Range, 26 December, St Stephens Day

Not too bad.

MAN it was crowded.  People off work because Christmas break.  People taking out their new toy?  Well only if they had bought it, for themselves, a week or more before Christmas.

And, I didn't suck.  Oh sure, you can see me getting fatigued as I progress to the bottom right.  ANd just when I think I'll have a really good single target with 14 or more good shots in it, a flinchy comes up and bites me in the ass, but...  Not shabby.  The usual flaw.  Which is much better than my usual flaw 3 years ago.

No Malfunctions.  78 American Eagle, 8 yards.   591 rounds through the gun.  Had been 22 days since I was last at the range.

The Subway is on Fire

It is always on fire.

Thank goodness I never got a job downtown. 

"You oughta move, T-Bolt"

"Maryland gun control is awful, T-Bolt.  You oughta move to a more gun friendly state?"

Move where?  Ohio is gonna be like Maryland inside a decade.  Virginia probably sooner.

West Virginia can't even shake a gun banner.

One day, in my lifetime, Indiana is gonna be like New York, and Texas is gonna be like California.

Chief Justice Roberts is gonna look just like another Bush appointee here right soon.  David Souter.

Clarence Thomas is gonna live a few years longer, but I bet his replacement is picked by a Democrat President.

Ima gonna fight my 2A fight right here.  You should fight yours, there.

Sorry for being pessimistic.  Little bit of leftover melancholy from the holiday.

Weird Gun Content Post

But gun content nonetheless.




It's got a Animal Planet Red Dead Redemption mixed with LSD thing going on.

Tammy Duckworth

“What I don’t understand is how some politicians can consider the National Rifle Association’s dollars more important than our kids’ lives.” -Sen Duckworth

THe Federalist is right.  She has short circuited debate with an emotional appeal that is also factually wrong.  That is awful, and in a just world you would never be allowed near the levers of power because of your demogoguery. 

Unpopular Opinions

Chik Fil A.

I't OK.

Not a fan of waffle cut fried.  I mean, I'll eat them, but...  I'd rather have Wendy's fries from 1999.

Some of the chicken offerings are ok.  Not the sandwich.  End of unpopular opinions.


But strips/nuggets?  Those are worth it.

The lemonade mixed with milkshake is like key lime pie in a cup. 

My Rep

"Contact your representative in congress to opposed this gun control measure."

Can't. 

It's this guy.

He replaced the guy that ran, and is currently, my Senator.  Chris Van Hollen.  My other Senator is Bed Cardin.

Who knows what their official ratings are.  The NRA makes it hard to find that on their website without giving them your contact info or paying them.  But I am sure that is 3 F's.

I dunno

I like the fact that justice was served, but...

Two dudes stole some nail guns from a store to then hawk at their fence for drug money when they were confronted by 6 armed citizens.

You all saw that story.

The thieves wouldn't surrender, but the honest citizens shot out two tires.  The bad guys were apprehended down the block because they had two flats.

The gun owners, presumably 'law abiding' CCW holders, disappeared into the woodwork.  Cops would like them to come forward.

First, I'd recommend NOT coming forward.

Second, I am little hinky about confronting criminals of my own volition.  Moreso about discharging a firearm in public because of a situation they put themselves in.  Which is why the quotes around 'law abiding'.  They sorta aren't anymore, now, are they?

Shooting near someone to defend property isn't really what CCW is for.  Property crime is taken care of by police and insurance companies.  That's one side.  The other is the bad guys are violating society's rules and disrupting the community with their property felony.  Who knows where they escalate from there.  Now that community has a reputation about stopping criminals in the act.  Not a bad reputation to have.  If nothing happens to the gun wielders.

Thank goodness no one was truly injured.  Including probably the guy that stood in front of the car with a weapon drawn and rolled on the hood in the excitement.

If someone had been hurt then they should stand by and take the responsibility and the consequences.  Now?  I wouldn't trust the local authorities not to jack all six of the vigilantes up.  So, keep yer heads down self-appointed Batmans.  It might be good that you did that, but probably not, and try not to do it again.  Prolly lose your CCWs just to make an example of you.  Might lose your gun rights forever.  If they catch you.

Oh, defend you and yours from harm with every means at your disposal.  Let the tools of your hardware store owning buddy go.  No one will starve to death if you do. 

No, there isn't

Bloomberg / Johns Hopkins Background Check Study

I keep losing this link when I want it, so I am putting it here where I might find it again.

Background checks have no impact on gun deaths.

And in fact, gun ownership rates has no impact on gun homicides anywhere, in any state, in any region, in any COUNTRY.

Milestone

I have exactly 1000 comments.  In 11 years.


---

WAIT!  False alarm.  Blogger stops counting at 1000.  And they let older comments drop off.  It only goes back to 2017.

So the nice round number "1-1000" stays on top.  And I only noticed it now.

You know...

I like the idea of not locking up people you don't have to lock up.  Makes room for the truly dangerous violent and incorriblible criminals to stay in prison, but...

Crime peaked in the early 90s.  And went downhill from there until very recently.  Cutting the cops off at the knees and provided an incentive for the cops not to be as diligent.  So there is a crime rate uptick.

Yeah.  And the early 90s were a time of extra incarceration, so crime may have gone down because there was fewer felons in public circulation.

"But they were putting innocent guys in jail!"  Yeah, I'm with you there.  Don't do that.

"But they were putting guys in jail for just a little weed!"  Yeah, maybe weed guy was a very violent felon, but the easiest thing to convict him on was for the pound of weed they found on him?  Did guys go to prison for 30 years ONLY for a J hidden in his hat band?  

We shall see, I guess.  If crime rates stay low or lowish, I'll be glad to eat crow.  That'd be great.  I'll ask for seconds. 

'Good' King Wenceslas

Ok, let's unpack this.

We got a king, of Bohemia, it turns out.  He notices on a winter's day a subject toiling.  He wants to do something nice.  He asks a servant if he knows where the man lived.  The servant knows his house.  Provisions are gathered and off the two go.  The slight Page struggles a bit to keep up with the hale king and the king gives him a suggestion to make the trek easier on him.  The suggestion works.  A feast is delivered to the Peasant and a good deed is done, on the day after Christmas.

That's the story.  Of the song.

The Peasant lives 3 miles away, nearer to the mountain and his house is butted up against the forest.  yet there he is, gathering firewood and hour from home when his back yard has trees in it.  Did he have business in town, and figured he might as well schlep some wood on his trip back?  Multi-task a bit.  Or was he just trying to look natural to distract from his actual agenda.  Plotting an assassination, or planting an infernal device to rid the land of a bier swilling tyrant.

Page knew where he lived?  Shoulda kept his mouth shut about.  I bet this isn't the first goat rope that king dragged that young man into.  "I know not where he dwells, Sire."  All he had to say and he could have stayed in the castle safe and warm instead of being forced to brave a raging blizzard at night with a madman do-gooder.  I'm sure he didn't get time and a half for that.

