Month: December 2009

Gun Show Report

This weekend there was a gun show at the River Center in St. Paul. It was done by the Minnesota Weapons Collectors Association who generally put on pretty good shows. And it was a pretty good show overall.

I was able to control myself so I didn’t walk away with a new gun but I did walk away with 1,000 pieces of .45 auto brass for a pretty reasonable price. When I go to the range I have no problem finding 9mm and .40 S&W brass but rarely do I find enough .45 auto brass to make much of a difference, hence I still have to buy a supply once in a while.

Handguns are obviously one of the big ticket items yet as I would estimate at least 60% of the guns there were handguns. There were the usual slew of Glocks, XDs, M&Ps, and snubby revolvers. As for rifles there was a ton of AR-15s. You couldn’t throw an anti-gunner without him hitting a rack of evil black rifles. Although I declared the AR-15 drought over before I can now officially say the drought turned into a flood.

Surprisingly there weren’t many AK-47s. There were plenty of M1 carbines but since those appear to be rather popular at the moment the price is high and the ammunition is non-existant. I will get an M1 carbine some day but I think it will wait until after my C&R license shows up and I can just nab one from the CMP.

I actually saw somebody selling primers. You must realize I showed up an hour after opening so seeing any primers remaining was rather shocking. The price tag of $40.00 per 1,000 didn’t surprise me at all but even at that price I know local shops have a hard time keeping stock. It’s nice to see things are starting to lighten up.

There were the usual assortment of space guns going for exorbitantly high prices. It still amazes me that guns made mostly of space plastic cost more than guns made of Earthly materials like metal cost so much more. I guess if you’re part of an elite space marines unit price isn’t an object when fighting off the denizens of alien worlds and parallel dimensions.

Overall it was a good show. It’s nice to finally realize I have a good enough assortment of firearms now that when I go to one of these large shows I don’t find much that trips my trigger. I was seriously considering a CZ 75B that somebody had for a good price but the fact I’d need to get reloading dies allowed my laziness to prevail over my want of a new gun.

Yes Let’s Shut Al Gore Up

As I’ve stated before my company gets a copy of the Red Star Star Tribune and every day I like to read the letters to the editor. I seriously find some comic gold. Take this one for instance:

PALIN ON GLOBAL WARMING

Publishing her shows media irresponsibility

I strongly object to your publishing a column by Sarah Palin on global warming (Dec. 10). She is not a climate scientist, and her opinion is unimportant. By publishing her the Star Tribune is asserting that the opinions of scientifically untrained and ignorant celebrities are as important as the opinions of climate scientists. There might be a place for her opinion if you published numerous essays on global warming including many by climate scientists. But I have never seen such an piece by an actual scientist.

In addition, in reporting on global warming, the Star Tribune routinely treats the opinions of scientifically untrained people as valid and as worthy of consideration as the research and reports of climate scientists. No wonder Americans are far more poorly informed on global warming issues than the citizens of other countries.

JAMES KERWIN, MINNEAPOLIS

Emphasis was added to show Mr. Kerwin’s logic. According to him the paper was irresponsible to publish Sarah Palin’s ideas about global warming climate change because she’s not a climate scientist. Since she’s not a climate scientist her opinion is unimportant.

I agree. And since Al Gore isn’t a climate scientist we should stop publishing anything he says on the topic of his little apocalypse prediction.

Why It’s Smart to Have a Spare Carry Rig

This post is two fold, first an explanation why you should have a complete backup carry rig and second to compliment a company.

Earlier this week I noticed a small crack on the Kydex of my carry holster. The crack appeared where the Kydex curves down from the part that covers the top of the slide and meets the rivets which fasten the Kydex to the leather. Well anyways the holster is a Crossbreed SuperTuck which has a lifetime warranty. I decided to test it out and on Saturday I shot them off an e-mail. They responded, on a frickin Sunday. Anyways I just have to ship it off to them and they’ll take care of it. Sweet deal.

Oh and of course I’m required to give my FTC disclaimer when talking about products. Dear FTC please send me your mailing address so I can ship you a retractable baton. You know the rest.

Anyways the also brought up the fact I’m glad I bought a carry holster for my Glock 30SF. A lot of people have a spare carry gun but many of those people don’t have a spare carry holster. The idea is the gun will fail at some point but most people don’t stop to think that the holster may also fail. If you carry a gun you should have a complete backup carry rig. Sure you can buy to of the same gun and two of the same holster, but you should have backups to everything you need when carrying. You never know what is going to break nor when.

If That’s How You Feel

Dip shit Helmke of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership is spewing out stupidity again. This is the second post in a row that I’ve sourced from Snowflakes in Hell.

I won’t link directly to the Brady Campaign site so you’ll have to go through Snowflakes in Hell to check this but here is a quote from Helmke:

“It is dangerous for Congress to dictate to Amtrak how to handle guns on passenger trains. Trying to micromanage Amtrak security is inappropriate at best, reckless at worst. But now that Congress has decided to allow passengers to be able to transport firearms in checked luggage on trains operated by Amtrak, at least their negotiators have responded to some of the safety concerns raised by gun violence prevention advocates.

Of course Snowflakes in Hell points how oxymoronic this statement is since Helmke said the exact opposite some time ago but I’m going to say something different about this.

I agree with Helmk *GASP* on one point. Congress shouldn’t be allowed to dictate the inner workings of a private company like Amtrak. But get this. Amtrak only exists because of federal government subsidies. Amtrak doesn’t actually make enough money to keep themselves afloat. So here is my proposal.

