Category: Guns

Gun News on a Friday

March 22, 2018 / / 0 Comments

The Good:

Just as YouTube starts banning gun videos a new place ramps up. I see myself losing a lot of time over there.

The Bad:

Citibank joins Kroger in virtue signaling. The bank’s actions worry me, because if others follow Citi’s actions it will strangle the gun industry. Just look at the damage Operation Chokehold did a few years ago.

The Hilarious:

Also related to YouTube’s banning, one channel decided on an alternate distribution channel. At least PornHub has a strong record when it comes to free speech.

Alphabet Hates Guns

March 21, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Alphabet, the parent company of YouTube, released new rules for firearms content.

YouTube prohibits certain kinds of content featuring firearms. Specifically, we don’t allow content that:

Intends to sell firearms or certain firearms accessories through direct sales (e.g., private sales by individuals) or links to sites that sell these items. These accessories include but may not be limited to accessories that enable a firearm to simulate automatic fire or convert a firearm to automatic fire (e.g., bump stocks, gatling triggers, drop-in auto sears, conversion kits), and high capacity magazines (i.e., magazines or belts carrying more than 30 rounds).

Provides instructions on manufacturing a firearm, ammunition, high capacity magazine, homemade silencers/suppressors, or certain firearms accessories such as those listed above. This also includes instructions on how to convert a firearm to automatic or simulated automatic firing capabilities.

Shows users how to install the above-mentioned accessories or modifications.

Between this and the censoring of Google, it’s pretty clear that Alphabet wants to kill the gun culture by strangling the information stream. Knowing our community, there will be calls for a boycott. I’m just not sure if that’s possible at this point.

I’m also not ready to declare Google or YouTube a utility.

I hate when there’s no good answer.

Are They Children Or Protestors?

March 15, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I’ve been seeing outrage at people “attacking” the children protesting for gun control. How terrible we are for “attacking” children?

Am I supposed to coddle them like children if they’re demanding to be heard on the adult stage? Or should they suffer the slings and arrows that they have been recklessly flinging at me and mine? They can’t have it both ways.

If they want to be bomb-throwers, then they cannot play the innocent when bombs are thrown back. They cannot call lawful gun owners murderers and subhumans, and then act offended when people call them Nazis.

Put simply, they cannot demand be given the same treatment as adults in the public square, and then demand to be treated like children when they are.

They are either foot soldiers or pawns or both in the most recent flare up of the gun control war that’s been going on in this country for over a hundred years.

Welcome to the fight.

They Must Be Really Hoping Pre-Emption Goes Away

March 7, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Hillsborough County commissioners voted to extend the waiting period from three to five days. An “assault weapon” ban failed to get off the ground.

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-hillsborough/hillsborough-county-commissioners-to-vote-on-assault-weapons-band

They must really think the need to do something outweighs the risk of being sued under Florida’s Preemption Law. Especially with Florida Carry more than willing to sue.

And for something that would do absolutely nothing to prevent another mass shooter. These aren’t folks who go buy a gun and start killing on a whim. They take time to plan, and it’s a hell of a lot longer than five fucking days.

State of My Podcasts

March 7, 2018 / / 5 Comments

I’m going to try and do this on an annual basis. Part of it’’s my own curiosity at how my podcast habits change. I’m also curious what others think about the same podcasts and which podcasts come and go.

I’m going to list the podcasts into some broad groups, with any annotations about frequency I listen to them or general impressions.

I listen to my podcasts in Overcast. I use four playlists:

  1. Daily – This is a playlist of what I want to listen to during my commutes, work, and other times. Some of the podcasts are put to the top on certain days. Some are “promotable”, which means they go to the top behind that day’s podcasts. The rest are filler, and I’ll get to them when I can.
  2. Writing – I use this as a warm-up for when I’m going to write as well as general knowledge to improve my writing
  3. Roman History – This one has two finished podcast series I’m listening about the history of Rome from its early beginnings to the fall of the Byzantine Empire
  4. History – Self explanatory

My podcasts as of March 2018:

Liberty

Cato Daily Podcast – A good quick bit in various topics from a libertarian viewpoint. This one I use as filler on my “Daily” playlist.