And pine boughs?  I guess if there is nothing else pine will burn just fine.  But it's not my first choice for firewood after you got it started.   What grows in the Czech Republic 1000 years ago?  No oak?  Maybe hardwood is too dear to burn if you can help it, as it is needed for other things.  Like charcoal for industry.

His servant flags, near death, in the storm, and Wenceslas doesn't go 'hey, lemme carry part of that heavy burden, as you are just an undernourished boy, unaccustomed to toiling outside in the blow.'  What he does do, which isn't half bad is give his lowly Page leave to overlook protocol, which would have the boy to the side and slightly behind his liege.  Instead, the kid could walk single file behind the king, ingnoring such etiquette concerns, and walk in the kings footstep.  This way the sand people hide their numbers.  Also, this way the king trudges through the drifts and the Page's walk is easier, staving off his exhaustion.  Perhaps also serving as a wind break for the lad.

We don't hear what happens on the long walk back, after the king and Page and loagy from eating and swilling.  It was hard to get there, now they are drunk and even more susceptible to hypothermia in the dark.  No one knew they were heading out, the castle would be in an uproar in the moring.  How do I know?  More senior servants wouldn't have let the king sally forth without greater assistance.  That's just not done.  And we already established that Peasant was acting in dubious manner.  Maybe he fell on the king and dragged him into the forest and stuff his corpse in some crevass.  Prolly taint St Agnes' Fountain as he decomposes.  Maybe the Page was in on it.  It was a conspiracy.  Or the Peasant was threatening the Page's family, and he was compelled to deliver the Wenceslas to the murder-hut.

Or maybe it was all as reported.  A hard working but poor Peasant and his family got to sup with his ruler on a cold winter night.  What a Joy.  He who would bless the poor will in turn find blessings.  And not one Krampus is sight.  Other conspiracies would play out, but not this one, with the murder hut at the forest fence.  And perhaps that Page would be the one that tries to avenge his lord after foul betrayal on some September day.

Christmas

Xmas

Are they trained?

Yes, cops are trained to handle firearms.  And some of them keep at the training and are really quite good shooters.  Better than I will ever be.   

But the run of the mill cops aren't trained any more than you, dear reader, or our associates that might shoot a box a year.  Some cops make safety mistakes.

Like this one, locally.

Summed up:  Cop party on the 15th.  Sounds like an after work holiday get together.  11 officers there.  A gun show-and-tell.  Maybe some individuals present were unfamiliar with the model?  I could see that.  Maybe alcohol was served at this private cop party?  I can't imagine that, cops are notorious teetotallers on AND off duty.  Right?  Back to the facts.  Negligent discharge.  Sounds like the cop handling it punched a hole in his hand and the bullet went on to struck another's leg.  Happens.  Even to cops.  Maybe expecially with cops as they have that Blue Attitude.  You know what I mean.  Many of them are on the Dunning Kreuger spectrum with firearms and I've seen many LEO's act a bit more cavalierly around guns compared to other gunnies. Remember that cop on video that shot a hole through his hand and it turns out he'd done the same thing 20 years earlier?  I can't find that video but I did find another.

All 11 went on suspension since the incident.  Now 8 of those are back on duty.

(I am picturing myself as a cop at this party.  I bet I'd be in the John taking care of personal business dropping off kids at the pool, so to speak.  Then:  LOUD NOISE.  Obviously I am not involved, I was in the can.  But now I get a paid vacation for a whole week!)

Cold

I wish

I wish my "good accuracy day at the range" was as good as Tam's "bad accuracy day at the range."

This is a Company Town

And the 'Plant' is the Federal gummint.

And local news sites are spouting off the usual tragedy.  They will spout the company line. Of course, it impacts hundred's of thousand of area listeners directly, or first order indirectly.

But let's keep it in perspective.

Last week, when Trump was gonna sign a continuing resolution pushing the fight to February, the Feds declared Monday to be an official holiday.  Tuesday is Christmas.  And the shut down didn't happen until after work on Friday.  Next to nothing happens in the Federal government (except sometime the now-fully-funded military) on a weekend.  Less happens on holidays.  Essential personnel, what few there are, report to the Department of Commerce as usual, so if a pipe bursts someone is there to shut off the water.

Talk of riots and massive fires in DC is fiction.  Locals with relatives in from out of town they were going to entertain by dragging them to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, well, they will have to think of something.

But the partial shut down doesn't REALLY start til about 7AM Wednesday, the 26th.

I say 7AM because with their faults as inefficient putterers when it comes to their job, Federal workers do like to get in early.  More than average.  You avoid some traffic and have more time in the afternoon for personal stuff.

So that is when their extended holiday starts.

They were to be paid on Friday the 28th. (ed:  they still will be, the machine for that direct deposit can't be stopped now.)  If the government is still closed then they might not be.  That'd be the first real hardship.  For what they do, gummint workers are decently paid.  If they don't have some money set aside for shutdowns then that is on them.  And it's not like they won't be paid eventually.  For not working.  That money might be delayed, is all.  Never in my lifetime has a shutdown caused a federal worker to lose a dime of pay.  Next payday:  11th January.

No the people that set up a food truck next to a government campus, THEY will lose some money, yes.

But don't feel bad for the civil servants.  Well, some civil servants.  More than half of them aren't impacted at all.

And TSA screeners are essential personnel.  FAA is funded.  That's the flight controllers.  If someone tells you your flight will be delayed because of the shutdown, they are wrong.  Or the screeners are conducting shennanigans.


----

Addition.  Oh, Federal Contractors might get hosed over, individually, if the shutdown is long.  Depending on their company.  

Plumb Forgot

Didn't go to the range last week.  Lots on my plate.  Prolly won't this coming week.  Same.  I will try.  Don't wanna get rusty.

Rattlesnakes and Porcupines

It me, except for the important member part pic.twitter.com/CpWKCtJAA9

— StylinSteelSlatHat (@Popehat) December 22, 2018

What would happed to you

If you dropped your CCW pistol out of a crappy holster and it shot someone when you picked it up?  And all in an establishment that serves alcohol.

2 years probation, and fees?

Dunno if the FBI fired him.  Might not have.

I assume the crime he plead to, 3rd degree assault, is not a felony in Colorado? No, it is a misdemeanor, so is the sentence of probation doesn't count as jail time presumably the FBI agent can keep that gun.

So, maybe you would get off as light.  Who do you work for?  Do they have any sympathy with the court like the FBI might?

---

In other news, the gun appeared to be drop safe it that situation, just not finger-on-trigger safe.

Mass Killings

They are mostly done by Millennials.  After the Luby's massacre there was a quiet period... Until Columbine.  The Spree killers since those early Millennials were all the same cohort, except for some exceptions.  I count Millennials as anyone born between Reagan getting shot and the Twin Towers collapsing.  Columbine to Virginia Tech to New Town to Parkland.  The Aurora theater shooter, the guy that shot Rep Giffords and others.  Pretty young when they do it, too. 

I don't count the Ft Hood shooter, because that was all War on Terrism stuff.  He was born in 1970.

The Vegas Bump Stock fellow was old.  Had a lot more resources than any Millennial.  1953.  A Baby Boomer.

