Henry Repeating Arms is proud to officially begin its landmark 25-year celebration as one of the country’s largest long gun manufacturers and the leading lever action maker. 

Henry Repeating Arms Founder and CEO Anthony Imperato took his first step into gun making by taking out a home equity loan in 1993 to start the Colt Blackpowder Arms Company, which made historic Colt revolvers and muskets under license from Colt’s Manufacturing. Along with his father, Louis Imperato, the father-son duo leveraged decades of the family’s experience in the gun business and began developing a rimfire lever action rifle in 1996. In March 1997, the first Henry Repeating Arms model H001 Classic Lever Action .22 rifles shipped from a small factory in Brooklyn, New York. 

Now headquartered in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, the company employs over 550 people and operates three manufacturing facilities in Wisconsin and New Jersey. Henry manufactures over 200 different rifles and shotguns in a wide variety of calibers and finishes for hunting, home protection, collectors, and a wide variety of shooting sports endeavors. Notable standouts include the company’s flagship rifle, the Henry Golden Boy .22, its centerfire counterpart, the Henry Big Boy, a complete line of youth-sized rifles and shotguns, a sprawling collection of engraved Tribute Edition firearms, and a popular modern approach to the lever gun with the X Model series. Henry’s motto is also a promise to its customers to be “Made in America, Or Not Made At All.” 

All Henry rifles and shotguns are supported by a lifetime warranty, a personal guarantee from Anthony Imperato, and an award-winning customer service department that is empowered to make any decision necessary to ensure that every interaction results in complete satisfaction. In 2016, Henry Repeating Arms was named the winner of a Stevie® Award in the Customer Service Department of the Year category at the American Business Awards.

Through a charitable branch of the company called Guns For Great Causes, Henry Repeating Arms has made significant financial contributions to children’s hospitals and families of critically ill children. Guns For Great Causes also helps support active-duty and military veterans’ organizations, law enforcement and first responder organizations, pro-Second Amendment organizations, shooting sports education groups, and wildlife and habitat conservation entities. As part of Henry’s 25th-anniversary celebrations, the company is donating 1,000 Golden Boy “Silver Anniversary” Limited Edition rifles to raise a total of $1,000,000 for distribution among all of these deserving constituencies. 

The pillars of the company’s success are its employees and Henry owners. “Without a doubt, we would not be here celebrating 25 years of success without the hard work and dedication of every Henry Repeating Arms employee, several of whom have been with me since day one. They are the heart and soul of the company,” says CEO and Founder Anthony Imperato. “And to all of Henry owners around the world that chose to make us a part of their lives, thank you, we are eternally grateful.”

Company President Andy Wickstrom says, “I am incredibly proud to have been involved with Henry for 24 of the 25 years that the company has been making and shipping guns, but I feel an even greater sense of pride when I look to the future.” Wickstrom continues, “This company was built on a solid foundation of talent and sheer determination, and while we have come a long way, it still feels like we are just getting started. Henry fans and customers have a lot to look forward to this year and beyond.”

Throughout the year, Henry Repeating Arms will be celebrating 25 years with the release of several limited-edition models, including the Golden Boy “Silver Anniversary” Edition, a special edition of the New Original Henry, a 25th-anniversary edition of the H001 Classic Lever Action .22, and more. For more information about these releases as details become available and to stay up to date with Henry’s 25th-anniversary news, visit henryusa.com/25-year-anniversary. All firearm purchases must be shipped to a federally licensed firearms dealer. For more information about Henry Repeating Arms and its products, visit henryusa.com

HR 3740 Would Require Federal Handgun Registration

U.S. Rep. Bonnie Coleman (D-N.J.) is the sponsor of the bill and has garnered seven co-sponsors for the legislation. As you might expect, she used a nonsensical apples and oranges comparison to explain the rationale behind her legislation.

“Our government requires registration and basic standards for voting, operating a vehicle, even opening a business,” Coleman said. “Yet, for weapons created with the single intent to take a life, we have developed a dangerous aversion to any mechanism to understand where and with whom these weapons reside. It’s time to give law enforcement the tools to prevent this violence and provide a record of accountability for those who seek to do others harm.”

Of course, there are many far more common uses for handguns than “taking a life,” one of which is protecting lives. But the common anti-gun strategy of villainizing an inanimate object has been effective in the past, and apparently Coleman is hoping it will be again.

