Quote of the day—Lothar

Posted on by

Anyone who objects to real background checks for ALL gun purchases is an IDIOT!

And, yes I own guns, and was a member of the NRA back in the 1950’s before it was taken over by survivalist unregulated white trash militia nuts.

Lothar
July 7, 2014
Comment to Editorial: In competing gun measures — Yes, on I-594; No on I-591 Support universal background checks for all gun sales. Initiative 594 moves Washington ahead. Initiative 591 is on the ballot to inhibit progress.
[This is what they think of you. Don’t forget that. This is not “reasoned discourse” in the sense of polite company. These people regard you as a “white trash” idiot. And they think you need to be “regulated”. I know where this sort of contempt leads. I won’t be going there. It will be far better for everyone concerned if this initiative is soundly defeated at the polls.

I also find it “interesting” that the Seattle Times editorial board considers it “progress” to criminalize taking a new shooter to the range and letting them use my guns for a few minutes without a background check and transfer paperwork each time the gun changes hands. It also applies to my loaning a gun to friend for a few days even if the friend was in fear of her abusive ex carrying out his death threat. That’s “progress” from the “progressive” mindset.

This incredible burden on gun owners and the right to keep and bear arms is very similar to I-676 in 1997 (it required “a valid handgun safety license” instead of a background check) . We used that screw up against them in the campaign and defeated them (see also here). I would say these people just don’t learn, but to the best of my knowledge none of the high level people who were active in I-676 are involved in I-594. Many of our people are veterans of that fight.

But I’m nearly certain this fight will be tougher than the I-676 fight. We were able to outspend our I-676 opponents. This time Bloomberg can easily dump whatever it takes to outspend us. Our strengths will be tens of thousands of volunteers, the veteran leaders, and millions of gun owners who will come to the polls.

The last fight was nasty. Our people had yard signs stolen every night from their yards and signs on public property in the Seattle area had to be replaced every week. Even though this was against the law the anti-gun people openly encouraged people to removed them because they were “unsightly.” Cars with pro-gun bumper stickers were vandalized.

The anti-gun people lied to the media. The media nearly ignored our 3000 person rally and gave “equal coverage” to the four counter protesters. The media used video of our assembly line making materials for doorknob hangers with a voice over saying the anti-gun people were a grassroots organization.

This fight will be just as nasty. The quote above is just the tip of iceberg. Expect vandalism. Expect to be called terrible names and be accused of terrible things. These people do not regard you and I as worthy of politeness or respect. They want you “reeducated” or eliminated.

Remember the words of Charlton Heston, “It is evil, and we must defeat it.”—Joe]

The good, the bad, the ugly

Posted on by

The last few times I used my AR it would occasionally “double”. I thought maybe it was just dirty and cleaned it. It didn’t do it for a while then it did it again. I cleaned it then when I had the private party last month it did it when it only had a few rounds after being cleaned. I set the gun aside and used a different one.

About three weeks ago I removed the trigger group and was going to replace the springs. That surely was the problem, right?

I was dismayed at the state of the important surfaces.

This is a known good hammer and trigger:

IMG_0739IMG_0740

And cropped down to just the interesting parts:

IMG_0739CroppedIMG_0740Cropped

This is the bad hammer and trigger:

IMG_0741IMG_0743

Again, cropped to just the interesting parts:

IMG_0741CroppedIMG_0743Cropped

Do you see the difference? That’s some ugly wear on those critical surfaces. I believe that was the source of the problem.

It would have been really ugly if the ATF took a dislike to me. A gun malfunctioning like that can result in a prison sentence. It’s not right. The law should be fixed. The ATF should abolished or at least have it’s “claws trimmed”. But that is the way it is.

I’m pretty sure the known good trigger group parts fixed the problem. I have probably 300 rounds through it without issue now.

Random thought of the day

Posted on by

If putting serial numbers on bullets is a good idea to help solve crimes involving guns wouldn’t it also be a good idea to put them on prescription pills to track down whoever is supplying those who abuse those drugs? Or how about serial numbers on cigarettes to help prevent cigarettes from getting into the hands of underage smokers? Or tracking the serial numbers on paper money to combat the recreational drug trade?

