There are those among my readers (most of them) who would aver that the title of this article should be "Sick Geek!".
However, it is not my purpose to reward their intemperate canards.
Rather, I regret to report that I seem to have caught the Common Cold.
It has been slowly impinging upon my Co-Workers for a week. Andy had the cold last week, and continued to come to word "regardless". He makes his presence known by the occassional Ka-WHOOP!.
Deb missed Monday, and came in to work on Tuesday where she was immediately dubbed "Coughing Woman". She lasted for about six hours, finally yielding the the gentle advice (Geek in origin) to "Go home!". She hasn't been back yet, yielding three sick days and one sick-but-shoulda-stayed-home day.
This afternoon Mark started clearing his throat -- loudly -- of congestion every few minutes. I realized that every time he HrrrUMPPed!, I HrrrUMPPED immediately afterword. This continued until, about 4pm, I realized that my HrrUMPP was changing to a robust Ka-WHOOP!
And then my nose started to run.
I finally left the office about 15 minutes early, unable to further ignore the undeniable evidence that I was Catching A Cold.
There are more than the usual number of down-sides to this, quite apart from my own discomfort and loss of work-time:
I can't be around SWMBO when I have a cold. Her immune system has been entirely suppressed by the chemotherapy, and she isn't really strong enough to deal with a cold.
The redoubtable Hobo Brasser had planned to come down to visit us this weekend. His Lady Wife, the estimable Mrs Hobo Brasser (aka, in her own right, "Spicey") had planned to furnish dinner ... her made-from-scratch Macaroni and Cheese is reputed to be The Stuff that Childhoods Are Made Of. I am gonna miss this, but they did want to have dinner and visit with both of us, and I am temporarily rendered Hors d'Combat.
A co-worker has recently purchased a new pistol. I had tentatively planned to take him to the range this weekend to both provide him with an opportunity to shoot it, but also to make sure he has the gun-handling instructions which will help him to use it safely.
(Break: Now I'm sneezing, and my nose is running worse than it was when I started writing this. Ha-CHEW!)
I really don't appreciate it when people bring their Winter Colds to work. It's like "Take Your Daughter To Work Day", only with fewer annoying squeaky voices and more disappointment.
Here's a personal hint, from me to you:
If you have a cold, please stay home and enjoy it. You may feel you are an important contributor to your office (jobsite, whatever) efficiency. In reality, you may be willing to "play through the pain", but the rest of your co-workers are probably going to end up spending some work-days at home. They will not thank you.
Hmmmmm - I'm not sure I got the message through to everybody. Let's try it again:
President Obama's official agenda does not specifically address support for the Second Amendment. However, he nicely covers this under the category of "Sportsmen".
Sportsmen
President Obama did not grow up hunting and fishing, but he recognizes the great conservation legacy of America's hunters and anglers and has great respect for the passion that hunters and anglers have for their sports. Were it not for America's hunters and anglers, including the great icons like Theodore Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold, our nation would not have the tradition of sound game management, a system of ethical, science-based game laws and an extensive public lands estate on which to pursue the sport. The President and Vice President recognize that we must forge a broad coalition if we are to address the great conservation challenges we face. America's hunters and anglers are a key constituency that must take an active role and have a powerful voice in this coalition.
That's nice.
The Presidential Agenda effectively equates the Second Amendment with the right to keep and bear fly-fishing rods.
I wonder what his position is on Deep Sea fishing equipment, which has no legitimate purpose except the wanton slaughter of innocent Marlins outside the 12-mile limit off the American coast.
Back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it. They failed and it closed. Now we are trusting the economy of our country and our banking system to the same nit-wits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling whiskey.
I looked very much like a guy who hasn't fired a round in practice or in competition for several months, and I didn't expect much more than a good time.
Going to a USPSA match when you're out of practice is like kissing an ugly girl; you don't expect much, and you're grateful for anything that exceeds your expectations, but mostly you just really, really want to get ... kissed.
I got kissed by the Ugly Ammo girl. I had a bunch of high primers. Out of the 150+/- rounds required in the match, I experienced misfires once on four of the six stages. I've been having problems with my Dillon XL650 for several months, which explains why I haven't shot many matches lately ... at least in part. The high-primer cartridges weren't obvious. I had gauged and inspected all of my ammunition and didn't catch those four. (Sorting through my ammunition box, I found another 'suspicious' round and dumped it into my range bag. I'll check that out 'later'.)
The match was better than my shooting. Evil Bill set up a six-pack of challenging stages which met the minimum requirements for 'rainy season' matches. There was a lot of steel, and in case of rain the targets could easily be replaced right out of stock without time-consuming painting. I talked to Evil Bill about this:
"I've changed my stage designs. If I want to restrict the shooter's access to the target area, I don't often paint it black. I just staple a no-shoot on top."
I saw a couple of black-painted targets during the match, but they were the exception, not the rule. This makes it much easier to replace targets during the match, because there are no concerns that the 'hard-cover' matches the original target.
Evil Bill made the maximum use of steel targets for this match. He had a Texas Star, a plate-rack (you'll see this later), and many Pepper Poppers and US Poppers to provide challenging stages without the need to replace a lot of cardboard targets (both Classic and Metric targets were featured).
The most interesting stage in the match was on Stage 1, Bay 1: "Get Over It".
Brief description: This was a symetrical stage, based on a six-plate plate rack. Vision barriers prevented full view of the plates from either side. You could only see six plate-rack targets, plus a single 9" plate, and 3 full-vision Metric targets from each of the two sides of the stage. Vision barriers forced the competitor to move from one extreme lateral side of the bay to the other in order to see/engage all of the targets. Eight plates and six Metric targets comprised the challenge and for the average shooter 20 seconds with no more than 3 or 4 points 'down' constituted a good run.
Here's how it looked for three Ol Pharts who were all shooting Open Division with varying degrees of success:
One of the things I appreciated about this match, which featured three "lateral design" field courses, was that the round count for most stages exceeded 20 rounds. This challenged the shooters using high-cap (over 20 rounds) magazines to decide when, where and whether they would reload.
The Hobo Brasser twice announced, at the end of these stages, "I should have listened to The Geek". I had advised to use 20-round magazines rather than 25+ round magazines, because that strategy would force the Open shooter to reload during the long run from one side of the bay to the other. The COFs were so challenging that only one or two misses would throw your round-count past your magazine capacity.
I admit, I made the same mistake on three stages, where I ran out of ammunition before finishing the stages (taking a miss rather than do a standing reload).
The thing about Old Pharts is that we know all the ways to screw up a stage, but we are beyond learning from our previous experience or the advice of our peers.
(Incidentally, Fish beat the crap out of Geek and The Hobo Brasser, because he took the time to make sure that he got first-shot hits on the plates. There's a lesson here, but I'm not quite sure what it is.)
