ST AUGUSTINE, FL. –-(Ammoland.com)- The second annual Gun Maker’s Match registration period has opened for competitors to sign up to compete against other hobbyists.
The match will take place on March 19, 2022, in St Augustine, FL. The Gun Maker’s Match is a competition where the competitors use guns that are home built. These firearms range from guns made from kits like the Polymer80 to 3D printed firearms frames and receivers. The match is organized by the Guns for Everyone gun-rights group.
Guns for Everyone is a non-profit organization. Its mission is to train as many people as possible on the safe use of firearms. The group has provided free training for people to get concealed carry permits in Colorado and beyond. The group also certifies firearms instructors and runs national and local firearms competitions. Gun-rights activist Edgar Antillon runs the non-profit organization.
A few of the competition categories include printed pistols, printed rifles, kit pistols, and kit rifles. The competition’s goal is to show the general public that homemade firearms are not the tools of criminals. Most people that build homemade firearms are law-abiding citizens and do not build their guns for nefarious reasons. To some, it is a statement that the right to bear arms cannot be stifled. To others, it about the journey of building something with their own hands.
The Biden administration issued an executive action that tasked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to come up with a new definition and rules for firearms to directly attack American’s right to build their own guns. The ATF made up the term privately made firearms (PMF). The new rules would make it almost impossible for hobbyists to purchase kits to build guns.
The Biden administration claims that because unfinished frames and receivers are not serialized, they find their way into the hands of criminals. A lot of the pressure to change the rules surrounding unfinished frames and receivers comes from anti-gun groups like Giffords, Brady, and Everytown for Gun Safety. Biden’s pick for ATF Director is David Chipman, who works for Giffords, has spoken out against unfinished frames and receivers.
Another source of pressure is from anti-gun State Attorney Generals such as Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro. Shapiro has targeted local Pennsylvania company JSD Supply. JSD Supply sells P80 kits and its own kits based on the Sig P320. Earlier in the year, Shapiro pressured Eagle Arms to stop allowing JSD Supply to sell its products. JSD Supply was a sponsor of the inaugural Gun Maker’s Match that was held on June 19, 2021.
In addition to JSD Supply, other unfinished firearms companies sponsored the past event. Defcad sponsored the competition and donated a Ghost Gunner 3 as a prize for a division winner. Polymer80, Mantis, Brownells, and NASGW also sponsored the past match. Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) also sponsored the event. Both gun rights organizations support the right of the people to build unserialized firearms.
Events like these competitions demystify the homemade firearms community. For full disclosure, the author’s online store also sponsored the TUSC competition team.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
I am glad to say that this is one of the many reasons that a country like ours will stay free. When the average person can assemble an AR or pistol in the privacy of his own home, it must make a psychopathic control freak pee their undies because they can’t CONTROL! So sad…
For the OFFICIANOES among US, how about having some(many) videos of the event?!
Thanks for covering this event.