1.
Springfield, Massachusetts
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Springfield is a city in western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers, the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern Mill River. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 153,060. Metropolitan Springfield, as one of two areas in Massachusetts, had an estimated population of 698,903 as of 2009. The first Springfield in the New World, it is the largest city in Western New England, and the urban, economic and it is the third-largest city in Massachusetts and fourth-largest in New England after Boston, Worcester, and Providence. Hartford, the capital of Connecticut, lies 23.9 miles south of Springfield, bradley International Airport, which sits 12 miles south of Metro Center Springfield, is Hartford-Springfields airport. Springfield was founded in 1636 by English Puritan William Pynchon as Agawam Plantation under the administration of the Connecticut Colony, in 1641 it was renamed after Pynchons hometown of Springfield, Essex, England, following incidents that precipitated the settlement joining the Massachusetts Bay Colony. From 1777 until its closing during the Vietnam War, the Springfield Armory attracted skilled laborers to Springfield, arsenal at Springfield during Shays Rebellion of 1787 led directly to the formation of the U. S. Springfield is located at 42°6′45″N 72°32′51″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 33.2 square miles, of which 32.1 square miles is land and 1.1 square miles is water. Once nicknamed The City in a Forest, Springfield features over 4, aside from its rivers, Springfields 2nd most prominent topographical feature is the citys 735 acres Forest Park, designed by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Forest Park also borders Western Massachusetts most affluent town, Longmeadow, Springfield shares borders with other well-heeled suburbs such as East Longmeadow, Wilbraham, Ludlow and the de-industrializing city of Chicopee. The small cities of Agawam and West Springfield, Massachusetts lie less than a mile from Springfields Metro Center, across the Connecticut River. The City of Springfield also owns the Springfield Country Club, which is located in the city of West Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield, like other cities in southern New England, has a continental climate with four distinct seasons. Winters are cold with a average in January of around 26 °F. During winter, noreaster storms can drop significant snowfalls on Springfield, Springfields summers are very warm and sometimes humid. During summer, several times per month, on hot days afternoon thunderstorms will develop when unstable warm air collides with approaching cold fronts, the daily average in July is around 74 °F. Usually several days during the summer exceed 90 °F, constituting a heat wave, Spring and fall temperatures are usually pleasant, with mild days and crisp, cool nights
2.
Firearm
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A firearm is a portable gun - a barreled weapon that launches one or more projectiles, often driven by the action of an explosive force. The first primitive firearms originated in 13th-century China when the fire lance was combined with projectiles. The technology gradually spread through the rest of East Asia, South Asia, older firearms typically used black powder as a propellant, but modern firearms use smokeless powder or other propellants. Most modern firearms have rifled barrels to impart spin to the projectile for improved flight stability, modern firearms can be described by their caliber or in the case of shotguns their gauge, by the type of action employed together with the usual means of deportment. The word firearms usually is used in a sense restricted to small arms, shooters aim firearms at their targets with hand-eye co-ordination, using either iron sights or optical sights. The accurate range of pistols generally does not exceed 100 yards, while most rifles are accurate to 550 yards using iron sights, some purpose-built sniper rifles are accurate to ranges of more than 2,200 yards. The smallest of all firearms is the handgun, there are three common types of handguns, single-shot pistols, revolvers, and semi-automatic pistols. Revolvers have a number of firing chambers or charge holes in a revolving cylinder, semi-automatic pistols have a single fixed firing chamber machined into the rear of the barrel, and a magazine so they can be used to fire more than one round. Each press of the fires a cartridge, using the energy of the cartridge to activate the mechanism so that the next cartridge may be fired immediately. This is opposed to double-action revolvers which accomplish the end using a mechanical action linked to the trigger pull. Prior to the 19th century, virtually all handguns were single-shot muzzleloaders, with the invention of the revolver in 1818, handguns capable of holding multiple rounds became popular. Certain designs of auto-loading pistol appeared beginning in the 1870s and had largely supplanted revolvers in military applications by the end of World War I. By the end of the 20th century, most handguns carried regularly by military, police and civilians were semi-automatic, both designs are common among civilian gun owners, depending on the owners intention. A long gun is any firearm that is larger than a handgun and is designed to be held. Early long arms, from the Renaissance up to the century, were generally smoothbore firearms that fired one or more ball shot. Most modern long guns are either rifles or shotguns, both are the successors of the musket, diverging from their parent weapon in distinct ways. A rifle is so named for the spiral fluting machined into the surface of its barrel. Shotguns are predominantly smoothbore firearms designed to fire a number of shot, shotguns are also capable of firing single slugs, or specialty rounds such as bean bags, tear gas or breaching rounds
3.
Ammunition
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Ammunition is the general term used for the material fired, scattered, dropped or detonated from any weapon. The term ammunition can be traced back to the mid 17th century, broadly speaking, ammunition refers to both expendable weapons and the component parts of other weapons that create the effect on a target. Nearly all weapons will require some form of ammunition to operate, the word comes from the French la munition, which refers to the material used for war. The terms ammunition and munitions are used interchangeably, although the term munition now usually refers to both the actual weapons system alongside the ammunition required to operate it. The purpose of ammunition is to project a force against a target to have an effect. The most iconic example of ammunition is the cartridge, which all components required to deliver the weapon effect in a single package. Ammunition comes in a range of sizes and types and is often designed to work only in specific weapons systems. However, there are internationally recognized standards for certain types that enable their use across different weapons. There are also types of ammunition that are designed to have a specialized effect on a target, such as armor-piercing shells and tracer ammunition. Ammunition is commonly colored in a manner to assist in the identification. A round is a cartridge containing a projectile, propellant, primer. A shell is a form of ammunition that is fired by a large cannon or artillery piece. Before the mid-19th century, these shells were made of solid materials. However, since that time, they are often filled with high-explosives. A shot refers to a release of a weapons system. This may involve firing just one round or piece of ammunition, a dud refers to loaded ammunition that fails to function as intended, typically failing to detonate on landing. However, it can refer to ammunition that fails to fire inside the weapon, known as a misfire, or when the ammunition only partially functions. Dud ammunition, which is classified as an ordnance, is regarded as highly dangerous
4.
Earnings before interest and taxes
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In accounting and finance, earnings before interest and taxes, is a measure of a firms profit that includes all expenses except interest and income tax expenses. It is the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses, when a firm does not have non-operating income, then operating income is sometimes used as a synonym for EBIT and operating profit. To calculate EBIT, expenses are subtracted from revenues, net income is later obtained by subtracting interest and taxes from the result
5.
Net income
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In business, net income is an entitys income minus cost of goods sold, expenses and taxes for an accounting period. In the context of the presentation of financial statements, the IFRS Foundation defines net income as synonymous with profit, net income is a distinct accounting concept from profit but the same as net profit. Net income can also be calculated by adding a companys operating income to non-operating income, net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings. As profit and earnings are used synonymously for income, net earnings, often, the term income is substituted for net income, yet this is not preferred due to the possible ambiguity. Net income is called the bottom line because it is typically found on the last line of a companys income statement. The items deducted will typically include tax expense, financing expense, likewise, preferred stock dividends will be subtracted too, though they are not an expense. For a merchandising company, subtracted costs may be the cost of goods sold, sales discounts, for a product company advertising, manufacturing, and design and development costs are included
6.
Asset
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In financial accounting, an asset is an economic resource. Anything tangible or intangible that can be owned or controlled to produce value, simply stated, assets represent value of ownership that can be converted into cash. The balance sheet of a firm records the value of the assets owned by that firm. It covers money and other valuables belonging to an individual or to a business, one can classify assets into two major asset classes, tangible assets and intangible assets. Tangible assets contain various subclasses, including current assets and fixed assets, current assets include inventory, while fixed assets include such items as buildings and equipment. Intangible assets are resources and rights that have a value to the firm because they give the firm some kind of advantage in the marketplace. Examples of intangible assets include goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, patents and computer programs, an asset is a resource controlled by the entity as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the entity. One of the most widely accepted accounting definitions of asset is the one used by the International Accounting Standards Board, employees are not considered assets like machinery is, even though they can generate future economic benefits. This is because an entity does not have sufficient control over its employees to satisfy the Frameworks definition of an asset, similarly, in economics an asset is any form in which wealth can be held. The accounting equation is the structure of the balance sheet. It relates assets, liabilities, and owners equity, Assets = Liabilities + Capital Liabilities = Assets − Capital Equity = Assets − Liabilities Assets are listed on the balance sheet. On a companys balance sheet certain divisions are required by generally accepted accounting principles, Assets can be divided into e. g. current assets and fixed assets, often with further subdivisions such as cash, receivables and inventory. Assets are formally controlled and managed within larger organizations via the use of asset tracking tools and these monitor the purchasing, upgrading, servicing, licensing, disposal etc. of both physical and non-physical assets. Current assets are cash and other assets expected to be converted to cash or consumed either in a year or in the operating cycle and these assets are continually turned over in the course of a business during normal business activity. There are 5 major items included into current assets, Cash and cash equivalents – it is the most liquid asset, which includes currency, deposit accounts, short-term investments – include securities bought and held for sale in the near future to generate income on short-term price differences. Receivables – usually reported as net of allowance for non-collectable accounts, inventory – trading these assets is a normal business of a company. The inventory value reported on the sheet is usually the historical cost or fair market value. This is known as the lower of cost or market rule, prepaid expenses – these are expenses paid in cash and recorded as assets before they are used or consumed
7.