And although there were a plethora of Old Pharts shooting Open Guns, one young man named Dante (attending with his father) was also shooting Open in this squad. He did a fine job, even though he forgot his holster and had to shoot from the "low ready" position. [This may be the wave of the future, but I hope not.}
Near the end of the match I approached Dante's father, Adam, and told him: "I wish you had told us that your son was shooting without a holster because he didn't bring it with him. I thought you were teaching him USPSA shooting before you introduced him to holster work. I have a holster, magazine carriers and belt in my car that I would have been glad to loan him, if I had only known".
Adam replied: "That's okay. It will teach him a lesson. I think he will never go to a match without making sure that he has all of his gear".
(I never mentioned that in the past 25+ years I had forgotten almost every piece of equipment when attending a match, including pistol, holster, magazines and ammunition.)
"So, you are big on giving lessons, are you?" I replied.
"Yes".
"I'm glad you aren't my father" I said.
But this was not intended as criticism of Adam's parenting techniques. Actually, I think he has done The Right Thing. If my father had introduced me to Competitive Shooting instead of to shooting in general, I may have avoided a lot of embarrassing matches.
Here's how Dante looked at one of the match stages:
In his August 28, 1963 "I Have A Dream" speach at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King Jr. said many things. Among these dreams he described was this one.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
We celebrated King's birth yesterday (January 19) although his birthday was actually January 15.
Today, January 20, 2009, we celebrate the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama in his term as the 44th President of the United States of America.
As a Conservative American, I find myself less than entirely enamored of this president.
His politics are not only not conservative, but incomprehensible. At best, he can be said to be anti-Second Amendment. At worst, he is a Socialist.
What was his campaign platform? "Change!"
It's not uncommon for a candidate, especially a Democratic Candidate, to run on the platform that "I am Not The Last President", and while that is such a popular platform it remains uncommon for the sole plank to be "change". Usually, candidates are more specific about the changes they would make in the presidential administration. We did not see this in the latest Presidential Campaign.
The primary appeal for this candidate was his race. It is generally accepted that the impetus of his campaign was that he was Black, and his election would validate Dr. King's "Dream" speech.
In fact, Mr. Obama's election on the primary basis of his race is a direct refute of Dr. King's dream.
For any candidate to be elected on the basis of his race is NOT what Dr. King said would validate his dream.
Mr. Obama was elected not because of the content of his character, but because of the color of his skin. Given that his character was constantly assailed ... and the controversy was never answered by the Obama campaign ... it seems only logical to conclude that Race was the primary factor leading to his election.
I can only hope that the low expectations described by conservatives in this country are exceeded by Mr. Obama's performance.
I hope that he respects the Constitution.
I hope that he respects the traditional American values of Capitalism and a Free-Market Economy.
But I don't expect it.
I do, however, expect that these words will encourage his supporters to castigate me as a Racist, because I do not support this candidate on the basis of his policies (as nearly as we can interpret them, given the paucity of his platform definitions.)
I don't think I'm the racist here. I did now admire the Republican candidate's platform, either, but at least I had a good idea where he stood.
McCain was not an appealing candidate; Obama was not a candidate, he was merely an opponent. That should have given him the lead, but not by the margin recorded by the polls.
The single advantage to Mr. Obama's presidency is, that he will make Mr. George W. Bush look good by comparison.
Unfortunately, we must survive the next four years of the Obama Presidency, and the Republicans must field a legitimate candidate, to recover from this administration.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., is hoping to pass a firearm-licensing bill that will significantly rewrite gun-ownership laws in America.
Among the more controversial provisions of the bill are requirements that all handgun owners submit to the federal government a photo, thumb print and mental heath records. Further, the bill would order the attorney general to establish a database of every handgun sale, transfer and owner's address in America.
The bill claims its purpose is "to protect the public against the unreasonable risk of injury and death associated with the unrecorded sale or transfer of firearms to criminals and youth."
... not to get to excited, this is just another "Feel-Good" bill thrown out to make the Congressman look good to his gun-grabber constituents. Still, it's a harbinger of tomorrow's federal legislation.
If passed, the bill would make it illegal to own or possess a "qualifying firearm" – defined as any handgun or any semiautomatic firearm that takes an ammunition clip – without a "Blair Holt" license.
To obtain a "Blair Holt" license, an application must be made that includes a photo, address, all previous aliases, thumb print, completion of a written firearm safety test, release of mental health records to the attorney general and a fee not to exceed $25.
Further, the bill makes it illegal to transfer ownership of a qualifying firearm to anyone who is not a licensed gun dealer or collector. Exceptions to this rule include transfer to family members by gift or bequest and loans, not to exceed 30 days, of a firearm for lawful purposes "between persons who are personally known to each other."
The bill also requires qualifying firearm owners to report all transfers to the attorney general's database. It would also be illegal for a licensed gun owner to fail to record a gun loss or theft within 72 hours or fail to report a change of address within 60 days.
And if a minor obtains a weapon and injures someone with it, the owner of the gun – if deemed to have failed to meet certain safety requirements – faces a multiple-year jail sentence.
H.R. 45 is a resurfacing of 2007's H.R. 2666, which contained much of the same language and was co-sponsored by 15 other representatives and Barack Obama's current chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel. H.R. 2666 was assigned to the House Judiciary committee, where no action was taken.
H.R. 45 currently has no co-sponsors and is likewise assigned to the House Judiciary committee.
The bad news is, this is just the first of many bills which we can expect to be presented to congress in the next four years of the Obama White House.
Is this "Ipso Facto" firearms registration? Yes, that would be the minimum effect of this (and any similar bills).
Sooner or later, somebody is going to propose a gun-grabber bill which is going to stick.
Expect it to be much more egregious than this 'touchy-feely' bill.
Just so you know, the Obama administration will probably encourage a continuing onslaught of bills restricting the Second Amendment.
The only "good thing" about the Obama election is that he will, ultimately, show George W. Bush as a more effective president, in terms of preserving constitutional rights.
Her Oncologist pulled her out of Chemotherapy at the end of the 9th week during her evaluation. She was so overwhelmed by the chemo, and associated medications, that she was unable to walk unassisted. Also, she was disassociated ... couldn't think straight.
So he too her off Chemo around New Years (December 31st, to be precise) and told her she would have to recover from the debilitation before he could decide on a new course of treatment.
She took a couple of weeks off treatment, to allow the heavy metals to dissipate, went back yesterday for another evaluation.
They did some tests, inclding Scans and Xrays; the doctor said they needed to be able to say that the tumor was ruduced my 50% to determine that the chemotherapy was working.
He was unable to do that.
Show she's going to stay off the chemo for another two weeks, and he'll put her on a weekly regimen of Avastin only (constricts the blood vessels to reduce the amount of nutrients to her tumor ... and also to the rest of her body.)
