Wednesday, August 01, 2018

Proposed Gun Laws are Unconstitutional: "Automatic Weapon"

A lot of  the new "proposed" gun laws make no sense. 

Okay, I take that back; most of them are so nuanced that (when you parse them) they make no sense.

Take the issue of the term: "Semi-automatic weapon".

According to many sources, that defines a firearm which will fire one shot with every pull of the trigger.

Imbeciles of the World, Unite!

I may or may not own a double-action revolver.
 It will fire one shot with every pull of the trigger.

According to the lame-ass definitions provided by imbeciles who know nothing about firearms, that should be considered a "Semi-automatic firearm", and subject to draconian restrictions.   But it's a Revolver, and not easy to reload, so they ignore this inconvenient fact item.

There are definitions on the internet which attempt to address this conundrum:
semi-automatic firearm, or self-loading firearm, is one that not only fires a bullet each time the trigger is pulled, but also performs all steps necessary to prepare it to discharge again—assuming cartridges remain in the firearm's feed device. Typically, this includes extracting and ejecting the spent cartridge case from the firing chamber, re-cocking the firing mechanism, and loading a new cartridge into the firing chamber. To fire again, the trigger is released and re-pressed.
"Typically":

Well, what if you don't have to physically extract the "spent cartridge case", and what if the action of "recocking the firing mechanism and loading a new cartridge in the firing chamber" is accomplished by merely pulling the trigger again?   How is this different?

A better, and more accurate definition of "semi-automatic"  might be that you fire a shot each time the trigger is pulled until you run out of ammunition or discontinue pulling the trigger.   That presupposes that you don't have to perform any manual action other than pulling the trigger again to fire the next shot.

Well, then you have just defined a double-action revolver .. against which the cognoscenti have no defense.  Their definition requires that the gun "automatically" load the next round, instead of the user doing so "automatically"  upon pulling the trigger again.   (Petty bastards)

But gun-grabbers are all about restricting Second Amendment rights of people who use pistols ... rather than revolvers .. to perform the same function: pull the trigger to fire the next shot until the ammunition supply is exhausted.  They're good with that.   They are comfortable in their ignorance, believing that nobody can run a revolver and reload it as quickly as they (personally) might be expected to run a semi-automatic pistols, reloading from magazines.

I have just two things to say:

Jerry Miculek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzHG-ibZaKM

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Money for nothin'; Chicks for Free!

"... Anyone who wants to vote ... " Really, Michelle?

Michelle Obama joins nationwide voter registration effort | News | wisconsingazette.com:
(July 20, 2018)
Stepping back into the political fray, Michelle Obama is lending her star power to a new nationwide effort to register anyone who wants to vote in the November midterm elections. The former first lady this week announced her involvement as a co-chair of When We All Vote. The nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization will work online and in person to help register anyone who wants to vote in the fall, when Democrats hope to ride a wave of anger among liberal voters against President Donald Trump's policies on immigration, health care and other issues to take back control of the House and Senate.

Usually, we expect that voters are at least American citizens.

Michelle Obama carefully avoided the issue; she said "ANYONE" and we can only assume that she meant what she said.

Apparently, this is not an issue for Democrats.  And Ms Obama has not established a qualification which includes American Citizenship.

She said: "ANYONE WHO WANTS TO VOTE"; and I take her at her word' which assumes that the vote will become available to anyone who is a resident ... not just those who are citizens.

We now have millions of non-citizens in this country.  Some of them are working and some of them are living on "The Dole".  There's something wrong with this, and non-citizens should not vote.

Those who can, do; those who cannot, teach

For the past eight years, I have been the instructor at my local club in a program of "Introduction to USPSA".  It was an opportunity to introduce new shooters to USPSA competition (which I have been active in since 1983), and gave me something to look forward to in every month.

I kept telling myself that I was donating my time as a way of "giving back to the sport".   In truth, since my eyesight has degraded over the years, it was a way of keeping my hand in it, since I was no longer able to see well enough to be competitive.

But last month, I slept through the beginning of my class.  I had to phone the range and tell them that I was unable to attend.

That was a personal disappointment to me, not only because I had several students who wondered where I was, but because it was one of the best parts of my month.   And I slept through it!

The club thought I was "giving back to the sport";  while I enjoyed meeting new shooters and sharing the insights of rules of safety which I had learned over 30+ years of Competition. I had an intrinsic interest in teaching new shooters how to be safe.  It was the best part of my month, and I always looked forward to it.

AS a consequence, I announced to my home club that I was retiring.  Because I was unable to even show up for a scheduled class, it was obvious that I was no longer competent and they should no longer schedule the class.  (I hope they found someone else to take over the class, but I haven't heard from them on that issue..)

It's disappointing to give up one of the few activities which allow me time on the range.   And it was embarrassing to read the emails from the scheduled attendees who asked me "WTF?"

But when it's time to retire ... you know it.  And I knew it.

The gun club was very understanding, and they even provided me an honorarium in the form of a gift card from WalMart.   I hadn't expected that, but it was touching to learn that they appreciated my small contribution to gun-safety at USPSA matches there.

I don't think anyone realized that I had donated eight years of once-a-month class instruction because it was the only way I could enjoy the sport in which I had participated for so many decades.  (In truth, while I was still able to compete, I wanted to ensure that the people  I was competing against had the best instruction on rules and safety ... but it it eventually became more important that I got to meet New Shooters, and none of them ever disappointed me by being an unsafe shooter!)

I'll miss the class, and the opportunity to meet new shooters.   But when your time is through, it's better to gracefully yield to the inevitable, than to fight against it.

It's all about safety, after all.




Sunday, July 29, 2018

Tanks For The Memories

Arnold Schwarzenegger Demolishes Stretch Limousine With 50-Ton Tank | Daily Wire:
 He might be 70 years old, but Arnold Schwarzenegger is still a total bada**. The Terminator appeared last week on "Jay Leno's Garage," but instead of showing off a vintage car, Arnie was there with his 1951 M-47 Patton tank.
Nah, I'm not going to embed the video.   Go to the article on Daily Wire; they need the traffic.