As soon as you start saying that it’s not something that Christians do, well, guns are just the foil. The issue now is the Gospel. So in a sense, it does become a crusade. Now the Gospel is at stake. Of the 40 states with right-to-carry laws, 20 allow guns in churches. [more inside]
posted by VikingSword on Jun 26, 2009 - 180 comments

Haven't you always secretly wondered what would happen if a ninja accidentally stumbled into, say, Bill and Ted's time traveling Phone Booth and ended up somewhere around 7th century BC, only to come face-to-face with a feisty Spartan? Have you not pondered what would happen if you locked up an Apache with a Gladiator inside some sort of 21st century battle dome? Are you frustrated because you feel like there's nobody doing proper scientific studies to see what would happen when you pit two historically violent warriors that could have never actually met in real life? Worry no more people - I present to you Spike TV's newest offering - Deadliest Warrior! [more inside]
posted by Bageena on May 5, 2009 - 110 comments

Like crossbows? Like assault rifles? Got some spare AR-15 parts lying around begging to be crossbowed up? Then the PSE TAC 15 crossbow upper is for you! (video). Or how about this Swiss crossbow that can be cocked in 3 seconds? Alternatively build your own, or even build a repeating crossbow!
posted by Artw on Apr 24, 2009 - 41 comments

It's shocking enough that 90 people have been killed in mass shootings in the US in the past 2 years. But it's even more shocking that 44 of those deaths have occurred within the month since March 10, 2009, when Michael McClendon touched off a firestorm of violence that ended with the deaths of 10 people in rural Alabama. This has been a month of grave infamy in the United States. [more inside]
posted by baphomet on Apr 5, 2009 - 286 comments

Shoot Different. Or, if you prefer, iSnipe.
posted by geos on Jan 21, 2009 - 23 comments

UnNerfed - the Nerf dart blaster overclocked to 500 rounds per minute.
posted by Artw on Dec 22, 2008 - 38 comments

Military equipment drawn as anime girls. Probably SFW, but good luck explaining it to the boss. Wikipedia explains.
posted by mccarty.tim on Oct 19, 2008 - 34 comments

Squirrel: It's what's for dinner.
posted by blue_beetle on Sep 11, 2008 - 42 comments

The Punisher MAX #60 hits comics stores this week, marking the end of Garth Ennis's run on the series. His earlier Punisher work on the series put the character back on track after some disastrous wrong turns, but it was the Marvel MAX series that striped the Vietnam vet turned vigilante's war on crime of all extraneous elements and turned it into something dark and brutal. The evocative covers of Tim Bradstreet (also leaving the series) matched the interior darkness, with Ennis toning down his humor to let the Frank Castle become a monomaniacal psychopath in a corrupt world. Adversaries included the resourceful and violent Barracuda, a kind of anti-Punisher based on the song Stagger Lee. It's not over for the Punisher - screenwriter Gregg Hurwitz and artist Laurence Campbell are taking over the series, and Ennis will be returning to the character with a miniseries in the lighter tone of his Marvel Knights work or The Punisher Kills The Marvel Universe.
posted by Artw on Aug 12, 2008 - 49 comments

Robert A. Talbot makes guns out of wood.
posted by Fiasco da Gama on Aug 10, 2008 - 14 comments

In the wake of The Scarlet Pimpernel, countless figures have flamboyantly stalked the night. Among them were the scofflaw Arsene Lupin and his more violent contemporary, Fantomas. So influential was the latter that imitators soon arose, plying their merciless wiles on others. Among them were Fu Manchu, the nefarious Dr. Mabuse, the hooded Diabolik, and Matt Wagoner's Grendel. Not even Donald Duck was immune from the seductive lure of crime. [more inside]
posted by Smart Dalek on Aug 8, 2008 - 9 comments

If you've ever wondered which guns were used in a movie, which movies a gun has appeared in, or even which guns an actor has ever used, then the Internet Movie Firearms Database (probably) has you covered. [more inside]
posted by jedicus on Aug 7, 2008 - 28 comments

There's something about Mary. Sarasota, Florida, resident Mary McFate was a prominent gun control activist, active in anti-gun groups around the country. Mary Lou Sapone was a freelance spy with an NRA connection. They are the same person.
posted by parmanparman on Jul 30, 2008 - 59 comments

