Category Archives: Boomershoot

Boomershoot is a long range precision rifle event with high explosives as the targets. This is about Boomershoot in general and sometimes just explosives.

ATFE agent calls because of puritan complaint

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Yesterday I got a call from Mike, an ATFE agent from Spokane.  AGENT, not inspector.

On December 28th of last year I took my cousin Julia on a Boomershoot Adventure at a local gravel pit.  As we were finishing up somebody that lived nearby showed up to complain about the explosions.  Ry and Lyle tried to talk to him but he wasn’t interested in listening.  He finally took down my license plate number and left.

The agent wanted to know what was going on.  I asked if he knew that I had a license to manufacture explosives.  He said no and I gave him my ATFE type 20 license to manufacture number and told him Sue (an inspector who works on the Spokane office and he knows) is coming down to inspect my new magazine next week and that she could probably give him more background on me if he wanted it.  He wanted to know what type of explosives we had and if anyone else had explosives.  I said a friend, Ry Jones, helped me mix them on site but we didn’t transport anything like that on the road.  He also wanted to know about a “boomer club”.  I told him a rough overview of the Boomershoot and directed him to boomershoot.org.  He said that the guy seemed pretty determined to try and “do something” and that we might want to find another place to set things off.  I suspect the neighbor guy didn’t get any satisfaction from the local sheriff and so he contacted the ATF.

I told him that we talked to the guy but nothing we could say could make him happy.  I also said we had talked to the owner of the pit and he didn’t have problem with it.  He thanked me for answering his questions and I told him to call me anytime something came up because I didn’t want to cause any problems and wanted to avoid stepping on people’s toes.

I decided the neighbor must be a puritan, a guy who is afraid that someone somewhere is having fun.  The ATFE guy seemed nice enough though.  The phone call was nice, much better than a visit from the SWAT team.

Crates and aprons for explosives

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When I had the pickup this morning I picked up the last of the crates for storing explosives.  36 of them.  The magazine will hold 72 and I already had the rest.

I received 1000 plastic disposable aprons via UPS yesterday.  I found two different sources for them.  One source had a minimum quantity of 1000.  The other source I could by in single quantity.  I wanted about 50 or so, but for the price of 100 from the single quantity source I could by 1000 from the other place.  I got the 1000.  When we are mixing the explosives I want to keep certain chemicals off of people’s clothes.  The potassium chlorate in partcular is a very strong oxidizer.  If it were to get mixed in the fibers of someone’s clothes and they could burn up like a match head, a fire extinguish would be almost useless against such a fire because the potassium chlorage supplies the oxygen.  And with lots of cheap aprons workers shouldn’t be too hesitant to throw one away and put on a new one if it gets torn or something.

Boomershoot 2004.  A ton of explosives.  Fun beyond measure.  And most of all I want it to be safe for everyone.

http://www.boomershoot.org/2004/blast.htm

Google says good-bye

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Subject: Re: [#7423143] No more Google AdWords for my business.
From: AdWords Support 
Date: Thu, February 26, 2004 0:30  
To: Joe Huffman   
 

Hello Joe,

Thank you for your email. I am sorry to hear that you have decided to
delete your AdWords campaigns.

I understand that you are concerned about Google’s policies regarding
sites that sell firearms.

Google believes strongly in freedom of expression and therefore offers
broad access to content across the web without censoring results. At the
same time, we reserve the right to exercise editorial discretion when it
comes to the advertising we accept on our site, as noted in our
advertising terms and conditions. At this time we do not allow ads for
websites that sell guns or related products, nor do we allow these
products as keywords.

You may be aware that a different set of laws and regulations apply to
commercial speech (advertising) than to the search results we show when
you do a Google search. As a business, Google must make decisions about
where we draw the line in regards to the advertising we accept, both from
a legal and company values perspective. Please note that the decisions we
make concerning advertising in no way affect the search results we
deliver. We will continue to show search results for guns and related
products.

We appreciate your comments on this issue, which will help inform our
future policy discussions. Thank you for taking the time to write us.

Please feel free to email us at adwords-support@google.com if you have
additional questions or concerns.

We look forward to providing you with the most effective advertising
available. 

Sincerely,

Loretta
The Google AdWords Team

I just deleted my Google Adwords campaign

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No need to give bigots my money when there are better alternatives available.  Here is what I told them:

It is with great reluctance that I do this. I have been very impressed with Google in almost every endeavor they have undertaken.

