See Alan Gura’s update here. Â Looks like all the Chicago-area cases are being consolidated on appeal. Â Let’s hope we win on this.
Month: January 2009
Home Defense Ammo
If you’re going to use a rifle for home defense, you’ll always have the problem of over-penetration, and in a suburban neighborhood, that can be a problem.  The last thing you want is for your shot to go through the bad guy, and leave the premises, or to ricochet off something, and head off in an unsafe direction.  This summer, we did a lot of close range steel shooting with frangible ammunition from International Cartridge Corporation. It occurred to me that if I wanted to use a carbine like an AR-15 for home defense, I would need appropriate ammo.  So I ordered up some of ICC’s .223:
I didn’t shoot any of the .223 Frangible, but if it’s a good as their .45 ACP, it should be pretty good. As you can see, the shape and color are much different than FMJ, but it’ll turn to dust if it hits any surface harder than itself. Â You can always use a shotgun for home defense, but I like the AR platform, and its operation is more drilled into my head.
Is This the GOP I Remember?
The Republicans have taken the first in a long series of steps that will need to be taken to distance themselves from the Bush legacy.  The stimulus package passed without a single Republican vote.  Eleven Democrats bucked Pelosi and Obama to vote against this, and they deserve our appreciation too.  Those Democrats were, Allen Boyd (FL-2), Bobby Bright (AL-2), Jim Cooper (TN-5), Brad Ellsworth (IN-9), Parker Griffith (AL-5), Paul Kanjorski (PA-11), Frank Kratovil (MD-1), Walt Minnick (ID-1), Collin Peterson (MN-7), Heath Shuler (NC-11), and Gene Taylor (MS-4).  I’m happy that I had the opportunity of helping Paul Kanjorski at a few guns shows near his district in my role as NRA-EVC.  Glad to see he’s with me on other issues too.
There’s several freshman Democrats in here, and it’s pretty bold to stand up to your party’s Speaker and its President. Â But given that there are a few freshmen in here, I think it’s likely once Pelosi had the votes she needed for passage, she might have told freshman in conservative districts they could vote ‘no’ on this if they felt they had to. Â One lone freshman I could believe was principle. Â Three is probably a back room nod from Pelosi to vote no.
What Calibers Do You Keep Stocked?
Tam seems to do what I do, but with a lot more calibers. Â I have guns in several calibers, but I will put them in order of what I shoot the most, and thus what I stock the most of:
- .22LR – Rarely do I have less than 1000 rounds on hand. Â Usually several thousand. Â I go through a brick every few weeks.
- 9x19mm – It’s what I carry, so I go through a lot of it. Â I try to buy it 500 or 1000 rounds at a time.
- 5.56x45mm – I load all this myself now, so I keep a few hundred at a time for matches, then reload when I need to.
- .380 ACP – Carry this one too. Â But I usually won’t keep more than 250 rounds in stock, since I don’t shoot this as often.
- .44 Spc/Magnum – Don’t keep more than a hundred or so rounds loaded at any one time. Â I use this for shooting field pistol in IHMSA matches.
- .45ACP – Just got a 1911 this summer, and have been collecting many rounds of brass to reload.
- 7.62x39mm – I typically keep about 500 rounds on hand.
- 5.45x39mm – I have a thousand or so of this, all corrosive. Â Another 300 rounds of non-corrosive.
- 9x18mm – For the Makarov and CZ. Â I was shooting this a lot for a while, but don’t so much anymore.
- .30-06 – For the Garand. Â Club matches require buying the ammo from the club. Â Don’t keep all that much loaded, as I don’t practice with the Garand as much as I should.
- 12 Gauge – Sometimes I like to shoot trap night at the club.
- 7.62x54R – I haven’t shot much of this lately, but when I get in the mood I can go through a lot.
- 8mm Mauser – Have one box of this for if the mood ever strikes me, which isn’t often.
- .17HMR – New caliber I have added to my stocks. Â Have only shot about 50 rounds of 200 so far.
- 7.62x38R – For the Nagant revolver. Â Expensive ammo. Â I have a partial box because I will typically blow through one cylinder at the range and call it a day when the mood strikes me.
I need .308 now that I have a FAL, but my backorder for some hasn’t been filled yet.  That is the only firearm I have for which I have no ammunition.  I have the most number of guns in .22LR, since that’s what I shoot the most.  I like any caliber that’s cheap, and I don’t have to reload.  What ammunition to you keep in inventory.  I suspect many of us are poster children for the old Brady “Arsenal License” nonsense from back in the days when they dreamed big.
We’re Very Happy for Kim Rhode
Some of you might remember back in September that Olympic shotgun shooter and Gold Medalist Kim Rhode had her one-of-a-kind very expensive shotgun stolen from her car. Â I think I was actually remiss in blogging about that here. Â But I just got this from The Outdoor Wire:
The Riverside, California Sheriff’s Department has recovered four-time Olympic medalist Kim Rhode’s shotgun. Police officials say the gun was recovered during a routine parole check. According to Rhode, the gun is in “immaculate” shape, although the competition stickers she had collected during her shooting career had been removed. “I can’t believe it,” Rhode told The Outdoor Wire only minutes after the gun was returned. A complete report in tomorrow’s edition of The Outdoor Wire.
We’re very happy for Kim that she got her shotgun back. Â That’s one of those things you almost don’t expect to ever see it again, and it breaks your heart. Â Obviously that gun had to have meant a lot to her, and it’s good fortune that she is reunited with it. Â Good work on the part of the Riverside Sheriff’s office.
