Sporting Clays Event Benefits “Save Blue Trail Range”

WALLINGFORD ROD AND GUN CLUB

Around 50 to 60 shooters gathered for a morning of fun, food, and a morning of Sporting Clays to raise funds to help http://savebluetrailrange.org. It was a warm and humid morning and more than once the second of a pair of clay targets was lost to the fog over the trees and the fog inside shooting glasses – but it was a fun time nonetheless!

Extra events such as a Lucky Target were held and a silent auction. The grand prize was a Henry .22 rifle.

Blue Trail Range has been in the news frequently in the past two years and has been fighting a lengthy legal battle to remain open amidst the accusations, which I believe are unfounded, that errant rounds from the BTR have been hitting homes over a mile away in Durham. Investigations and inspections have repeatedly found shell casings in the woods, near the affected homes and obviously not coming from BTR. This has not stopped efforts to close the range. Allegations of lead contamination of a nearby reservoir have also been raised and recent testing has found those levels to be safe and LOWER than they were ten years ago!

Included among the supporters and participants were Debbie Lyman from BTR, Attorney Craig Fishbein, who has been representing BTR and Attorney Gregory Miller, who has been a long time friend and ally of Shooting Sportsmen’s causes (and is also a decent shot with his Parker PH16 side-by-side 16 guage shotgun made in 1896!)

I was glad to be a part of the effort to support and spread the word about helping Blue Trail Range.

BTR has been in existence for decades and has introduced more new shooters to the sport than arguably all of the private clubs in the state combined. Thousands of shooters from across the state visit BTR to practice, take classes, sight in hunting guns and most importantly, bring their children to learn and appreciate the importance of shooting safety and fundamentals and the importance of learning responsibility – lessons that will serve to bolster Freedom of Thought, Freedom of Choice and Liberty.

Without instilling these crucial elements in today’s youth, the shooting sports will die out with the current generation of shooters and following that will be the demise of Liberty itself. This is ultimately what the anti-gun forces want. Let’s work to prevent that from happening. Support Blue Trail Range.

Help Save Blue Trail Range! Sporting Clays event at Wallingford Rod & Gun, Sun Oct 4

Connecticut Shooters and Sportsmen:

Please support this worthwhile cause! As we know, BTR has been under constant assault from forces hell bent on shutting down this well established, centrally located PUBLIC shooting range in the State. Below is an attached text from NRA-ILA :

Come out on Sunday, October 4 to the 2nd Annual Sporting Clays Fundraiser for the Blue Trail Range

In order to help raise funds to prevent its closing, Blue Trail Range will be hold its second annual Sporting Clays Fundraiser on Sunday, October 4.

The Blue Trail Range is the only public outdoor shooting range in Connecticut and is in danger of being shut down. As you know, shooting ranges provide a valuable community service by providing law-abiding citizens with a safe place to shoot and your help is needed.

Come to the Sporting Clays Fundraiser and show your support:

Sunday, October 4, 2009

50 Rounds of Sporting Clays (shooter supplies own firearm and shells)

Registration begins at 8 A.M.

Shooting beings at 9 A.M.

Fee: $55 (Includes continental breakfast at 8 A.M.)

Wallingford Rod & Gun Club

North Branford Road
Wallingford CT
(Across from the Blue Trail Range )

Extras: A cash kitchen will be open for lunch and a raffle for a Henry Golden Boy Rifle donated by the Hunting Heritage Trust Fund. Raffle tickets are $10 each or 3 for $25. The drawing will be held at 2 P.M. and you do not need to be present to win.

For more information, check out www.savebluetrailrange.org. If you are unable to attend and would still like to make a contribution please contact Blue Trail Range at 203-269-3280 or email Deb Lyman at Dylman@snet.net.

Come to the Picnic! CT Citizens Defense League (CCDL) Hosts its first Picnic – Saturday Sept 5th from 12-4pm at Boothe Memorial Park in Stratford!

Scott Wilson, President of CCDL – the fastest growing grassroots, pro-gun organization in Connecticut is pleased to announce their first picnic to be held at Boothe Memorial Park in Stratford, Saturday, Sept. 5th from 12 noon to 4pm. Please note – this is a NO ALCOHOL event.

