Kind Eyes - A Story

On Sunday night after the convention I was lucky enough to be able to participate in a live Vicious Circle session with Alan, Newbius, Wai, Weer'd, Jay, and Breda. One of the more serious topics discussed centered around general human social responses and how they relate to predatory acts like panhandling, door-to-door solicitation etc.

I mentioned that I tend to be a magnet for every single hobo or drunk looking for a handout. Breda said it's my "kind eyes" and to an extent I think that's true. I'm just not a scary looking guy.

On my trip back that night it happened again. Some lady at a rest stop in Virginia tried to sell me a sob story that was obviously bullshit. It had far too many parts to be believable. Her daughter was sick, alternator in her car was dead etc. etc. Naturally she needed money. As soon as she realized she'd be getting nothing from me she got in her car, started it up and went to the other side of the rest area to try her ploy on the next sucker.

Remembrance

Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid time and nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fly your flag today and don't forget those who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may celebrate worry-free in the greatest nation on earth.

Look Robb, No Pants!

Another great piece from Oleg. Yes, it's NSFW.

View From The Porch

Well technically it's the observation deck.

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! Have fun, but don't forget that this is about more than just a long weekend of drinking beer on the beach.

iFarted

I discovered that there's a free app for the iPhone called "fart for free" with 16 wonderous fart noises. People with more proper sensibilities might find it horrifying, but I find it funny.

My nephews all found it immensely entertaining. I can only imagine what'd happen if they got a hold of something like this while in church.

Ahh, Friday toilet humor.

Transparency & Openness in the Age of Obama

White House Press Secretary Gibbs tells reporters not to ask too many questions about things the White House doesn't like.

I expect the MSM to react immediately with rage, anger, and claims about how Obama is a Fascist who hates free speech in 3...2....1. Ok, you can stop laughing now.

Anti-Gun Bigot in the 1st State

Kavips, a local Delaware blogger, wrote an astonishingly ignorant and flatly despicable post regarding the Wilmington Housing Authority firearms ban. He wrote it back in March, but I never got around to fisking it and exposing his bigotry.

Make no mistake, I think folks who write the kind of tripe that Kavips did here should be loudly ridiculed and their bigotry and violent tendencies exposed. They should be ashamed of what they've written.

I meant to tear his post apart back in mid-March, but with family issues there were a lot of things I wanted to write about that fell by the way side. This was one of those things.

Expect a detailed fisking of Kavips bigotry this weekend. It's astonishing how much is wrong with what he says, especially if you delve into what he says in his comments.

I wonder what other rights Kavips thinks the government should be able to flatly deny to anyone living in public housing? Perhaps his contempt for the individual rights of our fellow Delawareans applies to more than just the 2nd Amendment?

H/T to Linoge

A Reminder

Let me remind the anti-gun bigots in Wilmington who are refusing to back down from their ban on firearms in public housing of the Constitution they took an oath to uphold.

Article I Section 20 of the Delaware Constituiton unambiguously states,

"A person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and state, and for hunting and recreational use."

The WHA has no more authority to tell public housing residents they can't have guns than they'd have to tell them they can't pray or petition the government.

The fact that the WHA is choosing to brazenly violate the Constitiutional rights of Wilmington residents should come as no surprise to anyone. Mayor James M. Baker is a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. MAIG claims they're not anti-gun, yet here we see one of their members wasting taxpayer money in the quest to enforce a blanket ban on firearms under a blatantly unconstitutional law.

I talked about this a while back and didn't think Wilmington would be stupid enough to fight in court. I thought they'd do the sensible thing and fold, especially since both the city and the State have no money to be fighting these battles right now. I guess I should never underestimate the stupidity and hardheadedness of anti-gunners.

You Are The Weapon

Uncle posts two heartwarming stories where homeowners turned the tables on armed home invaders and beat them to a bloody pulp.

You'll note that in both cases the bad guys were armed and the residents were not, yet the residents prevailed.

You are the weapon. Having a gun makes you more effective, but having the will to fight back is a key variable in any defensive situation.

