The View From North Central Idaho

In some of my training via Insights the instructor referred to the initial stages of a violent confrontation as being interviewed. The interview might be conducted in silence from a distance, it might be by asking you for the time or for "money for a cup of coffee", and it might only take a few seconds. But almost for certain the bad guy will conduct an "interview" of some type before attacking. In predator/prey terms it is the predator looking for easy prey. They want something that will be easy enough that they don't get hurt yet profitable enough to not be a waste of time for the benefit gained. A couple of cops in full uniform leaving the donut shop are seldom prey. Frail little old ladies, with a big purse, pushing a walker, alone on a dark street look like food.

Your goal is to fail the interview process so they look for some other prey. Your first line of defense is to be aware of your surroundings. Just noticing that you are being interviewed and letting them know that you noticed is usually enough to "fail the interview" as in this encounter Barb and I had. If you make it past the first stage of the interview you may have to engage in some escalation of force to defend yourself or other innocent life. This might involve retreat, taking a defensive or aggressive posture, display or use of pepper spray, or display or use of a weapon. This escalation could take place over the course of a fraction of a second or over a minute or more.

Gun Nut Caleb had an interview with a choir boy on Saturday and apparently passed the first stage of the interview and threw his coffee at the interviewer during a later stage.

I tell my students that they should always be alert and thinking, "If 'this' happened what should I do?" When you are walking down the sidewalk, when you are in the grocery store, when you are driving and stopped at a light, or wherever you are. Think about what could happen and how to solve the problem. Your hands are full with bags of groceries, or a child or three. You are strapped into a car, or you are pushing a shopping cart. These are real life situations, not the range with a paper bulls-eye target at 30 feet or even the attempt at "combat shooting" when well defined "bad guys" are rigidly fixed precisely 21 feet away with the "hostage" covering only the left half of their torso. The range time is essential practice but real life is different and you need to at least go through the effort to translate the range exercise into real life in your mind.

One of my "what if" scenarios solutions is where the contents of my hands (except for children) goes into air in the general direction of the attacker. Fast movement is exceedingly distracting. It is very difficult for your eyes and thought to not be drawn to movement. Putting material into the air should distract the attacker some from your drawing of a weapon. When the checkout line is long and I'm bored the thoughts extend to fantasy and the solution involves the can of baked beans bouncing off the head of the masked gunman holding up the clerk while I draw, double tap his cranium, then catch the can of beans returning from on high in my weak hand and proceed to scan for more threats before holstering and continuing through the check-out line.

Reality is not fantasy. Read how Caleb handled it and how it turned out. It probably wasn't how he expected such an encounter would go down but it certainly was good enough that the good guys can pat him on the back and say, "You did just fine."

It was a stupid idea in the first place and a ridiculous waste of money on an ongoing basis.

Kevin Gaudet
Federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation on the gun registry in Canada.
October 26, 2009
Gun registry battle rages
[If the Canadians can regain some of their freedom it will be a good sign for us and others all over the world. It provides more data that freedom doesn't mean the sky is going to fall and it removes one more arrow from the quiver of the anti-freedom people that say things like (Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control, from the same article):

Without information about who owns guns and the guns they own, there is no effective control. Internationally, most countries licensing gun owners and registering firearms are moving to strengthen controls. This would be a huge step backwards.

Please also note that she doesn't say anything about making people safer--it's about control.--Joe]

I read a great many of the responses to Douglas Weil's spiel on CCW and his attack on John Lott. Perhaps some might find it interesting, that first of all, Douglas Weil's degree ScD (doctorate of science) is only an honorary degree, and not earned. In my case, i earned my degree, in a field I pioneered: Analytical Investigative Science. I know Doug Weil, I know what he is and I know how he does things. If he can't get the numbers he wants, he takes somebody elses numbers and plays with them, to make them say what he wants. If numbers aren't available, he invents them. Doug Weil is 100% committed to Hand Gun Control, Inc. and the disarming of America. To characterize him as anything less than totally Socialist minded, would be to honor him. The numbers he used in this article were twisted and misused.

JBD, ScD. (Initials used @ employers request)
March 30, 1998
From http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/98/0326/iccon.asp
[The link is now dead but you can view the archive here.

As near as I can tell the anti-gun people have been lying and twisting the truth for as long as there has been a debate about gun ownership. When the WWW began taking off and the mainstream media began losing power the good guys finally started winning a few battles. It was stuff like this that made the difference. Before that the lies and spin would be heard because the MSM wanted the population to hear that. Had high speed cheap communication not made its debut for another 10 or 15 years we would most likely have completely lost the battle.--Joe]

Daughter Kim made an excellent dinner for me with Baked Alaska as dessert!

Daughter Xenia made this awesome video for (and of) me:

From the WA-CCW email list:

Mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan will be walking North Beacon Hill Sunday. I plan on a walk, open carry at that same time in that area. Info follows:

On Sunday, October 25th, mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan will do a walking tour of N. Beacon Hill, beginning at 1:00 at the Lite Rail Station. Please note that the North Beacon Hill Council does not endorse candidates, however it is worthwhile for our community to express our dreams/hopes/concerns/issues, etc. to each candidate who contacts us. Mr. Mallahan will be at Kusina Filipina from 2:30-3:00 to hear from community members. Please join him there.

Anyone interested?????

Mike C---Seattle

I'm 300 miles away this weekend and I'm a little too cowardly to do that anyway. I'd be afraid of being forced into a "pavement tasting party". But I think it would be rather cool to follow him around with pro-gun signs and shirts protesting his support of the illegal acts of the current mayor.

When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite.

Winston Churchill
On formal declarations of war.
[As I was looking through my collection of quotes for some reason this one reminded me of the Threepers.

