Speak Out

American Handgunner, July, 2001

Paul Koester

paul.koester@mail.dss.mil

Doing The Numbers

Here's my response to your S&W article and the subsequent letters to the editor (May/June '01):

4

Number of Rugers I owned before Bill Ruger's magazine capacity limit letter.

1

Number of Rugers I own now.

12

Number of Colts I owned before Colt's decision to stop producing most of their pistol line.

2

Number of Colts I own now.

7

1

Number of Smith & Wessons I owned before they signed the agreement.

Fortunately, I've been able to replace them with fine arms from Walther, HK, Taurus and SIG.

Number of Smiths I own now.

John Bales

The Hidden Chip

Marietta, Ga.

I have seen no adequate discussion of the horrible potential of authorized user technology (AUT), otherwise known as "smart guns." For some time, veterinarians have been implanting ID chips in animals. My parents' dog has one under the skin above his shoulders. The ID number can be read by merely touching the dog's skin with a hand-held scanner and pressing a button.

Here is one scenario. The anti-gunners get a licensing law and an implant law. To own a handgun, a person must get a license and have an ID chip implanted in his shooting hand.

When the handgun is gripped, the mechanism looks for an ID number in the user's hand, compares that number to the one stored in its memory, and, if a match is obtained, verifies that the license expiration date has not been reached. Only then will the mechanism allow the gun to fire. All the government has to do to effectively disarm the gun owner is let his license expire.

The license law will take some time, the implant law probably more. The development of a mechanism small enough and sufficiently resistant to shock and tampering will, I expect, be slow, but the government's imperative to work on AUT is open-ended.

Perhaps this scenario will not be fulfilled. But since the anti-gunners think that "authorized" means "by government," it would be foolish to expect a benign outcome.

Randolph P. Flowe

Andrews, Texas

Elegant Eagles

It's a pleasure to see justice done to Eagle Grips (March/April '01) with a four-page spread. I've tried dozens of grips from various makers over the years on my many Smith & Wesson revolvers, only to replace them all with Eagle's Classic and Secret Service styles. There's no better concealment grip than the latter, and the Classic stocks are unequaled for affordability, comfort and recoil management. The Classics are only about a third of the cost of similar styles from custom manufacturers, making them the cheapest and most effective way to tame magnum loads. As a bonus, they're subtly beautiful, as well.

John Roemer

Parbeton, Md.

Centenarian CCW Holder

Here's a photo of my dad, age 100, one of the older holders of a CCW permit from Snyder County, Pa. He's still quite active, walks a mile day and bowls in a Monday night league. The gun is a Smith & Wesson kit gun 22/32.

Wesley E. Romberger II

Payson, Ariz.