The gyrojet pistol (video) - a handgun firing 13mm rocket ammunition, was an attempt to revolutionise gun design in the 1960s. Around a thousand were produced, and some may have seen use in Vietnam. Rifle and carbine versions were also produced. Design problems meant that it never seriously competed conventional firearms, but there is a modern attempt to revive the concept.
posted by Artw on Jul 26, 2008 - 38 comments

Heller v. District of Columbia, the U.S. Supreme Court's first actual interpretation of the Second Amendment, has just come down. In a 5-4 decision, the Justices ruled D.C.'s comprehensive handgun ban to be unconstitutional. Antonin Scalia writes for the majority.
posted by Navelgazer on Jun 26, 2008 - 364 comments

I apologize in advance for linking to Cracked.com, internet leader in lame lists, but this 3-minute video sketch works for me: The Real Reason Guns Are Dangerous. [more inside]
posted by wendell on Jun 22, 2008 - 62 comments

Commando Performance: (Toy) Guns on Campus Post-Virginia Tech - A fun game of tag for campus geeks? Or a celebration of immaturity and glorification of war and violence? Playing Humans v. Zombies after the Virginia Tech Massacre. [more inside]
posted by longdaysjourney on Apr 12, 2008 - 31 comments

As the Supreme Court ponders the Second Amendment, The New England Journal of Medicine weighs in once, twice, three times.
posted by TedW on Apr 4, 2008 - 147 comments

The gun dealer who sold the ammunition used in both the Northern Illinois and Virginia Tech campus shootings obviously feels remorse over his role, and wishes to atone. His solution? A (concealed) gun for every student.
posted by Kibbutz on Mar 24, 2008 - 135 comments

The Mall Ninja is easily distinguished by an abundance of “tactical” gear, such as fatigues, a thigh holster (with, of course, a Glock), combat boots, bandolier and other accouterments. Read the collected stories of the the Rapid Tactical Force at one of America’s largest indoor retail shopping areas! Marvel at their cunning equipment selection (such as duct taped trauma plates) and learn from their battles with the dreaded mall gangs.
posted by clockworkjoe on Feb 29, 2008 - 58 comments

Minature gunsmithing is an amazing art form. [more inside]
posted by quin on Feb 15, 2008 - 20 comments

Domesticated by photographer Amy Stein explores the tension between settled and wild spaces.

Stranded is another collection of work dealing with the expectations of public and private space.

More self-explanatory: Women and Guns and Halloween in Harlem. She also has a fine blog.
posted by klangklangston on Feb 6, 2008 - 31 comments

Mr. Show skits that became reality . (Warning: mature language)
posted by boost ventilator on Feb 6, 2008 - 43 comments

Club Little Gun, a bunch of tiny guns built into things from rings to crosses. Eat your heart out, Indiana Jones, the whip pistol. via [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Jan 31, 2008 - 10 comments

Restyling of real military weapons into fashion items for ladies.
posted by wallstreet1929 on Jan 12, 2008 - 19 comments

Gun for the whole family. A Scanning Around With Gene article about historic gun ads. More fun with Gene Gable: Cigarettes, diving, winter fonts, red white and blue, and so much more.
posted by klangklangston on Jan 10, 2008 - 12 comments

"I've got a shotgun. Do you want me to stop 'em?" On November 14, 61-year old Joe Horn saw two men breaking into his neighbor's home. He called 911, told the operator what he could see through his window. As Horn watched the men, he grew more and more agitated, saying he was going to go outside and shoot them. When the men left the neighbor's home, Horn went outside and did just that.

Now, Texas gets to argue over the hero or villain status of Joe Horn in the public square (a debate made more volatile by concerns that race was been a factor), while weighing the merits of that state's recent adoption of Castle Doctrine (aka "Stand Your Ground" Law). First adopted by Florida in 2005, Castle Doctrine is now law in 19 of 50 states. So what does this mean for Joe Horn? Public accusations of vigilantism aside, what Horn did is arguably legal under Texas law ... or, at least, it would be had he shot the two men after dark.
posted by grabbingsand on Dec 5, 2007 - 181 comments

How many times as this happened to you? (warning: video/audio). It's late at night, you're in bed & you need to kill someone with a shotgun, only to find out the gun is ALL THE WAY across the room. Well, friend, your prayers are answered.
posted by jonson on Oct 17, 2007 - 128 comments