This every-other-week addition to her weekly infusions have caused her a lot of problems in the past, but her oncologist thinks it will help slow the growth of the tumor, and that the side-effects will be lessened because it will no longer be infused along with the other 'heavy metal' drugs.
So she'll be working on maintenance procedures for a while (indeterminate length, perhaps in terms of years) while her doctors work to find a curative palliative. They're talking about some possibilities, but she probably won't be going back to the normal chemotherapy for the foreseeable future.
The Greeting Card In the meantime, I received a mysterious message early this week from Mike of Mister Completely. He wanted my street address to "mail (me) a package".
When I got home tonight, after stopping at SWMBO's house to see what I could do for her, I found he Mystery Package. It was a large box, addressed to (Jerry the Geek) "Re: Sandie".
I took it inside and opened it up quickly. Unlike most parcels addressed to me, it did not include reloading components.
Instead, it included a huge Gift Basket with "Get Well" ribbons wrapped around the handle.
I didn't look for a gift card. I didn't even take the basket out of the box to look for a card. Instead, I just came upstairs to email Mike and ask him if this was the surprise package he had promised me.
He said it was (and included the story behind it, which I will not relate here).
---
What a wonderful surprise for both me and for Sandie. I put the box by the door to take out to the car later, so it will stay cool and fresh until I can bring it to her tomorrow night.
Want to know the amazing part?
I've never met Mike. I've corresponded with him, he has posted comments in support of Sandie and me during her current battle, and every year he invites me to the Gunbloggers Rendesvous in Las Vegas (I've never taken him up on that ... I don't like Las Vegas and it's too far to travel.)
In fact, I don't think Sandie has ever heard of him. Well, she hasn't spent much time on the computer lately, and she doesn't surf GunBlogger websites as some of us do.
To receive this open expression of support from Mike is a wonderful thing, in my mind. here's a guy who only knows her third hand ... only knows me 2nd hand, and still he goes out of his way to make such a generous gesture.
I can only repeat the few things that I have said often, but not often enough.
You meet the nicest people in the Shooting Sports. And you meet surprisingly nice people on The Internet.
The combination of the two can only be said to be "The Best of The Best".
Many people have told me, in relay to Sandie:
"If there's ever anything that we can do, please let me know". The obvious reply to this is "okay, can you show up this weekend to vacuum the floors, Friday to do the laundry, Wednesday to do the shopping?" I'm sorry, we sometimes get a little bogged down in the mundane details.
So if you want to show Sandie some support, I'm afraid the the Gargantuan Generous Gift Basket niche has already been filled.
Can you show up on Tuesday to take the trash cans out to the curb?
____________________________-
PS:
Yes, I'm making light of this. What else can one do? But we do receive so much love and encouragement from our friends and acquaintances, and it's impossible to keep up with the volume here. When someone at a match says "Tell Sandie 'Hi' from me and tell her we miss her", I put it on my list and dutifully recite it only a few hours later, when I get back to her. She appreciates your support, and if I don't make the effort to return the greeting, please be patient with me. SHE receives your message, and SHE thanks you individually ... even if not in person.
Sandie and I are both doing as well as can be expected now, and we're hoping that she can spend some time on her day job in the near future, as soon as the worst of the drugs wear off and she canconcentrate again. Her fingers are still numb, so it's hard for her to type on the computer.
But if you will accept a group THANK YOU, here it is.
Sandie will probably not show up at a local match soon, but I do keep her informed on the odd occasions when I show up, such as last weekend's match at ARPC.
And I still have my camera, so unless you want' to be profiled here ... don't shoot yourself!
This comes from The HoboBrasser, who can be relied upon to know a scam when he sees one:
From: Internal Revenue Service [mailto:stimulus.payment@irs.gov] Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 8:16 AM Subject: Please submit your Stimulus Payment form
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a Stimulus Payment. Please submit the Stimulus Payment Online Form in order to process it.
A Stimulus Payment can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.
To submit your Stimulus Payment form, please download the document attached to your email.
Note: If filing or preparation fees were deducted from your 2007 Refund or you received a refund anticipation loan, you will be receiving a check instead of a direct deposit.
Regards, Internal Revenue Service
If you receive an email similar to this one, it is a good idea to NOT reply to it.
And for goodness sake, don't click on the psuedo-link (which has been de-activated) with the expectation of getting free money from the Federal Government!
Remember the old canard: "We're from the Government, and we're here to help you."
Any time you hear that phrase, or a variation of it (see above), your best chance is to run, don't walk, to the nearest exit.
From The Hobo Brasser, Secretary of the Columbia Cascade Section:
Chuck Anderson had thrown his hat in the ring for Area 1 Director. He is looking for signatures for his petition. He will be at Dundee on the 24th.
As with Tom Chambers, the board sends this out as a courtesy to Chuck, a member of the Columbia-Cascade Section. Sending it is for the purpose of information only and does not constitute an endorsement of any kind.
If you are a member of USPSA in Area 1, please consider signing the petitions for any Director candidates which you favor. I have already signed the petitions which have been presented to me, for the candidates I favor. It's perfectly acceptable to sign petitions for all candidates. The actual vote will sort out the winner.
I understand that there are more than the two candidates for this position. If you are a candidate, or if you know someone who wants to be considered, please contact the secretary of the Columbia Cascade Section (see here) for information about how to send your petition to be available for member consideration at CCS matches.
Or send them to me (in WORD or PDF form), and I will see that they reach the right person to insure that your petition is made available to local USPSA members.
Mr. Chambers and Mr. Anderson, you have already provided petition copies to CCS, so it will not be necessary to provide them again.
However, prospective candidates from outside the CCS section may choose to solicit support in Oregon's CCS section. Please understand that you are encouraged to solicit support from CCS members by the methods described above.
We only want the most viable candidate to win the election. If you don't let us know that you are a candidate, we won't have the information needed to make an informed choice. x
I went to a USPSA match in Albany this weekend. It was a classifier match, and although I wasn't competing I did show up to see some folks and maybe take some pictures. The match was almost over when I dragged out the camera to take a video of Fish shooting the last of the two Field Course" Stages, which included a Texas Star, a half-dozen IPSC targets, and a couple of 9" steel plates.
I thought it was a good run, but only mildly exciting (except for the shooter, of course).
When Fish came off the stage, after having bagged his pistol, he held up his hands and announced to The Peanut Gallery:
"Hey, I'm bleeding!"
Sure enough, he was leaking, and from both hands.
As we took a short break to try to staunch his wounds, Fish told us the story.
He started out at stage left engaging four paper targets, then moved to the right to pick up the two steel and two more paper. He said he took the steel first, and that was when one of the bullets (more likely a large, jagged bullet fragment, judging from the way his fingers were sliced & diced) bounced directly and struck him where his fingers were overlapped at the front of the grip.
He said it hurt, but he went ahead and engaged the two paper targets on the right, then moved back a step to engage the Texas Star through the port.
