We do know that race and poverty are correlated. And we know that poverty and crime are correlated. And we know that race and political affiliation are correlated. Therefore, my team (Clinton) is more likely to use guns to shoot innocent people, whereas the other team (Trump) is more likely to use guns for sporting and defense.
…
So it seems to me that gun control can’t be solved because Democrats are using guns to kill each other – and want it to stop – whereas Republicans are using guns to defend against Democrats.
One might even be able to make the case that the Second Amendment isn’t only not about hunting–it’s about protecting us from liberals.
A modification to Adam’s claim is that Democrats want to control (and failing that, kill) those who oppose them. And removing the means of defense against that is their true motive.
Today Defense Distributed announces the official launch of the second generation of its Ghost Gunner CNC mill, the GG2. Over the last two years, and with volumes of input from our customers, we’ve slowly revised and revised our specifications, electronics and tools to create a more ideal version of our machine– purpose-built for finishing AR and other firearm receivers.
This is hearing protection (30 db) and enhancement (they claim “6X” which I suspect means about 8 db) that fits in your ear. The difficulty of getting a good check weld on your rifle will just go away but you can still hear and have good sound protection. You can wear whatever hat you want with them and you can carry them in a small pocket wherever you go.
Their media release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Greg Duncan Blue Heron Communications (800) 654-3766 Greg@blueheroncomm.com
ProSounds Launches H2P Hearing Protection and Enhancement Earpieces via Indiegogo Supporters offered opportunity for steep discounts
DRAPER, Utah (June 22, 2016) – ProSounds® Powered by Axil continues its mission to bring the most advanced hearing protection and enhancement devices to the civilian, industrial, shooting and military/police sectors with the launch of the H2P Earpieces on Indiegogo. Consumers can receive the H2P earpieces at a discounted price.
Supporters who back the ProSounds Indiegogo campaign will enjoy discounted rates that increase along with the amount of product purchased. Consumers and businesses that take advantage of the larger packages will receive the greatest savings. The Indiegogo campaign begins June 22 and will run through July 22.
“The H2P earpieces will change how people protect their hearing,” said ProSounds President and Founder Weston Harris. “They deliver high-quality, high-tech hearing protection and enhancement without the inconvenience of bulky head muffs or uncomfortable behind-the-ear devices. Lightweight and low-profile, the H2P will benefit anyone who experiences loud sounds throughout their everyday life.”
Designed to provide 100 percent digital protection and enhancement in one simple device, the new ProSounds H2P earpieces represent the newest advancement in hearing protection. Engineered with Lynx™ Digital Sound Clarity for optimal performance, the H2P earpieces deliver amplification of up to six times higher than normal hearing while simultaneously blocking any potential damaging noises in excess of 85 decibels.
The H2P earpieces are small and discreet and feature adjustable volume control, which allow users to easily select their preferred hearing level for each ear. Three styles of tips with the universal SecurFit™ design allow for all-day comfort whether at the range, workplace or in the field. Perfect for hunting, shooting range sessions, sporting events, concerts and industrial workplaces, the H2P provides the best digital compression hearing protection technology available.
The H2P earpieces are a great option for anyone who needs quality hearing protection and enhancement. With damage to hearing beginning at 85 decibels, 140 million Americans put their hearing at risk while at work, shooting ranges, hunting trips, sporting events and more. Designed with a comfortable fit and featuring high-quality digital compression, anyone who experiences loud noises can benefit from the H2P earpieces.
Axil, parent company of ProSounds, is the industry leader of hearing enhancement and protection technology, and has been helping people around the world improve and protect their hearing for over 57 years. To learn more about the ProSounds H2P Indiegogo campaign, please visit Indiegogo.
I started writing about such instances of “lying for justice” 20 years ago, and it has only gotten worse.
I don’t think people appreciate how pernicious and widespread this crowdsourced totalitarianism really is. Routine lies in the service of left-wing narratives are justified in the name of “larger truths,” while actual truth-telling in the other direction is denounced as hate speech or “triggering.”
