"New Machine Gun Will Blast Like Battle Tanks" ... as if!

Yeah, sure.  I've heard this before.  It was bullshit then, it's bullshit now.

Army's new machine gun will blast like battle tanks | Fox News: The Army’s new weapon will look like a light machine gun, but will put M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank-style blasting power literally at the fingertips of U.S. soldiers.

In 1970 Vietnam, while I was on "Profile" for an extreme case of "Bamboo Poisoning", the US ARMY put me on profile (light duty.)

I got a lot of scratches which were infected because they were not treated; it took 5 years for the sores to heal up ... nasty stuff!

While I was on "Profile", in the rear with the gear, the Army decided I was lolling around doing nothing, so they assigned me to the task of testing and evaluating a 'new weapon".

I don't recall the nomenclature, but it was a shoulder-fired, four-round semi-automatic rocket launcher which would launch rockets (essentially the M72 Rocket Launcher) from a "Man-Portable" platform used to disable enemy "armor"..

The "platform" weighed about 50 pounds when loaded, and it required an "assistant gunner" to carry 4-round reloads.  It may not have been the best usage of infantrymen, since the Viet Cong didn't have a lot of tanks

At the end of the test, my evaluation was that the mechanism was too heavy to carry in a combat environment, deprived the army of two infantrymen who were more effective with common shoulder-fired weapons, and served no discernible combat function because the burdoned infantrymen were unable to keep up with an infantry platoon during movement in the field.

Besides which, the rockets seemed unlikely to actually "Bust" a dirt-bermed bunker which was common in NVA fixed positions such as those I had encountered in at least two combat assaults.

(The M72 rocket was a "tank buster", and we never saw an NVA tank during my 1969-1970 tour.)

My sores healed up and I was returned to active duty.  I never saw any response from "higher" to my evaluation .. but the four-round semi-automatic M72 rocket launcher was never issued to troops in the field.   I decided that I had performed my duty by nixing a bad concept.

Going to Nationals!

Musings Over a Barrel: Going to Nationals!:

Were in!  This September, I get to shoot the IDPA National Championship match.

No, that's not me saying that; I'm too old and slow to go to a Nationals match any more (but then, I always was).

But for one young competitor, especially, it's the Dream Come true!

Competition makes Monsters of us all:
You have to qualify for the nationals, which isj't all that hard to do if you're a fast, young gun. 

I remember my first USPSA National match back in the 1980's, when I was shooting C-class in Limited division.

That was in the period when USPSA was just beginning to add new divisions ... as I recall, we had only Open and "Stock" at the time; "Limited" division wasn't even envisioned, let alone all the divisions we contend with today.

   I was having the hell kicked out of me by a young man whose skill-level in his (STOCK?) category was WAY beyond his rating.  I couldn't believe he was still C-class, so I searched him on the internet.  It turned out that he had recently been bumped up to B-class.  He wasn't aware of it, but I brought it to the attention of the match staff, and in doing so was bumped up to third place in my class and category.

I'm not proud of it,  I've never been "skilled" in competition pistol shooting, but I was at the peak of m form after spending months shooting thousands of rounds a month to be as competitive as I could, and I really wanted to win SOMETHING for the $400+ match fee.

The gentleman in question was disappointed, of course, but he never said a bad word to me.   He was the better man, in more ways than one.

I guess this is something of a cautionary note to competitors.   Sometimes winning isn't as important as playing the game, taking your licks, and shaking the hand of those who beat you.

I've become something of an expert at congratulating better shooters..


I only wish I had learned that lesson 20 years earlier.

Well, and I wish I was a better shooter ... but it's better to play and lose, than not to play at all.

NOTICE: This Is An "Anti-government" Website

Late last night (or early this morning ... I'm retired, who cares?) I did some research on my own website and discovered that mine was an "Anti-Government Website".

This is rewarding on at least two issues:

1. somebody still reads this blog!
2. somebody noticed that it's an "anti-government" blog!

I think that anyone who isn't at least a little "anti-government" isn't paying attention.  

Or he is a Democrat ... which amounts to about the same thing.  

Here is an example of how "Government" resolves societal problems.

Here's what I think:

If you want to hurt yourself, shoot yourself in the foot.If you want to REALLY hurt yourself, trust your Government.

Federal, state, county, local; it doesn't matter.   When you trust an anonymous group of professional bureaucrats (is there any other kind?)  to "govern" your personal life, you have conceded your fate to the whims of people who couldn't hold down a real job.

So .. yes, I am "Anti-Government" because whores are the only class of people who want to screw you for money AND NOT RUIN YOUR LIFE!   A whore will at least give you the option of wearing a condom;  politicians want to bare-back every time.   And whores are quite honest about what they're doing, and why.   Other than that, there's no easily defined difference between the two career paths.

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I have actually voted for politicians who I thought were honest.

DEFINITION OF "AN HONEST POLITICIAN":

An Honest Politician is one who, once bought, stays bought.

"Justice in Action?" You decide.

Apparently folks in Tallahassee don't have a lot of confidence in the "Support Your Local Sheriff" mantra.

Academy Sports pistol thief - who threatened to kill upon his release - released on bond - The Gun Writer:

Jason F. White told Tallahassee police that he tried to steal a Glock 27 from Academy Sports June 29 because he needed to kill someone. The unemployed 24-year-old Tallahassee resident told officers an “unknown man” was threatening him and his children, and that he needed to kill him.

