WTS: One Bridge, Location, NY

Congressman: A hacker placed lewd photo on Twitter account

(CNN) -- A weekend controversy involving a lewd photo posted on the Twitter account of Rep. Anthony Weiner is a "prank" caused by a hacker, Weiner told CNN on Monday.

Weiner, a New York Democrat who is one of the leading liberal voices in the House, blamed the photo on a hacker who got control of his social networking accounts.

What's next? The dog ate my amendment? Next thing you know, this guy's gonna claim that he's on his way to a vote and can't be arrested for OUI... Seriously, while it is quite possible that the account was hacked, it's curious that there is no investigation underway - one would think that the Congressman would want proof that it was in fact a hack and not his doing. Color me skeptical when the Congressman's response is:

"Look, you've got the Republicans who are playing games with the debt limit, you've got a Supreme Court justice who's refusing to recuse himself despite conflicts of interest, you have a health care act that's under siege. You know this is a distraction," he told CNN. "I get it."

Deflect much?

And yes, the congressman's name really is Weiner...

That is all.

If Green Is The Color Of Jealousy...

I must look like Boston on St. Patrick's Day then...

Les has video from the Luckygunner Memorial Day Shoot.

Man, that looks like fun... All I can say is, if it happens next year I *will* be there. Even if I have to drive...

I'm not missing that two years in a row, nosirree bob...

That is all.

Hit Piece Much?

Small-scale donations dwindling for Brown

WASHINGTON — The torrent of small campaign contributions from around the country that flooded GOP Senator Scott Brown’s campaign coffers ahead of his special election last year has all but dried up, as the excitement generated by his campaign has faded and some of his votes have disillusioned rank-and-file conservatives.

I am amused how they "determined" that Brown's support was "dwindling":

Since Brown took office in the US Senate, the share of those small contributions has plunged from 54 percent of his financial haul during the race to 15 percent during the first three months of 2011.

Um, perhaps that's because he's in office now, and not actively campaigning for a Senate seat? Just because Teleprompter Jesus is in perpetual campaign mode doesn't mean all politicians are... Is it really news that small donations - the types coming in from individual donors and such - drop off when it's not an active campaign cycle? I'm sure the Globe has an exhaustive analysis of Øbama's campaign ca$h as well, right?

And anyone "disillusioned" with Brown's votes needs to take a good look at reality here - you supported a Northeast Republican. Don't expect the second coming of Ronald Reagan.

That is all.

What Could It Be?

Gunsforsale.com has a new surprise giveaway for June.

They're being surprisingly cagey about it, offering only that the package costs close to $3K and should be a range favorite. I've got a hunch what it is - no, they haven't told me, it's just a hunch - but they'll be officially unveiling the giveaway tomorrow. There's a hint that there might be a picture posted later today, so be sure to check back if you're interested.

And if you're not interested, don't enter the giveaway so I have a better chance at winning!

That is all.

The Thing, Which Must Be Done, Has Been Done.

I have a new shooter report. After a rather lengthy absence from bringing new folks to the range, I have brought another new shooter into the fold. It happened completely out of the blue; I was contacted mere minutes before I was heading out to the range by this new shooter. He was interested in just what it was like going to the range, and asked if he could come along.

In case you hadn't guessed, I brought TheBoy shooting.

I had long planned his first trip to the range. I had the Ithaca M-49 all picked out for the first firearm he would shoot, a heavy single shot rifle that would allow him to get the basics down and demonstrate proper gun safety before moving on to anything else. Perhaps the bolt-action Remington 511 might come along as well; perhaps even the Colt Official Police .22LR trainer.

As they say, the best laid plans of mice and men...

I went to the range with my new Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380 and the mystery T&E gun with the intention of running them through their initial paces. When TheBoy expressed interest in going, I saw it as a golden opportunity to get him acclimated to the shooting range - the flash of the muzzle, the roar of the gun firing, the smell of the cordite, etc. I tend to be pretty methodical when testing a new gun, and it can be pretty boring - fire a couple magazines, take notes, take pictures, then fire a couple more magazines, etc.

We were lucky when we got to my gun club - we were the only ones on the pistol range. This allowed me to take a little extra time setting up, getting some shots on the shooting line, etc. There wasn't anyone else there to ask to pause shooting while I took pictures downrange, etc. Well, TheBoy was good as gold. He kept a respectful and safe distance. He didn't interrupt me while I was shooting. He collected my brass for me. He behaved perfectly.

Towards the end, he asked if he could shoot one of the guns - now, there's no way on G-d's green Earth I was going to hand a pocket 380 to a 10 year old who has never shot a gun before; I'm not a complete farmer. I rummaged around in the range bag and managed to come up with my Sig P226 - which, fortunately, had the .22LR conversion kit still installed. I figured that was a pretty good first gun to try - yes, it's got a wide grip, but he's a pretty big kid.

I started him out with one shot only. He was a little nervous at first, not really knowing what to expect. I gave him a brief overview of sight picture, a few pointers on how to hold it, then cocked the hammer for him and let him take his first shot:

He's a natural!

Not too bad for his first time ever!

After that, we went to two rounds in the magazine, then three. Once TheBoy demonstrated that he could handle multiple shots (which he did perfectly, obeying all Four Rules to the letter), I loaded up a magazine and let him shoot it all. Once he finished the magazine, he was ready to call it a day, but before we left, I had to take one quick shot:

One Happy TheBoy

He's hooked.

Later that night, after BabyGirl G. had gone to bed I hauled out the box 'o' cleaning supplies and sat down to clean everything up. TheBoy came over and took a look, smiling at the Sig as it sat ready for a scrubbing. He inquired about the Colt New Frontier single action .22LR that was also being cleaned (from a previous outing) and asked if he could shoot that sometime, too. I told him that I could arrange that (understatement of the year right there).

I figure his next trip will involve a couple .22LR rifles - definitely the 10/22, and either the Marlin 39A lever action or the Remington 572 pump action - as well as the Sig with conversion kit and a .22LR revolver. I might even bring my steel spinner and let him take a try at making it spin around - nothing like the *ting* of a hit to really get him hooked on shooting. No matter what we bring, or what we shoot, I know he'll be safe and have fun.

And who knows? Maybe he'll be attending the Fourth Annual Northeast Bloggershoot...

That is all.

Unbelievable...

PISSED sent me a link to this story, about a gentleman who used his CCW sidearm to defend himself against a gang of... pitbulls. While reading the story, though, I caught this link in the sidebar:

Mail carrier who defecated in yard gets to keep job

PORTLAND, Ore. - A mail carrier who was caught using a yard as his personal toilet will not be fired.

The incident happened last month at a home in southeast Portland and a neighbor, Don Derfler, captured the man in the act with his camera.

I remember hearing this story last month when it broke and just shaking my head. Now, though, it's rather infuriating. Mentioning this to Mrs. G., who worked as summer help at the post office, she was not surprised, uttering only one word: Union. Now, I'm trying to think about how many seconds I would last at my job if I:

a) Committed indecent exposure while on the clock; and
b) Exposed my co-workers and customers to a biological hazard.

I imagine the amount of time I would remain in the building would be measured only by the amount of time it took them to round out three stout gentlemen to throw me bodily out of the building...

Instead, he keeps his job, being reassigned to another route. One wonders exactly what a postal carrier would have to do to get fired on the spot; I imagine it would have to involve something on the order of a tactical nuclear device - or perhaps membership in the GOP...

And yet folks wonder why unions are looked upon with disdain...

That is all.

The Hits, They Keep Coming...

Both Bob and reader Ben sent in today's addition to the DGC:

Man kills intruder at S.C. home days after burglary

SUMTER, S.C. Authorities say a man shot an intruder in his Sumter home just two days after it was broken into the first time.