At the time of this writing, text for the measure was not yet available for review. But similar legislation introduced by Coleman in the past gives us a pretty good idea of where she’s coming from—and what the measure will contain.

Not Her First Attempt

Her 2019 legislation of the same name included a federal licensing and registration process for handgun ownership with minimum requirements including the person seeking gun ownership is at least 21 years old, undergoes firearm training, has undergone a criminal history and background check, and goes through a renewal process every five years.

Coleman blames people on the pro-gun side of the debate for making it hard for her and her cronies to pass further restrictive gun control legislation.

“The National Rifle Association has for years threatened, fundraised and strong-armed the debate around the Second Amendment for so long that common-sense measures—measures that would bring down rates of gun violence and even receive the support of law enforcement—have been deemed taboo,” she said. “Today, after years of horrific incidences of gun violence, large majorities of Americans—Democrat, Republican and Independent—are calling for action.”

Interestingly, the seven co-sponsors Coleman has rounded up for her legislation so far are all anti-gun Democrats, mostly from blue states.

It’s hard to believe that Coleman and the others signing on to HR 3740 might not have heard that creating a federal gun registration system in the United States would be breaking a very clearly written law, making their actions unconstitutional. But in case she’s not aware, we’ll explain it briefly for her benefit.

Reagan Prevented Registry

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act into law. Among other things, the law prohibited a national gun registry.

In addition to the federal law prohibiting a universal, national gun registry, eight states have passed laws that prohibit state-level gun registries. Only Hawaii requires registration of all firearms, and only a few other states require registration of certain firearms. 

American gun owners who study history have long feared gun registration for the same reason anti-gun politicians love the idea. Wherever it has been tried, firearms registration has always led to confiscation of the guns registered—even in the United States, as proven by the state of New York.

The BBR 3.10 is a short, stout handgun. Its overall length is shortened from that of a Government Model 1911, and the barrel is only 3.1 inches long. The grip is also shorter than a standard 1911’s. While I can just barely get my pinky on the front of the frame, someone with large hands might have to curl their pinky under the magazine baseplate.

Unlike the other dimensions, the gun’s girth has obviously grown. Pick it up and you will feel the unusual width immediately. While this might be off-putting to some 1911 aficionados, it allows the gun to use short, 10-round MEC-GAR magazines. With a total of 11 rounds of the formidable .45 ACP on tap, this diminutive 1911 should be very appealing to many people.

The gun is more than just its capacity. To help you hold onto the pistol, RIA uses a set of aggressively textured grip panels made from G10. This is a fiberglass laminate that is very durable in this application. Multiple layers of fiberglass are stacked on top of each other while a strong resin binds them together. G10 has proven to be so durable that it is now one of the preferred materials in both gun grips and knife handles. G10 can be also machined like other materials, allowing RIA to use a texture that will help you hold the gun even when your hands are slick with perspiration.

Sights are another important feature of a defensive firearm. RIA outfits this weapon with a bright red fiber-optic front sight as well as a fully adjustable two-dot rear sight. In a stressful situation, your eye is more likely to see the bright red dot created by the front sight. This will help you get accurate shots on target quickly. Additional features of this gun include a Parkerized finish, a beavertail-style grip safety and a skeletonized combat hammer.

Unloaded, the gun is well balanced. When fully loaded with ammunition, the gun’s balance shifts toward its butt. While shooting, this didn’t cause any issues. However, it is something to be aware of when choosing a holster. A flimsy rig might not be up to the task since much of the weight is up high when the gun is carried. Make sure you get a quality rig with a dedicated gun belt for the best security with this gun.

Overall, the gun had a solid look and feel. I was eager to get it to the range.

With good ammunition, I know the .45 ACP will do the job if I ever need it. The question always in my mind is, “Will the delivery platform be as reliable as the cartridge?” In the case of the BBR 3.10, that answer is yes.

The BBR 3.10 handled and shot beautifully. For such a small gun, the accuracy was very good. In truth, most guns are more accurate than the shooter. However, the ergonomics, trigger and sights are just a few of the things that can increase the accuracy.

The gun does feel a bit fat in the hand. With a solid two-handed grip, the gun was easy to control. Both the front-strap and mainspring housing have aggressive texturing machined into the frame. That, combined with the grip panels, gave my hand a very secure hold on the pistol. The recoil was modest but not snappy like you’re firing higher-pressure rounds. While a novice shooter might not enjoy the pistol, an experienced 1911 shooter should have no problems with the recoil impulse or muzzle rise.

