Thanks to Dave Hardy for highlighting this article about NRA from the 1990s. I can’t say I recall these years, since at the time this article was written, I was just taking my drivers test to get my license. I was sixteen and had bigger fish to fry. But I’ve heard from others that the days of J. Warren Cassidy were dark ones for NRA. But reading through the article, you get a sense of a much more engaged membership than exists today. Most of NRA Annual Meeting these days is political theater. In a lot of ways it’s a good thing not to have endless strife, and have factions struggling against other factions, but to a large degree I think NRA members have largely forgotten it’s a membership driven organization.
Year: 2011
The Libertarian’s Choice
Ilya Somin likes Gary Johnson over Ron Paul. I heartily agree with Professor Somin, for many of the reasons he outlines. Â Gary Johnson got on my radar screen, when after finishing out his second term as Governor of New Mexico, he proceeded to question the wisdom of the War on Drugs, calling it “an expensive bust.” In short, I think Johnson might be all the wookie we’re looking for, but without the suit.
I am concerned about his name recognition problem and his ability to raise money.
Flashbang Bra Holster Review
After posting my initial thoughts on the Flashbang holster based on photos & a video, Looper Brand contacted me about reviewing one in person. I figured I would give it a try.
The First Trial – Solids & Retention
The night I found it on our doorstep, I didn’t have the energy or time for a full trial, but I wanted to try it out. We quickly found out that I needed to move up to the longest suede strap for the bras I normally buy. It’s not the end of the world, but it suddenly made me feel like the restrictions on carrying this piece would mean sacrificing the kind of bras a woman prefers to wear. (It is worth noting that Looper announced in the accompanying press release that they will make & sell you custom lengths for your bras should you need them.) The strap is reasonably easy to change, so that’s a plus for any woman who does choose this method and owns more than one style of bra.
I was wearing a ladies t-shirt in a solid color, and Sebastian said he could tell from some angles that something was there, but he could not tell that it was a gun. We also experimented with drawing it, and it was easier than I thought it would be. They describe the holster portion as “thermo-plastic molded clamshell designed to snap in place over the barrel/slide and trigger guard of many small .380 pistols and j-frame revolvers.” Snap indeed. It’s different than anything else I’ve drawn from, so I would suggest that any woman who buys it practices some dry runs.
On the note of the holster, we did have a bit of concern when our first several attempts to put the gun in the clamshell actually moved the slide. That’s just not a sound you really want to hear when you’re talking about a holster under your breasts. However, as I was told by the company, it’s not advised that you holster the gun while you’re wearing it on your bra. Put the gun in first, then attach the strap to your bra. So it’s not really a concern after all, but just something that initially caught our attention.
Continue reading “Flashbang Bra Holster Review”
Infantry Weapons of 1954
I’ve been poking around archive.org for some public domain video, and I found this “film bulletin” on infantry firepower from 1954. I don’t know why, but I’m amused by these types of videos. I especially love how you can see the instructor is speaking, and it in no way matches what the narrator is saying. Because clearly showing a video is a great substitute for actually sitting out on the range for this kind of exposure to shooting.
Waiting for Rapture
I decided to ring in Armageddon with a pitcher of margaritas. Why? Because bad tequila can be had pretty cheaply, and when you combine it with equally cheap triple sec and lime juice, it makes for a pitcher that costs less than 6 bucks.
Despite my spendthrift ways, I am fairly confident that the world will indeed end, especially since, as Dave Hardy is pointing out, President Obama has pardoned someone for violating the NFA, and the CDC is openly discussing the Zombie Apocalypse.
More disturbing is this guy, who apparently spent his life’s savings buying billboard to announce the rapture. He’s still convinced he’ll be vindicated in the next ten minutes. It’s this kind of thing that makes me think how awfully correct P.T. Barnum really was.
In the mean time, I have to go fire up the grill. We’re having a cookout tonight, since there’s been a break in the constant rain this week. Fortunately, the weather for the next week is really looking up. Particularly, I’m looking forward to the plague of locusts. Those are good eats! And Kosher too.
UPDATE: Still here. The cookout was nice.
