Category Archives: Gun Rights

Rebate alternative

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Lots of people are suggesting you buy a firearm if you get a rebate. There are numerous suggestions (partial listing):

I have another suggestion and I’ll even make the deal sweeter for you. Buy a rifle and ammo for Boomershoot and I’ll give you a free entry into Boomershoot 2009. Limit of one entry per rifle and no more than five free positions will be given away. You must purchase the rifle between now and June 1, 2008. The rifle and ammo must be capable of at least regularly connecting with the boomers at the 375 yard line. This means your ordinary hunting rifle, carbines, and pistol caliber rifles won’t qualify. Heavy barrel AR-15’s will. It should have at least a 4X (10X or greater is recommended) scope on it but I won’t be holding that against you because people have connected with red-dots and iron sights, it’s just not easy. Ammo is going to have to be match grade.

If you decide you want to participate in Joe’s evil plan then scan a copy of your receipts, send the scanned image and one or more pictures of you new rifle to me. First come, first serve, limit five prizes total.

Update: At the suggestion of Mopar in comments I’ve created a Boomershoot web page on rifle selection and threw in a little about ammo too. See also Choosing Optics (from 2001).

Quote of the day–Paul Helmke

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As someone who had received death threats and been called a “dictator” because of other government issues, I knew that there were a lot of people who I did not want to see carrying guns into city meetings and the offices of city employees.

These incidents all highlight the tensions involved when individuals argue that their “personal liberty” outweighs the rule of law and trumps community policy as decided by our governmental systems.

Paul Helmke
“Suicide Shooters” – Going To “War” With Government
7:36 pm on February 8, 2008
[“Personal liberty” is trumped by community policy? Translating to more recognizable terms:

No wonder they have comments turned off on their blog.

H/T to Sebastian.–Joe]

I love sick humor

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I don’t make cosmetic modifications to any of my guns. I’d make an exception for this one.

New pro-gun organization

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Fellow IPSC and Steel shooter Mike Brown has started a new pro-gun organization–the Idaho Sport Shooters Alliance. I have been providing some technical help and he has been working with various legislators on gun issues important to Idaho residents and visitors. Number one on our list is to strengthen preemption. Read all about it on the website and blog.

The blogroll is reciprocal with pro-gun bloggers. Link to the ISSA blog and you’ll get linked to in return.

I wonder what they think of Huffman’s Rule of Firearms Law

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From Sitemeter:

Domain Name uscourts.gov ? (U.S. Government)
IP Address 208.27.203.# (Admin OFC US Courts)
ISP Sprint
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Continent  : North America
Country  : United States  (Facts)
State  : District of Columbia
City  : Washington
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The US Goverment Court in D.C. did a Google search for “idaho firearms law” and ended up reading Huffman’s Rule of Firearms Law (number six in the Google results).

If they want to screw you they can and will

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This is just one example of ATF abuse.

Not by the ATF, but I’ve been screwed both with and without malice. The bottom line is that you can’t completely defend against it, you can only lower your risk. Just don’t think you are immune or that the system is fair or justice will be served.

Quote of the day–Alan Gura, Robert A. Levy, Clark M. Neily III

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Certainly Petitioners would not dispute Americans’ justification for revolting against Great Britain, an event that would not have been possible without the private ownership of firearms. And should our Nation someday suffer tyranny again, preservation of the right to keep and bear arms would enhance the people’s ability to act as militia in the manner practiced by the Framers.

Alan Gura
Robert A. Levy
Clark M. Neily III
February 4, 2008
RESPONDENT’S BRIEF
On Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The District Of Columbia Circuit
[I just completed reading the entire thing. Lots of good stuff in it. At times I have been concerned Heller’s case would be made too narrow. That is no longer a concern. If anything this brief may be too broad because it will scare the white people. Not that I think that view is out of line with the original intent and the requirement for a free state, just that scaring the white people has it’s risks.

In this case the good guys played it as if this one is for all the marbles–which it is. Good luck to us all.–Joe]

One shot, one kill at 2100 meters

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Ry reports on a new Army sniping record from Afghanistan by a Arfcom member. Awesome!

