Category: Guns

DC Officials Get Ninety Days

July 30, 2014 / / 0 Comments

To come up with concealed carry that will meet the court’s approval.

Bitter, over at Shall Not Be Questioned, had perhaps the best comment:

It will be interesting to see what happens come October 22 – the deadline. It’s clear that the DC police proved they could come up with a somewhat workable policy on the fly with multiple memos that covered most situations for lawful carry. I see no reason why the DC City Council can’t come up with a clearer policy similar to the Police Chief’s in 90 days – assuming they don’t just appeal this and hope for more favorable decisions.

Honestly, although I hope the city would just codify the memos the police chief circulated, I think they will try for something “may-issue” that they can use to deny it to as many as possible.

It Looks Like It’s Time For Another Donation to SAF

July 28, 2014 / / 0 Comments

What a weekend! DC has suddenly become a lot more gun friendly. At least until the opposition has time to catch their breath and start filing appeals.

Saturday – Palmer V DC –

In light of Heller, McDonald, and their progeny, there is no longer any basis on which this Court can conclude that the District of Columbia’s total ban on the public carrying of ready-to-use handguns outside the home is constitutional under any level of scrutiny. Therefore, the Court finds that the District of Columbia’s complete ban on the carrying of handguns in public is unconstitutional. Accordingly, the Court grants Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and enjoins Defendants from enforcing the home limitations of D.C. Code § 7-2502.02(a)(4) and enforcing D.C. Code § 22-4504(a) unless and until such time as the District of Columbia adopts a licensing mechanism consistent with constitutional standards enabling people to exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms.4 Furthermore, this injunction prohibits the District from completely banning the carrying of handguns in public for self-defense by otherwise qualified non-residents based solely on the fact that they are not residents of the District.

From Alan Gura’s blog.

And if that wasn’t enough, Sunday we get word that DC Police leadership has sent down new guidance to its officers. Emily Miller tweets:

STUNNING DEVELOPMENT: DC Police Chief Lanier just told force not to arrest a person who can legally carry a gun in DC or any state.

I almost called into work so that I could drive up to DC and do a victory walk around the Mall while carrying my sidearm.

H/t Miguel and John

Friday Quote – Patrick Henry

July 25, 2014 / / 0 Comments

We should not forget the spark that ignited the American Revolution was caused by the British attempt to confiscate the firearms of the colonists.

Patrick Henry

Governments confiscate arms for their safety, not the citizenry’s.

Why Minorities Need to be Armed

July 23, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Because you never know when trouble is going to be spurred up against you. Also, that the police may not be there to help you when all hell breaks loose.

One account:

Congregants watched in horror as protestors – many armed with knives, axes and broken bottles – stormed the building. The synagogue’s security guards rushed to keep out the intruders. For a few long moments, they fought alone; five sustained light injuries. Then they were relieved by police.

The battle outside raged for hours. Another nearby synagogue was pelted with stones. “So we closed the synagogue and we asked everybody to stay inside until everything would be okay,” Monsieur Benhaim said. He heard the mob outside “all the time singing ‘Allah Akbar’ and ‘Kill the Jews’ – if you can call that a song.” Congregants were particularly concerned that police secure a nearby metro station, to stop them being attacked as they and their families made their way home at night.

(Emphasis mine)

Whether you support Israel or Hamas in the current conflict, can we agree that looting and burning of people’s homes, businesses, and places of worship is wrong?

Now, compare what happened in France to what happened when Korean business owners took up arms to protect their businesses during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

By the end of the day storeowners had slain four looters and fended off the mob. It would be 24 more hours until the National Guard arrived and another two days before the riots were completely put down.

This is why I say the right to self-defense, and by extension, the right to own arms to exercise self-defense, is a human right.

Friday Quote – Edmundo Mireles Jr.

July 18, 2014 / / 0 Comments

You have to be mentally prepared for a possible violent confrontation. I can say with some authority that if you give up, if you lay down to die, than that is exactly what will happen. You will die.

