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.

Always be sceptical of authorities

Cops may not always be cops.


I'm not saying to be a dick to every police officer, but you should not treat every interaction with them by mousing down. This particular situation is different, but I am using it to spread awareness that just because someone is dressed in a uniform, wearing a shiny thing, does not mean that you have to let them into your house, or let them do obscene things.

Condition Yellow applies to everyone.

Uuum. . .I've got a question

How in the world does this make any sense, and why do we allow it to keep happening?

Police had their guns drawn as they charged in to a home on Fort Avenue in Roxbury, where they thought a suicidal woman was inside.

"Two police officers led the charge and they literally ran up the staircase with their guns drawn," said Shirley Hunter, the home owner.

Alright, that's two questions, but they still stand. How is it that we think we can help a suicidal person by kicking in someone's door and sending in armed men with guns drawn?

"I said you have the wrong address, you have the wrong address, and they were really pumped up," Hunter said.

I can understand being excited about your job, but this sort of thing just doesn't seem right. I know there is a strong desire to do something to help the 'victim', but rushing in and pointing guns does not seem like the kind of action that makes one change their mind about suicide.

Creepy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QPo1MRatNY

It must be the gunshows

Or global warming.

The District's homicide rate recently surpassed the total for all of 2007, and has increased for the second straight year.

The total is now at 183 after a man was shot and killed Tuesday morning in the 1600 block of 11th Street NW.

I think it's interesting that police "recovered" 2,416 firearms this year, considering that unless the guns were all stolen from the cops, they never owned them to start with. And how is it that they were there in the first place? That would be against the law!

Infringement

Tuesday's bill builds on those regulations. It requires gun owners to spend at least one hour at the firing range and four hours in the classroom with an instructor before registration. The bill also requires a criminal background check for gun owners every six years.

If getting a background check every six years isn't an infringement on your right to bear arms, than I don't know the definition of the word. That's some trust and confidence DC 'leaders' place on their constituents.

I don't agree with anything that the council is doing for the city, and I'm thankful that I don't fall under their laws. Why the citizens of DC allow themselves to be ruled by these idiots is anyone's guess. . .

Movie Guns XXXI

It's taken me an eternity, but tonight I bring you another Movie Guns!

I've been pickin' at this one for awhile, and I'm pleased to bring you the film Red Dawn.

I've always loved this movie, and when it came out most folks didn't dismiss the idea of Russians jumping into the US and trying to take over. We don't have to worry about the Reds parachuting in with guns blazing in this day and age; the American public just votes them into the highest offices in our government instead. The Cubans wander in right off the boat and onto our shores without a challenge. They even bring us drugs!

I'm not going to cover much of the storyline, but instead I'm going to focus on the tactics, where applicable.

Here is the opening scene where a teacher walks outside to see the Russian army, reinforced with Cuban troops, parachuting into Colorado:


Ivan the Russian lights up the windows of the school with an RPK Light Machine Gun right after he guns down the teacher:


A Russian soldier fires a decrepid looking RPG7 with a rocket almost as long as the tube into the school, and if you look closely at the second picture you can see the wire that the rocket is traveling on:



A couple of students knock a Russian soldier to the ground, and during the scuffle you can see that the rifle is made of rubber:


Another soldier busts up the grill of a car with a AKS:


Three students - Robert, Matt, and Danny (C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, and Brad Savage respectively) - manage to jump into Jed's (Patrick Swayze) truck as they haul ass away from the school. Jed has an unknown shotgun and a Savage Model 110 in a rifle rack, as well as a Colt Single Action Army in the glove box:

Ahh, the days when you could have your guns visible in your vehicle at school and nobody cared. . .

They head down to the local gas station/sporting goods store, and the owner hands the teens guns, food, and camping supplies. One guy wisely grabs a box of arrows, which are reuseable, and a bow, while the others grab as much ammo as they can carry:


Is it me, or does Remington ammunition boxes look exactly the same today as they did in the 80's?

