That gun control in it's basest form is racist.
That BET would give this piece space is telling. Our side is winning, and JFPO is starting to have an impact. It ain't every day that a piece talking about gun controls angry, racist past gets to appear there.
It starts out good, acknowledging the role the Klan had in making sure negroes stayed disarmed, even mentioning that Dr. King applied for a permit. I think he could have brought up the Deacons for Defense, though. I find it interesting that when the Deacons were around, the Klan wasn't.
The author gets going really good, only to loose it in the end with "And one has to consider whether winning the right to carry handguns everywhere was really that wonderful a victory."
Just when you think the lamp will finally light in this guy's head, it gets brushed aside as quickly as it occurred.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
This Got Me To Thinking
Just the other day at work, I was talking about my first deployment in the military. Then, I see this piece over at Weer'ds place, which got me to thinking about that deployment all over again.
See, in 1995, the US was in serious face-saving mode in Central America. It seems that we had supported the federal government in El Salvador for the first 9 yrs of their 12 yr civil war, and the rebels the last 3.
So in an effort to make nice with the locals, we were tasked to deploy down to San Miguel, El Salvador to assist in building a couple of schools in the area. What we found out when we got down there was the town we would be working in was a former stronghold for the FMLN, the rebel group that fought the federal government down there. I mean it stands to reason that we were in their old backyard, considering the was FMLN graffiti everywhere.
Anyway, what got me to reminiscing was the subject of the linked post, US military placed in harms way un/under armed. See, in the area were going there was technically still some activity, a couple of months before we got there, the rebels had shot down a UH-1 helicopter carrying some important muckety-muck, so because of this, the UH-1 was not allowed to fly.
So in to this mix we go. 30 Air Force Engineers with a couple of small towed concrete mixers, a Bobcat with a backhoe attachment, and all the assorted hand tools a bunch of guys could use to work concrete, cinder block, and assorted other implements for maintaining a base camp and doing construction work. Oh, and 30 M16A1s. And only 300 rds of ammunition for the entire 30 man team. (As an interesting aside, we weren't allowed to open the caskets containing our weapons unless the fit really hit the shan.) Our counterparts in the ES Air Force routinely carried at least 300 rds......EACH, just to put that into perspective.
Anyway, when we arrived on our job site, we were 3 weeks behind schedule. None of the preliminary work was completed by the previous team. Meaning we had to clear the site, dig the footers, and get started on a semi-permanent latrine. (More on that in a bit.)
As a pavements and construction equipment guy, my job normally would have been to run the equipment to help clear the site and dig the footers, but since this was an Army-led project and deployment, we had to wait on them to bring in the front end loaders and the dump truck to get rid of all the crap we cleaned up.
In the mean time, there was that latrine that needed built. The location for this dig was in back of the existing school, right next to the old latrine. The only prep work done when we arrived was the cutting down of an old oak tree to make room for the new potty-box. Using tow straps, a handy man jack, a hydraulic jack and a lot of man power, we succeeded in removing the stump and getting to digging. For the next week or so, I got to ramrod digging a latrine that was 4 feet wide, 14 feet long, and 9 feet deep. Let me tell you, working in a 9 foot deep hole in sub tropical heat, even if it was the 'dry' season, made for some sweaty work. As we got deeper in the hole, the time we could spend in it got shorter and shorter. It was during this project I found out I could throw a shovel full of dirt 12 feet over my head and about 15 feet out.
What the wonder brains in the Corps of Engineers designed for us on this latrine was a hole in the ground lined with cinder block. Only, they had the block laid in in rows instead of staggered like every other brick wall in the world. Nobody ever said Big-Brained Engineers were smart, right?
Well any way, as the lone pavements guy in this side project, it fell to me to mix up the mortar for the block. Something I'd never undertook before. Let's face it, in the States, when in comes to mixing any kind of concrete, it's just phone call away, right?
I did such a good job with the mortar, I was put in charge of running the mixers when we got to really pouring concrete on the main job.
By the time we had the latrine dug, the rest of the project was caught up. So it was all hands on deck to pour concrete. What we found out was that there was distinct lack of river sand for our concrete. So we had to improvise. During the digging of the latrine, we had a couple of folks who didn't really have the skills for anything else working a sifting screen. All of the rock we had available to us was lava rock. So they sat for days, with a spade and some window screen, sifting all the volcanic rock to get us enough fines to mix with our portland.
So since I was the man on the mixer, I was dared by the LT on the project. The dare was that there was no way a 2-inch slump could be achieved in a portable mixer. He was right. I couldn't mix a 2" slump in a portable mixer. I did 1.5" instead. And to really get his goat, we did a field strength test on the cone of crete I mixed up, which consisted of picking up the cone and dropping it on a piece of granite. The results? I chipped the edge of the cone and actually broke the aggregate in the test piece.
The day we started pouring 'crete, we had 2 1/4 cubic yard and one 1/3 CY portable mixers to work with. Did I mention the Army in all this was worthless? They had an M-series concrete truck at camp that sat there the whole time. The crew did nothing. So we had to basically mix 50 CY of concrete in 3 portable mixers. And once you start, you can't stop until the job's done. So that's what we did. Wheel barrow after wheel barrow. The next day, we did the same thing, only this time we were pouring the floors. In 2 days we poured 150 CY of concrete.
Remember those fines we used in place of river sand in our concrete? Yeah, after we poured the pads, we had to go back and do the finish work on all that concrete. It was the most amazing thing. You could kick over a 5-gallon bucket of water and watch it disappear in less than 5 minutes into the pad. W were always having water hauled over to keep our areas wet while we worked the paste to get everything finished up.
When we arrived at that job site, we were 3 weeks behind. When we left 37 days later, we were almost a month ahead of schedule. During that trip, I learned some interesting stuff like how to lay cinder block walls. And I learned that never, under any circumstances, put Air Force Engineers in a base camp where farm animals are located with any spray paint.
See, in 1995, the US was in serious face-saving mode in Central America. It seems that we had supported the federal government in El Salvador for the first 9 yrs of their 12 yr civil war, and the rebels the last 3.
So in an effort to make nice with the locals, we were tasked to deploy down to San Miguel, El Salvador to assist in building a couple of schools in the area. What we found out when we got down there was the town we would be working in was a former stronghold for the FMLN, the rebel group that fought the federal government down there. I mean it stands to reason that we were in their old backyard, considering the was FMLN graffiti everywhere.
Anyway, what got me to reminiscing was the subject of the linked post, US military placed in harms way un/under armed. See, in the area were going there was technically still some activity, a couple of months before we got there, the rebels had shot down a UH-1 helicopter carrying some important muckety-muck, so because of this, the UH-1 was not allowed to fly.
So in to this mix we go. 30 Air Force Engineers with a couple of small towed concrete mixers, a Bobcat with a backhoe attachment, and all the assorted hand tools a bunch of guys could use to work concrete, cinder block, and assorted other implements for maintaining a base camp and doing construction work. Oh, and 30 M16A1s. And only 300 rds of ammunition for the entire 30 man team. (As an interesting aside, we weren't allowed to open the caskets containing our weapons unless the fit really hit the shan.) Our counterparts in the ES Air Force routinely carried at least 300 rds......EACH, just to put that into perspective.
Anyway, when we arrived on our job site, we were 3 weeks behind schedule. None of the preliminary work was completed by the previous team. Meaning we had to clear the site, dig the footers, and get started on a semi-permanent latrine. (More on that in a bit.)
As a pavements and construction equipment guy, my job normally would have been to run the equipment to help clear the site and dig the footers, but since this was an Army-led project and deployment, we had to wait on them to bring in the front end loaders and the dump truck to get rid of all the crap we cleaned up.
In the mean time, there was that latrine that needed built. The location for this dig was in back of the existing school, right next to the old latrine. The only prep work done when we arrived was the cutting down of an old oak tree to make room for the new potty-box. Using tow straps, a handy man jack, a hydraulic jack and a lot of man power, we succeeded in removing the stump and getting to digging. For the next week or so, I got to ramrod digging a latrine that was 4 feet wide, 14 feet long, and 9 feet deep. Let me tell you, working in a 9 foot deep hole in sub tropical heat, even if it was the 'dry' season, made for some sweaty work. As we got deeper in the hole, the time we could spend in it got shorter and shorter. It was during this project I found out I could throw a shovel full of dirt 12 feet over my head and about 15 feet out.
What the wonder brains in the Corps of Engineers designed for us on this latrine was a hole in the ground lined with cinder block. Only, they had the block laid in in rows instead of staggered like every other brick wall in the world. Nobody ever said Big-Brained Engineers were smart, right?
Well any way, as the lone pavements guy in this side project, it fell to me to mix up the mortar for the block. Something I'd never undertook before. Let's face it, in the States, when in comes to mixing any kind of concrete, it's just phone call away, right?
I did such a good job with the mortar, I was put in charge of running the mixers when we got to really pouring concrete on the main job.
By the time we had the latrine dug, the rest of the project was caught up. So it was all hands on deck to pour concrete. What we found out was that there was distinct lack of river sand for our concrete. So we had to improvise. During the digging of the latrine, we had a couple of folks who didn't really have the skills for anything else working a sifting screen. All of the rock we had available to us was lava rock. So they sat for days, with a spade and some window screen, sifting all the volcanic rock to get us enough fines to mix with our portland.
So since I was the man on the mixer, I was dared by the LT on the project. The dare was that there was no way a 2-inch slump could be achieved in a portable mixer. He was right. I couldn't mix a 2" slump in a portable mixer. I did 1.5" instead. And to really get his goat, we did a field strength test on the cone of crete I mixed up, which consisted of picking up the cone and dropping it on a piece of granite. The results? I chipped the edge of the cone and actually broke the aggregate in the test piece.
The day we started pouring 'crete, we had 2 1/4 cubic yard and one 1/3 CY portable mixers to work with. Did I mention the Army in all this was worthless? They had an M-series concrete truck at camp that sat there the whole time. The crew did nothing. So we had to basically mix 50 CY of concrete in 3 portable mixers. And once you start, you can't stop until the job's done. So that's what we did. Wheel barrow after wheel barrow. The next day, we did the same thing, only this time we were pouring the floors. In 2 days we poured 150 CY of concrete.
Remember those fines we used in place of river sand in our concrete? Yeah, after we poured the pads, we had to go back and do the finish work on all that concrete. It was the most amazing thing. You could kick over a 5-gallon bucket of water and watch it disappear in less than 5 minutes into the pad. W were always having water hauled over to keep our areas wet while we worked the paste to get everything finished up.
When we arrived at that job site, we were 3 weeks behind. When we left 37 days later, we were almost a month ahead of schedule. During that trip, I learned some interesting stuff like how to lay cinder block walls. And I learned that never, under any circumstances, put Air Force Engineers in a base camp where farm animals are located with any spray paint.
Monday, August 22, 2011
A Pox On America?
That's what the editorial staff at the West Virginia Gazette seem to think.
See if you can follow this line of thinking...Chicago, IL and Toronto, CA are roughly the same size. Yet one of these cities has a horrendous homicide problem. So the answer to said problem is to adopt the gun laws of the other city.
An interesting question arises: The city they would like to emulate more actually has less restrictive laws than the other.
After you wade through the whole 'Chicago vs Toronto' thing, we get to the crux of their issue: Them danged old American gun laws. See, if we had gun control laws like they do in Europe we wouldn't have...Oh wait. That happened in Norway. What about...Nope it happened in Finland, too. Germany? Nuh-uh. It happened in Germany. (I would bring up Japan, but that's a category all its own: Samurai Sword violence. Not really apropos to our discussion here.) All countries the anti-freedom crowd thinks we should emulate when it comes to OUR gun laws.
They then seem to be taken aback that the foundation of the modern pro-rights arguement can be traced back to the Radical Black Panters of the late '60s, and that the seemingly pro-gun NRA was very much anti gun when it wanted to be back in the '20s and '30s. (And even in the '60s. GCA 68 anyone? The NRA has had its hand in all the major gun control legislation in the last hundred years. It's only in the last 20-30 yrs that they have begun to take on the very legislation they themselves supported.)
They even get apoplectic when they find out that Martin Luther King, Jr applied for a carry permit (though he was denied). I bet what they DIDN'T know was that the good Reverend surrounded himself with a group dedicated to the defense of black people all over the South. Some of you may have heard of them, the Deacons For Defense. While Dr. King talked about non-violence, he had at his side good men who were not afraid to use a little to defend their cause.
It's always fun to see the anti-freedom crowd have their nifty little world view smashed like candy glass. That the narrative they've worked so long and hard to craft comes crashing down around their ears is a good thing, even if it is only for a split second. For we all know that nothing, absolutely NOTHING, can intrude on the narrative, not even those pesky little facts.
See if you can follow this line of thinking...Chicago, IL and Toronto, CA are roughly the same size. Yet one of these cities has a horrendous homicide problem. So the answer to said problem is to adopt the gun laws of the other city.
