Peacemaker article posting in a few days.

If you would like to see the history about a particular firearm etc… leave a comment on my wordpress blog site. Please visit and join in.

Fast and Furious Eric: Holder had five memos since 2010

Holder Received at Least Five Memos on Fast and Furious PDF Print E-mail

WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley and Congressman Darrell Issa today said that Attorney General Eric Holder received at least five weekly memos beginning in July 2010, including four weeks in a row, describing the ill-advised strategy known as Operation Fast and Furious. The memos were to Holder from Michael Walther, the director of the National Drug Intelligence Center.

The Attorney General told Issa during a House Judiciary Committee in May 2011 that he had just learned of Fast and Furious a few weeks before. Yet, on January 31, in a previously scheduled meeting, Grassley personally handed him two letters about Fast and Furious. Grassley and Issa said they find it very troubling that Holder actually knew of Operation Fast and Furious much earlier, and in greater detail than he ever let on.

The memos specifically said that the straw buyers were “responsible for the purchase of 1500 firearms that were then supplied to Mexican drug trafficking cartels.”

“With the fairly detailed information that the Attorney General read, it seems the logical question for the Attorney General after reading in the memo would be “why haven’t we stopped them?” Grassley said. “And if he didn’t ask the questions, why didn’t he or somebody in his office?”

“Attorney General Holder has failed to give Congress and the American people an honest account of what he and other senior Justice Department officials knew about gunwalking and Operation Fast and Furious. The lack of candor and honesty from our nation’s chief law enforcement officials in this matter is deeply disturbing,” Issa said.

Grassley and Issa have been leading the investigation into who approved the strategy to allow guns to be purchased by known straw buyers who then often transferred the firearms to Mexican Drug Cartels.

Obama and Holder still pleading Ignorance

I would like to believe that President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder – no matter how much they oppose our Second Amendment rights – would never break the law and endanger human lives in their mission to score political points against gun owners.

I’d like to believe operation “Fast and Furious” is just another example of the Obama administration’s gross incompetence, albeit this time with tragic and deadly results. I’d like to believe that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had nothing but good intentions when it illegally helped transfer thousands of guns to violent drug lords in Mexico.

I’d like to believe this was just a misguided and foolish law enforcement operation gone horribly wrong.

However, to believe all of this, I would have to ignore a lot of facts.

I would have to ignore the fact that since “Fast and Furious” became public knowledge, Holder’s Justice Department has repeatedly refused to fully cooperate with congressional investigators. Instead, Holder has launched his agency into full cover-up mode, even promoting the BATFE agents who had direct oversight of this scandal.

I would have to ignore the fact that while Holder’s BATFE was pushing illegal firearms into the hands of known Mexican criminals, President Obama was trying to push his gun control agenda by blaming American gun owners and our Second Amendment rights for Mexican drug crime. In fact, the Obama administration is now requiring gun shops in states that border Mexico to register the firearms sales of any law-abiding American who purchases more than one rifle of certain types.

I would also have to completely disregard the recent revelation that BATFE ordered at least one of its agents to purchase firearms with our tax dollars, and then resell them to a gun runner for a Mexican drug cartel.

As this scandal and the resulting cover-up grow bigger and more shocking by the day, President Obama and Eric Holder continue to shrug their shoulders and plead ignorance. They seem quite content to destroy what is left of Americans’ faith in our government, so long as they don’t have to answer the big question: Who authorized this operation and how high up does this scandal go?

Three More Murders tied to “Fast and Furious ATF operations”

Weapons linked to ATF’s controversial “Fast and Furious” operation have been tied to at least eight violent crimes in Mexico including three murders, four kidnappings and an attempted homicide.

According to a letter from U.S. Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the disclosed incidents may be only a partial list of violent crimes linked to Fast and Furious weapons because “ATF has not conducted a comprehensive independent investigation.”

When added to the guns found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in the U.S., the newly-revealed murders in Mexico bring the total number of deaths linked to Fast and Furious to four.

According to the Justice Department letter:

One AK-47 type assault rifle purchased by a Fast and Furious suspect was recovered Nov. 14, 2009 in Atoyac de Alvarez, Mexico after the Mexican military rescued a kidnap victim.

On July 1, 2010, two AK-47 type assault rifles purchased by Fast and Furious suspects were recovered in Sonora, Mexico after a shootout between cartels. Two murders were reported in the incident using the weapons.

On July 26, 2010, a giant .50 caliber Barrett rifle purchased by a Fast and Furious suspect was recovered in Durango, Mexico after apparently having been fired. No further details of the incident were given.