This certainly provides a provocative contrast to the previous story about the Brit who was arrested for attempted murder for firing a paint-ball gun into the ground in front of an aggressor.

Attempted Murder Criteria in England

"I'm going to take your farm!"

British farmer fires paintball gun into ground to warn off aggressive trespasser.

“Close enough. I felt he would lunge at me and strike me with the stick as he was carrying it in a raised position,” the owner said. “He ignored my demand, slowly moving forward. Consciously, I moved the paintball gun to the front, still maintaining its position pointing to the ground. Approximately one metre in front of me, I released two paintballs. They made a popping sound. Then the man stopped.” The owner then called the police.

Arrested for attempted murder!

... and people wonder why eighteenth century Americans revolted against British Rule!

(It's a good thing we did, else we too would be a bunch of wimps with no rights!)

No, I am not making this up.  From the original article:

Charges could include possession of a dangerous weapon, contravening the Dangerous Weapons Act and even a charge as serious as pointing of a firearm – if the victim believes that the weapon is a real firearm. However, the Act states in section 3(1) that “any person who is in possession of a dangerous weapon under circumstances which may raise a reasonable suspicion that the person intends to use the dangerous weapon for an unlawful purpose, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years”.

IS IT SIGNIFICANT that the article does not mention whether charges were brought against the tresspasser?

I think so.  What do you think?

Voter Qualification in The Land of Fruits and Nuts ... and yes, even People from Outer Space!

You don't need to be an Earthling to vote in San Francisco.

San Francisco Department of Elections issues voter registration forms for non-citizens | abc7news.com: Monday, July 16, 2018 05:42PM SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Monday the Department of Elections Issued Voter Registration Forms for non-citizens who are eligible to vote for members of the San Francisco Board of Education in the November 6th 2018 election. The measure passed in 2016 with a close vote of 54 percent to 46 percent following two failed previous attempts.

Well, that explains how the people that California has elected its governor.

The FBI is FINALLY updating significant records to NICS

It's not "OUR" fault that people who should not own guns have not reliably been caught during Instant Background Checks.

The Infinite Wisdom of the American public has often pointed their fingers at legitimate firearms owners for "Mass Shootings" over the years; but recent information suggests that governmental agencies who are responsibility for updating  the list of forbidden firearms purchasers have not been doing the job; the embedded article points right back to them.

"THEM" .. is the folks responsible for religiously maintaining current information on the Database which registers and tracks felons and madmen.


Report: FBI will add 400 million new records to NICS:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation will add more than 400 million new records to the database used to vet gun buyers, according to a report this week from the Trace. The National Data Exchange, aka N-DEx, contains incident and arrest reports, probation and parole documents, according to the report — a trove of information capable of preventing questionable gun transfers from proceeding, such as in the case of the Charleston church shooter.

Seller Beware!

"They Say" ... it's easier to buy a gun than to buy a used car.

That only goes to show what they know.

Massachusetts man arrested for selling guns without a license:

Rathsomnang Neth, 22, faces one count of dealing in firearms without a license and two counts of possessing and transferring an unregistered shotgun with a shortened barrel, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday. The former carries a maximum sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine. Each latter possession charge, however, carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, according to the Department of Justice.

Who among the readers doesn't have some firearms which are 'superfluous to my needs' and would you like to find them a new home?

Sellers who dispose of more than X-number of firearms in private transactions, during Y-number of months, would be advised to go beyond the usual cautions of vetting their buyers.

If you don't know the values of "X" and "Y", maybe you should just hide them in your gun safe.  Or gift them to a a family member.

It doesn't matter who you sell to, their soon (who knows when) comes a point when you are arbitrarily migrated from the position of "private owner" to "DEALER!!!"
.
If you sell "too many guns" in "too short a time", you are still subject to FEDERAL prosecution regulation.

My case is a lot easier.  I'm old, I'll die soon.  My kids will inherit my firearms as well as my furniture.

They can sell my furniture to anybody .. but they need to go through an arcane number of federal regulations to successfully "vend" firearms.

Somehow this makes my prospects of an early heart attack less threatening, considering that the legal implications are A Fate Worse Than Death!

So .. yes; I believe I WILL have another piece of pie, thank you very much.

God Forbid I should have to face a jury of my peers.

California DOJ BLINKS!

This is our "Once a Year Day"!

California yields to the simple logic that what they require is incapable of enforcement.

California DOJ Withdraws Regulation Requiring Registration of ‘Assault Weapons’ | The Daily Caller: The California Department of Justice withdrew a regulation Wednesday evening requiring California firearm owners to register so-called “assault weapons” following a lawsuit filed by a group of gun rights advocacy organizations

California politicians have established a "need" for an exceedingly complicated and expensive legal path toward compliance.   Except they have not the laws to enforce the law.   Which makes the entire exercise merely an amateurish attempt to frighten legal gun-owners by the imposition of penalties which do not exist in law.

As usual, the Liberal Gun-Grabbers had not the foresight to do their homework. 

(As teenagers, did their mothers make them do their homework before watching television?   Apparently, not!   That's once more difference between the Common People and The Anointed.)