9x18 Defensive Ammo

Head tipped us off to a review of the Makarov at Box O' Truth. It's a good review, worth reading, especially if you do not own a Makarov. They are fantastic little guns. However, they made one mistake in saying that there is no quality defensive ammo available for it. Although "quality" is a subjective term, I would like to point out that there is some very good (in my opinion) defensive ammo for it. Note that this is still 9x18 ammo, which by some standards is underpowered for defensive use. All I can say on this is: I wouldn't want to be shot with one.

Several years ago I did some research on all the Makarov ammo that I could find, and there is still one manufacturer that makes some good defensive ammo: Hornady. Their specs for it are: 95 grain JHP, 1000 fps, 211 ft/lbs at the muzzle. It can be ordered from Cheaper Than Dirt or Natchez Shooters Supplies. I usually just buy it at the monthly gun show.

Cor-Bon made some +P Makarov ammo at one time, but I think it has been discontinued. Cheaper Than Dirt also lists a couple of different versions of Glaser Safety Slugs for the Mak, if that's your thing. The Hornady XTP is what mine is loaded with, although I don't carry it anymore.

Tags: Makarov

Crosman Air Pistol Question

Not to change the subject, but I have been very interested in this gun since I first saw it at Walmart several months ago. It would seem like a pretty good drill gun for back yard practice that would not alarm the peasantry. A copy of the Walther PPK/S, it uses typical 12-gram CO2 cartridges and shoots BBs only. The interesting thing about this Crosman is that it has blowback action--the (metal, not plastic) slide actually moves.

Note that this is not an Airsoft gun, it is a BB gun with a stated muzzle velocity of 295 fps. Most pistols like this would be in the 400+ range, but I suppose cycling the slide sucks up a lot of air.

Anyone have any experience with this pistol? I almost bought one today, but would like some info--if available--before I plunk down $55.

The only Crosman I ever owned was the one they now call the American Classic, and it was a fantastic gun. I no longer have it because it was stolen, but I could easily buy one again if the need arose. This was my main rat gun back in my teenage years. With a 10-inch rifled barrel and pump action, it could launch a BB at around 600 fps and a pellet, if I recall correctly, at about 475 fps. I notice on the current models they appear to have improved the bolt. On the old model that I had 20+ years ago, the bolt was designed differently and would sometimes fall open. I slew many rats with this pistol, and it was always one of my favorite guns, which is saying something for an air gun. I even had a long, leather holster for it. Sweet.

Google, China and Yahoo

You may notice that I haven't advocated an outright boycott of Google on this blog, I've just been poking fun at them because they have made themselves such an easy target. I received a comment that tipped me off to another viewpoint and more information.

So if you think you're going to take the righteous highground and use Yahoo instead, think again:

Reporters Without Borders said Yahoo's Hong Kong arm helped China link Shi Tao's e-mail account and computer to a message containing the information.

The media watchdog accused Yahoo of becoming a "police informant" in order to further its business ambitions.

A Yahoo spokeswoman said it had to operate within each country's laws.

"Just like any other global company, Yahoo must ensure that its local country sites must operate within the laws, regulations and customs of the country in which they are based," said Mary Osako.

Shi Tao, 37, worked for the Contemporary Business News in Hunan province, before he was arrested and sentenced in April to 10 years in prison.

According to a translation of his conviction, reproduced by Reporters Without Borders, he was found guilty of sending foreign-based websites the text of an internal Communist Party message.

Reporters Without Borders said the message warned journalists of the dangers of social unrest resulting from the return of dissidents on the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, in June 2004.

I would like to recommend reading Supporting Google in China at The Blog Herald.

Many years ago I gave the valedictory speech at a tech school. This was before the internet revolution, even before the computer had become a common appliance in most homes. I said something like, "The only way we are going to keep from destroying ourselves on this earth is by establishing an absolutely free flow of information. And without these computers we have been working on, this flow of information will not be possible." I still believe that. No matter how odious censorship may be, one thing is certain: the Chinese people will now have one more tool of information.

This doesn't mean Google should just be given some slack and left alone. Hiding the truth is one thing, as in the now-famous "Tiananmen" search. We still should remain vigilant that Google, as well as Yahoo and any other search engine, does not become collaborators with the any censorial government in creating lies that replace the truth.

More reading: booyahoo.blogspot.com.

Tags: google, china, yahoo, censorship

Inconsequential Trivia

I am all caught up on reading my Bloglines subscriptions and there is still a good 15 minutes or so left in my pipe, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to comment on the name of this blog, since I haven't done it before and there may be a few readers who are still wondering how I came up with this name.

It's just a pun. Not a great pun, but a pun, nevertheless.

In 1922, weird tale author H.P. Lovecraft penned a short story titled The Hound. This was the first of his stories in which he mentioned an abhorréd tome called the Necronomicon.

Immediately upon beholding this amulet we knew that we must possess it; that this treasure alone was our logical pelf from the centuried grave. Even had its outlines been unfamiliar we would have desired it, but as we looked more closely we saw that it was not wholly unfamiliar. Alien it indeed was to all art and literature which sane and balanced readers know, but we recognized it as the thing hinted of in the forbidden Necronomicon of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred; the ghastly soul-symbol of the corpse-eating cult of inaccessible Leng, in Central Asia. All too well did we trace the sinister lineaments described by the old Arab daemonologist; lineaments, he wrote, drawn from some obscure supernatural manifestation of the souls of those who vexed and gnawed at the dead.

He continued to use this book many times throughout many other stories. It was an invention of his: a book filled with blasphemous magics and mind-shattering knowledge. In following tales, he added bits of information regarding its contents, and occasionally he would throw in an actual quote. It was one of the techniques he used to tie all--or at least, many--of his stories into an interconnected whole. No one knows for sure how he came up with the name. He could have dreamed it, since many of his stories were based on dreams. It could have been derived from the Astronomicon, which was an antique work on astronomy he had once read.

Some occultists think the book is real, and actually was originated by an Arab in 730 A.D. Or that it was channeled by Madame Blavatsky, or had something to do with Aleister Crowley, or any number of other people. I don't.

So that's all the title of this blog is. Just a pun. I harbor no illusions that this blog contains any dark wisdom that can make someone go insane. I have no Arabic ancestry, and I do not think that I am mad.

For further reference, you can always Google Yahoo the term. I recommend starting at The Truth About the Necronomicon at The H.P. Lovecraft Archive.

Tags: Lovecraft

A note for Firefox users

You can visit the Yahoo page at mozdev.org to find scripts to add Yahoo to your search engine list, if using Google has become distasteful for you, and if you enjoy the convenience of the search engine bar on Firefox.

Oh, and before I forget:

Tags: google, china, firefox, yahoo

China censors vigilante vampires

I suppose everyone has been playing the "what can we find on Google that we can't find on Google China" game. Junkyard Blog discovered something recently. So I decided to try one of my favorite searches, one which I do now and then just to see if any new images have turned up. I discovered a disturbing trend.

