Friday, April 15, 2016

Student busted for "Packin' Leather"

It's that time of the year again.  Spring, when a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of protesting abrogation of his constitutional rights.

Alabama college student cited for wearing empty gun holster on campus | Fox News:
 A University of South Alabama student was charged with violating the school’s code of conduct after campus police caught him on campus wearing an empty gun holster, in an incident recorded on video.
After realizing that the student was not carrying a firearm, charges were dismissed.
That's not good enough.

The student didn't need being referred to as "being a smart-ass" by investigating police.


"We're gonna check you out.  You don't want to be investigated?  You don't want to be checked out?  Don't do this kind of stuff."

See "Students for Concealed Carry"



Thursday, April 14, 2016

OH SHI*!

pistol-training.com: How I Got Shot:
Apparently, one of the passengers had taken the Kimber pistol from the range bag while sitting behind the victim. Outside the victim’s field of view, the passenger had inserted a loaded magazine, and cycled the action with his index finger resting on the trigger, discharging the weapon.
I guess there's a new Tip To Trainers:
"Never Let A Student Sit Behind You In The Car Without Someone To Monitor His Actions."

To the victim in the article:  Wow!  You didn't deserve that.

To myself: don't let your students get the drop on you!

I've introduced literally hundreds of people to USPSA Competition, and it has always been under very controlled circumstances.  The sessions are run according to USPSA principles, where nobody touches a gun unless I (under the authority of the Range Officer) am watching them and I've TOLD them to "Make Ready".

The problem with an unstructured shooting session is that it's almost impossible to impose "Rules of Safe Shooting" in a casual day at the range (which I assume this was).   most of my students have only been shooting on the range in an informal context; this is a dangerous environment, and does not teach safe gun-handling practices.


Hillary

Yesterday:


Today:


Tomorrow:

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Thinking about a wheelgun? ME TOO!!!

SayUncle  I’ve been thinking about a wheelgun:
 MAGAZINES ARE NOT ALWAYS 100% RELIABLE!

Actually, I went out and bought a short-barreled revolver for home defense several years ago, and I've never been attacked in my home.  This proves the defensive capabilities of a Stubby, Right?

No.  It proves nothing.  I never 'expected' to suffer a home invasion (I have nothing worth stealing .. everybody knows that) and the proposition that having a gun in the home prevents robberies is  .. not really real.

I just wanted to have a reliable firearm in my home,

And the 1911 just doesn't get it because ... magazine spring.

Magazines, and .... RESTING!

Frankie and Johnny: "Jerry Told Me That!"

You can't make this stuff up.

This month in my "Introduction to USPSA" class, I ran into a couple of situations which were unique in their sheer repetitiveness.   In order to protect the students from public embarrassment, I'll just refer to them as "Frankie" and "Johnnie".

First, you need to know that when I start a class with new students, I issue a "Get Out Of Hell Free" card (see one here, and thanks to Randy Cassingham of "This Is True" who keeps me supplied).
When a student violates a firearms safety rule, I make a mark on the card rather than disqualify him/her from further participation in the class.  Everybody can make a mistake, and IPSC-style competition is dramatically different from actual competition.  So this "card marking" is done in the presence of the rest of the class.  It's a form of 'shaming', and is usually very effective.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Three is more than Two

Chiappa Triple Threat 12 Gauge Review Melon Smashing - The Firearm Blog:

In this episode of TFBTV, James reviews the gnarly and intimidating Chiappa Triple Threat, a three-barrel 12 gauge shotgun designed with close quarters combat in mind. James starts with birdshot, then works his way to 3″ BB and eventually 3″ 00 buck rounds, testing the effect of buckshot on a watermelon. With an MSRP of $1600, is this gun worth the price or is it just another gimmick? James finds out in this video.
Nice review, James, and whether it works for you and is worth $1600?
That's up to you to decide.

*Me? I'll stick with the pump gun, but that's just me.*

We're shooting too much ... and that's good!

