Gun control is what you talk about when you don’t want to talk about the truth.
Colion Noir
June 16, 2017
NRATV
[This video also has Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) saying “We lose 93 million Americans a day to gun violence.” which I blogged about a couple weeks ago.
After explaining the 93 people per day includes self-defense shootings and suicides Colion concludes, “This should tell you everything you need to know about their integrity. Yes. Yes it does.—Joe]
A friend is putting on an Independence Day rifle match at his place in Latah County, Idaho;
Five shots from each of four positions (standing, kneeling, sitting, and prone), 4 black bull’s eyes (one for each position) each being 4 M.O.A. in angular size at 25 meters. That’s a target size of about 1.1″. You have a total of ten minutes to get into your various positions and make your 20 shots.
“Four M.O.A.”, you think, “I can hit that all day”, right? We hit one M.O.A. targets at Boomershoot, at distances such that the shifting wind is a major factor, so 4 M.O.A. is a piece of cake, right?
Uh uh. Using a light, but quality AR carbine in 5.56 mm, the best I’ve done so far in practice is 8 hits out of 20 shots. I’m not using a shooting sling, as that’s something I’ve never worked out. Other than your body and possibly a sling, there is no support allowed.
Any rifle in any caliber, centerfire or rimfire.
I noticed right away that the sight heights on my ARs (I use optics) are such that I needed to re-zero for 25 meters (about 27.5 yards).
Try it and report back.
I would love to see a match like this done in the form of a mountain woods walk, so you have the added issues of the portability of your equipment, your physical condition, your ability to shoot under some degree of physical stress (such as aiming while winded) and using improvised shooting positions due to terrain and flora. Too often we tend to want a “shooting range” set up all nice and ideal and level and comfortable, and in that case we are sometimes missing the point. Anyone who’s hunted for more than a few seasons will understand, and in fact hunting includes all of the above (plus the unpredictable nature of the target(s), doesn’t it?
A step in the right direction:
The Czech parliament is working to liberalize the country’s gun laws, allowing people to better defend themselves. The reason for this new policy is safety, as well as practicality; in light of recent attacks in neighboring countries, the Czech government recognizes that disarming people puts them in danger, and that broad European gun control policies are ineffective. The Interior Minister said it best when he asked parliament to “show [him] a single terrorist attack in Europe perpetrated using a legally-owned weapon”.
In response to terrorist attacks the EU is making it more difficult to get guns and the Czech Republic is making it easier. My hypothesis is that the Czech Republic will have few terrorist attacks and those places with increased restrictions on guns will have more attacks. I also expect those places with more restrictions will blame the increase in attacks using firearms on the Czech Republic just as Chicago blames their problems on places nearby with less repressive gun laws even though those places have less criminal violence than Chicago.
Projection. It’s rule #3 in SJWs Always Lie.
Interesting research and hypothesis:
The patterns of attacks reported here may also reflect an increasing number of bold individuals in large carnivore populations, as this trait is often correlated with aggressiveness13,14, and this might lead to more aggressive responses when large carnivores encounter humans. We hypothesise that intense and prolonged human-caused mortality imposes selection pressures on target populations (selective removal of certain phenotypes) and might lead to rapid evolutionary changes15. Natural selection maintains a mix of behavioural phenotypes in populations16, the shy-bold behavioural continuum17; bold individuals thrive on risk and novelty, whereas shy individuals shrink from the same situations18. Persecution, however, is expected to result in the disproportionate removal of bold individuals, as they are less cautious19, and thus more likely to be killed. As a consequence, shy individuals might have been overrepresented in remnant large carnivore populations in the past17,18,20,21,22. Additionally, individuals may become more vigilant and actively avoid contact with humans during times of intense persecution23. Although the history of large carnivore persecution and conservation differ across regions9, the contemporary conservation paradigm emerged during the 1960s–1970s24, when most bounty systems were banned25 and large carnivores were reclassified from vermins or bountied predators to game or protected species. Since then, although large carnivores have continued to be hunted or managed (Extended Data Fig. 3), most populations have generally increased during the past four decades9,11,12. Increasing population trends in conjunction with relaxed artificial selection may potentially engender higher variation in behavioural temperaments26, which is likely to alter individual responses to human encounters22. This significant increase of large carnivore populations in both North America and Europe, and their consequent range expansion, also may contribute to explain the observed increase in the attacks on humans.
Basically, they are saying if people shoot the individual predators in a species that are on the aggressive end of the behavior spectrum the species population as a whole will be better behaved toward humans. We have had relatively good behavior toward humans from these predators for many years because we selected for good behavior decades ago and then the selection process was banned. Because we stopped shooting them this may be responsible for the recent increase in predator attacks on people.