The fiber-optic front sight was very bright in a variety of lighting conditions. This made it easy to get on target at both indoor and outdoor ranges. While I prefer a fixed rear sight for a defensive firearm, the one used by RIA never shifted or required adjustment. I shot it as it came, and the sight never moved.

The triggers on 1911s are generally considered good to great depending on the manufacturer. The trigger on this gun tended toward the good end of the spectrum. It has a fair amount of take-up with a clean break and no perceptible overtravel. I measured the pull weight at 6.43 pounds.

I ran a number of different loads through this pistol, and all of the ammunition performed flawlessly. My groups were good, and the velocities were in the range I would expect from a 3.1-inch barrel. Some 1911s have problems with wide-mouth hollow-point bullets, but that wasn’t the case with the BBR 3.1.

Rock Island Armory built the BBR 3.10 for a purpose: The serious business of personal protection. While I might not be enamored with the design aesthetics, I am impressed that this little pistol puts 11 rounds of .45 ACP into your hand without a magazine change.

Rock Island’s BBR 3.10 is a solid handgun and I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for a .45 ACP. Its very accurate and would definitely do the job if every needed.

Rock Island Armory BBR 3.10 Specs

• Caliber: .45 ACP
• Barrel: 3.1 inches
• Overall Length: 6.85 inches
• Overall Weight: 32 ounces (empty)
• Grips:  G10
• Sights: Fiber-optic front, adjustable rear
• Action: SA
• Finish: Parkerized
• Overall Capacity: 10+1
• MSRP: $699

The 110 Elite Precision is the latest thoroughbred to enter the race, and as off-the-shelf rifles for PRS and other long-distance competitions go, it represents Savage’s finest hour. I was looking forward to shooting it for two reasons. One, Savage rifles are predictably accurate, and as much as I shoot each year, I still enjoy shooting an accurate rifle. Then there is the matter of the 6mm Creedmoor. I had managed to round up loads from several companies and was curious to see how accurate they would be in a factory-built target rifle.

The Elite Precision appears heavy, and looks are not deceiving in this case. It was too much for my digital postal scale, so I weighed the gun’s barreled action and chassis separately and came up with a total weight of right around 13 pounds.

Using Weaver six-screw tactical rings to attach a Trijicon AccuPower 5-50x56mm scope increased rifle heft to 15 pounds, 12.3 ounces. No sissy bag or Lead Sled is needed. Its weight combined with the mild-mannered 6mm Creedmoor cartridge made the big rifle a putty tat to shoot from a benchrest.

The big rig is built around what Savage describes as a blueprinted 110 action. To what extent this was done is impossible to determine without removing the barrel, but precision-machined locking lug faces are easy to see. After coating the lugs with machinist dye, I cycled the bolt aggressively a couple of dozen times on a dummy round, and narrow sections of both lugs were bearing evenly on their seats in the receiver.

Front and rear surfaces of the washer-style recoil lug are precision-ground. I am told by Savage that the face of the receiver ring is squared to improve concentricity and its threads chased.

An oversize bolt handle is easy on the hand during rapid-fire strings, and an extremely slippery titanium nitride finish on the exterior of the bolt and the interior of the stainless steel receiver make cycling almost effortless. Bolt lift is heavier than on a custom rifle carrying a bigger price but considerably lighter than on the typical Savage hunting rifle.

The bolt is withdrawn from the receiver and reinserted by pressing down on its release tab while holding back the trigger. One of my friends hunted with a 110 Savage for years before discovering that its safety is a three-position design.

Full forward is Fire, to the rear is Safe with the bolt locked, and the middle position allows the bolt to be cycled for loading and unloading with the safety engaged. A slight protrusion of the cocking piece at the rear of the bolt sleeve indicates a cocked firing pin.

The fully adjustable AccuTrigger has a pull weight adjustment range of 1.5 to four pounds, and the test rifle departed the factory at 1.75 pounds. As is typical for one of the best and most reliable mass-produced triggers available, the break was match-grade smooth and crisp with no detectable creep or overtravel.

The 26-inch stainless steel barrel is 1.125 inches in diameter at the receiver, and from there it tapers to 0.875-inch at the muzzle where it is threaded for an included dual-chamber brake. The brake is on short-action rifles in 6mm Creedmoor, 6.5 Creedmoor and .308 Win., and while .300 Win. Mag. and .338 Lapua barrels are threaded, those rifles do not come with a brake.