Cato Events Podcast – Recordings of various panels put on by the Cato Institute. I’ve heard a lot of very interesting discussions and arguments. This one I use as filler on my “Daily” playlist. I will delete if the topic doesn’t interest me, as these can be pretty long.

Clear and Present Danger -A History of Free Speech – This is a Friday morning podcast on my “Daily” playlist. Still a little uncertain about this one.

The Good Fight – Formerly “The Liberty Files”, this one is a promotable on my “Daily” playlist. This is one I like using for hearing the conservative side of civil liberty discussions. A bit heavier on the freedom of religion than I’d like, but understandable from the hosts’ perspective.

Reason Podcast – Reason’s weekly podcast with their editors is promotable on my Daily playlist. The others are filler. Some good content and some that just don’t interest me.

Short Circuit – From the Institute of Justice, this one discusses notable cases that IJ is a part of. This is a promotable on my Daily playlist.

So To Speak – FIRE’s podcast discussing free speech issues. This is a Friday morning podcast on my Daily playlist.

Economics

Econtalk – Economist Russ Roberts does great interviews with a wide variety of guests and topics. I’ve been learning a lot. This is a Tuesday morning podcast on my Daily playlist.

GAO Podcast – GAO discussing some of their reviews. This one I use as filler on my “Daily” playlist

History

Hardcore History – Dan Carlin’s storytelling on various topics is spellbinding. This is promotable on my History playlist on the infrequent occasions new podcasts show up.

Hardcore History: Addendum – New one from Dan Carlin. The first two were interesting. This will be promotable if he continues.

The History of Byzantium – I only listened to a couple of episodes. It’s on my “Roman History” playlist to go after the “History of Rome.”

The History of Rome – This one is on my “Roman History” playlist. Good for amateur historians like me. It’s a finished series.

Revolutions – Really good series on various revolutions. Each season goes through one of the more pivotal revolutions in history, starting with the English Revolution. I’ve listened to the first four seasons. This is on my History playlist.

War Stories – Good military history podcast. It’s in my “History” playlist.

Guns

Black Man With A Gun Podcast – Kenn’s podcast was one of the first I started listening to, and then I wrote Zombie Strike for him. It’s a promotable on my Daily playlist.

Down Range Radio – Right now, this is my Wednesday morning podcast, but it may get downgraded to promotable. Some of Bane’s nonsense and glad standing is getting on my nerves. On my Daily playlist.

Geeks Gadgets and Guns – A recent addition after they discussed Pathfinder with Erin Pallette. Right now it’s a promotable on my Daily playlist.

The Gun Nation – This one is promotable on my Daily playlist on the rare occasions it drops.

Handgun Radio – This one I’ve been enjoying. It’s a promotable on my Daily playlist.

Handgun World – This one might go from promotable to fuller on my Daily playlist. Bob has good information, but sometimes his views annoy me, particularly when he goes off on rising evil.

Polite Society Podcast – Good information, but often too long. This one is filler on my Daily playlist

Riding Shotgun With Charley – Interesting so far, but currently filler on my Daily playlist

Safety Solutions Academy – Real good information. Paul is one of those trainers I’d like to learn from if I could scrape together the time and money. This one is promotable on my Daily playlist.

Self-Defense Gun Stories – I like the analysis of what went right and wrong from a variety of professional trainers. This one is a promotable on my Daily playlist.

Politics

The Economist – This is a Friday morning podcast on my Daily playlist. It provides a different perspective and reports on areas that barely hit my normal feeds.

The Fifth Column – This is a really good roundup focusing on the issues of the day and how the media reports them. It’s a promotable on my Daily playlist.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen – Charles C. Cooke. That’s why I listen to this podcast. It’s a promotable on my Daily playlist.

