BTW, as I am devoting much of tonight's posts to Gun Bloggers I Read And Admire, note that Michael Bane has an excellent article regarding "Open Carry" vs "Concealed Carry" (regardless of the "Concealed Carry" tag on this post).
In his view, there is definately a valid reason for Open Carry.
The difference is that "Concealed Carry", which is approved by 90% of states in America, is a relatively new phenomena, and is usually legislated so that practitioners must apply for a permit.
"Open Carry", in contrast, has often been permissible in most states for several years.
The thing is, you can carry a pistol in a holster and it is ... and has been ... legal, without need for a special permit. Not so with "Concealed carry", which usually requires an application for a permit and commonly requires, in most states, that the practitioner meet some standard of training and certification.
Which is better? Why? And why should an individual choose one mode of carrying a firearm in public rather than the other?
I'm afraid this is one question which you must answer for yourself.
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Introduction to USPSA: May 1, 2010
This blog was originally created to discuss matters relevant to Practical Shooting (IPSC and USPSA). Unfortunately, since SWMBO has been unable to continue her competitive career due to illness, I have found that I have less time and resources ... and, yes, interest ... in competition for its own sake.
I still love the sport, of course. I enjoy shooting for its own sake, and I have met interesting people and made many, many new friends in the course of my 27 years of participation (with a LONG hiatus from 1988 to 1991, due to personal constraints.)
But I find it difficult to generate the enthusiasm when faced by a loading press which does not cooperate as it should. I don't want to spend almost as many hours loading for a match as I do actually shooting the match. So I have self-limited myself to shooting one, perhaps two matches a month, even in generally clement weather.
So I anticipate with joy the opportunity to introduce new shooters to what I consider one of the most exciting, entertaining and challenging sports in the history of human endeavor.
(I feel that I am justified in engaging in hyperbole, because this is absolutely the most fun you can have with your clothes on.)
ALL OF THIS is introduction to another story about my voluntary function as the instructor to Albany Rifle and Pistol Club's "Introduction to USPSA" class.
The May, 2010, class at ARPC was unique in that of the six people who signed up for, and actually completed the course, half of them were women.
Those of you who know me personally are aware that I believe the BEST thing about USPSA competition is that it supports, and actively encourages, women to enter the sport.
And the fact is, women are not only "competent" in Practical Pistol competition, they are the easiest to teach. Also, they learn faster, are less liable to make the same mistake twice, and they are definitively there to have FUN!
(If you haven't noticed, the nicest thing that Women do for humanity is that They Make Men Civilized. Although women may feel self-conscious about competing in a sport which they perceive as a "man thing" -- in the presence of a woman, men tend to be more conscious about being civilized and do not appear to feel the need to be "Manly". The coarse language disappears; men are not competing against each other for the sake of Macho appearance; and men become people, focused on having fun, rather than pissing higher on the wall than the next guy.)
In today's class, the ladies (and they are all ladies) ranged from a charming ingenue daughter, to wives, equally charming and equally individuals in their own rights.
At the beginning of the class, they seemed to be not entirely certain that they should be there. But they had been the object of quiet encouragement and they were all ready to do whatever it takes to effect their entry into a "Man Sport".
At the end of the day, they were having fun. They discovered, individually and as a group, that this was not a "Man Sport". It was a safe place where they can advance at their own rate, and they were treated as individuals and valued for their own contribution.
I watched them in wonder, as I always do, as they opened up and asserted their personalities.
At the end of the first exercise, I called for people to go downrange and tape the bullet-holes of the single target which everyone had shot up.
Who actually found the tape and taped the targets ? The three ladies.
By the end of the class, everyone was fighting over the rolls of tape, men as well as women.
Aha! A strike for equality; everybody works the stage. Nobody is "better" than anybody else. Nobody is the designated support person. And everybody wants to go downrange and look at the targets, to see how the last shooter has done in the everlasting urge to hit the A-zone.
___
I was impressed by this group of shooters, not only because all of the participants were willing to learn (by no means a universal trait) but also because everyone was a good shot. Every person in the class knew how to shoot, and we saw some spectacular performances. Not on every stage, not on every exercise, but there was not one person present who failed to take the Pepper-Popper and the U.S. Popper as a personal challenge, and to shoot much better when the target was much more difficult.
It's not that they couldn't shoot better when engaging cardboard targets. It was just that they weren't as focused on the big fat brown targets. When the target was obviously harder to hit, they payed attention to sight picture and sight alignment and knocked the steel targets down as if it was easy. Which it was, but it was not obvious in their earlier performance.
Example: the ingenue daughter. Her shots had gone all over the paper targets, often missing them completely. But when she had to hit the much smaller steel targets, she took them down (One! Two!) with no observable lack of confidence. She perceived that the target was more difficult, so she applied her shooting skills much more assiduously. The Pepper Popper went down on the first shot, which hit in the exact geometric center of the aiming circle.