Thompson/Center Arms
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Thompson/Center Arms is an American firearms company based in Springfield, Massachusetts. The company is best known for its line of interchangeable-barrel, single-shot pistols, Thompson/Center also manufactures muzzle-loading rifles and is credited with creating the resurgence of their use in the 1970s. In the 1960s, Warren Center developed an unusual break-action, single-shot pistol that later known as the Contender in his basement workshop. Meanwhile, the K. W. Thompson Tool Company had been searching for a product to manufacture year-round, in 1965, Warren Center joined the K. W. Thompson Tool Company, and together, they announced Warren Centers Contender pistol in 1967. As K. W. Thompson Tool began marketing Centers Contender pistol, then, in 1970, Thompson/Center created the modern black powder industry, introducing Warren Centers Hawken-styled black powder muzzle-loader rifle. On January 4,2007, Thompson/Center was purchased by Smith & Wesson, on December 8,2010, Smith & Wesson announced that the original Rochester, New Hampshire plant would be closed and manufacturing was transferred to Springfield, Massachusetts. Thompson/Centers success came with the emergence of long range hunting, target shooting. Their break-action, single-shot design brought rifle-like accuracy and power in a handgun, the Contender, first introduced in 1967, is a break-action, single-shot pistol or rifle with a number of unique features. The first unique feature is the way the barrel is attached to the frame, by removing the fore-end, a large hinge pin is exposed, by pushing this hinge pin out, the barrel can be removed. Since the sights and extractor remain attached to the barrel in the Contender design, a barrel of another caliber can be installed and pinned in place, the fore-end replaced, and the pistol is ready to shoot with a different barrel and pre-aligned sights. This allowed easy changes of calibers, sights, and barrel lengths, the Encore was released in 1983. The Encore uses a different trigger mechanism, designed to be stronger than the original Contenders, the Encore uses a considerably larger and stronger frame than the Contender, and accordingly, is found in over 86 cartridges - ranging from.22 Hornet to the huge.416 Rigby. There has even been one pistol-length stainless barrel made in.600 Nitro Express, the Encore barrel list also includes shotgun barrels in 28,20, and 12 gauge, and muzzleloading barrels in.45.50 caliber, and 12 gauge using #209 shotgun primers. In 2007, Encore rimfire barrels became available in 22 LR and 17 HMR, an upgraded T/C Encore is called the Pro Hunter which generally includes stocks with rubber Flex Tech inserts and are stainless or carbon steel with weather shielding. There are other differences among the rifles including the breech plug on muzzleloader versions. The original Contender, now known as the generation one Contender, was replaced by the G2 Contender soon after the Encore came out, the G2 Contender is essentially dimensionally the same as the original Contender, but uses an Encore style trigger group. Unlike the original Contender, dry-firing of the G2 Contender is possible only in the center hammer position, also, unlike the original Contender, the break-action does not need to be opened/closed to practice dry-firing, provided the hammer is lowered between dry firing shots. The adjustability of G2 Contender triggers is also different from the original G1 Contender
8.
Horace Smith (inventor)
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Horace Smith was an American gunsmith, inventor, and businessman. He and his business partner Daniel B. S. Armory service from 1824 to 1842 and he was employed by various gun makers up to the 1840s, when he moved to Norwich, Connecticut. He is then listed as a partner of Cranston & Smith and it is known that while in Norwich, he engaged in the manufacture of whaling guns and he is credited with the invention of the explosive bullet used to kill whales. Wesson founded the Smith & Wesson Company in Norwich, Connecticut in 1852 to develop the Volcanic rifle, Smith developed a new Volcanic Cartridge, which he patented in 1854. The Smith & Wesson Company was renamed Volcanic Repeating Arms in 1855, in 1856, the partners left Volcanic Repeating Arms to begin a new company and to manufacture a newly designed revolver-and-cartridge combination. They developed more firearms using their own patents along with patents, Smith sold his interest in the company to Wesson in 1874 at the age of 65 and retired. Smith was married three times, first, to Eliza Foster, second, to Eliza Hebbard Jepson, and third, Smith died on January 15,1893. His will apportioned amounts to relatives and institutions and stated that the balance should be used for purposes at the discretion of his executors. The Horace Smith Fund was established in 1899 from his estate to fund scholarships for worthy graduates from schools in Hampden County. Horace Smith at Find a Grave
9.
Daniel B. Wesson
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Daniel Baird Wesson was a firearms designer from the United States. He was the co-founder of Smith & Wesson and responsible for helping develop several influential firearm designs over the course of his life, Daniel Baird Wesson was the son of Rufus and Betsey Wesson. Wesson was married to Cynthia Maria Hawes, May 26,1847 in Thompson, Hawes father objected to the couples engagement fearing that Wesson was a mere gunsmith with no future, forcing the couple to elope. Ironically, Wessons salary at Smith & Wesson would amount to over $160,000 a year by 1865, the couple had one daughter and three sons, Sarah Janette Wesson, Walter Wesson, Frank Wesson, and Joseph Wesson. Wesson partnered with Horace Smith and Courtlandt Palmer to develop the Smith & Wesson Lever pistol, production was in the shop of Horace Smith in Norwich, CT. Originally using the name Smith & Wesson Company, the name was changed to Volcanic Repeating Arms Company in 1855, with the addition of new investors, one of whom was Oliver Winchester. The Volcanic Repeating Arms Company obtained all rights for the Volcanic designs as well as the ammunition, Wesson remained as plant manager for eight months before rejoining Smith to found the Smith & Wesson Revolver Company upon obtaining the licensing of the Rollin White rear loading cylinder patent. In 1856 Smith & Wesson began to produce a small revolver designed to fire the Rimfire cartridge they had patented in August 1854 and this revolver was the first successful fully self-contained cartridge revolver available in the world. Smith & Wesson secured patents for the revolver to prevent other manufacturers producing a cartridge revolver – giving the young company a very lucrative business. At the age of 65, Horace Smith retired from the company, Wesson, making him the sole owner of the firm. In the late 1800s the company introduced its line of hammerless revolvers, in 1899, Smith & Wesson introduced what is arguably the most famous revolver in the world, the.38 Military & Police. This revolver has been in production since that year and has been used by virtually every police agency. In 1900, Daniel Wesson, an advocate of homeopathy. The hospital was located in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1923 the hospital switched from homeopathy to modern-day medicine. Wesson remained active in the firm until his death in 1906, after a four-year illness, Wesson succumbed to. Daniel Wesson was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Springfield, Massachusetts, Wesson II, followed the family tradition as gunsmith. In 1886, Daniel Wesson built a home in Northborough. It is know known as the White Cliffs and was in the past a restaurant and it was closed in December 2014 after the LaCava family decided to sell it
10.
Norwich, Connecticut
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Norwich, known as The Rose of New England, is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 40,493 at the 2010 United States Census, three rivers, the Yantic, the Shetucket, and the Quinebaug, flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to Long Island Sound. Norwichtown was founded in 1659, by settlers from Old Saybrook led by Major John Mason and they purchased the land nine miles square that would become Norwich from the local Native Mohegan Sachem Uncas. In 1668, a wharf was established at Yantic Cove, settlement was primarily in the three-mile area around the Norwichtown Green. The 69 founding families soon divided up the land in the Norwichtown vicinity for farms, by 1694, the public landing built at the head of the Thames River allowed ships to offload goods at the harbor, the harbor area is known as the Chelsea neighborhood. The distance between the port and Norwichtown was serviced by the East and West Roads, which later became Washington Street, the original center of the town was a neighborhood now called Norwichtown, an inland location chosen to be the center of a primarily agricultural farming community. By the latter 18th century, shipping at the harbor began to far more important than farming. By the early 19th century, the center of Norwich had effectively moved to the Chelsea neighborhood, the official buildings of the city were located in the harbor area, such as the City Hall, courts, and post office, and all the large 19th-century urban blocks. The former center is now called Norwichtown to distinguish it from the current city, Norwich merchants were shipping goods directly from England, but the Stamp Act of 1764 forced Norwich to become more self-sufficient. Soon large mills and factories sprang up at the falls on the rivers which traverse the town, the ship captains of Norwich and New London who were skillful at avoiding Imperial taxation during peacetime later were just as successful eluding warships during war. During the American Revolution Norwich supported the cause for independence by supplying soldiers, ships, Norwich was also a center for activity for the Sons of Liberty. One of the most notable figures of the Revolution, Benedict Arnold, was born in Norwich, other Colonial era noteworthies include Samuel Huntington, Christopher Leffingwell, and Daniel Lathrop. Regular steamship service between New York and Boston helped Norwich to prosper as a center through the early part of the 19th century. During the Civil War, Norwich once again rallied and saw the growth of its textile, armaments and this was also spurred by the building of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad in 1832–1837 bringing goods and people both in and out of Norwich. By the 1870s the Springfield and New London Railroad was also running trains through Norwich. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 29.5 sq mi. Several Norwich neighborhoods maintain independent identities and are recognized by official signs marking their boundaries, the population density was 1,274.7 people per square mile. There were 16,600 housing units at a density of 585.9 per square mile
11.
Volcanic Repeating Arms
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The Volcanic Repeating Arms Company was a U. S. company formed in 1855 by partners Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson to develop Walter Hunts Rocket Ball ammunition and lever action mechanism, Volcanic made an improved version of the Rocket Ball ammunition, and a carbine and pistol version of the lever action gun to fire it. While the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company was short lived, its descendants, Smith & Wesson and Winchester Repeating Arms Company, the original 1848 Volition Repeating Rifle design by Hunt was revolutionary, introducing an early iteration of the lever action repeating mechanism and the tubular magazine still common today. However, Hunts design was far from perfect, and only a couple of prototypes were developed, the only one known is currently in the Firearms Museum in Cody, Wyoming. Lewis Jennings patented a version of Hunts design in 1849. Horace Smith was also hired by Courtlandt Palmer to improve the Jennings Rifle and it is estimated that fewer than 2000 of these two models were made until 1852, when financial troubles ceased production. In 1854, partners Horace Smith and Daniel B, production was in the shop of Horace Smith in Norwich, Connecticut. The new cartridge improved upon the Hunt Rocket Ball with the addition of a primer, originally using the name Smith & Wesson Company, the name was changed to Volcanic Repeating Arms Company in 1855, with the addition of new investors, one of which was Oliver Winchester. The Volcanic Repeating Arms Company obtained all rights for the Volcanic designs as well as the ammunition, Wesson remained as plant manager for 8 months before rejoining Smith to found the Smith & Wesson Revolver Company upon obtaining the licensing of the Rollin White rear loading cylinder patent. Tyler Henry was hired as plant superintendent when Robbins & Lawrence suffered financial difficulties, while continuing to make the Volcanic rifle and pistol, Henry began to experiment with the new rimfire ammunition, and modified the Volcanic lever action design to use it. The result was the Henry rifle, by 1866, the company once again reorganized, this time as the Winchester Repeating Arms company, and the name of Winchester became synonymous with lever action rifles. In a 2012 episode of Pawn Stars, titled Bear-ly There, a Volcanic repeating rifle is featured in the western movie For a Few Dollars More and is used by the Man with No Name and El Indio for a brief period of time. The Volcanic pistol is available as a weapon in Activisions Gun, under the name Volcanic Pistol, a Volcanic pistol appears in Techlands Call of Juarez and Call of Juarez, Bound in Blood. It is the most powerful handgun available in both games, the Western-themed card game Bang. also has a Volcanic, it has the shortest range of any gun, but compensates with the unique special ability to fire more than once per turn. The Rider, the character of Edward M. An 1855 Volcanic pistol was featured during the Sons of Guns season 3 episode Worlds Largest Machine Gun in 2012, a Volcanic pistol appears as an unlockable item for the Shinsengumi agent in Total War, Shogun 2 and is available as a starter weapon in Fistful of Frags. The Volcanic Arms, American Rifleman, November 1957 Madis, George, The Winchester Book, Art, Volcanic Rifles & Pistols Winchester.44 Carbine Yellowboy http, //www. imfdb. org/wiki/For_a_Few_Dollars_More
12.