CCDL’s website is www.ccdl.us and they are asking for RSVPs

Here is the message from Scott Wilson posted on the CCDL Facebook Page:

All Facebook CCDL Members are encouraged to attend this event to celebrate our right in Connecticut to Keep And Bear Arms. Come meet each other, and get to know us!
Burgers, Dogs, Dessert, “Lemon Cake Raffle” Frisbee Badminton, Horseshoes. Membership Sign Up will be onsite.

This, as in all CCDL Events will be an alcohol free gathering.
If you will be carrying a firearm, please exercise safety and caution as we will be in the eyes of the public. Firearms must remain holstered for the event duration to ensure safety.

* When responding with your rsvp, please note on the Picnic Wall, if you will attending with additional guests and family for an approximate head count.

See you There!

Scott Wilson Sr
President
CCDL, Inc.

Shooting Impressions: Small Revolvers

Review by Steven Loban, Connecticut Shooters & Sportsmen

Fifteen years ago – many gun writers predicted the demise of the revolver as a viable firearm for self protection. Today, those predictions are proven wrong as revolvers along with firearms of all kinds have increased in popularity by a huge margin. New models of revolvers big and small have filled the pages of gun magazines and the display cases of dealers.

The small revolvers for practical CCW have also experienced a resurgence in popularity. They are simple, easy to operate, not ammunition sensitive and easy to carry and care for.

With this in mind, I selected four of my personally owned handguns, all purchased at retail – I am not a paid writer or advertising agent for any gun manufacturer. The guns used were: Ruger LCR, Charter Arms Undercover, S&W model 38 Airweight – vintage and a Charter Bulldog .44 Special. The other guns are .38 Spl.

Shooting was done at 15 yards all done with five shot, rapid fire strings in double action only for all guns.

There were no malfunctions of any type experienced over nearly 300 rds fired over a 2 hour period at the Ansonia Rod & Gun Club pistol range. Weather was hot and humid about 90 degrees.

Here are my observations: The vintage S&W had the smoothest action and finest sights of any of the tested guns. The Bulldog in .44 SPL would be my personal choice – and often is – as a CCW carry gun due to its caliber. The Charter Arms Undercover .38 was light, and shot to
the point of aim but was hampered somewhat by a sticky trigger action. It needs some action work, but was otherwise reliable, comfortable and accurate.

The Ruger LCR is the newest and most interesting of the guns. It is a true lightweight and the easiest to carry and conceal. Its rubber grips had the best design of any gun tested and the ergonomics of the LCR were superior to the other guns. While shooting the LCR I realized the axis of the bore is lower in the hand than other revolvers of older, more traditional design. This enhances controllability and practical accuracy. I found the Ruger LCR the EASIEST gun to shoot rapidly and recover between shots with. It is the “mini-Glock” of modern revolvers! The LCR is a double action only gun with no exposed hammer. A mixture of polymer exterior and alloys with steel where needed – the LCR is reliable, smooth and well made. Its ejector was the smartest – sharply popping out fired empties and its chamber surfaces were very smooth.

Two criticisms of the LCR I can raise are minor. One is an obvious parts “rattle” inside the trigger mechanism when the gun is at rest. With the trigger pulled all the way to the rear and held back – there is no rattle. But in a holster, or dropped in a pocket walking around – the little “tink-tink” sound the part makes sloshing around inside its frame is annoying and obvious with each step I took while walking with the gun in a cargo pocket. The other criticism is my LCR does not shoot to the point of aim. It shoots high and left at 15 yards. About six to eight inches above point of aim and about four inches to the left. Holding on a paper plate stapled to a cardboard target frame at 15 yards – I found it necessary to “Kentucky windage” the gun at the 4 to 5-o’clock lower edge of the plate to center my hits. The Charter Arms and S&W revolvers shot to the point of aim. This flaw was also reported by another club member shooting an LCR of similar vintage. Apart from these criticisms, the gun was flawless.

The Charter Arms revolvers in .38 & .44 SPL caliber are solid, reliable and less expensive guns. Charter claims its unique 8-groove rifling system enhances accuracy. At 15 yards from a 2” barrel and shooting double action – I could find no advantage. Perhaps the greatest acknowledgement to the Charter’s design is validated by the Ruger LCR! The LCR uses Charter’s in-line crane that does not split the frame in half the way the S&W and Colt revolvers do. The Charters were stickier in operation compared to the Ruger or the S&W. Particularly the 2008 vintage Undercover. The Bulldog much less so, but that is likely from breaking the gun in with nearly 1,000 rounds over the past few years. Both the ejector rod operation and trigger were noticeably “gritty” in their operation on the Undercover. This is probably an easy fix and important to note that Charter has excellent, customer service particularly if you live in the Rte 8 corridor “Valley” area. I once had to send in my Bulldog for a crane replacement and got it back in less than an hour – test fired. An advantage to supporting locally owned and operated businesses! Both Charters however, shot to the point of aim, so Advantage Charter for real accuracy. The .44 Spl Bulldog is hardly bigger than the six shot Colt Detective special and shoots ammunition that is equivalent to .45 ACP in performance.