I say Amtrak be allowed to ban guns and run things however they want. But in exchange for this freedom they no longer are allowed to receive ANY tax payer money. Fair? Because while they receive MY tax money they will play by MY rules as much as I can make them.

Nerf Gun, The Same Thing as Real Gun According to Colorado University

More hysterical stupidity brought to my attention via Snowflakes in Hell. From this day forward Colorado University will be treating Nerf guns exactly the same as real guns. I’m glad I didn’t go there because I had several Nerf gun fights at my college. Also I can carry a gun on campus since I’m not a student or faculty of any college here in Minnesota.

Anyways Nerf guns are becoming popular on that campus for a fucking awesome reason:

Nerf guns have been popping up around CU this week, after some students started playing the popular game “Humans vs. Zombies.” It’s similar to the game of tag.

The humans are supposed to shoot the zombies with Nerf guns to keep them away.

I think this should be done at every college. We need more zombie defense and awareness training.

This Should Restart the Caliber Wars

Not that the caliber wars ever ended. But people supporting the 9mm always say it has to be good since our military dumped the .45 for it. Well more evidence is showing our military is looking at reinstating the .45 with a firearm to be designated the M45.

Lets the pissing match CONTINUE!

Congress Approves Amtrak Firearm Transportation

Good news everybody Congress voted in favor of allowing gun owners to transport their firearms in checked luggage when traveling on Amtrak.

Amtrak will be forced to reestablish their system for allowing firearms in checked luggage much like airports do. When this goings through I may actually consider Amtrak a viable transportation method.

Obviously This Girl Should be Barred Her Second Amendment Rights

A couple posts ago I talked about how I felt felons shouldn’t be barred their right to bear arms. As it sits right snow in this country anybody convicted of a felony can no longer own or use a firearm legally. One problem is the list of felony charges is every increasing and many have nothing to do with violent behavior.

Listening to the latest episode of This Week in Tech I came across this story. From the story:

A birthday party that included a trip to see “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” could send 22 year old Samantha Tumpach to prison for three years.

So she taped a few minutes of a shitty movie based on a shitty book. What kind of charge do you get for that?

The managers at the theater contacted the police and Tumpach was arrested. She spent two days in jail and now has felony charges to face for illegally copying a movie.

Yup a felony. Tell me why this girl should be barred her right to bear arms. I’m waiting. She’s done nothing violent but thanks to the Gun Control Act of 1968 she, if prosecuted, will be barred her rights because she recorded a few minutes of a movie on a her camcorder. Yeah I guess all felons should be prevented from purchasing firearms.

I Have My Doubts

Well the 802.11n protocol was finally ratified a while ago so that means it’s time for engineers to work on the next great thing. In this article they are talking about the next standard which is to be dubbed 802.11ac. They are claiming this next standard will support speeds up to 1Gbps.

But it’s their second claim I find doubtful, that this new protocol will be out by 2012. If anybody followed the 802.11n fiasco you’ll know it took them forever to finally ratify the standard and get it out the door. I highly doubt they will get the next version out in two years.

The Second Amendment is Different From Other Rights

Via Sharp as a Marble we have a post on Walls of the City. It’s a list of different laws that would be on the books if other rights were shit all over as much as the second amendment. Here are some gems:

Anyone convicted of a felony or convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse or assault is not allowed freedom of speech or religion and must rely on the government to provide speech and religion for them.
(1968 gun control act)

Many people in the gun rights community don’t like to touch this particular law. It’s probably due to the fact that nobody wants to be seen as supporting felons or people who abused their spouse. Personally I’m against either restriction and I’ll tell you why.

If you are worried a person who committed a heinous crime (well not just heinous crimes are felonies anymore, practically everything is becoming one) is going to commit an act of violence why the Hell is he out of prison? A huge majority of crimes are committed by repeat offenders which seems to imply somebody who has already committed a crime is more than willing to break another law (obtaining a gun while being a felon) to assist in a repeat offense.

Than you have those charged with domestic violence. If you’ve ever known somebody accused of domestic abuse you know the situation is probably anything but cut and dry. I have friends who have been accused by their significant other of physical abuse. Personally I refuse to take sides in such an argument but I can say the situation is dicey and the truth is usually impossible to drill down to. The fact that somebody can have their rights ripped away from them without absolute cut and dry evidence is a slippery slope to say the least.

But the bottom line is I’m against stripping anybody of any civil right.

Before engaging in new free speech you must pass an instant background check by a government authorized free speech dealer. Sorry, if your name is like someone else prohibited from speech and religion, it is up to you to prove you’re not that person.
(NICS instant background check and Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993)

Sounds pretty stupid when applied to free speech doesn’t it? How about to a right of trial by jury? Maybe you should be required to go through an instant background check before you have the right to not have your property searched without an issued warrant.

Any religions, peaceable assemblies, camera, computer, telephone or free speech enabling device made before 1986 is available to use by the general public. Any made after 1986 is only available to law enforcement.
(Closing of the NFA machine gun registry in 1986 by Regan with the Firearms Owner’s Protection Act)

Pretty straight forward. Once against sounds rather unreasonable when applied to religion and free speech.

Of course some gun control zealot will spew out a river of bullshit claiming you can’t compare the second amendment to any other amendment. This of course implies that the founding fathers of this country meant what they said with every right listed in the Bill of Rights except the second item posted. Seems odd that they would have made a random exception without noting it anywhere.