Wasn't Ruger on the other side of the issue the last time?

Yeah they were, along with several other makers as well I think. (It was mostly Bill Ruger though.) I guess they finally realized it's best to side with gun owners and not politicians.

I was reading about the new laws in NY and looking at this post on TFB, and I got a crazy way to get around high-cap magazine bans: an AR-15 upper that feeds off of a Hotchkiss style strip. Or, one that uses a hopper like the Japanese Type 11 LMG.

Crazy idea, or something workable?

With the original AWB I think all things of this sort were banned under the heading of "large capacity ammunition feeding devices", so I think they would be similarly banned for this assuming it is written by someone who can tell his/her arsehole from his/her elbow (I am not taking this as a given).

Not related to this, more to a possible AWB, but I have had an idea in my head for a while about having an AR-15 upper that was open at the top with a clip guide built in to allow you to load a fixed (and by fixed I mean pinned into the lower by some legal definition) magazine with stripper clips. No idea if it would be possible, but think it would be pretty cool.

Assuming most Americans won't know about it (as it previously had no reason for existing) but in the UK you can get "lever release" AR-15s, where the bolt is automatically held back after each shot, and must be released by a lever where the safety would be (here is one). This would be classed as a manually operated weapon and would hence not be subject to any "Assault Weapon" bans. Something else that would be cool, a pump action AR-15 upper.

Oh well...

CNN has leaked what our Dear Leader will speak about tomorrow.

Nothing too off the mark, "high-cap" mags and such, but according to the AP everything we fear for the most part would require Congressional action.

From the CNN article:

"The president also could immediately appoint a director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which has been without a permanent chief for six years, Thompson said."

WTF? For real?

Yeah, ever since the first breaking of Fast&Furious, the BATFE has been without a permenant director.

Barry could apoint a director who would do mean things with the Sporting Claus of the GCA '68, but right now, that's just fear mongering, no need for it.

Fast and Furious was only a year or two ago. The director that resigned as a result was also an acting director. Six years ago was still the Bush administration. How bad can the job be?

The President announced his 23 executive orders. I'm actually okay with most of them. Some do bother me though:

"Issue a presidential memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence."

"Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes."

The NRA opposed both as it could lead to higher insurance rates for gun owners.