Simple musings from a guy with guns

Lay-Away At The Local Gun Shop Is A Bad Thing

2012-01-13T18:26:00.000-05:00

Ok well maybe not...In about 2 more weeks, this will be at my house:

Yes, that is a shiny new SR-22 pistol!

Read more about it here:

http://ruger.com/products/sr22Pistol/index.html

Remember, Aim For The Head

2012-01-12T11:27:00.000-05:00

This was sent to me from a co-worker.

It is a .mp3 file, it is safe for work just watch your volume.

Download here: FargoEAS

Pure awesome!

So...

2012-01-10T20:02:00.000-05:00

Only a few weeks before my last post, I had just started a new job with a major IT company.I am happy to report that I am still at that job, still very happy with that job and still (amazingly) considered a new guy!!!The job has been very demanding, that is why I have not posted in a while. I aim to fix that.I will be posting the rest of the Lucky Gunner Blogger Shoot Photos here soon. I promise!Oh and apparently blogger has a new way of embedding photos, so the new posts will be different looking than the old ones.

Lucky Gunner Memorial Day Blogger Shoot 2011 - Part II

2011-06-11T16:50:00.002-04:00

So, woke up the next morning and headed down to the hotel lobby for a meeting and safety briefing. Also they were giving us the address and directions to the range then. They didn't want it to be widely published too far before hand in an attempt to keep the general public out. Additionally they gave us a goodie bag that had a book, the yellow shirts we would have to wear in order to get our free ammo and some other gun related stuff.

After a nice cup of coffee, it was time to go to the range. It was about a ten mile drive out into the countryside and then, suddenly on the side of the road a giant sign with a Luckygunner.com clover on it. A quick right turn and up a hill and there we were, gunny heaven.

The first sight that my eyes beheld:

That is right, a M3 Stuart tank!!! There were actually two of them, both in working order and seemingly ready to take on the Nazi war machine. That is until you look really close and see that the person on the radio is in full German dress. Amazingly this would not be the most odd thing I would see that day.

Next, my already saucer sized eyes were able to feast on:

That is right, not one... not two... but four 12lb howitzers!!! All being fired by full teams in Civil War garb.

Notice in the above picture, he is aiming the gun by looking down the top of the barrel.

The younger looking fellow in the light blue pants is holding lanyards which they attach to the gun in order to fire it. As you will see in the photos below, you fire this thing by pulling on the lanyard, just like some far more modern field artillery pieces used by the military of today.

Ok look! They have found a volunteer... Really these guys were doing this for charity, a $25 donation to the Wounded Warrior Project and you could fire a ball.

FIRE!!!

Now, by this point, the cannon above is still actually rolling backwards. I would guess it rolled 8 to 10 feet backwards after firing live ammo. And did I mention LOUD!!! I can only imagine how loud it must have been to the men firing it in the days before hearing protection, though I guess after the first shot everything is kinda just a ringing noise anyways.

Sebastian over at Snowflakes In Hell has a nice video of himself firing one of these beasts.

Here they are resetting it for another shot:

And some more guys in various dress talking it up:

Now, I finally turned around and beheld the range that was laid out before me...

Disney land for gun nuts!!!

I followed the smoke off to my left and saw that someone had already set something on fire down range.

I still had no idea just how amazing the day that was before me would be... I had already witnessed two amazing pieces of war waging machinery from two very different and far apart conflicts in our nation's history, the rest of the day would be similar with me experiencing things that spanned well over 150 years of history... Stay tuned for more.

Lucky Gunner Memorial Day Blogger Shoot 2011

2011-06-11T16:11:00.002-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I had the extreme good fortune to get to go to an invitation only shooting event in a small town outside of Knoxville, TN, the Luckygunner.com Memorial Day Blogger shoot.

I had an inkling of an idea that it was going to be a ton of fun but I really was not prepared for just how amazing it truly was. Over the next few weeks I will be posting most of the 800+ pictures I took over the three day weekend. I will make every effort to 1) correctly identify the guns in each picture and 2)correctly identify and link to the other bloggers that are in the photos. If for some reason I post a picture and get a name wrong or dont include one, let me know and I will make sure that information gets updated.

My drive to the Knoxville area was not all that eventful, my brand new GPS decided that I needed a tour of Southwestern North Carolina as apparently it was a 12 mile shorter drive than taking the interstate would have been. The down side was that it added over a hour to my trip because it involved 2 lane roads through the middle of small towns between 4 and 6 pm.

The first few photos are of the pre-event meetup that we did at a local pizza place. I got there a bit late so many of the people had cleared out by that time.

Here in the first photo is just a shot of the crowd that was left after I finished eating.

Here in the two photos above we have Gene Hoffman, Chairman of the Calguns Foundation (parent of the calguns forum) talking with one of the reps from KRISS.

Here we have one of the Luckygunner.com guys (left) talking with a group of us blogger types.

The beer was flowing by this time and all we were doing was standing around shooting the breeze so I put the camera down for the night after that.

Week 5

2011-04-27T23:16:00.001-04:00

Week 5 at my new job and I am still basically a new guy. It is incredible being trained by the people that literally wrote the book on how various parts of Windows work.

Life happens

2011-04-10T22:01:00.002-04:00

Once again, life happened and kept me from posting very much. Since my last post I have gone from living paycheck to paycheck to starting an amazing career with a major IT company.

What this means to this blog is that I will have a much greater amount of free time and money to go shooting with. I am hoping to be able to get to the range at least a couple of times a month and will try to get posts here at least a couple of times per week.

Unfortunately due to me starting this new job recently and having to move to a new city, I will not be able to attend the NRA show this year in Pittsburgh. That said, I am fully planning on getting out to Reno for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. Additionally I am expecting to get out to several other blogger meetups and other shooting events this year.

Stick around, things are about to get a bit more lively here!

25 Years Ago Today...

2011-01-28T15:10:00.001-05:00

I wrote this 2 years back, the message is still the same.

http://guywithguns.blogspot.com/2009/01/challenger.html

Raul Castro: Excessive subsidies have discouraged hard work

2011-01-02T19:38:00.001-05:00

Even communists understand what democrats can't

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

20 Years at a church that was too radical for Oprah

2011-01-02T19:18:00.001-05:00

http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/12/31/radical-in-chief-truth-finally-comes-out-on-jeremiah-wright-connection/

As the title says, this church was too radical and left wing for the hard left Oprah.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Quantum machine built

2010-12-19T19:50:00.004-05:00

I want my food replicator dammit!

Link

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Owner of stolen car held liable for crash after theft.

2010-12-18T18:58:00.002-05:00

Link

Apparently being stupid enough to leave your keys in the car is now something that can get you sued.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Buy your TSA Don't Touch My Junk Shirt Here!!!

2010-11-15T19:07:00.001-05:00

create & buy custom products at Zazzle

Obama's Royal Visit To Mumbai

2010-11-04T11:22:00.003-04:00

So apparently our royal highness is visiting Mumbai. Presumably he is trying to get the hell out of the country that just bitch slapped his party.

Tell me this does not sound like a royal visit though:

First they are removing the coconuts from the trees near his visit

All coconuts around the city's Gandhi museum, one of Mr Obama's stops in the city, are being taken down.

Mani Bhavan, where Mahatma Gandhi stayed during his freedom struggle against the British, is among five places the US president is visiting in Mumbai.

"We told the authorities to remove the dry coconuts from trees near the building. Why take a chance?" Mani Bhavan's executive secretary, Meghshyam Ajgaonkar, told the BBC.

And they are building a bomb proof above ground tunnel for his vehicles:

Since it is difficult to monitor such a congested area, they came up with a quick solution which left the Indians accompanying them amazed: A bomb-proof over-ground tunnel — to be installed by US military engineers in just an hour.
The tunnel would be a kilometre long and measure 12ft by 12ft — enough to let Obama’s cavalcade pass through. The tunnel would be centrally air-conditioned, fitted with close-circuit television cameras, and will be heavily guarded at every point, including, of course, its entry and exit.

Finally they are banning fireworks:

But for many Mumbaikers, Obama will get in the way of what they like best - a good party.
Fireworks, a highlight of any Diwali - after all, it is the festival of lights - will be banned in much of South Mumbai, where the president and his entourage will be based.

Finally, he will have 3000 people accompanying him along with a full compliment of 34 US Navy ships including a carrier:

He will also be protected by a fleet of 34 warships, including an aircraft carrier, which will patrol the sea lanes off the Mumbai coast during his two-day stay there beginning Saturday.

Apparently no one in the white house has ever heard of GoToMeeting...

New Jersey Gun Lawsuits On The Horizon

2010-06-29T22:52:00.003-04:00

Link:

New Jersey’s extensive gun statutes may become ground zero in the coming litigation battles, said John Vincent Saykanic, a criminal defense attorney. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun-control group, ranked the state’s laws as the second strongest in the country after California’s.

New Jersey’s gun statutes require a person to obtain a police-issued permit for each handgun purchased. Permit applications also require a series of state and federal background checks, including fingerprinting. There are also limits on semi-automatic weapons.

Now, I believe that NJ is actually the perfect place for challenging a statewide AWB. The reason is that their AWB includes tube-fed rimfire weapons and there is no method for people in NJ to legally dispose of a banned weapon should they come to possess it. So if you find granddad's old .22 in the attic and even if you know it is an illegal assault weapon under state law, you are still a criminal if you try to turn it into the police.

For example, this rifle below is an illegal assault weapon in NJ.

That is a early 1950's J.C. Higgins .22 rifle that was sold in Sears and Roebuck stores. In all likelihood someone that reads this will have a parent that had one of these. In NJ, it is a Felony punishable by up to 4 years in prison to possess this rifle unless you registered it in the 1 year time frame after the AWB was passed.

That's right, the very rifle that many older readers may have carried to and from school on a regular basis, hunting rabbits and squirrels on the way home, back in the 1950's and 1960's is now an illegal assault weapon in NJ.

Mcdonald - More Comments and Quotes

2010-06-28T23:41:00.003-04:00

Pg 37:

In sum, it is clear that the Framers and ratifiers of the Fourteenth Amendment counted the right to keep and bear arms among those fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty.

Pg 39:

It cannot be doubted that the right to bear arms was regarded as a substantive guarantee, not a prohibition that could be ignored so long as the States legislated in an evenhanded manner.

Pg 48:

First, we have never held that a provision of the Bill of Rights applies to the States only if there is a “popular consensus” that the right is fundamental, and we see no basis for such a rule. But in this case, as it turns out, there is evidence of such a consensus. An amicus brief submitted by 58 Members of the Senate and 251 Members of the House of Representatives urges us to hold that the right to keep and bear arms is fundamental.

Pg 49:

If, as petitioners believe, their safety and the safety of other law-abiding members of the community would be enhanced by the possession of hand-guns in the home for self-defense, then the Second Amendment right protects the rights of minorities and other residents of high-crime areas whose needs are not being met by elected public officials.

Pg 50-51:

We therefore hold that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment right recognized in Heller. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings. It is so ordered.

More tomorrow.

SAF Suing NC Over Guns In Emergencies Statute

2010-06-28T22:43:00.002-04:00

From the SAF:

SAF NEWS RELEASE
Second Amendment Foundation
12500 NE Tenth Place • Bellevue, WA 98005
(425) 454-7012 • FAX (425) 451-3959 • www.saf.org
SAF SUES TO OVERTURN NORTH CAROLINA’S 'EMERGENCY POWERS' GUN BANS
For Immediate Release: 6/29/2010

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation on Monday filed a federal lawsuit in North Carolina, seeking a permanent injunction against the governor, local officials and local governments from declaring states of emergency under which private citizens are prohibited from exercising their right to bear arms.

Joining SAF in this lawsuit are Grass Roots North Carolina – the state’s leading gun rights organization, and three private citizens, Michael Bateman, Virgil Green and Forrest Minges, Jr. Named as defendants in the federal lawsuit are North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue; Reuben Young, secretary of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety; Stokes County and the City of King. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

The lawsuit contends that state statutes that forbid the carrying of firearms and ammunition during declared states of emergency are unconstitutional. Plaintiffs also contend that a North Carolina law that allows government officials to prohibit the purchase, sale and possession of firearms and ammunition are also unconstitutional because they forbid the exercise of Second Amendment rights as affirmed by Monday’s Supreme Court ruling in McDonald v. City of Chicago, the landmark Second Amendment ruling that incorporated the Second Amendment to the states.

SAF and the Illinois State Rifle Association took the McDonald Case to the Supreme Court.

“Through this lawsuit in North Carolina,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb,” we intend to show that state emergency powers statutes that allow government officials to suspend fundamental civil rights, including the right to bear arms, are unconstitutional and therefore should be nullified. Citizens do not surrender their civil rights just because of a natural or man-made disaster.”

SAF is once again being represented by attorney Alan Gura, who led the legal effort in the McDonald case and also won the historic Heller ruling that overturned the District of Columbia handgun ban in 2008. Local counsel are Andrew Tripp and Kearns Davis with the firm of Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLC in Raleigh.

The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and an amicus brief and fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.

NRA Preparing More Lawsuits

2010-06-28T20:50:00.003-04:00

Story from Politico:

NRA prepares lawsuits in wake of Chicago verdict

The National Rifle Association is preparing legal challenge to restrictive gun laws in the wake of today's Supreme Court verdict that states — like the federal government — must allow their citizens to carry guns.