And the Anti-Semite in Pittsburgh was older, too.  1972

But the other were all young folks. I guess we have to see if the peeps born since 2001 will take up the mantle of evil and go on killing sprees. 

I mentioned Luby's, and there was the McDonalds massacre in the 80s, too.  And the Texas Tower in the 60s.  Those were done by Baby Boomers.  Born betweeen Hiroshima and Kennedy getting one to the dome. 

But Gen X seems pretty chill.  Except for a few hatemongers, like the above and McVeigh.  And they were adults.  Fully grown when they did their evil deed.  It was on them, not the way they were misraised and not fully formed.  The South Carolina hatemonger/murderer was pretty young his ownself.  Obviously, something was wrong.  Morally and mentally.  In all these people.

It's just interesting.  Be nice to get to the bottom of the commonality, especially if Generation Z keeps on the same path.

Is it something in the water, frustose, soy milk, aspartame?  Too much helicopter parenting?  Not enough church?  Not enough mental health attention?  TOO MUCH mental health attention and subsequent over-prescription of psycotropics?  Not enough lead in the air?  Porn and Video Games?

And if we fix it by adjusting one of the above, and cut back the young people going on murder rampages, do we then get higher violent crime rates, but more retail instead of wholesale, like we had in the 70s 80s and 90s?

Anyway.

GP That’s because we GenXers are awesome, Doc. Hippie Boomers and Millennials? Crap.

— The Gormogons (@Gormogons) December 20, 2018

Gun Control

At least he made a play at shutting down the gummint.

pic.twitter.com/hqEMWpEUMV

— Sal the Agorist (@SallyMayweather) December 20, 2018

Quote about the Rules

"I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."  R. A. Heinlein.

Good thing I don't have to worry about bump stocks.

But I am a law abiding people.   

OCvCCW

Yeah, THIS is why I prefer to CCW instead of Open Carry.

Now if I was with a dozen other gunnies all OCing, I might reconsider.  But that scenario rarely happens,  But it might deter folks like the knucklehead.

Ya took something away

And you didn't give us NOTHIN'!


When you compromise, you are supposed to get something in return.  Now, as a trade item I was ALL for compromising away bump stocks.  But we've been one-side compromising for decade.  I want my cake back.  A start would have been Reciprocity and Hearing Protection Act.  We deserve more, but that'd be a start. 

Now, we got nothing.  And I am pissed. 

"But Gorsuch and Kavanaugh!" Maybe we did get something.  It's a pig in a poke at this point.  Time will tell, but we wanted something concrete in return.

S'rong witchoo?

This is Wonderful News

Because it surely means the opposite.  And the forces of good and civil rights are about to surge forward with many successes.

There types of Lefty prognostications are invariably the inverse of reality.


And really.... it's E. J. Dionne, fer cripes sake.  If he predicted the sun would rise tomorrow I'd be worried we'd enter an age of darkness.

"So please open your mind to this: Taken together, the events of 2016 and the results of the 2018 election will be remembered as the beginning of the end of the gun lobby’s power.

Supporters of reasonable gun regulation have been so cowed by National Rifle Association propaganda over the past quarter-century that we are reluctant even to imagine such a thing."

Queen's Nigh Veeeee

Buddy at work got himself an FN .45.  (Bought it at the PX?) He is kinda new to shooting and is worried about gun safety.  He likes the decocker feature.   He wished his S&W M&P had a way to decock the hammer.

I told him the good news.  The Smith doesn't HAVE a hammer!   Ta-da!

He was doing show and tell with an older inlaw that had spent 30 years in the Royal Navy.  Before handing it to the Faulklands vet he un-magazined it and checked the chamber to be sure it was empty.

And good thing, too.

Just because you are a 30 year military veteran doesn't mean you won't muzzle every thing you can see in a matter of 2 seconds.  So a training timeout was called and the two went over the safety brief together one more time for the first time.

I mean, I am sure their are plenty of longtime .mil folks that haven't even touched a pistol.  Especially things like Snipes, which this guy was.   Or, if you had, you were in the British service where gun safety consciousness and culture might be different.


----


And here is a former 5-Star pointing a revolver RIGHT at another's guy's belly.  60 years ago or so.  At least he has the cylinder swung out, so, safe enough, if not best practices

Poor Millennials!

They make 20% less than their parents did at the same age! 

Oh fer...  Look at the date.  A week before the inauguration.  So it was a study done with the over-long Obama economic malaise.  8 years of feet dragging and managing the decline.  It might be different now that they've had a chance to catch up in a halfway decent economy.  They'll be alright if we don't hamstring ourselves again at the next economic downturn, and extend it overlong.

Confiscation

Dems, plotting gun confiscation in 2019

All that?  I've held that our majority on SCOTUS is decent but not really all that, even with Kavanaugh, and we really need to pick the Breyer and Ginsberg replacements, but it's not all bad.  The Senate is GOP controlled and still ostensibly pro-gun.  Same with the Whitehouse.  I mean the Deep State has strong hooks, but...

Do you think they can really force by the House to go full confiscation THIS next year?

Oh, they are talking state efforts.  Like in New Jersey with magazine limits dropping to 4, max.  And they think they have momentum in Washington State to keep the gun control rolling from last session, and maybe they can start making some inroads in Florida.

To tell you the truth about Maryland..  The state may be ruled by Dems and only a liberal Repblican can get elected governor and he is squishy on gun rights especially when faced with veto proof bills but...  They don't really have much appetite to push gun control in this state out of the clear blue sky.  You'd need a tragedy to get a lotta gumption.  Oh, they'll put up stuff half heartedly, but it doesn't often come to much.  Not that I like any of it.

And, oddly, a whole lot of New York state isn't going along with the governor's signature Safe Act, so Elmira will have to wait until some Long Island police make their way up there to get a chance to get confiscated. 

So we'll have to wait til Chuck is majority leader and Alexandra Occaisional-Cortex is inaugurated in 2021 as the youngest president at 32 years old to get the Federal level gun confiscations.   

This day... 245 years ago

Some Indians ruined a tea shipment in Boston.

Utah CCW due

Got the letter in the mail.  I expire in February 2019.  There was a scare last time that they might not renew.

Let's see what it says.

Ah HA!

Simple renewal.  $25 for non resident.  If you do it online it;s $25.75.  I have to send them a picture of my home state's CCW permit IF my home state honors the Utah permit.  Maryland does not.  

Heh.  Maryland could start to honor Utah resident permits...  That would really be a wooden shoe in the millworks for folks like me.

I also need to take a digital picture of myself. Easy Peasy.  Every smartphone in the world can do one up good enough.  I really should get one of them phone thingies...

Rules to Live By

Yeah, but he DOES insult other people.  A few times.  Initiates the insults. So much for not doing that to other people.  And if I pointed that out to him he'd have been mad and may have shot me.

NRA Can No Longer Stay Silent

Agreed.  The NAACP is right to call the NRA to account.  This isn't 'wait til all the facts are known on this case before the law.'  This is core principles.  And about some cases that are fully adjudicated and part of history and a distinct pattern.