Holder Approved by Judicary Committee
By a vote of 17 to 2, Eric Holder’s confirmation vote has been voted out of committee and onto the Senate floor.
The votes against him were John Cornyn of Texas, and Tom Coburn of Olkahoma. Senator Specter, who is the ranking Republican on the committee, voted yes. Cornyn did mention gun rights among his reasons for voting no. No doubt Coburn shared some concern also.
I anxiously await commentators suggesting if the NRA had just made this a “key vote” we could have turned around the eight votes needed, while they simultaneously denounce the NRA for being ineffectual.
UPDATE: One commenter suggests the use of a hold. A hold in this case isn’t going to stop the vote from happening on the floor.  A hold is basically a Senator telling the Senate Majority Leader that he does not wish a particular matter brought to the floor.  The Majority Leader can either heed the hold, or ignore it.  Typically a hold is used as an indication that the Senator would filibuster the vote.  It worked to stop the vote on Mike Sullivan because Harry Reid didn’t have much of a reason to ignore a Republican hold on their own President’s nominee.  In this case, Obama is going to be expecting Reid to deliver on his nominations, and Reid will almost certainly comply.  Given that 6 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee already voted yes to pass Holder’s confirmation onto the floor, the Republicans don’t have a filibuster.  Any threat of one will be empty, and Reid will know that, since the votes are already there for cloture.
38 Super? Really?
Apparently this is the menace we’re exporting South of the Border:
– An AK-47 and .38-caliber Super pistol with diamond-encrusted grips found after the Nov. 2 killing of the police chief of the northern state of Sonora as he walked into a hotel about two miles south of the Arizona border.
– A .38-caliber Super pistol seized a year ago when Mexican special forces captured a top Sinaloa cartel lieutenant, Alfredo Beltran Leyva, and three members of his security team in Culiacan.
– Three assault rifles recovered after patrolling federal police officers were fired upon and responded by killing four gunmen from the Beltran Leyva drug gang on July 2 at a house in Culiacan.
This is a rare caliber in the United States. Go into most gun shops, and they typically won’t have anything in this caliber. Even at a gun show, you’d probably be lucky to find more than one or two. But here’s a clue:
Drug smugglers seek out guns in America because gun laws in Mexico are more restrictive than in the United States. Mexicans must get approval for a gun purchase from the Mexican defense department and are limited to guns with a caliber no higher than the standard .38-caliber. Larger calibers are considered military weapons and are off-limits to civilians.
So, .38 Super is legal in Mexico, and tends to be a higher powered smaller diameter cartridge. Doesn’t it stand to reason that they might be more common there, while they are relatively uncommon here? Could it be possible that .38 caliber firearms turning up in Mexico did not originate in the United States? I have no doubt that there are straw purchasers working for people smuggling guns to Mexico, but the only way to deal with that is to make it illegal for anyone to buy a gun, and that’s not going to happen. You know how else we could deal with this? Securing the border.
Another Mayor Indicted
This time it’s the Mayor of Hartford, Connecticut, Eddie Perez:
Mayor Eddie A. Perez will be arrested on bribery charges at a state police barracks this morning, theresult of a 15-month grand jury investigation into possible corruption at Hartford City Hall.
Perez and his attorney, Hubert J. Santos, said Monday that they believe the charges are related to $20,000 in kitchen and bathroom renovations done on the Hartford mayor’s home by contractor Carlos Costa.
Well, at least this time we don’t have one of Bloomie’s mayors trying to touch children. Bribery charges are at least a bit more respectable if you’re a politician, and definitely more expected. So who wants to start Gun Owners Against Illegal Mayors?
Hat Tip to American Manifesto for the e-mail tip.
It’s a Serious Problem, It Deserves Serious Solutions
VPC highlights the fact that Pennsylvania tops the rankings for black-on-black violence.  We haven’t seen much from VPC in a while, but what they are highlighting is a real problem, but it deserves real solutions, not VPC solutions which dismiss the problem as a gun problem, no doubt attributable to our states “weak ” gun laws.
Don’t expect VPC to tell you the real numbers though, and they indicate something very clearly: violence is not a Pennsylvania problem, it is a Philadelphia problem. Statewide, our violent crime rate in 2007 was 416 per 100,000. Take Philadelphia out of the equation, and Pennsylvania’s crime rate is 278 per 100,000. That puts us on par with Idaho, Hawaii, Iowa, Montana, and much of Western Europe. Philadelphia represents 12% of Pennsylvania’s population, but it creates 41% of Pennsylvania’s violent crime.
We’ve documented at great detail the kind of people that the Philadelphia criminal justice system allows to roam the streets terrorizing the city, and African American communities in particular. Until urban communities are willing to face that problem, the bleeding will continue, no matter what gun laws we pass in the rest of the state. Bad things happen when you let dangerous and violent people roam the streets. Crime reaches every aspect of quality of life, and makes it nearly impossible to have normal family life. You can dump all the money into education, opportunity, and jobs you want, but it won’t amount to a hill of beans if the only example of success a lot of inner city adolescents know is from criminal enterprise.
Public order is one of the primary functions of government, and Philadelphia has been failing its citizens for years. That must be dealt with before this problem can even begin to be solved. That’s hard to do when your mayor thinks cutting the police and fire departments is a good first step. Philadelphia residents deserve better, but they aren’t going to get better until they start voting for it, and stop voting for people who will scapegoat guns while failing to address the real problems. VPC is only enabling that scapegoating to continue, and are doing a real disservice to the citizens of Philadelphia by doing so.
Don’t Confirm Holder
Steven Halbrook has an excellent op-ed in Human Events outlining the reasons the Senate should not confirm Eric Holder.