Glare on bright sunlit days is virtually eliminated by a matte surface finish on the barrel. Peeks inside with a Lyman Borecam revealed mostly smooth button rifling with only a few minor tool marks running across the tops of the lands.

As is commonly seen on extended-distance competition rifles, a 16-slot rail attached to the receiver has 20 m.o.a. of slant.

Savage went straight to the top by resting the barreled action in an Adjustable Core Competition chassis built by Modular Driven Technologies. Design and precision machining are impressive. Optimal length of pull, comb height and vertical positioning of the buttpad can be different when shooting prone than from other positions, and precise adjustments in the stock make those changes quick and easy to make as seconds tick away during a stage.

All trigger fingers are not the same length and fore/aft adjustment of the MDT vertical grip has that covered as well. When changing shooting positions, competitors want a chassis that allows quick repositioning of a bipod, and a Swiss ARCA rail machined into the bottom of the 17-inch fore-end will make them quite happy.

A 10-round MDT AICS pattern steel magazine comes with the rifle, and a beveled magazine well opening makes loaded magazine insertion smooth and bobble-free. A push on the ambidextrous, paddle-style latch at the front of the trigger guard gravity-drops an empty while the other hand is reaching for a reload.

Prior to accuracy-testing I broke-in the barrel by cleaning with Shooter’s Choice powder solvent and Barnes CR-10 copper solvent after each shot. This was concluded at 20 rounds when my Lyman Borecam indicated light streaks of copper fouling had diminished. Thereafter the barrel was scrubbed with powder solvent after each five-shot group fired, and 25 rounds later, group size had become fairly consistent.

The absence of an adaptor for my Harris bipod for attaching it to the ARCA rail presented no problem because one of several tops I have for a Sinclair International front rest has a width-adjustable sandbag for a snug fit with the 1.75-inch-wide fore-end of the rifle.

The flat bottom of the fore-end combined with a bunny-ear sandbag at the butt discouraged canting.

While range conditions were quite nice, there were light, shifting breezes, so I placed a Graham wind flag 25 yards out from the bench and another flag five yards in front of the targets. After watching the flags for about 10 minutes, I picked a condition that appeared to come around most often and quickly squeezed off five shots each time it returned. If a switch in wind speed or direction caught me unexpectedly and produced a flyer, I either repeated that shot the next time my chosen condition arrived or tossed the entire five shots and fired a replacement group.

The results are shown in the accompanying table. As you can see, it had no problems delivering sub-m.o.a. groups at 100 yards, and in fact the overall average for all loads fired at 100 yards was a mere 0.61 inch.

I took the two most accurate loads at 100 yards and fired them at 300 yards, and both hovered around the half-minute mark. Who knows how accurate the rifle would be with a precision handload developed specifically for it?

Savage Arms 110 Elite Precision Specs

• Type: Two-lug, short-action centerfire
• Caliber: .223 Rem., 6mm Creedmoor (tested), 6.5 Creedmoor, .308 Win., .300 Win. Mag., .338 Lapua
• Capacity: 10-round AICS detachable magazine supplied
• Barrel: 26 in. hammer-forged stainless steel; 1:7 twist
• Overall Length: 44 in.
• Weight: 13.2 lb.
• Stock: Cerakote-finished MDT aluminum chassis
• Trigger: Adjustable AccuTrigger; 29 oz. pull (measured, as received)
• Sights: None; 20-m.o.a. Picatinny rail
• Safety: 3-position tang
• Price: $1,999
• Manufacturer: Savage Arms, SavageArms.com

From the name it’s clear Ruger intends this rifle to be a do-it-all AR. The original AR-556 is a capable rifle in its own right, but the differences between these two rifles add up to substantially different packages.

The two most easily spotted differences between the original AR-556 and the MPR are barrel length and the handguard. The AR-556 has a 16-inch barrel with a fixed front sight and a round polymer handguard, while the new MPR sports an 16-inch barrel inside a free-float aluminum handguard.

The MPR’s 16-inch barrel has a 1:8 twist. The 1:8 is believed by many to be the best twist rate for an AR barrel because it will handle bullets from 35 grains to 77 grains—every bullet weight that fits into a .223/5.56 magazine. The original AR-556 featured this same twist rate, which was one of the reasons why the rifle was, and is, such a good deal. It features five-groove (5R) rifling, which is generally thought to provide increased accuracy over older rifling types.

