Radio Static

The radio keeps reporting the Navy Yard shooter had a Texas CCW permit.

The radio also reports the shooter had a previous criminal charge for discharging a weapon in public.

Now, correct me if I am wrong...  And assuming the reports are true...  Wouldn't a class A misdemeanor charge make you a prohibited person to purchase firearms until that due process takes its course, and, more importantly, get your toters permit pulled?

And if that rises to the level of 'yank his toters permit' wouldn't saying he has a CCW be the same as saying "T-Bolt was an elementary school student"?  Sure it is true I WAS, but it's not exactly true NOW.

update:  the charge was dismissed, so no reason to pull the CCW.  Also, the radio reported for hours that the dead shooter was a white male.  I'm confused, because this is a funny looking white dude pictured.   I await more, and accurate, information to be reported, but I better wait days...

update 2:  Hey, maybe I am the racist here!  I might have heard "Shooter is a Texan with a CCW" on the radio and assumed it meant white and male.  (cuz i'm not sure WHAT I heard now...)  I shouldn't make assumptions like that.  I apologize if this is indeed the case.  Mea culpa to black and female and black female gunnies in the great state of Texas and elsewhere.  Also sorry to the radio reports I thought reported 'white dude', where they were just studiously ignoring the inconvenient melanin content of a murderer, if that is the subconscious conclusion I jumped to. 

Cop Marksmanship

I bet I am not the only one to mention this story in a blog post. NYC cops go after a crazed up hobo, miss him completely, hit 2 bystanders instead.

It's stories like this that make gunnies think they are better shooters than the average police officer.  We seem to practice more than your standard NYC police.

But that may be self-deluding.  You have to put a lotta caveats in there.  Do we practice more than a NYC SWAT member?  That cop in Wyoming that does IPSC on his days off and shoots 3000 rounds a month?  Probably not.  Not on average, no.

Do we, all of us, on average, practice more than all cops, on average?  Hard to ascertain, objectively.  If you narrow it down to "twice monthly range visits shooting enthusiasts" and "average NYC beat cops with no range to go to for 20 miles" then yes, those gunnies are probably better shooters than those cops.  And these cops that shot the bystanders on Broadway could easily fall in that group.

It's the example of these 2 ill prepared police that does tar the rest of the profession, and, I agree, that is probably unfair.  But welcome to our world.  We get painted with a broad brush.  As we all know 'civilian' shooters are inbred bible clinging mall ninjas with a Walter Mitty fantasy just waiting to spring into action, Dodge City style.

There is a prowler breaking into my house!

I know what to do, thanks Ma Bell!

Agent of Shield

Armor for your picatinny rails.

Sheesh, soon everything will be uparmored and our armies will be vanquished by peasant bowman as your valiant men fall over in a muddy French field and can't right themselves because of the weight.

I remember a bigger shield rifle mount thingy a year or two back.  Much more unwieldy than these.

But, you know... you could totally camo those shields and they might even assist a bit with countering some thermal imaging, so maybe there is something to it.  Even if it does cut down your field of vision.

Rich Lowry comments

Rich Lowry is a metrocon.   City conservative that rarely comments on shooting.  Gun are too 'country-mouse' to get on his radar much.  He's city-mouse.

Lowry is head high muckity muck grand poobah down there at the metrocon fortnightly.  And he notes how well the grassroots civil rights defenders did in Colorado against the Nanny Leviathan bottomless pockets.  Thanks National Review for noticing. 

Libs

No Harry.  Libertarian is not synonymous with Anarchist.  Nor does Libertarian mean Libertine.  I'm sure the Tea Party would LOVE to revert back to the laws we had in 1969, and all that was AFTER the execrable LBJ Great Society stuff was in place.  No one thought us an anarchy then...  But there would be no DOE or DOE or EPA or TSA or DHS getting all up in our faces.

Garand Rifle, rare type

Pictured, the M1 and M1! Garand rifle.

I got nothing today

I have had some cutesy stuff lined up, but it didn't seem appropriate for this particular anniversary.  I'm still looking for some righteous vengeance against the forces of barbarism and that hasn't happened yet.

Just a reminder: all of this bullshit is the result of us not enforcing immigration laws on 20 expired visas in 2001.

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) September 9, 2013

Big Honking Snubbie

Saw an interesting revolver on the consignment shelf while out with MBtGE last weekend.

It's a snubbie.  Or 'snubbie' really.

I coulda swore I saw it in Tam's Arms Room on a Sunday-Smiff post.  I figured it was something they stopped making back in 1996 or something and Tam picked it up from a good friend at a gun show for 3 bills.  The price, used, in the case, for me was $1000.  But I couldn't find it on her site...

8 shot... it looks like a half inch barrel, but that's deceiving as it's on a largish frame.  Waitaminnit, they still sell those.  It's a 327.  And I've admired the longer barreled version in the past.

I got to handle a brand new one 2 days ago.  Nice features?  The cylinder gap is tighter that a frogs 5th point of contact and there is a little metal guard you can just make out in the picture that protects the top strap from fire cutting out of that gap.  It's very lightweight and comfortable, but it's not for pocket carry.  Too big.

With my recent issues with the 1911, sometimes an idea like this revolver makes me want to chuck it all, sell off every semi I own, and just carry a wheel gun.  I'll get over that sentiment soon.

Ah, so I do need something

Being Honorably Discharged from the Navy, I do need to get a handgun license.  I just don't have to take the required training for it.

Great.  Just what I wanted.  Another hoop.

Sir, you are being hunted...

A British video game.  

See what happens when you surrender your right to self defense, you milk-sotted toffs!  Tweed wearing gentlemen robots hunt you for sport. 