Gun control groups are minimizing the verdict, arguing that it doesn't necessarily conflict with carefully written, stringent laws (other than Chicago's). But NRA chief lobbyist Chris Cox said the association sees an opportunity to dramatically expand the rights of citizens in liberal jurisdictions to carry guns, naming New York in particular as a target for change.

"The NRA is preparing [our] next round of legal challenges," Cox told me, declining to specify targets. "What [the Supreme Court] said is what we’ve said all along. Every law-abiding American has a right to a gun regardless of where they live."

"We’re going to be in coutrtooms making sure these aren't just words on a piece of paper," he said, adding that the NRA would also continue to work on loosening gun regulations in federal and state legislatures.

He turned to New York, though, as an example of restrictive laws.

"If you’re a Wall Street buddy of Bloomberg, if you’re a political buddy, if you’re a celebrity, you can carry a gun," he said. "If you're a regular working person in the Bronx who has to walk across parking lots late at night, absolutely not."

So much for all the people that I constantly hear say that the NRA does not do anything to help gun owners.

SCOTUSblog Commentary

2010-06-28T17:11:00.002-04:00

Here

Here

And here

All great reads.

Clayton Cramer - McDonald Citation

2010-06-28T16:15:00.001-04:00

Looks Like Clayton Cramer was cited in the decision.

McDonald Press Conference

2010-06-28T16:11:00.002-04:00

Plaintiff Colleen Lawson and her attorney have a press conference:

McDonald Heh

2010-06-28T13:22:00.001-04:00

Heh

McDonald V. Chicago - Notes on the Decision

2010-06-28T12:38:00.004-04:00

Notes from the ruling:

Pg 4:

Heller points unmistakably to the answer. Self-defense is a basic right, recognized by many legal systems from ancient times to the present, and the Heller Court held that individual self-defense is “the central component” of the SecondAmendment right. 554 U. S., at ___, ___. Explaining that “the needfor defense of self, family, and property is most acute” in the home, ibid., the Court found that this right applies to handguns because they are “the most preferred firearm in the nation to ‘keep’ and use for protection of one’s home and family,” id., at ___, ___–___. It thus concluded that citizens must be permitted “to use [handguns] for the core lawful purpose of self-defense.” Id., at ___. Heller also clarifies that this right is “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradi-tions,” Glucksberg, supra, at 721. Heller explored the right’s origins in English law and noted the esteem with which the right was re-garded during the colonial era and at the time of the ratification ofthe Bill of Rights. This is powerful evidence that the right was re-garded as fundamental in the sense relevant here.

Pg 5:

If what municipal respondents mean is that the Second Amendment should be singled out for special—and specially unfavor-able—treatment, the Court rejects the suggestion. The right to keep and bear arms must be regarded as a substantive guarantee, not a prohibition that could be ignored so long as the States legislated in an evenhanded manner.
The respondents above refers to Chicago and it's suburbs.

Municipal respondents’ remaining arguments are rejected be-cause they are at war with Heller’s central holding. In effect, they ask the Court to hold the right to keep and bear arms as subject to a different body of rules for incorporation than the other Bill of Rights guarantees.

I bet that slap hurts, I am sure there are more to come.

Pg 7-8:
We have previously held that most of the provisions of the Bill of Rights apply with full force to both the Federal Government and the States. Applying the standard that is well established in our case law, we hold that the Second Amendment right is fully applicable to the States.

That is the money quote there.

More later as I delve into the meat of the opinion

Another McDonald Presser

2010-06-28T11:53:00.002-04:00

This time from Buckeye Firearms Association:

Buckeye Firearms Association is thrilled that the United States Supreme Court has ruled to strike down the ban on private ownership of firearms in Chicago. Today, in a 5 to 4 decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment applies to states and cities. The decision is a result of a case brought by Otis McDonald (and others) against the city of Chicago. Leaving no room for doubt, the court made clear that the Second Amendment applies to Mayor Daley and Chicago.

"While there is much work to be done, this decision is the first critical step towards universal self-defense rights," said Jim Irvine, President of Buckeye Firearms Foundation. Buckeye Firearms Foundation teamed up with the United States Concealed Carry Association to file an amicus brief in support of Mr. McDonald.

Irvine summarized the importance as follows: "The members of the United States Concealed Carry Association and the supporters of Buckeye Firearms Foundation travel regularly, and a robust Second Amendment applied against all cities and states is needed to insure that the right to self-defense travels with these people, the same as all their other rights. Finally, the Second Amendment is afforded equal dignity with the other constitutional rights we enjoy."

The Court's decision is being welcomed as a day of liberation for the law-abiding citizens of Chicago. After years of being held hostage to the murder and mayhem that has plagued the city without a means of self-defense, Chicagoans can finally exercise their right to bear arms and defend their home against the common thugs that used to act with impunity.

Chicago native and Buckeye Firearms Foundation board of directors member Gerard Valentino was elated by the ruling and is already making plans to help his elderly mother in purchasing her first gun. "Finally, my elderly mother and grandmother can live a little safer and with a little less fear because if someone breaks in they can have a gun for self-defense."

This article will be updated throughout the day.Buckeye Firearms Association is thrilled that the United States Supreme Court has ruled to strike down the ban on private ownership of firearms in Chicago. Today, in a 5 to 4 decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment applies to states and cities. The decision is a result of a case brought by Otis McDonald (and others) against the city of Chicago. Leaving no room for doubt, the court made clear that the Second Amendment applies to Mayor Daley and Chicago.

This article will be updated throughout the day.

Blogger Link Roundup - McDonald V. Chicago

2010-06-28T11:34:00.002-04:00

Make sure to visit:

Saysuncle

Snowflakes in hell

The Volokh Conspiracy

Reason

SCOTUS Blog

David Codrea

Fox News On McDonald

2010-06-28T11:27:00.000-04:00

Fox:

In its second major ruling on gun rights in three years, the Supreme Court Monday extended the federally protected right to keep and bear arms to all 50 states. The decision will be hailed by gun rights advocates and comes over the opposition of gun control groups, the city of Chicago and four justices.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the five justice majority saying "the right to keep and bear arms must be regarded as a substantive guarantee, not a prohibition that could be ignored so long as the States legislated in an evenhanded manner."

The ruling builds upon the Court's 2008 decision in D.C. v. Heller that invalidated the handgun ban in the nation's capital. More importantly, that decision held that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms was a right the Founders specifically delegated to individuals. The justices affirmed that decision and extended its reach to the 50 states. Today's ruling also invalidates Chicago's handgun ban.

Backgrounder:

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court appears poised to issue a ruling that will expand to the states the high court's historic 2008 ruling that individuals have a federally protected right to keep and bear arms, following an hour-long argument Tuesday. If so, the decision would mark another hallmark victory for gun rights advocates and likely strike down Chicago's handgun ban that is similar to the Washington D.C. law already invalidated by the justices.

Tuesday's lively arguments featured lawyer Alan Gura, the same man who argued and won D.C. v. Heller in 2008. He now represents Otis McDonald who believes Chicago's handgun ban doesn't allow him to adequately protect himself. Gura argued the Heller decision which only applied to Washington D.C. and other areas of federal control should equally apply to Chicago and the rest of the country.

"In 1868, our nation made a promise to the McDonald family that they and their descendants would henceforth be American citizens, and with American citizenship came the guarantee enshrined in our Constitution that no State could make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of American citizenship," Gura told the Court.

He argued the language of the Constitution's 14th Amendment forces the states to protect the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment. The Bill of Rights, which was adopted in the late 18th Century, was then commonly viewed as only offering protections from the federal government.

It wasn't until after the Civil War that the Supreme Court in a piecemeal fashion began to apply--or incorporate--parts of the Bill of Rights to the states. It has used the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause to incorporate most of the Constitution's first amendments but has not yet done so for the Second Amendment. Gura argued that another part of the 14th Amendment would be a better vehicle for the justices to make their ruling but there didn't appear to be enough support from the bench on that front.

Chief Justice John Roberts was the most vocal advocate of using the Due Process Clause to extend the Second Amendment rights to the states. "I don't see how you can read -- I don't see how you can read Heller and not take away from it the notion that the Second Amendment...was extremely important to the framers in their view of what liberty meant."

The discussion over "liberty" was a major philosophical theme of the arguments. Gura and National Rifle Association lawyer Paul Clement argued that the rights articulated in the Second Amendment are fundamental freedoms and would exist to all Americans even if there was no law specifically saying so.

James Feldman, lawyer for the City of Chicago, defended his city's handgun ban and argued why the Heller decision's Second Amendment guarantee doesn't comport with the view that it represents a vital protection of liberty that needs to be expanded to the states.

"[T]he right it protects is not implicit in the concept of ordered liberty," Feldman said. "States and local governments have been the primary locus of firearms regulation in this country for the last 220 years. Firearms unlike anything else that is the subject of a provision of the Bill of Rights are designed to injure and kill."

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented in Heller and wondered why the right to bear arms was necessary to extend to the states. "[I]f the notion is that these are principles that any free society would adopt, well, a lot of free societies have rejected the right to keep and bear arms."

Later in the arguments Roberts disputed that notion. "I do think the focus is our system of ordered liberty, not any abstract system of ordered liberty. You can say Japan is a free country, but it doesn't have the right to trial by -- by jury."

Roberts was part of the five member majority in Heller and there's a good chance Tuesday's case will result in a similar 5-4 outcome. All of the members of the Heller majority are still on the Court and at least one of them would have to rule against extending the Second Amendment protection in order for the opposing side to prevail

2010-06-28T11:25:00.001-04:00

Thanks again to Saysuncle for the link:

June 28, 2010

Firearms Industry Hails Victory in Supreme Court Second Amendment Case

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) - the trade association for the firearms industry - hailed today's United States Supreme Court 5-4 decision written by Justice Alito that ruled the individual right to keep and bear arms protected by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution applies to the states and local government.

"Today’s ruling is a victory for freedom and liberty,” said NSSF President Stephen L. Sanetti. “All law-abiding Americans, no matter whether they live in a big city like Chicago or in rural Wyoming, have the same Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Constitutional rights don’t stop at state or city borders. Cities like Chicago and New York and states like California must now respect the Second Amendment.”

The case before the Court, McDonald v. City of Chicago, was filed in 2008 a day after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in District of Columbia v. Heller -- in which the high court reaffirmed that the Second Amendment protects an "individual" right to keep and bear arms. The Heller decision, however, did not reach the question of whether the Second Amendment also applied to the states.

Immediately after Heller, several Chicago residents including retired maintenance worker Otis McDonald filed a federal lawsuit challenging the city's long-standing gun ban. The Chicago-based federal courts ruled that the Second Amendment did not apply to the states and local governments, setting the stage for the Supreme Court to decide the question it left unanswered in its Heller decision.

"Today's decision marks the beginning of a new era of civil rights litigation as laws and regulations that infringe upon and violate the individual right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms, protected by the Second Amendment, are challenged,” said NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane. “As the trade association for America’s firearms industry, our members make the products through which our Second Amendment rights are realized. Just as the First Amendment protects and shields newspapers and media, the Second Amendment secures constitutional protections for our industry.”

NSSF filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of McDonald.

NRA Statement On McDonald V. Chicago

2010-06-28T11:23:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Saysuncle for the link:

Statement by Wayne LaPierre Executive Vice President, National Rifle Association Regarding U.S. Supreme Court Decision McDonald v. City of Chicago

Monday, June 28, 2010

Today marks a great moment in American history. This is a landmark decision. It is a vindication for the great majority of American citizens who have always believed the Second Amendment was an individual right and freedom worth defending.

The Supreme Court said what a majority of the American public believes. The people who wrote the Second Amendment said it was an individual right, and the Court has now confirmed what our founding fathers wrote and intended. The Second Amendment -- as every citizen’s constitutional right -- is now a real part of American Constitutional law.

But, Supreme Court decisions have to lead to actual consequences or the whole premise of American constitutional authority collapses. Individual freedom must mean you can actually experience it. An incorporated freedom has to be a real freedom.

The intent of the founding fathers -- and the Supreme Court -- was to provide access. Words must have meaning.

The Supreme Court has now said the Second Amendment is an individual freedom for all. And that must have meaning. This decision must provide relief to law-abiding citizens who are deprived of their Second Amendment rights.

I’m a practical guy. I don’t want to win on philosophy and lose on freedom. The end question is, can law-abiding men and women go out and buy and own a firearm? Today the Supreme Court said yes – anywhere they live!

This decision cannot lead to different measures of freedom, depending on what part of the country you live in. City by city, person by person, this decision must be more than a philosophical victory. An individual right is no right at all if individuals can’t access it. Proof of Heller and McDonald will be law abiding citizens, one by one, purchasing and owning firearms.

The NRA will work to ensure this constitutional victory is not transformed into a practical defeat by activist judges, defiant city councils, or cynical politicians who seek to pervert, reverse, or nullify the Supreme Court’s McDonald decision through Byzantine labyrinths of restrictions and regulations that render the Second Amendment inaccessible, unaffordable, or otherwise impossible to experience in a practical, reasonable way.