Myth of Organized Gun Trafficking
Criminologist Gary Kleck has an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal:
High-volume trafficking, with or without the involvement of corrupt or negligent dealers, probably supplies less than 1% of the guns in criminal hands. Illicit gun sellers are instead more likely to be burglars who sell a few guns (typically fewer than a half dozen a year) along with all the other saleable property that they steal.
The view that extensive, organized trafficking is important in arming American criminals is based on isolated anecdotes about the occasional large-scale trafficking effort uncovered by law enforcement authorities and on interpretations of highly ambiguous ATF gun “trace” data.
Read the whole thing.
Friday Time Waster
Someone took an hour and thirty minutes of heavy traffic at Boston Logan International Airport, and compressed it down to two and a half minutes:
Armageddon
I was aware of the predictions of a fringe religious group claiming that the world will end tomorrow. I was not aware they had it down to an exact time. Who knew the four horsemen were so punctual. Apparently time zone is not an issue, since it will be sweeping rapture. Those must be some fast horses.
Believers still have until 6:00 tomorrow to demonstrate the solidity of their faith by signing all their worldly possessions over to me. I am also available, for a price, to take care of pets after the rapture, though, I will need to be paid up front for the service.
UPDATE: SayUncle has similar thoughts.
Big question: what drink for ringing in the apocalypse? Something I can make with cheap booze, because I’m through buying the good shit until the job situation is improved.
Skeeball is a Skill, Damnit
Tort reform now, damnit.
A San Diego mom has filed a potential class action against Chuck E. Cheese’s that claims its games are illegal gambling devices.
The federal suit by real-estate agent Denise Keller claims the games are similar to slot machines, the San Diego Union Tribune reports. Children play with tokens that cost 25 cents each, and the machines dispense tickets that can be redeemed for prizes.
California generally bans gambling, but it makes an exception for games of skill. The suit claims the games at Chuck E. Cheese’s are based mostly on chance and they “create the same highs and lows experienced by adults who gamble their paychecks or the mortgage payment.â€
This woman apparently missed out on my madly competitive air hockey sessions at Showbiz when I was growing up. What? You think I went easy on my opponent just because she was my grandmother? Puh-lease. And those skeeballs don’t make it up the ramp themselves. Video games are just that – video games. Their versions just dispense tickets. Skillz, witch.
Apparently, the woman dropped the case in federal court late yesterday, but she refiled in California courts. Because apparently she hates fun.
Is it wrong that writing this post makes me think that Friends of NRA needs to introduce a skeeball game into their rotation? It could dispense raffle tickets based on your score. Then it would be a game of chance where your chances are significantly improved by your skill. And I would never leave that game all night long.
Colin’s Dad Hates “Modern Sporting Rifles”
I was amused to see Andrew Goddard, who’s father of Colin, the Brady Campaign’s newest rising star, post this over on a public forum in Facebook:
For the record, I don’t really like MSR either. When I go to practice, or more rarely these days with my schedule, to shoot a competition, I take my rifle. I don’t feel the need to call it more than that, or to justify my use for it.
Mr. Goddard’s problem is that “military assault weapon” is just as much of a finessed public relations term as “modern sporting rifle.” Sure, there are military assault rifles, but I don’t own one of those because my rifle does not fire like a machine gun, and neither does anyone else’s who hasn’t shelled out five figures and $200 for their federal stamp of approval. Both terms are inventions of PR flacks and marketing types looking to manipulate public opinion in their favor.
But before I agree with Andrew Goddard a bit too much, I will note that the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s latest data shows that 51% of “MSR”owners hold a membership at a shooting club, and 89% consider target shooting to be their primary reason for owning one. So I’m not sure, even if it’s a finessed PR and marketing term, why it is inherently inaccurate. Andrew Goddard clearly has some things to learn about what types if firearms are most prominent in modern target shooting sports.
This sort of destroys our opponents’ mental images of AR-15 owners hunkered down in bunkers waiting for the blue helmeted UN stormtroopers to follow the directions written on the back of all the road signs straight into their hideout. I really do believe that’s what they think people own an AR-15 for. They don’t think this. Or this. Definitely not this. (h/t to Robert for the pics.) They let their fear and ignorance get in the way of sound judgement on the matter.