SAY something NRA.  Even if it's a weaselly, "We disapprove of cops shooting folks of any ethnicity that don't need to be shot."

I know you have been working long and hard behind the scenes to get the general police population on the same side as the Second Amendment.  I remember the late 70s and early 80s when cops said on the news we shouldn't shoot back and take the law into our own hands.  And I remember in the 90s when it was only the upper echelons of law enforcement that pushed such dribble, and now when only some big city police commissioners spout it.  I understand.  It is great that cops are generally on our side.

But that's not mutually exclusive.

But say something.  There is a trend at this point.  The NRA can gain valuable new friends without alienating old allies.  Cops don't like shooting people that don't need shooting, and don't like it when other cops do it either.

Wait, I'm the NRA!  Like the old magazine ads said.  I'm the NRA.

"We disapprove of cops shooting folks of any ethnicity that don't need to be shot."

You don't even have to make it racial.


"We disapprove of cops shooting folks of any ethnicity that don't need to be shot."

There, now it is Americans.  And it is inclusive.

But say something, NRA.  There is a trend at this point.  You don't have to come out like Wayne LaPierre is the reincarnation of Malcolm X.  The NRA can gain valuable new friends without alienating old allies.  And you know what about them allies?  Cops don't like shooting people that don't need shooting, and don't like it when other cops do it either.

 ---

Note:  I'm not fan of the NAACP.   Their left lean on many issues unrelated to their core mission is not palatable, and this complaint about the NRA is probably in the service of the leftist causes rather than the NAACP cause.  But taken alone, they are right, either way.  The NRA dropped a ball they did not have to drop, and can still pick up without humiliating themselves.  It's all I'm saying.

You can even say I'm selfish.  I don't want the cops to air me out because I KNOW I will never need shooting.  If cops are trained better in not shooting black good guys they'll also be better trained at not shooting T-Bolts.  So just blame it on that.

It took them 9 months

To come up with the common sense solution normal people come around on in 9 days after the Parkland school shooting.

Victim disarmament zones need diverse armed security, or it is just a feed lot for predators.  Not just one security peep.  That one could fail.  And he can't be everywhere.

Good job liberal school board  Good job Huffpo.

Anti-Gun Celebrity

This is Alyssa Milano.  In a video where she is rude to the Secretary of Education.  Milano is big into #MeToo stuff and anti gun stuff.  Standard Lefty



Look at her eyes!  No wonder she is against gun ownership!  She's a prohibited person, herself.  That's gotta be a metric tonne of weed she sparks up.

Reefer.  Not even once.

Hey, Cocaine Mitch

Great job you are doing. 

How bout sneaking in CCW reciprocity into that Criminal Justice Reform bill, huh?  You probably won't do it.  But it would be great if you did.

And for next year, when Nancy sends you a NICS check requirement on every gun transfer, add an Amendment that it can't cost more than $25, can't have any serial numbers associated with the check, and can't be delayed beyond the seven days.  Oh, and the transferees can change their mind about the transfer after the NICS check is complete, and are only out the check fee. 

The Dems will balk at this, then you ask them "I thought you wanted a background check?  Is it something ELSE you wanted, because this is a background check that even some gun owners will get behind."

Anti Gun Culture

We joke about where do the anti-gunners go for fun?  "No-Guns Shows"?

I thought I could make something of this American Thinker article, but I can't find the angle to comment on.  It's just how the banners manipulate gun stats to argue their case, while our side is all sunshine in every corner, relying on the truth, with nothing to hide. 

Wait, do we have anything to hide?  Any inconvenient fact with hide away?  Does the NFA machine gun ban save lives?  Dunno about that one.  We'd have to repeal it for a few decades and note what happens. 

I gots the sniffles

Ya know, this is a very mild cold.  If you are gonna be sick this year, I recommend it.  Just a little bit of stuffiness  No real sore throat to speak of yet.  Very little coughing.  Some sneezing.  No achiness, really.  My finger joints, mebbe.  Not a smidge of temperature.

The only thing wrong with it is the fatigue and ennui.  I wanna sleep for 10 hours.  Then, when I wake, go back to sleep because 10 hours of sleep is exhausting work.  Making me less blog productive.

So, some neckbeard

So some neckbeard wanted to go on a Pittsburgh styles murder spree, killing Jews in the Synagogue.  For ISIS.

I guess someone saw something and said something and the police came and took him away.  That's the way it's supposed to work.

Look at this guy:

Doesn't look like a typical ISIS supporter.  Looks more like a typical pod-eating loser.  And he is 21.  So.  Millennial. I guess it is only now that we will start seeing outrages by the next generation, Gen Z or whatever they end up being called.

Obviously, he is not a fan of the Jewish faith.  Also, "He had also expressed hatred for gays, Christians, Catholics, and Jews."

No hatred for black people?  I guess that is a tiny step in the right direction when the murderous crank hate-mongers don't include African Americans in their target cohort. 

Maybe a Muslim convert.  Not too long of one because he hadn't changed his name.  Whatever.  I hope he likes the taste of prison food.  

This photo has been making the rounds

All round Algore's interwebz.  Most folks make fun of the cops spreading out $75 like it is a fortune.

But let's look more closely at the firearms from this big bust!

First of all, Winchester steel cased ammo.  Yup, all this operation's money is tied up in the weed and Glad ziplock baggies.  Oh, and scales.  Two decent scales cost money.

Looks like a smaller Glock on the right with some after market light/laser (see?  Still NEW Jovian Thundbolt.  A true gun geek would know the gun model number and the brand of clip on laser.)  I only say Glock because of the little tiny take down thingies.  On the left, I guess Ruger LCP II?  LC9?  Though I am not married to either of those choices.

And the mags.

Ok, a single mag for the littler gun, and the two mags that came with the Glock and... what the heck is that on the right, number 4?  Did someone have a Hipoint with an orange follower in the magazine then lost the rest of the gun?  Is it...  for a .45?  Maybe it is another type of pipe for smoking the Lucifer's Lettuce.  I dunno, I'm not a pothead.

Blaming the Gun

When a bad guy kills somebody, the Mainstream Media tends to blame the gun.  Especially if it in an AR.  Or Assault Weapon.  They rarely blame the evil triggerman  Somehow the gun is at fault.

It reminds me of 30 years ago, when SUVs were first becoming a 'thing'.  They were popular.  You had the roominess of a full size car from 1955 again!

But when an SUV was involved in a fatal crash or struck a pedestrian the press inevitably blamed the SUV.  "An SUV ran over a little old lady in a crosswalk."  If a Honda Civic killed that little old lady they'd say motorist.  Or maybe find out if the motorist had had a beer, then it would be a Drunk Driver.

Woe betide the Jeep Cherokee driver that clipped a pedestrian after consuming one whole 12 ouce beer.

That characterization of SUVs didn't 'take' as well as blaming an Assault Weapon, but they both came from about the same time in media history.  By my lights.

It's the gun's fault.  Not the killer's fault.

It's only very recently that the other side has been forced to give ground by firearm wielders using their weapon for self defense.  But it's still an uphill PR battle.

Nuffin

Crud...

