Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Strange What You Find On The Front Page...

This started off as a comment to the below linked story and was too good not to share here.

So I've been out of town for the last 3 days.  I see this article was front page news when it appeared in print.  It's nice to see the comments.

Let me add my perspective.  The 1994 ban didn't ban a damn thing.  It banned names, such as AK 47 (which you will not find on anything available for sale with that name to this day, unless it's a pre-1989 import) and cosmetic features such as flash hiders (?), bayonet lugs (haven't heard of a good old fashioned back-alley bayoneting, you'd think something like that would at warrant a passing mention on the news or something), pistol grips (because more precise control of where one's shots go isn't important), and folding or telescoping stocks (because short people can really get behind a rifle that's about 8" too long for them), and 'high capacity magazines of 10 rounds or more" (that did little besides drive up the prices of pre-ban mags to levels usually reserved for gold and platinum market traders).

From 1994 to 2004, the weapons that were supposedly banned were still readily available, they just couldn't have a name (AK 47) or be able to have 3 of the above features.  Want to use standard capacity mags in your AR?  It just couldn't have a bayonet lug, a detachable flash hider, or a telescoping stock.  So you could have your Colt HBAR Sporter or your Maadi Misr with a pistol grip and use standard capacity mags (20-75 rds depending).

Pretty stupid, huh?  Well when you stop to consider that the models specifically outlawed were taken from a catalog, you get the idea that those who write the laws, know exactly dick about what they're writing about.

Then stop to consider what has happened in the last 10 days.  Sales of sport utility rifles have surpassed anything seen before.  Not even the great Obama Gun Rush of 2008 can compare.  Magazine sales equaling 3.5 years occurred in just 72 hrs.

In 1994 the internet was in its infancy.  Information was still mostly guarded by what we now call the 'mainstream media' and all the resources they had at their disposal.  They controlled the narrative.  Gun owners were largely unable to muster the kinds of numbers to affect the legislation, other than to force the bill's authors to insert a 10 yr sunset provision in it.

Now it's 2012, bordering on 2013, and the 'mainstream media' no longer controls the narrative.  The research capabilities of the MSM are now at the fingertips of every American who can see with their own two eyes the fallacy of what has been tried before.  The anti gun groups like the Brady Campaign, the Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, and the Violence Policy Center have all been exposed as the shysters and morally bankrupt hucksters they really are.  They no longer have the ear of the media.  They barely cling to relevancy, this in the face of two losses at the Supreme Court that completely destroyed the entirety of their core argument:  Namely that American citizens do not have an individual right to keep and bear arms.

So you see, the cat is long out of the bag.  The average American knows what's at stake.  Don't believe me?  Walk into First Stop, or Cabela's, or Scheels, or any other gun store in the country and see for yourselves.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

I Think Now's The Time

I've been holding off commenting on the tragedy from last week here mainly because I thought it was the best thing to do.  Though that didn't mean I stayed out of the fray.

Monday, I got into a row with some folks here in town in the online version of the town paper.  Within hours of the event, a poster on the entry posted that if you are not in agreement with Mayor Nutter of Philadelphia regard semi automatic rifles, then you are "as evil as the gunman or gunmen that commit these acts of violence".

So I've been poking folks in the eye, mostly with tact and diplomacy, regarding their emotional outbursts.  With some it has worked, and with others, not so much.

It's been covered more in depth by bigger and better than me, but as soon as I heard there may have been a SA rifle involved, I looked up the laws in CT about these types of rifles, and surprise surprise, they have the same ban as the '94 Clinton Fiasco.

I've also been interviewed by the same paper.  No word yet on when that piece will hit the presses, but I spent the better part of 20 minutes educating the 'journalist' about gun laws and features and how with all the laws on the books that everybody has been screaming about for a week straight, not one single law stopped what happened, and another law passed won't stop the next one.

So, here we are.  Waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Friday, November 9, 2012

M70 PAP Update #1

So I purchased a Zastava M70 PAP rifle back in Feb and rehabilitated it back in Sept.

After hunting around for a good deal on some wood for the stock set, the gods at Gunbroker smiled on me late last month and I picked up an almost complete Mitchell Arms take-off stock set for her for $80 plus shipping.

Before
 
 
 After



Now that I've got her dressed, the last thing I have to do is fabricate a piece to cover the angle cut area at the rear of the receiver.  I've also got to get a cleaning rod for her.  Other than that, I'm done.

Learned some new things getting this project done.  First, never underestimate the power of a good dial caliper.  I had all kinds of ideas about how to open up the mag well, I tried to create a template to lay over the mag well, but that didn't go very well.  What I ended up doing was measuring the width of another rifle, in this case the mag well of my M70 AB2 underfolder, and then transferring those measurements over to the Zastava.

Also, never underestimate the need for a good shop vac when using the rotary file on a Dremel tool, especially when using said tool to open up the mag well.  The metal shavings that little tool produces is amazing.  I'm still trying to clean up from it, even after vacuuming them up, cleaning my bench with Fantastic general purpose cleaner, and wiping everything down with a half a roll of paper towels.

So now it's on to the next project:  getting my M92 prepped for when I eventually get the tax stamp I put in for back in early May.  I've already got the barrel assembled, now it's getting the barrel installed in the virgin front trunion and getting it headspaced.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

My Delta Elite

 
So in my return from the hinterlands of elk hunting, I was catching up on my reading and saw that Rob Allen had finished his write-up on the Colt Delta Elite.  Good read, and very informative.
 
I was tempted to respond to both the article on Gun Nuts and his site, but I think I'm going to do it here.

 
 

I went about my thing with the 10mm 180 degrees different than he did.  My first 10 was the Delta Elite.

It started out kind of by accident.  3 yrs ago this month, I was looking for a 1911 in a different caliber.  One day, while perusing Gun Broker, I happened across an auction for LNIB Colt Delta Elite 10mm 1911 for the unheard of asking price of $800.  The pistol itself was one of the early ones (low 4-digit DE serial number and all) and came with the old Colt cardboard box instead of the new plastic ones.  So I snatched it up and went about making it comfy for me to use.

What I did was replace the trigger, main spring housing, fire control group, barrel, grip safety, operating rod/spring, and manual safety.  With the exception of the barrel (Clarks Custom), grips (Night Hawk), and trigger (STI), I used Ed Brown parts.

Some would ask why?  Well, being a southpaw, the single manual safety doesn't work for me.  At all.  I have to use an ambi-safety.  Everything else was creature comfort on my part.  Since I shoot with such a high grip, I had to replace the original grip safety with something that wouldn't bite me.  And as Rob pointed out in his review, the stock trigger ain't nothing to write home about.

The barrel was replaced with a Clarks Custom match barrel due to the fact the factory one wouldn't feed hollow points worth a hoot. That, and I tried to make it work and screwed it up. 

Of all the mods I made to this pistol, the only thing I had to send it out for was the barrel.  Everything else you see was done by me, including mounting the beavertail grip safety.

One side note of interest here.  When it was all said and done, I got really good at taking apart a Series 80 pistol and putting it back together again.  When I started, it would take me about 45 minutes to take it down and back.  When I finished, matter of a couple of minutes.  What would always trip me up was the firing pin safety parts in the frame. Gad, what a PITA.

Catching Up

Sorry for the hiatus, I've been down in south central WY attepmting to deplete the population of waputi down there.  (And having zero luck at it, I might add.)

So I get back to civilization last night and set about catching up on all the goings on since I left weekend before last.

