Just as Mr. Saxton and I do not need to be professional journalists to exercise our First Amendment rights, responsible civilians should not require official permission to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Guns
Blueguns
Tam’s random gun post mentioned Ring’s Blueguns.
I’ve got one of these that replicates a Springfield XD-9 Service model. The detail is amazing. It’s a direct mold and that’s what makes it so nice. It has the same feel as your carry gun, fits in the same holsters, everything except weight, trigger pull (of course), and perhaps any custom mods you have have done (e.g. sights). In my case, I did have to take the Dremel to it because the grip safety button was molded too… but whereas on the real gun the safety depresses and you never feel it, it’s solid on the bluegun and thus doesn’t depress and is irritating in the hand; a little Dremel work and it was gone and feeling like the real XD would in the hand.
The great thing about such training aids is you can use them for all manner of training that doesn’t require live fire, nor would you want live fire. With this big block of blue plastic in your hand, there’s no mistaking it for a gun (no rules violations). It’s good for working with a partner… you have the bluegun in your concealed holster, you work with a partner in a live scenario, and you can roll right into defensive actions including drawing and pointing the bluegun at them. Safety.
I often use my bluegun at home when I’m practicing mixed combatives and don’t want to risk damage to any real guns while I’m practicing something. I also think it’s a little less bothersome for any neighbor that might see me practicing.
Rings offer a lot of things, not just guns (e.g. replica pepper spray cans, radios, etc.). It’s all meant to help you perform training exercises where you need the realism but not the dangers.
It’s what you give
Over at 2AMusing, the subject of pink guns came up. I pointed out what Smith & Wesson had done with their pink gun. And I like how Caleb put it:
While Josh Sugarmann of VPC takes donations to pay his six figure salary, a gun company donates a portion of their profits to help save lives. Do you really wonder who the good guys are here?
Indeed.
Lessons from NTI
John Farnam writes on his experience at the National Tactical Invitational.
Some take-home points:
- Capacity is good.
- Carry a reload. Even a back-up gun (BUG).
- Keep moving.
- Keep your head up, always looking for threats.
- All situations don’t always require or necessitate using a gun.
- Practice shooting your handgun at longer distances (e.g. 25 yards, 35 yards, 50 yards)
- Just because someone has a gun doesn’t mean they’re a threat. Be sure of your target before shooting it.
- Corollary: be mindful that someone else might see your gun and think you are a threat.
- If you get involved in a fight (fists, guns, knives, whatever), expect to get hurt. Keep fighting anyways.
- Be alert! The sooner you get into the loop, the better choices you are going to make.
- Hit first and hit fast.
- There is no substitute to personal competence and practiced weapons skills.
- Indecisive ditherers have no chance.
Good stuff.
Gun buy-backs exposed
You know the drill… gun “buy-back” programs, where you trade in a gun and in return get something (e.g. a gift card). It’s all an effort to get guns off the streets and keep children safe.
Basically, it’s worthless. Sure it collects a lot of guns, but almost all the guns collected are junk, inoperable, rusted out buckets of worthlessness. That is, it cost the collectors (ultimately you, the taxpayer) a lot of money to dish out these gift cards, and in return nothing of use was done. It makes someone in the PR department feel good, but that’s all we are now… about feeling good, not about actually accomplishing anything.
I also find it highly amusing. What do they think they’re going to get? Do they really thing the drug dealers and the gang members are going to go “Golly! I can trade in my gun and get a $100 gift card. Gee, Beav, what a deal! I think I’ll go do that right now! Golly!”
Low powered rifle
While reading this article over at SailorCurt’s, it hit me.
We don’t see many “low powered rifles” … not many “medium powered rifles”. How about “extra-high powered”? “medium-high powered”? “medium-low”? “extreme high powered”?
Of course, would the main-stream-media and hoplophobes know the difference?
To snub or not to snub
Slow speed skills
I love riding my motorcycle on early Sunday mornings. Sun starts to rise, fire up the bike and head for the hills. The weather is cool, the roads are mostly empty and quiet. It’s a wonderful time to ride.