Cartridge (weaponry)
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Military and commercial producers continue to pursue the goal of caseless ammunition. A cartridge without a bullet is called a blank, One that is completely inert is called a dummy. Some artillery ammunition uses the same concept as found in small arms. In other cases, the shell is separate from the propellant charge. In popular use, the bullet is often misused to refer to a complete cartridge. The cartridge case seals a firing chamber in all directions excepting the bore, a firing pin strikes the primer and ignites it. The primer compound deflagrates, it does not detonate, a jet of burning gas from the primer ignites the propellant. Gases from the burning powder pressurize and expand the case to seal it against the chamber wall and these propellant gases push on the bullet base. In response to pressure, the bullet will move in the path of least resistance which is down the bore of the barrel. After the bullet leaves the barrel, the pressure drops to atmospheric pressure. The case, which had been expanded by chamber pressure. This eases removal of the case from the chamber, brass is a commonly used case material because it is resistant to corrosion. A brass case head can be work-hardened to withstand the pressures of cartridges. The neck and body portion of a case is easily annealed to make the case ductile enough to allow reforming so that it can be reloaded many times. Steel is used in some plinking ammunition, as well as in military ammunition. Steel is less expensive than brass, but it is not feasible to reload, Military forces typically consider small arms cartridge cases to be disposable, one-time-use devices. However, case weight affects how much ammunition a soldier can carry, conversely, steel is more susceptible to contamination and damage so all such cases are varnished or otherwise sealed against the elements. One downside caused by the strength of steel in the neck of these cases is that propellant gas can blow back past the neck
13.
Oliver Winchester
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Oliver Fisher Winchester was an American businessman and politician. He was the son of Samuel Winchester and Hannah Bates and was born in Boston on November 30,1810 and he married Jane Ellen Hope in Boston on February 20,1834. Their children were, Ann Rebecca Winchester who married Charles B, Winchester started as a clothing manufacturer in New York City and New Haven, Connecticut. During this period he discovered that a division of Smith & Wesson firearms was failing financially with one of their newly patented arms. Having an eye for opportunity, Winchester assembled venture capital together with other stockholders and acquired the S&W division, better known as the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company, in 1850. By 1857, Winchester had positioned himself as the principal stockholder in the company and relocated to New Haven, fortunately for Winchester, he inherited a brilliant engineer, Benjamin Tyler Henry, who proved to be an invaluable asset. Henry sought to improve on the Volcanic repeating rifle by enlarging the frame and magazine to accommodate seventeen of his newly redesigned, all-brass cased.44 caliber rimfire cartridges. This new cartridge put the new company on the map, and Henrys ingenuity was rewarded with a patent in his name October 16,1860, for what became the famous Henry rifle. The Henry rifle was manufactured for almost six years with a production of approximately 12,000 rifles. Following the success of the Henry rifle, the company was reorganized once more, the first Winchester rifle was the Model 1866, the Yellow Boy. Repeating rifles were used to some extent in the American Civil War, however, the United States Army at that time did not use many repeating rifles as they represented a new, untested technology. Repeating rifles were not widely used until after the war, when they became popular with civilians. Military authorities concentrated primarily on perfecting breech-loading single shot rifles for more years. With thousands of rifles in the hands of the average pioneer, oliver Winchester was also active in politics, serving as a New Haven City Commissioner, Republican Presidential elector in 1864, and as Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1866 -1867. When Winchester died on December 11,1880, his ownership in the passed to his son, William Wirt Winchester
14.
Samuel Colt
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Samuel Colt was an American inventor and industrialist from Hartford, Connecticut. He founded Colts Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company, and made the production of the revolver commercially viable. Colts first two ventures were producing firearms in Paterson, New Jersey and making underwater mines, both ended in disappointment. But his business expanded rapidly after 1847, when the Texas Rangers ordered 1,000 revolvers during the American war with Mexico, during the American Civil War, his factory in Hartford supplied firearms both to the North and the South. Later, his firearms were prominent during the settling of the western frontier, Colt died in 1862 as one of the wealthiest men in America. Colts manufacturing methods were at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution and his use of interchangeable parts helped him become one of the first to use the assembly line efficiently. Moreover, his use of art, celebrity endorsements, and corporate gifts to promote his wares made him a pioneer in the fields of advertising, product placement. Samuel Colt was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Christopher Colt, a farmer who had moved his family to the city after he became a businessman, and Sarah Colt, born Caldwell. His mothers father, Major John Caldwell, had been an officer in the Continental Army, Sarah died from tuberculosis when Samuel was six years old, and his father remarried two years later, to Olivia Sargeant. Samuel had three sisters, one of whom died during her childhood and his oldest sister, Margaret, died of tuberculosis at 19 and the other, Sarah Ann, later committed suicide. One brother, James, became a lawyer, another, Christopher, was a textile merchant. Colt, a man of many occupations, killed a creditor in 1841 in New York City, was convicted of the murder, at age 11, Colt was indentured to a farmer in Glastonbury, where he did chores and attended school. Here he was introduced to the Compendium of Knowledge, an encyclopedia that he preferred to read rather than his Bible studies. Its articles on Robert Fulton and gunpowder motivated Colt throughout his life and he discovered that other inventors in the Compendium had accomplished things that were once deemed impossible, and he wanted to do the same. In 1829, at the age of 15, Colt began working in his fathers textile plant in Ware, Massachusetts, where he had access to tools, materials, sent to boarding school, he amused his classmates with pyrotechnics. In 1830, a July 4 accident caused a fire ended his schooling. On a voyage to Calcutta on board the brig Corvo, he noticed that regardless of which way the ships wheel was spun and he later said that this gave him the idea for the revolver. On the Corvo, Colt made a model of a pepperbox revolver out of scrap wood
15.
Revolver
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A revolver is a repeating handgun that has a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. Revolvers might be regarded as a subset of pistols, or as a subset of handguns. Though the term revolver usually only refers to handguns, other firearms may also have a revolving chamber and these include some models of grenade launchers, shotguns, and rifles. Most revolvers contain five or six rounds in the cylinder, though the original name was revolving gun, the short-hand revolver is universally used. The revolver allows the user to fire multiple rounds without reloading, each time the user cocks the hammer, the cylinder revolves to align the next chamber and round with the hammer and barrel, which gives this type of firearm its name. In a single-action revolver, the user pulls the back with his free hand or thumb. In a double-action revolver, pulling the trigger moves the back, then releases it. Loading and unloading a double-action revolver requires the operator to swing out the cylinder and insert the proper ammunition, the first guns with multichambered cylinders that revolved to feed one barrel were made in the late 16th century in Europe. They were expensive and rare curiosities, not until the 19th century would revolvers become common weapons of industrial production. One of the first was a flintlock revolver patented by Elisha Collier in 1814, the first percussion revolver was made by Lenormand of Paris in 1820 and the first percussion cap revolver was invented by the Italian Francesco Antonio Broccu in 1833. He received a prize of 300 francs for his invention, although he did not patent it, however, in 1835 a similar handgun was patented by Samuel Colt, who would go on to make the first mass-produced revolver. The first cartridge revolvers were produced around 1854 by Eugene Lefaucheux, revolvers soon became standard for nearly all uses. In the early 20th century, semi-automatic pistols were developed, which can hold more rounds, Automatic pistols also have a flat profile, more suitable for concealed carry. Automatic pistols have almost completely replaced revolvers in military and law enforcement use, revolvers still remain popular as back-up and off-duty handguns among American law enforcement officers and security guards. Also, revolvers are still common in the American private sector as defensive, in the development of firearms, an important limiting factor was the time it took to reload the weapon after it was fired. While the user was reloading, the weapon was useless, several approaches to the problem of increasing the rate of fire were developed, the earliest being multi-barrelled weapons which allowed two or more shots without reloading. Later weapons featured multiple barrels revolving along a single axis, the earliest examples of what today is called a revolver were made in Germany in the late 16th century. These weapons featured a barrel with a revolving cylinder holding the powder
16.
Colt's Manufacturing Company
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Colts Manufacturing Company is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt. It is the corporation to Colts earlier firearms-making efforts, which started in 1836. Colts earliest designs played a role in the popularization of the revolver. Although Samuel Colt did not invent the concept, his designs resulted in the first very successful ones. The most famous Colt products include the Colt Walker, made 1847 in the facilities of Eli Whitney Jr. Though they did not develop it, for a long time Colt was also responsible for all AR-15 and M16 rifle production. The most successful and famous of these are numerous M16 carbines, including the Colt Commando family, in 2002, Colt Defense was split off from Colts Manufacturing Company. Colts Manufacturing Company now serves the market, while Colt Defense serves the law enforcement, military. The two companies remained in the same West Hartford, Connecticut location cross-licensing certain merchandise before reuniting in 2013, following the loss of its M4 contract in 2013, Colt was briefly in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, starting in 2015. Samuel Colt received a British patent on his design for a revolver in 1835. That same year, he founded his first corporation for its manufacture, the first firearm manufactured at the new Paterson plant, however, was the Colt First Model Ring Lever rifle beginning in 1837. This was followed thereafter in late 1837 by the introduction of the Colt Paterson. This corporation suffered quality problems in production, making firearms with interchangeable parts was still rather new, and it was not yet easy to replicate across different factories. Interchangeability was not complete in the Paterson works, and traditional gunsmithing techniques did not fill the gap entirely there, the Colt Paterson revolver found patchy success and failure, some worked well, while others had problems. The United States Marine Corps and United States Army reported quality problems with these earliest Colt revolvers, production had ended at the New Jersey corporation by 1842. Colt made another attempt at revolver production in 1846 and submitted a prototype to the US government, during the Mexican–American War, this prototype was seen by Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker who made some suggestions to Colt about making it in a larger caliber. Having no factory or machinery to produce the pistols, Samuel Colt collaborated with the Whitney armory of Whitneyville and this armory was run by the family of Eli Whitney. Eli Whitney Jr, the son of the patriarch, was the head of the family armory
17.