The little bit of news I got via satellite radio mentioned some loser walking through a piece of paper and taking out the source of his affection and two other folks in a spa in WI, then saving the taxpayers the hassle of putting his stupid behind on trial by introducing his own gray matter to the outside world.

This has raised howls from the civil rights revocation groups to Do Something.  I'm not sure what they're proposing would have solved anything, but hey.  Like Uncle says, gun control is what you do instead of something.

I also got to listen to the second debacle.  Lot of back and forth, but the one thing that made me stand there slack-jawed and bug-eyed was when Mittens Romney dropped Fast and Furious during the discussion about 'gun control' or as it was supposed to be about, scary looking semi-auto weapons that look scary.

Not in a million years would I have thought something as testy and oft-reported on (NOT!) would find its way into the debate.  Too bad it didn't come up in the third one. I would've loved to have seen Dear Leader try to essplain that one away.  Of course what can he say?  He invoked executive priviledge.  Still, it would've been fun to see.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

We're The "Only One" Officer Safety Enough

Borrowing from David Codrea's meme on the "Only Ones" Files, I found this article from Casper, WY rather interesting.  What got me thinking was this post from "Days of Our Trailers" poster Kaveman.

See, it's OK to violate someones rights, as long as it's for 'officer safety'.  Threatening, or in this case, negotiating their way out of a bogus traffic stop by threatening the accused is wrong on a level that boggles the imagination.  "Sure, you're free to go, but we'll keep our guns pointed at you while you leave...just in case."

Wow.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Not Quite A Kool-Aid Drinker...

Yet.

So I finally broke down and bought an AR-pattern rifle.  But not just any old AR.

Not me.  I've resisted buying an AR in any caliber primarily for one reason: the gas system.  I don't like a gun that craps where it eats.  I used to deal with the AR in my day job and after 20+ yrs, I just fell out of lust with it. 

Give me a gun with an operating rod any day.

Sure, when I remember seeing the AR-15/M-16, I thought the gun was totally cool.  That was then.

Give me an AK, or FAL, or M1A, or anything with an operating rod/gas piston system.  As long as it's not a direct impingement system.

And then all these piston driven ARs started hitting the streets.  Primarily chambered in 5.56/.223, I wasn't too keen on those rifles because I'm not a big fan of the round, but not for the reasons you would think.  Yes, it's accurate.  Yes, it can do all kinds of things.  But my thing is, EVERYBODY is shooting it.  It's almost as bad as the .30-06 was back 20-30 yrs ago.  You know the type: If you ain't shooting '06, then you just ain't shooting.

Hogwash.  Turns me right off, right now.

And I don't want to stock a new caliber.  I've got enough to keep me busy as it is.  I don't need to be buying new dies and stuff for my RL550B.

Thus my foray into the AR platform had to be on my terms.  The rifle had to be piston driven, be in a caliber I stock (preferably .30 caliber), and it had to be affordable, under $2,000.

And then they started showing up.  POF-USA has a nice offering, but the price was all wrong.  The ones I saw last year were well north of $2500. LaRue Tactical also offers a .308 piston driven design, but again, price was wayyyyy out of my range.

Enter Sig Sauer and their 716.  .30 caliber?  Check.  Piston driven?  Check again.  Under two grand?  Double check.  So, after much saving and a really good fun show, (and a lot of arguing with the staff at the fun store about why they needed to sell the rifle to somebody else*) I finally have one.


My initial impressions?  This rifle is something to behold.  Weighing in at just a hair over 9 lbs, it's a little heavy, but not much.  Most of the controls are ambidextrous, with the safety/selector and bolt release being standard AR fare.  The four-rail forearm is not really my thing, but it came with the gun, so it stays for now.

Back up irons are nice, and fold down nicely out of the way.  The MagPul stock is comfortable and the six position collapsible stock locks up nicely.  My only complaint is the lock tab doesn't really lock when the lever is squeezed to move the stock on the tube.  Maybe it's not a bug, I don't know.  With all the stuff they've done to the AR in the last 8 yrs, it's hard to keep up with.

The rifle shipped with one 20 rd MagPul SR 25 PMag, I've since bought 4 more because hey, you can never have enough mags, right?  These drop free on release, no sticking or hanging up in the well.  Also shipped with the rifle is the factory 3-point sling.  What's nice is there are 3 (with a fourth stored in the butt stock) attach points for the push-button mounts on each side of the rifle; one on each end of the rail on each side of the gun, and the third near the buffer tube on the back end of each side.

The factory box also contained low-pro rail covers, extra panels for the adjustable pistol grip, and a GI-style cleaning kit.  I've heard and read that some of these came with a hard case, but not mine.

From the picture above, I've added the stubby fore grip you see, and a Sig red dot sight (not pictured).  I"ll know more on the accuracy front tomorrow when I take her out to break in the barrel and check to see how it shoots.

*The argument was basically that they needed to sell the rifle...so I wouldn't have to buy it.  And THAT worked out well, didn't it? ;)

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

M70 PAP Rebuild

Procrastination is the mother of invention, is she not?

Back in Feb, I bought an M70 PAP single stack with the intention of converting it to standard capacity and making it look a little more "Yugo-ish" than it started out.

So, I've been putting this little project off for the better part of 7 months, trying to get my head around what I needed to do, and then, well actually doing it.

After I bought it, I got caught up in some other projects, like finishing my Franken-Yugo, building an AK for my Dad for his birthday (never thought I'd see the day the Old Man would want one them commie guns), building another FAL (Imbel) to complement my G1, building an AK as a house warming gift for my brother, and working the MG Shoot at the Buffalo Chip Campground.  All this while maintaining a day job and chasing almost 2 YO Hazmat A and B around the countryside (almost a full time job in and of itself!).  Oh, and going under the knife in Apr to repair torn cartilage in my right shoulder that had me down for almost 2 months.

Rereading the paragraph above, man have I been busy!  I didn't realize just how many projects I've had going.  And I've got at least 2 more projects to go!

So, here's where I'm at.



I got the old single-stack trunion out.  Once I did that, boy did I run into a problem.  Seems the barrel is REALLY in the trunion.  I mean bowed-the-legs-on-my-12-ton-press-trying-to-get-it-out-and-no-budge in there.  Finally had to cut the thing to get it out.  That's how stuck it was.

Once I got that done, I had to hog out the mag well to fit a standard mag.  Not wanting to replicate what the monkeys at Century Arms do to their WASR rifles, I really sat and studied the problem; turning it over in my mind how to go about making this happen. (That's where the bulk of the time in this little endeavor went, BTW.)  Since this was my first attempt at this procedure, I wanted to make sure it was done right.  I experimented with making a template out of cardboard.  Yeah, that didn't work.  Tried tracing paper.  Same result as the cardboard.  No workee.  So I finally measured out a standard AK mag-well with a micrometer, laid it out my measurements on the PAP's receiver with a scratch awl and a straightedge, and very careful went to work removing the material necessary with my trusty Dremel.

I also had to remove two tabs that were part of the lower rail assembly.  These tabs actually covered the dimples in the receiver and helped guide the single stack magazines, so without removing them, there was no way to get a standard mag to fit.

I think I did a good job, but I may be a little biased here.



The next thing to do was install the replacement trunion. Since the original front trunion was machined for single stack feed, and I don't own a milling machine, it needed to be replaced.   I found an M70 front piece from a de-milled military rifle on GB late last year, and with the exception of opening up the holes in the receiver to accept the new rivets, it fit perfectly.



