Opinion piece revives Dick Act militia hoax
Dear Editor:
This is my response to Chuck Klein’s “Opinion” in the March 2019 issue of GunMag. I feel that Mr. Klein’s heart is in the right place. However, I also believe that such an amendment is too long and leaves too many opportunities for loopholes. Instead, I ask that you look at the information below regarding the Dick Act of 1902, research it if you like, and not only send it to Mr. Kiein, but print it, along with your own response. Your publication will reach far, far more people than I possibly could simply by sending it to my contacts. Please let me know your thoughts.
Yours truly,
Don Woolley
EDITOR”S NOTE: Misinformation about the Dick Act, also known as the Militia Act of 1903 has been around for years, resurfacing from time to time. Besides supposedly granting individual gun rights, it deals with the state militias and where and when the federal government can order them.
However, this is in the nature of a hoax. The Dick Act, or Militia Act, was amended many times in the last century, and claims for what it does or does not control are today meaningless.
New bolt-action rifle inspires reader questions
Dear Editor:
Browsing through the gun and shooting magazines at my local Giant Eagle this afternoon I noticed a magazine, the cover which depicted a Savage 110, about which the following unusual feature was noted: A long box magazine projecting out the rifle’s underside. Looking at the article, I noted the 10-round capacity of what I assume was a removable magazine, this particular rifle chambered in .308 Winchester caliber. Don’t know if a model in 30-06 is also offered, though I would imagine that there is or will be one such.
In any event, respecting the really large magazine capacity of this Bolt Action Rifle, I wondered as to how long before our anti-gun friends and neighbors, especially the California variety would take note, and raise a hue and cry over the need for action to control, limit, possibly block entirely, the sale and/or possession of this latest devils device: the Bolt Action Assault Rifle.
On another subject, the following caught my attention and eye in the March 2019 issue of TheGunMag, a piece entitled “Ex-NYPD lieutenant sentenced for pistol licensing corruption.
Reading the above referenced piece, the following questions came to mind.
- How was it that what certainly appears to be a “sweetheart sentencing deal” was arranged for this crooked cop?
- How would John Q. Public, some unconnected individual who had somehow fallen into the coils of the Sullivan Law, and/or its “special applications” for New York City, where I lived for many years, have fared, having blundered into what was at most a technical violation?
I could be wrong, but I suspect that he would have found judicial generosity, such as offered to this crooked cop, to be conspicuous by its absence. Funny how that sort of thing works out, isn’t it?
Alan Schultz
Allison Park, PA
