Motivators

This is what the Marine Corps is all about:

While Iraqi police fled, Haerter and Yale had never flinched and never stopped firing as the Mercedes truck -- the same model used in the Beirut bombing -- sped directly toward them.

Without their steadfastness, the truck would probably have penetrated the compound before it exploded, and 50 or more Marines and Iraqis would have been killed. The incident happened in just six seconds.

"No time to talk it over; no time to call the lieutenant; no time to think about their own lives or even the American and Iraqi lives they were protecting," Kelly said. "More than enough time, however, to do their duty. They never hesitated or tried to escape."

Tragic, yes, but these two men gave prime examples of the type of courage that is expected from Marines.

I hope they're partying it up with Chesty.

[H/T to Ace]

The company you keep

I'm all about capitalism and entrepreneurship, but when you have a store that sells pipes and rolling papers, you may attract more than just the friendly neighborhood stoners. You would have to take that into consideration when running such a business, right?

I'm not knocking their merchandise; I'm just saying to be prepared for the dredges of society as well.

Probable self defense shooting

In Myrtle Beach, SC.

Good to know that the bartenders in some of the local pubs can protect their patrons.

The Brady's numbers are not adding up

Another Gun Blog notes that the Brady Background check is not all it's cracked up to be.

They wouldn't fib to get people to join their team, would they?

Overall homicide on the decline

. . .but black-on-black homicide has nearly doubled, and the victims/perpetrators are getting younger. Firearms are the most common death weapon.

I suspect that there are many elements at work here, but what I'd like to point out is that the main age group in question isn't old enough to buy, own, or sell a firearm. That would indicate what gun owners have said all along: that firearms used in criminal misuse are obtained illegally, not in gun stores or at gun shows.

My fellow Virginians putting up a fight

Another pro-gun LTE in the Free Lance Star.

Something is missing

The Prince William County Police have released some tips on how to prevent home invasions, but they do not mention what to do to protect yourself if confronted in your home by a criminal.

Why, it's as if they don't think that your responsible enough to handle the proper tools that will keep you alive until the cops get there.

And check out those comments!

Postal workers carrying Super Pistols!!

Actually, not so much.

It was a horrific afternoon for Gregory Burnside. Armed robbers invaded his 61st and Grey's Ave. home Tuesday afternoon and terrified him and his wife. He said a woman in her 30's wearing a postal worker's uniform lured him to open the front door.

"Everything looked official, very official, " Burnside said.

Suddenly, he says, the woman pulled out a high-powered handgun.

"She had a clipboard and all. The entire time she had a gun under the clipboard and I wasn't aware of it. But when I went to sign for the letter the clipboard came up and the gun went right directly in my mouth," said Burnside.

A "high powered handgun?" Like one of these? Or one of these? Sensationalized crap from our friendly clueless reporter, Vernon Odom. Well played, sir!

And I repeat myself when I say to beware of letting "official" looking people in your house.

When BB guns are outlawed. . .

I'm not even going to go there. I just wanted to point out that the media is giving erroneous BB gun safety advice to the masses:

BB's also commonly have a bright orange tab on the front. No matter what, always be careful when you are around any gun because even BB's can cause some harm.

Thanks for that gem, jackass. I would suggest that you stick to manipulating the readers with blatantly biased anti-gun propaganda, instead of just getting it flat out wrong. You'll come across as less of an idiot.

Assault with a deadly pipe

When crackpipes are outlawed, only outlaw crackheads will carry. . . oh, never mind.

More media insanity

I'm sure by now that everyone has heard about the guy who killed nine people while dressed as Santa. If not then here's the latest.

The thing that's pissing me off is that every news article that I read is trying to make the readers feel sorry for this piece of garbage; like having guilt or grief or any sort of family problems somehow makes mass murder less wrong.

To hell with that!

I understand that the public wants the back story and all, but stop trying to make the deceased killer out to be a misunderstood guy that took things too far. If he looks like a scumbag, acts like a scumbag, and shoots an eight year old in the face like a scumbag, than he's a scumbag. Call him what he was.

