Random Shots

Several things are buzzing in my head this week. Springfield Armory released its answer to the Sig P365, and it's a good one. Called the Hellcat, it's a subcompact 9mm with either an 11+1 or 13+1 configuration. We shot it and compared it to the P365. Both are excellent. But check out the optics version of the Hellcat in our video on YouTube. CLICK HERE to watch.

A few weeks ago, I attended the 34th Gun Rights Policy Conference. Attendance was up by 35 percent over last year, which was a record. What's going on? We're energized. We are ready for the fight.  And ... I think ... we recognize that we can't wait for the NRA to do the heavy lifting. People showed up, and it was delightful to see the variety -- the diversity -- of the gun rights movement. At least a third of the attendees were women. That's a massive improvement, and it's vitally important because the fight for gun rights is a fight for the minds of the public. On the topic of safety, protecting their families, and guns, women respond better to other women than to men. Seeing women not just attending, but taking leadership roles in the gun rights movement, lifted my spirits. We had people from about as many different segments of America as you can name -- African-Americans, Hispanics, LBGTQ, and even self-proclaimed liberals who fight for gun rights.

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I took a friend with me. Dan Zelenka is president of the Louisiana Shooting Association. That's the group that represents gun owners on legislative matters. His reaction after sitting through the panels and speakers was, "I needed to be here long before now, but I'll be back next year, and I'm bringing more folks from LSA."

Make your plans to attend next year when it will be in Orlando, Florida, Sept. 18, 19, and 20. I'll be there.

The day I'm writing this we are hearing that the gun control measures being pushed by the Democrats in Congress may stall under the weight of the newest impeachment effort. If that's so, don't take a lot of joy in it. The gun banners will return. They never go away. They never give up. Trust me when I tell you that they can win if we don't show up.

Next week I'll be able to share a range report of my own. I have four rifles in their cases, three of them with new scopes that have been bore sighted. Everything else is in the SUV, and I head to the range tomorrow to sight them in. Three Ruger No 1 rifles in three different chamberings: .257 Roberts, .257 Weatherby, and 6.5 PRC. I'm also taking the Marlin in .45-70 because I haven't shot it since buying that used number a month or so ago.

Call the radio show with your range reports.  Doesn't matter if it's a new gun or one you've had for a long time. Let's talk guns! ~ Tom

Tom Gresham
Author, outdoorsman, gun rights activist, and firearms enthusiast for more than five decades, Tom Gresham hosts Tom Gresham's Gun Talk, the first nationally-syndicated radio show about guns and the shooting sports, and is also the producer and co-host of the Guns & Gear, GunVenture and First Person Defender television series.

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