What good is a right without the gun? What good is the right if you can’t buy one? Or keep one in your home? Or protect your family with one?

Here’s a piece of paper – protect yourself. That’s no right at all!

Victory is when law abiding men and women can get up, go out, and buy and own a firearm. This is a monumental day. But NRA will not rest until every law-abiding American citizen is able to exercise the individual right to buy and own a firearm for self defense or any other lawful purpose.

McDonald V. Chicago

2010-06-28T11:13:00.001-04:00

Alternate download link for the decision in case the .gov servers take a crap.

Here

McDonald V. Chicago

2010-06-28T11:11:00.000-04:00

214 page opinion, Thomas apparently went for the P&I argument.

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1521.pdf

Shamless Post

2010-06-21T22:53:00.000-04:00

M.D. Creekmore at The Survivalist Blog – a survival blog dedicated to helping others prepare for and survive disaster – with articles on bug out bag contents, survival knife choices and a wealth of other survival information is giving away a 1,000 round case of 9mm – 124 Grain FMJ (a $200 value – donated by LuckyGunner)! To enter, you just have to post about it on your blog. This is my entry. Visit The Survivalist Blog for the details.

2010 NRA Convention - Show Floor Part XII

2010-06-15T00:11:00.007-04:00

2010 NRA Convention - Show Floor Part XI

2010-06-15T00:03:00.006-04:00

2010 NRA Convention - Show Floor Part X

2010-06-14T23:58:00.005-04:00

2010 NRA Convention - Show Floor Part IX

2010-06-14T23:51:00.004-04:00

2010 NRA Convention - Show Floor Part VIII

2010-06-14T23:44:00.005-04:00

2010 NRA Convention - Show Floor Part VII

2010-06-14T23:36:00.008-04:00

Century International Arms were showing off some of their wares.

Cobra Firearms had some of their pocket pistols on display.
Here are some of their revolvers, in color!
And some of their more feminine colors. I keep threatening to get my wife something in purple.

Cam from Cam and Company was on the air when I walked by. Got to talk with him for a few minutes, he is a pretty nice guy.

This booth was right behind the NRA booth. It is a company called Technoframes. They make these nice looking pistol display boxes as well as some really nice clear ammo boxes. I got distracted by talking with Cam and didn't get a shot of them.

SAMCO Global Arms had some of their milsurp guns on display.
And they had what I thought was an anti-tank weapon but it is actually a Swiss M/41 rangefinder for artillery. This thing would be great for someone that had a lot of open land.

Here is the Aimpoint booth. I have got to get me one of these.
The only real booth babe I saw. Probably because it was Sunday afternoon and the rest had already left.
Couple of their pistol red dots.

The Springfield Armory booth. Here you can see a stainless steel Loaded 1911. This will probably be my next pistol purchase.
More SA guns.
Here is a shot of a couple XD .45s

Colt had a 1911 with a rail on display.
Couple of pictures of the Colt 100th anniversary guns.

There was a giveaway for a Lone Ranger getup. Man these were nice looking shootin irons.

2010 NRA Convention - Show Floor Part VI

2010-06-14T19:28:00.008-04:00

OK, sorry about the delay in posting. Finishing finals was a bit rough.

First up we have the FNH booth:

Couple of FNARs
Here Tasha Hanish gives us a smile. She is part of the FNH shooting team.
Here is a Five-seveN pistol. Nice looking pistols but I am still not sold on the practicality of the round.
Couple of nice pics of SCARs. It amazed me how many times people would get in front of the camera when I was trying to take a picture.
Here are some FS2000s

Here is a couple of shots of the Browning booth. First up some Citori's, shotguns that I reckon I will never be able to afford.
Then some of the Vincis
And a nice shot of some Buckmarks. I really like these little pistols. I just wish they didn't come with a golden trigger.

Next up is the Armalite booth. Some of their evil black rifles.
And an AR50. This guy looked like he was contemplating doing evil things to the neighborhood dog that keeps using his lawn.

Winchester had some of their SX3 shotguns on display.
Then they had some nice engraved lever guns. Sorry about the glare on the first one.

ATI had some of their stocks on display in their booth.

Here is some of the stuff from SOG Armory.

The Saber Defense booth. The lady in the background looks like she was incredibly tired and ready for the show to end. Since it was in the afternoon Sunday by this time, I cant really blame her.

HS Precision had their booth there. I didn't get a chance to ask them about being endorsed by a murderer.

Hi-Standard had some of their pistols on display. I don't think that this is the same iteration of the company that made the 1950's era rifles I own.

Nordic Components had a couple of their uppers on display.

More coming soon.

2010 NRA Convention - Show Floor Part V

2010-05-25T07:15:00.006-04:00

First up we have the NAA booth. Below are some of their revolvers. To the top right is their Black Widow with a 4 inch barrel.
Here are some of the NAA Guardians in .380. They look really nice with wooden grips.

Charter Arms was showing off some of their colored revolvers. My wife is tolerant of my shooting interests but she isn't a gun nut. I keep threatening to buy her a pink or purple gun to get her interested. I really think one of these would be really nice for that purpose.

Some of the new Hi-Point offerings. As ugly as these look, I have never actually talked to someone that had their Hi-Point break on them.

A shot of the Steyr Mannlicher booth.

Berry's Manufacturing had a nice table set up full of some nice and shiny reloading goodness.

A couple of shots of the incredible looking Bison Bull Revolvers. As magnificent as these things look, I am afraid that I would shatter my hand the first time I fired one.

LRB Arms was showing off one of their M-14s. These guys make receivers for you to build you own rifle's on. Having built an AK from a parts kit, this is an interesting idea.

A few shots here from the American Tactical Imports booth. Now, I do understand the look and feel of these guns. I just cannot justify the cost. No matter how hard I try to think about it, these things are still $600 .22 rifles.

Ka-Bar Knives had a few nicely priced blades. Too bad my wife wouldn't let me spend anymore that weekend.

Alexander Arms was showing off some really nice camouflage jobs on some of their rifles.

Benchmade Knives had a pretty nice display. I carried a Benchmade for a number of years, I still regret loosing that thing.

Anschutz had some of their air rifles on display. These things are Olympic quality and their price reflects that.

Finally, the Browning booth. First up some of the Citori shotguns. These are shotguns that I likely will never be able to afford.
Next up are some of the Buckmarks. These are great little .22 pistols but I just cant get over the gold trigger.

2010 NRA Convention - Show Floor Part IV

2010-05-25T07:05:00.005-04:00

First up, the Choate booth. I have heard a lot of good things about their stocks but I really do not know a lot about them as I don't have a gun that would use one of their stocks.

Numrich was there. I asked the guy at the booth about how to get parts that were listed as being out of stock on their site. I asked this because I have a couple of old .22s that I have this problem with. He told me that what they do is buy out warehouses, manufacturers, dealers, gun shops and auctions. This means that they get new supplies in all the time. Also if they get enough demand for a specific part, they will actually tool up some machines and make them if they can. One thing he mentioned is that they were the ones that bought out what was left of Charles Daly. This means that it is likely that parts will be available for them for many years to come.

ISSC-Austria had some interesting products. First up are the .22lr pistols. They look and feel like Glocks though they have a slide mounted safety.

They are also selling a .22lr SCAR clone they call the MK-22. The rifle looked amazing, solidly built and felt good in my hands. The magazines are not compatible with any other brand of .22 so I was told. If I recall correctly, it comes with 3 magazines so that is a plus.

Some pointy things from the Great American Tool Company. Their website talks about the Timberline brand. Obviously they make the Snap-On brand of knives too.

VZ Grips had a really nice display. Their products are a polymer and felt really solid. They make grips for a whole array of pistols. If I had a gun that could use them, I would have picked a pair up.

US Tactical Supply had a nice looking example of their MP-MODSSS. This thing is nice looking, a modular stock system for the Remington 700. At a hefty price tag of $850, this is obviously designed for serious shooters and not your local deer hunter.

A look here at the Redding booth.

DoubleStar had some of their rifles on display.

Viridian had some of their lasers on display. Of particular interest to me was the one on this Ruger SR-9c. I have the full size SR-9 myself and this thing is perfect. It is not only a green laser but a second tap of the button on the side of the laser turns on a flash light.

Ohio Ordinance Works had some of their wares on display too. These are apparently re-manufactured historic military weapons. Below we see a nice looking ma duce.
And then a really sexy looking BAR.
Finally the back end of a SAW.

Airforce Airguns had some of their pretty stuff on display. With a MSRP of under $600, these aren't as highly priced as I would have thought.

Last up was the Olympic Arms booth.

2010 NRA Convention - Show Floor Part III

2010-05-21T05:20:00.008-04:00

Ok, I am back. I apologize for the brief hiatus in posting. School comes first.

First up we have some evil black rifles from the Eotech booth:

Next up was a very interesting product from Nemesis Arms:
This is a .308 rifle that is specifically designed to break down into a backpack or briefcase. I could certainly see this being useful for people that routinely head into wilderness areas where the size of something is important. Would be a good idea to have one of these in a case on the back of an ATV for example. My understanding about the manufacturing process is that the rifle is machined specifically to make sure they pieces fit together perfectly.

Next up a couple of flashy pistols. I didn't catch who made them but they sure looked pretty cool.

Here we have a couple of shots from the Dakota Arms booth. These things are sexy and way more than I can afford.

This booth by Gum Creek Customs had an interesting idea for a vehicle holster mount. I tried to mount a nylon holster to the underside of my dash a few months ago and found that there was not enough support to hold the gun in the holster. These guys look like they have found a solution to that problem. I was pretty impressed by how sturdy this seemed, I would love to try one of these out.

JayG's favorite booth. These bayonets are more a novelty than anything else but man they are cool!!! The LaserLyte guys were quite friendly to talk with and I hear they are a great company to deal with.

Some more evil black rifles, these are from J&J Armory. The interesting thing about these rifles was the company logo that was spread across the upper and lower receivers. I asked about this and they explained that since they do not sell uppers and lowers separate but as a complete rifle, this was their way to ensure that the produce stayed together once it was sold. Their uppers and lowers are fully compatible with other AR series rifles.

2010 NRA Convention - Show Floor Part II

2010-05-20T00:38:00.008-04:00

Finally on to the actual show floor. First of all, this floor was huge. Pictures cannot describe how massive this place was.

Ooooo shiny!!! Course I couldn't tell if this thing was a working Gatling gun or not but at that price tag it had better be a washing machine, car, fridge and mixing bowl too!!!

First up was the Auto Ordinance booth. Here we have some M1 Carbines. I am pretty sure that these are new production. For the price they are asking, you can get a surplus one from the CMP so I am not real sure that they are that great of a deal. Then again I prefer guns with a history to them when possible.

I will admit they are nice looking.

They also make new production Tommy guns. Again I would prefer a real Tommy gun but those are quite expensive and the process to get one is a real pain in the rear. These things are heavy too, takes quite a bit of arm strength to actually wield one. Apparently they are using the recent movie about Dillinger to sell these guns, I head that the movie was quite a let down.

In case you are a rap star, they have you covered too. I cannot imagine how much weight gold plating adds to an already heavy weapon though. And I would bet the price increase is a bit heavy too.

Here is the Savage Arms booth. I didn't much pay attention to this rack as it was full of stuff that they have been selling for a while. I know that Savage makes some great rifles but they don't have a lot of new products out right now.

I didn't catch what model this rifle was but since Savage isn't known for their tactical stuff, it did catch my eye.

Finally, here on the left is the new Edge series of rifles from Savage. I have been looking for a good low end deer rifle for a while now and after seeing this and getting a quote locally of just over $300, I believe that one of these in .308 will be my next rifle.

Here is a look at the Sure Fire table.

Stag Arms had a display of evil black rifles to scare all the GFWs. Course I prefer my rifles without stag heads on the side but that is a personal choice.

Next up was the Shiloh Sharps Booth. I kinda like these old buffalo guns but they are well out of my price range.

Here we have a beta mag of some sort, this one was 150rds if I recall correctly. I cant remember which booth this was.

Sadly Dillon Precision wasn't giving out free presses. I did ask and got a weak smile from the guy. Still blue is pretty.

Caspian Arms was showing off their stainless steel Glock slides. I don't have a Glock so I didn't stay long.

Nice looking rifle here at the .50 Caliber Shooters Association booth.

Bergara barrels had some shiny stuff on display.

A nice Barrett .50 here at their booth.

Phalanx Holsters were demonstrating their LASH holster. It certainly looked catchy but my first thought was that the trigger was exposed and that would be a bad thing. It appears that this holster actually stores the gun on your hip with the slide back a bit out of battery, and a some sort of tab in the chamber to prevent it from firing. This is a very odd design to see and I really think I would have to actually try it to decide if it were a good idea or not. It looks like it might be though.

That wraps up part 2, the third part will be posted soon.

2010 NRA Convention - Show Floor Part I

2010-05-18T21:33:00.009-04:00

Pictures from the show, I apologize in advance for any that don't come out well. I am not a professional even thought I act like one some times.

First up is actually the last picture I took at the convention. I took this as I was walking out to my car.

Ok here was as I walked in the hall.

Here is my kids favorite picture from the show. I wonder why...

Couple of pics from the concourse overlooking the show floor. Sorry for the glare of the flash on the glass.