Basically, we can train bears to be nice by shooting the not so nice ones. I’m pretty sure this same strategy also works with two legged predators.
See also Bear spray, yes or no? for further examination of the issue.
Constitutionally, speech is speech, and inquiring into the motives of the speaker is a legal absurdity. And speech is protected, period.
The root cause of course is that progressives hate free speech in all its forms, and invented the fake category of “hate speech” for the same reason they invented the fake category of “assault weapon”.
Paul Koning
June 28, 2017
Comment to Violence Alert: Communist Mr. Kit O’Connell’s Ready To Bash Back To Survive
[That is a very interesting observation.—Joe]
I read hate mail (and Tweets) on air for money that I use to buy ammo. God bless capitalism.
Dana Loesch @DLoesch
Tweeted on 6/28/2017
[I blog them, save up the money, then a couple times a year use the money to buy a paper target.—Joe]
Another win for the Second Amendment:
Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) today applauded the unanimous repeal of Tacoma Washington’s ban on the sale, use, and possession of electronic arms.
Attorneys for FPC sent a letter to the Tacoma City Council on April 10, which warned that the group was ready and willing to sue based on solid case law if the city refused to repeal the ban.
Said FPC attorney Stephen Stambouleih, “As the Supreme Court noted in Caetano v. Massachusetts it “has held that ‘the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding.’”
There is a LOT more to do but having easy wins is a moral booster for us, demoralizes the freedom haters, and builds momentum.
Scientist now know more about how Dr. Joe’s Cure For Everything helps your heart:
Sex is good for the heart because it reduces the levels of a harmful chemical in the blood, scientists believe – but the effect is only seen in men.
Having sex several times a week can cut lead to better circulation and healthier blood vessels in men, which researchers say is crucial for preventing a build-up of the chemical homocysteine.
But scientists say women benefit much less because sexual arousal is less dependent on having a healthy blood flow, which is a key factor in keeping homocysteine under control.
Contrast between freedom-hating decrepit Western Europe and Eastern Europe is glaring. Eastern Europe still has vivid memories from what’s down the statist road.
This should be a warning to US gun owners. You’ve scored major victories through hard work, but freedom haters will always come back. Defend the culture (take non gun owners to the range, esp. in restrictive states) so that gun ownership becomes and stays mainstream.
Calimero
December 28, 2016
Comment to Courage
[Calimero lives in France.
There is another comment along the same lines from March 14, 2017:
There’s a strong divide, shown in today’s vote at the EU Parliament, between Western Europe and Eastern Europe.
Eastern Europe still has vivid memories from Soviet rule, while Western Europe is oblivious to (or downright embraces) the shift to leftism/statism. One may argue Western Europe never was all that much into individual rights.
Eastern Euros still have that yearning for freedom. And the West essentially fucked them over today.
I hope the Czech will be able to mitigate the effects of the updated EU firearms directive. Poland, Hungary aren’t really all that hot for gun control either.
France, UK, Germany, Holland all screwed the pooch.
Take a new shooter to the range. It’s a good first step down a slippery slope to a desire for individual freedom in general.—Joe]
I don’t usually do book reviews but I got this one as a Father’s Day gift and was encouraged to blog about. The book is just so spot on that I agreed. The book is Reasons to Vote for Democrats: A Comprehensive Guide.
As I opened the package Jaime watched me closely with a slight smirk mostly hidden. I cautiously turned the book over and read the back cover:
“Thorough.” (Ben Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of Bullies)
“Michael Knowles perfectly documents what’s inside the minds of Democrats. A real page-turner!” (Michelle Malkin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sold Out)
“I read it twice!” (Dennis Prager, New York Times bestselling author of The Ten Commandments)
“Brilliantly argued! You will not find a more enlightened defense of liberalism. Ever.” (Jason Mattera, New York Times bestselling author of Obama Zombies)
“Insightful, yet remarkably easy reading!” (Guy Benson, bestselling author of End of Discussion)
“The most efficient way to learn about the issues that Democrats really care about. This is a must read.” (Katie Pavlich, New York Times bestselling author of Assault and Flattery)
“The reasons to vote for Democrats can be subtle and complex, but Knowles boils them down to their essence.” (Andrew Klavan, New York Times bestselling author of The Great Good Thing)
Okay…. I know of and respect the opinions of some of these people and told Jaime as much. She told me she thought about getting the Audible version but was concerned a lot of the impact of the book would be lost. Her anticipation could barely be contained. I let the pages ripple past my thumb scanning for tables and graphics. There were none.
