How an online gun forum keeps journalists honest

or "How M4Carbine.net's members investigated a journalist's sources for him."

  This article was published by the Charlotte, NC Observer newspaper.  The scope of the article focused on gun manufacturer's worries as knee jerk gun control bills are proposed in the wake of the Newtown, CT tragedy.

  In the article, one "manufacturer" was interviewed and a little regurgitation of the news about Cerberus unloading Freedom Group ensued.

  The interview with the "family-owned company near Charlotte is a specialty manufacturer of AR-15’s" was conducted with a Ken Rinkor who is Vice-President of Tactical Arms Manufacturer (the company).

  Mr Rinkor voiced concerns about the company's sole business (AR15 rifles) being outlawed and just happened to mention that he saw "no need" for anyone to have 20-30 round magazines, "even for personal protection."  That statement set the antenna twitching of one "Sensei" at M4Carbine.net.  It's exceedingly odd (and a bit bad for business) when an avowed AR15 manufacturer is personally against "hi capacity" magazines.  Of course, the article claims that they sell "mainly to law enforcement personnel."  WHO?  WHICH DEPARTMENTS?

  Anyway, "Sensei" posted this thread and it was on.  In roughly 24 hours, we (myself included) using freely available sources (Google.com) determined a few interesting facts about Mr. Rinkor and his company Tactical Arms Manufacturing that "sells mainly to law enforcement personnel."

• the company's web site is jarringly poorly done but at least they link to and presumably sell lNC Star's fine line of optics (screenshot)
• the phone number on the web site is a Florida number whereas the fax number is a Massachusetts number
• Better Business Bureau lists the company as a Florida company
• the ATF lists the company as being located in two locations in Orange Park, Florida
• public WHOIS information lists this web site as being registered to Ken Rinkor of Florida, using the same addresses the ATF has on file
• LinkedIn.com lists Ken Rinkor as the IT Director at this company with no military, firearms, nor law enforcement experience
• And......one of the addresses on file is a UPS store .  Interesting how the address of a federal firearms dealer is a UPS store.  

  If you have handled one of these fine rifles from this company, contact me.  If you know of an actual law enforcement professional using one of these rifles, contact me.  If you're a reporter, writing an article; do some research next time and Google Edward R Murrow. Don't do such a poor job that you get called out by folks using Google.

  As for this "company," I don't think it's a real company with real products.  The website and the research above screams FAKE to me (and others).  They do have a Facebook page but aren't accepting comments and deleted negative ones that were made.  A retraction of sorts saying that the company officially does not support bans of high capacity magazines was made and then something along the lines of "if you're really a good shot, you don't need 30 rounds."  

  Good job, mi compadres at M4Carbine.net!  Newspapers, lemme know when you want to hire someone that can do research and speak knowledgeably about firearms.  

TACTICAL ARMS MANUFACTURER INC

XXXX PARK AVE STE XXX ORANGE PARK FL 32073

XXX BLANDING BLVD XXXX ORANGE PARK FL 32073

• 561309XXXXTACTICAL ARMS MANUFACTURER INC

XXXX PARK AVE STE XXX ORANGE PARK FL 32073

XXX BLANDING BLVD XXXX ORANGE PARK FL 32073

561309XXXX

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/12/18/3734372/gun-makers-fret-as-gun-control.html#storylink=cpy%23storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

Thoughts on the Connecticut atrocities

  You are more likely to be struck by lightning than to be in a mass shooting.  Yes, literally.  

  We spend more on "fighting terrorism" than we do our highways.  You have roughly a one in twenty million chance of being killed by a terrorist.  You have a one in nineteen thousand chance of being a fatality in a car accident.  However, the budget for Homeland "Defense" is at fifty billion.  The budget for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is around one billion.  Think about that.  

  Amongst the death statistics "caused" by guns in the US, suicides are counted as "murders."   

  In 1927, the deadliest school massacre in US history occurred.  People grieved, and no laws were made, no rights threatened, no knee jerk reactions were mandated into law.  Sometimes terrible things happen.  However, one mother suggests (from painful personal experience) that we do need change of another kind and that would be mental health laws and/or help for parents of children in need.  Read her truly sobering story here.  I note that she doesn't attempt the morally and intellectually bankrupt approach of blaming a knife for her son's aggression.  

  Why can't we have voluntarily armed and formally trained teachers just like our armed airlines pilots program?  

  Myself, I think we could do something to drastically lower our crime and murder rates.  

  We could end the war on drugs.

  

  

  

12/11/12 errata

• Turn in a gun you found in the UK, go to jail

•  Amtrak employees failing drug tests at alarming rates.  Still not profitable but Obama is going forward with high speed rail plans for the US since it worked so well elsewhere.

• Astroturfing in online gun forums is nothing new.  Anderson Manufacturing got busted here 

•  Catfish prey upon truly stupid pigeons

    

Operators, welcome!

  Nope, not a joke.  Have your speakers down (or up) for a video showing a .22 attached to a SCAR.....

  A thought.  The front page shows a guy in Army BDUs.  I've seen countless "tactical" companies hawking their wares with some guy in cammies (usually Army, the Marines are a bit more strict about this sort of thing) and/or the fabled Cooder County SWAT Team.  Respect your own uniform, gents; and don't let people give you a few rounds or free goodies in order to use the uniform to sell their stuff.

  
  

Sometimes being literal catches up with ya

The things they complain about

  are things they could be changin'. 

   So Kris Kristofferson wrote in "To Beat the Devil" but in my opinion, Waylon made this song his own with his rendition of it.  The relevant words from the song are below:

And you still can hear me singin' to the people who don't listen,
To the things that I am sayin', prayin' someone's gonna hear.
And I guess I'll die explaining how the things that they complain about,
Are things they could be changin', hopin' someone's gonna care.

So....what brought on this moment of exasperation?  The AR-15 Dual Trigger.

