u/TheFiringPin

Back when I was a kid I shot a LOT of 22lr out behind my parent's house. They had a small berm set up and I had one of those Caldwell spinning 22 metal targets. Hours and hours and tens - if not hundreds or thousands of 22lr rounds fired. I had two different rifles: a Winchester 69-a inherited from Grandpa and a Marlin Glenfield my dad got me from a local gun shop that is no longer with us.

Eventually I noticed I was more accurate with the Winchester, which also had a slightly longer barrel. I asked my dad why that was. My dad was an engineer and had been in the Marines so I knew he'd have an answer. He thought about it for a moment and then hits me with this gem I'll never forget:

'The longer barrel is more accurate because it's that much closer to the target'

Thanks Dad <3

Let's share a 2A memory of our dads today.

Back when I was a kid, I shot a LOT of 22lr out behind my parent's house. They had a small berm set up and I had one of those Caldwell spinning 22 metal targets. Hours and hours and tens - if not hundreds or thousands of 22lr rounds fired. Everytime we went to Walmart I would convince my parents to buy one of those Federal 550 round bricks of 22lr. I had two different rifles: a Winchester 69-a from Grandpa and Marlin Glenfield my dad got me from Sheard's (who from Genesee County remembers that place???).

Eventually I noticed I was more accurate with the Winchester, which also had a longer barrel. I asked my dad why that was, my dad was an engineer so I knew he'd have an answer. He thought about it for a moment and then hits me with this gem I'll never forget:

'The longer barrel is more accurate because it's that much closer to the target'

Thanks Dad <3

-Brandon

For Immediate Release:

Crime Gun Pipeline Flows because of People - Not Dealers

The Firing Pin - a gun shop in Bergen NY - rejects nearby Rochester mayor Malik Evan’s assertions that gun dealers are intentionally supplying a significant number of illegal guns that end up in our city.

Released on Wednesday, the report comes from a lobbying group - Brady United - and highlights data taken from the ATF’s firearms trace program. The ATF works with local law enforcement partners to trace firearms found at crime scenes or tied to violent crimes. When a firearm is recovered, ATF reaches out to the manufacturer, who traces it to the distributor and ultimately the gun dealer that originally sold the firearm. ATF form 4473 that buyers fill out when purchasing any firearm is then scanned and electronically sent to the ATF National Tracing Center. Gun dealers generally have 24 hours to get this information to the ATF - most dealers respond to trace requests within 15 minutes.

“There are mountains of regulations, both state and federal that we all follow” Says Brandon P. Lewis, owner and Federal Firearms Licensee holder of The Firing Pin. “Then there’s the moral issue - we gun dealers understand that moral and ethical liabilties with these firearms. There’s no one that respects these tools and advocates for the public to respect them more than us.”

Lewis says he was disheartened but not surprised to hear the Mayor’s comments on Wednesday regardind the Brady Report. “It’s easy to look at the object and blame the tool, or to blame the retailer that sells the tool -its much harder to look at the person wielding it and using it to harm their community and help with their issues”

“The so-called ‘Pipeline of illegal guns’ does not flow because of pressure from gun dealers. We didn’t build it, we don’t promote it, we don’t supply it willingly. A retailer can only control what happens inside of their physical presence - what someone does with their property once they leave is entirely on them. People buy firearms and don’t respect them, they sometimes don’t keep them safely stored or have bad intentions with them to begin with - none of this should be blamed on the retailer.”

“To insinuate that dealers in the suburbs are intentionally supplying this pipeline with ‘illegal guns’ is frankly insulting. Any firearm sold by a dealer in NY is sold to a qualified individual with the correct permits and background checks completed. We have a moral and legal obligation to ensure straw purchases aren't happening, that only qualified and responsible people are acquiring these firearms. After that sale, that individual then either doesn’t respect the firearm and has it lost or stolen or they decide to turn that gun from a legal one to an illegal one by selling it to a prohibited person. That is the action we should be focusing on in my opinion”

Lewis goes on to challenge the Mayor and his administration “We are not your enemy in this fight against violence - we want to be a part of the solution. Give the industry a seat at the table so that we can all work together to prevent firearms from falling into the wrong hands. Bring in experts on safe storage and issues firearm owners face while trying to comply with State and local laws. The person who originally bought the firearm from the retailer and allowed it to enter the criminal world is who should be responsible for any violence that firearm is involved with.”

In 2024 The Firing Pin & The Rochester African American Firearms Association hosted a Free Firearms Safety Training event at The Kodak Center that had over 1100 people in attendence, most from within the City itself.

For Immediate Release:

Crime Gun Pipeline Flows because of People - Not Dealers

The Firing Pin - a gun shop in Bergen NY - rejects nearby Rochester mayor Malik Evan’s assertions that gun dealers are intentionally supplying a significant number of illegal guns that end up in our city.

Released on Wednesday, the report comes from a lobbying group - Brady United - and highlights data taken from the ATF’s firearms trace program. The ATF works with local law enforcement partners to trace firearms found at crime scenes or tied to violent crimes. When a firearm is recovered, ATF reaches out to the manufacturer, who traces it to the distributor and ultimately the gun dealer that originally sold the firearm. ATF form 4473 that buyers fill out when purchasing any firearm is then scanned and electronically sent to the ATF National Tracing Center. Gun dealers generally have 24 hours to get this information to the ATF - most dealers respond to trace requests within 15 minutes.

“There are mountains of regulations, both state and federal that we all follow” Says Brandon P. Lewis, owner and Federal Firearms Licensee holder of The Firing Pin. “Then there’s the moral issue - we gun dealers understand that moral and ethical liabilties with these firearms. There’s no one that respects these tools and advocates for the public to respect them more than us.”

Lewis says he was disheartened but not surprised to hear the Mayor’s comments on Wednesday regardind the Brady Report. “It’s easy to look at the object and blame the tool, or to blame the retailer that sells the tool -its much harder to look at the person wielding it and using it to harm their community and help with their issues”

“The so-called ‘Pipeline of illegal guns’ does not flow because of pressure from gun dealers. We didn’t build it, we don’t promote it, we don’t supply it willingly. A retailer can only control what happens inside of their physical presence - what someone does with their property once they leave is entirely on them. People buy firearms and don’t respect them, they sometimes don’t keep them safely stored or have bad intentions with them to begin with - none of this should be blamed on the retailer.”

“To insinuate that dealers in the suburbs are intentionally supplying this pipeline with ‘illegal guns’ is frankly insulting. Any firearm sold by a dealer in NY is sold to a qualified individual with the correct permits and background checks completed. We have a moral and legal obligation to ensure straw purchases aren't happening, that only qualified and responsible people are acquiring these firearms. After that sale, that individual then either doesn’t respect the firearm and has it lost or stolen or they decide to turn that gun from a legal one to an illegal one by selling it to a prohibited person. That is the action we should be focusing on in my opinion”

Lewis goes on to challenge the Mayor and his administration “We are not your enemy in this fight against violence - we want to be a part of the solution. Give the industry a seat at the table so that we can all work together to prevent firearms from falling into the wrong hands. Bring in experts on safe storage and issues firearm owners face while trying to comply with State and local laws. The person who originally bought the firearm from the retailer and allowed it to enter the criminal world is who should be responsible for any violence that firearm is involved with.”

In 2024 The Firing Pin & The Rochester African American Firearms Association hosted a Free Firearms Safety Training event at The Kodak Center that had over 1100 people in attendence, most from within the City itself.

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