LearnAboutGuns.com 

I’ve seen that some people, most of whom have never fired a gun, are opposed to parents teaching their children to fire guns.  I disagree, and feel that children who are interested in firearms should be taught to shoot under responsible adult supervision, once they are mature enough to do so safely. Read the rest of this article »

Purchasing a gun now is a prudent choice, given the fact that when you actually need the gun, it will be too late to buy it. I am not speaking of the world ending or other unlikely events (no, I don’t believe society will collapse any time soon) but rather about events that can and do happen, when it helps to have a gun: Read the rest of this article »

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has declared the Second Amendment protects the right of an individual to keep and bear arms, striking down the (failed) District of Columbia handgun ban. This article discusses what exactly the court held, and what that means for American gun owners: Read the rest of this article »

I have noticed that some people, mainly who don’t own guns, equate gun ownership with violence. Nothing could be further from the truth: Read the rest of this article »

Often times in the wake of a particularly horrific shooting, politicians and even ordinary citizens feel compelled to “do something.” Gun control advocates seize on this urge to act, since it is human nature to want to take action in the wake of a tragedy. This tends to lead to wasted effort or actions that actually make the situation worse. Sometimes the best course of action is no action, or at least action after considerable thought is given to the issue: Read the rest of this article »

There are a variety of options when it comes to choosing a sight for your handgun, shotgun, or rifle. Each sighting option has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. This article discusses each of the major options. Read the rest of this article »

Different shotgun activities require different barrel lengths. This article addresses the recommended barrel lengths for various purposes, and the pros and cons of these barrel lengths. Read the rest of this article »

I have noticed that there is insidious anti-gun indoctrination experienced by many people, and that it happens from an early age.  I believe this to be a serious problem, not just for the future of the 2nd Amendment, but for society’s ability to solve its social problems, such as violence.  I’ve seen this anti gun indoctrination from first and experience, through the attitudes of many otherwise reasonable people, and from the news.  Allow me to elaborate: Read the rest of this article »

Gun control laws, especially the bans on so called “assault weapons“, tend to be highly technical in nature.  Such laws include arbitrary limitations on the length of barrels, the number of round a magazine can store, cosmetic features of the gun, etc.  This leaves the average law abiding citizen unaware that they might be violating the law, until they are  arrested.  Worse yet, some laws are rather vague, leaving even the most diligent and well educated citizen unable to determine if they are in violation.  Given the severe penalties in place for having a handgun magazine that holds one round to many, or a rifle barrel that is a half an inch too short, these laws are some of the most unjust currently on the books.  Below are some examples: Read the rest of this article »

In response to my articles on selecting a gun for home defense, taking a friend shooting for the first time, and facts about recoil, I have been asked how one can get used to the recoil generated by more powerful guns. Getting used to recoil is not too challenging, as this article explains. Read the rest of this article »

As the Times Online reports, there were two teenagers shoot in London today, despite the near total ban on guns of any type that the UK government has forced upon its law abiding citizens. Read the rest of this article »

Personal responsibility seems to be something that our society is lacking these days, especially insofar as guns are concerned.  Rather than blaming negligent adults who didn’t store their gun in a safe and responsible manner when a small child shoots his or her self, we blame guns.  Rather than blaming the adults who did not follow the basics of gun safety and unintentionally shoot themselves, guns are the scapegoat.  Instead of blaming criminals, we pass gun control laws that the criminals will just ignore, just as they ignore the laws against robbery, murder, and rape.  This is ineffective, leads to wrongful violations of the rights of law abiding citizens, and teaches our children the wrong message.  Allow me to explain: Read the rest of this article »

I have previously discussed how the bans on so called “assault weapons” only ban cosmetic and safety features of guns that are not true military style guns anyway, while not reducing crime or even being rationally related to crime.  Now I’ll address the fact that criminals simply don’t tend to use these so called “assault weapons”, which makes banning them even more pointless. Read the rest of this article »

Chicago Alderman Richard Mell owns a variety of shotguns, rifles, and pistols, but forgot to re-register them, which makes the handguns permanently illegal and unregisterable under Chicago law.  Since he wants to keep his handguns, he is proposing a 1 month registration amnesty period.  The catch?  It would only apply to people who happened to have failed to re-register in the same time frame as him.  Chicago’s Mayor Daley endorses this plan, which is designed to benefit an influential alderman, while the vast majority of Chicago’s law abiding citizens will be left without the ability to keep a handgun to defend themselves. Read the rest of this article »

Recently, I have heard politicians talking about what they consider to be “reasonable restrictions” on gun rights. These restrictions are often anything but reasonable, so I thought it would be a good exercise to compare what society would be like if we treated other fundamental rights the same way that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution’s right to keep and bear arms is treated Read the rest of this article »

Shooting is a great sport for everyone.  I say that not just because it is fun, but because it does not have to have the same physical requirements as many other sports.  This allows a lot of people to participate and excel at shooting, even if they could not do the same in other sports.  Shooting is also great for the most physically fit among us, who are seeking a new challenge. Read the rest of this article »

The Springfield XD is currently my favorite pistol, so I though I would write a review of it. Read the rest of this article »

In the US and the UK, there are attempts by anti gun groups to make the ownership of guns seen as taboo, from both a legal and moral perspective. These attempts at eliminating “gun culture” are doomed to backfire, as history and human nature teach use. Allow me to explain: Read the rest of this article »

As stated in my biographical and demographical information, I am an African American male, in my mid twenties.  Because of this, some of my friends have questioned whether it is wise of me to go to gun stores and ranges.  These friends were concerned that, due to my race, I would face discrimination or violence in these gun-related locations.  Since I have heard so many people voice this concern to to me, I thought I would describe my experiences as a black man who frequents 4 Chicago area gun stores and shooting ranges: Read the rest of this article »