The answer is no to all these ideas. Anyone that suggests serial numbers on bullets is as stupid and/or ignorant as someone who suggests serial numbers be tracked on the other items.

Quote of the day—John Walsh

Posted on by

I’ve suggested to the NRA that if they continue to terrorize Congress and they want everyone to have an AR-15 or an AK-47, that in the stock of that gun you should implant a GPS chip. It has nothing to do with civil liberties — just put in them what I have in my cellphone and what you and everyone has. When I lost my iPad they activated it and tracked it down and I went, ‘This works.’ So if you put this GPS in that AK-47 and a responsible owner gets robbed, now you can catch the dirt bag selling it to the illegal gang-banger, the guy who committed those 11 murders in Chicago. Forget about civil liberties — if you use a credit card, you’re already in Big Brother’s computer.

John Walsh
July 11, 2014
10 things John Walsh said about gun control, the NRA and more
[GPS chip? And then what? It also needs the cellphone modem, the battery, the antennas, and the account with the cell phone provider. This is so easy to defeat that a fourth grader could do it. And that assumes the battery wasn’t already dead when the gun was stolen.

Which is it “It has nothing to do with civil liberties?” Or is it “Forget about civil liberties?”

The government having your credit card history is small potatoes compared to the government being able to track the movement of your guns in real time. And who says it’s okay for Big Brother to have your credit card history?

The other nine things Walsh said were just as stupid as this one.—Joe]

Rights+ vs Rights-

Posted on by

There are two main views on “rights”: positive rights, and negative rights.

Negative rights are those rights that say you (or the government) can’t do something to me. For example, you CAN’T take my guns. You CAN’T throw me in jail forever without charging me. They impose a restriction on someone else’s actions.

Positive rights are those that say you (or the government) must do something for me. For example, you MUST provide me with health care. You MUST keep me safe.

It is very rare that conflicts arise between competing negative rights. But problems arise often and in nasty ways with positive rights, because your positive right imposes an obligation on other people, that is, it requires active coercion on other people to secure those items and services and provide them to you, but there is no reciprocal duties placed upon you. But that, obviously, sets up a whole chain of conflicts.

The demands and costs of negative rights are, by definition, limited. They require little more than restraint, doing nothing.

Positives rights are an illusion, they cannot stand, they are not compatible with freedom, they are synonymous with slavery, abuse, stagnation, and lawlessness, because the demands (coercion required) of positive rights are without limit, and therefore destructive to the public weal.

A step toward common sense gun laws

Posted on by

I’m all for common sense gun laws. The current laws restricting the exercise of our specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms are nonsensical.

Here is just a small sample of the stupidity of some of them:

  • Short barreled rifles are restricted. You are allowed to own a handgun with a barrel shorter than 16 inches but if you cut the barrel and/or stock of a rifle down approaching the size of a handgun you go to jail.
  • Noise suppressors are required on cars but restricted on firearms. Then the neighbors of ranges complain about the noise.
  • Most states don’t have laws against openly carrying a firearm. But if you carry it concealed they have a problem. Even though some ignorant and/or malicious people threaten to, or do, call the police if someone openly carries a gun.
  • Some guns are illegal to be imported into the U.S. But the same exact gun is perfectly legal if “enough” of its parts are made in the U.S. “Enough” is subject to the whims of regulators at the ATF.
  • You are required to have a FFL to be “in the business” of selling firearms. It is okay if you occasionally sell or trade guns from your own collection. But if you sell or trade “too many” guns the ATF will charge you with “being in the business” without a license. They refuse to tell us how many is “too many”.

All of these are weak links that I think are should be challenged in court before some of the more difficult issues like “high capacity” magazines, “right to carry”, “Roster of Handguns Certified for Sale”, “micro-stamping”, etc.

This doesn’t mean that I think anything other than “shall not be infringed” should be the final objective. It’s just that I’m a big proponent of picking the low hanging fruit first.

To that effect today we have the CCRKBA announcing they are attempting to pick some of that low hanging fruit:

CCRKBA FILES LAWSUIT CHALLENGING FEDERAL LAW ON HANDGUN PURCHASES

Tuesday, July 15th, 2014

BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has filed a lawsuit today in federal court in Texas against Attorney General Eric Holder and B. Todd Jones, director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, challenging the current federal law prohibiting cross-state handgun purchases.

