Bostodelphia 21 Gun Salute to the Firearms of 2007 #1: Hi Point 995 Carbine

Our inaugural firearm for 2007 is the Hi-Point 995, a semi-automatic carbine chambered for 9mm pistol ammunition, holding a 10-15 round magazine in its pistol grip, manufactured for the civilian market, and popular for its simple design and low price point (the laser-sited model pictured has a manufacturer suggested retail price of $295, a "basic" version of the rifle lists for $220, though online discussions suggest it can be purchased within the $190 ballpark).

Gun blogger Mr. Completely sums up his experience with Hi-Point 995 carbine as follows:

Overall impression: I really liked it! Is it a high precision, close tolerance firearm? Nope, not even close. It is exactly what it was intended to be, a reasonably priced, durable carbine that's fun to shoot, and it's ALL of that, and more.

In comments to Mr. Completely's review, a discussion developed addressing this gun's hunting potential. While we here at Bostodelphia are not armorers or gunsmiths, based on the content of the review, we found the most eloquent insight into this weapon in these two responses:

2 comments:
1. 9mm is NOT an acceptable deer cartridge. You would have to be retarded or starving to try to take a deer with this rifle. Taking a 9mm on a deer hunt is completely unethical, as any deer you shoot is more likely to never be recovered and die slowly of infection over the next few weeks.
2. Hi-points are pieces of junk marketed to criminals. The sporting goods store I work in has stopped taking special orders of these guns because of the high number of "denies" we get back on NICS background checks of people trying to order these guns. Usually we receive a deny back from NICS less than 1% of the time ( I was bored one day and counted) with Hi-Points products we get a "deny" back 20%+ of the time. I have a very strong suspicion that all these positive reviews I have seen of Hi-Points online are coming from a few select very questionable sources with a profit motive.

and

You should never hunt anything larger than a coyote with a 9mm - it just doesn't have the oomph to do the job humanely, reliably. Even the 40 [Hi-Point manufactures a .40 caliber version of the carbine as well -- ed.]is less than should be used for deer hunting.
Do yourself a favor, and don't hunt with this carbine. Use it if you have it in hand for pest control (wild cats, coyotes, etc), but that's it. Use a good high-power rifle for deer hunting, not this thing.
As to a certain type of gun attracting criminals, I don't believe it.[speculation on the 20% denial figure, based on a questionable understanding of the straw purchase market deleted--ed.]

For our 2007 salute, the Hi-Point 995 was the only actual firearm (if you can even see it) amidst this assembled to impress display of police and prosecutorial confiscatory power:

All the other menacing banana clip, pump action, and bipod-mounted hardware here are airsoft weapons, bb gun replicas of military weapons. It should also be noted that no ammunition for the Hi-Point was found when this arsenal was seized, nor ever was found.

This impressive-when-photographed-at-a-press-conference haul was seized from Dillon Cossey, a 14 year old alleged to have been planning a "Columbine" style attack on Montgomery County's Plymouth Whitemarsh High School. Cossey was just sentenced a couple of days ago after pleading guilty in juvenile court to charges of criminal solicitation, risking a catastrophe and possession of an instrument of crime. Yes, it is true that Cossey had online disucssions about murder with eventual Finnish gunman Pekka-Eric Auvinen, he did have Klebold/Harris shrine, etc. He was clearly a disturbed individual, and needed the help he's hopefully getting within the state mental health care system. However, despite the grandstanding before prop guns of District Attorney Bruce L. Castor, and the community guardian pose struck by Judge Paul "You'll Never Do This in My Community Again" Tressler, no bullet was really dodged here, as there were no bullets.