Still No Ammo?

Damn. I hit three shops and I didn't even find enough ammo to replenish what I've already loaded for the bloggershoot. One shop was completely out of everything except .22LR and 12 gauge birdshot; another only had hunting ammo left ($35 for 20 rounds of 8mm? I don't theeenk so); the last had a small amount of 9mm and .45 ACP...

And apparently .44 Magnum is made of out solid gold these days - holy shit y'all, $48 for a box of 50 softpoints!

Oh well, I still have plenty for tomorrow's festivities. At some point, though, I will need to shop around and replenish the dwindling supplies. It's a good thing that the bloggershoot only happens once a year - with the toys that are coming, I've got a lot of extra ammo socked away for the FA... The funniest part is that I most likely won't even shoot half of what I'm bringing - there's simply too many people to chat with and other guns to ogle & coonfinger.

But then again, that's what the Northeast Bloggershoot is all about!

That is all.

Oh, Boy, Shopping!

Off to do one of my favorite things: Shopping!

Well, it's one of my favorite things when the list looks like this:

12 gauge birdshot (bulk pack)
12 gauge 00 buckshot
12 gauge slugs
.44 Magnum
.308 Winchester
.223 Remington
.357 Magnum
.22LR bulk pack

Cleaning patches
M-Pro 7
Clays
Bug spray

Nah, I'm not getting ready for a shoot or anything, am I?

That is all.

Lookin' Good!

Because I've been keeping an eye on these things...

Look at Sunday. Warm, but not too hot. Sunny, with cloud cover. Further proof that G-d Himself loves gunnies... :)

In less than 48 hours we will be gathered for the Third Annual Northeast Bloggershoot at the sooper seekrit range (and for those who are attending that don't have directions, e-mail me and I'll send you a copy). We've got folks coming from 5 out of 6 New England states plus New York and possibly other states; we've got pretty much all manner of boomsticks covered from the NAA mini-22LR 5 shot revolver to an actual, honest-to-Gaia cannon; we even have a shiny new range (thanks Doubletrouble!!!) for the event.

It's gonna be a lot of fun folks - lookin' forward to seeing you there!

That is all.

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before...

(image courtesy of Robb Allen)

Accused driver in fatal crash re-arrested

FALMOUTH – A man accused of killing a Bourne woman in a car crash last summer was arrested last week for violating his probation by getting behind the wheel again, reports the Cape Cod Times.

(More info here) Got that? He killed someone last year while driving drunk, was arraigned in November, and yet is out on the street violating the very terms of his probation in less than a year. I love the defense: He was testing the brakes on his grandfather's truck. Right. And those were Mookie's pants he was wearing, too... I'm getting sick of stories like these. It seems like time and again we hear about someone slapped on the wrist and let loose to offend again; our revolving-door justice system at work. The "ideas" we hear for reducing crimes are laughable rehashes of other states' attempts to hinder the law abiding - like ballistic fingerprinting or one-gun-a-month laws; all the while criminals walk into the "justice" system and out again in short order - sometimes in the same day.

Until we get serious about punishing criminals - about making the punishments so draconian that they won't dare re-offend - nothing we do is going to work. Passing all the laws in the world aimed at the already law-abiding will do nothing (except provide political cover, which is all these jackanapes want) to stop crime and everything to further hack away our rights and our freedoms. Because some idiot drove drunk and killed someone they want to mandate auto-lockouts for drunks - rather than actually toss the offender in jail. Because gangbangers break into houses and steal guns they want to limit us to one gun a month - rather than put - AND KEEP - those gangbangers in jail.

Why, it's almost like they want a criminal class to keep the law-abiding in check!

That is all.

Thanks to brad_in_ma for raising my blood pressure today...

Friday? VC-Day!

Vicious Circle #61: This One Time, At Gunblogger Camp...

Join alan, aepilotJim, Weerd Beard, WhiteBread, Zercool, Vine, and your humble host as we kick around topics like the news in a blender. Pantslessness, the cunning criminal mind of Mookie, the oddity of having people comment on what we're talking about as it happens, the awesomeness that will be this Sunday's Northeast Bloggershoot, and anything else that flits through our subconsciousness in the 2½ hours we chat.

Vicious Circle: It's like Depends™ for your mind!

That is all.

Question for the 1911 Toters...

Reader Patrick wants to know how you carry yours:

Your latest post on the SW1911 brought a question to mind. I carry a Kimber Ultra and am still on my quest for that ideal holster fit. I was wondering what yours is in?

Wanting to give support to a local I started with Tucker Answer. Then I tried a Kydex IWB. Currently I attempted to roll my own as a cross between the Answer and the Super Tuck. Trying to decide my next purchase or creation. Also finding a good IWB mag pouch is tough.

I find getting a good fit that doesn't printhard at 5'6" 185lb. So I'm not fat but am carrying a spare and i'm not talking about a magazine. (yes I know the masses are clueless but my 5yr old boy isn't and doesn't have a strong grasp of think before you speak, my 2yr old is sneaky and pulls on everything)

Man, do I know what that's like. I've had TheBoy suddenly decide that he loves his old man and wants to show it RIGHT NOW in a store and give me a big hug, only to look up at me quizzically... Concealed means concealed, of course; however the rules go out the window when your kid wants a hug. Having a good, solid holster that stays in place and doesn't move when someone of the small person variety happens across it is a very good thing.

I carry my 1991A1 in a JMG IWB 3.2 holster that I originally picked up for my Glock G30. Interestingly enough, it's quite comfortable and carries very well, with the caveat that I need a decent cover garment or it sticks out too much for my liking. I know there's about as many IWB/CCW holsters as there are flavors of 1911s out there, and have very little experience with anything other than what I'm currently using. I've thought about getting something a little more contoured to the Officer's 1911, so Patrick's question couldn't have come at a better time.

So, to those of you who carry one of John Moses Browning's greatest creation, what do you carry your 1911 in?

That is all.

Nothing Says Stop...

...like a 230 grain hollowpoint followed by many other 230 grain hollowpoints.

Police: Man under influence of drug stomps on cars

BRIDGEPORT -- A overweight city man was arrested Tuesday evening after he, under the influence of an hallucinogenic drug, went berserk and climbed onto locals' cars, jumped up and down and smashed them in, police said.

In one case, there were two babies strapped into their car seats under the roof that Ricardo Hylton partially collapsed, according to police reports.

Pop quiz: When the heavyset, drug-crazed lunatic starts attacking you in your vehicle with your young children inside, which would you rather have in your hand:

1. A cell phone to call 911;
2. A canister of pepper spray;
3. A taser;
4. Nothing but the knowledge of hand-to-hand combat; or
5. A 1911 stocked with .45 ACP +P jacketed hollowpoints?

If you chose anything other than #5, you've chosen poorly:

Lula ran beside Hylton, unsuccessfully ordering him to stop. He pepper-sprayed the suspect to no effect. Running in the middle of the street, Hylton then stopped and did about 10 jumping jacks but was not affected by another pepper spray blast.

By this time, other police officers were on scene and boxed him in. But they couldn't get Hylton under control because he was shirtless, struggling and too slippery from sweat for the usual compliance holds, a police report stated. After he again ignored orders to stop walking, an officer tased him to no avail, drive-stunned him with the Taser, and tased him two more times.

Got that? He was pepper-sprayed twice, grappled with multiple officers, *and* Tasered, and yet still remained combatitive. Remember this when it's just you against him, with your young children at risk... Now, certainly, a firearm is not a magic talisman. Pointing at the deranged drug addict very well may not scare him off; heck, even shooting him might not stop him immediately. But it beats the hell out of watching him do freaking jumping jacks after being pepper-sprayed. Something tells me that 9 rounds of .45 ACP +P will have a significantly better chance of slowing him down than a chemical deterrent. There's just something about the psychological effect of watching one's own blood spill forth that naturally takes the fight out of a person...