I considered using something about unicorn bacon that I heard in a recent Gun Nuts podcast but I thought this one was more appropriate. Unicorn bacon reminds me of Threepers too but that is more difficult to explain.--Joe]

The article says:

Officers found 50 rounds of 44-caliber, 240 grain-jacketed Remington hollow point bullets, illegal in some states, including New Jersey, because they can pierce cops' bullet-resistant armor, said Paul Loriquet, spokesman for the Essex County prosecutor's office.

The problem is hollow point bullets are less able to penetrate body armor than the more common Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) bullets.

The fact that they probably were for .44 Magnum handgun is more telling. Almost any soft body armor comfortable enough for everyday wear is going to be penetrated by any full power load in that caliber.

But this is law enforcement in New Jersey where facts about guns are irrelevant to their jobs and when dealing with guns, the citizen acts at his peril.

I have had about 20 hits on my Sitemeter this morning from a certain I.P. address that look like this:

Domain Name		(Unknown)
IP Address		204.68.130.# (National Rifle Association of America)
ISP		National Rifle Association of America
Location		Continent  :  North America Country  :  United States  (Facts) State  :  Virginia City  :  Fairfax Lat/Long  :  38.8357, -77.3375 (Map) Distance  :  2,059 miles
Language		English (U.S.) en-us
Operating System		Microsoft WinXP
Browser		Internet Explorer 7.0 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; GTB6; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Javascript		version 1.3
Monitor		Resolution  :  1504 x 873 Color Depth  :  32 bits
Time of Visit		Oct 23 2009 8:28:54 am
Last Page View		Oct 23 2009 8:28:54 am
Visit Length		0 seconds
Page Views		1
Referring URL
Visit Entry Page		http://blog.joehuffman.org/2009/10/23/PopularityContest.aspx
Visit Exit Page		http://blog.joehuffman.org/2009/10/23/PopularityContest.aspx
Out Click
Time Zone		UTC-5:00
Visitor's Time		Oct 23 2009 11:28:54 am
Visit Number		623,291

No referral URL, no hit on the main page, just a direct hit to my Popularity contest post. It looks like there is an email going around that organization with a link to my post.

Still nothing visible from the Brady Campaign I.P. address. But just one solitary hit might have gotten lost in the noise. Either that or the fifth of Jack Daniels and 30 count bottle of Ambien started kicking in.

Update: Scratch that. They just stopped by looking at something else:

Domain Name		sct.com ? (Commercial)
IP Address		65.242.56.# (HANDGUN CONTROL)
ISP		Verizon Business
Location		Continent  :  North America Country  :  United States  (Facts) State  :  District of Columbia City  :  Washington Lat/Long  :  38.9042, -77.032 (Map) Distance  :  2,071 miles
Language		English (U.S.) en-us
Operating System		Microsoft WinXP
Browser		Internet Explorer 6.0 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1)
Javascript		version 1.3
Monitor		Resolution  :  1024 x 768 Color Depth  :  32 bits
Time of Visit		Oct 23 2009 9:28:09 am
Last Page View		Oct 23 2009 9:28:09 am
Visit Length		0 seconds
Page Views		1
Referring URL		http://blogsearch.go...Henigan%22&scoring=d
Search Engine		blogsearch.google.com
Search Words		"dennis henigan"
Visit Entry Page		http://blog.joehuffm...alftruthHenigan.aspx
Visit Exit Page		http://blog.joehuffm...alftruthHenigan.aspx
Out Click
Time Zone		UTC-5:00
Visitor's Time		Oct 23 2009 12:28:09 pm
Visit Number		623,363

Only on Slashdot would someone trying to use sex to stave off boredom, in a mixed gender pool, suggest everyone be given masterbatory aides.

Actually, I do RTFA
October 22, 2009
Comment to Science: Volunteers Wanted For Simulated 520-Day Mars Trip
[H/T to Phil.--Joe]

The Brady Campaign has a few different Twitter accounts:

• GunControlInc 29 following, 95 followers, 14 Tweets
• BradyCampaign (the account has been suspended due to strange activity)
• Bradybuzz 16 following, 42 followers, 10 Tweets
• PaulHelmke 0 following, 46 followers, 11 Tweets
• stopthenra 1 following, 120 followers, 0 Tweets

Compare that to a few gun bloggers:

• SebastianSH (Snowflakes in Hell) 73 following, 153 followers, 634 Tweets
• bitterb (Bitchin' in the Kitchen) 104 following, 260 followers, 2938 Tweets
• sayuncleblog (Say Uncle) 0 following, 240 followers, 2948 Tweets
• bredafallacy (The Breda Fallacy) 72 following, 184 followers, 395 Tweets
• Ride_Fast (Ride Fast & Shoot Straight) 30 following, 96 followers, 738 Tweets
• n_r_ahab (Gun Nuts Media) 12 following, 177 followers, 265 Tweets
• chrisbyrne (The Anarchangel) 79 following, 76 followers, 861 Tweets
• JoeHuffman (The View From North Central Idaho) 18 following, 68 followers, 444 Tweets

In terms of followers I'm the least popular of the gun bloggers listed above and even I give the Brady Campaign a run for their money in raw numbers. Subtract out the pro-gun people following the Brady bunch and this professional organization with a multi-million dollars budget can barely keep pace with me hunkered down in my hidden, underground, bunker banging away on my keyboard in my spare time.

Now lets take a look at the NRA on Twitter:

• NRAblog (The NRA Blog) 757 following, 1610 followers, 2064 Tweets
• nranews (NRA News) 89 following, 10089 followers, 3421 Tweets
• NRAILA (NRA Institute for Legislative Action) 24 following, 1806 followers, 319 Tweets
• NRA_Rifleman (American Rifleman) 15 following, 500 followers, 166 Tweets

The Brady Campaign is the largest and most well known anti-gun organization in the U.S. and my daughter (18 following, 55 followers, 567 Tweets) is nearly as popular as they are. With that kind of following what sort of political pull do you think they have? Yeah, I think they know the answer too.