If you are wondering at all the amazing sniping shots coming out of Afghanistan you aren’t alone. I knew the high altitude would make a difference but I didn’t know exactly how much until I ran some numbers through Modern Ballistics. Below you see the numbers for the .50 BMG shooting a high end bullet/cartridge with a gun zeroed at sea level for 1000 yards at a target at 2300 yards (2100 meters) away for various altitudes. Notice the difference in expected group size as the altitudes goes from 0 to 10000 feet. Notice the windage difference. All those things help but still, the shooter and spotter had to be top notch and have a little luck as well. Assuming a target of 18 inches wide and 24 inches tall the altitude difference changed the odds of a hit from about 10% to 20% (not shown).

Good job SnakeaterM24!

Modern Ballistics Data Created: 02/04/08 09:24:30

Firearm: Default
Cartridge: .50 BMG HMI with 750 gr. A-MAX
Conditions: Standard Conditions.
Range: 2300
Altitude (ft):           0   1000   2000   3000   4000   5000   6000   7000   8000  10000

Drop (inches)         2263   2193   2129   2070   2016   1966   1920   1877   1837  1765
Height (inches)      -1609  -1539  -1475  -1416  -1362  -1313  -1267  -1224  -1184 -1112
Height (moa)        -66.84 -63.93 -61.26 -58.82 -56.58 -54.52 -52.61 -50.83 -49.16 -46.17
Height (mils)       -19.44 -18.60 -17.82 -17.11 -16.46 -15.86 -15.30 -14.79 -14.30 -13.43
Windage (inches)    258.89 244.21 230.39 217.47 205.43 194.19 183.72 173.94 164.81 148.27
Windage (moa)        10.75  10.14   9.57   9.03   8.53   8.06   7.63   7.22   6.84   6.16
Windage (mils)        3.13   2.95   2.78   2.63   2.48   2.35   2.22   2.10   1.99   1.79
Mid rng Ht (in)       78.8   79.2   79.5   79.8   80.2   80.5   80.8   81.1   81.4   81.9
Midrange (yds)       532.1  535.4  538.6  541.8  544.9  547.9  550.8  553.7  556.4  561.8
Zero (yds)          1000.0 1008.1 1016.0 1023.6 1031.2 1038.7 1045.9 1053.0 1060.0 1073.4
Near zero (yds)        5.3    5.3    5.3    5.3    5.3    5.3    5.3    5.3    5.3    5.3
P.B. Size (in)      157.66 158.35 159.03 159.69 160.33 160.95 161.56 162.15 162.72 163.82
P.B. Range (yds)      1182   1192   1202   1212   1222   1231   1240   1249   1258   1275
Velocity (ft/S)       1118   1157   1200   1245   1290   1335   1380   1425   1469   1553
Energy (ft-lbs)       2082   2229   2397   2581   2772   2970   3173   3382   3593   4018
PF                     839    868    900    934    968   1002   1035   1069   1102   1165
Time (S)             3.941  3.857  3.779  3.705  3.637  3.573  3.514  3.458  3.406  3.312
Group (inches)       81.20  77.10  73.25  69.68  66.37  63.31  60.47  58.02  55.56  51.17
Group (moa)           3.37   3.20   3.04   2.89   2.76   2.63   2.51   2.41   2.31   2.12
Group (mils)          0.98   0.93   0.88   0.84   0.80   0.76   0.73   0.70   0.67   0.62
Groups <= desired    0.00%  0.00%  0.00%  0.00%  0.00%  0.20%  0.40%  0.60%  1.20%  1.20%
1 grp of <= desired    0.0    0.0    0.0    0.0    0.0  500.0  250.0  166.7   83.3   83.3
—–
Constants:
M.V. (ft/S)        2794   M.V. SDev (fps)    10.0   B.C.               1.050 
Mass (grains)      750    Sight Ht (in)      1.50   Indicated SA (moa) 27.19 
SA Offset (moa)    0.00   Incline (deg)      0      Wind (mph)         10    
Wind error (mph)   2      Wind (deg.)        90     Temp (F)           59    
Barometer          29.53  Gravity            32.17  Shots per group    5     
Bullet acc. (moa)  0.50   Desired Grp (moa)  1.00   Group Simulations  500   
—-
Firearm name: Default
Firearm notes:
Cartridge name: .50 BMG HMI with 750 gr. A-MAX
Cartridge notes: BC is for Hornady A-Max.  MV is for max load of H50BMG.
Conditions name: Standard Conditions.
Conditions notes:

Poor role model delivers acceptable result

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As a NRA Personal Protection Instructor I would strongly advise against using this store clerk as a role model. The robber appears to be leaving without harming anyone when she shoots him. This is generally illegal and I agree with this law. What I think happened was, as Joe D. suggested in email to the LPC email discussion list, it was an accidental discharge.

But on an strictly individual level I don’t have much sympathy for robbers, especially armed robbers. So, the bottom line is Barb and I laughed pretty hard at this guy getting “circumcised by a .38”:

This is what happens in places without guns–Case XXI

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5 dead in strip mall shooting; gunman at large

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) — A gunman who shot and killed five women in a clothing store at a suburban Chicago strip mall Saturday remains at large, police said.

Authorities do not know the motive for the shooting at the Lane Bryant store, said Tinley Park police Sgt. T.J. Grady. The victims’ identities were not released.

Grady told reporters that a 911 call reporting the shooting came in at 10:44 a.m.

Shoppers in nearby stores described a tense situation after the shooting..

“Six police entered the store with their hands on their gun holsters,” said Tracy Caccavella, who was in a pet supply store across from the Lane Bryant store, according to The Associated Press..

The gunman was described as an African-American man, about 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing between 230 and 260 pounds, Grady said. He was wearing a waist-length black winter coat, a black cap and dark jeans..

Authorities believe there was only one shooter, Grady said.

So, Mayor Daley, hows gun control working for you? Had the victims been able to carry their own defensive tools the headline might have been something like, “Thug shot dead after shooting one victim.”

Add these deaths to the list of charges for Daley’s trial on violation of 18 USC 242.

Conversions

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Uncle discusses, “How do we win this political gun battle?”, asks for some help, and gets this suggestion. Then Sebastian offers this.

There is some good stuff there but there were a few items left out.

  • Join pro gun groups. The first group you should join is the NRA; even if you think they compromise too much. They are the 800 pound gorilla in the legislative kitchen and just the raw number of members causes the politicians to think twice before cooking up an anti-gun scheme. Other groups serve useful purposes and should be considered as well. Some of them are 501(c)(3) corporations and your donations are tax deductible.
  • Come out of the closet. In the early days of the gay rights movement there was a phrase, “Silence equals death!”. Getting people to come out in the open about being a gun owner helps the anti-gun people realize we aren’t red-necked, knuckle dragging, Neanderthals, who beat their wives, complain about the “coloreds” lusting after our women folk, and whose idea of a good time is shooting our empties while chugging beer from the tailgate of our pickups. It worked for the gays and it can work for us.
  • Closely related to the previous item is to speak up when someone says something hostile about gun ownership. Know your facts, know the anti-gun position fallacies, and don’t be afraid to share them when someone tries to push that failed agenda. Come up with sound-bites and don’t belabor things. People will “turn off” if your viewpoint takes more than about 30 seconds to explain. If you don’t have anything more directly to the point, ask Just One Question.
  • Invite the media to your pro-gun events and put announcements of your events in their “whats happening” section. Most media outlets are starved for material. If you are having a special event invite them to come, watch, and report on it. Write a decent news release (such that they can easily and quickly plagiarize it for their own use) and you increase the odds of attendance and positive coverage considerably. See, for example, Boomershoot coverage.
  • In the end game, which we may just be entering, we need to drive them to political extinction. You don’t get there by saying, “They have a valid point and everyone is entitled to their opinion.” We must make their position as socially uncomfortable as that of the KKK. See this post for how to do that.

Quote of the day–LawDog

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Evil is not defeated by submitting to it. Evil is not defeated by running away from it; nor is evil defeated by ignoring it.