Uhhhh...

A buddy wants to get a Rhino.  His heart is set on it.  He has like 2 guns.  Now.

And he pretty much knows this is just a whiz bang neato gun.  Something for fun.  Less for bidness.  But it can be used for social purposes. 

I tried to talk him down, but the heart wants what the heart wants.  I know that feeling. 

George H W Bush

A MAJOR world event that had a HUGE impact on the late president's entire life was the attack on Pearl Harbor.  It sent in motion the arc of his young life.  He was 17 and a half.

How fitting that the final duty regarding his long life finally concluded on the morning of the anniversary of that fateful day.

It was an honor. pic.twitter.com/Tjw9y4B0qo

— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) December 7, 2018

Range Day, 04 Dec

Things I learned this time.  Trying to increase your speed is good, but don't forget the fundamentals.  I let the 3rd part get away from me recently.

The three parts? 

1. Relax
2. Front Sight
3. Make trigger go good.  

Not just "my finger knows the way, just like my horse knows how to get home when I have gone on a bender at the saloon."  Know.  You still have to think on it.

By the third mag I could feel myself tightening up.  The fourth, I went a bit faster, and the group drifted more right.  Fifth, less fast, still tightish, still right.  Tired.  After the sixth, I called it.  Went home.

I have no idea how I would have the stamina for a long long live fire session with a 500 round count.  But I'd only go to a 500 round count class if it was highly regarded by gunnies I trust. 

43 rounds of American Eagle, no malfunctions, 513 fired since I built this gun.

Now I really need to find a way to fix my heel to the right.

For Whycome?

"Hey, T-Bolt, riddle me this.  How come you don't shoot the bottom two targets on these papers you show?  Seems like you aren't getting your full money's worth out of the thing."

Well, many readers already know the answer to this.

It's because I am courteous.

I am over 6 feet tall.  If I shoot those targets at the usual 25 foot line they are definitely hitting the floor. 

Now plenty of other people hit the floor.  And this range isn't a stickler about it.  Not like the NRA range is.  But they don't WANT people damaging the floor any more than they want people shooting the ceiling or target trolley or shooting table.

I'm not really helping them out.  But I am not hurting them either, if I can help it.  It's the polite thing to do.

Like squeegeeing up your brass when you are done shooting. 

And sometime I get to shoot at those when I send the target further down.

Guns at the PX

So you joined the military and your home of record is in a low income tax state like Texas or Florida.  This is perfectly fine, and lots of military peeps keep the same home of record throughout their career.  My brother's is Pennsylvania.  Most guys with me in the Navy made Texas their 'home'.  You just need a mail drop so you can get your tax forms from the IRS and your absentee ballot, and have a place to put on your Driver's License from there. 

But that's not important.  What is important is how do you buy a gun in Maryland when your home of record is in Texas?  (And you don't want to drive to Texas and back.)  You transfer a gun in and the gun store FFL here is gonna want to see a Maryland DL.  Usually. 

Well there are lots of ways.  One way that opened up recently is through you PX.

Yes, the Post Exchange on base.  A federal installation.  With quite strict gun regulations its ownself. 

But wait, do you have to adhere to Maryland law when getting your gun on base?  Sorta.  I know they won't let you have a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds if you buy from a PX in a Maryland military base.  That's not a federal law, it's a state one.   But you don't need Maryland HQL, or permit-to-purchase.   You have to prove you are a Texas resident, but live in Maryland to get it at the Maryland PX.  An electric bill is not good enough.  A fishing license is.  Just, odd.  Some Maryland laws apply, some do not.  And this varies, state to state, and inside the state.

Satellite of the Simians

I missed this the first go round 10 years ago.

There is another gun in Planet of the Apes that isn't a reworked M1 Carbine.

A later Colt Pocket Hammerless!  Sweet.

The return of Monday Bupkis

So, now I gotta free-associate gun content.

Plus, ya know, turkey day stuff.

Hmmm.  Nope.  Nuffin.

Thinking of selling some odds and ends.  Like a 1970s era plated Commander.  Not enough meat on the rails to rebuild it, but it might be the bees knees for someone else.

Heh.  I have 3 custom 1911s.  What the hell happened to me?  But once you have custom 1911s in plentiful quantities, ordinary ones with no other sentimental or historical/collector value seem sorta surplus to requirements.

"Ever think about a 4th, T-Bolt?"

You know, now that you mention it.  I have a threaded barrel.  I have an unworked frame with my name on it (002) and I have a lotta high end parts, perhaps more than enough to complete a new pistol.  And I kinda want a suppressor someday.  So, perfect.  The only thing I am missing is a slide.

30 years is still a long ways off, but then again it will be here before I know it.  I don't wanna have to worry my heirs dealing with a dozen boomsticks. What will I still have when I am 80, I wonder?  The 1911 I built and it's backup.

Unless I am more crippled.  Then it'd be nuffin. 

Good

I am glad this is happening.

Not just because I am uncomfortable with cops airing out innocent black dudes.

Not just because I am uncomfortable with cops airing out innocent black dudes that have CCW permits and are carrying.

But because I don't want cops airing out ME.  A big scary looking white dude with a skinhead and a beard like a biker and a perma scowl and a CCW permit and sometimes carry.  If I was a cop and came up on me looking the way I usually do, I'd give me the stink eye.  I don't want that cop to automatically shoot me or a black dude.

I know it is hard to not air out anyone with a gun when you are in a scene where shots have been fired and you know little else.  I have done that training and have failed it more than once. 

----

Others are more moribund on the value of a dialogue.  And the pessimist in me fears they are probably right.

Range 27 November

Better, and worse.

Better in that, it was losing focus on making the trigger pull a quality one that was hurting me in previous range trip.  I improved that quality by paying attention to it, and results improves.  Not perfect, but better.

Worse in that a tiny bit of creep in trigger take up has returned.  I will consult with the gunsmith, and make close the hole up.  Again.  Or try some other brands of disconnector

Anyway, story time.  I get to the range and there are a couple good ol' boys ahead of me.  Picking up a new gun, there, and going to test it out at the range.  They had clearly never shot there before, and they had no idea about range etiquette at the air lock, which is loud.  'Great,' I'm thinking, 'these guys might be new to the whole gun safety thing, and I bet their target looks like a typical 00 buckshot pattern.'

Nope.

I was at lane 3.  Next to me was a young ex Navy guy (Navy PT shirt, but full beard about a month old) in 4.  Good Ol Boys with new pistol in #5.  And some other dude in 6.  Unusually, ALL of them were shooting as well as me or better.  Not usual these days.  All professional with their gun handling.   Refreshing.

I was never That Guy with the gun safety.  "Oh don't worry if I point it at you, it's not like it's loaded!"  But I have been That Guy with the marksmanship.  Well, almost.  I never hit the target trolley and have me target fall to the floor.

Anyway, 50 more rounds, 21 of them Magtech, the rest AE.  No malfs.  Shot at 8 yards, except for center bottom, which was 25 yards.  Slightly better because of the finger.  Better lollipop hold or figure out if I am just heeling.