It's no wonder people are suggesting it's time for them to consider a fifth of Jack Daniels and a 30 count bottle of Ambien (see also the suggestions here and here).

Dennis Henigan has a new post about two gun dealers up on the Brady Campaign blog. I find it interesting that much of what he says is only half-true. For example he says:

The Seattle Times reported that Brian Borgelt, the former owner of Bull’s Eye Shooter Supply, the notorious Tacoma, Washington gun shop that supplied the gun used in the 2002 D.C.-area sniper shootings, had lost his lawsuit seeking to have his firearms dealer license restored.

This is true as far as it goes but what he doesn't tell you is the Bull's Eye Shooter Supply is still open selling guns. The store was purchased by a friend of Borgelt and is doing just fine. Those Seattle Times articles are dated the day before the article linked to by Henigan. My hypothesis is that victories for Henigan are so rare these days that he has to exaggerate something of no consequence into something to celebrate.

Also note that he claims the gun shop "supplied the gun". That's interesting wording since Malvo says he shoplifted the gun from the store. That's like saying you supplied the car used in a bank robbery after it was stolen from your driveway.

Next Henigan says:

Borgelt hit the headlines after the DC snipers, John Muhammad and Lee Malvo, were arrested after killing ten and wounding four others during three weeks of horror in October, 2002. Authorities traced their Bushmaster assault rifle to Borgelt’s gun shop, but Borgelt claimed he didn’t even know the gun was missing. Borgelt could produce no record that the gun had been sold, nor that it had been reported missing or stolen (as required by federal law). It turns out that the snipers’ Bushmaster was only one of 238 Bull’s Eye guns mysteriously missing and unaccounted for in the previous three years. Either Bull’s Eye was actively corrupt, or grievously negligent.

Most of those 238 guns were eventually accounted for (I think, I can't seem to find verification of that right now). I think the final number was something like 80 that were apparently stolen or perhaps sold illegally. To the best of my knowledge there was no evidence any were sold to someone that was not allowed to own a firearm. But that doesn't fit Henigan's agenda:

During the period 1997-2001, Bull’s Eye ranked in the top 1% of dealers in guns sold and traced to crime; its guns had been traced to homicides, kidnappings and assaults.

Note the careful wording "traced to crime"? He did not say, "Used in a crime." That is because the ATF gun traces include guns that were stolen and the police were trying to find the true owner. Hence by choosing his words very carefully Henigan gives a very different impression that what is the complete truth. And that's just a tiny part of the lie in that sentence.

If you follow his own link you will find the following:

Long before last fall's sniper slayings, Bull's Eye was among a minuscule group of problem gun dealers that, willingly or not, "supply the suppliers" who funnel guns to the nation's criminals, the ATF says. Studies show about 1 percent of gun stores sell the weapons traced to 57 percent of gun crimes.

That does NOT say Bull's Eye was in the 1%. The Seattle Times is being a little misleading too but Henigan goes into a full blown lie with it.

Here are the raw numbers from the same Seattle Times article:

An analysis of records obtained by The Seattle Times through a freedom-of-information lawsuit against the ATF shows that between 1997 and 2001, guns sold by Bull's Eye were involved in 52 crimes, including homicides, kidnappings and assaults — a rate the ATF considers alarming.

...

[T]he number of crime guns traced back to Bull's Eye had been growing from three in 1997 to 10 in 1998, 18 in 1999, and 11 in 2000.

According to the FBI in 2001 there were 1,425,486 violent crimes in the U.S. of which 26.2% were committed with a firearm. That gives us a total of 373,477 violent crimes committed with a firearm. About 10 of those guns came from Bull's Eye. This is 0.0027%. It's not possible for Bull's Eye to have been in the top 1% of the gun shops that supplied 57 percent of gun crimes.

Anytime you see something with Henigan's name on remember this--at best it is half true.

I took two people to the range with me tonight.

Gang is one of my co-workers. He is from the People's Republic of China. He had some military training when he was still living there but he only fired eight rounds total from an SKS. He went shooting with some friends in the U.S. once quite a while back. He doesn't qualify as a "new shooter" but he is still a beginner. He told me he would like to try it again sometime and I, of course, was pleased to take him to the local range. He said his father-in-law was visiting from China and would like to go along too if that was okay with me. FIL had never fired a gun before. He had field-stripped one in training but had never fired it.

Gang bought me dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. I went through the safety rules with Gang translating for his FIL. I told him which guns I had brought and Gang asked if they all fit in the car. I said there was plenty of room but I was carrying one with me there in the restaurant. They didn't seem surprised or concerned.

When we got to the range I then had them do some dry firing with the .22 revolver. I worked with them on the grip, stance, sight alignment, and trigger control. First using the gun in single action, then double action.

Here is FIL cocking the gun in preparation to fire his first actual shot:

Here is the result of his first eight rounds from about 10 feet away:

I was impressed! I know people who have put many hundreds of rounds down range and can't shoot that well. Gang's efforts were similar but offset to the right and up of the bullseye about the same amount as FILs were down and to the left.

I then rented a Ruger Mark III/45 since my Ruger Mark II is still with daughter Kim in Idaho. Here FIL is punching holes in the target with the semi-auto:

I fired a few rounds with my STI to make sure it didn't go full-auto on me after getting it's new NP3 finish before letting them try it.

They both fired it a few times then I loaded up the Gun Blog 45 for them. The loads were 230 grain bullets but downloaded to a Power Factor of only 175 (typical is about 200). Here the FIL is just getting the gun out of recoil with the slide still not closed:

They said the .45 hurt their hands a little bit but they had big smiles on their faces after shooting a few rounds each:

Next came the Evil Black Rifle:

Success! The target below has holes from both FIL and Gang from about 20 feet away. Each of them had one go low and the rest in a tight group in the middle of the A-Zone. FIL put his three on the lower left of the A-Zone with Gang having the upper three.