• The Elftmann Tactical AR-15 Dual Trigger or DTR was inspired by the paintball double trigger
• Increased firing speed
• Enables rapid firing without muzzle lift
• Unique appearance that changes the profile of the AR-15

  There's more at their website.  Including the below which apparently is NOT gun industry inspired satire (added emphasis on the "it's not a joke" part below:

Other products in development include the G-AR or Gun Armor Protection System, which will be released in the first quarter of 2013. The G-AR is designed to protect you and your handgun from a take away attempt and incorporates two razor blades into a billet aluminum base that will easily mount onto your existing tactical rail. 

  Ignoring the low hanging comedy fruit of mounting razor blades to your weapon, I quoted the song in an attempt to link the never ending mantra of "you will get better with training and practice, not gadgets" with the attempt to become a better shot through attaching trash addons like the Dual trigger to your weapons.  Most folks who've had the moment when they realize that they are not the American god of love and war with regards to shooting (usually attained through formal training) also have learned the hard truth you literally cannot buy your way into shooting well.  You must seek formal training and hopefully augment that with competition of some sort if possible and safe.

  However, I'll offer my personal assessment of new gun owners.  I used to tell folks to get a 9mm Glock 19 or 17/M&P9/HK P30 and an AR15.  Mix in training classes, a sling, mags, sights, and ammo. 

  Nowadays, I'm a bit more pessimistic about new gun owners.  Now I recommend a 9mm pistol and a formal training class (beyond the NRA or state CCW classes).  That is it.  Learning how to shoot pistol first makes you a better rifle shot.  Taking a class first allows you to see what gear works.  I don't think the Barackolypse 2.0 is going to ban assault rifles anytime soon; just buy a pistol, ammo, a spare mag or two, and take a formal training class.  A trained shooter who can use their pistol relying upon muscle memory is far better than someone not knowing how to properly shoot and manipulate their rifle and pistol. 

  Be that guy.  Be the one humble enough to learn, smart enough to treat shooting as something to learn.  Shooting is fun, shooting accurately and treating shooting as a martial art to be learned is even more fun.  Also more responsible. 

  I'll close with the song "'cause I don't believe that no one wants to know."

The bad old days

  of firearms journalism made a brief return at Cheaper Than Dirt with the "Babineaux Method" article.  This moronic article purports to enlighten us as to how the "Babineaux Method" of reholstering with your finger inside the trigger guard, behind the trigger is really the safest way of reholstering those new fangled, striker fired Tupperware polymer pistols.  

  This article has been debunked and vilified (rightly so) across the internets.  CTD pulled it from their site after three days.  So, I don't want to nor need to rehash the very obvious arguments against this trash.

  However, it reminded me of the bad old days before the free flow of information afforded to us by the internet and online gun forums.  Gun journalism sucked and for a long time, too.  Folks just couldn't fire up Google and try to find out who the article is referring to when it states (pause for laughter)

"today’s professionals are beginning to utilize a method that has become known as the Babineaux Method."

 By the way, no one has figured out which professionals are doing so nor even who Babineaux is except as the article states:

“Babineaux is a Marine who now works in a major metropolitan law-enforcement agency. He’s been working in a high-risk environment for almost a decade. That environment requires undercover tactics, including deception and deep concealment of a firearm. Because of the sensitive nature of his work, we can’t be more specific about his credentials.”

  See what he did there?  The military knows all excuse coupled with "we could tell you but we'd have to kill you."  The double whammy.  OPSEC.  OPSEC.  OPSEC!  

  So right now, we have a clearly dangerous technique being demonstrated AIWB (Appendix Inside Waist Band) with a clip on, stretchy, crap holster that no on in their right mind would use for anything let alone AIWB.  AIWB works well with holsters that are designed for it.  Holster that retain the firearm, don't stretch, secure solidly to the belt, and position the firearm more vertically instead of letting it flop around.

  The tally:

• unsafe technique
• "we can't tell you what his credentials are.  SECRET.
• someone who clearly does not carry AIWB "demonstrating" the technique

  I would have known this was tripe a few years ago.   I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it and I might have heard through the grapevine about someone thinking it's OK to insert your finger into the trigger guard as you reholster into a soft holster that's not fit for training nor carry.  However, I wouldn't have been able to quickly ascertain "Babineaux the secret squirrel police officer" either doesn't exist or is (probably unless all of this is just really, really bad fiction) a pen name.  I also wouldn't have been able to read or view the author's glowing endorsements of concealed carry pants and just about everything he's given a chance at reviewing.

  And that's when a memory was jogged.  From the bad old days of gun journalism.  An article was written, purporting to be on the need of having rifles with a factory guaranteed level of accuracy.  The author tested only Sako rifles.  The author wore two different Sako hats in the pictures.  The author capped the article with details on his Sako sponsored pronghorn hunt and how his (free rifle too?) Sako performed so well.  That's when I stopped buying gun magazines.  The gun forums are rife with drama, paranoia, and bias but they're nowhere near as bad as the gun magazines.  Print is dying but accountability for the words you write and claim as facts is at an all time high.  Cheaper Than Dirt just realized that, not that I would ever forgive them for price gouging a fifty round box of .45ACP ball all the way up to $60 during the height of the Barackolypse v 1.0 Gun Buying Panic.  It's their right as capitalist to price gouge and publish nonsense.  It's our right to hold them and anyone else accountable for dangerous tripe passed off as an article. 

<admin note:  There are several very good gun writers out there still.  Rob Sloyer and Ed Lawrence come to mind.>



 

Viral marketing done right

  Kudos to Palmetto State Armory.  Nope, I don't get anything out of this post, it just made me smile.

 

It's funny. Laugh.

Words fail me once again

  A plan to encase HK's factory in a sarcophagus?  You cannot make this sort of thing up.......  Watch the video with or without sound; the insanity comes through either way.

  This comment wins on so many levels.....

  She's just mad cause H&K won't release a civilian MP7.