The Smith & Wesson Model 38 Airweight Bodyguard was the CADILLAC of them all! This late 1960s vintage gun I bought a while ago when you could still buy old ‘Smiths for under $300. Wearing rubber grips and a concealed hammer that still allows access for single action shots if desired, the Bodyguard had the smoothest action of all the guns tested, the finest sight picture which allowed tighter groups when deliberately aiming. While all the guns will certainly get the job done for CCW and home defense, the Bodyguard offered the extra “fun” aspect because I found you could cock the hammer and line up under a soda can and bounce it all over the 25 yard sand berm like shooting a .22 rifle! The coarse sights of the Charter guns and gritty trigger mechanisms resulted in shooting “around” the soda can but never hitting it! The Ruger with it’s off center barrel insertion, would let me hit the can, IF I remembered to Kentucky windage my shots enough.

All in all, my recommendations would run this way: If you are a wheel gun fan, the vintage S&W is still THE BEST. Period. End of subject. The Charter Arms revolvers are definitely serviceable and worthy of consideration if on a budget. Plus, they have a local advantage for service and repairs for much of Connecticut. You can drive it to Charter in Shelton, drop it off, or wait 20 minutes and it will be fixed.

The Bulldog in .44 Special is the way to go with Charter Arms. If you are comfortable with .45 ACP performance and recoil in a package hardly larger than a .38 snub. The .44 caliber bullet offers a lot in return for that slightly harder bump in the hand during recoil. For the new shooter interested in a CCW handgun, go with the Ruger LCR. It is the easiest to carry and shoot and is almost as well polished as a vintage ‘Smith internally. And they are strong guns that are +P rated.

CTSAS.INFO Gun Club Review – Wolcott Landowners’ Protective Association

Nestled right near the intersection of Route 322 and Woodtick Rd in Wolcott, CT – WLOPA was founded in 1933 as a hunting club. Over the years it has grown to a near Mecca for trapshooters in Connecticut. Offering a total of five fields – four regular program fields and a fifth combination field that coexists with a skeet and 100 yard rifle range – WLOPA has offered registered ATA trapshooting, pistol permit instruction, on site upland hunting; outings and parties; hall rental for meetings and other functions.

One of the unique activities at WLOPA is its airgun program designed to introduce youngsters to a preview of the shooting sports. It is through these programs our future as gun owners, target shooters, hunters and collectors will be ensured. Thanks to the dedication of WLOPAs Board and leading members, the club is successful, friendly and open to new members! Its president Hans Justus and Vice President Marshall Robinson are also committed to the support of gun ownership rights and testify every year in Hartford! Check them out!
http://www.wlopa.com/

The Joy of Shotshell Reloading with the MEC Grabber

Last month, I wrote about refusing to participate in the ammo shortage noticing that target grade shotshells being available. This month, I want to focus attention on reloading fired shotshells using the MEC Grabber reloading press (manual here) http://www.mecreloaders.com/documents/ownermanuals/grabber.pdf

The version I am using is over 30 years old and still cranking out shells every week. It has outlasted two, Remington 1100 receivers that I have cracked from shooting close to one million shells since 1980 and at least one 1100 trap barrel with a barrel extension I cracked from over use.

What made me think about writing about reloading has been the 50 days of rain we’ve had during the last 58 days. On those evenings where
no one is shooting and the field sits vacant as the rain fills the walkway to the traphouse, the MEC 76 is turning and burning recreating newly reloaded shells for the next day out on the trap fields.

The book says you can load 500 in an hour. I’ve NEVER seen that happen. Perhaps that is the mechanical cyclic rate the machine is capapble of. Realistically, a careful reloader, following proper procedures can turn out a box every 12-15 minutes. Last night, I loaded four boxes in 45 minutes.

