Shot placement, guys, shot placement...

A marauding pit bull has apparently defied being shot, hit with a car, and Tasered in Connecticutt:

The man versus canine confrontations began Wednesday morning when two police officers went to help an animal control officer after receiving a report that the dogs were charging her at Center Springs Park.

The dogs again charged, and one of the officers fired his gun in self-defense, police said. The gunfire didn't stop the dogs, which turned and ran toward a town recreation building at 100 Lodge Drive, where the summer camp was going on inside, police said. Several more officers were sent to the park.

I say he just didn't hit in the right place (or didn't hit it at all). And when the owner is tracked down, there should be something to charge him with. Dogs--even pit bulls--don't get this way without a reason.

Exceptionally Good Weekly Check on the Bias at Alphecca

Alphecca's Weekly Check on the Bias is exceptionally good this week. Don't miss it.

El Paso County Sheriff says: "I Welcome the Minuteman Project"

El Paso, TX:

One of the top law enforcement officials in West Texas welcomes a controversial border watch group. The mission of the Minuteman Project is to work with the Border Patrol to catch illegal immigrants and El Paso County Sheriff Leo Samaniego supports their mission.

At a news conference Monday morning, the El Paso County Sheriff said securing the border is the first step in Homeland Security and the Minuteman Project should be seen as an 'expanded neighborhood watch program.'

Films on Liberty and the State

I came across this list of Films on Liberty and the State at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. First I went over and checked out their mission statement, since I had never heard of this organization before. From their mission:

In this cause, the Mises Institute works to advance the Austrian School of economics and the Misesian tradition, and, in application, defends the market economy, private property, sound money, and peaceful international relations, while opposing government intervention as economically and socially destructive.

Good enough, so here's a list of Films on Liberty and the State:

I have come up with a list of some films I've happened upon that I think are of particular interest to Austrians and libertarians. In addition to having some libertarian angle, (and I, by no means, am vouching for ideological purity in any of these films), I also selected for films that are generally high quality (critically acclaimed).

Where available, I have put links to full reviews by my trusted film reviewer, James Berardinelli. Write me with any suggestions for additions.

Here are the comments on one of my favorite films, The Outlaw Josey Wales:

This classic western directed by and starring Clint Eastwood features a scathing portrayal of the state at war. Set at the end of the War Between the States, Josey Wales is a Missouri farmer minding his own business who decides to fight when Kansas raiders allied with the North kill his wife and his child and burn his house down. Refusing to surrender when his comrades do at the end of the war, he becomes a hunted man. As he journeys to Texas with Union soldiers on his trail, he begins to collect ragtag outcasts... Some of whom represent other victims of the Union government like his Indian friend.

The self-righteous crusading spirit of the Yankee so often described by Murray Rothbard is summed up in a single line of dialogue. "Fletcher: We get [kill] Josey Wales and it ends. Union officer: Doin' right ain't got no end." The most amazing speech, though, occurs when Wales comes to a Comanche chief (Ten Bears) to make peace having had enough of fighting:

Josey: Governments don't live together. People live together. Governments don't give you a fair word or a fair fight. I've come here to give you either one. Or get either one from you... I'm saying that men can live together without butchering one another...

Ten Bears: It's sad that governments are chiefed by the double-tongues.

A great film with a sharp interpretation of history and a timeless message about the state, society, war and peace. Contains brief nudity and lots of violence.

Looks like a site that's worth checking out more thoroughly.

Christian Persecution Blog

Well, I couldn't find a single thing in all my news searches to get ticked off enough about to blog. So I thought I'd mention this blog that I came across last week, Christian Persecution Blog - a weblog about persecuted Christians and the persecuted church. It keeps track of and chronicles Christian prosecution throughout the world, most of which you will never hear a peep about from the MSM.

Sudden Increase in Firepower

Several months ago a friend of mine who has moved far away (but still remains in Texas) told me by email that he had a lot of extra reloading stuff taking up space, and he was going to load me up some practice ammo. This weekend, after I had long ago completely forgotten about it, the package arrived. Included was over 100 rounds each of .357 Magnum and .45 ACP, as well as 237 rounds of .40 S&W.

I had at one time decided that I would give the XD40 a break-in of 500 rounds before I started carrying it. Right now I"m at 200. This 237 plus the 100 rounds of Wolf I recently purchased will put me over the top. Time to buy a holster.

Time for another trip to the range.

He also sent me his .40 S&W dies, since he has now used up all his .40 material, has no .40 himself, and doesn't see any reason to keep the dies on hand. Now I just need a press.

