Quote of the defeating North Korea

Saw this at HotAir, and it was too good to keep to myself...

A response to a comment about the upcoming Red Dawn remake modified to make the aggressors North Korea instead of the original antagonist, China.

assuming the Norks could get here, they’d be invading grocery stores and fast food joints.

Yep. We could throw up a defensive line of mobile KFC outlets and set off open barbeque pits upwind of their rear areas.

crosspatch on August 10, 2012 at 7:14 PM

Aww, that's just... Gee...

My Rifle MK3 - Free America

The latest version of My Rifle after some Free America modifications.

Click any for large size.



As you can see, we've got a normal capacity magazine with 30 rounds of GET OFF MY LAWN ready to go.


Don't tell Dianne Feinstein, but this button will drop the mag without a bullet or other tool to release it! All I need is the finger I was born with! It's anarchy out here! Cats living with dogs! Mags dropping all over the place!


The Lumaforce Tac-5 is mounted and set for 230 lumens of disco fever. I always liked my support hand forward (which is part of the reason for the dissipator conversion), so the on/off is right at the tip of my thumb ready to light up my target, and backlight my sights (No red dot or night sights yet).

My M1A is not My Rifle just yet, but once I get more 308 ammo, it will certainly be shooting for the slot.

The sling is a Butler Creek hunting sling that functions moderately as a shooting sling, but it's mainly built for comfort. The neoprene padding and easy adjust make it very comfortable to carry on long hikes into mountain lion and "rural horticulture" territory.


It got a rattlecan paint job partly for hunting and partly because I like the color. The flat black was ok, but I really dig the contrast created by the lighter stock. I learned from my G22, and took my time with the Krylon, which has only had minor chipping, which is surprising given the places I carried it through.

Zipped through Molon Labe again

After loaning out Molon Labe to a friend, he kept talking to me about it, and kindling my interest in rereading it.

By the time I got it back, I was chomping at the bit, and finished it in a couple days.

The second read through was not earth-shattering, but it certainly raised a few points I had forgotten. I may not be able to target shoot much right now, but I should at least be dry firing at simulated targets to practice my form, focus, and follow through. I've been meaning to start a Don't Break the Chain for the skills I want to cultivate, and riflecraft is definitely one of those skills.

I noticed that I enjoyed the supplementary information more this time around. It seems that my first read through of a book is mostly for plot, and the second is more detailed and enjoyable, which is not my intention. Maybe I need to pull out some of my once-read favorites, and give them a twice-over.

Open carry is the way forward.

I've been aware of the open carry debate for some time, and even did some serious thinking on the topic four years and one state ago, but now that I'm open carrying, and thinking more about it, I've had a change of heart.

It's obvious to me that Open Carry is the best way for us to advance our gun rights.

The gun rights supporters who fight open carry have a few arguments I'd like to go over.

It's not socially normal!

Well, duh. That's the problem. If you are afraid to carry your gun openly, where legal to do so, you're acknowledging that the carrying of firearms by private citizens is still taboo in your community. If we keep acting like carrying a gun is something we need to hide, people will continue demanding we hide it. Is that acceptable to you? Or would you rather that change?

Soccer moms will clutch their pearls!

I didn't realize we lived in Europe, where someone being offended is a legitimate argument to stop you from exercising your rights. Someone will always be offended, and the great thing about America, is that it's ok to be offended, and to offend. When someone says that you carrying a gun makes them scared, you smile politely, and say, "Have a nice day, Ma'am." and walk away. I can't even believe this is a common argument.

All those casually anti-gun people are walking around, right now, thinking that a small police force is all that prevents the barbarians from overrunning the city. They don't know, or choose not to believe that regular citizens are contributing to the security they enjoy by carrying firearms around them all the time. Don't allow them to reject reality. Show them the truth, and make them come to terms with it. It's not your job to participate in their fantasy.

Also remember that you might be surprised by the lack of response. This guy open carried (when legal) all over the place in Southern California. Are you going to tell me some Kommiefornian was exercising rights you are afraid to? What's the matter, McFly? Chick-fil-a?

The cops will hassle you!

I didn't realize that making a law man uncomfortable was a reason to not exercise your rights. If open carry is a legal activity, wouldn't that make harassment for doing so illegal? America is a nation of laws. If the cops don't like 'em, they can fight to change 'em. Until then, we have this right, and you know what they say about a right unexercised.

There are practical concerns which might prevent you from standing up for your rights, we all have important things to do, so refusing a vehicle search and waiting an hour for the drug dogs to arrive when you're on your way to the airport to fly out on vacation might be beyond your level of tolerance. But don't let this convince you that everything you do is more important than exercising your rights.

This argument has some validity in states where open carry is flatly illegal, but there are many more areas where the right to open carry has not been explicitly confirmed, or it's allowed by exclusion, or it has conflicting ordinances. It is your responsibility to determine how legal open carrying is in your area, but if you look around, I bet you'll find people are already doing it. Yes, even if it's the guy who open carries an AK and a Ron Paul sign in the middle of downtown. If he gets arrested, and charged, and the charges stick, you've got your answer. But in most cases open carriers who know the laws rarely get hooked up. Just hassled.

Videos like this are all over youtube, waiting to be watched. If you do watch them, try not to be alarmed by the thrill you may experience when the tiny little citizen says "No." to the big scary law man, and then the big scary law man gets all Ezekiel 25:17 on him, and the little citizen, threatened with the wrath of an angry demigod, simply repeats "No." That's the thrill of freedom.

So, when a cop tells you he's going to arrest you if you don't hide your gun, tell him you'd like to speak to his supervisor, that you are carrying where it is legal to do so, that your lawyer has confirmed this, and that you'll file harassment charges against him faster than the DA can reject the case. Like Claire Wolfe says; Intimidate back.

Finally, keep in mind that there are varying degrees of "harassment" that you can choose to accept based on your comfort level. Some police will do everything within their power to stop you from doing what you're doing. Some will ask for (not demand) your ID so they can run you like a criminal to make sure you're not a felon. Some will just ask for a name they can put in their report. It's up to you to choose what level of "harassment" you're willing to put up with. Just know that many encounters may be diffused with a little voluntary compliance.

You're just an attention whore!

You're damn right I am, and you should be too!

It's about time private citizens carrying guns got some attention outside of the usual "On the lighter side of the news: Granny's got a gun!" news story. You know the ones I'm talking about. Where the anchor cheerfully relates how a man broke into her house to rape and murder her, and he got "mooooore than he bargained for!" as "Janie's got a gun" plays in the background. If they're lucky, there's even a surveillance video they can play cartoon sounds over as the rapist falls all over himself fleeing for his life. No matter public opinion, the media is STILL closed to the idea of private citizens carrying.

For all the progress we've made, "Man stops robbery with gun" still isn't news, nor is "Rapist runs after woman draws gun." We can't trust the media to spread the truth about carrying a firearm, so it's up to us to take it to every town and city we can, to reach everyone we pass the same way we reach individuals we take to the range one at a time. It's obviously not as complete a transformation, but we can make it up in volume, because the casual anti-gun population have not challenged their premises. They exist in their little bubble where everyone agrees guns are bad, so no one even feels the need to explore it. Pop their bubble. Let them see a regular person carrying a gun in a regular situation, and let them see that this person was polite, pleasant, and didn't start shooting when they bumped carts at the grocery store.

You'll make my fight harder!

"Right now, we're tip-toeing by the casually anti-gun population, and we've been making progress! If you Wookie Suiters jump in front of them and yell 'SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!!11' then public reaction will snap back, and we'll be worse off!

That argument might have been valid before the Aurora shooting lacked public backlash on guns entirely. We've tipped the scale to 51%, and people are starting to realize that guns are just tools and they can be used for good or bad. The grey ponytails are always going to hate you for carrying a gun, concealed or not. The "respect mah authoritah" cops will always hate you for carrying their power symbol, concealed or not. Hiding your gun from them so you don't feel hassled is wrong. You won't be able to change their minds. But revealing your gun can have a positive impact on casual anti-gunners.

The idea of open carrying to a theater in Colorado right after the Aurora shooting would have been rejected by most in the gun community as tactless, dangerous, and damaging but I think it's exactly what should have happened.

Then, when some people freak out and overreact, it can make the news, and casual anti-gunners can look at the story and astonish themselves by thinking, "But he wasn't going to shoot anyone." This is how minds are changed. We need to direct this emotion for us, instead of waiting for it to turn against us.

Open carry is tactically unsound!

This is a completely valid opinion one can have in ones decision to open carry or not. However, your opinion is just that. I can certainly agree that there are tactical concerns in revealing you have a gun rather than keeping it secret, but the goal I'm trying to outline here is a society where open carry is the norm.

The idea of cities, counties, or entire states where the population is empowered to open carry, and does so, has significant tactical advantages over what we have now. Which is, an average of less than 2% of the the population with carry permits, and only a fraction of them actively carrying, and those who do choosing to hide their guns.

