Akins Acccelerator 3

In the 24 hours since I wrote this article, Bill Akins has written several clarifying statements in the COMMENTS section. He suggests that I use these comments to write a third article.

I don't want to steal Mr Akins' information and label it as my own, nor do I want to write an entire article consisting of edited quotes from his comments. In fact, it seems to me that he has done a good job of writing that third article himself, and in the process has learned that the first draft is not likely to provide all the information nor to present it 'the best way'.

Therefore I will encourage readers to view the comments attached to this article and, again, make up your own mind. (Further comments are encouraged.)

Two other points:
1: Mr Akins has included his email address in his comments. You may wish to send him supportive emails, if you are so inclined. Given that he is already feeling besieged by the ATF, I would not burden him with any accusatory correspondence.

2: In his earliest comment to this article, Mr. Akins stated:

In your 2nd article you first said in your opinion my device was not a machine gun under Federal law. Then later you said you believed I had invented a way to turn a semi automatic rifle into a machine gun.
It cannot be both.

Fair enough. I realized as I wrote that statement I might be called upon to defend it. I'm uncomfortable doing so, only because it sounds like William Jefferson Clinton asking what the meaning of 'IS' is, and I shrink from any comparison to our 42nd president.

By the ATF definition of 'machine gun', the Akins Accelerator does not qualify.

But when I look at the animated GIF, I'm thinking 'machine gun'. Why? Because the device allows a semi-automatic rifle to be fired faster than the 'twitch-rate' of my trigger finger. That's not the official ATF definition, that's just my own personal definition. I wrote hundreds of words trying to make that point, I'll not repeat the exercise now.

Whether or not other devices accomplish the same end, whether the ATF has singled out Mr. Akins, and in fact whether full-automatic weapons should be regulated are legitimate subjects for discussion.

In the end, I'm not the one who has to be convinced. I don't care if the Akins Accelerator converts a 10/22 into a machine gun. I wouldn't buy one, personally, because I've shot enough full-auto weapons to know that I'm not very good with them; that doesn't mean I agree with the federal regulations currently in effect.

Beyond that, I am not clear on what Mr. Akins would have me do. Write to my congressman v. the confirmation of Michael Sullivan as head of the ATF? Check - done. Write about the controversy in an attempt to make more people aware if it? Check - done.

Take up the cause of the Akins Accelerator and lead a protest against governmental mismanagement? No, this is not my battle and I'm not on a mission.

However, there is one more thing I can do:

Mr. Akins, if you would like to write your own blog article, to tell the whole story in your own words, I would be happy to receive it as a MS-WORD document and publish it here. I've always encouraged Guest Articles. I only reserve the right to edit for grammar, spelling, word-choice (I prefer to avoid profanity), libelous statements and ad hominem attacks. In short, I reserve the right NOT to publish but I'll probably give a Guest Author a chance to rewrite rather than summarily reject a Guest Article.