The Zombies Are Coming!

They're invading from blue states. I guess the brains of non-liberals taste better.

H/T to Unc

Snake-Bitten

By a Cobra...... A Cobra Arms Patriot that is.

I had a post partially written up about this terrible little gun, but Weer'd beat me to it.

Honesty, I pulled the trigger on the Patriot twice and didn't want to do it again. To say it was the worst trigger I've ever pulled would be a massive understatement. It was almost like Cobra Arms specifically designed this gun so that you'd never actually shoot it.

I'm not even quite sure how to describe the trigger pull. It was "oh my god this trigger is heavy...... ......OW! What the fuck just happened!?!"

If Cobra set out to create the worst trigger ever, then I'd say the Patriot is a smashing success.



The truly sad thing about this gun is that it costs about $30 more than what I paid for my 2nd Sig P6. That P6 has gone several thousand rounds now with no problems whatsoever. Which one would you rather buy?

There is absolutely NO reason anyone has to buy cheap, potmetal firearms with horrendous triggers. Hell, you can buy the Bersa Thunder .380 that Breda carries for roughly the same price as a Cobra.

Girls With Guns

My little sister just finished school, so stay tuned for a new shooter report here soon, probably next weekend. She's been wanting to head to the range with me for a while now.

Ammo Fairy

What could be better than free ammo? My brother dropped by with a couple hundred rounds of Speer 357SIG over the weekend!

Gotta love family.

* I hear that's Weer'd's favorite caliber.

What I learned at the Convention

I really need a 1911! Sure, it wouldn't be a Springfield Custom, but I thought Springfield Armory had some impressive production guns.

I also loved the EMP9. What a svelte little carry piece that'd be!

Yes, I know someone with half a dozen Sigs isn't supposed to lust after nice 1911's, but here I am lusting....

And no, the specific 1911 I want was not on display in Charlotte, but here's the little EMP that I'd love if it weren't ~$1200



I really want one of these.

Charlotte also confirmed what I already knew, that gun bloggers are great people, and an armed society is a polite society......even when we're disarmed by law ):

The Stupid, It Burns

Tam shows us a video of "firearms instructor" Matthew Temkin. Now I'm no expert, but if I didn't know better I'd think this was a joke.

Obviously there's no shortage of suckers out there, since apparently some folks actually pay him for this kind of "training."

If, god forbid, I'm ever in a situation where I need to use my gun why in the hell would I want to stand directly in front of my assailant and then walk towards him? That's just flat out moronic and defies all common sense.

I was under the impression that my handgun was to be used defensively to help me evade, create distance, and get out of a violent encounter. following Temkin's training achieves the opposite and, at least to this novice, seems like a good way to get shot. If you happen to survive the encounter it's also a great way to be seen as the aggressor by any witnesses.

What was with the whole "punch the guy before shooting him in the gut with your revolver" technique? How do you not laugh at someone recommending you do that?

That entire video is just made of fail. Thanks for the laugh Tam!

New Digs

Weer'd has a new place. No more Livejournal!

For Sale - Sig P228

In keeping with something I said to Jay at the Convention, I'm putting one of my Sig P228's up for sale. (Remember Jay, this one was actually made IN Massachusetts.)

$475 + shipping OBO - post here or shoot me an e-mail if you're interested.

It is the CCR Ceraplated Sig Sauer P228 in the top two pictures here.

I'll post up more details when I get home. It's Double Action Only, 1991 manufacture, West German, 3 dot contrast sights. Two 13 rd. Sig magazines will also be included.

Flaws

There is a small spot on the underside of the frame that looks like it was knawed a bit by a squirrel. This gun was a used police issue I bought from a pawn shop and my guess was the previous owner either dropped the gun or knocked it against a wall. (see 2nd picture)

There is some discoloration on the rear upper area of the slide, near the top of the slide serrations. If you're interested in the gun I have more pictures available upon request.

Slacker

"Police later confiscated additional artillery from Gonzalez’s home: three more handguns, three rifles, a shotgun and 1,300 rounds of ammunition."