The only problem she had, was that the targets weren't sufficiently challenging. That girl can shoot!
It may take some experience to convince them of it, but all of the shooters are good shots.
And I have no doubts about their abilities. Many of them need experience to build their confidence. Okay, everybody needs that when they first begin shooting competitively. But there isn't a one of them that I would not be glad to squad with in a match. They're bright, they're safe, and they're willing to learn.
I can't speak more highly of any group I've every taught. And we had two shooters, not members of the class but family members or friends, who donated their time and their experience to help everybody there. One was the husband of a new shooter, one was the father of The Ingenue; they helped me get through the day, and they helped the new shooters at least as much.
So, guys: there is no reason in the world why you should not encourage your wives, daughters, and "Significant Others" to learn how to shoot competitively. This is NOT a "Man Sport"; this is a "Family Sport". And if you can convince them that they are ... how can I say this? ... valued as new shooters; if you are willing to spend the time and the money to support them; if you can share the experience with them without over-coaching them (a common error) -- there is no reason why they cannot enjoy the sport at least as much as you do.
Today I had 50% Ladies in the Introduction to USPSA class. If this ration continues both you and I will profit.
I will profit because the sport will grow. Every new shooter is a positive benefit to the sport, and it is a sport which women may generally be better than men on the average.
And you will profit because it is much, much more fun when your family shares the experience with you.
Trust me. I have never enjoyed a match so much, that I would not enjoy it more if SWMBO was there with me, laughing like a Lark and thanking me for introducing me to so many very good people.
Dundee -- SWMBO with a borrowed gun:
(SWMBO shooting steel 'on the move' ... pure poetry in motion!)
I still love the sport, of course. I enjoy shooting for its own sake, and I have met interesting people and made many, many new friends in the course of my 27 years of participation (with a LONG hiatus from 1988 to 1991, due to personal constraints.)
But I find it difficult to generate the enthusiasm when faced by a loading press which does not cooperate as it should. I don't want to spend almost as many hours loading for a match as I do actually shooting the match. So I have self-limited myself to shooting one, perhaps two matches a month, even in generally clement weather.
So I anticipate with joy the opportunity to introduce new shooters to what I consider one of the most exciting, entertaining and challenging sports in the history of human endeavor.
(I feel that I am justified in engaging in hyperbole, because this is absolutely the most fun you can have with your clothes on.)
ALL OF THIS is introduction to another story about my voluntary function as the instructor to Albany Rifle and Pistol Club's "Introduction to USPSA" class.
The May, 2010, class at ARPC was unique in that of the six people who signed up for, and actually completed the course, half of them were women.
Those of you who know me personally are aware that I believe the BEST thing about USPSA competition is that it supports, and actively encourages, women to enter the sport.
And the fact is, women are not only "competent" in Practical Pistol competition, they are the easiest to teach. Also, they learn faster, are less liable to make the same mistake twice, and they are definitively there to have FUN!
(If you haven't noticed, the nicest thing that Women do for humanity is that They Make Men Civilized. Although women may feel self-conscious about competing in a sport which they perceive as a "man thing" -- in the presence of a woman, men tend to be more conscious about being civilized and do not appear to feel the need to be "Manly". The coarse language disappears; men are not competing against each other for the sake of Macho appearance; and men become people, focused on having fun, rather than pissing higher on the wall than the next guy.)
In today's class, the ladies (and they are all ladies) ranged from a charming ingenue daughter, to wives, equally charming and equally individuals in their own rights.
At the beginning of the class, they seemed to be not entirely certain that they should be there. But they had been the object of quiet encouragement and they were all ready to do whatever it takes to effect their entry into a "Man Sport".
At the end of the day, they were having fun. They discovered, individually and as a group, that this was not a "Man Sport". It was a safe place where they can advance at their own rate, and they were treated as individuals and valued for their own contribution.
I watched them in wonder, as I always do, as they opened up and asserted their personalities.
At the end of the first exercise, I called for people to go downrange and tape the bullet-holes of the single target which everyone had shot up.
Who actually found the tape and taped the targets ? The three ladies.
By the end of the class, everyone was fighting over the rolls of tape, men as well as women.
Aha! A strike for equality; everybody works the stage. Nobody is "better" than anybody else. Nobody is the designated support person. And everybody wants to go downrange and look at the targets, to see how the last shooter has done in the everlasting urge to hit the A-zone.
___
I was impressed by this group of shooters, not only because all of the participants were willing to learn (by no means a universal trait) but also because everyone was a good shot. Every person in the class knew how to shoot, and we saw some spectacular performances. Not on every stage, not on every exercise, but there was not one person present who failed to take the Pepper-Popper and the U.S. Popper as a personal challenge, and to shoot much better when the target was much more difficult.
