2011 – Page 100 – Shall Not Be Questioned

My Story of How I Became a Gunnie

But whether Iâ€™ve met you or not, I want to know your story.Â The vast majority of my readers are firearms enthusiasts of some stripe.Â How did that happen?Â How did you become gunnies?

I was into shooting, pretty much only air guns and smallbore, from the time I was about 12 and 13 up until maybe 15. My Uncle and cousins moved to a more rural area where you could safely do that. Now it’s been built up and you’d get a SWAT team called on you for doing some of the shit we did, but we got away with it in the late 80s.

I completely lost touch with the hobby from 16 through to my mid-20s, which is probably fairly common for most young men. I did not get back into shooting until my friend Jason (same guy who is doing the 3D magazine project) took me out one time, and I remembered I once really enjoyed this.

A few months later he informed me there was a sale on Romanian AK-47 clones on sale at a local gun store near him. I was surprised this was legal, since I was aware of the Assault Weapons Ban, so I started researching, and discovered what it actually banned. I went up there and bought one. You can see it in the picture not to long after it was purchased.

I did not buy it for anything other than a novelty. In truth, I got it because I was appalled at the Assault Weapons Ban when it passed, and was even more appalled at it after I understood what it was really about. I short, I wanted it because a certain types of people who can’t mind their own damned business frowned on the idea of me having one, and I did not aim to please them. Turned out, however, I enjoyed shooting it. My next purchase, after that, was a .22LR pistol, a Ruger Mk.II, which I loved to shoot, and it was all downhill from there.

I purchased my first gun in 2000, after the Y2K thing turned out to be nothing. I’m guessing that was the reason for the sale.Â I did not grow up in a house with guns. My mother never would have allowed it. Whether she would have allowed me to keep one in our house as an adult, I don’t know. She died when I was 20 and did not have a say in the matter. My dad was fine with it. I moved into an apartment later that year, but I was still living at home when I bought my first firearm.

I did not get a License to Carry a firearm until 2002. The first firearm I carried in public was a Bersa Thunder .380. I took it on a trip to my sister’s the day I got the license just because I could. I felt very awkward, and thought everyone could see it. By that time I knew how to be safe with a pistol, as I had been learning for two years. If I knew then what I know now, I would have sought more formal training with reputable instructors in those two years than I did.

I did not get into competitive shooting until 2007. My only classification competitively is in NRA Air Pistol Indoor/Outdoor, and IHMSA. I have never been classified in IPSC or IDPA, and have never shot a formal match in either sport. This is not because I wouldn’t like to, but because the clubs in my area either don’t allow such shooting, or if they do don’t have formally sanctioned matches by a Â Shooting Sports governing body. Ironically the best place for me to shoot those kinds of matches is over at Central Jersey Rifle and Pistol, who run a lot of great matches, but taking a gun into New Jersey is not a wise move. Just ask Brian Aitken.

Finally, I got into gun blogging to impress a girl who said I should do it. She’s now my co-blogger, among other things :) I kept gun blogging because I built an audience, which surprised the hell out of me. Through this I’ve gotten to meet some terrific people. I don’t have any current plans to stop. What’s next for me in this issue? I’d like to find more trigger time competitively, and try some practical shooting sports. I’ve gotten out of the swing, so to speak, because of my schedule. Made the IHMSA match this weekend. It was fun. Every once in a while you need a reminder that shooting is more fun than working.

So that’s my story. What’s yours?

Department of Education SWAT Raid

Uncle notes that now we know what the short barreled shotguns they ordered were for. Tam thinks this is indefensible. Â Dave Hardy notes “[F]rom the list of matters to be seized it sounds as if they suspected her of getting student loans without being enrolled at a college. OK, send out a squad car and knock on the door.”

If a federal agency has a SWAT team, they are going to end up using it to justify its existence. I’ve long believed that there’s too much federal law enforcement, and it should all be consolidated under either the FBI or US Marshall’s service (since they’ve been around longer). It would be a huge cost savings, and you don’t have to worry nearly as much about the left hand not talking to the right hand.

Posts Coming

Internet at the old offices has been cancelled, and I’m no longer spending the day in front of a computer. I have a board meeting for my club tonight, so I will be getting some posts up thereafter. My company has essentially leased a closet from a short term leasing company for the three of us to finish the wind up, so space is going to be tight. We are very nearly out of our building, and ready to turn it back to the landlord, who is currently rather unhappy with us.

As far as my personal job situation goes, I have a few irons in the fire, which I’ll be able to speak about a bit more if one of them strikes.

Getting Rid of the Sunday Hunting Ban

Alerts from NRA and NSSF this week announced a public meeting of the Pennsylvania House Game and Fisheries Committee tomorrow to tackle the topic of ending the the blue law that bans Sunday hunting dating back to the 1870s.

The Sunday Hunting Coalition points out that Pennsylvania would see a significant economic boost from expanding the number of days hunters are allowed to take to the fields and woods.

The estimated impacts from a lift on the ban on Sunday hunting are based on responses to surveys of hunters in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. In these two states, government agencies conducted extensive surveys of hunters in which they were asked to report the number of additional days they would participate in hunting if the Sunday hunting ban were to be lifted. Based on these responses, it is estimated that hunters will participate in, on average, about 22 percent of the additional days made available to them from the lifting of the ban. In other words, if the lifting of restrictions increased the number of hunting days by 10, the average hunter would increase their hunting days by about two.

Specifically, Pennsylvania would likely see a direct economic impact that could create more than 4,400 jobs with wages topping $99 million. Of all the states with Sunday hunting bans or heavy restrictions, Pennsylvania stands to gain the most jobs and economic impact of a repeal of the prohibition.