We need to stand up to these lying totalitarians. Confront them, shame them, and tell them they can either tell the truth or be publically disgraced.—Joe]
Elizabeth May Leader of Canada’s Green Party referring to AR-15s, the most popular rifle in the United States. June 16, 2016 Canadian gun enthusiasts and their truly bad timing [Don’t ever let any get away with telling you no one wants to take your guns.—Joe]
This is just my job. So said the guy gathering signatures at the grocery store.
One of the initiatives he was promoting was designed to get more guns out of the hands of law abiding people.
When I saw his booth and the anti-gun language, I resolved to talk to him on my way out of the store.
He partly completed his spiel when I stopped him, told him about the Pink Pistols, and invited him out to the range.
“I’ll pay for everything. I want you to have more personal experience with handguns.”
His reply: “This is just a job for me. I’m a gun owner.”
I don’t remember my reply, but it was not what I was thinking:
Quisling.
Judenrat.
To make others defenseless because you are getting a paycheck.
I’ve worked hard jobs that involve doing things I’d rather not do; we all have.
But to promote the removal of the right to self defense as a way of paying the bills… it makes my blood boil.
I’m not even going to name the initiative. It doesn’t matter.
EVERY restriction on the right to keep and bear arms, regardless of who it is aimed at, enables more Orlandos.
The only reasonable response to evil is to #ShootBack. The 300 people in Orlando were prevented from doing so by people like that initiative-gatherer who don’t want people armed in bars.
But 4 states allow firearms in bars and none are the Wild West shootouts the anti-self defense people imagine.
We will be as safe as possible only when everyone, regardless of skin color, gender, sexuality, or income, feels comfortable defending themselves with the best tools around.
And when they feel comfortable doing so everywhere they normally go.
The grocery store. The bar. To pick up their kids from school. On a flight to Grandma’s.
Mr. “Just-My-Job” doesn’t believe that. That’s okay.
I’m going to keep inviting people out shooting, and eventually the concept that self-defense is immoral will belong squarely in the dustbin of history.
I went to the range today and discovered the front sight on my Limited Division gun (STI DVC in .40 S&W) was slightly loose. At 10 yards it was shooting about 1.5 inches to the right.
Almost for certain was that way during the match on Saturday. It might of slightly increased the odds of a miss at the greater distances. But it probably didn’t make that much of a difference. Still, you want all the odds stacked in you favor for a major match and this time they were not.
I received an email tip about this and it sounded just a little too bad to be true. The incident supposedly happened June 2, so I went looking for more recent information and found this:
A story that’s circulating on social media and anti-Muslim and conspiracy-oriented websites is falsely claiming that three young Syrian refugees raped a young girl at knifepoint at an apartment complex in Twin Falls that supposedly is the site where about 50 Syrian refugees had been resettled – when in fact, no Syrian refugees have been resettled to Twin Falls. The story also charges that police failed to respond to the alleged incident in a timely fashion, which local authorities also say is false.
“There was no gang rape, there was no Syrian involvement, there were no Syrian refugees involved, there was no knife used, there was no inactivity by the police,” said Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs. “I’m looking at the Drudge Report headline: ‘Syrian Refugees Rape Little Girl at Knifepoint in Idaho’ – all false.”
I’ve fallen for this sort of thing before too. It was some outrageous gun related thing.
If something is an extremely close match to your belief system or worst fears you should examine it very carefully. Your mind “wants” to believe it and will easily ignore the warning signs that it is fabricated or exaggerated.
Sometime or another everyone will find, for a short time, they had crap for brains. Clean it out, learn from the experience, and don’t get fooled the next time.
A journalist tries to buy a gun. Gets denied. Hilarity ensues.
Short version: He’s doing a story of how easy it is to buy guns (complete with overwrought hyperbole), but he’s got a history of alcohol abuse and a domestic violence charge. Then he’s got the cluelessness to say “didn’t see that coming.”
The Washington State International Steel Shooting Association Championship match was yesterday. As I pointed out on Friday the match was scheduled to have more rain on that date than in the previous 32 years, for that date, combined. Okay. Since it has never rained in on that date in the last 32 years even 1/100 of an inch would have satisfied that criteria. But it wasn’t just a small fraction of an inch of rain and it was very unusual weather.