It's not that they couldn't shoot better when engaging cardboard targets. It was just that they weren't as focused on the big fat brown targets. When the target was obviously harder to hit, they payed attention to sight picture and sight alignment and knocked the steel targets down as if it was easy. Which it was, but it was not obvious in their earlier performance.
Example: the ingenue daughter. Her shots had gone all over the paper targets, often missing them completely. But when she had to hit the much smaller steel targets, she took them down (One! Two!) with no observable lack of confidence. She perceived that the target was more difficult, so she applied her shooting skills much more assiduously. The Pepper Popper went down on the first shot, which hit in the exact geometric center of the aiming circle.
The only problem she had, was that the targets weren't sufficiently challenging. That girl can shoot!
It may take some experience to convince them of it, but all of the shooters are good shots.
And I have no doubts about their abilities. Many of them need experience to build their confidence. Okay, everybody needs that when they first begin shooting competitively. But there isn't a one of them that I would not be glad to squad with in a match. They're bright, they're safe, and they're willing to learn.
I can't speak more highly of any group I've every taught. And we had two shooters, not members of the class but family members or friends, who donated their time and their experience to help everybody there. One was the husband of a new shooter, one was the father of The Ingenue; they helped me get through the day, and they helped the new shooters at least as much.
So, guys: there is no reason in the world why you should not encourage your wives, daughters, and "Significant Others" to learn how to shoot competitively. This is NOT a "Man Sport"; this is a "Family Sport". And if you can convince them that they are ... how can I say this? ... valued as new shooters; if you are willing to spend the time and the money to support them; if you can share the experience with them without over-coaching them (a common error) -- there is no reason why they cannot enjoy the sport at least as much as you do.
Today I had 50% Ladies in the Introduction to USPSA class. If this ration continues both you and I will profit.
I will profit because the sport will grow. Every new shooter is a positive benefit to the sport, and it is a sport which women may generally be better than men on the average.
And you will profit because it is much, much more fun when your family shares the experience with you.
Trust me. I have never enjoyed a match so much, that I would not enjoy it more if SWMBO was there with me, laughing like a Lark and thanking me for introducing me to so many very good people.
Dundee -- SWMBO with a borrowed gun:
(SWMBO shooting steel 'on the move' ... pure poetry in motion!)
Keeps On Tickin'
Xavier Thoughts: Springfield Mil-Spec Mud Test
Xavier Thoughts has found a video depicting a "Torture Test" on a Springfield 1911.
Dump it in the swamp, fish it out, and see if it shoots.
Sounds bizarre ... we thought that only Glocks were so well designed that they could function even when dumped in the mud.
Actually, the Browning 1911 design was originally conceived to be that battle-field durable. And folks, there is nothing Politically Correct about the 1911.
Another 1911 torture test, with a wider range of "not friendly environments".
Xavier Thoughts has found a video depicting a "Torture Test" on a Springfield 1911.
Dump it in the swamp, fish it out, and see if it shoots.
Sounds bizarre ... we thought that only Glocks were so well designed that they could function even when dumped in the mud.
Actually, the Browning 1911 design was originally conceived to be that battle-field durable. And folks, there is nothing Politically Correct about the 1911.
Another 1911 torture test, with a wider range of "not friendly environments".
Xerox Your Secrets --- NOT!
The LawDog Files: Read this. Now.
I'm not suggesting that you, or I, have ever done this. OF course not, we're far to conscious of our own personal security concerns
But people who, for example, have ever used their employers' copy machines to make a 'file copy' of their income tax return may discover that they have just made the entire document available to anyone who eventually buys the leased machine, somewhere down the road.
Lawdog draws our attention to a CBS report. Those machines probably contain a hard drive, and for 300 dollars anyone can buy a used copier ... and reproduce ANY image that the machine has ever copied
Do the clicky-clicky thing here.
I'm not suggesting that you, or I, have ever done this. OF course not, we're far to conscious of our own personal security concerns
But people who, for example, have ever used their employers' copy machines to make a 'file copy' of their income tax return may discover that they have just made the entire document available to anyone who eventually buys the leased machine, somewhere down the road.
Lawdog draws our attention to a CBS report. Those machines probably contain a hard drive, and for 300 dollars anyone can buy a used copier ... and reproduce ANY image that the machine has ever copied
Do the clicky-clicky thing here.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
View From The Cop | ajc.com
View From The Cop | ajc.com
The Atlanta (Georgia) Journal Constitution ... yes, folks, an "Eastern" MSM newspaper ... has a feature which I discovered this week to my great pleasure.
Steve Rose, an Atlanta Cop, blogs daily (more or less, but usually more) on the day-to-day trials and tribulations of Being A Cop.