Neal Boortz Daily Commentaries – I loved listening to Boortz when he was on syndicated radio, and now I get two minutes of him. It’s interesting to see how I’ve diverged from him over the years. It’s only considered promotable on my Daily playlist because I get it daily.

The One With Greg Gutfeld – Only listened to a couple of episodes, but it feels similar to Greg’s Redeye days. Currently promotable on my Daily playlist.

Part of the Problem – Rabid anti war libertarian comedian Dave Smith is interesting. He’s certainly challenging some of my ideas. Promotable on my Daily playlist.

War College – This is a Friday morning podcast on my Daily playlist. An interesting look at politics and military issues.

Tech

Clockwise – This is a Friday morning podcast on my Daily playlist. I like the format and it helps keep me up to date on tech issues and trends.

Daily Tech Headlines – Good summary of big tech stories, and the weekend history segments are interesting. It’s considered promotable on my Daily playlist only because it comes out every day.

General

Friendly Fire – New one about three guys watching and critiquing war films. It’s a Friday afternoon podcast on my Daily playlist.

The Incomparable Game Show – Often hilarious, sometimes dangerously so when driving. It’s a Friday afternoon podcast on my Daily playlist.

Penn’™s Sunday School – Penn prognosticating on the world. It’s a Tuesday and a Thursday morning podcast on my Daily Playlist.

Squirrel Report – It’s not a Friday afternoon drive without this one.

Unjustly Maligned – On hiatus, but I’d recommend going through the back of episodes.

The Way I Heard It With Mike Rowe – After growing up with Paul Harvey’™s “The Rest of the Story”, this one is a wonderful substitute. It’s a promotable on my Daily playlist.

Science & Skepticism

Skeptics Guide to The Universe – This was my first science podcast and really helped forge my skepticism. It’s a Monday morning podcast on my Daily playlist.

Skeptoid – Another one that helped in developing my skeptical outlook. It’s a promotable on my Daily playlist.

Writing

Writing Excuses – If you are a fiction writer, I can’t recommend this one highly enough. It’s currently the only one on my Writing playlist.

Who’s That Knocking on My Door

March 5, 2018 / / 0 Comments

One of my “black swan” fears is my front door crashing open and people screaming “Police”. Is it a real raid or a home invasion? Am I dealing with cops or criminals?

Greg Ellifritz over at Active Response Training has an excellent article up on how to identify if it’s the police coming into your house or bad guys.

SWAT Raid or Home Invasion?

You really need to read the whole thing. Some takeaways:

  1. Is it happening in daytime with an announcement? Probably cops
  2. Are there uniformed police or marked cars outside? Probably cops
  3. Are there six to twelve persons or only two to four? The former means they’re probably cops
  4. Are they using weapon mounted lights and tactical gear? Probably cops

Definitely good food for thought.

Erin Needs Some Help

October 11, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Erin Palette, who has tirelessly raised funds for people in need, is in need herself. She was mauled by a dog and is in need of help with the substantial medical bills.

If you have something to spare, would you mind kicking it over here?

https://www.gofundme.com/vv43jt-erins-medical-fund

One thing I love about the gunnie community is their generosity.

Hills To Die On

October 7, 2017 / / 0 Comments

One of the reasons that Black Lives Matter wasn’t more widely accepted was the “martyrs” it chose to lift up. It’s hard for the mainstream populace to get behind the idea of there being too many police shootings with little or no investigation when the examples are often thugs doing things that justified being shot. These are not the hills to die on.

Right now, the gun community is looking at another fight because a man decided to murder as many people as he could and chose to use guns as his weapon of choice. More to the point, the question of the day revolves around the possible ban of bump stocks, a novelty item that increases the rate of fire of a semi-auto rifle. At the same time, there’s the SHARE act and national reciprocity that is essentially shelved because Republican Congress critters are trying to please people who hate them anyway. (I swear the leadership has some sort of Stockholm Syndrome).