A Google search for "alucard" turns up 9,470 results. The same search on Google.cn shows only 6,820. This means China has restricted access to some 2,650 images of this simple vigilante vampire who wields an extremely powerful (albiet fictional) handgun and who sometimes shapeshifts when under stress.

Here is an example of such an image, this one of Alucard grinning impishly, probably while contemplating the imminent demise of one of those false vampire freaks who tend to annoy him so.



And no, it isn't because of the cross. There are other images of Alucard nibbling on a cross which are not censored. It isn't because of the gun, either. There are other images of him with the gun much more prominently displayed than this which are not censored.

Do their censorship policies make any sense to anyone? This will undoubtedly be a game that we will be playing for some time to come.

Oh yeah, one more thing:

Tags: google, china, hellsing

I am sorry to report...

...that this site has not yet been banned from Google.cn. So as a service to the Chinese people I would like to begin posting certain pictures of you-know-where.



UPDATE: In comments, David at GunShowOnTheNet points us to this white paper on democracy at the website of the Chinese Embassy, in which it is stated that: "China's democracy is a democracy guaranteed by the people's democratic dictatorship."

Thank goodness for that. It seems I got all worked up over nothing.

Tags: google, china, oppression

Cluelessness in Wisconsin

From The Capital Times (Madison, WI):

Doug Pinnow of Pinnow Pharmacy in Brodhead is concerned that legalized carrying of weapons would encourage drug theft, and he cited the recent rash of pharmacy robberies in the greater Madison area.

"There are enough robberies as it is," he said. "If someone comes in with a concealed weapon, it's not going to make us feel very safe, and it's pretty unnerving to me. I'm worried about the stealing of drugs because people are pretty desperate on drugs. I don't understand the purpose of allowing people to carry concealed."

Yes, drug thieves will now feel much more empowered after going to all the trouble to legally carry a concealed handgun. I mean, if they had robbed you with a gun before, they would have been breaking the law!

But the police chief of New Glarus, WI says:

Although some police officials have spoken out against concealed carry, New Glarus Police Chief Steve Allbaugh believes arming potential victims is a good idea for crime prevention.

"I'm in favor as long as the background investigation and certain criteria are met," he said. "A lot of women are murdered in domestic-related situations. For females who feel that their lives are in danger, it's a good example where they should have something to protect themselves. Those situations are far more frequent than a person in a bank who pulls out a weapon."

For Mr. Pinnow: if someone comes into your store with a concealed weapon, you won't know about it. It's concealed. However, when your store is invaded by an armed robber you will know it, because sooner or later his gun will be un-concealed. This is the guy you actually need to worry about.

Tags: concealed carry, wisconsin

Carnival of Cordite .45

I guess it may be possible for a few readers of this blog not to already know about the Carnival of Cordite. This is a weekly carnival of gun-related blog posts. This week, Carnival of Cordite .45 is dedicated to the mighty .45 caliber, in all its forms. Chock full of information and pictures of .45 pistols, revolvers, and ammo.

A gun control debate

Here is a link to an article at Reason.com. This is an essay debate from several points of view on the topic of gun rights and gun control, and may be interesting to some. It's a long article, but this paragraph from near the end is a good summation:

Considered together, these three replies neatly demonstrate why the gun debate is at a standstill. What is a patent truism to one side is an obvious falsehood to the other. Wendy Kaminer argues that gun enthusiasts need to recognize that the NRA has become so virulent and unreasonable that it does a disservice to the gun-owning community, while Michael Krauss insists it is a much-maligned civil rights organization that has become almost soft in its politics, to the point that splinter groups are forced to take up the battle for our (perennially deteriorating) gun rights. Is it any wonder the gun debate has lost even the pretense of civility?

I will mention that the one really anti-gun person spent most of her time railing against the NRA, which is an irrelevant position as far as I'm concerned. The gun rights/gun control argument doesn't have anything to do with the NRA; it has everything to do with freedom and oppression.

What did I bring out of reading this? Those who try to find a "balance" between opposing sides are completely missing the point. There is no balance, nor are their nuanced opinions. There is only truth, or lies.

I also disagree with her assertion that gun control proponents are interested in restricting guns in order to reduce crime. This has never been a real goal. It is only an excuse to destroy freedom.

I guess I'm one of those intractables who are the cause of the problem. But then I have never been interested in balance. I'm only interested in truth.

Tags: gun control

I don't think so

This article at ABC News about keeping kids safe from "gun accidents" caught my eye, especially this paragraph:

There is no attempt at the national level to require adults to store their guns in a safe place away from children. But many advocates of both gun rights and gun control support proposals that would give tax breaks to gun owners who buy a safety-deposit box for their guns. Besides making it difficult for children to get the guns, supporters say it would also make it difficult for criminals to steal guns from homes.

I don't know of any gun rights supporters who would advocate any such thing. I also have never heard of a bank that would allow anyone to store a gun in their safety deposit box. (Okay, I've had a safety deposit box at only two different banks, so my experience is limited). Or does this writer just not know the difference between a safety deposit box and a gun safe?

Some Classic Old 45s

A gratuitous photo since I have nothing better.



Note that the moon clips are already loaded on the vinyl versions.

Another note: although the revolver is a six-shooter, back during the war the ammo for this gun was issued with the clips already loaded with 5 rounds per moon clip, so apparently the gov't intended for this gun to be carried with an empty under the hammer for "safety." Which probably meant there were some people pulling out .45 rounds and filling all six segments anyway. If I was in a combat zone, that's what I would have done.

Where exactly is the "safe side" now?

From the El Paso Times:

Law enforcement officers from the United States and what appeared to be Mexican soldiers had a standoff on the Rio Grande Monday afternoon after a police chase near Sierra Blanca, Hudspeth County officials said.

No shots or injuries were reported.

The Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department said deputies patrolling the border began chasing three vehicles when they came across several men who appeared to be soldiers 'in a Humvee with what appeared to the officers as being 50-caliber machine guns.'

They appeared to be Mexican soldiers. They were in a Humvee with what appeared to be a .50-caliber machine gun.

Does it matter what they appear to be? Those Border Patrol border law enforcement folks are doing a horribly dangerous job down there and they are outnumbered and outgunned.

And I thought El Presidente Fox was going to start cracking down on this kind of thing.

No importa a nadie.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has lots more.

UPDATE 2: Corrected an error. It was not Border Patrol, but the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department who was involved. Doesn't change my sentiment, though.

Tags: border, Mexico

Well, this is interesting...

I wonder if this would work with one of those Kel-Tec subguns that uses Glock mags?

tnx to Say Uncle

Whatcha doin' with 100 paper clips, boy?

No reason any American needs to carry more than ten.

This ad actually made me laugh out loud (fortunately a massive dose of Ibuprofen has dulled the pain in my throat). I was reading an article that I was thinking about mentioning here until I glanced through the sidebar ads, and they were ridiculous. For example, one of them stated: "Discover Forbidden Attraction Secrets The Liberal Media Does Not Want You To Know." Egad, you mean they're suppressing that too?! (Red emphasis theirs, by the way).