If you don't care about gun rights, and only care about being able to carry to protect you, and yours, continue carrying concealed. It's totally pragmatic, and no one can blame you for making your choice. But know that you are standing stationary in the political arena, and hoping the winds never blow you backwards. Shouldn't you advance instead of fighting to maintain the status quo?

The end of the fight.

I have a vision for gun rights in America that you very likely share. The only difference is that we disagree on how to get there. We've been moving the ball forward, one yard at a time, for decades now, and much is owed to this strategy. But the balances have tipped, and we've got a whole new generation who is open to the idea that private ownership of guns has value in a civilized society. We need to take this momentum and direct it to where we can make the most progress. If we don't take this opportunity to show everyone, not just those who choose to listen, but EVERYONE, that private citizens with guns are doing their part every day, we could lock this up for generations to come.

I hope that we haven't been on the defensive for so long, fighting tooth and nail for meager gains so often, that we've become afraid to floor it when we see a path to the finish line.

Gun myths that make me GROAN

Despite the fact that most of us have the collected knowledge of the world literally in our pockets, there are many myths which refuse to die.

While myths about getting red wine out of your carpet or the best way to repel insects may exist, myths about how to effectively defend your life must not. Yet nary a youtube video, forum post, or blog lacks a comment espousing the same tired, completely disproved old wives' tales.

So why am I adding fuel to an already tremendous bonfire while the people I want to reach are obviously too busy staring at the sun? I really don't know. I suppose I just need to vent.

Lets start with the list, then explain them afterward.

Knockdown Power: If I shoot someone with my .45/12 Gauge/30-06/.50 BMG/20mm, he's going to vanish into the horizon, likely enter low Earth orbit, and suffocate in the low oxygen environment. ONE SHOT STOP!

Pain Power: If I shoot someone with rock salt or bird shot, he'll say, "OUCH! I stood my ground after you pointed that shotgun at me because I didn't think it would hurt, but clearly, I was wrong. Good day, Sir. I bid you adeu."

Pistol Power: Handguns are more than enough to stop someone, why would I need a giant shotgun? What is this, world war two?

.45 Magic Bullet: The .45 ACP: Because shooting someone twice is silly.

Shotgun Spread: I call my 12 gauge "The Hallway Cleaner" because all I need to do is hold it out my bedroom door, and pull the trigger, and everything will be swept away by the wall of lead.


Knockdown Power
Perpetuated by: The ammunition industry, movies.
The Facts: There are two simple reasons why this is very wrong. The first is called inertia, which is a brand new theory you might not have heard of since it was asserted in 1687, and has stubbornly persisted for 325 years. Somehow every child with a grade-school education knows this, but I guess you don't need a grade-school education to post comments on youtube.

Inertia says that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is great because you already know this when you feel recoil. The force that shoots your projectile forward is the EXACT SAME as the force that pushes you back. So why don't you fly backwards at 2200 feet per second? It's because you're bigger than your projectile! The force on a massive object, like a human body, translates to less motion than it does on a less massive object. If you wanted to knock someone back, you could fire a 1.3 million grain projectile at them, but if you did that, you would be knocked back at the same velocity as your projectile. PHYSICS!

The second reason this doesn't work is because projectiles don't transfer their energy perfectly into soft targets. If you hit a baseball with a bat, it will fly through the air with the energy the bat transferred to it. If you hit a gallon jug of milk with a bat, the jug will crumple, pop, and likely spray milk everywhere. Similarly, if you jab a needle at a block of wood, the wood will move. But if you jab it at an apple, the needle will sink into the apple.

The projectile is doing more than transferring energy into your target, it's puncturing into your target, and having complex interactions with the matter within your target. Ignorant people sometimes counter this by arguing that if the target has a bullet resistant vest on, the energy will transfer perfectly into push-back force, and ergo-ipsum-phalus knock your armored attacker over. Again, wrong. See the first reason; the shooter of the projectile IS getting the energy transferred perfectly into his body, and the shooter is not being knocked backwards.

Pain Power
Perpetuated by: Gran'pappies.
The Facts: Rock salt in the chest hurts. Birdshot in the stomach hurts. But hurting does not mean stopping. This "recommendation" usually comes with the footnote that the first shot is the pain shot, and the next is the grown-up self-defense load, offering the explanation, "If the that first shot doesn't stop him, the second and third will." Which seems to be an admission that the first shot is a kind of warning shot that stupidly carries the message, "Yeah, I shot you with a shotgun, but if you don't stop, I'll shoot you for REAL this time!"

PCP is a drug, but so is adrenaline. Expecting your attacker to feel pain is not a solid bet. Arguing, "Well, I'd certainly stop!" is even worse. Meth is turning people all over America into zombies with no regard for their personal safety, who would stab you with a steak knife for the fiver in your wallet. I don't want to hear that criminals used to be civilized, respectful, and know well enough to back down once they get an ouchie. I want you to deal with the reality of the threats that exist, and defend yourself like you mean it.

Pistol Power
Perpetuated by: Movies, teevee.
The Facts: All handguns suck. A pistol is a tool of convenience. It is small, light, easy to carry, and available when you need it. It is a very useful tool, but its strengths are also its weaknesses. Pistols are hard to shoot, they have small capacity, they shoot small bullets, and they deliver much less power to the target.

The inflated perception of pistols usually comes from our heroes in the movies and on teevee. Where pistols serve the dual purpose of eliminating minor bad guys in one shot, while merely wounding major bad guys long enough for a satisfying quip before death. The other reason handguns are so prevalent is that actors like it when people see their faces, and that's hard to do with a proper cheek weld on an AR-15. So everyone important almost always uses a pistol, except when things get serious and someone has to pull out the big guns. But even then, they're usually fired from the hip for the same reason above.

.45 Magic Bullet
Perpetuated by: Internet Commandos.
The Facts: Modern pistol ammunition can expand to double its size, making the difference between 9mm and .45 ACP negligible. While the expanded .45 will still be larger than the expanded 9mm, the fact above remains. All handguns suck. What doesn't suck is scoring hits on vitals that damage tissue, leading to blood loss. You can do that with a .45 and you can do that with a .25. Bigger holes do mean more damage, but there is absolutely ZERO guarantee of the much bandied "One shot stop."

If you're defending your life with a handgun, the thought that you need only shoot once is simply dangerous. You must practice rapid fire with your self defense handguns.

Shotgun Spread
Perpetuated by: Movies, video games.
The Facts: An 18" barreled, full bore 12 gauge shotgun fired at indoor ranges can expect to have the pattern of shot covered by a tea cup. Walk to the end of your hallway, or wall opposite your bed, and count all the areas a tea cup can cover that don't include you.

Don't take my word on this, take your home defense shotgun to the range, and put your double-aught buck on paper at the ranges you find in your home. Your "scattergun" does not fire a city bus down your hallway or across your bedroom. You must aim it in order to hit your target.

Ok, Mister Mythbuster, what DOES work?
I'm sorry to be disappointingly obvious, but: Rapid delivery of trauma to vital organs precipitating a sudden drop in blood pressure, and loss of consciousness.

That's it. That will stop any human being, any time.

To accomplish this, you need the following things.

1. Shot penetration to reach vitals.
2. Ammunition that will damage vitals.
3. Ability to hit vital areas.

Gosh, that's boring! Who wants to argue on the internet about that?

Shot penetration to reach vitals
When we are cut, we do bleed, but we don't bleed anywhere near as much as if someone cut our spleen. We want to damage vital organs to have the fastest impact, and we can't do that with birdshot. Generally, 12 inches of penetration into ballistic gelatin is the minimum, and allows for heavy jackets, rib cages, and other real world variables.

Ammunition that will damage vitals
A full metal jacket .22 will do less tissue damage than a .45 mushroomed open with spinning copper petals as sharp as razors. A low velocity .223 FMJ will make a neat hole, while a high velocity .223 soft point will tumble and break into many pieces which will scatter into a target's vitals. The impact your bullet has on the target is generally called the wound channel, and there are different ways to achieve a large one. Heavy, high velocity rounds made to stay together generally rely on hydrostatic shock, while smaller, low velocity rounds try to make the projectile deform into a more damaging shape as it passes through the body. Make sure that the ammunition you're shooting is designed to maximize tissue damage, and functions as designed in your firearm. Hollow-point bullets that expand completely out of a 6" Magnum may act like full metal jackets out of a 2.5" snub nose revolver.

Ability to hit vital areas.
This is simply skill with your firearm, and frankly, is probably the most important. A hit with a .22 is better than a miss with a .45. Firearms skill is an interesting thing. Some people just shoot revolvers better than automatics. They can certainly practice more, but if they don't feel comfortable getting hits on vital areas with a gun, they shouldn't rely on it. Ammo is much cheaper than a funeral. Practice on human-sized targets until you can reliably hit vital areas. Keep in mind that long guns are simply easier to shoot, so you can save money practicing with something that doesn't take as long to learn.