I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone, I carry a gun because I don't want to have to beat them to death with a rock I found on the side of the road. I'm just a humanitarian that way...

That is all.

Thanks to Mopar for the link!

Friday Gun Pr0n #174

Today's gun pic comes to us courtesy of Newbius:

.45 ACP wheelie

That's a gorgeous Smith & Wesson model 1917, a .45 ACP wheelgun initially made as a stopgap during WWI to supply US troops with sidearms in the wake of the adoption of the 1911. One of these is pretty high on the list of "Guns Jay wants to get" - revolvers chambered in semi-auto cartridges are just plain cool.

Next time, we need to get to a range to shoot it, Newbius...

That is all.

On the Lighter Side...

...and when I say "lighter", I of course mean HEAVY...

World Record Hailstone Weighed In Vivian

It was Friday afternoon when a line of thunderstorms fired up in central South Dakota. High winds, heavy rains and even a possible tornado rolled through the town of Vivian. But now days later, a hailstone picked up just moments after the storm is getting worldwide attention.

...
Moments later, the hailstone weighed in at 1.9375 pounds.

A TWO POUND hailstone. Think about that for a second. The weight of your average brick is 4-4½ pounds, so this hailstone weighed at a half-brick, approximately. Think about bricks falling from the sky... Now go invest in a good stainless steel umbrella... It was also 18.5" around - imagine that landing on the hood of your car (never mind your skull!).

I guess we have a new euphemism: Hailing Halfbricks...

That is all.

Thanks to PISSED for sending this story along - given the news today, I needed something on the, err, lighter side...

Poor Lurch...

Boat tax saga hurts Kerry; how much is hard to gauge

As political missteps go, Senator John F. Kerry’s yacht issues may ultimately be considered just a minor stumble. But in a state that has just elected a new US senator with the carefully crafted image of a pickup-driving, barn jacket-wearing common man, Kerry now seems likely to be perceived as ever more out of touch, political analysts said yesterday.

Gotta love the gratuitous dig at Scott Brown. Not only can they not even name the man, but they have to insinuate that his "image" was "carefully crafted" - gee, there's no possible way that Brown could be the real thing, right? There's also no "crafting" going on with the Globe's favorite politician Øbama, either, is there? I mean, the images of the big Ø walking on water and parting the Red Sea were happenstance, right?

The other thing that's missing from this story is the fact that the $7 million yacht was purchased from a boatyard in New Zealand, despite there being world-class boatyards right here in New England. In a time when Americans are out of work, when American industries - especially those that cater to folks in Lurch's demographic - are hurting and laying folks off, Kerry goes outside of the US for his expensive playtoys. Kerry's not merely aloof, he's completely and utterly out of touch.

And naturally, the media covers for him every step of the way. From the unnecessary swipe at (the unnamed) Scott Brown to the exhortations of "look at his voting record" the story is written with one thing in mind: damage control. The unspoken warning is crystal clear: You got this one free, Lurch, but the next misstep might cost you. Kerry needs to watch his step carefully - he's only a $10 million mansion or a $75 million private jet away from losing the common man's vote...

In any case, Lurch is up in 2014 - I wonder if the MA GOP would be interested in a loudmouth, opinionated, shaved head biker gunblogger to run against him?

That is all.

Something To Be Proud Of...

(image courtesy of Robb Allen)

I'm so glad that the Teleprompter Jesus has his priorities straight.

Obama Missing Historic Boy Scout Jamboree for Fundraisers, 'View' Taping

President Obama will make history as the first sitting president on a daytime talk show when he visits with the ladies of "The View." But he'll be missing out on another historic occasion -- the Boy Scouts' Jamboree marking the group's 100th anniversary, right in the president's backyard.

The Jamboree kicked off this week at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, where organizers had invited the president to speak to the 45,000 scouts in attendance. All three of Obama's predecessors have made it to one Jamboree while in office.

Yup. It's only the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts. That's not worth interrupting a taping of "The View", let alone a fundraiser. Yeah, I'm a little bitter here, being a Cubmaster and all - it's quite disheartening to hear that one of the oldest institutions for helping to mold young men takes a back seat to fundraisers and leftist television. I'm also equally certain that the coverage would be just as fair and evenhanded had President Bush snubbed the Girl Scouts. No, seriously, stop laughing...

The Boy Scouts only hold their Jamboree once every four years; let's hope Øbama is unable to attend the next one - because he's out of office...

That is all.

MArooned Product Review: LA Police Gear Long Term Review

I received a bunch of gear from LA Police Gear a couple months ago, and wanted to report back on the clothing portion of the gear. I've had a chance to wear everything multiple times, and have some long-term observations to report. First off, here's a representative sample of the clothing after ~ half a dozen times being worn and washed:

One Tactical Shirt

One Pair Tactical Pants

Considering that both items were pulled out of the clothes hamper, I'd say they're doing pretty damn well.

The shirts are extremely comfortable - they're about as close to a T-shirt as a dress-type polo can come, as far as I'm concerned. There's a handy little loop under the last button for your sunglasses which is a very neat touch and comes in quite handy; there's also a slot on the left sleeve for a couple of pens. I don't use this, because I guarantee I will forget the pens are there and send them through the washer... One of the three shirts lost a button at some point in the washing/drying cycle, but other than that they all have held up pretty well.

The pants are just amazingly useful. The Tactical Operator pants have all kinds of cargo pockets and other useful storage space, plus those D-rings come in handy, too. When we went to the amusement park over the weekend, I put the car keys on a carabiner and tucked them into the small front pocket - voila! No more worrying about the keys flying out on a ride! The cargo pockets have pockets inside them as well, which are very handy for keeping things like iPhones/PDAs/spare mags from banging against one's knees while in motion. The pants have held up extremely well with repeated washings, and show little-to-no wear after weekly use.

All in all, this is a great value for the money - I continue to give two thumbs enthusiastically up for the LA Police Gear tactical line.

That is all.

Seven Deadly Sins...

Smith & Wesson's new Pro Series sub-compact SW1911 is officially MA-legal. I want this gun so bad I can taste it. At 26½ ounces empty it's only slightly heavier than my G30; with the differences in rounds I'd bet the two guns are identical in weight loaded. It's a good 10-12 ounces lighter than the Colt 1991A1, and it's all new and shiny and just waiting for me to take one home...

I remember the seven deadly sins through the mneumonic PCLAGES:

Pride: I would be proud to own and shoot the SW1911 sub compact.
Covetness: I cover the SW1911 sub compact mightily.
Lust: I lust after a SW1911 sub compact to call my own.
Anger: I'm angry I don't have a SW1911 sub compact right now.
Gluttony: I'd like to own two or three SW1911 sub compacts.
Envy: I'm envious of anyone who has a SW1911 sub compact.
Sloth: Err, I would overcome my general sloth to buy a SW1911 sub compact.

Just look at it:

Pic from S&W website

Here's the thing. Come January 1st I will have been a non-smoker for 10 years. It will also be 2011, the 100th anniversary of the 1911. I think that's just about the perfect storm for me to acquire one of these beauties, don't you think? I like my 1991A1 Compact a lot, don't get me wrong; it shoots like a dream and carries well. It's just that a newer, lighter gun - with a lifetime warranty to boot with the legendary S&W reliability would be quite the addition to the carry gun rotation - and might even become all but the hot weather carry gun...

Now, if the good folks at Smith & Wesson would like a local gunblogger to review this fine firearm, I'd be more than happy to take on that particular challenge...

That is all.

Teh Stoopid, It BURNS!

Actually, in this case, it kills.

Wedding photographer shot dead as couple pose with guns

Guests were horrified when the firearm went off accidentally, killing photographer Calogero Scimeca, a 45-year-old married man with children.

The bullet hit him in the head, killing him instantly, police said.