Rollin White
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Rollin White was an American gunsmith who invented a bored-through revolver cylinder that allowed metallic cartridges to be loaded from the rear of a revolvers cylinder. White was born in Williamstown, Vermont in 1818 and he learned gunsmithing from his older brother, J. D. White in 1837 and would later claim that the idea for a rear-loading Pepper-box revolver came to him while working in his brothers shop in 1839. In 1849 he went to work for Colts Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company as a gunsmith under contract, during this time he procured two junk or scrapped revolver cylinders from Colt and placed them in his barrel lathe, cutting the front off one and the rear off the other. He assembled these parts into a single bored-through cylinder that would fit in a Colt revolver, up until that time, revolvers were black-powder percussion arms. The shooter had to pour powder into each of the six cylinder mouths, push a bullet over the powder, while the cartridge revolver was known in Europe, Rollin Whites famous patent combined a cylinder and a box magazine. It was a completely unworkable design which never went into production, Whites original solution for the misfires that plagued early revolvers was to plug the rear of the chambers with pieces of leather. The patent drawings imply that a cap would have had to be applied to the single nipple for each shot. For the next three years, White worked on his idea while working at Colts, during which Colt granted White a contract to manufacture the lockwork of revolvers, White was granted a patent in 1855, Improvement in Repeating Fire-arms. The next year, White signed an agreement granting Smith & Wesson the exclusive use of his patent, at a royalty rate of 25 cents for every revolver. After the Smith & Wesson Model 1 revolver came on the market, White began production of a revolver of his own in 1861 in a factory in Lowell, Massachusetts called Rollin White Arms Company. Approximately 4300 revolvers were made under Rollin White Arms, most of which were sold to Smith & Wesson to keep up with demand, White liquidated the company in 1864 and the assets were bought by Lowell Arms Company, which began manufacturing revolvers directly infringing on Whites patent. White sued them, but not until after they had made 7500 revolvers, White and S&W brought infringement cases against Manhattan Firearms Company, Allen & Wheelock, Merwin & Bray, National Arms Company and others. The courts mostly sided with White, but allowed these manufacturers to continue production runs, in some cases, Smith & Wesson bought the guns back to remark and sell, such guns are marked APRIL31855 as a patent date. In 1867 White offered to sell the patent to Colts for $1 million, furthermore, White pointed out that the bulk of his earnings was spent on litigation as others infringed on his idea. Congress passed a bill granting White a rehearing, the act was styled, An act for the relief of Rollin White (S.273. The bill passed both houses of congress with no debate, but was vetoed by President Ulysses S. Grant, Dyer claimed that Whites patent litigation during the American Civil War served as an inconvenience and embarrassment to Union forces for the inability of manufacturers to use this patent. No further votes were held and the bill died, Rollin White continued his efforts with Congress, and by 1877 he finally gave up any possibility of extension. White invented the knife-edge breech block and self-cocking device for the box-lock Model 1851 Sharps rifle and these rifles were built by White, Christian Sharps, and Richard Lawrence at Robbins & Laurence in Windsor, Vermont
18.
American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
19.
Smith & Wesson Model 1
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The Smith & Wesson Model 1 was the first firearm manufactured by Smith & Wesson, with production spanning the years 1857 through 1882. It was the first commercially successful revolver to use rimfire cartridges instead of powder, musket ball. It is a single-action, tip-up revolver holding seven.22 Short black powder cartridges, as Samuel Colts patent on the night revolver was set to expire in 1856, Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson were researching a prototype for a cartridge revolver. Rather than make White a partner in their company, Smith and it would become Whites responsibility to defend his patent in any court cases which eventually led to his financial ruin, but was very advantageous for the new Smith & Wesson Company. The Model 1 had three issues or major variants, with each subsequent issue introducing significant technical changes, the 1st Issue of the Model 1 was the first major iteration, with approximately 12,000 produced over a three year period. There are six variations of the Model 1, first identified in an article by John Kountz in the April 1956 issue of The Gun Report. In this article, Kountz noted specific differences in the shield, the barrel latch. Serial numbers were issued sequentially for the Model 1 1st Issues ranging from 1 through approximately 12,000, the 2nd Issue of the Model 1 looked similar to the 1st Issue, with several notable differences. The side plate on the 2nd Issue was much larger and irregularly shaped, the profile of the frame was flatter, and the hammer was now made in one piece. Model 1 2nd Issues still had the flared, square cornered shaped grip and the octagonal tip-up style frame, there are several variations of the 2nd Issue guns. Variants between serial numbers 12,000 through to about 20,000 involve the shape of the plate, the design of the trigger spring. There was also a decrease in the size of the barrel roll stamps at around serial number 95,000, 2nd Issue marked 2D QUALTY are also seen occasionally. There were approximately 110,000 2nd Issues produced from 1860 through 1868, the Model 1, 3rd Issue represented a substantial redesign for the Model 1, with a fluted cylinder, a round barrel and a rounded birds head style grip. Finishes included full nickel plating, full blued steel, and a half plate nickel/blue combo, variants include the square and triangular top strap design that changed around serial number 9,500. The 3rd Issue guns were produced from 1868 through 1882 with serial numbers from 1 through approximately 131,000 and this popularity led to numerous knockoffs and patent infringements by other armsmakers. Rolin White and S&W brought infringement cases against Manhattan Firearms Company, Ethan Allen, Merwin & Bray, National Arms Company, the courts mostly allowed these manufacturers to continue production runs, with a royalty on each revolver paid to White. In some cases, Smith & Wesson bought the back to remark and sell
20.
.22 Short
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.22 Short is a variety of.22 caliber rimfire ammunition. Developed in 1857 for the first Smith & Wesson revolver, the.22 rimfire was the first American metallic cartridge, the original loading was a 29 or 30 gr bullet and 4 gr of black powder. The original.22 rimfire cartridge was renamed.22 Short with the introduction of the.22 Long in 1871. Developed for self defense, the modern.22 Short, though used in a few pocket pistols. The.22 Short was popularly used in shooting galleries at fairs and arcades, several makes of starter pistols use.22 Short blank cartridges. Some powder-actuated nail guns use the.22 Short cartridge as a power source, most.22 Short bullets are made of lead in round nose or hollow point styles. Bullets for use at shooting galleries were often made of compressed powdered metal that disintegrated on impact to avoid ricochets and over-penetration of backstops. The standard velocity.22 Short launches a 29-grain bullet at 1,045 feet per second with 70 ft·lbf of energy from a 22 in rifle barrel and can penetrate 2 inches of soft pine. As a hunting round, the high velocity hollow point Short is useful only for small game such as tree squirrels, for small game hunting in general, the greater energy and wider ammunition selection of the.22 Long Rifle make it a more popular choice. In the American South, the.22 Short hollow point is very popular for use on raccoons. In some states, the.22 Short is the only round to use for such hunting. Although the.22 Long Rifle has surpassed the.22 Short in the place, many ammunition companies still produce.22 Shorts. Most makers utilize the standard 29-grain solid round nose bullet and 27-grain hollow point bullet weights for the.22 Short. The.22 Short high-velocity exceeds the performance of the.22 Long, fiocchi makes their Exacta Compensated Super Match SM200 with lead round nose at 650 ft/s. Remington produces a high velocity plated round nose at 1,095 ft/s, aguila makes both a match lead round nose at 1,095 ft/s, and a high speed round with plated bullet also listed at 1,095 ft/s. Also available is the RWS R25 match ammunition at 560 ft/s, eley also makes their rapid fire match cartridge at 750 ft/s. Most of the target oriented and CB Shorts are very quiet, when fired from a full-length rifle barrel, most.22 Short loadings are as quiet as if not quieter than, the average air rifle. There have been many rifles chambered for the.22 Short over the years, many rifles in.22 Short were made between 1901 and 1940, mostly intended for gallery shooting and small game hunting
21.
.44 S&W American
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The.44 S&W American is an American centerfire revolver cartridge. Used in the Smith & Wesson Model 3, it was introduced around 1869, between 1871 and 1873, the.44 Model 3 was used as the standard United States Army sidearm. It was also offered in the Merwin Hulbert & Co. Army revolvers and it used an outside lubricated heeled bullet and appeared in either Boxer and Berdan priming, and both black and smokeless powder loadings. Its power resembles the.41 Long Colt. 32-20 Winchester, or. 44-40 Winchester, the.44 American ceased to be commercially available around 1940. It can be handloaded by shortening and reforming.44 Special cases, original black-powder revolvers should only use black-powder loads, modern powders will generate excessive pressures. During the Gunfight at the O. K. Corral on October 26,1881, Earp had received the weapon as a gift from Tombstone, Arizona mayor and Tombstone Epitaph newspaper editor John Clum. List of cartridges by caliber Table of handgun and rifle cartridges 11mm caliber Barnes, Frank C. ed. by John T. Amber.44 S&W American, in Cartridges of the World, pp.167 &177. Barnes, Frank C. ed. by John T. Amber. 32-20 Winchester in Cartridges of the World, Barnes, Frank C. ed. by John T. Amber. 44-40 Winchester in Cartridges of the World, p.61
22.
Smith & Wesson Model 3
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Schofield, who made his own modifications to the Model 3 to meet his perceptions of the Cavalrys needs. Smith & Wesson incorporated these modifications into an 1875 design they named after the Major, the S&W Model 3 was originally chambered for the.44 S&W American and.44 Russian cartridges, and typically did not have the cartridge information stamped on the gun. Model 3 revolvers were produced in an assortment of calibers, including.44 Henry Rimfire. 44-40. 32-44. 38-44. The design would influence the smaller S&W.38 Single Action that is referred to as the Model 2. Smith & Wesson produced large numbers of the Model 3, in three models, for the Russian Empire by special order. The Russian and European copies of the S&W Model 3 revolver were generally of high quality. This led to the Imperial government cancelling the order for significant quantities of Smith & Wesson–made revolvers, and delaying payment for the handguns that had already been delivered. The U. S. Army adopted the.44 S&W American caliber Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolver in 1870, most military pistols until that point were black powder cap and ball revolvers, which were slow, complicated, and susceptible to the effects of wet weather. Smith & Wesson instead developed their own, slightly shorter.45 caliber round, when it became obvious in the field that the two cartridges would not work interchangeably in the Schofield, the U. S. Government adopted the shorter.45 Schofield cartridge as the standard cartridge. Despite the change, old stocks of the longer.45 Colt rounds in the line caused the Army to drop most of the Schofields. Many of the S&W Model 3 Schofield revolvers saw service in the Indian Wars, the Smith & Wesson No.3 revolver was famously used by Wyatt Earp during the OK Corral Gunfight with the Clanton Gang. While the standard length was 7, many Schofields were purchased as surplus by distributors, and had the barrels shortened to 5. After the Spanish–American War of 1898, the US Army sold off all their surplus Schofield revolvers and these revolvers were then inspected by the Wells Fargo armorer and uniquely stamped W. F. Lieutenant Colonel Schofield shot himself on December 17,1882, with a S&W Schofield revolver after suffering a bout of illness, stress. The Schofield was produced in various versions, the First Model Schofield has a latch configuration that is rather pointed at the top and has a circle around the screw head at the bottom. The Second Model latch has a raised circle at the top of the latch. In the previous engineering, the posts of the frame would wear out after heavy usage, Schofields improvement called for heat treated, replaceable components at this sensitive wear area of the catch and latch. The serial number range also will give an indication of whether it is First or Second Model, in 1877, S&W discontinued production of its other Model 3s such as the American, Russian, and Schofield—in favor a new improved design called the New Model Number Three
23.