Sumter County deputies told The Item of Sumter that someone broke into the man's home Wednesday night and took $3,400 worth of electronics.

The man told deputies he heard a noise around 4 a.m. Friday and came out of his bedroom with a handgun, firing three shots at a man in his living room.

Here we see another instance of a repeat burglary - apparently not enough goblins are getting the message that unauthorized entry into domiciles can lead to untimely ventilation. We must rectify this post haste. Unlike most of the previous DGCs recently, though, this one appears to be solo. In any case, we have a happy ending - the homeowner was not injured in the course of the home invasion.

Dead Goblin Count: 166

That is all.

Fourth Annual Northeast Bloggershoot!

Today is Memorial Day, the unofficial start to summer, so what better time to start thinking about the Fourth Annual Northeast Bloggershoot Meet & Shootin' Spectacular?!?!?!

I've had many people e-mail and/or call me about the summer shoot, asking when it was going to be and if they could help (dunno, and hell yes). The proprietor of the Sooper Seekrit range is on board with hosting our crazy group yet again, so let's start thinking and planning.

---

Let's do it right, shall we?

Date: TO BE DETERMINED - We typically have held the shoot sometime around the last weekend in July/first weekend in August-ish. If we hold the shoot on a Sunday, Paul from Stateline Gun Shop may be able to make an appearance with some of his wonderful toys, so I'd prefer to do it then. Sunday July 31st, August 7th, or August 14th look promising...

Time: Historically starting at 10:00 AM and going until we're kicked out (typically before 5 PM - and to the best of my knowledge Doubletrouble has never kicked anyone out; we generally have had so much shootie fun that we're ready to go home and nap...)

Location: Doubletrouble's sooper seekrit range, the location of which is highly classified.

Attendees: Like last year and the year before, the size of the range limits us to a certain number of folks, although accommodations can be made for larger groups if we don't mind shooting in shifts and such.

Miscellaneous: As with last year, this is a "pack-in, pack-out" shoot - if you want to bring a 1974 Lincoln Continental to shoot the hell out of, go right ahead. Just be prepared to drag the bullet-riddled carcass out with you. We can call the sub shop for lunch, but someone should step up to take care of the lunch order so Mrs. Doubletrouble doesn't have to deal with that again...

---

So who's in, and when do you want to do it?

That is all.

"It's Not About You".

I talked to a good friend of mine last night for a couple hours. He's a former Army Captain who was well on his way to retirement but got out for family reasons, and shared a few details last night I had not known. He had been the commanding officer responsible for presenting the flag to the mother of a private killed in a training accident. He had been present for a half dozen or so honor details, laying to rest a soldier lost in Iraq or Afghanistan. He told me that he had lost 33 friends and acquaintances between the first and second Gulf Wars and Afghanistan.

The title of this post was something said to him at last year's Memorial Day parade by a retired Major. He addressed the group of veterans gathered to march in the Memorial Day and reminded them that if they were here today, it was not about them. It was about those that can no longer march in parades; those who will never again taste the freedom they fought so valiantly to preserve.

Freedom is not free. It has cost many everything they have.

Requiescat in pace

For those that never came back, as least not vertically, please remember.

That is all.

Moving Right Along...

Despite my earlier post, there will be no interruption in the Dead Goblin Count...

Brad_in_ma and The Big Guy both sent me this DGC addition, one that has a twist:

Home invasion leaves one suspect dead, two others arrested

Two men have been arrested following a reported home invasion in Clover Thursday that left their 17-year-old female comrade dead.

Justin Nathaniel Lamarr, 20, of 110 Grier St., Clover, and Jeffery Garrett Gillespie, 17, of 1186 Crossland Drive, Clover, have been found and are in police custody.

I honestly can't remember if this is the first female Dead Goblin - something tells me it's not - but it's certainly rare. On it's face, and once again, there's very little reporting to go with this, it seems like an open-and-shut DGC - three hoods break into someone's home, homeowner responds with deadly force. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Other reports indicate that the victim and the deceased/perps might have known each other; while that's certainly possible, the fact that it appears no charges will be filed indicates that the local PD feel it was a justified shooting and not a drinking party gone wrong...

Interesting note, though: Two 17 year olds and a 20 year old, and yet one of them had a handgun. In most areas, you can't own a handgun until age 21; no state of which I am aware permits one to carry a handgun under the age of 21. The odds of that being a legally acquired handgun, let alone legally carried, are quite slim. Yet this will be decried by the Brady's as not one but two incidents of a firearm being used against a child...

Dead Goblin Count: 165

That is all.

Something I Don't Normally Do...

I don't normally respond to late comments made on "Dead Goblin" posts. Occasionally there will be a "U DIDN'T NO [goblin X] U CANT JUDGE HIM" type comment that appears sometime after the DGC entry. I tend to leave those alone, letting them speak for themselves.

Comments to this post, particularly the last one, though, do merit a response.

In this case, it certainly does seem like the shooting was, while justified, quite regrettable. With more facts coming out, it seems like the deceased in question was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, a series of lifetime bad choices all culminating in a scared homeowner taking his life.

Did he deserve to die? That's the million dollar question.

See, it's real easy, from the vantage point here, to second-guess the homeowner. We know (assuming the facts as presented are correct) that the deceased was merely cutting through the property in an attempt to evade the police. It does not appear as though he posed any threat to the homeowner - from this vantage point.

That's the problem. It's real easy to look at things and say, hey, the kid didn't pose a threat, why'd he have to shoot him? It's another thing entirely to have some stranger in your backyard, not responding to your queries, lurking about and trying not to be spotted. The thing is, the homeowner had no idea this was just some drunk guy hiding from the cops. There's no way to know the difference between someone like the deceased and someone like Christopher Gribble, a lunatic with a knife and no qualms about brutally murdering someone just for fun.

From all accounts, looking back with 20/20 hindsight, it certainly appears as though Shane did not deserve to die. He did something stupid - and putting yourself in a position where you have to run from the cops, hiding in a stranger's yard is stupid, let's not kid ourselves here - and he paid the ultimate price for it. Only two people know for certain what happened in that backyard, and one is dead. What is not in dispute, however, is that the deceased was trespassing; he was inebriated; and he was hiding from the police.

It's interesting how the same story can look so radically different depending on perspective. Friends of the deceased see this as a young man, out drinking with his friends, who makes one mistake (hiding in someone's backyard) and getting killed because of it. I'd wager a good number of us have been somewhere we shouldn't have been at one point in our lives or another; it'd be a rare bird indeed who didn't have at least one version of "and then the cops showed up". I won't pretend I don't.

But from the homeowner's perspective, you've got someone in your backyard - in your personal space - with cops prowling the neighborhood looking for *something*. You call out to get the hell out and receive no answer - or maybe the stranger ducks down, trying to avoid your sight. You have no idea that this some drunk kid trying to stay out of jail - all you know is that the cops are looking for someone and someone is hiding in your backyard. You tell them to leave and they don't - do you wait for them to come crashing through the back door before you act?

I hope I never have to make that decision. I pray for that homeowner, because unless he's a ghoul he's going to spend the rest of his life kicking himself for the decision he made. He's going to second-guess every second of that encounter: Should I have waited longer? Should I have gone upstairs? Justified or not, he took someone's life. He took away all Shane's tomorrows, all of Shane's chances for redemption.

But it was Shane who put himself in the position where someone had to make the decision to take his life.

That's the part that gets forgotten, the personal responsibility angle. Shane chose to hide in that homeowner's backyard. Shane chose to hide from the cops. Shane chose to go to a party and drink to excess. Shane chose to get in a fight that would result in the cops being called. He made a series of bad calls, none of which by themselves would merit what happened, but when pulled together resulted in a tragedy. He didn't have to die, that's certain - but only he could have prevented it.