Here's how it looked from the Peanut Gallery:
___________________________
Can you tell when the ricochet struck? I can't. Here's a picture or two from the early attempts to 'stop the leaking'. (Note: if you can't stand the sight of blood, this may not be something you want to look at. But it's not gory, or NSFW.)
Picture 1: Trying to apply bandaids. (Yes, they are trying to use target tape to wrap the fingers.)
Picture #2, after the first couple of bandaids were applied:
Here's the story from Fish, from an email he sent 'later':
Trip to urgent care at Kaiser where they gave me a tetanus shot, took a look, and packed me off to the ER at Salem Hospital because of the chance of tendon and nerve damage. I didn't get back here until 8. Several X-rays showed nothing broken and no metal debris in the wounds, but I did have two deep puncture wounds on the middle finger of my left hand, a puncture wound to the middle finger of my right hand, and a nasty cut on the inside of the index finger on my right hand that finally required three stitches to close. Thank you to everyone who helped me, including the unknown good Samaritan at the range with a first aid kit who bandaged me up.
The ER doctor told me the new scars are\will be the sign of a life well lived.
Well, it's not the first time we've seen blood on the range, but it is a good example of the concern for safety involved in IPSC/USPSA competition.
After 25 years of competition, I have yet to see an injury which involved more than a few stitches, at worst. I've seen some serious Road Rash in the summer, from people in shorts who fall down while running on the gravel. In fact, I've had a couple of them myself.
And I've known ricochetting bullets to bounce back among the spectators, causing minor scratches or a small bruise at worst.
Compared with, for example, High School Football or High School Basketball, this Practical Shooting thing must be one of the safest competitive activity one can hope to find.
To compare, here are some of the web-based links to injuries in other competitive sports:
I've focused here, where possible, on injuries incurred by minors .. Middle School and High School. I haven't even touched on the 'individual sports' such as Wrestling and Boxing. But we will know that it's a rare year which completes without some death or permanent injury being incurred by one of these sports, which are more acceptable than the Shooting Sports (in the opinion of most people.)
In my personal opinion, a sport which most commonly leads to permanent joint injury, or permanent head trauma (eg: boxing) is more dangerous than any of the shooting sports.
It is perhaps indicative that I have made so much of a series of minor slices to the fingers, not even involving broken bones or damaged tendons.
BTW, I labeled this a "KaBoom" moment for purposes of comparison. This was not a "KaBoom"; the firearm functioned perfectly, and the latest word is that there was no damage to the pistol. This would probably not be true if a full-diameter bullet had bounced back with anything near to the initial velocity of the bullet. (If Mr. Fish informs me that the pistol was damaged, I will of course correct this impression.)
Same performer, same venue, same costume. Probably the same date.
I'm not going to compare the two performance; they may be the same. Either way, they're both incredible but perhaps you will have the time and initiative to research the topic. The two performances look the same to me.
The all-too-brief intro reads: XIV Campionado Europa Torino, 5-6-7 guigno 2008 FINALI JUNIOR CHERCHIO Boyanka Angelova www.beatricavivaldi.it
You can find similar performances here ... or not. The website is a detestable pink, and I don't read Italian so I didn't spent any time trying to research the topic further.
Thanks for pointing me to this, Dawg. Yes, I'm just as impressed as you were.
Part I (9:58) "It isn't the number of guns that people have, it's who gets 'em.":
Part II (8:47) "Criminals are scared of people who have guns!" and "If you have a gun, you are stronger than a man":
Part III (9:20) " Every single one of these 'Mass Shootings' has occurred in a 'Gun Free Zone'. If guns are the problem, then explain to me why we haven't seen these shootings in places where there are thousands of guns in hands of literally at least hundreds of law-abiding citizens in places like NRA conventions, or the dreaded Gun Show"
and ....
"Another Gun-Control law, another ban, another bullet-ban, another Assault-Weapon ban, will not stop criminals. Criminals do not obey the laws against murder ... rape ... robbery and arson, why would they possibly obey laws against firearms?"
and ...
"Gang members like myself like Gun Control Laws because they're a joke. Gun laws don't affect the criminal, or the gang member. They restrict the Citizen. I can walk into your home while you're watching this show, and ... hurt you, with a gun.":
Deal with it.
_____________
In the interest of "Fair and Balanced, let's see what Kieth Olbermann has to say on the subject:
Well, there you have it. Who you gonna believe? In this case, the Comedians have it all over the Clown.
Okay, I've been faced with this problem before. I'm signed onto my computer and happily sufing the net, when all of a sudden I can't get Blogger pages to load. Then I can't get Amazon to load. Then I check another website (www.tinyurl.com) and it loads just fine.
I stop by browser and open it again. Same thing.
Then I restart my computer. Now I can't even get the TINYURL to load.
What's up with this? Is Comcast Internet hosed? What did I do wrong?
...
The answer is, I did nothing wrong. The cable modem is feeling cranky tonite, and wants some attention.
This is not such an unusual problem that I don't know how to fix it, bu the first time it happened it took a couple of phone calls to Comcast Technical Support (thank goodness I have the phone number!) to teach me what to do. And because I'm feeling very generous tonight ... and because most blog topic seem tepid at best ... I'm going to share some Geek Wisdom with you.
If you have this problem, there is a very simple fix. Pay attention, because this is Compute Technical Stuff ... here's how to fix the problem in five easy steps:
Turn off your cable modem. There's probably an 'on/off' button somewhere ... mine is on the top of the modem unit.
Disconnect your cable modem from the power source. No, you can't skip this step.
Wait at least two minutes. No, you can't skimp on this step. Go play Windows Solitaire or work on your resume, whatever it takes. Or you can do something useful like laundry or walk your dog. Just ... walk away, and don't come back until you have left it off for at least 2 minutes. Forget to check the time? Check the time now, and repeat this step.
when you are absolutely certain that at least two minutes have passed, plug the modem power source back in and push the On/Off button again. This should restart your cable modem
Wait until all of the lights are back on. They may come on out of order, so be SURE than all of the lights are burning steady, except for the "Standby" indicator light, which should be off.
That's it.
Open your browser again, and you should see normal activity. That is to say, you can view the websites you select .. especially your HOME website.
If that doesn't work, you have entered The Twilight Zone, and that's a topic for a future discussion.
BTW, if you have "The Blue Screen of Death" (see also here) and your computer doesn't work at all, your problems are much more dire than described here. See a computer technician; this may be "way beyond your pay grade".
I haven't been blogging much lately, for personal reasons.
Darn shame, that. I need to write, if only to maintain what small semblance of sanity that remains to me.
I had just come to that conclusion this evening when I checked my email and found an email from The Shooting Wire which put things in some perspective.
The rest of this is a direct steal from Jim Shepherd's column: let's see if I remember how to steal content from a better writer.
