You might be a Gun Nut. (Huge list) – Gun Free Zone

You might be a Gun Nut. (Huge list) – Gun Free Zone:

If your answer to the recent rec.guns newsgroup thread, “How many guns do you need?” is, “How many do you have room for in your house?” you just might be a gun nut.

I recently found a link to this 2010 mega-list of  "Gun Nut" characteristics.

It's fun, it's funny, and there's too much truth in it to be denied.

Actually, I remember reading this when it was published ... I was working then, and I spent an entire lunch hour at my desk reading it.   My co-workers asked me what I found so amusing, so I sent them all links to it.

Lunch our was over-extended; we all had to put in some unpaid overtime that evening.

Go, read.  Enjoy.   And thank the Gun Free Zone.

Gun Violence in Peaceful Canada? Impossible!

Hard to believe that Canadians, who have often been dismissive of America's "Culture of Gun Violence", are finally admitting that they have their own share of crazed mass murderers.

Toronto City Council Urges Ban on Handgun, Ammunition Sales After Shooting:
On July 22, 2018, Faisal Hussain opened fire in Toronto’s Greektown, killing two and wounding 13. CBS News reported that Toronto Mayor John Tory reacted to the shooting by saying, “Guns are too readily available to too many people.” The National Post quoted Tory saying, “Why does anyone in this city need to have a gun at all? ....”

Eventually our Northern Neighbors will acknowledge that all nations need to address the problem of rising gun violence.   And banning guns and ammunition will only disarm the honest public, and turn their citizens into sheep at the mercy of the wild dogs.

Hard to believe that a nice Irish lad like Faisal would go rogue, isn't it?

(NOTE: Bearing Arms reports that the firearm was obtained illegally.   No great surprise.)

UPDATE: 

I mentioned "a nice Irish lad" ... then I read the current news.  It seems that the Irish (bless the ancestral home of my "DILDINE" ancestors) are still causing mischief:

July 27, 2018 by Zendo Deb And you thought the Criminal Justice System in the USA was screwed up. 

Violent burglar dressed up as garda during raid on family.
It seems things aren’t much different in Ireland.
He has 130 previous convictions for burglary, theft, road traffic offences, criminal damage, possession of drugs, taking vehicles and public order matters.
If he was sentenced to 6-months for each of those 130 offenses, he wouldn’t be out causing more mayhem. But the Irish, like their European neighbors, are too civilized to actually put people in prison.

https://wheelgun.wordpress.com/2018/07/27/failures-of-the-criminal-justice-system-international-edition/

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime

Where does it say in the U.S. Constitution that if you get away with a crime for 20 years, you don't have to pay the price?

Trump voter says she is 'ashamed' to be an American after daughter-in-law is deported: report | TheHill: 
Missouri woman who voted for President Trump now says she is “ashamed” to be an American after her daughter-in-law, a Mexican immigrant who had been in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, was deported.

So ... if you get away with breaking the law for "long enough", that makes it  okay?  Is that the story?

 Shirley Stegall told the Associated Press that while she supported Trump’s campaign promises to deport more criminal immigrants, she did not think her son’s wife, Letty, fell into that category.

You were not aware that your daughter-in-law was an illegal immigrant, after 20 years? 
And you support "TRUMP:", as long as his laws don't affect you personally?

 “I’ve always been proud to be an American,” Stegall said. “But now I’m ashamed.” Letty Stegall came illegally to the U.S. in 1999 and was living with her husband, Shirley's son, and a 17-year-old daughter from an earlier marriage.

Shirley ...you thought that America was "Okay" as long as the laws didn't affect your family.
That's ... interesting, considering your daughter in law is a drunken driver. But that's another story.

 Letty Stegall was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in February, six years after a misdemeanor drunken driving charge, for which she spent a month in jail, alerted authorities to her undocumented status.

So your daughter-in-law is an out-of-control drunken driver, a threat to her neighbors, and you think that's not just cause to expel her?

But that's not the point:

The road to American Citizenship by marriage is clearly defined by law.

(It took me 30 seconds to find the applicable law)

If you marry a U.S, citizen, you won’t be eligible for U.S. citizenship right away. But you may become eligible for a U.S. green card, which can lead to U.S. citizenship.
However, there are certain requirements that must be met before you can apply for a green card and ultimately for U.S. citizenship after marriage to a U.S. citizen.

Apparently, nobody in the family assumed the responsibility to research the law.

Here is the point:

The mother-in-law is "Ashamed" to be an American, because nobody cared enough to research the law on Immigrants who marry American Citizens.

It's not what you don't know that leads to "problems"; it's what you don't know, but think you know.