These are the exclusive blueprints for a new century of humanity. Germany's deadliest factory must still be covered up and locked. The weapons company "Heckler & Koch" has destroyed in the past 25 years away from any headlines 375x as many people as the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. We want the same sarcophagus that holds back the radiation at Chernobyl, build the weapons factory in Oberndorf, that you may not deadly "products" more escape. They are the weapons of mass destruction of our time: the "G3" and "G36".

Another Open Carry incident

This time, I'm on the side of the open carrying citizen. 

Marine Captain (helicopter pilot, combat vet, 2 tours in Iraq) passes a few motor homes that he says were going slow.  He's on a motorcycle, open carrying; probably out of convenience. 

He knows his rights and the law, inside and out.  

The RV drivers supposedly call the police and report him for passing them at "a hundred miles an hour."  The cop that pulled him over, did so out of suspicion.  He was not clocked speeding by the police.  

The cop asks him if he has a weapon.  The Marine responds with "I do not consent to search and seizure" (all of my quotes from this video are paraphrased because there's no transcript as of yet).  I think the Marine assumed the cop saw the openly carried weapon at that point.  That's where things went downhill and fast.  Unlike the usual Open Carry videos, I don't think this Marine was looking for this incident and he damned sure had no fear or hesitation in his voice. 

The problem I have with this stop (I would have answered in the affirmative when questioned on whether or not I had a weapon) is how the responding officer handled it in the end.  He told the Marine he was free to leave if the other officer could cover the Marine with a drawn weapon as the Marine left.

I will be monitoring this case.

Note what is requested in the lawsuit:

Pierson said he is seeking damages, an apology and a statement by the jurisdictions involved that the open carry of handguns is lawful — and that the purpose of government is not officer safety but the protection of peoples’ lives, liberty and property.
“I want that stated as the paramount reason they exist,” he said.
Pierson also said he wants to see Bassett and Andazola off the force.
Pierson said he finds the irony of the situation heartbreaking. “Both sets of officers, the sheriff’s department and myself, we’ve both sworn to uphold the Constitution,” he said.

Dakota Meyer sounds off

  On folks in air conditioned TOCs making calls for men actually doing the fighting.  There's folks that claim they're aviators because they "fly" drones and sometimes they even claim PTSD.  There's folks that claim they've seen combat from a screen.  And then there's Dakota Meyers.....  Read his story, folks and be humbled.

I read it last night, straight through.  His humble, blunt honesty is striking.  One gets the feeling he wrote the book purely to help Captain (Army) Will Swenson get the recognition he deserves.  Elsewhere in the book, some disinfecting sunlight is shed upon the Army TTOC officers who through slavish devotion to CYA and procedure allowed men to get killed that day in Ganjigal.  Said officers didn't listen to the men on the ground.  Once again, we read of the bravery of Army Kiowa pilots who helped turned the tide of battle and allow Corporal Meyer and SSGT (now Gunny) Juan Rodriguez-Chavez to reach their dead comrades and recover their dead friend's bodies (saving a few lives along the way).  Read the book, folks.  It's well written and not too long.  I know it's not about Tier One operators but it's worth your time and a story that needs to be told. 

  Meanwhile, the nation gives more press coverage to a dead panda cub in DC than the casualties last week.

  Thankfully, for those of us disgusted with the media and the American public, there's Duffelblog.

  Dakota Meyer invited to crime fighting super heroes (Nice mention of Brian Chontosh,
"instructor of Murderology at the Naval Academy")

  An excellent piece on the hypocrisy of the Afghans and "desecration"

  New logo for Marine Scout Snipers  (the "SS" logo has been around for a LONG time and never had a Nazi connotation.)  Fer Chesty's sake, it's OK to shoot them in the head but not have an SS symbol that means "Scout Sniper"?  Of course, this is the country where our troops are allowed to set the enemy on fire, shoot them, and bury them alive but not allowed to look at porn or drink before 21..... 

  Apologizing to a blue sticker (what the hell is the point of saluting a vehicle?) 

 

 

Chris Costa helping take the gun world mainstream?

  OK, the fifteen hundred dollar S&W M&P is more than a little surprising.  Once can only hope it shoots better than 6" at 25 yards though according to S&W, that's acceptable......  Great attention has been paid to aesthetics.  Personally, I'd like to get a reward posted for the first guy to take this to a Vickers handgun class (and I'd like to be there giggling as Larry Vickers casts his eyes upon this tactical bling or "tactibling"?   Hell, this thing seems a bargain compared to the laughably priced GlockVector "PV" which is a stippled and reshaped Glock 17 with some sights and a wee bit o' trigger work for fourteen hundred dollars.  (don't read the advert for it if you are immune to "operators" and multicam). 

 

  

  It's a sad day when utilitarian polymer pistols are treated like ornamental 1911s. 

  However, is the Costa starpower or hysteria making the firearms training world more mainstream ala the television series Top Shot?  After all, I'm pretty sure that Costa's Adidas sponsorship is a firearms industry first outside of hiking boots manufacturers.  Of course, there's Larry Vickers and his videogame partnership.  So, what is it?  Are video games giving us more shooters?  Is shooting becoming mainstream?  Are we sneering too quickly or do we need to make sure that shooting remains a serious pursuit sans starpower and idolization of certain firearms trainers?

  As always, when choosing a well known trainer, remember their roots.

And the dull roar of anger

   After seeing  Egyptians storm the US Embassy and burn the US flag on the 11th anniversary of September 11th and now reading the news about the US Ambassador to Libya being assassinated (along with 2 US Marines) ; there's a dull roar of anger in my ears emanating from more than one school of thought.

  You see, we attempt to help these people.  Rebuilding mosques for Eqyptians, hell we directly supported the Libyan revolution.  This is during the "great recession," mind you. In other words, those at USAID, the Executive Branch, and the State Department who dole out taxpayer's dollars with the smug affirmation "we know what's best and this will help the US" are incompetent fools.

  All of the recent events are a direct reaction to one podunk (he tends to a flock of twenty), Islamophobe Florida preacher's promotion of a  recent "film" that vilifies Islam in juvenile jokes. 