First up was the new products showcase booth. This was actually on the concourse above the show floor and not on the show floor.

Here we see the new .380 offering from I.O. Inc. I believe that it looks like another Kel-tec P3AT copy. Time will tell if it is worth anything compared to the Kel-tec or the Ruger.

Also from I.O. Inc. is their PPS-43C pistol. This seems to be a new production copy of the old Russian PPS. According to the I.O. site, the design has been redone to fire from a closed bolt which will improve accuracy. The stock is non functional and permanently folded so this is a pistol. It also comes with 4 35-round magazines. It fires the Russian 7.62x25mm Tokarev round which is still available for very cheap prices. For the price it is not a bad deal at all, I will have to seriously think about picking one up.

Next up is the I.O. Inc STG2000-C. This appears to be a US made AK variant. According to the sheet next to it, it has all polymer furniture, a M-16 style muzzle break and comes with one mag. I dont see a price anywhere but I suspect that we are looking at under $500. If they can do that with a US made AK, they will do well in the market.

Here is a pic of the I.O. Inc AK-47. Looks like this one is a direct AK copy and not an improved one. All polymer furniture and comes with one mag. Again, with it being US made, I think this might do well.

Next up is the new S&W Bodyguard .38 revolver and the new Bodyguard .380 semi-auto. These both looks quite promising in the market. Looks like the .380 has a laser built into the guide rod and I don't see a lawyer lock on it. The .38 also has a laser on it and I cannot see a lock on it. Also the revolver is aluminum and steel framed not the ultra light alloys they use on some of their other revolvers.

Next up is an Archangel Manufacturing 10/22 conversion. Looks like this is a new offering in tan. I have a Tapco stock set on my 10/22 and it really helps it be manuverable as a .22lr training substitute for larger calibers.

Perhaps the most eye catching of the products I saw at the whole show was this series of Pendleton Gun Safes. This thing is so nice looking that I would want to live in in. Multiple shelves on a round center column that allows the contents to rotate around for access. Additionally the round design makes it really difficult to lay it on it's back and use prying tools to get into the door. Also the door seam is extremely tiny, making me suspect that it would be very difficult to get any kind of useful tools into it.

Finally comes what I suspect might be the biggest seller of the show. This is a product called The Rail Vise. This is a lever operated vise that grips onto any standard picatinny rail. This thing also has a magwell block, a barrel post and a rail segment so that you can mount rail mounted objects on it to work on them. The price range was under $75 and that makes me thing that it will sell very well. I am actually very excited about this product, it is a damn sight better than a wood block and a bench vise. At their table, they had also made up a wooden block to hold pistols in the vise.
I really do think that this product has a lot of promise.

Ok, that wraps up part one of the show floor pictures. There are still tons more to go so stay tuned.

NRA 2010 Convention Blogger Meetup Part II

2010-05-18T19:14:00.009-04:00

Part two of the blogger meet up dinner photos. Again if I put a ? mark in place of your name, let me know who you are and I will update the post.

JayG takes a photo of the ever lovely Breda.

Alan Gura talks shop with xqrl.

Here you can see Scott, Michael Bane and his producer Marshal.

MikeW, Alan, JayG and Weer'd Beard talk with Lars from the NRA.

MikeW looks on as JayG and Breda talk to Pete Brownell.

MikeW, Weer'd Beard and Breda look on as JayG shows Pet Brownell how they shakes hands in MA.

The music in the restaurant got loud so we went outside. In the back, Caleb talks to Scott and a couple of others. In the front we have JayG, Caleb's Wife, pdb and facing away from the camera is MikeW.

Here we have Alan, Breda, Unix-Jedi and JayG.

What's this? Trouble brewing? Joe Huffman, Alan Gura and Uncle are about to get into some apparently.

Yup, here it starts, but what are they up to?

Turns out they are having an iPhone light saber fight.

And the winner, Alan Gura takes down another challenger.

Here Alan Gura rests after a hard fought battle, Uncle starts looking for a way to appeal his defeat to the Supreme Court.

Turns out Breda and JayG have a love child!

Awww, I think Breda looks cute with a baby in her arms. JayG cant figure out why there is no beard on the baby.

Uncle comes over and asks JayG and Breda if he will be getting visitation rights.
Caleb again.

At some point this guy comes by and sketches Caleb and his wife on a iPad. Yes that is an iPad. I suppose it is lighter and smaller than a paper pad and pencils. When he was done, he emailed the sketch to their phones.
Unix-Jedi, Joe Huffman and Newbius chat it up.

Weer'd Beard and MikeW chat with Alan. As you can see, it is late and Alan has had a few.
That is it for the meet up. Next up will be the first of many posts from the convention itself.

I had a great time and am incredibly grateful for how welcoming everyone was. Thanks to Breda for getting this together.

NRA 2010 Convention Blogger Meetup Part I

2010-05-17T22:39:00.021-04:00

As promised, here are some pictures from the blogger meet up on Saturday night. Please note, I met a lot of people this past weekend. If you are in a picture and I do not list your name/blog, let me know and I will make corrections as quickly as possible. If I dont remember your name I put a ? there as a place holder.

First up is one of Breda showing us what it looks like to sneak under pdb's armpit.

Next up, we have one of the few pictures of Caleb (Black shirt) being calm that exists on the interwebs, his lovely wife is next to him. Also in the picture are: Joe Huffman (white shirt), Larry Weeks from Brownells (dark shirt and glassess in the right corner) and Marshal Halloway, the producer for Michael Bane's show (tan hat, bottom right corner).

Next up, from left to right: Uncle, Alan Gura and Michael Bane. Both Alan Gura and Michael Bane were wonderful to all of us and easy to talk to. Alan Gura is incredibly smart and stunningly easy to hang out with.

Here we have the three Alans: Alan Gottlieb, Alan (SnarkyBytes) and Alan Gura.
Here you can see Caleb (black shirt) demonstrating a tactical beer grab. Sebastian looks on from a few seats down (dark blue shirt and glasses) to the right in the green shirt is Scott.

Alan Gottlieb takes advice on shirt selection from Michael Bane.
Alan and Weer'd Beard discuss the finer points of shaving.

JayG prepares to hand over his car keys after Alan Gura explains to him that massive amounts of road rage are clearly unconstitutional.

Uncle and Wei:

JayG still growling about horrible traffic. Alan Gura, Weer'd Beard and Newbius look on.
Caleb toasts with his water, everyone else has a good laugh at him. In the foreground is his wife. Behind him to the left is Joe Huffman, on the right in the blue shirt with glasses on is Sebastian, in the green shirt is Scott.
Michael Bane and the husband of NancyR laugh it up. In the background is MikeW, Weer'd Beard and Alan Gura.

In the far background Alan shows a picture to JayG. Also in the photo, Alan Gottlieb, Joe Huffman, Caleb and Scott.
Sebastian realizes that his beard is far shorter than JayG's
Another one of the crowd, MikeW is on the left in the hat.

Michael Bane and his producer Marshal sit down for some salad. I am sure Michael will send this picture to his "sweetie" so she can see proof that he is being healthy while away from her.

When Larry Weeks comes over, Caleb tries to steal some of Michael Bane's salad.

Another shot of the crowd.

Breda discusses her under-armpit sneaking skills with pdb.

Alan Gura, Alan Gottlieb and Uncle. I think I annoyed them with my flash, sorry guys.
Anyways, that is the first post of the dinner meet. There is one more then I can get on with the photos of the show itself.

Pictures Coming Soon

2010-05-17T04:39:00.001-04:00

Still working on the pictures, I took over 400 between the dinner and the show so there will be plenty to come.

NRA Convention Saturday Night Meetup

2010-05-16T03:12:00.003-04:00

Spent the evening talking with Breda, Joe Huffman, Uncle, Sebastian, Caleb, JayG and more.

Talked with Michael Bane for a while this evening, he is just as outgoing in person as he is on TV.

Also had a pretty good conversation with Alan Gottlieb from the Second Amendment Foundation. He is a sharp fellow and I am sure glad we have people like him fighting on our side.

Alan Gura not only met up with us but actually changed his flight plans to stay an extra day and come out this evening. He sat around talking with us till at least midnight!!!

He is a very cool, laid back guy and man is he sharp. I am really glad to have both Alans on our side in this whole thing.

Ill get some pictures up tomorrow.

Local Activism Works

2010-05-10T23:49:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, local gunnies started noticing that a big grocery store chain, Harris Teeter, had started to post the signs you see below.

This of course started a campaign of people going in, speaking to the manager and telling them exactly why they were no longer shopping at their stores. This also led to many of them sending emails to the corporate office.

Here in NC, these signs carry the weight of law and you can be arrested for not obeying them. It isn't enough that you just get asked to leave when a business owner wants you to not carry, but it is an actual crime not to obey these signs.

Today comes word from opencarry.org that the have reversed their policy.

Thank you for reaching out to our company with your comments. We understand your concerns and will begin removing signs from our stores this week.

Catherine

Catherine Reuhl
Communication Specialist
Harris Teeter
701 Crestdale Road
Matthews, NC 28105
704/844-3904 - w
704/957-0744 - c

Citizen activism works and it works well!!!

Drawing The American Flag Is Offensive Says Teacher

2010-05-10T23:31:00.003-04:00

From FOX:

Tracy Hathaway, of Salinas, CA, told FOX News Radio her 13-year-old daughter was ordered to stop drawing the American flag and start another project at Gavilan View Middle School.

“She had drawn the flag and was sketching the letters, ‘God bless America,’ when the teacher confronted her,” Hathaway told FOX. “She said, ‘You can’t draw that – that’s offensive.’”

Even more striking, another student in the same art class drew a picture of President Obama and was praised by the teacher.

“The picture of Barack Obama was in red, white and blue hues,” Hathaway said. “ The teacher said it was great. But when it comes to the flag – all of a sudden it was offensive?”

Contact info for the school is here:

http://www.santaritaschools.org/gv/index.html

Give them a call and tell them what you think.

AG Holder: AZ immigration Law Is Not Racist

2010-05-10T23:22:00.002-04:00

Link:

Attorney General Eric Holder told me the controversial new Arizona immigration law is not racist, but he remains concerned the law could lead to racial profiling. In my “This Week” interview, Holder said, “I don't think it's racist in its motivation. But I think the concern I have is how it will be perceived and how it perhaps could be enacted, how it could be carried out. I think we could potentially get on a slippery slope where people will be picked on because of how they look as opposed to what they have done, and that is I think something that we have to try to avoid at all costs.”

Holder added that immigration is a national problem and “a state-by-state solution to it is not the way in which we ought to go.”

There is a video and transcript of the interview at the link. Apparently the law isn't as bad as those on the left are making it out to be.

Cats Beware

2010-05-10T22:01:00.001-04:00

My cats would be so screwed if I had one of those!

Money Really Does Fall From The Sky

2010-05-10T21:52:00.004-04:00

Link:

A cardboard box left at a church near Lake Mary caused the closure of Markham Woods Road while a bomb squad X-rayed it and then blew it up.

The note on the 40-pound bundle said, simply, "For Pastor Nick." In the old days, someone would have taken it inside and opened it.

But a church member who found the package on the doorstep about 11 a.m. today thought the corrugated box secured with duct tape might be dangerous.

He drove it from Master's Touch International Church, 555 Markham Woods Road, to a nearby fire station to have it checked out.

The Seminole County Sheriff's Office bomb squad couldn't figure out what was inside even after the box was X-rayed.

So, deputies blew it up.

Ok, so far so good, nothing too unusual about that.

More than $2,500 in paper money was turned into confetti. Four hundred ninety-eight rolled silver dollars remained intact

I hate to laugh at things like this, but I can totally imagine the shocked looks on the faces of the cops involved when little pieces of cash started raining down on them.

Turns Out Disney Isn't Smarter Than A Fourth Grader

2010-05-10T21:40:00.002-04:00

Link:

Even The Most Magical Place on Earth can't suspend grammatical rules.

That's what Colleyville fourth-grader Hannah Estes recently taught Disney officials. She spotted an error on a park sign while waiting in line for the Primeval Whirl roller coaster at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando.

The sign counted down to the ride: 5 seconds, 4 seconds, 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 seconds.

"I read it out loud, and I'm like, 'Hey, that doesn't sound right," Hannah said. "A singular number can't be with a plural."

So she snapped a photo of the sign and wrote the top brass at Disney in California and Florida. The response was "almost immediate," said her father, Keith Estes.

Hey, mistakes happen and chances are no one even thought twice about it. Me personally I see things like that all the time but really don't care enough to take the time to write a letter about it.

Worse, this girl is now in a prime position to be a grammar Nazi on internet forums.

Someone Is Going To Have To Go Under The Bus

2010-05-06T21:40:00.003-04:00

Turns out that the amateur fireworks technician that tried to start a display celebrating his religion in Times Square recently was once on the no-fly list because of his potential terrorist ties. And was removed from said list sometime between 2008 and last week.

Link

Any guesses on who in the Obama administration will get thrown under the bus for this one?

Arrested For Asking Directions

2010-05-06T18:43:00.002-04:00

Link:

Baltimore City police arrested a Virginia couple over the weekend after they asked an officer for directions.

WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reporter David Collins said Joshua Kelly and Llara Brook, of Chantilly, Va., got lost leaving an Orioles game on Saturday. Collins reported a city officer arrested them for trespassing on a public street while they were asking for directions .

"In jail for eight hours -- sleeping on a concrete floor next to a toilet," Kelly said.

"It was a nightmare," Brook said. "I was in there thinking I was just dreaming and waiting to wake up."

Go read the whole thing. Police really do need to realize that this us Vs. them attitude they have is a sure way to make the public hate them.

'Cash For Clunkers' Broke After Just One Week?

2009-07-31T01:11:00.003-04:00

So says FoxNews:

WASHINGTON -- The White House said Thursday it was reviewing what has turned out to be a wildly popular "cash for clunkers" program amid concerns the $1 billion budget for rebates for new auto purchases may have been exhausted in only a week.

Transportation Department officials called lawmakers' offices earlier Thursday to alert them of plans to suspend the program as early as Friday. But a White House official said later the program had not been suspended and officials there were assessing their options.

"We are working tonight to assess the situation facing what is obviously an incredibly popular program," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said of the Car Allowance Rebate System.

"Auto dealers and consumers should have confidence that all valid CARS transactions that have taken place to date will be honored."

Gibbs said the administration was "evaluating all options" to keep the program funded.

Gee imagine that!!! When you give taxpayer freebies away, people take advantage of it. So what we now have is that people who are in better financial straits and would typically buy new cars every couple of years are now faced with their tax dollars paying to replace piece of shit cars for people who otherwise couldn't have afforded them. Of course the people that are replacing their piece of shit cars for the most part don't pay taxes so why would they care how much money this program costs the tax payers?

Perspective On The National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Amendment

2009-07-23T00:43:00.005-04:00

All over the nation, on both the internet and the news channels, a lot is being made of the Thune amendment that would have required states to recognize the concealed carry permits of other states. Now the amendment has failed and quite frankly, I expected that. Realistically, even the contents of the amendment don't matter a whole lot, I do not believe that it was meant to actually pass.

If you want to read it, you can do so here.

There are however some things about this that are very important.

One, we now have an established list of who does and does not vote for gun rights issues. Combine this with the coming voting record on the Sotomayor confirmation and we will have a very clear picture of where each senator stands so that we can make a good choice in 2010. So let us look at the list of votes.

YEAs ---58
Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Casey (D-PA)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feingold (D-WI)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagan (D-NC)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reid (D-NV)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Tester (D-MT)
Thune (R-SD)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Vitter (R-LA)
Warner (D-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Wicker (R-MS)

NAYs ---39
Akaka (D-HI)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Burris (D-IL)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kaufman (D-DE)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Reed (D-RI)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Specter (D-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

Not Voting - 3
Byrd (D-WV)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Mikulski (D-MD)

Ok, first there is no surprise that Kennedy didn't vote, I am amazed that he is still actually considered a sitting senator. The other two that didn't vote would have voted 'no' so they wouldnt have mattered much either.

The names marked in light blue above are ones that are no surprise either. They all either come from states that are heavy on gun control, or they are outspoken advocates of gun control.

Two of the 'no' votes are a bit interesting. Gillenbrad was supposed to be a huge change for NY, apparently she isn't. Frankin is the new boy on the block, so I am not very surprised that he voted the way his party wanted him to.

The real kickers are the 'yes' votes I highlighted in dark green. First Hagan, I know for a fact that she is no supporter of the second amendment. Same with Martinez, Feingold, Reid, Landrieu and Bayh. My guess is that the Democrats on that list are the ones that have the most to loose by voting against a pro-gun issue. Martinez is the most odd one on the list to me. I would bet good money that if we looked at the time frame of the vote, we would see that these names were all people that voted late, after they already knew that the bill wouldn't pass.

-------------------------------------------------

Now let us talk about another issue that needs to be addressed.

Is this bill an overstepping of federal bounds?

In the past week I have heard much discussion from both sides about how this bill is not appropriate or that it creates a slippery slope.

What has to be looked at is whether or not the federal government has the authority or legal grounds to regulate what has traditionally been held to be a state issue, the issuance and recognition of concealed carry permits.

For reference it is necessary to cite several things:

The Second Amendment:

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

The Tenth Amendment:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The Fourteenth Amendment:
Section One:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

And Section Five:

The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

These are the relevant parts of the Constitution to this issue.

First let us talk about the Second Amendment. Several court cases, most recently the Heller case, have established that "The People" refers to an individual right. The case law on this issue is hardly settled law, but I suspect that the case for Incorporation will be ruled on within the next two years. Most likely the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment will be used to do so.

Now, whether or not the carrying of concealed arms is the bearing of arms as referenced in the Second Amendment is a discussion for another day. Personally I feel that the history of case law ruling that concealed carry is a privilege instead of an aspect of bearing arms is wrong.

Next we should talk about the Tenth Amendment. My argument here is that the Tenth Amendment specifically establishes that since the Second Amendment is a right granted "the people", the states have no grounds to reserve any authority to it. The fact that the Second Amendment is specifically enumerated as applying to the people makes it so that the states do not have authority over it.

Much has been said in the past two weeks comparing this amendment to things like drivers license and marriage license reciprocity. Those comparisons are invalid because the privilege of driving and the right* to marry are not specifically reserved to the people or the federal government in the Constitution and under the guidelines of the Tenth Amendment and therefore are reserved to the states. In my eyes, states rights should only apply in matters that are not specifically enumerated by the Constitution. In this case, the bearing of arms is a federally protected right and should be vigorously protected by the federal government in all states and for all citizens.

Finally we should talk more about the Fourteenth Amendment. The privileges and immunities clause and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment makes it clear that all citizens should be treated equally under the law. Since the right to keep and bear arms is a specifically enumerated right in the Constitution, the laws regulating the bearing of arms should be universal across all states. Realistically, almost all of the gun laws in this nation probably violate the Second Amendment, but courts have seen things differently and decided that some restrictions are not "infringements."

Now the reality of the nation we live in probably would not allow for there to be only federal laws for guns and I am not all that sure that I would want that in the first place. So I am willing to concede that something like the amendment that was voted on today is probably more appropriate. Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment does allow for legislation such as this.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that this is a proper use of federal power to enforce protections of the right to keep and bear arms. Though I still believe that the amendment was poorly constructed and implemented. As I said before, I don't believe that the intent of the bill was that it get passed anyways.

* I do believe that marriage is a right, even though it is not specifically enumerated by the constitution. That is a discussion for another time.

EDIT: The first commenter brings up the full faith and credit clause, one that I had overlooked. That just makes the case even stronger though I believe that the case is strong enough even with my oversight.

New Orleans To Count Former Residnets In Census

2009-07-21T02:29:00.003-04:00

Gotta love corrupt politics:

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is calling on former residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to claim their old city addresses in next year's census, drawing criticism for trying to circumvent rules for winning federal funds.

The mayor -- encouraged that New Orleans has thrown off its post-Katrina malaise to become the U.S.'s fastest-growing big city by percentage -- wants the U.S. Census Bureau to grant an exception for its former residents, currently living elsewhere, who want to rebuild homes in New Orleans.

There's one problem: The mayor's plan is illegal, according to the Census Bureau. Federal law requires the Census Bureau to count all U.S. residents where they reside as of April 1, 2010, when the nationwide tally will begin.

"Any individual who does something like that is going to hurt the place where they are living, and hurt New Orleans," said Katherine Smith, a Census Bureau spokeswoman.

Does anyone seriously believe that Nagin gives a damn about the residents of New Orleans?

This is the same man that let hundreds of school busses sit in parking lots while the city residents were struggling to evacuate ahead of Katrina.

Good thing they keep electing him.

Obama Health Plan to Cover 12 Million Illegals

2009-07-21T02:13:00.002-04:00

So says Newsmax:

On Friday, Democrats moved one step closer to giving free health insurance to the nation’s estimated 12 million illegal aliens when they successfully defeated a Republican-backed amendment, offered by Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., that would have prevented illegal aliens from receiving government-subsidized health care under the proposed plan backed by House Democrats and President Barack Obama.

The House Ways and Means Committee nixed the Heller amendment by a 26-to-15 vote along straight party lines, and followed this action by passing the 1,018-page bill early Friday morning by a 23-to-18 margin, with three Democrats voting against the plan.

The Democratic plan will embrace Obama’s vision of bringing free government medical care to more than 45 million uninsured people in America – a significant portion of whom are illegal aliens.

And you see, this is how the Democratic party gains 12+ million votes for the next ten elections.

Terror Watch List Being Used To Deny Loans

2009-07-20T04:48:00.002-04:00

It is according to this:

A guy of middle-eastern decent (born in Afghanistan) wants to buy a car. We agree on the price, he fills out a credit-ap and we run it. Rock Star, as we say in the biz, 815 FICO score with 92% of his current credit available. Well employed at a famous medical school for the last ten years. Should be “No Problem” getting him financed, right?

Wrong. His name brings up a flag on the American Patriot Act “terrorist watch list.” Well, his name is similar to other names on the list, so, banks are not allowed to loan money to him. It means he can’t get the car and I can’t get the sale.

Now, we all know that that list has over a million names on it. You remember, Sen. Frank Lautenberg wanted to prevent anyone whose name appeared on that list from being able to purchase a firearm even though the vast majority of those people have never been accused or convicted of anything. That’s one reason I oppose Lautenberg’s bill.

My own feeling is, the guy is well employed, here in this country legally. If he’s suspect, they should investigate. Otherwise, why can’t he do what other free residents are able to do? Like, buy a car? Either he is or he isn’t. In-between leaves him in limbo and that is not fair to him.

Remember, this is the same list that has had several senators on it.

The Creepiest Biden Picture Ever

2009-07-20T03:33:00.002-04:00

I really dont think it could get any creepier.

Hiatus

2009-07-20T03:29:00.000-04:00

I wont try to explain my hiatus, I'm just lazy.

Challenger

2009-01-29T04:31:00.002-05:00

Jay reminded me:

23 years ago, Janurary 28th, 1986

I was in the lunchroom at Deerwood elementary school in East Orlando approximately 45 miles from the launch complex. Within seconds of the breakup, myself along with hundreds of other students were outside watching the debris falling to earth.

I can still remember crying and not knowing why... I still have an autographed 45 record of a song recorded the week of the disaster with a song named "Challenger."

Years later, I was on the playground at Union Park Elementary in Orlando, also about 40 miles from the launch complex, when the space shuttle missions resumed. I can still remember other children screaming "Blow up! Blow up!" and thinking how horrible and mean those kids were.

Several years later, I was able to visit Arlington National Cemetery and see the graves of the astronauts. Only the grave of Kennedy had more solemn meaning for me.

To this day, I can still hear the voice of Michael Smith saying "Uh oh"... And I remember the numerous local news stories of people finding debris washing up on Cocoa Beach.

Like you, I did not experience anything this monumentally life changing until 9/11/01... A year and a half later, I was again ripped apart when the Columbia disintegrated on reentry. The helplessness of being a bystander to tragic history is only drowned out when you realize that the event you are watching was not just an accident but was deliberate... Perhaps that is why Challenger and Columbia make me sad and 9/11 makes me seethe in anger.

The most emotional thing about the whole Challenger incident was the words of Reagan that night... It brings tears to my eyes every time:

"We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of Earth' to 'touch the face of God."

Stolen Gun Belonging To Davy Crockett Returned

2009-01-20T03:00:00.002-05:00

From CBS 11 Dallas/Ft. Worth:

An important piece of Texas history is back safe with its owner.

This week, a thief stole the rare pistol once owned by Davy Crockett.

Mark Disanti collects military memorabilia. "I'm a history buff," he said.

But he said he never expected he'd buy a gun rich in Texas history.

It turns out the Deringer .44 caliber pistol he purchased was owned by American folk hero Davy Crockett, who was killed in the battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution back in 1836.

God, can you imagine? Holding such an amazing piece of history in your hands. I am glad that the guy did the right thing and returned the pistol.

Worker shoots himself in arm without a gun

2009-01-19T06:54:00.001-05:00

Ok, I am at a loss:

DELAND — DeLand police are investigating a bizarre shooting at a cemetery that involved bullets used in a military funeral service but no gun.

Howard Sheppard, 30, of Deltona, was shot in the left biceps and went to Florida Hospital DeLand for treatment, Officer Jacob Hudson wrote in a report.

Sheppard, who works at DeLand Memorial Gardens, told a nurse he picked up six rounds of ammunition and one of them discharged and struck him in the arm, Hudson said. When Sheppard said the other five rounds were in his shirt pocket, a security guard took the shirt and called police.

Sheppard initially said the ammunition was on a shelf and one of the bullets may have discharged because he threw a hammer and a string trimmer on the shelf, police said. After being pressed, he told Hudson that he secured the sixth bullet in a vise clamp, placed a metal punch into the cartridge primer and hit the punch with a hammer.

Sorry but this one doesn't add up.

Obama's secret weapon

2009-01-19T06:48:00.002-05:00

From Black-and-right:

Obama and the GOP moderates will not produce the kind of post-partisan harmony that Obama promised and the public now expects.

But I believe Obama has an ace in the hole among Senate Republicans. This unlikely ace can deliver not only the GOP moderates needed to break a filibuster, but also the stamp of bipartisanship: the 2008 GOP standard bearer, John McCain.