But the one I'm talking about was how to embed a paper clip in someone's forehead from 20 feet away. You know, like that guy in Daredevil.

"Gee, I don't know, Sarge. I mean, it's obvious he died when a pipe cleaner was rammed up his nose clean into his brain. But the closest footprints are 20 feet away, so I can't see how it happened."

The DVD set is $97. If it could teach me how to decapitate someone from 20 feet away with unused AOL promotional CDs, my house would suddenly become an arsenal.

David Limbaugh comments on Alito

From Townhall.com :

Alito is also tarred as an extremist because, in the words of the Times, 'he has a radically narrow view of Congress's power.' Their proof? 'He argued that Congress exceeded its authority when it passed a law banning machine guns.' Translation: He had the audacity to rule that the Constitution means what it says in giving Congress the power to regulate interstate, not intrastate, commerce. Liberals, who want to confiscate our guns, call Alito 'extreme' for treading on their 'right' to trample the Second Amendment and expand the Commerce Clause beyond recognition.

And much more worth reading.

Tags: second amendment, Alito

New Buzzword of the Day

Found at courthousenews.com (no direct link):

Second Amendment Purist Sues Richmond And Gov. Douglas Wilder

RICHMOND, VA. (CN) - Michael Stollenwerk wants to know why he wasn't allowed to bring his gun to a City of Richmond street festival, and he's sued the city and Gov. Douglas Wilder to find out. Stollenwerk said he's filed a FOIA request on documents related to the city's "suspension of constitutional and statutory privacy and gun rights" during the 2005 Second Street Festival and City Celebration. He says the city hired a private company, City Celebrations, and allowed it to violate his constitutional rights to privacy and to bear arms, and now the city has blown off his FOIA request. He wants to see the documents, and he wants the city and the governor fined. He is represented by Thorsen & Scher.

That's right folks, we are "second amendment purists." And all those MSM "journalists" are "first amendment purists," I suppose.

via Packing.org

Tags: second amendment, rkba

Well, that's a bummer

I have been suffering from fever and sore throat since Saturday morning. I just returned from the doctor, and I have strep throat. So although I will be home from work for the next two days, I will probably not be doing much of anything but taking medicine and sleeping. And watching the History Channel.

UPDATE: Thanks for the well-wishes, redmemory. The doc said I should start feeling better in about 24 hours, which would mean around noon tomorrow. Meanwhile, Ibuprofen breaks the fever so I can sleep.

UPDATE 2: I may have seemed busy, but I was just sitting up in bed with the laptop propped up on a pillow in front of me.

Poof!

The delicious category tags in the sidebar have disappeared. The script is still there, so they must be having some problems.

UPDATE: Nope, the problem is on my end. Can any other Firefox users still see the delicious tags in the sidebar? It has vanished with Firefox but is still there with IE when I load the page.

You haven't lost, you've just awakened

An opinion piece about Allentown, PA:

If the nights have become this scary in a quiet west end neighborhood, imagine what it is like in the downtown's more troubled neighborhoods. Since then, Allentown's murder rate has continued to climb and the robberies have continued unabated. I, like so many others, have, for the first time, succumbed to the fear. I no longer visit my favorite Mexican restaurant on Seventh Street, or walk on Hamilton after dark to get something to eat in between meetings. I carefully choose where I will go in the city, when I will go, and what route I will take; my subconscious weighing the risks. I am locked in my house and in my car. My husband is now licensed to carry a gun. The bad guys have won. We have lost ... at least for now.

But the loss of a sense of security in a city I love and have served is insignificant compared to the loss of Allentown's future. The wave of crime engulfing this city is a subject of conversation at every meeting and social gathering I attend. Headlines like, ''Allentown merchant scares off thugs,'' and ''Staying cool during a robbery can save your life,'' greet readers over morning coffee. Friends call to say they've seen ''us'' on CNN; Bethlehem's bat wielding store clerk is our icon.

Allentown's acting police chief, Roger MacLean, was quoted recently saying "vigilantism isn't the answer," but that the police "need eyes and ears in the community." For the past four years, Allentown's dedicated neighborhood associations and crime watch groups have been undervalued and unappreciated. Chief MacLean will be well served to rebuild those relationships.

Protecting yourself against criminals isn't vigilantism, it is your obligation as a law-abiding citizen. One piece of advice: Your husband's gun isn't going to help you much unless he plans on following you around 24 hours a day. You should get one for yourself.

Tags: self defense, concealed carry

Computers for guns in Mexico City

It looks like one district in Mexico City is offering to trade new computers for old guns:

Mexicans are being invited to exchange their weapons for computers under a quirky new idea to curb rampant crime in Mexico City.

Authorities in one of the city's 16 districts are offering a new computer, out of 150 donated by a charitable foundation, for each gun handed in.

Unfortunately, there are no details on exactly what kind of computer you can get for an antique dueling pistol. I have said before that I have one gun I would like to turn in, if San Antonio ever pulled any such stunt as this, but I don't suppose I could get anything more high-tech than a VIC-20 for a Lorcin.

I'm sure crimes using guns will now plummet in Mexico City, although I suppose crimes using computers will now increase, since everyone knows only criminals are turning their guns in, and they have to commit crimes with something.

Tags: gun control, Mexico City

Movies and Guns

In the recent issue of Concealed Carry Magazine, there is an article titled "Movies, TV, Politics and Guns." At the end of the article is a list of 9 suggestions, most quite worthwhile. However, I cannot agree with #9:

Don't list out loud the make and model of every gun that you see on TV, unless you want to watch alone.

If I followed this rule, how would I maintain my status as the family "Annoyingly Irrelevant Factoid and Gun Nerd"? In fact, on the rare occasions that I don't make some comment, I am usually asked by one of the other watchers to comment.

And I still want to know where I can get a Kahr that can shoot 19 times without reloading like that guy in 15 Minutes.

It's Carnival Time

Carnival of Cordite, that is.

And next week's edition is going to be all .45 related. Curses! I have already posted about both of my .45s and have nothing left to offer.

How F**king American Am I?

I've never worn a Quiet Riot t-shirt, though. And in regard to the beer-drinking question, I would like to point out that not only do I drink only domestic beer, I drink only Texas beer.

How F**king American Are You? quiz thanks to The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns

Things you probably don't know about Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris Facts is a website listing many items regarding Chuck Norris, many of which I didn't know. For example:

The Great Wall of China was originally created to keep Chuck Norris out. It failed miserably.

Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.

Someone once tried to tell Chuck Norris that roundhouse kicks aren't the best way to kick someone. This has been recorded by historians as the worst mistake anyone has ever made.

