Guns Magazine

February of 1964, the first issue to go to press that wasn't already 'in the can' when JFK got shot, apparently.  The January issue was a big pro-2A one already down the pipeline and was thus probably sounded discordant when it arrived after the assassination.  Like Wayne LaPierre's statement on Newtown, a week after that happened.  Not that Lapierre was wrong, his delivery just could have been a sweeter performance. 

But nothing in the January issue mentions the president.  The February one certainly mentions it. And calls for calm rather than a rash passing of a passel of gun ban laws.  It also looks like Gun Magazine was starting up a shooter organization at that time.  Or was closely associated with it. 

The magazine mentions severely bad gun control laws that had been recently stopped/killed.  I have no idea what was proposed.  They seem coy on the details.  Anyone know what they were talking about?

Archie Dream

I had a dream that Archie fell for the Nigerian Finance Minister email scam, where some flimflam artist tries to convince you to accept $20 million in ill gotten oil money, if only you will send him some of your banking info...

Except Archie's Nigerian was real.  And now Archie had $9 million in cash.  He was a little disappointed it wasn't $20,000,000, and also realized he didn't need it.  So he gave it to me.

Hmmm... I could think of a use for $9 mil, cash.  But it would be hard to spend it all.  Spend it all without running into onerous laws and taxes and such.  I'm sure I'd think of something.

---------

In other news, Archie is trying to move into an old folks home near his daughter in WVa.  He turned 86 earlier this month.  I miss the old coot.  He's been unable to take care of himself since a hospital stay last October.

The other WWII vet that used to live on my street actually died this past October as well.  That's the end of that, I guess.  Last of the original owners, 1951. 

Castleman ruling angle

So SCOTUS ruled that the Lautenberg Amendment is constitutional.  Ok.

Little detail about those 'prohibitted person' clauses from the Gun Control Act of 1968.  There are exceptions for Cops in there.  For most everything but the Lautenberg domestic violence part.  So, for a cop, it is better to murder their spouse and then still get to tote a firearm, than to poke their spouse in the collarbone for burning the roast.  After convictions or restraining order is adjudicated, of course.

"Under the federal law governing possession of firearms by police or military while on duty (18 U.S.C. § 925(a)(1)), an officer under a current protection order, or even one who has a conviction for murdering a spouse, may legally be in possession of a service firearm, but a person convicted of one of the misdemeanor violations listed in the Lautenberg Amendment (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9)) is prohibited from possessing any firearms or ammunition at any time under any circumstances.

As a result, a number of police officers and military personnel have been dismissed as a result of domestic violence crimes, some of which were committed before the law was passed. This is not due to the letter of the law, but is a side effect of their loss of access to the firearms needed to carry out their duties."

Attention Baltimoreans

Gun Buyback today, Hon!

Turn in a gun, get a laptop.  3-6PM.  Cultural Arts Center.   Bring a crappy gun, and get something worth more.  PLUS computer training.

Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-Bawlmer) might be there.  You can thank him in person.

Well, Duh!

Anti-Gun Groups Fear Sen. Yee's Indictment Will Make Gun Control More Difficult to Pass

They should be worried!

Seems like every Democrat in the country is running guns.  Arming bad guys.  Republican better get so-called assault weapons to defend themselves against their political opponents because it sounds like the GOP is vastly outgunned right now.  The right of center half of the country is bringing a slingshot to a gun fight.  Looks like all the Dems have access to shoulder fired missiles!  based on news reports.

Ear Burning?

The Atlantic is talking about us again.  They seem to think our side won the debate again. 

Unfair!

I am disappointed with the injustice of it all!  Cops in Maryland can get a pass on a CCW just because they are cops.  It's not fair.  They should have to play by the rules, too. 

Well, life isn't fair.

Of course, being honorably discharges from the Navy gives me some advantages over other folks.  But in a lesser way.  Produce a DD214 form in Virginia and you don't have to take a firearm class to get your permit.  So I'm a bit of a hypocrite whining about special preferences cops get.

But cops get some serious extra bennies by being a cop...

Zombie Bigots

I, and I am sure, you, have heard Leftists to argue that the whole 'zombie' thing is just a way for zombie enthusiasts to hide their racism.  That the term zombie is a code word, a dog whistle, for black people. 

Well, Progressives do that for everything, but on this particular minutiae I'd like to remind you of a little concept.

It's called the Black Savior Constant or Black Jesus Constant (the term would probably be more widespread if the original poster had thought up a less blasphemous term.)

The way it works is this.  We know from modern zombie Canon (bitten shamblors or sprinter zeds) that the key to maximize your chances for survival is to team up with an African-American gentleman.  You gotta use a bit of judgment, of course, if there is more that one to choose from.  In the movies, THAT guy, the black dude that seems more with it, is the one that makes it to the end of the movie and often beyond.  Teaming up with him (and it's always a man, for some reason) might not guarantee your safety, but it helps.  What kind of judgment?  If there is a gang banger with a pregnant wife or Ving Rhames playing a police officer, alone, pick Ving for the long haul.  The pregnant wife can cloud a man's decision making and make him take too many risks or send him over the deep end if something bad happens to the missus.