Knob Creek Gun Range , a former military-munitions test range situated near Fort Knox is home to the "World's Largest Machine Gun Shoot and Military Gun Show". Run by private citizens excercising their second amendment rights (Kentucky has no state-level gun laws) the focus is on Class III firearms - things like assault weapons and anti-tank rifles, but also the occasional high-caliber sniper rifle and cannon. Hold my bourbon and watch this! (more)
posted by phrontist on Jul 26, 2007 - 78 comments

Ahh that symbol of the Russian endurance and the instrument of forcing peace (or certain radical beliefs) on everyone… Yes it was 60 years ago that a Russian peasant would create a weapon that would be tough, easy to use and easy to make. If the weapon tickles your fancy, then you can buy it here for about $880…
posted by Prunedish on Jul 6, 2007 - 49 comments

The folks down at the Pakistan Ordnance Factory [youtube: 6'40] would like to show you how they make some of their machine guns, mortar bombs (in a surprising range of bright, cheerful colors), tank and anti-tank ammo ("capable of defeating the toughest armor in the battlefield!"), aircraft and anti-aircraft ammunition, and so much more. "P.O.F. products are in service with over 40 countries around the globe, with an ever-expanding market!"
posted by flapjax at midnite on May 4, 2007 - 17 comments

An average of 81 people die of gunshot wounds in the US each day. Most of them aren't who you'd expect.
posted by alms on Apr 22, 2007 - 149 comments

Recent MeFi threads have suggested how easy it is (or not) to build a gun. The comparison to dynamite or ANFO is made, frequently, in these sorts of discussions, supposedly to illustrate another "weapon" which is in the public corpus but largely outlawed. [more inside]
posted by avriette on Apr 22, 2007 - 34 comments

So Much for Privacy (Part II) In another Sunshine Week "exposé" columnist Christian Trebjal of the Roanoke (Va.) Times decided that everyone needed to know the full names and addresses of every Concealed Handgun Permit holder in Virginia. So he got a list from the VA state police and had the newspaper put it in a handy searchable database. In the ensuing blog post regarding the column and database comments quickly got heated and comments were closed for several hours for unknown and unstated reasons (though perhaps due to the publication of Trebjal's home address). Of course, Virginian CHP holders were completely and wholly unamused. Following the outcry, the newspaper has removed the database, with a self-serving statement about concern for public safety but there was no concern for public safety guiding their actions before the objections. Overall, a question is raised: if Sunshine Week is supposed to be about open government why are newspapers aggregating and publishing information about private citizens at all?
posted by Dreama on Mar 13, 2007 - 46 comments

The Trigger Finger of Santo Guerro, The Skull Fragment of Heilige Krieg, Reliquary for the Extended Family, A Piece of the True Gun and more modern reliquaries by sculptor Al Farrow. [via Eye of the Goof, whose Mr. Bali Hai is also responsible for this previous introduction to the concept]
posted by mediareport on Mar 4, 2007 - 10 comments

An editor at Outdoor Life for nearly 30 years and member of the NRA for 40, Jim Zumbo is a lifelong advocate of outdoorsmanship, hunting and gun ownership in print and on television. Last week, Zumbo left a comment on his Outdoor Life blog commenting on the rising popularity of assault rifles for hunting calling them "terrorist weapons" and suggesting they should be banned from hunting use. Three days later, Zumbo's lifelong career is all but over, having lost all his product sponsorships, was publicly disavowed by the NRA, and his show was canceled. With the 2008 election season starting and a Congress now controlled by the party supporting greater restrictions on assault weapons, Zumbo may be the first sign of a zero-tolerance conservative constituency.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Feb 25, 2007 - 124 comments

Before the repeating rifle, there was the repeating airgun. While most people consider the airgun a toy, it has an interesting history as a serious weapon. Now large bore airguns are seeing new interest amongst discerning gun collectors and hunters of big game.
posted by mock on Feb 21, 2007 - 9 comments

Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in their Homes. Photo essay by Kyle Cassidy.
posted by fandango_matt on Feb 7, 2007 - 135 comments

Best wishes for a Christmas of peace and joy and a New Year of triumph over terrorism! from the U.S. Citizens Committee to Keep and Bear Arms, a.k.a. "the Common Sense Gun Lobby".