  "Is this THAT guy?'  Yeah, it's the guy who burned a copy of the Koran last year, kicking off protests, violence, and killing the Muslim world.

  The US Embassy in Cairo released the below statement, showing steadfast resolve and belief in the US Constitution.....except when freedom of speech might offend someone's religion.

The U.S. Embassy said in a statement Tuesday that it "condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims -- as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions."
"Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy," the statement said. "We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others."

 
  That statement was released before the US Ambassador to Libya was assassinated.   So...we're not going to cut off aid to these countries and we are going to blame our citizens exercising their right o freedom of speech.  Got it.   Our government's appeasement of these other countries whose mouths are firmly affixed on our welfare teat reminds me of someone continuing to feed and care for a dog that continually bites them.

  Lest someone confuse me with an Islamophobe, I'll state that I remember the USS Liberty and I'm a fan of General Butler's words:

  There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights.

 

The Anti Costa? (Tactical fashion)

  For those smart enough to avoid the non technical posts in gun forums, it might come as a shock to find out that grown men obsess over such things as the shades of FDE (Flat Dark Earth), tactical pants, and Arc'teryx jackets.

  For some, it turns into star worship.  Christ Costa; formerly of Magpul Dynamics, has followers that obsess over what shade his jacket is, what sunglasses he wears, and every brand name product he uses.  And he uses some very expensive, high end stuff; from jackets to suppressors.....

  Cue this report from a friend on a past John "Gunner" McPhee's heavy carbine marksmanship class:

That guy is the Anti-Costa.  Spotted rounds effectively throughout the course with a Simmons Spotting scope, When it rained he tore a hole in a garbage bag like a hobo(rather than the Arc'teryx Leaf full body suit) and half his gear was made out of duct tape and 550 cord.  Nothing he did or taught was in any way flashy or complex, but it all made sense, was easy to remember, and it worked.

Why open carry is like gay porn to me

  I support both.  That is, the right to do both.  Not a thing I particularly I want to see in public.  However, the gay porn people understand that.  They realize that there's a time and place for all things. I also get the feeling that gay porn afficionados would not run around displaying the porn in public in order to "educate" the public.  Not so much on the open carry "advocates"......

  Open carry advocates have read Beyond This Horizon by Robert A Heinlein, once maybe a coupla hundred times.  In this vision of a future society, everybody open carries.  The premise is that armed society is a polite society.  You have a problem with someone, duel them right then and there.....  However, most of the characters in the book are not walking around, trolling for lawsuits with personal digital recorder, eagerly hoping for "looks" (see open carry forums for countless stories of "the looks I got at McDonalds."  Also, Heinlein's story vastly differs from that of reality.

  The characters in the book also are proficient with their weapons.  I don't know one open carry "advocate" that is proficient with anything more than than their audio/video recorder and spouting local ordinances regarding firearms carry.  Some of these "advocates" are indeed idealists, truly believing that  if you open carry enough and"educate" enough of the public, open carry will become mainstream..... The rest seem to be either trolling for a lawsuit or for attention.  If you mention the benefits of concealed carry to one of these "advocates," you will be shouted down with mentions of the blazingly fast advantage in speed when drawing from an openly carried firearm.  You see, that beats practice, training, or perhaps even timing the difference between concealed and openly carried....  I've timed the difference and I'm usually at a tenth or a second or two slower from open carry and that's because I'm faster with an appendix draw every time.

  The odd thing is that most of these "advocates" aren't so keen on proficiency.  You know, training classes, competition, improving one's ability to use your choice of carry firearm.  A cursory glance at open carry.org's state chapter for my state shows a seemingly unhealthy obsession with open carrying and fast food, a willful ignorance of the practical benefits of when carrying two handguns it makes sense to have magazine commonality ("advocate" in question is carrying an XD and a 1911 both openly), and at least two recent negligent discharges.  The last part is particularly troubling.

  The latest encounter between an "advocate" and a police officer ended quite well for those on the side of rational thought, manners, and generally ignoring an out of shape, attention needy "advocate" who open carries a .22LR MP5 clone complete with fake suppressor.  You know, for the attention.  The responding officer is a credit to himself, his department, and his profession.  The advocate is a laughable dolt who hurts the Second Amendment cause.  If you are serious about advocating our Second Amendment rights, get training.  Learn how to shoot.  Then encourage others.  Carry your weapon in a responsible manner.  Let the cops do their job.

  Enjoy the video.

  

The speed of a dog on attack and Marine snipers battle for bragging rights

  Ever wonder how fast a dog really is?  The term "furry guided missile" is apt......

Royal Marine snipers and US Marine Scout Snipers battle it out for bragging rights, shooting targets in the ocean from a helicopter. 

  (pic from DVIDS)

 

Feinstein decides it's time

  to reenact the Assault Weapons Ban (AWB).  Never mind the bothersome fact that gun crimes and police killings declined after the AWB of 1994 lapsed. 

  Also, Mizz Feinstein declined to debate her Republican opponent Elizabeth Emken despite Emken's repeated debate challenges.  Why should she bother?  With California's gerrymandered districts and reelection rate for Democrats, Feinstein doesn't need to bother campaigning.  She can focus on the important stuff like the economy or preventing domestic surveillance errr....banning "assault" weapons.

  I love California, I really do.  The people are friendly, the food is great, and the countryside is beautiful.  I've hunted wild boar in the San Louis Obispo area with local rednecks that would be right at home in any Southern holler.  I've seen the poor, ostracized California shooters fight tooth and nail for gun rights in battles that folks in other states couldn't imagine.  However....California is cursed with a beautiful climate.  My rule of thumb (for the US) is the more rough the countryside is and the more harsh the climate, the less chance that there will be too many people, enacting too many laws, worrying too much about regulating what others do.  Wyoming might lead the continental US in that regard except for all of the out of staters in the Jackson Hole area.  We can only hope that climate change rids of us of the ski slopes there :)

  All of this being said, it's probably time to start preparing for the Barackolypse 2.0 Gun Buying Panic and stock up on your year's supply of ammo at the very least.  Not a bad idea to get you some of them eeevul high capacity mags and assault rifles either.  At the very least, get an AR15 lower.  Build it up into a rifle when you want.  By BATF rules, the AR15 lower is the weapon so everything else is just an addon.  So, if you buy the lower legally, you're set.
  