- The Brady Campaign - Open Carry Equals Open Season?

From Helmke's latest predictable fearmongering regarding open carry. More on Helmke & open carry later, including tying in a bit of our semi-serious discussion on the topic during Vicious Circle #50.

I know the quoted lines are meant to scare folks, but ~185 rounds per gun is a paltry sum. Hell, 1300 rounds is about the minimum you should have on hand if you own only one gun. I would not be surprised if half the bloggers who came to Charlotte have at least 10 times that amount at home.

Marriott, Charlotte Carry Laws, and Changing Attitudes

I'm glad I didn't stay at the Marriott, because this is some underhanded bullshit. If you tell me when I book my room that I may bring my firearm I fully expect that to be the case when I arrive. What the hell were guests supposed to do when they arrived only to find that management had posted "no-guns" signs at the last minute, making it illegal for them to enter the premises with their firearms?

As Breda points out, Charlotte was far from gun-friendly. I recall reading PDB's guide to North Carolina carry laws and thinking "what a clusterfuck! Why even bother?" Check out comment #19 to PDB's guide for a perfect example of this idiocy.

That reaction is exactly what the anti-gunners want. It's one of the driving forces behind all gun laws. That is, the purpose is to fashion the laws so that they are so onerous, frustrating, convoluted, potentially dangerous, and just plain difficult to comply with that those who care to abide by them just throw their arms up in disgust and say "fuck it!" It's no different than the reasoning behind poll taxes and literacy tests, and it's just as despicable.

Like Breda, I didn't carry at any point while in Charlotte. My being an outsider, and their laws being what they are, it just wasn't worth the hassle and potential risk. Think about that for a second. I am a law abiding citizen who has passed multiple state and federal background checks and has his prints on file with the FBI and state agencies, yet NC carry laws made it practically impossible for me to carry during my stay.

Do you think any of these bullshit laws kept a gangbanger or some 16 year old street thug from carrying around Charlotte? Nope, all they did was disarm a bunch of peaceful, non-felon, CCW-permit holding Americans. They accomplished their goal, to keep me from exercising my rights.

At one point I actually considered not bringing a gun to Charlotte at all. I decided otherwise, and my P6 stayed loaded on the nightstand by the couch. (the hotel screwed up and gave Weer'd and I one bed, so I slept on the couch)

Had I flown I likely would not have carried, but there was no way I was going to drive 9 hours alone & unarmed throughout the night. I hung out with the family Thursday night to celebrate my little sister's 19th birthday, then headed out at O' dark thirty for Charlotte. My father, the big worrier that he is, was not happy to find out I drove to NC alone. He knows I carry, but it's an unspoken thing and I don't know that it's really sunk in for him. My mother on the other hand merely said "Do you have your gun and cell phone?" "OK, have fun & be safe."

Mom may not be as gung-ho and enthusiastic about guns and the 2nd Amendment as I am, but she definitely "gets it." It's been a long process but I'm glad to see her personal growth. Now I've just got to get her her own gun and get her to the point that she's comfortable going shooting on her own. We've gone from her not wanting to be around guns at all, to her having little problem with guns all over the place. That's change I can believe in!

Little by little, this is how we win.

*on a related note, I sent her pictures from the Convention and she spent quite a bit of time asking about the antiques and goofy old carry pieces. I think Breda's right, there's definitely a distinct artistic appeal there. I suspect had mom gone she would've taken a thousand pictures in that area of the exhibit hall and not bothered with the rest.

She also asked who the cute little girl and the crazy looking guy were. I laughed, but refrained from describing Breda as the librarian with the most famous ass in the gun blogosphere and Jay as the crazy, bald Masshole.

I'm looking forward to Pittsburgh next year, where I'll be able to carry without worrying about a myriad of nightmarish laws.

Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!

Mine is truly awful, even worse than Alan's

At least "The Pantsless Wonder" would be proud.

Great Minds

Obviously great minds think alike. I had virtually the same post that Jay just put up sitting in draft form waiting for a picture.

