Author Archives: Joe

Anti-gun bills in Washington State

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I received an email from Firearms Policy Coalition this morning:

The
State Senate Law and Justice Committee is going
to hear FIVE anti-gun bills THIS MORNING!

The
myriad of anti-2A legislation that this would bring is devastating.

  1. SB 6146 would allow local mayors and city governments
    run ramshod over your 2A rights.

  2. SB 6049 would ban any magazine that holds over 10
    rounds.

  3. SB 5463 would hold gun owners criminally liable for a
    thief breaking into their home.

  4. SB 5992 is the ridiculous “Trigger Activation Device”
    ban that would effectively outlaw most firearms accessories.

  5. SB 5444 which is the crown jewel of gun control:
    Washington’s “Assault Weapons” Ban.

We need to take action on these bills
NOW!

Stop These Anti-Gun
Bills!

There’s
very little time left for us to make our voices heard and block
them!

Send
a message to your legislators and tell them to OPPOSE SB 6146, SB 6049, SB 5463, SB 5992, and SB 5444 today!

If you click on their links it will take you to a web page that allows you to easily send letters to your Washington State legislative creatures.

Quote of the day—Gene Ralno

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All gun laws are poor investments. Administration of them costs tens of millions, accomplishes nothing and merely annoys the most lawful, peaceable segment of our population. Bump stocks are the latest of leftist howls heard after every shooting.

Gene Ralno
January 9, 2018
Comment to Letter: Gun control
[And as mere howls should be either ignored or enjoyed as one enjoys listening to the howls of coyotes in the distance while sitting on your porch on a summer evening.—Joe]

Shooter report

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Paul and Louise visited us from Canada this weekend. Paul was in the U.K. military and had a fair amount of experience with rifles but very little experience with handguns. Recently they purchased handguns and took some classes. Then Paul decided he would like to get into reloading. I showed them my reloading set up and talked quite a bit about it with them. Why I reload, some tips on reloading he probably won’t find in the YouTube videos, and why I have some of the equipment.

Barb and I took them to the range and Paul had his first experience shooting an AR and Louise shot a rifle for the first time. Among other firsts were shooting a gun with a suppressor.

20180114_113006

I did a little coaching with Louise but Paul was doing very well without much input from me. We probably went through about 400 rounds total of .22LR and .40 S&W. It was a good day and you can see the indicator of that with the new shooter smile on Louise’s face.

Quote of the day—Thomas Sowell

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You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing. If you have been living in a world where outcomes are everything, you may have a very hard time understanding bureaucratic thinking or practices.

Thomas Sowell
November 27, 2003
Random Thoughts
[And so it is with the bureaucracies associated with gun ownership and explosives storage.—Joe]

The button

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This has more than a little truth to it:

Political Cartoons by Glenn McCoy

Daughter Jaime describes the situation a little differently. She says it’s like President Trump has a laser pointer and the political left is a bunch of dogs chasing the dot of light.

I can see that.

Quote of the day—Mason Hartman @webdevMason

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Over the years, I’ve had many people tell me that media coverage of their work or field is often that it borders on unethical. Even so, had I not attended this party, I would not be able to imagine just how far off-base a story like this could be.

Please keep this in mind when you read anything claiming some salacious “insider” perspective on Silicon Valley. The degree to which these claims can be spun from whole cloth is extremely concerning.

Mason Hartman @webdevMason
Tweeted on January 12, 2018

[It’s beyond unethical. It is at least libelous. And in some instances it is criminal.

In this case the narrative was (see also here and especially here):

this party scene is just a tiny component of a much broader culture that has largely left women out of the greatest wealth creation in the history of the world.

And since reality didn’t align itself with the narrative something had to give. Reality lost.

And so it is with media coverage of gun ownership.—Joe]

Rifle for sale

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I’m not looking for a rifle like this, but maybe someone else is. Boomershoot is coming up very soon!

From Richard:

AccuracyIntlRifleForSale

I have been following your blog, The View from North Central Idaho for some time.  Getting to Boomershoot is definitely on my bucket list!

I wanted to make you aware of an interesting rifle being sold by a friend of mine.

For Sale from original user:
Accuracy International Sniper Rifle in .308
Field tested in the sandbox
Includes original logbook with photos of test results.  Must sign a non-disclosure to receive the logbook.
Certificate of Authenticity from Craft International.
Asking $12,000.00

The user convinced AI to buyback the rifle from his unit and then sell it to him.

Please contact me if you or anyone you know has a serious interest.

If you are interested send me an email and I’ll forward it on.

Why are anti-gun people so violent?

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From New Hampshire:

State Rep. Katherine Rogers, D-Concord, pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced on Friday in Concord District Court in connection with a confrontation last year with well-known gun-rights advocate Susan Olsen.

The misdemeanor charge stems from an exchange between Rogers and Olsen during a recount of ballots for a state Senate seat in November 2016. Rogers was charged in August.
Olsen was allegedly sitting next to Rogers when Olsen asked Rogers to move the ballots closer. Olsen says that was when Rogers grabbed her and hit her on the side of her head.