Evil is only defeated by fighting back.

You may, or may not, think you have the right to self-defence — and that is between you and your conscience. As a member of society — as a member of a community — you have the duty, the obligation, and the responsibility of self-defence.

LawDog
Meditations on Self Defence
January 27, 2008
[Via Tam. I’m in full agreement with this philosophy but not all people are.

I had an interesting discussion with my officemate last week. She is from India and a Jain. Just a quick refresher on that philosophy of life:

Nonviolence includes the concepts of vegetarianism. Jains are expected to be non-violent in thought, word, and deed, both toward humans and toward all other living beings, including their own selves. Jain monks and nuns walk barefoot and sweep the ground in front of them to avoid killing any insects or other tiny beings. Even though all life is considered sacred by the Jains, human life is deemed the highest form of life. For this reason, it is considered vital never to harm or upset any person.

They also don’t eat the roots of plants because of the increased chance of harming some organism that lives in the soil or the root. She does eat dairy products but not eggs.

Quite a contrast from me. I asked her, “If a lion was about to have you, or your children, for lunch does your religion require you to submit? The answer was that in the most pure form, yes, you are required to tolerate being lunch. But of course most people would not do that. They would fight back. Similar responses were obtained after gentle probes about taking antibiotics and defending against a human attacker. I dropped the subject. Maybe some other time when we have lots of time (this was to/from a lunch for our group) I’ll explore more. It seems so odd to me that their ideal and the admitted practical are so divergent. And that she is so positive about my explosive videos. Maybe it’s just the contrast from her live experience in a non-threatening form. Or maybe she is just being a Jain and doesn’t want to upset me by showing her disapproval.

[shrug]

Those are questions for another time–we have a product to ship…–Joe]

Kates gives political candidates a suggestion

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In Election Season, Mum’s the Word about Gun Control, By Don B. Kates Jr.

He goes on to tell us about all the research done that concludes guns in the hands of ordinary people do more good than harm.

Follow the money

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I recently found out about the site http://green.msn.com/. It’s a site for environmentalists with a significant slant toward the viewpoint, “It doesn’t matter what the cost is if it’s for the environment”. What I found most interesting was the reason for the creation of the site. It wasn’t that MS management particularly shared that viewpoint. It was that there was a major sponsor willing to spend advertising dollars on such a site. MS threw the site up in record time and started collecting the dollars because the viewpoint all MS management does agree on is, “Don’t leave loose money on the table.”

Similar analysis of many of the anti-gun groups reveals money is the significant motivator for them too. For example GunGuys.com gets grants from the Joyce Foundation. The one guy that runs that family of sites gets hundreds of thousands of dollars plus all the donations he can get by dancing in the blood of victims whom most would have had better survival chances had they been armed.

There are no principles–it’s all about the money. Just look at me and all those wheelbarrows full of cash I get for accepting marching orders from the Apex of the Triangle of Death.

More lying from the Clinton administration

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I think it must be that they just can’t help themselves.

I was reading this article which mentioned the Reno brief on the Heller case and something struck me as odd. Thinking maybe the WaPo got it wrong I went directly to the Reno brief. Nope, WaPo got it right. Reno et al misrepresented something from the Miller case.

Reno et al say:

In opposing Second Amendment challenges to those prosecutions, the government contended for more than 60 years that the Second Amendment did not protect an individual right to keep and bear arms for purposes unrelated to participation in a well-regulated militia. The government set out that position in its brief in United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939), the only prior case in which this Court has squarely addressed a Second Amendment challenge to federal firearms legislation. In rejecting the defendants’ Second Amendment challenge to the NFA, which rendered unlawful their transport of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun across state lines, the Court agreed with the government that the “possession or use” of a firearm must “ha[ve] some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia” to fall within the scope of the Second Amendment.

What the Miller decision actually says is:

In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a ‘shotgun having a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length’ at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument.  Certainly it is not within judicial notice that this weapon is any part of the ordinary military equipment or that its use could contribute to the common defense.