 

And that is that?

  I'm a libertarian.  I don't care what you do in the bedroom, I don't think "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for heterosexuals only" is written or implied in the Declaration of Independence.  I believe that immigration laws need to be fixed and that most of the crime problems with immigrants will be greatly alleviated by abandoning this "War on Drugs" that is inept, impotent, and only good at destroying our rights.

    I don't understand how the Republican Party focused like a laser on a woman's right to choose nor why gay marriage is a more important issue than domestic surveillance, foreign interventionism, reducing government agencies, nor the war on individual rights.  One would think that a party supposedly devoted to small government would stop worrying about social issues.  One would think that......

  I don't think that government can be all things to all people as the Democrats do and I do believe that "the safety net can become a hammock" as Thomas Sowell so aptly observed.   At every increase of increasing big government; I see the heavy hand behind it:  for your own good.  Safety issue.  a risk.

  So, there is NO Constitutionally sound, socially liberal, fiscally conservative party nor viable candidate out there today.  Writing in my conscience seems easy, right?  Write in a libertarian candidate like Ron Paul or Gary Johnson.

  And then the Democratic National Party adds as part of their official platform, the below, and draws a line in the sand.  Sigh....

  we can work together to enact commonsense improvements—like reinstating the assault weapons ban

The New York Times: Excellence in research

  For an anti gun newspaper, one must admire their unwavering attention to detail and commitment to facts based reporting.

  As an American gun owner, I was surprised to learn of the devastating power of a Star 1911 but that's how the NY Times rolls.  No BS< no fear mongering hyperbole, just the facts, ma'am.  Note the lamentation of the gun contro ladvocate who helpfully provided a quote for this article:

“I can’t think of a current gun law that would have banned the weapon that was used in this shooting,” said Daniel Webster, a director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research.

  And Baron Von Bloomberg still worries about the peasants having firearms there being too many guns out there:

Elected officials who have been pushing new gun laws pointed to the shooting on Friday as another reason that the issue of gun violence deserved more attention from policy makers. “We are not immune to the national problem of gun violence,” Mr. Bloomberg said, adding, “Once again, there’s an awful lot of guns out there.”

Reporting on the shootings outside the Empire State Building.

 The article seems to be a not so subtle attempt to spread fear about what deadly lethal guns are (gasp) legal in America still.  Also, nobody told the assailant in this story that he was supposed to drop from one shot of .45ACP......

  Unretouched photo from the NY Times below.  

  

As Hurricane Isaac approaches New Orleans

  It's worth your time to read this sobering and touching story about Katrina.  I won't laugh if you place a hatchet in your attic just in case......

Links 08/14/12

  - French Army to replace the FAMAS bullup?  (don't forget this article on the SA80bullpup)

  - Liberal media personality plagiarizes someone else's gun control article shortly after receiving an honorary
    degree from Harvard.  You can taste the irony.....

  - Make bizarre, preposterous claims and get called out.

  - Could spring design and quality be the answer to making 1911s run like (good Glocks)?

  - Are you a libertarian or a conservative? (video)

 

Concealed is.....(wait for it)

concealed.

  Lawyer and law abiding citizen Sung Ho Hwang of New Haven Connecticut forgot about the last part while attending a Batman movie at his local theater.  Folks saw his concealed pistol (small of back, he had to work to make this visible) and called the police.  The cops swarmed the theater with over 20 officers responding.

  Mr Hwang sounds like a reasonable fellow who articulated a credible defense of the Second Amendment and was only a victim of his own poor choice in manner of concealment.  All of this could have been avoided if he had done more than pay lip service to carrying concealed.  Methinks he hasn't undergone formal handgun training either given his choice of carry at the small of the back.

  An OWB (Outside Waist Band) holster with its edge or more showing under a cover garment isn't covered and it isn't concealed.  This is not a perception issue, it's a reality issue.  If people see it, it's not concealed.  I can never get over how folks will agonize on which handgun is best for them and then stride off into the sunset with a Serpa/Uncle Mike's/Galco POS holster flopping around on their hip.  Go IWB (Inside Waist Band) with a proper belt.  Research the styles of concealed carry out there.  If you don't see what you think fits you best, try communicating with a custom holster manufacturer.  They will more often than not, build you exactly what you specify.  Also, their holsters will not fall apart nor allow carry in an unsafe manner. 

  Trusted holster manufacturers are below.  That means I use or have used their products and they worked as advertised.  Below is a picture of my Belgian Malinois and I finishing up a successful session of Schutzhund bite/protection training.  I am running with a Glock 19 concealed in a Custom Carry Concepts Shaggy AIWB (Appendix, Inside Waist Band) holster.  Comfortable, secure, and concealed.  I am wel laware that the trained eye (if looking intently) could see my weapon "printing" but highly unlikely in everyday carry conditions outside of running and handling a 75lb Belgian Malinois on bite.

JRC Customs

Dark Star Gear

Custom Carry Concepts

Mayor Bloomberg meets George Orwell

NYPD CCTV command center

If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.

George Orwell


Technology has effectively destroyed our privacy.

I'd ban assault weapons if Congress would just let me

Q    Just returning to guns for a moment.  You’ve said, in response to a bunch of questions, that he supports enforcing -- better enforcing existing laws.  His position in the past has been in favor of renewing the assault weapons ban, which would, at this point, be a new law.  He also said in New Orleans that AK-47s belong on the battlefield, not on the streets.  Does he still support that legislation?

MR. CARNEY:  He does.  And I’ve said that before from the podium in the last week, that he does support renewing the assault weapons ban.  I think what I’ve noted in the past, and what I noted here, is that there has been reluctance by Congress to pass that renewal.