As I watched them shoot I keep thinking of Tiananmen Square and wondered how things might have been different had the civilians been armed and able to defend themselves. Gang, his wife, (and perhaps FIL), and daughter will be attending a private Boomershoot party next spring. After learning how to use guns of course they need to learn how to make explosives.

I've now taken new shooters to the range from Taiwan, India, Canada, and the People's Republic of China. I'm exposing the world to freedom, first hand, one person at at time...

As we were leaving the range Gang asked if I was going to the gun show this weekend. I told him that I was returning to Idaho but he and his entire family (even the baby) would be welcome and he said he might go to look around. He doesn't have a house right now but when he does he might buy a gun for self-defense then.

Hmm...I haven't done the reading for the past month...I have over 200 pages to read and the test is tomorrow. Whoops.

Xenia
October 21, 2009
[Classic Xenia (our daughter). I also expect her to read the material, go to class dead tired, get an 'A', and have the professor use her answers as examples for others to aspire too.

Xenia's scholastic career has been a combination of Barb's excellent grades and an exaggeration of my tendency to procrastinate. It shouldn't work but somehow she manages to pull it off.--Joe]

For someone who reloads metalic cartridges, I've done it very little.  Still, I've had problems, with several calibers, in seating bullets.  The seating plug that comes with the die set (you only get one plug) doesn't fit every bullet shape ever made, which means it doesn't fit the bullet you're actually using, even if the dies and the bullet were made by the same company.  As a partner to this phenomenon, the loading manual (also written by the bullet company whose sister company made the loading dies) says very little about seating plugs, or the fact that a plug made for one bullet shape might be a real problem when seating a bullet of some other shape.

With some bullet/seating plug combinations, I find it impossible to maintain a cartridge OAL to within 15 or even 20 thousandths, yet the construction of the press should be capable of easily maintaining a seating depth to within a thou or two.

Another part of this cascade of problems is that depending on the bullet type, the bullet itself may be part of the problem.  Softpoints can be distorted in packaging and shipping, can mash during seating if the plug touches soft lead, or a jacketed hollowpoint match bullet's meplat can be inconsistent to several thousandths.  The latter inconsistency isn't all that much of a problem if the seater plug fits OK.  The bullet's ogive is still being seated to the same position and the base is still seating to a consistent depth inside the case because the seater plug doesn't touch the meplat (assuming it fits OK) and you can always trim the meplats.

Today I got the primers I ordered last April or May, so I decided to load some of the 110 gr "Varminter" HPs I'd gotten to try out in .30 Carbine.  Brand new cases, all prepped and flared the same, and I can barely hold C.O.A.L. to within 15 thousandths.  The seater plug was made for the round nose 30 Carb FMJ, and the HP's round nose, made by the same company, has a distinctly different shape from the FMJ, which makes the seater plug impinge on the soft lead corners at the very tip of the bullets.  These HPs, by design, are very soft at the tip.  Some of the bullets get swaged inward at the tip, narrowing the hollow tip opening, raising a burr at the tip and lengthening the bullet.  Others don't distort much at all.  The phenomenon is binary-- either I get a distorted nose and the OAL is 10 to 13 thou over, or the nose stays intact and the OAL is within a couple thou of nominal.  Nothing in between.

Long story short; Die makers should be discussing seater plug issues a lot more, and they should offer a plug for just about every bullet shape, especially plugs that don't impinge on the soft lead of hollowpoints and softpoints unless the plug is going to match the bullet shape perfectly.  Another plug/bullet mismatch I've had results in the mouth of the plug cutting a circle around the bullet like a sharpened punch-- the extremely small contact surface area isn't conducive to repeat accuracy.  As it is, I can always make my own seater plugs, but what a pain just so I can try out some different bullets as a lark.  On a positive note; standard reloading dies are priced unbelieveably low.  You may connect the dots.

We had a rep from Speer in at UltiMAK several weeks ago, setting up some M1 Carbines with our forward optic mounts and high-end combat optics for a LE demonstration of their new .308 110 gr Gold Dot loads (offered to LE only last time I checked).  I've thought for a long time that the M1 Carbine would make a good patrol carbine or "truck gun" if one were to use good HP loads in it.  Haven't heard back from the rep about how the demo went, and I'd sure like to try some of those new Gold Dots.  I guess when they release them to the public they'll be backordered eight months within a week.  I'll take a thousand, please.

I read this and almost cried. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions and all that.

How does one prevent such a tragedy? And more importantly how can a society recover from it?

Could a strictly enforced constitution (we don't have such a thing--there is no penalty for politician who propose and/or vote for unconstitutional laws) with enumerated powers have prevented it?

Dave Workman takes aim at outgoing Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and the incoming candidates who are (or plan to continue) deifying state law with "no gun allowed" signs in city parks and fires straight through the heart of their bigotry with this question:

If a locked security door did not stop a determined gunman from committing a vicious, violent unconscionable attack on unarmed innocent women, just what in hell convinces you that a bunch of signs will do the trick?

But as Lyle pointed out in a comment yesterday:

...[I]t is missing the point to argue with them about the validity of their assertions and rationalizations. Those things are the smoke screens. The mantras. The prayers designed to reinforce the faith among their flock. Would you argue with a bank robber over the finer points of, and his rambling justifications for, bank robbery? Would you challenge a rapist to a debate over the concept of respect for other people and the principles behind property rights?

The point one is missing by arguing with the anti libertarian over his assertions is this; they are not rational. They often reject the very notion of reason. The anti libertarian, and the statist, like the jihadist, understands only brute force, group association and strength in numbers. We have to understand that we're up against a cult-- a cult of power, and that playing nicey-nice with them, entertaining their assertions, trying to convince them that we're not really bad people, or engaging them in discussion at all, is playing into their hands. It's lending a sense of credibility that they do not deserve. It's trying to convince a robber, who just broke down your front door, that he's doing something impolite. While you're busy looking for the title to your house so you can prove him it really is your house, he's collecting your silver and making off with it.