This morning I hit a lot of back roads on the foothills of the Texas Hill Country, going around Dripping Springs and Wimberly. On my way back home I ended up in Buda so I opted to stop into Cabela’s. Why not? 🙂 Look for a S&W 640 (nope) and for .22 LR ammo (nope). Ah well. I did get to fondle a Ruger LCR. Comparing to a S&W 642 they had, the LCR was noticeably lighter than the 642. Specs say the LCR is 13.5 oz and the 642 is 15 oz, and you could certainly feel that difference. Of course, the LCR is .38 +P only (642 could do .357 Magnum). Size wise, they’re ultimately the same in terms of outer dimensions, but the LCR does “bulge” a bit more than the 642, e.g. the LCR’s trigger guard is a bit more rounded out than the 642. Nothing that should really affect carry or concealability, IMHO. I’d be curious to shoot an LCR side-by-side with a 642 and a 640 (all shooting the same loads) to see how they all felt. I wasn’t able to get a pinky on the LCR (I honestly can’t remember if I tried with the 642). Anyway, nice little diversion.
I arrived at Cabela’s before they opened. Instead of sitting around, I used it as an opportunity to practice. Cabela’s has a huge parking lot, including an area in the back for large RV’s, people hauling trailers, and the like. Just wide open space. So I took the opportunity to practice some motorcycle riding skills, especially slow speed skills. Things like turning tight circles left and right, figure 8’s, weaving, starting into a turn from a stop , and even some emergency braking. I actually need to pull out my Jerry “Motorman” Palladino “Ride Like a Pro” DVD again and review a bunch of those techniques and practice drills. I think I could make it a regular thing: if I visit Cabela’s, take 15 minutes in the back parking lot and do some drills.
I was doing fairly well, but for some reason I was having a tough time with counter-clockwise circles (turning to the left). I couldn’t get those circles as tight as clockwise/right circles. I’m not sure what it was, need to work at it more to try to figure it out. I can say that I love Palladino’s approach for slow speed, which is to keep the clutch in the friction zone, keep power to the rear wheel, and feather the rear brake. I recall from my Rider Safety Class that they only taught the friction zone, no rear brake technique. But it’s really the feathering of the rear brake that makes it all happen. You have so much more stability and control with the rear brake use.
Everyone likes to focus on high-speed riding skills, and certainly those are important. But slow speed skills are important too. If you haven’t checked out “Ride Like a Pro” you should. The skills he teaches are valuable and will make you a better rider at any speed. Ugh… this just sounded like a commercial… it wasn’t supposed to. I’m just a satisfied customer.
Morning randomness
Went out this morning for a bit. A bunch of little things came up that aren’t worth a whole blog post, but I wanted to put down somewhere. Make one big post. 🙂
More from the snub-nose files
I opted to do a little snubby shopping this morning. I think I’ve settled on something like a Smith & Wesson 640: J-frame (or the like), all steel, chambered in .357 Magnum, fully enclosed hammer. Note that while I would like it to be chambered in .357, I don’t think I’d ever really want to shoot .357 out of it; probably just shoot .38 Special +P. I just think it’d be ideal to have it chambered in .357 so I could shoot it if that was needed; for instance, I needed that extra oomph, maybe that’s the only ammo I could find and would be better than nothing, etc.. The versatility and options from the chambering would be nice, but not required; I would be happy with just .38 +P.
Went to McBrides to see what they have. They had some stuff, but nothing like I wanted. In fact, on the drive home I also stopped into a pawn shop and a sporting goods store. Basically what seems to be carried has at least some aspect of what I don’t want. First, the predominant models are lightweight models, which I’m not sold on wanting. The all-steel models aren’t much heavier (tho I was amazed at just how lightweight that S&W M&P 340 felt, and I did like that U-ramp rear sight) and will be nicer to shoot. Then if they had a steel model it would have an exposed hammer. Or one third thing might be laser grips, which I don’t want. So, nothing in stock that I’d want, either new or used. But I do think that going used would be a way to go, if I can find it.