And we have more details here:

Olsen stated that she said to Rogers, “If you strike me again, I will have you arrested.” She alleged that Rogers, a former county attorney, countered, “in a low, mocking, angry whisper,” something to the effect of “Hit me. I know you want to. Go ahead. Hit me.”

Olsen claimed that Rogers was “smirking” while she was speaking and then, reportedly leaned in further, “sounding almost like she was daring me,” and allegedly stated, “I know what you want to do. You want to shoot me.”

One of the signs of certain personality disorders is that they think they can read the minds of other people (ask me in person about some of my experiences with this). I strongly suspect a large number of anti-gun people have mental issues.

Why are these people so violent? Oh, I remember now. It’s in their nature.

High altitude highway

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Via Boomershooter “Squirrel Hunter” we have the Karakoram Highway

The Karakoram Highway (KKH) is one of the highest paved international roads in the world. It connects the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China and Gilgit–Baltistan of Pakistan across the Karakoram mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass, located at 36°51′00″N 75°25′40″E, at an elevation of 4,693 metres (15,397 ft).

Connecting China’s Xinjiang region with Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan, the road is a popular tourist attraction. Due to its high elevation and the difficult conditions in which it was constructed, it is referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Wow! And I thought Idaho, Washington, Montana, and Colorado had some “interesting” switchbacks and high altitude construction on some of their mountain roads.

Nope. Nothing I have seen in the states even begins to compare.

Quote of the day—Maj Toure

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Firearms are just as normal as your cell phone. You don’t drop your cell phone in water. You have a lock on your phone. It’s very private. It’s yours. You know how to operate it. It’s like a car. When you first start driving, you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. Then you start paying attention, being observant, looking around and being a responsible driver. Get drunk and shooting your gun is the same as getting drunk and driving. The difference is one is a right. A human right. One is a privilege.

Maj Toure
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 26, 2017
Why Black People Own Guns
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Turtledude

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1) I have a plan
2) I claim it will reduce crime
3) My plan proposes nothing that actually punishes wrongful acts or increases the penalty on criminals but rather
4) criminalizes currently legal behavior and only applies to people who have not harmed anyone
5) any plan that either targets malum per se activities or DOES NOT harass honest citizens will be rejected as not being “A PLAN”
6) my plan is valid merely if YOUR plan does not harass legal gun ownership
7) that my plan will decrease crime is guaranteed because I have faith that it will

there is the sum and substance of the anti gun side’s Crime control plans as presented by our energetic gun restrictionist

Turtledude
January 10, 2018
Posted in The gun control thread
[This applies to many, if not most, anti-gun people.—Joe]

Clearwater County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Dog Team

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My brother, Doug, is the team leader for Clearwater County (Idaho) Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Dog Team. Here is an article about the team and some of their searches:

We have all seen a dog follow a scent trail. Most of the time it is another dog or something else they think smells good, but what is the drive and reward to go out at all hours in all types of weather as a member the Clearwater County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue (CCSSAR) Dog Team.

“I sometimes hear people say, ‘Everyone wants to be a hero’,” says Doug Huffman. “I suppose that is especially true in the Search and Rescue business. I once heard a search dog instructor describe it this way, ‘everyone fantasizes about saving the lost child in the wilderness and carrying the child back to her mother’s arms in front of a cheering crowd, but that isn’t how it works in real life.’ I have been with CCSSAR since 1998 and I haven’t seen that fantasy search happen yet. More typically, we are out in the woods looking for a missing berry picker when we learn he was picked up hours before by a passerby. We get home at 5 a.m. exhausted from a long night out in the woods, when we could have been home asleep. We feel good about ourselves knowing we were involved in a team effort to help a missing individual and their family, but we usually don’t feel like a hero when it is over.”

A fair number of the search stories Doug has told me are for escaped prisoners, active criminals, or people presumed dead. These searches involving higher risks and/or unpleasant resolutions. Still, Doug has been doing this for nearly 20 years now so there is some sort of reward to it.

Quote of the day—Tyler Yzaguirre

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The only people who benefit from stricter gun control laws are criminals. That’s why states and cities across America should be looking for other, more promising ways to reduce crime.

Tyler Yzaguirre
January 7, 2018
To reduce shootings, look for better ideas beyond gun control
[The criminals are both the obvious robbers and thugs as well as the not quite as obvious politicians who lust after power.—Joe]

Detonating Boomerite with a pistol

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We have long known that Boomerite detonates at lower velocities if the bullet has a flatter tip. But we have never had reliable detonation with a pistol. As I reported a few days ago I made up some 145 grain loads for my .40 S&W gun. I bought the bullets 10 to 15 years ago just for this but I it wasn’t until now that I finally got around to loading them for Boomerite testing. With a near maximum load I get just over 1400 fps at the muzzle. The truncated cone bullets have a pretty wide flat area:

image

I visited Boomershoot last weekend and among other things I mixed up a batch of Boomerite and tested the hot 145 grain loads. With the weather being a little cold, 34 F, I expected I would have to be pretty close to get detonation. And maybe I wouldn’t be able to get detonation at any safe distance. I put on my flak jacket, eye protection, ear protection, and got back 15 yards. This should be a target velocity of about 1330 fps. I squeezed off a shot—BOOM! Okay, that worked.