Why would you need a gun at the movies?

In case you find yourself in a confrontation with idiots like this guy.

What did CTone get for Christmas. . .

The FLU!!! YAAAY!!!

Sorry about the lack of posting. I haven't even touched a keyboard since my Christmas day phone post.

I have no idea where the bug came from. In spite of my misery, I decided that I was still going to finish painting my basement this weekend, so I soldiered on downstairs to get things done. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I got a dandy allergic reaction from my late afternoon chicken salad. The real unfortunate part is that I love chicken salad.

So then I was even more determined to finish that damned basement. Meanwhile my skin was a charred orange color (a bad John Kerry orangish tan - you know the type) with the exception of the quarter sized hives, which were bleach white.

When my wife laid eyes on me she insisted that I call it quits, and after feeding me a couple of benedryl it was off to la-la land. Sunday I just parked my miserable ass in the recliner and took a break.

So now things should be back to normal. I still feel the occasional rumble in my guts, but overall I'm glad that the bug is gone.

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone is having a good time.

I'm blogging from my new phone, so I hope this works.

Why do they put up with piracy?

Why is it that the crew aboard this Chinese cargo ship are unarmed while underway? Why do they have to try to improvise weapons to make a futile attempt to wave off a few scumbags with a little boat? Is it that they might hurt someone while traveling miles from the shore of the nearest country? Seriously:

Keeping low to avoid being shot, a sailor lights a Molotov cocktail before throwing it at Somali pirates trying to board his ship.

He and his crewmates were expecting trouble and had prepared dozens of the makeshift grenades to repel an invasion.

Their cargo vessel was attacked in the Gulf of Aden by pirates using speedboats and armed with heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.

What, they might get hurt? The pirates are trying to kill them anyways; might as well have some rifles on board to shoot back. I can tell you right now that I would defy international law if I were the captain of a ship sailing the high seas and carry an arsenal of weapons. And to the naysayers that think that firearms won't help the crew fight off armed pirates because they're too incompetent to use them:

Despite their best efforts the nine pirates clambered aboard after tying up alongside.

The 30 Chinese crew then locked themselves in their accommodation area - which includes their sleeping rooms, mess rooms and recreation area - to prevent the bandits from entering the ship itself.

The ship's captain, Peng Weiyuan, told Chinese TV that the crew used 'water cannon, self-made incendiary bombs, beer bottles and other missiles to fight the pirates' during the five-hour stand-off.

'Thirty minutes later, the pirates gestured to us for a ceasefire then the helicopters from the joint fleet came to our help.'

That's right, they used a water cannon and beer bottles to repel the pirates. Now imagine what they could have done with a few SKS's or Type 56's. You want piracy to stop, then quit giving them soft targets.

If you think that violence is not the answer, then consider that harsh words are not what drove the scumbags back into their hole:

Choong said the bureau quickly sought help from a multi-coalition naval force, which dispatched the helicopters and a warship to the area.

'Two helicopters arrived at the scene first and helped deter the hijacking. They fired at the pirates, forcing them to flee the ship. Nobody was injured,' he said.

A defenseless ship getting their asses handed to them by bandits? Lets dispatch a heavily armed ship to kill them!! Too bad the warship didn't get the chance to smoke those bastards in the water. That would send a better message to them then sending them a fleet of easy money to take at their convenience.

Fobus Magazine Pouch Review

I've been a Fobus advocate for years (still am), and I bought a magazine/flashlight holster from them about eight months ago that I haven't really worn for any length of time until this past weekend. I own many of their holsters and magazine pouches for just about every handgun in my arsenal, and I've done a review on one of their ankle holsters in the past. It still serves me well.

The pouch for this review is a SF6900 that holds one double stack 9mm magazine and a Surefire 6P or equivalent flashlight. I will tell you up front that this holster is unwearable for any length of time. I doubt that I will ever wear this holster again unless I can modify it enough with a Dremel tool to make it comfortable.