Small Caliber Ammunition Market to Swell Over $4.05 Billion by 2022 - Research and Markets | Business Wire:

The Global Small Caliber Ammunition market is expected to generate over $4.05 billion value by 2022 at an estimated CAGR of 2.14% from 2016 to 2022. The increase in defense expenditure for military modernization programs in developing economies, high rate of participation in hunting & sport activities, growing number of female shooters and rise in demand from private end-users for home/personal security, are some of the key factors driving the global small caliber ammunition market. Heightened civil conflicts and rise in terrorist activities across the world are expected to further increase the business prospects for the ammunition industry.
(H/T: Say Uncle) Translated: 
We're shooting more than we ever did; the army is training hard; women are becoming more interested in the shooting sports and we're training for self-defense.

Besides that, the terrorists are scaring the crap out of us, to we're shooting more than we ... uh .. well,  See above.

From my point of view, it's a Win/Win situation.

On The Other Hand:

There's an old story about the king who spent his kingdom's treasure training his army.  A wise man approached him and said "Oh King, you are spending your kingdom's treasure on arms, and yet your people starve!"

The king replied:
"Yes, and then the uprising starts, I will be ready for it!"


(No, I don't know how that applies here, either.  But it's a great story!)

We "Double-Dog Dare You" to vote for Der Trump!

Boston Globe Trump front page: The GOP must stop Trump - The Boston Globe:
(April 11, 2016)
 It is easy to find historical antecedents. The rise of demagogic strongmen is an all too common phenomenon on our small planet. And what marks each of those dark episodes is a failure to fathom where a leader’s vision leads, to carry rhetoric to its logical conclusion. The satirical front page of this section attempts to do just that, to envision what America looks like with Trump in the White House.
 It is an exercise in taking a man at his word. And his vision of America promises to be as appalling in real life as it is in black and white on the page. It is a vision that demands an active and engaged opposition. It requires an opposition as focused on denying Trump the White House as the candidate is flippant and reckless about securing it.

Oh, dear!

Are they TAUNTING us to vote for Trump?

(Note rule of thumb: if the Boston Globe is against 'it', chances are I should be for 'it'.)

Information Overload!

warmlist:
A complete list of things caused by global warming
 Apologies for a temporary delay in updating the dead link list

(Note that this is offered as 'background information' only; you are not expected to research every link, and this will NOT be a question on your Final Exam.)

Source: "Climate Change Will Stop Women From Wanting Sex!"

(No, I am not kidding.  H/T:  Say Uncle)

My doctor tells me it's unhealthy to talk to myself so much ....


.....  but I'm the only one who 'gets' the punch lines.

retraction

A couple of days ago, I took exception to the NRA because I perceived that they were being condescending to "old people who carried guns".

Since then, the NRA has written a couple of articles which clarified their position vis a vis "old pharts", and I have decided that the misinterpretation may have been my fault.

The genesis of the misunderstanding was this GAWKER article:

Titled: "Guns Won't Protect You Old People, You're Too Old And Weak", the article made a strong argument (depending on your attitude) for the proposition that after a 'certain age' (not defined), individuals reach a stage of incompetence wherein they are no longer proficient in the use of firearms as a legitimate and effective means of self defense.

I suppose this might be true, eventually, but I was personally offended in that the premise was far too 'open-ended'; it didn't (a) suggest an age range which would be definitive in terms of undefensibility, and (b) acknowledge that this supposed 'age range' (I made this term up for the purpose of discussion) might not be universally true.

Which, I suppose, might have been why the author didn't presume to be more specific.

As *(perhaps/probably)* a consequence of, or response to the publication of this article, the National Rifle Association (NRA) published a responding article which they titled: "Carry Life / Senior Competence" .. authored, incidentally, by Fred Winn, Guns and Gear Editor.

Winn's response starts out with a reasonable preamble: he refers to the article as "claptrap" (with which I agree).  Then he gets to the bones of the body:
 The short version is simply a beatdown of “old people” who want to own a firearm for personal protection. The thesis is as sketchily condescending as it is deeply prejudiced: Such old people—creatures never actually defined, we notice—shouldn’t have firearms because they’re ipso facto too infirm to use them. Beyond some unspecified age, we evidently become rightless un-persons, explicitly doomed to wait on help that may never arrive. We should shut up and take our lumps: lethal, merely injurious or otherwise.
[emphasis added]

Unfortunately, he then regresses to 'detail advice' in which he includes such details as 'how to rack a slide' and 'locking a slide to the rear'.