It's not quite "The LawDog Files" ... but this cop is On The Job a lot more often, and is sufficiently entertaining that I get the sense of appreciation for what he and his fellow officers put up with on a daily basis.
Go, check it out. You won't be sorry.
It's on my Daily Read list.
The Atlanta (Georgia) Journal Constitution ... yes, folks, an "Eastern" MSM newspaper ... has a feature which I discovered this week to my great pleasure.
Steve Rose, an Atlanta Cop, blogs daily (more or less, but usually more) on the day-to-day trials and tribulations of Being A Cop.
It's not quite "The LawDog Files" ... but this cop is On The Job a lot more often, and is sufficiently entertaining that I get the sense of appreciation for what he and his fellow officers put up with on a daily basis.
Go, check it out. You won't be sorry.
It's on my Daily Read list.
Bloomberg & Columbine
Bloomberg's gun control group airs ad with Columbine footage urging background checks for gun sales
New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is at it again.
His political gang "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" is running adds using surveillance video from Columine in several Eastern States to continue his anti-second amendment campaign against private firearms ownership.
This time he has taken the gloves of. The use of Columbine videos milks the tragedy of child deaths for his own private political agenda, and should be universally castigated.
His point, as nearly as an honest man can decipher the bullsh*t, is:
That probably won't happen, though. Bloomberg has an in-house coterie of anti-second amendment politicians which support his un-ethical attempts to condemn citizens of other states for legal firearms transactions.
Legal, even though his private agents make every attempt to coax them into selling firearms under illegal ... dubious ... even merely questionable circumstances.
In 2007, Bloomberg agents invaded Georgia in an 'operation' which is described as "going too far" by even the New York Times.
This nation finds itself in a sad state when a rich man can, literally, BUY the mayorship of the largest city in the country and use that political platform as a fulcrum to leverage his own personal political agenda.
Nothing new here, folks.
Just the latest chapter in the continuing story of one man's quest to decide what is best for you and me.
But I have to say, it kind of pisses me off. When will Mike work himself so far out-of-state that he begins to attack legitimate firearms transactions in ... Oregon?
New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is at it again.
His political gang "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" is running adds using surveillance video from Columine in several Eastern States to continue his anti-second amendment campaign against private firearms ownership.
This time he has taken the gloves of. The use of Columbine videos milks the tragedy of child deaths for his own private political agenda, and should be universally castigated.
His point, as nearly as an honest man can decipher the bullsh*t, is:
That probably won't happen, though. Bloomberg has an in-house coterie of anti-second amendment politicians which support his un-ethical attempts to condemn citizens of other states for legal firearms transactions.
Legal, even though his private agents make every attempt to coax them into selling firearms under illegal ... dubious ... even merely questionable circumstances.
In 2007, Bloomberg agents invaded Georgia in an 'operation' which is described as "going too far" by even the New York Times.
... in this town of 48,000 where Julia Roberts was born, the fight has become deeply personal. Jay Wallace, who owns Adventure Outdoors, one of the major gun distributors in the area and a defendant in one of the city’s lawsuits, is countersuing Mr. Bloomberg, alleging fraud, slander and libel. A well-known resident who has operated the business here for 31 years, Mr. Wallace has drummed up support with an online fund-raising campaign, a summertime rally that drew hundreds, and celebrity representation by a lawyer who is a former congressman, Bob Barr.Guns Magazine, in a June, 2007 article, said "Bloomberg Stings Stink".
Last week, lawyers representing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in his lawsuit against out-of-state firearms dealers revealed the city had conducted additional "sting" operations against firearms retailers within New York state and the city. The city refused to produce the tapes of these latest stings, telling the court the dealers were not yet: aware they had been "stung."Note that, in 2007, Bloomberg's own website (citing an October, 2007 article in Guns Magazine) states that he has agreed to discontinue his attempts to discontinue "Future actions against Virginia Dealers".
After a stern warning from Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed to abide by Virginia law in pursuing any future actions involving Virginia firearms dealers. McDonnell last week warned New York legal action could be taken if private agents continue to target Virginia gun dealers in undercover sting operations.That doesn't mean, obviously, that he hasn't given up his quixotic quest to demonize firearms transactions; Bloomberg has merely gone 'national' with his campaign.
After July 1, a new Virginia law will make such actions a felony. In a press release, McDonnell thanked Bloomberg for agreeing to obey the law.--Courtesy NSSF
This nation finds itself in a sad state when a rich man can, literally, BUY the mayorship of the largest city in the country and use that political platform as a fulcrum to leverage his own personal political agenda.
Nothing new here, folks.
Just the latest chapter in the continuing story of one man's quest to decide what is best for you and me.
But I have to say, it kind of pisses me off. When will Mike work himself so far out-of-state that he begins to attack legitimate firearms transactions in ... Oregon?
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