An interesting question arises: The city they would like to emulate more actually has less restrictive laws than the other.
After you wade through the whole 'Chicago vs Toronto' thing, we get to the crux of their issue: Them danged old American gun laws. See, if we had gun control laws like they do in Europe we wouldn't have...Oh wait. That happened in Norway. What about...Nope it happened in Finland, too. Germany? Nuh-uh. It happened in Germany. (I would bring up Japan, but that's a category all its own: Samurai Sword violence. Not really apropos to our discussion here.) All countries the anti-freedom crowd thinks we should emulate when it comes to OUR gun laws.
They then seem to be taken aback that the foundation of the modern pro-rights arguement can be traced back to the Radical Black Panters of the late '60s, and that the seemingly pro-gun NRA was very much anti gun when it wanted to be back in the '20s and '30s. (And even in the '60s. GCA 68 anyone? The NRA has had its hand in all the major gun control legislation in the last hundred years. It's only in the last 20-30 yrs that they have begun to take on the very legislation they themselves supported.)
They even get apoplectic when they find out that Martin Luther King, Jr applied for a carry permit (though he was denied). I bet what they DIDN'T know was that the good Reverend surrounded himself with a group dedicated to the defense of black people all over the South. Some of you may have heard of them, the Deacons For Defense. While Dr. King talked about non-violence, he had at his side good men who were not afraid to use a little to defend their cause.
It's always fun to see the anti-freedom crowd have their nifty little world view smashed like candy glass. That the narrative they've worked so long and hard to craft comes crashing down around their ears is a good thing, even if it is only for a split second. For we all know that nothing, absolutely NOTHING, can intrude on the narrative, not even those pesky little facts.
In Other News...
Found this horking around the intertubes today. Aside from shooting himself in BOTH legs, his bad day got worse when his stash of dope was discovered.
This almost ranks up there with the poachers who were shot by the turkey they allegedly 'killed' out of season.
I have to wonder though, was it the .45 LC or the .410 shot that got him.
This almost ranks up there with the poachers who were shot by the turkey they allegedly 'killed' out of season.
I have to wonder though, was it the .45 LC or the .410 shot that got him.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
As Promised...
A few pics of the shoot last week.
Here's an overview of what we were shooting.
On the line:
Here's the M240B/MAG 58, the next day we got 2 more MG42s. Which was a good thing since of the belt fed guns we had on the line, it was the next most popular next to the '60.
Mr. Popularity himself the M60E3, and two of our 6 1919s (the little one in tiger stripes is an 8mm job)
M1919 in .308, Polish PKM, and the .50 Target rifle
1910 Russian Maxim and Mr. Ronnie Barrett's finest invention the M82A1
Here's the back row, the shoulder fired, magazine fed stuff.
Left to Right: 3 of the 6 1919s we had, M2 Carbine, M1918 BAR, MAC 10 9mm, Romanian AK 74, AMD 65, Romanian AK, Chinese AKS, and the hybrid Romanian/Yugo underfolder.
Left to right: Mauser 98K, the last of the 6 1919s, a pair of Uzi's, S&W 76, Sten Mk I Have No Idea, M3A1 Grease Gun, and a couple of the M16s we had (more in the next pic)
Left to right: 9mm M16 (the only gun we had with burst capabilities), standard M16, and a SWAT special with EOTech sight, MG42 without a barrel, 2 M1927 and 3 M1A1 Thompson submachine guns (interestingly, we started out with 4 50 rd drums and by the end of the week we were down to 2).
Left to Right: Inert Bulgarian RPG, H&K G3/CETME, and 4 of the MP5s (2 in 9mm, one in .40 and the other 10mm)
Left to right: UMP .45, Type 2 FAL, Type 1 FAL with grenade launcher attachment (we had 3 up, 2 were FN rifles and the other was an Imbel. The third FAL went down with spring issues in case you were wondering), .500 S&W, M1 Garand and semi M14 with an inert AT 4 laucher on the floor.
Between the AT4 and the RPG, we LOTS of inquiries about shooting them. Fortunately (or not depending on which side of the line you were on) the only thing we shot with those launchers were pictures.
And lastly, the Queen Mum herself, Mother Deuce.
Quite an eclectic mix of guns to shoot. In the 4 yrs I've been working out there, this is the first time all of the guns got shot. Granted, some only had a mag or two put through them, but by God they all got in on the action.
Next time, some behind the scenes stuff.
Here's an overview of what we were shooting.
On the line:
Here's the M240B/MAG 58, the next day we got 2 more MG42s. Which was a good thing since of the belt fed guns we had on the line, it was the next most popular next to the '60.
Mr. Popularity himself the M60E3, and two of our 6 1919s (the little one in tiger stripes is an 8mm job)
M1919 in .308, Polish PKM, and the .50 Target rifle
1910 Russian Maxim and Mr. Ronnie Barrett's finest invention the M82A1
Here's the back row, the shoulder fired, magazine fed stuff.
Left to Right: 3 of the 6 1919s we had, M2 Carbine, M1918 BAR, MAC 10 9mm, Romanian AK 74, AMD 65, Romanian AK, Chinese AKS, and the hybrid Romanian/Yugo underfolder.
Left to right: Mauser 98K, the last of the 6 1919s, a pair of Uzi's, S&W 76, Sten Mk I Have No Idea, M3A1 Grease Gun, and a couple of the M16s we had (more in the next pic)
Left to right: 9mm M16 (the only gun we had with burst capabilities), standard M16, and a SWAT special with EOTech sight, MG42 without a barrel, 2 M1927 and 3 M1A1 Thompson submachine guns (interestingly, we started out with 4 50 rd drums and by the end of the week we were down to 2).
Left to Right: Inert Bulgarian RPG, H&K G3/CETME, and 4 of the MP5s (2 in 9mm, one in .40 and the other 10mm)
Left to right: UMP .45, Type 2 FAL, Type 1 FAL with grenade launcher attachment (we had 3 up, 2 were FN rifles and the other was an Imbel. The third FAL went down with spring issues in case you were wondering), .500 S&W, M1 Garand and semi M14 with an inert AT 4 laucher on the floor.
Between the AT4 and the RPG, we LOTS of inquiries about shooting them. Fortunately (or not depending on which side of the line you were on) the only thing we shot with those launchers were pictures.
And lastly, the Queen Mum herself, Mother Deuce.
Quite an eclectic mix of guns to shoot. In the 4 yrs I've been working out there, this is the first time all of the guns got shot. Granted, some only had a mag or two put through them, but by God they all got in on the action.
Next time, some behind the scenes stuff.
Monday, August 15, 2011
2011 Buffalo Chip Machine Gun Shoot Roundup
Sorry for not posting daily-ish updates on the shoot, we were busier than the proverbial one-legged man in an ass kicking contest. I split my time between home and the shoot site, coming home every other night to at least see my smiling bride, kiss the chirrens, and get a hot soothing shower.
Days started, whether I drove from here or camped there between 06 and 0800 each morning. When I was home, it was feeding the chirrens and playing with them a little before hitting the road for the 33 mile, hour to hour and a half journey to the shoot site. When I was out there, it started around 0800 with dragging my butt out of the tent to grab something cold to drink (no it wasn't beer, that was the night before manning the booth inside the campground), taking a shower in a can (baby wipes work great for a shower on the go) and then it was off to do range maintenance, untarp the guns, swab barrels, load magazines and otherwise get ready for the inevitable rush that came when we dropped the line at 1000.
Invariably, there would be folks wanting to shoot at 0800, but when you have a booth inside the Buffalo Chip, there's no getting to bed earlier than midnight at the earliest, or in the case of some of our younger help, daylight at the latest. There was absolutely no way we could get anybody rousted that early.
So at 1000, the line came down and shooting started. I don't know why it worked out this way, but we always had someone who wanted to shoot an exploding target right away. It kind of got to be a joke that we woke the Chip up every morning with a bang and a boom. There's something about a 2.5 lb Star Target being shot by a 700-grain API round fired from a Barrett M82A1 that really gets the blood pumping.
With that said, the most popular weapons this year were both new additions to the lineup. The Barrett (mentioneed above) ran like a champ. The only issues we had with it were ammo related. Stuck cases are the bane of every gun, and ours were no different. The Little Fitty ran. And ran. And ran. I can tell you that at a conservative estimate that gun went off somewhere north of 70 times a day. Usually 2 rounds per customer, sometimes 4, but only twice did someone load all 10 rounds in the magazine and have a go. The last guy fired it like a semi AK clone and ran 10 though it in about 30 seconds. His 10 shots were kind of a waste if you ask me. The rifle is designed for precision work at very long distances, and to use it as a common plinker was kind of an insult. Everyone else who fired it, and I mean everyone, took their time and made their shots count (not that there was much to shoot at by the end of the week, mind you). Oh well, he paid for the ammo, and we did tell everyone they could shoot as fast or as slow as they wanted, but still you know?
The other most popular gun was the M60E3. From opening day until it finally went down Saturday afternoon, more rounds were fired from that gun than any other all week long. Everyone from Vietnam vets to urban mall ninja types and folks who had never even seen one ran 50 rounds at a time through it. I guess it was the allure of being able to fire her from either the bench on the bi pod or from the shoulder with the front grip that made her so popular. Or it could have been letting 550 RPM down range, it's hard to tell. It was kind of interesting watching a lady who's only experience with guns came from time with us over 2 days firing the '60 from the shoulder. (I think her husband/boyfriend/sugardaddy had a good time that night.)
Of course who could discount the Queen of the Ball, Mother Deuce? She ran fairly often throughout the week, with the only issues again being ammo related. Some stuck cases, some blown out cases that stove piped, and the odd occasional one stuck in the extractor, but she ran all week.
Shoulder fired stuff was mainly the 4 big ones from last year. Uzi, AK, M16 and Thompson all had a good run. This year, was a first. All of our guns got fired. From the obscure S&W 76 to the M2 carbine, to the H&K G3. Everything had at least one mag put down range.
The best part of the whole week? Nothing went down hard-broke until the very end. Eventually stuff does break, parts go bad and things stop running. The M60 went through 2 bolts, but it too eventually succumbed to parts breakage. The S&W 500 went down with a busted firing pin and the G3 just went down.
.50 caliber ammo was the hot ticket all weekend. We ran out Thursday and had to call for more from a local source to get us through the weekend, and we almost didn't make it that far!
So there's week in review. Tomorrow I'll try to get some pics of the shooting line up, and maybe some of the more interesting things and people that were, shall we say, experienced.
Till then...
Days started, whether I drove from here or camped there between 06 and 0800 each morning. When I was home, it was feeding the chirrens and playing with them a little before hitting the road for the 33 mile, hour to hour and a half journey to the shoot site. When I was out there, it started around 0800 with dragging my butt out of the tent to grab something cold to drink (no it wasn't beer, that was the night before manning the booth inside the campground), taking a shower in a can (baby wipes work great for a shower on the go) and then it was off to do range maintenance, untarp the guns, swab barrels, load magazines and otherwise get ready for the inevitable rush that came when we dropped the line at 1000.
Invariably, there would be folks wanting to shoot at 0800, but when you have a booth inside the Buffalo Chip, there's no getting to bed earlier than midnight at the earliest, or in the case of some of our younger help, daylight at the latest. There was absolutely no way we could get anybody rousted that early.
So at 1000, the line came down and shooting started. I don't know why it worked out this way, but we always had someone who wanted to shoot an exploding target right away. It kind of got to be a joke that we woke the Chip up every morning with a bang and a boom. There's something about a 2.5 lb Star Target being shot by a 700-grain API round fired from a Barrett M82A1 that really gets the blood pumping.
With that said, the most popular weapons this year were both new additions to the lineup. The Barrett (mentioneed above) ran like a champ. The only issues we had with it were ammo related. Stuck cases are the bane of every gun, and ours were no different. The Little Fitty ran. And ran. And ran. I can tell you that at a conservative estimate that gun went off somewhere north of 70 times a day. Usually 2 rounds per customer, sometimes 4, but only twice did someone load all 10 rounds in the magazine and have a go. The last guy fired it like a semi AK clone and ran 10 though it in about 30 seconds. His 10 shots were kind of a waste if you ask me. The rifle is designed for precision work at very long distances, and to use it as a common plinker was kind of an insult. Everyone else who fired it, and I mean everyone, took their time and made their shots count (not that there was much to shoot at by the end of the week, mind you). Oh well, he paid for the ammo, and we did tell everyone they could shoot as fast or as slow as they wanted, but still you know?
The other most popular gun was the M60E3. From opening day until it finally went down Saturday afternoon, more rounds were fired from that gun than any other all week long. Everyone from Vietnam vets to urban mall ninja types and folks who had never even seen one ran 50 rounds at a time through it. I guess it was the allure of being able to fire her from either the bench on the bi pod or from the shoulder with the front grip that made her so popular. Or it could have been letting 550 RPM down range, it's hard to tell. It was kind of interesting watching a lady who's only experience with guns came from time with us over 2 days firing the '60 from the shoulder. (I think her husband/boyfriend/sugardaddy had a good time that night.)
