As Daley leaves office as Mayor of Chicago, he requests armed bodyguards.
So, guns are good when they protect him, but the peasants aren’t allowed to have guns to protect themselves.
I see.
Guns
Situational awareness
An excellent piece on situational awareness.
The money quote:
Carrying a firearm for protection is a great step – you have the best tool available for the job of defending yourself. However, if you miss the early warning signs and have to be accessing that tool after the attack has started, you’re way behind the power curve.
Progress!
I’ll just let Alice Tripp tell it.
SB 321 by Kleinschmidt/Hegar to allow the legal possession of firearms in an employee’s personal, locked vehicle when parked on their employer’s parking lot passed the second reading in the Texas House today at 7:48 pm. The vote came after nearly 3 hours of debate and attempted amendments.
SB 321 was substituted for HB 681, Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt’s bill. SB 321 by Sen. Glenn Hegar had already completed the process and had passed in the Texas Senate.
Rep. Kleinschmidt and his 98 co-authors successfully fought-off gutting amendments that would have turned the bill on its head by requiring specifically designated “gun parking areas” offered by Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) and another amendment would allow the employer the right to vehicle inspections. It was offered by Rep. Juan Castro (D-San Antonio).
Seven amendments, not acceptable to Rep. Kleinschmidt, were attempted and all failed.
The debate led off with Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) calling a point of order. If the point of order had been sustained, the bill could have been slowed down or killed. The point of order was overturned.
Senator Glenn Hegar, Jr. (R-Katy) has passed this legislation twice in past sessions but it’s a first for the Texas House. The legislation has always stalled in House Calendar’s committee. In addition to the hard work of Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt (R-Lexington), special thanks must go to Calendars Committee chairman, Rep. Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi) and Speaker Joe Straus.
Thanks also to our House Committee Chairman, Rep. Joe Deshotel (D-Beaumont), for his patience and for his help at the front microphone.
The next step is the vote on third reading. Then SB 321 will return to the Senate for a last approval or discussion. If all goes well, it next moves to Governor Perry’s desk and could take effect Sept. 1, 2011.
Wild Hogs in Austin
No… the Republic of Texas biker rally isn’t for a few months yet.
I’m talking about feral hogs.
Apparently they started showing up in a northeast Austin neighborhood.
I can’t say I’m surprised because I know friends that live east of Austin have seen them running around. And so, the feral hog problem starts to come closer to home for the urbanites!
You know… I’ve got 6.8 Special ways to take care of a hog problem. Just give me a call!
Tho granted, the best way to try to manage this is going to involve trapping. If they’re as small as the article reports, trapping should be more effective AND they better do it now because they’re just going to reproduce like the plague.
Texas Open Carry Bill progresses
There’s a bill working its way through the Texas legislature right now that would bring open carry to the state. It passed committee with a 5-3 vote.
Well, sorta. I covered this before. HB 2756 pretty much just takes the existing laws and crosses out the word “concealed”. So little changes, other than a requirement to conceal.
“Really all they did is some editing to the existing law that’s on the books. They basically just struck out the word ‘concealed,'” said Robert Greene. “Meaning you would be able to do conceal or open depending on the policy. The same restrictions on where you carry would be in place.”
I do appreciate the change to the lawbooks because it’s not adding to, it’s taking away. The engineer in me appreciates simplification like this.
Do I think this will make it through? Hard to tell. All sorts of strange things going on in the Legislature right now. We’ll just have to see, but keep pushing.
A picture is worth a few million words
How about no, part 2
I previously wrote about a new “trigger safety sheer pin” device, and no I’m not a fan.
I just had Daughter and Youngest try to press the trigger on a new, stock Smith & Wesson 640-3. I don’t have a trigger pull-weight gauge so I don’t know the exact weight, but I can tell you it’s heavy, probably in that 12-15 lbs. range. With one finger, neither child could make the trigger budge even a millimeter. Using 2 fingers (both index fingers), no problem.
So you know… where there’s a will, there’s a way. This “safety” device isn’t going to prevent irresponsible gun handling and storage, which is really the root problem. Let’s work to address the real root problem, not symptoms.
For a start, check out those new safety videos from MidwayUSA. There’s a video on storage.
Check out Kathy Jackson’s Cornered Cat website. She has a section about kids and guns. Her article about “Disarming Kids’ Curiosity About Firearms” I think is a key factor. The kids don’t have to shoot, they don’t have to care about guns at all. But removing their curiosity, alleviating their ignorance, I believe that helps. Programs like the NRA’s Eddie Eagle where they teach small kids to “Stop. Don’t touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult.” makes for a simple and effective ruleset for young children to follow if they come across a firearm.
Despite our best efforts, we are human. We are fallible. We make mistakes, sometimes costly ones. Ignorance doesn’t help our ability to make wise decisions. Education, responsible ownership, responsible parenting… that’s going to take us further than any device or gadget. There may not be a lot of financial profit in that route, but I think the payoff is greater.
Can’t get to the range?
Tom Givens of Rangemaster sent around a message containing a great tidbit of information. I thought it worth sharing:
Do some dry fire. CLEAR YOUR GUN, and remove all live ammunition from the room where you will be working. A session of concentrated, disciplined effort for ten minutes is much better than an hour of fooling around. Your concealed carry presentation is one of the most beneficial things you can work on in dry practice. See www.rangemaster.com for dry fire targets that appear/disappear on your computer screen.
I’ve been having a hard time getting to the range these days: very busy. About all I’m able to do is dry fire. Even 10 minutes of it is better than nothing.
Why does Ogden oppose campus carry?
An excellent question, posed in The Eagle.
My guess is he’s getting paid or has some other higher-stake personal interest at play. As they say, follow the money.
Stuff From Hsoi 