My Wookiee-suited libertarian side is screaming that we should tell those proposing a ban “Fuck you and while we’re at it, let’s roll back every other stupid gun law!” I also realize that what I believe is outside what most people are comfortable with. And most people are uncomfortable with the idea of full autos in the hands of anyone but the military and police. This is not the hill we want to die on.

I think we would get further acting magnanimous by offering up bump stocks for passage of national reciprocity or SHARE. Both if we can get it. Is it ideal? Fuck no. But I’d rather die on the hill of states treating CCWs like drivers licenses or taking suppressors off the NFA list than I would of defending the bump stock.

Initial Thoughts on Vegas

October 4, 2017 / / 1 Comment

I generally wait at least twenty-four to forty-eight hours after a tragedy like the mass murder in Las Vegas before commenting. The early information is usually wrong or incomplete. So here are some of my thoughts, in no particular order.

  1. My sympathies go to the victims and their families. I can’t even comprehend how their lives will change because of this night.
  2. It appalls but does not surprise that this became political in nothing flat. It’s almost as if the chattering classes are salivating over the bodies for a chance to push their agenda.
  3. It also appalls but does not surprise me that conspiracy theories have sprung up faster than black mold, but with the same toxicity.
  4. No, a good guy with a gun would not have likely stopped this or shortened it. The shooter was raining down rounds from a perch three hundred feet up and five hundred feet away. Unless you had the rifle you took top honors at Camp Perry and could somehow locate the target amidst the carnage and horror, I really don’t want to hear about it.
  5. What would’ve helped? Probably more people with first aid training and first aid packs with tourniquets and hemostatic bandages.
  6. In the midst of such horror, there are always beacons of light. People shepherding and pulling others to safety, others tending to the wounded, and some who are ballsy enough to just stand up and flick off the bastard.
  7. No, this doesn’t make the case for gun control. This was a person bent on killing as many people as possible. Even if the antis managed to somehow magically disappear all 300 to 600 million guns in the country, a person bent on mass murder will still find a way. Last year, a terrorist used a truck in Nice and killed more people. Twenty years ago, a terrorist used legally acquired materials to build a bomb that killed almost three times as many.
  8. As of this writing, I don’t know if we’ll ever learn the motive. That won’t stop everyone from telling you what his motive was.
  9. No, we don’t need to “do something.” The only people who have to do something are those who have to tend to the wounded, bury the dead, or investigate the crime. If you want to do something, make sure you tell your friends and family you love them. And maybe learn first aid.

Violent Crime Up, But That’s Not A Reason to Panic

September 26, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Reason has an article on the release of the new Uniform Crime Reports from the FBI.

http://reason.com/blog/2017/09/25/violent-crime-rose-again-in-2016-for-sec

My favorites parts from this:

Adam Gelb, director of the Public Safety Performance Project at the Pew Charitable Trusts, pointed out that only five years since 1971 have had lower violent crime rates than 2016. In 2005 and 2006, the U.S. also experienced a similar two-year rise in violent crime. “There were dire warnings from police, only to have crime then continue to drop,” Gelb said.

And

John Pfaff, a professor at Fordham University Law School, cautioned that crime is a complex, geographically concentrated phenomena, and that it can’t simply be attributed to how many people are or aren’t being sent to prison.

He noted that Chicago, which has been experiencing an unprecedented spike in murders over the past several years, was responsible for about 20 percent of the national net increase in homicides. However, half of Chicago’s rise in murders were confined to five neighborhoods with 9 percent of the city’s population. “So in other words,” Pfaff said, “five neighborhoods in Chicago explain 10 percent of the national increase in homicide rates.”

Contrary to world stereotypes, America is still mostly peaceful – even while being having a heavily armed populace. Moreover, almost all of the violence is found in cities, particularly impoverished neighborhoods.

There aren’t any easy answers to helping those neighborhoods. Most likely, the solutions will require a multitude of approaches that will anger both of the major camps.