See? Was that so hard? I hope everyone I was talking to can take a few minutes out of their busy day of posting comments that start with, "Well, I don't know anything about any fancy physics, but I always figured..." to read some actual truth.

Quote of the disinclination

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
~Douglas Adams

I see your seatbelt laws...

... and raise you a seatbelt shirt.

One of the things that surprised me about driving across America was the seatbelt laws. In fact, it was the first sign I saw after crossing the border into Free America (Arizona). Driving though Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, I expected some or most not to have seatbelt laws. Every single one did.

According to the Governors Highway Safety Organization, 32 states have "primary" seatbelt laws, which affect everyone in a vehicle. While 17 have "secondary" seatbelt laws, which have minor limitations. Only New Hampshire has no seatbelt laws.

Contrast this to the motorcycle helmet law stats from the same site, where 19 states (including TN!) have a universal helmet law. The rest, save three, have age limitations which usually expire at 18 or 21. Some even depend on your insurance coverage, which is humorous. The three with no helmet laws are Illinois (!), Iowa and New Hampshire. A careful observer may note that NH broke down and made a helmet law for bicyclists under 16! I'm sure every month someone shows up at a city council meeting and yells, "IT'S LIKE KING GEORGE TAKING A DUMP ON MY COUCH!"

Either way you slice this, seatbelt laws fall well within the category of "For your own good!" laws. I don't remember a rash of people killed by being struck with a human body flying through a windshield. I suppose we could check with New Hampshire to be certain. The only person in danger when you don't wear a seatbelt is you. It's dangerous and foolish to do, but I don't have a problem with someone making that decision for themselves.

I expected that beyond the wire surrounding our aspiring socialist states, these laws wouldn't exist. But they do. Even in the states that pop to mind whenever someone says, "freedom."

Of all the states in the union, I guessed Texas as most likely to have no seatbelt law, as they've declined federal highway funding in order to cut the strings that come attached to that money. It was a surprise to learn that "Don't mess with Texas" wasn't a warning to oppressors to leave them alone, but a warning that the state is set in its ways and may fine you $10,000 for littering. To me, there isn't much difference between oppressively restrictive and oppressively polite.

Many states, like Texas, are becoming more economically free, and showing great gains even in this economy. But increased economic freedom is practically beneficial to the state as it draws more money in taxes. Other countries such as Ireland are discovering the benefits to free market capitalism as well, but this is still only economic freedom, and it still is in the best interest of the state.

Economic freedom is not personal freedom.

If Hitler discovered that free market capitalism made the Fatherland flush with capital, it would only have empowered his oppression and aggression. It's hard to cheer the financial success of a state that doesn't value personal freedoms.

Seatbelt laws seems to be a bit of an odd duck. Over the past few decades, more personal freedoms have returned to the people in many states, yet seat belt laws remain. It's possible that these laws remain only for the increased highway funding, and they aren't enforced as a primary offense, but I haven't been able to confirm that outside of anecdotal evidence.

"Why we lined up at Chick-fil-a"

National Review: Why We Lined Up at Chick-fil-A

Lee Habeeb, VP of content at Salem Radio Network, has an excellent article which says all the things I've been trying to turn into ones and zeroes.

I went to Chick-fil-a on appreciation day even though I support gay marriage, because my gut said it was the right thing to do. Afterwards, I read many articles on the topic to see why people went or stayed home, trying to find hints to how and why I felt the need to go, because I wasn't completely sure of my motivations.

I was very happy to find this article which Lee apparently wrote for me :). It says all the things I wanted to say perfectly, and thinking about it helped me solidify other thoughts.

I don't like it when people tell me to boycott something, and I like it even less when I'm attacked for refusing to participate. I don't like tearing down, I like building up. Show me a buy-cott I can support, and I'll show you my wallet. But when self-righteous groups and politicians try to stop me from doing something, I feel a sudden drive to do the opposite. I'm just an onery libertarian like that.

It is a shame that the LGBT community's boycott was overshadowed by politicians trying to score points through constitutionally repugnant threats, but that's the way it turned out. If it's any consolation, they felt the burn, and will think twice in the future.

I am a big believer in voting with your dollars. I think it's every citizen's right to support or not support companies with their hard-earned cash. But there are many corporations, non-profits, comedians, actors, production companies, video game publishers, religions, orangutangs, and breakfast cereals that I patronize who don't match my beliefs.

It would be impossible to only give money to people who match your beliefs 100%, so we all have our personal thresholds.

Chick-fil-a, and countless other Christian groups, do great work for the poor. They donate their time and money to great causes that I agree with. To me, their positive impact on America and the world is not negated by the fact that they don't agree with me on gay marriage.

Churchill said, "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." I know there are homosexuals out there to whom gay marriage isn't the sole deciding issue in their politics. If Osama Bin Laden wanted to destroy America, subjugate women, and rule in an oppressive theocracy, but was totally on board with the whole gay marriage thing, I wouldn't expect the LGBT organizations to support him. (Though I can't help but wonder in the world of politics.) There are degrees of value that must be measured to maintain some level of intellectual honesty.

The day may come when Chick-fil-a's values do more harm than good in my estimation, but that day was not August 1st.

Evaluate the breadth of contributions and damages before you decide your personal threshold of support. We're not simpletons who can only formulate blanket yea or nay positions based on one minor subject.

Yes, "minor subject."

Whether or not a bureaucrat in your state capital stamps a form with a certain word on it that confirms your deep love and personal commitment to your soul mate IS a minor subject in the grand scheme of things. Deep love and personal commitment don't come from a form.

Somebody buy that man a rifle

Guns.com: Gun Owner Saves Cop's Life by Shooting Deranged Gunman! (VIDEO)

Citizen helps cop pinned in gunfight by making 165 yard shot on the gunman with his pistol.

H/T Uncle

Encounter Defusal

At the last Collexion I started talking firearms with a visitor from another Hackerspace. This particular gathering had a Ruby meeting in it that was showing a loud presentation, and it was still pretty hot in the building, so we stepped outside to continue talking without disturbing anyone.

This hackerspace (like most), is run on a shoestring budget, which means low rent in not-so-great neighborhoods, so I was happy to be open carrying while we talked.

While we chatted there were many people walking to and fro on the sidewalk, but two saw us and approached. I was leaning against the corner of the building with my fellow hacker standing opposite me, they approached on my 9 o'clock, and I didn't turn my body toward them, not feeling the need to reveal I was carrying.

One white female, blonde and short, holding wires and a cell phone, who appeared to be in the early stages of tweaker-dom. One black male, tall with a Gilligan hat, who seemed to exude "dazed and confused." He wasn't particularly threatening in any way.

She got within 15 feet and both pleadingly and disjointedly explained that she was stuck across town, and her cell phone was dead, and she needed to charge it, but she only had a car charger, so if we have cars, could she charge her battery in one of them?

While the story had WTF written all over it, her body language and the situation reeked of JDFR long before the story began.

She looked pleadingly at my friend, who parried. "Sorry, I took the bus." He didn't. Then she looked at me, and seemed to notice her story had not penetrated, but still waited for an answer. "We're not interested."

This was the important part, I showed her that I did not trust her, and it was up to her to decide how this was going to end. She could either shrug her shoulders and walk away sullenly, which would probably precipitate me second guessing myself and feeling bad for a bit, or she could get indignant and get aggressive. She chose to get aggressive, but fortunately, did so while retreating.

At first she seemed confused, then as she started walking away, she started to yell at me for being so rude and refusing to help her poor stranded self. Her friend ambled along as she got further away and louder and angrier, yelling how God was going to strike my ugly ass down, and she wasn't going to be sad when I was struck down. Just before she disappeared behind another building she seemed to run out of things to say, but kept glaring at me. I took advantage of the lull to tell her to have a nice day.

After thinking about this, I realized that if she had chosen to advance toward me, I would have had to face her, back up, yell at her to back off, and put my hand on my gun. This was a sobering thought after the situation had already defused in an amusing way. It's a pretty crappy option to consider, but the only one crappier is doing the same with the only place to put your hand being your swinging cod.

Read more about my experiences open carrying here!

Open carry roundup

The bank (drive through atm :p), gun shop (it had a sign asking for unloaded carry), a business meeting, Michaels crafts store, Chick-fil-a, Colexion, Harbor Freight, Womens' health clinic, Subway, Cici's Pizza, and Rite-aid.

The gun shop was a fine place with an older proprietor to match the older guns they stocked. I unloaded and dropped the full mag in my other pocket in the foyer (though I didn't like touching my gun), and had a fine time talking old guns with them without any mention of my unloaded handgun. I think I might forget next time and see if they really mind.

The business meeting was with an owner of a gun shop, so I didn't think he would mind, and he didn't.