Bill W. (one of the Boomershoot Precision Rifle instructors since, essentially, forever) was one of the first people I said hi to when I arrived. After his greeting the first thing he said was, “Why does this remind me of Boomershoot?” My response, “I don’t know. Could it be the rain?” I’ve seen more rain at Boomershoot but in terms of an actual shooting match I don’t think I have ever seen so much rain.
Barb gets cold easy (her surface area to mass ratio asymptotically approaches infinity) and when we go on hikes she selects her clothes very carefully to avoid being cold. She tends to project her concerns onto me and for various occasions has given me clothing gifts to keep me warm and dry. I have rain pants and a rain coat with a liner which I took to the match. As near as I could tell, and another person commented on this as well, I was one of the best prepared people there. I was quite comfortable even when the water was running off my clothes in sheets:
The dark glasses were because those are my video glasses.
Because I was warm and dry as the rain picked up later in the match I ended up doing almost all the range officer work while the scorekeeper and shooters stayed under cover. The shooters would come out one at a time to shoot then go back under cover.
There were two people in our squad wearing shorts! Here is one of them:
On the way home my guns were out of their cases and drying out on the passenger side floor of my car and I dried the rest of my stuff out when I got home:
Here are pictures of the stages:
Stage 1: Change Of Pace.
Stage 2: Dot The Box
Stage 3: Mountaineer
Stage 4: Ouch
Stage 5: Pyramid
Stage 6: Stepped On
Stage 7: Texas Tree
Stage 8: Victory
My shooters point of view video:
It doesn’t show up in the video but when the rain was heavy there was a cloud of water ejected off the targets with each bullet impact. It made the hits much easier to see.
Looking at the individual stage results closely and comparing them to the stage designs I see where I did poorly compared to the competitors slightly above and below me. It turns out I did relatively poorly on stages 2 and especially 4. These are stage types that are difficult for me to practice at my usual range. Unless I have the training bay I can’t put up multiple large targets or targets with long transitions. That is what I’m going to concentrate on for a a while when I get access to the training bay.
I had the opportunity to watch Kolby Pavlock shoot a couple stages. While shooting rimfire pistol iron sights on stage 6, Stepped On his slowest time, which was thrown away, was 1.30 seconds. The complete time for his best four strings was 4.91 seconds. That is an average of 1.23 seconds to make five shots (less than 0.25 seconds per shot). My best time for this stage with the same gun type was 2.15 seconds. He was shooting, on average, in 57% of my best time. He also won the NSSF Rimfire Challenge World Championships last October at the age of 16. His YouTube channel is here.
After lunch his mother sat down across the table from me and chatted for quite a while. They live in Idaho and we talked about Idaho, kids, and shooting. One of the more interesting things she told me was that not many people at his school know about his shooting accomplishments. The school principal once asked her, “Do you let your kids play with guns?” She told her, “No. My kids don’t play with guns.” She told her quite a bit more as well but you can probably imagine the rest of the story.
It’s a lot more productive than huddling in a group holding candles or something. This is the difference between those who demand people be forcibly disarmed to “make us safe” versus those who offer to teach proven techniques and tools to actually protect innocent life.
No person that participates in terrorism should be allowed to acquire or possess firearms. And no one that is provably planning to commit a crime or heinous act like the tragedy in Orlando, Florida should be free to walk our streets. Terrorists and violent criminals should be arrested, tried, convicted, and imprisoned — or immediately deported, if they are in the United States by permission.
However, if a person is free enough to walk our streets, they should not be denied fundamental human rights due to their potentially erroneous presence on secret government lists.
Someone who is dangerous enough to be denied access to firearms because of alleged ties to terrorism should be arrested and prosecuted, not simply turned away at the gun store counter. As we’ve seen throughout history, people committed to doing evil will find an alternative means to carrying out a deadly attack.
7:00 AM tomorrow morning sign in starts for the Washington State ISSA Championship in Ephrata. Shooting starts at 8:00. The match is expected to be completed by 6:00 PM.
For those of you unfamiliar with Washington State it has a lot of desert. Ephrata is part of the desert. Notice in the bottom right corner of the image below that the record rainfall for this date was 0.00 inches in 1984.