The ignorant and the thoughtless have a plan to go to Wal Mart or Gander Mountain to get ammo and guns.  Well you and everyone and their brother, Scooter.  The place will be mobbed.  It'll look almost as bad as when they open the day after Thanksgiving.  The smart zombie prepper doesn't need that trip.  If a last minute errand needs to be run it's to someplace like Penzey's Spices or to get spare tires at the Firestone store.  Fewer crowds and undead in those places.  THEN they bunker up.  And they listen to the black guy in their little survival group.  For some reason, the films has shown, that guy has his head on straight.  In fact, he probably told you it was a bad idea to stock up on garlic salt and Penzey's, so you already messed up going there.

Anyway, when some race baiter calls you a racist for an interest in the coming Zombacalypse, tell them they couldn't BE more wrong. 

Sometimes...

When I am low on blog fodder...  I worry that I'll wake to find a post saved for that day is nothing but a stream of profanities and slurs.  Like a crazy person!

Well, I don't have much.  But at least this post is only profanity laced, not chockablock!  Heck Dang Poop!

So many books queued up, so little time.  The latest Discworld release, Raising Steam, got head of the line privileges.  RobertaX is enjoying it I'm sure because the focus is on Cunning Artificers.  Also at the top of the pile is OldNFOs book.  THAT one will have blog fodder, but only if I can think of a fresh angle for a topic broached therein.  Beyond the review, of course.  I am reading Consider the Fork as well.  Precious little blog fodder there.  It's about, duh, the invention of the fork.  (They were invented in 1933, during the FDR administration, oddly enough.  Before that, people at peas with their fingers.  Or a knife.  Sometimes with a special toothpick.  You learn something new everyday...)  The King in Yellow is there too.  And some mopping up of some Robert E. Howard stuffs.

Just finished a WWI book, but I am saving that discussion for August for some reason...

On the recent gun movie front.  I caught a commercial free Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension on the TeeVee.  Did EVERYONE have a Mini-14 in the mid 1980s?  That movie... I liked it better as a kid.  Didn't hold up as well as I'd hoped.

Different movie eras certainly do have a different firearm flavor.  They'd reflect the fashion of the time, of course.  Plus the subject matter of the film.  Uzi's and Mini14s and Mac10s in the early 80s, giving way to Beretta 92s by the end of the decade.  Well, you CAN'T have any of those in a noir film of the 30s, right?  And while I'd like to see a shootout at the OK Corral flicker show with an Uzi in it, the director might get criticized for the inclusion.

Military Language

Remember when the French were the military masters?  The ones to beat?  The English language gained some terms in milspeak, borrowed from the French:  latrine, enfilade, bivouac, Minie, petard, that sort.

What happened when America became a dominating military force?  Acronyms!

And when the Germans were the big dogs?  The names didn't stick.  Blitz, sorta.  I always wished Auftragstaktik would have stuck.  It means decision point. There are other that non history non military people know, but aren't employed in the English language.  Panzer, for instance

Russian hasn't loaned hasn't English language much from their Zenith of military power.

So why has French given us the most new terms? 

Just been thinking on it. 

I guess one explanation is that 1066 Francais has been the biggest contributor to English, perhaps (Latin being the runner up, even deader Saxon roots earlier).  Those Normans sure are persistent. 

We don't want em back

Anti-gunner protesting the freedom and civil rights of their fellow citizens should move back to the Gun Crow* states?  Great.  And Maryland will be particularly attractive to them morons.  We have the proximity to DC so there are gummint jobs.  We have lots of schools so there is cushy academia jobs.  At least a flood of hoplophobes will help keep my property values up. 

They are fighting a losing battle.  The momentum seems to be on our side.  If Newtown couldn't bring down Federal ban laws on our heads...  A true sign that we are winning is if the next time a tragedy like that happens we get something actually useful in the way we deal with mentally troubled people.


* We need a term for it.  Notice their influence shrinks a bit over time.  They states with anti-rights are contracting.  Sadly, Maryland is one of them, but it's a 'border state' and still could be embarrassed into doing the right thing.   And places with "No Guns Allowed" signs today should soon be as ashamed of that as a place with "Whites Only" signs or separate drinking fountains in 1966.

Semi Auto Ban

By executive order... Has a big cheerleader in one Diane Feinstein, Senator, California.  Obama can just stop the importation of semi-auto firearms by declaring that operating system 'un-sporting' under the authority of the 1968 GCA.  It's a ban by the back door!