Baby it's Cold Outside

So rapey!

So you been training a lot

"But you haven't talked about holster work, T-Bolt.  Done any of that?"

Sure!

"I bet you are real good at it then, with all the practice you been getting with an instructor critiquing."

Oh, no!  No no no. 

First, it's not enough holster work.  And it's not enough dry fire draws at home.  It's some.  It needs to be more. 

But it is timed.  So that is something objective I can share.

"Oh goody!  1.4?  1.6?"

No, again!  I am pleased as punch when it is 2.0.  I think I got 1.9 or 8 once or twice?  Consistent two and a quarter is a good day where I am not screwing up.  So, pretty wretched.  I need to hope for guile in a gunfight, because I am no San Saba Songbird in the speed department.  My tactics will have to get downright Archimedean. 

And this is with a Glock, with a non-retention style holster, on the belt, at 9 o'clock, with no cover garment to worry about.  If I was getting 1.5 I might think I am hot stuff, but in those circumstances?  Get better, bruh. 

I am working on a hitch in my giddyup.  Bad transition from the count where you are out of the holster and you've transitioned to a forearm parallel to the deck at right angle to your upper arm, elbow touching the body.  From there, that point, to push out is the hitch.  A pause. 

The other problem is meeting my support hand to my shooting hand.  But I gotta a good tip from this podcast Tam recommended.  I am meeting too soon instead of in front of the sternum.  Like a handclap.  Where your two hands meet, naturally, when you are clapping.  Also maybe because of that hitch.  Don't want my other hand to sweep that muzzle.  With the hand clap that point in my push-out, my muzzle is much further forward. 

Who Could Have Guessed Overreach?

It looks like if you receive social security, someday soon, that will be grounds to put you on the red flag list and they'll come take your guns.  Can't handle your finances was what they tried before, now it's for the shaky or forgetful, soon it will be something else.  AARP memberships.  Who knows.

Which is a good idea, if you are looking to confiscate all guns from us Americans.  After grandpa dies who knows where his guns end up?  Hard to track that.  But if they round em up as soon as Grandpa retires?

Oh sure the proposal, now, is to go after oldsters with dementia, now.  But they already tried going after anyone that needed help with their finances for whatever reason during the Obama admin.  Pretty soon you'll just lose your Rights because:  Old.   Or:  Getting help from anyone.

I mean you don't even lose your right to vote when you die, in many cases, why do you lose an enumerated right just for getting on in years?

It'll be easier on the SWAT teams, raiding the aged is better than raiding youthful and violent drug dealer types, hopped up on goofballs and crystal blue meth.  Don't go after OldNFO first, Officers.  He might be old, but he's still wily.   In Maryland the error rate was only 1:144 or so.  One citizen made to assume room temperature for every 144 Red Flag confiscations.  Eventually there will be a ratio on the other side if confiscations keep expanding.  

So, watch Red Flag laws spread across the country.  Then expect the qualification for a Flag to mission creep into more and more things.   "What, you got a parking ticket?  Better turn in them guns while we find out what kind of scofflaw you actually are, citizen, for everyone's safety."

Look, I am all for keeping tabs on prohibited persons or truly mentally unstable individuals, but i am NOT for expansive, fresh new classes of Americans over here that have less rights than Americans over there.

...Dude........

Oklahoma man describes shooting and killing home intruder.

This Lady

This lady made it so my Utah or Virginia non-resident CCW permit was no longer valid in Pennsylvania. 

The Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

She was one of Bloomberg's creature, elected with his backing.  Awful person, and a gun banner, natch.

Well, now she is going to prison.  Good.  I hope you like the taste of Pepper Steak, you civil rights violating toad.  I wish Frosh could go with you, but we haven't caught him committing a felony yet.  But he never needed a sugar daddy to get elected in Maryland.  Maryland leaned more heavily Liberal than PA did.     

According to Jerry Rivers...

Geraldo Rivera: "Painful" We Are Treating Migrants "As if They’re Zombies from 'The Walking Dead'"

WHAT?!!

That's awful! 

I don't want Illegal Aliens crossing the border at will and applying for the plethora of benefits of our over generous welfare state any more than the the next guy, but don't shoot them in the head!  They aren't real zombies.

Unless they are hiding an important detail from us in all the media coverage....

Get a grip folks.  Just turn them away.  Firm enforcement and bilingual No Trespassing signs and all that. 

Buster Scruggs

In The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, the first outlaw Buster has a significant interaction with has this holster, and I can't quite make out the name.

You can see this clip your ownself here, and I enjoyed the whole movie.

But anyone know who that is?

Yeah, NRA?

I wish you'd come out in favor of good guys with guns that get aired out by cops.

And not just black dudes, but you'll never cultivate allies in the African American community it if you treat black CCWs the same way you treat white CCWs that get shot by cops.

I know you are also trying to cultivate allies in the Law Enforcement world, but lets strike a batter balance, huh? 


----------

"This is why we don’t expect the NRA or the president to say a word about Bradford and Roberson, all but vindicated in their deaths. Nearly two years later, we are still waiting for them to adequately respond to the death of Philando Castile, the Minnesota school worker who even told the officer during the traffic stop that he was a Good Guy With a Gun and wasn’t believed. We are most useful to them either as victims or as the victimizers. Never as the hero."

And that is how come we don't win. We reject one set of potential allies for another set we sort of have. 

California Politician

Full of Bool Shite

According to the lefty Chicago Tribune.

This doesn’t happen anywhere else on the planet. We stand alone in the world in the number of mass shootings" said California’s Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom

Nope!

Why is he wrong?  Because:

Of the 97 countries where we identified mass public shootings, the U.S. ranks 64th per capita in its rate of attacks and 65th in fatalities. Major European countries, such as Norway, Finland, France, Switzerland and Russia, all have at least 25 percent higher per capita murder rates from mass public shootings.

Bad Trigger

A good trigger is an absolute pleasure.  When I made my 1911 the hammer-sear engagement turned out great.  I was lucky.

The disconnector hole had a little slop in it, and you could feel that in the take up.  That little hitch would have bugged me forever if we hadn't corrected it.  The trigger is now a joy. 

But I've done a lot of training with a Glock, and a Glock trigger in various stages of it wearing out, while not bad, per se, it is no custom 1911 good, either.  I can shoot both, tho.  I can do it.  That wasn't always true.  It's a recent development. 

Tam, on the other hand, is testing a gun right now, for work, and it sounds like it is not much fun in the trigger department.  But she brings up a good point. 

I'd rather be halfway good with any any ol' gun's trigger, than be really good at shooting, but I can only do it with the best triggers, and fall out of the boat with problematic ones. 

So if you run into the cut rate shooting Djinni that can only grant you a halfway good wish regarding shooting, maybe ask for "decent with most any trigger pull" as your one request.

Black Friday

I was thinking, you know what might be fun for the more ornery among us?

Staging fake Black Friday fights.  "GIMME BACK MY TICKLE ME ELMO!"

So what is stopping me?  Empathy for the store staff, and worries my fake fights might make others panic and do real fights.