In town, this bumper sticker is shown on a truck right before the camera pans down to the dead owner; still holding his 1911:




As Jed and the gang are headed for the country, they see a Russian checkpoint up ahead which gets lit up by a US gunship. They pause to watch the fireworks, and Jed is waving his Colt SAA in the air while Robert fires his Marlin 336C in the general direction of the Russians:

Judging by the recoil, I'd say he fired off a real 30.30 cartridge.

When the gang gets into the woods, they decide to do a little hunting. Jed's Savage 110 and Robert's Marlin can be seen better here:


After a few weeks in the woods, the guys go out to see if they can find some information about what is going on. While out and about, Jed flags his buddy with the muzzle of his rifle:


Here's a glimpse of a M134 'minigun' that is lying next to a blown out tank:

It's the only shot of one that I saw in the whole film, and it was never fired.

The Russians have the town under control. A Cuban Colonel tells one of his subordinates to go to the gun stores and get the 4473 forms that US federal law requires the stores to keep:

This will help the Reds find out who owns guns, and therefore might pose a risk to their forces. This is but one weakness in the firearm records system that gun owners have been talking about for many years.

While this is going on, a soldier fires a SA7 surface-to-air rocket at a US gunship:


The Russians go about doing day-to-day attrocities to the citizens of the town; some of which is seen here in the form of dissidents being executed in front of an armored firing squad:


When three sightseeing Red officers decide to get some pictures in the remote Colorado wilderness - which just happens to be the stomping ground of the teenage hideaways - the real trouble ensues. Here are the officers with AK47s slung muzzle down:


One of the Russians gets an arrow in the back from this guy:

A bow is a silent and lethal weapon; more than capable of this type of warfare. Sure you have to get close, but you don't have to worry about the report from a rifle muzzle giving your position away.

Either way, it doesn't matter in this scene as the rest of the guys shoot the Russians all full of holes. Here's Robert hip firing what I believe to be a Winchester Model 1300 pump with the corn cob slide:


There's a lot more hip firing where that came from, and now that the gang has their first taste of blood they decide to start a full blown insurgency against the Russian army.

This is one of the scenes where they ambush a few tankers while they were getting gas. Toni (Jennifer Grey) initiates the attack when they take her basket into the tank. The basket had a bomb in it, and when it blows up, several of the soldiers give chase. One of them has this auto tanto knife, which I find odd considering that tantos weren't very popular back then:


Toni leads them into a field where the second half of the ambush goes down. Four of the guys are hiding out in concealed fighting holes, and they spring out when the Reds get close. Jed cuts one down at very close range with some hip firing from an AK47, and Robert and Matt take out the other two with a AK 47 and a Remington 870 shotgun:



The ambush worked great; if not a little complex for beginners with no training whatsoever.

Now that they're getting some success, they step it up by naming themselves the 'Wolverines,' and going about massacreing the Russians with one brutal ambush after another. Robert decides that his Remington 870 would be better off without a tight shot pattern, and takes a hacksaw to the barrel:


Later he marks notches in the stock of his AK with a balisong:


I'm a big fan of the balisong.

Here is another well laid ambush. Notice that they're all on one side, well protected, not trying to "bracket" the target with guys on both sides, and spare magazines are already placed where they can be picked up. You don't want your peeps shooting at one another:




The Wolverines are very disciplined. In this ambush they wait for Russian special forces troops to get in real close before they shoot them up:

This Heavy Machine Gun resembles a DShKM, but there's soemthing not quite right about it. I noticed it on several of them in the film and I wonder if they're mock ups using M60 parts. Here's another one:


Somewhere in the middle of one of the fights I caught a glimpse of this FN FAL:


Toni is a big fan of the Valmet M78 as she can be seen cutting Reds down in several scenes with one, and some of the others use it as well:




She's partial to the Russian Tokarev TT as well:


During one of the fights Matt is using a RPG7, and he has spare rockets on his back. While I'm sure they're heavy, the RPG just makes sense. I know that the US has badass anti-armor weapons as well - the Javelin comes to mind - but we don't have anything that's close to the RPG in soldier friendliness, ease of reloading, and very man portable. We do have the SMAW, but it just seems cheap; and I'm well aware that the RPG is not very accurate. It just fills a general purpose role very well, and I wonder why haven't gone that route:


Here is Jed firing his Savage 110 while freeing a bunch of Americans from a POW camp, after which they arm the Americans with a truckload of weapons like the Ruger Mini 14:



This weeks mystery gun is a revolver carried by Lt. Col. Andrew Tanner (Powers Boothe):


Getting toward the end now, the remaining Wolverines attack the Russian headquarters in the center of town. One Russian officer is seen holding a Makarov pistol:


And a Russian special forces officer is seen here with a Jatimatic sub machine gun:



Jed takes the special forces guy down with his trusty Colt, during which he flinches badly:



It's hard to beat this flick if you're into gunplay. Some of the tactics are pretty sound as well. You will notice throughout the movie that the Wolverines use much of the equipment that the Russians use after they take it from them. That's what I'd do.

My favorite part is when Robert and Toni ask Lt. Colonel Tanner "What's defilade?" and "What's grazing fire?"

Well, I got more vomit from an angry baby settling into the pores on my left arm as I type this last bit one handed, and I can feel the warm pee leaking out of his worthless pampers and into my shirt at this very moment, so I gotta go!

Brady Campaign takes on law abiding citizen

What a bunch of shameless scumbags.

Meleanie Hain is back in the news because she is suing the county and the sheriff for revoking her gun permit. Good for her.

The Brady Campaign, who claims that they are not against law abiding gun owners, have offered to defend the county, as well as the local sheriff, against Meleanie, who has been abiding by the law this whole time. During the incident where Meleanie's permit was revoked, she was acting lawfully, and the court rightfully restored her permit; a concealed carry permit, I might add, which has no bearing whatsoever on open carry, which Meleanie was doing on the day her permit was taken.

So she was doing nothing illegal, had her rights infringed, and is suing because of those infringements. But that is against everything that the Brady Campaign is for. They can't have good citizens going about their day while lawfully carrying a firearm.

Last week, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence offered to defend DeLeo and the county for free.

"This is a case that calls out for common sense and sanity," said Daniel Vice, the center's senior attorney. "It's an incredible risk to bring a loaded semi-automatic weapon to a children's soccer game."

Is that so? Let me ask: if it's such a big risk then why are cops allowed to carry to the field? I presume it's because they believe that cops have much higher gun handling skills then any mere citizen, but yet they automatically think that way without any idea as to how much training Meleanie, or any citizen for that matter, has with their weapon. It's assumed that a uniform brings competence with weapons, and that's not really true.

DeLeo, who calls himself a staunch NRA member, said he has nothing against guns but felt it was his duty to take action "because of the safety and security issues involving [children] on the field."

****

DeLeo said he had rarely seen anyone other than a police officer walk around with a gun on the hip. In fact, doing so might make Hain more of a target, he said.

Good for thee, but not for me? I bet he feels real safe on a soccer field. And who has ever heard of a scumbag shooting it out on a soccer field in recent memory? Meleanie must be paranoid or something.

This article has some BiaS in it as well; because we can't have a group of idealistic scumbags who don't want law abiding citizens to have firearms without a little help from incompetent and opinionated journalists, can we?

Her babysitting business has suffered. Two babysitting clients have fled and she is down to just one family.

****

She carries the weapon cowboy-style because in an emergency - not that there has ever been one - "I don't really need anything extra in the way of the gun if I'm going to have to pull it out and I'm holding a baby and trying to shuttle two or three other kids," she said.

Fled? Cowboy style? No sir, writer Kathy Boccella is not at all trying to draw conclusions for the reader. That wouldn't be ethical, now would it?

Michael Long - who leaves Tyler, 2, and Joshawa, 8, with Hain one day a week - said he doesn't worry because she locks up her gun when the children are in the house.

So not only is she law abiding, she's safety minded as well. Who would have thought? So why does the Brady Campaign feel that they should go after this woman?

