The Indy 1500 starts today – I’ll be there after work this afternoon cruising the aisles for vintage Berettas. Specifically, I’m looking for a post WWII ’34 Beretta in 9mm Kurz to go with my WWII vintage ’35 Beretta in .32 ACP.
I’ll try and grab some pictures of what Tam describes as a “wamdigenous” (spelling?) gun show, and hopefully I’ll be able to A) find what I’m looking for and B) negotiate Mrs. Ahab into letting me burn the money on it.
I logged into Haloscan recently to see if anyone had been leaving comments at my old blog’s URL, and much to my shock and surprise I found out that people actually had, despite the fact that I haven’t posted any new content there in 6 or so months.
But I don’t want people to think I’m ignoring them, so I’ll answer your comments on the old blog right here.
From DH405:
Considering your taste for Zombie films and such paired with your shooting habit(er, hobby,) I would think you’ve seen these. But just in case :
Zombie range targets.
Awesome. I am going to order a 10 pack of those and take them with me next time I go to the range. No really, those are fantastic.
Also from DH405:
Do you use anything for loading the mags more easily? I have a P22 in the mail this week, and I was looking to see if there’s a good speed loader out there.
That question is in regards to my post on the Walther P-22, the post at the old blog is still in the top 15 google results for “Walther P22”. To answer the question though – no I haven’t, the magazines still suck to load and my thumb gets sore from holding that little stupid button down long enough to load all five of the mags I have for the gun.
From Peter:
What is the big deal with hats? That is the stupidest unfounded thing I have ever heard of….Makes me crack up if people are that lame in thought that they do something “because it shows respect”. It does no such thing. What a load O’ Crap. You try to knock my hat off and that’ll be the day partner.
This was in response to a really old post, entitled “Take your damn hat off“, in which I railed against people with poor manners. All I have to say to Peter is “thank you for proving my point”.
There are a whole bunch more comments that I’ve picked up in the last few months that I’ll slowly betting around to responding to.
But seriously, if you’re at my old blog, come over here. The party is on.
From Mrs. Ahab:
Why don’t you ask the Indians about what happens when you let the government take away your guns? Oh wait, you can’t because they’re all dead.
While not entirely true, it does make the adequate point that generally when the government disarms you, it’s not because they want to plant flowers in your backyard and sign songs around the campfire.
Crazy guy goes into bar intent on murdering a crapload of people – there is an armed man with a carry permit in the bar as well.
Predictably, a massive gunbattle with dozens of wounded bystanders ensued the bad guy shot a couple of people before the permit holder drilled him. Two innocent people were shot by the badguy, and then the shooter was put down by the guy with the carry permit.
What’s interesting to note is that the criminal shooter was shot while he was reloading – he had the intention and means to continue shooting and possibly kill/wound more people in the bar, but instead someone who was there and carrying ended the threat.
So as a quick review:
Honestly, this is pretty self-explanatory, I’m also amused by what amounts to a total lack of media coverage on this. Imagine if the CCW holder hadn’t been there, and the shooter had killed four or five more people; this story would be leading the news.
Unc keeps a list of all the times that armed citizens have been on hand to stop violent mass shooters before they turned into mass shooters – while anecdotes != data, it is very handy to be able to refer to actual incidents whenever someone on the anti-gun side brings up Columbine or VA Tech.
The other interesting item related to the shooting is the amount of hysterics that it’s introduced amongst a small set of people. Robb has a fantastic post up on debunking the op-ed about how the CCW holder should have tackled the guy or whacked him with a beer bottle. He quite accurately points out that life is not a movie, and people are rarely knocked unconscious with a beer bottle to the head.
Firearms in the hands of private citizens save lives – I am a big supporter of police, but the reality of the situation is that it would have taken them some time before they arrived at the bar where the shooting took place, and in that time more lives would have been lost.
The difference between pro and anti-gun factions is actually kind of subtle in situations like this, because anti gun people still want to be protected by a brave person with a firearm; the difference is that you or I believe that person can be Joe Everyman, and the anti-gun people want him or her to have a badge.
In case you hadn’t noticed, there is an election on in Indiana for the office of Governor. Unless you’ve never read my blog before, it should be pretty obvious by now that I’m supporting Mitch Daniels for governor, especially since his opponent is the rather objectionable Jill Long Thompson.
I honestly think that Mitch has been good for the state of Indiana; and he’s been especially good for Hoosiers who are concerned about the right to keep and bear arms, which is what I’m going to focus on today.
There has been a lot of talk amongst conservatives about “staying home” during the election to “teach the Republicans a lesson”, since they insisted on running John “Col. Tighe” McCain instead of a conservative. I can’t speak for the rest of the country, but we can’t afford to do that in Indiana, especially as gun owners. I don’t want to run the risk of losing a pro-gun governor with a demonstrated track record of signing legislation that supports the right to keep and bear arms, just because I want to “teach the party a lesson”.
Leave national politics out of the equation for a moment, and look at this election as purely an Indiana issue – purely a gun rights issue. Mitch signed two key pieces of pro-gun legislation during his term: park carry and lifetime permit laws.