And that homeowner is the one who has to live with himself after Shane's mistake.

That is all.

Crankin' Along!

Bob_S sends in yet another addition to the Dead Goblin Count, another addition coming to us [clap][clap][clap] deep in the heart of Texas:

Homeowner Kills Teen Burglary Suspect

FORT WORTH, Texas - A Fort Worth teenager is dead after police said he tried to break into a house and was shot. The incident happened at about noon on Wednesday in the 1100 block of East Jefferson Avenue.

The homeowner said shortly after he returned home from work he heard a noise at his back window. The man said he pulled back the blinds and saw a young man with a crow bar trying to pry the window open.

The homeowner loaded his weapon (seriously? You grabbed an unloaded gun? Preparation!) with the hopes that it would scare off the goblin, to no effect - guess that's another checkmark in the "racking the slide to scare off the goblin is a myth" category. There's the usual "he was a good boy" handwringing by the deceased's mother - not to downplay her account, as no parent wants to bury a child, of course, but "good boy"s do not break into people's homes with a crowbar after being kicked out of school for fighting.

Dead Goblin count: 164

That is all.

Don't F**k With A Spaniard...

Reader Donald sends in the following marvelous story of revenge:

Mother sets fire to her daughter's gloating rapist

A Spanish mother has taken revenge on the man who raped her 13-year-old daughter at knifepoint by dousing him in petrol and setting him alight. He died of his injuries in hospital on Friday.

Antonio Cosme Velasco Soriano, 69, had been sent to jail for nine years in 1998, but was let out on a three-day pass and returned to his home town of Benejúzar, 30 miles south of Alicante, on the Costa Blanca.

Madam, my hat is off to you. That is some SERIOUS badassery. Apparently he served all of nine years for a violent assault and rape when he was let out early (do they have "time off for good behavior" in Spain?). While in the town where the attack occurred, he ran into his victim's mother and taunted her, asking her about her daughter.

Don't poke the Mama Bear. Ever. She will burn your rapist ass to death.

That is all.

YARRRRR!!!

Here's a story worthy of WEERD:

Anchor from Blackbeard ship recovered

(CNN) -- Dead men tell no tales, but the sea does, as shown Friday when an anchor was recovered from the wreckage of pirate Blackbeard's flagship.

An expedition off the North Carolina coast hoisted the nearly 3,000-pound anchor, one of three belonging to the Queen Anne's Revenge.

I don't know why, but I just never associated "pirate" with "coast of North Carolina". Recently, piracy seems limited to the African and Asian coasts, and certainly the Disney influence makes one associate "pirate" with "Caribbean"... Be forewarned, though - if you go on a Wikiwander about Blackbeard it may force you to lose several hours of your day...

Be careful your timbers don't shiver, though...

That is all.

Go. Read. Now.

Larry Correia, glorious bastard that he is, rakes Joe "Plugs" Biden over the coals.

See that? That is a master applying his craft. It's like watching Joe Satriani play the guitar, or Frank Lloyd Wright design a building. Someday, when an institution of higher learning finally gets around to a "Snark 101" Class, that post will be required reading on day one.

Bravo, Larry, Bravo.

That is all.

Lend A Helping Hand...

John Richardson, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the 2011 NRA Convention, has a bleg.

Thanks to reader P.T. we have our own form-letter generator to submit comments to the Office of Management and Budget on the ATF's proposed multiple rifle sale reporting requirement for the Southwest border states. There is a pre-written letter in the generator which you can modify as you wish.

Please forward this to all your friends, family, and others you know who believe in preserving our gun rights and freedoms. This really is an "Army of Davids" approach to use the Instapundit's term. Unlike the Brady Campaign and Mayor Bloomberg's Illegal Mayors, this is a totally grassroots effort done in less than 24 hours. We didn't need a grant from the Joyce Foundation to put this together!

The form is at the link. If you're so inclined, use the form to register your opposition to the ATF's proposal. It's five minutes of your time, and helps to counteract the astroturf of the anti-freedom antigunners. Fill in the form, hit "Submit" and it does the work for you.

Expressing your disapproval of the ATF's shenanigans has never been this easy!

That is all.

Meet The New Boss, Same As The Old Boss...

Alternate title: How's that HopenChange™ workin' out for ya?

Obama approves extension of expiring Patriot Act provisions

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama, who is attending a summit in France, directed the use of an autopen late Thursday to sign key provisions of the Patriot Act that were due to expire at midnight.

By a 250-153 vote, the Republican-led House agreed to extend the expiring provisions of the law passed after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Gitmo. DADT. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and now Libya and possibly Pakistan). And now, the evil and much maligned (rightfully so) Patriot Act. I thought we elected Teleprompter Jesus to SAVE us from the evils of the Chimpy McHaliburton regime, not to bury us under retreads of same?

WEERD put it best: People hated Bush so much they painted him brown and put a D after his name.

That is all.

You See What Happens When You Ignore the DGC?

You miss words of advice like "Don't mess with Texans"...

Both Pistolero and PISSED sent in the following addition to the DGC:

House sitter slays intruder

An intruder was shot dead inside a Northeast Side residence, apparently after driving to the home in a Lexus stolen there two days earlier, police said Wednesday.

Neighbors said the area had been hit hard by burglars this month and some residents were arming themselves.

The man, whose name wasn't released, broke into a home in the 5800 block of Royal Club about 11:50 p.m. Tuesday, a police incident report states.

Pistolero was incredulous that the crooks would go back to the house they had just robbed; I'm not so certain that's necessarily a given. The crooks have already established that the house was an easy mark; why not go back and see what they missed? Fortunately, in this case, the homeowners had friends who could watch the place - and were good shots.

Dead Goblin Count: 163

That is all.

New Article!

I continue my series on some of the new guns at the 2011 NRA Convention over at Guns, Holsters, and Gear.

This article covers rifles more than pistols, with something for Mr. NoPants himself as well as Jeff Cooper fans (and shotgun fans too!). There's a couple more pistols at the end, one 1911 and a 1911-based pocket pistol to round out an even dozen new guns from the NRA convention.

Go, take a read - it's almost like being there*!

That is all.

*Well, without the sitting in traffic for two hours, that is...

Friday Gun Pr0n #216

Well, at long last, my Buy A Gun Day gun arrived:

Bodyguard!

Yep. As I mentioned, about two weeks before BAG Day I called up my local fun store and put my order in for a Bodyguard 380 of my very own. I knew that there was a wait for the gun; I didn't realize that it would take almost two months to come in, though. I started to get worried, actually - I am on the mailing list for the gun store, and they sent out a mailing telling folks they weren't taking any more orders for the Bodyguard!

I'll have a full review over at Guns, Holsters, and Gear in the next couple of weeks. I'll be taking the Bodyguard apart tonight and giving it a thorough cleaning and oiling, first - this is the first new gun I've bought in 7 years! I'll be putting it through it's paces tomorrow alongside the mystery T&E gun, which will get first pass at review, natch. I want to characterize both guns pretty well, so I'm going to count rounds at least to 500 for both guns. We'll see how they hold up!

So now the P3AT has another polymer pocket pistol to keep it company...

That is all.

Trip Down Amnesia Lane™

Unc talks about cooled seats, and it brought back an anecdote from high school. Senior year English class. Mr. Kline is talking about [boring-ass literature "classic" that I have forgotten the name of] and the concept of shame. Don't remember exactly how it came about, but Mr. Kline asks us the immortal question:

"Why do humans wear clothing?"