New Tactics Needed
In fifteen days, the firearms industry will find itself squarely in the gunsight of a new administration dedicated to the regulation of virtually everything related to guns, from so-called assault weapons to the elements used in ammunition. Regulation, incidentally, will be defined as "the regulation of everything, and the potential removal of anything we say you don't need."
The leaders of that assault, unfortunately, won't give a tinker's damn about the Second Amendment. Their long-term plans will address that piece of "outdated thinking". But a new political expediency will move firearms - more specifically their nebulous assault weapons -front and center.
The left continues to whine about being used and then cast aside by the new administration. Amazingly, the inclusion of pastor Rick Warren in the Obama inauguration ceremonies is being cited as irrefutable proof of the position.
Even more astounding, the complaints are getting serious traction in the politics and appearances above all segment of the incoming administration.
So, Democratic insiders are telling us the firearms industry will be used as an object lesson to both sides of the aisle.
To the left, it's the always-popular smackdown of a group of right-wing loonies (that's you and me, by the way) who want gunfights on the streets of our hometowns.
To the right, it will represent a little payback for the rhetoric that was taken very personally by the incoming administration. In other words, a little taste of the whip should keep both sides nicely in line.
In other words, last year's unquestioned gun salesman of the year -Barack Hussein Obama - will turn his attention toward a group that has been unrelenting in opposing him throughout his political career.
When that happens, a billion-dollar industry will take another body blow.
Despite the new administration's insistence that jobs and the economy will be the top priority beginning January 20, insiders say payback to the NRA and other pro-Second Amendment groups is high on the agenda. Democratic advisors say the Republican party is "disorganized, disheartened, and dissolving" and it's a good time for the incoming administration to take them on in a core issue - the assault weapons ban is one of three topics they're evaluating.
If the AWB is chosen, everyone expects a pitched battle with no quarter given.
If the attempt to pass this drastically-expanded AWB succeeds, the administration will have proven itself virtually unbeatable in matters of policy. They will also further fracture the Republican party and simultaneously serve notice on any pro-gun Democrats that they'd better get with the new program, too.
Last week, I spent a significant amount of time on the phone speaking with industry leaders about the word on the grapevine from Washington. There were mixed responses. One leader said his political advisors were hearing exactly the opposite- that the AWB was being pushed back to the "second Obama administration". Another said his advisors were getting both reports, but considered an assault on firearms "inevitable" whether now, 2010 or later.
In other words, industry leaders see the fight in terms of "when" and not "if".
At a time when the nation is suffering from economic problems, it may be time to consider a new countering-strategy. In the past, we've won key political and legislative fights based on the Constitution.
This time, I think it may be time to take a page from the James Carville playbook and remind everyone "It's the economy, stupid".
If this new administration goes after firearms, a billion-dollar industry that has never asked for a dime of bailouts and annually contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to conservation and environmental work via taxes will be hammered. That will most certainly result in lost jobs and tax revenues. Entire communities will be negatively impacted.
The Obama administration has said its number one priority will be the economy. I hope they keep that promise - and genuinely hope they are wildly successful at creating a renewed vibrancy. I also believe the firearms industry should be prepared on a moment's notice to clearly demonstrate to local and regional media that banning guns is tantamount to eliminating jobs in their areas.
Yesterday afternoon, I was a guest on Tom Gresham's Gun Talk radio and expressed my concerns about the incoming administration's expressed intent to pass a permanent assault weapons ban and go after firearms in general. When I did, a caller took me to task for what he characterized as an unrealistic viewpoint. After all, he said, Obama said during the election he supported the Second Amendment.
Personally, I'm more inclined to judge someone based on the things they have consistently done versus the positions they've taken during political campaigns.
>From that perspective, I believe that fifteen days from today, Barack Hussein Obama, the man I jokingly refer to as the unwitting gun salesman of the decade, will place his hand on a Bible last used to administer the oath of office to Abraham Lincoln. He will raise his right hand and swear to uphold the laws of this nation - and its Constitution.
At that time, I also believe his administration will almost immediately seek to begin to dismantle or disregard any laws with which they disagree and embark on the total disenfranchisement of anyone who disagrees with their political positions.
That would include firearms owners and the firearms industry.
I'd love to be wrong.
--Jim Shepherd
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This is not the way we had planned to spend Christmas.
The Monday before Christmas, SWMBO went to her doctor for a check-up because she had been registering uncommonly low blood-pressure readings. It turns out that her blood-pressure medicine had been working too hard, so they gave her something to come back in two days to see how it worked.
On Wednesday (Christmas Eve Day) she went back to the doctor and actually met her local Oncologist. He noticed that she had trouble concentrating, and her sense of balance was so disorganized that she couldn't walk without help.
The doctor sent her to the hospital for tests.
She was in the hospital Wednesday afternoon, all day Thursday (Christmas Day), and until 2pm on Friday. The tests given to her indicated to her Oncologist that she had had all of the chemotherapy that she could endure for the immediate future.
Some of the testing indicated that there were other problems which implied some internal bleeding.
Friday afternoon I took her home, and then went out to fill the ELEVEN new prescriptions.
She was suppose to receive her tenth scheduled infusion Friday, two days after Christmas; the Oncologist canceled that appointment. Also the next, until they could determine what was going on with her.
She will see her Oncologist tomorrow (Monday), at which time he will have the advantage of having ALL the results of the test from last week, plus a thorough review of her charts.
There are several possible courses of treatment available, so it's not that they don't know what to do. They just don't know which course to choose until they have discussed the options among themselves and with SWMBO.
We're not frightened by this, we're coping with it. We're a little disappointed that it took her health-care practitioners so long to recognize that she wasn't handling the infusions as well as her Oncologists had hoped.
Tuesday evening, after she was checked into the hospital, the nurse-practitioner who noted her inability to walk came by the hospital after her work-day was completed, to check on SWMBO and ensure that she was getting the treatment and the attention that she so obviously needed.
As I have said at least 3 times before here, her once-weekly schedule is very much different from the usual once-monthly schedule that most chemotherapy patients receive. It is designed for a patient who is deemed healthy enough (except for the obvious exception that they have a cancer tumor which must be reduced) and strong enough to endure it.
After nine brutal weeks, SWMBO is obviously unable to continue such a grueling regimen. Her hair is gone, and besides the symptoms of physical weakness and disorganization which have been mentioned, the chemicals are no longer being absorbed by her body ... or by her cancer.
Her family can follow the written instructions to make sure she takes her morning medications (which must be taken with food ... someone needs to fix her breakfast).
I'll be there in the evening to make sure she gets a good dinner, gets the right medication (with food), gets cleaned up and ready for bed.
We worked a Sunday crossword puzzle today. Her fingers are numb (they are all black with bruises, caused by the chemotherapy) and she can't write. But she can solve some of the very obtuse questions presented by the puzzles, so she's still still being more in charge of her life than she thinks.
