2005
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In 2005, the NRA Office of Advancement was created to focus on building the NRA's endowment and underwriting programs and projects across the organization, James Wesley Rawles started blogging full-time, and Heckler & Koch finished off the design of the HK416.
The Auto-Ordnance division of Kahr Arms began production of an M1 Carbine replica, and the last Winchester Model 9422 rolled off the line. Kimber, meanwhile, manufactured 47,820 production handguns that year.
While Mossberg introduced the Model 505 Youth shotgun, along with the Model 535, production of the Ithaca 37 paused when Ithaca once again changed hands (production has resumed in Ohio).
Speaking of shotguns, the US Army placed an order for 14,818 Mossberg 500s at a price of just over US$316 each and phased out all its other pump-action shotguns. In the rifle department, OICW Increment 1 was put on hold in the summer, to take into account input from other services, and several months later was canceled outright.
In Canada, some Bill C-10A regulations - allegedly to "improve service delivery, streamline processes and improve transparency and accountability" - came into effect.
May
- May 20: Colt Defense LLC completed its acquisition of Diemaco, which now operates as Colt Canada.
June
- June 3 The 2001 Firearms Protocol was adopted on 31 May 2001 by UN General Assembly Resolution 55/255 and entered into force
- June 5: the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear the case of United States v. Stewart, but rather to vacate the ruling below and remand it to court of appeals "in light of" Gonzales v. Raich.
July
- July 29: The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (S.397) passed the U.S. Senate (65–31).
September
- September 12: NRAn executive vice-president Wayne LaPierre condemned the gun confiscations in New Orleans: "What we’ve seen in Louisiana — the breakdown of law and order in the aftermath of disaster — is exactly the kind of situation where the Second Amendment was intended to allow citizens to protect themselves."
- September 16: Gordon Gould, inventor of the laser, passed away in New York City at the age of 85.
- September 23: two weeks after seizures began, the NRA and Second Amendment Foundation filed for a temporary restraining order against the city of New Orleans to stop the ongoing government-ordered theft of firearms.
- September 24: the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued a temporary restraining order barring any further gun confiscations in New Orleans and ordering the return of lawfully owned firearms to their owners.
October
- October 20: The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act was passed by the US House of Representatives 283-144.
- October 23: The Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum failed by nearly two to one.
- October 26: the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush and became Public Law 108-73.
- October 31: The OICW-1 competition was canceled altogether.
November
- 58% of voters in San Francisco, California, approved "Proposition H" (an ironic name for a law if ever there was one), which would ban the sale, manufacture and distribution of firearms and ammunition (as well as the possession of handguns) within city limits, effective January 1, 2006 - making San Francisco the third major city in the US with a handgun ban, after Chicago and Washington, D.C.
December
- December 8: a District court judge in Maine granted a summary judgment in favor of Bushmaster Firearms, dismissing all of Colt's claims except for false advertising. More importantly, the court ruled that "M4" was now a generic name, and that Colt's trademark should be revoked.
The year in pictures
Jan. 7: training for Reserve Marines deploying to Iraq.
Feb. 14: getting rid of it.
Mar. 23: reflex firing exercise at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex, South Korea.
Mar. 26: testing the M-82 Barret.
Kharma, Iraq, Apr. 30: Knock-knock!
USS Normandy, May 14: double your firepower, double your fun!
Sept. 19: searching for insurgents in Tal Afar.
Oct. 1:Nicole Franks vs. Alanna Blinn at the World Balloon Elimination Championship.
October 2: Franks vs. Blinn redux.
Now THAT's irony.