Baby vomit

That's what I was dealing with at 0445 this morning instead of blogging about the great gunplay that I finished capturing from this week's Movie Guns last night. I am going to put tonight's work for the basement on hold so that I can get that sucker done. At this point, I cannot reliably get them done every week, so I will be doing them whenever I have the time.

Man, teens sure do get ahold of some big-ass guns!

The teen has been identified as 15-year-old Richard Yanis of Feist Avenue in Pottstown. Authorities claim Yanis was planning a shooting spree at Pottstown High School. Investigators say the 15-year-old had three guns - a 45mm, a 22mm, and a 357 magnum with 300 rounds of ammunition.

The 22mm is capable of piercing three semi-trucks fully loaded with plastic yard gnomes stacked end-to-end!! And you don't even want to know how deadly the 45mm is!!

I'm thoroughly convinced at this point that everyone who works for the media is a freakin' idiot. And if this is the stuff that I am knowledgeable about, how much inaccurate information slips by me on stuff that I don't know alot about? Sometimes, the devil really is in the details, as this article points out.

At this point I only use the mainstream news as fodder for my blog.

Does anyone see the problem here?

"Police dog illegally searched car."

Like the dog has any idea about what the law is. The headline should read "Addison Police Officer Byron Tilton illegally searched teens car using police dog."

What the hell do reporters like Rebecca Lopez get paid to do these days besides inoculate the public with disingenuous propaganda? Like David at the War on Guns calls them, "Authorized Journalists"; people who give "Only Ones" favors. Funny thing is that this whole time I was under the impression that they were "government watchdogs."

I guess I was wrong.

It pays to be connected

Even though Haskell's former mayor Charley Smith was convicted of first degree manslaughter and the law says he must serve 85% of his sentence, Judge Jeff Payton decided six months was long enough.

How convenient for the former Mayor. If I killed someone with my vehicle while intoxicated I doubt I would have been let out so quickly - medical conditions or age be damned.

Does anyone here doubt that this was a favor thrown out to an old friend?

Be on the lookout for the rogue gun!!!

That's rogue gun, not gunman.

One gun police are tracking is a specific 9 millimeter that has been used in two murders, one attempted murder, six assaults and one destruction of property.

Ten crimes. Same gun. And it's still on the streets.

The gun is out there somewhere, stalking its victims.

Here's a few interesting goodies:

Every 13 hours in the District, someone fires a gun. At crime scenes last year, police recovered 4,963 shell casings. These shell casings represent more than just pieces of metal.

So much for those effective gun laws. Then we have this:

Gary Durant was a star athlete at Spingarn High School. He was the quarterback on the football team, a top scorer in basketball.

But he was drawn to the fast life on the streets, and police say he was there the night during a gun fight at the 1100 block of 21st Street. Eighty shots were fired and a young man died in the street.

Gary Durant was charged with murder.

"All because he wanted to be hanging out and carrying a gun, it's all gone, everything," his mother said. "Everything that he worked for."

Gary Durant is still sitting in D.C. jail. His murder trial is scheduled to begin next month.

Where he will be given the lightest possible sentence that a murderous scumbag can get. This is DC we're talking about. The thing that bothers me is that his mother somehow thinks that her son was some gentle boy who was corrupted by the evil gun, and not a wanna-be criminal. Guns don't take over you mind.

I hang out and carry a gun almost every day, most of the people that I know do as well, and none of us get into gun fights. In fact, we take every precaution to make sure that we never get into one. None of us murder people.

The blame lies with the individual, not the object.

One less criminal

A scumbag that robbed a bank in Virginia this morning was gunned down in what appears to be a pretty good sized shootout. The fight went down at a middle school soccer field where the gunman was killed by three cops.

That makes for a nice advertisement to the middle schoolers to not grow up to be a criminal.

A better look at school safety

In Massachusetts, no less.

The idea is being considered to teach children at public schools to attack a gunman with books, chairs, backpacks, and pencils if the situation arises. I think it's a better idea than to have them cowering on the floor waiting for a bullet.

The discussion goes pretty well, and there was only one caller who had a different opinion, which was to teach kids to "hide."