We bought a seven-pound Ham for Christmas, and ate some of it in the last two days. She doesn't have much appetite, so we have a lot of it left. She can't eat much at one time, but an extra meal a day (and the inclusion of some 'comfort food' such as Yogurt) helps her to make sure that she gets food with her medication.
This is all new, and we're still working out what she needs help to accomplish, and what she can do for herself. She is determined to do as much for herself as she can manage, and as long as she has a caretaker to do the things she cannot do, she is getting along just fine.
But not as fine as she wants. We spent some time today watching videos of SWMBO on the range. She wants to be back on the range, she want's her life back. We're going to get her life back, and she will be back as "She - Who Must Be Obeyed"
Watch out, boys, for the time when SWMBO is working as Range Officer and calls to the gallery:
"Hey, you guys! Get off your ass, get out here and tape these targets!"
What's not to love? (Double-click on the picture to see the full-size image of SWMBO in her Milieu.)
BACKGROUND CHECKS ON GUN SALES MOST EVER IN NOVEMBER
Background checks on the sale of firearms reached record levels during the month of November, pointing to a spike in sales for the month. Data from the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) show a 42 percent increase in November firearm purchaser background checks. A total of 1,529,635 checks -- the highest monthly total ever -- were reported for the month, up from 1,079,923 in November 2007. Federal law requires FBI background checks on individuals purchasing firearms from federally licensed retailers. The NICS increase coincides with an increase in federal excise taxes reported by firearms and ammunition manufacturers, another key economic indicator for the firearms industry. Trends such as excise taxes and NICS data are strong indicators of sales patterns; however, they are not actual sales. There is no data source that captures firearms sales by month.
[NOTE: double-click on the image to see the full-size version of the graph; or, go to the link to the NSSF page to see the full article.]
I know I haven't been posting much lately, but Life Happens.
Sandie has had a couple of uncomfortable weeks. This week her blood pressure medicine worked too well, and when she had a checkup on Monday it was far too low to be safe. She got treatment then, and tomorrow (Christmas Eve Day) she goes in for another treatment to add fluids to increase her blood pressure to safe levels.
She's not feeling very energetic, but we still plan to celebrate a quiet Christmas in her home with a huge Ham and all the trimmings.
Thank you again to all of you who have been sending us prayers and other quiet support.
It has been a while since I posted a "Blogmeat" article. I've been saving up for a slow news week, and this is one of them.
Here is an attenuated list of inanimate objects which have figured in the news during the past week, and which (according to the standards of the Brady Bunch) should be outlawed because they are, you know "weapons":
Norfolk, Va ... "A Yorktown gun-rights advocate who sued Norfolk after his arrest at Town Point Park for openly carrying a handgun will receive a $15,000 payout to settle the federal lawsuit."
FORT SMITH - She's a woman who knows how to protect herself as two men who tried to rob her found out. What they didn't know was the woman is licensed to carry a concealed weapon...and yes, she was packing heat.
"A lady was flagged over Sunday evening about 6 p.m. on the interstate between Kelley Highway and the Arkansas river bridge." Lt. Steve Coppinger with State Police says that two men in a car signaled that the woman was getting a flat tire.
"When she pulled over to check her tires one of those person in that other car got out and attempted to rob her at knife point."
But what the thief didn't expect happened next. Coppinger says the female driver pulled out her handgun.
"She pointed that at her attacker and he backed away, got in the car and they fled."
Outrageous. Imagine the effect on the National Peace if all women were allowed to carry concealed weapons, and ... when assaulted ... were permitted to defend themselves with a firearm.
Shameful!
Something must be done about this. The next thing you know, there will be Death On The Freeways as assaulted women are allowed to defend themselves against ... er .. Predators.
"Investigators say the would-have-been victim was able to turn the tables because she had a concealed carry permit. State police are keeping some details of the investigation close to their vest so they will know when they get the right guys. Right now, officials are saying they believe this to be an isolated incident.
As for advice, Lt. Coppinger says to always pull over in a well-lighted public area. And if you are pulled over by someone you don't know, don't get out of the car. Use your cell phone to call 911 and ask for assistance.
Investigators for the Arkansas State Police are trying to track down the alleged suspects and what's been described as a black Toyota Camry with Oklahoma plates. If you have any information that could be helpful to their investigation, please call Troop H in Fort Smith."
The bottom line of the November 29, 2008 NY Post story is that a football player (and role model for millions of American Children, so to speak) decided to carry a gun into a NYC bar and in one way or another managed to shoot himself in the leg. Then his friends brought him to a hospital for treatment, where he identified himself with a made-up name and a made-up story (anecdotal, no reliable reference so far) and left after treatment and before the hospital remembered to notify the police of a gun-shot wound.
He was eventually identified, arrested, and will face charges of carrying a concealed firearm (among other charges, such as making false statements).
It's interesting to see the various interpretations on the gun-bloggers, and I look forward to following the news.
My short version of the story:
He broke the law in carrying a concealed weapon in NYC, he fumbled his gun while trying to clear it (or when it slipped from the waistband of his jogging pants and grabbing it ... depends on the new sources you believe), and undeniably manage in so doing to shoot himself in the leg. Then his friends took him out of the NYC nightclub where the incident occurred, drove him to a hospital for treatment, and eventually slipped out. The police eventually identified him and charged him with a various number of offenses, not least is violation of the NYC Sullivan Law (if that law is still so called.)
In reading the last week's gunblogger write-ups of this notorious case, I found two which seem to best illustrate the polarization of the gun commuity.
Xavier Thoughts describes Burress as a wanna-be gangbanger who carried a loaded (cocked and, maybe, locked) into a public drinking place and through negligence and inexperience managed to drop the gun and in so doing shot himself. As Xavier says in response that the Heller Decision may apply (in regards to NYC's draconian gun laws):
The landmark Heller decision does not apply. For once Bloomberg is right. Plaxico Burress knowingly violated the law. This was not an act of civil disobedience. Plaxico Burress did not have to go to the Manhattan nightclub. If he decided to go, he did not need to carry a gun. Being a wealthy athlete, he had more options than many people. He could have hired bodyguards to protect him and his bling. Instead, he chose to play the role of the thug and carry his gat in his sags and go clubbin'. He is not a victim. He knowingly and willfully violated the law, no matter how unjust that law is. Plaxico Burress was an arrogant athlete who thought he was special, that the law did not apply to him, that he was beyond, if not above the law.
On the other side of the controversy is an article by Michael Bane, author of "The Michael Bane Log" and producer of (among others) "Down Range TV".
Bane's article cites an earlier article by Ted Nugent, which seems to blame NYC gun restrictions because they did not allow Burress the opportunity to train and qualify for a Concealed Carry Permit.
