Oregon Gun Control Advocates RULE!

Oregon Background Check Bill Hearing Biased Against Pro-gun Speakers:

LocalPDX is reporting now that in a recent two-hour hearing on the new expanded background check bill (SB 941)was less than balanced. 

 The numbers were staggeringly against the bill, many taking time off work to show up.  With only about 20% of them allowed to testify, many times being cut off way before getting into anything that resembled actual arguments. On the flip side, 94% of those that showed up to testify in favor of SB 941 were allowed to testify.  Legislators were also discouraged from asking questions of the citizens that were there to testify.  In all, according to GoLocalPDX 68 people were turned away from speaking with their elected body on a bill that will ultimately directly impact their lives..

April 10, 2015

Oregon Senate Bill SB941

2015 SESSION

Senate Bill 941  RSS FEED FOR THIS BILL

Relating to firearms; declaring an emergency.

Requires private person to complete transfer of firearm by appearing with transferee before gun dealer to request criminal background check or shipping or delivering firearm to gun dealer in certain circumstances.

(H/T: Guns Save Lives)

It's Deja Vu All Over Again,

Politicians only want to hear arguments which support the political positions toward which they are predisposed.  Have a complaint?  Step to the back of the line!

Nobody wants to hear what you have to say.  Go away. 

Measure activity  HOUSE  SENATE

• Mar 26, 2015: Introduction and first reading. Referred to President's desk.
• Mar 26, 2015: Referred to Judiciary.
• Apr 1, 2015: Public Hearing held.
• Apr 2, 2015: Work Session held.
• Apr 6, 2015: Work Session held.
• Apr 9, 2015: Recommendation: Do pass with amendments. (Printed A-Eng.)

The Golden Rule

Fort Hood shooting victim denied benefits, despite Purple Heart decision | Fox News:

 The Obama administration has finally acknowledged that those hurt and killed in the 2009 Fort Hood shootings were victims of terrorism -- and not “workplace violence,” as it was previously described. But while formal recognition of that is set for Friday, when victims will receive the Purple Heart, it may only be symbolic.

I find it bizarre that a government denies it's military (who defend our nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic) compensation for injuries while serving ... which as a matter of policy refuses to allow servicemen on duty to carry a weapon ... can deny full benefits for victims of wounds and other injuries.

Surely, some of those injured were not activly "on duty" at the time; but others were.   What's the difference between those who were actively "on duty" (an MP?) and those who were 'on base'?

 When I was in the army, when I was in a military base I was always assumed to be "on duty" even if I was not carrying a firearm at the time.

This was obviously a cost-cutting decision, made with no consideration of how the professional service men and women (the person who cut down the murderer was an MP ... but she couldn't be EVERYWHERE!) would react to this patent lack of faith.

The lesson I learned in the military is that loyalty must not only go up the chain of command, but down.  I guess Obama has no understanding of the concepts of loyalty, duty, honor and country.

We're not talking about "Stand Your Ground" civilians here; we're talking about people who were targeted specifically because they were members of the military!

BUT:

The Golden Rule applies here!

Am I as safe handling a pistols as I think I am?

I just read this article from Tim at gunnuts.net, and it made me stop and think:

When do I actually put my finger on the trigger, when I draw at an IPSC match?

I think it's not until my sights come near to aligning on the target I'm engaging, but I don't really know.

I've been competing in IPSC for 30 years now, more or less, and I teach a monthly competition safety at my home range, so I may have become slightly complacent about my draw.   Now I think, maybe I haven't been DQ'd for a "premature discharge" at a match, but am I really that good?  Or am I just that lucky?

Reginald Maulding said:

There comes a time in every man's life when he must make way for an older man.

I'm wondering if there might come a time when I should make way for a younger man?

oh.  No.  Never mind.   To hell with younger men, let them make their OWN mistakes.  I'm going to rest on my laurels and just believe that I've already made enough mistakes, so I'm not going to make this one.

Stilll ......

The All New "IGUN" ....

There are 'smart guns', and then there are SMART GUNS!

"We have an app for that".