National Geographic Channel bias

Last night they aired a one hour show under Explorer called Gun Nation (the link shows it under the title Guns in America) that was chock full of the typical inaccuracies and bias that we have come to accept from the anti-gun crowd. Just look at the photo that accompanies this caption:

We are the most heavily armed society in the world; nearly 80 million Americans own guns. Explore the gun culture in America, from a police officer to a young mother.

Right off the bat the narrator tells us that our right to self defense is "granted" under the Bill of Rights, and that our Second Amendment rights have unintended consequences; consequences that are shown to the viewer in a story about a Philadelphia cop who was shot in the face by a teenage thug with a shotgun. No mention of the fact that the thug was not a 'gun owner', but a gangbanger who was not even old enough to own the gun in the first place.

The show cites the bogus '22 times more likely to be shot with your own gun' line that is often erroneously cited from a study by Dr. Arthur Kellerman in 1986. The camera follows a concerned citizen named Casey into a gun show to see what guns she may be interested in, and the camera zooms in on the huge rack full of scary guns, like the M60 machine gun that a young guy is holding, but they are obviously airsoft guns. Not a word about that, either.

There are so many errors in this show that I couldn't write them down fast enough; from California having the "toughest" gun laws in the nation, to concealed weapons allowed in 35 states (39 are 'shall issue'). There was subtle bias as well; like when the narrator says that citizens own guns for target practice, the viewer was treated to a black-and-white video clip of a guy shooting a row of apples from around a woman's head. Nope, no bias there!

Next, we get to see lawful and safe use of weapons from a guy named Adam, who immigrated to the US from, I believe, Italy, where he used to be in their Special Forces. Adam is watching his daughter shoot a Kel-Tec SUB 2000, while the narrator erroneously calls it an 'semi-automatic assault weapon,' and then goes on to say "which after a ten year ban became legal to own again in 2004." This is false, as the Kel-Tec would not have been covered by the ban - an arbitrary and useless ban that only covered 19 specific weapons by name - and I don't think the SUB 2000 was even in production while the law was in effect. Facts are no barrier for this show.

Another favorite part was when the narrator says that "an assault weapon can fire a bullet as fast as you can pull the trigger, and remains controversial." No shit they remain controversial, when ignorant individuals who work for the National Geographic Channel keep pushing non-factual information. The camera pans to the table where the narrator then says "This is a family of law abiding gun enthusiasts. Still, if this cache of weapons were ever stolen, chances are they would make it to criminal hands."

No facts, just negativity.

The show centers around four cops from Philadelphia, and three of them are blatantly against gun ownership, and one is on the fence. While the viewer is watching the police arrest a gangbanger who just gunned down another gangbanger, blood oozing out of him, the narrator says that citizens sometimes own guns for self defense, at which point one of the arresting officers is on camera saying that the bigger the gun you have, the more of a man you are - talking about the ganbangers, but the viewer is being led to believe that he is talking about citizen gun ownership. Then we're told basically that the Heller decision that struck down the DC handgun ban is bad news for police. A Philly police Captain that is interviewed talks about how dangerous it is on the streets as a cop, which I'm sure it is, but then says that he doesn't know of any other job where you have to wear a bulletproof [resistant] vest. I guess he hasn't heard of the Marines.

The most telling part of the show was when they interview a former violent felon named Tony, who used to be in the Crips gang. He said that the general rule of thumb amongst drug dealers and criminals carrying guns is that "I'd rather be caught with it, then without it" - saying that getting caught by the cops while carrying a gun is not nearly as big of a deal as getting caught in a shootout without a gun; he would know from experience. Tony was shot by another gangbanger during a drug deal where the guy pulled out an "automatic machine gun," which, in the show, is a AK47, but there's no mention of the weapon being closer to an 'assault rifle' than the Kel-Tec.

There's much much more that I don't have the time to cover, but near the end the show interviews Philly police officer DeCoatsworth, the cop who was shot in the face, and he gives us an "Only Ones" parting gift of this: "The only reason I have a gun is because I'm a police officer. Other than that, I don't think I have a reason for one, but unfortunately people have a right to own guns, and they're going to exercise that right."

