The Satuit Nimrod

News Around the Club

Now we are into (slowly) warming weather, activity at the Club is picking up. The 50-yard range has been busy of late, evidenced by all the target holders that look like Swiss cheese and Trap has added two Tuesday evening in May; the 9th and 23rd. A full roster of Tuesday shoots will be implemented when the Snowbirds return from Florida.

April Range Orientation Class

April's RO class will be held on Saturday, April 8th at 9:00 am instead of the following day, Sunday, which is Easter Sunday. You can register for the class here.

Pistol

The Pistol Committee held a Bullseye Match on Saturday, March 11th in truly dismal conditions; wind, rain and quite chilly. The weather conditions did not deter the six (fool)hardy members who turned out to shoot the match.

In an extraordinary moment of bad luck the Scorekeeper tripped on a small log as he walked into the club and the — still to be scored — targets flew from his grasp and landed in the wood-stove whose door was open to feed more wood and all record of the match was lost in an instant; except in the memories of the shooters, who will regale you with tales of their prowess in shooting under such trying conditions.

Easter Fun Shoot
The Pistol Committee will hold an Easter Fun Shoot on  Saturday, April 8th starting at noon. The shoot will consist of three stages.

STAGE 1 — EASTER BUNNY. Course of Fire — 5 Rounds at 7 Yards.
Pierce each of Mr. Bunny’s ears once only for 5 points each piercing. 5-shots allowed, 1 additional point for each round not fired — both ears must be pierced once to score points for unfired rounds. Hit an ear more than once — loose two points for each additional hit. Hits on other than the ears kill Mr. Bunny and scores zero points even if an ear has been pierced.

STAGE 2 — EASTER EGGS. Course of Fire — 5 Rounds at 7 yards.
Hit each of five eggs once — 5 rounds allowed. 5 points per egg hit, loose 2 points for each additional hit on an egg. Or, place all 5 rounds in egg #2 and score 35 points — miss once and score zero!

STAGE 3 — PEEPS. Course of Fire — 5 Rounds at 25 yards.
Peeps — you either love ‘em or hate ‘em. Our special SRGC Peeps are definitely for the latter as ours are hard as steel,  produce a nice “Ping!” and satisfyingly fall over when hit. You have five rounds of .22LR shot from a rifle to blow these peeps to hell. Use a club gun or bring your own; iron-sights only! Five points for each peep dispatched. Please bring your own .22LR ammo if possible.

No prizes, participation awards only plus crying towels for those who need them.

Cowboy Action Shooting

The Gunnysackers had a great time traveling the dusty trails of this fair land and have returned to the ranch. The Pony Express rider bearing a report on the matches they shot whilst away had not reached Scituate at publication time.

The Cowboys have two matches on the cards for April; the first, on Sunday, April 16th will be a normal Cowboy Action Shoot. The second on Saturday, April 29th will be a Wild Bunch Shoot with relaxed equipment requirements to accommodate a wider range of shooters. For further information on either of these matches contact Ron Rice at: yankeesass266@gmail.com

Skeet and Trap

Skeet held their annual St. Paddy's Lucky Target Shoot on Sunday, March 26th. The 50-bird event was well attended and won by John Hatherley. A delicious traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage lunch was prepared by John Dwyer.

Tom Mulloy recently shot his first 25 at Trap. In true SRGC tradition the squad retired his hat by blasting it out of the sky. Tom is modeling his ventilated hat in the last picture below.

Quotes of the Month

"When a government controls both the economic power of individuals and the coercive power of the state…this violates a fundamental rule of happy living: Never let the people with all the money and the people with all the guns be the same people."
– P. J. O'Rourke

”One reason people insist that you use the proper channels to change things is because they have control of the proper channels and they're confident it won't work.”
— Unknown

"The Second Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances where all other rights have failed; where the government refuses to stand for reelection and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees. However improbable these contingencies may seem today, facing them unprepared is a mistake a free people get to make only once."