CCRKBA brings this lawsuit on behalf of its members throughout the country, who would legally buy and sell handguns outside of their home states, just as they currently do with long guns. Joining CCRKBA as plaintiffs in the case are Texas resident Fredric Russell Mance, Jr., and Tracey Ambeau Hanson and Andrew Hanson, both of Washington, D.C. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth division. Financial assistance for the lawsuit is provided by the Second Amendment Foundation.

CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, noting that his organization rarely pursues a legal action of such magnitude, said today’s lawsuit is necessary to advance the right to keep and bear arms for all citizens. He said current law essentially criminalizes the interstate handgun market, which does not apply to the sale of rifles or shotguns.

“It is overreaching, if not downright silly, in today’s environment with the federal instant background check system to perpetuate a prohibition on interstate handgun purchases that has outlived its usefulness,” Gottlieb observed. “If a law-abiding citizen can clear a background check and legally purchase a handgun in his own state, he would pass the same background check just across the border in another state.”

This is very important to District of Columbia residents, who can now legally purchase rifles and shotguns from federally-licensed gun dealers in neighboring states, but they still may not purchase handguns. Plaintiff Mance is a federally licensed firearms dealer who would sell handguns directly to consumers in other states, but under current law, he is prohibited from doing so. The Hansons are fully qualified under federal law, and laws in Texas and the District of Columbia, to purchase and possess handguns.

“Federal law allows for interstate long gun sales,” Gottlieb noted, “as long as the dealer follows the law, so what’s the logic of the federal government banning interstate handgun sales? Some states allow for, or even welcome, interstate handgun sales, so what’s the federal government doing?”

Quote of the day—Rolf

Posted on by

They do not care about productive contributions. They are about marginalizing, hatred, bigotry, and challenging any threat to their worldview. They are like a teenager who KNOWS!!1! they are right. They have their stereotypes, and will cling to them tightly, because like a vampire fears sunlight these sorts of minds fear reality; they know outside their temporary bubble, where they imagine they are safe because the illusion has been going on for so long, they wouldn’t stand a chance, and that thought terrifies them. SO, rather than face their fears, they retreat further into their imaginary world, where the law IS the effect, where the average person is bad but government people are good, where real independence is bad and dependence is good, where things are good or evil, and where facts and ethics are all relative.

Rolf
July 14, 2014
Comment to Quote of the day—Qrys Bin Thynkn (@QrysBinThynkn)
[In this particular case I agree completely with Rolf but perhaps not in more general instances. This particular immature, name calling, bigot read my blog post about him and continued with the penis insults on Twitter here, here, and here:

The fact that you felt the need to single out my quote tells everyone that you do, in fact, have a small penis. 😉

And you still comment. LOL!! Must be really small. 😉

Do you think these small penis gun advocates realize by ripping into my post they are basically admitting they have a small penis?

Logic and facts are beyond the capability of this guy. There is no such thing as debate using facts, benefits versus hazards, or rights versus reasonable regulation. It about delivering the last lame insult.

I guess you have to play the hand you were dealt. And if that is all that you have you do the best you can with it. But it’s still a losing hand.—Joe]

I can explain it to you, but I cannot make you understand

Posted on by

I designed the UltiMAK optic mount for the Kalashnikov to align itself with the barrel (fancy that). There is a radius on the underside, which engages the barrel (something like. V-block, but we’ll call it an “interrupted radius”) so as the clamp screws are tightened, it simply WILL align with the barrel unless something interferes with that process. The “something” that can interfere is the gas block or the rear sight block, or more specifically, a radical misalignment of the gas block with the rear sight block.

The mount has several features that allow it to accommodate a slight to moderate misalignment of those two parts, and so there is a fraction of one percent of AKs (usually Romanian) that cannot properly accept the UltiMAK mount, but I digress.

Continue reading →

Gun Cartoon of the Day

Posted on by

MarkleysLaw

It’s another Markley’s Law Monday! Via email from Weer’d Beard.