They will back down only when they are afraid.

Back in the 1990's the NRA couldn't pay to get ads in many major publications. The ads would not be accepted even when offering to pay above the existing ad rates (and most ads are discounted from the published rates). Just like a black person trying to eat a meal at a whites only restaurant in the deep south fifty years ago--their money wasn't any good with the bigots in control.

New York, with it's extremely repressive gun laws, is the home of much of the U.S. print media and hence management had an inherent bias against gun ownership. But it appears times are changing:

• We’re winning
• No, really. I only read it for the advertisements
• Advertising
• Normalization

I wonder how much of it is because the print media is a lot hungrier now or if it is because of the Heller decision and the fact that guns are more accepted now.

A picture I took of Robb Allen's hands, complete with markings by Todd Jarrett are now part of a published magazine article.

For the back story read my previous post.

Update: Here is an automated translation of the article to English.

Update2: Due to concerns about Robb's pants (or lack thereof) here is a picture of Robb taken less than a minute before the picture referenced above:

And here is a picture (I think Tamara is explaining why Robb should keep his pants on) taken about an hour and a half earlier:

Even though Robb didn't seem very happy about it the important parts of his lower body were covered.

The proven fact is that judges will move heaven and earth to uphold assault weapon bans. They will accept fallacious arguments that will justify not only those bans but bans against other guns which might be struck down except for the false precedent of assault weapon cases. Until assault weapon cases were brought, Colorado, Connecticut and Ohio had state constitutional right to keep and bear arms provisions. Now those provisions have been construed into nullities by courts determined to uphold assault weapon bans.

Don B. Kates
November 2009 issue of Handguns
The Power of Patience
[This article is very important advice on building upon the Heller decision from the ground up rather than jumping ahead to "assault weapons" or machine guns. Read it and remember it. When Kates talks about gun laws I listen.

See also other posts I have referring to Don Kates. Although it was Alan Gottlieb that first introduced me to the concept of anti-gun bigotry Don Kates used that meme before I heard it from Gottlieb.--Joe]

Awesome story from a Massachusetts (of all places!) state representative:

The board conducted regular meetings regarding state library budgets, acquisitions, personnel, and maintained the security of the second oldest library in the country. Our duties included the preservation of the commonwealth's one million book collection, special collection of documents, e.g. Mayflower Compact and the Bradford Manuscript.

The Bradford Manuscript is often described as the diary of the Mayflower's personnel and passengers and is stored in the State House vault whose exact site is shared with very few individuals. Once we allowed the Plymouth Historical Society to "borrow" it for their 350th anniversary. After six months of negotiations to insure its safety, we sent the document to Plymouth escorted by state troopers. It is now ensconced in the State Archives, Dorchester - under 24-hour guard.

Probably the shortest term served was by a library director who "purged the collection" by throwing out leather-bound books because "we have several copies of those books."

"What a waste," I thought. So when I spotted the leather-bound books in a State House hallway Dumpster, I climbed in and retrieved them. I donated several to local collectors and libraries. I confess, I kept one for myself. "The Acts and Resolves of 1779." Occasionally I would thumb through the book to experience the mind set of legislators in 1779. It was there I learned why the Legislature is often referred to as "The Great and General Court." There was no court system in 1779 and a wide variety of issues were brought before the Legislature for resolution.

Some years later, the recurring argument of gun control surfaced. A new legislator proposed additional controls on gun ownership.

The debate went on for hours. I remembered the old leather-bound "Dumpster" book . I rushed to my office, found the book and rushed back to the Chamber to join the debate.

The proponent of new gun ownership controls was in hot pursuit of his opponents. I joined the fray. "Mr. Speaker."

"For what purpose does the lady from Milford rise?"

"To debate, Mr. Speaker."

And there I was at the podium, "I object to the proposed changes to our gun laws," I said.

My opponent roared, "On what basis?"

"The second Constitutional amendment... the right to bear arms." I stated, firmly.

My opponent was relentless. "And where is it written, that a man has the right to a private weapon? Where is that written?"

"I thought you would never ask." I responded and read from the book's withered pages:

"Whereas by a Resolve of the General Court of this State, past the 2nd of April 1778, for raising 1300 men for North River, it was among other Things resolved that every person who supply himself with a good firelock and bayonet, cartouche-box, haversack and blanket ... shall receive, agreeable to a resolve by the Congress, ... two dollars for the use of his firelock, bayonet and cartouche and two dollars for the use of his blanket and four dollars in like proportion for either of them."

According to the Acts and Resolves of 1779, "after producing proper vouchers they were so provided. It is my considered belief the farmers earned tacit approval of private gun ownership." In conclusion, I said, "Had not the farmers brought their private weapons to the Revolutionary War we might not be standing here today."

I called for a roll call vote. The proposal to restrict ownership of private weapons went down in flames.

Additional data (other data is here) to oppose those that would claim the Second Amendment is not a right of the people but instead some sort of "state right".

I recently had a birthday and although I haven't collected all my loot yet (the family party will be this weekend) I do have some of it.

From son James I received this awesome card and coin:

Front. Click to see the inside.

From wife Barbara I received (in part) this card and a scrapbook:

Front. Click to see the inside.

Here are a couple pages from the scrapbook:

First page.

Next to the last page.

Daughters Kim and Xenia called me up on my birthday and sang Happy Birthday to me over the phone and asked what I wanted for my birthday dinner this weekend. They asked what James gave me then they complained that James needs to give me his presents after them from now on because they can't match him. I'm not so sure on that. I think my kids could give me lumps of coal and I'd still be just as proud and pleased.

Update: Due to popular request via email: The coin (and others) can be purchased here. The scrapbook and wife are not for sale.