It is crucial to follow the instructions for operating the machine AND following the published loading data for your components! It is also crucial to have a well versed routine and pay attention to detail as you load. Given these requirements, reloading shotshells can be a satisfying pastime, potentially saving some money and result in BETTER and more consistent shells than the factory turns out.
By “better” I don’t mean more powerful, I mean more CONSISTENT from shot to shot.

When setting up for a reloading session, be sure to have a properly calibrated and pre-set POWDER SCALE. Set the weights back to zero and adjust the wheel so that the marks line up – now you are zeroed. Following the loading data prescribed, measure the first ten or so shells – you may find the first few shells coming out slightly lighter than the data state, but still within prescribed levels. This is because the settling of the powder affects the volume the charge bar captures into the powder bushing until the press has been cycled a few times. After about four or five shells, you will notice the powder charge being right on the money or within a couple tenths of a grain.

This will stay until the volume in the powder bottle depletes past the half way mark getting toward one third full. Then you will notice the charge weights going a few tenths of a grain lighter again. Solution? Top off the powder bottle about mid way through your loading session or after about every third box of shells.

The lead shot level in the shot bottle can effect the powder dropping, too. Not from volume being in a different bottle, but from the vibration and timing of the charge bar cycling. When the lead shot level gets down to about a quarter full, top it off to just about half way or slightly over half way full in the shot bottle. Be sure to use different plastic funnels for each.

Also, if you use different powders for different loads, use different powder BOTTLES and clearly label each with a sticky label or paper tape.
Avoid residues of different powders mixing together. That can result in potentially dangerous situations. For me, my 12 guage reloading is done strictly with Alliant Red Dot powder. Consult the manual at: www.alliantpowders.com for data. And ALWAYS follow the published data – do NOT substitute components not listed. If it’s not listed – there’s a reason why it’s not listed. It’s not good for your gun or you!

Get together with an experienced shooter who knows good reloading skills and follows good practices. Also consult the technicians at both MEC and Alliant. I have found interacting with them very helpful.

Shotshell reloading is very simple, less involved than reloading for rifle or pistol cartridges and can be very rewarding once you master a few simple rules and practices. Now if the sun would stay out long enough for a good weekend of shooting, I can enjoy the few dozen boxes I’ve loaded up this month!

CTSAS.INFO Says: Go Shotgunning! Clay Target Sports – Refuse to Participate in the "Ammo Shortage"

Over the past few months reading various blogs and message boards on gun related websites the talk has been about the “Ammo Shortage”
There is virtually no handgun ammo in ANY caliber to found available at retail – ANYWHERE. What few calibers of ammunition that are available are price gouged rip offs – .223 Remington WOLF brand at $9/box for 20 rds. Pistol ammo – when it can be found – is only seen in the high priced “Self Defense” specialty boxes of 20 rds for $29.99 .You can still occasionally find old standard hunting rifle ammo at Wal Mart in .30-30, .30-06 & .308 for under $20/box – so what is a shooter to do? Now that the warm weather is upon us, where can someone have fun in a shooting sport and not have to quit after shooting ten rounds of his lone, 20-rd box of pistol ammo he paid $30 for at the gun store?

The Answer? Shotgun Sports! Trap, Skeet, Sporting Clays…..

You can still go to Wal Mart and buy “Value Packs” of 100-rds of shotshells in 12 and 20 guage for $5+change per box! You can still go online to many ammunition vendors and buy “flats” (or cases) of ten boxes of Shells like Estate Cartridge (which is Federal) for $53 per case + shipping. I recently bought a ten box “flat” of Winchester Super X Target loads in 12 guage for $55 from a local, CT gun store. That’s $5.50 per box of 25.

Area gun clubs up and down the Rte 8 Corridor in CT accept guests to shoot trap and skeet while accompanied by a sponsoring member.
You can spend a couple of hours on a warm Saturday afternoon or Sunday for under $20; and get to shoot 50 clay targets and still take two boxes of shells home with you!

Take advantage of it!

Some clubs to consider : Wolcott Landowner’s Protective Association; Seymour Fish & Game; The Hartford Gun Club; Ansonia Rod & Gun club,
and the century old Pahquioque Rod & Gun Club located at Danbury’s Wooster Mountain State Park off of Rte 7. See the links page to find these clubs.

It amazes me: raw material prices have come DOWN, not gone up recently; lead shot has decreased 25-40% in price from a year ago.
I’ve been ordering shotshell components and bags of lead shot, shotshell wads and primers drop shipped to my front door with no problem.

