Tag: Self Defense

This is Why I Have a No Shortened URL Rule

One rule I have here is any comments containing a link that uses a URL shortening service gets removed, no questions asked. I do this because as Bruce Shcneier shows us those shortened URLs are a huge security risk. Cory Doctorow recently got screwed by a phishing attack via a good old URL shortened link:

I opened up my phone fired up my freshly reinstalled Twitter client and saw that I had a direct message from an old friend in Seattle, someone I know through fandom. The message read “Is this you????” and was followed by one of those ubiquitous shortened URLs that consist of a domain and a short code, like this: http://owl.ly/iuefuew.

Never click on a URL from a URL shortening service. You have no idea where they will lead you or what the page they link to will contain.

More On Arizona SB 1070

As I mentioned earlier I do not like Arizona’s new law on grounds that it’s vaguely written and ignores presumption of innocence. Of course with all the screaming, pissing, and moaning over this bill I’ve been trying to figure out why the Hell it was passed in the first place.

Like most issues this one is not black and white. I admit I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to the crime rates of other states unless it comes up in an anti-gun article trying to use those rates to promote their campaign of disarmament. Looking further into SB 1070 the main argument appears to deal with the fact that Arizona has a slight crime problem. First and foremost Phoenix kidnapping capital of the country.

This seems to be the main justification for the passing of the bill, crime. But of course the issue isn’t black and white even with that information. See most of the kidnappings appear to be drug and gang related. But most importantly most of the crime committed by these illegal immigrants is against… illegal immigrants:

Police in the desert city say specialized kidnap rings are snatching suspected criminals and their families from their homes, running them off the roads and even grabbing them at shopping malls in a spiraling spate of abductions.

“Phoenix is ground zero for illegal narcotics smuggling and illegal human smuggling in the United States,” said Phil Roberts, a Phoenix Police Department detective.

“There’s a lot of illegal cash out there in the valley, and a lot of people want to get their hands on it.”

Last year alone, Phoenix police reported 357 extortion-related abductions — up by nearly half from 2005 — targeting individuals with ties to Mexican smuggling rings.

So now I have the justification of the new bill. By targeting illegal immigrants specifically Arizona could stand to dramatically lower their overall crime rate. The problem is the implementation still sucks as it’s vague and gives the police the authority to target individuals without anything more than reasonable suspension.

Another School Attack in China

Seriously what the fuck is going on over there? This is the fourth school attack in that country this month. This time a man used a hammer to beat down five kids. But according to the anti-gunners if we ban guns from schools no more mass attacks will happen (a China proved yesterday when 28 kids and three adults were stabbed by a man with a knife, which are illegal to carry around in China).

Second Amendment Enforcement Act

Good news slaves citizens of Washington D.C. the Second Amendment Enforcement Act has been introduced in Congress. I haven’t read (nor found a copy of at this point) the bill but I’m guessing it’s very similar, if not exactly like, the amendment to the D.C. Voting Rights bill which was pulled (due to the amendment). A copy of the bill can be nabbed over at The Truth About Guns (not Truth About Guns). [Thanks Lee for the notification].

If passed this bill would force the officials of Washington D.C. to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Heller.

Update 2010-04-29 17:29: Lee down in the comments section was good enough to link to a copy of the bill. The link has been added to the post.

Arizona Should Go For Gold

Of Arms and Law points out that Arizona now scores only two points on the Brady Campaigns report card. That’s two points! The only thing they need to do is pass a law forcing universities to allow carry on campus and they’ll be at the oft desired gold of zero points. If I were you citizens of Arizona I’d work hard on making this dream a reality.

Something I’ve Often Wondered

Tam brings up a good pointer here. I often hear people say you should train like you fight. I agree. But apparently my idea of how I will need to fight and most people who proclaim this different greatly.

When somebody tells me to train like I fight they usually train with tools that I, nor I assume most people, don’t expect to have at my disposal. For the purposes of this post we’ll create a hypothetical gun owner who claims to train like he fights. Let’s call him Timmy Tactical. Timmy Tactical goes to the range every weekend to train. His training regiment is strict and to the letter. His first half hour is spent getting his MOLLE vest, drop leg holster, gloves, knee pads, elbow pads, combination infrared/night vision/4th dimension goggles, radio gear, spike toed ninja combat boots, bullet proof vest equipped with six trauma plates, and sun glasses (super tactical of course) on. He then spends the next couple of hours running drills with his M4gery carbine equipped with a flashlight, laser sight, bayonet, EOTech holographic site with accompanying magnifier, and two extra rounds stored in the pistol grip. He creates scenarios for himself based on likely situations including communist invasion, zombie outbreak, and invasion by aliens hailing from the far reaches of the Betelgeuse system.