So .. lady, you can be ashamed to be An American, but it's not because America done you wrong.

You should be ashamed to be An American because you just assumed something that isn't true!

Oh, and by the way?  Claiming that you support TRUMP will buy you a cup of coffee, if you have a buck to pay for the actual .... you know ... cup of coffee.

Teapot ... meet Tempest

If someone buys a soft drink in California and requests/receives a straw, and later sells the "Like New Straw Only Used Only One Time!" to a third party via the internet ... is that a Straw Purchase?

Borepatch: Criminalizing Soda Straws:

There is a proposed bill in the California House that would make it a crime to give a restaurant patron a straw unless the patron specifically requests one. Each instance would be punishable by 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Leaving aside the costs associated with incarceration and the availability of jail space for the offending wait staff, The larger issue is the ongoing criminalization of activities performed by non-criminals regular people everyone.

There are more "Second Amendment" allegories in here, but I've used my Bad Pun quota already.

Readers are invited to contribute.

Public Service Announcement: Heroin Epidemic. Pass it on

"If it saves just one life ..."

Read this:

The Heroin Epidemic, Narcan, and First Aid for Opioid Overdoses | Active Response Training:

Last Thursday at work I saved a heroin overdose patient’s life by giving her Narcan.

I don't think I know anyone who is using drugs which have fatal consequences, but you never know.

I'm not sure what you will do with this information, but it's better to know than not to know.

Doctor Doctor, Tell Me The News ...

Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership (DRGO) frequently publish articles describing the way that anti-gun activists (aka: "Gun Grabbers") warp news reporting to put the blame for gun violence not on criminals and mad men, but on ... well, "responsible gun owners".

Several professionals contribute to this site.

Here, Dr. M.S. Brown provides what may be regarded as satire describing the preferred talking points for anti-gun news articles.  Only the first paragraph is quoted; you are encouraged to "GRTWT" (Go Read The Whole Thing): but since this was published 2 years ago, I suppose I will have to do an internet search to find the implied "Part 2". 
Or you will.

Here's a teaser:

The 2016 Journalist’s Guide to Gun Violence Coverage–Part 1 – Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership:

Guns are a sad fact of life in American culture and are a major topic in modern journalism. As a Journalist, you have a duty to get involved and make a difference in this important societal debate. By following certain guidelines, the concerned Journalist can be assured of having the maximum impact on this shameful American problem. The concepts discussed here apply both to broadcast and print media. For the purposes of this Guide, our work is divided between routine stories about gun violence and the broader coverage of the political debate about gun control. They are both equally important. Let us first address the proper way to construct a news story involving common gun crimes.

I can't wait for Part II to be published! 

And by the way in case you didn't notice .. the Good Doctors use satire to emphasize their pro-Second Amendment political position.   
So if you go to the original article and start ranting ...  you may embarrass yourself.

What the hell is:Free Trade"? And why can't I buy a gun in another state?

Interstate commerce regulations started out to regulate shit. States were shipping "solid waste" to other states whose regulations were more "lenient". Congress got involved ... politically adding to the burden of  "wastes".

Eventually, it was permitted to ship "wastes" between states (for disposal) without much regulation.

Now that decision is being applied to the question whether states have differing regulations concerning the purchase of firearms.   Specifically, can a resident of one state purchase a firearm from another state of which he is not a citizen?

Didn't we resolve this with the Second Amendment?

I guess not.

Interstate handgun purchase ban divides federal court - Guns.com Interstate handgun purchase ban divides federal court:

A decision not to grant a retrial in a challenge to the federal law barring handgun sales to out-of-state residents sparked intense debate in one of the nation’s federal appeals courts last week. The judges on the U.S. 5th Circuit were divided on overturning a decision by a three-judge panel that supported the gun law earlier this year. They narrowly voted 8-7 against granting a rare en banc hearing by the full circuit. The thin majority agreed that the longtime ban on selling handguns over the counter to out-of-state residents is in the public interest. The minority vehemently disagreed with the concept, which predated today’s modern instant criminal background check process, holding it was against the Second Amendment and was confusing when compared to the ability to sell rifles and shotguns without such prohibitions.

The upshot of this is that the lawyers in Congress consider your Second amendment right to "keep and bear arms" to be of lesser importance than shit.

see below:

End of an Era

For the past eight years, I have been teaching a once-monthly class in "Introduction to USPSA" (United States Practical Shooting Association) at my local gun club.

This month, I resigned from the teaching staff at my club.  I'm in my 70's, my eyesight is failing, the rules of competition have grown exponentially, and I no longer consider myself either physically nor experientialy qualified to teach the course.