Chuck Norris discovered a new theory of relativity involving multiple universes in which Chuck Norris is even more badass than in this one. When it was discovered by Albert Einstein and made public, Chuck Norris roundhouse-kicked him in the face. We know Albert Einstein today as Stephen Hawking.

tnx to Fish or Man for the laughs

Before anyone asks...

There have apparently been some sightings of a large black cat in my area--you know, the kind of cat that people often call a "panther." The only news report I can find on it is a video at KSAT, which takes too long to load so I haven't seen it. No, I don't keep all that up to date on local news so I missed it when they showed it on TV.

So I don't know anything about it.

And if it happened to wander onto my property and I suddenly had a mysterious, black, well-tanned pelt mounted to the wall behind my bed, I wouldn't tell anyone about it anyway.

Except maybe my dad.

Wadcutter on the religions of guns

Wadcutter waxes humorous on the various sects of gun owners, and reveals to me that I am a Unitarian!? Egad!

San Antonio's Stupid Criminals of 2005

The San Antonio Express-News provides a roundup of stupid criminals for 2005. Here are a few samples:

In July, one bank robber took advantage of city transport in lieu of the traditional getaway car. Police made an arrest in the back of a VIA Metropolitan Transit bus.

Four days later, three arrests were made in connection with a bank robbery in which the crime mobile--a mustard-yellow van with a vivid western landscape--fell a bit short of blending in. The arrests were made soon after police spotted the distinctive van parked about a mile away from the just-robbed bank.

[...]

In April, a man concerned with hiding his identity approached a Converse bank in a black mask and immediately distinguished himself as a would-be bank robber in the process.

Bank employees refused to buzz the masked man through the bolted security doors, leaving him no choice but to flee into a beehive of police officers.

Heh heh.

Smith & Wesson M&P

Since I am always on the lookout (and usually post about) guns that are friendly to left-handers, I thought I should mention something I just noticed.



The Smith & Wesson M&P has a reversible mag release so that it can be configured for either right- or left-handed use. Not only that, but it has an ambidextrous slide stop. The slide stop is something that no manufacturers ever seem to think about. To be honest, I never use it to release the slide. I always just do a pullback on the slide to release it. The interchangeable palm swells are also interesting, and it doesn't appear to be one of those guns with a monstrously long double-action trigger pull.

I'm not going to run out and buy one. I'm just sayin', is all.

What?

No subcategory for the most Lovecraftian gun blog?

Oh well.

I'm sure everyone knows by now about The Gunnies. I think some of these categories were created with the winner already pretty much foreordained. Still, it's nice to see someone putting something like this together.

I think we should also get to vote on a sort of reverse category for the "worst anti-gun blog" or something like that.

A Funny Gun Story

It isn't often that I run into a humorous story involving a gun, but via The Smallest Minority is this link to a post at The High Road about someone's encounter with a squirrel inside his house.

And just to show that I have no qualms about embarrassing myself, it reminds me of something I did once.

Many years ago, we had a horrible mole problem. The little suckers were everywhere, tearing into everything. They killed an entire bed of rose bushes by cutting off the roots. Nothing could be grown in the garden. There were mole trails everywhere--I was constantly tripping in them.

Back then I worked nights, and got home around midnight all the time. One night I came home and just as I was going in the door I looked back and saw something scurry across the yard. I decided it was time to wreak my vengeance.

I grabbed the single-shot H&R .410 that I keep handy for all occasions. Outside I went, to find the furry little blob of a shadow still puttering about on the surface. The security light outside was providing plenty of light for me to ascertain that I was indeed looking at a mole, and I brought the shotgun to my shoulder and fired with great relish.

And I missed. Yes, I missed a mole with a shotgun from about 15 feet. (Even now, I try to rationalize it. The .410 has a small shot charge, relatively. It has a full choke, not much spread. It was dark. But still, I felt quite inadequate as a marksman that night--especially since I had once been quite adept at nailing running rats in the dark with CCI shotshells in an old .22--and I fully expect to be ridiculed for revealing this).

The mole, quite wisely, decided it was no longer safe to be casually sauntering about in my front yard, and ran, as best as a mole can run, which isn't very fast.

I took three or four long, running strides and stomped the little bugger. As the echoes of my Tarzan-like yell of victory faded into the night, I realized that the poor little thing was still alive, though obviously mortally wounded. So I crushed its head with the shotgun's butt.

Poison eventually took care of the mole problem.

And living in the country as I do, there was no one to become concerned about, or even to hear, that I had fired a gun in my front yard in the middle of the night, in case you're wondering.

The Colt M1917 .45 ACP Revolver

More camera play today. I learned long ago that I get my best shots outside, but lately we have only had clear days, and the harsh light has not been camera friendly. The picture that I took of the SP-101 a few days ago, for example, was taken inside the cab of my pickup. Today I took these pictures after sunset but before dark, so I didn't have to contend with the sun. These pictures were not meant to be arty, but to be informative (I hope), so I can ask some questions about it.

As I have said before, I am not a gun expert, but I will make a few comments for any readers who may know less about this gun than I do. For those who know more, please correct me if I make any mistakes.

During WW1, as I understand it, Colt was not able to produce enough M1911 pistols to satisfy the demands of war. So they tooled up their revolver factory(ies) to create a revolver that used the same cartridge: the .45 ACP. Some of these were re-issued for use in WW2, and the revolvers that were re-issued were Parkerized (the originals were blued). The revolver I have here is one of those re-issues that has been Parkerized.

This gun was inherited by my wife. I suppose it went to her because the rest of her family are not really gun people, other than the standard hunting firearms, and they knew it would be in a place where someone (such as myself) would greatly appreciate it. So here are the pix. All these pictures can be clicked to view much larger (1024x768) versions.









As you can see, there is some rust on the outside of this gun. The inside of the barrel, as well as the front, back and insides of the cylinder are spotless. I took a tip from Xavier to check the lock-up, and I believe the tightness is comparable to that of the Colt Army Special he wrote about (although I have my doubts about Tammy Faye Baker). My big question is: what can I do to improve the appearance of this gun? Or should I do anything at all? Can the rust be carefully buffed off with steel wool, or something else? I would like to change the grips also. Or should I just do normal cleaning as I would on any gun and shoot it as is? Any recommendations as to some suitable leather for this gun? All comments are welcome.

UPDATE: I checked the serial number at proofhouse, as suggested. This gun has a 6-digit serial number that doesn't seem to fit any of the given categories, so I may be reading the serial number wrong. It is in the 266xxx range, but the only numbers I can find there that begin with 26 are four-digit numbers, so I don't know for sure.

Tags: Colt, M1917, Curio & Relic

The Nazi War On Jazz

Interesting Thing of the Day once again brings us something that I'd never heard of before but which I find fascinating. Jazz music was verboten in Nazi Germany--easy enough to understand, with its American origins and deeper African roots. Simply to be caught listening to jazz could put one in a concentration camp. But as part of their propaganda, Goebbels assembled a swing band:

The group's primary M.O. was to take well-known American swing tunes and alter the lyrics--often after the first verse so that listeners didn't catch on to the deception immediately. These alterations, which ranged from subtle to blatant, included criticisms of American and British leaders, anti-Semitic messages, and other dispiriting comments. Schwedler's English was excellent, and since the Nazis were careful to conceal the source of the broadcasts, their hope was that American and British listeners would enjoy the music, start singing along, and with any luck actually believe some of what they were singing.