In Miller the shotgun must have “some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia” to be protected against government regulation. Not that the individual must have “some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia”. Hence by substituting individual for shotgun Reno et al attempt to completely change the meaning of the Miller decision.

Also note that using the reasoning of Reno et al the enslavement of some minority would be completely acceptable if it had not been successfully challenged for 60 years or more. All those runaway slaves in jail might want to challenge their convictions if the courts were to rule this particular minority should be regarded as freemen. And we can’t have that sort of disruption to our society, it just wouldn’t be right.

The world would have been better off if Reno et al had traded places with their victims at Waco.

Shooting steel in the snow

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I don’t like to miss an opportunity to mock the shooters in the Seattle area who shutdown their matches in the winter. The shooters in Idaho are made of better stuff.

The following pictures are from the steel match at the Lewiston Pistol Club on Sunday.


This was the scene as I walked out my door Sunday morning.


Scene at the range.


Adam gives us the stage walk-through.


Joe M. is terminally ill and I was pleased to be able to see him again. Don W. is the range officer.


Another picture of Joe M. with brass in the air above his rear sight.

When Joe M. can make it to the range and shoot in the snow the shooters in the Seattle area have truly earned their wimp badges.

Bigot on the public payroll

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The school VP suspended a kid because he had a pen with a Glock Logo on it.

I’d show up to pick up my kid with my lawyer while wearing this shirt:

Then I’d give the VP a copy of 18 USC 242 and tell the VP I was going to visit the Federal Prosecutor next. The tone of my voice would scare him far more than the words I used.

In Moscow Idaho my daughter (above) actually wore the shirt you see above to school. She only showed it to one teacher, but still, he thought it was cool.

H/T to Uncle and Bruce.

Quote of the day–Tom Leonard

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Fans are clearly split as to whether a handgun can ever be tolerated on a superhero long regarded as a symbol of untainted righteousness.

Tom Leonard

Gun-toting Captain America comes back to life
January 29, 2008
[H/T to Uncle and Greg and Beth. So, it’s not possible to be righteous and possess a handgun? I guess all U.S. police officers are automatically bad guys then. Substitute “black man” for “handgun” and “as” for “on” then provide an estimate on how long would this guy have a job. What a bigot. These type of people should be shamed into oblivion.–Joe]

Queer Arms

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A couple of people sent me an email yesterday asking about the caliber of rifle required for Boomershoot, other general questions, and said they planned to be spectators this year and participate next year. I gave them the best advice I could and encouraged them to attend, ask questions, etc.

What was interesting to me was the domain for email address QueerArms.com. They have a website and it appears they don’t get a lot of traffic but it’s a decent site.

They even have a link to Boomershoot under “Games”. Cool! I’ve only received one referral from them but, hey, it’s the thought that counts. I don’t know if it was Tammy that put the link there, but whoever it was, thanks!

STI Sentinel Premier

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Just announced:

How do the best outdo themselves? Attention to details. Crafted with classic 1911 design, the STI International Sentinel Premier is a traditional 1911 built to modern highest-end standards for an exceptional competition, duty, and self-defense pistol. With the exclusive new Dawson Precision/STI “Perfect Impact” style white outline Tritium adjustable sights and the STI Tritium competition front, it is ready to compete in either IPSC or IDPA right out of the box (and look good doing it.)

The Sentinel Premier is built on a forged steel, government length, standard width frame that includes a 30 LPI checkered front strap, checkered steel mainspring housing, and custom blended magwell. The controls are STI International’s blued steel single sided thumb safety and knuckle relief high-rise beavertail grip safety. The slide features traditional 1911 styling with STI front and rear cocking serrations, oversized ejection port, and is flat topped with Diamond LPI. The barrel is 5.0″ ramped and supported with a match grade fitted bushing, fully crowned to sit flush with the end of the barrel. This exceptional firearm comes standard with an STI commander hammer, patented STI aluminum trigger system, STI S-7 sear, and titanium strut for smooth, reliable function. The Sentinel Premier comes standard with case, owner’s manual, and one Wilson Combat ® Elite Tactical magazine.

Available in .45 ACP.

In competition I shoot a STI gun, I carry a STI gun and you should too.