On Aug. 13, 2010, two AK-47 type assault rifles purchased by a Fast and Furious target were recovered in Durango, Mexico after a confrontation between the Mexican military and an “armed group.”

On Nov. 14, 2010, two AK-47 type assault rifles purchased by Fast and Furious targets were recovered in Chihuahua, Mexico after “the kidnapping of two individuals and the murder of a family member of a Mexican public official.” Sources tell CBS News they believe this is a reference to a case we previously reported on: the terrorist kidnapping, torture and murder of Mario Gonzalez Rodriguez. Rodriguez was the brother of then-attorney general Patricia Gonzalez Rodriguez. The terrorists released video of Rodriguez before his death, in handcuffs surrounded by hooded gunmen.

On May 27, 2011, three AK-47 type assault rifles purchased by Fast and Furious targets were recovered in Jalisco, Mexico after having been fired. No other details of the incident were provided, but the date and location match with another incident previously reported by CBS News. On May 27 near Jalisto, cartel members fired upon a Mexican government helicopter, forcing it to make an emergency landing. According to one law enforcement source, 29 suspected cartel members were killed in the attack.

Heads Roll In Wake of BATFE “Fast and Furious” Scandal

In the latest development in the on-going Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) “Fast and Furious” scandal, the Department of Justice announced this week the appointment of U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota B. Todd Jones to serve as Acting Director of BATFE, replacing Kenneth Melson. The DOJ also announced that Dennis Burke, U.S. attorney for the district of Arizona, has resigned. And the Wall Street Journal reported that Emory Hurley, the assistant U.S. attorney responsible for the day-to-day operations of “Fast and Furious,” has been removed from his post and reassigned to the department’s Civil Division.

As we have frequently noted in this Alert, the reckless and utterly failed BATFE operation known as “Operation Fast And Furious” was run out of the BATFE’s field office in Phoenix . The bungled operation put thousands of guns into the hands of violent criminals in Mexico .

The more information comes out about “Fast and Furious,” the more clear it seems that knowledge of the operation, and approval for it, went higher than the Phoenix field office, or even BATFE. There is clear evidence, uncovered by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee headed by Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), that senior Obama Administration officials were aware of this disastrous operation. And as the evidence continues to mount, it’s looking more and more likely that what we’re seeing unfold is a large-scale cover-up.

Your Right To Self-Defense Shouldn’t End At State Borders: Last week, we reported on H.R. 822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act Of 2011, and its importance to gun owners.

We noted that there is now only one state ( Illinois ) that has no clear legal way for individuals to carry concealed firearms for self-defense, and that 40 states now have permit systems that make it possible for any law-abiding person to obtain a permit, while most of the others have discretionary permit systems. ( Vermont has never required a permit.) H.R. 822 would make a major step forward for gun owners’ rights by significantly expanding where those permits are recognized.

This week, NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox wrote an interesting and informative op-ed for the Daily Caller on why your right to self-defense shouldn’t end at state borders and why gun owners and their congressmen should support H.R. 822.

To read the op-ed, please click here.

Another Way To Get Involved–Join NRA’s Facebook And Twitter Groups: Internet social networking has exploded in recent years, and websites such as Facebook and Twitter attract millions of users. This on-line community fosters a connection between its users, and allows distribution of user-generated content (like pictures, profiles, music, video, and text).

NRA has been a part of this social technology for some time now, with a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites. By actively participating in these new media, we are able to reach out to more potential members and supporters than ever before.

Via NRA/ILA
If you are not a memeber join the NRA today to help protect your rights and the constitution!

More Pressure Needed Opposing Anti-Gun Legislation in Sacramento

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Contact your state Senator and Assembly member TODAY!

The California Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees are scheduled to hear several anti-gun bills this Thursday, August 25. It is crucial that all California gun owners and sportsmen contact the members of the state Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committee to OPPOSE the following anti-gun legislation and SUPPORT the NRA-backed CCW reform bill.

Assembly Bill 809 would require the registration of long guns and is a direct assault on gun rights. The only value of registration is to help governments confiscate firearms in the future. Not only does AB 809 violate Second Amendment rights, but it expands the registry to include rifles and shotguns. It would also be a huge waste of taxpayer money at a time when California is drowning in debt. Gun control advocates estimate the cost of this registration at $400,000, a number that is almost certainly far less than it will actually cost to implement and enforce this registry if enacted.