So, you know, lawmakers who are so desperate for more money and want to be seen as “creating” jobs, this is your chance. Seriously, $99 million more in wages to tax and 4,400 new jobs. That’s just the direct impact, the indirect impact gives us even more jobs and higher wages.

(Similar post with a little more data & background over at PAGunRights.com.)

Relaxing with X-Plane and the Embraer ERJ-140

One way I relax, and get my mind off nearly everything is tooling around in the X-Plane Flight Simulator. I downloaded a new jet model some time ago that I haven’t had much time to try out. I’ve flown on this plane before, and chances are many of you have as well. The manufacturer is Embraer, and it’s one of the many signs that Brazil is aiming to be a major player in the world economy. It takes a certain amount of sophistication to be able to produce airplanes; even the Russians and Chinese haven’t really managed an airliner that you’d want to take your wife and kids on, but the Brazilians have, and Americans are flying on them in droves every day. Dan Klaue has created a fantastic X-Plane model of this Regional Jet, which my video doesn’t really do justice. Flight is from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International (KATL) to Cleveland Hopkins (KCLE), near dusk:

As a 3D model this plane is tip top, though it still needs some work in the systems simulation category. Nonetheless, it’s a great platform, and is X-Plane 10 compatible whenever that ends up coming out. I’ve preserved all the sounds on my video, which are pretty true to what I can remember flying on Embraers. You can see in this video some of the deficiencies of the X-Plane 9 model, including having to bake lighting features on to scenery, with the rest being pitch dark and unrealistic looking at night. Twilight is spectacular though, which I’ve always thought X-Plane renders quite well. You can also notice the rather ad-hoc nature of building scenery when you get close to it in the X-Plane 9 model. X-Plane 10 will have global illumination, where even cars on the roads will have light sources in their headlights. It will also base its mapping data on Open Street Maps, and generate plausible communities based on that data. I’m really looking forward to X-Plane 10, and hope it’ll be out before the end of the year.

I do all my own piloting in these, which shows in the takeoff and landings being far less than you would expect from a professional. In particular I flared a little early on the landing, drifting a bit in the crosswind and putting the left rear wheel down on the runway before the right, and slamming the nose down a bit hard. Live and learn.

Winning in California

Permit issuance is apparently up dramatically in Sacramento County, California, largely due to their decision to go shall-issue in response to a lawsuit filed by SAF and the Calguns Foundation. John also reports this is driving the Brady Campaign in California mad. All I have to say is that they better get used to losing. Their little six state party of riding roughshod over our rights will soon be reversing itself, and it’ll be our turn to flip the tables.

Shale Drilling

I will be the first to admit I’m relatively ignorant on the ins and outs of the science behind hydraulic fracturing, and its environmental impact, other than groking the overall basic concept. Generally speaking, I think it’s appropriate for government to regulate externalities, such as river or groundwater contamination caused by industrial processes, provided those regulations are based on science rather than hysteria.

However, I’m wondering how many of these people are going to voluntarily go without natural gas this winter. Speaking only for myself here, but I’m guessing I probably speak for many Pennsylvanians: I like not being cold. I also like hot showers. I’m open to listening to ideas about how natural gas drilling needs to be regulated, but these folks apparently want it stopped. I hate to tell these folks, but natural gas isn’t produced by farting unicorns.

Attack of the Beavers!

There’s apparently a local trend in animal attacks for which I was previously unaware. I better start preparing.

Losing a Gun Rights Leader in the House

Well this is startling news.

Oklahoma Rep. Dan Boren (D) won’t seek reelection in 2012, a Democratic source in the state told The Ballot Box.

Boren, the only Democrat in Oklahoma’s five-seat House delegation, will announce his decision at a press conference in Muskogee, his hometown, according to The Oklahoman.

The decision came as a surprise to Oklahoma Democrats and threatens the party’s ability to hold the Republican-leaning seat.

“I never had any idea that he was not planning to run for reelection,” said Wallace Collins, the state party chairman.

Rep. Boren is a member of the NRA Board of Directors, and I’ve seen him out on a gun range before. He will be missed in that seat.

For a bit of good news on this front, the likely replacement for the Democratic nomination on the ballot according to the article also has an A rating from NRA.

Using Women to Market to Men

I’ll join Bitter here in saying I didn’t have any particular problem with the Lucky Gunner ammo waitresses, speaking as someone who went to fetch his own ammo that weekend. Understand that for most people at the shoot, Lucky Gunner was selling ammo. In order to sell more ammo, you have to keep shooters at the line ripping away at the various targets down range. The ammo waitresses were a way to keep people at the line shooting. That they happened to be good looking women I don’t think reflected badly on Lucky Gunner or the shooting sports. None of them were dressed inappropriately. There’s a world of difference between this, and this, and if LG had decided on the latter, I would have been quick to criticize them.

There’s been some criticism of Heidi as well, which I really don’t understand, since when I clicked on her, she is entirely appropriately dressed, is informative, and does not make me think that Lucky Gunner is explicitly using sex to market their product to men. Subtly yes, but that’s because it works. Most sales people that call IT managers these days are women. For pharmaceutical sales, which are mostly to male physicians, it’s generally a prerequisite to be highly knowledgeable about the business, the products, and also to be smoking hot. It’s not like Big Pharma will send them in dressed like they just got out of their night job at Hooters; they’ll be in business attire, but they will get the job done in ways a man marketing to other men can’t.

I do have issues with turning the shooting sports into a boys club, but I would note the ammo waitresses were just as thrilled with being able to shoot all the toys on the range just as much as the guys were, and they were free to when they weren’t schlepping ammo. Â If they had dressed them like they were sunbathing at the beach, or like Sniper Babes, I would agree it was inappropriate. But I don’t think LG crossed the line in terms of their marketing, at least not any more than many casual dining establishments, or other industries that market primarily to a male audience.