A Geek With Guns

While I love most aspects about the gun community, the handful of people advocating the utterly ridiculous really annoys me. On this week’s episode of Chris Rants About Random Members of the Gun Community we’re going to talk those who say weapons lights and laser sights are bad news when it comes to tactics. Over at Gun Nuts Media Caleb has a good post covering how absurd some people are when it comes to illumination and target verification. Caleb points to the following quote by a member of the gun community:

Given the warning of the light, and knowing the gun’s aiming point, this is a perfect setup for an armed intruder to edge up to the wall in a crouch, then reach around and shoot upwards. If t’were I doing the intruding, I would aim a little low, in case the gentleperson upstairs was also crouching. Even if not, a pelvic or thigh hit would ruin the defender’s day, and probably give me the chance for a few more shots.

Far better for the defender to wait around the edge of the stairwell, out of sight, listening for footsteps. [I've never run into a set of wooden stairs that didn't creak somewhat.] Flashlight OFF, laser on, but covered by support hand until last moment. Even without a well-aligned laser pointer, a quick snap-shot or two at point-blank range would resolve the issue quite favorably. An added precaution would be for the defender to be crouched as low as possible [prone would reduce maneuverability excessively].

I completely agree on Caleb’s take of this quote:

I see comments like this all the time, and they drive me up the freakin’ wall every time I see them. I don’t know about you, but my position is going to be pretty effectively given away by me screaming at the 911 operator that someone’s in my house and that they need to get cops here most ricky-tick before I have to shoot this guy.

Now comes the harsh reality, while thinking up random tactical scenarios is fun it’s not at all practical. I enjoy sitting down with friends, drinking a few beers, and coming up with outrageous self-defense scenarios. Yet I know better than to take those alcohol induced scenarios and applying them to real life.

Let’s do some advantage to disadvantage weighing. Being able to see your target and verify it’s a bad guy is a great advantage. Giving away your position by emitting light that allows you to see and verify your target holds litte disadvantage. You likely won’t be dealing with Spetsnaz invading your home and if you are then you’re way in over your head and likely died before realizing anybody broke into your home.

Your aggressor is also going to be in the dark so the light that telegraphs your location and harms your night vision is also going to blind that fucker. Here’s the thing though, as his eyes will be adjusted to total darkness while yours are adjusted to the light he’ll be totally blind for a bit while you can see him perfectly. Having a blind opponent greatly increases your odds of winning a fight, just saying.

If you’re that concerned about using a weapons light because you feel it will give away your position while your loud footsteps and yelling as you bang into things while stumbling around a dark house won’t then you’re an idiot.

I’ll admit it, between cats and dogs I genuinely prefer cats. Cats are mostly self-sufficient and don’t require the constant attention that dogs do. Give a cat some food, a clean place to shit, and some attention when it wants it and it’ll be happy.

With all of that said if I were to get a pet it would be a dog because when you want quality companionship that will defend you and yours a cat isn’t going to cut it:

Nine-year-old Buster fought so hard to protect his home that he shattered several teeth as he chomped on his attacker’s hunting knife. He also suffered gashes to his throat, shoulder and jowls.

[...]

A thief (or thieves) broke in by smashing two windows of the house on the 1800 block of E. Maryland Avenue. Cash, computers, a hunting bow, three rifles and Wagaman’s corrections uniforms were stolen. The invader turned Wagaman’s own 6-inch hunting knife on Buster, then left the bloody weapon on the kitchen table.

While the dog wasn’t successful in stopping the attackers he gave them a Hell of a fight but the sounds of it. The best part about this story though is that the dog lived:

The dog spent Thursday night at the University of Minnesota veterinary hospital and spent the weekend at home, where Wagaman fed him soft food, kept him warm and medicated with painkillers.

Buster’s Monday surgery was to repair his face wounds and to extract broken teeth.

The dog’s care exceeded $3,000 — before the latest surgery. “That’s a lot of money, but I don’t care. He’s a hero,” Wagaman said.

Employees in the St. Paul emergency communications center, who heard the initial emergency call, have already raised $500 to help. A fund has been set up for Buster’s care in his name at any Wells Fargo branch. The “Buster Fund” is account No. 642-89-22-071.