The barrel is cold-hammer-forged 4140 chrome-moly steel with a nitride finish for corrosion resistance. For the first six inches or so it has a heavy profile, then it narrows. Forward of the handguard the barrel has a 0.70-inch diameter. With the stock fully extended, the balance point on the AR-556 MPR is right under the front takedown pin, which is excellent for an 18-inch-barreled rifle.

The barrel has M4 feed ramps. While they were specifically designed to aid in reliability when shooting full-auto, they sure don’t hurt anything when chugging along in simple semiauto. This barrel also features a 5.56 NATO chamber, which means it will safely handle both commercial .223 Rem. ammo as well as the slightly hotter 5.56 NATO military loads. The bolt is machined from 9310 alloy steel, shot-peened and pressure tested.

Unlike the original AR-556, which has a carbine-length gas system, the MPR’s longer barrel allows Ruger to use a rifle-length gas system. The longer gas system slows down bolt speed and, everything else being equal, makes for a softer-shooting gun.

Instead of an A2-style flash hider, the barrel on the MPR is tipped with a radially ported muzzle brake of Ruger’s own design. There are ports on the bottom of this brake, so you’ll be kicking up dust if you’re shooting anywhere close to prone. It extends only 11/8 inches past the muzzle, so it really isn’t any longer than the ubiquitous A2 birdcage flash hider. The barrel has the standard AR thread pitch of 1/2×28, so it will accept any standard muzzle device.

The barrel free-floats inside a 15-inch aluminum handguard with M-Lok accessory attachment slots at three, six and nine o’clock, as well as some additional angled slots near the muzzle that work great for mounting lights. This is a rather slim handguard. It’s 1.5 inches wide and two inches tall measured from the top of the rail.

M-Lok is a slot-based mounting system designed by Magpul, the kings of AR accessories, so it isn’t a big surprise to see other Magpul products on this rifle. Ruger designed its own pistol grip for the original AR-556, but to better match the Magpul SL (Slim Line) stock, the company went with the Magpul SL pistol grip as well. The oversize polymer handguard is a Ruger-made product.

The standard MPR model ships with a 30-round magazine—except to restrictive states, where the rifle comes with a 10-rounder.

Both stock and grip provide good looks and functionality without adding any extra weight. In fact, at 6.8 pounds the AR-556 MPR is only a third of a pound heavier than the original AR-556, and that weight difference is mostly the result of the MPR’s longer barrel. Of course, the original AR-556 came with front and rear sights, which add a little weight, whereas the MPR has none.

The Magpul stock sits on a mil-spec six-position receiver extension. The upper and lower receivers are 7075-T6 aluminum forgings with Type III hardcoat anodizing. Underneath the Ruger logo on the left side of the receiver, you’ll see these rifles are made in Ruger’s Mayodan, North Carolina, facility. The upper receiver features a brass deflector, forward assist and dust cover, making this is a full-featured AR.

As it is a “basic” M4-style AR, the original AR-556 comes with a GI-style single-stage trigger. Those usually run north of six pounds and are often gritty. The AR-556 MPR is equipped with Ruger’s Elite 452 trigger, which the company first started offering a few years ago in the SR-556 Takedown rifle.

The Elite 452 is a two-stage trigger advertised as providing a crisp 4.5-pound trigger pull with a full-power hammer spring. I’ve had a decent amount of experience with Elite 452 triggers, and they’ve all performed as advertised, which means it is a huge upgrade from the original AR trigger pull. (Ruger sells the Elite 452 trigger separately on shopruger.com for $160.) The trigger pull on my sample rifle came in exactly at the advertised 4.5-pound weight.

To wring out this inexpensive “do it all” rifle, I mounted a the CMR8 from Hi-Lux in a QD scope mount from Midwest Industries. Accuracy out of the Ruger was impressive, with a few loads printing under one m.o.a. Depending on the ammo, the two extra inches of barrel the MPR sports over 16-inch “M4-style” rifles will give you roughly 50 more feet per second.

ARs are just fun rifles to shoot, which is one of the main reasons for their popularity. The ammo is about as inexpensive as rifle ammo gets, and the recoil is negligible. After a separate trip for the sandbag benchrest work, I headed to the range for some fun with my two sons, the MPR and several other rifles.