The Chick-fil-a was an exercise in attention, because it was shoulder to shoulder in the line, and I kept turning to see the people behind me. Had a short chat with the manager about how busy they were for the appreciation day.

Colexion was just fine, though I was a little worried that I didn't know them all very well yet, and hackers are notoriously socialist. One in particular was visiting from Louisville (I mean, "luhvull"), and he was a recently converted gunnie, so he was pretty interested to talk guns (Say hey, if you're reading this!). When he mentioned his quick conversion I was worried, because quick conversions usually involve a blindside with the reality bat, but he was starting to question the premises of his casual anti-gun-ness, and realized he didn't know enough about the topic to form an honest opinion. Of course, after he informed himself, he saw the pro-gun side made more sense. An interesting thing happened while we were talking, but that'll be another post.

Harbor Freight was great because I got a compliment on my firearm, and another when I whipped out my pen to sign before he could hand me one. "I like my customers prepared." Obviously, I like being prepared.

I was a little worried about the appointment my wife had at the Womans' Health Clinic, because it would have been extremely easy for them to argue "some might be put off by a firearm" but the only person who said something was the technician who asked me what kind of gun I had. "What have you got there?" "It's a Springfield XD in 9mm." "Oh. Is that like government issue?" "No, I'm just a private citizen choosing to carry." "That's great. I need to get one soon. I'm worried they'll take 'em away." Nice.

When we went to Rite-aid, I was with my friend who was also open carrying, following my wife who was looking for some gum. We both came in following her, talking about guns or video games or some other topic, but I half-noticed someone eyeing us. I paid him no mind (act like it's normal, and other people will too), and didn't see him again until we checked out, and I realized he was a security guard who didn't seem to mind us very much at all. Getting caught up in the conversation we were having, we wound up loitering outside the Rite-aid at around 10pm talking about guns. From the time we walked in the door, we had probably been there for 15 minutes, when a cop pulled up on the opposite side of the parking lot to my 3 o'clock. My friend broke the conversation to say, "He's probably here for us." I shrugged, and stumbled a couple times trying to resume conversation while preparing myself mentally for the encounter. I kept my right arm clear of my firearm so he could easily see it, and feel compelled to note that I was wearing light colors with a big black Galco leather holster. Unfortunately, by the time I hit my conversation stride I was continuing the conversation about the choice between a shotgun or a sub-machine gun as the cop strode, head down, around the other side of the pillar I was leaning against, and entered the Rite-aid. I smiled at my friend, "Have faith." My wife added, "It may not help that we're basically loitering here." We wondered if he might have entered because he thought we were still in there, but he would have done so differently if he was there for us. Regardless, I didn't want to make the Rite-aid guys feel uncomfortable, and we walked back to our cars to talk more.

I don't know if I'm paying more attention or if I'm just noticing it more, but I can see people glancing at my gun. My earlier question of "Did anyone even notice?" seems to have an answer. They can see it, they just don't seem to mind. That's just fine with me.

Read more about my experiences open carrying here!

Quote of the dangly bits

Attempts to gather some soup-to-nuts beginner grilling information fell flat, since I was apparently supposed to be born with the natural ability to grill meat on fire as soon as my androgynous zygote checked the box for dangly bits.
~Me

I love going through the archives.

These colors don't run.

Not even on the moon.

They'll steal the fillings from your teeth...

...And the grates from your streets.

The Blaze: Thieves Steal 15 Metal Storm Grates in Calif. City

Looters don't care what it is. If it isn't bolted down, they'll take it and try to sell it, because they think they deserve it.

This kind of thing will only get worse in California.

Balls

These women have them.

How do you stop flashmob theft?

The Blaze: Mob of Teens Reportedly Steals $3,000 Worth of ‘Nudie’ Jeans From Chicago Store

What I found interesting about this story was that the store owner knew something was happening when he saw the flashmob enter.

He locked the doors to stop the flow of thieves, but this is obviously not the right course of action, as locking someone in a place and preventing them from leaving is a form of kidnapping.

Only thing I can think is you hop on a counter and yell, "This store is now closed! You are all trespassing, leave now, or [insert appropriate threat for your locale here]."

Sadly, being in Chicago, the appropriate threat for that locale is, "I'll stamp my feet and gnash my teeth." Perhaps he could have yelled "Fire!" or something equally distressing, but there's probably a law against distressing thieves in Chicago.

Were this free America, he could hop on the counter with an empty shotgun, announce the store closure, and start corralling them out the door by walking through the aisles from back to front racking the empty shotgun (pointed at the ceiling, of course).

Seeing as the mob is borne of groupthink, maybe there's a trick to dispelling them. Perhaps whispering, "The guy's got a gun! Get out! Pass it on!" would cause the little lemmings to do as you say. Or the opposite route, walk around with handcuffs and single out each one, saying, "I don't care if I can't catch you all, I'm going to arrest YOU!"

If he knew they were going for those jeans in particular, he could have ran to the display, grabbed them all in bundles, and started tossing them behind the counter. Don't let the mob hide behind, "I was just wandering around looking at clothes, I wasn't providing cover for anyone stealing."

Either way, you need to do something that upsets their plan. You need to stop reacting, and do something to cause them to reevaluate their plan. Get inside their OODA loop. He did do something to disrupt their plan, but he didn't announce it to them to make them know their previous plan wasn't going to work. Because they're all groupthinkers, they wouldn't have the ability to adjust their plan without consulting twitter or whatever planning group they used, and would likely abort immediately.

Thinking about police crowd control, there should be a way to scare them with the threat of pain without actually delivering it. Maybe shouting that they're all trespassing, and saying you'll pepper spray anyone who is in the store in 5 seconds, then running around with a can of Fabreze painted black, spraying near people. I don't suppose you need a cloud of spray, maybe just the spraying sound will work. Just something to break the mob mentality. Paintball guns are a little much, and would leave evidence to clean up, but sweeping their feet with a scary looking airsoft gun would give them a visual indicator, an audible indicator (they probably don't know what a gun really sounds like, or have a fake suppressor on it), and give them impact on their legs (or would whizzing over their head be better?). If we want to get more overt, but definitely more effective, load some homemade blanks into a Big Scary Revolver™, don your hearing protection, and start shooting it into the air. Bet they scatter like cockroaches, and you have no BBs to sweep up, leaving no evidence of your method of crowd dispersal aside from the smell of cordite (Fabreze saves the day again!), though you might have to clean up some urine.

PS: You might have to lose the surveillance tape after some of these ideas.

Aurora shooting taxpayer funded?

It sure wouldn't be the first mass shooting funded by the feds, but it might be the first executed by a private citizen!



CBS News: James Holmes received thousands from grad-school grants ahead of deadly Aurora shooting

James Holmes was the recipient of a $21,600 grant from the National Institutes of Health, a research agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to agency records. The grant lasted from July 2011 through June. Holmes also received a $5,000 stipend from the University of Colorado-Denver, where he was a first-year Ph.D. student in its neuroscience program.

Again, everything points to him being a model student with a bright future, which makes this even more disturbing.

Previously, CBS News reported that Holmes spent $15,000 to stockpile a massive arsenal, which included bullets and ballistic gear bought online and four guns from brick-and-mortar stores...

I was honestly curious how he afforded all the kit he had. All that stuff is far from impossible to buy, but it would certainly be quite difficult to buy on a student's finances. Having a glut of money offered him the opportunity to do something he might have otherwise dismissed as monetarily impossible, though there are still many gaps in his reasoning.

I can't help but wonder at the fact that this money is simply given to him with no or few strings attached. I kept reading the article expecting to find that the money couldn't have been spent in gun shops because there would have been a claims process that required approval or something, but it appears they just handed him cash money to spend on whatever he chose.

Foodstamps may only be spent on approved items, yet we see them being misused constantly. Are there checks in place that were circumvented, or were there no checks at all?

"This was his only known income, so this brings up -- you know, in the most unintended consequence possible -- what you have here is the specter of a federally funded shooting because this appears to be the money he had access to during the time he was planning this," senior correspondent John Miller, a former FBI assistant director, said.

Because I'm not a liberal, I'm not calling for a new Bureau of How People Spend Federal Grant Money, but because I'm not full retard I will ask why the hell this isn't something that we already do. The idea of simply handing students tens of thousands of dollars to spend however they wish seems about as smart giving congress tens of billions of dollars to spend however they wish.

Adding auditors to federal programs is like shining sunlight on a vampire.

Luckily, simple, common sense, "wtf we're not doing this already?!" ideas like auditing grants rings very true with we the people. People on both sides of the aisle want to make sure their tax dollars aren't being spent on either guns, knives, and tactical carbine classes or past life regressions, yoga classes, and free trade gluten free cruelty free soy free ipad cases.

This is a prime opportunity to call for some sunlight to be shined on these grants.

Open carried to walmart

On a busy Saturday afternoon to the super walmart inside Lexington, not a small nearby town.

I got one second glance from a nice old lady who smiled at me. That is all.