Since the front end of the barrel was virgin territory, I had to thread it.  C'mon, it was just begging for it, right?  You can't have an AKM-pattern rifle without having something on the end of the barrel, can you?



As an aside, this was also my first attempt at threading a barrel from scratch.  I've seen it done several times, so it was just a matter of taking my time and making sure I properly oiled everything throughout the process.

So what's left?  Lets see here:  I've got the re-stuff the barrel and check head space, install the plunger pin and spring to retain the newly installed compensator, and fabricate a plate to cover the rear end of the receiver where it angles in.  One of my complaints on this model is the angle cut on the receiver, ala the old angle cut MAK 90s from the '93/'94 time frame.  I've got some ideas on how to go about doing this, mostly related to an old receiver stub from a Romanian kit I built last year that involve JB Weld.  And I've got to do a test fire to make sure everything works.

I've also got to get with Ironwood Designs to get some decent wood to replace the plastic stuff that came with the gun.  I'm thinking Afromosia will get me where I want.

So, that's where I'm at.  It's going to be an interesting rest of the year.  What with finishing this, getting the paperwork back for the virgin M92 kit I'm looking to build, and doing the Egyptian kit I picked up from Classic Arms last week, I'm going to be busy still. Oh, and prepping for Elk Camp, with a new rifle (more on that later!) to dial in. 

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Skillet 1, Bad Guy 0

Talk about a complete misread in the victim selection process.

With all the security camera footage out there of brawls and such floating around the Algorian Intertubes, I wish if there was footage of this beat down, someone would post it.

What Did They Think Would Happen?

So, the state of South Dakota, in it's infinite wisdom, sentenced a man convicted of 1st Degree Escape to a minimum security prison in Sioux Falls.

Guess what happened?

I had to re-read that article 3 times before it sunk in. 

Talk about a face-palm moment, eh?

Friday, August 17, 2012

Safety Equipment

Or Why I Now Severely Dislike Non-Ruger Single Action Army Pistols
And Got a New-Found Respect For Shooting Gloves

So there I was, getting a customer ready last Wed (9 Aug) to shoot a Taurus SAA in .357 Mag.  (We had another SAA, a Ruger Vaquero in .45LC.)

One feature of the Taurus is that unlike the Ruger, the cylinder does not unlock when you open the loading gate.  Meaning you have to move the hammer to half-cock in order to load the gun.

Now, I'd been using the same gloves since the previous Sat (4 Aug).  That Wed was going to be the last day for those gloves, as they were loaded with gun oil and other detrious that one accumulates when spending all day for 5 days around machine guns.

Picture this: 

Gun is now loaded. 

All 6 holes in the cylinder are full. 

I've done this countless times all week. 

Pull the hammer back, gently pull the trigger and ride the hammer down into the frame...

BAM!

I felt something hit my right hand hard, like a ball bat or something.  First instinct kicks in and I look down at my right hand expecting to see...nothing out of the ordinary.  Look closer:  No blood.  Thank God.  Rip the glove off...all 5 digits are still there.  Index, middle, and ring fingers are numb; like right after you slap a flat surface hard.  But no blood.  Holy Crap, did that just happen?

The only casualty?  The glove itself.  Fortunately, I'd moved my hand far enough out of the way that what I felt was muzzle blast.  Which is was split the middle finger of my right glove.





Whew!  Replaced the round that damn near blew my middle finger off, got the guy through his shooting, and went and had me a moment.  Grabbed a Gatorade (this was closer to noon than quitting time, or it would've been a beer) sat for a minute to collect my thoughts and composure, cleaned my shorts out, and went back to work.

So what happened?  The best I figure it, with all the oil in my gloves, coupled with the fact the pistol was stainless and smooth as a baby's hind end; that, and one-quarter second of inattention equals a ND that could have had disastrous consequences.

At least they're not calling me Stubby.  The best thing to come out of this was that everyone took safety a lot more serious afterwards.

My advice to you:  Never skimp of safety gear.  Whether it's shooting glasses, hearing protection, or gloves.  Make sure you have replacements for everything.  If it looks like it should be replaced, replace it.  Sooner rather than later.  Eyes, ears, fingers, and even your life cannot be replaced. 

(P.S.  From that point on, I took my sweet time loading that gun.  I figured out how to load it WITHOUT putting the hammer in half-cock.  So I now have a new-found respect for the non-Ruger SAA.  But I still don't like them.)

Been Awhile

Sorry it's been awhile since I put anything up here.  Truth is, life intruded.

My job got real at the beginning of July.  A C-130 ran out of air south of here and bellied in in the southern Black Hills.  Unfortunately, 4 people didn't get to go home for the 4th of July that weekend.  Two people, however did.  So the month of July was pretty much a wash.  14-16 hour days spend trying to coordinate stuff for the crash site and folks who were trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Then, last week was Rally Week.  Which meant that my once a year gig at the Buffalo Chip Machine Gun Shoot was back up and running.  More on that in another post.

So, in my absence, some whack job shot up a movie theater trying to live up to the legend he'd created in his own mind of himself.  Much hay was made of what he used, and the howls from the anti crowd were long on wind, and short on anything in the way of facts.  From everything I read on the subject, the fact that he supposedly used a 100 round drum for his AR probably saved more lives than he eventually took.  Thing is, my wife once asked me when we were headed to a movie a couple of years ago why I felt the need to strap on my piece, just to go to the movies.  Guess what?  She knows why now.

Then some racist nut bag went and shot up a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin.  No word on what HE used, but if it had been some sort of scary looking rifle, the howls would have been even louder from the long on wind, short on facts crowd.

Then, to round it all out, some leftist ass-munch goes and shoots himself up a pro-life joint in DC.  Two things stand out here.  First, how could this happen in DC?  I'm betting this goon forgot to register his shootin' iron with Metro PD.  Second, why is it that we hear about all these supposed 'right wing extremists' that are all ready to get their Second Fort Sumter on, but yet most of these mass shootings have been perpetrated by left-nuts.  Why is that?

So, to leave on a good note, I am now the proud new owner of a Kimber Super Ultra Carry.  Man, this one nice pistol.  I've had the gun for exactly 2 weeks now.  Put 50 rounds through it during some down time at the Shoot.  How does knocking off bowling pins at 30 yds with open sights sound?  I'll have more on this little shooter in the future, but man, is it nice.


Got to say, I love the bobbed frame.  My Dan Wesson 10mm has a bobbed frame and both fit my hand like a glove.

Anyway, I hope to have a recap up of the Shoot sometime this weekend.  Spoiler Alert:  It was a blast!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

What About The Other Guys?

So Fast and Furious has literally exploded all over the national stage this week.  The AG has weasel-wormed his way into a corner concerning documents they may or may not have, the Administration is in full on CYA mode by invoking executive privilege, and the political left is screaming bloody murder about a witch hunt over all of this.

With every report I've read over the last 18 or so months, with very few exceptions, the one (and probably most important) aspect that gets overlooked in all this is the complicity of the FBI in all this.

What has not been reported, except in the blogger community, is that the straw buyers at the heart of Fast and Furious were all convicted felons.  Meaning that legally speaking, they could not walk into any gun shop in this country and buy any gun.  Yet that's exactly what they did.  Walked into gun stores all over the Tuscon/Phoenix area and bought semi-auto rifles by the bushel.

