Scary stuff:
I already use cash for any gun related purchase that isn’t online.
But what really needs to be done is to prosecute these people who are conspiring to deny people their constitutionally protected rights.
Monthly Archives: April 2018
Forensic ballistics under fire
And in 2016, a government-appointed advisory group of leading scientists and engineers released a study that cited serious concerns about the underlying science of ballistic analysis. The study said the practice relies on circular logic and its “conclusions are subjective.”
“It’s basically a guess,” said Jon Loevy, an attorney representing Pursley’s case in civil court. “I’m sure there’s a lot of ballistics examiners that swear by the science, but that doesn’t make it scientific.”
Specifically, Loevy questioned the subjective nature of the analysis.
“Why do we believe science? It’s not just because it’s a guy who says ‘I’m a scientist’ giving it — it’s because you can replicate results with studies,” Loevy said. “Well, there’s no study that corroborates that this shell casing looks like that shell casing — it’s just some guy’s opinion.”
I know a fair amount about biometrics and it appears some of the same issues which trouble the use of fingerprints are also issues with forensic ballistic analysis. Verification is much better than identification. That is, the examiner can say that the odds that a given bullet (partial fingerprint) matches a given gun (person) with 99% certainty. But given a bullet (partial fingerprint) then finding the correct gun (person) out of the entire population of guns (people) the certainty might be only 0.1%.
Think of it this way: Suppose each gun stamped a number from 1 to 100 on each bullet fired. Given a random bullet and a random gun you could reject 99 guns out of 100 as not shooting the bullet. But if there are 100,000 guns, and the numbers are distributed evenly, 1000 of them could have shot the bullet.
The markings left on the bullets (and shell casings) don’t have sufficient persistent “resolution” to uniquely distinguish between all guns when the population of guns is very large.
Quote of the day—LeAnne L @sindereyla
A measuring device. And not a measuring device for one’s hands. Kinda like a huge pickup truck, lifted, with humongous tires. Ask any woman what that means.
LeAnne L @sindereyla
Tweeted on April 22, 2018
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday!
Via a tweet from Jonathan @CorrelA_B.
We have SCOTUS decision. They have Junior High insults.—Joe]
Quote of the day—John Legend @johnlegend
The NRA is a danger to this nation and to the police.
John Legend @johnlegend
Tweeted on April 27, 2018
[For certain definitions of “this nation” he is correct.
One must necessarily conclude Legend’s definition is a nation in the process of becoming a police state.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Timothy Callahan
Somewhere out there, there are british cops who are, no shit, filing charges against people for saying how shitty they are for protecting a bureaucracy that is actively preventing a third party from treating a sick child.
And here’s us, talking about how best to range them under field conditions.
If that doesn’t sum up the vast gulf between our nations, I’m not sure what else will.
Timothy Callahan
April 26, 2018
On Facebook regarding commentary on this photo:
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Ira Stoll
How can one imagine a socialist state without prisons? I mean, I can understand the tactical benefit of emptying out the prisons during a revolutionary period, the way that, say, the Bolsheviks released criminals from Tsarist prisons about a century ago to advance their communist coup.
Once a socialist state is up and running, though, some sort of prison system is necessary. How else to enforce the confiscatory taxation necessary to pay for a vast welfare state in an economy with the inefficiency of socialism? Liens, payroll withholding, fines, and asset forfeiture can only get a government so far.
Socialist wage and price controls often spawn a black market. How is the government supposed to prevent smuggling of goods, bartering, or off-the-books labor without being able to punish violators with prison?
Socialist state-owned enterprises are so poorly run that the only way they can survive is by using the power of the state to outlaw competition. How would a state-owned enterprise be able to preserve its monopoly without being able to throw would-be competitors in prison?
Ira Stoll
April 23, 2018
The Irony of Socialists Calling for Abolishing Prisons
Prisons are a staple of socialist political and economic systems, and always have been.
[True socialists, as opposed to those that use socialism as a tool to gain power, have never been that well connected to reality.