Of course who could discount the Queen of the Ball, Mother Deuce? She ran fairly often throughout the week, with the only issues again being ammo related. Some stuck cases, some blown out cases that stove piped, and the odd occasional one stuck in the extractor, but she ran all week.
Shoulder fired stuff was mainly the 4 big ones from last year. Uzi, AK, M16 and Thompson all had a good run. This year, was a first. All of our guns got fired. From the obscure S&W 76 to the M2 carbine, to the H&K G3. Everything had at least one mag put down range.
The best part of the whole week? Nothing went down hard-broke until the very end. Eventually stuff does break, parts go bad and things stop running. The M60 went through 2 bolts, but it too eventually succumbed to parts breakage. The S&W 500 went down with a busted firing pin and the G3 just went down.
.50 caliber ammo was the hot ticket all weekend. We ran out Thursday and had to call for more from a local source to get us through the weekend, and we almost didn't make it that far!
So there's week in review. Tomorrow I'll try to get some pics of the shooting line up, and maybe some of the more interesting things and people that were, shall we say, experienced.
Till then...
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Another Sturgis Rally Is Upon Us
And that means the Guns of Freedom guys will be back at the Buffalo Chip Shooting Complex for what should be another great Rally shoot.
New additions to the firing line include an M60E3, a Russian PKM, and an M82A1. This, on top of the old standbys; M1919s, 1910 Russian Maxim, MG 42s, M240B, and of course Her Highness, Mother Deuce. I'm not sure if the bowling ball cannon will be making a return trip this year or not. If I find out one way or the other, I'll post it up.
No big changes on the shoulder fired stuff. We're still gonna have the AKs, M16s, FALs, G3/CETMEs, Uzis, Thompsons, H&Ks in 4 calibers (9mm, .40, .45, and 10mm), plus the Sten Gun and Grease Gun.
As usual, I'll try to post day reports as I can, plus any celebrity sightings. Rumor has it Uncle Ted Nugent is playing the Full Throttle next week. I've got a feeling if he hears gun fire, we'll be seeing Uncle Ted before the week is over.
New additions to the firing line include an M60E3, a Russian PKM, and an M82A1. This, on top of the old standbys; M1919s, 1910 Russian Maxim, MG 42s, M240B, and of course Her Highness, Mother Deuce. I'm not sure if the bowling ball cannon will be making a return trip this year or not. If I find out one way or the other, I'll post it up.
No big changes on the shoulder fired stuff. We're still gonna have the AKs, M16s, FALs, G3/CETMEs, Uzis, Thompsons, H&Ks in 4 calibers (9mm, .40, .45, and 10mm), plus the Sten Gun and Grease Gun.
As usual, I'll try to post day reports as I can, plus any celebrity sightings. Rumor has it Uncle Ted Nugent is playing the Full Throttle next week. I've got a feeling if he hears gun fire, we'll be seeing Uncle Ted before the week is over.
Makes You Wonder What 'Lawful Deposit' Is
Every once in a while, you get some interesting headlines in the local cat box liner.
Take this little gem.
Destruction of property, OK. That one fits. But unlawful deposit? Am I the only one who scratched their head after reading that?
Take this little gem.
Destruction of property, OK. That one fits. But unlawful deposit? Am I the only one who scratched their head after reading that?
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
I Don't Care Who You Are...
That's FUNNY right there! That anyone would dress like that is one thing, but to put it up as your avatar on Facebook? That's rich!
Tip of ye olde hat to Say Uncle for the link.
Tip of ye olde hat to Say Uncle for the link.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Another Idiot Comes Out On Gunwalker
So now that Gunwalker has hit the prime time on networks other than CBS News and Fox, the shills for the administration are all over what they believe is a non-starter of a scandal.
Witness Ruben Navarrette, Jr from CNN. I can't tell if he's ignorant, stupid, or both.
See, in his little world, the whole 'Gunwalker' thing is actually the fault of the Republican Party. Between calling for the border to be secured and stepping up enforcement of immigration violations, the Party of Socialism (Lite) forced the ATF to do this operation. Like the repugs brought the Acting Director of ATF in to a super secret squirrel meeting and said 'We want you to arm the cartels on the border'.
How, exactly this is the fault of the Party of Socialism (Lite) is not quite explored. We have gracious examples of supposedly racist behavior on the part of the State of Arizona. Add in the supposed blood-thirstiness of the NRA, and well, ATF just had to do something, right?
What is apparently lost on this poor excuse for a shill, is that this operation was designed from the outset to aid in one thing: justify further encroachments on that which shall not be infringed. That main Just Us was hounding ATF SACs for numbers and information is just now coming out, but it is there.
Calling F&F a misguided operation is like saying that Custer's expedition into the Little Bighorn took a wrong turn. Both operations were run by supposedly competent individuals, yet both ended very, very badly.
What shills like Navarrette can't seem to wrap their heads around is that Operation Fast & Furious and the new reporting requirements are two heads of the same snake. They are not exclusive of each other. You can't have reporting requirements for multiple long gun sales without F&F, and in order to justify the long gun requirement, you have to have F&F. He sees this new requirement as something independent of what happened that just needed to be done, regardless of the true facts in the case.
What he, and all the others who are late to the party seem to forget is that this operation was approved all the way up the chain. How far is still a mystery. But the pieces of that puzzle are beginning to fall into place.
Witness Ruben Navarrette, Jr from CNN. I can't tell if he's ignorant, stupid, or both.
See, in his little world, the whole 'Gunwalker' thing is actually the fault of the Republican Party. Between calling for the border to be secured and stepping up enforcement of immigration violations, the Party of Socialism (Lite) forced the ATF to do this operation. Like the repugs brought the Acting Director of ATF in to a super secret squirrel meeting and said 'We want you to arm the cartels on the border'.
How, exactly this is the fault of the Party of Socialism (Lite) is not quite explored. We have gracious examples of supposedly racist behavior on the part of the State of Arizona. Add in the supposed blood-thirstiness of the NRA, and well, ATF just had to do something, right?
What is apparently lost on this poor excuse for a shill, is that this operation was designed from the outset to aid in one thing: justify further encroachments on that which shall not be infringed. That main Just Us was hounding ATF SACs for numbers and information is just now coming out, but it is there.
Calling F&F a misguided operation is like saying that Custer's expedition into the Little Bighorn took a wrong turn. Both operations were run by supposedly competent individuals, yet both ended very, very badly.
What shills like Navarrette can't seem to wrap their heads around is that Operation Fast & Furious and the new reporting requirements are two heads of the same snake. They are not exclusive of each other. You can't have reporting requirements for multiple long gun sales without F&F, and in order to justify the long gun requirement, you have to have F&F. He sees this new requirement as something independent of what happened that just needed to be done, regardless of the true facts in the case.
What he, and all the others who are late to the party seem to forget is that this operation was approved all the way up the chain. How far is still a mystery. But the pieces of that puzzle are beginning to fall into place.
They Wonder What She Was Thinking
Gee, I don't know, maybe a little lesson in respect?
61 y/0 woman is arrested and charged with sexual assault for groping a female TSA agent.
See, it's ok if they grope you and feel up your children, grandparents, and disabled people, take naked pictures of you and then save them to look at later. But when you do it to them, well that's just wrong.
There's probably more to this story, but to me it sounds like a little bit of 'let me do this to you and see how you like it'.
61 y/0 woman is arrested and charged with sexual assault for groping a female TSA agent.
See, it's ok if they grope you and feel up your children, grandparents, and disabled people, take naked pictures of you and then save them to look at later. But when you do it to them, well that's just wrong.
There's probably more to this story, but to me it sounds like a little bit of 'let me do this to you and see how you like it'.
Monday, July 11, 2011
A Crisis Averted
Or in this case, manufactured to justify further encroachments on gun owners.
So, the Just Us Dept has, in effect, created a crisis involving multiple sales to illegal straw buyers, who in turn ran these guns all the way to Mexico. Against the judgement of the stores affected, against street agent advice, and in contravention of any moral or legal code known to man.
See here, here, here, and here.
And don't forget David Codrea and Mike V's coverage of this still unfolding scandal here and here.
Because of this manufactured crisis, Just Us has deemed that multiple sales of long guns will require the same reporting requirements used in multiple hand gun sales.
Great. How long do you think it'll be before weapons from other, unknown, 'Fast and Furious' -type operations running at various locations around the country justify this requirement across the board? I think the answer will be sooner than you would think or expect.
So, the Just Us Dept has, in effect, created a crisis involving multiple sales to illegal straw buyers, who in turn ran these guns all the way to Mexico. Against the judgement of the stores affected, against street agent advice, and in contravention of any moral or legal code known to man.
See here, here, here, and here.
And don't forget David Codrea and Mike V's coverage of this still unfolding scandal here and here.
Because of this manufactured crisis, Just Us has deemed that multiple sales of long guns will require the same reporting requirements used in multiple hand gun sales.
Great. How long do you think it'll be before weapons from other, unknown, 'Fast and Furious' -type operations running at various locations around the country justify this requirement across the board? I think the answer will be sooner than you would think or expect.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
What Part of No Don't They Understand?
Via a link from WoG, comes this little gem from Mercury news.
Setting aside the other obvious BS spouted by the author of this piece, I would like to focus on one part, the quote David used in his post:
They didn't call David, or anyone else for that matter, and I'm pretty sure I'm so low on their list of names to call for a comment that I don't really matter much to them, but I'll give it a try anyway.
No. Nyet. Nada. Nein. Non. Mei. Nai. Uh-Uh.
For too many years, gun owners have been portrayed as knuckle dragging neanderthal hick hayseeds. For over 70 years we have given ground to a group whose sole idea of compromise is to give them everything they want in order to save, well something.
We hear things like compromise and common sense, all the while being portrayed as blood thirsty, willing to kill old people and babies to satiate our blood lust.
We gave in 1934, in order to pass the first real federal gun control act, to make sure that possession of certain types of vilified guns and accessories like a Thompson, or short-barrelled rifle/shotguns, and suppressors were made taboo and only available to the wealthy.
We gave in 1968, while more of our freedom and liberty were sacrificed in order to keep the Sirhan Sirhans and protesters of the day from getting their hands on weaponry. We stood by while easily affordable firearms were deemed too cheap to possess, while a petty tyrant sitting in a cushy office in a far away building decided for us what was 'sporting' and what wasn't with the stroke of a pen.
Even in our victories we've seen defeat. A bill to protect gun owners from an out of control bureaucracy (seems something never change, do they?) we got the shaft again, this time by a still controversial amendment that banned future manufacture of fully automatic weapons thus ensuring that only the truly wealthy can afford them.
We stood by in 1993 and 1994 while tragedy after tragedy was laid at our feet and more restrictions were placed upon us. Magazine capacity bans. Bans on cosmetic features. Bans on names. None of this did anything to stem the tragedies, but it made the hanky-wringers happy. We could debate the effectiveness of this particular law all day long, but the long and the short of it is it didn't work. It didn't ban anything. Weapons specifically named under the ban were still available, only they had different names and offending features such as bayonet lugs and threaded barrels were removed. Standard capacity mags that were readily available before 14 Sep 1994 were still available after 14 Sep 1994, they just cost a little more.
The only bone thrown to us in this mess was a sunset clause. 10 years, if left alone, this law would disappear. It was a contentious issue, a president who touted his NRA creds baffled gun owners by saying that if the extension came to his desk, he would sign it. When that law failed to garner the support it needed, I cheered. And I waited. I got my first no-ban gun a month after the sunset.
In those 7 years and change since that law sunsetted, crimes committed with sport utility rifles, and other weapons with standard capacity magazines have not gone through the roof. The only thing that has gone up is the media hysteria over such crimes when the do occur.
The Virginia Tech shooter didn't need extended mags. He needed the standard capacity mags that came with his gun, because he had time to reload. The Tuscon shooter stupidly used a 33 rd magazine used by competition shooters and hobbyists that is known to jam, thinking he could do a lot of damage. He did some, but because his weapon jammed, because he was using a magazine known to do so, he was able to be subdued by bystanders.
So, mister editorialist, I leave you with these questions. What exactly is a 'high capacity magazine'? I mean, I have rifles whose standard capacity is between 4 rds and 100. There are belt fed guns, perfectly legal for us mere peons to own, that take belts of 5 rds up to 250 or more. I have had pistols whose standard capacity is anywhere from 6 to 19 rds.
If, as you all like to claim, no one needs these magazines, and that possession of same is evidence of a desire to kill as many people as possible, then why on earth do the police need them? Are they somehow protected from the urge to kill large swathes of people by the magical talisman on their shirt? Are they imparted with some power during training at the Police Academy that wards off this urge, this desire?
What say you, Mister Gun Grabber?
Setting aside the other obvious BS spouted by the author of this piece, I would like to focus on one part, the quote David used in his post:
They didn't call David, or anyone else for that matter, and I'm pretty sure I'm so low on their list of names to call for a comment that I don't really matter much to them, but I'll give it a try anyway.