Via a Tweet from Sebastian I discovered Knife Rights just announced an important victory:

WE STOPPED CUSTOMS Pocket Knife Grab! The Senate has passed the conference report for the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill with our amendment to the Federal Switchblade Act intact. The bill will now be sent to the President for signature. There is no indication that he would veto the bill.

This is the culmination of an incredible effort on the part of Knife Rights, American Knife and Tool Institute, NRA, Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and many other organizations who contributed. Each organization made key contributions to the effort, without which the end result might not have turned out so well. Not many folks gave us much hope of succeeding when Customs first proposed revoking their rulings and redefining what is a switchblade back in May. At a time when bipartisanship is rare as hen's teeth in Washington, we garnered support from both sides of the aisle.

We succeeded because the coalition of groups that came together to fight Customs represented a broad swath of American industry and grassroots. We succeeded in large part because of YOUR contributions, letters and calls in support of our efforts. You can give yourself a pat on the back for your effort and a job well done against all odds. It is time to pop the cork on that bottle of champagne and celebrate a victory for your knife rights and for all America.

To help you celebrate and commemorate this incredible victory, please purchase one of our collectible "WE STOPPED Customs Pocket Knife Grab" coffee mugs, t-shirts or sweatshirts, available for a limited time only: www.cafepress.com/KnifeRights Proceeds will help pay off the incredibly high cost of accomplishing this victory.

Knife Rights has quickly grown to become America's largest grassroots knife owners organization. This latest fight against Customs Pocket Knife Grab has validated the power and importance of a dedicated grass roots organization in defending your knife rights. Now we have to finish paying pay for this effort. It took a great deal of money to accomplish all this. Carrying a fight like this to Washington cannot be done without lots of cash. The victory isn't complete until we pay the bills. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO SUPPORT THIS SUCCESSFUL FIGHT FOR YOUR KNIFE RIGHTS!

Also of interest on that same page:

Knife Rights News Slice Vol. 2 Number 19 - October 13, 2009

Knife Rights Changing Perceptions

The weekend before last I was invited to speak at the annual Gun Rights Policy Conference put on by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. While I was there, I took the opportunity at their annual awards luncheon to make a special presentation to CCRKBA President, Alan Gottleib.

When this issue with Customs first reared its ugly head, Alan and the Citizens Committee were the first to step up in support of our efforts to achieve a legislative solution when it became clear that nothing else would work. CCRKBA helped to the tune of $30,000. Lest you think that covered all the expenses, let me assure you that it DID NOT, but it was a HUGE help. Alan also offered his wise counsel at critical junctures. In recognition of this major commitment, I was very pleased to present Alan with a custom Mini Eros Gentleman's Tactical Folder generously donated by renowned knifemaker, and Knife Rights Cornerstone member, Ken Onion.

My remarks later in the day, which focused on the fact that the Second Amendment doesn't say "firearms," it says "arms," apparently struck a chord with the nearly 700 participants. When it came time for resolutions, which guide the two organizations in terms of policy, my points were reflected in a historic change to one recurring resolution and the introduction and acceptance of a second.

The "Farmer" resolution was originally passed at the first GRPC twenty four years ago. This year it was amended to say that "an attack on any class of arms is an attack on all classes of arms," in recognition that knives, as well as other arms, are due equal protection. This represents something of a watershed event for Second Amendment policy which heretofore has focused almost exclusively on firearms.

Jeff Knox of The Firearms Coalition was inspired to introduce a new resolution, which was adopted, that reads, "Whereas: The banning of any personal tool or weapon has never resulted in increased public safety,...We support the repeal of the Federal Switchblade Act and any other federal, state or local laws and regulations banning tools and weapons rather than addressing behavior." Jeff's heart is in the right place, we all know the Federal Switchblade Act was simply political theater and a sham, but the reality is that after 50 years as law of the land a legislative solution eliminating it is unlikely. However, it's the thought that counts and it once again is indicative of a historic change in attitude. Jeff's resolution is a strong statement of support for the concept that tools and weapons should not be blamed for social ills or criminal behavior and neither should they be regulated or banned for those reasons.

You can read the complete text of the two resolutions at: www.KnifeRights.org/grpc2009resolutions.pdf

Notice that The Second Amendment Foundation donated $30K as well as advice? I'm doubling my twice monthly paycheck deduction (matched by Microsoft) to SAF.

Also notice that Jeff Knox introduced a resolution similar to Just One Question? Although Jeff is aware of Just One Question his dad had something similar before I came up with it.

Remember - these are the people who would strip us of our rights. These are the people who would turn us into criminals (like them) for daring to exercise those rights. These are the people who aid and abet criminals on a daily basis. These are the people who have no respect or regard for the sanctity of human life or the self-defense measures necessary to preserve it. ...People who cannot even tell fact from fiction.

Scary, nyet?

Linoge
October 18, 2009
truth and falsity
[Good stuff, even if I do say so myself.--Joe]

Via the encyclopedic gun law brain of Joe Waldron on the Washington CCW email list last Monday:

From 1968 to 1986, all purchasers of handgun ammunition nationwide had to sign a book and provide identification data. It was discontinued because it proved useless as a crime fighting tool.

Not that anyone in the California legislature cares.

Again, the anti-gun bigots not being able to answer Just One Question is no impediment to them infringing on the specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms.

After getting their hands slapped for shoddy research with predetermined anti-gun outcomes 13 years ago the NIH is again doing research on gun control topics:

More than a decade after Congress cut funding for firearms research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), another federal health agency has been spending millions of dollars to study such topics as whether teenagers who carry firearms run a different risk of getting shot compared with suffering other sorts of injuries.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) also has been financing research to investigate whether having many liquor stores in a neighborhood puts people at greater risk of getting shot.

