The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …
New Hampshire guy somehow managed to leave his loaded carry piece on a bench in a restaurant. His license was pulled and he’s stuck with a reckless endangerment charge.  Even more embarrassing, the media picked up his mug shot.
Remember as license holders that the media is looking for reasons to paint us as dangerous an irresponsible. We need to be careful not to give them any stories like this.
Get ready for a state wide trans-fat ban to rear its ugly head. Hopefully by the time this crap gets serious legs, we’ll be rid of Fast Eddie.
UPDATE:
I just thought, that Tastycakes, which are a Philadelphia icon, contain a fair amount of trans-fat. There are many of us that have our lines in the sand. You can have my Tastycakes when you pry them from my cold dead, butterscotch covered hands!
I’ve made my reservations, and paid for my flight. I will be at The Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno, Nevada from October 11th, flying out Monday afternoon. Anyone staying over Monday?
Now I just need to send in my registration form to Mr. Completely, and it’ll be all ready to go.
Looks like there’s some problems with the Tenneesee Instant Check System. Just in case anyone from TBI is reading this, my consulting fee is 150 an hour, plus travel expenses. It is possible to set up a database system that doesn’t go down. You just need to hire the right people. Wait, this is a government job isn’t it? I think there might be some continuing maintenance fees I can throw in there.
But seriously, this is a good example of how the instant background systems, because they act as a prior restraint on the exercise of a fundamental right, are infringing. Systems can always go down, or be unreliable. In the mean time, if Squeaky had a violent ex boyfriend after her, she’d be in danger and unable to defense herself.
I do think we are stuck with having some kind of background check system, and I’d be very surprised if the court’s invalidated it, even under strict scrutiny. The lesson here for people is not to wait until you’re in danger to take steps to look after your personal safety. The time to do that is now. The criminal can always buy a gun off the streets, or do a straw purchase, if in quick need of protection. The lab abiding do not have that option. We must work with the bureaucracy.
While the anti-gun folks would like to say the instant background checks are not infringing, tell that to any scared woman right now dealing with a violent ex who might be trying to buy a gun in Tennessee, or a merchant who may be getting threats from the local street urchins in Memphis, and suddenly find himself not wanting to be a 911 call and 20 minutes away from any real protection.
Bitter is hanging it up for now. A busy work schedule is just making it too difficult for her to blog effectively. I’m just as disappointed as everyone else is, as I’ve been reading her a lot longer than I’ve been dating her.  I do hope she’ll be back to blogging when she has time again.
Blogging is a huge time eater. I spent nearly all my non working hours on weeknights looking for stuff to blog about. I get up in the morning, look for stuff. Check in at lunch sometimes. After work, looking for stuff for the next morning. It’s very difficult to stay on top of the latest and make any meaningful contribution to the conversation. I can appreciate how it can burn people out. I do wish I could have convinced Bitter to stay around, but she’s got other things to worry about right now.
Looks like we have a good ending to the Jim Zumbo controversy. Now when is someone going to give him back a column so he can talk to hunters about this side of the shooting community and the need for unity?
Uncle is speechless. I’m surprised you can’t find at least one person in a newsroom that knows the bullet gets fired out of the cartridge when it’s shot. To me, this ought to be common knowledge. I think it is common knowledge. I’m having to seriously consider the possibility that reporters are just not very well educated people.
After some recommendations from my readers, I ordered some CCI Standard Velocity .22LR to try out in my Ruger 10/22. I took it to the range today, and after zeroing the scope in for this round (it drops a bit lower than high velocity), I managed to do some better shooting than I did with the cheaper stuff.
NRA standard 100 yard large bore target, at 100 yards, bench position. Two targets, string of ten in each. First target 97/100. Landed three in the 9. Second target, 94/100, landed four in the 9, and 1 in the 8.  The difference between this and last time isn’t really that much, but when I missed, I knew I missed before I even saw where the shot went in the scope. Last time, I was missing shots that my gut told me should have gone into the ten rings. With the better ammo, when I missed, I felt the miss. So I’m happy about that at least.  To me that says I’m working within the limitations of me rather than my ammo. Now I just need to work on getting that perfect 100.
I found an error in Pennsylvania’s Consolidated Statues online. Let’s see if you guys can spot it:
It would be fun if it wasn’t wrong.
This latest in my series on the history of Pennsylvania’s Uniform Firearms Act comes to us from Dec. 7, 1989, P.L.607, No.68, or Act 68 of 1989. This act is what made it a crime to carry a rifle or a shotgun in a vehicle:
§ 6106.1. Carrying loaded weapons other than firearms.
(a) General rule.–No person shall carry a loaded pistol, revolver, shotgun or rifle, other than a firearm as defined in section 6102 (relating to definitions), in any vehicle. The provisions of this
subsectionSECTION shall not apply to persons excepted from the requirement of a license to carry firearms under section 6106(b)(1), (2), (5) or (6) (relating to firearms not to be carried without a license) NOR SHALL THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION BE CONSTRUED TO PERMIT PERSONS TO CARRY FIREARMS IN A VEHICLE WHERE SUCH CONDUCT IS PROHIBITED BY SECTION 6106.(b) Penalty.–A person who violates the provisions of this section commits a summary offense.
This is where Pennsylvania law starts to get a bit screwy. A firearm is defined in the UFA as any pistol, revolver, or rifle with a barrel less than 16″ in length, or a shotgun less than 18″ in length, or with an overall length less than 26″ in length. Anything within that can be carried loaded in a vehicle if you have a license to carry firearms, which by this time was issued on a shall issue basis, except for in Philadelphia. Anything outside of that definition, may not be carried loaded in a vehicle, even if you have a license. The exceptions are only for police, military and a few others.