No. Nyet. Nada. Nein. Non. Mei. Nai. Uh-Uh.
For too many years, gun owners have been portrayed as knuckle dragging neanderthal hick hayseeds. For over 70 years we have given ground to a group whose sole idea of compromise is to give them everything they want in order to save, well something.
We hear things like compromise and common sense, all the while being portrayed as blood thirsty, willing to kill old people and babies to satiate our blood lust.
We gave in 1934, in order to pass the first real federal gun control act, to make sure that possession of certain types of vilified guns and accessories like a Thompson, or short-barrelled rifle/shotguns, and suppressors were made taboo and only available to the wealthy.
We gave in 1968, while more of our freedom and liberty were sacrificed in order to keep the Sirhan Sirhans and protesters of the day from getting their hands on weaponry. We stood by while easily affordable firearms were deemed too cheap to possess, while a petty tyrant sitting in a cushy office in a far away building decided for us what was 'sporting' and what wasn't with the stroke of a pen.
Even in our victories we've seen defeat. A bill to protect gun owners from an out of control bureaucracy (seems something never change, do they?) we got the shaft again, this time by a still controversial amendment that banned future manufacture of fully automatic weapons thus ensuring that only the truly wealthy can afford them.
We stood by in 1993 and 1994 while tragedy after tragedy was laid at our feet and more restrictions were placed upon us. Magazine capacity bans. Bans on cosmetic features. Bans on names. None of this did anything to stem the tragedies, but it made the hanky-wringers happy. We could debate the effectiveness of this particular law all day long, but the long and the short of it is it didn't work. It didn't ban anything. Weapons specifically named under the ban were still available, only they had different names and offending features such as bayonet lugs and threaded barrels were removed. Standard capacity mags that were readily available before 14 Sep 1994 were still available after 14 Sep 1994, they just cost a little more.
The only bone thrown to us in this mess was a sunset clause. 10 years, if left alone, this law would disappear. It was a contentious issue, a president who touted his NRA creds baffled gun owners by saying that if the extension came to his desk, he would sign it. When that law failed to garner the support it needed, I cheered. And I waited. I got my first no-ban gun a month after the sunset.
In those 7 years and change since that law sunsetted, crimes committed with sport utility rifles, and other weapons with standard capacity magazines have not gone through the roof. The only thing that has gone up is the media hysteria over such crimes when the do occur.
The Virginia Tech shooter didn't need extended mags. He needed the standard capacity mags that came with his gun, because he had time to reload. The Tuscon shooter stupidly used a 33 rd magazine used by competition shooters and hobbyists that is known to jam, thinking he could do a lot of damage. He did some, but because his weapon jammed, because he was using a magazine known to do so, he was able to be subdued by bystanders.
So, mister editorialist, I leave you with these questions. What exactly is a 'high capacity magazine'? I mean, I have rifles whose standard capacity is between 4 rds and 100. There are belt fed guns, perfectly legal for us mere peons to own, that take belts of 5 rds up to 250 or more. I have had pistols whose standard capacity is anywhere from 6 to 19 rds.
If, as you all like to claim, no one needs these magazines, and that possession of same is evidence of a desire to kill as many people as possible, then why on earth do the police need them? Are they somehow protected from the urge to kill large swathes of people by the magical talisman on their shirt? Are they imparted with some power during training at the Police Academy that wards off this urge, this desire?
What say you, Mister Gun Grabber?
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
What The Hell Is Going On?
I've been loosely keeping tabs on the situation down in Tuscon. Not that one, the one where a SWAT team shot (60 times!) one Jose Guerena while executing a blanket search warrant.
Some of the news on the subject I've got from Radley Balko, here, and a link from Say Uncle, here.
I say loosely, as I've been aware of the shooting since it happened, and I had noticed the way the story has shifted since the raid on 5 May. Shifted. That's an interesting phenomenon here.
Story starts out with a SWAT raid targeting marijuana operations in and around four houses in Tuscon. Then, it was a home invasion ring. Then it was a drug rip-off operation. Who knows what it'll be next week, let alone tomorrow.
All the while, the Sheriffs office, the same one who blamed the other tragedy in Tuscon in January on radical, right wing rhetoric is all about people not jumping to conclusions about what happened in this instance.
Wait..............whuh?
The blatant stonewalling and cover-up being perpetrated in and around this incident is astonishing, even for a SWAT raid that had seemingly gone awry. That people, even innocent people, get shot during these high-adrenalin, high stress raids is sadly not surprising. What is, in this instance, totally astonishing is that the Pima County SD is going farther to paint those who criticize this raid as quacks than they were to deal honestly in the Giffords shooting.
What scares me most, is that in light of recent court decisions around the country, particularly the one in Indiana about the same time this raid took place, is that even when these parties knowingly commit the illegal act of breaking through your door in the middle of the night (or in the case of Mr. Guerena, middle of the morning) that you have no reasonable expectation of remedy through armed resistance to forcible, illegal breech of your personal, private property.
Remember, too, that criminals have used the guise of a SWAT raid to burglarize and kill their victims. That an increasing number of these high impact raids are carried out as 'No Knock' actions (meaning the cops do not have to announce their presence so as to surprise those inside who may try to get rig of 'evidence') means that the further this escalates, the more likely the end result will not be everyone walking away with a 'Sorry to bother you, sir' attitude. No, it will most likely end with the homeowner, at a minimum, and possibly one or more law enforcement personnel being taken away from the scene feet first in a plastic, zippered bag.
What has this country come to? When my Great Grandfather was town Marshall of Sundance, WY, he patrolled the small town of 1500 all by himself. (Matter of fact, we still have the Colt .38 Sp revolver he carried while on the job.) According to my mother, he never had a deputy, but got assistance every once in a while from a deputy sheriff. Now, that same sleepy town of 15oo has 3 cops, plus the Crook County Sheriffs Dept which I haven't been able to find an exact number of deputies. (It is interesting to note that when my GGF retired, it took 13 cops to do the job he did himself. What does that say about community policing standards?)
Now, instead of teaching you a lesson by having a speeding motorist sit in front of stop sign for an hour to teach them a lesson, or dumping out the beer at the high school party, we have full blown armed encounters where its more important for the cop to come home safely than it is for the citizen.
As Mike V notes over at Sipsey Street, this is not going to end well for any party involved.
Some of the news on the subject I've got from Radley Balko, here, and a link from Say Uncle, here.
I say loosely, as I've been aware of the shooting since it happened, and I had noticed the way the story has shifted since the raid on 5 May. Shifted. That's an interesting phenomenon here.
Story starts out with a SWAT raid targeting marijuana operations in and around four houses in Tuscon. Then, it was a home invasion ring. Then it was a drug rip-off operation. Who knows what it'll be next week, let alone tomorrow.
All the while, the Sheriffs office, the same one who blamed the other tragedy in Tuscon in January on radical, right wing rhetoric is all about people not jumping to conclusions about what happened in this instance.
Wait..............whuh?
The blatant stonewalling and cover-up being perpetrated in and around this incident is astonishing, even for a SWAT raid that had seemingly gone awry. That people, even innocent people, get shot during these high-adrenalin, high stress raids is sadly not surprising. What is, in this instance, totally astonishing is that the Pima County SD is going farther to paint those who criticize this raid as quacks than they were to deal honestly in the Giffords shooting.
What scares me most, is that in light of recent court decisions around the country, particularly the one in Indiana about the same time this raid took place, is that even when these parties knowingly commit the illegal act of breaking through your door in the middle of the night (or in the case of Mr. Guerena, middle of the morning) that you have no reasonable expectation of remedy through armed resistance to forcible, illegal breech of your personal, private property.
Remember, too, that criminals have used the guise of a SWAT raid to burglarize and kill their victims. That an increasing number of these high impact raids are carried out as 'No Knock' actions (meaning the cops do not have to announce their presence so as to surprise those inside who may try to get rig of 'evidence') means that the further this escalates, the more likely the end result will not be everyone walking away with a 'Sorry to bother you, sir' attitude. No, it will most likely end with the homeowner, at a minimum, and possibly one or more law enforcement personnel being taken away from the scene feet first in a plastic, zippered bag.
What has this country come to? When my Great Grandfather was town Marshall of Sundance, WY, he patrolled the small town of 1500 all by himself. (Matter of fact, we still have the Colt .38 Sp revolver he carried while on the job.) According to my mother, he never had a deputy, but got assistance every once in a while from a deputy sheriff. Now, that same sleepy town of 15oo has 3 cops, plus the Crook County Sheriffs Dept which I haven't been able to find an exact number of deputies. (It is interesting to note that when my GGF retired, it took 13 cops to do the job he did himself. What does that say about community policing standards?)
Now, instead of teaching you a lesson by having a speeding motorist sit in front of stop sign for an hour to teach them a lesson, or dumping out the beer at the high school party, we have full blown armed encounters where its more important for the cop to come home safely than it is for the citizen.
As Mike V notes over at Sipsey Street, this is not going to end well for any party involved.
Monday, May 23, 2011
So I Guess It's Not TEOTWAWKI
So some egghead preacher went and predicted the end of the world last Saturday night at 6 pm. Huh. I guess the Big Guy upstairs didn't get the memo.
I heard that some sold all their possessions: house, car, etc, etc in preparation for the Rapture.
I can't remeber where I read it today, but they shouldn't get too down on themselves, it's not like it's the end of the world or anything.
I heard that some sold all their possessions: house, car, etc, etc in preparation for the Rapture.
I can't remeber where I read it today, but they shouldn't get too down on themselves, it's not like it's the end of the world or anything.
Monday, May 2, 2011
They Finally Got The Bastard
(Warning, language content ahead!)
So we got the bastard. Good fucking riddance to back rubbish.
I hope that terrorist asshole gets his asshole reamed by 72 Clydsedales. I hope he chokes on big, slimy, green donkey penii.
That is all.
So we got the bastard. Good fucking riddance to back rubbish.
I hope that terrorist asshole gets his asshole reamed by 72 Clydsedales. I hope he chokes on big, slimy, green donkey penii.
That is all.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Update to My 'Project Gunwalker' Post
So, 3 weeks ago, I sent an email to my 3 congress-critters: one congresswoman and 2 senators.
Since then, I've got a response from the Congresswoman:
You get the picture. This was on the 14th. Today, I got a response from one of the senators, Senator Mike Enzi.
Since then, I've got a response from the Congresswoman:
Dear 'Hazmat'
Thank you for contacting me about the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry. It is good to hear from you.
As you know, Agent Terry was shot in the line of duty on December 15 2010. Agent Terry's death is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). I am aware of news reports that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) is facilitating the transfer of U.S.-origin firearms into Mexico as part of "Project Gunrunner." I am also aware of news reports that Agent Terry may have been shot by one of these firearms.
I realize that many in the public, including members of Agent Terry's family, are frustrated with the lack of information being shared by the federal government on this matter. They are right to be frustrated, especially considering the shocking allegations surrounding both Project Gunrunner and Agent Terry's death. Senator Charles, the Ranking Republican at the Senate Judiciary Committee, has led congressional efforts to get to the bottom of this scandal. I support his efforts to hold the accountable for its actions and will continue to closely monitor developments as the investigations proceed.
Blah, blah, blah, thanks for writing, sign up for my newsletter, blah, blah.
Cynthia M. Lummis
Member of Congress
You get the picture. This was on the 14th. Today, I got a response from one of the senators, Senator Mike Enzi.
Dear 'Hazmat'
The shooting of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry on December 14 was a tragedy. Diana and I send our prayers and thoughts to his family. His murder is currently being investigated. I will pay careful attention to the results of this investigation.
In the past, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) has overstepped its authority and Project Gunwalker may fit into this category as well. The Senate Judiciary Committee has oversight of the BATFE and understand the Committee's ranking member, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) has been working to get answers about this program from the BATFE. I support his efforts to uncover the truth. I continue to encourage my colleagues to exercise their authority to ensure that not only are our Second Amendment Rights protected, but that our country and those who protect our borders are not put at risk by questionable programs.
Thank you for contacting me with your thoughts and concerns. As the 112th Congress continues I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure that the Second Amendment is not infringed upon.