Of course I was going to add that I drove 1100 miles and still didn't get my wheelbarrow of cash. Clearly the NRA dropped the ball on that one eh?

Commenting Issues?

Anyone else having problems with comments on blogger? I'm noticing that several posts have comments listed, yet when I click on the post in question no comments are there. Some will show 5 comments, then when I click in to see them there's only 2.

Update - the problem was occurring last night and seems to have fixed itself.

It Took This Long?

The U.S. Army has finally approved jacketed hollowpoints for MP's posted on military bases.

It's been common knowledge for decades now that hollow points are significantly more effective than FMJ rounds. Only the Federal government would take this long to make what should have been a simple and obvious change.

In other news, I'm listening to the VC, and I can honestly say I do not have a good radio voice....

Pictures From The Rira Shindig

I didn't take any pictures at Breda's shindig at Rira's. I had my camera but didn't even think to pull it out.

Thankfully Chris has a good recap of the event and tons of pictures, including some of yours truly. Be careful though, viewing pictures of me in the wild has been known to cause temporary blindness. (I'm not photogenic like Breda)

I've been reading Chris's blog for a while now, but had neglected to add him to the blogroll. That's now been fixed. In fact, I'm sure there are others who fit into that category, so I'll try to fix any glaring omissions when I run through everyone I met and add them to the blogroll. Still, I'll probably miss some folks, so if I miss you please feel free to send me an e-mail and chew my ass out.

Quote Of The Day - Ass Kicking Edition

" no matter what Bloomberg is promising to MAIG mayors, if you try for higher office, NRA will notice, and we will kick your ass."

-Sebastian

Damn straight! I'm all for making Bloomberg a sad panda & forcing him to run crying into Petey & Paul's arms.

*I promise I'll have some convention recap, thank you's, and some road-rage rants from my travels up soon. For now I'm at work & on lunch so you're stuck with little nuggets.

Makes Me Sad

I ran into Caleb in Charlotte this year, but I forgot to get his expert opinion on the ballistics of Dunkin' Donuts vs. Starbucks coffee. You see, due to the limited avaliability of Starbucks in my area I have to settle for Dunkin' Donuts for carry and I'm worried it's not adequate for knife-wielding jerks.

So which to you prefer for defensive use?

And please folks, lets not turn this into the equivalent of a Glock vs. 1911 debate.

Compensation

At one point over the weekend, during a vicious circle session, my manhood was questioned by the one and only Breda. (:

Clearly this would not have happened if I'd been compensating with a huge hogleg like the hunk o'steel. Damn North Carolina and their stupid carry laws for rendering me effeminate.

Update - Vicious Circle #50 is now up.

Pictures

As much as I love the exhibit hall, fondling the guns and drooling over the many things I either can't afford or am not allowed to own, the highlight of the NRA Convention for me is always socializing with the gang of characters who show up.

picked these three photos at random, but I think they give you a brief taste of the weekend shenanigans. You'll notice I posted a good picture of Breda. That's because I think her death stare could kill me all the Wai from Ohio if another picture of her booty ended up on the internet.

Jay G. doing a bit of underwear modeling for Breda. Avert your eyes children. Hey Jay, think you can get them to send you a few free pairs for product reviews?


Alan is overwhelmed by the pure awesomeness that is Dirty Harry's Model 29 in .44 Magnum. The excitement is beaming from his face!



Breda is a walking advertisement for Bersa and their temporary booth babe. The only thing she's missing is a Bersa Thunder with pink Marscal grips that would ordinarily be riding on her hip. Thank you Charlotte!... That said, she's still the world's most dangerous librarian, even when disarmed.

Protestors!

There were protesters outside of the Convention Center Saturday afternoon. I'm not quite sure what they were protesting. Perhaps it was all the gun violence brought upon Charlotte by 80,000 (thanks Danielle) or so violent, angry, racist, redneck teabaggers......... oh wait.



I thought about asking the two guys with the "Close The Gunshow Loophole" sign what exactly they wanted closed, but I figured that'd be an exercise in futility. Most of these folks don't have the slightest clue what the laws actually are. Their protesting is purely emotional. One of the men involved in the protest was there because a family member had been killed. I honestly felt bad for the guy.