Which are valuable items of information for people who don't know this 'stuff'; but this is where I began to take offense.

And when I took my experience in combination with my failure to read the content in detail, I made some assumptions which were not only NOT justified, but were irresponsible.

And so I was offended, because I assumed the author was being condescending, rather than helpful.

It's painful for me to detail the degree to which I allowed myself to sink to this level of outrage, but my vitriol was not only not directed toward the person who was the author, but in my confusion I pointed it another person who was entirely innocent of comment.

And I will not provide any more details of this story, because I'm not only bored with it, but I suspect that if I take it too much further I'll find cause for embarassment.


Okay ... that's better.

America's 1st Freedom | Carry Life | Senior Competence:

We also believe that genuine maturity—as opposed to patronizing intolerance, however glib—illuminates a larger front in the fight against such sneering. Those of us living in some part of a second half-century of liberty know nothing will preserve and strengthen the Second Amendment like the calm, confident, competent practice of same. The willed ignorance that frames every subjugational flavor of the “you’re incompetent to defend yourself!” argument cannot withstand the radiance of this uniquely American truth. Now Carry On.

See ,,. that's the response I WANTED to see from the NRA, all along.

It just took them a while to figure out the difference between being a responsible representative of their membership, and being a bunch of IDIOTS!

Thank you for your kind attention, and good night.

Julianne Moore On Gun Control Without 'Getting Rid Of Guns'

Julianne Moore On Gun Control Without 'Getting Rid Of Guns': In her recent interview with Variety, Julianne Moore cited the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School and said it was “alarming” to imagine that something like this could have ever happened in the country.
(Julianne Moore hasn't been paying attention since, like ... oh, I don't know.  September 11, 2001?)
 And that’s when Julianne Moore partnered with Everytown for Gun Safety through such groups as Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. The organization includes over 3 million members and calls for stricter background checks and advocated for laws that keep guns away from people with a criminal past.

(Julianne Moore ignores the political and social philosophy of such groups as MAYORS and MOMS, who just want to get rid of guns.   ALL guns ... without regard to who owns them, because ... guns are bad!   Which is her real opinion.)

 Julianne Moore also said that she respects those who handle guns responsibly. Throughout her acting career, the actress has played quite a few characters that fired guns on screen. She also claimed that it’s “constitutional” and “an important thing to remember” that people must handle weapons responsibly.

Okay, I'll give her 0.5 out of four on a scale of 3.0 because she's lying, but she's cute.
I know, that hardly seems fair .. but it's my scale and she started it!

according to her wikipedia biography:
Moore is politically liberal[8] and supported Barack Obama at the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.[31][175] She is a pro-choiceactivist and sits on the board of advocates for Planned Parenthood.[16][31] She is also a campaigner for gay rights[5] and gun control,[17] and since 2008 she has been an Artist Ambassador for Save the Children.[176] 
So she also lies about her position on gun control

Starting at a total geek-o-meter score of zero,  I'm taking away two points because she's such a lying bint.   Which leaves her with a negative score on the Geek-O-Meter.   No, I'm not keeping track of her total score. The only important thing is (a) she's anti-gun and (b) she lies about it, but she gets a higher negative score because she's cute.  But it's still a negative score, because she's a liar.

Is that clear?

Good.

Seems fair to me.  Don't you think?

What do YOU think is the worst that can happen at a school?

#1 
Rifles on campus: College security forces nationwide add firepower

"The reality is that these are not always handgun situations," said FBI agent Katherine Schweit, the bureau's senior executive in charge of active-shooter matters. "We can't tell a university realistically what's acceptable in their community -- that's up to them -- but we recognize the struggle that every community faces because many of these shooters come to the scene with a long gun." Bill Taylor, president of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, said he hasn't heard of any case in which a campus officer fired a rifle on the job. But police have broken out the weapons several times. 
People are concerned about rifles on campus.  Are you?