Sincerely,
Michael B. Enzi
United States Senator
(bolded emphasis mine)
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
At Least They Ain't Hiding It Anymore
Doing another run around Google News today, and came across this nifty little report from Homeland Security Today about how to deal with the narco-terrorists and gunrunning operations in Mexico. While most of the report deals with policy tools for dealing with the drug part of the problem, what caught my attention was the proposals regarding guns. From the HS Today:
To increase to control gun smuggling from the United States to Mexico, federal agencies should establish "registration requirements for large-volume ammunition purchases and unassembled assault weapons kit imports", the report said, as well as reporting requirements for multiple long-arms purchases.It further goes on to state:
The United States must provide more resources to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the primary agency charged with stopping arms trafficking, the report said, providing it with the capacity to investigate gun purchasing plots.Furthermore:
The federal government should contemplate a ban on assault weapons and sniper rifles (emphasis mine) as such bans "have proved successful at the state level", the report suggested. Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies must break down barriers to sharing information on gun crime data.Leaving aside the gun trafficking issue for just a moment, this is a new, but not surprising twist in the campaign to ban guns. Before, we had the obligatory calls to ban assault weapons after every high profile shooting, whether they involved a so-called scary looking semi automatic rifle or not. We even had folks talking about using the '94 Scary Gun ban as a jumping off point to de-sensitize the public into going after other classes of boogey-man guns. The new wrinkle is the 'sniper rifle' bit. I would hazard a guess that the 20 lb brains that who wrote this probably didn't know that by using sniper rifle, they were REALLY talking about scoped bolt action rifles in calibers of .30 and up. You know, that favorite deer, elk, moose, or cape buffalo rifle in the average hunters gun safe. One would think, but I doubt it. It's a well known fact that THE hallmark of America is our marksmanship. Most of our Armed Forces are well trained in marksmanship principles even before they join up. So this little Freudian slip about sniper rifles isn't as innocuous as it seems. The other troubling thing about this report is the belief that we should give even more power and funding to a federal agency that, according to reports, has done more to arm the narco-terrorists than any gun-running operation could have hoped to accomplish. Evidently, they either haven't been following what's been going on with Project Gunwalker, or they are ignoring it all together. (My money is on the latter, personally.) For more on the Gunwalker scandal, Mike V over at Sispsey Street has all the tools, here, here, here, and here. And Michelle Malkin has a comprehensive round up of all the reporting to date, here.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
New Gun Goodness, S&W Edition
Picked up a new S&W revolver tonight. A Model 310 Night Guard in 10mm with 2.5" barrel.
I've got a couple of other 10mm pistols, but they're 1911s with 4 and 5 inch barrels.
This should be interesting to shoot. I've got a lot of 10mm loaded and stored, 8 grains of Power Pistol sitting under 180 grain FMJs. Well, except for the 155 grain Noslers I got for S&Gs. This will be fun!
What Part of 'Shall Not Be Infringed' Does He Not Understand?
So E.J. Dionne is all butthurt because the NRA won't sit down to a round table discussion about new gun control laws with the very people who would dearly love to see the NRA's membership carted off to some camp and 're-educated', or worse.
Really, hoss? For nearly 80 yrs, gun owners in this country have been backing up and giving away more and more of our Consitutional right to keep and bear arms.
I mean, first we had to register and pay a tax to own short barrelled rifles and shotguns, suppressors, and full auto weaponry. At least in the 1960s, the Poll Tax was eliminated so one could vote without fear of running afoul of some taxman.
And speaking of the 60s, what with all the fun and excitement of 1968, we just had to 'do something' about all the violence. I mean, all those radical left-wing groups that burned down LA, Chicago, and other places had to be put on notice that this was not going to stand. So, we borrowed the verbiage from the Nurenburg laws and we banned certain classes of people from owning guns. Think GCA isn't racist? Look at the block on the 4473 that asks for your race. WTF does that have to do with buying a gun?
Since GCA 68 wasn't good enough and gave rise to an as yet still unaccountable government operation and agency, we had to 'reform' things. So, we get the Firearm Owner Protection Act of 1986. This little gem was supposed to rein in an out of control agency and give some semblence of continuity to gun owners. All it really managed to do was make one class of firearms unattainable for 90% of the gun owner population.
We did such a good job with FOPA 86, we had to 'fix' things again in '93/94. So, in order to make sure that those people we deemed as not good enough to own guns in '68, we had to make extra sure. So, the Brady Act was passed, ostensibly to keep guns out of the hands of those who should not have them. Even while this idiotic law was being debated, the next boogeyman was being pulled along.
Scary looking semi-automatic rifles, shot guns, and pistols were demonized left, right, and center as the preferred weapons of low-lifes, hoodlums, and gangsters and were only suitable for mowing down large swathes of school aged children in the shortest amount of time possible.
This was the last national legislative victory for the guns are icky crowd. Slowly, the pendulum has begun to swing back.
Mr. Dionne, you should know this. Not one more inch. Not one more law. We have had enough of your 'common sense gun regulation'. The time for compromise has past. We have given for the last 70+ yrs, it's time you gave some of it back.
Really, hoss? For nearly 80 yrs, gun owners in this country have been backing up and giving away more and more of our Consitutional right to keep and bear arms.
I mean, first we had to register and pay a tax to own short barrelled rifles and shotguns, suppressors, and full auto weaponry. At least in the 1960s, the Poll Tax was eliminated so one could vote without fear of running afoul of some taxman.
And speaking of the 60s, what with all the fun and excitement of 1968, we just had to 'do something' about all the violence. I mean, all those radical left-wing groups that burned down LA, Chicago, and other places had to be put on notice that this was not going to stand. So, we borrowed the verbiage from the Nurenburg laws and we banned certain classes of people from owning guns. Think GCA isn't racist? Look at the block on the 4473 that asks for your race. WTF does that have to do with buying a gun?
Since GCA 68 wasn't good enough and gave rise to an as yet still unaccountable government operation and agency, we had to 'reform' things. So, we get the Firearm Owner Protection Act of 1986. This little gem was supposed to rein in an out of control agency and give some semblence of continuity to gun owners. All it really managed to do was make one class of firearms unattainable for 90% of the gun owner population.
We did such a good job with FOPA 86, we had to 'fix' things again in '93/94. So, in order to make sure that those people we deemed as not good enough to own guns in '68, we had to make extra sure. So, the Brady Act was passed, ostensibly to keep guns out of the hands of those who should not have them. Even while this idiotic law was being debated, the next boogeyman was being pulled along.
Scary looking semi-automatic rifles, shot guns, and pistols were demonized left, right, and center as the preferred weapons of low-lifes, hoodlums, and gangsters and were only suitable for mowing down large swathes of school aged children in the shortest amount of time possible.
This was the last national legislative victory for the guns are icky crowd. Slowly, the pendulum has begun to swing back.
Mr. Dionne, you should know this. Not one more inch. Not one more law. We have had enough of your 'common sense gun regulation'. The time for compromise has past. We have given for the last 70+ yrs, it's time you gave some of it back.
Who Says Public Radio Is Biased?
Certainly not the fine folks at Minnesota Public Radio.
I almost laughed when I got to the part where they describe Tom Diaz of the VPC as an authority on gun industry operations. That would be like describing Jerry Falwell as an authority on the porn industry.
Seriously though, I could only slog through about a third of this before my stomach had had enough.
But don't tell anyone that public broadcasting is biased. No sir, not at all. We just won't mention that the Joyce Foundation is putting up the cash for the linked report.
I almost laughed when I got to the part where they describe Tom Diaz of the VPC as an authority on gun industry operations. That would be like describing Jerry Falwell as an authority on the porn industry.
Seriously though, I could only slog through about a third of this before my stomach had had enough.
But don't tell anyone that public broadcasting is biased. No sir, not at all. We just won't mention that the Joyce Foundation is putting up the cash for the linked report.
Kommie-fornication
Came across this today wondering the Algorian intertubes.
All hell broke loose on Hwy 1 in Commifornia the other day over 'someone with a gun'.
Really, they had to close the frickin' highway over this?
One would think that with all the firepower deployed to take down someone on their way back from a trip to the range, someone should be in jail, if not in the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
But alas, just a father and son coming home from some much needed range time. If anything, they ought to charge the ninny who called it in.
All hell broke loose on Hwy 1 in Commifornia the other day over 'someone with a gun'.
Really, they had to close the frickin' highway over this?
One would think that with all the firepower deployed to take down someone on their way back from a trip to the range, someone should be in jail, if not in the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
But alas, just a father and son coming home from some much needed range time. If anything, they ought to charge the ninny who called it in.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Project GunWalker
With all the hubub caused by David Codrea and Mike V, it was time I wrote my congress-critters to call for investigations into what is becoming 'crass and dubious'. Below are the emails I fired off to them.
Senator-
In the last few weeks, a scandal has been brewing in the Department of Justice involving the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and gun smuggling operations in Mexico.
As you know, Border Patrol Agent Bryan Terry was shot and killed on the
Arizona border with a gun allegedly purchased by as straw purchaser in
Phoenix. It has been alleged that the BATFE knew of these operations and did nothing to stop this process, nor did they inform the Mexican government about an
operation they called 'Fast and Furious'.
It has come to my attention that Andrew Traver was scheduled to come up for
a confirmation hearing, but this was pulled by Senator Patrick Leahy.
In light of the allegations brought about by the murder of BP Agent Terry, and
subsequent murder of US government agent Jaime Zapata, serious questions need to be asked of both the DOJ and BATFE regarding what they knew, when they knew it, and why it was allowed to continue.
Senator Grassley of Iowa has taken the point on this, but he needs help in the form of more senators ashing the tough questions so the family of BP Agent Terry can get the answers they deserve.
Will you join Senator Grassley in calling for oversight hearings involving Operation Fast and Furious?
And this to my Representative in Congress:
Congresswoman-
In the last few weeks, a scandal has been brewing in the Department of Justice involving the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and gun smuggling operations in Mexico.
As you know, Border Patrol Agent Bryan Terry was shot and killed on the
Arizona border with a gun allegedly purchased by a straw purchaser in Phoenix.
It has been alleged that the BATFE knew of these operations and yet did nothing
to stop this process, nor did they inform the Mexican government about an
operation they called 'Fast and Furious'.
Senator Grassley of Iowa has taken the point on this, but he needs help in the form of more people asking the tough questions so the family of BP Agent Terry can get the answers they deserve.
Congressman Issa is the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Along with Senator Grassley, oversight hearings need to happen not only in the Senate, but in the House as well. BATFE has asked for an increase in funding for the current fiscal year in order to combat so-called weapons trafficking into Mexico. If the accounts that have begun to appear on CBS news, the LA Times, and in the Associated Press are true, the BATFE is asking for more money to ensure more American guns go south of the border to kill untold thousands of Mexicans, and maybe even more American law enforcement personnel.
Will you call on Congressman Issa to hold hearings regarding this atrocious abuse of American sovereignty?
I wrote these emails 3 days ago, and as of right now, I have not received and response back from any of them. When I do, I'll be sure to post their responses right here.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Musings On The M9
This post over at Joe Huffman's site got me thinking. The OP was about how bad the M1911/M1911A1 are because you can't use your index finger as a point-and-shoot interface.
After reading the link in his post, I was compelled to offer my take on using the index finger as a sighting tool and the middle finger to pull the trigger.
Yesterday, it was qualification day at work. As part of my day job, I run the weapons vault and I am responsible for numerous rifles and pistols. Our duty weapon is the Beretta M9. It's a 9mm job, does a good job for what it was designed to do, and is generally a decent weapon.
I first qualified on this pistol back in 1995. At the time, I didn't know any better. It was the first autoloader I'd ever fired. (The first ever handgun I fired was a S&W Model 27 Highway Patrolman, .357 mag w/6" barrel.)
As I grew into gun nut status, some things started sticking out to me. First, was the grip. It was always billed to me as an 'any person' gun, meaning any person should be able to pick it up and start shooting. Well, the grip size is just short of being too small for Andrea the Giant. Of course, you've got to figure out a way to hold 15 rds of 9mm and having it all stick out the butt end of the pistol ain't exactly slick. I've got a fairly large paw, and it's a stretch to get my hands around the grip on this pistol.
Next thing that stands out, and in my mind totally turns me off on this pistol is the trigger. Horrendous doesn't even begin to describe it. To put it in perspective, it's like trying to squeeze a 2x4 with your index finger. When someone asks me why I don't like the M9, I tell them it's the trigger. It's got a trigger you start pulling on Sunday, and you're finally done sometime late Saturday afternoon. And that's the double action pull. If the guy in the article linked by Joe can accurately double-action fire the M9 with his middle finger, I'll spring for a beer for the guy. I know MY middle finger ain't that strong, that's for sure.
The single action pull is better, but only because you don't have to squeeze a 2x4 to get the gun to go bang. No, the SA pull has it's own issue. Namely, you have to take up 2.5 feet of slack in the trigger just to get it to the break-over point. I can see doing the point-and shoot method in SA, but transitioning from your normal trigger finger on the trigger to the middle, puts too much movement and memory in the equation. Trigger pull should be muscle memory automatic. Not a fumbling affair trying to change on finger on the trigger to another.
In the classroom before going out to the line, I try to get as much dry fire time in as I can to refamiliarize myself with just how terrible the trigger is. I have to consciously think about shooting this pistol, as I've spoiled myself on my 1911s. Something about a consistent 3-5 lb pull that has me hooked I guess.