Before anyone else can answer, before the first snicker even starts, from the back of the room, Joel M. calls out:

"So we don't stick to our car seats in the summer time".

The class - Mr. Kline included - dissolved into laughter.

That is all.

BUL*

*Back-Up Laptop...

I mentioned a while back about our primary laptop, a Toshiba Satellite, giving up the ghost last month. We pressed our HP laptop, which had been our secondary, "The kids are using the main laptop" or "let's take this on vacation" laptop, into service as the main (only) laptop (we still have the Eee, but that's awfully limited). With four people vying for 'puter time, we really need at least one more computer, and with prices where they are it just doesn't make sense to get a desktop any more.

That said, what shows up in my inbox this morning but this deal. $270 for a refurbished Lenovo laptop with free shipping? Caught my attention! Now, the specs aren't the greatest - only 1 GB of RAM, that's the lowest since the HP desktop I bought in 1998 - but the price is decent. I'm making a couple assumptions on this - like, a laptop being sold in 2011 is going to have USB inputs and is wifi capable - and for a web-surfing, take-along laptop $270 is a pretty good deal.

Anyone have any thoughts/comments/impressions on the Lenovo series of laptops?

That is all.

Don't Mess With Texans...

Rabbit sends in the latest DGC addition from the great state of Texas:

Thieves shot while burglarizing Ennis home

ENNIS - One burglar was killed, another injured while trying to burglarize a home just outside of Ennis.

Ellis County officials said the homeowner's father was alerted to two strange men at his son's house.

Dad came over, saw that the burglars had all of his son's guns in a pile, and prevented them from leaving with his son's property. Now, he did this by shooting them both, which is a reasonable and prudent method when faced with multiple goblins who are demonstrably armed. And since this is Texas, not only is dad not likely to face prosecution, but the Castle Doctrine means he can't be sued civilly, either.

Good. Don't mess with a man's castle in Texas.

Dead Goblin Count: 162

That is all.

Dirty SOBs...

Just got an e-mail from GOAL (Gun Owner's Action League, one of the pro-2A rights groups here in MA). They're highlighting an erroneous bit of information contained in a letter from the EOPS (Executive Office of Public Safety) to MA FFLs:

Gun Owners' Action League has received copies of a notice sent to Massachusetts licensed firearm retailers from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security - Firearms Record Bureau.

The notice from the agency is unsigned and not dated and contains supposed information regarding the sale of "Assault Weapons" and "Large Capacity Feeding Devices."

This letter states the following incorrectly;
A weapon or large capacity feeding device defined in G.L. c. 140 s121, or a weapon having the characteristics outlined in 18 U.S.C. s921 (a) (3), may not be possessed, sold or transferred in the Commonwealth if the weapon was not lawfully possessed under a Massachusetts firearms license on September 13, 1994.

The letter from the EOPS can be found here.

This is insidious in that it is technically correct - in order for a resident of MA to have possessed a magazine in 1994, they would have needed a MA LTC - but very misleading. There is no need for a "pre-ban" magazine to have been owned by a MA resident prior to 1994; it need only have been manufactured prior to that date. See, the MA AWB was poorly and hastily written, and simply extends the Federal ban in perpetuity. They weren't clever enough to write into the ban extension anything like the magazine had to have been in state or in the possession of a MA LTC holder or anything like that.

They're just hoping that by clouding the issue they can get MA FFLs to stop selling pre-ban high capacity magazines. Now, given that there are no laws whatsoever against shipping pieces of metal into the state, it's a fairly trivial matter to receive a pre-ban magazine from an out-of-state source. As long as you have the appropriate permit to own a high capacity magazine (Class A for handgun, Class B for rifle) and the magazine was manufactured before September 1994, it is 100% legal for you to receive the magazine from any legal source. There is (currently) no need to buy magazines from an FFL, although it wouldn't surprise me to hear that they're working to require that...

IOW, the MA EOPS is faking it in an attempt to stop law-abiding folks from engaging in lawful commerce. Like the rest of the gun control movement, they have to resort to lies, half-truths, and obfuscations to get their point across. Whereas all we have to do is use facts and logic. As Unc is fond of saying: Gun control - it's what you do instead of something. Rather than going after the criminals that commit the crimes, the MA "justice" system would rather bully MA businesses with misleading statements. Rather than address the significant criminal problem, they take potshots at law-abiding gun owners.

Then again, law-abiding gun owners are a much smaller minority than criminals in MA...

That is all.

Completely Useless...

...yet, I want one so bad I can taste it.

Paging Zoe...

Yep. That's a brace trio (thanks Kevin) of Rossi Ranch Hands at the NRA convention. There was one of each flavor represented: .45 LC, .44 Magnum, and .357 Magnum (don't ask me which is which, though...). Weighing in at 4 pounds, requiring both hands to operate, and only having a capacity of 6 rounds, there's little to like about this gun - except that it's so damn cool it ought to be illegal*. The worst part is, the MSRP is only $536, meaning that in a free state you should be able to walk out the door with one for darn close to $500 - less than a new S&W 686 or Ruger GP100...

And neither of those guns were used in Firefly...

That is all.

*Figure of speech.

Internetless Update...

Mrs. G. just called. The Comcast guys are at the house now, and have been there looking around for about half an hour. They're technically within the time frame given for the visit ("sometime between 12 and 4") but they forgot to call ahead of time like I was promised they would last night. You see, since the phone at the house is out, we have to rely on our cell phones for communication. I wasn't about to give out the Mrs.' cell number to someone that didn't need it, so they were going to contact me.

Little things, but still irritating. Now, I realize that the Comcast customer service rep can't force the service guys to make the phone call, but I wonder what would have happened had my wife been out when they showed up. I had planned on calling her as soon as the call came in so that she would definitely be at the house; it is only through serendipity that she happened to be home when they arrived.

And from the sounds of things, it ain't gonna be fixed today - things may be getting ugly...

That is all.

UPDATE: I happily stand connected. The magic elf box is fixed. I have internets again. Can't stop the signal!

No Blood For... Something!

Obama seeks congressional support for Libya mission

Washington (CNN) -- On deadline day, President Barack Obama on Friday sent a letter to Congress expressing support for a bipartisan resolution favoring military operations in Libya.

At issue: The 1973 War Powers Act, which says if the president does not get congressional authorization 60 days after military action, the mission must stop within 30 days.

So Øbama intends for us to be in Libya for more than 30 days, if he's submitting a formal request for a resolution. We've been there for 60 days already. We're signing up for > 30 days. At what point does this become an official act of war? As in "No War for Oil", that sort of thing. I'm sure we're all relieved that the warmongering cowboy is no longer in office, right? I mean, we were told, ad nauseum, how Iraq was "Bush's War"; by extrapolation what's happening in Libya is "Øbama's War"...

Any news on whether or not Cindy Sheehan has set up shop outside Barry's condo in Chicago?

That is all.

You. Out of My Gene Pool.

Woman accused of trying to sell girl's virginity

SALT LAKE CITY—A Salt Lake City woman has been charged with offering her 11-year-old daughter's virginity to a man in exchange for $10,000.

The woman was charged Monday in Utah's 3rd District Court with two counts of aggravated sex abuse and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. KTVX Channel 4 reports that court documents claim she made the offer after the man asked about oral sex with the girl.

While the woman in this story takes the prize for "sleaziest person I've read about today", I've got to give the nod for a close second to the dude asking about oral sex and lingerie pictures from an 11 year old. Seriously. Run your car in the garage for a bit. With you in it. Props, though, to the woman's boyfriend - he saw the pictures on her phone and turned her the hell in.

There are days, seemingly more and more frequent, where I start rooting for the giant asteroid on the collision course...