55 years, yesterday

Range 19 November

Yeah, I am getting worse.  But I think I am on to why.

In efforts to distract myself to shoot better, and to try better finger placement to maybe draw the holes from the right side to the center, and permitting myself to go fast, I have lost sight of fundamental.

Make the trigger go good.  Fine.  I am doing that.

No, do it for real this time.  Ok, a few brief single shots of clarity, but problem identified is halfway to fixed.

Magtech rounds again.  43.  No malfunctions.  419 total in the gun.  162 since last cleaning.

You can see the shoot order if you zoom in on the sharpie numbers, upper left.  And see me lose it and then correct in one magazine.  Upper right I returned to, last, when I was getting a better handle on what I was screwing up.  More like that, next time. 

Happy Thanksgiving.

Go watch Turkey Day.

Art

I used to think that no one could paint pictures very well until the Renaissance came along and photo realism became a thing.  I mean this is just awful, and it was this bad for 100s of years. 

But look at stuff from the ancient world.  The West just forgot how to paint good.

Sensual fresco of Leda and the swan discovered in ancient Pompeii bedroom. https://t.co/xvqrHGiM62 pic.twitter.com/UPIKq4Zhmg

— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) November 20, 2018

How will Stallwell find us?

To get our guns and if we don't surrender him he know where to nuke us?

Well, 4473 has you name and address on it, don't it?  And NICS, too.  Now they aren't supposed to keep that information.  Well, I ain't supposed to pee in the shower, but how are you gonna know whether or no I really do?  Same with NICS.  I don't trust them, and assume they will pee in the shower no matter what.

And, in Maryland, there is a separate State Background Check system, and all pistols, and 'assault weapons,' are so-called registered, and should always go through the check. They are more upfront about it, and I am sure those Democrats running that part of my State will share that information with Representative Stalltell's (D, CA) nuclear forces, whatever their own interests are vis a vis dying in atomic fire.

But what if you moved here from Ohio?

What if you grew up on Maryland, moved to Florida for a coupla years, then moved back?

And what if you had bought guns in those other states and never bothered to buy guns in Maryland?  Stillfell's jackboots would have no idea to come to your door or target said door with a B83 thermonuclear weapon.

What if you lived in Maryland all your life just like the rest of your fambly and you cleaned out Grandpa's house after he died and he bought all his stuff ages ago before checks and now you have em and Maryland would never know or really care or be able to come after you, legally, about it, as long as you kept your mouth shut.  I mean the State might be able to prosecute you.  But you'd have to confess to everything for them.

Or what if you have always lived in free-er parts of America and legally bought and sold stuff from other individuals and that's fine because you always kept your nose clean so it's not like you are a prohibited person anyway, but nary an FFL was ever involved?

Smallsmell would have no idea who owned millions of those guns.  The gov't knows the names (S/Ns) and addresses of millions of guns, but there are quite a few more they just have no way of knowing.  Now nobody go volunteering that if if applies to you.  That Shawmell dude's crazy.  Gonna end up getting tried for crimes against humanity, he is.

I guess he'll just have to nuke every damn square inch of this country to be sure.

He's not a tyrant tho.

Stopping Power

"Stopping Power is a myth."

Depends on what you mean by stopping power.  Right?

"Oh, so we are defining terms?  Fair enough"

Yes.

"This bigger pistol bullet is better than that very slightly smaller pistol bullet. And has a much better of STOPPING a bad guy, right there."

Ok, yeah, that meaning...  Stopping power is a myth.

"Why, what other definitions are there?"

Well, when I was just a wee ignernt gunnie, I thought stopping power was how effecting the bullet design was in 'STOPPING' inside a bad guy, thus transferring all its energy to said bad guy, vis a through and through wound.  A good hollow point doing what it was supposed to do and expand had better stopping power than plain FMJ hard ball ammo.

"I never thought of it that way..."

Yeah, but I was dissuaded pretty quickly of that definition to yours.  Your def being the more accepted one, I think, from other folks' context.  I prolly would have been 'educated' sooner if I had read more gun magazines growing up.  Before 2007 I probably had 3 Soldier of Fortunes under my belt, total. 

That said, if MY definition was the rule, it still would not account for penetration.  Who cares if the bullet stops in the bad guy but only in the first half inch.  That's a punch that hurts, but not a hard one.  Penetration PLUS energy transfer PLUS disruption of the circulatory and/or nervous system.  And we ain't in ideal territory with either 9mm or .45ACP  

Traveller and Guns

There was a game... in the 70s and early 80s... It was like Dungeons and Dragons, but in SPACE!

Traveller

Ok, it has evolved and is still around, but it came about in the late 70s.

In the game there are hundred and hundred of habitable planets that you can 'travel' to in a spaceship and whatnot.

Erin Pallette still plays it a lot.  Tam has been know to speak of it kindly and surely owned a rulebook or two at some point or still.

One feature of this gaming world was ships could travel faster than light (3-18 lightyears in about a week), but comms could not.  So star systems were a bit more isolated and self sufficient.  Messages travelled by courier.  Help was sent for, not called for.

Star systems would have various tech levels.  The equivalent of 19th century tech?  Sure.  Or a space station like in the Star Trek movies.  They'd also have various law levels.  Which ranged from Libertarian paradise to Police State. 

The first weapons that started to be banned as you went from no restrictions was:

" Body Pistols, Explosives, Poison Gas "

So, reverse order, no nerve gas canisters.  No hand grenades or claymore mines.  And no Ruger LCPs or Keltec .380s.  You could have a plasma gun powered from a backpack reactor to blast holes in stuff, but a smaller CCW style pistol was a no no. 

0 (Zero)	No Law	No Prohibitions (Nuclear Weapons)
1	Low Law	Body Pistols, Explosives, poison gas
2	Low Law	Portable Energy Weapons
3	Low Law	Machine Guns, Automatic Weapons
4	Moderate Law	Light Assault Weapons
5	Moderate Law	Personal Concealable Firearms
6	Moderate Law	All firearms except Shotguns
7	High Law	Shotguns
8	High Law	Blade Weapons Controlled
9	High Law	No weapons outside home

That is a sampling.

At level 5 that includes revolvers and semi autos.  Regular concealable, not super concealable.  The US, at the time the game came out, was between 4 and 5, the booklets implied.  Britain a 6.  If you could still carry a user sword in Britain.

Why the extra fear of the body pistol?  Ok I am mostly guessing here.  Remember this came up in the late 70s.   There was a big hate-on for small Saturday Night Specials.  Most folks thought those were pretty much banned in 1968.  Plus people saw the plastic pistols coming down the pike.  And assumptions were made that those would be able to foil the metal detectors.  So, early 1980s only-casual gunnie types with early 80s firearm attitudes, all before CCW entered the mass public consciousness. 

Little concealable pistols seemed scarier, perhaps, to them, than a machine gun.  It's just an interesting cultural snapshot reflecting the attitude of the times:  An unknown threat was worse than the obvious threat you can keep tabs on with an OC rifle or pistol.  Only cowards carry a concealed weapon, and must be up to no good with it. 

But that's not the way things worked out.