I also have to change my shooting mechanics with the M9. I shoot high thumbs with the 1911, and being a lefty, particularly with the M9, I can't rest my thumbs where I'd like. There's this thing called the trigger bar that runs right where my thumbs rest that goes back and forth every time the trigger is pulled. Last year, this little design feature rubbed a raw spot on my right thumb. This year, I tried to rest that thumb under ledge over the trigger guard on the frame, with varying degrees of success. (And quite a bit of stopping to consciously put my thumb back where it needed to be, not where it wanted to be, damned muscle memory.)
So there you have it. The M9 (and it's civilian cousin, the 92FS) were all the rage when Detective Riggs and John McClain were running around hosing bad guys with them. In 1987. Not so much now. I'd take a Springfield XD or (GASP!) a Glock over the M9.
Side bar: Yesterday is also the first time I got bit by a slide. I was assisting a coworker in reassembling his pistol when I released the slide on mine. I was easing it forward, and for some reason known only to my left hand, I let go of it. I thought my fingers were clear, but alas, the meaty part of the middle finger of my left hand was not. At first, I thought I got pinched, but nooooo. I drew blood. So now, I've got a nice half moon cut on my middle finger that looks a lot like the rear of the breach area on an M9 pistol.
Note to self: Make sure ALL appendages are clear of the barrel/slide interface area when releasing the slide.
After reading the link in his post, I was compelled to offer my take on using the index finger as a sighting tool and the middle finger to pull the trigger.
Yesterday, it was qualification day at work. As part of my day job, I run the weapons vault and I am responsible for numerous rifles and pistols. Our duty weapon is the Beretta M9. It's a 9mm job, does a good job for what it was designed to do, and is generally a decent weapon.
I first qualified on this pistol back in 1995. At the time, I didn't know any better. It was the first autoloader I'd ever fired. (The first ever handgun I fired was a S&W Model 27 Highway Patrolman, .357 mag w/6" barrel.)
As I grew into gun nut status, some things started sticking out to me. First, was the grip. It was always billed to me as an 'any person' gun, meaning any person should be able to pick it up and start shooting. Well, the grip size is just short of being too small for Andrea the Giant. Of course, you've got to figure out a way to hold 15 rds of 9mm and having it all stick out the butt end of the pistol ain't exactly slick. I've got a fairly large paw, and it's a stretch to get my hands around the grip on this pistol.
Next thing that stands out, and in my mind totally turns me off on this pistol is the trigger. Horrendous doesn't even begin to describe it. To put it in perspective, it's like trying to squeeze a 2x4 with your index finger. When someone asks me why I don't like the M9, I tell them it's the trigger. It's got a trigger you start pulling on Sunday, and you're finally done sometime late Saturday afternoon. And that's the double action pull. If the guy in the article linked by Joe can accurately double-action fire the M9 with his middle finger, I'll spring for a beer for the guy. I know MY middle finger ain't that strong, that's for sure.
The single action pull is better, but only because you don't have to squeeze a 2x4 to get the gun to go bang. No, the SA pull has it's own issue. Namely, you have to take up 2.5 feet of slack in the trigger just to get it to the break-over point. I can see doing the point-and shoot method in SA, but transitioning from your normal trigger finger on the trigger to the middle, puts too much movement and memory in the equation. Trigger pull should be muscle memory automatic. Not a fumbling affair trying to change on finger on the trigger to another.
In the classroom before going out to the line, I try to get as much dry fire time in as I can to refamiliarize myself with just how terrible the trigger is. I have to consciously think about shooting this pistol, as I've spoiled myself on my 1911s. Something about a consistent 3-5 lb pull that has me hooked I guess.
I also have to change my shooting mechanics with the M9. I shoot high thumbs with the 1911, and being a lefty, particularly with the M9, I can't rest my thumbs where I'd like. There's this thing called the trigger bar that runs right where my thumbs rest that goes back and forth every time the trigger is pulled. Last year, this little design feature rubbed a raw spot on my right thumb. This year, I tried to rest that thumb under ledge over the trigger guard on the frame, with varying degrees of success. (And quite a bit of stopping to consciously put my thumb back where it needed to be, not where it wanted to be, damned muscle memory.)
So there you have it. The M9 (and it's civilian cousin, the 92FS) were all the rage when Detective Riggs and John McClain were running around hosing bad guys with them. In 1987. Not so much now. I'd take a Springfield XD or (GASP!) a Glock over the M9.
Side bar: Yesterday is also the first time I got bit by a slide. I was assisting a coworker in reassembling his pistol when I released the slide on mine. I was easing it forward, and for some reason known only to my left hand, I let go of it. I thought my fingers were clear, but alas, the meaty part of the middle finger of my left hand was not. At first, I thought I got pinched, but nooooo. I drew blood. So now, I've got a nice half moon cut on my middle finger that looks a lot like the rear of the breach area on an M9 pistol.
Note to self: Make sure ALL appendages are clear of the barrel/slide interface area when releasing the slide.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Done Like Dinner
So, the Wyoming House has answered the call and passed constitutional carry on vote of 49-9.
All that's left is for the Gubner to sign said bill.
The comments are running about even, with the whiny, blood-in-the-streets crowd having a slim majority in comments. This'll last until the pro-rights crew gets back from the range, I reckon. I may even head back on over there and join the fray.
Today is a good day for the state of Wyoming!
All that's left is for the Gubner to sign said bill.
The comments are running about even, with the whiny, blood-in-the-streets crowd having a slim majority in comments. This'll last until the pro-rights crew gets back from the range, I reckon. I may even head back on over there and join the fray.
Today is a good day for the state of Wyoming!
Friday, February 25, 2011
A Different Tact
With all the hoopla surrounding the adaption of constitutional carry in Wyoming, the arguments in favor and against generally follow that of most gun control arguments. On the one side, you have the blood in the streets crowd, who see any loosening of gun laws as in invitation for mass murder and mayhem. On the other side, you have the arguments about civil rights and protection.
One argument in favor of constitutional carry in Wyoming that has not been fully explored is the cost. Why cost? Because most folks don't see that aspect or it gets glossed over and forgotten in the debate.
Generally, the cost of a concealed carry permit in the state of Wyoming is $74. This includes application fees and fingerprint costs. Renewal of said permit is $50. In order to get a permit in Wyoming, if you are not a veteran or member of the armed forces, you also have to take a class. That class can run upwards of $100 or more, depending on who's teaching. So there you have it, the overall cost of a concealed carry permit can easily reach $200, if you factor in the cost of gas to get to the class if there's not an instructor in your area.
What got me thinking about this, is my brother. He's got a decent job, makes good wages, but between bills, and paying off what his ex-wife left for him in the divorce, he's got a whole of week left at the end of his paycheck. He would love to get a permit, but as I noted above, the cost is prohibitive. When you add in the time off from work he'd have to take in order to attend the class, you can see why he doesn't have his toter's slip. After you factor in house payment/rent, car insurance, gas for said vehicle, food, and clothing, that $175 for a concealed carry permit is the gold ring they may never be able to afford. And if you're unemployed, even the cost of renewal could be prohibitive.
So, he has a decision to make. Does he carry illegally and risk the consequences of getting caught toting a piece without the state sanctioned permission slip? Meaning not only could he lose his piece, he could potentially never be able to own a gun again. Or does he accept that because he's broke, he cannot legally carry a firearm to defend himself?
And it's not just my brother. There are lots of folks who find themselves in this conundrum across the state.
I see passing constitutional carry as a benefit. Not only to those who already have a permit, but to those who can't afford to get one. Are they, who can't afford the piece of state-issued paper, any less deserving of being able to carry because of their economic status? Should concealed carry be a 'rich mans' right? For most folks, $200 may not seem like a lot of money. But to those who have no choice but live paycheck to paycheck, or who may be unemployed, the ability to defend themselves by finally being able to carry a concealed weapon would be a welcome change.
One argument in favor of constitutional carry in Wyoming that has not been fully explored is the cost. Why cost? Because most folks don't see that aspect or it gets glossed over and forgotten in the debate.
Generally, the cost of a concealed carry permit in the state of Wyoming is $74. This includes application fees and fingerprint costs. Renewal of said permit is $50. In order to get a permit in Wyoming, if you are not a veteran or member of the armed forces, you also have to take a class. That class can run upwards of $100 or more, depending on who's teaching. So there you have it, the overall cost of a concealed carry permit can easily reach $200, if you factor in the cost of gas to get to the class if there's not an instructor in your area.
What got me thinking about this, is my brother. He's got a decent job, makes good wages, but between bills, and paying off what his ex-wife left for him in the divorce, he's got a whole of week left at the end of his paycheck. He would love to get a permit, but as I noted above, the cost is prohibitive. When you add in the time off from work he'd have to take in order to attend the class, you can see why he doesn't have his toter's slip. After you factor in house payment/rent, car insurance, gas for said vehicle, food, and clothing, that $175 for a concealed carry permit is the gold ring they may never be able to afford. And if you're unemployed, even the cost of renewal could be prohibitive.
So, he has a decision to make. Does he carry illegally and risk the consequences of getting caught toting a piece without the state sanctioned permission slip? Meaning not only could he lose his piece, he could potentially never be able to own a gun again. Or does he accept that because he's broke, he cannot legally carry a firearm to defend himself?
And it's not just my brother. There are lots of folks who find themselves in this conundrum across the state.
I see passing constitutional carry as a benefit. Not only to those who already have a permit, but to those who can't afford to get one. Are they, who can't afford the piece of state-issued paper, any less deserving of being able to carry because of their economic status? Should concealed carry be a 'rich mans' right? For most folks, $200 may not seem like a lot of money. But to those who have no choice but live paycheck to paycheck, or who may be unemployed, the ability to defend themselves by finally being able to carry a concealed weapon would be a welcome change.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
A New Addition
As you can see, I dropped a poll on the site. This is in response to one Baldr Odinson and the 'poll' he put up a couple of days ago. (Which disappeared a day after he put it up because it didn't show what he wanted it to...So much for that week long poll, eh Baldr?) I'm interested in seeing what kind of reaction I get here. Nothing more, nothing less.
Anyway, if you feel the urge, hit the poll. Leave a comment if you like.
Anyway, if you feel the urge, hit the poll. Leave a comment if you like.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Stand Up To A Bigot
I was going to post this as a response to this...I don't know what you'd call it, but I thought I'd drop it here. I may also post this as a response, but for now, I'm going to post it here.
A funny thing happened on the way to the 21st century. Guns got invented. That genie is now out of the bottle, and it ain't going back in. If you think that by banning guns all the ills of our society would go away, you are in dire need of some counselling. You cannot un-invent something, and you cannot make people forget the know-how to create it. Just because guns are banned, doesn't mean there won't be guns. In Chechnya for example, homemade guns abound. And not semi-auto guns. Full on, full bore, full auto machine guns. So you have to ask yourself this question. Would I rather deal with legal semi-auto firearms in the hands of law-biding citizens, or would you rather deal with backyard machinists cranking out Sten-type submachine guns for a group of angry partisans?
For those that think a few 'peasants' with spitballs couldn't possibly stand up to the best trained, best equipped, and most battle hardened army in the world, you don't know history, or current events, for that matter.
Our own history as a nation started out with a rag-tag band of patriots picking a fight with the most powerful army in the world. (I wonder how that one turned out?) A rag-tag bunch of settlers took on the second most powerful army in the western hemisphere in the 1830s. (Texas, anyone?) More recently, a rag-tag bunch of en-educated peasants took on the US Army, and WON! ( I can't remember what country that was, but the little guys wore black pajamas.) For the last 10 yrs or so, a rag-tag bunch of peasants has been kicking the largest army in the worlds' kiester. (Vladdy, phone please!) And lets not forget that rag-tag bunch of goat herders has been giving the most technologically advanced military the world has ever known absolute fits.
Now, as for registration, licensing, and means testing for a specific enumerated right, we wouldn't put up with someone telling us we had to have a permit and a background check to buy the latest Danielle Steele slobber book, nor would we put up with someone having us register and ask permission to go to church on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, or any other day of the week. As a country, we abolished testing as a means of exercising the most fundamental right of any American, the right to vote. So why, in all that's right and holy, would we subject ourselves to registering that which our country was founded on? We have the right to be secure in our homes and papers. Why would we give up the means to that security?
So, we don't put prior restraints on civil rights. Same goes for our Second Amendment rights. That states currently use a permit system means it is nothing more than a revenue system to add even more money into the states coffers. No one should have to beg the government to exercise their rights, and we rightly don't put up with that in any other context.
That you (meaning antis) don't trust others with something like a gun tells me you don't trust anyone. Which is kind of ironic, don't you think? You probably drive a car or truck that weighs in excess of 3000 lbs. You probably drive in congested traffic, and trust those around you to not run into you. Much hay has been made about the number of people killed by guns, but what is the real, true killer in this country? That distinction falls to the automobile. It's been killing people in this country at rates that are truly astounding. Yet we don't blame Ford or Toyota when someone crosses the center line and plows into a crowd of school kids getting ready to catch the school bus. Nor do we blame Jack Daniels, Budweiser, or Zima when someone gets mind numbingly drunk and plows into the local senior citizens center. We don't investigate what caused the drunk to do what he did. We don't go blaming the radio station, we don't make excuses and try to blame everyone else but the individual for the carnage. We arrest them, charge them, try them, incarcerate them, and in the most extreme cases take their life. And nobody cares that he heard voices, his girlfriend left him, his dog died, or he caught his wife sleeping with the Maytag man. We condemn the individual, not the tool used to commit the carnage.