Quote of the day—Qrys Bin Thynkn (@QrysBinThynkn)

Posted on by

[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday! Via Mark (‏@tazcat2011).

It’s mind boggling how stupid some people are. In what universe does this even begin to make sense or have any hope of making a productive contribution to a discussion about gun ownership?—Joe]

I’m the reasonable man

Posted on by

I took a firearms class today to get the new Idaho Enhanced Concealed Weapons License. Mike (from the link) taught the legal portion of the class. During the class he said the criteria for many lethal force self-defense situations is what a “reasonable man” would have done in the same circumstances. He used me as an example of such a person, “We need an EE as our reasonable man, right?” He also suggested I send him a picture of myself to add to his slide. So, within five minutes I had taken a selfie and emailed it to Mike.

This evening I received an email from Mike without text. It just contained a PDF of the slide:

ReasonableMan

Therefore, just so you know, I’m the quintessential Reasonable Man.

Quote of the day—Eric Krupin

Posted on by

“The Gulag Archipelago” is not beach reading. (Although Solzhenitsyn’s searingly sarcastic style makes it anything but a dry collection of facts.) The evil that it obsessively documents is so dark that even reading about it is often difficult to bear. But anyone with pretentions of understanding the world we live in needs to go through it from first page to last.

But if you aren’t willing to make the effort, here’s the lesson boiled down for you: Totalitarianism doesn’t begin with a Stalin or a Hitler. It begins with *you*, on the day that you let a government become more powerful than the people it governs. Remember that or someday it might not be the Russians or the Jews or the Serbs that the men with guns come for. It just might be you…

Eric Krupin
June 13, 2001
Comment to Amazon’s listing of The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation (Volume One).
[For many years I put off even considering these books because they were so massive. I couldn’t imagine the topic could be interesting enough to keep me going. I imagined it to be an exhaustingly long, dry, and difficult slog.

I was wrong. I was very wrong.

I’m not sure how Solzhenitsyn did it. I’m not sure I see it as “searingly sarcastic” although there is some of that. Maybe it’s that he didn’t do a chronological telling of his eight years in prison from his arrest, through interrogation, transport to the various prisons and labor camps and the conditions there. You get that in bits and pieces but you also get those same aspects from the perspective of numerous other survivors who were in different interrogation centers, on trains, and in different camps and prisons.

You learn about the economics of the slave labor. You learn how the edicts of production “norms” resulted in the falsification of records at the slave labor camp where raw materials were harvested (trees, clay for bricks, ore for metal, etc.), continuing through the transportation, storage and distribution facilities, and then finally having the nonexistent finished product “stolen” or “destroyed by weather”. At each stage the people responsible had strong incentives to continue the fraud and did.

The lies told for public relations were amazing. The canal built with hand labor in 30 months “without a single fatality”. There were 100,000 people who started on the project and there were 100,000 when they finished the project. Never mind the 250,000 replacements brought in during the course of the project.

Stalin wanted the canal built in 30 months and no one dared to fail in completing it on time. As in software on a tight schedule features were removed during the course of the project until they did meet the schedule. The canal was only 14 feet deep in places. Only the smallest of ships could traverse it and traffic was near zero when it was finished.

It is an amazing set of books and I agree with Krupin. Read them. And stop that from happening here.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Glenn Reynolds

Posted on by

When police trespass on your property to stop you videoing them, you should be allowed to kill them, put their heads on pikes as a warning to others, sell their organs to Chinese organleggers, and use the money to buy billboards mocking their superiors for lawlessness.

It’s a modest proposal, but it would probably reduce misconduct.

Glenn Reynolds
July 10, 2014
MY LAW REFORM PROPOSAL
[I was a little surprised to see this from a law professor but I can see a case to be made for the proposal.

I suspect we would only have to have a national discussion about the merits of such a reform to effect a change in police attitude.—Joe]

Idaho sunset

Posted on by

I’m in Idaho for my nieces wedding and although I could have stayed at Dad’s house the weather is really warm and I like sleeping under the trees in a sleeping bag. So I went to Boomershoot Mecca and put pads and a sleeping bag and pillows down. As I was getting settled I saw the sun setting.

IMG_0732Adjusted

The picture doesn’t do it justice.

It’s a full moon tonight too.