That is all.

Buddy, Can You Spare $6K?

Because I'd love to pick one of these beauties up:

(image courtesy of Barrett website)

That's a Barrett MRAD in .338 Lapua Magnum. It's a bolt-action, interchangeable barrel long-range rifle. It's $6,000, and worth every penny - after all, it is a Barrett. Now, I have no idea if I could ever put in enough trigger time to be worthy of such a rifle, but damn, it'd be fun to try... It's coming out mid year, so be sure to contact your local fun store and put your deposit down now...

Thanks to Shooting Illustrated for the tip!

That is all.

Mea Culpa...

A good friend of mine celebrated a milestone yesterday, and while I commented at the time, I had intended to link him as well but didn't get around to it. Well, I finally got around to it...

Please go wish Newbius a happy third blogiversary!

Three years. That's a mighty long time in blog years, even longer when you're trying to do it all like Newbius does: Dad, chef, patriot, gun blogger, sherpa, tour guide; I'm sure there's a dozen things I'm forgetting right now. Newbius was kind enough to arrange a once-in-a-lifetime tour of the Pentagon when I was visiting DC with my family, a kindness that I can only hope to repay someday.

As I said in comments at his post: Happy blogiversary to someone I am proud to call friend.

That is all.

Bulldog... For Liberty

One of the many cool things at the NRA convention was at the Charter Arms booth. In the wake of the historic Heller vs. DC decision, Charter put out a special Heller Commemorative edition of their most famous .44 Special revolver:

Heller Skelter

This particular model was presented to Ted Nugent himself at the convention. They had it sitting in the display case at the show, and were very kind to send this professional shot of the case and all (it was locked in the case and even with the new camera getting a decent shot through the glass proved difficult). They also had a series of Charter Arms revolvers through the ages - an interesting progression of yet another New England gun company.

Here's one Bulldog with a legal bite...

That is all.

Dear Comcast...

You suck. No, really. Ever since you convinced us to switch over our phone to you, your service has gone downhill dramatically. After an entire evening of no Internet access, I attempted to call your customer "service" line - and had such pathetically poor phone reception that I couldn't even talk to a customer service representative.

You're starting to make dialup look appealing...

That is all.


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...The Most Powerful Handgun In The World

Richard reviews the Taurus Tracker in .44 Magnum over at Guns, Holsters, and Gear.

I'll admit to a soft spot in my heart (or maybe my head) for the .44 Magnum round. Sure, a good portion of it has to do with "Dirty Harry" and that lovely 6" Smith & Wesson model 29 he carried (and I got to fondle at last year's NRA convention!). I owned a Taurus .44 Special for many years, picking it up dirt cheap as a new gun shortly after getting my MA LTC - and promptly realizing how expensive .44 Special is... The price of ammunition for a .44 Magnum is the limiting factor IMHO - $27.50 for 50 rounds (which is an insanely good price compared to what I've seen locally) - .45 ACP is nearly half as expensive and more useful as it's a round I carry.

Now, give me a kick in the ass about how I should load my own and then go read the review...

That is all.

Unsolicited Plug...

Reader Clint sends in resounding praise for Dennis and Dragon Leatherworks:

Based on you and several other recommendations, i went ahead and bought one of those beautiful holsters. When i contacted Dennis, he custom tailored the holster to my gun, which is a preban cz75, and didnt even blink at it. Today, i'm the proud owner of this beauty! Thanks again, and keep the good work up!!

Here's the holster in question:

Yeah, Dennis does good work...

That is all.

Parenting By Crucible

Stretch sends in this head-scratcher:

Parents keep child's gender secret

“So it’s a boy, right?” a neighbour calls out as Kathy Witterick walks by, her four month old baby, Storm, strapped to her chest in a carrier.

Each week the woman asks the same question about the baby with the squishy cheeks and feathery blond hair.

The parents are deliberately hiding the gender of their baby in an attempt to prevent gender stereotyping. Good luck on that. When TheBoy was 2 years old, we bought him a little doll so he would get used to the idea of having a little sister. First thing he did with it was to pick it up by the head, point it at the wall, and yell "BANG! BANG!" We've never pushed either gender stereotype, buying trucks for Baby Girl G. when she's asked and stuffed animals for TheBoy when he's asked.

You know what, though? By and large, they both prefer traditionally gender-stereotypical toys, clothes, and colors. TheBoy plays with trucks and toy guns. BabyGirl G. plays with ponies and dolls. TheBoy wears blues and grays; BabyGirl G. loves pink and purple. BabyGirl G. has her hair long and wears dresses; TheBoy likes a buzzcut and shorts. We have never pushed either child to chose either way; they have chosen on their own.

These folks, quite simply, have bought wholeheartedly into the "nurture" end of the "nature vs. nurture" argument. They're shrugging off the biological, genetic, and biochemical aspects of development in their own twisted version of operant conditioning: "If we pretend hard enough that gender can be ignored then it won't matter!" Biology is immaterial, they claim; all that matters are that you prevent your girls from wearing pink and let your boys braid their hair. Hogwash; I suspect that deep down they know it - but it gets them ink, doesn't it?

Because otherwise, really, what's the difference between these people and the "pray away the gay" morons?

That is all.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

To the DGC, that is...

First off, readers Max and greg both sent in this one from Washington State:

Tacoma homeowner opens fire on burglars; 1 dead, 1 wounded

TACOMA, Wash. -- Tacoma police are calling a fatal shooting self defense after a homeowner shot two burglars who were trying to break into his home, killing one burglar and wounding the other.

The incident happened around 4:40 a.m. Monday at a home in the 400 block of South 38th Street.

Multiple aggressors at a time when it's not beyond the realm of possibility that someone might be up and about. That's rather scary. The homeowner in question had been the victim of previous burglaries, so when he heard the noise he armed himself and went to investigate. Upon meeting the goblins, even though he was armed they charged him - and got a face full of hot lead for their troubles.

Which is as it should be.

Dead Goblin Count: 160

---

And Steve in TN sends in another story from his home state of Tennessee:

Police interview man who shot, killed alleged home invader

The front door of Edward L. Williams’ home at 1703 26th Ave. N. hung open mid-Monday afternoon while the dead body of an unidentified man was inside and surgeons at a nearby hospital worked to save another man’s life.

Police responded to a “shots fired” call at Williams’ home just after 2 p.m. Monday. Later at the scene, Williams, 42, told police the two men entered his home, hit him with a tire iron and were possibly attempting to rob him when he then armed himself with a handgun and shot at the alleged intruders.

Again, we see multiple invaders, although in this case it was in the middle of the afternoon. Perhaps these two choirboys didn't expect to run into the homeowner - but then again, why did they have a tire iron? In any case, they illustrate the first rule of goblinhood:

Never bring a tire iron to a gunfight...

Dead Goblin Count: 161

That is all.

Moar New Stabbie!

I continue my quest for the perfect EDC knife. While once again perusing the bladed offerings at Amazon.com, I came across these two little gems that I simply had to have:

Shiny Stabbie!

Smith & Wesson HRT boot knife and Kershaw Blur SpeedSafe assisted opener folder. The S&W is strictly an ornamental piece - in MA, if this leaves the house outside of a locked box it's a felony - it's a double-edged knife, which are verboten to carry in MA. The assisted opener is one of those greyer areas - if you have one on your person in the commission of a crime, they can nail you for it; otherwise it's okay. I prefer the utility of an assisted opener, because more often than not by the time I've conceded defeat and have to resort to a blade to open something, at least one hand is fully involved...

I've gotten a lot of folding knives in the past year:

Pocket Stabbie!