   (Hat Tip:  The Hobo Brasser)

GUNBLOGGER: The GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY

I subscribed to GUNBLOGGER.COM a few years years ago, because it gave me direct access to other blogs with which I shared a common interest:  GUNS


It was simple at the time (I thought) because I could access the link and select other blogs that I found interesting.

THE GOOD:

Recently, I found that the website had set up a mechanism which would routinely survey all member blogs, several times a day, an provide all of the most recent posts in a manner which allowed me to get a preview of each blog article, and I could click on it to see what they had to say.  If their articles weren't of interest to me, I could just scroll down to the next article.

This was (and is) A Good Thing, because I got to preview it regularly.  And I do.  I've learned a lot by reading the thoughts of these other bloggers.

Sometimes I get an early Heads-Up about an issue of topical interest to my readers, and I'll write a recap (with a link to the gunblogger article) just to keep my readers informed.

THE BAD:

CC On Campus: Laws Are Bullshit!

Push for concealed guns on campuses is gaining steam @insidehighered:

In all, seven states have laws that allow concealed guns on campus, though the details vary on who can carry where. Twenty states still ban carrying a concealed weapon on a college campus, and 23 states leave the decision up to individual colleges.

This is all touchy-feelie, but in the actual event ... you still can't carry guns on campus in Oregon .. even though State Law allows it.

WARNING:  I know I've posted this information before; more than once.  I'll post it again, just in case someobody hasn't yet heard how Univiersities (at least in Oregon, and probably in other states), unilaterally and arbitrarily abridge the law.

I worked at Oregon State University (one of those "20 states") and the laws have no effect, because college and universities are a law unto themselves.

They will NOT allow anyone to carry on campus, regardless of the status of the CHL holder.

Lee Paige Rides Again! (Senior Moment?)

MILLER: If people kill people, why do we still need more guns? - Odessa American: Editorial:
(March 26, 2015 - Odessa, TX)

Last week, it was reported that a police officer with the Ector County Independent School District accidently discharged his service weapon while trying to clean it.

 Normally, a gun going off is not news. The bullet supposedly ricocheted off a wall and into a ceiling. No one was reportedly injured and the officer was alright.

 This, however, is news because it happened while he was on duty at Crockett Junior High. The district’s explanation was the gun got wet in the rain, and while the officer was cleaning it, it discharged.

The similarity to the Lee Paige incident is ... troubling.


Because so many people seem to think that "only the police and the military should have guns, because they are trained and skilled and not scarey and, like, you know, not scarey!"

The fact is, police and military are human.  Which is to say .. fallible.

And as Fallible Human Beings, they screw up from time to time.

There's only one way to ingrain safe gunhandling practices until the good habits become second nature, and that's experience.

Well, training is important as well, but safe gunhandling is one of those skills which deteriorate if not practiced; often, under supervision, and strictly enforced by that supervision.   Obviously, none of these elements were present here.

Close Air Support and the "Flying Bathtub"

A-10 Warthog Is Out, F-15 and F-16 Are In, Says the Air Force:
(March 22, 2015)

The U.S. Air Force wants to kill the A-10 Warthog. Really, really wants to kill it. But some of the Air Force's ideas for replacing the A-10 are starting to strain credibility.

This is an 'economic' opinion, not a 'tactical' opinion.

The A-10 may be a fabulous CAS platform, but right now, it doesn't have a corporate backer with a truly vital interest in its survival. Northrop Grumman serves as prime contractor to maintain the plane, and Boeing has a contract to upgrade wings on some of the older A-10s, both of which bring in a few tens of millions of dollars annually for the respective companies. But without an actual A-10 Warthog replacement program in place, no one's making billions of dollars off of the Warthog.

Some suplementary commentary  here.

SAFETY IS EVERYBODY'S RESPONSIBILITY! (Our Worst Nightmare)

There are some uncomfortable questions that need to  answered here!

Borepatch: Complacency: All you can say is they all got lucky. If you ever work as an R.O. on a range for any event, here's the anti-complacency video of the year.

Range Officer Nightmare; and who is to blame?

Watch, think.  Then discuss:




This surprising event .. a man caught downrange taping targets after the next shooter is already halfway through shooting the stage ...