The MPR turned out to be the favorite of my oldest son. “This is just fun to shoot!” he told me. “It’s big and it’s loud, but it’s got absolutely no recoil.” He’s not wrong. The 30-port brake on the MPR makes it as soft-shooting as any dedicated competition rifle I’ve ever tested. Just make sure your earplugs are in all the way.

AR-15 style rifles are, of course, modular, and what separates various competing rifles often isn’t much more than the combination of accessories the manufacturer has chosen. As the MPR in the name of this piece stands for multi-purpose rifle, the folks at Ruger have set it up with the parts and accessories they feel allow it to do everything well.

An AR with a collapsible stock and a free-floating barrel inside a long aluminum handguard is considered the way to set up your tactical or competition rifle these days, although you really only see 18-inch barrels on competition rifles and Mk12 SPR clones. This one’s tipped with a compensator, which no self-respecting competition rifle would do without.

The 1:8 twist is the perfect twist rate for everything, at least in my opinion. And while not as high-speed as many of the match models on the market, the Ruger Elite 452 is a solid trigger and provides a vastly improved pull over the standard GI-style trigger pull.

Further, long modular handguards are in style because they allow you to put your support hand all the way out there if you want. This handguard gives you that length plus all sorts of real estate for mounting accessories.

The bits and pieces Ruger chose to produce the MPR package with could work just as well as a “tactical” rifle—whatever that is—although most people of a tactical bent would swap out the muzzle brake for the flash hider of their choice.

Currently, the base model Ruger AR-556 has a suggested retail of $799, which means the MPR is only $100 more. For that money, you get a better looking and perhaps stronger stock, a vastly better trigger pull, a more modular handguard, and overall a softer-recoiling rifle due to the rifle-length gas system and compensator. The only thing it lacks is the original AR-556’s iron sights.

• • Model Number: 8542
• Caliber: 5.56 NATO
• Barrel Length: 16.10″
• Thread Pattern: 1/2”-28
• Handguard: Lite Free-Float with M-LOK® Attachment Slots
• Rate of Twist: 1:8” RH
• Finish: Type III Hard-Coat Anodized
• Overall Length: 33″ – 36.25”
• Height: 7.20”
• Weight: 6.7 lbs.
• Sights: None
• Length of Pull: 11.13″ – 14.38”
• Grooves: 5
• Capacity: 30 Rounds
• MSRP: $899.00

The polymer frame has excellent stippling along the sides of the grip and on the frontstrap. That same stippling is found on the backstrap, and here’s one area where the GX4 stands out from its competitors: It comes with interchangeable backstraps, which are easily changed by driving out a pin.

The backstrap that comes installed has a slight palm swell, but if a more pronounced swell fits your hands better, you can switch to the other one. Swapping them does not change the trigger reach length.

The trigger guard is squared off, the front left smooth. The frame sports a slight rise behind the magazine release to discourage accidental activation, and the area around the slide-lock lever is contoured so the lever won’t snag on clothing during the draw. There’s a slight recess built into the bottom of the frame that, combined with a similar recess in the magazines’ base plates, enables you to get a fingertip in there to strip out a stubborn mag.

Inside the polymer frame is a stainless chassis. Operational controls get a Teflon coating for smoothness and corrosion resistance, other internal metal parts are nickel-plated, and the barrel is treated to a Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coating.

The slide’s wide serrations are found fore and aft aren’t particularly deep or aggressive, but they get the job done. The front of the slide is beveled for easy holstering.

Sights include a drift-adjustable serrated rear and a white dot front that’s screwed in. They’re based on the Glock pattern, so if you want another setup you won’t have any problems finding aftermarket sights.

The Taurus GX4 9mm pistol ships with two 11-round magazines with bright yellow followers, and there are numbered witness holes from 4 to 11. Ten-rounders are available for those who live in restrictive states, and Taurus is selling 13-round magazines as an option for those who want more capacity.

The trigger has a slight dogleg to it but sports a flat face, and our sample broke at 7.2 pounds on average. It’s got less than a quarter-inch of take-up, and the break is pretty crisp for a striker-fired pistol. The reset is short and nicely tactile.

I think the sights are great, and the gun handles well for such a small 9mm, and it was totally reliable. You get all this for a suggested retail price of less than $400, which is as much as half the cost of some competing pistols.

“It violates the First Amendment because people are inclined to self-censor when the law’s vague,” said Del Kolde, a senior attorney from the Institute on Free Speech who is co-representing Wyoming Gun Owners.

