Tag: Miscellaneous Gun Stuff

A Sad Day Indeed

It is my duty to regretfully inform readers of this blog that the Burnsville Rifle and Pistol Range in Burnsville, Minnesota caught fire two nights ago:

At least six fire departments were called to the scene of a fire at a shooting range in Burnsville Tuesday night. Crews are still working at the scene around 1 a.m.

Burnsville firefighters were called to the Burnsville Rifle and Pistol Range at 14300 Ewing Ave. S. around 8 p.m.

[…]

Burnsville Fire Marshal Lee LaTourelle told Twin Cities Fire Wire that customers were inside the range shooting when they saw smoke coming from the padded walls at the rear of the building. He said they escaped without injury.

I wonder what caused the fire and I hope the range isn’t a total loss.

Why Gun Control is Impossible

Advocates of gun control like to believe access to firearms will become more difficult if the government restricts legal access. Perhaps this was true at one time but guns are, mechanically, simple devices and the equipment to manufacture them is becoming more affordable every day. Behold, the first (to my knowledge and the knowledge of the creator) firearm manufactures on a 3D printer:

As 3D printer technology becomes more affordable gun control will become more pointless. The obvious solution to this problem, according to gun control advocates, would be to place tight restrictions on 3D printers. Fortunately such controls would be equally pointless because there are already people working on do it yourself 3D printers. One the genie is out of the bottle it cannot be put back in.

How Does that Work

There’s nothing about this story that doesn’t sound fishy:

A woman celebrating the weekend before her 25th birthday was fatally shot Sunday when she hugged an off-duty police officer while dancing at a party, causing the officer’s service weapon to fire, according to police and her mother.

[…]

According to Stephens, the woman “embraced the officer from behind, causing the holstered weapon to accidently discharge.” The bullet punctured Miller’s lung and hit her heart, and she died at a hospital.

I’ve been mulling this over with some of my friends and we’ve come up with a few possibilities. The only way the officer’s story could hold up, as far as my friends and I are concerned, is if the firearm was in a shoulder holster and when the gun was holstered by the officer something got into the trigger guard. Why a shoulder holster? Because the bullet punctured the woman’s heart and thus must have been aimed either up or a chest level.

Occam’s razor states that the simplest explanation is probably the correct one though and the simplest explanations are the cop either had the gun unholstered in a pocket or pulled the weapon out of his holster to mess with it. I really can’t see the officer’s story holding up as most holsters would prevent the trigger from being activated by mere pressure and he was wearing the holster on his hip the gun was either upside down or the bullet perfectly ricocheted off of the ground. At this point I’m not buying the officer’s story, it just doesn’t add up.

Holder Found to be in Contempt of Congress

Yesterday the House Oversight Committee found Eric Holder to be in contempt of Congress:

A US House of Representatives committee has voted along party lines to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

[…]

Shortly after the committee vote, House Speaker John Boehner tweeted an ultimatum, saying a full House vote would be held unless Mr Holder co-operated with the inquiry.

Mr Holder’s reaction was swift and combative.

Committee chairman Representative Darrell Issa has “chosen to use his authority to take an extraordinary, unprecedented and entirely unnecessary action, intended to provoke an avoidable conflict between Congress and the Executive Branch,” Mr Holder said.

“This divisive action does not help us fix the problems that led to this operation or previous ones and it does nothing to make any of our law enforcement agents safer,” he said, calling it “an election-year tactic”.

Unprecedented and entirely unnecessary action? Really? After refusing to hand over documents requested by Congress and receiving help to coverup his crime from Obama he feels that the vote to find him in contempt was unnecessary? He is partially correct, this action was avoidable. Had here handed over the documents requested the contempt vote would not have been necessary. If we go back even further this entire investigation would have been entirely unnecessary had the United States government not been smuggling guns into Mexico and arming the drug cartels.

I wonder if we’ll ever find out exactly who knew what in this case. Will Holder eventually hand over the documents or will they be destroyed in order to prevent the public from learning what really happened? Yes, after all that has happened so far I wouldn’t be surprised if Holder and his goons went so far as to destroy evidence in an attempt to cover their tracks.

Sending the Wrong Message

The state is often schizophrenic when it comes to the messages it sends. One hand of the state will tell you to do ‘X’ while the other hand demands that you do ‘Y’ and the joke is that ‘X’ and ‘Y’ are mutually exclusive:

Hidden in weeds in Detroit’s Brightmoor area, Chevilott and his Wayne County crew discovered a loaded, snubnosed revolver as they were mowing the lawn mid-morning on May 3.

“It was damaged, so it could’ve went off. Surprisingly, it didn’t kill the guy on the mower,” Chevilott explained. “It got picked up, so we put [it] in the van, waited [for] police to drive by.”

However, Detroit police never did drive by, so Chevilott finished his work day, drove the gun home and later that same evening turned it into his local police department in Garden City.

He says the cops ran the gun and discovered the weapon had been stolen from St. Clair Shores in 2005.

“They said I did the right thing getting it off the street.”

Obviously Chevilott did a good thing. He found a discarded weapon and turned it over to the police so they could determine if it was stolen and/or used in a crime. Good on Chevilott for performing such a public service. Leaving loaded unsecured weapons lying around is certainly dangerous and we should encourage people to secure them, right? Not according to the Wayne Country Department of Public Services:

However, Chevilott’s superiors at the Department of Public Services had a much different opinion. His foreman, who had knowledge of the situation, was suspended for 30 days, and after 23 years on the job, Chevilott was fired for violating department policies.

According to a Wayne County spokeswoman and the rules, employees aren’t allowed to possess a weapon on work property.