That’s right, in 32 years it has never had measurable precipitation on this date.
Now notice the chance of rain during the match is 100% for several hours. Elsewhere I saw a forecast of 0.25 inches of rain for tomorrow. The range is composed of sand.
About 2:20 this afternoon a reporter from The Seattle Times called me. They explained they found my name on the Pink Pistols website as someone who is LGBTQ friendly and offering firearms training in the Seattle area. I suspect it was this Pink Pistols post which linked to Erin’s Operation Blazing Sword.
Lots of gun people will tell you, with good reason, to NOT talk to the media unless you know they are a known friendly. The debate between talking to him and saying I wasn’t interested in talking bounced around in my mind as I listened further. The Seattle Times has never treated me unfairly. They have been very anti-gun in general, but they have never misrepresented me. I decided to listen and make up my mind after I got an idea of what their angle was.
They wanted to know if I have had an increase in interest in instruction from people in the LBGTQ community since the Orlando shooting. Okay. Probably friendly, I decided.
He seemed very interested and perhaps was taking notes. I told him to send me an email (over two hours later and I still haven’t received it) and I would send him a bunch of links. He said, “That would be great!” This blog post is probably going to be the collection of links I send him.
He had one final question for me. “How do you identify?”. “I’m heterosexual”, I told him. I continued with, “I’m very straight. But I have a nephew who is gay and a close blood relative, who values her privacy, who is trans.”
He thanked me and told me he probably wouldn’t be doing much more work on the story until Monday.
We’ll see if I misjudged whether they were a friendly or not. There weren’t any strangely worded, leading, questions which hinted an a hostile narrative. So, I think, it will either turn out okay or will be dropped.
I added material to the NRA-ILA email to my legislators. Here is the final result which was sent:
As your constituent, I am writing you today to urge you to oppose any and all gun control legislation that may be considered in the wake of the terrorist attack in Orlando.
===== Begin personalized response =====
The Orlando shooter passed numerous background checks. “Universal” background checks could not have made a difference. A ban of the type of firearm used in the atrocity would not have prevented it as demonstrated by the fact that the Virginia Tech shooter used two handguns to similar effect.
If neither background checks or a ban on guns could have prevented this and yet legislators push for these laws I have to ask myself, “Why? What is their motivation to do something which cannot prevent such a tragedy in the future?” The only answers I can come up with is that such legislators are insane or evil.
The one thing that could have made a difference is for the staff and patrons of the club to have been able to defend themselves. As is nearly universal in mass shootings this was a “gun free” zone, mandated by law. These enabled an individual intent upon murder to do evil. If you believe legislation is required to “do something” then I ask you to urge the Florida state legislators to allow their citizens to defend themselves.
Yes, alcohol and guns are not a good mix. But other states, such as Idaho, allow guns in establishments which serve alcohol without undue problems. And all states allow people to drive to and from such establishments. Via social pressure we encourage “designated drivers” who don’t drink and drive to mitigate the risk. We can do the same for those able and willing to defend innocent life. These might well be called, “Designated defenders”.
===== End personalized response, Resumption of NRA message =====
Anti-gun elected officials are using this tragedy as an excuse to pass and promote their gun control agenda. The anti-gun proposals include: the reinstatement of the failed federal ban on semi-automatic firearms; increased federal funding of gun control research; a policy to use secret government lists to deny Second Amendment rights; and the creation of federal registration scheme.
While I do not condone the heinous acts that occurred in Orlando, this knee-jerk reaction by anti-gun legislators will only infringe on the ability of law-abiding citizens to exercise their right to self-defense.
Please stand up for our Second Amendment rights and reject any and all calls for new gun control legislation.
Thank you, and I await your response on this important issue.
Yeah, Congress. Grow a pair. Like King George did.
Bugei
June 16, 2016 Comment to Quote of the day—Andy Cohen @Andy
[Washington D.C. treats U.S. citizens as subjects rather than its employer so the comment is quite apropos. What will perplex so many people is the response from those who recognize that being treated like subjects is unacceptable behavior and refuse to tolerate this behavior from their public servants.—Joe]