If NYC permitted an individual to legally own and carry a concealed pistol, Nugent's arguments seem to suggest, Burress would not have qualified until he was able to demonstrate reasonable gun-handling skills.
This seems, to me, to be among the best of circular reasoning. If Burress couldn't have qualified for a concealed carry permit (if such were offered in his current home state of New York), he wouldn't have carried a gun.
But Burress already did not qualify for a New Your carry permit, so why expect that failing the NY test would have dissuaded him from carrying that night?
Besides, he (Burress) already possessed a Florida carry permit. Was he not required to meet some minimum standards in Florida? Even though the Florida permit wasn't accepted in New York, one would have expected that SOME level of gun-handling profeciency needed to be demonstrated then and there.
Ultimately, and in the actual fact, Burress proved that he was unable to carry a gun safely, and that IS the bottom line.
Comments in the Bane blog seem generally to focus on the failures of New York State and New York City to provide a reasonable path to a Concealed Carry Permit. They ignore the obvious facts that Burress is an idiot and has no business carrying a deadly weapon in any circumstances, let along a NYC bar. Who carries a cocked-and-locked semi-automatic pistol in the waistband of his jogging pants, other than a Gang-banger wanna be whose only apparent motivation is to appear "dangerous" to his friends?
Well, if that was his motivations, I'm sure that his friends are convinced that he is a dangerous man with a gun. I'm convinced the NYC police and Mayor Bloomberg are convinced, and 90% of America is convinced that Plaxico Burress is a dangerous man with a gun.
So are the on-call medical personnel at the Emergency Room at Cornell Medical Center (or New York Presbyterian Hospital, depending on which news reports you choose to believe), who had to treat his through-and-through shot to the leg ... self-inflicted ... convinced that" Plaxico Burress is a dangerous man with a gun."
This is not a Second Amendment issue. This is an issue of having identified (by a practical demonstration of his own inability to safely carry a gun) that one Plaxico Burress is an idiot, has no qualification to carry a firearm, and is an embarassment to the defenders of the Second Amendment.
While the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution grants each citizen with "... the right to Keep and Bear Arms", none few of us who defend that right are willing to defend a man who has proven himself to be an irresponsible and incompetent idiot. He has demonstrated that he is unwilling, perhaps unable, to accept responsibility for his own actions. By the series of bad decisions he has made in this single incident, he illustrates the 'worst case' proposed by anti-gun advocates across the world.
The Right to Keep and Bear Arms defenders around the world owe it to themselves to denounce this yahoo, and support any civil and other legal charges which may be levied against him.
I do not want to be in the same room with this man. Nobody I know, most of whom safely handle firearms on a weekly, if not daily, basis, would be safe around this man if he was in reach of a firearm.
We need to take a stand to the effect that a person who has shown himself incompetent to handle a firearm should be dissuaded until he has demonstrated that he has, minimally, proven otherwise. And there should be a minimum time after he has proved his ability to responsibly choose when and how he should carry a firearm, before his rights have been restored.
News Report:
Raw video: Burress turns himself in to the police:
Video - Bloomburg urges full prosecution of Buress:
Video - Many questions, few details in Burress shooting:
Vudei - New Details Emerge About Burress Shooting
The following video may be some explanation for why Burress was carrying:
This video is obviously a satirical response:
_________________________________________________________________ UPDATE: December 15, 2008
One commenter took exception to a statement in this article:
"...( Plaxico Burress ...) is an embarrassment to the defenders of the Second Amendment."
The comment disputed that statement in favor of his own: "The Sullivan Gun Laws are an embarrassment to the defenders of the 2A."
I disagree.
In my opinion, the Sullivan Law is an insult to the defenders of the Second amendment. It is an embarrassment to the people of the state and the city of New York. Why? Because after nearly 100 years of failing to prove that it provides any benefit to the safety and welfare of the community, they have yet to repeal this racist law.
And I'll fight any man in this bar to disagrees! [download Bing Crosby: Two Shillalagh O'Sullivan]
SWMBO had a "CT SCAN" (I have no better idea than you do about what this is, but I suspect it's a soft-tissue scan of the body) early this week. Yesterday she phoned to say that she had received the results of the test.
Essentially, they told here that they saw much improvement in all four lobes of the lungs, and that they considered these results to indicate, essentially, that "You're Getting Better!"
Perhaps she'll chose to give the technical details, but it's nothing I'm likely to understand. Uncharacteristically, I'm satisfied with "You're Getting Better". Sometimes the short story is the best.
She's getting better. She also looks and sounds better. She has more energy, her face has lost that pallid look. She has her color back, and there's a bit of the old sparkle in her eyes. She doesn't fall asleep on the couch so readily and she has control of her balance when she walked to her 9th weekly Infusion today.
She feels so much better that she is planning to drive to her sister's house (15 miles away) to 'supervise' the Christmas decorations, while I'm suffering in the rain at the monthly ARPC match with The Beloved Kimber (the sights of which I cannot see, and for which I have insufficient ammunition loaded to shoot the match.)
She called tonight to find out what time I expect to come by Saturday afternoon. I told her that it was going to be a miserably rainy and cold day at the match, and we probably wouldn't get out of there by two pm. Then I have to go home and take care of the gear, shower and change to dry clothes, and I have some shopping to do. If she wants to go visit her sister, she should do so without concern about my schedule.
It has been weeks since she felt like leaving her house, and I thank God for granting her the health and energy to make this trip on her own.
As for you, our readers, I want to thank you for your prayers for her recovery, and for your good wishes and support which you have shown both of us.
In true Churchillian fashion, I have to admit that "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
We have a long way to go until SWMBO becomes a true Cancer Survivor. But with this good news, we are encouraged we have (she has) sought out the best medical advice and treatment available, and that this radical chemotherapy is, regardless of the discomfort and doubt, the best path to full recovery.
Tomorrow I will meet many of her friends at the match, and they will ask me how she is doing. I will be inordinately happy to report that she is doing better.
This is the first time I could reliably so say since June 24, 2008, when she was first diagnosed with Lung Cancer.
At the risk of repeating myself: "Thank you, Jesus". And thank you, all of our friends who have prayed for her and wished her the best possible chances of full recovery. _________________________________________- UPDATE: 15-DEC-2008
news...
The latest CT scan and doctor report show that I am improving. The chemo cocktail is working and I will be continuing treatment for about 5 more weeks. There will be other evaluations done during that time.
Thank you for all of the prayers, positive thoughts and encouragement that were sent on my behalf. I believe in miracles!
This refers to the proposal to implement new technology to 'microstamp' (using laser technology) unique serial numbers on the base of each bullet, and on the inside of the cartridge case in which it is seated.
If you are living in Timbuktu and have never heard of the concept, it should only take you a few moments reflection to realize that, for all practical intents and purposes, it would make the cost of each round of ammunition prohibitively high. So high, in fact, it's not unreasonable to estimate that the cost increase would be on orders of magnitude: instead of costing pennies, a single round of ammunition would cost dollars. This is de facto denial of ammunition availability for all practical purposes, except to the few individuals with sufficient disposable income to afford it. And they are probably spending all of their time instead of hunting, plinking, competition and practicing.