Smith & Wesson Model 10
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In production since 1899, it is a six-shot double-action revolver with fixed sights. Over its long run it has been available with barrel lengths of 2 in,3 in,4 in,5 in. Barrels of 2.5 inches are also known to have made for special contracts. Some 6,000,000 of the type have been produced over the years, making it the most popular centerfire revolver of the 20th century. In 1899, the United States Army and Navy placed orders with Smith & Wesson for two to three thousand Model 1899 Hand Ejector revolvers chambered for the M1892.38 Long Colt U. S, in 1902 the.38 Military & Police was introduced, featuring substantial changes. These included major modification and simplification of the internal lockwork and the addition of a locking underlug on the barrel to engage the previously free-standing ejector rod, barrel lengths were 4,5,6, and 6.5 inches with a rounded butt. Serial numbers for the Military & Police ranged from number 1 in the series to 20,975, most of the early M&P revolvers chambered in.38 Special appear to have been sold to the civilian market. By 1904, S&W was offering the.38 M&P with a rounded or square butt, and 4-, 5-, heat treating of cylinders began in 1919. The S&W Model 10 military revolvers produced from 1942 to 1944 had serial numbers with a V prefix and it is noteworthy that early Victory Models did not always have the V prefix. Most Victory Models sent to Britain were fitted with 4-inch or 5-inchbarrels, the Victory Model was used by United States forces during World War II, being chambered in the well-known and popular.38 Special cartridge. Some of these remained in service well into the 1990s with units of the United States Armed Forces. Until the introduction of the Beretta M9 9mm pistol in 1990, U. S. Army helicopter crew members, criminal Investigation Division agents were issued.38 caliber revolvers with two inch barrels. The Victory Model remained in use with Air National Guard tanker, rechambering of. 38-200 cylinders to.38 Special results in oversized chambers, which may cause problems. Lee Harvey Oswald was carrying a re-chambered Victory Model when he was apprehended on November 22,1963, other distinguishing features of the Victory Model revolver are the lanyard loop at the bottom of the grip frame, and the use of smooth walnut grip panels. However some early models did use a grip, most notably the pre-1942 manufacture. After World War II, Smith & Wesson returned to manufacturing the M&P series, in 1957, Smith & Wesson adopted the convention of using numeric designations to distinguish their various models of handguns, and the M&P was renamed the Model 10. The M&P/Model 10 has been available in blued steel finish and nickel finish for most of its production run. The model has also offered throughout the years with both the round butt and square butt, i. e. grip patterns
24.
Smith & Wesson Model 27
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The Smith & Wesson Model 27 is the original.357 Magnum revolver. It was first produced in 1935, and many versions of it are still in production today. The Model 27 was built on Smith & Wessons carbon steel, large N-frame, when first introduced by Smith & Wesson in 1935, it was known as the Registered Magnum. The model was essentially a custom-order revolver, barrel lengths could be had in quarter-inch increments from 3.5 to 8.75 inches in length. In addition to the different lengths of barrels available, there were different grips, front sights, triggers, hammers, each Registered Magnum came with a certificate of authenticity. The Kansas City Police Department issued the Registered Magnum to its officers, in 1939 Smith & Wesson stopped producing the Registered Magnum. It was replaced with the.357 Magnum, the.357 Magnum was available with barrel lengths of 3.5,5,6.5 and 8.75 inches. It has been reported that these were the most popular barrel lengths for the Registered Magnum, essentially the.357 Magnum was still the Registered Magnum, but standardized for ease of production and economy. The Smith & Wesson Model 28 Highway Patrolman was introduced as a lower-cost version of the Model 27 in 1954, stripped of some of the features of the Model 27 and it was noted for its durability and reliability. The 3 1⁄2-inch barrel length was extremely popular with FBI agents from the 1940s through the 1960s, skeeter Skelton considered the Model 27 with a 5-inch barrel as the best all-around handgun. General George Patton carried an ivory-handled Registered Magnum with a 3 1⁄2-inch barrel, the stainless steel Model 627 was introduced in 1989 as the Model of 1989. It featured a 5 1⁄2-inch barrel, a 6-shot unfluted cylinder, in 1996 the Smith & Wesson Performance Center began production of an 8-shot 627. The revolver has a 2. 625-inch barrel with no muzzle brake or ports, the revolver is made of stainless steel, with a matte finish and wood grips. In 2008, the eight-shot, scandium-framed Smith & Wesson Model 327 was introduced, a variant of the 327, the 327NG, is part of the NightGuard line. The Smith & Wesson Model 327PD is an 8-shot double-action revolver that has a 4-inch barrel with no muzzle brake or ports and it has a scandium alloy frame and a titanium cylinder. It comes with rosewood Hogue grips and it uses a light-gathering HI-VIZ front sight and an adjustable V-notch rear sight. The revolver finish is a matte black, with a matte gray cylinder. The S&W TRR8 and M8 are recent advances of the 327 line, Smith and Wesson now include the Model 27 in two variations in their current Classics Line of Revolvers
25.
.357 Magnum
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The.357 S&W Magnum, or simply.357 Magnum, is a revolver cartridge with a. 357-inch bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B, Wesson of firearms manufacturers Smith & Wesson and Winchester. It is based upon Smith & Wessons earlier.38 Special cartridge, the.357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in 1934, and its use has since become widespread. This cartridge started the Magnum era of handgun ammunition, the.357 Magnum cartridge is notable for its stopping power. The.357 Magnum was collaboratively developed over a period in the early to mid-1930s by a group of individuals in a response to Colts.38 Super Automatic. Tests at the revealed that those vests defeated any handgun cartridge traveling at less than about 1,000 feet per second. Colts.38 Super Automatic just edged over that velocity and was able to penetrate car doors and vests that bootleggers and gangsters were employing as cover. Though.38 and.357 would seem to be different diameter chamberings, they are in fact identical, the.38 Special nomenclature relates to the previous use of heeled bullets, which were the same diameter as the case. Thus, the only difference in the two cartridges is a slight difference in length, solely for safety purposes. Much credit for the. 357s early development is given to hunter and experimenter Elmer Keith, the. 38-44 HV load used the. 38-Special cartridge loaded to a much higher velocity than standard. 38-Special ammunition. The. 38-44 revolvers were made by using a.44 Special size gun with the barrel bored to accept. 357-caliber bullets, since the frame, cylinder, and barrel were much stronger than the standard.38 Special components, it was capable of withstanding much higher pressures. The. 38-44 HV round, while no longer available, was in most cases the equal of the later.357 Magnum, which works at more than double the pressure of standard.38 Special. Elmer Keith also contributed the Keith-style bullet, which increased the mass of bullet located outside the cartridge, the Keith bullet also employed a large, flat meplat, thus enabling rapid energy transfer for greater wounding properties. At the same time, this design does not deform like a hollow point. These characteristics of the Keith bullet make it suitable for hunting applications as well as for target shooting. In order to reassert itself as the leading law-enforcement armament provider, Smith & Wesson developed the.357 Magnum, Wesson leading the effort within Smith & Wesson, along with considerable technical assistance from Phillip B. Sharpe, a member of the Technical Division staff of the National Rifle Association, the new round was developed from Smith & Wessons existing.38 Special round. It used a different powder load, and ultimately the case was extended by 1⁄8 inch, the case extension was more a matter of safety than of necessity
26.
Smith & Wesson Model 29
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The Smith & Wesson Model 29 is a six-shot, double-action revolver chambered for the.44 Magnum cartridge and manufactured by the U. S. company Smith & Wesson. The Model 29 was offered with 3,4,5,6, 6½, 8⅜ and, later, other barrel lengths were available either by special order from Smith & Wessons Custom Shop or custom built by gunsmiths. The 5 barreled variant had a full length underlug, finish options available included a highly polished blued or nickel-plated surface. At the time of its introduction, the Model 29 was the most powerful production handgun and it was made famous by association with the fictional character Dirty Harry Callahan. The Model 29 will chamber and fire.44 Special cartridges, the Magnum case is slightly longer to prevent magnum rounds from being chambered and fired in handguns chambered for the.44 Special. Elmer Keiths achievements in maximizing the power and performance of the.44 Special was the inspiration, S&Ws production of a large N-frame revolver in.44 Magnum began in 1955, the Model 29 designation was applied in 1957. At the time of its introduction, the Model 29 was the most powerful production handgun, there were a number of custom calibers that were more powerful, as in the old Howdah pistols of the 19th century. After the movies release, retailers had trouble keeping the Model 29 in stock, the original Model 29 was superseded by the Model 29-1 in 1960, with modifications made to the ejector-rod screw. The Model 29-2 replaced it the year, with one screw that had secured the cylinder-stop spring being deleted. The barrel length was shortened from 6 1/2 to 6 in 1979 and these two versions are known as pinned and recessed. Pinned means that the barrels are screwed in, and secured by a pin driven through the frame, recessed denotes the rear of the bored cylinder holes being countersunk, so that, when loaded, the cartridge rims are fully enclosed by the cylinder. In 1982, the cost-cutting Model 29-3 dropped recessed cylinders and pinned barrels for crush-fit barrels, the -4 and -5, produced from 1988 and 1990 respectively had changes to improve durability for heavy use. In 1994 the 29-6 began production, now fitted as standard with rubber Monogrips from Hogue to replace the wooden items. The 29-7 started production in 1998 with changes to the mechanism, the firing pins attachment. Introduced in 1978, the Smith & Wesson Model 629 is a steel version of the Model 29. The 629 Classic variant features a full-length barrel underlug, other include the 629 Stealth Hunter. Some S&W model 29s were rebuilt by the AAI Corporation to make the Quiet Special Purpose Revolvers and this special ammunition was made by AAI. This pistol was developed from 1967 to 1971 to be used by rats in the Vietnam War
27.
