The View From North Central Idaho

This Saturday, the 14th, my son's school trap shooting team hosted a trap meet.  Hosting means we show up at 07:30 instead of 09:00.  We shoveled snow while others set up the kitchen and got the coffee started, loaded the traps with targets, etc.  It also means we stay after to clean and pack things up.

Below; Our next door neighbor, Laura, busts a target.  She hadn't fired a shotgun in her life until just this winter when I helped out by hand-throwing targets for her.  Saturday she held her own quite well.  You can tell she's using a 20 gauge automatic, can't you?

Below; Your average Eastern Washington high school kids in their natural setting.

Below; Alex pops one off.  He hit 28 of 50 this time out.

Below; Robert Cray wrote a song about this. (I know those buildings look pretty close for being downrange of a shooting club.  It's the camera lens-- I'm ~30 yards behind the shooter using a long lens.  Those buildings are over 350 yards away.  The 7 1/2 shot pellets are gently raining down at that distance.

Below; One of the school vehicles in the parking lot.  Reach for the stars-- learn to shoot well.

This was the first time I'd watched an "Annie Oakley".  It looks really fun.  All the participants line up side-by-side at the farthest "handicap" line (farthest from the trap house from which the targets are launched).  They worked in groups of three.  The first shooter on the left calls for a target.  "Pull!"  If that shooter makes a hit, the next shooter to the right calls for a target.  If the one who called, "Pull!" misses, the shooter to the right takes a shot.  If that one is a hit, the primary shooter (the caller) is eliminated from the game.  If the second shooter misses, a third shooter takes a shot.  If that shot is a hit, the first two shooters are eliminated. If one shooter makes a hit, but the next shooter in that group of three fires anyway, that shooter, and anyone in that group who fired and missed, is eliminated.  This goes on, in groups of three, with each shooter on the line taking a chance on being the first of three, over and over until there's one shooter left, who of course wins the game.  I understand there is big money in some of these games, but this being a school event I think the big prize was ten dollars-- almost enough to cover half the day's ammo cost for the winner.

I got the following email this morning. My response follows:

From: tjif tjaf
Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 10:36 AM
To: joeh@boomershoot.org
Subject: need help

 

Hi

 

 

Do you know a way to blow up a house just enough so nobody can live in anymore.

I mean the exploision must be big enough so it creates a hole or crack in the wall.

 

Why? whell nobody is living in it for now but it is located in a extraordinary forest with
som very rare birds and they dont like the be disturbed. so now is the chance to get rid

of this builing before somebody buys it and want to live in it. i thought to put a propane tank
in the bassement but i don't know if it is enough or even explodes.

 

 

thanks

 

---

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From: Joe Huffman
Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 1:47 PM
To: 'tjif tjaf'
Subject: RE: need help

 

I haven’t worked with propane tanks much. Maybe someone on the Belgium Explosive Ordinance team would know the answer.

 

I don’t have any contacts in Belgium but I have put some of my contacts in the U.S. (Susan and Crystal with the ATF) on the Bcc: line in hopes they know how to contact them for you.

 

-joe-

-----

Girls only. Guns are allowed though.

I posted about this guy once before. This probably will be the last time. This is just down the road from where I work. I have driven by there many times. Apparently a lot of the items were stolen:

A 65-year-old Spokane man pleaded guilty Thursday to having an arsenal of illegal military weapons and explosives in a Bellevue storage unit.

Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Ronald Struve in January after his cache of weapons -- which included dozens of machine guns and blocks of C-4 plastic explosives -- was discovered by a man who bought at auction the contents of the storage unit at 12863 Northup Way after the unit's rent went unpaid, according to a criminal complaint.

...

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Woods declined to say what motive Struve had for collecting the weapons other than to note that Struve had said "he might have to use it some day."

Under terms of a plea agreement, Struve faces a sentence of 63 to 78 months in a federal prison.

Those among us who are afraid to be free will surrender their guns, their families, and their freedom to tyranny. Do not place your freedom or trust in their hands or depend on them to cover your six.

Michael Gaddy
January 5, 2008
Buy, Buy, Buy
[This reminds me of something Samuel Adams said.--Joe]

We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork.

Milton Friedman
[It's true. But the people running the "system" refuse to see it that way.--Joe]

About a month ago when I posted about how stupid one anti-gun bigot was some people wondered if maybe it was a rhetorical question or a clever tactic.

There is more evidence to indicate that some of them really are that stupid:

The Tennessee legislation is about loaded long guns inside of motor vehicles. The Alabama shooter was driving around in a motor vehicle with loaded long guns (plus a handgun). In addition to the five relatives he killed, he killed five innocent bystanders -- three of whom were going about their business on the sides of public streets. The shooter shot and killed them from his vehicle. If the guns had not been loaded, he would have had to stop and load them. There is a slight chance that three people might have noticed what he was doing and had time to flee -- or as Rep. Fincher suggests, shoot him before he shot anyone else.

Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign again demonstrates he just doesn't get it or again thinks he can fool most people. Yesterday he blogged about something the NRA said:

...Wayne LaPierre was over the top.

He explained to all of us in America that "the guys with the guns make the rules."

Most of us believe that in a democracy, the voters make the rules.

And how is it do you think you maintain your right to vote Paul? You apparently want to overlook The Battle of Athens for example. And then there are the little things like how German Jews, Russian farmers, and millions of others who lost their ability to vote and live in the past few decades when they didn't hold on to their guns.

Soap box, ballot box, jury box, and as a last resort the cartridge box.

When a Banker jumps out of a window, jump after him -- that's where the money is.

Robespierr
[I'm pretty sure this was not the Robespierr. It's just some random quote I picked up a decade or more ago probably from a Usenet group or something that I thought was appropriate for today's economic situation.--Joe]

A week ago today I whined about the ATF being technically challenged as I was trying to get clearance for the Boomershoot staff (and some bloggers) to handle explosives.

Last night I got a call from daughter Kim saying I got a letter from them. "Open it up!" I said. She did and told me that all of the people I requested clearance on, except for three, were approved. Those three are pending and are allowed to handle explosives until I am told otherwise.

I am flabbergasted. That was awesome "service".

While I am of the opinion the ATF should be a convenience store rather than a regulatory agency I must admit they did their job well and without causing me pain once they actually got the paperwork in hand.

Thanks guys.

Last May Boomershoot donated two positions to the Friends of the NRA in King County (Seattle area). They thought they were going to have their dinner/auction before the end of April 2009 but that didn’t happen. The dinner/auction is now scheduled to be in May which is after the event. So they have put the two positions up for bid on eBay. Those positions are #41 in the main area and #51 on the berm.

You can see the view from the Main and Berm areas here:

http://entry.boomershoot.org/#Main
http://entry.boomershoot.org/#Berm

The entire proceeds go to Friends of the NRA to fund Youth Shooting programs and any amount above the fair market value ($150 for one person, $250 for two, $300 for three) is tax deductible.

Hurry, the auction ends in six and a half days.

The District and its supporters also err in extolling the supposed virtues of a world without guns, and condemning the vices of a world without gun regulations. In doing so, they set up a false set of choices. A world without guns is not an option, because hundreds of millions of guns are already in private hands and readily available across either the Virginia or Maryland borders; and even if all handguns in America magically vanished, criminals could still illegally saw off shotguns and rifles to produce concealable weapons that would be more lethal than most handguns. Thus, the District can only hope to dry up the supply of handguns for the law abiding, while criminal access to handguns remains virtually unlimited. It is against this real-world backdrop, and not against that of a utopian gun-free world, that the District’s position must be assessed.

Richard K. Willard
D.C. versus Heller
Brief Amicus Curiae Of The Heartland Institute in support of respondent
[In light of the renewed calls for more gun control after the shootings in Alabama and Germany I thought this was appropriate.--Joe]

I've always thought there are some events that shouldn't get National TV coverage.

Jim Scoutten
March 7, 2009
Producer and host of Shooting USA
Boomershoot coverage?
H/T to Ry (via email as well as his blog), followed by Kevin (email and blog), Say Uncle, Robb (email and blog), Phil, and Sebastian.
[I am a little insulted. Boomershoot got positive coverage from Newsweek, KING 5 Evening Magazine (Seattle television show), Outside Magazine, and numerous other media outlets (that list is just a partial listing). If he doesn't think we are appropriate for national TV coverage he is mistaken. We can and have handled national media before and done quite well.

It just so happens another national TV show is planning to attend this year anyway. I also got a request for permission from a participant doing a video with smaller audience. Boomershoot should be well represented in the media this year. The gun blogger list of participants alone is impressive.

Like I said, I'm a little insulted but Scoutten is missing out more than Boomershoot by his decision.

Thanks for all the support guys but I don't really think it's necessary to do a Zumbo on him. He's not saying Boomershoot should be banned or anything. He just doesn't think it is something he wants to present to the public.