#2
A Texas teacher was arrested after video surfaced appearing to show her hitting a student multiple times during a Friday morning high school math class.
Mary Hastings was charged with misdemeanor assault after the incident at Ozen High School, FOX4Beaumont reported. She was initially taken to the Jefferson County Jail, but was released after posting a $2,500 bond.
Hastings, described as a veteran teacher, has only been with the Beaumont Independent School District for three years. BISD is investigating the incident.
People are concerned about teachers striking students. Are you?

#3 Apr. 01, 2016 -
 Chicago police are investigating whether a man shot multiple times on the city’s South Side was filming video that captured the attack.

1:54 - Chicago police work to validate the authenticity of the video which surfaced on social media

Warning, graphic video: Shooting captured on victim's iPhone


(video) <== referenced, but not embedded

People are concerned about people getting shot, and seem to be more concerned about seeing it than reading about it. Are you?

Sometimes, we have to back off from our understandable sense of outrage, and look for some perspective.   Not saying that none of these situations might not be cause for concern, but we need to understand that there are degrees of violence; potential, actual, and serious.

Not every degree of violence justifies the same level of reaction.


Warning, graphic video: Shooting captured on victim's iPhone | Fox News Video

Warning, graphic video: Shooting captured on victim's iPhone | Fox News Video

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Anita Hill speaks out on TODAY Show: I'm 'at peace with my role in history'

Anita Hill speaks out on TODAY Show: I'm 'at peace with my role in history' - TODAY.com:

Anita Hill sat down with TODAY's Savannah Guthrie to reflect on her legacy — and the impact of the sexual harassment allegations she made against Clarence Thomas nearly 25 years ago — in an interview set to air Monday morning on NBC. "I'm really at peace with my role in history," Hill told Guthrie.

Um ... that's about it.

What, again?

Two Airmen Fatally Shot at San Antonio Base Identified - NBC News:
(April 09, 2016)

The two airmen found dead in a shooting at a military base in San Antonio were identified Saturday, as the investigation into Friday's apparent murder-suicide continued. Air Force Lt. Col. William A. Schroeder and Sgt. Steven D. ******* were found dead Friday morning at Lackland Air Force Base, a part of Joint Base San Antonio. The FBI said in a statement that ******* was a special agent for two years before resigning in 2013. The attack appeared to be a murder-suicide, Bexar County Sheriff's Office spokesman James Keith told MSNBC Friday.

Curiously, the  only one armed was the attacker: who became the second 'victim' when he committed suicide .. which is probably not of much consolation to the family of the only REAL victim.

A separate account of the incident, posted Saturday morning in a blog posted on the internet and later pulled because of complaints, said that the technical sergeant had been with a senior NCO prior to the shooting. When the assailant, armed with two Glock handguns, produced a weapon, Schroeder told the senior NCO, a first sergeant, to run.
During the struggle, the technical sergeant fired at the first sergeant but missed her as she fled. Schroeder then fought with the assailant and was shot three times in the arm before being shot in the head.
The 'incident' is being described as 'work-place violence' by military officials.

The real victim was not able to defend himself because American bases within CONUS (Continent of the United States) are "Gun Free Zones".

This scenario may seem familiar to some of us.  Not just because it occurred at a base in America, but one sited in Texas.

Clearly, American Servicemen cannot be trusted with firearms in CONUS.

On the other hand, American Servicemen cannot be protected by American Service Units in America.

I do have some concerns about this kind of situation, as I have a family member in the service, currently assigned to a base in CONUS.   Even though he is a Master-at-Arms, he does not typically go armed when he is on duty on base.

For the record .. oh, never mind.  You know how appalled I am.   I'm sure you are, too.

Haven't they suffered enough?

Kerry Visits Hiroshima Memorial Seven Decades After A-Bomb - NBC News:

Secretary of State John
Kerry along with foreign ministers of G7 nations laid a wreath at an altar inside the Hiroshima Peace Park Memorial, paying tribute to World War II atomic bomb victims as the highest-ranking U.S. official ever to visit the memorial.

