Free Republic

Image from the sun.co.uk: The pistol used by the German truck attack Jihadi looks a lot like a Walther. But it is a clone, probably made by Erma Werke.  The Erma 552S is nearly identical, but without markings, it is not certain. There is also an Erma RX-22, which has a shorter extractor, a longer grip, longer slide and barrel, and an eight round magazine. Clones of the Erma 552S were made and sold by Iver Johnson as the TP22. I have had a couple of them, and they have a reputation for reliability and accuracy. The sights are fixed,...

A decade ago the State of California enacted a law mandating virtually any handgun model sold in the state must undergo testing by an Independent Handgun Test Laboratory before it would be allowed on the market. This is the story of one of those laboratories. The Justification The 1990s saw a rise of gun-related legislation at the municipal and county level throughout California. “Enlightened” politicians passed ordinances banning the sale of “Saturday Night Specials” within their jurisdictions. While varied and confusing to the extreme, these laws all had something in common: they tried banning something that couldn’t be adequately described....