If I had a dog that fought that hard to defend my home you can bet I’d have little trouble spending $3,000.00 to return it to health. Stories like this are why I want to own a dog some day. While they’re a decent amount of work and expensive they’re still called man’s best friend for a reason.

It seems the media’s version of flash mobs are becoming more common. A Pedal Pub in Minneapolis was attacked by at least 25 people:

A flash mob of 25 to 30 youths on Saturday night attacked the Pedal Pub, a four-wheeled bicycle and bar powered by up to a dozen people, as it rolled down Nicollet Mall near S. 6th Street.

None of the 12 people riding the Pedal Pub was injured, but the passengers were shaken by the sudden attack, said Scott Ranney, who had rented it with friends.

The kids jumped on the Pub, shook it and grabbed at purses and belongings, Ranney said. A BlackBerry was the only thing stolen, and the attack ended just as suddenly as it began, with the kids running away.

“They could have done anything they wanted,” Ranney said.

In this case the victims were lucky, the attackers stopped without hurting anybody. The outcome could have been much different had the attackers decided they wanted to bring physical harm to those on the Pedal Pub. The last line in the quote is very accurate, the attacks could have done anything they wanted considering how outmatched the riders on the Pedal Pub were.

While I do not advocate combining alcohol and firearms in any form, the drivers of the Pedal Pub is required to remain sober so if I were in that position I would certainly be carrying. Hell with the increase in these so-called flash mobs I’m starting to think my subcompact .45′s 10+1 rounds may be a liability. Even though I always have a spare magazine on me, which gives me an additional 10 rounds, it requires time to grab the spare magazine from my pocket and reload the firearm. I’m starting to think it’s not unwise to have a gun in .40 or 9mm just for the additional capacity. After all good self-defense ammunition exists for all three calibers which makes them very effective relative to one another.

Whenever the subject of sport shooting comes up around the tacticool friends they inevitably start ranting about how United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) and/or International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) aren’t realistic. I think Miguel’s posts covering such criticisms expresses my feeling perfectly:

“But IDPA is not Real Life!”
But it is more useful than your whining.

While USPSA and IPSC are games they do offer useful practice for skills that are good to have in a self-defense situation. The biggest of which is operating your firearm under the influence of adrenaline. All the standing range practice in the world isn’t going to help you deal with elements involved in a self-defense situation such as a pounding heart, adrenaline, tunnel vision, selective hearing, or firing on the move. Both USPSA and IPSC allow you to understand the affects of these elements and practice under their influence.

Sure it’s unlikely that I’m going be sitting on the shitter when a cadre of thugs comes busting down my door requiring me to grab my conveniently place and loaded gun but the adrenaline rush is going to be similar regardless of the scenario’s likelihood. The first time I shot a USPSA match I was shocked how poor my shooting became when outside stresses such as a timer and audience were introduced. I’m not done with my second season of USPSA (along with several three-gun competitions) and my shooting under stress has greatly improved. I don’t even want to know how poorly my shooting in a self-defense situation may have been had I not fired under stressful conditions before.

Sure USPSA and IPSC may not be real but they’re far more useful than any number of statements regarding that fact.

A police officer decided to demonstrate his basic knowledge of firearm operations, his testicular fortitude, and his desire to live all at the same time:

A quick-handed NYPD sergeant stopped a violent felon from shooting him in the gut by jamming his ring finger under the hammer of the felon’s .38 revolver, cops said today.
Sgt. Michael Miller and Officer William Reddin were on patrol when they noticed a livery cab speeding eastbound on Quincy Street near Malcolm X Boulevard at about 4 a.m. today. The plainclothes cops pulled the beige Lincoln Towncar over, but when they walked up displaying their shields they noticed that one of the passengers in the back seat, Eugene Graves, was making suspicious movements near his waistband.

[...]

Graves managed to press his Taurus .38 revolver into Miller’s stomach, but Miller grabbed hold of the gun, wedging his right ring finger between the gun’s hammer and cylinder, before the murderous Graves could fire a shot.