This was pretty much the final test of public reaction. It's pretty obvious that almost no one cares, which means I'll open carry without apprehension wherever legal for two reasons: firstly, because I can't legally apply for a concealed carry permit until I've lived here for 6 months; and secondly, because I'd love to make it socially normal.

Because of the second reason, I imagine I will still open carry at times after I get my permit. I haven't seen anyone else open carrying who wasn't working at a gun shop, and I think that's a shame.

If we always do what we've always done, we'll always get what we've always got.

Read more about my experiences open carrying here!

Books, Games, and Knives

I've been re-reading Atlas Shrugged, and have been enjoying it much more this time. Now that I know what's going to happen, I can actually enjoy the first third of the book, instead of spend years trudging through part one 20 pages at a time whenever I feel masochistic. I'm enjoying myself so much that I regularly check the Kindle's percentage complete bar and think, "Oh boy! I'm only 21% of the way through!"

Psychonauts is a wonderful game released for PC and original xbox (original xbox games are now playable on the 360 thanks to system updates) that breaks a lot of style, artistic, and gameplay molds for video games. It's a beautifully unique game, that is a joy to play (instead of a race to the finish line), and I've yet to see anything remotely close to it. I played it a few years back, and it had been hanging on my mind for a while, so I popped it back in and tried to keep my smile from hurting my cheeks. I should note that it's exactly the same game every time, there's no open-world aspect or random events, but the characters, the story, and the locales are genuinely engaging and interesting, which is near impossible to say about any other game. If you play one game in your entire life, make it Portal. But if you play two, play Psychonauts.

If you're too lazy to play, or not much of a gamer, or more of a voyeur gamer, there's a guy on youtube who has a 41 video series of him playing the entire freakin' game.

I really want an OTF blade. There's something about it that just screams Free America. Of course, being a knife-o-phile trapped in California for 28 years helps too. I want a butterfly knife too, but that doesn't have as much allure as the OTF. I'll get one as soon as we have, you know, income. The wait will have the added bonus of my wife not stabbing me with it for opening and closing it incessantly. Maybe I should start with the balisong so the accidental strikes on my knuckles will discourage excessive flailing about. Yeah right.

Obama FINALLY talks gun control

... and it feels sooo gooood.

Mediaite Video: Obama Talks Gun Control: ‘AK-47s Belong In The Hands Of Soldiers, Not In The Hands Of Criminals’

ZOMG OBAMA WILL BAN TEH AK-47S!!!111ONE

Not so much.

Here's the gun-related quote at the end of the video (starting at 4:07). Everything before that is mealymouthed political ass covering.

I, like most Americans, believe that the second amendment guarantees an individual the right to bear arms. 'K? We recognize the traditions of gun ownership passed on from generation to generation. That hunting and shooting are part of a- a-a-a-cherished national heritage, but I also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers not in the hands of criminals, that they belong on the battlefield of war not on the streets of our cities.

I believe the majority of gun owners would agree that we should do everything possible to prevent criminals and fugitives from purchasing weapons. That we should check someone's criminal record before they can check out a gun seller. That a mentally unbalanced individual should not be able to get his hands on guns so easily. These steps shouldn't be controversial, they should be common sense. So I'm going to continue to work with members of both parties, and with religious groups, and with civic organizations to arrive at a consensus around violence reduction. Not just-- uh-- of-- gun violence but violence at every level at every step looking at everything we can do to reduce violence and keep our children safe, from improving mental health services for troubled youth, to instituting more effective community policing strategies, we should leave no stone unturned and recognize that we have no greater mission, as a country, than keeping our young people safe.

Looks pretty meaty right? Not as meaty as you'd think. Lets give this a good hard fisking.

I, like most Americans, believe that the second amendment guarantees an individual the right to bear arms.

Woo! Finally! Something we can agree on! Hold on to that feeling, because it's the only one you're going to get.

'K?

Boy, he his REALLY obvious with his verbal tics. It's like clockwork. Make him say something he doesn't believe, and he starts stuttering like a liberal trying to explain where the power for his electric car comes from.

We recognize the traditions of gun ownership passed on from generation to generation.

"See? I totally understand why you want guns! It's because you cousin humpin' rednecks had a 'pappy' who shot a 'varmit' on his farm!"

That hunting and shooting are part of a- a-a-a-cherished national heritage,

Wow. Can't even get believe that hunting and shooting are part of our heritage? Or was it the "cherished" part that threw you?

but I also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree

Off to a bad start.

that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers not in the hands of criminals,

Good qualifier! "Should guns be in the hands of A:Soldiers or B:Criminals? Please select one." Why are you trying so hard not to make a simple declarative statement? Why are you still pulling your punches? Don't tell me-- No-- It can't be-- You can't even attack guns directly RIGHT AFTER a national tragedy including guns? Boy that must eat y-y-y-you up inside. I recognize the tradition of dancing in the blood of innocents that liberals have passed on from generation to generation. Is nothing sacred anymore?

I think most of us can agree that they belong on the battlefield of war not on the streets of our cities.

WOW! Can't even say "AK-47s belong on a battlefield." At least the qualifier got a little weaker. What legal use of AK-47s would put them "on the streets of our cities?" Well, I can think of at least one. I sure would have preferred to see those Koreans protecting their stores with big, scary AK-47s with giant banana split clips (the split ones are even more deadly) instead of grandpa's duck gun.

I believe the majority of gun owners would agree that we should do everything possible to prevent criminals and fugitives from purchasing weapons.

BZZZZZ! WRONG! I don't think you can get anyone to agree to do "everything possible" to do ANYTHING. I think we can all agree that we should to everything possible to prevent cancer. Including sealing every American in a bubble, and feeding them intravenously so never have to encounter any dangerous carcinogens. I think we can all agree that we should do everything possible to stop smoking. Including shooting everyone in the head who buys a pack of smokes. I think we can all agree that we should do everything possible to save the planet. Including forced living in a pre-agriculture society in caves.

That we should check someone's criminal record before they can check out a gun seller.

So it would be illegal to look at guns if you have a criminal record? Is that like pre-crime? What about drawing guns, or imagining guns? Is that illegal too? Where does the bureau of thought police fit into all this?

That a mentally unbalanced individual should not be able to get his hands on guns so easily.

Well you're obviously not referring to the process in place that already checks for mental health issues, so perhaps you're thinking more of a psychological evaluation when purchasing a gun?
"What does this inkblot look like to you?"
"Uhh... A butterfly?"
"Did you say 'a butterfly' or 'bloodied children fleeing the scene of the mass shooting I am planning on executing with the gun I'm buying'?"
"Uh... The first one."

These steps shouldn't be controversial, they should be common sense.

No, what should be common sense is that gun control doesn't work. It doesn't even work a little bit. In fact, where stronger gun control is instigated, the murder rates increase. Gun control murders people. Argue for common sense murders instead.

So I'm going to continue to work with

Oh boy, here comes the meat an potatoes, here's his action plan, he's going to detail exactly what he'll do to resolve this horrible problem of AK-47s being on the streets instead of on the battlefield, except when in the hands of other people who are regular citizens, who can also have them, but not that they should, but they can now, not that I'm implying they can't later- but just that it's happening now as the current state of our politics. Not that I'm going to change that-- er-- but I might-- if I get consensus, which I won't. Please stop asking me about this. No further question. I am Iron Man.

members of both parties, and with religious groups, and with civic organizations

Oooo! I'll bet gun advocates are shaking in their boots now! He's going to work with members! And not just regular members, members of both parties! And then, he's gonna work with religious groups! And then after that, civic organization! Look out, guns! There's a new sheriff in town! And he's gonna do exactly what the old sheriff did. Nothing.

to arrive at a consensus around violence reduction.

WHOA! He's nailing the NRA to the wall! He won't stop short of a consensus around violence reduction! It's so great he's fighting for that consensus, because I know tons of people who are always talking about how we need more violence, and we need to reconcile those views with those who want less violence. Maybe we can meet half way at a little violence. Not a lot, just enough to, y'know, spice things up.

Not just-- uh-- of-- gun violence

No clue why you stumbled over "gun violence." Maybe you were thinking about ladder violence or mailbox voilence.

but violence at every level at every step looking at everything we can do to reduce violence and keep our children safe, from improving mental health services for troubled youth, to instituting more effective community policing strategies, we should leave no stone unturned and recognize that we have no greater mission, as a country, than keeping our young people safe.

"Blah blah blah, I can't do a damn thing to stop Americans from buying guns, because when I do, the poll numbers I obsessively check go down, and you cousin humpin' rednecks just buy more of the damn things."

abadee-abadee-abadee-that's all folks!

Absolutely toothless.

I love it.

I hope gun owners only read the headlines on this one, and then run out and by more AK-47 clones. I want Obama screaming, "I can even name guns without them buying more!" I want a reporter hold up a picture of an AK, and ask Obama what it is, and then read the frenzied headlines where Obama said, "...AK-47..." (full context on page ZZ99), and then read about the increased sales. We're not quite there yet, but we sure seem close to it.