This makes me question the reality of the “Ammo Shortage”. Is it really a shortage? Or is it just another, phony, scam designed to test the market’s limits on what people will spend for ammunition.

I don’t know about you, but logging on to any of the on line vendors and seeing .38 Special and 9mm ammuniton “unavailable” except for the occasional $45 box for 50 rounds that used to be $9 to $12 just a year ago doesn’t do anything to Promote The Shooting Sports- which is also part of the CTSAS.INFO Mission Statement.

The average 12 guage target shotshell consumes three times the raw materials in lead and gun powder than the average pistol cartridge – per shot fired – and target shotshells haven’t increased substantially in price in the last year; in fact, many have DECREASED to pricing levels seen over two years ago! So, I don’t buy the argument that “we can’t get the ammo”; “it’s because of the war”, “it’s because of some unknown government secret regulation”, etc.

I believe and support the Free Market System. I also believe that ethics and RESPONSIBILITY go hand in hand with our Freedoms. Gouging the public to make a “quick buck” in the short term is going to hurt all of us in the long term. If people cannot find, and/or afford to buy ammunition for their firearms, gun clubs will eventually start to have financial problems (some are already seeing this), some may fold; people won’t be able to practice and develop skills to maintain proficiency and hence, SAFETY with firearms; many people will just give up and turn to something else to spend their time and money on and then interest in firearms, shooting sports, and our Rights will become jeopardized in the future.

Be a “shooting activist”! Refuse to participate in the “Ammo Shortage”! Come out to CT’s gun clubs this summer and shoot some trap and skeet. Learn a new sport, master a new shooting discipline, make some new friends. Eventually the handgun ammo will start appearing once again on dealer’s shelves and on-line inventories.

New Exciting Grassroots Organization in Connecticut: CT Citizens Defense League (CCDL)

Drawing on the success of a similar organization that was formed in Virginia (VCDL), a small group of activist gun owners in CT has started a new group of citizens to advocate for gun rights issues.

Scott Wilson has been named CCDL’s Interim President; the group boasts more than 150 members and supporters on Facebook and CCDL has been hosting meetings recently to draft a Constitution; elect its officers and formulate a game plan to be proactive in protecting our rights to own, carry and use firearms lawfully.

Contact email for CCDL is: uskrusader@yahoo.com

CCDL’s Mission Statement as posted on Facebook:

“The Connecticut Citizens’ Defense League is a non-partisan, grassroots organization devoted to advocating rights affirmed by the Constitutions of the United States of America and the State of Connecticut. We are especially dedicated to protecting the unalienable right of all citizens to keep and bear arms, for the defense of both self and state, through public enlightenment and legislative action.

We welcome anyone who believes that the defense of our constitutional rights is critical to the longevity of our freedom and to the success of this nation, and in particular that the rights to self defense and to keep and bear the arms to actualize that defense, are fundamental and undeniable.”

One of the issues CCDL is currently addressing is the debate in CT over open vs. concealed carry. Recently there was legislation proposed
that would mandate concealed carry. Currently, CT State law has no such mandate. Some gun owners have been arrested and had their permits revoked and guns confiscated because another person saw the edge of a holster, or the edge of a grip showing under a shirt or jacket. Police are being incorrectly taught at the academies that permit holders MUST completely conceal their firearms and this incorrect opinion is resulting in legal troubles for some people. What does exist in CT is a requirement to avoid any arousal of public alarm; and any call to police to question and verfiy a gun owner’s permit status is being treated as a “public alarm”. That was not the intent of CT law.
There is a difference between someone keenly noticing or catching a glimpse of a holstered gun inside a jacket and someone who is waving around, brandishing, showing off, etc. a firearm in an inappropriate setting. The latter is a case of arousing public alarm. The former is not.

Another matter that CCDL has been concerned with is proposed legislation that would eliminate the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners (BFPE) and bundle its function inside State Police. This proposal, included under SB.839 would remove any access and recourse to CT citizens to appeal a decision to be denied a permit or whose permit was revoked and have a case for appeal heard by an Independent Board. The rationale to eliminate the board as proposed by Governor Rell, is cost. One must question this rationale since the Board’s members are not compensated and the only “paid” position is the administrative assistant assigned to the Board who is a state employee, and this Board meets only once or twice per month for one afternoon. There isn’t much money to be saved by eliminating the BFPE!

