Category: Guns

If You Can’t Ram It Through the Legislature

November 27, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Get it on the ballot.

Some group out of Miami is working to get an assault weapon ban on the 2020 ballot. The amendment’s language defines an assault weapon as any semi-auto rifle or shotgun capable of holding more than ten rounds “at once”. It includes fixed and detachable magazines.

My gut instinct is that an unfriendly judge could interpret that as banning damn near any rifle that can accept a magazine with more than ten rounds, even if you only have “acceptable” magazines.

There is, of course, a registry for non-compliant long guns already purchased. I would imagine they’ll be lucky if they get New York compliance rates.

This is dangerous. We are going to have to fight it from getting on the ballot. Time to see what I can shake loose from the budget for my state organizations.

Tab Clearing – Gun Edition

November 21, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I’m clearing out some gun-related tabs from my browser.

Reason has an article about the difference in perception that ostensibly pro-gun people display when the gun owners are people they don’t like.

Another Reason article on Cuomo’s use of regulatory power to demand financial firms stop doing business with the NRA. Needless to say, they are against it.

From concealedcarry.com comes a study on active shooter incidents and armed civilians. In the small number of incidents where an armed citizen is present, the Armed Citizens are successful 94% of the time. Also of note, most active shooter incidents don’t occur in gun-free zones.

Forbes has an article that top FDIC officials knew about and ran Operation Choke Point. Nice to have confirmation.

If You Were Thnking About Getting Your CWP…

November 19, 2018 / / 0 Comments

If you were even slightly contemplating getting a Florida Concealed Weapons Permit, I recommend you do so now. Do not wait, go to the Department of Agriculture’s site and follow the process.

Why the rush?

Because our newly elected Commissioner has publicly stated that she supports gun control. I wouldn’t put it past her to muck around and do her level best to make it as difficult as she legally (and illegally) possible to obtain/renew a CWP.

One hopes she gets tied up trying to fix the medical marijuana system. Maybe she’ll actually do some good for the state.

Mid-Term Reaction

November 8, 2018 / / 0 Comments

On the national front, the Democrats get the House and the Republicans keep the Senate. I mostly agree with Rob’s assessment that the House Republican’s failure to do what it promised kept the base unmotivated to help save it from an aggressive Democrat push.

On the Florida side, Miguel’s correct that we dodged a bullet by DeSantis’s hairbreadth win. More importantly Fried’s defeat for Agriculture. It looks like Scott and Nelson are headed for a recount, which wouldn’t have happened if Scott hadn’t caved after Parkland. Don’t fucking do favors for people who won’t vote for you anyways. I swear that politicos should have that tattooed on their palms.

As for the amendments? It was kind of a mixed bag from my perspective. Probably the most controversial was granting the right to vote to felons, which I voted for because if you’ve served your time and released, then you should have all the rights and responsibilities of a citizen restored. Speaking of the citizenry, they decided we needed to ban offshore drilling, vaping in offices, and greyhound racing. Because when special interests can buy the right legislators, they buy themselves an amendment. And all of these crossed the two-thirds needed for an amendment to pass – which was supposed to stop this bullshit in the first place.

And starts the long slog to 2020.

Rabid Dogs

October 29, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I have some very progressive friends on Facebook. Most of them are people I know in meatspace. One of them had a tweet bitching that Trump saying the synagogue attacked this weekend should have an armed guard was “blaming the victim.” I’ve seen similar attacks when women are told to take basic precautions. No, we should be disarming the people or making the bad men not be bad men. I’m calling bullshit on this.

People who do heinous acts are the human equivalent of rabid dogs. Why? You can’t reason with them. Their worldview precludes reason by the time they’re acting. You will never take away enough dangerous items to prevent them from harming others. Just like you can’t take away a rabid dog’s teeth and claws, you can’t take away a human’s mind – and that’s the dangerous part. Take away guns, they’ll use knives, gasoline, acid, cars, or the myriad of other dangerous things we have in a modern world. The brutal truth is that the only way to deal with a rabid dog is to stop it with force.

It is not “blaming the victim” to tell people who live in dangerous areas or who belong to groups known to be the target of dangerous people to take precautions and to have the means to deal forcefully if/when the bad guys attack. It is dealing with realities of living in a modern society.

If you are a member of an often targeted group (i.e., minorities), and you want to learn how to protect yourself, I recommend getting in touch with Operation Blazing Sword. If you go to a place of worship, talk to your leadership about a security plan. It should not only be call 911. Ben Branam of the Modern Self Protection podcast offers a free church security outline.