Mitch signed the bill which would allow Hoosiers with carry permits to carry their legal firearms in Indiana’s state parks, so if you’re going backpacking at Turkey Run you don’t have to leave your .38 behind any longer. He also signed the “lifetime permit” law – for my out of state readers, Indiana allows qualified individuals to get a lifetime carry permit. I never have to go and renew my permit. Does anyone think that Jill Long Thompson would sign similar laws if she got elected?
If you don’t like McCain, that’s fine. I don’t like him very much either; but I’m not going to let my distaste for McCain keep me home in November, especially since I have an important local election. I can’t force people to vote for McCain, if you’ve already made up your mind to not vote in the presidential race, that’s your decision. All I can do is ask that if you’re an Indiana resident, you don’t let your dislike for McCain keep you from going to the polls come election time. If we do end up with an anti-gun president and Congress, it becomes even more important that we keep our pro-gun governor in the state house in Indiana.
Keeping Mitch Daniels around for another 4 year term is one of my personal top priorities – he’s been great for Indiana in general, and especially for gun rights in Indiana.
For people on the left, however, blacks are trophies or mascots, and must therefore be put on display. Nowhere is that more true than in politics.
You know, sometimes I wish I was an anti-gun person, because it must be really, really awesome to operate with impunity outside of the realm of logic and facts.
“Today we’re having a conversation on whether an SKS 47 (photo) should not be banned from use in the city of Philadelphia. Can you imagine having a conversation, having to fight back a challenge to some who would say that that should be okay, we should not ban that weapon.”
The photo shows both an SKS and a Kalashnikov pattern rifle, so I’m not sure which is the SKS47 they’re talking about. H/T to Sebastian for the story.
Honestly, I am actually getting tired of this. It is incredibly difficult to educate people about firearms when they get all their information from the media, because the media and politicians have no friggin’ idea what they’re actually talking about.
In three different articles about Mayor Bloomberg’s lawsuit against Adventure Outdoors (the last dealer left standing in Bloomie’s first lawsuit), two out of three major media outlets don’t actually know what a straw purchase is. The New York Times and Reuters both have misleading information up on what defines a straw purchase.
NYT: …[Bloomberg’s investigators] bought weapons in illegal “straw purchases” — those in which one person submits to a background check for a gun to be used by someone else.
…
Reuters: The city has accused dealers like Wallace of allowing “straw purchases,” a transaction where one person shops for a gun and then has someone else fill out the required federal forms to pass a background check.
Close, but no cigar. An actual straw purchase is where someone who is legally allowed to purchase a firearm purchases a firearm for someone who is legally barred from owning firearms, such as a convicted felon or someone subject to a restraining order. It may seem like a small distinction, but it’s an important one – under the definition of straw purchase put forth by the Times and Reuters, a wife buying a gun for her husband as a gift is a “straw purchase”, when in fact that’s perfectly legal.
The third major media outlet that has coverage of the Adventure Outdoors civil case, which went to trial yesterday, was the Atlanta Journal Constitution. They didn’t even define what a straw purchase is, but I’m confident that they probably would have messed it up as well.
Usage creep can actually be a tremendously damaging weapon against gun rights – if we allow the definition of “straw purchase” to gradually creep towards a more and more broad usage then we’re opening ourselves up for difficult battles in public perception. Remember, it’s illegal to buy a gun for someone that would be legally barred from owning a gun – that’s the definition of a straw purchase.
On a more personal note, I hope that the judge in this case tosses it out on its ear; Bloomberg sent private investigators to other states expressly to break the law and entrap law-abiding gun dealers. Ultimately, I agree with Jay Wallace, the owner of Adventure Outdoors when it comes to Bloomberg:
Wallace said “straw purchasers” New York sent to his Smyrna business simply found a way to entrap him and his business in a publicity stunt to draw attention to Bloomberg, should he run for another elected office, Wallace said.
This kind of tactic puts Mayor Bloomberg in the same category as the playground bully that used to beat kids up simply because he was bigger – I have a lot of respect for Jay Wallace for standing up to legal bullying of Bloomberg. I guess playground rules still apply, you have to stand up to bullies to get them to back off. If you want to support Jay Wallace’s court case financially, you can donate to the Bloomberg Fight Back Fund here.
In an effort to increase education regarding straw purchases and what FFLs can do to fight them, BATFE and NSSF are beginning a heavy launch for the “Don’t Lie for the other guy” campaign, starting in Memphis, Tennessee.
I’ve seen stickers for this at a couple of dealers and stores locally, and I fully support this effort – primarily because BATFE is working with NSSF to educate dealers instead of going after them for ticky-tac paperwork violations. The role of education and cooperation is one in which I support BATFE.
I would like to think that anything that will help licensed dealers avoid straw purchases and prevent them from being subjected to revocation proceedings by ATF as a result is a good thing. I may not agree with every gun law on the books, however I do think that the laws against buying firearms for people who are legally prohibited from purchasing guns (straw purchases) are good laws – having industry and law enforcement work together to educate dealers can only be a good thing.
Subway afraid of homeschoolers, yet can’t spell “United”.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Contest is open only to legal residents of the Untied States who are currently over the age of 18 and have children who attend elementary, private or parochial schools that serve grades PreK-6. No home schools will be accepted.
Where exactly are these Untied States?