Month: November 2009

The Memory Hole

There is a good story on Days of our Trailers. To sum it up The Detroit News decided a crazy person was a victim after attacking another driver and being shot in the process. Of course that’s not the biggest story in my opinion, it’s what The Detroit News did afterwards.

They decided to use the memory hole and edit out the word victim. They never made a note of the edit, they just changed it. Thankfully David got a Google cache before the memory hole ate up the original completely and posted a screenshot. This is a danger people should be aware of, things can be changed and edited without notice. If you’re referencing a story save a local copy to your computer in case the online story gets deleted or changed.

Always Carry in a Holster

Says Uncle brings us a story where the moral of the story is if you’re carrying make sure your noise maker is in a holster. Mitchum Patterson didn’t follow this precaution and suffered a negligent discharge. Worse yet he was illegally carrying the gun on school grounds which of course should be impossible since it’s a gun free zone. Here is the situation:

A Dallas Independent School District maintenance worker is recovering at Parkland Memorial Hospital after shooting himself with a gun he carried onto an elementary campus.

Here is how it happened:

Mitchum Patterson, 52, shot himself accidentally in his right thigh as he bent over inside a maintenance closet at Umphrey Lee Elementary School. The employee, who has worked at DISD for 14 years, had the loaded gun tucked in his pants.

Here is what he’s facing:

DISD police plan to charge Patterson, who has been suspended from his job, with a third degree felony once he is released from the hospital.

Patterson could face two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 if convicted. However, judges have the right to give probation in some cases.

And to think that could be have been voided by a $10.00 Uncle Mike’s holster. But the absolute best quote in this article is:

“It was crazy because our kids are here,” said Laquecia Smith, a parent. “It’s supposed to be a gun-free zone. You see the signs up and down the street.”

Wait you mean those signs can’t actually enforce themselves? OH SHIT! WARNING! People CAN bring guns into gun free zones! How is this possible? THERE ARE SIGNS!

Don’t Blame the Tiahrt Amendment

One of the memes going around the gun control crowd right now is that the Ford Hood killings would have been prevented if the Tiahrt Amendment wasn’t in place. Sebastian over at Snowflakes in Hell tells us why that’s not true. From his post:

What Tiahrt does is prevent ATF from spending any funds to share the entire trace database with third parties not related to a bonafide criminal investigation. It also makes the trace database undiscoverable in a civil action, and inadmissible in a civil suit. Both ATF and the Fraternal Order of Police support this measure, something MAIG won’t tell you. It does not require that NICS records be destroyed. The requirement that NICS records be destroyed is not a funding matter, but is found in the United State Code, Title 18, Section 922(t):

So the reason NICS records for cleared individuals are destroyed is because of the Brady Act not the Tiahrt Amendment. Deal with it and find a new meme.

Not So Great Britain Strikes Again

Man I hate Britain’s government. Seriously if anybody reading this blog is a Brit do yourselves a favor and start a revolt. Days of our Trailers provides another example of the stupidity of Britain’s gun control laws.

This story involves one Paul Clarke. He is a 27 year old former soldier who thought he was doing the right thing. For doing the right thing he was found guilty of a crime and now faces up to five years in prison. What was his crime? Possession of a gun. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? Well it’s not that simple. From the story:

Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year.

Yes he found a shotgun. Believing it was his duty to dispose of it he personally took it to the police. Here is a thumbnail list of events:

he court heard how Mr Clarke was on the balcony of his home in Nailsworth Crescent, Merstham, when he spotted a black bin liner at the bottom of his garden.

In his statement, he said: “I took it indoors and inside found a shorn-off shotgun and two cartridges.

“I didn’t know what to do, so the next morning I rang the Chief Superintendent, Adrian Harper, and asked if I could pop in and see him.

“At the police station, I took the gun out of the bag and placed it on the table so it was pointing towards the wall.”

Mr Clarke was then arrested immediately for possession of a firearm at Reigate police station, and taken to the cells.

So Mr. Clarke found a shotgun. He didn’t try to illegally keep it. Instead he does what he thinks is the responsible thing and turns it in. He didn’t threaten anybody with it, he didn’t use it, he took it and went to straight to the police to turn it in. What the Hell was he supposed to do? Call the police and wait for them to pick it up? Oh wait they would be able to nail him anyways since the shotgun was in a liner and he had to remove it to see what it was. Oh damn catch 22.

If you live in Britain and you find a gun remember you’ll get the same punishment whether you turn it into the police or keep it. The only difference is if you keep you the police may never find it and therefore you won’t face jail time. Man that’s encouraging.

Finally I leave you with this golden quote from the story:

The intention of anybody possessing a firearm is irrelevant.

We don’t need common sense we have laws!

XD vs. Glock: Introduction

Oh Hell that title alone is enough to get me crucified by one side or the other. But before you send me hate mail let me explain the title.