Hmmm. I think we've violated all Four Rules at once. Gun was loaded. Finger was on trigger. Gun was pointed at something it shouldn't have been. Target was not secure.

1. All guns are always loaded. Period.

2. Keep your damned finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. Period. Stop.

3. Never point your firearm at anything you are not prepared to shoot. Period. Stop.

4. Be sure of your target and what's beyond it. Stop.

Obey these four rules and there will never be a problem. Start breaking them and there will be problems. Break multiples and there will be tragedies like this one. It's infuriating that this happens; that someone handed a loaded gun to someone otherwise preoccupied; that the person receiving the gun didn't perform even the most basic of checks; that ignorance of firearms is so rampant that no one thought twice about pulling the trigger of a firearm they hadn't checked while it was pointing at someone.

I've made a point to duck when someone swings a muzzle my way. I don't care if the action is open - it's just a good habit to get into. If you train yourself to move out of the way when a muzzle sweeps you, you're a lot more likely to move out of harm's way in that one-in-a-million time when something like this happens. I will most often politely but firmly request that the offender not point their firearm at me (almost always resulting in the bleat of "but it's not loaded!"; sometimes I get the mortified "Sorry!"). If I am outside of the shooting range, I check any firearm I'm about to hand someone it to make sure it's unloaded; I make sure they check it as well - once again, it's just a good habit to get into.

Guns are tools, dangerous tools to be certain but nothing more. They're no more dangerous by themselves than a hammer, a circular saw, or a toaster - they require a human hand to function, and it is that human hand - and the brains (or lack thereof) behind that hand about which we should concern ourselves. Regulating trigger pulls or requiring loaded chamber indicators or magazine disconnects or fifteen independent safeties or biometric lockouts will never replace a rock-solid understanding of the Four Rules of Gun Safety for reducing accidents and tragedies.

I hate having to repeat this, because it almost invariably follows a tragic accidental shooting.

That is all.

Link sent by PISSED - thanks for the safety reminder. Also note a new category called "Safety Nazi" - I hope to not add any more stories like the above to it, but I fear I will...

Even More MA "Justice"...

Man faces double murder charges

LOWELL — Court records indicate that Edwin Nunez may have been a one-man crime wave on Westford Street. He has been arrested and charged with stabbing a man there in 2007, fighting with another in a late-night drunken rage that woke dozens of residents in 2008, and breaking into his former girlfriend’s house last year while she slept, according to the records.

But those crimes, for which it was unclear last night if he has been convicted, pale in comparison to the latest charge against him, double homicide. Prosecutors say Nunez stabbed two women over drugs Friday afternoon. He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Are you kidding me? For three years running he commits violent crimes and yet is still out on the street? He's out and about a year after stabbing someone, gets into a violent fight and a year later is arrested for B&E. Every one of these crimes should have landed him in jail for years - years - and yet he's still skulking around, a free man. One can only hope that they'll throw the book at him for his latest crime, which apparently in MA means he'll serve two or three years for the double homicide.

These are the same people that want to limit my ability to buy firearms - or magazines for firearms - because they claim it will lower crime. FUCK YOU. Start throwing the damn criminals in jail and leaving them there before you start hacking away at my rights. I've had two tickets for speeding in my entire life - that is the grand extent of my criminal record. Yet they want to impose a direct impingement on my Second Amendment rights over some nebulous "public safety" claim that has not been proven to work in any place it has been tried.

Here's a hint - lock the damn goblins up and stop harassing the law abiding and you'll see crime go down - it's just that simple.

That is all.

More Stuff I Hate...

Definitely stories like this:

2 Bikers In Crash In Mass.

METHUEN, Mass. (AP) ― Two motorcyclists are dead after a crash in Methuen.

Police say 35-year-old Matthew Phillips, of Wilmington, was riding a motorcycle westbound on Route 110 at about 9:40 Tuesday night when it crossed into the eastbound lane, struck a car and then collided with two other motorcycles.

The story (there's not much more at the link) doesn't get into whether the deceased were riding together or if the second guy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, so right now it's premature to speculate on his part in the crash. Phillips, though, represents everything I hate about squids. 35 years old and you're pulling stupid "Jackass" style stunts on traffic-choked main streets? I'm sorry, but I can't seem to work up much sympathy for his demise.

What irks me most is that every person on that highway; every first responder; every person viewing that story on the news is going to come away with a more negative view of motorcyclists because of stories like these. Because some immature clown treats a 100+ HP street machine like a toy, I've got every busybody and do-gooder trying to pass laws outlawing my bike or disallowing me from riding in certain areas or pulling me over for my pipes (even though they're perfectly legal and from the factory).

It's a lot like being a gun owner, actually. Every time you open YouTube and see some jerkweed hand his 95 pound, never-shot-a-gun-before girlfriend a pistol gripped 12 gauge and then laugh hysterically when she hits herself in the head with the recoil, doesn't it make you want to scream? Wouldn't you - if possible - reach into the video, grab the offending yutz and pound him into a reddish-brown smear? I just cringe every time I see a firearm used like a toy or a prop - it's a shocking lack of respect for a powerful tool, and eventually someone is going to pay the butcher's bill.

Be careful out there, folks, G-d clearly loves idiots, for he made so many of them...

That is all.

Not What You'd Expect...

So, last Sunday when I was shooting at my club with Lissa and Mike, we watched one of Darwin's rejects lumber across the range... Yes, as we were shooting, a woodchuck waddled across the very back of the rifle range (~ 160 yards from the bench, in case you were wondering). Now, granted, we were shooting at the 50 yard station with a .22LR to get warmed up, but the fact remains that there was active gunfire and this stupid rodent is out wandering around the backstop.

I was sorely tempted to grab the Bushmaster and send the whistlepig to his maker, but managed to restrain myself from putting any additional holes in the varmint. I didn't stop shooting when he wandered across the berm, though; if a stray .22LR or two happened to ricochet off the packed dirt and perforated his ass, tough rocks. Out of curiosity, I looked up what the MA laws were on the removal of groundhogs from one's property, and came across this tidbit:

Shooting: Shooting is quick, simple, and effective in rural areas where firearms discharge is safe and lawful. A .22 caliber centerfire rifle is commonly used for this purpose. At close ranges (less than 25 yards), a 12-gauge shotgun with #4-6 shot may be effective. This method will be most useful when targeting a few persistent animals. But, again, during population peaks, or when foods are particularly attractive, new woodchucks will quickly move in to replace those that have been removed.

(found here)

Yes, the state of Massachusetts - that liberal fortress, bluest of the blue states, bastion of the progressives - advocates shooting groundhogs with a 12 gauge shotgun. Heh.

That is all.

Hard To Imagine...

...that the same company that brought us the "Fugly" could produce this:

DL Classic

It is my pleasure to present to you the "DL Classic" from Dragon Leather Works. It's the first in a line of exotic-skinned leather OWB holsters from Dragon Leather Works, with other exotics joining the line down the road. This is the logical progression of the line, joining the utilitarian "Fugly" for rugged, durable IWB duty and the Pistol Pouch for covered OWB carry. The DL Classic has the same bulletproof construction as the Fugly or the Pistol Pouch, but adds a touch of elegance to your carry rig.

Hey, BBQ guns need holsters, right?

Here's a shot with my Gold Cup tucked snugly inside:

Like it was made for it!

I love the way the python and the stainless steel compliment each other. I like how the walnut grips look with the trim. Heck, I like the way everything looks with this. I might have to move to NH just so I can OC with this... Like this:

It Looks Good On Me...

Yeah. That'll do...

That is all.

Simply Fascinating...

Sent to me by PISSED was the following interesting story, which was found here.

BP Oil Spill: Clean-Up Crews Can't Find Crude in the Gulf

For 86 days, oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's damaged well, dumping some 200 million gallons of crude into sensitive ecosystems. BP and the federal government have amassed an army to clean the oil up, but there's one problem -- they're having trouble finding it.