.44 Magnum
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The.44 Remington Magnum, or simply.44 Magnum, and frequently.44 Mag, is a large-bore cartridge originally designed for revolvers. After its introduction, it was adopted for carbines and rifles. Despite the.44 designation, guns chambered for the.44 Magnum round, and its parent, the.44 Magnum is based on a lengthened.44 Special case, loaded to higher pressures for greater velocity. The.44 Magnum cartridge was the end result of years of tuned handloading of the.44 Special, the.44 Special, and other large-bore handgun cartridges, were being loaded with heavy bullets, pushed at higher than normal velocities for better hunting performance. One of these handloaders was Elmer Keith, a writer and outdoorsman of the 20th century, Elmer Keith settled on the.44 Special cartridge as the basis for his experimentation, rather than the larger.45 Colt. At the time, the selection of.44 caliber projectiles for handloaders was more varied, also, the.44 Special case was smaller in diameter than the.45 Colt case. In revolvers of the cylinder size, this meant the.44 caliber revolvers had thicker. This allowed higher pressures to be used with less risk of a burst cylinder, Keith encouraged Smith & Wesson and Remington to produce a commercial version of this new high-pressure loading, and revolvers chambered for it. Smith & Wessons first.44 Magnum revolver, the Model 29, was built on December 15,1955, julian Hatcher, and Elmer Keith received two of the first production models. Hatchers review of the new Smith & Wesson revolver and the.44 Magnum cartridge appeared in the March,1956 issue of the magazine, Smith & Wesson produced 3,100 of these revolvers in 1956. By the summer of 1956, Sturm, Ruger became aware of this project, Ruger began shipping their new revolver in late November,1956. The film Dirty Harry, prominently featuring the S&W M29, contributed to that models popularity, Ruger introduced its first long gun, a semi-automatic carbine called the Ruger Model 44 chambered for.44 Magnum, in 1959. Marlin followed soon after with a lever action Model 1894 in.44 Magnum, the. 38-40 Winchester and. 32-20 Winchester were also available in both carbines and revolvers, allowing the shooter to use one type of ammunition for both firearms. In 2006, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the.44 Magnum, Ruger introduced a special 50th anniversary Blackhawk revolver, the.44 Magnum delivers a large, heavy bullet with high velocity for a handgun. In its full-powered form, it produces so much recoil and muzzle blast that it is considered to be unsuitable for use as a police weapon. Rapid fire is difficult and strenuous on the hands, especially for shooters of smaller build or with small hands. Although marketed as a.44 caliber, the.44 Magnum, the.44 designation is a carryover from the early measurements of heeled bullets, used in the later 19th century. In those times, bullets were measured on the outside of the cartridge, not the inside of the cartridge
28.
Dirty Harry
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Dirty Harry is a 1971 American action thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector Dirty Harry Callahan. The film drew upon the case of the Zodiac Killer as the Callahan character seeks out a similar vicious psychopath. Dirty Harry was a critical and commercial success and set the style for a genre of police films. It was followed by four sequels, Magnum Force in 1973, The Enforcer in 1976, Sudden Impact in 1983, in 2012, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. A psychopathic serial killer calling himself Scorpio shoots a woman in a San Francisco swimming pool from a nearby rooftop. The chief of police and the mayor assign the inspector to the case, while in a local diner, Callahan observes a bank robbery in progress. He goes outside, wielding his Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver, Callahan then challenges him, I know what you’re thinking, Did he fire six shots or only five. Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, but being this is a.44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question, Do I feel lucky. After the robber surrenders, he tells Callahan that he must know if the gun was still loaded, Callahan pulls the trigger, with the weapon pointed directly at the robber, and laughs, as it is revealed to be empty. Scorpio targets a gay male, but is interrupted by a police helicopter. Later that night, Callahan and his partner, Chico Gonzalez pursue a likely suspect. Following that, Callahan successfully halts a suicide attempt, after which he reveals that the origin of his nickname comes from the fact that he is given every dirty job to do. When Scorpio kills a black boy from another rooftop, the police believe the killer will next pursue a Catholic priest. Scorpio escapes, killing a police officer disguised as a priest, Scorpio then demands $200,000 for a teenage girl he has kidnapped, threatening to let her suffocate otherwise. The mayor decides to pay and tells Callahan to deliver the money with no tricks, but the inspector wears a covert listening device, brings a switchblade, and has his partner follow him. As Scorpio sends Callahan to various payphones throughout the city to make sure he is alone, Scorpio brutally beats Callahan and tells him hes going to kill him and let the girl die anyway, Gonzalez comes to his partners rescue but is wounded. Callahan stabs Scorpio in the leg, but the killer escapes without the money, the doctor who has treated Scorpios wound phones the police and tells Callahan and his new partner that he has seen Scorpio in Kezar Stadium
29.
War on drugs
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However, two years prior to this, Nixon had formally declared a war on drugs that would be directed toward eradication, interdiction, and incarceration. Today, the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for an end to the War on Drugs, oNDCPs view is that drug addiction is a disease that can be successfully prevented and treated. Making drugs more available will make it harder to keep our communities healthy, one of the alternatives that Kerlikowske has showcased is the drug policy of Sweden, which seeks to balance public health concerns with opposition to drug legalization. The prevalence rates for use in Sweden are barely one-fifth of those in Spain. The report was criticized by organizations that oppose a general legalization of drugs, the first U. S. law that restricted the distribution and use of certain drugs was the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914. The first local laws came as early as 1860, in 1919, the United States passed the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, with exceptions for religious and medical use. In 1920, the United States passed the National Prohibition Act, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics was established in the United States Department of the Treasury by an act of June 14,1930. In 1933, the prohibition for alcohol was repealed by passage of the 21st Amendment. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt publicly supported the adoption of the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act, the New York Times used the headline Roosevelt Asks Narcotic War Aid. In 1937, the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed, several scholars have claimed that the goal was to destroy the hemp industry, largely as an effort of businessmen Andrew Mellon, Randolph Hearst, and the Du Pont family. These scholars argue that with the invention of the decorticator, hemp became a cheap substitute for the paper pulp that was used in the newspaper industry. These scholars believe that Hearst felt that this was a threat to his extensive timber holdings, however, there were circumstances that contradict these claims. One reason for doubts about those claims is that the new decorticators did not perform satisfactorily in commercial production. To produce fiber from hemp was a process if you include harvest, transport. Technological developments decreased the labor with hemp but not sufficient to eliminate this disadvantage, the Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies, the antiwar left and black people. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, did we know we were lying about the drugs. - John Ehrlichman, to Dan Baum for Harpers Magazine in 1994, about President Richard Nixons war on drugs, in 1973, the Drug Enforcement Administration was created to replace the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. The Nixon Administration also repealed the federal 2–10-year mandatory minimum sentences for possession of marijuana and started federal demand reduction programs and drug-treatment programs
30.
Glock
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It entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was the top performer on an exhaustive series of reliability and safety tests. Glocks are also popular firearms among civilians for recreational and competition shooting, home and self-defense, the companys founder, engineer Gaston Glock, had no experience with firearms design or manufacture at the time their first pistol, the Glock 17, was being prototyped. Glock introduced ferritic nitrocarburizing into the industry as an anticorrosion surface treatment for metal gun parts. In 1980, the Austrian military announced that it would seek tenders for a new, the Austrian Ministry of Defence formulated a list of 17 criteria for the new generation service pistol, The design was to be self loading. The pistol was to fire the NATO-standard 9×19 mm Parabellum round, the magazines were not to require any means of assistance for loading. The magazines were to have a capacity of eight rounds. It was to be possible to all actions one handed which are necessary to prepare the pistol for firing. The pistol was to be secure against accidental discharge from shock, strike. Disassembly of the parts for maintenance and reassembling was to be possible without the use of any tools. Maintenance and cleaning of the pistol was to be accomplished without the use of tools, the pistols construction was not to exceed 58 individual parts. Gauges, measurement tools, and precise testing devices were not to be necessary for the maintenance of the pistol. The manufacturer was to be required to provide the ministry of defence with a set of engineering drawings. These were to be supplied all the relevant details for the production of the pistol. All components were to be interchangeable between pistols. No more than 20 malfunctions were to be permitted during the first 10,000 rounds fired, after firing 15, 000-rounds of standard ammunition, the pistol was to be inspected for wear. The pistol was to then be used to fire an overpressure test cartridge generating 5,000 bar, the critical components were to continue to function properly and be up to specifications, otherwise the pistol was to be disqualified. When handled properly, under no circumstances was the user to be endangered by case ejection, the muzzle energy was to be at least 441.5 J when firing a 9×19 mm S-round/P-08 by Hirtenberger AG. Pistols scoring less than 70% of the available points were not to be considered for military use
31.
Beretta
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Fabbrica dArmi Pietro Beretta is a privately held Italian firearms manufacturing company operating in several countries. Its firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, criminal, law enforcement, sporting arms account for three-quarters of sales, Beretta is also known for marketing shooting clothes and accessories. Founded in the 16th century, Beretta is the oldest active manufacturer of components in the world. In 1526 its inaugural product was barrels, by all accounts Beretta-made barrels equipped the Venetian fleet at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. In 1650 the company invented the breech-loading cannon, and Beretta has supplied weapons for every major European war since. Berettas sister company, Beretta USA Corp. located in the United States and it lost the contract in 2017. Val Trompia, a northern Italian river valley in the Province of Brescia, in the Middle Ages, Val Trompia was known for its ironworks, after the Renaissance it came to be a center for the manufacture of weapons. By the mid 16th century Val Trompia had forty ironworks, supplied by fifty mines, the birthplace of Beretta is in the village of Gardone located on the banks of the Mella river, in the middle of Val Trompia. The original account document for the order of those barrels is now stored in the Archivio di Stato di Venezia in Venice, by the end of the 17th century, Beretta had become the second largest gun barrel maker in Gardone. Beretta has been owned by the family for almost five hundred years and is a founding member of Les Henokiens. In 1918, the Beretta Model 1918, one of the first submachine guns in the world, was fielded by the Italian army, Beretta manufactured rifles and pistols for the Italian military until the 1943 Armistice between Italy and the Allied forces during World War II. With the Wehrmachts control of northern Italy, the Germans seized Beretta, in that time, the quality of the exterior finish of the weapons diminished and was much more inferior to both the pre-war and mid-war weapons, but their operation remained excellent. The last shipment of Type I Rifles left Venice for Japan in a U-boat in 1942, after World War II, Beretta was actively involved in repairing the American M1 Garands given to Italy by the U. S. After the war, Beretta continued to develop firearms for the Italian Army and police, in the 1980s, Beretta enjoyed a renewal of popularity in North America after its Beretta 92 pistol was selected as the service handgun for the United States Army under the designation of M9 pistol. In the 1970s, Beretta also started a plant in São Paulo. A contract between Beretta and the Brazilian government was signed, under which Beretta produced Beretta 92s for the Brazilian Army until 1980, Beretta acquired several domestic competitors and some foreign companies in the late 1980s. Today, Fabbrica dArmi Pietro Beretta is run by Franco Gussalli Beretta, President and his sons are now direct descendants through their mothers side of the family. The parent company, Beretta Holding, also owns Beretta USA, Benelli, Franchi, SAKO, Stoeger, Tikka, Uberti, the model Beretta 92FS is the primary side arm of the United States Army, Marine Corps and Air Force, designated the M9 pistol
32.