For over a year now I’ve been carrying a Springfield XD .45 Compact. Of course I hear a lot of flak from Glock fans on how horrible the XD is and how great the XD is from fans of the pistol. I myself really don’t care I want the best tool for me. To that extend some time ago I purchased a Glock 30SF at a local gun show (where I had to fill out paperwork and submit to a NICS check, go figure). The reason I chose the Glock 30SF was simple, it is the closest model Glock to my XD.

My entire intention of purchasing the Glock 30SF was to compare it against my XD. I’m not one to needlessly say one thing is better than another until I’ve tested both (or at least been shown verifiable evidence). I’m not planning on selling either pistol when the test concludes since they are both useful firearms.

As I perform my tests I will report on my findings here. This comparison is going to span many months in length and is going to be excruciatingly detailed. I want to keep fanboyism out of this comparison and just make light of things I observe between the two pistols.

I’ve already compiled a bunch of information since I obtained the Glock 30SF so expect several posts involving this subject in the recent future. I also want to note that this comparison will be as scientific as possible but will also contain a lot of personal opinion. Many things about different guns aren’t better or worse they are simply preferred by certain individuals and undesirable by others. For instance somebody may prefer the feel of a pistol that uses single stack magazines while another person may not. Neither person is right or wrong they simply differ in opinion.

Anyways you’ll be subjected to many posts on this subject in the coming months.

Izhmash Shows New AK Prototype

When The Firearm Blog says they have big news they mean it. It seems Izhmash has introduced a prototype for their updated AK series of rifles. The updates are certainly a case of evolution not revolution but when you’re platform for evolve is the ever prevalent and legendary AK-47 there isn’t much need for a revolution.

The first noticeable improvement should make the tacticool people out there happy, rails. Yes when somebody said the AK needs more rails Izhmash listened. The dust cover now has a rail running along its top. Likewise the dust cover is now hinged to the front and has a locking lever that holds it on to the rifle. This is apparently to prevent a loss of zero on optics mounted on the dust cover rails. Likewise the hand guards are now covered in rails.

The AK prototype also has a new safety by the trigger which should be easier to manipulate than the standard AK safety/selector switch. The prototype still has the old safety on it but being it’s a prototype that could be left on or taken off in the final design. The rear sight has an adjustment knob instead of the old slider that was used for elevation changes.

Anyways head over to the Firearm Blog as they have a lot of pictures and go over more details.

Is Anybody Surprised

It looks like China has been running illegal jails where citizens can be kept for months on end. Hmm a government which is based on a system in which control over the people must be maintained as created secret prisons in which to place people who don’t comply? Who would have guessed that would happen?

This is the problem with any system of government where the government has the power over the people. In order for the government to maintain control over its populace they need to scare them into obedience. Little things like secret prisons where citizens can be tossed for an indefinite amount of time while they are tortured works well in scaring people into compliance.

Deer Hunt Themselves for You

This kind of story can only occur in the area where I grew up (Viroqua, WI is very close to my home town in southeastern Minnesota). A deer picked a fight with the wrong elk costing that daring deer it’s life. From the story:

A love-struck buck ran out of luck a week ago. The seven-point buck was killed when it rammed a 640-pound concrete statue of an elk in the backyard of Mark and Carol Brye’s home in rural Viroqua.

That’s right deer will hunt themselves for you. Yes after it’s death the deer was tagged:

Brye claimed the buck with a tag from the Vernon County conservation warden. He laughed at the warden’s tag note: “lawn ornament fight – lost.”

This even is a reminder that humans aren’t the only species Darwin’s ghost is watching over. But on a serious note the challenging deer did get a good strike against the elk:

“The statue is OK, but the antlers broke off when it tipped over,” Brye said. “One side of the antlers is in one piece, but the other side is in five pieces.”

Seriously this story is too funny.

The Truth Behind the FN FiveseveN

Well the media is at it again. They are proclaiming the FN FiveseveN to be a high powered “cop-killer.” Well Says Uncle points us to a story that reminds everybody that the FiveseveN is nothing more than a slightly more powerful .22 magnum.

See the Brady Bunch way back when were proclaiming that commercial 5.7x28mm ammunition could penetrate body armor. This was bullocks though as the ATF showed. The only ammunition in 5.7x28mm that can penetrate body armor is SS190 AP which civilian can’t get. Why can’t they get it? Because it’s considered armor piercing ammunition under United States law. From Title 18, chapter 44 of United States code we get the following:

(B) The term “armor piercing ammunition” means –

(i) a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a
handgun and which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence
of traces of other substances) from one or a combination of
tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or
depleted uranium; or

(ii) a full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber
designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a
weight of more than 25 percent of the total weight of the
projectile.

As the Cheaper Than Dirt post mentioned SS190 AP ammunition has a steel core. Since the round can be shot out of a handgun this makes SS190 AP ammunition armor piercing under United States law and therefore not ammunition any civilian can purchase as the Brady Bunch tried to say.

The FN FiveseveN is nothing more than a slightly more powerful .22 magnum. It’s not a “cop killer.” Anyways Massad Ayoob already mentioned he can’t find a single case of a police officer being killed by this weapon.