I forgot to mention that I opened up registration for Boomershoot 2021 yesterday. It’s already over half full because nearly all the people signed up for Boomershoot 2020 elected to move their entry to 2021 rather than take the refund I offered them when I canceled it. Get your entry in before it fills up completely.
Military grade
Quote of the day—Elizabeth Simas
Gun control regulations are an interesting thing. Public opinion in support of them tends to spike any time there is a major incident or a mass shooting of some sort. And if schools aren’t in session, if people aren’t having large meetings in churches and in shopping malls and concerts and all these other places, then we’re not having mass shootings.
Elizabeth Simas
Political science professor at the University of Houston
April 13, 2020
Gun Safety Groups Face Uphill Battle In Face Of COVID-19
[Interesting observation!
This reminds me of something I said over seven years ago (The necessity of an accurate problem statement):
What’s an orthogonal solution? In the case of the school shootings a solution to “ban guns” versus “good guys with guns” an orthogonal solution would be to “ban schools”. For example if children were to be taught online supervised by their parents or in much small groups there wouldn’t be such large groups of tempting, nearly helpless, targets.
….
In the case of school shootings examine the following problem statements, somewhat exaggerated to make the point:
- There are too many guns brought to schools.
- Good guys are prohibited from protecting themselves and our children at schools.
- An unacceptably high number of children at schools are being injured and killed by people with guns and other weapons.
Depending on the choice of problem statement the range of solutions are completely different. And there may be other problem statements beyond what I have enumerated above. Defining the problem correctly is frequently more difficult than finding solutions.
“Thanks” to the pandemic we may be approaching the orthogonal solution to school shootings I suggested years ago.—Joe]
Social distancing
The title claims “Ultimate in Old School Social Distancing”. While carrying a rifle down the sidewalk with an extended bayonet would grant you greater social distancing for a few minutes I expect the distance would be considerably shortened by the end of your walk as the police stopped by to have a chat with you.
Also, I expect an experienced Boomershooter could maintain something much closer to “ultimate” distancing than someone using a bayonet to keep the distance.
Quote of the day—Justice Lloyd Karmeier
The majority’s decision resolves this appeal based on an issue no one has raised, decides the issue through misapplication of principles we have no reason to discuss, and remands the case to the circuit court for entry of an order that is clearly meritless and serves no purpose. Neither the parties nor the interests of justice will be served by this unexpected and pointless exercise.
Justice Lloyd Karmeier
April 2, 2020
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Appellant, v. VIVIAN CLAUDINE BROWN, Appellee.
[I’ve blog about this case before.
This case began almost three years ago when a rifle was found in Brown’s home and she did not possess, and had not applied for, a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card (FOID). The majority in this decision are extremely reluctant to declare the licensing of a specific enumerated right unconstitutional and have sent it back to the lower court.
Contrary to the minority decision quote above it does serve a purpose. It preserves an illegal requirement imposed by the state for several months perhaps even a year or more. It causes the wronged parties, gun rights organizations as well as the innocent victim Brown, to expend more resources getting this illegal law partially overturned. It blocks the further liberation of gun owners suffering under oppressive laws in Illinois should the FOID requirement fall. This, I believe, was the real purpose behind the decision by the majority.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Lisa Vaas
We would be remiss were we to not point out what has been demonstrated time and time again: that Big Data can be dissected, compared and contrasted to look for patterns from which to draw inferences about individuals. In other words, it’s not hard to re-identify people from anonymized records, be they records pertaining to location tracking, faceprints or, one imagines, anuses.
Lisa Vaas
April 8, 2020
As if the world couldn’t get any weirder, this AI toilet scans your anus to identify you
[It’s a lot like most encryption*. Data is only “anonymized” in the minds of those doing the anonymizing. The right people, with a big enough dataset, and enough CPU cycles can deanonymize/decrypt it.
So, other than the obvious embarrassment of having pictures of your anus being featured in the next big data security breach, what is the worst way this technology be abused?
It turns out that just like fingerprints and irises you can be uniquely identified by your anus. If all toilets were equipped with cameras and the data obtained by a totalitarian government it would becoming far more difficult to keep your location private. It would violate my Jews in the Attic Test.—Joe]
* There are exceptions. One-time-pads come to mind.