But of course, while making the music freely available overseas, the Nazis did their best to keep it from the German public. Despite the pro-Nazi lyrics, the government could not be seen promoting a form of music it had gone out of its way to repudiate. So although all swing music was forbidden to Germans, the music of Charlie and his Orchestra was the most forbidden, with extremely severe penalties for those caught listening. Naturally, this increased the band's popularity within Germany.

Ah, the philosophy of facism!

A question

Does anyone make a M1911 with an ambidextrous mag release?

UPDATE: Well, the kids are asleep and I finally got some quiet time to do some internet research. I found this ambidextrous mag release from a company called Smith & Alexander. "Totally ambidextrous magazine release allows the use of the trigger finger or thumb for both left and right handed shooters. Easy to install in a few minutes, no modification to outside of the frame." That would certainly solve the problem. Cost: $100.

Alan Korwin on SSGSDs

Alan Korwin, author of Gun Laws of America, writes on "secure gun storage safety devices" in the Hawaii Reporter:

The Brady group and its congressional supporters are proceeding, and making headway, with a below-radar effort to ban operating firearms from the general public, without having to actually disarm America's 80 million gun owners.

The plan is now evolving around an innocent-sounding new legal term. It was tucked deep in a 400,000-word spending bill under president Clinton (law # P.L. 105-277), and it is now spreading throughout federal gun laws. Its latest use, the eighth, is in the frivolous-lawsuit ban just enacted (The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, law # P.L. 109-92; S.397). Described at the end of this report, it accents a liability all Americans -- not just gun owners -- are increasingly under, a tightening legal noose few people realize is around their necks.

The phrase is 'secure gun storage or safety device.' It includes almost anything that will keep a gun from working. At its simplest, it's gun locks.

He also comments on lawsuit abuse as it relates to guns.

Here is a link to Mr. Korwin's website: www.gunlaws.com.

Tags: gun control, rkba

Brendan McKown walks out of hospital

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

The most seriously injured of seven people hit by gunshots in last fall's Tacoma Mall shooting walked out of a hospital Friday - under his own power.

'OK, guys, I've been out of commission for a while - what's going on?' Brendan 'Dan' McKown, 38, quipped as he made his laborious way to the sidewalk with the aid of a walker.

Doctors had said his spinal injury could leave him paralyzed, but McKown was determined to walk again.

'God doesn't do miracles halfway,' he told KOMO-TV as he left Good Samaritan Hospital in this community near his Tacoma hometown. Referring to the spinal injury, he added, 'At least you know I have a backbone.'

This would have been a really great article, except they had to finish up like this:

Authorities say Maldonado marched through the mall, firing an assault rifle and a machine pistol, before ducking into a record store and taking several hostages. He released them unharmed after a four-hour standoff.

Maldonado's defense lawyer, Sverre Staurset, said his client never meant to hurt anyone. According to court documents, Maldonado told detectives he had been humiliated during a difficult childhood and that recent problems made him want to be "heard."

He charged into a crowded shopping mall with guns blazing, yet he "never meant to hurt anyone." Mr. Staurset, you disgust me.

UPDATE: For Bob in the comments. Almost certainly NOT a machine pistol, but a semi-auto. Another case of a reporter who doesn't know what he's talking about. See this post on the Tacoma Mall Shooting at Heartless Libertarian.

Tags: Brendan McKown, concealed carry, self defense

del.icio.us categories update

September 2005 has now been categorized.

Don't think--just use the spellchecker

I read this at Atlas Blogged, and am mentioning it here because it's funny and it fits well into my "General Stupidity" category. From Reuters, here is the passage in question:

Iranian Foreign Minister Moocher Mistake warned that a referral would have "consequences" for the West.

As Wulf at Atlas Blogged explains, his real name is Manouchehr Mottaki.

Maybe the editors have just given up and turned everything over to the computers.

Zombies, Schmombies

Don't miss the most recent zombie apocalypse edition of the Carnival of Cordite. The possibility of an upcoming zombielypse (it's copyrighted, if you want to use it for a movie title, you're gonna have to pay me for it) seems a subject that is often on the minds of some gunbloggers. Take Josh, for example.

But really, when the stars are right, you're gonna wish you were fighting zombie hordes.

It was the end, for whatever remains to me of life on the surface of this earth, of every vestige of mental peace and confidence in the integrity of nature and of the human mind. Nothing that I could have imagined - nothing, even, that I could have gathered had I credited old Zadok's crazy tale in the most literal way - would be in any way comparable to the demoniac, blasphemous reality that I saw - or believe I saw. I have tried to hint what it was in order to postpone the horror of writing it down baldly. Can it be possible that this planet has actually spawned such things; that human eyes have truly seen, as objective flesh, what man has hitherto known only in febrile phantasy and tenuous legend?

And yet I saw them in a limitless stream - flopping, hopping, croaking, bleating - urging inhumanly through the spectral moonlight in a grotesque, malignant saraband of fantastic nightmare. And some of them had tall tiaras of that nameless whitish-gold metal ... and some were strangely robed ... and one, who led the way, was clad in a ghoulishly humped black coat and striped trousers, and had a man's felt hat perched on the shapeless thing that answered for a head.

I think their predominant colour was a greyish-green, though they had white bellies. They were mostly shiny and slippery, but the ridges of their backs were scaly. Their forms vaguely suggested the anthropoid, while their heads were the heads of fish, with prodigious bulging eyes that never closed. At the sides of their necks were palpitating gills, and their long paws were webbed. They hopped irregularly, sometimes on two legs and sometimes on four. I was somehow glad that they had no more than four limbs. Their croaking, baying voices, clearly used for articulate speech, held all the dark shades of expression which their staring faces lacked.

But for all of their monstrousness they were not unfamiliar to me. I knew too well what they must be - for was not the memory of the evil tiara at Newburyport still fresh? They were the blasphemous fish-frogs of the nameless design - living and horrible - and as I saw them I knew also of what that humped, tiaraed priest in the black church basement had fearsomely reminded me. Their number was past guessing. It seemed to me that there were limitless swarms of them and certainly my momentary glimpse could have shewn only the least fraction.

Fighting zombie hordes will be like a quiet walk in the park compared to what must eventually happen. And when it does, just try not to wake up the big guy...

Yet another update

The person mentioned in the previous posts sent an email last night which I just read. He bought the service model XD-9 yesterday and took it straight to the range. He likes it. He said he was impressed with it, and surprised by his own accuracy.

This is someone who, when I ran into him last Saturday, had said something like, "Oh, I would never get a handgun" when we first got on the subject. And now he's blazing away with a new XD and loving it. I like to think that I had something to do with it.