In other news Obama is really feeling the pinch. It comes through in everything he does lately. Don't worry Barry, we don't have that shoot-you-in-the-head policy on buying a pack of smokes just yet. Just make sure you don't exhale. I hear that gives off carbon emissions.

Eye opening results from eye protection tests

Paul and Andrew at Lucky Gunner labs did some serious testing on various forms of eye protection. Nothing more complicated than a price range of eye pro (or improvised eye pro), styrofoam heads, and two guns.

If you value your vision, these tests are worth your time.

It really has me rethinking my eye protection.


Paul emailed me with the link to their testing, and I found it of significant value, which is why I posted it.

See ya, Kenny.

Kenny "Wirecutter" over at Knuckledraggin' my life away has hung up his spurs.

I have it on good authority (Sal) that blogging just was becoming a chore for him and he was busy with stuff in Meatspace.

It's a shame to see him go, though I suspect he'll be back. That kind of talent never really disappears. He was an "angry" blogger, but there was always something undefinable in his posts that kept you coming back after you left all the other "Fuck Obama" bloggers.

Hell, I had about a year of hiatus before coming back.

Benchmade fixed Griptilian sheath problem

The fixed Griptilian, being my favorite carry fixed blade, went on a few hikes and scouting trips in California. Southern California "wilderness" is pretty much 8 foot tall scrub with small game trails throughout, so hikes off trail aren't so much hikes as they are you swimming through bushes.

It seems that this was what damaged the sheath strap.



The edge of the nylon strappings has pulled out as the edge of the strap clearly ends at the edge of the sheath, instead of wrapping around to be sewn twice or being a continuous band.

I don't know of a simple way of repairing this to previous functionality, so I'll be looking for something more radical. I'd prefer not to get a new sheath made, but will certainly consider it.

This is not the quality I've expected from Benchmade.

Hooray for Google searches!

Looks like a possible armed robbery averted! With a bonus on the outclick!

Yes, my downtrodden and disaffected victim of society, robbing someone with a gun loaded or unloaded, seen or unseen, will get you an armed robbery charge. In fact, you don't even need a gun to get an armed robbery charge! You just have to say or imply you have a gun! Never thought a pointing finger in your coat pocket would get you an additional charge did you?

Now that you know that laws are, in fact, meant to put you in jail for a long time, how about not breaking them?

PS: I hope you finished that article from the Daily Kos, it has been a bewilderment to us on the right why liberals aren't interested in arming themselves. Well, not technically, I mean, we know WHY you don't arm yourselves, because that would require you to take responsibility for something other than the topping on your bagel. Feel free to continue. We're not complaining.

Who's a sad panda who got shot during armed robbery?

Elderly internet surfer shoots armed robbers.

I love these stories. Good guys, bad guys, no moral ambiguity, or perpetrator apology. It's the kind of story you can't get from Hollywood.

Two guys wearing masks busted into an internet cafe in Florida, and demanded money from the registers and patrons. "But who would rob an internet cafe?" The imaginary liberal immediately responds. The threat of someone doing something is not lessened by your confusion at their actions.

The article, which is... strange... goes into some detail and actually has some quotes from the robbers-turned-victims.

Dawkins had a superficial wound in his left arm, but Henderson was shot in two places: his left buttock and his right hip.

They're lucky they didn't get hit anywhere vital or with anything bigger or faster than a 380 mousegun.

"I feel horrible. It doesn't feel good. It makes you think about life's decisions, and how you should live your life," Henderson said in an interview with the Star-Banner at the jail on Saturday afternoon.

Wow. That's really great to hear, I'm glad he survived to have that thought, but this revelation would have better served them both BEFORE they robbed a place at gunpoint.

Hours after his release from the hospital, Henderson, who talked about the pain he feels in his buttock and hip, said the plan was to "barge in, get the money and leave." He said "he [sic] never expected anyone to be armed."

"The gun was broken and rusty and wasn't loaded. Nobody was going to get hurt," he said, standing with crutches.

Well that makes you a pretty shitty robber. First, you bring a gun, which adds years to your charges, then you pick a gun that is dangerous to use, THEN you leave it unloaded!

Congratulations, you picked all of the risk and NONE of the benefit!



I guess it should have been ok because "Nobody was going to get hurt."

Retrieving the customers' phones was what he said was their "main priority." That way, he said, the customers could not call law enforcement officials.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Can't have the people in the cafe calling the cops! That'd ruin the whole ruse, you know, the one where you show up with an unloaded gun, and you're all like, "Alright guys, so you're getting 'robbed' *wink wink* with this 'loaded gun' *nudge nudge* anyway, y'all be chill and I'll be out of your hair ASAP."

Henderson theorizes the reason why he was caught off guard is because, when Dawkins entered the business, he busted a computer monitor with the baseball bat and "glass got into his face."

"He couldn't warn me," Henderson said.

Are...? Are you going for the sympathy? I mean, I know you're not, but pointing out how circumstances didn't go in your favor during your ARMED ROBBERY is an interesting tactic. Please, do continue...

Henderson noticed two women were behind the counter and he thought that was "fishy." Turning around to see what the women were doing, Henderson said he was shot.

Yup, there he was, minding his own business, just doing a routine armed robbery when these counter ladies started acting suspicious, and then someone shot me in the back!

"I turned around to run and my leg gave out. That was when I got shot. I hit the ground, and he was still shooting. I thought I was going to die," Henderson said.

Holy crap! You thought you were going to die? That's horrible! How would you rank the fear as compared to you sitting in an internet cafe, when two guys with masks come in and point a gun in your face? More or less? Better or worse? One or two? A or B? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

Henderson said he and Dawkins drove to a house to see a woman he said "is like a second mother" to him.

Well that's great, I sounds like she's had a very positive impact on your life. I mean, some people wouldn't want to let down their mother, but you let down BOTH your mothers! Malt liquor all around!

"I couldn't breathe. I had lost so much blood. I don't know what she did, but she revived me," he said, likening the experience to coming back from the dead.

Whew! Your thrilling tale of ARMED ROBBERY had me on the edge of my seat! I sure am glad you pulled through! What an amazing experience it must have been.

Officials said Dawkins previously had worked for the cafe but had been fired.

Oh, so THAT'S why you rob an internet cafe!

Because Dawkins used to work at the cafe, Henderson said Dawkins told him there was "a lot of money there." Both of them, he said, gathered the gun and bat for the robbery attempt.

A lot of money? Honestly, how much? Enough to get dead over? Enough to risk an armed robbery charge? How much is that?

Their actions frightened the customers at the Internet cafe.

Wow. Artfully noted, Austin Miller, Staff Writer for Ocala.com. I'm glad you took time out of your busy schedule playing with blocks and coloring inside the lines to write this article. Now all the other weirdness in this article makes sense.

Lets hear from a pair of would-be-victims.

The robber with the bat smashed one of the computers, the couple said. Then the robbers ordered everybody to get down on the ground and take out their wallets and whatever valuables they had.

Whoa, I think they skipped the part where the Dawkins said, "Hey guys, this is a robbery, but don't worry, this gun isn't loaded, and we're not going to hurt anyone." Telling it like that just makes it sound like a boring regular old armed robbery.

Though Henderson said he doesn't blame Williams for shooting, he takes exception with Williams shooting at him while he was down.

"I was down, and I'm not going to continue to shoot you," he said.

Oh! Did the bad man shoot you wrong during your attempted armed robbery? Lets see what I can do about that...

There we go!



It's the world's smallest violin, playing the world's saddest tune, just for you.


THIS STORY PLEASES THE SNUBSTER

ROMNEY HITS THE TEE-BALL OUT OF THE PARK!

Romney team counters felon charge with reminder that Obama has publicly admitted to doing drugs.

That's right folks, stuffed cat just leaped onto the mouse! Or maybe the wind blew it over and it fell onto the mouse. Whatever.

The .380 gets snubbed

When I first saw the S&W Bodyguard 380, I liked it. I liked the lines, the idea of an integrated laser, the second strike ability, and I just plain liked it. At the time I resigned myself to not having one because there was little chance of S&W making a California compliant model.



Now that I'm in Kentucky though, and have access to an expanded market for firearms, I've been keeping an eye out.

I recently found someone looking to trade his Bodyguard 380 for a pocket revolver, and I had been neglecting the S&W 442, so I made the offer.



He was fielding some other offers so it took him some time to respond.



Don't look at me like that...

Did I do something wrong?