---

Another funny gun thing about the game is how they though of a Snub Pistol.  In game it was a .38 or .40 cal J-Frame sized revolver that was good for fighting in Zero G.  For some reason.  They did specify it was low velocity, maybe the ammo was tuned even further down the speed scale (300-500 fps).  And it could fire specialty ammo, like tranquilizers or sleep gas or shaped charges to defeat body armor (so I guess it wasn't rifled, either, as that would defeat the shaped charge) and yet wouldn't puncture spaceship bulkheads and cause explosive decompression.  It felt weird to me even back in Junior High School.  It was a snubbie, but it could do odd things. 

Genuinely Curious

Anyone reading  this in California?

If the vote on the 2016 bill to manage wildfire area better was 75-0 in one house and 36-0 in another, how come the legislature didn't override Gov. Brown's veto?

Nuke Me

Nuke me.  Please.  I DARE you.  I double dare you. 

Here, I made a map so you can can find me.

The blue arrows are the prevailing winds. 

Now, Maryland isn't that gun friendly, but there are still LOTS of them semi-auto rifles around.  A certain subset are not gonna let you have em.  Plenty in that inner suburb map of DC, even.  There are over a million people in that little map.  Sure there are lots of liberal democrats in that map that think guns are icky, but that's still hundreds of thousands that aren't hoplophobe Dems.  Lots of black people and Hispanic people and Asian people in that map with their own rifles.  They jumped through the hoops, followed the rules and regulations, and laid down their hard earned cash at a gun store for an AK clone or a SCAR or an M1A.  You are just going to demand they give em up?  Racist.  And when some of em say no?  You are gonna nuke em, Congressman Stallwell?  Really?

But.  There are no guns in DC, of course, the gun control laws there keep them out and the city is gun free.


---

Ok, fine, you might not REALLY nuke em.  You'll send cops to their house and gun em down.  Shoot em in the face.  Otherwise law abiding black folks?  (And me, too, I guess, but no one will care about me.  Maybe you readers of mine.) 

A liberal lawmaker hasn't thought things through?  Shocking, I know. 

Pelosi Promises

A HUGE gun ban push in a few months after she gets the gavel.  Her or whomever.  But I am confident she will fend off challenges.

Of course.   This gun ban legislation, now, is as dependable as the sunrise.  It also, if it is the huge overreach they seem to be implying, doomed to failure in the Senate and by Trump's veto pen.

(If they were smart they'd go small ball with something passable and maybe trick Trump into signing it and thus hurting his 2020 chances.  IF they were smart...)

So.  Big flashy tyrannical bill.  January February time frame.  That means big panicky gun sales panic, maybe.

We see this coming months out.  Probable result: prices are going to go up.  Shortage are going to happen.  Slow motion train wreck we can see miles ahead of time.

Time to plan and act.

I saw this because maybe I should buy some range ammo now rather than later.  Avoid the rush.  Get a large order, now, because it might be months before ammo is plentiful or the price settles back to more reasonable.  If I am burning 50 rounds of .45, and my current stocks are 45% of their high...   Maybe 2000 rounds this time instead of 500?

I have lots of 9mm because I shoot it much less and accidentally bought an extra half case.

Ooo, .22.  I am back up near peak, but you remember how long it was before you could get ANY for a time?

Firearms?  Nothing burning. 

Media Coverage

A paper presented to the American Psychological Association found the number of mass killings, rampage killings or “mass shootings”, may be doubled by irresponsible media aggrandizement of mass killers. The desire for fame was found to be one of the main motivators of these rampage killers

Yeah!  So there! Stupid media outlets making things worse.

Wait.

Oh crap!

I'M a media outlet, of a sort.

No, I'm probably fine.  I don't glorify or inflate the infamy of a shooter like other outlets do.  And I 'publish' advocacy to maybe not have Victim Disarmament Zones to give victims a chance and perhaps act as a deterrent to bad actors.  A recommendation irresponsible media outlets don't boost. 

Tintin

Make way for the glorious Tintin stance pic.twitter.com/Hr89ivyqv2

— Lusitani (@FLusitani) November 15, 2018

Range 14 November

Pah!

Started out halfway decent.  I called the flinches or I was going too fast.  I flinch in anticipation when I take too long, if I go a half beat too fast I heel a bit.

And I tired out quick.  By the 6th mag, clearly.  Not my best session.

But you shoulds seen the shotgun pattern of the two idiots shooting a Glock Fohty next to me...,


21 rounds of American Eagle.  36 rounds of Magtech.  376 total in the gun.  119 since last cleaning.  No malfunctions.

Red Flag

So, many of you saw that my state of Maryland killed a man over the red flag legislation.

That's what happens.  Law is deadly force.  Don't pass a law, legislators, unless you are fine with someone getting killed over it.   And now someone, predictably, has. 

One of 114 'warrants' served for this sort of thing.  Someone goes "Hey so and so over there is kinda iffy, better take his guns away."  One in 114 times that someone gets killed for it.  So far.  It's only been around for 40 days or so.  Started being enforceable 1 October.  That means more than one a day.

So, what does it take to get your doorbell rung at 6 AM?

Can Shannon Watts, who doesn't know me from Adam's off ox, read my Twitter and do "this guy likes that Sharp as a Marble's guitar tweets too much.  Kinda scary.  I better have the Maryland State police raid his house."

Can my liberal ex-wife, whom I haven't seen in person in a handful of years and still remain civil with on social media get a hair and send the police after me?  She doesn't like how I vote, and she KNOWS I have a Springfield 1903.  She's seen that.  She has heard rumors I might have more.  Can she have Maryland come kill me?

Or does it have to be more official than that.  Hospital records of me acting erratically, my physician worried about me enough to drop a dime, police interaction for noise complaints, that bad habit of shooting a shotgun into the night sky on New Years...

The fact the state seems to be working through a list to get those 114 by November 5th means these folks raided were probably all 'know to law enforcement' and the cops were just waiting to start a round up.

Who, though?  Someone has to be accountable.  Someone has to decide "this threat is credible, go get the guns" and "this threat is not credible, leave T-Bolt alone."  Some person or set of people are the ones that can decide.  SOMEONE has to be ACCOUNTABLE.  Who is the decider?  The execrable Brian Frosh, our AG?

This can't be constitutional, as written?  I mean, I am sorta FOR Red Flag laws, but with proper accountability safeguards.  And Brian Frosh is not it.

Lemme check.

Well.  Not full adjudication.  Just partial.  A judge is involved.  Shannon Watts could petition the court, and remain anonymous, and would have to state she is related to me, dating me, dated me, or lived in the same place as me in the past year.  Or be a cop or doctor.  Then I would have to have a hearing scheduled within 14 days where I could lay out my side.  But I've dated lots of folks.  And if they won't tell me who my accuser is how can I claim I never dated Shannon? 

Good thing she thinks my name is Thunderbolt, huh?  Plus she can get cited for perjury if she lies about anything in the petition.

But I've dated lots of liberal women in my youth.  And to them I was usually a selfish and inconsiderate lover.  And they know my last name.  That could come back to haunt me.