In McCain's mind, however, losing the presidency will not be the final chapter of his life story. He knows the path to "Big Media" redemption. Working with the man who vanquished him in November will show them all the real McCain again.

This is no surprise to those of us that didnt like McCain in the first damn place.

Flag desecration, the hopechange edition

2009-01-19T05:44:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Say anything:

Of course when you consider the utter lack of respect for the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence that most of the Obots have, this is no surprise at all.

Obama is Clinging

2009-01-19T05:28:00.003-05:00

From Breitbart:

Despite legal and security hurdles, president-elect Barack Obama says he has a plan to retain his beloved Blackberry once he moves into the White House next week.

Interviewed by CNN Friday, Obama said the smartphone was among the tools that he would use to stay in touch with real Americans and avoid becoming trapped inside the presidential "bubble."

"I think we're going to be able to hang on to one of these. My working assumption, and this is not new, is that anything I write on an email could end up being on CNN," he said.

"So I make sure to think before I press 'send'," he said of his Blackberry, which was an ever-present fixture on his belt or in his hand on the campaign trail.

Obama did not divulge just how he will overcome legal constraints, given the requirement of the post-Watergate Presidential Records Act of 1978 to keep a record of every White House communication.

Nor did he say how he would persuade his Secret Service protectors that the Blackberry does not pose a security risk, for instance if it is hacked over the air.

So refusal to give up things that comfort him, any bets on what will happen to gun owners when they try to do the same thing after he passes a ban?

I say we flood DC with FOIA requests for the contents of his blackberry emails every day starting tomorrow. After all, the info will be public record.

A Historic Election

2008-11-06T17:07:00.002-05:00

By now, we all know that we have a new President-Elect. No one should ever overlook the enormity of this election. In less than 50 years, this nation has gone from a place where blacks were beaten for trying to vote, to a nation that elected its first black leader.

Even though I do not agree with many if any of his policies, he is a history maker. As such I must respect that achievement. When I feel that he is wrong in what he does, I will speak out against him. When I feel that he is right, I will support him.

Let free to kill

2008-09-21T12:59:00.003-04:00

From FOX News:

SEATTLE — A traffic stop in the woods led to the shooting death of a U.S. Forest Service officer, a shootout in which a fugitive was killed and the discovery of a third gunshot victim at the home of the owner of a pickup truck he was driving, the Washington State Patrol said.

The FBI was investigating the shooting of USFS Officer Kristine Fairbanks, 51, a certified canine officer with 15 years in the forest service, and the other shootings in the Sequim area were being investigated by the patrol and Clallam County sheriff's deputies, state Trooper Krista D. Hedstrom told The Associated Press early Sunday.

Shawn M. Roe, 36, whose last known address was in Everett and before that in Shelton, had three handguns and fired at least one shot before he died in a shootout with two deputies at a convenience store, Hedstrom said.

Roe was a convicted felon with "an active criminal history" and was supposed to be under state Corrections Department supervision but details were not immediately available and he apparently was not being sought on any warrant, she added.

Another tragic victim of a failed justice system.

Building a symbol of Communist oppression.

2008-09-19T19:02:00.002-04:00

Got my 1977 Romanian 'G' AK-47 kit in the mail today. Man, what a beautiful thing it is. The wood is beautiful, the metal is not scratched and the bore looks nice and new. Hopefully this will get put together into a nice rifle here soon. Pictures will be forthcoming.

Where have I been?

2008-09-18T18:01:00.005-04:00

Well, it was nice of you to ask. I have been doing roughly the same thing I have always been doing, just being too lazy to post.

In the last few months I have:

Found out that the wife is expecting again.
Taken my 2 year old to his first air show.
Decided that my 9 month old daughter cannot ever have too many clothes.

Bought a new (to me) .22 rifle
Participated in my first steel plate action match
Joined a private shooting range
Bought an AK parts kit (should be here any day)

Also, I have discovered that my 9 year old son is a way better shot than his old man.

Details on some of these to follow.

Clear!

2008-09-18T18:01:00.001-04:00

Thwap.... beep...... beep..... beeep.......

Ok, I am going to try to get some life back in this thing.

Damn I'm lazy.

Amazing Joe Horn Walkthrough Video

2008-07-31T04:55:00.005-04:00

I'll comment on this later today. For now, I am still in awe with just how close the two bad guys were to him.

UPDATE:

Ok, I now have time to comment a bit on this video.

As I said before, the thing that strikes me the most about the whole thing is how close the bad guys were to Mr. Horn. Now I am not going to get into the legality of what he did, he has already been cleared of the charges. Nor am I going to talk about what he could have done differently.

As near as I can tell, this video was taken less than 4 hours after the shooting.

What I am focusing on is his reactions on that video. You are watching the full gambit of emotions run through this man all at the same time. He is visibly shaken. He is still very scared. He is also upset but feels like he was forced to do what he did. He also shows anger, he is downright mad at being forced to shoot.

All of those emotions are textbook examples of how people act in a defensive shooting.

Also, in my opinion he was way too talkative. I have heard that this is very common, that usually the cops have a harder time getting the guy to stop talking than they do getting him to talk. The usual advice is to say something like "I will be glad to cooperate but I need to have my attorney present first." The only problem is that when you are in a super high stress situation like this, you tend to forget things like that.

Hopefully this video will serve as a good lesson on how you might act if faced with a similar situation.

Another thug let free to commit another crime

2008-07-24T23:01:00.003-04:00

Saw this one today from FOX News:

NEW YORK — An ex-convict has been sentenced to life in prison for the sadistic, 19-hour rape and torture of a Columbia University graduate student.

Robert Williams was convicted last month in Manhattan of attempted murder, rape, kidnapping and arson.

The victim managed to testify about her agonizing ordeal. Her tormenter scalded her with boiling water and tried to blind her with bleach. She was forced to swallow fistfuls of painkillers and ordered to gouge out her eyes with scissors. The attacker glued her lips shut and gagged her with duct tape before torching her apartment.

The defense had tried unsuccessfully to have Williams declared mentally unfit to stand trial.

But let's look a bit further at his past shall we?

Williams had his first brush with the law in 1990 when he was accused at age 13 of robbing someone in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. At 16, he was arrested on murder charges in University Heights, the Bronx. The dispositions of the cases weren't available because he was charged as a juvenile.

On May 15, 1996, Williams tried to kill a man in Hamilton Heights while attempting to steal his platinum-and-diamond necklace. The victim, now a 41-year-old father of three, was shot in the back, chest and groin, records show.

"He grew up in the streets," the shooting victim told the Daily News. "He never had a job. He dealt some drugs, but robbery was his thing."

Williams was convicted of attempted murder and served eight years in prison, a span marked by a three-month stint in a psychiatric hospital and 28 prison infractions. State records show he threw feces at prison guards and beat up other inmates.

"We're relieved and thrilled that he was caught," said a classmate of the rape victim.

So, we have another life long thug, let free to keep on with his life of crime. Another case where victims could have been spared their fate if only the criminal system had kept this animal locked up and off the streets.

Incident on my college campus

2008-07-24T22:07:00.004-04:00

Got this in my campus email over the weekend.

Subject: Serious Incident Report - East Wendover Campus

Please be aware that a male student on the East Wendover Campus, was a victim of an armed robbery, Thursday June 20, 2008, at approximately 8:00 PM. The student reports that the incident occurred in the Men's Restroom in the AEC Building. An investigation is in progress by the Campus Police.

The assailants have been described as three (3) African American males. Their descriptions follow:
Male 1 approximately 19 years old, bald head, carrying semi automatic weapon
Male 2 wore a baseball type cap with NY Yankee logo, dark shirt, knife, teenage?
Male 3 wore a hat, and a shirt with something brown written on it riding an orange
Moped teenage?

GTCC strives for a safe and healthful learning environment. Your help is necessary to support this effort.

Note: Instructors, please read the contents of this message to your students at the beginning of each class period, effective upon receipt through Monday, June 30.

This report is provided in accordance with the requirements of the Crime Awareness and Campus Security ACT of 1990. For further information, contact me at the Jamestown Campus, telephone extension 2425.

Jacqueline Pettiford
Dean, Student Support Services

I was not going to reply to it until I saw today's news regarding the shooting in Phoenix on a community college campus.

My response is as follows:

Sadly the incident talked about below is just one more in a long list of incidents that continue to happen at gun free zones. Here in NC, state law and school policy has ensured that we students will be unarmed and unable to fight back if confronted by attackers that care nothing for laws and policies.

The fact that it was illegal to carry a gun onto the campus obviously meant nothing to the people that were already intent on committing the much more serious crime of robbery. So that means that the only people following the laws are the ones that are not criminals and are not prone to committing crimes.

The fact of the matter is, persons who choose to legally carry guns as a means of defense are almost never involved in crimes. They tend to be the most law abiding citizens in society. Because of this, it makes no sense to have laws prohibiting them from possessing a means to defend themselves from those that are criminally minded and willing to hurt other people.

Virginia Tech, Columbine, The Utah mall, Northern Illinois University, and dozens of other places have all been scenes of rampages that left countless victims unarmed and defenseless. While there is no guarantee that an armed, law abiding gun owner could have prevented any of those incidents, at least those people might have had a fighting chance. Instead, state law and school policy ensures that all victims inside these places will be unarmed and completely defenseless. When faced with a situation like that, those poor souls are given only two options, run or hide.

As a father, my concern when I come to campus is my safety. I wish to make it home safely to my children. Sadly the State of North Carolina and the school feel that a policy banning guns on campus will somehow make me safer when nothing could be further from the truth. As a law abiding citizen I urge you and this institution to join me in petitioning the legislature of NC to change the laws so that people are not left to become victims any longer.

Lawfully and respectfully yours,

Chris

GTCC Student,
NRA Certified Instructor,
Law abiding gun owner,
Proud father
And responsible citizen.

I am now going to see what the response, if any may be.

Victim called an attacker.

2008-07-22T16:49:00.002-04:00

This one from FOX News:

A bottle of hydrochloric acid was stolen from the back of a pool supplies van and thrown on a pregnant woman and her partner in a horrific attack in an Adelaide suburb today.

Witnesses said the woman, 19, and her partner, 28, had walked from the Centrelink office in Oaklands Park and became involved in an argument with a third person - a male described as aged 16 or 17 - at about 1.50pm.

It is understood the six-months pregnant woman and/or her partner started throwing blocks of concrete at the other male, Adelaide Now reported.

He retaliated by stealing a bottle of hydrochloric acid from the back of the van, which was parked in the same street. The driver of the van, who was also leaving the Centrelink office, happened to recognize the male who was having concrete thrown at him and offered to help drive him from the scene.

"But before I knew it, the acid was taken from the van," the driver, who did not wish to be named, said.

"How much acid the woman had poured on her I'm not sure, it all happened so quickly."

The woman and her partner, from Sturt, were taken by ambulance to Flinders Medical Centre suffering from acid burns.

The woman had burns to her right arm.

Their immediate condition is not known but the injuries are not life-threatening, police said.
A 13-year-old witness described the man who fled from the scene as wearing black shorts and running through the car park of the nearby Bunnings store.
"I could hear all of this screaming and yelling coming from the car park and then people were running everywhere to help this woman," he said.

"There was a lot of panic and before I knew it there were two police cars and two ambulances." The offender, who is known to the victims, has not yet been caught.

Ok, now as horrible as it must have been for a pregnant woman to have acid thrown on her. She and her "partner" were throwing concrete blocks at the person that threw the acid. I cannot fathom how the teenager that did this is being called the attacker and this girl and her "partner" are being called victims.

Lets take a look at this a bit:

Argument between two parties. Check
One party escalates the confrontation and starts using deadly force. Check
The other party retaliates with deadly force. Check

Sounds like a clear case of self defense to me. In fact, in most places that value freedom (most of the US), the person that had concrete blocks thrown at him would have been 100% justified in drawing a pistol and shooting both of his attackers dead on the spot.

The only thing that I can see that could make the person getting attacked by two people that were hurling deadly objects at him would be if he was a willing participant in the confrontation or if he had thrown the acid at them after they had stopped being a threat to him. Perhaps there is more to this story, but as it is written (and I have checked both the Australian news and the news from the town it happened in, this seems like a case of self defense to me.

At least it would be in a country that allowed self defense.

Walk away

2008-07-15T23:07:00.004-04:00

More than just a song by Chicago apparently. From Gunpundit:

Apparently the mayor of London is asking his subjects to ignore crime and not get involved.

Boris Johnson urged people to walk away if they see a crime committed rather than risk their own lives.

Yet another fabulous reason why I can no longer call Britain 'great'.

Scumbag was let go, went back to what he did best

2008-07-14T20:59:00.004-04:00

Ok, so this has been on the news a good bit lately. Basically, last year 12 year old Brooke Bennett vanished. The prime suspect, her uncle, has been arrested and charged with her kidnapping. Her body was found a week after her disappearance. Sad, tragic, and utterly reprehensible.

The primary problem, the person being charged with her kidnapping is a twice convicted sex offender who will most likely be charged with her murder once the lab results get back.

So why was this man walking free?