Quote of the day—Christopher Ryan @ThatChrisRyan
Republicans are against voting, against women, against education, against health care, against a living wage … at what point do we conclude they are against human beings?
Christopher Ryan @ThatChrisRyan
Tweeted on April 9, 2020
[This is what they think of you.
Typical left wing politics. It looks like Ryan is prepping the battlespace for the railroad cars and the final solution.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Sheriff Steve Reams
While I understand each person’s choice to disagree with me, my response to those individuals is this: I’m not comfortable giving up the fight for their constitutional rights in exchange for their vote/support.
Steve Reams
Sheriff Weld County Colorado
March 2020
Colorado Inmate Red Flags Sheriff
[And others are not only comfortable and willing but desirous and eager to strip the people of their constitutional rights.
Culture, philosophy, and elections are important.—Joe]
Gun cartoon of the day
Via Paul K. from here, who says, “Perfect…”
The political left has been calling “gun violence” an epidemic and using other disease terminology to describe firearm ownership and misuse. So, it’s perfectly reasonable, and just as effective, to extrapolate in the other direction.
Quote of the day—David Kopel
Maximizing harassment of law-abiding gun owners is a feature, not a bug, of gun control.
David Kopel
April 8, 2020
Our right to arms faces a death by a thousand cuts
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Hannah Furfaro
People will remain at risk until most are immune to the virus either through vaccination or extensive community spread, said Yonatan Grad, assistant professor of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Without a vaccine, the end of the pandemic here could go like this: aggressive social distancing will help flatten the number of infected at any given time, but to prevent a serious reemergence, widespread testing is needed to detect those who have the virus, and those who are immune. Government officials will need to get serious about tracing who has come into contact with someone who has been diagnosed with the disease, Grad said. Once the virus is under control, he added, officials should attempt to keep infected people elsewhere from bringing the coronavirus back to Washington.
Hannah Furfaro
April 8, 2020
Coronavirus has closed Washington’s schools, at least through summer. When will it be safe to return?
[There are predictions the peak in resource use and daily deaths will in less than a week. But that assumes “full social distancing through May 2020”.
I don’t see May being a time we can return to normal. “Normal” will not return until there is a vaccine or herd immunity. Even then, because of our prolonged work from home and social distancing we will have made drastic changes in our society. I expect many companies will shed major portions of their office space. I expect schools will have made significant migration to online teaching.
I see some of this as a very good thing. For many jobs the office space and commuting in a era of high speed digital communications is a waste of resources. Imagine the time, fuel, construction materials, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, water, sewer, trash, and transportation bandwidth saved without there being “the office” to go to.
There will be a component of individual responsibility take place that I see as good as well. The need to be “in the city” will dramatically decrease. This will change the demographics and the politics of the nation and the world.
I see the loss of a major portion of the restaurants and small shops in our future. Large retailers will survive only because of their online sales. If something can be sold online and delivered in a small vehicles by one person who drops a package at your door there will be very few local shops which carry it. Items which need special handling such as perishable foods will be the partial exceptions.
We live in interesting times.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Joe Biden
This idea that we don’t have elimination of assault-type weapons, magazines that can have — hold multiple bullets in them, is absolutely mindless. It is no violation of the Second Amendment, it’s just a bow to the special interests, the gun manufacturers and the NRA. It’s gotta stop.
Joe Biden
September 2, 2019
Joe Biden calls for elimination of gun magazines that can ‘hold multiple bullets in them’
[“Big lie” comes to mind. And that would probably be sufficient in most cases. But this is a special case.
“Mindless.” In context, this is more Interesting.
Rule 2 of SJW’s Always Lie is once again validated.—Joe]
This was supposed to be scheduled for posting on April 6 but I got the date wrong and it went live on the 5th on the same day as a different post. I’m leaving it on the 5th because there are live links to it and if the date changes the links will be broken.
Quote of the day—Mike Roberts @ecopoesis
I had no idea one of the symptoms of COVID-19 was penile shrinkage.
Mike Roberts @ecopoesis
Tweeted on April 1, 2020
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday!