I wish Barb could have come with me. It would have been perfect.

1911 ‘smithing

Posted on by

A little while back I asked some 1911 barrel questions. I had mistakenly ordered the wrong sort of Storm Lake Barrel, (needed the non-ramped) and wondered about the best path forward. After reading the comments (thanks, everyone, very educational!) and a bit of Bing-fu I contacted John at JPL Precision. I talked to him for a little while, then returned my wrong barrel to MidwayUSA (great customer service) and dropped off my fairly stock Colt 1991A1 to fit a new barrel.

My requirements were minute-of-bad-guy accuracy and magazine-of-OH-SHIT! reliability. Yeah, I’m a “tools guy” sort of shooter. He ordered the proper KKM Precision threaded barrel for me, fitted it properly so it’s nice and tight (noticeably tighter lockup than previously, and he pointed out the wear patterns on the factory barrel that were not good, but typical of Colts) with a Wilson Combat hardened link, test-fired it, and got it back to me in about a month, for less than the cost of the back-ordered-until-October Storm Lake barrel by itself. I haven’t had a chance to test-fire it rigorously with my normal ammo, magazines, and all that, but so far things are looking good. Guess I’ll have to go to the range soon, so I can post an update.

Side note: Anyone have a good link/source of images that show normal and atypical or dangerous wear patters, showing how a well-used gun should and shouldn’t show where things are rubbing, demonstrating proper and improper fitting/timing for a barrel? Not really necessary, for anything, just curious.

Quote of the day—Michael Bloomberg

Posted on by

In Colorado, we got a law passed. The NRA went after two or three state Senators in a part of Colorado where I don’t think there’s roads.

Michael Bloomberg
July 8, 2014
Michael Bloomberg Isn’t Afraid of the NRA
[The comment by Luvs2Brew addresses the facts better than anyone else I have seen so far:

First off the NRA did not initiate or even engage in these recalls until the very end. Many of us complained they were actually way late to the game. This was a grass roots recall by Coloradans who did not like the idea of our elected officials selling our rights out to out of state interests like Bloomberg.

Second, these recaps were not in rural areas where there were no roads. One was in Colorado Springs, home to the US Olympic Training Center, Cheyenne Mountain, the US Air Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base and Fort Carson. The other was in Pueblo which is just south of us on I-25. And yes we have roads, and airports and indoor plumbing. So Bloomberg is either completely out of touch, or just a flat out liar.

I’m going with “completely out of touch” and mind boggling arrogance by someone who is unable to stop himself from lying.—Joe]

Olympic Arms, Inc. 1911 Production Suspended

Posted on by

I received following via email today. I have never even held a Olympic Arms 1911 in my hands but it still made me a little bit sad:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Olympic Arms, Inc. 1911 Production Suspended

Raw materials, supply chain issues and Staffing cause a decision to delay production and archive current orders.

OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON, USA. 10 JULY, 2014 –

Olympic Arms has a rich history of 1911 production. Since having acquired both the M.S. Safari Company, and the Randall Corporation in the late 1980’s and combining them into Safari Arms, Inc. our 1911’s took the market by storm and set new standards for quality, reliability and accuracy in a reasonably priced 1911. Safari Arms also grew internationally, becoming one of Europe’s most desired 1911’s. Owning our own casting house and tooling allowed us to keep a close eye on quality control from molten steel to finished product. Manufacturing our own famous broach-cut National Match grade barrels from bar stock in-house, gave us the ability to provide unprecedented accuracy for hundreds, even thousands less than other brands.

Since that time, the 1911 industry has exploded, and the market has changed significantly. More recently, our company was forced to close our casting facility in Costa Mesa, CA, and our machines and tooling had to be relocated to a new facility that is still unable to produce our parts to the standards we require. That project is still on-going, but does not hold a great deal of promise. Lastly, our Master 1911 Pistolsmith of over 20 years, Mr. Richard Neimer passed away very unexpectedly this past November. The collective results of these events have caused such an interruption in production of raw materials, parts and assemblies that have up to this point, been insurmountable.