In his followup comment he says he doesn't want put anything "on TV that could alarm the anti-gunners". I disagree. I am of the opinion that alarming them over Boomershoot then making fools of them is the more appropriate tactic (ask me sometime in private how we have baited them but they failed to take the bait). But if he doesn't want to do that I don't see a reason to attack him over that judgment call.--Joe]

Sometimes, as with the "one gun a month" schemes, it is a little difficult to see the sneaky way the anti-gun owner bigots try to get universal gun registration. But with this one they only barely lower the profile:

Local Law "A" for 2009 would tightly regulate "in the interests of public safety" all ammunition sold in Albany County. Not just ammo for handguns, which already is closely monitored by state law, but all rifle and shotgun ammunition as well. Hunting and target shooting ammo, basically. Anyone buying rounds or shells, even .22s, would have to show identification, declare the gun and have its serial number registered with the ammo seller. The buyer would have to state his intent of use, and could be refused the purchase. The ammo seller, at the same time, would be required to keep records for 10 years.

Registration of guns and gun owners over the years has cost people billions of dollars (two billion in Canada alone in the last decade or so) and about 100 million innocent lives (in genocides from Africa to the Ukraine). The number of crimes solved through the use of gun and gun owner registries is asymptotically close to zero.

In Canada if you ask the gun grabbers how many crimes the police have solved through the use of the gun registry they will subtly change the subject and say, "The registry is used thousands of times each day." or some such thing. Yes, the registry get a thousands of hits each day by the police. But it just part of a standard query on a person. That doesn't mean it provided any useful data. And it certainly doesn't mean it helped solve a crime. John Lott spoke at the 2000 Gun Rights Policy Conference and told us that in Hawaii the police estimate they spend 50,000 hours per year of police time involved in registration efforts. Most of which is paperwork. Yet when you talk to the police they can't identify even one crime where this has helped. Guns are virtually never left at that crime scene. It's not in my notes but I recall Lott telling us that when pressed hard enough Canada can support the claim that there was one crime solved through the use the registry which has been, in one form or another, in use for decades.

So if a gun registration scheme has literally only a one in a million (or less) chance of solving a crime what do you think the real reason the gun grabbers keep pushing for registration? I can only think of four possible reasons:

1. They are ignorant
2. They are stupid
3. They are insane
4. They want to confiscate the guns

In regard to #1, they have been told again and again. Any ignorance on their part is incredibly willful.

In regards to #2, if they are smart enough to count votes they are smart enough to count crimes solved. It is not because they are that stupid.

In regards to #3, this might be true in some cases. They are so blinded by grief over the loss of a loved one that they are not thinking rationally. But this is not the case for the vast majority of gun grabbers.

In regards to #4, this is the only answer I can come up with that makes any sense. Those that want to register firearms and/or their owners so they can enable the elimination of gun ownership.

Molôn Labé.

From a reader submitted editorial:

But in Iowa, when a gun discussion was brought up, it referred to hunting and those scraggly guys wearing the camouflage and driving the rusted Ford pickup. Instead of hearing about which person got shot over the weekend, I was hearing something along the lines of “Boy, I ‘m going to gut that coon I shot on Sunday and hang it up in the garage!”

Great stereotype you got there buddy. Did you learn all about the validity of stereotypes while you were attending Klan orientation?

The Brady Campaign is a U.S. organization that supports both gun control and gun owners' rights.

Can anyone name just one gun control law the Brady Campaign opposed? Does the KKK support both n****r control and civil rights? How can this person think that is even possible?

If Obama is able to pass stricter gun laws, hunters will suffer and be at an uproar. If Obama doesn't change anything in regards to gun control, those grieving mothers and communities will be screaming in his ear, asking why he hasn't done anything about it.

The classic bolt action deer rifle and shotguns used for bird hunting are the furthest down on Obama's list and as a class of guns are probably the least used in crimes. I don't expect Obama will even hint at restricting them. Rifle ammo, maybe. But not the firearms.

Such ignorance! Why aren't they embarrassed to have their words seen or heard in public?

Maritime experts were given a rare glimpse of the underlying capabilities of the Chinese navy on Sunday, when crewmen involved in a stand-off with a US surveillance ship in the South China Sea revealed the fleet's previously hidden firepower.

The exposure came as the American vessel USNS Impeccable was attempting to defend itself against what the Pentagon claimed was co-ordinated harassment and aggression from five Chinese ships. Being unarmed, the Impeccable turned its fire water hoses against two of the Chinese vessels that had come within 50 feet in a threatening posture.

Then, the Pentagon records in the admirably restrained language of international diplomacy, "the Chinese crew members disrobed to their underwear and continued closing to within 25 feet."

In the annals of great naval battles, the contretemps may not rank alongside Trafalgar or Jutland. But it must be a contender for this year's award for naked aggression.

Ed Pilkington
March 10, 2009
In New York, The Guardian
Stand-off shows Chinese navy's secret tactics
[I just hope the sailors on the Impeccable got lots of pictures of all that "previously hidden firepower". I'm sure there is a market for that somewhere outside of the Pentagon. Maybe some magazines would be interested.--Joe]