I burst into laughter and laughed until my stomach hurt and I was wiping tears from my eyes.
It’s a really, really good book. It has 245 pages, an extensive bibliography, and includes chapters on:
Read the reviews on Amazon.
Three weeks of utilities are all that separate us from savagery.
Brett
June 23, 2017
[Brett is a co-worker of mine.
I’m not sure it will take three weeks, but it’s in the ballpark.—Joe]
I am in the process of renewing my ATF license to manufacture high explosives. For some reason I can’t find anywhere in the U.S. Constitution where the Federal government has been granted the power to regulate the manufacture and consumption of explosives entirely on my property, entirely within the state of Idaho.
So, in keeping with the current “resist” political theme of the last few months, I’m bravely sending the renewal form to the ATF with a “Freedom Forever” stamp.
I suspect no one at the ATF will perceive the irony and my resistance will be futile.
As I have mentioned before (and here) on the weekend of June 3rd and 4th I took the USPSA Range Officer class. I procrastinated some on the take home test and turned it via email on Saturday June 17th. On Sunday, June 18th I participated in the USPSA match at Marysville Rifle Club. A few minutes before the match started I received an email from the instructor saying I had passed with a 96% and was once again a certified RO. There were lots of ROs on my squad and I didn’t exercise my newly acquired RO powers.
After having some misses in the first two stages I did do well enough in the classifier that I bumped my classification score up to just barely into B class again (60.2098%, B class is 60.0% to 75.0%) after turning in C class classifiers for several years.
When I was shooting matches regularly in the late 90s I had a classification as high as 68.5272% with occasional individual classifier scores above 75%. But I basically stopped shooting for several years. What is interesting to me is that my skill level, according to various drills I have kept records of, is now as high as it ever was but my classifier results are a much lower percentage than they were before.
When I took the Intensive Handgun Skills class in February of 2016 the instructor, Greg Hamilton, commented that USPSA classification levels have dropped about one full class in the last 15 or 20 years due to the increased skill level of the top shooters. Shooters are classified according to what percentage of the best shooters scores they achieve. So if the best shooters improve and you stay the same your classification level will drop.
<Heavy Sigh>
I was hoping to make A class someday but I should have put the effort in 20 years ago when I was younger, quicker, and it was easier. I’m now in a Red Queen’s Race to just hold on to my B class status.
Yes, because nothing is more important than your manly phallic symbol and getting to murder someone. No way that could possibly go wrong…
Redcap ReaverBait @ReaverBait
Tweeted on June 16, 2017
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday!
This is what they think of people who exercise their specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms.
Via a tweet from BFD @BigFatDave.—Joe]
Update: ReaverBait replied on twitter to this blog post. Absolutely amazing! It is a classic response as predicted by SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police in less than 140 characters:
Replying to @JoeHuffman
Yes, you reeaally needed to @ me with your bullshit “waaah I need a gun to feel manly” nonsense. Grow the fuck up.
The three rules of SJWs are:
The initial tweet quoted above was a lie. Then in the response she doubled down on the lie and projected her immaturity onto people exercising their specific enumerated rights.
The ritual is tribal. A lefty dons the mock wig of the hated enemy and is ritually humiliated for the entertainment of the tribes of Manhattan, Berkeley and Marin County. The foe is destroyed in effigy. The video of his destruction is virally spread with titles such as, “Saturday Night Live Destroys Trump”.
And yet Trump, like all the other viral subjects of destruction, is never destroyed. The tribal ritual lets lefties vent their anger on a totem that, unlike Trump, can actually be destroyed by liberal laughter.
Satire isn’t trying to save the Republic. It isn’t stopping Trump. It’s saving the left.
Daniel Greenfield
May 2017
The War of Two Americas
[Via Robert J. Avrech and email from Paul Koning.
Read the whole thing. I alternated between seeing it as a nearly unbelievable conspiracy theory and brilliant insight. Perhaps it is both.—Joe]
Watching the congressman crying on live tv abt the trauma they experienced. Y is this so funny tho?
…
The very people that push pro NRA legislation in efforts to pad their pockets with complete disregard for human life. Yeah, having a hard time feeling bad for them.
Chelsey Gentry-Tipton
Nebraska Democratic Party Black Caucus Chair
June, 2017
Via Omaha World-Herald
[This is what they think of you.—Joe]
Gotta keep writing. There is a long story I won’t bore you with as to the delays in getting sequel/prequel published properly, so in the meantime i thought I’d write a short story. Not in the same universe as “The Stars Came Back,” more Conan-esque. Young barbarian getting a start in life, etc. Not precisely YA, a bit gory, but not too gratuitous. He’s not grown up enough yet to have mighty thews and a crushing sword-stroke (yet).