This was his response to the record number of NICS checks in March.—Joe]
Quote of the day—bitterb @bitterb
It seems that “Holy Shit March” is a phrase we can just use for everything in life at this point.
bitterb @bitterb
Tweeted on April 2, 2020
[This was in response to this tweet by Tamara K. @TamSlick which I was seriously considering for a QOTD in it’s own right until bitter topped it:
Almost four million NICS checks in March. That’s a lotta guns.
It’s interesting to see the normalcy bias in action. Six months ago I, in my rational mind, knew something like this was possible but it didn’t feel possible in any reality I might experience. Today, working from home, seldom going to stores, wearing a mask when you do, and wiping down everything that has had recent contact with another human before it comes in the house feels ordinary.—Joe]
Free business/entrepreneur coaching
A few days ago I received an email from Brian:
I am doing a bunch of webinars for entrepreneurs where we do group coaching- essentially, brainstorming and deploying ways to connect with our customer bases and increase the chances that we stay in business.
I’d be happy to do one for your audience. Definitely off topic for your blog. But you have plenty of business owners I bet who would appreciate getting together and access to a business coach in this format for free.
This led to:
Hello Joe’s audience,
I’m Brian Keith and a member of the gun culture like you.
Current events show me more than usual that we are in a culture war for the soul of America.
As a business coach, the main contribution I can make is helping our team’s businesses survive this season.
If you are an entrepreneur, or you know a business owner who is in the gun culture (“one of us”), I have two offers for you:
1. I can lead a regular (monthly? biweekly? weekly?) group coaching call where you bring your problems to me and we figure them out together. The group format means you get to learn from your peers, and it keeps my costs low.
2. You and I can talk one on one for an hour. You get more privacy, and leave our call with a more customized plan on what to do in your business to survive and maybe even grow right now.
What does it cost?
You and I rubbed shoulders at Mecca manufacturing Boomerite. You comment on Joe’s blog. You and I look forward to Boomershoot 2021. We’re on the same side in this cultural fight.
So the cost is free.
All you need to do- email me (brian (at) redbeardconsulting.com) whether Option 1 (regular group coaching calls) or Option 2 (a single one-on-one call with me) would best help your business survive.
The range is open
I haven’t been to the range in several weeks now. And probably won’t for a while still. But the range I go to most frequently (Bellevue) sent out an email a few minutes ago:
Why is Our Range Open?
We have many clients who work in law enforcement or in the private security sector. These individuals must maintain
firearms proficiency for their personal safety and to meet professional certification requirements. We have other clients who don’t fall into the above categories but have personal circumstances which make firearms proficiency a priority for them.
Additionally, many families perceive an increased need for all members to have familiarity with defensive firearms. It is especially important that these new or less experienced shooters have the opportunity to learn and practice safe firearms handling skills in a controlled environment.
Federal guidelines recognize the above issues and have designated firearms retailers and ranges as essential critical infrastructure.
Our opinion is that each individual should have the opportunity to make an assessment of their personal risk factors and act according to that assessment.
firearms proficiency for their personal safety and to meet professional certification requirements. We have other clients who don’t fall into the above categories but have personal circumstances which make firearms proficiency a priority for them.
Additionally, many families perceive an increased need for all members to have familiarity with defensive firearms. It is especially important that these new or less experienced shooters have the opportunity to learn and practice safe firearms handling skills in a controlled environment.
Federal guidelines recognize the above issues and have designated firearms retailers and ranges as essential critical infrastructure.
Our opinion is that each individual should have the opportunity to make an assessment of their personal risk factors and act according to that assessment.
What are we doing to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission?
Traveling alone in your vehicle does not increase your risk or the risk to anyone else. The risk of COVID-19 transmission is increased most significantly by close interpersonal contact.
Upon arrival, clients are asked to maintain 6’ or more of distance while waiting to approach the check-in-counter one client at a time (unless in a group of two who already share close social distancing.)
Clients are assigned shooting lanes one person per booth. (The only exception is that two family members who already share close social distancing may share a booth.)
Once on the range shooters are separated from each other by over six feet of space and two partitions (we leave an empty booth between each shooter.)
The ventilation system on the range provides constant air flow away from the shooters.
Upon exiting the range all clients are directed to wash their hands in the bathrooms located in the range lobby.
All surfaces that people contact are cleaned multiple times during each day.
Going to a shooting range is not the best choice for all persons at this particular time. It is however an essential activity for some people and an activity which can be engaged in without significant risk of exposure to COVID-19.