At its peak last month, the oil slick was the size of Kansas, but it has been rapidly shrinking, now down to the size of New Hampshire.

Now, granted, there may very well be "millions and millions" of gallons of oil lurking just below the surface that we haven't seen. It's possible that there still looms an ecological armageddon just waiting for humanity to become complacent again, then foisting a petroleum-based Godspilla on us when we least expect it. I don't claim to be an expert on the oil business by any stretch of the imagination, but I know a little bit about chemicals, specifically dispersants and surfactants, and it's simply amazing what a little bit can do.

It's also possible that the cries of "low-balling" the oil spill rate might have been unfounded - I mean, it's not like the environmentalists have never played fast-and-loose with the truth for some perceived gain before... Smarter people than I pointed out, repeatedly, during the actual crisis that no one wanted that spill stopped more than British Petroleum - every single gallon that leaked out of that well was a gallon they couldn't sell. On top of being a PR nightmare and an environmental disaster, it lost them a ton of money - not even counting the money they had to set aside for cleanup.

Perhaps we ought to accuse the enviro-Nazis of "high-balling" the damage?

That is all.

Home for Wayward Uppers...

My brother-from-another-mother Zercool has a slick looking AR upper for sale.

For Sale

Per Z's description, specs are as follows:

Gently used DPMS upper. BAN COMPLIANT.
20" DCM Post-ban
20" stainless heavy barrel, free floated
1/8 twist
.223 chamber
A2 match sights (NM Rear sight, 1/4 min. windage, 1/2 min ele., & .030/.040 Aperture)
Front post replaced with KNS duplex reticle
Complete BCG
Includes DCM-legal handguard weight

If this beauty were a flattop upper, she'd be mine after the shoot. As is it, I've already got one carry handle upper and would prefer a flattop there as well; that heavy barrel is mighty tempting, though. Oh, and that reticle is mighty slick...

Someone, please, buy this upper before I weaken...

That is all.

Shhh! Ya Wanna Git Soooed?

Apparently some douchebag who owns some fishwrap out west is suing Clayton Cramer's Armed Citizen blog for copyright infringement. Being as how this particular blog tends to excerpt from sources, I'll admit that it made my sphincter pucker a little to see this going down. I hunted down some information on "Fair Use" just for a little clarification:

Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work

Well, this blog is definitely non-profit. Educational, well, if you mean learning new and creative ways to tell other drivers to perform physical impossibilities on themselves, then I guess that covers it. I tend to excerpt very small portions of articles for this very reason - it's hard to argue that I'm deriving any benefit from linking the first 2 or 3 paragraphs of an article.

Joe Huffman points us to this post over at "No Lawyers - Only Guns and Money" which lists which media outlets are owned by the same group that is suing The Armed Citizen. He has also generously created a "blacklist" search here where you can "check to see if a URL belongs to an organization likely to sue if their content is referenced without payment." Thanks Joe! (and please don't sue me! I have no money anyways!).

I don't know what we can do about such parasites as the company suing Clayton, but if there's a defense fund set up, I'd be happy to donate...

That is all.

My Reputation Precedes Me...

I like it when my blogchildren send me blogfodder. It's even better when it fits me to a T. Zeeke42 sent this link to this picture:

They know me!

That is all.

No, Seriously?

So, I get home from work last night, and Mrs. G. tells me that TheBoy lost his water bottle. Now, you parents out there are shrugging and saying, yeah, so what? Kids lose water bottles all the time. Heck, my kids are always losing their water bottles - we keep several sets going at any given time because we know a replacement bottle may need to be pressed into service at a moment's notice. But this time it was different: He didn't actually lose it this time, this time he had to get rid of it.

You see, the summer program we've got the kids enrolled in does a field trip every week. This week it was a trip to see a baseball game at the local A Minor league affiliate team. The ballpark doesn't allow you to bring in food or beverages from outside - it says so right in their FAQ on the web page. So, naturally, when TheBoy went up to the gate with his summer camp group, they made him throw the water bottle out. Their park, their rules. The bus they had chartered picked them up at the school and dropped them off, so he couldn't put it back on the bus, so he had no alternative but to throw away a perfectly good metal water bottle.

I'm a little irked at the camp counselors for letting a nine year old kid get off the bus with the bottle in his hand, but then again, these are teenaged kids working a summer job. All I expect from them is that they leave with exactly [X] kids in the morning, they come back with exactly [X] kids in the afternoon. Ideally they would all be the same kids as what left in the morning, and also not have any protruding bones or gaping flesh wounds, but as long as the kids all make it back, that's about it.

I'm more irked at the ballpark for either allowing a little discretion in letting a nine year old kid into the park with his summer camp group with a simple metal water bottle or at least offer a place to leave such items. I'll give the park attendants the benefit of the doubt here and assume that their hands are tied - that they're not allowed to use their discretion. It's a sad, pathetic world where a kid has to lose his favorite water bottle because of some zero tolerance rule that can't be massaged a little - had he dumped out the water and continued into the park, he would have been obeying their rules to the letter with no food or drink. At the very least, let him put it aside and collect it after the game - you're talking about a single A league on a Monday afternoon; not exactly full capacity.

Anyways, it just rubbed me the wrong way. We gave TheBoy money for lunch and souvenirs, and he was very responsible that way. He even used more money buying water inside the park rather than spending it all on trinkets and such. The idea that we've become a nation that blithely allows grown men and women to tell an elementary school child that they can't bring a friggin' water bottle into a baseball park scares and angers me - even Fenway Park allows water bottles to be brought (in all fairness, they do have to be sealed factory bottles).

One thing's for certain, though: they won't have to worry about us bringing anything into the park in the future - including ourselves.

That is all.

Of *COURSE* They Lie...

The Big Guy points me to an excellent article by John Lott Jr. about the media's shameful treatment of concealed carry permit holders. I'm certain that it will come as no surprise to anyone reading here that the media distorts, omits, and sometimes outright lies about "crimes" allegedly committed by concealed carry holders:

Take Florida, which currently has the most concealed handgun permit holders in the country and is one of the two most populous states with right-to-carry laws. Between Oct. 1, 1987, and May 31 this year, permits had been issued to 1.8 million people. On average, the permits had been held for quite a long time, well over 10 years. For all those individuals across the more than 22 years of legal carry, there were only 167 cases where the permit was revoked for a firearms related violation, or about 0.01 percent of permit holders. While the state doesn’t provide a precise breakdown of the reason for those revocations, the vast majority were apparently for people who accidentally carried their concealed handgun into a gun-free zone, such as an airport or school.

Throughout the past 30 months, beginning January 2008, only three additional permit holders have had their permit revoked for a firearms-related violation. With more than 739,000 active permit holders, that is an annual revocation rate of 0.00017 percent.

In two and a half years, three legal permit holders had their permits revoked for gun violations. I think it's safe to say that legally armed Floridians are more likely to jaywalk than to misuse their firearms inappropriately. All those signs and ads "warning" tourists about armed Florida residents were nothing more than gross and disgusting scare tactics with zero basis in fact.

I know, I know, here's my shocked face: :-|

They lie because they have to - they certainly don't have facts to back them up, that's for damned sure. They have to appeal to emotion because they know that in any argument, they're on the losing end if they have to resort to what is true and real, rather than what they think it should be. That these clowns are considered reputable speaks volumes about the mainstream media's complicity in the leftist attempts to disarm American citizens...

I know, I know, here's my shocked face: :-|

That is all.

Less Than A Week!

Man, the Third Annual Northeast Bloggershoot is coming up fast - less than week away! It's getting close enough for me to start panicking planning some more, so I figured I'd make my list of errands to run beforehand.