According to FOX News:

In 2004, with Kearney's recommendation, Judge Amy Davenport ruled that Jacques' probation end in 2006, as long as no violations occurred and despite strong objections from prosecutors.

"According to Mr. Jacques' probation officer, he is a 'probation success story,"' Davenport wrote in her order. "He is married and has a child. He and his wife own a home in which they reside. He has been very successful in his employment and is now in a position which entails significant responsibility."

But wait, it gets worse. Brooke was not the only one he was victimizing. According to the Boston Herald:

On June 29, before he was charged in Bennett’s disappearance, Jacques, 42, was charged with aggravated sexual assault in an unrelated case that police learned about while investigating the Bennett matter.

Investigators said he molested a girl over a five-year period, beginning when she was 9.

If true, that would mean he was molesting the girl at the time of the probation hearing.

A peek at his past according to the local Vermont news:

Jacques is a registered sex offender. He was arrested and convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault in 1993. State records show he completed a sex offender treatment program before he was released from state supervision in 2006.

From FOX News:

According to a police affidavit, in the 1992 case Jacques abducted the high school senior after she left a Barre bar, handcuffed her, put a rope around her neck and cloth in her mouth and forced her to engage in sex acts. He told her he had killed a girl in Arizona seven years earlier and at one point held a knife to the woman's throat, the affidavit said.

Davenport agreed with the state's assessment of the brutality involved, but disagreed with the state that he should spend another eight years on probation.

So I now ask, why was this man allowed to be free? Ever!

Since the Supreme Court recently ruled that the death penalty was not applicable in child rape cases, the next best option is life in prison. If this animal had been sentenced to a life term and kept in prison, he would have been unable to victimize at least 2 more people. If I were related to these girls, I would sue the state, the judge, the parole board, the sex offender program, and anyone else involved in his release. I would also make it my life's work to ensure that these kinds of animals weren't let out of prison, not just early, but ever.

Another new category

2008-07-14T18:59:00.002-04:00

The other thing that has become more and more apparent to me lately is the growing implementation of the huge nanny state in England. Thus, I have created a new category of posts called "The former 'Great' Britain."

I simply cannot consider the country of Britain to be 'Great' any more.

A slight change of pace

2008-07-11T13:07:00.003-04:00

Ok, well I feel kinda weird about just copying and pasting articles from all of the other gun bloggers... So, I am going to start a change of pace... One of the things that I am starting to see more and more of are high profile cases where criminals that should have never been let out of jail are released and go on to commit horrific crimes. Growing up in Central Florida, I was quite inundated by the news coverage of the Jessica Lunsford murder.

What struck me the most about the whole thing is that the vile act was committed by someone that should have never been walking the streets in the first place.

Lately I have seen another flood of these similar stories. From the animals that killed the Philly cop last month to the guy that killed the Charlotte cop a few weeks ago, there seems to be a severe epidemic of people walking the streets and committing horrendous crimes even though they have extensive criminal records that should have resulted in them never being allowed to be free.

I have long said of the gun laws in this nation, if a person is so dangerous that we as a society cannot trust them with a gun, then they should not be allowed to walk free. So, in light of this, I am going to start posting about these tragic events as they happen.

Scope of the ruling

2008-06-26T11:56:00.002-04:00

Although we do not undertake an exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.

A Slap At the Dissent

2008-06-26T11:11:00.004-04:00

JUSTICE BREYER’s assertion that individual self-defense is merely a “subsidiary interest” of the right to keep and bear arms, see post, at 36, is profoundly mistaken. He bases that assertion solely upon the prologue—but that can only show that selfdefense had little to do with the right’s codification; it was the central component of the right itself.

I wonder if that left a sting?

To Keep Arms

2008-06-26T10:54:00.003-04:00

From the Heller decision

Thus, the most natural reading of “keep Arms” in the Second Amendment is to “have weapons.”

Heller won

2008-06-26T10:17:00.006-04:00

As I sit here, they have announced the decision in Heller 5 to 4 for Heller and the right to keep and bear arms...

UPDATE:

10:13
Ben Winograd -

The Court has released the opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290), on whether the District’s firearms regulations – which bar the possession of handguns and require shotguns and rifles to be kept disassembled or under trigger lock – violate the Second Amendment. The ruling below, which struck down the provisions in question, is affirmed.

Justice Scalia wrote the opinion. Justice Breyer dissented, joined by Justices Stevens, Souter and Ginsburg. We will provide a link to the decision as soon as it is available.

UPDATE:

text of the majroity decision located here:

UPDATE:

10:24
Tom Goldstein - Quoting the syllabus: The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditional lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

Open Carry

2008-06-24T17:25:00.004-04:00

This subject comes up quite often, and frankly it is misunderstood by both pro and anti gun advocates. So, I am going to attempt to write a detailed post about it. Hopefully this will clear up some of the misconceptions...

First of all, what is open carry?

Open carry is the carrying of a firearm that is visible and unhidden. More aptly stated, it is the exact opposite of concealed carry.
Open carry involves the use of a holster that keeps the firearm in plain view.
Open carry is usually the carrying of a pistol, some states prohibit carry rifles even if slung.
Open carry is legal in a majority of the states, though there are some places where local laws will come into play.
Open carry may be the only option for people that do not have a concealed carry permit or cannot get one (usually due to age).
Open carry is much more physically comfortable than concealed carry in most cases.
Most importantly, Open carry is a statement. By open carrying, you are declaring that you are a gun owner, that you are not dangerous and that you are not ashamed. You will receive extra scrutiny because of your decision, expect it and be prepared with facts and knowledge. Your carrying openly makes you a representative of the entire shooting world, with one simple statement you could create a new shooter, or you could drive someone away from the sport.

What open carry isn't.

Open carry is not for everyone
Open carry is not brandishing. In most states open carry is completely legal.
Open carry does not mean that you can walk around with a gun in your hand.
Open carry does not make you a bad ass.
Open carry is not any more likely to make you a target in a robbery than a gold watch.
Open carry most likely will not get you in legal trouble.
Open carry does not make you special or better than anyone else.
Open carry is not a magnet for people to come up behind you and try to steal your gun. Think about that for a second, how brazen would you have to be to try to take a lethal weapon away from someone?

What happens when you open carry?

Usually nothing. People are generally used to seeing objects attached to other people's belts, so most of the time it goes unnoticed.

Now, that is not to say that nothing will happen every time you open carry. It is entirely possible to be harassed, looked at funny and even approached by strangers with questions. It is also entirely possible for you to be harassed by law enforcement, handcuffed and arrested. Knowing your local laws goes a long way in keeping this from happening.

The trick is, what you are doing when you are openly carrying is perfectly legal. The likelihood of you being arrested and actually charged or convicted of a crime is very low. In most situations where a law abiding gun owner is harassed by law enforcement for open carrying, the reason for the harassment is because the individual LEO does not know the laws pertaining to open carry. The other reason that people commonly get harassed by law enforcement for open carrying is that the officer believes that it isn't something you should do. We will get into LEO encounters in a bit.

Knowledge is your friend:

Here in NC, I have been informed that the open carry statutes are clearly discussed in the basic law enforcement training courses that all LEO's go through, but your mileage may vary. Having knowledge of the relevant laws in your area will go a long way in ensuring that you have a trouble free experience.

Another consideration is that the general public typically does not have any idea of the laws in their area. One of the most common things I hear about when it comes to open carry encounters is that someone gets asked "Do you have a permit for that?"

This is a teaching experience, in most cases the proper response will be "No I do not, no permit is required unless it is concealed." (Please keep in mind, some states DO require a permit to open carry.) Now, usually the conversation will stop right there, but occasionally that statement will open the flood gates for more questions.

Things like "Is it loaded?", "Why do you carry that?", "Why do you need a gun?", "Are you that worried about getting robbed?", "Are you looking to get into trouble?" And on and on.

Remember that the person asking these questions just had reality slap them in the face. They may have lived their entire life thinking that only criminals and cops carry guns. They might be someone that has always wanted to learn more about guns but wasn't sure where to start. They might also be someone that has serious anti-gun feelings. Again, be prepared to strike up discussion with these people. Use facts and laws instead of emotions.

You will also have people make comments to you and about you. Things like "I would never carry a gun.", "I don't believe in guns.", "Guns are too dangerous." etc... My typical response will be something along the lines of "Well, unfortunately for you, a criminal that might be looking to make you his next victim will not care one iota about your personal feelings about guns."

Give it some thought and come up with some good ways to respond to people. My favorite response to the question "Why do you need a gun?" is very clear. "I would rather live my entire life knowing that when I was forced to defend my family I was able to do so. Than to live my entire life knowing that I might have been able to save my family and I didn't." To anyone that has a family, that is a very powerful thought to have to chew on.

A few days ago a friend of mine started in on his kick that guns aren't needed to solve problems. In his words "Be a real man, use your fists." Now in the real world, cocky people that think they can handle a fight get killed quickly. Usually when their attacker pulls out a gun. All of us in the gun world know and embrace this philosophy, but non-gun owners may not have ever given it any thought. My response to him was simple. "You have a fire extinguisher in your house don't you? Or are you man enough to simply use your fists?"

Do not let this dissuade you from open carrying, just realize that you will be representing the shooting community as a whole. If that is not something you can handle, then don't open carry. Most importantly, with any encounter that you have, you must remain calm, cool and collected.

Know your laws:

As gun owners, we typically pride ourselves in being as law abiding as possible. Because of this, it is of the up most importance that you know every law that is relevant to your situation. Cities, counties can and sometimes do have differing laws so something that is legal in one city may not be in the next city. For example, here in NC there is only one city that has a carry ordinance. In that city, openly carrying a firearm with a barrel shorter than 4 inches is illegal.

Also make sure you know what places are prohibited places. Again these laws can and do different between city to city. There are the usual places where all weapons are prohibited. Post offices, federal buildings, schools (in most states) are all prohibited by federal law. Most states also restrict state buildings, banks and bars. Now here is where the interesting thing comes into play. What is prohibited for concealed carry may not be prohibited for open carry. For example, here in NC it is illegal to conceal carry into a bank, but open carry is permitted.

It is your responsibility to know the laws in the areas you will be in. If you do not know the laws, you risk going to jail, and that would be counterproductive.

Signs:

Sign postings are the bane of every gun carrier. In almost every state there is some legal provision that allows property owners or businesses to post signs prohibiting the possession of weapons. In some states, those signs carry legal weight and not obeying them is a crime. In other states, the signs carry no legal weight, but if the owner asks you to leave, you must or you are trespassing. In other states if the sign isn't a specific size or doesn't have specific wording, it is invalid. It is worth noting that if a sign says "no concealed weapons" then openly carrying is not a violation of that sign.

Now, with few exceptions, most places do not post signs. I have personally carried openly into multiple gas stations, two different Wal-Mart stores, several restaurants and various other places. I have never once had a problem or even had someone say anything to me. Should I ever get approached by a store employee, I would ask for the manager. If the manager asked me to leave, I would comply and then I would notify the general manager and owner of my intentions to stop shopping at their establishment. There are several places on the internet that you can get form style letters that will fit your situation, check the links below. These letters do work, usually business owners can see reason when they are clearly informed about how law abiding gun owners really are.

Dealing with law enforcement:

Every person will eventually have a run in with a law enforcement officer. In some places these incidents will go much more smoothly than in others. Generally speaking, if you are not breaking the law you are fine. But you need to know the laws so that you know what your rights are. In most states, openly carrying a firearm is not a valid reason to detain you. You must be suspected of committing a crime, and openly carrying a firearm is not illegal.

Should you encounter a LEO, do not freak out, remember, you are not breaking the law. You should expect that the LEO will take your weapon and secure it for his own safety. You can also probably expect to get a quick pat down. Typically, the LEO is responding to a "man with a gun call" where some soccer mom saw you with a holstered gun and freaked out, calling the cops all hysterical about seeing a man with a gun. Remember, the LEO does not know the situation he is walking in to and has to assume the worst. There is no need to make his job harder.

After the initial encounter, which will probably include you being disarmed, asking "Am I being detained?" is a good thing to do. If the officer answers to the affirmative, then the next question should be "Of what crime am I suspected of committing?". If there is no clear answers to those two questions, then there is no valid reason for the LEO to continue to give you a hard time or to ask you further questions. You are free to go at that point.

Some states and/or jurisdictions have had cases in the past where officers have seized firearms without making an arrest, should that happen to you, don't freak out, demand that you get issued a receipt. If you are given a hard time about this or are told that your firearm is being seized permanently, contact a lawyer. You do have a constitutional right to be secure in your person and possessions and anyone that deprives you of that right without due process can be held liable for civil rights violations.

Again as with all encounters, you must remain calm, cool and collected.

Finally, I will go into some more personal things.

Why open carry?

Ok, I open carry for several reasons. First and foremost, I am a huge supporter of the second amendment. I feel that the second amendment is one of the very foundations of our society. And since the courts have ruled that states may regulate how concealed permits are issued from state, open carry is the one fundamental part that we have left of the whole "and bear arms" portion of the second amendment. Hopefully this weeks Supreme Court ruling will change that, but I doubt it.