Tomkins plc
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Tomkins plc is a multinational engineering company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its Building Products division is a supplier of air distribution products and systems and bath products. In July 2010 Tomkins was acquired by a Canadian consortium of private equity firm Onex Corporation, Tomkins was founded in 1925 as F. H. Tomkins Buckle Company, a small manufacturer of buckles and fasteners. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1956, in 1983, ex-Lord Hanson employee Greg Hutchings acquired a 22. 9% stake in the company, and subsequently was appointed Chief Executive. Hutchings was forced to resign from the Company in 2000, over a series of allegations of executive excess. Tomkins sold RHM shortly thereafter, and Smith & Wesson the following year, after an unsolicited approach, in July 2010 Tomkins was acquired by a Canadian consortium of private equity firm Onex Corporation and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for £2.9 billion. In November,2012, Tomkins sold their portion of the Building Products group that included, Hart and Cooley, Selkirk, Tomkins has two business groups, Industrial and automotive, the larger business, producing products primarily for the automotive industry. Bath products, produces products including pipes, baths and windows
33.
Federal Assault Weapons Ban
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The ten-year ban was passed by the U. S. Congress on September 13,1994, following a close 52-48 vote in the Senate, and signed into law by then President Bill Clinton the same day. The ban only applied to weapons manufactured after the date of the bans enactment, several constitutional challenges were filed against provisions of the ban, but all were rejected by reviewing courts. There were multiple attempts to renew the ban, but none succeeded, the Lubys shooting in October 1991, which left 23 people dead and 27 wounded, was another factor. The July 1993101 California Street shooting also contributed to passage of the ban, the shooter killed eight people and wounded six. Two of the three firearms he used were TEC-9 semi-automatic handguns with Hellfire triggers, in November 1993, the proposed legislation passed the U. S. Senate. The bills author, Dianne Feinstein and other advocates said that it was a version of the original proposal. In May 1994, former presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and they cited a 1993 CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll that found 77 percent of Americans supported a ban on the manufacture, sale, and possession of such weapons. Rep. Jack Brooks, then chair of the House Judiciary Committee, the National Rifle Association opposed the ban. In November 1993, NRA spokesman Bill McIntyre said that weapons are used in only 1 percent of all crimes. The low usage statistic was supported in a 1999 Department of Justice brief, the legislation passed in September 1994 with the assault weapon ban section expiring in 2004 due to its sunset provision. The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Act was enacted as part of the Violent Crime Control, the prohibitions expired on September 13,2004. The Act prohibited the manufacture, transfer, or possession of assault weapons as defined by the Act. Weapons banned were identified either by specific make or model, or by specific characteristics that slightly varied according to whether the weapon was a pistol, rifle, the Act also prohibited the transfer and possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices. This list was not exhaustive and the act provided that the absence of a firearm from the exempted list did not mean it was banned unless it met the definition of assault weapon. The Act also exempted any firearm that is operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, has been rendered permanently inoperable. It did not affect similar but domestically manufactured rifles, semi-automatic shotguns with two or more of the following, Folding or telescoping stock Pistol grip Detachable magazine. The NRA Institute for Legislative Action and the Violence Policy Center both used the term in publications they released in September 2004 when the ban expired, the term was repeated in several stories after the 2012 Aurora shooting and Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. A February 2013 Congressional Research Service report to Congress said that the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 was unsuccessfully challenged as violating several constitutional provisions, the report said that challenges to three constitutional provisions were easily dismissed
34.
Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement
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The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement was entered in November 1998, originally between the four largest United States tobacco companies and the attorneys general of 46 states. The money also funds a new anti-smoking advocacy group, called the American Legacy Foundation, the settlement also dissolved the tobacco industry groups Tobacco Institute, the Center for Indoor Air Research, and the Council for Tobacco Research. In the MSA, the original participating manufacturers agreed to pay a minimum of $206 billion over the first 25 years of the agreement, in September 1950, an article was published in the British Medical Journal linking smoking to lung cancer and heart disease. In 1954 the British Doctors Study confirmed the suggestion, based on which the government issued advice that smoking and lung cancer rates were related, in 1964 the United States Surgeon Generals Report on Smoking and Health likewise began suggesting the relationship between smoking and cancer. By the mid-1950s, individuals in the United States began to sue the responsible for manufacturing and marketing cigarettes for damages related to the effects of smoking. In the forty years through 1994, over 800 private claims were brought against tobacco companies in state courts across the country, the individuals asserted claims for negligent manufacture, negligent advertising, fraud, and violation of various state consumer protection statutes. The tobacco companies enjoyed great success in these lawsuits, only two plaintiffs ever prevailed, and both of those decisions were reversed on appeal. As scientific evidence mounted in the 1980s, tobacco companies claimed contributory negligence as the health effects were previously unknown or lacked substantial credibility. In the mid 1990s, more than 40 states commenced litigation against the industry, seeking monetary, equitable. The first was declared in May 1994 by Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore, as Moore declared, lawsuit is premised on a simple notion, you caused the health crisis, you pay for it. The states alleged a wide range of deceptive and fraudulent practices by the companies over decades of sales. The state lawsuits sought recovery for Medicaid and other public health expenses incurred in the treatment of smoking-induced illnesses, importantly, the defenses of personal responsibility that were so effective for the tobacco industry in suits by private individuals were inapplicable to the causes of action alleged by the states. Faced with the prospect of defending multiple actions nationwide, the Majors sought a congressional remedy, in June 1997, the National Association of Attorneys General and the Majors jointly petitioned Congress for a global resolution. On June 20,1997, Mississippi Attorney General Michael Moore, in exchange the companies would be freed from class-action suits and litigation costs would be capped. This proposed congressional remedy for the cigarette tobacco problem resembled the eventual Multistate Settlement Agreement, for example, although the congressional proposal would have earmarked one-third of all funds to combat teenage smoking, no such restrictions appear in the MSA. In addition, the proposal would have mandated Food and Drug Administration oversight. The congressional proposal called for payments to the states of $368.5 billion over 25 years, by contrast, assuming that the Majors would maintain their market share, the MSA provides baseline payments of about $200 billion over 25 years. The attorneys general did not have the authority to grant all this by themselves, senator John McCain of Arizona carried the bill, which was much more aggressive than even the global settlement
35.
Bill Clinton
–
William Jefferson Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Prior to the Presidency he was the 40th Governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, before that, he served as Arkansas Attorney General from 1977 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, Clinton was ideogically a New Democrat, Clinton is married to Hillary Clinton, who served as United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013 and U. S. Senator from New York from 2001 to 2009, and served the Democratic nominee for President in 2016, Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham both earned degrees from Yale Law School, where they met and began dating. As Governor of Arkansas, Clinton overhauled the states education system, Clinton was elected President of the United States in 1992, defeating incumbent George H. W. Bush. At age 46, he was the third-youngest president and the first from the Baby Boomer generation, Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history and signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement. After failing to pass health care reform, the Democratic House was ousted when the Republican Party won control of the Congress in 1994. Two years later, in 1996, Clinton became the first Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to be elected to a second term, Clinton passed welfare reform and the State Childrens Health Insurance Program, providing health coverage for millions of children. Clinton was acquitted by the U. S. Senate in 1999, the Congressional Budget Office reported a budget surplus between the years 1998 and 2000, the last three years of Clintons presidency. In foreign policy, Clinton ordered U. S. Clinton left office with the highest end-of-office approval rating of any U. S. President since World War II, since then, Clinton has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. He created the William J. Clinton Foundation to address international causes, such as the prevention of AIDS, in 2004, Clinton published his autobiography, My Life. In 2009, Clinton was named the United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, since leaving office, Clinton has been rated highly in public opinion polls of U. S. Presidents. Clinton was born on August 19,1946, at Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, Arkansas and he was the son of William Jefferson Blythe Jr. a traveling salesman who had died in an automobile accident three months before his birth, and Virginia Dell Cassidy. His parents had married on September 4,1943, but this later proved to be bigamous. Soon after their son was born, his mother traveled to New Orleans to study nursing, leaving her son in Hope with her parents Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, who owned and ran a small grocery store. At a time when the Southern United States was segregated racially, in 1950, Bills mother returned from nursing school and married Roger Clinton Sr. who owned an automobile dealership in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with his brother and Earl T. Ricks. The family moved to Hot Springs in 1950, although he immediately assumed use of his stepfathers surname, it was not until Clinton turned fifteen that he formally adopted the surname Clinton as a gesture toward his stepfather. In Hot Springs, Clinton attended St. Johns Catholic Elementary School, Ramble Elementary School, and Hot Springs High School—where he was a student leader, avid reader
36.
