Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Bill Ruger???

Upon reading the Mossberg ATR thread someone mentioned Bill Ruger and the second. Exactly what did he do wrong?

I think may be referring to Ruger's refusal to make hi cap mags for the Mini 14 and 30, and some statement that no rifle needs hi capacity mags. But don't quote me, I been known to be wrong.

Not just a letter..but a letter to congress...which just happens to be exactly what congress did 5 years later. Ban high capacity magazines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_B._Ruger

I think I may receive some flames for this one but I'll try anyway.

Put this letter into the context of the time. The government was thinking and planning on banning many types of weapons defined as Assault Rifles. A few years later they did just that. But in their ability to define the weapon type some weapons that were not Assault Rifles were included. To this day I have never seen a good LEGAL definition.

If you think of it when the AWB was passed many more of those guns were banned than if they had followed Rugers advice. I personally do not use or need more than 10 shots in any firearm. That does not mean I agree with banning ANY firearm

Having said that if the government real concern is multiround firepower in semi auto rifles a magazine law is much more logical that a rifle ban. As onerous as it might be it is far preferable to a ban on the rifle itself. I do not own anything that remotely could be defined as an assault rifle but as the AR type rifle have become more accurate they have become more interesting to me.

Congress is, once again, facing another Assault Weapons Ban. I would much prefer to be able to buy or build a 10 shot AR than no AR at all.

As for Ruger not building high capacity magazines that is simply not true. His 9mm handguns held over 10 shots. 15 rounds I believe.

Again before the flames start I do not believe in banning firearms. Period. I am simply saying that his idea had merit then and now as an alternative to banning rifles.

It was far more than just the Ruger letter... His repeated comments relating a requirement for guns to have a sporting purpose and his comments about needing to limit firepower among civilians prove he never got it...

"Armsmaker to responsible citizens" was the slogan, IIRC, which had a subliminal message, somewhat elitist. Never mind his Deloreanesqe Rugermobile.
So, Bill Ruger was a Fudd in some respects.
I don't know why, but I think gunny entrepreneurs HAVE to be inherently reasonable people in order to make a success of running a business. I would further argue that a reasonable man expects those he deals with to be the same. However, I think that attitude changed as both he and the company realized that the anti's would never, ever stop moving the goalposts -- being political zealots and therefore never reasonable.

I believe this is correct too.

Unfortunaely some people want to crucify the best American gun designer since John Moses Browning.

His car was NOTHING like a DeLorean. More like a Stutz Bearcat.

Sugar coat it however you will. It was wrong, just like Mr Coppers funding of Obama.

Bill Ruger did fine work early but as he aged, he lost his set of balls. It happens..

g

Bill Ruger was a naive enough to think that he could play nice with the thug US Govt and they'd leave him alone by throwing the rest of us under the bus prior to the '94 AWB.

I watched him make his "No honest man needs a concealable handgun or high-cap magazine" comment to the blond bimbo of the time on the Today show.

It's taken a long time for Ruger the company to come around since the old bastid became worm food. Must have been a long exorcisim to change his policies.

Strong statement. Suppose he'd not like their new LCP, even though it's a hot seller.

What is the largest capacity Mini-14 mag that Ruger CURRENTLY makes?

You can purchase 20 round Mini 14 mags directly from Ruger.

Classic!!!!!!

Screw Ruger just like Dumbo. I have NO use for their crap after Bills antics. I really WANT a red label but I'll not spend a penny on anything from them. Though I could be tempted by a used one.

As for rifles etc.... I used to dream of owning one of every caliber of 77s... Glad I never started that at all.

Jeff

Was that the largest they ever made?

I've seen factory 30 round magazines for the mini 14.

Appeasement never works............

Bill Ruger clearly cared much, much more about protecting his investment in Ruger, Inc. than he did about the rights enshrined in the Constitution (specifically the Second Amendment). He was certainly no patriot (and perhaps the complete opposite) when he wrote that letter to Congress.

We need to make sure that people (especially children) know that the reason for the Second Amendment was NOT for being able to own sporting firearms and go hunting (although owning sporting firearms is certainly protected by the 2nd Amendment). The Second Amendment was written in the context of the recent throwing off of tyranny by an armed populace after all attempts to work within the existing government framework failed. A government acting in accordance with the Constitution has nothing to fear of an armed populace - in fact a constitutional government should encourage the populace to be heavily armed (including standard capacity [30-rd] magazines for their AR-15s) as insurance against future tyranny.

The man also spent more money on advertising in the NRA magazines than any man that ever lived. That money defended the 2nd Amendment and directly led to the Republican revolution of 1994 that in the long run ran the clock out on the AWB.

Easy to comdemn and be self righteous when you aren't running a large corporation in an industry where manintaining friends on both sides of the aisle is a neccesity.

There is zero comparison to Cooper. Cooper financially and verbally supported an anti-gunner in the middle of an election and hasn't given the NRA a nickle to Ruger's dollar.