Such studies are coming under sharp scrutiny by Republican lawmakers who question whether the money could be better spent on biomedical research at a time of increasing competition for NIH funding. They're also leery of NIH research relating to firearms in general, recalling how 13 years ago the House voted to cut CDC funding when critics complained that the agency was trying to win public support for gun control.

"It's almost as if someone's been looking for a way to get this study done ever since the Centers for Disease Control was banned from doing it 10 years ago," Rep. Joe L. Barton, Texas Republican, said of one of the NIH studies. "But it doesn't make any more sense now than it did then."

"Gun related violence is a public health problem - it diverts considerable health care resources away from other problems and, therefore, is of interest to NIH," Don Ralbovsky, NIH spokesman, wrote in an e-mail responding to questions about the grants.

"These particular grants do not address gun control; rather they deal with the surrounding web of circumstances involved in many violent crimes, especially how alcohol policy may reduce the public health burden from gun-related injury and death," he said.

It's not guaranteed to be a bad thing. But it should be watched just as closely as if they were studying violence initiated by Jews/blacks/homosexuals with an eye to create public policy which restricts those groups more than others.

Via Say Uncle we have some cute signs.

These remind me of the "I don't dial 911, I dial .357" and "Beware of dog. He eats everything I shoot" type signs. They bring a smile to my face but I would never put one up outside my home.

If someone in my family did use a firearm in self defense I fear the sign would be used in either criminal charges or a civil lawsuit to indicate we were looking for an opportunity to shoot someone and perhaps were just a little "too enthusiastic" about defending ourselves.

It also is an indicator there are guns inside the house which are "available for the taking" when no one is home.

Sometimes you have to just shake your head and call for the guys in the white uniforms and the butterfly nets:

The more people own guns, the more likely guns are to be used. If Cody wants to do something genuinely patriotic and helpful to her country, she should support gun control legislation.

I suppose it depends on how you define "patriotic". If "genuinely patriotic and helpful to your country" means enabling genocide then she is absolutely correct:

• Quote from brief for amicus curiae association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Inc. in support of Respondent in D.C. v. Heller
• Quote from the book Lethal Laws on a 1928 German gun control law
• A brief refresher on genocide and gun control
• Gun control is a precondition of genocide
• Gun control and genocide in Guatemala
• Gun control and genocide in Russia

Update: Daughter Kim reminded me:

patriot, n. and adj.
 
1. a. A person who loves his or her country, esp. one who is ready to support its freedoms and rights and to defend it against enemies or detractors.
In early use, as in French and Dutch, chiefly with ‘good’, ‘true’, ‘worthy’, or other commendatory adjective: cf. ‘good citizen’. ‘Patriot’ for ‘good patriot’ is rare before 1680. At that time often applied to a person who supported the rights of the country against the King and court.

The headlines in India and across the world should have read, “Terrorists and Gun Control Claim More Victims.” Instead, the complicity of the various Indian governments – national, state, and city – was ignored and their inability to protect the victims of that tragic event was barely questioned. The truth is that, except for a few policemen on the scene, all the victims were unarmed by public policy. India has among the strictest gun-control laws on Earth, which, according to gun-control advocates, should have made Mumbai one of the safest cities on the planet. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone with common sense or a historical perspective that disarmed citizens and visitors had no way of defending themselves and were, once again, the victims not only of terrorists, but of the misguided, immoral policy of their governments.

Benedict D. LaRosa
October 17, 2009
The Horror of Gun Control in Mumbai
[I'm doing my part to help remedy the situation by teaching some of the Indians I know how to shoot. The students have enjoyed the lessons, are continuing them, and are contemplating purchasing their own firearms.--Joe]

Our task of creating a socialist America can only succeed when all those who would resist us have been totally disarmed.

Sarah Brady,
for Handgun Control Inc.,
To Senator Howard Metzanbaum.
National Educator 1994, page 3.
[Nice quote. Except it's totally bogus. I once spent several hours trying to verify it without success and concluded it probably was bogus. I thought I would try again today and almost immediately found what I expected.--Joe]

One could imagine the Los Angles Times just hasn't been listening when they say things like this when referring to requiring a background check for all firearm transactions:

None of these measures would restrict the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens; their intent is solely to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals. Though the gun lobby raises a hue and cry whenever such proposals arise, it has yet to explain why it wants to make it easy for murderers, armed robbers and other criminals to obtain the tools of their trade. Bloomberg's gun-show expose has the whiff of a political stunt, but if it gets politicians and the public talking about gun control again, it's a stunt we can applaud.

The gun lobby "has yet to explain" why they oppose such restrictions? That is total B.S. The reason we don't want all transactions to go through licensed gun dealers is because it leaves a paper trail of each and every gun. When makes confiscations like those that happened in New York City, New Jersey, and California (not to mention England, Cuba, and Nazi Germany) more likely and much easier. I have to conclude that it's not about a failure to listen on their part. I believe it is because what we are concerned about is precisely their goal.

We need to put the challenge to them instead of allowing them to challenge us. We are the ones that are defending a specific enumerate right against their proposed infringements.

The way to do it is to demand they justify the restrictions. Do people have to register with the government before they can exercise their rights to free speech or exercise their religions? Government registration and oversight of the exercise of a right is a chilling effect on that right. In addition the proponents of such paper trails have yet to show where the proposed laws have made people safer. They cannot answer Just One Question.

Robar calls their NP3 process "the ultimate firearms finish". I don't have enough data points to confirm or deny that claim but I have to admit I have been very happy with it on my STI Eagle 5.1 (link is to a 5.0, the 5.1 is obsolete). The bluing on my Ruger P-89 wore off after a few years of use and the baked on black finish on my customized Remington 700 is easily scratched. The black anodized aluminum on my AR-15 appears to hold up well although it hasn't been exposed to nearly as much abuse as my pistols have.

After I got my STI back from being repaired it looked like one of those cars you see sometimes with a the hood a different color from the rest of the body and a door or two with still different colors. I took it to the range a put a few rounds through it to verify the functionality and the very next day sent it and several of my magazines to Robar for an NP3 make over.