I figure I'm gonna need to hit Wally World at some point:

1. Clays (whether for skeet/trap or just as a target)
2. Bug repellent (I cannot recommend this strongly enough!)
3. Name tags (yes, if you're comin' you're gonna wear one. We've got a lot of folks coming!)
4. .45 ACP/9mm/.223 Remington/.22LR

I've got to hit at least one gun shop:

1. 12 gauge 00 buckshot & slugs (the Mossberg's gettin' a workout)
2. 7.62X39mm (Weerd's bringing his new WASR and I want to try her out!)
3. .357 Magnum
4. .44 Magnum (yeah, I think it's time to bust the cannon out)
5. Caliber to be named later not normally found in a box store (heh, figure it out yerself!)

There's targets to be filled (I have over three dozen 2L soda bottles waiting to be filled with water for reactive targets); there's ammo cans to be loaded (I'm bringing a .30 cal can filled with Federal copper-jacketed .22LR for general consumption - and I hear there's gonna be a full-auto .22LR present, so we might make a dent in it this year!); and *lots* of magazines to be loaded.

One other thing I need to do is to take a paint marker to all my magazines. For folks who live in America, losing a magazine isn't a huge deal; for those of us trapped behind the Red curtain in states that have some version of "Assault Weapons" ban, losing a pre-ban magazine hurts a lot more (side note: If anyone coming from a free state has any pre-ban magazines they'd like to exchange for brand new ones, I've got cash...) :)

I'd like to get all the prep done ahead of time (for once) this year. Saturday I'm going to hit a few gun shops in my quest for ammo, then I'm heading out to help set up the sooper seekrit range so our very generous host doesn't wind up doing all the work himself (again). It also gives me a chance to get my little corner staked out ahead of time (hey, being the organizer has its privileges!) so I have more time to greet people and chat and not worry about setting up.

Looking forward to seeing y'all again (and meeting some of you for the first time!) on Sunday!

That is all.

More Like This, Please...

Woman 2, thugs 0 after home invasion

One gun isn't enough.

That was what Linda Smith (a pseudonym) was thinking after two thugs broke into her Oklahoma apartment. One was holding a weapon (she initially thought it was a knife but it turned out to be a screwdriver) at her throat, and the other was pacing back and forth while holding her purse and demanding her money and valuables. She screamed, and was told if she screamed again, she'd be dead.

She was doing as police recommend in robberies – comply with a robber's demands. But her Lady Smith & Wesson .38 special, which she carries by permit, was hidden in her purse – and the purse was being held by one of the attackers.

(Side note, this is why "off-body" methods of carrying concealed do not appeal to me. At some point you will be separated from your sidearm, and since Mr. Murphy will not be denied, chances are that point will be the worst possible time...)

You've just got to love the progression of this story:

1. Scumbags follow her in from getting something from her car.
2. Scumbags take her purse and ask for more valuables.
3. Scumbags figure they'll have some fun while they're at it.

At this point, you've got to wonder just what they had planned after that. "Give them what they want" is the worst possible advice when it comes to goblins. All it does is reward their felonious behavior and encourage more of the same. "Give them copper-jacketed lead at 900 FPS" is much better advice IMHO; and Ms. "Smith" proved that flying lead beats compliance hands-down...

Dead goblin count: 54 (sadly, not 55).

That is all.

Ssssmokin'!

I have the greatest readers in the world.

Reader Jeff sends me this link to the custom chopper built by Orange County Choppers for RUB.

He also included a better picture:

Chopper for Chompin'

Oh yeah. That is EXACTLY what you think it is - a sidehack smoker. God bless America, baby. Oh, sure, having a wood-fired smoker attached to a gasoline-powered motorcycle might have its drawbacks, but it pales in comparison to the sheer awesomeness of rolling up to a summer party ON YOUR SMOKER. It doesn't hurt that it's a badass-lookin' bike to boot.

All of a sudden I've got a hankerin' for some ribs...

That is all.

BoB On The Go...

In amongst the neat gear sent out by LA Police Gear a couple months back was this bag:

Mini-Bug Out Bag

This is their "Bail Out Bag Jr." (and look, it's on closeout!) which they tout as:

Is the Original Bail Out Bag a little too large? Do you need a more discreet way to carry your gear? Maybe you need a cheap tactical lunch bag?

The LA Police Gear Bail out Bag Jr. is your solution! Even with it's smaller, compact design, this bag has many of the same great features as the Original Bail Out Bag.

The first thought I had when I took it out of the box and got a good look at it was that it was the perfect size to keep in the truck as an emergency bag. It's not quite a Bug Out Bag, as it's not intended to hold supplies for a week's worth of hiding out, but it's a great size to hold enough stuff should I get snowed in somewhere or wind up off the road in a remote area. The thinking is that it should have enough gear to get me safely through a night or so and still be portable should I need to get out of (the) Dodge.

Here's what I'm thinking should go in the bag:

• Hand crank flashlight
• Energy bars
• Emergency blanket
• Poncho
• Multi-tool
• Cell phone with car charger
• 20-24 ounce water bottle
• Matches
• Disposable lighter
• Trash bags
• Fixed blade knife

I'm figuring the water and the energy bars can be rotated out on a yearly basis - perhaps when the truck gets inspected - and everything else can stay in the bag under the seat pretty much indefinitely. I've got a separate, fully stocked first aid kit already in the truck so that's not an issue; I'm not preparing for TEOTWAWKI with this kit, merely a rather temporary crisis that might keep me sidelined for 24 hours or so. If needed I can grab the bag and bring it with me - and the first aid kit can be attached to it - to help get me to a location where I can get help.

I figure a flashlight that doesn't need batteries is a must-have - I already have a couple LED lights kicking around the truck as well as a Maglight, but Murphy says those will be dead with the SHTF. The energy bars and water will do in a pinch for nourishment; certainly not enough to live on for any great length of time but enough to stave off starvation/dehydration for a day or two (I also keep a six pack of 10 ounce bottles under the seat for the kids' sports events when they forget their sports bottles...). The ponchos and trash bags are to keep me and my gear dry - I'm assuming that inclement weather will be necessitating this bag - and the blanket in case it's winter. Matches/lighter for starting a fire for warmth and/or visibility, and a knife for many reasons. I know I'm forgetting a bunch, but this is a start.

What other gear would be useful in this sort of bag?

That is all.

Gone Shootin'

Off to the rifle range with Lissa and Mike for some rifle-shooting goodness. Got word from the club secretary that the new badges were on their way and that last year's badge is still good, so we're off to shoot some rifles. Got both centerfire and rimfire on the docket; all are scoped in some manner.

It's gonna be a good day, I can feel it...

That is all.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Art I Like...

My buddy Dan sent me an e-mail with some examples of James Corbett's art. He figured it was right up my alley. He was right:

(image link here)

Go take a look - there's some wild and really cool stuff there...

That is all.

Typical...

Yet another "do as I say, not as I do" Democrat...

Mass. Sen. Kerry docks yacht in RI, saving $500K

BOSTON—Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is docking his family's new $7 million yacht in neighboring Rhode Island, allowing him to avoid paying roughly $500,000 in taxes to his cash-strapped home state.

If the Isabel were kept at the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee's summer vacation home on Nantucket or in Boston Harbor near his city residence, he would be liable for $437,500 in one-time sales tax. He would also have to pay $70,000 in annual excise taxes.

Nice. This is the same yutz that yammered on and on about Bush's "tax cuts for the wealthy", and here he is deliberately avoiding paying taxes. Nice.

The MA GOP was on top of things, though:

"While we can fault the senator for his hypocrisy on taxes or having his boat built halfway around the world instead of here in the USA, John Kerry proves an important point that taxes in Massachusetts are too high. If they are too high for someone as rich as Senator Kerry, they are absolutely too high for working-class taxpayers who are being squeezed at every turn," said a statement issued by party Chairwoman Jennifer Nassour.

Check and mate, Senator Kerry.

That is all.

Thanks to #2 blogson for sending this my way!

Here's Hoping This Isn't An Omen...

