Category: Guns

What To Do When Gun And Ammo Bans Fail

June 8, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Ban speech about guns. 

There is a proposed rule change to the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) regulation that would ban technical decisions on the Internet about guns and ammunition unless the website gets the okay from the federal government. An okay that costs a couple grand a year and probably would require some heavy modification to a website. 

Which means me talking about changing parts on my M&P and the differences in ammunition performance on this blog gets categorized as an “export”. An export that without the State Department’s authorization could land me in jail for 20 years and a cool million in fines. 

Better analysis from Sebastian.

Perception Is A Funny Thing

June 5, 2015 / / 0 Comments

So, I’m at the gas station for my weekly fill-up. As usual, I’m doing my normal pan-and-scan of my surroundings. 

Then, I see motion and my mind says “OSTRICH!” It wasn’t. Just some lady who was picking her gas cap off the top of the pump. 

It’s a funny story, but what if my mind had screamed “ATTACK!” instead of a zoo animal? I don’t know if I have the perfect answer, but it’s something I’m going to be working on.

Paris and Texas

May 4, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Two bad guys roll up on a Mohammed drawing contest and open fire. Both of them are now room temperature. (Edit: I have been advised that it should be ambient temperature, not room temperature since the baddies were left outside to wait for EOD.) Unlike the Charlie Hebdo attacks, the police guarding the event were armed. It also looks like our baddies didn’t have the explosives and automatic weapons that the Paris shooters had. Which is odd when you compare Texas weapons laws and France’s. 

And CNN is doing it’s hand-wringing that the group sponsoring the event, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, is considered an anti-Muslim group by the SPLC. Because holding a “Draw Mohammed” contest is so much worse than attempted murder. I’m almost surprised the CNN article’s headline isn’t that the AFDI deserved to have their members shot.

Turning Money Into Noise Is Fun

April 25, 2015 / / 2 Comments

Range Report:

1. Still having the flinch issue. Getting better, but my shots are still clustering low. I’m looking forward to getting my SIRT M&P to work on trigger issues.

2. Grandpa’s M-1 Carbine is such a nice little rifle. I do so love shooting it. The only thing I need is some more magazines. And some more .30 Carbine ammo. Lots of .30 Carbine. 

3. Next time Mom comes down, she’s going to be looking into the introduction to handguns class at the range. I half-joked that she needed the class to break all the bad habits that she picked up from me. 

4. I NEED MORE RANGE TIME!

Friday Quote- Robert Heinlein

April 24, 2015 / / 0 Comments

The police of a state should never be stronger or better armed than the citizenry. An armed citizenry, willing to fight, is the foundation of civil freedom.

Robert Heinlein

It’s that willing to fight that’s the kicker.

Some People Can’t Understand Dangerous Environments

April 21, 2015 / / 0 Comments

From Miguel comes this article from jolly ole England.

TL;DR – Police should be ashamed for warning young women to be careful. Women shouldn’t have to modify their behaviour; men who rape should modify theirs.

I can sympathize with the author’s sentiment. Because there are scumbags out there, women have to take precautions that they shouldn’t have to take. I’m a perfect world, this wouldn’t be the case.

Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in a world where each environment provides dangers that will cause great trauma and/or death. I live in Florida. In my environment, especially in summer, I know to make sure to stay hydrated if I’m going to be outside for a long period of time. I know if I’m out in an orange grove to be careful of snakes. I know not to walk pets by lakes because alligators see them as tasty treats. I know to maintain my situational awareness when I have to go into the not-so-nice parts of the cities. 

This is not society controlling me. This is taking reasonable precautions to prevent harm. Teaching women to be cautious because there are two-legged predators out there is not controlling them. It is preparing them to take reasonable precautions.

Day 3 of NRAAM 

April 12, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Finally ran into someone I know who actually knows me. Which is surprising for a conference with 70,000 in attendance.

According to the guy at Next Level Training, the M&P SIRT is expected to come out in a few months. They’ll be selling the Pro Model only and it will probably retail for $375.

I wanted to get into the Mossberg booth again and play with their Blaze 47, but it was swamped. It may have had something to do with Colion Noir putting in an appearance at the time. 

Tried the Glock 43. It is too damn small for my hands, but yeah, they’ll sell a metric shit ton of those little things. And just about every holster maker is advertising that they have something for the new Glock.

I should probably get back up and start perusing again. I haven’t broken my trip budget yet.

Shooter Self-Care at NRAAM 

April 11, 2015 / / 0 Comments

I had some high expectations for this class based on the reviews from those who attended last year at Indy.

My expectations were met and exceeded. 

I learned a lot, but I also learned how much I knew was fecking worthless, or worse, could let someone die. 

Like so much of our world, the first part was to have a plan – know what to do in case of emergency. Where’s the first aid kit? What needs to be in the first aid kit? Is there an AED available if someone’s heart stops? 

We learned how to do chest compressions and work with an AED. Guess what? CPR has changed since I was first introduced to it in high school some two decades ago. For a layperson, forget breathing into the person and focus on chest compressions and the AED.

We learned how and when to apply a tourniquet. First, they aren’t as horrific as medical legend claims. Second, I will say applying a tourniquet one-handed can be a bitch.

Finally, Lawdog had a segment on the psychological and physiological effects of “critical stress.” 

Kelly said he wants to do this again at next year’s NRAAM in Louisville. I can’t recommend this enough for anyone. Well worth the price of admission.