I just deleted my ad campaign and won’t be creating any new ones as long as Google continues it’s policy on the restriction of certain civil rights. I will also be contacting other Google advertisers whom I would normally purchase from to inform them of your policies and to tell them I will be finding different suppliers if this policy is continued and they continue to advertise with Google.

Please see the following links for more details if desired.

https://blog.joehuffman.org/2004/02/09/

https://blog.joehuffman.org/2004/02/11/

https://blog.joehuffman.org/2004/02/12/

Regards,

 

Joe Huffman

More Boomershoot entries and a new explosive mix

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I had a big flood of entries in Boomershoot 2004 last week.  Probably a record in terms of dollars, but not in number of entries.  I’m past the breakeven point for the actual event expenses now and can start paying off some of the loan for the Taj Mahal (http://www.boomershoot.org/TajMahal/Magazine.htm).

Yesterday Ry tested out a new mix someone emailed to me.  It comes close to meeting our needs and has some big advantages.  We probably can tweak it enough to work for us and still retain the advantages.

Valentines Day

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Yesterday was my parents 50th Wedding anniversary.  We had a get together at my brother’s house.  Lots of relatives and some of the neighbors showed up.  Everyone seemed to have a good time. 

Afterwards my son James and I went out to the new explosives magazine to do a little bit of work on it and check on how the roof was holding up to the snow load.  Everything seemed to be fine.

Barb, James, Xenia and I went to the movie 50 First Dates after we got back. Some of the humor was questionable in the first half of the movie and neither Barb nor I were very amused, but the second half of the movie was good and we ended up liking the movie as a whole.

Google goes limp.

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A non-response if I ever saw one.  I think it pretty much speaks for itself.

—–Original Message—–
From: AdWords Support 
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 4:15 PM
To: Joe Huffman
Cc: Ry Jones; Stephanie Sailor
Subject: Re: [#7002486] Your Google AdWords Approval Status

Hello Joe,

Thanks for your suggestion. We appreciate hearing from our advertisers and encourage you to continue to let us know how we could improve the Google AdWords experience. In order to maintain a high quality of service for our advertisers, we are always interested in making improvements to the program.

We look forward to providing you with the most effective advertising available. 

Sincerely,

Charlene
The Google AdWords Team

Google tries to explain

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Subject: Re: [#7002486] Your Google AdWords Approval Status
From: Joe Huffman
Date: Wed, February 11, 2004 20:27
To:

Thank you for the clarification on keywords.  That helps a great deal.  I
will abide by your restriction more carefully in the future.

I realize this almost for certain isn’t your personal decision, but I am
perplexed by the restriction.  Your restrictions on firearms sales brings
up a flurry of concerns about the ethics of your company and appears to be
significantly out of step with the majority of Americans.  For example in
a recent Zogby poll
(http://client.xntec.com/clientpages/oleary/report0104.html) 79% of
Americans surveyed supported the right of the people to carry concealed
firearms in public.  And all the major candidates for U.S. President agree
individuals have a right to keep and bear arms:

http://ww2.americansforgunsafety.com/31524155311.html

So what is the basis for Google to restrict people from supporting,
through sales of firearms, this constitutionally guaranteed right?  Are
there other Constitutionally guaranteed rights you restrict as well?  I
really don’t see the difference between your restrictions on people
engaged in firearms and ammunition sales and someone trying to defeat
Constitutional protections against slavery.  Do you have restrictions
against selling property to Jews or blacks attending certain schools?
Just what sort of ethical framework does Google use to disapprove keywords
and phrases?

Again, I realize it’s probably not your decision, but I would appreciate
it if you would pass my concerns on to those that do make the decisions.

Thank you.

Joe Huffman
Event Director
—-
http://www.boomershoot.org/

AdWords Support said:
> Hello Joe,
>
> Thank you for your email. I understand that you would like to have more
> guidelines on constructing ads and keywords.
>
> At this moment, we do not have a public list of specific keywords,
> subject matter, or products that are unacceptable according to our
> policy.
>
> To clarify the issue of gun-related keywords, keywords that advertise
> guns or similar products, like ‘tactical rifle’ and ‘sniper rifle,’ are
> unacceptable. However, we do allow keywords such as ‘rifle training’ and
> ‘rifle class’ because they are specific keywords that are advertising
> for a service or event, but not actual firearms.
>
> Please feel free to email us at https://secure.lasthome.net/mail-lasthome.net/src/compose.php?send_to=adwords-support%40google.com if you have
> additional questions or concerns.
>
> We look forward to providing you with the most effective advertising
> available.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Charlene
> The Google AdWords Team
>
> Original Message Follows:
> ————————
> From: “Joe Huffman” <https://secure.lasthome.net/mail-lasthome.net/src/compose.php?send_to=joeh%40boomershoot.org>
> Subject: Re: [#7002486] Your Google AdWords Approval Status
> Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 20:13:00 -0000 (GMT)
>
> Do you have a list of these restricted keywords or subject matter that I
> could view?  It would help me to better construct my ad such that I
> avoid the embarrassment of having my keywords disapproved.  I am also
> confused by your statement that ads are not allowed with keywords
> related to guns or similar products but yet you suggest ‘rifle training’
> and ‘rifle class’.  A better understanding of your policy would help to
> save both you and me time and hassle.
>
> Thank you.
>
>
> Joe Huffman
> Event Director
> —-
> http://www.boomershoot.org/