Beware of the rabid dogs, and be prepared if they darken your door – wherever you are.

Judge Offers Victims CCW Class

October 24, 2018 / / 0 Comments

From Rob’s Slow Facts blog comes a story about a judge offering free CCW classes for victims of a serial stalker.

After passing down the sentence [on the stalker], Ashland Municipal Court Judge John L. Good ordered the people who were victimized by Fulk to be provided with free Concealed Carry Weapon Classes.

The individuals who were victimized by Scott Fulk [convicted stalker] participated in CCW Classes on Sunday, September 30th, under the shared sentiment of “We will not be victims”.

Good sentiment.

It Looks Like 5.56 Days Are Numbered 6.8

October 11, 2018 / / 0 Comments

The Army is moving $25 billion from high-end expensive development projects to other programs, including the development of a new series of small arms based on the 6.8mm cartridge.

Army Secretary Mark Esper announced the $25 billion figure here in his opening speech to the conference, the largest of the year. The final number awaits approval from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the White House’s Office Of Management & Budget, and ultimately Congress, Esper cautioned reporters afterwards, but, looking across the 2020-2024 budget plan (aka the FYDP), he said, “that dollar figure is a low end.”

The M16 series has been the standard rifle for the military for nearly sixty years. There have been numerous attempts to replace it with a better weapon. None have succeeded, but they have provided ways to improve the M16 platform. I’m hoping that even if this one doesn’t work out, we get a better M16 platform out of it.

Range Day Hijinks

October 9, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Since I was off on Monday, Shootin’ Buddy and me decided to hit the range. I needed to rotate the carry ammo any way.

Sunday night, The Fiancee and I headed to Walmart to pick up ammo and other items. The range ammo is some IWI shit that has primers made out of titanium or something. All I know is my rate of F2F’s is horrific using it. Of course, it’s Walmart, so it takes a while for the clerk to come to unlock the case. Then she has to see my ID. Good news, because of all the weight I’ve lost, I don’t look like my photo. Bad news is I don’t look like my photo. For a moment, I was wondering if I was going to be able to buy the ammo.

Heading home, The Fiancee and I discussed gun terminology. She knows very little about guns, and really doesn’t want to know much more. Just enough to understand what I’m saying. There was some confusion about why a revolver isn’t considered a semi-auto because a revolver fired one round with each squeeze of the trigger. We also discussed the difference between ball and JHP ammo, and why they were different prices.

Monday I picked up Shootin’ Buddy and we went to the range. We both ran my M&P for a bit before switching over to his Glock… damn, I forgot my Glock decoder ring. It’s one of the subcompact .45’s. Shootin’ Buddy prefers the bigger bullet. I remembered why I don’t like shooting small Glocks. I really dislike Glock Knuckle. Still, we had fun turning money into noise.

Then it was time to window shop. We looked at – and lusted over – the Ruger PC9. Especially the suppressed version the range was selling for $1,000 (including tax stamp!). I really think my next AR-style rifle will be a Sig MCX. I’m liking those more and more. Someone also picked up the All American 2000 out of the used case that I was eyeing the last time I went shooting.

Overall, not a bad way to spend a day off.

I Vote Guns Part Something or Other

October 3, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I was really hoping Nikki Fried would be a smart Democrat and just leave the guns issue alone. Her big platform push was to come up with a sensible medical marijuana system, and that’s something Florida needs. The current system was definitely written by prohibitionists, which makes it difficult on those who need it. So, I was just hoping Fried would just focus on that platform.

Unfortunately, she isn’t. According to the tweet published in Miguel’s article, Fried is somehow going to wrest control of the concealed weapons process from the NRA. Which means she’s probably going to toss control over to Bloomberg’s suite of lobbyists.

You done fucked with my third rail. I vote guns, and I vote against those willing to take them.

I Move and This Happens

September 18, 2018 / / 1 Comment

Via Miguel and the NRA-ILA comes news that the incoming Senate President received a donation from Bloomberg’s Everytown.

Incoming Florida Senate President Bill Galvano calls himself a Republican but is rumored to be the one who colluded with anti-gun Democrats to engineer the gun control package included in SB-7026 this past session. SB-7026 contained three major gun control provisions and was rammed down the throats of Senate and House Republican legislators. The report below below adds credence to that rumor. Looks like our Second Amendment Rights were sold for a large contribution from anti-gun former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

All of this while the anti-gunners keep accusing legislators of taking money from NRA. In reality, no Florida Senate or House member or candidate for the Florida Senate or House has received a direct contribution from NRA in almost 20 years.

Guess who my state senator is now that I moved in with The Fiancee?