It’s possible these people figure that “”reeducation camps”, mental hospitals, and executions will work just fine without traditional prisons. You just never know which path a particular flavor of socialism will go down. You know that the direction will be down.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Defiant Colonial Rebel
Just argue that your AR is an undocumented gay wedding cake. They won’t be able to touch it.
Defiant Colonial Rebel
March 9, 2018
Comment to Illinois Bill Requiring 18-20-Year-Olds to Hand Over Certain Semi-Automatic Firearms Moves to Senate
[Via (indirectly) an email from Paul Koning.
They have a point.
It has also been suggested we would be more successful if we argued the NRA is our church and guns are a required part of our religion.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Fûz
I will not be specific because I intend to get away with it.
First, if you are coming after my individual civil rights, it’s personal.
Second, when it has become personal, nothing will be below me and everything will be on the table. You, your employer, your house, your business, your spouse, kids, parents. Because as it stands today, for you, everything of MINE is already on the table. My business, home, car, employer, family. Social media accounts, Amazon buying records, memberships, donations.
You will regret living under the same rules you imposed on me.
Fûz
April 21, 2018
Comment to Say when
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
Boomershoot 2018 smile
Here is one of the Boomershoot 2018 Personal Fireballs and the resultant smile:
Also of interest is this is an immigrant from Venezuela and told me in email:
I hope some day to I can contribute to this great country, my city and community and defending the second amendment, as much as you do.
Quote of the day—Happy Boomershooter
Is there such a thing as a Boomershoot hangover? I had such a good time yesterday but now I hurt all over. Should I take an Advil?
Happy Boomershooter
April 23, 2018
[Barb and I saw this woman and her husband from Twin Falls Idaho at breakfast in our motel the day after Boomershoot. They plan to return next year.—Joe]
Radio silence
I usually have QOTDs up for the time before and slightly after Boomershoot so I have time to concentrate on Boomershoot then just veg out and recover afterward. This time I did not get ahead on the QOTD stuff for this blog. I’m going “radio silent” for a few days.
Nothing to worry about. I’ll be back online when I feel like it.
Boomershoot 2018 report
Boomershoot 2018 was a big success!
There were a few minor glitches like the guy that got his trailer and pickup stuck and I had to get a tractor to pull him out. Somehow the number of stakes at the tree line was miscounted and we had a few too many stakes for the number of Sunday targets (879). I changed the way we put the explosives in the boxes which resulted in more explosives per box. No big deal but I forgot to update my spreadsheet with the new weight of the explosives per box. This meant we used up all of the secret ingredient and Barb had to run into town to buy some more. We used up all but about two pounds of the Potassium Chlorate and all but 150 pounds of the Ammonium Nitrate when I thought I would have enough left over for my summer recreational use. I expect there were a few sunburns. I got a small burn on my thumb from lighting a road flare with my lighter. The U-Haul trailer door broke on Saturday and we had to strap things in to make sure they didn’t slide out. The box of flares for the Sunday fireball was misplaced and we scrounged up flares from other other sources. The Wi-Fi was extremely flakey and essentially unusable.
All glitches cause some stress but we found workarounds for most things and there was no significant ill consequences.
But the targets had a very high detonation rate and several people told me they had more boom than normal. This wasn’t just because of the slight increase in the amount of explosives. I think it was the new chemical supplier and/or the new packing method. One longtime boomershooter told me, “Those were the best boomers I have ever shot.” That was my impression too.
The two personal fireballs and the Sunday event fireball all worked on the first try. This was the view from the shooting line 10 minutes into the Sunday event:
Quote of the day—Kevin Gregg @KevinPaulGregg
Talk of banning military-style semiautomatic weapons actually bothers some guys THAT much. They feel THAT threatened by it. Somewhere along the line in their mind their penis and their gun became one.
Kevin Gregg @KevinPaulGregg
Tweeted on April 9, 2018
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday!
We have SCOTUS decision. They have Junior High insults.—Joe]
Watch Boomershoot live today
It’s only still pictures updated once a minute but you can see what’s happening at Boomershoot today on this web page: http://www.boomershoot.org/Live.htm.