Now, anyone who has bought a gun from a gun store in any state knows that before you are allowed to leave the premises with your new purchase, you have to fill out a little paperwork first.  They ask for all kinds of things, like your name, address; to include city, state, AND county of residence, they ask for your race, your SSN, height, weight, and a whole slew of questions about your status like are you the actual buyer, are you a felon, are you in the country illegally, and if you've ever been convicted of domestic violence or drug related crimes.  Lying on this little form will get you in some hot water.

After you've filled out the form, the guy behind the counter takes that form, and goes and makes a phone call to the National Insta-Check System center, run by the FBI.  One of three things will happen by the end of this call.  First, you're cleared and you continue on with your purchase.  Second, your name pops up and they put a 'hold' on your purchase, which if nothing else comes of it, you can come back in 3 days and pick up your purchase.  Lastly, you get a 'do not proceed' and then the fun starts as you can expect a visit from someone with a badge in the near future.

What happened in F&F is that these guys were all given a 'procede' from the NICS operator.  Now, I don't know about you, but when you've got some guys with rap sheets buying guns from licensed dealers without a worry in the world about getting caught, something smells in Denmark.

I've tried, unsuccessfully, for the last 2 days to get through to some of the radio hosts I listen to every day to bring this up.  Eventually, I will get through.  This needs wider attention.  We need answers.  Agent Terry's family deserves answers.

Monday, June 18, 2012

What Is Wrong With These People?

I listen to a fair amount of talk radio on a daily basis, basically the entire lineup on Sirius/XM's Patriot Channel.

What usually has me pounding my steering wheel is 'the liberal caller' who phones in to tell the host how wrong us conservatives are.

The one thing that I that always amazes me, is after all the crap that has gone on in this country over the last 3 or so years, what with a massive health care bill, a massive spending bill, and a checked off 'To Do' list of every liberal/progressive/socialist/marxist/populist wet dream, it's all the Repugnican's fault we're in the mess we're in.

I've got a news flash for these morons.  Yes.  The previous administrations of the last 60 or so years have run debts and deficits.  Some bigger or smaller than others.  What sets this latest one apart is the fact that in a little over 3 years, our debt is twice what it was during the entire 8 years of the previous occupant of the mansion located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

With all this debt and deficit, a looming economic crisis in Europe, and the fact that for the last 2 years, the labor force has hemorrhaged more jobs than naked camp counsellors at Camp Crystal Lake have blood.  Yet we're constantly told this all the fault of the opposition party.  Never mind who controlled the coffers for 4 of the last 6 years.  Never mind that when you give a trillion dollars of money you don't have to all the fools who helped you pull the wool over the eyes of the American electorate, it's all the fault of the Repugnicans.  Nope, nothing to see here, move along...

Nope.  We have to get them evil rich guys.  We have to give jobs we don't have to people who technically don't exist in the tax system.  We can't take any money away from the supposed 99%.  Yet the more you look at who they want to tax the shit out of, the more you find out that the very middle class they claim to support, are the very people they are trying to drive to the poor house.  I'm still trying to figure out how millionaires and billionaires equates to folks making $250K a year.  Maybe I missed that class in public school.  But then again, I was educated at a time when they actually taught something other than the touchy-feely crap they put out now.

I read these letter to the editor telling everyone that if we went back to a more Constitutional foundation, then Granny would be pushed off a cliff or Little Sally would starve because there are no more school lunches.  Or that entire towns would degenerate into a burning chaos because there wouldn't be any firefighters or police.  Special note about the police and fire departments:  They are not federally funded and were never supposed to be that way.  That's what local property taxes are for.  Not federal income taxes.  So to insinuate that if we don't get another stimulus package, then blood will run in the streets and every building in town will burn down is pure-d-bullshit.

Get your fingers out of my wallet.  You didn't work to earn it, you don't get a piece of the action.  You want a new TV or the latest super-computing phone, get your ass a job and go get it yourself.  For those who legitimately unable to work, we can work something out.  For the rest of you lazy asses who can't be bothered, two words I think sum up how I feel on the subject and one of them begins with the F.

Monday, June 11, 2012

A Fast and Furious Update

Just got this via email:


Attorney General Eric Holder: The Case For Contempt

U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was shot and killed in the line of duty on December 15th, 2010.  Two of the weapons found at the scene of Agent Terry’s murder were weapons purchased under surveillance by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) as part of Operation Fast and Furious.  Under this operation, the BATFE allowed purchases to be made by “straw purchasers,” individuals who purchase guns in order to sell them illegally.  These “straw purchasers,” many of whom were ineligible to purchase firearms in the first place, were allowed by BATFE officials to both make the purchases and then transfer the weapons to third parties.

Congress’ investigation, now a year and a half old, has been hampered by the stonewalling of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.  At worst, Mr. Holder has misled the Congress, and at best, he has been negligent in failing to control his subordinates.  It is clear to me that Mr. Holder is not fit to hold the position as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.  My calls and the calls of my colleagues for Mr. Holder’s resignation have fallen on deaf ears as President Obama continues to support his Attorney General.

Throughout the investigation, the Department has made false denials, misdirected investigators, intimidated witnesses, withheld documents, and acknowledged the truth only when confronted with conclusive evidence.  We cannot allow this Administration’s stonewalling to hinder Congress’ constitutional oversight responsibilities, the Terry family’s search for truth, and the public’s right to know what went wrong and which officials knew about it. 

Next week, June 20th, 2012, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will meet to consider whether Attorney General Eric Holder should be held in contempt of Congress for his failure to comply with a subpoena related to Operation Fast & Furious.

Despite the thousands of papers Mr. Holder has decided to share in response to the October 12, 2011 subpoena, Mr. Holder has withheld the very documents that could either exonerate his Department or confirm our suspicions that senior officials mishandled Fast and Furious and obstructed Congress’ investigation.  The subpoena targets internal deliberations that pertain to Fast & Furious, retaliation against whistleblowers, and why it took the Department nearly a year to retract false denials of reckless tactics. 

The Justice Department can still stop the process of contempt - a process for enforcing compliance with a lawful subpoena - by delivering the requested documents and letting the truth speak for itself.  If not, the Committee will proceed with consideration of a contempt citation, which will be debatable and amendable by the Committee.  Ultimate approval of the contempt citation will require a majority vote of the Committee.

For more information, please visit: www.fastandfuriousinvestigation.com. To see my remarks on Attorney General Holder’s failure to cooperate with Congress, please visit http://youtu.be/cyfFeav5ofo.





Sincerely,

Cynthia M. Lummis

Member of Congress

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Whew!

So it's been awhile since I've put pen to paper so to speak.  For that I blame my shoulder.

Last month I went under the knife to repair some torn cartilage in my right shoulder.  I've spent the last 6 weeks holed up in an immobilizer, trying to get used to doing things one-handed.  Thankfully, I'm left handed, so the slow down didn't really affect me much.

So in the interim, I've got some new projects that are taunting me, laughing while I recuperate.  The weekend after I had surgery, I picked up a matching-numbers Imbel FAL kit from a fun show for five bills.  Got a Coonan Type 3 receiver on the way, and as soon as I get the strength back in my right arm, it's getting built.



A couple of weeks later, I got bit by the tax stamp bug again, and just had to HAVE a Yugo M92.  Me being me, it's both cheaper and more fun to build my own.  So thanks to fine folks at Arms of America, I picked up a virgin M92 kit with an AKbuilder.com chrome lined barrel, a NDS 92 receiver, and a 6-month wait while the taxman decides if I'm worthy enough to have my 5th stamp.



In the 'pisses me off' column, we have the Fast and Furious thing becoming slow and depressing.  Multiple sources are saying that it would be easier to drop the whole thing than actually do something about a government agency that purposely armed the most dangerous criminals in the hemisphere in an attempt to create a 'crisis' they could exploit for more gun control laws.