What Timmy Tactical doesn’t train with is his concealed .38 caliber snubby revolver that is on his person the rest of the time.

This has always begged the question how do you really plan to fight? Personally the only people I know who fight like Tactical Timmy are the men and women in our military who fight as their daily job. They can fight like that because throughout their day they actually have all their on them. The reason for this should be obvious, they are in a job where extended firefights with multiple enemy combatants is not only possible but down right expected.

Those of us living the lives of sovereign individuals don’t generally have that kind of gear on our person. We don’t walk around all day decked out in combat gear. Well at least nobody I know does or have seen does. Most armed citizens have a small handgun concealed on their person and hopefully a reload in one of their pockets. That’s their fighting gear. And this fighting gear reflects the most likely confrontational scenarios that an average Joe is going to encounter. When walking the streets of a city your most likely enemy is going to be one hostile individual. You may have to defend yourself against multiple people but the number is generally not going to be above three (and before anybody says it, yes I know it can and you should always be as prepared as possible for surprise situations).

That’s why when I train like I fight it involves my carry gun in a concealed holster and a spare magazine in my back pocket. The scenarios I envision usually involve one or two combatants at close range. That’s not to say I don’t bring out my M1A SOCOM 16 every now and then and act like I’m fighting off a zombie invasion, but I don’t really consider it training. That’s just plain fun and games for me. But realistically if our fine country is ever invaded by communists hailing from Alpha Centauri I’m gathering up those I care about and heading for safe territory to hide until the shit settles down.

Likewise when it comes to home defense I train with my carry gun (the one I’m most likely to have should somebody go bump in the night) and shotgun (the gun I’ll try to get should I have the chance) assuming I’ll be in tight corridors and hallways.

Protecting yourself, like anything involving security, is all about threat profiles. I agree you should train like you fight. But how you fight should be based on threat profile. Always ask yourself what the most common situation is. For most people it’s either going to be a mugger coming at you on the street in the middle of the night or some jerk off busting into your home at a similar time frame. Due to this your should train with what equipment you will likely have at hand in those situations (and unless you sleep in your MOLLE gear it’s not going to be that). It certainly doesn’t hurt to train with your super cool combat rifle but you should be most proficient in the use of your carry and home defense gun assuming you won’t have time to gear up.

How Police Should Be

Uncle let’s us know what it means to be a good police officer. An 89 year-old woman successfully defended her home with a gun (which impossible, according the the anti-gunners the bugler would have just taken her gun and used it against her). The police responded in the following manner:

“This is a .22. And the police reloaded it for me,” said Turner. “I know how to work that gun. I just hope and pray to God it don’t happen again.”

Good on you officers.

Gun Laws in Minnesota

Jay over at MArooned put up a nice post quickly explaining gun laws of states on the eastern shore. Having gun laws of states is always a good thing so I thought I’d copy his idea and do the same for Minnesota. So this is going to be a brief run down of Minnesota firearm laws.

Do note nothing on here should be considered correct nor legal under Minnesota law. This information is correct as far as I know but could change or could be inaccurate. In other words I’m not a lawyer so don’t take legal advice from me. Treat this like a guide.

In General

We don’t have any crazy “assault weapon” bans in this fine state. We also don’t have a list containing “state approved” handguns, all United States legal handguns can be owned here. But there are some notes that need to be added.

In order to purchase a handgun or an “assault weapon” you need to acquire a permit to purchase or have a carry license. A permit to purchase can be obtained from your local sheriff’s office and involves filling out a form, waiting five business days, and returning to the sheriff’s office to pick up your permit (which is a piece of paper, not an official card) [Robert contacted me on Facebook and informed me that in his county a piece of paper and a plastic card was mailed to him instead of just a piece of paper. Apparently this too varies by country]. Once you have this permit you can purchase handguns and “assault weapons.” Permits to purchase expire one year after issuance and which point you must jump through the hoops again to renew it. For all other long guns you can simply go into a gun store and pick one up.

There are no waiting periods for purchasing firearms in this state, minus the time it takes to get a permit to purchase should you need one. Likewise Minnesota has reciprocity with Wisconsin (and possibly other neighboring states, but I’ve only purchased in Wisconsin) allowing you to buy long guns there without having to transfer them to a Minnesota FFL dealer. This is rather convenient honestly.

Carry Permits

Minnesota is a “shall issue” state. You are required to attend a class (there is no written test so don’t sweat it), pass a shooting course (which is so simple I think a blind man could do it), and apply for the permit. You must also take a renewal course once every five years and apply for a new permit. So long as you pass the course and aren’t a prohibited person the county must grant you a permit upon application (and payment of course).