Autopsy planned for Keizer man killed in Seal Rock cannon blast

A 38-year-old Keizer man died Saturday night after a cannon explosion in Seal Rock, the Lincoln County Sheriff's office said.

Eric Rose was helping to load a black powder cannon device when it exploded in the property's back yard and he was struck by a piece of shrapnel.

Black powder may be used in antique firearms, but that doesn't mean that it's not still dangerous. In this case, it appears that someone who didn't have a firm grasp of the pressures involved loaded too much powder into a vessel that was not built to withstand that particular amount of force. I'm certain we've all had analogous - yet not as disasterous - situations in our own lives - whether it be loading too much soap into the washer, or too much water into a coffeemaker, etc. The level of attention one needs to pay to one's task increases exponentially when the substance in question goes boom...

And this is why people who don't know exactly what they're doing shouldn't fabricate cannons...

That is all.

Link sent by brad_in_ma, who was assured that the cannon we might light off at the Bloggershoot was made by someone who certainly knew what he was doing...

Be Careful Out There...

Sebastian has a story about a guy at a public shooting range who was murdered for his rifle.

Here's the gun that was taken:

Police are still looking for the shooter. Meantime they’re asking firearms dealers to check their inventory to see if they may have a custom built AR-15 type semi-automatic rifle with a Lewis Machine Company model Defender 2000 lower receiver equipped with a 30 HRT upper receiver and a Yankee Hill Machine Company Phantom model 308 caliber silencer.

Sounds like a nice rig. Not worth riding the lightning over, mind you... It appears from the autopsy that the proper owner of the rifle was murdered from a distance - not only is the person who did this a murderer and a thief, but he's also a coward. Let's hope he dies a coward's death.

The range where this happened is no stranger to crime, either:

On May 21st, North Middleton Township Police say they another firearm was reported stolen from that same shooting range, where Getgen was killed. It was a 308 caliber Remington 700 tactical rifle.

If you're going to an open, public range, use the buddy system. It could quite literally save your life. Even those of us who shoot at private clubs can't let our guards down - I know folks at my club are a little lax when it comes to locking the gate behind them. Also, there's very little to stop someone from walking around the gate, and the club doesn't see a lot of use during the work week - someone could very easily follow a single vehicle in and see what happens. I've had folks drive in unannounced because of someone leaving the gate open - fortunately we have a long dirt driveway and it's not hard to hear someone coming, so I was well-aware of their presence before they could see me (we have a covered area for the pistol range).

It's a shame that we have to even think about this, but better to be safe at the range in all aspects...

That is all.

Not Quite What You'd Think...

3 Somerville Police Officers Stabbed, Suspect Dead

SOMERVILLE (WBZ) ― Three Somerville police officers were stabbed responding to a call at a home Friday morning.

The suspect, a woman, according to neighbors, was shot dead.

Not the usual domestic violence call, I would imagine. It just goes to show that the need for situational awareness is truly blind to gender - psychotic SO's can be female as well as male (although, yes, the preponderance are in fact men). There's precious little to go on, but I do find this interesting:

According to neighbors, police were called to the home earlier in the morning for a dispute between the woman and her boyfriend.

The woman was removed from the home, but came back and allegedly tried to start a fire.

That's such a tough one to call. With what little information we're given, it would seem that the cops showed up the first time, were asked to remove her from the premises, did such, and left - which is certainly all they should be expected to do. Assuming that there were no crimes committed that they could arrest her for - or that the boyfriend didn't want to press charges - there's very little the police can do except make sure she vacates.

And I'm equally certain when they got the second call, they both rolled their eyes and also knew it was coming - in cases like these, just sending someone on their way with a stiff warning rarely gets the message across. Ideally a night in the local holding tank takes the edge off the crazy - or allows the person of interest to sober up - and the two go their separate ways. This is about the worst possible outcome for all involved - a woman is dead and three cops have to second-guess their actions for the rest of their lives. I'm certain that the shooting was necessary - you don't have the luxury of asking the person stabbing you what their intentions are - but they still have to live with that.

In various discussions around the gun boards and the gun blogosphere, the question comes up from time to time and in different forms: Would you intervene? Sometimes the scenario is a convenience store hold-up, sometimes a road rage incident - either between a CCW holder and someone else or between two unrelated parties with a CCW holder as observer, and sometimes as a domestic violence question. Now, I've got a remarkably low tolerance for domestic violence, especially male-on-female. You want a really angry shaved head biker? Slap a woman in my presence. But stories like the above really drive home how careful we need to be before we rush to judge.

Imagine being a private citizen happening upon that scene. Here's a man and a woman, both highly agitated. It's probably they were both yelling at each other; tempers are flared, folks aren't using their best possible judgement. You may have seen the cruisers on the scene earlier. Now imagine that you see the man pushing the woman out of the house. You might make the decision, based on what you're seeing, that he's the aggressor - when in fact he's acting in a purely defensive manner to get this psychotic person off his property (especially since she's trying to light the place up).

I'm not saying we shouldn't intervene - it would be a cold, dead world where we stopped caring about our fellow man and helping where we can. Just that it's something to be considered before we take action - heck, it's something we should be thinking about and planning for long before we hit the streets. How do you respond? What actions do you take, what should you take, what are the potential consequences for being wrong? We need to balance the weight on our conscience should we do nothing versus the consequences if we do the wrong thing.

It's a tightrope act, that's for certain, but it's definitely something to think about.

That is all.

It Wouldn't Be Friday Without Vicious Circle...

Yes, it's Vicious Circle #60!

Join alan, Jim, Weerd, Stingray and LabRat, WhiteBread, Kevin Baker (not Bacon) and your humble host as we discuss - among other digressions - this Jornolist thing, the bias of the media, the dumbing down of America, and the Remington XP100 in 7mm Benchrest...

Vicious Circle: We're like the island of misfit podcasts.

That is all.

Friday Gun Pr0n #173

I mentioned in my first "1911 for Dummies" post that a family portrait was forthcoming:

The Happy Family

Three Government model and one Officers model. All Colts. All in G-d's own pistol caliber, .45 ACP. One's an original Colt 1911; two are Colt 1991a1s, and, of course, the Gold Cup National Match. The original 1911 is one of the oldest pistols in the G. armory; the Gold Cup is one of the most accurate (although not when I'm shooting it sometimes...); the 1991A1s are fun for general .45 ACP recoil therapy (and the Compact gets carry time in the winter...)

Is 1911. Is good.

That is all.

Now That's A Crappy Thing To Do!

Newark Budget Cuts

MYFOXNY.COM - Things are getting so bad in Newark that the mayor has ordered the government to stop buying toilet paper.

It's part of Newark Mayor Cory Booker's belt-tightening plans that include reducing most city workers to a 4-day work week and shuttering city pools. Booker estimates that the pool closures alone would save $250,000. He also says that no gas will be purchased for municipal vehicles that are not deemed critically important.

Oh my. I wonder what the various and sundry unions will think of that... Oh, wait...

Police officers, firefighters and sanitation workers would not be affected by the furlough plan.

Wow, go figure. The mayor of Newark doesn't want to mess with the sanitation workers. He doesn't want to sleep with the fishes, apparently... Could there be any more fitting budget cut than city-wide toilet paper? I mean, really. It's perfect for NJ.

"Welcome To New Jersey. Hope you wiped."

That is all.

Props to PISSED for sending me this, err, shitty story...

Guilty Pleasures...

Oh, we've all got 'em. Sure, we try to hide the Barry Manilow records when company comes over, or we only sing in the shower when everyone else is out of the house, but I'll bet everyone's got at least a couple of "guilty pleasures" they indulge in when they think no one's watching. In the interest of helping clear the air and not keeping secrets (and also a lack of time for more serious blogging), here's a few of mine...