Full text from White House press briefing 

You stay classy, SIG

Stay classy.

I know I shouldn't be stunned and amazed but....

I hate that the United States has even reached this ideological juncture, where we have to consider preserving individual rights as a priority over collective safety

  We can only wonder if this guy is for curtailing First Amendment rights regarding protests for.....collective safety.

You really shouldn't poke the bear

  or in this case, attempt to drive away from the cop that's writing you a parking ticket and run over his foot in the process.

  Posted in the hope that this hipster jerk getting his comeuppance will cheer some folks up after yesterday's tragedy in Wisconsin.  I will post details on any charity funds for the families as they are setup.

  This is being linked to the YouTube user's channel and it's not copied from the original.  

 

The Sikh temple mass shooting in Wisconsin

Has been classified as "domestic terror."

Meanwhile the atrocity that the coward Nidal Hassan perpetuated is classified as "workplace violence."

May the next coward planning to massacre innocents have his chickens come home to roost in the form of an armed and trained citizen.

My thoughts are with the Sikhs. Truly wonder citizens of America and the world.

Note that the Brady Campaign is already using to this to their advantage. Hours later.....

The Total Recall remake premieres today

  Libertarian and former MTV news host Kurt Loder reviews it, says the remake lacks the "style and fun, or at least coherence" of the original.

  Meanwhile, my good friend Sweesus made the below pronouncement on this movie months ago:

Yeah, they're remaking Total Recall, one of my all time favorites.  It has about a high school graduate's chance of getting hired by the TSA and the same of being 1/10th as hard core as the original and that pretty ass Colin Farrell is playing Arnold's role, but I'll still have to see it.  Or maybe I'll just duct tape a rat to a bird and watch it fly around like the kid riding the luck dragon in NeverEnding Story. Sweesus - 1, Jesus - 0

Inspiration and justice, sweet juicy justice

A professor in Arizona takes it upon himself to strike a blow for freedom and justice by ordering a free cup of water from Chik Fil A and berating the girl working the drive through who displayed far more maturity and composure than he did.  He was subsequently fired from the company he works for and the college where he teaches took his staff page down from their website.  In another day and age, this strident ass would have been spitting upon returning Vietnam veterans.  As a supporter of gay marriage, I'm amazed by this level of pettiness....  No word yet on if his employer offered the Chik Fil A gal a job.....

The Olympics are outstanding this year.  In a uniquely American story, an African American teenager who's the daughter of an Army (multiple deployments to Afghanistan) veteran and fostered (only to be near her coach) by a white family, Gabby Douglas  "The Flying Squirrel" took the gold in women's gymnastics at the Olympics.  Meanwhile, Kayla Harrison overcame a coach sexually abusing her as a teenager to win the gold in women's judo.  She only came out publicly about the abuse after the Sandusky story broke.  She would much rather people talk about her win.

Meanwhile back in the US, I took an invitation only Failure2Stop "high stress" class last weekend and it was outstanding.  The degree of accountability to which we were held was offset by the hilarity and good humor displayed by the instructors and students.  If you missed, you could recite poetry, sing a song, or even do calisthenics.  Hits count, gents.  Friend "VoodooMan" has an excellent review of the class up at his blog.  I'll post the video of me doing the "dog drill" (shooting a jug advancing upon you at a high rate of speed, popping the inlfated balloon inside of it to get a "hit")  I was the first man up to shoot this drill and folks quickly learned that the best way to get a hit was to stand still.  Obviously, I did not but I choose to think that shooting on the move was more realistic.....  However, hits count.  Also, stuff breaks.  My Gen2 Glock19 had its front sight (AmeriGlo) come loose twice.  The rear sight was also loose and we had to raise material on it with a centerpunch to keep it in place.  Also had a few malfunctions that I think are attributable to the below plunger spring (yes, it was a newer spring).  It's pictured below a brand new spring I replaced it with. 

Click link for the video

The inevitable begins

San Francisco Mayor Ed Klee is a big fan of Baron Von Bloomberg's stop and frisk program.  The 4th Amendment?  Eh....not so much.

As usual, The Agitator has excellent commentary on the topic and I recommend you read it.  One quote that stood out to me was the below:

San Francisco is a city that’s famous — or notorious — for being liberal, depending on your point of view. But in modern America “liberal” does not reliably mean “an advocate of limited police power” or “a supporter of Fourth Amendment rights.” Nominal “liberals” in government are as eager to milk fear and law-and-order sentiment as the most gravel-knuckled conservative.

  I have frequent conversations on this topic with a good friend who is for want of a better term; a "classic liberal."  He's not a fan of anything Baron Von Bloomberg does, loves his guns, and is usually aghast at what today's "liberals" do.  He's a guy that thinks the government should respect the Bill of Rights but do more for its citizens (healthcare) and his military record is...intimidating.  Honestly, this is another one of those libertarian moments where both the current Left and the Right blur together because we all know of multiple rights violations by the "conservatives" as well. 

  Now, our favorite "liberal" Chuck Schumer is at it again.  Never one to let a media moment with chance of getting of his face in the national news Schumer has joined Democratic Sens. Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Jack Reed (R.I.), Bob Menendez (N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), and Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) have proposed a rider to the current cybersecurity bill that would:

make it illegal to transfer or possess large capacity feeding devices such as gun magazines, belts, feed stripes and drums of more than 10 rounds of ammunition with the exception of .22 caliber rim fire ammunition


  Now read the accompanying thoughts from the intellectual pygmy Schumer:

Schumer also pointed out that it would be reasonable for the right to recognize that background checks on those buying guns is necessary — as called for in the Brady law. He also said average Americans don’t need an assault weapon to go hunting or protect themselves.

 
  Remember folks; all animals are equal but some are more equal than others.  That means that Baron Von Bloomberg can escape to a gun free country toting NYPD officers armed with pistols and assault rifles but we commoners are common and do not need such protection. 