Also in that column is the tale out of Canada of the father of a 4 YO girl who was arrested, strip-searched, violated, charged with a bogus crime, had his house searched (without a warrant mind you) all because said 4 YO girl drew a picture of her father killing monsters with a gun.  After detaining the mother and sending the other children to Social Services to be 'interviewed' about this so-called gun, After an exhaustive search turned up a clear plastic airsoft piece, the school board expressed their 'concern' by stating that 'as co-parents, it's our responsibility'...Whisky Tango Foxtrot, Over?  Where in the blue hell does any school district or board think they get that right from again?  Were they in the room when the child was conceived?  Did they go through the labor/surgery to birth this child?  Were they there for the first steps/words/bath/insert any one of baby's firsts here?  No.  So back off Dr. Dummassteacher.

Then there's the Martin/Zimmerman thing.  As everyone with a brain said at the time, just wait until the facts come out before running off at the mouth.  Sure enough, it comes out Zimmerman had a broken nose and numerous cuts on the back of his head.  The deceased had busted up knuckles.  Hmmm.  I wonder who the real aggressor was...Not that it matters to the perpetually outraged crew.

Did I mention that today was 6 weeks to the day since I had surgery and I got the stupid immobilizer off?  And that my next appointments are with the physical therapist?  You know, the folks who spend the summer interned with the CIA learning new and exciting ways to elicit confessions?  Funny, the stuff the physical therapists do would be considered cruel and unusual punishment were we not paying them to make us feel better.

Any way, I'm back.  More to follow.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

This Will Be Interesting

So George Zimmerman has been charged with 2nd Degree Murder. OK, this means that the onus is now on the court for what will come.

Now for the $64 question: Does anyone honestly believe that with all the media attention this case has received, that Zimmerman will ever be able to get a fair trial in any jurisdiction in the country?

Between doctored tapes, questionable forensic analyses, and the rhetoric of race hustling blowhards, there isn't a man, woman, or child in this country who is untouched by this story.

I wonder though, if the judge in this case decides that Zimmerman's claim of self defense is true, what happens then? On the other hand, if this case is all about making certain groups happy, and he's railroaded into prison, what does that say about the judicial system and those who are supposed to be blind to bias?

Just some questions this inquiring mind wants the answers to.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Being A Judge Doesn't Necessarily Mean You're Smart

I've held off on commenting on the Zimmerman/Martin thing because we don't have all the facts in evidence yet. And I don't know that we ever will.

But that hasn't stopped the anti-gun folks, the media, and the criminally stupid (redundancy alert!) from trying to blame the law, the gun, and the NRA (not in any particular order) for what happened in Sanford, FL.

Case in point, is Judge H. Lee Sarokin over at the Huffington Post. His piece, titled How Do Gun Advocates, and the NRA React to Gun Massacres and Killings? asks just what the title implies. How can I, as a Life Member of the NRA and an avid gun collector and shooter reconcile what he sees as my complicity in mass shootings around the country.

First off, let me answer the overarching question asked in the title. I react the same way most everyone else does. Usually with empathy for the family members of those lost and sadness at said loss. That feeling is usually short-lived as I know, having payed attention to the news, that within a matter of minutes to hours the usual suspects in the anti-gun movement will be out screaming from the tallest roof in the country about 'lax gun laws' and how the evil NRA is responsible for this tragedy or that.

After reading about how this is all my fault for anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of years, my thoughts then turn to the process itself. Much like the Zimmerman/Martin case, I need facts to make up my mind, keeping in mind that news stations, papers, and Internet sites generally have but a fraction of the information (or none at all) concerning the incident they're breathlessly pimping on their respective forms of communication.

So having read the good Judge's piece, one thing struck me as so totally moronic, that it made my brain come to a screeching halt. The Judge actually wrote that without guns, there would be no killing. Seriously. A Judge said that, I'm not making it up. See for yourself, he says it in the second paragraph under the excerpted text. Quote "I know the slogan - 'Guns don't kill people, people kill people', but without a gun present there would be no killing." No sir, I think you've got that all wrong. Without a gun present, there most definitely would be killing. People have been doing so for millenia, with all manner of implements that they have either devised or found handy at the time.

And speaking of 'gun massacres', that shooting the other day...Where did that happen again? Oh, yeah. Oakland. In CA, the poster child for everything the Brady Campaign to Remain Relevant wants for state gun laws. Yet with all those nifty little laws on the books in Cali, a deranged nut job walked into a school with a gun (federal felony-Federal Gun-Free School Zone Act) and killed 7 people (state level felony-murder, the last time I checked, was against the law). I'm not sure if he was prohibited from having said gun, but if he were say a convicted felon or someone adjudicated as mentally defective those would be federal disqualifiers to gun ownership and also felonies for being in possession of gun. I'm also guessing he didn't have a permit from the county sherrif to carry said guns on campus, so he was likely carrying without a permit, also a crime in CA. Since I haven't heard what weaponry he used, I can't comment on whether they were "California Approved!" or not.

So in that one incident we have several state and federal laws being broken. Tell me again why 'one more law' would've stopped this?

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Update on Constitutional Carry

So the governor vetoed Constitutional Carry. That much is clear.

But what pissed me off, and this has been worming it's way around my brain since Friday, is what he said.

He didn't want to increase the workload on police.

What??????

Excuse me, just a minute here Governor. I thought that's why we hired cops. They're job is to catch people breaking the law. You know, the criminal element? If that job is too hard, if that job is too taxing, then what does that say about the state of law enforcement and the people who go around creating stupid laws that force police to go around doing stupid shit instead of catching the truly criminal among us?

If they can't do the job, or it's too hard for them, then they need to find something else to do. Period.

Workload my ass. This was a cop-out (pun fully intended), plain and simple. It's not like they don't run a background check when they stop you for crossing the double yellow line. Or when they decide they want to check your ID for no apparent reason other than you were there and so were they. Isn't that why we pay for those dispatch centers? Don't they have that kind of information available at their finger tips?

Friday, March 16, 2012

The Strength Of Their Convictions

So the Governor vetoed Constitutional Carry this morning. Citing difficulties in police determining who can/cannot legally carry, he's put the onus back on the legislature for the override.

Realizing of course that 2/3 vote of both houses is required for the override, we'll see if those state legislators that voted for the bill initially will follow through and vote to override.

This bill passed pretty handily in both houses: 22-11 in the state senate, and 50-18 in the state house. Though I do think there will be one or two state senators that will get squishy and not back up their previous 'yeah' vote.

Should be interesting to see how this turns out next week.

As an interesting aside, I did get a site visit from the state this morning regarding HB 1248:



I find it interesting that the AP posted this story at 10:59 am and I get a visit 30 minutes later.

Things that make you go...Hmmmmmmmm.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

I've Got Another Idea

These are the types of columns that really have me scratching my head. The 'I'm a gun owner, but...' article.

We've all read them before. Usually, they all start out with 'I'm a gun owner, I support the second amendment, but...' and then dive into why THEIR gun is wholesome, good and righteous and how everyone elses guns are bad, evil, and destined to be the cause of the next massacre at the corner market.

This one has so much wrong with it, it's really hard to know where to begin. And then there's the last commenter. I'm not sure if what the person is writing is true or satire. I certainly hope it's satire, as the other option is downright scary.