USPSA has grown from six divisions to ... I'm not sure how many; but I can't teach a discipline which I have not experienced.   And many of the new shooters are disinterested in the pistol course; they want to compete in "Pistol Caliber Carbines", just to mention one new division.

When I started teaching, the divisions were Limited, Limited 10, Open, Revolver, Production and Single Stack.   All of them were restricted to pistols only.

(I've shot at least one match in all six of these divisions.)

Since then, USPSA has included the divisions of Pistol Caliber Carbine and ... well, I'm pretty sure that by the time this article is published there will be at least 1 more division.   I'll still shoot that PCC match, although I need more practice before I'm comfortable with the ergonomics.  But I'm now resigning myself to the fact that new divisions will soon be added and I can no longer speak authoritatively.

If this sounds as if I'm complaining ... I'm not.

One of the more exciting aspects of this sport is how it has grown exponentially over the past decades.  I shot my first match in 1983, no "divisions", and they were thinking about adding a new division to separate folks who were shooting 1911 frames with 7-round magazines from 1911 frames with 11-round magazines! (Yes, 11 round single-stack magazines were rare and expensive, and unreliable; but when they ran "right" they were an advantage!)

Today, it's more expensive.

The equipment I used in my first match (gun, magazines, ammunition, web-belt, holster, magazine carriers .. all army surplus except for my self-reloaded ammunition) cost LESS than the ammunition, and magazines I used in the last match I shot.

Time flies, when you're having fun.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Going to Nationals!

Musings Over a Barrel: Going to Nationals!:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

NOTICE: This Is An "Anti-government" Website

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

This is rewarding on at least two issues:

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

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

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

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

Here's what I think:

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

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

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

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

DEFINITION OF "AN HONEST POLITICIAN":

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

"Justice in Action?" You decide.

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

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

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

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

Attempted Murder Criteria in England

"I'm going to take your farm!"

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

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

Arrested for attempted murder!

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

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

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

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

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

I think so.  What do you think?

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

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

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

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

The FBI is FINALLY updating significant records to NICS

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

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

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


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

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

Seller Beware!

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

That only goes to show what they know.

Massachusetts man arrested for selling guns without a license:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

California DOJ BLINKS!

This is our "Once a Year Day"!

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

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

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

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

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

how do you handle a problem like Maria?

Both Liberals and Conservatives seem unable to agree on the primary "problem" with Judge Kavenaugh.

Do the Liberals hate/fear him because he is "Pro-Life", or because he is "Pro-Gun"?

The answer from the Liberal side seems to be:   "YES!"

‘Battle Stations,’ Says Gun Rights Leader about Kavanaugh Nomination - Liberty Park Press: Schumer and others are bracing for battle to keep Kavanaugh off the high court. Their main focus initially appears to be fear about a reversal of Roe v. Wade, but those who attended a protest on the steps of the Supreme Court Monday night are all perennial anti-gunners. 

Native Oregonians are all about Constitutional Rights.

We fear that a Liberal judge will value non-natives over the rights of those of us who were born here, who went to war from here, and who have contributed to the treasury through our taxes for decades.

Never Sign A Petition Until You Know What It Calls For!

The author of this article points out that signers of the anti-second amendment petition being circulated in Washington were unable to understand what they were signing.


Professional Consultants screw-up Anti-Gun initiative effort with amateur failure to proofread | We the Governed:

Washington State’s much hyped anti-gun initiative (I-1639) looks like it could be aborted before it can even make the ballot.  The Initiative Sponsors and their consultants failed to proof-read the initiative language they printed on the back of the signature sheets. It turns out they didn’t use the accurate language of the very initiative they were sponsoring.  They can’t blame gun owners, the NRA, Trump, Republicans, or even the Washington Secretary of State for this screw up.  Their consultants own this failure.

Note that the typeface on the "explanation" (required on the back of every petition signature page) was so small that it was not 'easily readable" ... among other violations of the standards for petition forms.

Independence Day Blues ... Second Draft ... The Real Story

In the aftermath of Independence Day, my thoughts often veer toward a consideration of my role during the war in Viet Nam.

I was drafted, and that was no excuse.  I could have migrated to Canada, I could have refused to serve, I could have opted for a non-military role ... oh, no!  I couldn't.   I decided to serve my country, comforted by the  arrogance that I was competent to lead men into battle.

I went where I was told, did what I was told, and the world is a better place because I did my duty as an American.

Well ... perhaps not.  Allow me to tell the story of my failure to lead and to protect the men who bravely accepted my leadership and died as a result of it.