  The fact that said 100 round drum more than likely caused the Aurora shooter's S&W M&P15 AR15 rifle to malfunction is something gun owners might chuckle over as the nannies attempt to legislate morality via banning inanimate objects for the commoners.

  Meanwhile, Baron Von Bloomberg is fairly foaming at the mouth.  Guns are a danger to the American public even moreso than large sodas and must be stopped.  Comically, Bloomberg urged police to strike over gun control.  Even more comical was his belief that "armor piercing bullets" must be banned.  This is a classic example of idiocy as the folks that mouth this platitude also insist that they don't mind commoners having "hunting rifles."  The fact that any old 30-30, .223, .308, or 30.06 (the most common hunting calibers in America) can penetrate personally worn armor (sans plates) with ease hasn't registered.  Bloomberg also believes in the mythical rifle that can "shoot an airplane in flight from a mile away."  Obviously, he's not a fan of physics, math, or reality.  The moment the police strike is the moment the American public would take self protection much, much more seriously. 

  Everytime I read about the easily verifiable facts that Bloomberg ignores, Jewish American "liberal" politicians forgetting their own history, and seeing people take advantage of tragedy to trample our rights; I get nauseated.  I'm unable to read current events news for a while.  One can only hope there's some good news next week. 

Speechless.....

Dog put down because of appearance in Ireland

What the hell happened to Ireland and the UK? Can someone explain where these nations of fighters decided that nanny states, banning guns, overwhelming welfare societies, political correctness, and closed circuit cameras are a reasonable substitute for freedom. Why are these nations seemingly afraid of everything?

Some stand firm and some say "do it for the children"

  No, literally.  David Frum says do it for the children.  Just get rid of your guns if you have children.  I checked and he only resembles Helen Lovejoy in intellectual paucity and shrill hysterics but looks nothing like her otherwise.

 

  And then, on British television, an interviewer tries to get a nice slam dunk from one of those oppressed minorities in the US.  Except......Ice-T apparently has a functioning brain and does not care about standing his ground even when gun control hysteria is at a fervered pitch.  Ice-T points out that the Founders did not have hunting rifles in mind when they wrote the 2nd Amendment and his disdain for the interview's line of questioning is paplpable.  Bravo.

 

  To close, let's quote from the intellectual giant Thomas Sowell.  (Article).  If you aren't reading Sowell's column, let this be your wake up call.  David Frum debating Thomas Sowell would be roughly akin to a shrill Yorkshire Terrier attacking my Belgian Malinois.

Britain is a country with stronger gun control laws than the United States, and lower murder rates. But Mexico, Russia and Brazil are also countries with stronger gun control laws than the United States — and their murder rates are much higher than ours. Israel and Switzerland have even higher rates of gun ownership than the United States, and much lower murder rates than ours.

Even the British example does not stand up very well under scrutiny. The murder rate in New York has been several times that in London for more than two centuries — and, for most of that time, neither place had strong gun control laws. New York had strong gun control laws years before London did, but New York still had several times the murder rate of London.

It was in the later decades of the 20th century that the British government clamped down with severe gun control laws, disarming virtually the entire law-abiding citizenry. Gun crimes, including murder, rose as the public was disarmed.

Meanwhile, murder rates in the United States declined during the same years when murder rates in Britain were rising, which were also years when Americans were buying millions more guns per year.
The real problem, both in discussions of mass shootings and in discussions of gun control, is that too many people are too committed to a vision to allow mere facts to interfere with their beliefs, and the sense of superiority that those beliefs give them.

 

A very dangerous "antique" from the Shanghai Municipal Police

Once upon time, there was a Royal Marine by the name of William Fairbairn. After six years with the Royal Marine Light Infantry; he joined the Shanghai Municipal Police. Being a real leader, the Captain led from the front, in the streets. He ended up covered in knife scars; torso, legs, even the palms of his hands.


This hard won experience led to some realizations on the part of then Captain (retired as a Lieutenant Colonel). He created his own form of martial arts (Defendu), worked hand in hand with the OSS (yes, that OSS), trained a varied list of sneaky/commando type units for WWII, and wrote a book (Shooting to Live)with his training partner Eric Sykes. In this book, they wrote about point shooting; that is shooting sans sights in a disciplined and trained manner. Keep this last tidbit in mind, dear readers.


It goes without being said that I must mention the fighting knife Fairbairn and Sykes invented; the Fairbairn Sykes fighting knife, famous being for being SAS issue.


However, the purpose of this blog post is share with all of you an amazing piece of history.....


A while back ago, I noticed that Tom Givens of Rangemaster mentioned that he owned a Shanghai Municipal Police issue 1911. Now, I've learned that when Tom speaks; to listen. Tom makes a point of interviewing all of his many students who have been in shootings and collating the data in a scientific manner. Much to the contrary of what what certain trainers teach, Tom and Rangemaster teach sighted fire and find that it works in real life shootings. From Tom:

We heavily stress eye level sighted fire for everything except contact distance. We have a damn near 100% hit ratio in fights, excluding a few completely understandable misses. For example, one of my students had two armed robbers firing into his car, with him and his 6 year old daughter in it. He backed the car out of the kill zone while firing out the driver's window with his non-dominant hand. He got 4 hits for 8 shots that way. I'll forgive those misses. In most of our students' shootings, they fire 1-4 rounds and get all hits. 

Modern sights are so much more visible that it's silly to shoot from below eye level and guess where the rounds are going. Visually indexed fire doesn't always mean a perfect sight picture, but at least it gets the gun on target reliably.

  Anyway, my historical fixation kicked in when I saw mention of that Shanghai Municipal Police issue 1911 and I asked Tom for pictures.  He immediately sent them over and gave me permission to post them here and at 

Pistol Forum

.  Tom humorously postulates that Fairbairn and Sykes learned and popularized point shooting because of the wretched sights on this old warrior that were standard for the day.  He also relates that the pistol is 100% reliable with 230 grain ball ammo.  This weapon was issued when Fairbairn and Sykes were in the Shanghai Municipal Police and the odds are very strong that this old warrior saw quite a bit of action.  If steel could talk......