Big box store
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A big-box store is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain. The term sometimes refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. Typical architectural characteristics include the following, Large, free-standing, cuboid, the flat roof and ceiling trusses are generally made of steel, and the walls are concrete block clad in metal or masonry siding. The structure typically sits in the middle of a large, paved parking lot and it is meant to be accessed by vehicle, rather than by pedestrians. In countries where space is at a premium, such as the United Kingdom, labor unions oppose big-box development because the employees of such stores are usually not unionized. Unions are especially concerned about the market because stores such as Kmart, Target. Unions and cities are attempting to use ordinances to restrict these businesses. Because it is inaccessible to pedestrians and often can only be reached by motor vehicles, the big-box store is regarded as unsustainable. Some communities have adopted a higher level of treatment and regulations to ensure that the superstores relate better to their environment. There are also concerns surrounding traffic and roads, the increased traffic leads to more air pollution in an area and higher taxes in order to maintain the roads. The first company in Australia to use the model was IKEA beginning operation in Australia in 1975. Bunnings Warehouse followed in 1995 and Mitre 10 Australia adopted the model with the Mitre 10 Mega stores first opening at Beenleigh, Costco has since expanded across Australia since opening its first store in 2009. Apart from major American big-box stores such as Walmart Canada and briefly now-defunct Target Canada, in the early 21st century, commercial developers in Canada such as RioCan chose to build big-box stores in lieu of traditional shopping malls. Examples include Deerfoot Meadows, Stonegate Shopping Centre and Preston Crossing, South Edmonton Common, there are currently more than 300 power centres, which usually contain multiple big-box stores, located throughout Canada. To contend against Carrefour, PARKnSHOP opened the first superstore in 1996 based on the concept of a wet market, most superstores in Hong Kong emphasizes one-stop shopping, such as providing car park services. Today, PARKnSHOP has more than 50 superstores and megastores, making it the largest superstore network in Hong Kong, the first Wellcome superstore opened in 2000 and it has only 17 superstores. In addition, CRC has four superstores in Kong Kong, however, because Hong Kong is a very densely populated city, the sizes of superstores are considerablely smaller than those in other countries. Some superstores are running at deficit, such as Chelsea Heights which therefore has stopped selling fresh fish, furthermore, some PARKnSHOP superstores and megastores, such as Fortress World, belong to the same corporation, Hutchison Whampoa
37.
Columbia, Missouri
–
Columbia /kəˈlʌmbiə/ is a city in the U. S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Boone County. Founded in 1818, it is home to the University of Missouri and is the city of the Columbia Metropolitan Area. It is Missouris fourth most-populous city, with a population of 119,108 in 2015. As a midwestern town, the city has a reputation for progressive politics, public art. At the center of Downtown is 8th Street, also known as the Avenue of the Columns, which connects Francis Quadrangle and Jesse Hall to the Boone County Courthouse, originally an agricultural town, the cultivation of the mind is Columbias chief economic concern today. Never a major center of manufacturing, the city depends on healthcare, insurance. Several companies, such as Shelter Insurance, Carfax, and Slackers CDs, cultural institutions include the State Historical Society of Missouri, the Museum of Art and Archaeology, and the annual True/False Film Festival. The Missouri Tigers, the only major college athletic program, play football at Faurot Field. The city is built upon the hills and rolling prairies of Mid-Missouri, near the Missouri River valley. Limestone forms bluffs and glades while rain carves caves and springs which water the Hinkson, Roche Perche, surrounding the city, Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, Mark Twain National Forest, and Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge all form a greenbelt preserving sensitive and rare environments. The first humans were hunters who entered the area at least twelve thousand years ago. Later, woodland tribes lived in villages along waterways and built mounds in high places, the Osage and Missouria nations were expelled by the exploration of French traders and the rapid settlement of American pioneers. German, Irish, and other European immigrants soon joined, the modern populace is unusually diverse, over eight percent foreign-born. While White and Black remain the largest ethnicities, Asians are now the third-largest group, todays Columbians are remarkably highly educated and culturally midwestern, though traces of their Southern past remain. The city has called the Athens of Missouri for its classic beauty and educational emphasis. The Columbia area was part of the Mississippian culture and home to the Mound Builders. When European explorers arrived, the area was populated by the Osage, in 1678, La Salle claimed all of Missouri for France. The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed by the area on the Missouri River in early June 1804, in 1806, two sons of Daniel Boone established a salt lick 40 miles northwest of Columbia
38.
Smith & Wesson M&P
–
The Smith & Wesson M&P is a polymer-framed, short recoil operated, locked breech semi-automatic pistol introduced in the summer of 2005 by the American company Smith & Wesson. It uses a Browning-type locking system, while targeted at law enforcement agencies, the M&P is also widely available on the commercial market. The M&P is an evolution of the Smith & Wesson Sigma and Smith & Wesson SW99 design. The M&P design has a trigger and enhanced ergonomics that allow for end-user customization. An industry standard picatinny rail and a higher grip has been afforded with an improved grip, many of the ergonomic study elements that had been incorporated into the Sigma and the Smith & Wesson SW99 were brought over to the M&P. The improved trigger weight and feel and the unique takedown method were meant to set the M&P apart from the popular Glock pistols, the M&P is a striker-fired semi-automatic pistol. This trigger system prevents the firearm from discharging unless the trigger is fully depressed, an internal lock and/or magazine disconnect are available as options and an optional external thumb safety became available in 2009. The pistol frame is made out of Zytel polymer reinforced with a steel chassis. The pistol comes with three removable and interchangeable grips, the slide and barrel are made out of stainless steel that after hardening is treated with a proprietary nitriding process called Melonite. The Melonite process produces a matte gray non-glare surface with a 68 Rockwell C surface hardness rating, the slide has four contact points with the frame. This was done to make the rail system self cleaning, by leaving room for any dirt or small objects to fall out of the weapon. As the slide of the pistol enters battery, the striker engages the sear, at this point, the sear is held back in a partially cocked condition. When the trigger of the M&P is pulled, the bar first engages the firing pin safety plunger, lifting it upward. At the rearward extreme of the trigger travel, it engages the sear. The sear is rotated downward by the bar, fully cocking. The striker makes contact with the primer of the chambered round, according to renowned M&P gunsmith Dan Burwell, the angle on the rear face of the sear creates a camming action against the striker. This camming action moves the striker to the rear very slightly during the trigger pull and this system is similar to the partially tensioned striker found in the Glock series of pistols. When the pistol cycles for the shot, the striker will be automatically pre-set in a 98% cocked position
39.
Smith & Wesson M&P15
–
The Smith & Wesson M&P15 is Smith & Wessons version of the AR-15, semi-automatic rifle. M&P which stands for Military & Police is a name that Smith & Wesson has used since 1899 when it introduced the 1899 Model 10 revolver chambered for the.38 Long Colt cartridge. With that government order, the revolver became also known as the Smith & Wesson Military & Police, the M&P15 marked the companys entry into the rifle market in 2006. Smith & Wessons total rifle production has increased through the years since it entered the rifle market. In the past Smith & Wesson had marketed rifles and shotguns made by other manufacturers, Smith & Wesson made this entry into the long gun market because it was estimated in 2007 as a $1.1 billion market, 80% larger than the U. S. handgun market. The M&P product line was designed for military, police, and consumer markets, the rifle model is based on the AR-15. Smith & Wesson offers the M&P15 semi-automatic rifles in different configurations, tailored to specific shooting applications, the rifle has different models that come chambered in 5. 56mm NATO/.223 Remington.22 Long Rifle, and 5. 45×39mm. The barrels come with either a melonite lined or chrome-lined 4140 steel rifling, the rifle was unveiled at the 2006 SHOT Show, it debuted in two varieties, the M&P15 and the M&P15T. Both are basically the same rifle, chambered in 5. 56×45mm NATO, with the T-model featuring folding sights and they include the standard direct impingement gas system. In order decrease cost on the design both the dust cover or forward assist were omitted. These rifles were produced for S&W by Stag Arms. Currently, Smith & Wesson makes the lower receiver in-house, while the barrel is supplied by Thompson/Center Arms and this was due to cheaper surplus Communist Bloc AK-series weapons were already available and few shooters wanted an expensive AR-15 clone in a non-standard caliber that needed special magazines. In 2009, S&W released the M&P15-22, chambered for the.22 Long Rifle cartridge and it had a 1-in-15 barrel twist, a 10- or 25-round box magazine, and weighs 5.5 lbs empty. The Standard model has an adjustable CAR-15 stock and comes with full-capacity 25-round magazines, the Compliant model has a CAR-15 stock fixed in the open position and comes with 10-round magazines. In January 2009, Smith & Wesson announced their first short-stroke gas piston action rifle, in 2011, the S&W M&P15 Sport and S&W M&P15 Whisper were released. The Smith & Wesson M&P10, a version of the AR-10, was introduced in 2013, in 2016, a new model was introduced, the M&P15 Sport II. It includes additional features of a forward bolt assist and dust cover not found on the original model. The Smith & Wesson M&P Sport led Breitbart News reviews of Six Great AR-15 Rifles for Your Christmas Wish List in November 2017, noting The gun is simple, dependable, and it is one of the least expensive AR-15s on the market
40.
2012 Aurora shooting
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On July 20,2012, a mass shooting occurred inside a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises. A gunman, dressed in clothing, set off tear gas grenades. Twelve people were killed and around 70 others were injured, making this the largest number of casualties in a shooting in the United States until the Orlando nightclub shooting four years later and this also was the deadliest shooting in Colorado since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. The sole assailant, James Eagan Holmes, was arrested in his car outside the cinema minutes later, prior to the shooting, Holmes rigged his apartment with homemade explosives, which were defused by a bomb squad a day after the shooting. The shooting prompted an increase in security at movie theaters across the U. S. that were screening the same film, the shooting also led to a spike in gun sales in Colorado as well as political debates about gun control in the United States. Holmes confessed to the shooting but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, Arapahoe County prosecutors sought the death penalty for Holmes. The trial began on April 27,2015 and he was convicted of 24 counts of first-degree murder,140 counts of attempted first-degree murder, and one count of possessing explosives on July 16,2015. On August 7,2015, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the shooting occurred in theater 9 at the Century 16 multiplex, located at the Town Center at Aurora shopping mall at 14300 E. Alameda Avenue. Police said Holmes bought a ticket, entered the theater, about 20 minutes into the film, he left the building through an emergency exit door, which he propped open with a plastic tablecloth holder. There were about 400 people inside the theater room, Holmes then went to his car, which was parked near the exit door, changed into protective clothing, and retrieved his guns. About 30 minutes into the film, police say, around 12,30 a. m. he reentered the theater through the exit door. He was dressed in black and wore a gas mask, a load-bearing vest, a helmet, bullet-resistant leggings, a bullet-resistant throat protector, a groin protector. He was also listening to music through a set of headphones so the reactions in the theater could not be heard. Initially, few in the audience considered Holmes to be a threat, according to witnesses, he appeared to be wearing a costume, like other audience members who had dressed up for the screening. Some believed he was playing a prank, while others thought he was part of a special effects installation setup for the premiere or a publicity stunt by the studio or theater management. It was said he threw two canisters emitting a gas or smoke, partially obscuring the audience members vision, making their throats and skin itch and he then fired a 12-gauge Remington 870 Express Tactical shotgun, first at the ceiling and then at the audience. He also fired a Smith & Wesson M&P15 semi-automatic rifle with a 100-round drum magazine, finally, he fired a Glock 22. 40-caliber handgun. He shot first to the back of the room, and then people in the aisles
US$903 million (2016)[1]
US$261.674 million (2012) 