My point in all this? Law-biding gun owners are NOT the problem. Lawfully owned, lawfully carried firearms are NOT the problem. Criminals ARE. People who, by their very nature cannot be made to register any guns they have, as to do this violates THEIR fifth amendment right against self incrimination. Passing new, onerous gun laws will not do anything to stop murderers from plying their trade. It will however, ensure a large swath of the citizenry won't be able to do anything but sit back and take it.
A funny thing happened on the way to the 21st century. Guns got invented. That genie is now out of the bottle, and it ain't going back in. If you think that by banning guns all the ills of our society would go away, you are in dire need of some counselling. You cannot un-invent something, and you cannot make people forget the know-how to create it. Just because guns are banned, doesn't mean there won't be guns. In Chechnya for example, homemade guns abound. And not semi-auto guns. Full on, full bore, full auto machine guns. So you have to ask yourself this question. Would I rather deal with legal semi-auto firearms in the hands of law-biding citizens, or would you rather deal with backyard machinists cranking out Sten-type submachine guns for a group of angry partisans?
For those that think a few 'peasants' with spitballs couldn't possibly stand up to the best trained, best equipped, and most battle hardened army in the world, you don't know history, or current events, for that matter.
Our own history as a nation started out with a rag-tag band of patriots picking a fight with the most powerful army in the world. (I wonder how that one turned out?) A rag-tag bunch of settlers took on the second most powerful army in the western hemisphere in the 1830s. (Texas, anyone?) More recently, a rag-tag bunch of en-educated peasants took on the US Army, and WON! ( I can't remember what country that was, but the little guys wore black pajamas.) For the last 10 yrs or so, a rag-tag bunch of peasants has been kicking the largest army in the worlds' kiester. (Vladdy, phone please!) And lets not forget that rag-tag bunch of goat herders has been giving the most technologically advanced military the world has ever known absolute fits.
Now, as for registration, licensing, and means testing for a specific enumerated right, we wouldn't put up with someone telling us we had to have a permit and a background check to buy the latest Danielle Steele slobber book, nor would we put up with someone having us register and ask permission to go to church on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, or any other day of the week. As a country, we abolished testing as a means of exercising the most fundamental right of any American, the right to vote. So why, in all that's right and holy, would we subject ourselves to registering that which our country was founded on? We have the right to be secure in our homes and papers. Why would we give up the means to that security?
So, we don't put prior restraints on civil rights. Same goes for our Second Amendment rights. That states currently use a permit system means it is nothing more than a revenue system to add even more money into the states coffers. No one should have to beg the government to exercise their rights, and we rightly don't put up with that in any other context.
That you (meaning antis) don't trust others with something like a gun tells me you don't trust anyone. Which is kind of ironic, don't you think? You probably drive a car or truck that weighs in excess of 3000 lbs. You probably drive in congested traffic, and trust those around you to not run into you. Much hay has been made about the number of people killed by guns, but what is the real, true killer in this country? That distinction falls to the automobile. It's been killing people in this country at rates that are truly astounding. Yet we don't blame Ford or Toyota when someone crosses the center line and plows into a crowd of school kids getting ready to catch the school bus. Nor do we blame Jack Daniels, Budweiser, or Zima when someone gets mind numbingly drunk and plows into the local senior citizens center. We don't investigate what caused the drunk to do what he did. We don't go blaming the radio station, we don't make excuses and try to blame everyone else but the individual for the carnage. We arrest them, charge them, try them, incarcerate them, and in the most extreme cases take their life. And nobody cares that he heard voices, his girlfriend left him, his dog died, or he caught his wife sleeping with the Maytag man. We condemn the individual, not the tool used to commit the carnage.
My point in all this? Law-biding gun owners are NOT the problem. Lawfully owned, lawfully carried firearms are NOT the problem. Criminals ARE. People who, by their very nature cannot be made to register any guns they have, as to do this violates THEIR fifth amendment right against self incrimination. Passing new, onerous gun laws will not do anything to stop murderers from plying their trade. It will however, ensure a large swath of the citizenry won't be able to do anything but sit back and take it.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Pisses Me Off
What really pisses me off are these letters and articles in newspapers around the country written by supposed gunowners. They all start off the same:
"I'm a gunowner, but I don't support..."
This statement is usually followed up by inserting whatever politically sensitive firearm is on the hotseat that particular week. It could be Glock, it could be DPMS or Colt. Or it could be an accessory that is on the block, such as standard capacity magazines.
Take, for instance, a commenter named 'Boo Hoo' over here.
Typical 'I'm a gunowner, but..." response. I own guns but I don't see the need for anyone to carry one. I own guns but I don't see the need for a gun with a magazine capacity of more than x rounds. I'm a gunowner, but I don't see why anybody would need (insert politically incorrect firearm reference here) for hunting, self defense, ad nauseum.
I'll tell you what we don't need. What we DON'T need is some jagoff speaking about crap he/she willfully knows nothing about. We don't need one 'gunowner' out of 80,000,000 trying to put the rest of us in a neat little box.
One thing he mentioned in his comment to the linked story (which was about the Brady Bunch picketing an open carry meeting, go figure, huh?) was that without a gun, the nutjob in Tuscon wouldn't have been able to kill 6 and wound 20. I got a news flash for him. 19 guys with box cutters took out 3000 10 yrs ago. A whackjob with a Ryder truck, some fertilizer, and some diesel fuel killed 168 in 1995. Nutjobs half a world away are killing that many and more with a rudimentary understanding of chemistry, some nails and ball bearings, and cell phone. Is he really that dense to think that mass killing in this country would magically disappear overnight if we could just get rid of those icky guns?
I got an idea. If you feel the need to post one of them "I'm a gunowner, but..." pieces in you local cat box liner, do us all a favor.
Keep your 'butt' out of it.
"I'm a gunowner, but I don't support..."
This statement is usually followed up by inserting whatever politically sensitive firearm is on the hotseat that particular week. It could be Glock, it could be DPMS or Colt. Or it could be an accessory that is on the block, such as standard capacity magazines.
Take, for instance, a commenter named 'Boo Hoo' over here.
Typical 'I'm a gunowner, but..." response. I own guns but I don't see the need for anyone to carry one. I own guns but I don't see the need for a gun with a magazine capacity of more than x rounds. I'm a gunowner, but I don't see why anybody would need (insert politically incorrect firearm reference here) for hunting, self defense, ad nauseum.
I'll tell you what we don't need. What we DON'T need is some jagoff speaking about crap he/she willfully knows nothing about. We don't need one 'gunowner' out of 80,000,000 trying to put the rest of us in a neat little box.
One thing he mentioned in his comment to the linked story (which was about the Brady Bunch picketing an open carry meeting, go figure, huh?) was that without a gun, the nutjob in Tuscon wouldn't have been able to kill 6 and wound 20. I got a news flash for him. 19 guys with box cutters took out 3000 10 yrs ago. A whackjob with a Ryder truck, some fertilizer, and some diesel fuel killed 168 in 1995. Nutjobs half a world away are killing that many and more with a rudimentary understanding of chemistry, some nails and ball bearings, and cell phone. Is he really that dense to think that mass killing in this country would magically disappear overnight if we could just get rid of those icky guns?
I got an idea. If you feel the need to post one of them "I'm a gunowner, but..." pieces in you local cat box liner, do us all a favor.
Keep your 'butt' out of it.
Monday, January 24, 2011
All This Talk Of Bans and Whatnot
In the wake of the shooting a couple of weeks ago, debate has raged from all over as to whether our gun laws are too weak or not.
The typical poo flinging monkeys (Josh squared and Paul) have stated that gun shows, magazine capacity, and an inefficient background check system (on top of all the rhetoric the shooter never listened to or heard) were all the reasons a deranged nutjob hell bent on killing the object of his desire needed.
A couple of other bloggers, Joe Huffman and Say Uncle, pointed out that when arguing about gun control with an anti-gunner, their responses pretty much run into the 'F/U' department. In a discussion on a report out of my home state of WY becoming the 4th state to allow Constitutional Carry, the discussion turned to magazine capacity. Several commentors finally got down to the 4 letter word of the problem, need. They argue that no one 'needs' a magazine larger than 10 rds for anything. I did manage to point out that when the conversation turns to 'need' the person making the argument has lost and is showing their intellectual inferiority by doing so. I believe I said 'Your IQ is at room temperature and falling like a stone'.
In this, they are technically correct. But where they fail is that 'need' has nothing to do with it. Almost all of my rifles were designed from the outset to shoot from magazines that hold 30+ rds so I would argue that it's not need, its a requirement. My pistols, not so much. 1911's generally shoot from magazines that hold between 7 and 9 rds, depending.
It reminds me of a silly rule that NASCAR has. In order to slow things down at the superspeedways like Daytona and Talledega, they install a smaller fuel cell. 13 gallons for the super tracks vs. 22 for the rest of the circuit. The reasoning for this is it's supposed to slow the race down by making the cars have to pit for gas more often. They haven't limited the speeds on the track, they've just managed to make it more dangerous for the pit crews, as they have to deal with pitting these cars more often, placing them in harms way on pit road more often.
See any similarities to the debate on magazine capacity? Makes about as much sense, doesn't it.
The typical poo flinging monkeys (Josh squared and Paul) have stated that gun shows, magazine capacity, and an inefficient background check system (on top of all the rhetoric the shooter never listened to or heard) were all the reasons a deranged nutjob hell bent on killing the object of his desire needed.
A couple of other bloggers, Joe Huffman and Say Uncle, pointed out that when arguing about gun control with an anti-gunner, their responses pretty much run into the 'F/U' department. In a discussion on a report out of my home state of WY becoming the 4th state to allow Constitutional Carry, the discussion turned to magazine capacity. Several commentors finally got down to the 4 letter word of the problem, need. They argue that no one 'needs' a magazine larger than 10 rds for anything. I did manage to point out that when the conversation turns to 'need' the person making the argument has lost and is showing their intellectual inferiority by doing so. I believe I said 'Your IQ is at room temperature and falling like a stone'.
In this, they are technically correct. But where they fail is that 'need' has nothing to do with it. Almost all of my rifles were designed from the outset to shoot from magazines that hold 30+ rds so I would argue that it's not need, its a requirement. My pistols, not so much. 1911's generally shoot from magazines that hold between 7 and 9 rds, depending.
It reminds me of a silly rule that NASCAR has. In order to slow things down at the superspeedways like Daytona and Talledega, they install a smaller fuel cell. 13 gallons for the super tracks vs. 22 for the rest of the circuit. The reasoning for this is it's supposed to slow the race down by making the cars have to pit for gas more often. They haven't limited the speeds on the track, they've just managed to make it more dangerous for the pit crews, as they have to deal with pitting these cars more often, placing them in harms way on pit road more often.
See any similarities to the debate on magazine capacity? Makes about as much sense, doesn't it.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
When The Monkeys Fling Poo At The Zoo
Normally, when the monkeys at the zoo start flinging poo all over the place, most folks try to avoid it.
What I'm seeing and hearing all over the TV, radio, and the Algorian intertubes is a whole lot of poo flinging with not a lot of it hitting anything. And what it does hit, it doesn't stick to very well.
From Paul Krugman at the NYT, to Olbermann and Matthews at MSLSD, all the way down the Obama-bot zombies in the farthest reaches of the intertubes. In this case, it's like passing a bad car wreck on the highway. You know you shouldn't watch, but you can't help it, either.
With each passing day, with more and more evidence of the twisted mind of the lunatic shooter coming to light that paints him not as some political assassin but as the lone, deranged nutbag he was before the NYT and MSLSD took over the failed narrative.
It's almost pitiiful to watch actually. The picture that has been painted the last couple of days is falling down around them, yet they can't bring themselves to backtrack or retract what they've said. And the venom they use to defend their position is probably the most ironic thing to come out of this whole mess. Blaming a political faction and party for violent rhetoric by accusing them with....violent rhetoric.
And does Bill Maher really believe the BS he's peddling? Calling the NRA a bunch of assassins? If that were really the case, would Maher have the balls to come out on national TV and say so? Don't think so. Because if all the violent stuff the political right has been accused of were actually true, there wouldn't be a political left in this country. Projection is such a lovely thing, ain't it?
What I'm seeing and hearing all over the TV, radio, and the Algorian intertubes is a whole lot of poo flinging with not a lot of it hitting anything. And what it does hit, it doesn't stick to very well.
From Paul Krugman at the NYT, to Olbermann and Matthews at MSLSD, all the way down the Obama-bot zombies in the farthest reaches of the intertubes. In this case, it's like passing a bad car wreck on the highway. You know you shouldn't watch, but you can't help it, either.