How about 25 yards? That would result in about 1280 fps at the target. Another squeeze yielded another earth shaking boom from a seven inch target. Okay then. It’s good enough.

This means I can use my handgun for Boomershoot cleanup if I want to.

Quote of the day—tkdkerry

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He put it in his mouth, huh? Is anybody surprised, given the left’s insistence that guns be equated with penises?

tkdkerry
January 8, 2018
Comment to Quote of the day—Megan Fox
[I so laughed out loud!—Joe]

Quote of the day—Megan Fox

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Nelson should be investigated right now for defrauding the state of Washington and he should be evaluated for his own safety and the safety of those around him. Someone get this man help and alert the King County Sheriff’s Office that Nelson has an invalid concealed carry permit. In the meantime, maybe we should start seriously considering making it much more difficult for Democrats to get their hands on guns.

Megan Fox
December 19, 2017
Why Leftists Should Not Be Allowed to Have Guns
[Read the article she based her post on. The range he got his training at and bought his gun is the range I go to most frequently. I know his instructor Brett.

But most importantly read the gems like this:

It was perhaps inevitable that the very first thing I did when I brought the gun home and was alone with it was to put it in my mouth. Unloaded at first, then loaded.

This guy is a real piece of work.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Scott D. Dailard

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The .50 caliber Desert Eagle has similarly destructive characteristics that distinguish it from other handgun cartridges. It is an enormously powerful, high-velocity, armor-piercing round manufactured for use in tank-mounted machine guns that has been adapted for use in a few foreign made handguns.

Scott D. Dailard
1994
The Role of Ammunition in a Balanced Program of Gun Control: A Critique of Moynihan Bullet Bills
Journal of Legislation: Vol. 20: Iss. 1, Article 3.
[And this is just one of many reason why we despise anti-gun people doing “research”. They only have a vague idea of what they are talking about and/or deliberately lie. And, note the date, this has been going on for decades.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Caity

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You are so quiet.

Except when you are blowing up stuff.

Caity
January 4, 2018
[Caity is a co-worker. She was in the kitchen filling a container with filtered water when I came in to get a cup of tea. She apparently didn’t hear me as I walked up behind her.

I do frequently try to walk in such a way that my upper body is a stable shooting platform. It’s not as exaggerated as when I’m actually shooting a USPSA match, but it does tend to cut down on the noise.—Joe]

That’s what I carry

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This is kinda cool. FBI Selects Winchester’s .40 S&W Ammunition for Duty and Training:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has completed an extensive evaluation process and Winchester has been chosen as its primary source for .40 S&W pistol ammunition. This includes a bonded jacketed hollow point (JHP) service cartridge as well as full metal jacket (FMJ) and frangible training loads. Winchester has been supplying the FBI with service and training ammunition for many years and is honored to be awarded the most recent contract and continue to support our nation’s premier law enforcement agency.

The 180 gr. bonded jacketed hollow point (JHP) cartridge selected by the FBI is designed with patented technology that utilizes a reverse-jacketed, bonded bullet that can penetrate a wide variety of intermediate barriers while maintaining very consistent target penetration and reliable expansion. The nickel-plated cartridge prevents corrosion and ensures smooth feeding and extraction. Flash suppressed powder is used in this cartridge to maintain an agent’s night vision and meet the FBI’s stringent darkened range evaluation.

The Winchester .40 S&W, 180 grain, JHP cartridge (Ranger) is my carry ammo.

Update: In the comments John Hardin asked if the FBI chose the Ranger bullets. I think the answer is yes. As near as I can tell the “reverse-jacketed” bullet refers to their patented reverse taper (thick near the opening, thinner on the sides and base) JHP with with the jacket pre-scored in the area intended to expand. This gives the uniform size and characteristic hooks at the end of the “petals”:

image

Winchester sells several different 40 S&W 180 grain JHP cartridges. Two of them appear to use the same bullet, the W40SWD and S40SWPDB1 cartridges. A third, USA40JHP, appears to be using a conventionally jacketed bullet:

image

There are also what appear to be different brandings, and/or nickel plated brass casings, of these same three cartridges:

So, I believe the FBI must have chosen a cartridge with the same bullet as what is in the Ranger bonded cartridge.

Quote of the day—Colion Noir‏ @MrColionNoir

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If you don’t feel the need to carry a gun because you believe the government will keep you safe, why do you care if I or anyone else decides to Carry a gun? If anyone tries to harm you, the government will stop it right? ‍♂️ Where Is your faith in government?

Colion Noir‏ @MrColionNoir
Tweeted on January 2, 2018
[Wow!—Joe]