Two Kershaws, two Ka-Bar Dozier-design folders, a CRKT EDC, and the Camillus assisted-opening knife that was the find of the NRA convention floor. These get added to the ever-growing pile 'o' folders in the EDC rotation - the criteria are simple, easy opening, and no harm no foul if it has to go missing.

Just one more, that's all I need, right???

That is all.

Forty, Forty One, Whatever It Takes...

Robb Allen takes a look at some .40 Short & Weak ammo.

I kid, I kid. I have exactly one firearm chambered in .40 S&W (Smith & Wesson SW99), and about 2,000 rounds for it, most stockpiled since the days when it was $8/box of 50 rounds. I've even got 250 rounds of Speer Gold Dot JHP ammo that I bought in bulk about five years ago back when I first got the SW99. I haven't shot the SW99 in over four years, owing mainly to the fact that ammo prices jumped so steeply that .40 S&W isn't much cheaper to shoot than .45 ACP these days. And I'd rather shoot G-d's Own Pistol Caliber than some fancy newcomer if the price is about the same.

But go read Robb's write-up. I know there's a lot of folks out there who love the .40 S&W round, and Robb reviews three common offerings. As usual, he provides lots of useful data like FPS and mean spread on target (and what he considers less-than-acceptable accuracy I would be ecstatic with...). He's also got a healthy dose of snark mixed in with his '80s nostalgia, to boot...

As always, he's right on target*...

That is all.

*Pause to let the groaning for the awful pun die down...

Deadly Circuses...

Marko opines about the savage beating of a Giants fan by Dodgers fan.

It appears that they've caught the person responsible. Good. Of course, whether they'll charge him with a signifcant crime and convict him of same is another story entirely. We tend to treat these issues with less-than-total seriousness, brushing off the violence as "boys will be boys." It's a lot like what we do when a city wins a championship and the denizens respond with riots - the punishments don't sufficiently discourage repeat performances.

Set this guy up for attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, etc. and make him serve 15 years in jail. Do it for the next 10 guys that pull this kind of stunt. Don't plea bargain it down to simple assault, with three months of house arrest and two years of probation. Make the punishment fit the crime - this wasn't just someone blowing off steam and whacking someone upside the head with a team jersey. This was a violent assault that could very easily have been (could still be) second-degree murder.

Marko rightfully pegs it as tribalism - we, as pack animals, need to belong. In today's day and age we no longer have to band together to hunt to survive. We no longer have to live within castle walls to withstand the onslaught of the barbarians. We don't even have a clearly defined enemy like we did throughout the last century - it's much easier to hate the communists than the jihadists, frex. In the absence of a reason to band together, we create one - whether it be over the local sports team, a political party, or even whichever [insert consumer product here] is best.

We all need to belong - and to admit that chili has beans.

That is all.

MArooned Movie Review

Saw "The Watchmen" last night with Mrs. G., a welcome diversion from the craziness that has been our lives recently. Now, a quick caveat (and one that might shock poor ol' T-Bolt): I never read the comics as a kid. I went into the movie knowing absolutely nothing about the characters, the premise, or anything.

With that said, I liked it. Even at nearly three hours long, it was paced right - not so fast you can't keep up, not so slow you lose interest. It's an interesting premise - a slightly modified version of our reality where superheroes (and villains) exist but have been driven underground, a storyline "borrowed" heavily by "The Incredibles" (which is one of my all-time favorite movies BTW). Some heroes have adapted to "civilian" life; some have taken on side-jobs with the government; and others couldn't make the jump to giving up the mask.

It's a murder-mystery dressed up as a hero movie; the movie opens with an aging hero getting brutally murdered. The movie is shown in vignettes, with point-of-view, timeline, and perspective changing frequently, a cinematic style most prominently seen in "Pulp Fiction". It works well - the change in tempo helps keep the movie flowing and the suspense building. By the time the ending is reached, we know who the real bad guy is - but the ending is anything other than typical.

The style is reminiscent of Tim Burton's take on Batman, with elements of Frank Miller's "Dark Knight" version thrown in as well. This is not a shiny happy version of America; it's a vaguely theocratic Cold War nightmare where Richard Nixon never resigned, the 22nd amendment never happening and Zombie Nixon on his fourth term in office. The streets are gritty and filled with violent gangs; the police for the most part are ineffectual or brutal thugs themselves; and the threat of total nuclear annihilation kept at bay only by a thin deus ex machina.

I liked it; it was entertaining and engaging the entire two hours and 40-something minutes. Perhaps had I followed the comic I would have been disappointed; that I don't know; I know that I didn't hate the cinematic version of "Starship Troopers" until I read the book... If you're not invested in the series and are looking for some serious escapism, this is a movie worth looking into.

Besides, where else can you see Malin Akerman in skintight latex?

That is all.

Governor Clueless, Part ???

Heh. Stretch sends in a link to Howie Carr taking a few (well-deserved) pokes at our esteemed governor:

Deval Patrick, remember to forget

Hey Deval, be sure to wear a blue tie.

They say that’s what you’re supposed to wear when you’re testifying in a criminal case. For some reason it’s supposed to make you seem like you’re telling the truth. I seem to recall you wearing one in 2006 the first time you promised you were going to cut everybody’s property taxes if you were elected.

Ouch. Howie takes more potshots at the guv as Cadillac Deval prepares to take the stand in Sal DiMasi's corruption trial. Expect Patrick to deny everything up to and including the existence of a family named DiMasi as Sal's trial winds its way through the courts and the media. Sal's looking to make a trifecta of indicted Speakers of the House, following Tom Finneran and Charles Flaherty as Speakers driven from office in shame for corruption.

That's diversity in MA - we have corrupt Irish politicians *and* corrupt Italian politicians...

That is all.

"Where The Magic Happens"

RomeoTangoBravo has a question for us:

Where do I do most of my blogging? Some bloggers have a dedicated room with shelves cluttered with trophies dedicated to their blogging prowess... I have an old ass laptop covered with awesome stickers in an attempt to make it look cool.

I am curious to know what some other blogger's set-ups are like.

Without further ado, here's the MArooned Magic Maker:


Yep. Like I said over at RTB's in comments:

Prepare to be underwhelmed, though - I literally have a small corner of the kitchen island...

I wasn't kidding. That's our BUL - Back-Up Laptop - which is a lower end HP that we got as a second laptop the end of last year with our credit card reward points. It became our primary laptop when our three year old Toshiba gave up the ghost last month (right *after* we did our taxes but before we had printed them out - d'oh!). We're in need of another secondary laptop (or perhaps a primary laptop and this one can go back to being a backup...), because all four of us need computer access at various points in the day - both TheBoy and BabyGirl G. have homework online now!

Well, RomeoTangoBravo, was it everything you dreamed it would be?

That is all.

I'm Not The Only One...

Joking about the Rapture that wasn't...

I think my favorite is this one, because I can't help but think, looking at that picture, "well, at least he's got quiet now..."

That is all.

Huh...

Guess I didn't make the Rapture, eh?



Like Heath says, though, you have to see me ogling the Ma Deuce while whistling this to get the full effect...

That is all.

Two for One...

Picked up the surprise T & E gun this afternoon. While I was there, they informed me that my BAG day purchase was in... Also found out that one of my friends who works the counter at the gun store has put in for a slot on Top Shots season three.

Interesting times indeed...

That is all.

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Posted Without Comment

Requiescat in pace.

That is all.

Double Friday Gun Pr0n!

PISSED sends this in. He knows what I like...

Of course, with the Nambu pistol, the sword is a much better bet anyways...

That is all.

Coming As A Surprise to, Well, No One...