As Uncle pointed out that probably hurt but pain is temporary, death is forever. It commend officer Miller for having an impecable ability to think quickly enough to see the situation, concoct a plan, and execute that plan in the span of time it took another person to simply pull on a trigger. That’s a true display of badassery.

With all the talk about cloud computing I finally decided to build my own cloud. I’m rocking in the cloud without relying on third-party solutions and absolutely loving it. What finally coaxed me into moving everything onto my own infrastructure was the ever increasing powers government officials have been claiming in the realm of data acquisition. The federal government can send a letter out to a company and demand information about a customer be turned over. While the government has been able to exercise similar powers in the past through acquisition of a warrant they weren’t able to force the target company to keep the request for information secret like they can today. Well it seems Google and Sonic were targets of a recent federal fishing expedition:

The U.S. government has obtained a controversial type of secret court order to force Google Inc. and small Internet provider Sonic.net Inc. to turn over information from the email accounts of WikiLeaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

[...]

Both Google and Sonic pressed for the right to inform Mr. Appelbaum of the secret court orders, according to people familiar with the investigation. Google declined to comment. Mr. Appelbaum, 28 years old, hasn’t been charged with wrongdoing.

As we’re hearing about this story it seems that Google and Sonic were successful in fighting the government demand of secrecy, this isn’t always the case though. The government very well could have obtained information about you from a company and you’ll never know unless they decided to move in and arrest you. If the government wants my data they’re going to have to send me one of those secret letters thus ensuring I know they’re spying on me.

The only way you can guarantee your data remains under your control is if you exercise complete control over it. If you store your data on a third-party service there is no way you can know other people don’t have access to it.

There are times when you need a gun and then there are times when you really need a gun. Mark LaVelle found himself in a situation that would fall under the latter category:

ABOUT 11 P.M. on Sept. 9, dozens of youths with bats and pipes descended on a tidy residential area of Port Richmond looking for white teens who allegedly had attacked an African-American kid at Stokely Playground a couple of hours earlier.

Two fearful white teens spotted Mark LaVelle on Indiana Avenue near Belgrade Street and asked for help. Suddenly, the mob appeared. LaVelle, who said that he didn’t know the two kids, who looked to be 13 or 14, ran with them into his nearby house.

[...]

With the two teens hiding in the house, LaVelle, 5 feet 10, 220 pounds, a well-known sports-league organizer and coach in the community, went outside to try to calm the angry mob.

They were standing on his steps. One shouted, ” ‘Something’s going to happen now!’ ” LaVelle recalled in an interview Friday at his house. LaVelle got nervous and went back inside, locking his door with a deadbolt.

But the attackers pounded on his front windows and kicked his wooden door so hard, it flew open and some of them entered his house.

“The first guy hits me with a pipe. The second guy knocks me in the face. All I’m hearing is my wife and kids screaming,” said LaVelle, who feared that the next time they saw him, he would be in a casket.

Mob situations are examples of scenarios where your physical strength will likely count for nothing. If one very strong man is outnumbered by scrawny children with pipes by ten to one there is little hope of that one man surviving if those kids mean to kill him. This is one of those cases where a firearm can even the odds as it allows a single individual to engage multiple assailants.

This case also demonstrates that it’s very possible to get caught up in a bad situation without intending as such. Mr. LaVelle saw two teens being chased by a mob and let them into his home so they wouldn’t get beaten to death. For that act I commend him as his actions may very well have saved the teens lives. Another thing to note is that Mr. LaVelle was fortunate that the police arrived when they did as it seems he was entirely unarmed while is assailants were not:

He said that he was able to push the attackers out the door, but then a third man – who had a gun – tried to extend his arm. LaVelle grabbed onto the gunman’s lower arm and shoulder so he couldn’t raise the weapon. Then, police sirens screamed in the neighborhood, and the mob turned and ran.

Had the police been two minutes later Mr. LaVelle could have been shot dead. Having a gun at hand to protect you and your’s isn’t paranoid or even slightly over the top. Situations like this can happen and usually happen at the most unexpected times. Consider having a gun for self-defense like a spare tire on your car, except for the fact that the gun could save your life and the lives of your family while the spare tire will usually only save you form slight inconvenience.

