Uncategorized

Gun Nuts Last Night: Rep. Mike Murphy and Marko

Posted on by Caleb

What a show we had last night, especially for those of you that enjoy the political stuff.  We were pleased to welcome State Representative Mike Murphy of Indianapolis to the show for the first half of the show.  We had a great discussion on the bills that are in the Indiana General Assembly this year that will have a positive impact on gun owners in the state.  The primary focus was on Rep. Murphy’s bill, which is House Bill 1219.  This bill would limit access to the handgun permit database to law enforcement only, preventing what occured with the Bloomington paper and the Indy Star from happening again.  Also, Representative Murphy talked a bit about his bid for Indiana’s 5th Congressional District…which happens to be my district, so you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be voting for him.  If you’d like to listen to all of last night’s excellent show, click here.  Here is the .mp3 copy.

After Rep. Murphy, we welcomed Marko, the Munchkin Wrangler himself to the show as our featured blogger of the week.  Marko was great, as he usually is, talking about his upcoming novel, raising children in a house with guns, as well as one of his best posts ever, “Why the Gun is Civilization“.

To hear Marko’s great appearance, just click here for last night’s Gun Nuts Radio.  The show is also available, as always, on Gun Nuts Host - Gun Nuts Radio: The Next Generation of Shooting | Blog Talk Radio Feed - Gun Nuts Radio: The Next Generation of Shooting | Blog Talk Radio Feed by clicking the button!

Thanks again to our great guests, and all the listeners that took advantage of our new TalkBack Email box at [email protected]. Next week’s show is going to be great, as we’ll be talking about the new products launched at SHOT SHOW! Be here at 9pm Eastern next Tuesday for your inside scoop on SHOT!

NRA

We are all the NRA

Posted on by Caleb

And we are not just into politics.

It seems that to quite a few people, the letters “N-R-A” have been synonymous with “political activity”, and for good reason.  The NRA is the foremost and most effective group that defends our right to keep and bear arms, no question about that.  But NRA is a lot more than just a political group, and I think that gets lost in the shuffle a lot of the time.

NRA is more than politics – NRA is a shooting organization.  An incomplete list of all the NRA shooting sports runs the gamut from NRA Action Pistol (aka Bianchi Cup), NRA Collegiate Pistol, High Power Rifle, Smallbore rifle, National Police Shooting Championships, and just last three they dipped their toes into the 3-gun world, sanctioning their first “outlaw” 3-gun match.

That’s not all, either.  Just look at all the programs that NRA offers, that are completely outside the scope of their political activities!  Firearms training, hunter education, gunsmithing classes, youth safety classes, Eddie Eagle, the list goes on and on and on.  I am the NRA, because I am so much more than a political activist – I’m a shooter, a competitor, and an activist.  Yes, we win in the courts, in the legislative houses across the states; we also win when new shooters come on board, whenever a round goes downrange at an Action Pistol Match.

I’m the NRA, but the NRA is more than just politics.

Continue reading →

revolvers

Pick a snubbie

Posted on by Caleb

Say for the moment that you’re looking for a snub-nosed, compact revolver, and for some reason you’ve taken leave of your senses and have decided to not get a Smith & Wesson J-frame, a Ruger SP101, or a Ruger LCR.  Say that you’ve descended even further into madness and narrowed your choices down to a Taurus revolver, or a Charter Arms revolver.  Which one would you pick?  Taurus, made in Brazil; or Charter, made in the USA?

For me, I’d pick the Charter Arms gun. Not because I think it’s a better or worse gun, although the one Taurus snubbie I owned had the very worst trigger of any gun I’ve ever shot ever on it, which turned me off to Taurus guns. Plus, I figure that both the Taurus and the Charter have a high probability of throwing a part, so when they break I’d rather deal with Charter’s lifetime warranty than haranguing Taurus for 6-9 months to fix my $300 gun.

Uncategorized

Gun Nuts Radio tonight: Rep. Mike Murphy

Posted on by Caleb

Tomorrow night at 9pm Eastern time, we’re proud to be hosting Representative Mike Murphy on Gun Nuts Radio. Rep Murphy is the author/sponsor of a couple of pro-gun bills in the Indiana Assembly right now, and it’s our pleasure to have him join tomorrow night’s show.

For show information, we air on the Blog Talk Radio network, the first all online streaming radio network in the nation. The show can be heard live by going to Gun Nuts Radio The Next Generation of Shooting on Blog Talk Radio at 9pm Eastern on Tuesdays, and the archives can be downloaded by visiting that link at any time.

Don’t forget, that’s live tonight at 9pm at www.blogtalkradio.com/gunnuts!

handguns

Sig Sauer announces new ergonomic pistols

Posted on by Caleb

EXETER, NH (January 2010) – SIG SAUER, Inc., the leading manufacturer of commercial, law enforcement, and military firearms, has introduced the E² Enhanced Ergonomics versions of the benchmark P226 & P229 series of pistols. The SIG SAUER E² models provide improved handling for a wider range of shooters than ever before in two of the most popular SIG handgun platforms.

These should be on display at the 2010 SHOT SHOW.  More from Sig’s press release:

The E² Enhanced Ergonomics P226 & P229 are currently available in 9mm with Nitron finish and SIGLITE Night Sights. Both models ship in a hard carry case with three 15-round magazines and have an MSRP of $1,149.00. For more information, log on to http://sigsauer.com.

