Fed Ex Saves The Flag

FedEx driver saves American flags from protesters’ flames in Iowa City | WQAD.com:

Around noon, a small number of people gathered at a rally in front of the pedestrian mall to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline, and a variety of other issues, reports KCRG. As they were burning an American flag, bystanders caught video of a FedEx employee jumping in and grabbing the flags, putting out the flames with a fire extinguisher.

H/T BOREPATCH

(Art work from COMMENTS section on the original post, and twitter)

update: 01/30/17: Matt Uhrin, the FedEx driver from Cedar Rapids, Iowa who intervened last Thursday to save American flags from protesters trying to burn them, will not be fired for his actions.

Why TSA is finding more guns in carry-ons

Why TSA is finding more guns in carry-ons | Buckeye Firearms Association:

Bringing a gun into an airport checkpoint is a really big mistake, but as more people carry more frequently, such mistakes are bound to happen. The Transportation Security Administration is reporting that the number of guns discovered at security checkpoints at our nation's airports has been steadily growing in recent years. TSA says they confiscated 2,653 guns from airline passengers in 2015, and are on track to break that record this year. They have been averaging a little more than seven guns a day at airport security checkpoints nationwide.

This article may be a bit confusing to some people, but it's probably because they are confused about the difference between "Carry-On" and "Checked" baggage.

No, you cannot have a firearm in the passenger area.  But it is perfectly legal to have a firearm in "Checked Baggage" (the bags which are stowed in the cargo area of the airplane, and not immediately accessible to you or anyone else in the passenger section of the airplane).

The rules for transporting a firearm in "Checked Baggage" will probably vary between airlines ... you need to check their online website to determine to priorities for the airline that's taking you to your next match.

But generally, there are a few rules in common for firearms in "Checked Baggage"

• The firearm must be unloaded!   Some airlines ask that you demonstrate to the ticket agent that you have an unloaded firearm during check-in, but that is becoming increasingly rare because you'll scare the pants off that check-in clerk if you are determined to "Unload And Show Clear" during the check-in process.   As long as the firearm is in a locked hard-shell bag, you're probably okay.
• Most airlines do not tag a bag as "Firearm Enclosed", but some may.  (Actually, most do.)   Not saying you should not declare, but if you must ... baggage handlers LOVE bags with a Red Tag on the handle.  Answer questions when they are asked, but it may not be necessary to offer information.  Again, check the rules for the airline you're riding with.The gun should be in a hard-side suitcase, and then inside a hard box, and the bag should be locked with a key. Get the most secure suitcase you can find; they're less expensive than buying a new race gun.  Oh, and baggage handlers will also focus on top-of-the-line secure bags because they know there are goodies inside.   No, you can't win; but you can make it more challenging.
• Ammunition, if you're travelling with it, must be in a separate bag.  If you're going to a match, it's a lot better idea to ship it ahead of time to your match hotel than to include it in your checked baggage.
• Ammunition, by the way, has special packaging rules.  They sound like "in original packaging", but what they're saying is you shouldn't have loose rounds in a box.   Or a tub.  Or anything that might get 'broken' by rough handling.  (I'm not picking on Baggage Handlers", but see the TV ad for Gorilla Luggage below.)  Which just makes good sense.  And by the way, plastic ammo boxes WILL get broken during shipment.  Cardboard ("Original") boxes are more likely to survive the bumps and grinds of baggage handlers.
• Shipping to the "Match Hotel" works fine for ammunition, but it has special problems if you try to ship your gun.  Assuming you're going out-of-state, you may run afoul of local/state laws if you ship a firearm, even to yourself, interstate.  (If you'r going to a match in the same state, you're probably going to drive.  If you don't plan to drive ... you may want to reconsider your travel plans)
• SPARES:  Expect the Unexpected. If you have two guns, bring them both; in separate packages, especially if you're shipping them (in luggage .. have two pieces of luggage with spares in each one).  Have a complete set of tools, including a small brass hammer, punches (a 1/8" as a minimum), screwdrivers and any other tools you would use to perform maintenance on your firearm.   Consider spare ejector, extractor (tune it at home so you don't have to do it at the match), various screws, recoil spring, main spring ... every spring you can think of!) firing pin, firing pin block.  Don't forget that blue stuff that keeps the screws from backing out because you expect to do a lot of shooting at a match.
• Ammunition ... always bring at least 50% more ammunition than you expect to need.   You never know how many 'reshoots' you will have to do because some dummy didn't write your time down on your score sheet.  At a major match, and if you're shooting some caliber that isn't standard (like .38 Super Comp), bring twice what you expect to need.  At least.  If you can't buy it at a sporting goods store in town, expect to need it.
  
• Insurance: Get some.  Make it appropriate to the value of your firearm(s).  You may not be glad you did, but you will be sorry if you don't.   If your 'stuff' gets lost in transit, insurance may be the cheapest, yet most valuable, purchase you make.
• Magazines (speedloaders) expect to lose some, or have them turn up non-functional; the likelihood of this happening is directly proportional to the expense of attending the match.
• Car Keys:  This sounds stupid, but when you leave your car at the airport, be SURE you didn't lock your keys in your car in the airport parking lot.  I once had to call my Sweety's sister from New York to ask her to break into my house and get my spare set of keys, because I left the keys to my car IN my car in the parking lot ... in Oregon.  She sent the spare keys to me, which saved me having to get a taxi from Portland to Corvallis just to get home from the airport.
• Other Stuff:   Cash, travelers' checks, credit cards, Drivers' license ... all the stuff you normally know you need to have on your person when you travel.

When you go to a major match, you don't need to have the distraction of anticipating problems when you're suppose to be focusing on the match.