— Alex Kozinski, Former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Federal District Court Rejects California’s “Unsafe Handgun Act” as Unconstitutional

by Renzulli Law Firm LLC

{Ed. Notes:

1. There are many similar "Unsafe Handgun" provisions in MA law. Perhaps GOAL will sit up and take notice.

2. Renzulli Law Firm LLC represented us in our efforts to get the range reopened.}

March 20, 2023 – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has issued an order enjoining the State of California from enforcing its so-called “Unsafe Handgun Act” on the ground that it violates the Second Amendment under New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111, 2126 (2022). The Unsafe Handgun Act, codified at Cal. Penal Code §§ 31910, 32000, requires any concealable handgun sold in the state to be tested by a certified laboratory and determined to be “not unsafe.” In addition to reliability and drop testing requirements, California requires that every handgun must contain three features: 1) an indicator that could show if a cartridge is present in the chamber (loaded chamber indicator); 2) a mechanism that prevents a handgun from discharging when the magazine is removed or not present (magazine disconnect mechanism); and 3) that it has the ability to stamp microscopic characters representing the handgun’s make, model, and serial number onto cartridge casings when the handgun is fired (microstamping).

In Boland v. Bonta, a group of individual plaintiffs along with the California Rifle & Pistol Association moved for a preliminary injunction to prevent further enforcement of the Unsafe Handgun Act, contending that the imposed requirements violate the Second Amendment. In granting the plaintiffs’ motion, District Judge Cormac J. Carney held that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in this action since the “challenged provisions unquestionably infringe on the right to keep and bear arms.” Specifically, the Court found that “Plaintiffs seek to purchase state-of-the-art handguns for self-defense,” however California’s regulations restrict civilian purchasers to choose handgun “models from over sixteen years ago.” The Court concluded that “[r]equiring Californians to purchase only outdated handguns for self-defense without question infringes their right to keep and bear arms,” and the Second Amendment includes the right “to acquire state-of-the art handguns for self-defense.”

The Court also observed that California “cannot credibly argue that handguns without [loaded chamber indicators], [magazine disconnect mechanisms], and microstamping features pose unacceptable public safety risks when virtually all of the handguns on the Roster and sold in California today lack those features.” Moreover, Judge Carney noted that the likelihood that a handgun with a loaded chamber indicator and magazine disconnect mechanism will prevent accidental shootings, injuries, or deaths “is entirely speculative.”

This ruling could have significant implications for the firearms industry since virtually all recent firearm models were effectively banned for consumer purchases in California as a result of these mandatory requirements.  It is probable that California will appeal this ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Judge Carney set this preliminary injunction to take effect in fourteen days to allow the government to file an appeal and seek a further stay of the injunction in the Ninth Circuit. 

Ladies Love .380s: 2023 Subcompact Pistol Roundup

Nines are fine, but there's no denying that the .380 is enjoying a new round of popularity.

by Ann Y. Smith, Editor in Chief NRA WOMEN, posted on February 6, 2023

The .380 ACP caliber pistol (created in 1908 by Colt) goes in and out of vogue every few years, withstanding an equal amount of both criticism and acclaim. In 2020 we published “6 Top Notch .380 ACP Pistols for Concealed Carry,”  which still serves as a popular reference for those in the market for such pistols.

Relatively recent introductions like Smith & Wesson’s M&P380 EZ (2018), which took top honors in our Ladies Pistol Project 3, turned the conceal-carry world upside down for those who had difficulty racking the slide of a semi-automatic pistol. That pistol’s incalculable success in giving many women who had previously shied away from semi-autos the confidence to carry has renewed a competitive spirit among gun makers, with many attempting to inject their own secret sauce to build a gun that women like to shoot. And while it’s fair to allow critics to dissect individual characteristics of pistols and the cartridge as a viable self-defense tool, especially with the volume of micro compact 9 mms flooding the market, what’s clear is that .380 micro or subcompact pistols, thanks to engineering allowing for magazine capacities of up to 15, are enjoying a new round of popularity.

In late 2022 and at SHOT Show 2023, more new and noteworthy .380s appeared on the scene. Here are a few worthy of a look, along with a handful of some of our favorite existing models that have earned their status as go-to carry guns.

To read the entire article, click here.

Club Calendar

MONTHLY MEETING
Monday, April 3rd – 8:00 pm
Monday, May 1st – 8:00 pm

SKEET
Sundays: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Wednesdays: 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

TRAP
Saturdays: 10:00 am– 12:00 pm

PISTOL
Easter Fun Shoot — Saturday, April 8th, starting at noon.

COWBOY
Cowboy Action Shoot – Sunday, April 16th – 9:00 am.
Wild Bunch Shoot – Saturday, April 29th – 9:00 am.

SAFETY COURSE
Tuesday, April 4th – 7:00 pm & Thursday April 6th – 7:00 pm Register here

RANGE ORIENTATION
Saturday, April 8th – 9:00 am Register here.

…And Finally