The range will be open Thursday through Sunday,
10am to 8pm until further notice.
Quote of the day—Brantley Starr
The federal government forgot the Tenth Amendment and the structure of the Constitution itself. It is concerning that the federal government believes it swallowed the states whole. Assuming the federal government didn’t abolish the states to take their police power, the Court DENIES the motion to dismiss WITHOUT PREJUDICE. The Court will allow the federal government to try again and explain which enumerated power justifies the federal regulation and whether it allows a taking without compensation. The Court requests that the federal government also address any limits on that federal power and the Court’s proper role in examining the validity of the underlying rule when determining if there was a compensable taking.
Brantley Starr
United States District Judge
March 30, 2020
BRIAN P. LANE, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES
[Via Reason: Another Trump-Appointed Judge Benchslaps the Trump Administration for Rewriting Federal Gun Laws
[It’s a good start.
I know it’s too much to ask for, but I’d like to see those responsible for rewriting the definition of a machine gun without going through the proper legislative procedures being recommended for prosecution. If if they did go through the legislative process see the prosecution any legislators who voted for the illegal infringement of our rights as well as the criminals who advocated for such legislation.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Cam Edwards
For years, Everytown for Gun Safety has presented itself as a moderate “gun safety” group that isn’t interested in stripping Americans of their rights, but is only in favor of “commonsense gun safety” regulations. Now they’re exposing that lie all by themselves. In a time of uncertainty, and during an emergency, Everytown is doing everything it can to prevent Americans from acquiring firearms and ammunition. There’s nothing common sense about that. Their position has nothing to do with gun safety and everything to do with keeping as many Americans as possible unarmed and defenseless when more Americans than ever before are choosing to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Cam Edwards
April 1, 2020
Everytown Law: It’s Totally Constitutional To Close Gun Stores Right Now
[Has there has ever been a firearms restriction this organization has publicly opposed? I don’t think so and and I doubt there ever will be. Their objective is to incrementally eliminate firearms in the hands of ordinary people.
They need to be opposed and prosecuted.—Joe]
Quote of the day—STAY FKING HOME @flopperdog
So we’ll lose 100k to Covid and another 100k to self-inflicted dumbass shootings.
STAY FKING HOME @flopperdog
Tweeted on April 1, 2020
[I realize arithmetic, or in many cases even numbers, are not within the domain of knowledge for these people. So, I’ll take care of that for this numbers illiterate.
From the CDC (2018 was the most recent data I found):
So, assuming a constant population, at that rate it will take over 218 years to achieve the 100k number asserted. Of course the population is almost certainly going to increase instead of remain constant. But, the rate of unintentional firearms deaths have been falling:
Assuming a linear* rate of fall that current 0.14 rate will drop to zero about half way through the year 2034 with a rate of 0.132 at the beginning of 2020. The area under that triangle from the beginning of 2020 until it drops to zero at year 2034.625 is 0.965 per 100K of the population. Assuming a rough population of about 280,000,000 that means about 2,700 people will die in the next 14 years due to unintentional firearm deaths before the rate drops to zero.
But, of course, the rate could increase some due to new ownership and potential lack of training. But with 100,000,000+ current owners the “worst” case is that the total number of gun owners increases to something like 200,000,000 adults.
Assuming the worst case, all unintentional firearms deaths are due to new owner gun sales inspired by COVID-19, and their rate of unintentional death by firearm is double the existing population for a few years before they are trained it is still far less than 100,000.
My rough estimate is that this dup (or evil) flopperdog is probably off by something like a factor of 25.
Not bad. I expected worse.—Joe]
* Poor assumption. It’s probably going to be closer to a decaying exponential but I don’t want to bother doing the curve fitting to find a better model. Besides, I doubt even one out of 1000 anti-gun people understand linear interpolation yet alone curve fitting and integration.
Quote of the day—Stephen P. Halbrook
Americans should be mindful of the dangers of “emergency” decrees. History tells us that government diktats in response to man-made and natural disasters often lead to unprecedented restrictions on individual liberty that last long after the disasters are forgotten.
Stephen P. Halbrook
March 31. 2020
Will the Second Amendment Survive Coronavirus?
[I strongly agree.—Joe]