"If Jesus came back and saw what's going on in His name, He'd never stop throwing up." -- Woody Allen (Hannah And Her Sisters, 1986)
posted by Quiplash on Dec 25, 2006 - 45 comments

Australian gun laws claimed to reduce mass shootings. In October, a study prepared by Australian pro-gun lobbyists and published in the British Journal of Criminology argued that tougher gun laws in Australia did little to lower murder or suicide rates. A newly released report agrees that historically declining murder rates were mainly responsible for the decline in average gun homicides from 93 to 56 per annum. In the USA there were approximately 10000 gun homicides in 2004. The report emphasises there have been no mass shootings since the laws were enacted.
posted by bystander on Dec 13, 2006 - 36 comments

Old textbooks proposed as protective shields. One political candidate's idea is to reissue outdated textbooks and place them under desks so that students can use them defensively when a shooter opens fire. They actually stop most handgun bullets, although raise the specter of a passive bystander society.
posted by Brian B. on Oct 21, 2006 - 67 comments

Richard Holbrooke delivers an analysis and forecast of how the current situation could trigger a chain reaction that would lead to world war. He refers to Barbara Tuchmans Guns of August, apparently a political science classic, that has been mentioned here on mefi. Here's the article in dutch with an appropriate picture of the murder of archduke Franz Ferdinand.
posted by jouke on Aug 12, 2006 - 22 comments

96 Minutes... 40 years later. Texas Monthly has an article that, through eyewitness accounts, tells the tale of Charles Whitman. Forty years ago today--before 9/11, Columbine, Oklahoma City, "going postal"--Whitman perpetrated an act of public terror that impacted the national conscience. It all began when he killed his mother. Then he started typing a letter that, after he killed his wife, he finished hand-writing. Then he went to the Tower with a small arsenal and began the slaughter. Over 96 minutes he killed 13 more people and wounded 34 others until off-duty Officer Ray Martinez made it to the top of the tower and killed Whitman. (more inside)
posted by dios on Aug 1, 2006 - 71 comments

Metal Storm Limited specializes in weapon systems featuring rapid fire electronically fired bullets, up to 1 million a minute. The weapons platform can be used to make the worlds strongest handgun as well as be used to equip unmanned drones with firepower. The most frightening of which is perhaps the "dragonfly" micro copter. Their site has a number of videos showcasing some of the various weapons applications. Metal Storm has been around for a while, without getting a product to market, but with a recent influx of funding it doesn't look like they are going to go out of business any time soon.
posted by reverendX on Jul 10, 2006 - 50 comments

Is this guy an awesome teacher or just crazy? Or maybe it goes hand in hand. Think back to the days of high school and college science classes. For most people, it probably wasn't chalkboards full of endless physics equations that got them interested in the sciences, but rather the crazy, cooky and awe-inspiring professors who do dramatic and unique demonstrations to get students interested. What makes a good teacher or professor? Is this teacher really reckless or is it a legit demonstration that benefits students?
posted by RockBandit on May 25, 2006 - 65 comments

I don't own a gun, and I hope my neighbors don't either.
posted by jonson on May 23, 2006 - 226 comments

Study shows that just handling a gun increases testosterone levels in men.
posted by 445supermag on May 9, 2006 - 64 comments

Six String Shooter. "What we want to create is an invitation to an attitude of change," [Cesar López] says. "It says a lot of different things — but the main idea is that weapons can be changed from an object of destructiveness to an object of constructiveness." Swords into plowshares axes, Music from Menace, Music Out of Madness.
posted by weston on May 3, 2006 - 5 comments

She's Lost Control In one of the most bizarre posts I have ever read, Violet Blue weighs in on the Xenisucks.com debate and it's mention in the New York Times (Bugmenot). And then again after Dan Marshall (NYT) responds. But in a response to Violet Blue (about middle of the page), Matt Sharp (Xenisucks.com) says she has fabricated much of what she has attributed to him.
posted by gnash on Apr 12, 2006 - 128 comments

When Gregg Revell packed his bags for a trip to Pennsylvania last April, he had no idea how far he'd be traveling. Before the week was out, the 57-year-old suburban real estate agent and grandfather would be arrested, thrown into one of the country's most notorious jails, strip searched and inoculated against his will. The soft-spoken Utah native would be on his way to becoming a poster child for the National Rifle Association in a $3 million lawsuit.
posted by mr_crash_davis on Mar 10, 2006 - 84 comments