That these two individuals are so flippant about one the most basic of fundamental rights is a testament to how far some will go to see the rest of their countrymen and neighbors left defenseless in the face of criminals and what, at least on the surface anyway, appears to be a growingly Constitutionally hostile government.

For those two, I say bring it. Or in the case of King Leonidas of Sparta, Molon Labe. And to quote Mike Vanderbough, if you try to take our firearms away, we will kill you.

Speaking Of Safety...

Locking your house/car is another aspect of safety.

I think the dumbest thing about this is the fact that people still leave their guns in unlocked cars. This in a town that could almost be called the northernmost suburb of Denver.

Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy.

Safety Never Takes a Day Off

Story here.

Bottom line, always wear your safety gear; glasses, muffs/foamies. You never know if or when a kaboom can happen.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

This Whole Thing Has Got Me Thinking

Dangerous, I know. But with all the hubub over Rush Limbaugh's comments on one Sandra Fluke and non-stop fake outrage inspired by same, this whole thing has got me thinking about what is, in fact, a 'right'.

Others have probably said this more eloquently than I, but let begin by stating one thing flat out: Your existence in this world, while admirable on your parents part for managing to get you through your formative years without drinking the Drano or becoming a hood ornament for a 1979 El Camino, does not make whatever it is you think you need a right.

That includes, but is not limited to internet access, free pizza, a car, a cell phone, a FaceSpace page(s), free candy, Nike Air Jordans, a tablet (either the old fashioned kind for writing on or the new-fangled contraption that looks like an overgrown cell phone), free Girl Scout cookies, free ice cream, a free birthday party at Chuckie Cheese, or any manner of stuff that you deem free (but in fact costs me more money out of my paycheck every week).

It also does not include behavioral based activities such as shooting up whatever the cocktail drug of choice is this week, sticking whatever feels the best where decent folks don't care to talk about, with whomever you met in your drug-induced deleria.

And you damned sure don't have the right to force the rest of us to pay for the consequences of your 'whatever feels good today' attitude. If you get something Ajax can't wash off and penicillin can't cure, it ain't my f'in problem. You got the crusty crotch from someone, fine. Go deal with it yourself.

Because you can't keep your legs closed doesn't mean I get to pay for whatever contraceptive you think you need. You wanna go play mattress-back queen of the frat house? Go for it. You want to turn into a door knob where everyone gets a turn? Couldn't give two shits less. You want to play glory hole, go right ahead. But don't for one ever-loving minute think that ANYONE else should pay for your choices. Because that's what they are, choices.

As someone I admire once said, your right of freedom to be you also includes my right to be free from you. And that includes paying for the consequences of you acting like a complete moron.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Interesting Perspective

So the Governor has the Constutional Carry bill on his desk. He's not sure if he's going to sign it or not. (He's got until next week to make up his mind.)


Looking through the Codified Laws of South Dakota, he has 3 options available to him. He can 1) sign the bill, 2) veto the bill, or 3) not sign the bill and allow it to become law. My bet is on #3. Why? Let's face it. Consitutional Carry is a controvesial issue right now. CC is the unknown factor here. Only 4 states allow for concealed carry without a permit: Alaska, Vermont, Arizona, and Wyoming. But it's not like were talking about overturning May Issue and replacing it with CC here.


Just look at the vote totals. In the state house, HB 1248 passed 50-18. In the state senate, it passed 22-11. In order to override a veto, there needs to be 2/3 vote of each house. According to my math, the only concern is in the senate wher it passed with exactly 67%.


South Dakota concealed carry permits are the most easily obtainable permit to get in the country. How easy? $10 and a trip to the Sherriff's Department to fill out the half sheet sized application. No training requirement. No firing demonstration. No fingerprints. No serial numbers. That easy.


I've made my thoughts on CC pretty clear. And they've grown over the years. At first, I didn't mind the mimimal cost. But as I've read about the subject and educated myself over the 7 yrs I've had a permit, I've grown to loathe them. So even at $10, you are still paying the government for the priviledge of exercising your Constitutionally protected civil right to keep and bear arms.


Which brings us to the Chief of the Rapid City Police Department, Steve Allender. Chief Allender has his concerns about the bill. Understandably, he's concerned for the safety of his officers. I get it. I really do. But here's the rub. He's concerned about the workload this will put on his officers. It's refreshing to note he's not opposed to it in the usual sense like most other police chiefs. I do note however that without this piece of legislation, the criminal element is still going to carry their guns illegally. They are still going to try to puff up on his officers.

But that is not reason enough to impede the law-biding from exercising their rights.

This Is Interesting...

I've read op-eds from around the country related to the gun issue. Almost universally, they are against everything gun related. From semi-auto rifles, to concealed carry, to purchase requirements. It's a gimmee.

That is until today. The local cat box liner had an editorial today, coming out....

In FAVOR of Constitutional Carry in the state of South Dakota.

You know, when I got out of bed this morning, things felt a little weird. Now I now what set the world all helter-skelter.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The Stupid Is Strong

I don't know what rock this twit crawled out from under, but the only reason why you 'couldn't own AK 47s or 50 caliber handguns that have no purpose but to kill people' is because when you were 'remembering', those items weren't available for import.

Never mind that FALs were being imported in the 1950s. Dammit, those guns weren't in the country back then, so we need to go back to that time.

I've got a news flash. If they had been available back in 1949 when they went into active service with the Soviet Army, someone would have found a way to import them.

In another burst of brilliance, he bemoans the existence of .50 caliber handguns. Another news flash: .50 caliber handguns have been around for a long time. Here's a picture gallery of some (of course being a search engine, there's going to be some that don't quite fit the bill of .50+ caliber handguns) percussion cap and flintlock pistols in .54 caliber.

But then again, when it comes to hysterical rantings of a self-absorbed moron, never let the facts (or even a little thing like an Internet search) get in the way of a good tirade.

I guess he never heard the quote from Tench Coxe:


'The militia of these commonwealths, entitled and accustomed to their arms, when compared to any possible army, must be tremendous and irresistible. Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American...the unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.'

Monday, March 5, 2012

I Don't Even Know Where To Begin

During my morning round-up I read several blogs while having my morning chow, at the ones the work machine doesn't block out anyway.

The last one I read before the salt gets mined is Robb Allen. So, I'm getting by morning fix on and came across a post that was the source of a couple of quotes of the day (here & here).

Clicking through to the story that was the inspiration for the post and following quotes, I couldn't help but shake my head.

So to summarize, a guy is on the verge of going Stone Cold Steve Austin on a back door, whilst the homeowners are on the telly to the Po-Po in the Mile High City. After getting not getting a response, which according to the available record was 8 minutes, the justifiably upset homeowner files a complaint.

And here's where the bureaucratic samba comes in. See, Denver Metro PD initially took the complaint, but since it didn't really involve them, they punted to the 911 Dispatch Center.

The money quote for me? (This after already being kicked over to the offending agency, and already knowing that NOBODY showed up at his house for the attempted break in, mind you.)


'The Operations Supervisor advised Mr. Frie that Denver Police Officers responded to his house and then referred Mr. Frie to the Denver Police Department's website to make a "formal complaint."

OK, it's in this instance that I'm glad I don't live in a large metropolitan area. I'd go bonkers. What kind of 'supervisor' doesn't know what the hell is going on?

On second thought don't answer that.

Mr. Allen goes on to explain what he'd do if a situation like this presented itself to him and his. Do a press check. Me?

I'd make sure I made the most reassuring sound in the world to my family, I'd run a 2.75" load of #7 shot into the chamber of the trusty 870PG.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

We're Almost There

So, the state legislature is working on another bill for the state to go Constitutional Carry.