Thanks for that, douchebag. Overall, I'd say that the show was a festering pile of bullshit, but don't take my word for it. Watch it for yourself.

Alan Gottlieb in the FLS

"President-elect Barack Obama is on record supporting gun registration, permanent renewal of the ban on "assault weapons," slapping an exorbitant increase on the federal excise tax on firearms and ammunition, and banning handguns outright. His vice president-elect, Delaware's Joe Biden, is a veteran gun-control advocate who authored the original "assault weapons" legislation."

I'm suprised this LTE made it past the editor at the Free Lance Star.

Good stuff.

Good CCW news from VA

Tonight, the Board of Supervisors will consider removing the fingerprinting requirement from the concealed-handgun permit ordinance. According to a county staff report, the national background check has never prevented a person from acquiring a permit.

My emphasis. Let's hope the Board of Supervisors removes the requirement. There's no point in it, and paying a Sheriff's Deputy to arbitrarily fingerprint citizens in order for them to exercise their rights is a waste of tax dollars; not to mention morally wrong, and unconstitutional.

Idiot of the week

A Stafford County man was shot and killed over the weekend when a member of his hunting party apparently mistook him for a deer.

****

Haney was not wearing blaze orange--as required by law--when he was shot, Dixon said. She said alcohol was not a factor.

Orange, or no orange - know your target and what is beyond it. People do not look like deer, and shooting at movement is irresponsible.

Your tax dollars at work

So there's, like, too many deer around Camp David, so the National Park Service is going to kill them off with "sharpshooters," instead of taking the economic route by letting hunters pay to do the job.

In the final Environmental Impact Statement for white-tailed deer management in Catoctin Mountain Park, the park service proposes killing about 900 deer over three years to thin a herd that is damaging the forest by excessive grazing on vegetation.

Hunters would pay $20 for a stamp to kill one of those deer, and it would put food on their table as well. What does the Park Service plan on doing with the carcass when they shoot it?

Check out the comments if you need a good laugh. There are all kinds of ridiculous proposals from folks who can't stomach the idea of animals being killed. They cry out that it's inhumane, and then suggest giving birth control to the animals; like shooting them with a tranquilizer gun right before you roger their insides with a metal probe is so much more humane. It's 'progressive!' OR, we could just coat everyone's azaleas with hot sauce to make the deer go somewhere else for food! If that doesn't work, we could spend millions relocating the animals to somebody else's backyard, say airlift them to Venezuela, and then the problem will be solved. The deer will never return!

Our society is so full of idiots that I fear for the future of mankind.

An unusual event

A US Navy F/A-18 Hornet crashes into some homes in California, killing three people.

Busy week

Before you ask, I am working on a Movie Guns post. I'll get it to you in a couple of days, and it's a good one.

This week has been trifling. One screaming kid is a piece of cake, but two screaming kids is another matter altogether. I'm running on no sleep right now, and I have no idea how my wife can even put together a whole sentence. She's up all night every night with the new baby CTone. Bless her heart.

Speaking of that - if you happen to be family of mine, and are not currently ill with some perpetual flu like virus, know that there is new blood in our tribe. With the exception of my mother, nobody else has stopped by. Shame on you. If you've been trying to reach my cell - it's UA. Fortunately I have a home phone, and Mrs. CTone has a cell that works, and we have, like, eight email addresses. Or you could just drive the mile (or several, for the perpetually ill) to my freaking house and meet the little guy. He will be whatever you help him grow up to be.

So getcha asses over here.

Rant off.

With every spare moment I can muster I've been putting effort into finishing my basement. Forty five gallons of "Easy Sand" drywall mud went onto my walls. Whoever came up with that title should be shot. I'm surprised that my neighbors haven't called the feds on me, with my emptying six gallons of pure white drywall dust from my shop-vac into my backyard every two hours while wearing a M40 Field Protective Mask. It makes me kinda nervous.