The lawsuit, which was also filed against Deputy Secretary of State Karen Wheeler and Election Division Director Kai Schon, comes after the secretary of state investigated the gun rights group for allegedly engaging in electioneering without disclosing their donors.

Wyoming Gun Owners pressed the state to drop the investigation in late 2020 but to no avail. The secretary of state ruled that the group had to disclose their donors or pay a $500 fine, and the group chose the latter.

Stephen Klein, one of the lawyers who filed the lawsuit, said the state told Wyoming Gun Owners that paying the fine didn’t mean the group wouldn’t have to disclose donors in the future.

It is unclear whether the secretary of state’s office is still investigating the group. The office did not return a request for comment Thursday.

The investigation began late last year when the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce filed a complaint against Wyoming Gun Owners for not being registered with the Wyoming secretary of state’s office, as is required by election code when engaging in electioneering.

The lawyers representing Wyoming Gun Owners said they plan to file a preliminary injunction this week to fast-track the case.

The state attorney general’s office declined to comment.

Wyoming Gun Owners did run aggressive campaign advertisements and sent mailers and emails about specific candidates.

What Kolde and the gun rights group argues, however, is that the advertisements and mailers never expressly endorsed candidates but only communicated the candidates’ stances and voting records on gun policy.

The most recent lawsuit is in part an attempt to be able to run campaign advertisements and send mailers ahead of the 2022 election without being investigated again, Kolde said.

“Now (Wyoming Gun Owners is) left in a position where they want to speak again in the next election,” he said, “but they don’t know what they can say without drawing another complaint or another investigation.”

Later this year, doing so will be outlawed under a bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Kate Brown that was earlier passed by the Legislature, with Democrats in favor and minority Republicans opposed. The new law also mandates the safe storage of guns.

“Today, I am signing SB 554 with the hope that we can take another step forward to help spare more Oregon families from the grief of losing a loved one to gun violence,” Brown said on Twitter.

The bill was named for Cindy Yuille and Steve Forsyth, who were slain in a shooting at a Portland-area shopping mall in 2012 by a man who stole a friend’s AR-15 rifle. A third person was seriously wounded.

Among those who testified in favor of the measure was Paul Kemp, Forsyth’s brother-in-law.

“I will never forget the screams I heard when we had to tell my teenage nephew that his father had been killed at the mall,” Kemp said.

Backers of the new law, which takes effect three months after the Legislature adjourns this summer, said it will prevent accidental shootings by children, suicides and mass shootings.

It requires that firearms be secured with a trigger or cable lock, in a locked container or gun room.

Opponents said a delay in accessing a firearm for self-defense could cost lives.

Jim Mischel, of Sheridan, Oregon, provided written testimony to lawmakers describing how his wife woke up when he was away one night in 1981. She heard a noise, went to investigate and saw a stranger in their home.

She tried to get a pistol that was in a locked gun box in the nightstand out but was unable to before the man got into the bedroom and threatened her with his gun, Mischel said.

“She has never recovered,” he said.

The bill also bans guns from the Oregon Capitol, changing a law that allowed concealed handgun licensees to bring firearms into the building.

In a related development, an interfaith movement plans to present signatures Wednesday to the staff of Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, a step in an attempt to get two initiative petitions onto the ballot.

IP 18 would ban the sale of assault-style weapons in Oregon. IP 17 would ban the sale of large-capacity magazines and require a permit to purchase any gun and a completed background check before a firearm is purchased.

The movement has gathered the signatures of 2,000 voters for each initiative petition and will hand deliver them to Fagan’s staff, said Pastor Mark Knutson of the Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland.

“We hope to get the go ahead by early fall, which will give us almost 10 months to get 140,000 signatures to … place them both on the November 2022 general election ballot,” Knutson said.

The debate over guns is being resurrected as the number of mass shootings climbs again in America, with increased efforts to ban assault rifles and large-capacity magazines.

In Colorado, a gun storage bill was signed into law on April by Gov. Jared Polis, who said: “It’s a sensible measure to help avoid immeasurable heartbreak.”

Colorado’s law creates the offense of unlawful storage of a firearm if a person stores a gun knowing that a juvenile could access it without permission or if a resident of the premises is ineligible to possess a firearm.

Similar bills this session have failed in Illinois, Kentucky, Montana, New Mexico and Virginia, said Allison Anderman, senior counsel at the Giffords gun safety advocacy group.