The first one went down in flames due to some adolescent pissing contest with one of the state gun rights group.

The last information I had was that a replacement bill had been introduced.

So it is with great pleasure I announce that CC has passed a giant hurdle and been passed out of committee.

Fingers crossed it comes to a floor vote.

You're Right. What Could Possible Go Wrong?

Do you ever get the feeling that maybe there's just too much technology out there? That sometimes, the human factor just can't be replaced?

Well, check this out.

The money quote?

'The new classification relies on data input when determining if an inmate is ready to be released in the community."

Right. What could possibly go wrong?

Friday, February 24, 2012

Pissed Me Right Off It Did

While doing a little Googling this afternoon I came across this.

Oh. My. God.

Can you say RCOB? (Red Curtain of Blood for the uniniated...)

By the third paragraph I was starting to get pissed. By the fifth, I was livid. And by halfway through the article, I was ready to throw my computer out the window.

What kind of petty tyrannical BS is this? Just sitting here trying to put this outrage into words, I'm getting pissed all over again.

Arresting a man because his daughter drew a picture of her Dad with a gun? Have we lost our ever-loving minds?

So in all this, how do you charge someone with possession of a firearm because their daughter drew a damn picture? Can someone explain this to me?

And to top it all off, after being cuffed, led out of his daughters school in handcuffs, violated by a strip search, kept in the dark for several hours about why he's been arrested, had his children taken from him, they want him to sign a piece of paper absolving them of any wrong doing by authorizing the search....AFTER THE FACT!

I find it telling this article doesn't allow comments, as I believe their server would have melted down after word of this got out.

I'll tell you one thing, I wouldn'tve signed that piece of paper if they had a gun to my head. After all that, my name would be on the city hall because I would be owning me some local government.

And just put perfect to the whole article, it's in Canadia. That sure explains a lot, but still.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

The Blame Is Strong In This One...

Huh. So an Executive Agency in the government decides it wants to push a meme about US guns fueling Mexico's violent crime problem, can't get the corroborating trace data to support such claims, and resorts to taking the matters into their own hands.

And it's all the NRA's fault.

What we know for sure at this point. (Obviously abridged, since to try and capture the entire timeline here would take up wayyyyy to much space. You can check out the Gunwalker time line at the National Gun Rights Examiner, here.) The ATF forced multiple gun dealers in Arizona to sell guns (2000 plus at this point, it could be more) to people those merchants knew were straw buyers, but were told point blank by the ATF to sell to anyway.

Those buyers were surveilled and were NOT interdicted before their purchases were turned over to gun runners. As a result, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in a fire fight with gun runners in Dec 2010. Found at the scene were two guns traced to Operation Fast and Furious. Another federal agent, Jaime Zapata, was killed in Mexico with a gun linked to a similar operation in Texas.

We have senior Justice Dept officials on record as using the results of this operation as a justification for the border states rule on multiple sales of long guns.

But all this is the NRA's fault? Really?

As Ron White would say, I don't think so, Scooter.

Wait...Whuh?

Am I reading this right?

Did they actually ask the question why the NRA is hot after the prez on guns, because the firearms industry is farther into the left side of the ledger now than they have ever been?

Evidently, they haven't looked at his voting record as an Illinois state senator. Or his record as a US Senator. Or that he was on the board of directors of the Joyce Foundation, one of the biggest contributors to phony and fake astroturf anti gun organizations in the country.

Or that under his watch, an Executive Agency in the US government was caught supplying guns to some of the most violent criminal gangs in the western hemisphere, and has been stonewalling and lying about it ever since.

Nope. We're supposed to completely let down our guard and go home because a couple of pro gun bills have passed.

Gun friendly. HAH!

Friday, February 17, 2012

We're Gonna Have to Work On That

So, the annual irrelevancy of a certain gun ban organization is out.

What is that, you may ask?

Why it's annual Brady Scorecard!

So how did South Dakota do?

Well, we only got 4 out of possible 100 points. Not as good as Florida's 3, or Louisiana's 2, or Utah that got a perfect score (0).

We're trying to get that number down. We really are. What with debate starting about allowing Constitutional carry, and striking down parking lot gun bans, we're on our way to getting down to that magic number.

Coincidentally, our western neighbor, my home state of Wyoming, started out with a score of 4 out of 100. But they got a 2-point demerit for allowing Constitutional Carry. The Brady's are going to have a fit if Florida style preemption gets passed over there.

It's Baaa-ck!

Just when you thought Constitutional Carry was a dead issue in South Dakota, BAM! There it is again!

I don't know what was up with all the juvenile antics surrounding the last version, but this version doesn't sound much different.

Granted, South Dakota's permit system is largely symbolic, in that we don't have the training, fingerprinting, or serial number requirements of other states.

But still, it's the principal of the issue. In no other instance do we require a permit to exercise our rights. Imagine the uproar if we were to require a permit to attend church. Or to buy a book. Or have certain politically correct medical procedures done. The outrage would be unimagineable.

So why do we continue to put prior restraints on the rights that, to a shrinking minority of people, is politically incorrect? (Although that political incorrectness is becoming more and more irrelevant by the day.)

Well Ain't That Special

To send a statement about the flow of weapons into Mexico, El Presidente presided over the creation of a sign that reads 'No More Weapons' that was placed near the US-Mexican border.

Here's the rub. It was made from weapons seized from Mexican nationals and crushed under the tracks of a tank. (Funny, that's one thing I can never find at any gun show I've ever attended, well, that and those rockets and greanades. And I've been looking!)

One has to wonder how many 'Fast and Furious' guns are involved in this publicity stunt. Because as we all know, nobody else in the world could provide weapons to the Mexican people except those damned old American gun shows/stores and those merchants of death themselves, the NRA. Not the caches of weapons from all over Central/South America. Not the black market, and certainly not the arsenals of the Mexican military itself. Nooooooo. Nothing to see here, move along.

Flipping through the photo gallery, they have all kinds of firearms. Bolt action, semi-auto, etc. What I find interesting is flipping through, I can't see the 7500 'assault rifles' they're proclaiming.

I've got to wonder though, was 'Furious Mike' Bloomberg involved in this?

Monday, February 6, 2012

I Saw That Flick!

So the folks over at the CSGV have got their knickers in a knot over gun sales numbers. As usual, Thirdpower has been all over this like a fat kid on a cupcake.

But something ole Josh said in the last couple of lines struck a memory.

Faced with a stagnate customer base that has declined precipitously over the last 35 years-the gun industry has purposely and continuously manufactured firearms for one of its most important market segments: traffickers and prohibited purchasers (i.e. children, criminals, the dangerously mentally ill, domestic abusers, etc.). All in the name of profit.

Ooo! Ooo! Pick me, Pick me! I think I saw that movie. It was supposed to be good movie when it came out, heck it had Col Rhodes and John Cusack in it. Couldn't be all bad, right? Boy was I wrooooonnnnng. This was back before I got my 2A and evil semiautomatic rifle thing going. By the end of the movie, I was so disgusted I threw it away (brand-spanking new DVD chucked in the trash). Which was kind of odd for a John Grisham movie up to that point, he usually had some pretty good flicks.

I think that was the last time the anti-gun movement scored a victory in court. It's also the only way they can win anything at this point, and that is in the world of make believe. (Coincidentally this is also the only place those pie-in-the-sky anti pipe dreams actually work, such as ballistic fingerprinting.) They have nothing left. Trying to pass off the plot of a not-so-great lawyer movie as fact shows just how bankrupt their ideology really is.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Packaging Fail

Why do you package up a gun cleaning kit, where everything has a place all nice and neat, only to GLUE the damn thing shut?