It's now full speed ahead with the DPMS 308 build. I'm going to be ordering most of the upper parts now that the lower parts have been ordered. I'll post pics when I put it together. I have to constantly fight the urge to just go for a bad-ass scope instead of buying up the parts that may soon be on the legislative chopping block, but I doubt there will be a Leupold ban any time soon. Those who have built a rifle know how hard it can be sometimes to spend the money and get a worthy optic.

Tomorrow I go back to work after a week and a half off, so wish me luck. After I get home and install a toilet I'll get back on my task of providing the world with another Movie Guns.

More misdemeanors added to the list

The DC council is trying to add those convicted of DUI to the list of people banned from owning a handgun. Keep in mind that this is not for carry, just for ownership.

Yikes!

The rest of the legislation, from the looks of this Washington Post article, looks like it's going to suck as well. I hope Alan Gura is right!

They had all their bases covered

The robbers wanted to make sure that they were especially deadly by carrying the most dangerous weapons around:

Three to four men heavily armed with automatic and assault weapons and dressed in dark clothing and masks robbed an armored truck outside a Bank of America at 10:35 a.m., police said.

Not only did they have super deadly assault thingys, they had machine guns too!

But I must be missing something. How is it that these "weapons of war" that are meant to be "spray fired from the hip" and are "only meant to kill people" didn't enable these men to, you know, actually kill anyone. Maybe theirs were broken?

Why would anyone need a gun at a soccer game?

KING CITY, Calif. -- Police are investigating a shooting at a high school soccer game in King City on Tuesday that left a brother and sister wounded.

Some scumbag shoots people at a soccer game?

Wait a minute! I thought it was inappropriate to bring weapons to such events?

The FLS turning over a new leaf?

I doubt it, but an informative pro-gun article did make it into the Free Lance Star; a notoriously anti-gun rag.

Automatic firearms were severely restricted from civilian ownership by the 1934 National Firearms Act. Semi-automatic rifles that have a military look, such as the Colt AR-15, can be purchased and owned by civilians who pass the standard FBI background check.

Many of the sporting variants fire the .223-caliber bullet, which is the standard NATO 5.56 round, and is much less powerful than that used for any type of big-game hunting. Outside of military circles, it is best known as a varmint-hunting caliber.

This is the type of information that needs to be read by the vast number of Virginia hunters, who often don't have any idea about AR type rifles, and thus think that by throwing the owners of such rifles under the bus that they will save their own skin.

I have talked to staunchly pro-gun hunters who have asked me "who needs a rifle that holds thirty rounds for hunting?" It never dawned on them that there are laws already on the books that limit magazine capacity for hunting, and that if one wants to hunt with his or her AR15, SKS, or semi auto AK, than all you need is to purchase a compliant magazine.

Education works.

It takes four gunman to rob a Dunkin Donuts?

This happened in Florida where four masked men took the money and then started randomly shooting people.

"Just give them what they want" doesn't sound so great now, does it? And yes, I see the futility of one potential citizen armed with his sub-compact blaster engaging four criminals; one of them carrying a shotgun. Shooting it out with them will probably get you shot and/or killed, but cowering on the floor definitely will. Given the option of resistance and death, or just death, I'm going to choose the former every time, especially if I'm out and about with my family.

This shooting did happen in Florida where citizens are not barred from being armed, but none of them in this situation were. That's their business. A lone cop or armed security guard wouldn't fare much better. My question is why would anyone think that they're going to score a ton of money from a Dunkin Donuts? Enough money to split four ways? Why would anyone want to add a murder charge to their record over what could only be a few hundred bucks at most?

It seems to me like what these guys wanted was to shoot some people.

Update: Three ganbanging thugs have been arrested in connection for the robberies, and it would seem that their intentions were not so much monetary as they were to just shoot people.

"When asked, 'Why did you shoot these innocent, innocent people?' his comment was he just wanted to up his body count," said Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti.

"His statement to us was that he has no soul, and he said, 'I've had no soul since 5 years old, and I'll give you an example. I could kill you right now and it wouldn't mean anything to me,'" said Sgt. Neal Glassman of BSO.

Must have had it rough as a kid.