And nary a proper round of .308 to be found. Much less a Holland and Holland double. Bloody rotters, wot?

Anti-Gun Rally in Baltimore

Done by one of the worst state Senators we have, Frosh, who is running for Attorney General. 

And Mayor Bloomberg, of course.

Funny how they don't list a time and place for said rally...  Probably don't want to get swamped by pro-gun folks.

Don't believe me about Frosh?  Here, right from the horse's mouth:




In fairness, he made that statement before the Supreme Court ruled on Heller, making him look a bit less pitful.

Who Watches the Watchmen

We do.

A new Amendment that only lets the Watchmen go around armed, leaving us to their tender mercies, and to the mercy of thugs with truncheons?  No thank you. Hippie, please?  What are you smoking?

Voting in the poll is very close, but I think it leans toward freedom.

Reacher

I should called this tag book/movie review...

Saw Jack Reacher.  It was just the turn for that disk to come in the mail.

 

Never read the books, so the movie couldn't ruin them.  From what i understand, Mr. Reacher (seems like the sorta dude you should call 'Mister') is supposed to be bigger than me.  So fans of the book were worried that the 4'11" Tom Cruise couldn't pull that off.  But he seems too.  It was a good flick.

 

I wonder what it is about Cruise.  I think he is likable because while there is unsavory stuff reported about him, HE doesn't do the reporting.  He seems to protect his brand.  Unlike a guy like Clooney or Matt Damon that spout off about Leftist causes, call the former president Chimpy McBushitler, and give sensuous back massages to that ol' Red, Howard Zinn, Cruise doesn't himself try to alienate half his viewing audiences.  While I think there is a better than even chance he shares Leftist sentiments, Cruise doesn't shove it in my face.  So there isn't that to distract me when watching one of his movies.

 

Matt Damon, on the other hand, I watch that guy and I am distracted, and Jason Bourne becomes Pinko Damon, and I am out of the movie.

 

Good parts about Jack Reacher?  My favorite rifle, the M14/M1A is practically a co-star.

 

Now, should I read the books?

I'm Sure It Isn't An Easy 'A'

University of California Irvine is offering a Zombie course (h/t Bubblehead Les).

8 week course.  So, like Boot Camp.  We just need to make it mandatory for everyone registered with Selective Service.  THEN we'd be ready for the coming Level 4 outbreak.  Then, we might have a chance.

But there is no mention of the marksmanship training and standards.  I'm sure it's just an oversight.  With luck they will stress that you never select a shotgun as your primary anti-zombie firearm. It's great for onesy twosey, but zombies travel in hordes. The reload time is onerous, and the ammo, while effective, is heavy and bulky and short ranged.

Range Notice

My indoor range, OnTarget sent out a mailer.  They are also a gunstore and they want to remind customers that the law is changing soon so get a gun now.  We still don't know what the new laws mean.  They were confusing before this most recent legislative fever seizure.  Money quote:

"This new law is so complex that NO ONE seems to be able to fully figure out how it will impact the 2nd Amendment rights of the gun buying public."

I kinda do.  Instead of buying any mag bigger than 20 at the gun show, I now have to buy any mag bigger than 10 at the gun show.  In Virginia.  Dunno what this means if I want another AR or M1A.  The assaulty looking stuff.  We will have to see.  The training reqs and fingerprinting won't apply to me.  I have a DD214 and I have already purchased a pistol in Maryland. So I can buy all the 1911's, revolvers, and Elsie Pees I want. There is a question of whether I could buy a pedestrian Glock 17, or S&W 9mm, or Beretta 92 (made in Maryland!) after Oct 1...

I got nuthin

Back into the Monday rut.  On a Tuesday.  It happens.

There is this...  How can you tell your batteries are dying in your Crimson Trace?  I don't know if it was just me, but the laser dot seemed to be faded.  I hopes it's batteries and not my eyes aging.

Yeah, I use the laser on my practice snubbie.  I have VZ grips for it like my carry snubbie, but I can't seem to locate them.  Ain't that always the way?  (I did find the Kuhnhaussen Colt .45 book...)

If only Crimson Trace could provide batteries for life or something.

I don't understand

Why are these Rat Patrol SAS guys looking so British and sporting weird looking drum fed machineguns?

Everyone knows the Rat Patrol was mostly American, had Jeeps and Brownings and were IN COLOR!



 

So now what?

yeah, I am pretty much set on making this gun not pretty but functional the way I want it to function.  Now if I can just find my copy of Kuhnhausen.

Gunsmith was a Bust

So, I went to the gunsmith.  He couldn't in good conscience do what I needed to do.  A dovetail cut on the Colt Commander would mess up the nickel plating, and all that would require a LOT of money to make it look right by replating.  Might as well buy a new gun.  Yes, even I didn't want to drop $1500 on this project.  I need a box of free Commanders to fall in my yard so I can do this right.

He didn't like the options for making a gun ambi dextrous.  Maybe in 6 months when something new was coming out.  And he refused to do it the old way.

He could DO it ugly, but he doesn't want this scenario:

"Hey, where did you get that work done?"

"Hatfields."

"Well, I know not to get it done there..."

But now I got a gun that isn't able to do what I want.  I need to find a less scrupulous, yet still skilled, gunsmith.  I don't care if the nickel fix at the sight is crappy looking, as long as it works and doesn't corrode.

Oh, and the mainspring housing I want and own isn't drop-in.  So that will require some real smithing. 

He is a fan of Colt steels, but not Colt machining.

He did have a neato Browning 85% sized 1911 that shot .22...  Cute!  Looks like a salesman's sample.