While one hand of the state, the police, encourage people to secure discarded weapons so they will not be a danger the other hand, the Department of Public Services, says doing so will cost you your job. What’s a person to do? We’re often told that we should do the “right thing” but end up being punished for it. Chevilott will probably think twice about securing a discarded weapon since doing so this time cost him his job.

It’s sad that we now live in a society where common sense and decency are discarded for absolute adherence to rules and regulations. You can’t even help a dying man without fear of violating some law and thus facing a lawsuit down the road.

The Free Market Carry Edition

The beauty of the free market is that it doesn’t judge and doesn’t question it merely attempts to fulfill individuals’ desires. While the advocates of gun control continue to claim that gun ownership is on the decline the free market indicates otherwise. Clothing manufacturers better known for serving the needs of business men and women are now catering to those who carry firearms:

Woolrich, a 182-year-old clothing company, describes its new chino pants as an elegant and sturdy fashion statement, with a clean profile and fabric that provides comfort and flexibility.

And they are great for hiding a handgun.

The company has added a second pocket behind the traditional front pocket for a weapon. Or, for those who prefer to pack their gun in a holster, it can be tucked inside the stretchable waistband. The back pockets are also designed to help hide accessories, like a knife and a flashlight.

The chinos, which cost $65, are not for commandos, but rather, the company says, for the fashion-aware gun owner. And Woolrich has competition. Several clothing companies are following suit, building businesses around the sharp rise in people with permits to carry concealed weapons.

It’s not just Woolrich getting in on the action, Under Armour is also joining the game:

Other companies are rushing to meet the demand for concealed-carry clothing. Under Armour, best known for its sports and action gear, will be adding a jacket and a plaid shirt with Velcro pockets for easy gun access.

Kevin Eskridge, senior director for outdoor product and design at the company, said the company had seen demand double in the last year for such clothing from traditional outdoor and sporting goods stores, like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Cabela’s.

Mr. Eskridge said the Under Armour apparel was catching on because of fashion but also because of its features, including moisture-wicking fabric.

So many people now carry firearms that the market is responding to better serve our needs. No longer are we relegated to wearing mall ninja gear (although I happen to like my 5.11 Covert Cargo mall ninja pants and will continue to wear them). Now we can actually walk around and look like normal people. Either way it must really make the gun control crowd angry knowing that carrying a firearm is now so mainstream that companies are outright advertising new products geared towards the carry market.

I wonder how long it will be until the gun control advocates to start protesting clothing manufacturers for catering to us?

Use a Holster

You know what are great? Holsters:

There’s a story that has been circulating around the Web for weeks now with a rather gruesome headline: Arizona Man Shoots Himself in Penis. It’s the last thing any firearm owner wants to read about.

Joshua Seto, 27, tried securing his fiance’s pink handgun in the front waistband of his pants while exiting a local convenience store and the gun fired, striking Seto’s penis and continuing through his left thigh. It’s not a pretty picture.

Emphasis mine. That right there was the bad decision that lead to a bad result. If you every consider sliding your gun into your waistband, don’t. It’s just a bad idea that can lead to nothing by injury. Use a holster, it may save your life and the lives of your future children.

The Four Rules of Firearm Safety

The four rules of firearm safety apply to more than traditional powder powered lead launchers:

A New Jersey man is making a quick recovery after accidentally shooting a 4-inch (10cm) nail into his heart.

Dennis Hennis, a 52-year-old self-employed builder, was working on his neighbour’s roof when his nail gun jammed and he tried to clear it.

The nail pierced the right side of his heart and he went into cardiac arrest.

Does the device you’re handling launch dangerous projectiles? If you answered yes then rule two applies, only point the muzzle at things you’re willing to destroy.

AK vs. AR

The AK vs. AR debate has been heating up after the following video was posted to demonstrate the AR’s inability to operate when a Twinkie is shoved up its magazine well:

Now that the war is renewed I’m just going to raise my middle finger to all the AK and AR fanboys. Why? Because my Winchester 30-30 doesn’t even have a magazine well to put a Twinkie in so it’s obviously superior to both platforms!

Damn kids and your magazines wells and your Twinkies.

Gunny Mutual Aid Succeeds

Just an update on the request for help received by Erin of Lurking Rhythmically, she not only received enough donations to purchase a carry pistol but had some money left over:

I have been advised by certain knowledgeable people that I should not disclose the exact amount I raised lest I invoke the dread gaze of the IRS, but I do want to say that you folks went far above and beyond what was necessary to help me acquire a carry pistol, a permit, and training. I will be sending out thank-you notes later this week.

I don’t mention this solely because I want to demonstrate the goodwill of the gunny community, but I also want to bring it up as a demonstration of mutual aid succeeding. We’re deluded by the state and its supporters that we individual are unable to help one another, we’re told that the state is necessary to ensure all have what they need. Of course such statements are lies and acts of charity such as the above mentioned prove how well helping one another can work.

Mutual aid happens whenever one person comes to the assistance of another. Donating money to a family who recently lost everything is an act of mutual aid, helping neighbors clean up their property and rebuild after a flood is an act of mutual aid, and helping a person in need obtain the tools necessary for self-defense is mutual aid.

One thing I’ve witnessed as our society moves more towards statism is the reduction of mutual aid. When somebody loses their job but still needs to pay their bills and feed their families they are less likely to be helped by their fellow neighbor, instead they turn to the state and because the state has already stolen money from the populace to fund its welfare system individuals are less inclined to help one another. Its a vicious cycle, individuals refrain from helping one another because they’ve been forcefully stolen from to fund the state’s welfare system, and the state continues to point to the apathy they created as proof that money must be stolen to help those in need. We don’t need to be enslaved to this vicious cycle, we can break free of it, we need only help on another.

Time and time again I witness exceptionally generosity from the gunny community and it makes me absolutely proud to be apart of it.