With each passing day, with more and more evidence of the twisted mind of the lunatic shooter coming to light that paints him not as some political assassin but as the lone, deranged nutbag he was before the NYT and MSLSD took over the failed narrative.
It's almost pitiiful to watch actually. The picture that has been painted the last couple of days is falling down around them, yet they can't bring themselves to backtrack or retract what they've said. And the venom they use to defend their position is probably the most ironic thing to come out of this whole mess. Blaming a political faction and party for violent rhetoric by accusing them with....violent rhetoric.
And does Bill Maher really believe the BS he's peddling? Calling the NRA a bunch of assassins? If that were really the case, would Maher have the balls to come out on national TV and say so? Don't think so. Because if all the violent stuff the political right has been accused of were actually true, there wouldn't be a political left in this country. Projection is such a lovely thing, ain't it?
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
My Take On Tuscon
With all the nattering of the media classes so far over the last 3 days, has it struck any one of them the irony of what they are spewing?
I mean, they are decrying 'right wing hate speech', while engaging, and forgetting, hate speech of their own.
Michelle Malkin has a great round up of some of the more egregious examples over at her site, here.
Snowflakes in Hell has a great little reminder of the 'hate speech' that the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership has conveniently forgotten, here.
And let's not forget our favorite bigots, the 3 Amigos of gun control at the Huffington Post (Horowitz, Sugarmann, & Henigan), who can't wait to dance in the still warm blood of the victims by trying to paint the firearms community as a bunch of blood-thirsty neanderthals and push for even more restrictions on That Which Shall Not Be Infringed. (As if any of the laws they push for would have stopped this. But I digress. That's a topic for another post.)
As the saying goes, I told you all that to tell you this. There was supposed to be a narrative of what happened last weekend. It has been reported that the One was in need of something, anything to save his reign, much like Clinton had Oklahoma City. You can tell there was supposed to be a narrative by checking out what the New York Times, the Washington Post, MSLSD, the liberal talk show hosts such as Ed Schultz, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, et al have been saying.
Never mind that within 24 hrs of the shooting we knew the nutcase in question read Mein Kampfe and the Communist Manifesto. And that former classmates in both high school and college described him as a leftist pothead. None of that matters. Every single talking head from ABC to MSLSD has been trying to paint this loon as some kind of right wing whack job. Unfortunately, with the rise of the new media and sources such as Drudge, Politico, Michelle Malkin; and talk radio hosts such as Andrew Wilkow, Mike Church, Mark Levin, and Cam & Company, they are having a really hard time trying to push their narrative like they did 16 yrs ago. Too much information is out there and Pandora ain't getting that back in her little box.
Mike Vanderboegh has publicly stated there will be no more free Wacos. After Oklahoma City, there will be no more free narratives such as that perpetrated in 1995. There are too many eyes, ears, and witnesses with an avenue to bring what they saw and heard to light. There is no way they can get away with it. Just witness what is happening in the media since Saturday.
I mean, they are decrying 'right wing hate speech', while engaging, and forgetting, hate speech of their own.
Michelle Malkin has a great round up of some of the more egregious examples over at her site, here.
Snowflakes in Hell has a great little reminder of the 'hate speech' that the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership has conveniently forgotten, here.
And let's not forget our favorite bigots, the 3 Amigos of gun control at the Huffington Post (Horowitz, Sugarmann, & Henigan), who can't wait to dance in the still warm blood of the victims by trying to paint the firearms community as a bunch of blood-thirsty neanderthals and push for even more restrictions on That Which Shall Not Be Infringed. (As if any of the laws they push for would have stopped this. But I digress. That's a topic for another post.)
As the saying goes, I told you all that to tell you this. There was supposed to be a narrative of what happened last weekend. It has been reported that the One was in need of something, anything to save his reign, much like Clinton had Oklahoma City. You can tell there was supposed to be a narrative by checking out what the New York Times, the Washington Post, MSLSD, the liberal talk show hosts such as Ed Schultz, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, et al have been saying.
Never mind that within 24 hrs of the shooting we knew the nutcase in question read Mein Kampfe and the Communist Manifesto. And that former classmates in both high school and college described him as a leftist pothead. None of that matters. Every single talking head from ABC to MSLSD has been trying to paint this loon as some kind of right wing whack job. Unfortunately, with the rise of the new media and sources such as Drudge, Politico, Michelle Malkin; and talk radio hosts such as Andrew Wilkow, Mike Church, Mark Levin, and Cam & Company, they are having a really hard time trying to push their narrative like they did 16 yrs ago. Too much information is out there and Pandora ain't getting that back in her little box.
Mike Vanderboegh has publicly stated there will be no more free Wacos. After Oklahoma City, there will be no more free narratives such as that perpetrated in 1995. There are too many eyes, ears, and witnesses with an avenue to bring what they saw and heard to light. There is no way they can get away with it. Just witness what is happening in the media since Saturday.
Friday, January 7, 2011
ACLU, Guns, and South Dakota
So, earlier this week, the ACLU has filed suit against the state of South Dakota regarding the requirement that one be a US citizen to get a concealed carry permit here.
I've had a couple of days to think about it, and I'm not really sure.
One the one hand, we have a guy who has lived in Sioux Falls for 30 yrs and has not gained his US citizenship. He is however, a permanent resident alien. Nobody is telling this guy he can't own a gun. They're just saying he can't carry it concealed.
On the other, we have a states rights argument. The state of South Dakota should have the right to dictate who can or cannot get a permit to carry. Since Congress failed to pass national reciprocity in the last session, it is still up to the states to dictate who gets what.
Where this thing gets sideways is this. With the Heller and McDonald decisions in 2008 and 2010, the courts have said that states cannot ban firearms. In regards to states like Illinois and California, these decisions were a welcome change to decades of precedent regarding guns. The unintended consequence is that states that are friendly to guns like South Dakota can be knee-capped when they try to pass truly sensible gun laws (unlike the 'reasonable' ones the Brady Bunch and the VPC espouse). But with these decisions, they have effectively cut the states out of the picture in regards to firearm law. This law will be hard-pressed to remain in light of those two decisions.
First thing that really pops out at me is that he was not able to obtain a renewal on his permit until just recently? Permits last 4 yrs. If the law was enacted in 2002, even if he got his permit right before the change, he has renewed it at least once, if not twice since then. Why is it that now all of a sudden this is an issue?
Then, there's the fact that the ACLU is involved in this. It wasn't too long ago that the ACLU was against individual rights for firearms. Hell, the national leadership is still hostile to gun rights. One has to wonder if the national board is out of touch with its member state chapters. More and more we are hearing about folks at the state level making court arguments about individual firearms rights. First it was Nevada, now South Dakota.
So where do I come down on this? I'm still undecided.
I've had a couple of days to think about it, and I'm not really sure.
One the one hand, we have a guy who has lived in Sioux Falls for 30 yrs and has not gained his US citizenship. He is however, a permanent resident alien. Nobody is telling this guy he can't own a gun. They're just saying he can't carry it concealed.
On the other, we have a states rights argument. The state of South Dakota should have the right to dictate who can or cannot get a permit to carry. Since Congress failed to pass national reciprocity in the last session, it is still up to the states to dictate who gets what.
Where this thing gets sideways is this. With the Heller and McDonald decisions in 2008 and 2010, the courts have said that states cannot ban firearms. In regards to states like Illinois and California, these decisions were a welcome change to decades of precedent regarding guns. The unintended consequence is that states that are friendly to guns like South Dakota can be knee-capped when they try to pass truly sensible gun laws (unlike the 'reasonable' ones the Brady Bunch and the VPC espouse). But with these decisions, they have effectively cut the states out of the picture in regards to firearm law. This law will be hard-pressed to remain in light of those two decisions.
First thing that really pops out at me is that he was not able to obtain a renewal on his permit until just recently? Permits last 4 yrs. If the law was enacted in 2002, even if he got his permit right before the change, he has renewed it at least once, if not twice since then. Why is it that now all of a sudden this is an issue?
Then, there's the fact that the ACLU is involved in this. It wasn't too long ago that the ACLU was against individual rights for firearms. Hell, the national leadership is still hostile to gun rights. One has to wonder if the national board is out of touch with its member state chapters. More and more we are hearing about folks at the state level making court arguments about individual firearms rights. First it was Nevada, now South Dakota.
So where do I come down on this? I'm still undecided.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Farking Computers...
So, last night I sit down at ye olde laptop to do some travelling around the Algorian intertubes. While checking my email, a popup box appears from the manufacturer of my laptop wanting to run updates on a couple of system programs, one of which was BIOS.
The first download and install goes off without a hitch. When I get to the BIOS update, all hell breaks loose. First, my mouse cursor starts acting all funny. Skipping around the screen. Then it stopped all together. So, I tried the old standby in situations like this, control-alt-delete. Nothing. Tried turning the power off. Nothing. Damn, this don't look good.
Now, right after I got that old laptop, I took it on a trip for work. While I was gone, somehow the tabs that hold the battery in place broke and I never got around to getting them fixed. Stupid me.
So, while I'm trying to figure out why my laptop has suddenly gone HAL 9000 on me, I tipped it up. Keep in mind it is not plugged in at this point. So when I tipped it up, you guessed it, the battery falls out. As soon as the battery hit the cooling table, everything went dark. No bells, no whistles, no lights, no sirens, do not pass go, go directly to jail. Crap, this ain't good.
So, after many attempts to revive the dead horse, I decided to take it down to Best Buy to see what they could do, if anything. During the trip down there, I'm thinking the worst. This thing is fragged. Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.
So, after the white shirted dude at Best Buy looks all over it, the consensus is...It's fragged. With a solemn report that replacing the motherboard would cost at least what it would cost to buy a new one.
So, here I sit, pounding keys on a new laptop I didn't want to buy, but had to. (When I called Mrs. Hazmat to explain the situation, she remarked that I should go ahead, since life with me without a computer would be akin to living with a junkie looking for a fix. Did I mention I love this gal?) And trying to figure out this new Windows 7 thing.
Did I mention that sometimes I hate computers?
The first download and install goes off without a hitch. When I get to the BIOS update, all hell breaks loose. First, my mouse cursor starts acting all funny. Skipping around the screen. Then it stopped all together. So, I tried the old standby in situations like this, control-alt-delete. Nothing. Tried turning the power off. Nothing. Damn, this don't look good.
Now, right after I got that old laptop, I took it on a trip for work. While I was gone, somehow the tabs that hold the battery in place broke and I never got around to getting them fixed. Stupid me.
So, while I'm trying to figure out why my laptop has suddenly gone HAL 9000 on me, I tipped it up. Keep in mind it is not plugged in at this point. So when I tipped it up, you guessed it, the battery falls out. As soon as the battery hit the cooling table, everything went dark. No bells, no whistles, no lights, no sirens, do not pass go, go directly to jail. Crap, this ain't good.
So, after many attempts to revive the dead horse, I decided to take it down to Best Buy to see what they could do, if anything. During the trip down there, I'm thinking the worst. This thing is fragged. Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.
So, after the white shirted dude at Best Buy looks all over it, the consensus is...It's fragged. With a solemn report that replacing the motherboard would cost at least what it would cost to buy a new one.
So, here I sit, pounding keys on a new laptop I didn't want to buy, but had to. (When I called Mrs. Hazmat to explain the situation, she remarked that I should go ahead, since life with me without a computer would be akin to living with a junkie looking for a fix. Did I mention I love this gal?) And trying to figure out this new Windows 7 thing.
Did I mention that sometimes I hate computers?
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Holiday Cuteness
If this doesn't set your 'Awwwwww' machine into overload, you've got some serious issues.
Seriously, who wouldn't love to have a pet otter (or 3) around?
(Link and pic borrowed from The Agitator himself, Radley Balko.)
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas To All!
From all of us here at Casa De Hazmat, Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
How's That Police Interceptor Workin' Out For You?
You know them high-dollar, high horse power cars that are all the rage in police departments around the country?
Yeah, well you know how to outrun one?
Get yourself a 1994 Ford Escort.
Evidently, that's what one rascally runner used to outrun two jusisdictions in my home town.
Next time you think having that tuned up 351 Windsor, 440 Wedge, or a nitrous-equipped lawn mower will help you outrun the local Po-Po, remember this: a 1994 Escort is all you need.
Yeah, well you know how to outrun one?
Get yourself a 1994 Ford Escort.
Evidently, that's what one rascally runner used to outrun two jusisdictions in my home town.
Next time you think having that tuned up 351 Windsor, 440 Wedge, or a nitrous-equipped lawn mower will help you outrun the local Po-Po, remember this: a 1994 Escort is all you need.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
I Need More
At the last fun show, I picked up 380 rds of Norinco .308. 19 boxes in the original shipping crate.
I've already got a little bit of Chinese .308, but I think I need more. I was able to get 14 of the 19 boxes into the can.
Whadda y'all think? I'm not even sure how much is in the can now. Hell, I didn't know before when I put the last 280 in.
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