No...
Then why?
It's just that...
Am I not sexy enough? We can't all look like those polymer guns in the gun rags with doublestacked magazines!
I'm not comparing you to--
Those doublestacks aren't even real! Those fat grips are all plastic!
I know, I know, I just... It's not you, it's me.
Oh sure!
No, really, I just... My tastes have changed.
Your tastes? Like your taste for perfect reliability, 200 ft/lbs of energy, all steel construction, a firing grip inside the pocket, those are all gone?
Well, no, it's just that autos have more capacity and more firepower. They're much more reliable now.
HA! You can only call them reliable because you have a standard to compare them against. I AM that standard!
*sigh*
It wouldn't be half as bad if it wasn't for a first generation release of a 380 auto! AND with a laser that doesn't even turn on from the grip? I'm embarrassed for you. At least have some taste and leave me for a P238.
What? 380s have been out for a long time and are pretty darn reliable!
Well I'm glad "pretty darn reliable" is good enough for the gun you carry to protect your life and the lives of your loved ones.
I can have 7 rounds in the gun and two more mags for 19 rounds available AND have a quick reload!
Oh! I thought you were looking for a pocket gun, not a G26 with a 33 round magazine in it! How many shots are usually fired to end a potentially violent confrontation again? I really can't remember, how much was it?
... Zero.
OH YEAH! ZERO! Well it's ok, you can still enjoy your 19 round tacticool go-to-war mall ninja mousegun. And with all the extra rounds, you don't have to worry as much about missing! Just think suppressive fire.
That's not fair. I already carry because I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
Exactly, and when you absolutely need it, you absolutely need it to put hits on a target's vitals and precipitate loss of consciousness to stop further aggression.
Exactly.
So what good is it if it doesn't shoot?
How many times do I have to say it? They are very reliable.
I'm the standard.
*sigh*
Well, I suppose it's good you'll have extra rounds then, because you'll have to make up those extra foot pounds somehow.
Look, I get it, you're powerful, you're reliable, you're small, but the 380 is smaller.
I didn't realize I was too fat for your pocket. I guess with that 380 you can drop your keys in there, and your change, and your--
Ok, I know, I'm not going to put lots of stuff in that pocket.
But what will you do with all that extra pocket space? Maybe you can cram another 380 in there for a New York reload in case of a jam! Or shoot 'em both at once John Woo style! Or maybe... Just maybe... you can carry a gun that's a little bigger, more powerful, and much more reliable.
*sigh*
Let me know when you get a .25. I'll bet you can carry hundreds of rounds of ammo with that thing!
I'm not getting a .25, the .380 is a reliable, powerful pocket auto cartridge.
Right. Of all the pocket auto cartridges, it's the best. Is that like being the tallest midget?
Are you done yet?
Nope. I have three more words.
Fine. What are they?
Five.
For.
Sure.

Man. These guns are vicious.

He dropped the offer. He decided that he wanted to stick with a semi. Which is fine, because I decided I wanted to keep this old wheelgun around.

A benefit of Free America

Apparently, in Free America, citizens may barter, buy, or trade lawfully purchased property without the Federal Government's express approval on the transaction!

INCONCEIVABLE! Everyone knows you can't let the proles exchange goods freely just as everyone knows to never get involved in a land war in Asia! It's a wonder this backward state isn't in a state of anarchy with all this free trade going on! Won't someone think of the regulators?!

Not having to pay DROS and wait 10 days for a private party transfer really opens up the options to firearm owners. After a bit of time on Armslist, which is like a Craigslist for guns, I found there are plenty of folks who have grown tired of their personal flavor of shootie goodness and are looking for something your taste buds might be growing bored with.

I enjoy the notion of bartering because the value of the item does not have to be transfered into dollars, and both parties can essentially trade at cost.

Of course, it should be noted that in any bartering where a profit (as described by the Internal Revenue Service) is gained must be reported on your income ta--BWAHAHAHAHA! Oh wow, I really thought I was going to get through that whole thing without laughing. Of course no one would dare make a profit without reporting it to their local arm of the Federal Government! That'd be mala prohibita, and no one wants that.

To prove my point, here's a hypothetical: Lets say I found a nice gentleman interested in the AK parts kit I bought in '06 for $99. But the price for Romy G kits has increased as the supply has reduced in the past 6 years, so he was willing to trade something worth $300 for it, like, oh I don't know, a Benchmade Infidel. What is a good little citizen to do?

Well, I would take the trade and request his Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to put on the form 1099-B I file with the IRS and possibly send an inquiry to the International Reciprocal Trade Association to see if my trade incurs any other taxes or trade tariffs.

It's not like I could just hand him a few pieces of metal and receive some other pieces of metal! That would just be... uncivilized...

Open carried to Staples and Kroger

At first everything was going fine until an employee came up behind me and said, "Sir? Excuse me, sir...." My pulse quickened, my chest tightened, and I knew what was about the happen... After a tense moment, he continued, "Here are the rest of your business cards." DUN DUN DUUUNNNNN!

There were a lot of people at Staples and I had expected at least one would react in some way, but not even a second glance. Checking out at the register, the manager happened to be the one helping me. No issue, not a word about it.

I did find myself being mindful of my right side, and was more apt to look behind me, or turn in such a way that my right side was blocked by a display or my cart, but it wasn't like I was backing along walls or anything.

Kroger was just as uneventful as before.

Read more about my experiences open carrying here!

Open carried to Kroger

Didn't hear the sound of anyone fainting, speaking in hushed tones to 911, or pearls being clutched.

No one even seemed to acknowledge it. Honestly wonder if anyone even saw it...

Wherein I should have just let it be...

This morning, while I was half reading, half looking out the window to catch the squirrel on its morning laps across the backyard, I looked down at the painted black G22 I was going to use to dispatch aforementioned rodent, and began the thought that I wished it was camouflaged.

Which made me laugh out loud because I realized that I had come full circle.

What I've referred to as the git-r-done paint job on the G22 was actually what made me buy it. Technically. The Git-r-done model was discontinued, which caused my local dealer to knock $100 off of it. Without that redneck reduction, I wouldn't have bought it, and I wouldn't have had the chance to grow to love my stupid space gun so much that I want another. But that came later. At first, I was a little embarrassed of my woodland wabbit whacker.

I tolerated it for a long time, but eventually the siren's song of the rattle can won out. Having started my Gunnyship a bit more tacticool than I might care to admit, it got a flat black spray job. Except I was too cool to wait, so one half is done properly to a matte finish, and the other half was done too fast and is glossy. It was fine like this, because it only saw the range, but in Kentucky, it can, and has been, pushed into the more official duty of critter cranium cavitator, and in that task, a broken pattern is easier to hide than a big black block.

I'll look for a way to remove the paint and see if I can return it to its former underappreciated skin (maybe profuse apology will work), but if I can't make that happen, I just may get more serious about that ol' razzle dazzle...

Well that didn't take long...

I figured it'd be a while before I looked at a news story about California and thought, "Those idiot Californians."

NOPE.

Nuts to sugar coating (and the readership shouts, agape, "You were sugar coating before?!") now that I feel psychologically free of California, I don't even have to pull punches to keep myself from jumping off one of California's beautiful, majestic, and brilliantly preserved cliffs.

High Speed Rail doesn't exist.

It's a fleece, a flim-flam, a fraud, a hoax, a shake-down, and lots of other words from the thesaurus.

It isn't legislation, it isn't badly planned, there aren't a few bad apples, there isn't someone "skimming off the top."

This is a long con. Ever see The Sting?

Everyone is in on it except the public. The hundreds of Sacramento lamprey eels from the highest appointees to the Board of Important Stuff, down to Joe Blow dirt shoveler union member #6724 of the International Brotherhood of Dirt Relocation Specialists.

They set up the con, telling you what it's going to be. How amazing it will look, how it'll grow hair on the bald, cure AIDS, clean your room, and walk your dog. They actually DO work on this part. They spend money and time building an impeccable presentation with 3D models, artists renditions, and pies in the sky, all backed up with reams and reams AND REAMS of paperwork from people who are in on the scam, telling you that you can't live without this, and you'd be an idiot to pass on this opportunity. This is all backed up expert "plants" who step out of the audience and say, "I'm an expert, and everything this man says is completely true!" Followed my murmurs of ascent (murmured by more plants in on the scam).

"Well," thinks you, "Everyone seems to agree with these people. I suppose I must just be stupid for questioning this. I'd better agree too, lest my peers think me thick."

Then everyone clamors for the snake oil. Except, snake oil would have been too kind to the dupes. One big hit of cash isn't enough. They get to slow bleed the mark for years if not decades, because they're not selling a thing, they're selling an idea. And that idea needs multiple installments of money, and constant improvement, and maintenance.

After the vote, the public's part in the scam has ended, and the bloodletting begins.

Committees are formed, and directorships, and organizations, and boards, and teams, and groups, and lots of other words from the thesaurus. And all these groups need office workers, and marketing, and public relations, and lawyers, and office space, and lunches, and computers, and HVAC work, and desks, and conferences, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and all these things are bought through contractors and political contributors who are also in on the scam (though lower on the totem pole).