Note to the manufacturers of Winchester's nifty little cleaning kit. When you want people to be able to use the packaging over and over again, this is not how you go about doing it.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Not Sure What To Make Of This

First off, let me say that the reasons for killing Constitutional Carry in the State House were among the most asinine and childish I've ever heard of. C'mon, really? You can't put aside your teenage angst long enough to look at a bill objectively? Sometimes you really have to wonder about the idi...I mean folks that get elected to statewide office.

Anyway, there's been a bunch of talk recently about South Dakota finally cashing in on some that Oil Boom going on in western North Dakota. If you're not aware, the Bakken Oilfield in ND is among the biggest in the world and makes the reserves of the Arabian Peninsula look like a mud puddle.

It seems that the Sheriff up there in Belle Fourche is, not surprisingly, worried about what effects an oil boom would have in his county. I can understand, the whole boom town thing: I was born in the middle of oil boom, and grew to adulthood through 3 different coal booms. His fears are real.

However. I'm not sure what to make of his comments yesterday. In the linked piece, he is discussing the potential negative aspects a boom would have in the area, and the very next line, he says something very troubling. For the life of me, I can't figure out why an increase of women getting concealed carry permits is a bad thing. I'm not sure if he's intimating the increase in permits is bad thing or if the quote is taken out of context.

Me personally? I'm all for the fairer sex having the ability to defend themselves, especially if this boom comes and the assorted riff-raff that accompanies it shows up.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Maybe Another On The List

So South Dakota is considering Constitutional Carry. This is a very good step for the fine people of the state. We're relatively free here. We're NFA-friendly, got one of the best permit systems in the country outside of AK/VT/AZ/WY in that a permit only costs $10 and there is no training requirement. Permits are good for 4 yrs and aside from the usual suspects that don't honor ANYONES permit, there are only a few that don't recognize ours.

I say good step because for a few years, in order to buy a handgun here, you had to have a permit to pick up your purchase at the time of sale. If you didn't have one, well, it was 3 days before you got to go to the range and fondle your new purchase. That changed, I want to say, back in either 2008 or 9.

The one thing that absolutely drives me up a wall in these debates is the argument that if we allow everyone with a clean record to carry a gun without a permit, then the criminals will too. I don't know how many times I've said to family, friends, and random strangers on different forums that 'Hell-oooo, the bad guys already don't have a permit. Why do you think they call them criminals?'

The other argument that holds absolutely no water in this discussion is the one involving background checks. The 'But' crowd (you know, the I'm a Gun Owner, but...-types?) love to point out that without the permit, how do you know if the person is allowed to have a Roscoe? Never mind the anal probing that filling out the lovely ATF form 4473 brings. Add another one on top of that, this time performed by the state in order to exercise a constitutionally protected civil right, and I can't really feel sorry for these guys who think this invasion of their privacy is anything other than begging permission to exercise said right.

I mean really? That act is the only time you'll ever be subjected to a prior restraint on your rights. At no other time are you forced to fill out a form to exercise a right. And in the case of a carry permit, you're paying for privilege. Try forcing a similar form at the voting booth, or public library, or hell even buying a computer and watch the so-called 'civil libertarians' heads rotate like Linda Blair in 'The Exorcist'.

So, let's get this done. I for one welcome being on the short list with VT, AK, AZ, and WY.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Holy Crap!

So I'm down at the funstore this afternoon, hanging over the counter jaw-jacking with other customers and a couple of the counter guys. In the midst of our conversation, one of the counter guys grabs an AR slathered in Magpul stuff.

While I'm chatting, I see he's having problems getting the rifle back into battery. After a few seconds of watching him struggle, I motion for him to come over and volunteer to see what's wrong with the rifle.

So he hands me the gun, I see the bolt's not all the way forward. So I pull the charging handle to the rear and check the chamber. It's all clear. Not seeing anything in the chamber, I let the bolt go. Because the only way to take down an AR with a bolt not in battery is to get it into battery before you take take it down.

POP!

Fortunately, not a bang, but a noise nonetheless. Have you ever had that happen? Where something that wasn't supposed to happen did? I've had the reverse happen a couple of times, both in the field with a nice muley or whitetail doe in my cross hairs. Pull the trigger, expect a bang and get a click.

This sound scared the crap out of me because I'd followed all the rules. I checked the chamber. I didn't have my finger on the trigger. I had the rifle pointed away from the others at the floor.

So what caused the POP?

After taking the rifle all the way down in a detailed strip, it was discovered that a primer had somehow become lodged in the upper. Not sure where, exactly, but it was found in the lower beside the hammer. It had been pinched when the BCG rammed home.

All we knew was something was obstructing the BCG from going into battery, and the only way to get it apart to see what it was was to get the BCG back into battery. Who thinks a loose primer is roaming around the insides of a rifle? From now on, I'm adding that to my mental checklist on clearing obstructions from rifles.

I will tell you, hearing that pop and seeing the smoke coming from the ejection port, I bade my friends good day, came home, and promptly changed my shorts.

Let this be a lesson. Even when you're sure the weapon is cleared, there could be something else that causes a problem.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Well Ain't This Special

I was going to write up a post about the moron whose family sued Glock because he stole the pistol from a friend by stealing the key to his lock box and then accidentally discharging said firearm into his leg trying to return it, but this is much better.

It would seem that 2 years ago this month, a deluded schizo named Erik Ayala went and bought himself a gun from a pawn shop. Two weeks later, he goes and shoots a bunch of exchange students for which he took the cowards way out by committing suicide.

In response to this, his family is suing EVERYONE involved. From the pawn shop that sold him the gun, to the nightclub where it happened because it was in 'a high crime area downtown', to the Rotary Club (yes the Rotary Club) which sponsored the exchange students 'because they dropped off at least one of the victims' at the nightclub in question. For $1.8 mill.

Aside from the lawsuit-happy bloodsucker representing the family here, let's take a look at that pawn shop situation for a second. The complaint points out that the perpetrator was mentally unstable and that the shop 'should have known he was a danger to himself and others. Really? Now, I've never worked in a gun store, but I do spend a lot of time in them. I've seen a wearing a plaid shirt, khaki pants, and bright yellow rain boots walk in on a 100 degree day to shop and trade firearms. I've seen birkenstock-wearing hippie types lean on the counter and talk about the latest 1911 clone to hit the store, and I've seen your average everyday working class stiff walk in and buy a (insert handgun of choice here). Not once have I ever seen the 'dangerous to himself and others' guy walk in and plunk down some bread for a new Roscoe.

How, exactly, is the counter monkey supposed to know that 'Dangerous to Himself & Others' is actually dangerous to himself and others? Oh, there's that whole NICS check thing, but that system is only as good as the information that gets reported to it. No, everything went according to the law. He filled out the form, the store clerk made the call, it was approved, and 'Dangerous to Himself and Others' walked out with a 9mm Gat. Maybe if the coworkers who noticed that 'DTHAO' had accompanied him to the pawn shop that fateful day, maybe none of this would have happened.

As it is, trying to discern the motives of someone buying a gun without a crystal ball and an open copy of their mental health records, is just so much pissing in the wind. This situation, much like the one in Tuscon, is more of an indictment of the system than of the dealer. Oh, and a bloodsucking personal injury lawyer...