VA-ALERT: VCDL mini-update 11/4/14

[OakRidgeStars]

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Not yet a VCDL member? Join VCDL at: http://www.vcdl.org/join
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VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings
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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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1. Coming events in SW Virginia, help needed!
2. Review of the Sig P320 semi-automatic handgun
3. Could a “SWATTER" be charged with murder if a death ensues?
4. Gun grabbers share their thoughts on future directions for gun control [VIDEO]
5. Thoughts on the gun control initiative (universal background check) on the ballot in Washington State today

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1. Coming events in SW Virginia, help needed!
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BRISTOL GUN SHOW, Friday and Saturday, November 8th and 9th, help needed!

Hours:

Saturday: 9 AM - 1 PM; 1 PM - 5 PM
Sunday: 10 AM - 1:30 PM; 1:30 PM - 4 PM

Directions/location: Take Exit 7 on I-81

HOLIDAY INN
3005 LINDEN DR
BRISTOL, VA

If you can help at this show, send an email to Al Steed Jr. at: al@vcdl.org

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SALEM: VCDL SUPPER MEETING, Tuesday, November 18.

Time: 6:30 PM

Location:

DYNASTY CHINESE RESTAURANT
1941 W. MAIN ST
SALEM, VA

BUFFET $9.95 plus drink and tax. Speaker to be announced. RSVP PLEASE TO al@vcdl.org

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VINTON: SAFE SIDE TACTICAL "BLACK FRIDAY--SATURDAY" sale event, November 28th and 29th. VCDL will have a table at this event, help needed!

Hours:

Friday 6 AM - Noon, Noon to 6 PM
Saturday 8 AM - 1 PM; 1 PM - 6 PM.

Location:

SAFE SIDE TACTICAL
15401 STEWARTSVILLE RD
VINTON, VA 24179

To volunteer to help, contact al@vcdl.org

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CHRISTIANSBURG: VCDL SUPPER MEETING, Tuesday, December 16

Time: 6:30 PM

Location:

AMELIA’S PIZZERA & RESTAURANT
1130 CAMBRIA ST NE
CHRISTIANSBURG, VA

BUFFET $12.00; Speaker EM John Wilburn. RSVP to al@vcdl.org


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2. Review of the Sig P320 semi-automatic handgun
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OVERVIEW

The P320 is one of Sig Sauer’s newest handguns. It is a striker-fired, modular system that allows the handgun to be reconfigured and customized using various separately purchased “conversion kits.” The P320 is chambered in .40 S&W, 9mm, .357 Sig., and .45 ACP.

A conversion kit allows the gun owner to do any or all of the following:

* Change calibers
* Change configuration: full-size, compact, or subcompact
* Change grip size to fit your hand: large, medium, or small for each configuration

The secret to the P320 is that the part of the gun that is considered to be the “firearm” by the BATFE is the trigger group. The trigger group can be lifted out of one frame and dropped in another frame in a few seconds. The trigger group is serialized and the frame has a cutout to allow that serial number to be visible to someone looking at an assembled gun.

The conversion kits can be bought through the mail, as no background check is needed. You just need the trigger group from your original gun to drop into the conversion kit’s supplied frame. If you are not changing the frame configuration, but just changing calibers, simply replace the slide and magazine.


DISASSEMBLY

Disassembly of the P320 is easy:

1. Remove the magazine (the gun won’t allow you to disassemble the gun with a magazine inserted)

2. Lock the slide back

3. Turn the takedown lever on the side of the gun 90 degrees

4. Release the slide lock and the slide will ease off the frame

If you want to remove the trigger group, follow these additional steps:

5. While twisting the takedown lever, pull it out of the right side of the gun

6. Lift the trigger group out of the frame


A TRIP TO THE RANGE

I was pleasantly surprised with the performance of the P320. There were zero malfunctions after 500 rounds of ammunition, representing 4 manufacturers. Groups were tight and the sights were dead on, needing no adjustments.

The trigger was also a pleasant surprise and was similar to a Glock in feel. There is a short take up (shorter than a Glock), the rest of the pull had no stacking and a crisp break with little over-travel. The trigger reset was about the same as a Glock and provided a positive reset “click." The P320 trigger pull felt slightly lighter than a Glock. The trigger was heavy enough for self-defense carry purposes, while light enough to provide accurate shooting.

As a firearms instructor, I noticed another thing that I really liked about the P320 - after you dry fire the gun, the trigger comes forward without racking the slide (unlike the Glock) and it gives the reset “click.” Without racking the slide, squeezing the trigger again causes the trigger to break and give another “click” when it does so. Thus, without racking the slide, one can pull the trigger repeatedly while practicing drawing and dry firing the gun. The trigger is lighter when used in this fashion, as opposed to when the slide has been racked, but provides for more realistic training where one just repeatedly pulls the trigger to fire the gun and doesn’t need to rack the slide between shots.

The subcompact version and the various conversion kits are not yet shipping. 9mm and .40 S&W versions in full and compact sizes are readily available right now. That said, the frame and magazines are the same as those used in a sister model - the P250, which is a double-action-only hammer-fired pistol, instead of a striker-fired pistol like the P320.

I was reading a chat group thread on the P320 where someone suggested that you can put the compact slide on a subcompact P250 frame (which is readily available for around $30), giving you the longer barrel of the compact with the shorter and easier to conceal grip of a subcompact. I tried that combination and it worked great! It actually looks nice, too. The shorter grip means you lose capacity, of course, but the gun still holds a reasonable number of rounds.

The capacity for a 9mm is:

17 + 1 - full size, 15 + 1 - compact, 12 + 1 subcompact

The capacity for a .40 S&W is:

14 + 1 - full size, 13 + 1 - compact, 10 + 1 subcompact

For more on the P320, use this link:

http://www.sigevolution.com/p320


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3. Could a “SWATTER" be charged with murder if a death ensues?
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I received this from EM Dan Hawes Esq., a criminal attorney:

As to the "swatter" - people have talked about whether the perpetrator should be charged with making a false report to law enforcement, a class-one misdemeanor.

However, under Virginia law, that person could be charged with murder. People who attempt, conspire, or assist (before or after the fact) can be charged as principals in the first degree. And what it takes is the malicious intent to cause the death of another person, and at least one overt act towards that purpose. I'd say those elements are satisfied.


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4. Gun grabbers share their thoughts on future directions for gun control [VIDEO]
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There are several videos in the following link where the gun grabbers talk about how they plan to come after our right to keep and bear arms. One of the items discussed is how good it would be if they can get gun owners to publicly agree that Universal Background Checks (UBCs) are a good thing. We need to make sure that gun owners, and non-gun owners, don’t get fooled into supporting UBCs. More on that later.

From dailycaller.com: http://tinyurl.com/o9lbfqg


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5. Thoughts on the gun control initiative (universal background check) on the ballot in Washington State today
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Dave Workman, a pro-gun blogger/columnist, noted that anti-gunners claim that the vast majority of Washington State voters want Universal Background Checks. So why, Dave asks, are anti-gun billionaires, like Bloomberg and Microsoft’s Bill Gates, pouring in over 12-million dollars to get that ballot initiative passed if virtually everyone wants it anyway?




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VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to
Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.

VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]