Now that's stoppin' power!

Via Hell In A Handbasket is a link to this video of an M60 machine gun firing 850 rounds non stop in 1 minute and 45 seconds. I have nothing technically incisive to offer--it just gives me an excuse to use one of my favorite exclamations/post titles, which I haven't used in a while. Worth downloading even at dial-up, it's about 4 megabytes.

Update to the gun advice post

In an update to this post, I received an email today from the person mentioned, and he said that after looking around at several local gun stores, he has decided on a Springfield XD-9.

Anyone who reads this blog already knows how I feel about the XD.

I also suggested we should go to the range together sometime so he can shoot some of my handguns and get a feel for different kinds of guns.

Fighting the San Fran gun ban

I just wanted to provide a link to this article about a group that is getting ready to fight the said gun ban:

Certainly the timing couldn't be better for a San Jose organization called the Golden State Second Amendment Council (GS2AC) that has been pushing to add guaranteed gun rights to the state constitution since 2000. While the second amendment of the United States Constitution grants the 'right to bear arms' (the actual definition of this guarantee, of course, is still the subject of endless debate), California law only mentions the right to 'self-defense.'

'I guess you're supposed to protect your life with your bare hands or something,' grumbles Don Kilmer, a local--and liberal--attorney who believes San Francisco had the right intention in promoting same-sex marriages but has gone off-track with gun control. Kilmer is leading the GS2AC effort to get an initiative on the state ballot this November.

His group's proposal would guarantee law-abiding Californians the right to own guns, despite the regulatory actions of local governments. The amendment would not cover criminals, minors or the mentally incompetent.

Tags: gun control, gun ban

Don't sweat it, Marion...

...I'm sure that some of your crackhead camaras will step up and insist that you not be prosecuted.

Link: Barry failed cocaine test at ScienceDaily.com.

tnx to The War On Guns

Tags: Marion Barry

Someone asked me for gun-related advice

I mentioned before that I had run into a previous co-worker at the gun show. I will elaborate on that more. At one point during our conversation, I said, "So, I didn't know you were a gun guy." His answer, "I didn't used to be. But a couple of years ago I got curious so I bought a rifle. It was so much fun I got another and another...now I have four and I'm looking to get a shotgun."

When the topic turned to handguns, he still seemed a little leery of handguns, but we walked around and looked at some anyway, with him asking me lots of questions and me doing my best to answer. I don't consider myself an expert on guns by any means, but I did my best.

Later I received an email from him, and apparently our run-in got him to thinking about a handgun. He said he had narrowed it down to either a Baretta (he didn't mention a model), or the Sig 232 or 226. I have never used any of those guns, but since he asked me for my opinion, I told him that I had heard differing opinions on Barettas, but I had never heard anything bad about Sigs. I told him that as a new pistol shooter, if I were choosing between those models, it would be the 226. My reasons were: it's bigger than the 232, therefore should be easier to handle and attain good accuracy with for someone who is learning; also, it is designed for more potent calibers than the 232. So, did I give him good advice?

Besides, the Texas Rangers use Sigs, heh.

I think it's time for me to step up and take someone to the range. I'll let him shoot some handguns, and he can let me shoot his Mini-14. Sounds like a fair trade, to me.

Texas CHL 10 years old

From the Amarillo Globe News [bugmenot: readonce/ihatespam]:

When the Texas Concealed Handgun Law took effect in 1996, pundits and naysayers predicted anarchy. Any minute, there surely would be mass violence as armed Texas citizens began roving the streets, settling arguments with gunfire. Certainly, several proclaimed, within a year there would be blood in the streets as Texas returned to the days of the Wild West.

Ten years later the facts paint a different picture. Texas under the Concealed Handgun Law isn't the Wild West, but the Mild West. No recurrent shootouts at four-way stops, no blood in the streets.

[...]

One of the reasons I authored Senate Bill 60, the Concealed Handgun Law, was because I trust my fellow Texans. Contrary to opinions expressed on almost every editorial page across the state, I knew that when law-abiding Texans' constitutional right to keep and bear arms was restored with the passage of SB 60, they would exercise good judgment and behave responsibly.

An opinion piece about CHL in Texas by one of the law's authors. It includes all the stats about handgun crime as it relates to people with a CHL. A couple more quotes:

The effect of the Concealed Handgun Law has been so positive, it has converted some of its most outspoken initial critics.

John Holmes, former Harris County district attorney, wrote to me several years after the passage of the law:

"As you know, I was very outspoken in my opposition to the passage of the Concealed Handgun Act. I did not feel that such legislation was in the public interest and presented a clear and present danger to law abiding citizens by placing more handguns on our streets," Holmes wrote. "Boy was I wrong. Our experience in Harris County, and indeed state-wide, has proven my initial fears absolutely groundless."

Glenn White, president of the Dallas Police Association, shared this view:

"I lobbied against the law in 1993 and 1995 because I thought it would lead to wholesale armed conflict. That hasn't happened," White told the Dallas Morning News. "All the horror stories I thought would come to pass didn't happen. No bogeyman. I think it's worked out well, and that says good things about the citizens who have permits. I'm a convert."

Tags: concealed carry, Texas CHL

Almost ready to see the light

This article from the San Francisco Chronicle is about a woman who ran afoul of the concealed handgun law in California because the restraining order against her abusive husband had expired. Setting aside the fact that the law is unconstitutional in the first place, busting her on a technicality like this is an atrocious abuse of the law. But, I just wanted to comment on the reporter's closing paragraph:

The law against carrying concealed guns makes good sense. But so many women every year are killed by their abusive boyfriends and husbands. Restraining orders, as we know, can't stop them. The police often can't stop them. I don't know what the solution is. But something's wrong when, in trying to keep herself alive, the terrorized woman becomes the criminal.

Ms. Ryan (the writer) doesn't mention any reasons why the law makes good sense. But in reading the rest of the paragraph, I think here is one reporter who is beginning to see the light. If someone were to take her to the range a couple of times and familiarize her with handguns, she might begin to change her mind.

Tags: concealed carry, rkba

Ouch

It is when I read reports like this that I get the feeling that this was not just a "center-of-mass" shot--the shooter knew exactly what she was aiming at:

Sheriff's deputies say 53-year-old Darrell Sims went over to 65-year-old Sandy Long's house about 1 p-m yesterday for an unknown reason and was blasted in the groin by a shotgun.

Deputies don't yet know what sparked the confrontation that led to the shooting. Long alleges she fired the gun in self-defense after Sims threw a rock at her.

His injuries "weren't considered life-threatening." But I bet he remembers it for a long time.

John Lott comments on Texas

John Lott's Website has a picture allegedly from some unnamed place somewhere in Texas.

Although you may think there is no absolute proof in the photo that it is from Texas (the license plate on the car is too far away, although it appears to be basic white like Texas plates), I do, in fact, see proof. [UPDATE: My mistake! I completely missed the Texas Lottery sign.]