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Public Sector Jobs Saved, Private Sector Jobs Forestalled

This paper uses variation across states to estimate the number of jobs created/saved as a result of the spending component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The key sources of identi cation are ARRA highway funding and the intensity of state sales tax usage. Our benchmark point estimates suggest the Act created/saved 450 thousand government-sector jobs and destroyed/forestalled one million private sector jobs.

Does this surprise anyone? Honestly? Nearly half a million government jobs were created or saved; as many as one million private sector jobs were lost. Gee, the Leviathan grows, and the public sector takes it in the shorts. Hope that Change tastes good.

It's ingenious, it really is. The number of folks employed by the government grows by leaps and bounds, and states get even more dependent on the flow of federal cash. We're seeing the start of the problems now, with states seeing significant budget shortfalls looming as the Federal firehose slows to a trickle. Of course, rather than adjust the budgets accordingly, they'll just clamor for more FedGov $$$, which will necessitate even more .gov drones...

How's that expression go? The government will never solve a problem that will put it out of business...

That is all..

Longarm Learnin'...

A reader sends in an interesting question. He has a friend who is curious about getting into rifles, what to look for, etc.. She asks:

"I know NOTHING about long guns. Rifles, shotguns, etc. Anyway, I'd like to expand my horizons. Lot's of folks up here have rifles and shotguns but I want to be able to know what I should ask to try out. And what I should avoid. I'm thinking I'd like to try clays at some point, I belong to a range where I can do that. And I'm thinking home defense too. I guess I could google it but I was hoping you guys could steer me in the right direction with maybe a little 'primer' on the subject. Might be informative for others also, with little to no rifle/shotgun knowledge. Or even a link to some articles that can explain it all.

So, what's a good 'beginner' rifle/shotgun? And do I want a rifle or shotgun, or both and which should I get first? I'm cool with large caliber handguns but not sure I want something in a long gun that will put my shoulder out and I don't even know what the different 'gauges' mean as far as power goes.

I'm a big fan of the .22LR cartridge for getting folks to learn to shoot, and this does not change when it comes to rifles. Setting a new shooter up with a bolt-action, slide or lever action, and semi-automatic .22LR is a great way to get them used to the different mechanisms of rifles and basic riflery without putting your shoulder - or your wallet - out. A nice CZ 452, a Marlin 39A, and a Ruger 10/22 would make for an excellent first outing with longarms.

For centerfire rifles, it's a little tougher. It's very easy to get into something with a lot of kick (.308, /45-70, etc.) or overly complicated (the AR-15 platform). If possible, a similar approach to rimfire would be good - a bolt-action Remington 700 in .223 Remington, a lever action Winchester in .30-30, and an AR-15 would round out the intro to rifles. None kick overly hard, all should be quite accurate at modest range (no more than 50 yards for a beginner), and the basics all get covered again.

For shotguns, it's more complicated. 12 gauge kicks harder, but has significantly more ammunition types available. 20 gauge is a close second, and might be preferable to someone averse to recoil. A side-by-side or over-under to start, a pump-action to show the versatility of the shotgun platform, and a nice autoloader for busting clays would round out the scattergun category. A little extra time with the pump-action shotgun would be ideal - especially if multiple barrels are available. Switching between an 18.5" barrel with buckshot for home defense, a rifled 22" barrel for deer hunting, and a 26" barrel for fowling make the pump-action shottie an ideal first shotgun.

Anything I've missed or other suggestions?

That is all.

Friday Gun Pr0n #215

Today's gun picture comes to us from the 2011 NRA Convention (finishing the trend of this week). Perusing the booth of the good folks at Kahr Arms, there was a gentleman there from American Legacy Firearms. They have a series of custom engraved AO1911s celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 1911, with 100 engraved pistols per state. They are definitive works of art:

Left side

Right side

Top

The art work includes the likeness of John Moses Browning (PBUH) under the barrel, grips with the state name and number in series on one side and the Iwo Jima flag raising on the other, and a depiction of the wars in which the 1911 has fought. It's an impressive bit of engraving, and makes for a truly unique anniversary 1911.

I'm sorely tempted to get one of the Massachusetts ones just out of spite...

That is all.

My Favorite Game!

It's time for another installment in my favorite game, "Guess what gun Jay's getting"!

Should be arriving tomorrow, but not in time for Friday Gun Pr0n. Weerd and Unc know what it is (quiet you), so I'll just say it's something that I've talked about and reviewed previously. A hint will go up once I've received it, and a full review article will be posted in Guns, Holsters, and Gear. This will be my first T&E (Testing and Evaluation) gun, so I am looking to be as thorough as possible in wringing everything I can out of it.

Any guesses?

That is all.

A Quarter Century Ago Today...

Unc reminds us that today is the 25th anniversary of the passing of the Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA).

On May 19, 1986, the Firearms Owners' Protection Act (FOPA) was signed into law.[1] The first comprehensive redraft of the federal firearm laws since 1968,[2] FOPA was predictably lauded as "necessary to restore fundamental fairness and clarity to our Nation's firearms laws"[3] and damned as an "almost monstrous idea" and a "national disgrace."[4] The controversy was not limited to the rhetorical. Seven years passed between FOPA's introduction and its Senate vote;[5] the House vote required passage of a discharge petition[6] --only the eighth to succeed in the last twenty-six years.[7]

The FOPA, in a nutshell, made it easier to transport firearms across state lines - but it also contained the Hughes Amendment, which fixed in time the transfer of machine guns. Anything made after the FOPA cannot be transfered to a civilian (non-military or LEO) except in very limited instances (manufacturers and dealers of machine guns are the only exception). It was an 11th hour addition to a bill that many found distasteful, yet impossible to stop from becoming law. In the final moments of debate on the FOPA, Hughes added in the amendment in a last-ditch effort to something, anything to lessen the blow of FOPA to the anti-gun crusade.

Ever since the National Firearms Act of 1934, honest-to-goodness "automatic" weapons have been tightly regulated. The $200 tax added to a machine gun might not seem like much today, but in 1934 dollars it was significant: the average cost of an automobile was only slightly more than double that. It would be akin to about a $7,500 tax today. It's hard to figure just what the authorities thought adding the tax would do - the only people who could afford machine guns when they were unregulated were the very rich (including bootleggers), and that continues today.

What the Hughes Amendment did was to drive the cost of fully automatic weapons well beyond the reach of most people. It was far-reaching in its aim, and devilish in its inception - while it does not prohibit ownership of machine guns, it makes finite the number of available machine guns to the gun-owning public. A new full-auto AR-15 based rifle costs between $1,000 and $1,500. A transferable M-16, which by definition today is an antique (25 years old), generally runs between $10K and $15K. They've gone from costing about a half to a third what a car costs to about equal.

The disturbing part is that this is clearly unconstitutional - the Second Amendment, despite what the antis want us to think, is not about hunting, it's about making sure that the average citizen has access to the same arms as the military. The NFA of 1934 limited that access, and the Hughes Amendment limited it further. We're coming up on 80 years of having significant restrictions placed on our Second Amendment rights - an entire lifetime, literally.

Thank goodness there are people like Alan Gura and the Second Amendment Foundation (link to the right if you're in a donatin' mood) fighting to restore at least some of these rights...

That is all.

Dear Mouthbreather...

What part of "cutting in front of the large black pickup so quickly that the ABS deployed when the driver stomped the brakes" did you think was a good idea? There was no one behind me on the road for a good quarter mile - you could have waited an additional second and a half and merged onto the highway (that was a parking lot BTW) without endangering my life and yours. I mean, I understand that your piece of shit 12 year old Taurus isn't worth the powder to blow it to hell, but it'd be a stone-cold bitch scraping it out of my front bumper.

Brains. Grow some. Or get the hell off my road.

That is all.

Um, Wut?