The one down side, which turned out not to be a major problem (this time), is that our local idiot post office has a big problem differentiating my address with another address that is one word different: they apparently have difficulty distinguishing the word "valley" from "hollow." They sent this huge package of ammo to the wrong address. This happens frequently, but not usually with something quite this critical. We usually just put a note with the item (usually a bill or junk mail) that it has been sent to the wrong address and stick it back in the box. This time the other fellow drove by here and dropped it off himself. I'm just glad he wasn't nosey enough to open it.

9x18 Ammo

Several months ago, while taking my CHL requalification, I ran into another Makarov user who was complaining that 1) he couldn't find any ammo for it other than very expensive stuff at local gun stores ($21.99 plus tax for 50 rounds), and 2) he was trying to sell it but "no one wanted to take the thing." If I'd had some cash I would have bought it then and there, since it was one of the Russian versions with adjustable sights. I did recommend to him to go to the gun show and look for either Wolf or Sellier & Bellot. I hope he took my advice and found himself some cheaper ammo, so he can realize what a really great gun he had. But I wish I had also remembered to refer him to this website: 9x18 Ammo. Back when I first acquired my Makarov I made a thorough Internet-based investigation on all the ammo that was available. This website is about 5 years old so some of the information on it has probably changed. I plan on going through it and updating it, and I'll post update notices here when I find them, in case anyone is interested.

I did just notice that Wolf's ammo now has a "new polymer coating." I noticed that the .40 S&W Wolf ammo that I bought at the recent gun show had a black coating of some sort on the cases. I guess it's supposed to improve feeding? I don't know. I've used Wolf in 9x18 and .45 ACP--back when they just had the "bi-metal" cases without any coating--and I've never had a single problem with any of them. For some reason I've never tried any of their 9x19 ammo. In my opinion, this is some of the best cheap practice ammo you can get.

Here is Wolf's page on their new POLYFORMANCE^TM technology.

Desktop Wallpaper

I decided I needed to find some cool gun-related desktop wallpaper for my laptop, and I just ran across this collection of High Resolution USFA Images at United States Fire-Arms Mfg. Co. Inc. I had never heard of this company before, but they specialize in "...handcrafted, historically accurate re-creations of Old West guns and rifles..." Their wallpaper collection features lots of single-action revolvers. I chose this one...

Looks real nice at full size. This site has 22 high-resolution images. Alas, the price range of their products is way too high for me.

This is what I want to get next...

It has been a long time since I've purchased a firearm. It has been an even longer time since I've purchased a long gun. I don't know how long it will take to set aside my spare dollars, but here is what I want next:


That is the Kel-Tec SUB-2000. Mine will be the .40 S&W version that uses Glock 22 mags.

Don't forget to set your clocks

For the first time in seven years, a special leap second will be added to the clock at the end of 2005:

An extra second will be added to 2005 to make up for the slowing down of the Earth's rotation, officials said this week.

The once-common 'leap second' is the first in seven years and reflects the unpredictable nature of the planet's behavior.

The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service in Paris keeps track of time by measuring the Earth's rotation, which varies, and by an atomic clock, which is unwavering. When a difference in the two clocks shows up, the IERS adds or subtracts a second to the year.

A Lesson for Islam

A great post at Shakey Pete's Shootin' Shack:

Here's how this relates to Islamic terrorism. Snakes are easily recognizable. I can tell a venomous snake by sight. Most, like the Rattlesnakes of my home range, have a peculiar head shape. Others, like the Coral snake have a distinctive color scheme and there ain't nothin' but a Cottonmouth that looks like a Cottonmouth. The trouble with Islamic terrorists is that they have no such distinctive appearance. If they did, it would be very easy to root them out. They don't have a distinctive head shape, nor color scheme. This is how they manage to present a danger. Unfortunately they don't just present a danger to us Infidels. There was a time, before we learned to differentiate between venomous snakes and harmless ones, snakes, of any kind, were killed on sight. If there was no easy way to distinguish the harmless from the venomous, they still would be.

That's only an excerpt. Read the whole thing.

Oh brother...

Some R&B singer (who I have never heard of anyway) wants his fans to pray for him because:

'Omarion was in London during the tragic bombings that struck this morning,' a statement by the singer's publicist AR PR Marketing, released hours after the bombings, said.

Making no mention of the fatalities or casualties of the blasts, the singer's statement concluded, 'He would like his fans to pray that he has a safe trip and a safe return home. He appreciates your support.'

He was in London for Saturday's Live 8 show, his publicist Shana Gilmore told Reuters from Los Angeles. Asked why anyone should pray for him, Gilmore said, 'He wasn't hurt or anything, but just the fact that he was there and all that.'

Right.

Interesting article from Canada...

...regarding Canadian gun laws:

What is remarkable, however, is that the Liberals' 1995 controls -- requiring all owners and guns to be licensed -- seem to have had no discernable impact. Following implementation of those regulations, firearms deaths simply continued at the rate of decline begun in 1991.

