Editing 2003

{{TOC right}}'''2003''' was a bit of a busy year...

The [[FN P90]] was in use with military and police forces in over 25 countries worldwide, the [[FN SCAR|5.56x45 MK 16]] emerged as the winner of a U.S. SOCOM competition to find a new rifle for Special Forces, and [[Savage]] was awarded the Manufacturer of the Year by the Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence.

Anheuser-Busch (the makers of Budweiser) stopped backing Gov. Bob Holden, in large part because of their differences over [[CCW]]. Holden was pro-gun control and had vetoed a concealed-carry bill passed by the Missouri General Assembly.

In [[Canada]], the [[Canadian gun registry|registration]] of all [[long guns]] became mandatory, with failure to do so resulting in draconian criminal sanctions.  Meanwhile, the Americans passed the [[Tiahrt Amendment]], which prohibits the [[BATFE]] from releasing information from its firearms trace database to anyone other than a law enforcement agency or prosecutor in connection with a criminal investigation.

Down under, the [[Australian]] advocacy group [[CLASS]] began to wonder quite loudly and publicly about the worth of the country's infamous national gun buy-back scheme, which had completed 5 years earlier.

== January ==
* [[January 21]] &mdash; [[CLASS]] publishes ''[[Science in the Service of Politics]]'', outlining the foolishness of Australian gun control measures.
* [[January 24]] &mdash; The American Homeland Security Act comes into effect, renaming the ATF the BATFE and shifting it from the Treasury Department to the Justice Department.

== February ==
* The [[Canadian]] government announced "plans to strengthen the administration of the gun control program," the farcical nature and massive cost overruns of which had been exposed the previous year by Auditor General Sheila Fraser.

== March ==
* [[March 19]] &mdash; [[United States]] President George W. Bush orders the start of war against [[Iraq]].

== April ==
* [[April 14]] &mdash; The [[Canada Firearms Centre]] was transferred from the Department of Justice and becomes an independent agency within the Solicitor General Portfolio. 
* [[April 29]] &mdash; [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=6553706 US patent 6553706] "Trigger Assembly Having A Secondary Sear [i.e. [[Accutrigger]]], Inv. Gancarz et. Al." is awarded.

== May ==
* [[May 13]] &mdash; [[Bill C-10A]], ''An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Firearms) and the Firearms Act'', received Royal Assent. Statutory authority of all operations was consolidated under the [[Canadian Firearms Commissioner]], who reported directly to the Solicitor General.

== June ==
* The [[Canadian long gun registry]] reaches a size of 6.4 million firearms, out of an estimated 18 to 24 million firearms in the country.  This despite the fact that failure to register a firearm of any kind had become a criminal offence on [[January 1]] of the year (see above).

== July ==
* [[July 11]] &mdash; Canadian gun rights advocate [[Bruce Montague]] made his appearance at the [[CUFOA]] rally at Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario.

== Other events ==
* [[Smith & Wesson]] introduced their [[Smith & Wesson Model 500|Model 500]], the most powerful production revolver ever created, using the [[.500 S&W Magnum]] round.
* [[Mauser]] introduced their [[Mauser M03|M03 rifle]].
* [[Ignatius Piazza]] produced the documentary ''[[Innocents Betrayed]]''.

== The year in pictures ==
<gallery>
File:US Navy 030317-D-3645W-057.jpg| [[March 17]]: MIL-EX 2003 in Gulfport, Miss.
File:SCRange20034344940.jpg| [[March 31]]: live-fire exercise in Djibouti.
File:Bruce Montague Queens Park.jpg| [[July 11]]: [[Bruce Montague]] at Queens Park, Toronto.
File:Beta C-Mag on M4.jpg| [[July 23]]: Kandahar Air Field weapons range.
File:PSL on range.jpg| [[September 1]]: shooting range outside Camp Ramrod, Ethiopia.
File:M203 Shooting.jpg| [[October 13]]: range qualifications in Camp Hansen, Okinawa.
File:M249 FN MINIMI DM-SD-05-05342.jpg| [[November 7]]: on the range at Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA.
File:Hawaii-convoy2003-12-17.jpg| [[December 17]]: live-fire training at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
File:M 14 prone flash suppressor bipod.jpg| US Marines in Africa.
File:Montague family portrait.jpg| The Montague family in 2003.
</gallery>


[[category:years]]