Guns

Hypocrite

/ hsoi

Via SaysUncle I read that Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley has the luxury of armed guards.

A third escapee, a convicted murderer, had the misfortune early Monday of stumbling upon a Chicago police officer who was guarding Mayor Richard Daley’s vacation home that is about a block from Lake Michigan.

The officer, Michael Smith, chased the suspect on foot and handcuffed him at gunpoint.

In a statement, Smith said he had just checked his BlackBerry for a physical description and photos of the three escapees from Indiana State Prison about 10 miles away.

Shortly after, Smith, who was sitting in a car while guarding Daley’s home, said he looked in the rearview mirror and spotted two disheveled men.

Gosh, isn’t that just dandy? The Chicago Mayor — notorious for his anti-gun stance — has people that guard his house. And those guards, they have guns. To boot, Mayor Daley doesn’t have to pay these guards out of his own pocket: the taxpayers do that. Boy, that must be nice!

So let’s see: he doesn’t want Chicago citizens to have guns, he does what he can to make it difficult or impossible for the citizens of Chicago to be able to protect themselves and their homes (let alone their vacation homes!), but he has them for himself. And it’s most evident that guns can be used by good people for good things.

Mayor Daley, you’re quite the hypocrite. Unfortunately I don’t see you doing anything to resolve that.

Things returning to normal?

/ hsoi

I think the post-election gun frenzy is showing signs of abating. Talking with lots of people and reading posts from others around the country and they’re seemingly in agreement.

For instance, I stopped by GT Distributors yesterday. They have a showroom in Austin, and this was the first time I’ve been there (neat place). No problem getting guns. In fact, they had a lot of AR’s up on the walls at pre-election prices. I saw some M1A’s that were still a bit on the pricey side, but not as bad as things have been.

Ammo is around, but like most stores they’re restricting quantity purchases. But that means at least you can get some ammo. And prices weren’t too ridiculous.

I think things are getting better, but it’s still going to take some time.

My sincere hope? For all those people that opted to rush out and stockpile, now that you’ve got so much ammo? Go shoot it. Sign up for training, learn how to use the stuff you hoarded so it doesn’t just sit and rot (or at least store it well).

If anyone wants to get me a birthday or Christmas present, a gift card from GT would be great! 🙂

Store your ammo well

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Joe provides us with a little photo essay on what happens when you don’t properly store your ammo.

Updated: So how should you store your ammo?

There are many ways to approach this, depending what you’re after and your goals are (e.g. do you want to store it to last 50 years, or just long enough until you get to the range)? Hit Google and search on the topic and you’ll find a lot of information on the topic.

But the key factor is keeping it cool and dry, emphasis on the dry part. Moisture, humidity, these things aren’t good for ammo. I’d also add that keeping the storage environment as stable as possible helps too. Take Joe’s example. That ammo was being kept in a trailer, which is going to get wicked hot, then wicked cold, lots of moisture and humidity to deal with.

If you can find it, look for military surplus ammo storage cans. These cans were designed to… you guessed it… store ammo. As long as they are clean and in good shape and the rubber seals are good, put your ammo inside, maybe some desiccant (depending what you’re after), add ammo, then lock the box up and leave it alone. I also add a label on the outside of the can to say what’s inside… better than cracking the seal to figure it out, since all cans look the same. For those in the Austin area, I have found that John’s Guns in Bastrop is a great place to buy cans; they’ve always got a lot in stock, in good shape, and reasonable prices (nice folks too).

Snub stories

/ hsoi

Given my recent snub nose revolver endeavors, while I’m not seeking out snub stuff, when I come across something snub related I do give it a read.

Matthew, from Straight Forward in a Crooked World, talks about .38 Special revolvers, how he came around to the .38 snub nose revolver, how the snub has its faults but how he still loves it so.

Sporting purposes

/ hsoi

Eugene Volokh discusses the notion of “sporting purposes” when it comes to firearms.

He discusses how the San Francisco, California Police Code explicitly delimits firearms based upon “sporting purposes” and denies hollow-point ammo, mentioning many established brands by name. His main point:

Rather, my point is how the ordinance seems to deliberately marginalize defensive purposes for gun ownership. Sporting purposes are labeled legitimate, and other purposes, including defensive ones, are labeled illegitimate.

This is quite true, and even from within the ranks of gun owners you can find a split along these lines.

Why isn’t self-defense a legitimate purpose? I’m not asking this rhetorically, nor am I asking this to those that consider it to be legitimate. I’m asking this specifically to those that think firearms are only legitimate for sporting purposes, or that think firearms are not legitimate under any circumstances. I honestly want to know what and why you think defensive uses of guns are not legitimate.

Furthermore, working to ban hollow point bullets demonstrates ignorance of the topic. Yes I know, they love to refer to them as “cop-killer” bullets, anything to get an emotional rise. Are hollow point bullets more effective at stopping? Yes they are, when compared to “ball” ammunition. Furthermore, hollow point bullets are safer because they are designed to stop within and not continue through. Look at these numbers. If you must defend yourself against a bad guy, you want to ensure to stop the bad guy, not that the bullet might pass through the bad guy and hit an innocent on the other side. When it comes to stopping an attacker, hollow points bullets are more effective in stopping power and safety; there’s no reason not to use them. Can a bad guy use a hollow point to kill a cop? Sure. But hollow points work quite well in the hands of us good guys against bad guys too. They don’t discriminate. 🙂

While I may enjoy sporting activities with my firearms, my primary purpose for having firearms is defensive. I may study all sorts of empty hand martial arts, even weapon-based martial arts (sticks, swords, etc.). But because I know those things, I also understand their limitations. A gun isn’t a be-all-end-all, but it serves a good purpose towards keeping me and my family safe. It goes back to the Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared”; better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

But hey, if you don’t think defensive purposes are legitimate, then I’ve got a yard sign for you. Are you willing to post that sign?

TSRA Scholarships

/ hsoi

The Texas State Rifle Association just sent the following letter regarding scholarships:

The NRA Foundation has provided TSRA with funds to support five $2,000 scholarships for Texas students to attend universities, colleges and schools this fall. Please help TSRA get the information and the application form distributed to interested students prior to the due date, August 1, 2009.  Please pass this information on in club newsletters, post on your shooting interest websites, and help us find students that support our right to possess, own, and use firearms responsibly. TSRA and NRA will be proud to support five of these students in their educational efforts. Click the underlined link for details.

TUBB’S MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIPS –  The Texas State Rifle Association is pleased to announce, we have 3, $1000. Scholarships available for the coming semester. If you can use the help please follow the directions below. Texas A&M Tubbs Scholarships.

Snub Training

/ hsoi

In my digging around about snubs, I found this website: SnubTraining.

It’s a website authored by Michael de Bethencourt, and contains exerpts from an upcoming book on using snub nose revolvers. I haven’t had a chance yet to read all of the back articles, but working on it.