The questions that need to be answered include:

Semi-Auto Madness: GRIP SAFETY!

Sometimes, it makes me want to just chew my leg off to get out of the trap,

I find myself teaching an advanced "safety" class in a competitive sport, and I expect people who sign up to be experienced, compent and SAFE pistol shooters.

Instead, I too often discover that I am teaching basic pistol skills.

Now, when you read the title you probably thought that the phrase "GRIP SAFETY" had to do with the John Moses Browning (PBUH) design where the external thumb safety must be set 'off', and also that the grip on the support hand must be sufficiently firm to depress the "grip safety'.

No.

What I'm talking about is that it is possible with both revolvers and pistols to GRIP your handgun in such a manner that you may cause physical injury (and a LOT of pain!) when you fire it.

"Laser Sights"

I'm not really sure what the correct nomenclature should be here, but apparently Crimson Trace is the current epitome of (projected) Laser Sights for pistols.


Did you miss that?  The key-word is "PROJECTED".

We'll get back to that in a minute.

Disclaimer:  I'm not bad-mouthing Crimson Trace, 'cause I dont know squat about them.  I just figured that this was a brand name which would be familiar to most readers.  As far as I know, it don't get no better than Crimson Trace!


But if you don't work with the laser sighting technology .. if you don't practice with it, you're not taking full advantage of the technology.  So if you choose to go with that sighting system with your defensive pistol, you absolutely need to change your technique from using sight-alignment to point-shooting and then allow the dot-on-target to ensure target engagement.

Concealed Carry Readiness State Question

Consider that you're carrying a single-action pistol.  A fully loaded magazine is already inserted.  You're licensed, It's legal.  What's your readiness status?

(1) Chanmer empty, hammer down.
(2) Chamber loaded, at half-cock.
(3) Chamber loaded, thumb safety on.

What are the pros and cons?

I already know it takes at least a second or more (on the average) to rack the slide in Condition (1).

But what's the difference in time and .. well, I guess I mean "Confusion vs Safety" between [(1) and (2)], and [(2) and (3)]?

"It's Painful To Watch A Giant Tree Being Killed"

That's a comment recorded on an earlier post "Wildlife Photos", in response to a 1940-1950 era photo of two "lumberjacks" halfway through the onerous job of cutting down a tree with a diameter of over twenty feet.

The thing about my readership is that they are generally fine people with a truly droll sense of humor.   (I don't get a lot of readers who are tree huggers and PETA members, for obvious reasons.)

Anyway, it's not always easy to tell if a sensitive person might have stumbled on my website and made a SINCERE comment.

But I really liked that photo of two small men hewing mightily at a mighty forest leviathan.  Because my father was one of those brotherhood of manly men, and so were most of his brothers.   So I'm going to assume that someone who sincerely mourned the felling of a "Giant Tree" might have seen the photo, and might really have felt that that commercial act was a travesty of nature.

Or yadda-yadda something-or-other.

Anyway ....

Just like a bad neighbor, Microstamping is still there

"Microstamping" is a technique which will invariably, under all circumstances, positively stamp information about the gun which fired a specific cartridge (supposedly recovered at a Crime Scene) and thus lead the police to solve the crime.

The only problem is .. it doesn't work.

Other than that, it's perfect!

Here's the reason why Oregon NEEDS an ASSISTED SUICIDE law ..

Police say Oregon woman self-immolated, crashed car and jumped off bridge | Fox News:

 Police in Oregon say an apparently suicidal woman was being treated for critical injuries (she apparently lived through it) after she intentionally set herself on fire, crashed her car into a guardrail, and jumped 40 feet off a bridge Thursday. According to The Eugene Register-Guard, the 39-year-old woman had recently been reported missing by her family. The paper reported that a 911 caller first spotted the woman's car at around 12:30 p.m. local time. The caller told emergency responders that the interior of the woman's car appeared to be on fire, and she was driving recklessly. After the car crashed into a bridge guardrail, witnesses told police the woman jumped out — on fire — and began taking her clothes off as she ran to the edge of the span. Truck drivers tried to put out the flames with fire extinguishers and another person tried to grab the woman, but she was still able to jump, police said.