Therefore, due to this combined set of circumstances, both in-house and within our manufacturing chain, circumstances we have had little or no control over, Olympic Arms is announcing today, and with great regret, the cancellation of all current orders for 1911 pistols, as well as 1911 frames and slides.

With the reputation and history behind the Safari Arms/Olympic Arms 1911 products, we have decided that we must continue to provide the same quality product, an excellent and affordable shooting experience for our customers, or we will not re-enter the 1911 market.

All unfulfilled 1911 orders will then be kept in an archived folder pending the conclusion our management’s decision on how to best continue, or whether to continue at all, the production of our 1911 products. Should Olympic Arms move forward with the production of 1911’s within the next 12 months, we will honor all of the archived orders at their originally ordered price. Should the decision be made that we cannot continue the 1911 product line and maintain the standards our customers have become accustomed to, all dealers with archived orders will be notified of this decision, at which point all archived orders will then be permanently canceled.
We deeply regret that these unexpected circumstanced have caused confusion, continued delay and extreme inconvenience on the part of our dealers and their customers. We will continue to move forward evaluating the continuation of our 1911 product line, and will alert you of any decision made with urgency.

Sincerely,
tom-sig
Tom Spithaler
Sales Dir.
Olympic Arms, Inc.

The science isn’t settled

Posted on by

While it’s true many environmentalists take a dim view of lead bullets and are sloppy with the facts regarding them this report is certainly subject to debate even though there is some truth to it:

Highlighting increasingly dangerous conditions within the city, a new study published Monday by Northwestern University’s Department of Environmental Studies revealed that approximately 75 percent of the air in Chicago is now composed of bullets.

The authors of the study suggest “that Chicago’s 2.7 million residents stay indoors whenever possible in order to minimize their exposure”. But I am of the opinion they should prosecute their politicians, legalize recreational drugs, prosecute and jail gang members, let the disarmed victims shoot back, and the air would clear up naturally over the course of a year or two.

Remington 700 trigger settlement

Posted on by

As you probably already heard (via Say Uncle) Remington has reached a settlement regarding millions of their Remington 700 rifles sold since the 1960s. If that involves a recall or even a visit to your local gunsmith it could be a long time before you get your rifle(s) fixed and back in your hands.

I would like to suggest you do what I did (now that my trigger was shipped a few minutes ago) and that is order a Timney Remington 700 replacement trigger.

I have their triggers on two other types of rifles. They are amazing. There is zero perceptible take up or creep. It’s like breaking glass. Seriously. It’s what you think happened. A small glass rod must have just broken.

I have the instructions from Timney on how to replace the trigger in a Remington. It looks to be easy and straightforward. I’m going to replace the trigger on my rifle before I fire another shot. Get yours on order before the backlog gets too long.

Clarification: I should have also said that I have no firm opinion on whether the Remington trigger is in fact defective. But if you do not have your gun “repaired” (whether you think it needed it or not) and have an accident involving the trigger it might increase your liability. Why risk it? Yes, the Remington trigger has a crisp break and had a great reputation for decades. But you can get a better trigger and install it for less than $150.

Quote of the day—John Prager

Posted on by

With conservatives’ obsession with guns there is no more surefire way to make oneself a god amongst the Teabilly crowd than to lure them in with a smile and an AR-15. On Thursday, Clint Didier, a Tea Party Republican, announced that he will be giving away two Ruger 2300 LC9 pistols and a DB-15 S rifle in an effort to gain support in his bid for retiring Washington Rep. Doc Hastings. Hastings is just the latest to prey upon conservatives’ paranoid ‘Yer not gonna git mah guns’ attitude. Who else has joined in this new tradition of winning over stupid people with weaponry?

John Prager
June 21, 2014
Death Dealers: Pathetic GOP Candidates Are Giving Away Assault Rifles to Buy Votes
[If the title of the article were actually true then wouldn’t they have to give a select fire rifle to everyone who agreed to vote for them? Or would it be one for each community and they would share it?

The entire article is filled with logical and factual errors. Did you catch the error above where he says “bid for retiring Washington Rep. Doc Hastings”? I didn’t know you could bid on people. Is Hasting going to be Didier’s slave if he has the winning bid?

Yet he thinks we are the stupid ones. Mr. Prager, Have you ever heard of projection?—Joe]