Spike in Gunblogger Conspiracy posted this last night:

Congressman Prefers Fallen Marine as Name on Navy Cargo Vessel

The Navy's decision to name a cargo ship now under construction after labor activist Cesar Chavez has drawn sharp criticism from one veteran lawmaker who says that a military war hero should receive the honor instead.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he understands the Navy's desire to honor Hispanic leaders, but the Navy may want to skip the politically divisive names and opt for an outstanding service member.

The Navy is naming a vessel after Cesar Chavez? Seriously? Can someone point me to a list of Naval accomplishments of Chavez? I mean, not to dishonor the man, but is there any reason to name a naval vessel after the man other than raw, naked political pandering? Chavez did at least serve in the Navy, that much is true - but to name a vessel after him when there are so many other more worthy candidates, well...

But hey, we'll all feel good about it, and that's what matters, right? Right?

That is all.

Another Triumvirate!

Yesterday's post on S&W revolvers got me to thinking. There was another display that was equally appealing - the Kimber display of their fine 1911s. Just like the S&W display, they had many sizes:

Small

Medium

Large

The Government and Commander sized models are from Kimber's Custom Shop; the Officer's sized model is from their Super Carry line. All have bobtailed grips and the "melted" treatment for concealed carry as well as aggressive checkering for secure purchase in the hand. The Officer's sized Super Carry is especially appealing, only 25 ounces for an 8-shot (7+1) 1911. Of course, none of these are "safe" enough for the Volksrepublik, so I can only drool from afar...

But I can certainly add to the wishlist once I escape this hellhole and move to America...

That is all.

Mid-Week Humor...

As seen at PISSED's place:

An engineer's attempt at the etymology of the word "boob":

Offhand I'd say PISSED has been in his cups...

That is all.

Chutzpah...

Wow. This just floored me.

Data theft may expose jobless residents

The personal financial information of up to 210,000 unemployed Massachusetts residents may have been stolen in a data breach caused by a virus discovered in state labor department computers four weeks ago, officials said yesterday.

Names, addresses, and Social Security numbers, among other data, may have been taken, said John Glennon, chief information officer for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

It raises a few questions: Why did it take the Department of Labor FOUR WEEKS to report this? I would imagine that anyone that had their information stolen has already found out about it - because their identities are now trashed. How did the virus get into the database? Is it a case of incompetent employees opening files they shouldn't? Holes in security that should have been patched?

What got me was this little bit of chutzpah, though:

Joanne Goldstein, the secretary of labor and workforce development, said that possible victims of the breach should act immediately to protect themselves by putting a credit freeze or a security alert on their credit reports.

Right. I mean, it would really be bad if someone who had their identity stolen waited FOUR WHOLE WEEKS to report it, right? Gah. The hubris is astounding. "Yeah, we sat on this news for a month, hoping it would magically resolve itself, but don't you delay!" One ponders what the MA Department of Labor would do to a business that was subject to such an attack and waited a month before telling its customers...

MA: We'll tell you about serious security breaches... when we feel like it.

That is all.

If It's Time To Bury Them...

Mandela's pistol remains a hidden treasure decades later

(CNN) -- As a young freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela stepped out of a farmhouse hideout in South Africa, took 20 strides and dug a hole on the sprawling land. He leaned over, put in a semiautomatic pistol and 200 rounds of ammunition, and carefully put a khaki uniform over them.

After covering them with heaps of soil, he sauntered back into his rural hideout in northern Johannesburg -- hoping to retrieve them soon. He never got a chance to fire a shot with the Makarov pistol. A few weeks after he buried it at the farm in Rivonia, he was hurled into prison for the next 27 years.

In this particular case, the gun was buried with the intention of retrieval shortly. Mandela never got the chance, being imprisoned for over a generation and becoming a symbol of the anti-apartheid cause. While his group's methods have been historically softened ("freedom fighters"? Really?), it's interesting to see that this little tidbit is of interest today. It's pretty interesting that they mention him as a "freedom fighter" and talk about the gun as a gift from a foreign general, yet do not mention the background of the African National Congress...

And if it's truly a Makarov, $20 says when they finally dig it - and the ammo - up, it'll work...

That is all.

Different Meaning...

Flipping through the ol' iPod yesterday morning on the way to work, I came across this little ditty:



It's amazing how the sentiment the song evokes has changed since the start of the month, no?

That is all.

Breathtaking...

One of my favorite exhibits at the NRA convention was the wall 'o' Smith & Wesson .357 Magnums. Sure, the Colt Python is pretty damn nice (okay OldNFO?), but I have to say that the Registered Magnum gives the prancin' pony a good run for the money.

Here's a few thousand words in support of my argument:

Small

Medium

Large

(Yeah, I know, the "small" is a 3½" barrel and the "medium" is 4". I thought I had 4/6/8, but upon review, well...)

They sure don't make 'em like this any more. 'Tis a pity, to be sure - that bluing is nothing short of one of the seven marvels of the modern world right there. I've got a Model 27 - what the Registered Magnum would become once S&W started using model numbers - with the full target rig, and it is an unmitigated joy to shoot. When I bought it, the gentleman I bought it from apologized - he felt it was in rough shape! It was perfect to me - it's still gorgeous - because it had just enough wear and character that I don't feel the least bit apprehensive about shooting it.

And as for shootability, well, I'm no expert, but even I can ring a steel gong at 100 yards with that pistol...

That is all.

My Favorite Kind of DGC...

Last night, in Gunblogger Conspiracy chat, JP556 PM'd me to give me this one:

Woman shoots, kills daughter's boyfriend following home invasion

ORANGE COUNTY - From Orange County Sheriff's Office - On Saturday May 14, 2011 at approximately 10:10AM the Orange County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call concerning a disturbance at 6993 Johnson Road in Mauriceville. The caller advised that a W/M had forced his way inside the residence and was assaulting her parents.

Upon arrival Deputies found a W/M on the floor inside the residence with a gunshot wound. EMS responded to the scene but was not able to revive the suspect.

Dude smacks his girlfriend around. Girlfriend calls her parents to come get her. They bring her back to their house, and Dude comes 'round looking for her.

FIRST MISTAKE

Dude then lets himself into the house where he starts beating on the father.

SECOND MISTAKE

Not stopping after mama bear gets a gun.

THIRD MISTAKE

Dirt nap time!

Dead Goblin Count: 159

That is all.

Getting Closer to KoolAid...

Richard reviews the Smith & Wesson M&P 9 at Guns, Holsters, and Gear.

I've been lukewarm on the M&P series since their introduction in 2005. I had the opportunity to shoot a few M&Ps when I toured the S&W factory and range back in 2007 (was it that long ago?), and had issues with my grip activating the magazine release. This was enough of an issue for folks that S&W revamped the magazine release and resolved the problem, but I haven't looked at the M&P since. There's another issue that's unique to me and my anti-gun socialist hellhole state. I refuse to buy a 17-round gun when I can only use 10 round magazines. It's kind of a philosophical thing for me. It's like buying a Corvette but only being able to run it on 5 cylinders.

However, there is an option available. The Smith & Wesson M&P 45 comes from the factory with a 10 round capacity, meaning that magazine restrictions do not apply. It also happens to be in G-d's own pistol caliber (.45 ACP) joining my brace of 1911s and my G30 for .45 ACP chambered goodness - it would be nice to have a full size polymer gun in the mix. I'm interested to see how the M&P compares with the Glock G30 for shootability - I know it's not going to shoot anything like a 1911, being a completely different platform. The MA trigger will be problematic, but there are many options available to fix that.

Wonder if anyone from Smith & Wesson peruses MArooned - if so, I'd like to chat about a T&E sample... *g*

That is all.