Why would the costs be so high? Because of the cost of retooling and changing manufacturing processes, most manufacturers would be unable to support the process because they would have to charge their customers more than they could afford. They just couldn't sell it. See above paragraph.
The Fact Sheet brings up a number of objections which I had not, in the ten months that I have been writing about this phenomen, considered:
. No independent studies have been done to determine the safety implications of using high speed laser engravers in the presence of the ammunition components, i.e. primers, propellants, etc. For instance, flash photography is not permitted inside factories because of gunpowder ignition concerns
. Anti-gun legislators in the Mississippi State Senate have proposed legislation, SB 2286, that would mandate bullet serialization. If passed into law, the legislation would force the closure of the newly opened Winchester Ammunition factory in Oxford, Miss. -- a move which would result in hundreds of Mississippi workers losing their jobs and millions in tax revenue disappearing from the state. The legislation would also force law-abiding citizens and retailers to dispose of any ammunition they currently hold that is not serialized.
My own efforts, however, have also addressed other topics:
Microstamping can typically be obliterated by impact on a hard surface
Criminals, whom this technique is suppsedly intended to catch, would pick up the brass
Criminals would simply steal the ammunition ...
... or they would use false/stolen identities to purchase ammunition
In fact, it's reasonable to assume that if this legislation were to be made Law, only criminals would own ammunition.
Here is a summary (with links) of the 23 articles I have so far written in this series on Microstamping Ammunition. Read the discussion following this list to understand the variations on proposed technology to "Serialize Ammunition", and the reasons why they are not practical, affordable, reasonable or effective.
"Serializing Ammunition" = Encoding Ammunition and Microstamping Ammunition
Now that I have provided the entire list (with the exception of this article, which is the 24th in the series), I need to make clear that through out this I have actually been talking about TWO separate technological proposals, and TWO separate waves of ammunition-serialization bills.
THIS article started talking about the NSSF's Fact Sheet on "Ammunition Serialization", which requires unique serial numbers to be placed on both bullet and cartridge case during manufacturing. This is the process which started the series, and the articles referring to this process are identified by the then-in-vogue name "Encoded Ammunition". The objections to this are explained above and in the NSSF Fact Sheet.
However, shortly after the Brouhaha about "Encoded Ammunition" got going very strong, along came Todd Lizotte and his proposal; every firearm sold in the United States must have an unique serial number on the breech face, which would be pressure-stamped ("Microstamped" on the base of the cartridge during the recoil phrase of firing the firearm.
The original purchaser of the firearm would be identified and registered with the government of the state where the firearm was first sold. ( Whether plans were envisioned to register each subsequent purchaser of that firearm has not been made clear, but we can envision legislators drooling over the prospect of registering every firearm sale.)
The assumption was that any firearm used in a felony could be identified by the microstamped code on the empty cartridge case left behind at the scene of the crime.
Was this intended to definitively identify the culprit? Not at all. It was only intended to identify the original purchaser ... and the original seller ... of the firearm. The intent was to identify retailers who sold firearms which were later used in a crime, so 'bad dealers' could be dealt with. Or, if several firearms were traced to the original purchaser, this would help to identify "Straw Buyers".
Well, not necessarily, but at least by implication.
Of course, this process could take YEARS to provide sufficient body of evidence to implicate any individual, seller or buyer. And it's not necessarily fool-proof even then (for example, in the case of theft of a firearms collection, a buyer might seem to present the same characteristics as a Straw Buyer.
Most of the "Interview with Todd Lizotte" sub-series of articles dealt with his grandiose plans to Make America Safer From Rogue Guns, and my refutations of his assertions. For example ... what happens when the slide of a semi-automatic pistol splits; what kind of controls are in place to register the new serial number on the replacement slide, and how long would it take to get a (essentially custom-made) replacement, and how much more would that microstamping version cost than a non-microstamping version, and how likely is it that a replacement would be even possible without a frustrating and protracted bout of attempting to authenticate the legitimacy of the 'replacement' purchase?
Also, the goal was to microstamp EVERY firearm ... even single-shot and double-barrelled shotguns, and revolvers,. These firearms types are much less likely to leave behind brass, but the laws would require that they to would be subject to the law.
Further, what is to prevent a criminal from picking up brass left behind on a shooting range, reloading it, and using pre-stamped brass in a non-microstamping firearm?
Not to mention the dubious reliability of a technology which relies on microstamping a small serial number on the base of brass which is already an imperfect surface due to the headstamping which is embossed there during manufacturing.
Finally, and most egregiously, the legal machinations required to this system is de facto registration of every firearm sold in America.
And as we have learned from the lesson taught in California in 1997, Registration almost invariably leads to Confiscation. At the very least, it infringes on the privacy of the person who bought the encoded ammunition or the Microstamping firearm.
Summary:
There are two methods of Serializing Ammunition: Encoding (unique serial numbers embossed on each bullet/cartridge case combination during manufacture), and Microstamping (identifying serial numbers embossed on each cartridge case during the act of firing, which relate to the individual firearm).
These two techniques both rely on unproven, non-peer reviewed technology.
The technologies will add greatly to the cost of the ammunition, or of the firearm.
In the case of Microstamping, the added expense and frustration, and administrative overhead and complexity, compounds what would otherwise be a simple matter of buying a replacement part which is, itself, NOT typically identified by a serial number.
Microstamping sometimes/often also requires that the serial number be embossed on the firing pin, to microstamp on the unblemished primer. We can only imagine the legal stumbling blocks to buy a replacement microstamping firing pin, originally priced at about $2, to match that found on the breech of the firearm.
Both of these methods provide little or no help in catching criminals who have used illegal methods to acquire either the encoded ammunition or the Microstamping firearm.
Both of these methods do, however provide an excellent method for the criminal to lay a false trail, to the confusion of the law enforcement agencies who have been lead to believe that they only have to find the encoded brass to find the culprit.
This is, by no means, an exhaustive list of objections to either method of serializing ammunition. However, it does illustrate the paucity of usable evidence which they may be expected to provide to Law Enforcement Agencies ... and the great expense and inconvenience they will levy upon the honest private citizen (and military unit, and police department).
Conclusion:
Neither of these tecnologies offer a real, viable, reliable and practical method by which criminals may be brought to justice. However, they provide a great service to those who would seek to deny the honest citizen the practicable access to firearms and ammunition.
Or you can just review the entire list, in one huge page, by typing "microstamping" on the SEARCH bar at the top of this blog. __________________________________ UPDATE: December 12, 2008 Tom Cox has a few words to say about this at "Center of Mass" TomCox.wordpress.com