There are other indications of the most recent controls' uselessness. 'In each year,' Ms. Wilkins writes, 'about four-fifths of all firearms-related deaths were suicides.' And while in the past decade and a half firearms suicides have been cut in half, the overall rate of suicides has dropped just 15%, all of which is likely explicable by the ageing Canadian population. (Nearly every Western country has experienced a similar decline in suicides in cases where the average age of its citizens has risen.) While firearms suicides went from 4.5 per 100,000 population in 1979 to 2.0 in 2002, 'suicide by suffocation/hanging ... rose from 3 to 5 deaths per 100,000.' While gun controls may have helped reduce the number of firearms suicides, they did not lower the overall rate of suicides, meaning, at best, controls merely encouraged troubled Canadians to find other methods for taking their own lives.

tnx to John Lott

Downtown I.C. fight leads to gun skirmish

Notice the headline above (their headline, not mine), then see what they call a "gun skirmish."

Iowa City, Iowa:

Police here say a man confronted several people outside a downtown bar this morning with a loaded gun to confront people he'd been fighting with, but was subdued before the gun could be used.

A round was fired from the gun, but it was an accident caused by a person who picked up the gun before officers could arrive at the scene, Iowa City police said.

No one was injured, police said.

The guy was subdued before he could use the gun, the only shot that was fired was by accident when some doofus tried to pick the gun up, yet it's still a "gun skirmish."

No Words

Minuteman Project Vigilance

The Minuteman Project recently conducted another patrol of the Avery Valley area in Arizona during July 1-4. Here is some vigilante activity which they carried out:

Saturday morning at approximately noon a Minutewoman driving her car on a laundry patrol was approached by a young man. After she slowly pulled away while calling Border Patrol, he ran after her car waving a bottle. A laundry patrol is when volunteers drive desolate back roads looking for fences marked with t-shirts or other clothing, which indicates a location where illegal aliens are hiding in the brush awaiting a coyote to pick them up in a vehicle.

Minutewoman Gayle was soon joined by volunteer Fred, who stopped his car and said 'hello' while offering water to the young man. MCDC volunteers quickly realized the teenager was in a desperate physical condition from the heat, and again called for Border Patrol's assistance. While waiting for Border Patrol's arrival, volunteers offered food but the delirious teen refused. Volunteers soaked a towel with water and draped it over his shoulders and encouraged him to sit in a shaded area, all the while comforting him with kind words and asked the young man where he was going. He was so disoriented he did not know and stated he had no other traveling companions.

35 minutes later a Border Patrol EMT agent arrived to pick up the young man. After examining the young illegal border crosser, the agent told volunteers they had saved the man's life. More agents arrived to search the area and a short time later discovered the man's companion under a bush about 100 yards away from the road. His companion had died hours earlier.

D.C. Mayor Incensed Over Lack of Rights

Washington, DC:

Bitter about efforts to loosen gun restrictions in the US capital, Washington's mayor yesterday told Congress to stay out of the District of Columbia's business and contrasted the fight for democracy abroad with the lack of rights for the city's residents.

What, you mean like the lack of the right to keep and bear arms? The lack of a right to self-defense?

17th Annual Chief of Police and Sheriff Survey

Via Chaos-In-Motion, here is a link to the 17th Annual Chief of Police and Sheriff Survey (pdf file) which is of interest to gun owners. It is actually quite favorable for gun owners, seeming to contradict what I often hear from the MSM regarding what police officers think of gun owners (imagine that).

(No excerpts because it's a pdf file, but be sure and check it out).

Gonzales Would Be Bad For Gun Rights @ Alphecca

Good information regarding possible supreme court nominee Alberto Gonzales at Alphecca. I probably don't need to say that this is something we pro-RKBA folks should be paying close attention to. But I'll say it anyway.

Texas Border Sheriffs Form Alliance to Fight Illegal Immigration

San Antonio, TX:

Sheriffs along the Texas-Mexico border say they're exhausted with dealing with the overflow of illegal immigration.

The toll on manpower, fuel and equipment has reached such an alarming level, they say, that the sheriffs from the 16 Texas counties along the border formed an alliance and planned to discuss the problem Wednesday and Thursday in Del Rio, a border town about 150 miles west of San Antonio.

Calling themselves the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition, the group formed in May and is seeking more federal and state funding to pay for the costs of illegal immigration that county budgets can't afford, coalition members said.

'The coalition feels the federal government is not adequately protecting the border,' said Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, coalition president. 'If anything happens along the border, we'd be the first ones to respond.'

Furthermore...

'We are getting intelligence that some Middle Easterners are making their way through Mexico and don't mind paying high dollar for those who smuggle narcotics to smuggle these people across the border and, God forbid, smuggle weapons of mass destruction, [Webb County Sheriff Rick] Flores said.