Freedom of (some) expression is supported.

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I wonder if advertising products used in the exercise of other constitutionally protected rights are in violation of their guidelines.

——

Subject: Re: Your Google AdWords Approval Status 
From: “Joe Huffman” joeh@boomershoot.org
Date: Tue, February 10, 2004 0:45
To:  

I read your “Editorial Guidelines” prior to making making my ad.  I could
not find any restrictions on the product we are delivering, and even after
reading your letter below I am at a loss for your disabling of my
keywords.  We do not sell firearms or ammunition.  We offer training and
opportunity for practice to owners of long range precision rifles.  We
have police snipers, military, and former military personal attending and
teaching at our events.  How do you suggest we reach this audience through
Google AdWords without using some of the keywords you have disabled?

Regards,

Joseph Huffman
Event Director
—-
http://www.boomershoot.org

> Hello Joseph,
>
> Thank you for advertising with Google AdWords. After reviewing your
> account, I have found that one or more of your ads or keywords does not
> meet our guidelines. The results are outlined in the report below.
>
> ———————————————-
> Campaign: ‘PPS Boomershoot,’ Ad Group: ‘PPS Boomershoot’
> ———————————————-
>
> KEYWORD(S): 50 cal sniper rifle, 50 caliber sniper rifle, accurate
> rifle, competition rifle, high power rifle, long range rifle, precision
> rifle, rifle event, rifle range, sniper rifle, tactical rifle
>
> Action taken: Disapproved
> Issue(s): Unacceptable content as keyword
> ~~~~~~~~~
>
> SUGGESTIONS:
> -> Keywords: Google policy does not permit the advertisement
> of “firearms and ammunition”. This content is not permitted as ad text
> or keywords. We have therefore disabled the keyword(s) listed above.
>
>
>
>
> ———————
> Please read below for definitions of the issues I found:
>
> Unacceptable content as keyword: In keeping with Google policy, we do
> not permit advertisers to use certain content as keywords for their
> Google AdWords campaigns. Google believes strongly in freedom of
> expression and therefore offers broad access to content across the web
> without censoring search results. Please note that the decisions we make
> concerning advertising in no way affect the search results we deliver.
>
>
> ———————
>
> If a keyword has been disapproved, your ad(s) will no longer be
> displayed for searches on this keyword.
>
> If an ad has been suspended, please edit it based on our suggestions,
> and then save your changes to automatically resubmit the ad for review.
> We’re confident that these changes will improve your ad performance and
> increase your return on investment.
>
> Our goal is to help you reach your target audience and maximize your
> investment. All ads are reviewed by AdWords Specialists to ensure that
> our advertisers create successful, high-impact advertising in keeping
> with our program’s Editorial Guidelines.
>
> For more information about our ad requirements, please read the AdWords
> Editorial Guidelines at:
> https://adwords.google.com/select/guidelines.html
>
> Please feel free to email us at adwords-support@google.com if you have
> any further questions or concerns. We look forward to providing you with
> the most effective advertising available.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> The Google AdWords Team

Boomershoot 2004 ads

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Today I placed an ad on google for Boomershoot 2004.  I used some key words and phrases that didn’t show the event in the search listing.  It turns out virtually no one was advertising with these words and I was able to get very cheap rates for at or near the top of the listings.  It’s expected to only cost about $35/month for an estimated 25 clicks a day or so.  Shotgun news is costing me about $50/month and resulting in about 10 clicks per day.  In addition I only pay for actual clicks on google whereas I have to pay for the Shotgun news banner ad whether I get any clicks or not.  We’ll see if they will pay for themselves or not.  The web logs give me pretty good tracking information so I can see how well each of the “Ad Campaigns” do.  The National Rifleman classifed ad will come out soon too.  I really need to fill up the Boomershoot this year to pay for the new explosives magazine.