Oh, Krap!

I know they did that whole "Pearl Harbor" thing, but wasn't it enough that we paid them back with A-bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Now we've tripled-down on them with the K-Bomb!

Oh, the humanity!



First female infantry recruit is a Louisiana police officer

First female infantry recruit is a Louisiana police officer | Fox News:

“I have served the front lines in my hometown,” Barnett said in a statement, “and now I am going to serve the front lines for my country.”
Tammy Barnett takes her oath as the first female infantry recruit.

She doesn't look especially prepossessing in this picture, does she?
Neither did I, when I was sworn in.  Nor did the other 99 males in my class.

Training makes the difference.

There's a lot of controversy about women serving in the military, but I was unaware until today that there were NO women currently serving in the Infantry.

Why is this so controversial?

Because:
  • Female infantry may get wounded and their fellow soldiers may be more protective of her than focused on accomplishing the objective;
  • Problems with possible hanky-panky within the unit
  • Some BS about "Bad Hair Days" (Menstrual Cycle Emotionalism)
  • Private shower stalls?
  • Can't keep up in Physical Training Exercises
  • Can't carry their wounded buddies out of the Action because 'upper body strength'
  • Squeamish

Have I missed anything?

It's all a bunch of baloney.  Women can make fine Infantry soldiers.

Rudyard Kipling had a poem about "The Female of the Species":

   WHEN the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride, 

    He shouts to scare the monster, who will often turn aside. 
    But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail. 
    For the female of the species is more deadly than the male

He often mentioned female vindictiveness, especially in "The Young British Soldier":
When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,And the women come out to cut up what remains, Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Kipling had a much more rational view of the Human Condition than most of us.  That might be because he spend much of his formative years in a war zone, and he watched .. not so much 'British Troops' but "natives" (often Afghan and Indians) in desperate plights where putative 'civilians' were caught up in war-time situations and were called upon to defend their homes and their families.

Considering that those civilians were not formally trained, and only haphazardly (if that) armed, they seemed to be able to function quite effectively when defending their homes and their families.

Granted, the prospect that U.S. Troops might include women in a direct-contact role doesn't include the defense of home, hearth and family, there's no reason why properly motivated women couldn't perform quite well in a direct contact situation.

What do they have to do? Shoot people?

Piece o' cake.

About the NRA rant ...

I may have mentioned, sometime during the eight years that I've been blogging here, that I have a love/hate relationship with the National Rifle Association.

I've been a member many times, and then they do something to seriously piss me off irritate me, and I cancel my membership or merely allow it to lapse.

Eventually (invariably) I consider the valuable protection they provide the members of the shooting community, and I rejoin to show my support.

Then they do something else with which I completely disagree.   It's easier to just let it lapse than to quit .... especially after I've already sent in the membership fee.

That's why I never took out a Lifetime Membership.  And why I quit signing up with a Three Year membership.

Nobody ever said I don't have strong opinions, or that I was reluctant to express them.

This time I decided to make my displeasure public.   Not everyone agrees with me, not everyone thinks I should have been as vehement in expressing my displeasure.

Then and Now ... (bad choices & consequences)

Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame And ISIS: A Cautionary Tale  WCCO | CBS Minnesota: MINNEAPOLIS (AP) —

THEN:

As a spoken word artist, Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame liked to talk to other young Somalis about following their dreams. In a video posted online in 2011, the teenager stands at a microphone and encourages teens to stay focused on their goals in life.


NOW:

But at his plea hearing, Warsame told the judge he was already in thrall to Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical Islamic cleric killed in Yemen in 2011, listening to his lectures on the internet and watching videos of beheadings. He said he came to believe his duty as a devout Muslim was to take up arms against non-Muslims.
Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame (credit: Anoka Co. Jail)

Perhaps his role in life is to serve as a bad example.




(Johnny Cash knows all about bad choices, but nobody named "Mohamed" ever listened to Cash.)