Questionable Fund Raising
At many intersections here in Austin you’ll find people begging for money, food, pot (yes, I’ve seen requests for this on their signs), various other things. Oh yeah, they’re also disabled vets, anything helps, God bless. I’m not insensitive to the plight of the homeless, but the vast majority of the folks I see do this as their chosen way of life. I’ve seen them at various intersections around town over the years. If they’re truly someone in need of help, Austin is loaded with help; instead of walking up and down the intersection for a few hours and spending any money they get on booze, they could walk to the help facilities or buy a bus ticket or any manner of things to help themselves. But they don’t, because they don’t want to; they don’t want help. These folks are just freeloaders and parasites and I refuse to support that with my hard-earned money.
So then I see kids out there with signs saying they’re fund raising for their baseball team’s trip, or to help the basketball team reach the finals. Or some such thing. While that seems a more noble cause — and how can you place kids in the same boat — I have to question the tactics. That some adult leader of that group thought that begging for money would be a good way to raise funds, and that the rest of the adult leaders in the group went along with it and said yeah that’s a good idea. What a wonderful thing to teach the children, eh?
Motorcycle Parking Spaces
Do you know what a motorcycle parking space is? The same spaces that cars park in, unless a specific motorcycle parking space is designated (I’ve seen such things).
What isn’t a motorcycle parking space? Sidewalks, crosswalks, the walkway in front of a business door (that’s under the awning and out of the rain, but certainly isn’t a place for vehicles), handicapped walkways. I’m a motorcycle rider myself, but I just cannot stand when other motorcycle riders think that because they’re on a bike, because they’re afraid of getting their bike tipped over or rained on or merely because they’re small enough to fit in some spot (or maybe they’re just arrogant or lazy riders), that they can park wherever they want to. Sorry, no, you can’t.
At the sporting good store, a Moto Guzzi was parked in the handicapped area. You know how those spaces can be set up in the parking lot, with a wide space then lots of paint bordering things, leading into the middle, then through the median as a “cross-walk” so that people with wheelchairs can safely get around. Well, Mr. Moto Guzzi parked his bike right in the median break; no chance of a wheelchair getting through. Why does this bug me? Because I have a nephew in a wheelchair. I’ve had times when we’ve gone out and his van couldn’t be parked in a handicapped space because of people abusing handicapped parking hang-tags. Or in a case like this, the only way for a wheelchair bound person to get around would be to navigate through the parking lot instead of the designated lane. Not a safe and sound thing.
If you ride a motorcycle, don’t be an asshole. Park your bike in a proper parking spot. If you want special motorcycle-only parking, lobby for it.
Conversation I Overheard When I Returned Home
Wife: (Calls Youngest to come downstairs).
Youngest: (Eventually shows up).
Wife: Where were you?
Youngest: I was in my hamper.
Wife: You mean your clothes hamper? You were inside your hamper?
Youngest: Yes. I was sitting in it, clothes piled on top of me.
Wife: Why were you doing that?
Youngest: I don’t know. It was comfy.
I’m not even going to try to understand it. I’m just going to chalk it up to some random cuteness. I later found out he decorated his hamper to look like a monster, so when you open the lid to put in your clothes it’s as if the monster is eating your clothing. Fair enough. 🙂
Review: Four Hundred Years of Gun Control
Last month when I went out for my AT-4 class I met Howard Nemerov. I bought directly from Howard a copy of his book: Four Hundred Yeard of Gun Control… Why Isn’t It Working?. I finally cleared it off my reading list and wanted to write down my thoughts on the book. Note that the following is my own opinion. I only met Howard the once, do think he’s a nice guy, but I’ve no vested interest one way or the other regarding his book.
It’s important to remember that Howard originally was a tried and true gun control supporter, but converted. In his own words:
Stuff From Hsoi 