States that have passed laws requiring some level of firearms safe storage in past years include California, Connecticut and New York, Anderman said. Massachusetts is the only state that requires that all unattended firearms be stored with locking devices in place, according to Giffords.

The bill by Assemblyman Marc Levine, a Democrat from San Rafael, would have imposed a 10% tax on the sales price of handguns and an 11% tax on the sales price of rifles, precursor parts and ammunition.

The tax would have applied to retailers, not consumers. But a legislative analysis of the bill said retailers could have passed that cost along to buyers. The Assembly Appropriations Committee estimated it would have generated $118 million per year, with the money going toward gun violence prevention programs and research.

A majority of the Assembly’s 80 members voted for the bill. But because the bill would create a new tax, it required a two-thirds vote. The bill fell five votes short of the 54 required for passage. Democrats control 59 votes. But several Democrats come from more moderate districts, making a tax increase on guns a tough vote for them.

Despite the bill’s failure on Thursday, Levine said he believes it’s possible to revive the legislation later this year.

“California is in the midst of a gun violence epidemic that will only end when our leaders have the courage to do what is right and necessary to end it,” Levine said.

The vote comes one week after nine people were killed in a mass shooting at Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority rail yard in San Jose, California. Assemblyman Alex Lee, a Democrat from San Jose, read the names of each victim on the Assembly floor as he urged his colleagues to support the bill.

“We continue to see the breaking news headlines of yet another mass shooting in our nation on a nearly weekly basis. And frankly, I’m sick of it,” he said.

In a letter to lawmakers, the pro-gun group Gun Owners of California wrote that the bill wasn’t fair because it sought to “penalize the lawful for the misdeeds of the unlawful.’

Levine, the author of the bill, said his goal was in part a response to the increase in gun sales and gun violence since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

California already imposes a fee of $37.19 on gun sales, which includes a fee for background checks.

The state’s definition of illegal military-style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed in most other states and by the U.S. Supreme Court, the judge wrote.

Judge Roger T. Benitez, who has favored pro-gun groups in past rulings, described the AR-15 rifle, used in many of the nation’s deadliest mass shootings, as an ideal weapon.

“Like the Swiss Army Knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment,” he wrote in Friday’s decision.

“Yet, the State of California makes it a crime to have an AR15 type rifle,” Benitez continued. “Therefore, this Court declares the California statutes to be unconstitutional.”

He praised the AR-15 as a rifle that should be formally protected by the law for its “militia readiness.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom was indignant in a statement late Friday.

“The fact that this judge compared the AR-15 — a weapon of war that’s used on the battlefield — to a Swiss Army Knife completely undermines the credibility of this decision and is a slap in the face to the families who’ve lost loved ones to this weapon,” he said.

The office of Attorney General Rob Bonta said it would appeal.

“Today’s decision is fundamentally flawed, and we will be appealing it,” Bonta said in a statement Friday night. “There is no sound basis in law, fact, or common sense for equating assault rifles with swiss army knives.”

The Firearms Policy Coalition, which backed the suit, celebrated the decision. “We look forward to continuing this challenge at the Ninth Circuit and, should it be necessary, the Supreme Court,” the group’s president, Brandon Combs, said in a statement.

The ruling came as Bonta recognized “Gun Violence Awareness Day.” “In California, we have strong gun laws developed with the public’s safety in mind,” he said in a statement earlier Friday.

Assault weapons as defined by the law are more dangerous than other firearms and are disproportionately used in crimes, mass shootings and against law enforcement, with more resulting casualties, the state attorney general’s office argued, and barring them “furthers the state’s important public safety interests.”

The judge in the U.S. District Court’s Southern District of California cited multiple precedents to bolster his decision, although some experts and gun control advocates have long argued the authors of the Second Amendment could never have imagined a weapon originally designed for modern warfare being used for personal defense.

“Government is not free to impose its own new policy choices on American citizens where Constitutional rights are concerned,” the judge wrote.

Benitez stayed his own permanent injunction against the state’s prohibition for 30 days in order to give the attorney general time to appeal.

California first prohibited assault weapons in 1989 and expanded its definition to cover more firearms over the years.

The plaintiff, James Miller, along with Patrick Russ and Ryan Peterson, had argued that assault weapons are protected under the Second Amendment. They filed suit against the state in 2019.

Earlier this year, after a man allegedly killed 10 people at a Colorado grocery store with what witnesses described as an AR-15-style rifle, President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass a national assault weapon ban.