In Minneapolis on Saturday an event dubbed a SlutWalk will be occurring. From how it’s been explained to me a SlutWalk is an event where hundreds of scantily clad woman march through town to make a statement against rape. I’m not sure what sadist decided that having such an event during October in Minnesota would be smart but suffice it to say there will likely be some rather chilly woman walking about.

Honestly this post really isn’t about the SlutWalk though, that was just a not so clever segway for me to talk about the subject of rape. Namely I want to talk about the prevention of rape. A misunderstanding many people have is that rape is about sex. Rape seldom has anything to do with sex and is almost always about power. There are people besides politicians who get pleasure out of having power over another human being. So long as such desires are suppressed or expressed between consenting adults it’s perfectly fine, the problem comes when a person is unwilling to suppress such desires.

I know a couple of rape victims and needless to say the after effects are almost as frightening as the act itself. A person who has suffered rape has experienced one of the ultimate violations against their person that can be experienced. Both of the rape victims I know have said many times that they would have rather killed themselves than again experience what they went through. Thankfully after therapy they mostly recovered.

Women are the most common targets of rape and genetics dictate that the average male is physically stronger than the average female. I’ve actually had one person claim this is a sexist thought but genetics are what they are. Thankfully our technology has advanced far enough where we have developed the great equalizer; the gun.

Nothing says “NO!” like gushing chest wounds. Part of the reason I’m such a proponent of the right to carry is because firearms can turn a physically superior attacker into an equal (or lesser if they are not also armed). While I strongly urge all people legally able to get a carry permit I put a lot of emphasis on women getting carry permits. Both of the rape victims I know are female and they both now have carry permits and almost always have a firearm on their persons.

While the goal of the SlutWalk may be noble, try to prevent rape, I believe a better mechanism of doing so is to arm the populace. Criminals prey on those they perceive to be weak and usually want to avoid an opponent that poses a legitimate threat. An armed person is one who is able to resist oppression by another. Were it common for persons to be armed instead of unarmed I believe the rate of violent crime would dramatically decrease (and in places that have passed right-to-carry laws they have often noticed a decrease in violent crime). The best defense against rape is to disable a would be rapist. Whether that disability comes from two bullet holes to the chest or one in the head (or a baseball bat to the face, etc.) is irrelevant.

I would urge those actively working to reduce rates of rape to advocate armed self-defense. Arming a person is one of the most empowering things that can be done and gives even the most physically outmatched individual a chance to walk away unscathed. If those participating in the SlutWalk really want to send a message to potential rapists they should strap a pistol on their hip while they march through the city.

Many people have a lackluster attitude towards control of their private information. When the fact that companies maintain a great amount of details about their customers is mentioned people will often cite laws forcing those companies to protect that information. Those laws may make you feel nice and all but what do you do when the company goes bankrupt? That’s the concern facing former Borders customers right now:

To perhaps to no one’s surprise, Borders bookstore collected a ton of consumer information – such as personal data including records of particular book and video sales – during its normal course of business. Such personal information Borders promised never to share without consumer consent. But now that the company is being sold off as part of its bankruptcy filing, all privacy promises are off.

Reuters wrote this week that Barnes & Noble, which paid almost $14 million for Borders intellectual assets including customer information at auction last week, said it should not have to comply with certain customer privacy standards recommended by a third-party ombudsman. In court papers, Barnes & Noble said that its own privacy standards are sufficient to protect the privacy of customers whose information it won during the auction.

Sure the company that currently holds your private information may be magnanimous but what about the next holder of that information? Concerns such as this should be at the top of everybody’s list as personal information of any sort is valuable both for good and bad guys. If you believe any personal information held by companies about yourself is unimportant you’re simply not creative enough.

Uncle pointed out a post by a Dr. Helen that asks gun owners what they’re compensating for (before going bat shit crazy about her being anti-gun her comment is actually derived from reading a certain self-defense book geared towards women).

I’m compensating for the incompetency of the state to provide adequate protection even though they claim a monopoly on the service.