FBI Special Agent Edmundo Mireles, Jr., participant in the 1986 FBI Miami Shootout

This was one of the lessons repeated at my MAG-20 class. You may be in severe pain, physically and mentally exhausted, but you must continue the fight. If you stop fighting before the bad guy, you will lose, and you will die.

Good Article on Self-Defense Shootings

July 15, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Here’s an article by Tom Givens on what we should be training for based on what his students have faced when they had to draw their sidearms.

Excerpt:

Based on this data, we believe the following are key skills the private citizen should concentrate on in their training:

Quick, safe, efficient presentation of the handgun from concealed carry.

Delivery of several well-placed shots at distances from 3 to 7 yards.

Keeping the gun running, including reloading and fixing malfunctions.

Two-handed firing. We train our students to use two hands if at all possible and most have done so in their fights.
Bring the gun to eye level. This is the fastest way to achieve accurate gun alignment. All but two of our students brought the gun to eye level, and as a result got good hits. Two had to shoot from below eye level due to unusual circumstances.

Some effort expended on the contact distance problem, including empty hand skills and weapon retention skills. However, these are secondary skills for the private citizen.

Some effort dedicated to longer shots in the 15- to 25-yard range.

RTWT

Anti-Gunners Call For Executions of Gun Owners – Again

June 25, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Hitting our end of the blogosphere have been a couple of pieces from the anti-gunners about how the incident at the Bundy Ranch proves that gun owners are all insurrectionists and should be dealt with violently.

Please explain how this is supposed to enhance “the conversation” our opponents keep telling us they want to have about guns in America. You are advocating murder over political differences.

Of course, it’s easy to spout hyperbole when you don’t have to be the one to pull the trigger.

Bearing Arms analysis here.

Miguel speaks here.

Tampa MAG-20 Live Fire Class Review

June 18, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Last weekend, I attended a MAG-20 Live Fire class conducted by local firearms instructor, Brian Wang.

So I don’t keep you in suspense, I qualified with a score of 277.

Instructor – Brian Wang was our primary instructor. I found him to be energetic, knowledgeable, and ready to take extra time to help a student who needed it (namely me.) It also helped that there were only three students, which allowed for more one-on-one time. Friday we had Christine, who I found to be pleasant and knowledgeable. The last half of Saturday we were joined by Basil Wang who helped prep us for our qualification. I felt very comfortable with their teaching styles and fully enjoyed the course.

Course – This was the first defensive pistol class I had taken. I learned a lot about drawing from concealment, the pluses and minuses of different stances, grip, and stress point firing. Interspersed between learning and practicing the techniques, Brian talked about real world examples. One that was brought up repeatedly was the 1986 FBI shootout in Miami. I’m really going to have to go back and read more on that particular episode. I will admit the crouching, high kneeling, and low kneeling were not the most comfortable positions, but I certainly feel more confident if I ever had to use them in real life.

Range – The course was held at the Tenoroc Shooting Range in Lakeland. This is an outdoor range with sporting clays, rifle, and pistol ranges. I, having never participated in shooting clays, didn’t understand why there was a line of strollers available for rent in the clubhouse.Yes, I did finally figure out what they were supposed to be used for. This was the first time Brian had conducted MAG-20 at this range, so there was some trial and error as we worked to find out the best methodology for shooting exercises. It also didn’t help that we had a lot of rain on both days. At the end, we had to do our qualifications in a light downpour, including having to do the high kneeling and low kneeling in puddles. I’m not complaining. It’s typical Florida weather, and there’s probably a better than average chance that if I had a defensive shooting in summer, it would be under similar weather conditions.

Overall – If you want to take a defensive pistol class, I would highly recommend MAG-20. If you live in the Tampa area, I would similarly recommend Brian Wang’s firm for any firearm instruction. He’s having a Defensive Carbine class in July, and assuming I don’t have any major issues crop up, I’ll probably take that one as well.

20140617-165520-60920483.jpg