Working title might be “Career Choice”, Part I. I’ll be posting there daily until it’s done, something around a thousand words per day. Start here.
Home page to see the whole series of posts start here.
From the office today:
Greg: A woman asked me to kill a spider. I told her no. It was here first. She told me it was her or the spider.
Josh: The spider is still in his house. It has taken over the bathroom. The entire bathroom is filled with webs and it lives in the skylight.
Greg: I don’t respond well to ultimatums.
This story has been told more than once. Caity’s version is:
Josh: So, Greg was dating a woman. She found a spider in the bathroom and asked that Greg kill it. He said no. She said, it’s me or the spider.
Greg: Well, the spider was there first.
Josh: Yea, I’ve met the spider. It lives in the skylight.
Greg: I don’t do well with ultimatums.
Brett’s version involves a discussion of the hotness of the woman and the attitude of the spider versus the attitude of woman. It turns out that the woman was “hot” but the attitude of the spider won out overall.
First, they came for the Jews.
Then, they came for the women.
Next, they came for the blacks.
Thereafter, they came for the queers.
Moving forward, they’ll come for the gimps.
After that, they’ll come for the dinosaurs.
Subsequently, they’ll come for the crazies.
In the end, they’ll come for the Commies — because, logically, that batch can’t last.
The self-defense movement’s coming for you, too. Yes, you.
Yesterday, Nicki Stallard of the gay gun group Pink Pistols had an op-ed featured in The New York Times. Yes, you heard me right, The NYT. The Gray Lady. The Lefty Rag.
Nicki nailed it. The L.G.B.T. Case for Guns is quite possibly the most crisp, concise, salient piece I’ve ever read about marginalized classes and their right to self-defense. I’m not exaggerating.
Says Stallard:
This is a call to L.G.B.T. people to take their own defense seriously, and to question the left-leaning institutions that tell them guns are bad, and should be left to the professionals. Become a professional. You’re allowed. That’s what the Second Amendment is for. We can fight back when our lives depend on it.
Big steps happen when gun packs branch out.
Prediction: The next specialty gun groups to mobilize will be, in descending order: disabled people, seniors, and “the mentally ill”. (The latter being all of us, except for the busybodies who define insanity, but those folks wouldn’t be reading this blog, unless they’re paranoid and planning to terrorize all of us gunfolk.)
Together, let’s see how this story unfolds. Send a thank you note to Nicki and the New York Times, while you’re at it.
Lastly, I’m not forgetting about the white guys. It goes unsaid: you’re already at the tippy-top of the endangered species list.
Now, the next eight times some right-wing nut goes on a shooting spree, they’ll have “but James Hodgkinson!” at the ready.
So be it. I abhor this shooting, and I abhor all such shootings. And while I would agree that it was a damn good thing that the police were there, I would not agree that that just proves that more people should have guns so that more Hodgkinsons can be stopped before inflicting the maximum damage. Teachers and regular citizens aren’t cops. They don’t do repeated drills on taking down perps, and they shouldn’t.
Michael Tomasky
June 15, 2017
One Left-Wing Gunman Doesn’t Make a Movement
[I found it very telling that he went through a long list of political assassinations. He correctly labeled almost all the assassins as left-wing. He exempts John Wilkes Booth from the left-wing label even though he almost for certain was a Democrat and murdered a Republican. Not one of the assassins listed is “right-wing”, and I can’t think of any of the many mass shooters in our country one could call “right-wing”. In fact they almost all clearly identify as Democrat with some being apolitical.
Tomasky then predicts something about “the next eight times some right-wing nut goes on a shooting spree”… Well, if past performance is an indicator of future results then there will be about 500 left-wing mass shooters before we get eight right-wing shooters. And this doesn’t even get into the leftist governments who were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of millions of people in the 20th century.
It’s true, teachers and regular citizens aren’t cops. But it is clearly false that we don’t do repeated drills shooting bad guys. There were 90 people doing essentially that at the match I was at last Sunday (I came in 9th out of 24 in my division). And the weekend before there were 26 people doing at the match I participated in (I came in 1st out of 10). Every weekend and many week days there are matches in my area where hundreds of people practice shooting bad guys. Some of us are very, very good at this.
So, why does he claim we shouldn’t be doing this? The only reason I can think of is that he wants us to feel, and be, defenseless against both the left-wing individuals and the left-wing governments.
At one level it amuses me to see someone relate a large body of substantially correct data and then have that person arrive at a conclusion completely at odds with their own data. But on another level it’s a very sad commentary on the irrationality of the ordinary human.—Joe]