• Mötley Crüe. Well, substitute pretty much any '80s hair metal band here, but especially the 'Crüe. This is what sparked this post, actually; I was spinning through the radio dial on the ride into work and the '80s channel on Sirius was playing "Kickstart My Heart", which is right up there with "Move It On Over" for songs that get Jay in trouble with Johnny Law...
• Cheesy sci-fi movies. Think "Fifth Element" or "RoboCop". Bonus points for really bad special effects or over-the-top future predictions. Basically, any movie that lets me shut my brain off, enjoy the pretty pictures, and forget about the world for 90 - 120 minutes will do the trick.
• Tricked-out cars & trucks. Yes, even the "ricer" ones. I'm a car guy from way back. I'm firmly of the opinion that anything Detriot, Tokyo, or Stuttgart can put out, the aftermarket can make cooler. You want to take that F-150, jack it up 6" and put 38" tires on it? Cool! You want to drop your Civic 3", put 20" rims on with snakeskins, add ground effects and a loud muffler? Bitchin'! If you're putting your own personal spin on your vehicle, it's all good.
• Dunkin' Donuts coffee. Yeah, I know the secret is a bucketload of sugar and way too much half&half. It still tastes damn good, and there's nothing quite like a thermonuclear cup of a Dunks reg'lah to get you going in the morning when you'd really rather be back in your nice warm bed.
• .22 Long Rifle. I'll plan trips to the range where I bring nothing more than a .22LR revolver, a .22LR semi-auto pistol, and a .22LR rifle. Put the swinging steel targets at the back of the pistol range and spend the day hearing the distinctive "tink!" of copper-plated lead on steel. It's not a very guilty pleasure except when there's other shooters on the line blasting away with their .45s and .357s...
• Loud motorcycles. Yeah, I know "loud pipes lose rights". I know loud pipes annoy most folks. But I can't help but smile when I hear a V-twin under full throttle... I don't know that I'd want to ride a loud bike all the time, but it would nice to have something with a little extra oomph for once in a while...

So, what are your guilty pleasures?

That is all.

Someone Call Spielberg...

...there's another menace on the beach.

Jellyfish stings as many as 150 at N.H. beach

A large dead jellyfish wreaked havoc on a New Hampshire beach yesterday, stinging as many as 150 people, most of them children, and sending five to the hospital, fire officials said.

Panic ensued at Wallis Sands State Park in Rye, where emergency officials were called at about 1:30 p.m. and told that anywhere from 125 to 150 people had been stung, Lieutenant Charles Gallant of the Rye Fire Department said.

"Panic" over a jellyfish? We don't tend to have the real nasty ones here, but it still hurts like a really bad bee sting. There were children's summer camp groups there, and apparently when emergency crews arrived there were crying kids everywhere. Certainly a lousy end to a fun-filled day at the beach, that's for sure.

It does get you to thinking, though, about the importance of being prepared. Knowing what to do in such cases - as well as keeping your head when all goes pear-shaped - is the key to minimizing the trauma to all involved. Getting the kids out of the water in an orderly fashion, treating the wounds of those most severely injured, and calming down the rest of the group is the order of the day; it would be interesting to know what procedures each group had in place for a large-scale incident.

There's a reason the Boy Scouts motto is "Be prepared"...

That is all.

The Drought Continues...

I thought my long drought had come to an end earlier this week. I had been idly perusing the local gun board's classifieds, and came across a real gem: A Smith & Wesson model 64-1. It's a 4" barrel .38 Special in stainless with fixed sights (and a horrid set of plastic grips); nothing terribly special about it except that it's a dead ringer for the model 65 my dad carried as a MA state cop (the 65 is a .357 Magnum, that's the only difference as far as I can tell).

Sadly, the good price was a little too good, and by the time I'd gotten permission told the Mrs. about it, it was gone. So now I'm in a bad place - I've gotten the green light on a new purchase, I have the money in hand, and there's no gun to be bought. This usually results in Jay making very poor impulse buy decisions... It's also brought a very serious case of the Igottahaveits to the forefront of my mind - I've already had the thrill of the chase as I find the perfect gun, only to have it whipped out from under me...

So I'm back on the prowl for another firearm. This has been an exceedingly lean year - the past few years I'd been averaging a new (to me; I almost never buy new) firearm every couple of months. This year, I picked up the 10/22 in early May as a late BAG Day acquisition and then... Nothing. This is very unusual for me, and I blame the ammo shortage/price increase - when feeding costs go through the roof, it's hard to justify another mouth to feed...

Now, though, I've got my heart set on a S&W 64 or 65. The more I thought about it, the better it sounded - I have my grandfather's Colt he carried as a town cop; why not a stand-in for the MA State Police-issued model 65 that dad carried as a statie? It was the first firearm I ever touched - dad made sure I knew how to load and unload it and check to make certain it was unloaded - at a very early age (I think I was 4 or 5). It'd be a hoot to have something similar to dad's duty gun to add to the collection.

*Sigh* I guess the chase is back on...

That is all.

A Black Eye...

I hate shit like this, I really do.

Westport man charged with illegally shooting goose

WESTPORT — A Beaulieu Street man faces 18 felony counts after police charged him with illegally shooting a Canada goose on Monday.

James E. Dalton, 53, was arrested Monday afternoon after a neighbor reported that Dalton shot a goose, then dragged it into his home.

...
Police then secured a search warrant for Dalton's apartment and found seven firearms, four shotguns and three rifles. None of the guns were secure, according to police, and Dalton did not have a license to possess them. In one room, under some newspapers, police found a dead goose that had been shot in the back.

There's just layers upon layers of fail here. First off, WTF was this idiot thinking shooting a goddamn goose in an apartment complex? I honestly cannot even begin to comprehend the thought process that says, "hey, I live in an apartment. There's a lot of people in a small area here. I think I'll go illegally shoot some guns I don't have a permit to possess at a protected animal."

Look, I'm sympathetic to the not having a permit part and the improper storage part. This is still America, and you shouldn't need a permit simply to own a firearm. In the vast majority of states, he committed no crime just by owning the guns. But he wasn't in the vast majority of states, he was in the Volksrepublik of Massachusetts: US Constitution, void where prohibited by MA law. The onus was on him to know the MA laws, and he failed at that.

But when you start shooting at passing wildlife, you lose all sympathy points as far as I'm concerned. This goes from, "simple mistake, he didn't realize how far gone MA was" to "he's an arrogant POS who thought the law didn't apply to him". Had it been a case where the landlord let someone in to do maintenance and they saw a firearm and dimed him out - and nothing more - I'd be a lot more likely to commiserate with the poor SOB who finds out the hard way that the Constitution doesn't apply in MA.

But jackasses like this douche poison the well for all law-abiding gun owners. For every hundred of us, every thousand even, that own and use our firearms responsibly, all it takes is one jackoff shooting at geese in his apartment complex to hand the media a gift-wrapped stereotypical gun owner. Ignorant of the law, indifferent to public safety, careless with dangerous weapons; this guy has every single negative connotation with which the antis love to tag gun owners. Hell, look at the damn mugshot. All the guy needs is a mullet to be more of a caricature...

I view guys like this in very much the same manner as the guys on sportbikes doing wheelies at 100 MPH on the highway. With one stupid, reckless move, they make every single person within line of sight hate all motorcyclists. As they weave in and out of traffic, missing bumpers by microns, all those cagers are looking on in disgust and transferring that one jerkweed's insouciance to all motorcyclists. They will look at me on my Harley as just another piece of biker trash, and hey, who cares if he's in the lane where I'm turning, he's just a piece of crap biker like the guy doing the wheelie.

A few bad apples spoil the bunch - there's a lot of truth to that pithy aphorism...

That is all.

Thanks to brad_in_ma for sending me this story, regardless of how high it may push my blood pressure...

Insert More FAIL Here...

Somedays I try to post something uplifting. More often than not, I post something that has infuriated me to the point where I need to post it just to vent. Other times, I post something so that I may mock it and point derisively. And other times - obviously today being one of those times - the weird, she finds me...

