2010 – Page 160 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Defense Carbines

Tam has a pretty good post on the subject. I have both a 20″ and carbine length AR. I shoot the 20″ more often because that’s what I compete with when I shoot CMP/high-power. I’ve shot a few practical matches with my carbine, but I would consider it my go-to gun in a home defense situation if I kept it at the ready. It’s the keeping it at the ready part I’ve never been able to bother with.

Maybe I’m just not all that committed to home defense, but it’s always been easier or me to rely on a pistol for those purposes. I have to remember to lug a carbine back down to the safe if I’m leaving home for any period of time, then to get it back out again when I return. While, I have home-defense-appropriate fragmenting ammunition for the rifle, unless it’s a seriously messed up situation where I have time to go downstairs and unlock the safe, I’m probably going to be using my Glock.

I’ve always considered a rifle or shotgun to be a pain in the butt to deal with for home defense. What solutions do you guys use that would that would allow it to be used for home-defense, but avoid the scenario where someone breaks into the house and steals it, or worse, uses it against the returning homeowners?

How to Commit a Gun Felony in Massachusetts

It’s the sad truth.

Smells Like Bullshit to Me

This story of a Russian kid designing a new electronic sniper rifle looks like bullshit to me, and considering it’s coming from Pravda, it probably is. The reason I think it’s a hoax is that we’ve never been able to make portable electromagnetic weapons that can shoot a projectile fast enough to rival chemically driven projectiles in energy, speed and ballistic performance. It’s quite possible the kid has successfully built aÂ coil gun, but it’s not going to be killing anybody anytime soon. At least not hooked up to a portable power source weighing less than six kilos.

Secondly, even if the kid is a super genius, and developed something that can be accurately classified as a weapon, any device that propels a projectile beyond supersonic speeds will not be silent. At the least, the projectile will make a cracking noise as it travels faster than the speed of sound. Also, Newton’s Third Law will demand the rifle has recoil, and they claim it does not.

You can see a fairly sophisticated coil gun here:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjMTffRav-I[/youtube]

That’s getting a projectile moving pretty good, but not at speeds high enough to be an effective weapon, and it’s still going to be a smooth bore barrel. Someday maybe, but not now.

h/t to SayUncle

Mildly Amusing Observation

I’ll admit that I have an offbeat sense of humor. So I’ll admit that I was way too amused by this description of a new release posted to Hacking Netflix today:

Nine strangers face the mind-bender of a lifetime when a hooded madman locks them in a basement and announces that he will slay one of them every 10 minutes until they uncover the mysterious connection they all share. But starting without a single clue, can any of them solve the puzzle in less than 90 minutes?

Movie time: 86 minutes.

So I guess at least one survives. Damn.

Rats from a Sinking Ship

Thomas Jefferson Club, one of our local tea party groups, is making note of the fact that our Congresman, Patrick Murphy, doesn’t seem to want to be seen in public with President Obama. This is a smart move for Murphy politically, but it’s quite telling. Murphy is vulnerable this year, but despite that, the Bucks County GOP is doing everything in their power to ensure that we do not recapture the seat.

On Our Side, But Wrong

This article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is on our side, and I’m happy about that, but:

If that indication from oral arguments inÂ McDonald v. Chicago holds true, the court will quash the notion that the Second Amendment somehow is a collective, “militia”-based right. If the rest of the Bill of Rights protects individual rights — and it does — so must the Second Amendment.

We won that argument already, two years ago. This one is just about incorporation.

Push For Gun Control In Vermont

Vermont is one of our signature states, really. No gun laws, really, to speak of, and virtually no crime. But there’s a suicide angle being pushed there in order to pass a “safe storage” law. This particular safe storage law exempts law enforcement. I guess they don’t care about kids of police officers. It mandates either trigger locks, or reasonably secure locked container. It’s worth remembering that the Supreme Court in Heller essentially threw away a similar law in DC as being unconstitutional.

I’m not opposed to safe storage, by any means, but I believe the best way to deal with this problem is through efforts to educate gun owners, and educate children about the dangers of guns, rather than impose legal sanctions. This is what we’ve done for the past several decades, and gun accident rates have been falling for most of the century. As for suicides, though studies have shown that suicide by gun rates are higher in places with more guns, overall suicide rates are not affected by the availability of firearms.

Very Balanced Article on Open Carry

This New York Times article I think covers the issue very well. This reporter took time to understand the issue, and I appreciate that. NRA I expect will never say anything to disparage open carry. It’s a bad idea for the main gun rights group to do such a thing, but Alan Gottlieb of SAF is starting to speak publicly about it:

â€œIâ€™m all for open-carry laws,â€ said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, a gun rights advocacy organization in Washington State. â€œBut I donâ€™t think flaunting it is very productive for our cause. It just scares people.â€

Bob BarrÂ is also advising we exercise caution:

Whether Starbucks will succumb to the mounting pressure by anti-gun groups such as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and alter its tolerant policy, remains to be seen.Â For their part, however, firearms advocates might be better advised not to press the issue publicly by pointedly visiting Starbucks establishments with firearms openly displayed.Â Sometimes quiet advocacy speaks louder than waving a red flag in someoneâ€™s face.

I agree it’s probably now time to help Starbucks get past this issue by not open carrying in their establishment in order to make a point. At least not in areas where open carry isn’t common (if you want to open carry in the Starbucks in Sierra Vista, AZ, near Tombstone, knock yourself out, you probably won’t be alone) or accepted. In addition to fearing Starbucks might reverse, I’m worried about having to fight this same battle over and over again with other establishments. Even if they don’t cave to the Brady Campaign, so far they have 28,000 new names they can try to fundraise off of. They win even if they lose, just by being able to make it an issue.

Polls Looking Good

Gun rights are still polling very well. A full sixty nine percent of Americans don’t believe that cities should have the power to ban handguns. Seventy percent believe the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to own a gun. Only 14% say it’s not. A plurality of Americans don’t believe we need stronger gun laws, at 49% saying we don’t, against 42% saying we do.

There is one thing we do have to worry about:

Support for more gun control is considerably higher among those 18 to 29 than among those in any other age group.

That is very worrisome, and an indication to me, we might need to think, strategically, about how to deal with this as a movement. If we don’t do that, we’re in trouble over the long haul.

I Couldn’t Agree More

Joe Huffman on the continuing Starbucks saga:

The best thing we can at this point is to quietly, unobtrusively, politely buy Starbucks products. Let the Brady Campaign throw their tantrum. Nearly everyone is going to recognize them for what they are. They are jerks no different than those that would insist no blacks, Jews, or mixed race couples be served.

The best way we can have an impact is increasing our consumption of their products. Not being a coffee drinker, I am drinking a lot of hot chocolates and chai lattes. I like their cupcakes a lot too.

This is what we had yesterday before heading out to my dad’s. I am pleased to report that despite the fact that I was armed (concealed), there were no children there eating scones, so Abby Spangler can rest easy. A kid did come in later, but he got a milk, and by some miracle, my gun did not jump out of its holster and shoot him or anyone else. Went out to dinner with my dad later in a crowded restaurant that was licensed to serve alcohol. I managed somehow to avoid getting drunk and shooting up the place. My gun managed to stay in its holster and not disturb anyone. Funny how that happens.

The Brady Campaign and allied organizations are starting to get some real media coverage on this issue, so it’s incumbent on us to keep patronizing Starbucks, especially while the heat is on. If we don’t give them a reason to stay with us, they might decide to change their minds. If they succeed here, you can safely bet they’ll repeat this performance again and again.