Please call and e-mail members of the Senate Appropriations Committee TODAY and urge them to OPPOSE AB 809.“http://sapro.senate.ca.gov/”>
Senate Bill 124 (OPPOSE) would require every hunter and target shooter in the state to be fingerprinted whenever they purchase ammunition and prohibit the mail order purchase of all ammunition. This would include ammunition popular for hunting and sport shooting that has no association with crime.

Senate Bill 819 (OPPOSE) would allow the Department of Justice to use the Dealer Record of Sales (DROS) funds to help pay for enforcement of California firearm possession laws in the Armed & Prohibited Persons Systems program. The DROS fund monies were originally collected from every firearm purchaser to pay for the administrative process for background checks. This bill will divert and drain hundreds of thousands of dollars of DROS fee monies that YOU have paid for background checks. As a result, the DROS fund will certainly run out of money. When it does, they will almost certainly want another increase in the fees YOU PAY for FIREARM background checks.

Senate Bill 610 (SUPPORT) would standardize the application process for a permit to carry a concealed handgun. SB 610 would also delete the requirement that a CCW applicant obtain liability insurance as a condition of obtaining a CCW permit.

Anti-gun extremists are working hard to eliminate gun ownership in California by any possible means. WE need to work harder to remind them that the Constitution still applies to California. Take action today and help save California from destroying what our Founding Fathers established over two centuries ago.

Don’t forget to forward this alert to your family, friends and fellow gun owners across California urging them to contact members of the state Senate and Appropriations Committee.

Please call and e-mail members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee TODAY and urge them to OPPOSE SB 124 and SB 819 and SUPPORT SB 610.

Screwdrivers

Whenever you use screwdrivers on a firearm always use gunsmithing screwdrivers the blade is straight and not tapered this insures that the screwdriver won’t walk up the slot and ruin a perfectly good screw. Also make sure the blade fits completely in the slot and fills the slot as well. This will prevent damaging screw heads. I often see collector guns get spoiled just because someone used an ordinary screwdriver on gun screws. The heads are usually torn up.

These can be fixed to look like new with careful re-cutting and filing the screw head and then re-bluing the screw but it is easier to use the proper tool for the job!!

Details only get worse from ATF’s Fast and Furious fiasco

Finding someone to stand up and take responsibility for the feds’ ill-advised gun-walk-to-Mexico program has been anything but fast. Only the denying, obfuscating and bus-throwing-under has been furious.

Months into a congressional investigation into Project Gunrunner and its Arizona-led wing, Operation Fast and Furious, we know only a little more. In large part, this is because Attorney General Eric Holder and his Department of Justice have expended far more energy covering up than coming clean.

Gunrunner, conceived and approved somewhere by someone around October 2009, was tasked to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The goal was to allow “straw man” gun purchases in the U.S. and track the high-powered weapons to their expected destination, Mexico’s violent drug cartels.

In practice, this proved a logistical and public relations disaster. This became clear in North Texas earlier this year, when a gun used to kill a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agent in Mexico traced back to two brothers from a Dallas suburb under Gunrunner surveillance. ICE Agent Jamie Zapata’s slaying followed by two months the death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry near Nogales, Ariz. The gun that killed him also was to have been under ATF monitoring.

Even as Justice Department officials have stalled and stonewalled, what new details have emerged are alarming.

Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch’s letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee concedes that Fast and Furious guns have turned up at 11 other violent crime scenes in the U.S. The Welch letter also says 1,418 firearms were circulated under the program — and it’s not clear how many remain missing.

Almost improbably, three key Fast and Furious supervisors have been given new management positions at ATF’s Washington headquarters. William G. McMahon had been deputy director of operations in the West; William D. Newell and David Voth were field supervisors who oversaw Fast and Furious out of the Phoenix office.

After the Los Angeles Times broke this news, ATF officials insisted the moves were not promotions but “lateral” transfers. This view would not be shared by many field agents, including those charged with executing Fast and Furious over their own misgivings. In testimony, they also describe McMahon, Newell and Voth as enthusiastic supporters of the disastrous program.

So to translate ATF higher-ups, these three mid-level bosses were not kicked upstairs, just shoved out of view.

Meanwhile, Kenneth E. Melson, the ATF’s acting director, says he learned of the program’s details in January 2011 and only after it had been shut down. He apparently doesn’t recall a December 2009 briefing and other “periodic updates” that Welch notes in his letter to Congress.

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas has been a leader in demanding information on this fiasco, as he should on behalf of his border-state constituents. Yes, it’s possible he sees partisan advantage in going after a Democratic administration, but it doesn’t make him wrong.

