As the Federal government works hard to exert its power on the issue of gun control, some county, municipal, and state officials have stated publicly that they would not enforce certain federal laws but would instead, uphold the Second Amendment.

Here is one story in which a sheriff did just that. The catch is, he has now been arrested himself for allegedly "covering up" an arrest of an individual who was carrying a concealed firearm. Was it truly a cover-up or did the sheriff, as the article suggests, simply choose not to charge the individual?

Do you know what your local law enforcement's stance is on handling Federal gun laws? If not, you might want to find out. I plan on finding out where my local sheriff stands on the issue. I live in a somewhat rural area with gun ranges all over the place. I also know that our sheriff is quick to sign any off on documents for gun ownership or registration. For those reasons, I suspect he will also support the Second Amendment over possibly unconstitutional federal gun control--but you just never know.

In any case, I think we will see more and more of this as the debate between gun owners and gun opponents heats up. Let me know what you think about this incident, or about other incidents like this that you know about.

I frequently find myself arguing about assault weapons with folks who just don't understand what a true assault weapon really is. It seems that what one man calls an assault weapon, another man calls a knife.

Okay, so it may not be that bad. But the fact is, true assault weapons are select fire or fully automatic firearms. The guns that are so often referred to as assault rifles are actually semi-automatic rifles that just happen to look a bit more menacing than other guns.

To give you an idea of what an assault weapon really is, check out what I consider to be the best assault rifles of all time.

Now and then a buddy of mine will call me up to ask me for advice on what gun to buy. I am always hesitant to recommend something too enthusiastically as I believe a gun is a very personal purchase. What is great for me may not be so great for you.

Still, though, there are a few guns that have stood the test of time and are favored by gun owners everywhere. Take the Remington 870, for example. More than 10,000,000 of these shotguns have been produced, making it the best selling shotgun of all time. How can you argue with that? Nevertheless, there are some folks out there who just don't care for the 870.

See what I mean? It's a personal opinion--even when you're talking about the best selling shotgun of all time.

In any case, I put together a list of what I consider to be the best five shotguns made in the last 100 years. The guns on this list may not be for everyone but they are all good solid guns. If you have a favorite shotgun that didn't make my list, tell me about it by leaving a comment below.

Remington 870, © Michael J. Simpson

I was at my favorite gun range the other day and saw that they were holding a raffle to give away a Kel-Tec KSG. If you're not familiar with it, the KSG is Kel-Tec's first shotgun. It is remarkably compact and weighs less than 7 pounds.

I started talking to the guy behind the counter at the range about the gun and mentioned that I had never fired the KSG. Much to my pleasant surprise, he said, "Here, take mine out to one of the lanes and have fun."

The gun's light weight was impressive and it shot well but the breech-loading is clumsy and would require a bit of practice. For me, that kind of takes it off the table as a home defense weapon as I want to be able to quickly reload in a tactical situation. I should mention, however, that by using shorter rounds, you can load 14 into the gun's dual tube magazines. This would be enough rounds for most home defense situations.

In any case, I bought a raffle ticket. If I win, that $20 ticket will make for the cheapest shotgun I've ever bought.