Quote of the day—Michael Z. Williamson
My current jihad is to continue to remind terrorist scum that they can’t silence decent people–Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Pagan, areligious, or otherwise, with bombs. And to remind liberals that they’re pathetic shit who can’t silence the voices of decent people, aren’t even effective terrorists, but that if they attempt to become so, we will have to kill them.
Michael Z. Williamson
March 27, 2018
You’re Offended? Go Fuck Yourself.
[This is particularly relevant today because this is Boomershoot weekend and is a good part of the reason why I put so much work into Boomershoot.
For those of you who would like to point out that the classic liberal is different from present day liberals, Williamson addressed this earlier in his post.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Brady Campaign
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is dedicated to reducing gun injuries and deaths in America by stemming all of the causes of gun violence.
Brady Campaign
April 19, 2018
Victory in Brady Center Lawsuit Against Gun Website for Gun Sale Used in Mass Shooting At Wisconsin Spa
[They mean it. Literally. They want to stop all causes “gun violence”. How can you do that without eliminating all guns?
It’s not like they can eliminate all violent attacks on innocent people who would use “gun violence” to defend themselves. Self defense is their biggest weakness. Push the self defense angle and watch their arguments crumble. This principle, self-defense is an inalienable right, is something they must get people to ignore in order to win in the court of public opinion and here is an example of them using weasel words in their attempt to deny people their rights.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Gary Hetherington
When Nanny Bloomberg turned his considerable wealth from banning Bladder Busters to banning firearms, groups like Moms Demand Action suddenly appear. I suppose they chose to call themselves Moms, because more accurate labels such as Bored Housewives for Gun Control, Alinskyites for Common Sense, and Do-Gooders for Your Own Good, just don’t have the same marketing cachet.
Gary Hetherington
April 19, 2018
Letter: Chicago’s lack of political will no reason to impose gun control on rest of Illinois
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
Boomershoot 2018 prep is going well
Today was the official first day of onsite prep for Boomershoot 2018. But we left home yesterday with a full load in my vehicle:
We arrived on site late yesterday afternoon and quickly established that the fields are muddy:
That was just the first field. It got much worse after that.
All the shooting positions were dry after we removed a few positions which were unoccupied. So that isn’t going to be a concern. The weather forecast is looking really good and everything is going according to schedule.
All the Boomershoot direction signs are up now:
We put a new canopy outside our target production facility which is awesome:
Tomorrow we begin target production.
It’s going to be a blast!
Quote of the day—Lyle
It won’t happen all at once of course, but progressively. It’s already in progress. Eventually, everyone who dissents against the coercive state will be deemed “mentally unfit”. We’ve seen these kinds of things before, so there’s no need for speculation.
It is all in play right now, protected by our normalcy bias and our incredulity.
In case you still wonder how things have gone so far into the gutter of destruction and mass death in other countries throughout history; this is exactly how, we’re living it, so wonder no more.
Lyle
April 17, 2018
Comment to Quote of the day—Stonekettle @Stonekettle regarding mental fitness requirements to own a firearm.
[Yes. It would seem we are living on a path to oppression. They want us dead and they are working the mobs into a frenzy. The mobs will give the politician the political cover needed to do the rest.
We must work the social angle. Wear your shirts, coats, and hats that identify yourself as a gun owner. Speak out when those that hate you express their venom. Stand proud, be respectful of the rights of others, and insist they respect ours. Do not let them characterize us as vermin to be exterminated.—Joe]
Trail of Tears
Boomershoot. There is still time (entry closes TONIGHT at midnight). Sign up here: https://entry.boomershoot.org/
Brian Keith provides motivation:
We like to pretend that genocide is something other people do- the Nazis, or the Tutsis, or the Soviets, or the Chinese Communists.
We Americans practice genocide too.
And just like those other people, we make sure our victims are disarmed before we butcher them.
The Cherokee, Muscogee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole did not have the means to fight back against the genocidal United States.
So they died by the thousands.
Genocide isn’t something only “they” do. It’s something we do too.
Be ready.