Anyway, onto the pictures! I will be sure to let you know if Tom has a smatchet laying around!

Happy 4th of July!

Just got the below in from someone deployed to a remote, sandy place and thought it was appropriate.


The British compound is right next door to us. We went over there last night to invite the chicks there to our July 4th party. They said they would show up. That's right dude, I invited Brits to our Independence Day party. Gotta love the irony.

Score!

World War One era US Marine Corps issue Clauss straight razor. It is en route to be honed and made shave ready. Manufactured in Ohio. Can't wait to shave with it.

Sometimes you luck out..... Many thanks to the gentleman honing it for me who refuses to accept money from veterans.

The great electrical storm of '12 or how I learned to stop worrying and love a cheap generator

I've always considered myself somewhat prepared for a natural disaster.  Food (MREs, canned goods), four 7 gallon water containers, a shitload of ammo and mags for my "go-to" weapons (AR15 and Glock 9mm), 10 gallons of gas treated with fuel stabilizer, a guard dog (Belgian Malinois), et cetera.

A storm made its way across the US Friday night, sowing lightning and 75 MPH winds along the way, going from Ohio to the East Coast.  One thing that as a Westerner that I've always hated about the East Coast is the trees.  No rolling plains here, the trees sprout like weeds, overhang everything, and you can't see more than a few hundred yards most places.  Those trees falling along with a few lightning hits left 1.5 million people on the East Coast (mainly in DC, Maryland, and Virginia) without power during one of the hottest weekends on record.  We're talking 100 degree days plus humidity.

I woke up Saturday morning without power.  No water, no A/C, and no word on when it would be back on.  I've always waffled on generators.  Cursory searches online and chats with friends gave me the impression that all generators are Chinese junk except for (in order of preference) Honda, Yamaha, and Briggs&Stratton units.  I tried to watch Craigslist for a worthy specimen but never found one with the right combination of price and power for my needs.

At BJ's Wholesale Club (remember kids, Costco does NOT allow anyone to carry a firearm in their stores unless you are law enforcement), I sat and waited for the store to open impatiently.  A monstrous Ford F350 4x4 with a huge NRA sticker on the back glass was also there waiting.  The occupant was one of those stereotype destroyers, being a clean cut African American guy packing a Glock 17.  He was there for a generator and related that Lowe's had ran out of generators at 6 AM that morning.  He and I got two out of the three remaining Champion 46515 3500 watt generators and that's all they had.  $299.00 and as my dear old Southern mother always said: "Poor people have poor ways."  Also, desperate people.  The temperature was headed to over 90 degrees before noon.  My new friend and I shook hands, wished each other luck with the weather and the upcoming elections regarding gun rights and parted ways.

I stopped off at WalMart to pick up oil for the new generator and a window mounted air conditioner.  I was in a hurry and it paid off - as I checked out with my new purchases, the registers in that WalMart went down.  I absconded with my 8,000 BTU window mounted A/C, 14 gauge power cord for the generator to my house, and my Royal Purple 10w30 oil (nothing but the best for my cheap generator!) and hit the gas stations.  Note that I said "stations," plural.  Many gas stations lost their electricity or their ability to make transactions.  I had some gas to run the generator but I bought more, planning for a week's worth of running it.  Topped off my truck too, of course.

Unboxing the generator was anticlimactic with a handy simplified "cheat sheet" being supplied.  Add oil, fill gas tank, switch choke to "choke" for starting, give gentle tug, then strong tug to starter cord, boom, it started.  Let it warm up, switch choke to "Run," plug in refrigerator and let that cool down before plugging in A/C.  An hour later, my house was at 72 degrees during the hottest part of the day and settled down to 71 degrees with appliances, A/C, and the fridge running.   The gas tank was topped off in the evening (4 gallon capacity) and ran for 12 hours on the aforementioned load.  At the 12.5 hour mark, there was an eighth of a tank remaining and power has been restored.  The generator ran flawlessly and without stutter, sipping fuel.

I suppose I could have bought an equivalent Honda generator for eleven hundred dollars more but I'm glad I didn't.

After I got the house cooled down, it was time to get my Internets up again.  Using the tethering option on my 4G Verizon LTE phone, I had smoking download speeds once again with very decent wireless range.  The below was tested on my iPad, getting the connection off of my phone.

A generator is a lot like a firearm.  When you need it, you really need it and it might take needing it and not having it to open your eyes.  I was lucky enough that I found one when I needed it.  I have friends local to this area who don't expect power restored to their homes for days and are living at a hotel.  For less than a week's stay at a hotel, you could have a generator and a cutoff switch installed at your house to route all electrical needs to the generator.

Good luck and don't be afraid to buy a cheap generator!

Some Roger Zelazny....

"Ah, but it makes a great deal of difference, you see. It is the difference between the unknown and the unknowable, between science and fantasy, it is a matter of essence. The four points of the compass be logic, knowledge, wisdom and the unknown. Some do bow in that final direction. Others advance upon it. To bow before the one is to lose sight of the three. I may submit to the unknown, but never to the unknowable. The man who bows in that final direction is either a saint or a fool. I have no use for either."

Links 06/26/12

- OSHA is here to save you from picking up ejected rounds on the range.. This is how they will ruin our sport and lifestyle, folks. Through environmental regulations.

- California Democrat Representative Jackie Speier has the brilliant idea of mandating that the TSA screen all mass transit. What could possibly go wrong? I think this and the TSA union's idea of giving their agents arrest powers are wonderful plans that will help our nation.  The irony of self proclaimed "liberals" like this moonbat and Charles Schumer encouraging institutionalized, federal racial profiling and discouraging use of mass transit cannot be overstated.

- PMC (Professional Military Contractor) is gracious enough to give a detailed report with pictures on the Beretta ARX-160. The verdict? It's a winner in his eyes.

- Power outlets with USB sockets. Ingenius. Do want.

- Mia Love continues to shatter stereotypes.