Brad_in_ma was kind enough to send me the fourth "news of the weird" story for today"

Ho ho oh no: Chimney burglar convicted

It only took a King County jury about an hour to return a guilty verdict Tuesday against a would-be burglar who got stuck in a chimney last February while trying to break into South Seattle house.

Shon M. Shanell, 23, was convicted of attempted residential burglary for the Feb. 19 incident at a home in the 7700 block of Seward Park Avenue North.
...
Investigators said Shanell -- later dubbed the "Santa Claus burglar" -- made it most of the way down the soot-filled shaft, but the bottom proved to be too narrow, and he became stuck on top of the fireplace flue.

Why can I not get Weird Al's "Christmas At Ground Zero" out of my head: "but if someone's climbin' down your chimney/you'd better load your gun and shoot to kill"... I'm just trying to wrap my head about this sort of idiocy - this numbskull has apparently never seen a hearth, at least not one made in the past hundred years or so. While it's a good thing that nothing was stolen, something tells me that the homeowners would have been better off had he broken a window and stolen some electronics - repairing a chimney ain't gonna be cheap...

You know what bothers me? This:

He will be sentenced Aug. 5 and faces 15 to 20 months in prison.

15 months, meaning he'll plea bargain for 10 months and be let out in 6 for good behavior, if he even serves that much time. He committed several crimes, cost untold thousands in city services while police, fire, and EMS responded, damaged private property through sheer dumbassery, and will be out in less time than most folks spend for tax evasion (unless you're a Democrat, in which case you become part of the Øbama administration...).

He's just damn lucky that no one was home and enjoying a nice evening by a roaring fire - we would have had Shon's nuts roasting on an open fire...

That is all.

When You're On A Roll...

Sometimes it's best to continue rolling with it. In what appears to be a theme for today, here's even more news of the weird:

Breaching whale crash-lands on sailboat

(CNN) -- A sailor has described her "miraculous" escape after a whale leapt out of the water and crash-landed on the deck of her boat off the coast of South Africa.

Paloma Werner, 50, of the Cape Town Sailing Academy, and her partner Ralph Mothes had been watching the whale from a distance in Table Bay, near Cape Town harbor, when it moved toward their 10-meter vessel and breached 20 meters away.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall when that gets called into the insurance company, eh?

"Hello, I'm calling to report a claim."

"Would this be home, auto, or other?"

"Other. It's a maritime policy for a boat"

"What is the nature of your claim?"

"A whale crushed my sailboat."

[click]

Oddly enough, the boat did not suffer any frame damage, nor does it appear that the whale was permanently injured. The sailboat is going to need, and we quote from a reliable source, "a paintjob and a s**tload of screen doors".

Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week.

That is all.

Even More News of the Weird...

John from NeatoGeek sent me a head-scratcher as well:

Robber holds up bank with bunch of flowers

The thief approached the cashier's window in the United States with a large bouquet of flowers and handing over a hold-up note.

Police told The New York Post they were examining a large bunch of blooms - yellow chrysanthemums, orange and red daisies, and gladiola buds, among others flowers - used by the man in the robbery last week.

Here's the oddest part: This wasn't his first holdup using foliage:

The New York Post reported that it was the second known bank heist by the suspect, who last week robbed a different New York bank armed with a potted houseplant.

99% of my readers are coming up with some variation of "Assault with a deadly shrubbery" right now, I can feel it...

That is all.

UPDATE: I cannot believe I missed this pun. I'll bet the first thing the robber said was:

"Nobody move! I have a pistil!"

YHGTBSM, The Funny Edition...

Sent to me by Yuri of The Real Gun Guys is this head-scratching tale from my very own state:

Massachusetts Policeman Resigns After Leaving Beat to See Midget Porn Star

A Massachusetts police officer resigned after leaving his beat to see a dwarf porn star called "Bridget the Midget" and lied about the visit during an investigation into the incident, local media reported Tuesday.

Officer Richard P. Bennett, 28, deserted his late-night patrol to visit a gentleman's club where adult film star Bridget "The Midget" Powers -- billed as "the world's smallest porn star" -- was performing last month.

Okay, got it? Officer Friendly deserts his post to go ogle a midget porn star. Pretty stupid, right? Oh, that's not the half of it:

Bennett was in uniform at the time of his visit to Club Alex's in Stoughton and was reported to authorities by at least five other officers, said Stoughton Police Chief Paul Shastany.

HUH?

1. He went IN UNIFORM???
2. There were at least five other officers at the strip club for Bridget the midget?

This story is so full of fail it's in danger of becoming a black hole of fail and collapsing in on itself...

That is all.

Essential (and Not So Essential) Handguns

This month's issue of Guns & Ammo has a story on "A Handgunner's Battery", the essential handguns that every pistolero simply must have. They list four "must-have" calibers and give a examples of each. Naturally, I have several of each.

They list:

1. .22 Long Rifle: For me, it's the S&W model 17 (which G&A names) and the Colt Official Police. I have other .22 revolvers and semi-autos, but it's a tossup between the target-model Smith and the Colt trainer for the best one. The Smith has a slight edge, in that the target sights are adjustable and slightly easier to acquire, but the Colt - even with it's topnotch groove fixed rear sight - still shoots better than it has a right to, even in my inelegant hands.

2. 9mm Parabellum. Here it's a pair of double-stacks for me (but that's all I have in 9mm) - the SigSauer P226 and the Browning Hi-Power (named in article). Both have fixed sights; the Sig has a slight edge in capacity (15 vs. 13), the Browning has a not-so-slight edge in that it was designed by JMB (PBUH) himself. No handgun collection is complete without at least one Hi-Power.

3. .357 Magnum. I've already been through my .357 Magnums yesterday with the weighing, and I'll exchange G&A's listed model 27 for my Model 19. The K-frame is smaller and lighter, yet is sufficient to tame even the most powerful .357 Magnum offerings. I can't argue with their #1 choice, the Python - that's pretty much the ne plus ultra of .357 Magnum revolvers, and someday I will hunt one down and make it mine.

4. .45 ACP. G&A lists a stock Colt Government model, and it's hard to argue with this choice. For me, it would be my WWI military issue 1911 and the Gold Cup, both Colts, of course. A Defender would be nice, as would any one of the modern Officer's sized .45s, but for a gunnie's handgun roster to be complete, there's just gotta be at least one 1911 in the pistol safe.

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I'd like to add a few more categories if I could (of course you can, Jay, it's your blog!). I'd posit that there are a few more handgun options that, while not absolutely essential, certainly round out a handgunner's armory:

A. .38 Special. It's gotta be a snubbie. Short-barreled revolvers present a unique challenge to handgunners. The short sight radius necessitates precise, clear sight pictures; the small frame and light weight means recoil - and the ensuing flinch - is amplified; even the ejector doesn't fully remove the spent brass. Learn to shoot a snubbie passably and all other handguns will be easier to shoot.

B. Mousegun. Along the same lines of the .38 snubbie, a mousegun - a small caliber, easily concealed handgun, typically in .22LR, .25 ACP, or .32 ACP - is another variety that's harder to master but lends skills to all disciplines of shooting. A Baby Browning or Colt Vest pocket .25, a Seecamp .32, or even a Kel-Tec P3AT that require a precise but firm hand and a discerning eye for the tiny sights are good pieces to have in the armory when you get too cocky...

C. Big Bore. And on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, there's nothing quite like a hand cannon or hogleg for days when you really need some serious recoil therapy. Whether it's Dirty Harry's 6" model 29 in .44 Magnum, a Ruger Alaskan in .454 Casull, or a Colt Single Action Army in .45 Long Colt, there's something eminently satisfying about putting up a target and blasting large holes through it. Plus if you have any flinch at all it becomes readily apparent...

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So there are my choices - what are yours?

That is all.