Applying for a permit involves going to the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of your county, showing credentials stating you’ve passed the class, filling out some paperwork, paying a fee up to (but not over) $100.00, and waiting up to (but not over) 30 days for your permit to be mailed to your residence.

If you move you must notify the Chief Law Enforcement Officer [As Joat pointed out you need to notify the issuing officer] issuing officer within, I believe, 30 days. A new permit will be issued and I believe a $10.00 can be charged but I am not sure. Your old permit will remain valid but if you want to get a new one that reflects your new address you will be charged a fee of, I believe, $10.00. [Thanks again Joat]

In Minnesota if you have a valid carry permit you do not need a permit to purchase in order to obtain handguns or “assault weapons.” So if you frequently buy firearms it may be easier to get a carry permit once every five years instead of a permit to purchase every year even if you don’t plan on carrying.

Carry Laws

Once you have your carry permit you can carry a gun in Minnesota openly or concealed. Without that permit you can not legally carry a firearm in Minnesota period (unless of course your a law enforcement officer). Take note that the carry permit does allow you to carry a long arm but you will most likely be questioned by the police anyways. But if you want to walk around lugging a rifle you can with so long as you have a carry permit (I wouldn’t recommend it though).

Private businesses can post that they ban firearms. With that said those signs have very little teeth in this state. The property owner must verbally ask you to leave. If you refuse the request (you’re a fucking moron) they will most likely call the police who will arrive and most likely ask you to leave. If you still don’t get the hint (you’re really fucking stupid) you will receive a $20.00 trespassing fine for your first offense. With that said landlords, such as malls, can not post. Well they can but the signs will have no legal backing [Thanks for mentioning that Nate, I forgot to add it in while I was writing this]. This is a hotly debated topic in the Twin Cities because the Mall of America posts and they are a landlord. Legally those signs have no meaning but it comes down the whether or not you want to deal with the Bloomington police (yes the Mall of America has actual police on site) or simply take your business elsewhere.

State property, with two three exception (which I’ll explain in a second), can not bar you from carrying a firearm. That means you can carry on college campuses here. With that said a college campus can make rules baring students and faculty from carrying. If you are a student of faculty member of such a campus realize that they can expel or fire you but they can not bring any legal action against you.

The one complete exception from being able to carry are courtrooms. You can’t bring a firearm into a court room period. The first exception are courthouses. You can carry in a courthouse if you provide written notice to the sheriff though. [Thanks again Joat]

The second exception, which isn’t a complete exception at all, is the state capital. You can not carry there unless you submit a letter of notification beforehand. Once you submit a letter of notification you’re good to carry. Upon submission you are not given any additional permit or paperwork. Once the letter is submitted you’re good. It is wise however to make a copy of the said letter, take two copies in person to the capital, get one signed, and bring that letter with you whenever you carry at the capitol.

The third exception are daycare centers and K-12 schools (really two exceptions but they fit the same category). Like the capital you can bypass this exception if you are able to obtain written permission from the head of the institution [Thanks again Joat].

NFA Weapons

There isn’t much to say about NFA weapons for Minnesota but there are two major issues to note. First you can not own a suppressor in this state. Sorry it just isn’t happening. Likewise you can only obtain a machine gun if it’s also a C&R (curio and relic) weapon. If you jump through the NFA paperwork and pay the tax stamp you can obtain any other (as far as I know) NFA weapon such as a short barreled rifle or shotgun [I guess shotguns are a no-no].

Things That Make You Go Huh?

Of course as with any highly unregulated industry (according to the Brady Bunch and their ilk) there are also a slew of things that just make you go huh. Joat pointed out to me in #gunblogger_conspiracy this little law on the Minnesota books. It’s illegal to have both a firearm and night vision equipment in your possession at the same time. Why is this on the books? Who fucking knows.

Update 2010-04-20 14:43: Removed short barreled shotguns from the list of allowed NFA weapons in this state. Thanks Greg for pointing that out.

Update 2010-04-21 07:06: Made changes to the information based on Joat’s and Nate’s comment. I threw in a second under carry laws in regards to landlords not being able to post as well as the mechanism available to private property owners to notify they ban firearms. Also added the absurd night vision clause which was also provide to me by Joat.

Update 2010-04-26 07:18: Corrected the information regarding courthouses. Thanks again Joat.

Update 2010-04-26 20:26: Robert contacted me on Facebook and informed me that not all counties require you to pick up a permit to purchase at the Sheriff’s office. Likewise his county not only mails permits but their permits also include a plastic card. I updated the relevant section to reflect this.