimed at gun owners, things like laws that take away an individuals firearms without due process ("red flag" laws) and banning modern sporting rifles.  

Spanberger has tried real hard to portray herself as a "moderate" who works "across the aisle" with "Democrats and Republicans".  You can't turn on the Rush Limbaugh radio program on AM1140 WRVA without hearing her commercials multiple times during the program.  The fact that she would even advertise on Limbaugh's program shows that she is trying to convince right leaning voters that she is one of them.

Don't be fooled. Spanberger is no moderate.  She votes with Nancy Pelosi 91% of the time.  If you live in the 7th Congressional District, vote for Delegate Nick Freitas.

Virginia Gun Sales Soar in 2020 - Breaking 2016 Record

 WRIC has the story.  

Data from the Virginia Firearms Transaction Center, which has tracked mandatory background checks on buyers since 1990, shows estimated firearm sales have spiked in 2020, a year rocked by the global pandemic and protests across the country.

There have been 587,107 background checks in Virginia through September, surpassing the annual record in 2016 of 505,722. Gun sales have risen nationally, with statistics from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System showing an average of more than three million background checks from March through August. 

Voter Registration Deadline is October 13

Voting is one of the most important privileges we have as American citizens. In 2016, only 61.4% of the voting age population in the United States reported voting. The 2020 election is less than a month away and it is imperativel that gun owners participate in the 2020 election. 

Don't risk your rights! If you are not registered to vote or have moved and need to register at your new place of residence, you only have until Tuesday, October 13 to register.  To register to vote in Virginia, visit the StateBoard of Elections website for more information on voter eligibility and the registration process.  You can register online as well as in person.

 Learn more about registering to vote in Virginia.

ATF’s Action Against Q, LLC’s (Q) Honey Badger Pistol

You have likely heard about ATF’s action against Q, LLC’s (Q) Honey Badger Pistol and its status as a purported short barrel rifle.  ATF sent Q a "Cease and Desist" letter.  If you are not familiar with this situation, you can find more information by clicking here.  I've seen a lot of gun folks on social media (many that I respect and consider good sources of information) using this as an example of President Trump not being sufficiently pro-gun, basically because ATF is an executive branch agency and supposedly carries out administration policy.  If you know anything about how the federal government works, you know that the bureaucracy regularly does everything they can to undermine Republican administrations.   I was listening to a gun podcast yesterday that featured an interview with Alex Bosco from SB Tactical, and he believes that this decision is exactly that - bureaucrats trying to undermine the President a month out from the election to cause problems with an important part of his base.  I urge you to listen to the interview.  You can hear the interview by clicking here.

Please everyone take action and get involved. This cannot be allowed to stand.  First, here is the organization Alex mentioned in the podcast linked above:
FRAC: https://www.fracaction.org/

It is not too late to make your voice heard.  VSSA strongly urges you to contact the Department of Justice and demand they take swift action to stop and reverse ATF’s efforts to issue arbitrary and capricious decisions affecting millions of legal gun owners.

• One-Click Link to Contact DOJ:
  • https://www.fracaction.org/contact-officials

Additionally, VSSA encourages you to reach out to the White House and ask President Trump to rollback ATF’s agenda:

• White House Comment Line:
  • (202) 456-1111 / Email

VSSA Junior Pistol State Championship

By Mark Budgeon

Twenty junior pistol athletes competed in the VSSA State Championship held Sunday, September 27, 2020. The NoVA Sharpshooters sponsored the competition which included two events: sport pistol and air pistol.

In the morning, six athletes gathered at the Rifle Pistol Range to compete in sport pistol. This event uses a .22 long rifle, semi-auto pistol with iron sights. Targets are placed at 25 yards. The 60-shot match includes two stages: precision and rapid fire. During the precision stage, shooters fire 30 shots at a precision target. This stage is very similar to NRA bullseye slow fire. During the rapid-fire stage, shooters fire 30 shots at a rapid-fire target. The rapid-fire stage is not like NRA bullseye. In sport pistol rapid fire, the shooters fire six series of five shots. The gun is held in the “ready” position which is 45 degrees from the horizontal. At the fire signal the shooter raises the gun to the target and has three seconds to fire the shot. Then the shooter returns to the “ready” position. This cycle continues until five shots are completed.

VSSA President, Joe Turner, presented awards to the top three competitors as well as medals to the winners in various age categories. It is worthy to note these six athletes went on to compete in the second event which was 10-meter air pistol.

Suman Sanghera Champion (Center), Ethan Jardines 2nd Place (Left), Victor Mou 3rd Place (Right), VSSA President Joe Turner (Right)

In the afternoon, fourteen juniors competed in the 10-meter air pistol match held at the Sills Air Range. During the 10-meter air pistol match, athletes used a .177 caliber air pistol with iron sights and fired 60 shots at an electronic target placed at 10 meters.

The air pistol event included two qualification relays with the top eight athletes going on to compete in a finals match. The finals match uses an elimination process. A total of 24 shots determines the winner of the finals match. Points from the finals match are then added to the qualification match score to determine the overall champion.

VSSA President, Joe Turner, presented awards to the top three competitors as well as medals to the winners in various age categories.

Suman Sanghera Champion (Center), Victor Mou 2rd Place (Left), Connor Shea 3rd Place (Right), VSSA President Joe Turner (Left)

Sport Pistol Competitors: Suman Sanghera (Champion), Ethan Jardines (2nd), Victor Mou (3rd), Ethan Greenhaw (J2 Gold), Josephine Mou (J2 Silver), Lauren Creese (J3 Gold)

Air Pistol Competitors: Suman Sanghera (Champion), Victor Mou (2nd), Connor Shea (3rd), Christina Alvarez (J2 Gold), Ethan Jardines (J2 Silver), Josephine Mou (J2 Bronze), Lauren Creese (J3 Gold), Landon Cerrone (J3 Silver), William Regala (J3 Bronze), Zachary Dantzlerward, Ethan Greenhaw, Erin Reeder, Olivia Creese, Graham Jardines