Peter Kuck, of the Ye CT Gun Guild is a member of this board and in fact, has testified to save the BFPE. Please read the March 16, 2009 blog entry for more on that and visit the Guild’s site at: http://www.ycgg.org/ to read the details Peter has provided for the benefit of Connecticut’s Shooters & Sportsmen on this and other eye opening issues within the State.

CTSAS.INFO would like to thank Scott Wilson, Ira Meisenheimer, Larry Benedetto, Keith Golnik and so many others I haven’t listed here for founding this new grassroots effort.

Pelosi: "We Want Registration" Holder: "I don’t think our Second Amendment will stand in the way of efforts we have begun…"

NEWS RELEASE

PELOSI: ‘WE WANT REGISTRATION’; HOLDER: 2A WON’T ‘STAND IN THE WAY’; SAF: ‘GLOVES ARE OFF’

BELLEVUE, WA – Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on April 7 acknowledged that gun registration is on her agenda, days after Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters in Mexico that the Second Amendment would not “stand in the way” of administration plans to crack down on alleged gun trafficking to Mexico.

“These are alarming remarks from Speaker Pelosi and Attorney General Holder,” said Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottlieb. “It appears that the Obama administration and Capitol Hill anti-gunners have dropped all pretences about their plans for gun owners’ rights, and it looks like the gloves are coming off.”

Pelosi’s revelation came during an interview on ABC’s Good Morning, America . While insisting that Congress “never denied” the gun rights of American Citizens, Pelosi told Roberts, “We want them registered. We don’t want them crossing state linesÂ…” Gottlieb noted that citizens’ rights do not stop at state lines.

“But that doesn’t really matter,” he observed. “History has shown that around the world, registration has always led to confiscation.”

In Mexico , according to the Wall Street Journal, Holder was asked if the administration might encounter constitutional issues as it tries to crack down on alleged gun trafficking. His response: “I don’t think our Second Amendment will stand in the way of efforts we have begun and will expand upon.”

“These comments belie administration promises and Democrat rhetoric that party leaders respect the rights of law-abiding Americans to own the firearm of their choice,” Gottlieb said. “They imposed registration of semi-autos in Pelosi’s California and it led to a ban, but it certainly didn’t disarm criminals, like the convicted felon who killed four Oakland police officers last month. We know from Holder that the Obama administration wants to renew the nationwide ban on such firearms, but that won’t prevent crime, either.

“The administration and Congressional anti-gunners have declared war on gun rights,” Gottlieb said. “The press seems deliberately blind to the statements from Pelosi and Holder, who blame our gun rights for their incompetence in dealing with crime. More than 90 million gun owners haven’t hurt anybody, and they are tired of being treated like criminals.”

Copyright © 2009 Second Amendment Foundation, All Rights Reserved.

Second Amendment Foundation
James Madison Building
12500 N.E. Tenth Place
Bellevue , WA 98005
Voice: 425-454-7012
Toll Free: 800-426-4302
FAX: 425-451-3959
email: InformationRequest@saf.org

SB 353 Microstamping Fails In Judiciary Committee!

Thanks to all those who took a day off to drive to Hartford and spend ten to fourteen hours to wait and testify against this bill! Also thanks to all who called, wrote and spoke face to face with your legislators. Thanks to the Industry Representatives who testified again, thanks to
UAW Local 376 workers from Colt; thanks to people like Bob Crook and Ray Hanley and so many others. And thanks to the 150 to 200 people from all across the state who packed the walls and stacked the halls – we sent another powerful message to the antigunners who were seeking to impose their DE FACTO BAN on new handguns in Connecticut.

Also, SB 358 “Minors & Machine Guns” was effectively watered down. The term “Assault Weapon” was removed; the term “Machine Gun” was left in the language and the age reduced to 16 from the original 18. What this means to us as shooters in CT is our junior shooters will still be able to shoot AR-15s and clones for National Matches and semiauto shotguns like the Remington 1100 and other models, for clay target sports like trap and skeet. The danger this bill posed with its original language was IF future “Assault Weapons” ban legislation passed, like HR1022, for example, the original language in SB 358 would make it a FELONY with five to ten years in prison for the parent or responsible adult for allowing a minor under age 18 to shoot OR HANDLE a “Machine Gun” or an “Assault Weapon”. This would effectively cut off the next generation of younger shooters from shooting semi auto rifles and shotguns affected by any new Assault Weapons ban, like HR 1022