Posted on 10/28/2003 12:51:46 PM PST by jdege
10/28/2003
Press Release
Violence Policy Center
1140 19th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
www.vpc.org
Contact:
Jennifer Friedman
Phone: 202-822-8200 x122
Washington, DC - The U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is allowing the sale to the general public of a small-caliber handgun disguised as a pen -- despite the clear public safety threat such "pen guns" represent -- the Violence Policy Center (VPC) warned today.
The public safety threat posed by the Stinger Pengun is made clear in an October 2002 "Officer Safety Bulletin" regarding the weapon issued by the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations based at Andrews Air Force Base. The national alert was apparently distributed to government, military, and local law enforcement agencies. More recently, in August 2003, the Department of Homeland Security warned that terrorists might attempt to use ordinary items to conceal explosives or weapons -- which is the exact purpose of the pen gun.
Manufactured by Stinger Manufacturing Corporation in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, the Stinger Pengun is a single-shot pistol disguised as a pen. It is 5.6 inches long, weighs only five ounces when empty, and retails for $250. It is currently available in 17 and 22 caliber, and the company's web site ( www.stingerpengun.com) promises that more calibers are "Coming Soon!" A past advertisement on the web site states that the gun "Transforms From A 'Pen' To A Legal Pistol In 2 Seconds." Promised soon-to-be marketed accessories include an 18-inch "sniper barrel" and attachable "heart dagger." Stinger also manufactures the "Survivor Knifegun," a handgun concealed in a pocket knife with blade. The $375 "knifegun" -- promoted as "The Pistol With A Sharp Edge" -- is 3.7 inches long, 1.09 inches wide, and weighs 12 ounces. (Pictures of both are available at www.vpc.org/press/0310pengun.htm) According to documents obtained by the Violence Policy Center from ATF under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Stinger was incorporated in February 2002 by Canadian citizen Marc Lefebvre.
VPC Executive Director Josh Sugarmann states, "ATF and the Justice Department have been put on notice that the Stinger Pengun represents a clear threat to public safety and law enforcement. ATF clearly has the authority -- and legal responsibility -- to reclassify Stinger's pen and knife guns under federal law to tightly restrict them and should do so immediately."
According to Stinger, both guns have been approved for sale by ATF and under federal law are sold with only the same restrictions that apply to standard handguns. Advertising on Stinger's web site boasts, "The Stinger Pengun is the only legal pengun in the world" and promises that the gun opens up "A whole new world of possibilities." This is in spite of the fact that, according to ATF, under federal law "Gadget-type firearms and 'pen' guns which fire fixed ammunition" are classified as an "Any Other Weapon" (AOW) under the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) and come under the NFA's strict licensing and registration regimen. To purchase an "Any Other Weapon," the buyer must go through an extended and extremely detailed background check, register the weapon, and receive approval from local law enforcement. ATF distinguishes the Stinger Pengun and Knifegun from other such weapons and treats them as standard handguns simply because in order to be fired, the "grip," or handle, of the gun must be angled to its barrel.
"This is a distinction without a difference," adds Sugarmann. "It is almost unfathomable the depths to which the Ashcroft Justice Department will sink to carry out the bidding of the gun industry and its lobbying allies. Stinger's pen and knife guns can be re-classified tomorrow to protect public safety on the street, in our offices, and in the air. And if the Ashcroft Justice Department truly cares about public safety, it will do so immediately."
Date of Release: October 28, 2003
http://stingerpengun.com/stinger.htm
The Stinger™ Pengun is the only legal pengun in the world. It was classified a pistol by the ATF in 1991. It is not classified as AOW or under NFA rules. The ultimate in concealed "back up" weapons, the Stinger is an engineering work of art. The fit, finish, and function will make the Stinger one of your most prized collectable handguns.
Amazing, isn't it, how Ashcroft is responsible for a decision made 10 years before he became AG?
Yeah, like thumbhole stocks, black parkerizing and slings.
Not if the other guy has a knifegun. Checked it out on their website listed in the article...it is cooler than your nick, LOL!
Even so, they are cool pens.
First they complain about "high powered assault weapons", the .50 caliber rifles as "too powerfull", then small affordable handguns as "too cheap" and now a small caliber pengun as either too small or too wimpy, it's not clear which. Are these people never happy?
That's a rhetorical question of course. The message becomes clearer every day. They are not happy with any guns in the hand of the rabble, and will not be happy until ordinary folk can not own guns at all. Some aren't too keen on the police and military having weapons either. Their own bodyguards (or in rare cases themselves) is another story of course.
You haven't checked recently then. When the Homeland Security Department was created, BATF was renamed BATFE and moved from Treasury to Justice. Thereby ending the fiction that they are a tax collection agency and that the NFA law is merely an exercise of Congress power to tax. Even it if were, that power does not overide the Second Amendment, but rather the opposite. The RKBA is protected by an amendment, which overides the original Consitution should there be a conflict.
You haven't checked recently then. When the Homeland Security Department was created, BATF was renamed BATFE and moved from Treasury to Justice. Thereby ending the fiction that they are a tax collection agency and that the NFA law is merely an exercise of Congress power to tax. Even it if were, that power does not overide the Second Amendment, but rather the opposite. The RKBA is protected by an amendment, which overides the original Consitution should there be a conflict.
Courts do not allow state law to trump federal law, but it does allow states to write and enforce laws that are stricter than federal regulations. Such is the case with the "pen gun" and the California Penal Code.
CALIFORNIA PENAL CODESection 12020 is likely one of the most despised laws in our state penal code system. I only posted one tiny portion of it. Click on the link to the source and read it in its entirety and it'll make you want to puke.
SECTION 12020(a) Any person in this state who does any of the following is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison:
(1) Manufactures or causes to be manufactured, imports into the state, keeps for sale, or offers or exposes for sale, or who gives, lends, or possesses any cane gun or wallet gun, any undetectable firearm, any firearm which is not immediately recognizable as a firearm, any camouflaging firearm container, any ammunition which contains or consists of any flechette dart, any bullet containing or carrying an explosive agent, any ballistic knife, any multiburst trigger activator, any nunchaku, any short-barreled shotgun, any short-barreled rifle, any metal knuckles, any belt buckle knife, any leaded cane, any zip gun, any shuriken, any unconventional pistol, any lipstick case knife, any cane sword, any shobi-zue, any air gauge knife, any writing pen knife, any metal military practice handgrenade or metal replica handgrenade, or any instrument or weapon of the kind commonly known as a blackjack, slungshot, billy, sandclub, sap, or sandbag. [snip][source]
Regards,
Boot Hill
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