Then when any of this work is actually done, it suffers delays, and comes in over budget, and racks up contractual penalties, and spawns lawsuits, and usually never gets done. Which means the next firm must come in to do the work, and do the same thing to gather their percentage of the scam winnings.

So it is that the legislator writes an extra sentence into the bill with a wink and a nod, and the lobbyists tell their client contractors how to exploit the sentence with a wink and a nod, and the contractors plan the job to get the additional payout with a wink and a nod, and the dirt relocation specialist moves half a shovel of dirt and signals to his boss that he's taking his 4 hour lunch with a wink and a nod.

All the way down.

Every single one of them.

Playing their parts in The Sting.

Gorging themselves on the scam's winnings.

Circling wagons and promising empty when questions arise.

And eventually, when the host withers and dies, the parasites detach, pick a new target, and with a wink and a nod formulate their next presentation.

The high speed rail does not exist any more than the beachfront timeshare in Arizona you just bought. You haven't used it in the years since you bought it, but you're sure that one day you'll visit.

My foray into bath salts

I enjoy cooking, and because our stuff is not yet here, I've had to cook using my Mother in law's kitchen and supplies.

While cooking, I noticed an open tray of small white crystals. They're fans of Alton Brown's excellent show, Good Eats, and he advocates having Kosher Salt around in an open container because it's so easy to grab a pinch and toss it in your dish. "Ahh, just like true Alton Brown fans" thinks I, as I drop a pinch into the spaghetti sauce. Everyone has some, and enjoys it.

Two days later, I'm explaining something to my littler brother, and use the kosher salt as an example. "Oh, that's not salt, those are bath salts." "Bath salts in the kitchen in an open dish? Yeah right, little bro" thinks I.

Still, he's pretty sharp, and thinking back, I remember the consistency of the crystals being just slightly off from what I expected. I had attributed it to the salt being a different brand, but I realized that I never taste-tested any of it.

When my Mother in law got up, I asked her if the tray was kosher salt, "Oh no, those are bath salts. We put them there to keep the ants away, but they're old. I guess I should throw them out."



"Ok.

So.

First of all, we're not dead..."

I explained the situation and after the initial shock, everyone realized that were were, in fact, still alive, so we had a bit of a laugh about it.

There are a variety of household items that are unnecessarily non-toxic "just in case," but I really didn't know how something as obtuse as bath salts would hold against that "just in case" presumption.

I immediately started looking up the toxicity of bath salts, which was near impossible, since every search result was about zombies and face eating. Luckily I was able to find some common bath salt ingredients, but that only scared me more. After some searching, my Mother in law was able to find the brand of the salts, and a quick visit to their website showed all the ingredients were natural and quite edible (particularly in the small amount I used).

So that was fun.

But I live in a good neighborhood Part 10

We're living with my Mother-in-law in Kentucky right now, in a fancy gated community full of fancy houses with a fancy HOA (bleh). We're not in the city, and not even in the 'burbs. In fact, we'd have to drive for 10 minutes to get to the 'burbs.

By any measure of the words, we live in a good neighborhood.

Because I haven't done one of these in a while, let me remind you of what this means to some people...

In a "good neighborhood" there is no crime.
In a "good neighborhood" people look out for bad guys.
In a "good neighborhood" you don't need to lock your door.
In a "good neighborhood" you invite strangers into your home (if they have a good excuse).

Basically, when you argue that you live in a "good neighborhood" you argue that you have no cause to worry about any-damn-thing.

Now that we've established that...

There was a string of car break-ins in our "good neighborhood." Sometime after 1 AM, someone went around either smashing windows or simply checking for unlocked car doors. They made off with a collection of wallets, a few iPODs, and a friggin' GUN.

Good job on the gun buy the way, I bet you'll feel like you really saved time not bothering to bring it into the house when the Kentucky PD returns it to you after the murder investigation is concluded.

I KNOW some (many?) people here don't lock their house doors, so I hope those people feel, in order, lucky, wary, then armed.

Just imagine it; posh house in a posh neighborhood, with a fancy gate to keep the riff-raff out, it's friggin' semi-rural Kentucky. Hell, after just describing it, I'm still not expecting it.

It's only natural to expect what has happened in the past. If everything is always fine when you suspect the worst, you begin to ignore the suspicious things. Do that long enough, and you even begin to make excuses for them.

It's terrible that we have to think like this, but the alternative leaves us at the mercy of the worst in our society.

Pay attention to your surroundings, remember that an ounce of caution beats a pound of "Oh my God, I never thought that would happen", and if you want to make our society better... Retire predators.

Quote of the Rose Colored Glasses

This country doesn't have a problem with rose colored glasses. It has a problem with the people who DON'T wear them.
-Me

More like "Google-meriKKKa"

I can't believe Google caved in to jingoistic pressure and made a graphic for something as riotous as the massive slaughter of tens of thousands simply because some religious zealots didn't want to pay a tax that the king levied for their own good.

I wish I lived in France, they sure know how to smoke, drink, and complain while the whole country goes to shit around them. Everyone here just clings to their guns and religion.

Le scoff.

Low profile plinker

zomg I'm going to post about guns!

My mother in law has complained that some varmits of the furry persuasion are causing problems with her small garden, and preventing her from planting a larger one.

The only method for vermin extermination which is 99% free of collateral damage (there are some very beautiful birds in the same area) is a manually applied high velocity lead lobotomy. Lead-on! Apply directly to the forehead!

A pellet gun was the first choice, and after some research I found the Crosman Phantom was the best choice for sub-$100 high velocity air guns. If anything, it was a little overpowered for what I was going to use it, but I figured it would get use in more official small game capacities. It was inexpensive, but not super necessary, so I wasn't totally convinced that it was the right way to go. Then I happened upon a post about Aguila Colibris.

After some memory refreshing research on subsonic .22 rounds, I rekindled my interest in these interesting options for a .22. Obviously, the underpowered cartridges wouldn't cycle the actions of semi-auto .22s, but there were other options. Like lever .22s and .22 revolvers.

I've always liked the idea of kit guns. Carrying around a small revolver in .22 for minor pest extermination, and being able to open it up and swap in a .22 shotshell, aforementioned Colibri, CB short, or whatever else. The ability to quickly switch ammo is gone on the lever gun, so that was a count against it, but a boltie or a break-action would be easy enough.

Actually, since we're talking about .22 revolvers, didn't I want a Ruger Single Six type gun? (You can see how quickly this got out of hand.) Being unemployed, there are a few low-cost but functional alternatives (Still being unemployed, these low cost options are still more than the Crossman Phantom.) Plus the single cartridge feed system (feed gate) might be a little fiddly to swap out a single round or keep track of what flavor of .22 is in what spot in the cylinder.

But...

After reading some more reviews and comparisons of the Super Colibris, I found many people saying the Super Colibris were quieter out of rifles than their 1000 fps airguns. If this holds up, I could have most of the things I want for the cost of one box of Super Colibris ($5).

Aguila advises for both the Colibris and the Super Colibris that they not be fired from a rifle for fear of the bullet not making it out of the barrel (ostensibly, the reason for the release of the Super Colibris which came later). Many people reported no problem with the Super Colibris through rifles, so I'm willing to give it a cautious try.

But this means I'll be using one of my existing .22 rifles, which is less than optimal, because both are semi-auto, and there can be some inconsistencies in velocity depending on when the pressure drops during the recoil operation. To be honest, this problem only seems to lead to problems at longer distances (which I don't need yet), but it didn't stop me from rekindling an old idea I had for a slide lock like on the old suppressed spy guns.

A slide lock prevents the recoil operation from taking place, and turns a semi-auto into a single shot in order to prevent gas (and noise) from escaping through the chamber when it opens to load the next round, while eliminating the mechanical noise of the reciprocation of the bolt/slide.

At this point, I'm pretty far off the beaten path, but the challenge of being unemployed seems to be fueling this thought process. If I was still well paid, I would have just bought the Phantom immediately and missed this whole tangent! BOOO-RING!

There are some options for slide locks on 10/22s, but that gun doesn't have much character. Plus, who wants to pay for someone else's product when you can make a something custom yer damn self! I've got a soft spot for that stupid space gun anyway. And while I'm in a fabricating mood, I should figure out a simple way to make a solid trigger bar.

Speaking of the G22, that sucker is SO getting a suppressor. The only question is; will I chop the barrel down to keep the end of the suppressor where the current barrel ends? Hmm... Thinking about it now, that would mean I couldn't keep the front sight on it, and I don't have nearly as much fun shooting with a red dot or scope. But it does look even more spacey with the front sight off... Oh the possibilities...

Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, gardens... Did I mention there's a Savage .22/410 at the local gun shop? Didn't think I'd ever get to see one of those up close. That thing tickles the neat-o part of my brain.

Hahaha! I started this post with the title "Low profile plinker" and by the end of the post I had a tricked out space gun!

Hey Roberts,

Play stupid games...

Win stupid prizes.