The irony is that that these folks were protesting outside of a "gun free" convention center. I don't agree with the NRA's decision to hold the convention somewhere that disallows carry, but I do understand it from a pragmatic standpoint. Hopefully the NRA can use this convention as leverage to push legislative changes to North Carolina's carry laws, as they were able to do following last years convention in Phoenix.

And here we have the world's most dangerous librarian decked out in her best gunnie apparel with the protesters in the background.



Heh, Jay G. just met Denise and Yosemite Sam and squee'd.

EVIL Bayonets and Lasers!

Laserlyte has excellent laser sights for a whole host of firearms. One of my favorites is their sight for the NAA Mini. It's an extremely intuitive design, activated as you thumb back the hammer.




And of course there's also the evil, dangerous bayonets. (perfect for Jay G.) I could pick my teeth with that, or chop some onions.

So I'm Here at the NRA Con in Charlotte

The 9+ hour drive almost killed me, but I made it here.

We've got all kinds of celebrities here, Saysuncle, Joe Huffman, Breda, Weer'd, Jay G. and the rest of the gang.

Oh, and remember all of the security theater mess we were told we'd be subjected to? Nothing. No metal detectors, no searches, pat downs.

Perhaps I'll actually post later today when I'm actually feeling sane. I don't know why, but I had a lot more trouble with the long drive than I did in Louisville.

Only in Liberal Land....

A teacher in Massachusetts fails her English proficiency exam and the MA Supreme Court rules that she can't be fired.

A teacher who can't demonstrate proficient English is exactly the kind I want teaching kids.

This is even worse than the ESL classes we had back when I was in high school. Sure, we were handicapping those students for life, but at least the teachers knew English.

How can we expect kids to become functioning, productive members of society when we can't even require that those teaching them be proficient in the language?

H/T to Midwest Chick.

Question of the Day

Is it possible to have too many guns, too many mags, and / or too much ammo?

What say you readers and fellow bloggers?

Friday Funny Linkage

Cool! I didn't know I could get X-Ray proof clips! That'll go perfectly with my plastic, high-capacity assault pistol. (Glock) Now my sneaky ninja ass can get dangerous terrorist weapons past security and spray-fire from the hip!

Thanks for the laugh Robb!

Something Missing...

On the MSN homepage there's an article about what to buy in bulk. They forgot one of the best ways to save money! Buy ammo in bulk. I honestly can't remember the last time I stopped by Wal-Mart or the gun store and bought a box or two of ammo off the shelf.

Some of their other recommendations are excellent. Tuna? I eat tons of it. Beer? If their selection is good perhaps Costco is where I should go from now on.

It's a shame Costco, BJ's etc. don't have a section where you can buy ammo by the case at wholesale prices.

CCR Cerahide

I've posted a few pictures of my Sigs refinished in CCR's "Cerahide" finish at various times on this blog, but I've never shown readers what the different finishes look like side-by-side.

The finishes are hard to get good photographs of, since they change based on available light. Stainless in particular often comes out looking like matte grey in photos, while at times it looks very similar to the true stainless finish on my P220ST (see the 2nd picture here) The House Black is by far my favorite finish. (again, see my previous post with pictures) It's what Sigs should look like from the factory. I hated the chalky grey Nitron finish of my P229R when I got it.

The ease of cleaning, rust & corrosion protection, and natural lubricity of the finish is excellent. In fact, those were my primary reasons behind refinishing. The fact that the guns look nice is a secondary benefit as far as I'm concerned.

From lightest to darkest

CCR's Stainless, "BTM," Tri-Titanium, and House Black Cerahide finishes.

Or you could spend significantly more money so your pistols will look totally pimp! That'll bring all the homeboys to the yard.

Sorry folks, between staying late all last week to finish a project for work and spending my weekends enjoying great weather and a string of birthday parties I haven't even touched this blog.

I suspect I'll get back into regular blogging this week, so stay tuned and watch this space.