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Texas ties to ATF gun-walking program

– In October 2010, Otilio Osorio of Lancaster purchases a Romarm-Cugir model Draco 7.62 pistol from a gun shop south of Fort Worth . Soon after, the DEA and ATF coordinate an undercover weapons purchase by an informant in North Texas.

– On Feb. 15, 2011, Jaime Zapata, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, is shot to death in Mexico. A Romarm-Cugir model Draco 7.62 pistol used in the killing is traced to Otilio Osorio. Two weeks later, he and his brother are arrested on gun-smuggling charges.

– A July 22, 2011, letter from Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch to congressional investigators reveals that guns supposedly under surveillance in the ATF’s Fast and Furious program have turned up at 11 violent crime scenes in the U.S. Included are 42 weapons seized at two scenes in El Paso.

– Sen. John Cornyn writes to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding information on any programs similar to Fast and Furious operating in Texas, past or present.

Article by NRA/ILA

ATF Rewards Agents Who Ran “Fast and Furious” and Then Helped Cover It Up

In what can only be described as ” Washington D.C. logic,” the three BATFE agents who were responsible for the “Fast and Furious” debacle in Phoenix have been promoted.

You read that right, promoted!  Not reprimanded, not demoted and certainly not fired, but given bigger jobs with more responsibility and more pay.

Each of the agents now have high profile positions in D.C. William Newell is now special assistant to the assistant director of the agency’s Office of Management, David Voth has been made branch chief for the BATFE’s tobacco division.

And if those two promotions seem hard to understand, the third is particularly hard to fathom. William G. McMahon, who had been the BATFE’s deputy director of operations in the West, has been made the deputy assistant director of the Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations.  That is the division within BATFE that investigates misconduct by agency personnel.

Britain’s Criminal Utopia:  We reported last week on the recent, catastrophic plight of the United Kingdom ‘s citizenry, as headlines and images of destruction graphically showed a country in the midst of societal breakdown.  The rioting, looting, violent assaults, and arson left London and other UK cities looking like war zones.

The current bedlam shows us what a disarmed country looks like and how little is left when free men and women surrender the right to own a firearm.

This week, NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox wrote a compelling op-ed on ” Britain ‘s Criminal Utopia” for the Daily Caller.  To read the piece, please click here.

Administrative Rules Committee Strips Dove Rule of Statewide Traditional Ammunition Ban!   The nation was watching this week as the Administrative Rules Committee met to review the Natural Resource Commission’s final rule for Iowa ‘s first dove hunting season in nearly a century.  In a 9-1 bipartisan vote, legislators overwhelmingly rejected the NRC’s underhanded attempt to include a statewide traditional ammunition ban in the final dove rule.  This vote allows for a “session-delay” of the lead ammunition ban, meaning the legislature will have to act during the next legislative session to remove the ban from the final dove rule.  However, Iowa ‘s first dove season will proceed and will not include a traditional ammunition ban.

Provided by NRA/ILA

CW Gunsmithing and Firearms

Welcome to CW Gunsmithing and Firearms blog site. Here you will find interesting articles relating to firearms including history, gunsmithing, and political related articles specific to our constitution and the 2nd amendment.

I have been a certified Gunsmith for over 20 years and love every minute I get to spend in my shop. It doesn’t matter how simple or complex a particular gun job is, I find it interesting and quite rewarding. The nice thing about being a Gunsmith is that you get to try to master different disciplines. These range from working with wood, and metal using various machines and hand tools for both metal and wood. If you want to work with wood you can make the gun stock or you can do checkering, accurizing a firearm by bedding a rifle etc… If you like metal working you can use a lathe and a mill to make gun parts including barrel making. You can re-chamber a rifle, mount scopes, apply bluing or engraving etc.. The jobs are really endless and therefore a day in the shop is never boring.

I started this site for a few reasons the first is to inform the reader about firearms and the history behind them. Another reason is to keep the public informed on your second amendment rights. Our freedoms are really not free. Many brave men and women have fought and died for our country to preserve our rights. If the public will not stand up for their freedoms and fight those that want to deny our rights, then our freedom will be lost. We can stand proudly together to protect our right to bear arms. If you are not a member of the NRA or other pro active gun rights organization then please join today to help make this stand.

Periodically I will post various tips concerning gunsmithing! I am not advising you to do any work on firearms I suggest that you have a professional gunsmith do any work that needs to be done. I am only offering suggestions about how one could go about working on firearms.

Thank you for visiting my site and I encourage you to leave questions and comments. Please be respectful in your comments and kindly refrain from any profanity. Civil debate is good and encouraged.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.