By the way, I posted almost the same advice a few years ago, and most of this hadn't changed.  I'm just too lazy to look up the original article and provide a link to it here.

Gorilla Luggage:

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Washington: "Unsecured Firearm Law" proposed

What IS it with Washington State this week?

Unsecured firearm law would hold gun owners accountable:

...  Washington state doesn’t have a law to punish gun owners whose weapons get in the hands of the wrong people. Democratic state Senator Guy Palumbo is trying to change that. Palumbo introduced a bill that would make unsafe storage of a gun a crime. “It’s basically to keep the guns we do have out of the hands of dangerous people,” he said.

Anyone with a firearm can be described as "dangerous people".  That's the whole point of a firearm.

 As the bill is currently written, a gun owner would either get a misdemeanor or felony — depending on how the gun was used — if their unsecured firearm was used illegally by someone. “

Which is to say, YOU can be penalized on a 'sliding scale' depending on what some OTHER person does ... and does without either your consent or your knowledge, never mind your active participation.

This is going to be a great year to be a Lawyer in Washington State!

You can never guarantee those wouldn’t happen — those tragedies — but certainly in those cases, this all would have had ramifications for the people’s whose guns were used in those tragedies.” Palumbo, a gun owner himself, says it is just “common sense” to lock up firearms. “I’m a gun owner, but it’s unfair to keep them unlocked,” he said. 

What's unfair is to require people to make their personal defense firearms inaccessible to the owners.
Which is another way of saying: "that's the whole point of a firearm".

 He admits he is not sure how well the bill will do.

In a sane society, it would be laughed out of the house.  On The Left Coast, we never know what the idiots in office will do.

Washington State: What part of "Will Not Comply" is still unclear to you?

FBI: Washington State Gun Owners Not Complying With New Background Check Law - The Truth About Guns:

 The FBI has just released a report showing that private party transfers in Washington following the new law accounted for only 2% of the total background checks.

Duh!
Nobody wants to comply, because (a) it's expensive and inconvenient, (b) since firearms serial numbers are necessarily included, it is tantamount to Registration [the first step to confiscation], and (c) only law-abiding citizens will obey the law ... which is supposedly framed to prevent sale of firearms to criminals.

Criminals will ignore it, rendering the law moot and ineffective as a means to its stated goal.
 Do you not recognize the dichotomy of the situation?

In America, private individuals have been loaning, exchanging and selling firearms to each other for hundreds of years,  To begin penalizing (imprisoning them?) now for exercising their constitutional rights would be the same as penalizing (imprisoning them?) for going to the church of their choice or speaking their mind in a public forum.

If the law would accomplish its goal, it might be acceptable by the citizenry ... if it were better written!
But this POS law will not really be effective in Washington.  Or Oregon.  Or Nevada or Connecticut ... etc.


For a detailed explanations of just why "Universal Background Checks" are A Bad Idea, read Dr. John Lott's recent explanation.

Ohhhhhhh .... Rob!

I'll miss Laura Petri.

In Case You Don't Know What Online Fakes Look Like:

I do this once every year or so, and I don't give the specific details because ... it's all fake stuff designed to defraud unsuspecting people.

This is what is commonly known as the "Nigerian Letter", and if your server prevents this from reaching you ... you have good protection.  

Yes, it tempts the recipient to engage in deliberate fraud.

Yes, it's all a lie.

No, you should not even respond to any letter that looks anything like this; if you respond at all, they have your email address and they will sell it to their friends.   And you will never hear the last of them.

If this looks like something you ought not to even see, just delete it now.

Significant "Tells" that this is bogus: they don't have your email address, they don't have your name, and most important ... if it looks too good to be true, it is.

Oh, and they are usually semi-literate, usually they can't spell as accurately as this guy, and they almost invariably originate from Africa.


Attn Sir/Madam

I'm Mr KIIIi K Kxxxu  a database engineer with International Commercial Bank Ghana. I'm writing this short message to you in expectation of an urgent reaction from you.

I'm in charge of the database which contains record of our transaction,
customer details and Identity  in one of our branches in Accra Ghana and I'm contacting you because there's an urgent need for a partner from your country for a quick business dealings with a 50/50 share agreement. We have a customer from the US who used our bank to apply for a contract here in Ghana and the contract has been long concluded and his money paid but the issue is that till date there has been no activities on the Bank account. I have been monitoring the account since the past two years and decided to make my research only to find out that the customer is late. It's a secret only me knows and i'm seeking to use it to my advantage as it will must definitely get to the hands of the top bosses once they realize this.

The total amount is 28 Million Euros, it was paid install-mentally and the
good news is that it is an online account so it can be accessed from anywhere in the world.

Now what I want you to do if interested is to make yourself available and
I will edit the information on the account to your information then the details of the account will be given to you. I will give the contact details  of the office to contact in our bank and you will request for reactivation of the account, they will only have to go through the account details which will match yours and approve your request for reactivation.

When this is done, you will be able to transfer the funds in the account to any account of your choice but that will be in Bits to avoid restriction, I will also give you my account information as well which you will have to transfer my part of the 50%. Since i'd be in control of the activities that go on in the account , I will make sure we disburse the funds in it as agreed.

Waiting to hear from you.
Thanks.

Why Am I Not Surprised?

HRC is a known and proven imaginative re-interpreter of facts Professional Politician..

It only stands to reason that her co-conspirators supporters are known bottom-feeding from time to time caught in the act convicted of "corruption".

Former Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), who was a superdelegate for failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, has reported to prison to begin his 10-year sentence stemming from numerous corruption charges.

Just draining the swamp, Boss. Move on, nothing new here.

Except ... apparently we ARE judged by the company we keep.