Because of my beliefs, I am driven to advocate for what I believe in. In my experience wearing Glock T-shirts or Beretta hats does not work as well as wearing a gun. Gun related clothing is actually much more likely elicit a negative response from people than wearing a gun is. I suspect that people are much more likely to be impolite when they do not know for a fact that you are armed. I do not think of this as intentional intimidation on my part, but as the old saying goes; "An armed society is a polite society."

Lastly I open carry because to me it is much more comfortable than trying to conceal a 26Oz. hunk of metal and plastic. Plus, when I am carrying openly, there is no need for me to worry about who might see that I am armed. I have noticed that I am much more aware of my surroundings and the people that are near me. I suspect that it will be the same situation once I have my concealed carry permit, but since that will not happen for a few more months, I am left to open carry.

For a lot more information, advice, questions about the laws in your area and a good discussion forum to boot, check out www.opencarry.org

I hope this has been an entertaining and helpful read.

Well, I applied

2008-06-19T22:21:00.002-04:00

Went on down to the sheriff's office yesterday... Wasn't a bad thing to do, filled out about 6 papers, had copies of my birth certificate, drivers license and class completion certificate... had my finger prints taken on the nifty electronic fingerprint machine...

All told the whole thing took about 45 minutes and was very painless... With any luck ill have my permit by this time in August...

So now I sit back and eagerly await Monday's SCOTUS ruling...

More on Heller

2008-06-17T23:08:00.002-04:00

Well it appears that the decision will come on Monday the 23rd so we shall have to see what happens.

As for me, I have my appointment to go down to the sheriff's office tomorrow morning at 9:30 to apply for my CCH... Wish me luck...

Monday?

2008-06-13T22:33:00.002-04:00

By this time on Monday, it is entirely possible that I will be launching into a lengthy description of exactly how good the Supreme Court ruling of DC Vs. Heller is... The ruling is expected sometime this month, most likely on a Monday... It is possible for them to release the ruling on a Thursday as they did with this weeks tragedy of the ruling against the detainment of Gitmo Detainees... I am however remaining hopeful, that the ruling will come out as favorable as I suspect it will

Can't even run a whore house

2008-06-11T21:14:00.003-04:00

Ahh yes, our wonderful government... they even failed at running a whore house

Via LawDog:

The Mustang Ranch is back in private hands and open for business once again.

For those Gentle Readers who may be less-worldly than others, the Mustang Ranch was, at one time, the largest brothel in Nevada as well as being the first licensed bordello in that State.

However, while interesting, this is not the part of it's history that is really fascinating. What we're interested in is this little tid-bit buried way down in the article: after several years of tax shenanigans by the owner, the Mustang Ranch became the first (Official. Licensed.) brothel run by the United States Federal Government.

They lost money.

Let us allow that simple, yet profound, truth sink into our synapses, shall we?

The Federal Government of the United States can not run a bordello and make money.

One cathouse. Just one. Not "one in every state". Not "one whether you think you need it or not". Just one single legal bawdy-house with an already-established customer base.

And they couldn't keep it out of the red.

Now, this is just my opinion, but if your money-handling skills are so poor that you can't even make a profit selling sex, then you have absolutely no business getting involved in more complicated financial areas.

In other words, if "Slam, bam, thank you ma'am, here's a hundred bucks" is too complicated for you to make a profit, then you might just want to keep your meat-hooks out of, say -- health care.

So, the next time some bright-eyed little bit starts chanting about "Universal Health Care", I'm going to loudly and firmly opine that until the Federal Government is capable of running a profitable brothel ... they've got no business trying to run my health care.

yeah I know, this isn't a new story... But it is worth keeping in mind... Never forget that the government even was able to screw up the running of a whore house...

The Mexican problem

2008-06-11T20:41:00.003-04:00

No, I'm not talking about the immigration problem here in the US... Apparently Mexico is saying that they have a huge problem with guns being smuggled in from the US and being used to kill cops...

From Saysuncle:

At least 80 percent of all of the weapons used by drug traffickers in Mexico to kill one another as well as police and soldiers come from the U.S., Mexican officials say. They’ve repeatedly asked the U.S. government for more help in stopping the flow of weapons from Texas and other border states into Mexico.

And then they go on to cry about the super duper "cop killer" FN 5.7:

Particularly alarming to law enforcement was the seizure last year of an FN Herstal 5.7 mm pistol chambered to fire a bullet that can penetrate body armor.

I guess they don't know that the ammo that penetrates the body armor is next to impossible to get... In addition every center fire rifle in the world will go right through standard police body armor... And we best not tell them about this fine piece of European history that will exactly the same thing... And we probably should also leave out the fact that they can be purchased for less than $200...

I have a suggestion for Mexico to fix the problem... How about they shut down the border!!!

I mean it is obvious that the US is either incapable or unwilling to fix the problem on our end...

Zero tolerance = zero thought

2008-06-11T18:29:00.003-04:00

From Snowflakes in hell:

RALEIGH - Citing additional insurance concerns, Wake County schools staff will wait until August before presenting draft revisions to the district's deadly weapons bans aimed at allowing student marksmanship teams to participate in approved firearms competitions.

In response to the public outcry after an East Wake High School club team was banned from competing in a state-sponsored marksmanship tournament, school board members asked staff to draft a policy to allow teams to compete.

In March, the team at East Wake was barred from competing in the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Hunter Education Tournament one day before a regional competition.

An area superintendent and an East Wake principal determined the school's 22-year participation in the tournament violated Wake's policy barring firearms and other deadly weapons from school campuses.

The last-minute ban garnered national attention. Several pro-gun groups protested the decision.

School staff members were expected to have a draft policy Tuesday but delayed another month to address requirements brought up by the school system's insurer.

Among the requirements:

* Create a master plan for a shooting range in line with the state's Hunter Safety Program. Students would be required to have supervised practices and competitions.

* Draft safety rules that would be approved by the school system's risk manager.

* Provide hand-washing stations to prevent students from being exposed to too-high levels of lead.

"It's not going to be on somebody's farm," said Ann Majestic, the school board's lawyer.

School board members Lori Millberg and Patti Head said they want the policy in place in time for the new school year.

"We need to be able to do this for this fall," Head said.

I'm thinking that its about time that we not only implement these kinds of programs nationwide, but that we make firearms training education mandatory parts of the curriculum in every school... I am fairly sure that we would see a noticeable drop in violent crime and general irresponsibility if safety, responsibility and values were once again taught in schools... Woops, there I go making sense again, can't have that.

Another reason why Britain is no longer Great

2008-06-11T17:42:00.004-04:00

From FOX News:

A British man who was so amused with BBC1’s "Have I Got News for You" that he fell off his couch in a fit of laughter was not so happy when it got him arrested and pepper sprayed.

Christopher Cocker, 36, collapsed on the floor after laughing at a joke on TV, but his neighbor who heard the thud thought something bad had happened and called the police, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.

According to police, Cocker initially was cooperative but quickly became "aggressive" when asked his name and personal information. Cocker tried to shut his door on the officers, at which point he was pepper sprayed through a crack in the door.

Cocker then was handcuffed, arrested and taken to court, the Daily Mail reported. An unidentified police spokesman told the Mail that, given Cocker’s aggression, they acted appropriately.

"Within the circumstances, we feel we used reasonable force," the officer told the Mail.

Cocker, of Blackburn, England, eventually pleaded guilty to resisting a police officer and was given a conditional discharge for six months following the May 20 incident, the Mail reported.

Cocker is shocked at the outcome of what he describes as minding his own business.

"I can't believe it — I was thrown in the back of a police van before being stripped naked and put in a cell," Cocker told the Mail. "I was handcuffed behind my back and my ankles bound with plastic ties before six of them carried me to the van."

Cocker told the Mail he never thought he would end up in court for laughing at his favorite comedian.

I guess not wanting cops in your house is a crime in England... Sounds like they would benefit from a good old fashioned change of government...

Though I suspect that there is more to this story, I've watched plenty of British comedy, and none of it is that funny...

Memorial Day range report

2008-05-28T18:08:00.006-04:00

So it was clear and sunny with temperatures in the mid 70's this past weekend here in NC and a perfect day to hit the range. I packed up my new 10/22 and my trusty Ruger SR-9 and drove off to meet up with a few friends from AR15.com. The plan was to go to the range, make a ton of noise, and eat some decent jambalaya. That usually makes for a good time.

Well, on the way out there, I stopped at a gun shop I had never been to before hoping to pick up a couple extra magazines for the 10/22. All the guy had in stock was one Butler Creek steel lips 25 round magazine, so I took it. Here is a nice picture of one.

Next it was off to Wal-Mart to pick up a bulk pack of federal brown box .22lr. While I was there I also picked up two boxes of WWB 9mm and then decided to get a cheap red dot sight for the 10/22.

The sight I got is the BSA RD30, an inexpensive sight, but good for the price. Its not a small sight, but its not so bulky that it gets in the way, and its really light. Using it outdoors, i had to set the brightness of the dot to the maximum settings, and after a little fiddling around with the elevation and windage adjustments, it was dead on. Here is a picture of one below.

I didn't shoot my SR9 a whole lot, I already know it is reliable and since I was at a rifle range, there wasn't a whole lot of close targets. I did manage to put about 300 rounds through the 10/22 without a single failure. That gun is a dream to shoot, though I am definitely going to have to get the little buffer for it that smooths out the action. Something else I am going to have to invest in for it is a magazine loader. One of the other guys at the range had one for his 10/22 and man what a difference that thing makes.

I also got to shoot a really nice AR-10 in .308, the only problems there were a tough trigger pull and the sheer torque that gun has when fired. I don't know if it was the hand loads that were being used, or just the barrel being too short, but every shot I fired made that gun want to twist right out of my hands. Thing was dead on accurate though, so I suppose I cant complain too much.

All in all, it was a great day to be outdoors among friends and the smell of gunpowder.

A bad joke in a room full of gun guys

2008-05-16T21:43:00.006-04:00

So ole Mike Huckabee speaks at the NRA yearly meeting today...

From FOX News:

Former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee apologized Friday for cracking an off-color joke at a National Rifle Association meeting about a gun being pointed at Barack Obama.

Huckabee made the impromptu remark in response to an offstage noise during his speech in Louisville, Ky.

“That was Barack Obama,” Huckabee said. “He just tripped off a chair. He’s getting ready to speak and somebody aimed a gun at him and he — he dove for the floor.”

The quip was met with almost total silence.

The Obama campaign had no comment, but Huckabee later issued an apology.

“During my speech at the NRA a loud noise backstage, that sounded like a chair falling, distracted the crowd and interrupted my speech. I made an off-hand remark that was in no way intended to offend or disparage Sen. Obama. I apologize that my comments were offensive, that was never my intention,” he said in a statement.

Huckabee dropped out of the GOP race earlier in the year after it became clear John McCain had enough delegates to clinch the nomination.

Huckabee, McCain and several other Republicans used Obama as their punching bag Friday at the NRA meeting, criticizing him for his gun control and foreign policy positions.

Now the biggest problem with that joke is that it was made in a room full of people who do not think that nothing about pointing a gun at someone is funny. In the current presidential race, I suspect that the jabs will get even more and more insulting between now and November. But I do have to think that this particular jab crosses the line just a tad.

Ruger 10/22

2008-05-16T20:37:00.002-04:00

So last weekend I finally picked up a rifle that my 9 year old can easily shoot. Until now, my only rifle was a 50+ year old Sears and Roebuck .22lr... The problem with that one is that it is just too long and too heavy for him to shoot it comfortably. This led me to pick up a nice new Ruger 10/22. Now I did a good bit of research on small, inexpensive .22s before deciding on the Ruger, and while there are other good, high quality rifles out there, none have nearly as many after market parts as the Ruger does.

I plan on putting a Tapco T6 synthetic adjustable stock on it within the next few weeks, this will make it very easy to have a single rifle that is adjustable for both my son and I.

I also plan on adding several other parts; an after market extractor, a buffer pin, a nice set of high visibility sights, and a nice red-dot sight.

I'll be sure to post pictures of the rifle and the process of adding the parts as I do so.

The Ruger SR9

2008-05-16T18:12:00.006-04:00

First things first, let me say that I have had this gun since February 2nd 2008. It was new when purchased and it was the first gun I bought from a FFL. I spent several months looking for a good full sized pistol that could both be a fun range gun and also a good carry gun. In the SR9, I believe that I have found both.

I already have well over 600 rounds through it without any any failure to fire. I have had 3 instances of rounds that had case ruptures, but I blame those on the ammo as all three were the same head stamp from a mixed box of FMJ that came from a gun show. I will do a separate post on that later.

In the interests of being fair, I have had the barrel replaced because of metal on metal damage that was caused by the slide hitting up against the top of the barrel. Ruger was quick to help and even quicker to remedy the situation, making me even more sure that I had picked a good company to buy a gun from.

So far, the gun has performed much better than I expected, and has proven to be 100% reliable. So reliable in fact that it has led me to add several more Ruger firearms to the list of guns that i plan on buying. In fact, I have already purchased a second Ruger product, a Ruger 10/22 which I will talk about more in a further post.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more

2008-05-16T17:34:00.002-04:00

Ok, so it has been quite some time since I blogged. A lot has gone on in the last year, and I haven't always been dedicated to keeping an updated blog. I am hoping that will change and that I can remain motivated to keep this new page up to date and interesting.

Stay tuned for more fun.