Tag: editorial

ICORE moves International Revolver Championship to Universal Shooting Academy in Florida

In a press release that came out this weekend, the International Confederation of Revolver Enthusiasts announced that the 2016 International Revolver Championship will be held at Universal Shooting Academy in Frostproof, FL. This is a huge change, moving the match from the Hogue Action Pistol range in San Luis Obispo, CA.

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I think that Universal Shooting Academy is a fantastic facility and that they’ll do a great job hosting the match. I’ve shot probably a dozen matches at USA over the years, and with the exception of one IDPA Nationals where I needed SCUBA gear to shoot, I always had a great time.

But I don’t like this call, and that’s where this post changes from reporting the news to an editorial. To understand, you have to look at a little bit of shooting sports history. In 2011, I shot the last Steel Challenge that was held in its historic location in Piru, CA. It was awesome. 2012-2013 the match moved to Frostproof at USA, and in 2013 the match had its lowest attendance in over a decade. This isn’t a knock on Frank Garcia or Shannon Smith, the operators of Universal Shooting Academy, because they run a solid business and have a great facility.

However, there’s a data point here from Steel Challenge that says when you move a West Coast match to the East Coast, you run the risk of losing participation. I really can’t stress hard enough that I’m not knocking Universal here, because I do think it’s a great facility, but it’s also in Frostproof. Which, if you’ve never been there, is in the middle of nowhere, FL. It’s about an hour and a half from Tampa or Orlando, there aren’t a lot of great restaurants around, and it’s just…not a great place to hang out for an extended period of time. Maybe I’m just a homer and miss California, but I think people would much rather go to the central coast region of CA for a match than go to Frostproof.

I hope I’m wrong, and I hope the IRC continues to flourish now that it’s been moved to Universal Shooting Academy. I will say that November is the best time to hold a match down there, as the weather is actually pretty nice! Hopefully I’ll be able to pull the resources together and go shoot my first ever IRC at Frostproof this year.

Plastic Gun Ban Renewed

20131211-110439.jpgTen more years without plastic guns that might go undetected by X-ray machines and metal detectors. This is the ban congress renewed late on Monday night. There was little opposition to the renewal, and that includes comments from the NRA. There was however, a proposed change from a senator from New York. Sen. Schumer’s proposed changes included the requirement of adding permanent metal parts to make plastic guns more detectable. But the senator clearly misundestands that most “plastic” handguns have many metal internal parts, without which the plastic parts would add up to little more than a blunt object.

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Chicago Illinois Concealed Carry Licenses are Coming, or are they?

20131030-115155.jpgEarlier this week I posted about my trip to Chicago, IL and my plans for self protection while there. Many of you had recommendations for every day carry items that I might use to keep myself safe, and I am grateful. However, Illinois recently passed concealed carry legislation that will change the self defense opportunities for Chicago residents, and I wanted to take a look at what these new laws have to say.

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First Time Gun Purchaser Asks for Advice, Then Ignores

Gabby gives her best advice for a new gun buyerOne of my very best friends called the other night , for advice for a friend of his. This girl in her early twenties was about to purchase a handgun and wanted to clear some questions. First, she wanted to know about a gun she’d found at a pawn shop and whether it was a good price. The information she could give me was the brand and the caliber, no model number, but she had been told the the gun was “new in the box”. Continue reading “First Time Gun Purchaser Asks for Advice, Then Ignores”

Affordable Care is Actually Gun Control

I come from a generation of kids who see no shame in visiting a mental health professional when life gets a bit overwhelming. When I was young, and my father passed away, I went to a phsychiatrist for a while, and there’s nothing embarrassing about it. If you’re in your early 30s-late 20s and you haven’t struggled with the dilemma if whether popping an Adderall might help you get work done, or help your child do better in school (well lucky you) but, pardon me, you’ve been living under a rock!

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“Accidental” Shootings & Child-Martyrs for Gun-Control are Real, says NYTimes

20131002-132522.jpgIt should come as no surprise that the New York Times is putting out slanted articles filled with fear inspiring statements that demonize guns. However, this weekend the Times devoted more than half of it’s cover page to making children, who were accidentally shot and killed, into little martyrs for the pro gun-control argument. The New York Times will call these deaths “accidents” because the person who caused the gun to fire was not aware that pulling the trigger would have such a consequence, but I am less willing to divert that blame.

As part of a series called, “Bearing Arms: Examining the gun industry’s influence and the availability of firearms in America”, the New York Times’ Michael Luo and Mike McIntire, produced a cover story called, “Children and Guns: The Hidden Toll” which ran on September 29th. While clear with its over all intent, I did find that the article contained a few fair statements, though due to its length I doubt any sway-able readers actually got there.

I received the above image in an email from my mother on Sunday. I knew the gun owning community’s automatic response would be, “Welp, that’s the NYTimes for you!” But I also knew how my mother would read this headline while sitting in her apartment in New York City. I felt compelled to comment on this article due to the cross communication that continues to be missing from the gun debate.

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