-emphasis added-

... we're obviously too stupid to manage the job by ourselves!

Wildlife Photos

My friend, "Big John", is an avid shooter.  He competed in international rifle competition (I know there's a proper name for it, but it's a lot like HighPower) a couple of years ago.  He also surfs the net for wildlife photos. HERE is a link to an amazing series of photos from the Rivermen Rod & Gun Club.

Some of these just scream out for captions, so I'll include a small representative sample:

"You can take your "Task Completion Time" estimate and ...."

HillaryLove

Ready for Hillary dumps 'email poster' in 3 for 1 deal | WashingtonExaminer.com: Hillary Clinton's campaign in waiting, Ready for Hillary, is dumping its poster of the now infamous image of Hillary Rodham Clinton in sunglasses reading her Blackberry. An email sent today offered the poster, titled #Ready and that sells for $20.16, in a three for one deal for the very same price.

Where have I seen that picture before?

I'm sure .. oh, wait.  I KNOW!

Training, Practice, Experience. And now ... shame?

Tam had a good look at a loaded muzzle at a gun show, as recounted below:

View From The Porch: The Safety Dance: He mulled that over for a second as I turned away to see what was going on down Mike's way when, out of the corner of my eye, I see the cop unholster his sidearm. I got a real good look at the muzzle in my peripheral vision, and also took extremely good note of the fact that, even if his lack of muzzle discipline was appalling, at least his trigger finger was in register against the frame. Thank heavens.

One only assumes that this Uniformed Officer of the Law (you know, one of the "Only Ones") had been trained in gun safety practices and procedures.  Also that he was experienced.   So we can only conjecture about why he didn't actually PRACTICE safe gun handling.

My guess is a combination of things:

• The only time he draws his firearms is on the range, and
• he doesn't spend a lot of time on the range, and
• that time is not under the direct supervision of a Range Officer, and
• he just never got called on his shoddy skills, so
• safe gun handling was never made to be (in the words of our revered Vice President of the United States of America)  "... A Big F*CKING DEAL!"

I recognize this.   I train new shooters for USPSA competition, and I see a LOT of people who are supposedly experienced, competent gun owners.

They do some really stupid shit.  Like, keeping their finger on the trigger when moving, loading, unloading, or clearing a malfunction.  or waving their pistol around when they're distracted by non-shooting activity.  (One of the more common errors: reaching down to pick up a dropped magazine at the end of the stage without holstering their pistol ... possibly sweeping themselves.)   Or they forget that one of the primary rules is to always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

You okay?

There are four ways you can insure that people who are new to shooting guns have a 'bad experience', resulting in YOU voicing the hopeful question:

You okay?

If you hear yourself saying that, you have probably done something stupid.  And someone else will pay the price.  Either that 'other person' will never again think that shooting a gun is "a good idea", or they will think that continuing their association with you is "a good idea".

The first is problematic; the second is unquestionable.  You are a Gun Dork, and your friends will never be "OKAY".

Here are the four ways to absolutely turn your friendships .. and your prospective shooting partners .. off:

Teaching Pistol Safety: Knuckle-Duster Alert

Have you ever seen someone shoot a semi-automatic pistol with his/her thumb wrapped around his/her wrist?

I have .. and I have ALWAYS stopped it!   That's a good way to hurt yourself ... badly!

Here's how it looks (sorry, it's a staged presentation, It looks kind of crummy, but it DOES demonstrate the problem!)

Selfie Alert: It's difficult to get a good picture of your hands, when you've nestled your digital camera under your chin.  I'm sure you're all familiar with that situation.

Anyway ... looking at the user-end of a 1911 (here, 2011 EDGE from STI), you can see that the knuckle of the off-hand thumb is sticking up into ... or at least near ... the 'glide path' of the slide.

I've seen a LOT of 'new shooters' use this grip, and it's perfectly acceptable if you're a revolver shooter.

But if you're shooting a semi-automatic pistol of ANY brand, make or model ... using this grip is terribly dangerous.