Porting, which refers to the addition of holes near the end of a shotgun’s barrel, can be a good addition to your home defense or sporting shotgun.  There are some drawbacks as well, and this article addresses both. Read the rest of this article »

Guns ownership and sporting use is a special hobby like no other.  And I’m not only speaking about the unique fun and physics that go along with responsible firearms use -  Whether you are interested in hunting, target practice, or collecting, firearms as a hobby require something that almost no other hobby requires: Read the rest of this article »

As I mentioned previously, I received an email from a reader of this site, discussing the Taurus Judge. The Taurus Judge is a unique revolver which can fire either a .45 Long Colt cartridge, or a .410 shotgun shell. I have handled the Taurus Judge, and it seems to be a well constructed revolver. I won’t go into a full review of it, since my main focus is its ability to fire .410 shotgun shells in addition to the .45 Long Colt rounds. Read the rest of this article »

I received an email from a reader of this site, telling me about the Taurus Judge, which is a revolver that can fire either the .45 Long Colt, or a .410 shotgun shell (often loaded with birdshot).  By chance I happen to have handled a Taurus Judge right before I read that email.  Below is is the email I received, along with my thoughts on the use of birdshot for home and automotive defense. Read the rest of this article »

Recently I have read articles produced by anti-gun groups which painted the picture of an America without guns. These articles argue that if we were to ban guns tomorrow, that the country would be a better place. I’ll leave aside the fact that firearm ownership is a right protected by the 2nd amendment, and address the substantive argument: Such anti-gun propaganda fails to take into account practical considerations, as well as human nature. Rather than reducing crime, such a ban on firearms would leave criminals with a monopoly on guns, and law abiding citizens would have their own monopoly on defenselessness. Read the rest of this article »

I’ve noticed a good deal of casual bias against guns and gun owners in blogs, even on those that are unrelated to the discussion of gun ownership rights. This bias seems to take the form of an assumption that a person carrying a gun will open fire at the drop of a hat, and/or that gun owners are less intelligent. I saw a prime example of this yesterday: Read the rest of this article »

As I mentioned in an earlier article, I support all of our constitutional rights, regardless of whether I personally exercise those rights. Unfortunately, the American Civil Liberties Union (the ACLU), which is generally a reputable organization that can be counted on to stand up for our constitutional rights, has decided to oppose the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. I find this to be an exceptionally sad situation, and would urge the ACLU to reconsider. Read the rest of this article »

There seems to be a good deal of confusion surrounding hollow point bullets, and the state of New Jersey has even enacted a partial ban on hollow points. This article is intended to help clear things up Read the rest of this article »

There are a variety of ways that we can all do our part to protect gun rights. I have listed a few of these ways below Read the rest of this article »

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Welcome! This site is dedicated to preserving the individual right of law abiding citizens of Illinois and the United States as a whole to possess firearms for self defense as well as sporting purposes. I created this site after recognizing the growing threat to our right to keep and bear arms, and hope to both dispel the myths surrounding guns and “gun crime“, as well as to provide useful information to those who already support firearms rights.

I also hope to persuade those who don’t currently support gun rights, through the use of polite and well reasoned arguments, including information about why I have a gun. I firmly believe that polite debate, which focuses on the issues and facts rather than on personal attacks and hyperbole, is what we as a society need when it comes to issues such as gun rights.

Information that may be helpful to people who are new to guns is available here too. This includes information on selecting a firearm for home defense, selecting the ammunition for home defense, firearms maintenance, legally purchasing a gun online, safe and responsible gun storage, reviews of various guns and accessories, etc.

I also have taken a few moments to address myths about gun stores and their customers for those in my demographic (African American).

Another goal of this site is to encourage my fellow firearms rights supporters to do their part to protect gun rights. This includes joining the NRA, the ISRA, and taking further action to help safeguard and expand our gun rights. Without the involvement of gun owners in the political process, the anti gun groups will succeed at taking away our gun rights.

Those who have a gun related question that is not already addressed by this site are encouraged to contact me, and I will likely be willing to write an article addressing the question. I’ve tried to write articles addressing many of the questions I can think of, however I’m certain there are many areas I have yet to address. Since the goal of this site is to “learn about guns,” feel free to ask away.

The Gun related book store and DVD store contains the books and DVDs which I recommend.

Finally, the discussion forum is a place to discuss and debate gun rights, self defense, various firearms, and related issues.

Main Categories:

Contact the Author - If you have any questions, concerns, suggestions for this site, or would like to have a polite and civil debate about firearms rights, I can be reached by email.

Gun and Accessory Reviews - Reviews of various firearms and accessories.

Gun-Related News - Regularly updated gun-related current events. Includes legislation, events that have taken place, and commentary.

Help Protect Our Gun Rights - You can participate in the political process to protect our 2nd amendment rights.

How-To Guides and Other Info - Getting started with responsible and lawful gun ownership in Illinois, along with technical information about guns, cleaning guns, etc.

Links - Links to other relevant sites.

Pro Gun Rights Articles - Articles discussing general firearms related issues, from a pro-firearms perspective.

Video Clips - Firearms related video clips.

Legally Buying Guns Online - Lawfully purchasing a gun online requires only a little bit more work than purchasing most other items online. The extra effort can easily be worth the price savings and wider selection. This article describes the relatively simple process of legally purchasing a gun online.

Gun Related Books & DVDs - Recommended gun related books and DVDs.