The sun is shining brightly. There is not a cloud in the sky. And yet, the "WATCH FOR ICE ON BRIDGE" sign is open. (When it's closed, it just says "DRIVE FRIENDLY"). These signs stay on display pretty much October through May, regardless of weather.

I have seen a great many places nearly identical to this during my travels around my home area. When I was a kid, I bought BB's and my dad bought ammo at an "icehouse" on the highway that was a convenience store before they were called convenience stores. We also got our hunting licenses every year at that same store. I still think it's odd that most "convenience stores" don't sell ammo.

UPDATE: Matthew at Triggerfinger makes this comment:

Unfortunately, since that quote was first uttered, the agency which inspired it has gone through a reorganization. They are now the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

I can only hope that the wonderful little Texas convenience store will view the change in the agency's scope as an inspiration.

Heh heh.

Springfield XD Wallpaper

Just visit Springfield's XD web page and check it out. This pistol might just disrupt my planned gun-buying schedule for 2006.

Tags: guns

Hogue grips for the SP-101

I've been playing with my camera, and have started to figure it out. I think I might benefit from using a tripod, and I know I need to learn how to manage light. Anyway, I got a halfway-decent shot of the snubby with its new Hogue grips. This time the picture was good enough that I had to smear out the serial number. The cartridges are 125-grain Remington Golden Sabers. The prop is a Leatherman Kick.

More on the MTV gun owner show

Say Uncle has posted some comments by the mother of one of the people profiled on the MTV show I mentioned previously. Go read it all, too much to quote here.

Pro-gun laws of 2005

David Kopel at The Volokh Conspiracy has pointed out several favorable laws related to Second Amendment rights which were passed in 2005, and which didn't get as much notice as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Firearms Act:

An appropriations rider which ends a policy, begun by the Clinton State Department, of implenting an unratified 1997 treaty (the Organization of American States' 'Convention Against The Illicit Manufacturing Of And Trafficking In Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, And Other Related Materials') by requiring an export license for delivery to Canada of replacement parts for firearms repair. The exemption applies only to orders of less than $500, and only for some gun components.

An appropriations rider to end an administrative abuse, begun in the Clinton Presidency, by which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (BATFE) obstructed the re-importation of American-manufactured firearms on the BATFE's 'curios' and 'relics' list.

Strenghtening enforcement of federal law requirement that when local law enforcement receives a report of a multiple handgun purchase by an individual, and the individual is legally allowed to purchase such guns, the multiple sales report must be destroyed within 20 days.

Exemption of custom gunsmiths who produce less than 50 guns per year from paying the federal excise tax on firearms manufacturer. In most cases, the tax was already paid for the original gun which is being customized.

Strengthening the armed pilots program by ordering the Department of Homeland Security to consider changes in the pilot training program (which is currently run in a remote, inconvenient location, at inflexible times), requiring the DHS to issue badges to trained pilots, and requiring DHS to implement a pilot program allowing some pilots to carry their guns in places other than the cockpit.

(I know this is already a five-day-old post, but I catch up on this blog on weekends).

Tags: guns, second amendment, rkba

Florida deputy Tasers a bear

Just because I'm interested in this sort of thing:

Deputy Ray Dykes thought he was looking for a prowler.

'When I pulled up, I saw the reflection of an animal's eyes. It looked like a little bear cub,' he said. 'I got to about 40 feet and it stood up, and that's when I knew it was fully grown.'

Fortunately for the deputy, when the contacts broke free, the bear immediately fled instead of attacking. According to the Taser company, it takes 2 seconds to reload--and that's probably under ideal conditions by someone who has practiced a lot. How much ground can an angry bear cover in 2 seconds?

Tags: self defense, taser

Gun Show Tomorrow!

My wife is off work this weekend, so I'm free for a few hours to hit the gun show. On the shopping list: a couple of 12-round mags for the XD40, if I can find some, and grips for the SP-101. Maybe a new holster for the snubby, too, if I come across something I like. My Uncle Mike's Sidekick is getting a little tattered.

Also probably some 7.62x25mm ammo. And I'll take a look at the lever guns, just for kicks.

UPDATE: First of all, I did not buy a gun. I was only shopping for accessories, and don't have the budget for a firearm right now. There was ONE factory XD40 12-round mag in the whole place, and he wanted $30 for it. I think I can get a better deal online somewhere. I did purchase some Hogue grips for the SP-101 and a new holster for it as well. I'll see if I can post a pic of the snubby later, after I install the new grips. There was one gun dealer who had an SP-101 just like mine for sale, with the Hogue grips already installed, so I got to handle one to see how it would feel before I bought the grips. I think I'm going to like them a lot more than the factory grips. No one there ever has any lever guns in .357. There were lots of old .30-30's, and a few other older calibers like .30 WCF. I always keep an eye open for Makarovs, and I saw only one, a Baikal in .380 ACP with adjustable sights, for $239. I can't really explain why I always look for Makarovs, it's just something I do.

There were plenty of all varieties of XD's there, except for the new .45 ACP version. The .45 GAP XD's are tiny. I also got to handle a couple of Ruger P345's, which to me seem quite compact compared to the P-9* series.

The Beretta CX series was there, this time down to $500 from $600, where they were a few months ago. There were also plenty of reasonably-priced, used semi-auto and pump shotguns. I also saw a table full of Mosin-Nagant 91/30's still in the wrappers, and another table full of battered Yugo SKS's.

The coolest thing about the show is that I ran into someone who was a co-worker of mine several years ago, and he has since become something of a gun guy. We caught up on old news, and then spent some time browsing the wares together.

I always try to find one old gun that really catches my eye. This time it was an old H&R 9-shot .22 revolver. It reeked of history.

Another interesting gun I saw was built like an AK, but fires the .410 shotshell. Pretty neat, but I can't think of any practical use for it. Unless you consider "fun" a practical use, which is fine with me.

Oh yeah, in answer to the comment, my XD is the mid-sized "service" model.

UPDATE 2: Sorry, no pictures. I just can't get a decent shot. Apparently my camera wasn't made for taking sharp pictures of small items like guns. I think I'm going to like the new grips, though. Next free Saturday I'll be taking it to the range and trying it out.

Heads up for Townes Van Zandt fans

KSTX in San Antonio will be broadcasting their annual tribute to Townes Van Zandt this Sunday night (Jan 8) on Sunday Night Session at 7:00 PM central time. Follow the link and you can listen over the internet, unless you are cursed with a dial-up connection such as I am. But then, I'm close enough to use an old-fashioned radio to listen to it.

Tags: Townes Van Zandt, Texas Music

We're the only ones professional enough...Sorry, dear

A report about a deputy whose off-duty gun somehow malfunctioned so badly that it fired it's entire load automatically, with one round wounding his wife.