Three 15-round magazines?  Sign me up!  It’s too bad that the price is almost $1200, as that puts these out of the range of a lot of people looking for an affordable defensive handgun.  Still, the new gun is pretty cool looking.

self defense

Civil and animal rights activist beaten in victim disarmament zone

Posted on by Caleb

At least, that’s how this story should read.  There are multiple valuable lessons in this article for the armed citizen, and for anyone mindful of their own right to self defense.  Let’s begin at the beginning, though.

Daniel Hauff, 33, said he tried to quell a dispute between two men on the train when one of them, joined by two other riders, began yelling gay slurs and other taunts at him.

Tip number 1: Don’t be a hero. If two dudes are about to start throwing hands, or shoving, or shouting, or anything like that, remember these words: “It’s not my fight”. If you’re an armed citizen, or just someone riding the train, let those two jerks settle it themselves. Only intervene if your safety is at jeopardy.

Hauff said he pressed the emergency intercom, and the conductor came. But the conductor soon left, Hauff said, and the train started moving again.

Tip number 2: Don’t count on other people to be there to defend you. I think we can all agree on this one, that when seconds count, the police, the authorities, or the people with badges are minutes away. Ultimately you and you alone are responsible for your own safety. Don’t count on the law to be there when you need them…which is why you shouldn’t go looking for trouble (see tip number 1).

Hauff said the men beat him while the train was between the Wilson and Argyle stops. “And I never once threw a punch,” Hauff said. “It’s just not in my nature.” Hauff said he got away by wiping some of his blood on the attackers and telling them he was HIV-positive, which was not true.

Tip number 3: Don’t just stand there and get your ass kicked. Seriously, if you are even attacked, fight back. Once violence has started, the time for being passive is over. Mr. Hauff sort of got that by employing an unorthodox weapon, but this was a fight that never should have happened to begin with.

If there is one thing I would take away from this, it’s my personal self defense mantra: you always win the fight that never happens. Or more poetically: he who flees and runs away can run away another day. Until someone hands me a badge again, it’s not my job, it’s not your job, nor is it your responsibility to break up fights. You don’t have to play peacemaker or anything like that – you defend yourself, and if you feel so obligated, defend innocent bystanders; but if two jerks on the train want to punch each other’s lights out, I say grab some popcorn and enjoy the show.

IDPA

IDPA Latin America

Posted on by Caleb

Received via long form text from a friend:

My name is Jorge Su?rez, from Venezuela , and I?m IDPA Safety Officer Instructor. If you have attended any National Championship last years, surely you saw me helping in a stage. Else, nice to meet you.
I?m working very hard to create IDPA in different countries around the world, specifically in Latin America , and running some matches there. Due this, I want invite you to attend our next matches:

Brazilian Match: it will be held on Belo Horizonte , Brazil , and it?s coordinated by CBTD (Defensive Shooting Brazilian Confederation, in English). This 2-days match will be the first IDPA match in this country. Dates: March 13 & 14, 2010. This is not an IDPA sanctioned match. Information: www.cbtd.org.br (Mr. Sergio Bitencourt)

1st. Costa Rica International Match: a major and IDPA sanctioned match (see www.idpa.com) during 3 days: April 2, 3 & 4, 2010, in Costa Rica , a special country.. You can find a lot of information in English about this match. See www.acsicr.com (Mr. Alberto Soto)

I’m sending this information to you, as club contact, and I beg you that inform all your members and shooters who want to attend this exciting matches, and get the chance to visit this very beautiful countries. All coordinators in this countries have many information about tourism in this area, including beaches, volcanos, jungle, historic places, and many more.

Please, send this information to all IDPA shooter that you know. Any kind of information, just write me an email to: [email protected]

Take care.

Jorge Surez
www.ateca.com.ve
VENEZUELA

Shooting sports in Venezuela? Awesome.

Bianchi Cup/ICORE/IDPA/shooting/sports/USPSA

2010 Shooting Goals

Posted on by Caleb

In 2009, I set goals for myself for my shooting sports accomplishments.  Some of those goals were realistic, and some of them quite aptly demonstrate how unfocused I was in my goals in the shooting sports.  To put it mildly, very, very unfocused.  With that painful lesson in mind about setting realistic goals, here are my goals for 2010 which hopefully are a bit more realistic and focused than I was in 2009.

  • Shoot Master class in IDPA Enhanced Service Revolver division.

Right now, I’m Expert Class.  The last time I shot the qualifier, I missed Master by about 10 seconds, but there are places in that qualifier where I could easily shave that time in points or penalties.

  • Break 1600 in Bianchi Cup and/or finish in the Top 10 in Production Division.

Again, this is another goal that I’m right on the cusp of.  With limited practice and training time, I shot a 1458 last year, and finished in the Top 20 at Bianchi Cup.  I feel like focusing and practicing will allow me to improve on that finish if I actually dedicate some significant range time to preparing for The Cup.

  • Defend my Indiana State Steel Challenge Revolver Division title.

That one pretty much explains itself.

  • Win the Indiana State IDPA State Championship outright in Enhanced Service Revolver division.

Last year, I won my class/division, ESR Expert, but lost the overall division crown to a shooter that just plain outshot me.  Not this year.  My goal this year is to win the whole thing.

  • Shoot more USPSA revolver stuff
  • Improve my classification in ICORE Limited division to A-class.

I was overly ambitious with my goals last year.  Unfortunately, I let my eyes get bigger than my stomach in terms of the matches I wanted to shoot and things I wanted to do.  This year, the focus is on being realistic.  I want to set manageable goals, and I also don’t want to kill myself trying to make it to every major match in the country, all while trying to hold down a real job, a marriage, and some kind of life outside of the shooting sports.