“The reason to come up with this rather specious argument that 12-gauge shotguns have been banned is every hunter in Canada probably owns a 12-gauge shotgun, so suddenly you engage everyone, in theory, by scaring them with the prospect that their shotgun has just been banned.” Next steps in the gun ban plans?
“The gun lobby has a need to try to energize these people and bring them onside,” he said. Somerset said he suspects the intent was to try to mobilize gun owners who have not until now been actively engaged with the gun lobby. “The idea that it would be measured with the choke removed at the muzzle was, in my view, concocted quite deliberately of being able to find a measurement greater than 20 mm, ideally a measurement that a whole bunch of people would be able to repeat at home with their calibres and yell, ‘Oh look, my shotgun has been prohibited,’ and then post that on Twitter with pictures.” Plans include opening a factory and research operation at a site in LaGrange, GA. “Bore is measured behind the choke constriction and that’s always been the standard way of measuring bore,” Somerset said. Remington Firearms announced this week it is moving its headquarters from Ilion, NY, to Georgia.
AJ Somerset, a former gunnery instructor with the Canadian Forces and gun policy expert, said he doesn’t think that clarification will be enough to undo what he called “misinformation” designed to frighten shotgun owners into thinking their guns will be banned.