At about 6:45 p.m. Friday, the Bowyers were in the master bedroom of their Bainbridge home preparing to attend a party, Cofer said. Bowyer stated he was conducting a "press check" to ensure the small handgun he carried with him while off-duty was properly loaded, Cofer said. Bowyer stated to Bainbridge Public Safety Officer Ray Cox that while loading the handgun, it misfired. The handgun fired off seven bullets, one of which struck Mrs. Bowyer in the lower right abdomen, Cofer said.

The initial review of the bedroom and statements made by the Bowyers and their juvenile daughter, who was in the home at the time of the shooting, indicate that the deputy's handgun malfunctioned, Cofer said. Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called to the scene and took possession of the firearm to investigate the cause of its malfunction, Griffin said Tuesday.

The article goes on to claim that something broke inside the gun which caused it to fire itself.

Sounds fishy, to me.

The article also states that it was "similar to a .380-caliber," which suggests to me either a Makarov or one of those PA-63's (I think that's the right model number). Has anyone ever heard of this happening with either gun before? Is it possible?

UPDATE: Thanks to Paul Simer for providing me with these links that show me my suspicions were ill-founded.

Sigh...

Got the warning notice about the upcoming Carnival of Cordite, and I hate to miss out on the first of the year, but I haven't posted anything carnivalworthy lately. It doesn't seem like I'll come up with anything in the next 2 days, either.

Do the delicious categories look normal to everyone but me? I checked it on both of my computers and in IE the number of posts is jumbled into the category name. Mr. Codrea commented that it looks fine to him using IE. So I don't know what to do about it.

I have been sinking some time into writing a parody that will be posted here when it's finished. It involves both words and graphics. So I've been learning to use Gimp and also writing. When I do creative writing it is a very slow process. So it's been sucking up some time.

Mail Call: Knob Creek

I just wanted to say that my 4-year-old son and I are currently watching the Mail Call episode about the Knob Creek machine gun shoot. He is riveted. He's also asking some fairly intelligent questions about such guns. I have never fired a fully automatic weapon, so I'm not much of an expert on the subject, but still, he encourages me that I might be doing something right.

Mayor Barry robbed at gunpoint, refuses to enforce own laws

All I can say is un-freakin'-believable. Read it for yourself:

D.C. Council member Marion Barry today urged the two young men who he said robbed him at gunpoint in his own kitchen Monday night to turn themselves in, but pledged he would ask authorities not to prosecute them.

[...]

"To this young man who did this to me, I have no animosity," Barry said. "I don't even want you prosecuted. I love you. Give yourself up. Call the police. Let them know that you engage in these activities. I will do all to advocate non-prosecution."

Stomp legal gun-owner's rights into the ground, and then refuse to enforce the laws that you helped to make so that some thugs can go free. What is wrong with this guy? Is he still on crack?

UPDATE: Just had to add some afterthoughts. I hope that all the murderers, muggers, burglars and other sub-human scum of D.C. realize that they may now all attack Barry with complete impunity. He's fair game, folks! And you won't even have to worry about prosecution. (I am still shaking my head in utterly astounded disbelief).

UPDATE 2: Moorewatch makes an astute observation.

tnx to The Beer Postulate

Tags: gun control

the delicious tags

I just looked at the blog with IE for the first time since yesterday's tinkering, and the del.icio.us tags look like crud in IE, although they display perfectly in Firefox. I'll see what I can do about it later. I'm not sure I can really do anything about it, though.

Church buildings not immune to crime

Maybe only if you're a vampire or one of those Highlander guys, but not if you're just a murderer:

This story suggests that this was an apparent random act by a convicted felon in a place where explicit permission to carry a handgun for self defense must be obtained. Under current Ohio law, CHL-holders are banned from attending worship services (or even entering the church building) while armed, unless the church authorizes entry.

A story tnx to Ohioans for Concealed Carry -- who are really on the ball when it comes to things like this -- about a church cleaning lady who was murdered in the church building.

UPDATE: More recent crime in a church tnx to The War On Guns.

Tags: concealed carry, self defense

It happened again

For some reason the "pizza guy" post got picked up by Earthlink's start page as if it were from a "real" newspaper. If I knew how this kept happening, I'd tell everyone. But I have no idea.

South Florida's first shooting of new year

Fort Lauderdale:

Villanueva got into a verbal and physical fight with another man at the party whom police declined to name.

Moreno helped break up the fight and told Villanueva and a friend to leave, police said.

But Villanueva and his friend, Tyrone Ramos, refused, police said.

Moreno pulled a 9 mm handgun hidden in his waistband and pointed it at Villanueva and Ramos, police said. As the argument escalated, Moreno used the gun to strike Villanueva's friend in the shoulder area.

The gun went off, and the bullet struck Villanueva in the head, police said.

Two terrible mistakes were made here.

1. If you are a troublemaker at a party and are asked to leave, you should do so. This mistake cost a troublemaker his life.

2. A gun is not a club. It is a gun. It is meant to shoot bullets, not to whack people on the head with. Don't take it out if you don't plan on using it for its intended purpose. No, make that: don't even carry it unless you are prepared to use it for its intended purpose.

Tags: guns

More tinkering

Thanks to Greasemonkey & Firefox, I'm going to be adding Technorati tags to some posts.

Also thanks to Firefox and a del.icio.us extension, I'm going to be making some quick & dirty categories. So if anything looks odd, it's okay, it's just the template imploding again.

UPDATE: That's it for December. I am going to try and categorize pretty much everything. The Technorati tags will only be added to new posts. The post format has changed a little to make it easier for me to add the del.icio.us tags.

A word on the categories: The "Guns" category is an all-encompassing category that includes all the other gun-related stuff. Anything under "Guns" will probably also be in at least one of the other sub-categories.

UPDATE 2: November is done.

UPDATE 3: So much for October. Good thing I'm stuck at home with nothing else to do.

They tried to rob the wrong pizza guy

A pizza shop owner in Warren, OH, credits his CCW course with saving his life:

Near closing time Nov. 21, Madill got a delivery order to a high-crime area of Warren. He sent his help home, telling them he would make the delivery.

Arriving at the address, Madill knocked and was met by a person in a ski mask and a hooded sweatshirt. As he turned to run, he was ambushed by two similarly dressed accomplices who had approached from behind. The trio dragged him into the vacant house and began beating him. Repeatedly, he tried to shield himself from the attack while reaching for his wallet.

That's when he spotted a fourth person approaching with a knife. "It don't matter," he told the victim. "We're going to kill you anyway."

Lots of info in this one about CCW in Ohio and some word snapshots of some people who have them, plus other pro-gun stuff.

They quote three "basic tenets of gun safety" which are not the same as the Four Rules. I don't completely agree with their #3: "Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use." What does "ready to use" mean to you? To me it means I've come home from a day at the range, and I've just finished cleaning and re-assembling the gun. As far as I'm concerned, that makes it "ready to use." I may put it inside a safe box to make sure little hands don't get hold of it--a safe box that I can still open quickly if need be--but you can bet it's going to be loaded.

Technorati: self defense, guns