The holster is made out of the standard "injection molded polymer" that is very durable. Myself and many friends that I know wear a Walther P22 in a Fobus paddle holster as anti-snake medicine when we go fishing in the river, and they work well. Around here, river usage is a true torture test for gear, as wading around all day in the Rappahannock amongst the sharp rocks will separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. Fobus holsters are waterproof, light, and tough, and the paddle feature lets me slip the thing onto my belt and take it off again in seconds.

Here is a picture of the beast with one full magazine and a Surefire Aviator flashlight.


The body of the Aviator is smaller than the 6P; thus the pouch is not designed for this particular light, but it still rides in the pouch just fine. The only difference is that the 6P is a little more snug. If I were rappelling out of helicopters for a living then I might be worried about the extra retention, but as it stands my 6P is standing duty mounted on an AR15, and the Aviator is my EDC light.

The retention of the magazine is good. It may not feel like it is very tight, but if you flip it upside down and shake it with reasonable force the magazine will stay put. When you slide it down onto your belt it will not move. You can slide the pouch horizontally on your belt while it's in place, but it will not move on its own during day to day tasks.

So far, this pouch has been worn while I run to the grocery store to grab a few quick things; never more than a half hour, and for that it is convenient. This particular model is the new design that has a red rubber backing on the pouch. The rubber gives the pouch some grip against a tucked in shirt, and helps keep it from adjusting while you're moving around.


The reason that I say it is unwearable is that Fobus changed the rivets on the back that hold the paddle to the body of the holster. There is a steel bar that is sandwiched in between the rivets, and on the new design that bar has two small protrusions that stab painfully into your side:


I am going to try to modify those protrusions by grinding them off with a Dremel tool. That is the only way I can think of to salvage the holster for my use. They do not exist on the first generation of Fobus holsters, and I can't see the purpose in them being there. Grinding them off may destroy the pouch, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.

Other than that, there is not a whole lot more to say. It conceals well under a T-shirt, and the magazine is positioned forward of the light to facilitate a quick reload. You will probably need access to your light far more than you will ever need access to the magazine, but when it counts you want to reach that mag first.

Fobus holsters are a steal for the $25 that you pay for one new, and I definitely recommend them; just not this particular one. I will post updates and pictures when I make the modification, and if it goes quick and easy then I might still recommend this one for the price.

The bestest Christmas wishlist evar!

Liberty is spot on with his Christmas wishlist; although I would swap numbers one and two!

Thanks hoss, I needed the laugh!

On permits

Someone please tell me how having a permit would have prevented this:

David Truesdale, 19 of Batavia, was released from the Genesee County Jail Wednesday evening after posting bond. He is facing misdemeanor gun charges after his 6 year old brother, a Batavia elementary student, brought a loaded hand gun on the school bus. The boy's father, 40 year old Juan Claudio is facing similar felony charges. "Neither one had a permit to have that weapon," said Batavia Police officer John Zola.

I have to point out that the owner of the gun was quickly found despite not having a permit.

So tell me then, how would a permit have helped at all in this situation? If both men had been vetted by law enforcement, and received a permit, would the child not have brought the gun on the school bus?

I highly doubt it. I just wanted to point out the uselessness of permits in general.

Another god pro-gun article

Again, from the Free Lance Star.

Feel free to hammer the naysayers in comments.

More on gun sale craziness

Lyles likens the recent buying spree to the 1994 surge that preceded a 10-year ban on semiautomatic military-style rifles. Lyles said most of this year's gun buyers are worried that President-elect Barack Obama will re-impose that ban.

"I lived through the Clinton years, but a lot of others in this business didn't," said Lyles. "Two out of every three gun shops in Virginia went under [during the 1990s]. You can only sell so many guns to police departments and federal agencies."

This gunstore owner points out that Obama doesn't have to ban guns to take them away from citizens. Most moonbats that I know say that it won't happen, but they have no idea that an outright ban may not be what does the damage. Shutting down gun stores and gun shows, combined with a steep ammunition tax, will do the job just as well.