When I called and asked how long it would take before I would get my gun back they said "we are currently running five to six weeks". It took four weeks to the day.

They disassembled the gun, stripped all the old finish off, and treated most of the internal parts as well as the external. Here is what they say about it:

What is NP3?
NP3 is a surface treatment for steel and metal alloys that combines sub-micron particles of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), otherwise known as Teflon, with electroless nickel.

NP3 - THE PROCESS
The application of NP3 is auto-catalytic, that is, not requiring any form of electricity. This process is preferable to standard electrolytic plating as all active surfaces are evenly plated, which is not the case with any electrolytically deposited coating. With Robar's well-equipped laboratory, coating thickness can be maintained to within .0002" or two ten thousandths of one inch, guaranteeing consistent quality coatings. With the PTFE evenly distributed and locked into the nickel-phosphorus matrix, NP3 is a true composite. If wear occurs, fresh particles of PTFE are exposed to keep the opposing surfaces lubricated throughout the life of the coating.

NP3 - THE ADVANTAGES

Very accurate and even coatings on all activated surfaces.

No lubrication is needed on opposing surfaces.

Cleaning is minimal, usually requiring only a soft cloth.

Permits firing for longer periods of time between cleaning, as dirt and powder residue has no wet or oily surface to cling to.

NP3 has a micro hardness of 48-51 Rockwell as plated (nickel matrix).

NP3 is very corrosion resistant, a 1 mil (.001) coating exceeding a 240 hour salt spray test.

NP3 has a high lubricity and low friction co-efficient; therefore, the life expectancy of a firearm will be greatly increased due to reduced friction wear.

The coating is strippable with no effect on the base metal, allowing other coatings to be applied or a new coating of NP3 to be applied, if necessary. 

NP3 plated onto stainless steel guns will prevent galling, a problem common with stainless steel.

NP3 is a satin gray, non-reflective color ideal for all firearms.

NP3 can be plated to all internal parts giving a smoothness to the action not found with any other coating.

In cases where the NP3 has been perforated, the corrosion shows no tendency to spread or migrate under the coating.

NP3 is guaranteed against corrosion, peeling or flaking for the lifetime of the firearm.

I think it looks great:

Before I use it for carry or competition I will take it to the range and do some more functional testing. When I got the gun back after getting the original NP3 finish I discovered the gun had a tendency to go full auto on me. I had to take it back to the gunsmith for some minor tweaking of the fire control system. I don't know if it was a disassembly/assembly error or the slick Teflon on some critical surfaces that caused it to misbehave.

If you have a gun in need of a new finish I strongly suggest you consider the NP3.

I carry a gun with me everywhere I can without getting in trouble. Since I sometimes work and play in some extremely dirty environments my carry gun gets very dirty as well (story for the picture below is here):

My Gun Blog 45 has been my carry gun while my STI was being repaired (see also here) and it has been exposed to my daily life. Perhaps I'm expecting too much or the dirt was too much but I'm disappointed in the finish. The paint is wearing off in a number of places:

It took 10 years to get a similar amount of wear in the NP3 finish (custom enhancement, not the default configuration) of my STI. To be fair there was another variable that may have contributed. Most of the holster time for my STI was spent in a leather holster. It may be that the hard plastic Blackhawk holster for the last two months contributed to the excessive wear on the Para gun.

* I didn't invent the phrase "Painted Ordnance" to mock Para Ordinance (now Para USA). I first heard that phrase from another blogger (who will remain nameless unless I have permission to reveal their name) who may or may not have stopped using it out of politeness. Since I, obviously, don't worry all that much about being polite I thought it appropriate to use the phrase for a blog post title.

'Tis a common observation here that our cause is the cause of all mankind, and that we are fighting for their liberty in defending our own.

Benjamin Franklin
[Although our fight for the right to keep and bear arms is just a small part of the total "liberty package" it is the essential liberty that enables all the others to be realized and to be held. For that reason our fight is like that of Franklin's day. It is a fight for the liberty of all mankind. Our cause is just and our cause is not just for the residents of D.C., Chicago, or New York. It is for the future of mankind. Will mankind be forever in fear of the next tyrant or thug or will the individual be able to defend themselves and their community against perpetual servitude?--Joe]

So even though I don't pay much attention to them it was hard to avoid hearing about "the criminals in the White house" and all the "criminal acts" and the charges of treason against the Bush administration. But what I don't get is why I don't hear anything about Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels when he does stuff like this:

A new city of Seattle gun ban takes effect this week - prohibiting firearms in places like city parks and community centers.

But the law is already generating controversy with many asking is this new rule truly enforceable? Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna and some community gun advocates say, no.

"What this does is put Seattle on a collision course with state law," says Dan Sytman, the Attorney General's office spokesperson.

The questionable deeds that Bush administration did at least had prior approval from the U.S. Attorney General's office. Nickels is doing something that all legal advisers, except the city lawyer who found a contorted rational, say is illegal.

So where is the outcry from the left?

Apparently they don't really care about politicians engaged in illegal acts. They just wanted to remove their political opponents by whatever means possible. Having their own politicians commit illegal acts on their behalf is just fine.

See also what Ry has to say on the topic.

So, do you still give chemistry lessons on the white-board in your office?

Suresh Parameshwar
October 15, 2009
[See also another time when I quoted Suresh.

Suresh was my mentor at Microsoft when I first started working there full time. Almost two years ago he left Redmond to go back to India (still working for MS). He was back in Redmond this week on business and stopped by to visit friends. A bunch of us had dinner at our old boss's house last night and stay up talking until almost midnight.

Before he went back to India on more than one occasion Suresh and I had discussions about explosives and I explained the chemistry to him on the white-board.

The above question was one of the first things he said to me when I saw him last night.--Joe]