Hmmm.  I dunno.  Apart from being constitutionally questionable to use the 'sporting-purpose' clause in a post Heller world...  Seems like the first Bush pretty much already did this for her when HE was president.  It was bad enough then.  But time has passed and importation folderol has been addressed by the gun companies by locating factories domestically.  Beretta is in Maryland, for instance.  FN has a South Carolina facility, I believe.  SIG in New Hamster.   

What impact, at the gun store level, would we really see if semis couldn't be imported?  I mean besides the initial run on the inventory.  Golly, Obama is a great gun salesman.

What do I mean post-Heller?  Well, the position of the gun banners is that firearm usage by 'civilians' is only legitimate for sporting purposes.  You know, hunting.  The Heller SCOTUS ruling said no.  Self defense is a legitimate purpose.  THE legitimate purpose that the Second Amendment was spelled out to address.

The Hills are Alive

Dem

Sometimes I consider registering as a Democrat.

Hear me out.  In THIS state, it might be the only way to not be discounted when talking to state politicians.  I can criticize that representative as having a 'horrible record on civil rights!' (meaning the 2nd Amendment) better as a fake Dem than an Out GOP type.  Sadly, that is just the way out world works.  And being bad on civil rights will make a Democrat office holder uncomfortable.

It's not like my vote has much influence on the presidential primary.  By the time it gets along to my state it's all over save for the shouting.  And nothing stops me from voting for whomever in the general election. 

It would just seem wrong to be associated with the party of death, though... 

5 Guns

5 Guns I will never own?  Hmmmm.  Ok, I'll bite.  I need blog fodder.

1. I'm on record about the .50 BMG. Bolt action specifically.  I'd borrow one for a brief period, but my retina says to keep it in some else's gun locker.  Plus, it's way too spendy even for me.  But, if rich from a lottery, I might own something like a .600 Nitro. In case I want to safari. I'd still borrow the .50 BMG, if I was rich.  Now a mounted Ma Deuce, if super rich, is a different matter.  To defend my compound and stately Thunderbolt Manor.
2. A .25. I'd only keep one for sentimental value. 
3. A .32, too, for that matter. 
4. A 28 gauge shotgun. I'm not Vice Presidential material. 
5. A Glock. Can't shoot well with one, plus... GLOCK. Though I need to test that shooting skill thing nowadays in case it has changed.  If I need a modern plastic of my own, there is always XD or M&P

There are whole LISTS of boomsticks really, if you include things like 'crappily made' or 'nearly forbidden by law' or 'not invented yet.'

Huh...

I used to get the NRA election ballot.  Back then I never saw endorsements for candidates, and I didn't vote because I didn't know anything about the board members.

Now I do see endorsements from trusted sources, I don't have a ballot.  Or the issue of American Riflemen it should come in.  Odd.

Haven't heard back from the NRA about this, but it's early. I HAVE heard back from the press office to get my media creds for the NRA Convention.

New Sling

I was never satisfied with Magpul's old multi mission sling.  Too 'satiny'.  Looks like they have another type out that might be a better performer.  But, fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice shame on you.

I'll check it out at some future Fun Show.  Get my paws on it first.  See how slippy it is.

Thin

Of course I've READ The Thin Man, by Hammet, and love the movies.  The first and the sequel.  Caught the sequel again this past weekend on commercial free American Movie Classics.  What I didn't know is that there are FOUR more sequels. 

The first movie came out in 1934.  The sequels all go up to the mid 40s.  But I do love the flavor of the 30s.  It may be my favorite 'era' of history.  Especially if you focus on what is happening to regular people and ignore some of the high up policy and political folderol.  Myrna Loy is quite the dish, of course, and William Powell is also excellent in the role. 

Gonna have to check out the other 4...

Anyway, gun content...  In the second movie, After the Thin Man, two ne'er do wells have a confrontation in an apartment.  The renter comes to the door to greet the gangster and is holding a 1911.  Later in the movie, the renter is found dead in that room.  Strangled.  He has a shoulder holster.  The whodunit is 'did the gangster do it...' but that is neither here nor there for our purposes.  When Nick gets there the gun on the floor is a revolver.  Inexplicable gun switcheroos seem to be common in the old movies.  A gun is a gun to the prop men?  Anyway, if give a gun geek something to do.  I might stress it, here, but I don't really get wrapped around the axle over this.  Watching the movie I just go with the flow.

I could be wrong, too, as it was television and I could rewind to double check.

Another Dream

Another dream I had, the same night...  Not gun related

J K Rowling was writing another Potter book.  For some reason she hired ME as her assistant.  I have no idea why.  If I was her I'd have not hired me. 

But we were brainstorming together, coming up with new characters that may or may not be included in the story backgrounds.  Just random NPCs, then jotting down their vitals on a 3x5 card.  Name, House, quirks, foibles, &c.

I remember one name:  Humble Doochnoozle.  Hufflepuff, I think.  I was trying to get Ms. Rowling to maybe reconsider that one...  I thought the name Humble was good.