2011 – Page 96 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Vintage Shooting Gear & Books

Consider this the “non-shiny” edition of my Esty search for random cool gun-related items. It’s a good thing that ordering online with the need to pay for shipping makes me stop to think twice before breaking out plastic. Otherwise, the vase would totally be on our mantel. Not everything in this gallery is vintage, but some of it dates back to the 1920s.

Stores featured in this gallery include: GransTreasures, Six Pack Vintage, The Hunter’s Treasure, Vintage Vinyl and Books, JOOL-AHOLIC, Fine Old Things, Eternal Art, Take Flyte Farm, Mikesalvage, Bullet Designs, Yonks, Dragstrip Dolly and Cluttered Mind.

Kel-Tec KSG

The folks over at Shooting Illustrated, which, if you ask me, is NRA’s best publication, and well worth the cost to subscribe, review the Kel-Tec KSG bullpup shotgun.

I’d really love it if NRA could get their publications over on the iPad and other mobile devices. I’d gladly pay for them there to save the cost of postage. I bug Cam about the need for an NRA News app regularly too. I’d really like to see NRA move on digital markets more quickly than they are doing.

The Rare Nanny State Veto, Seen in the Wild

It’s rather unusual for a politician to veto nanny state legislation, but Rick Perry has vetoed the texting while driving law passed by the legislature, considering itÂ “a government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults.”

One of the main reasons to be against this kind of legislation is that it does not work. It’s a feel good measure, and one that is only going to result in yet another crime that will help fill state coffers when ordinary people are fined. We already lose most of our rights when we get behind the wheel.

The Secret Code of the United States Marines

Joan Peterson is currently in hysterics over the fact that a man running for Congress in the 8th Congressional District of Arizona, which also happens to be Gabby Gifford’s district, is featuring a picture of his service where he is carrying a rifle:

Says Ms. Peterson:

Why does he need to run an ad with a poster showing himself with an assault weapon and calling himself a “Warrior”? Is this some sort of code to the extreme conservatives and gun rights activists?

I’ve largely grown bored with our favorite Brady Board member, but every once in a while I run across something so completely nuts I just have no choice but to share. I will admit to not getting an updated secret decoder ring from the NRA in some time, but going out on a limb here I am fairly certain there is no code.

What we have before us is a politician who is a United States Marine who served in Iraq. He would like potential voters to know about his service, so he puts pictures up of him soldiering on his campaign material. I know this is a shocking revelation, but soldiering generally involves carrying a rifle. Not only rifles, but real, honest to goodness select-fire full-auto capable assault rifles. Soldiers also, fairly commonly, refer to themselves as “warriors.” I know that’s hard to believe, but trust me, it’s true.

Surely the Brady Campaign is not now embracing the position that we ought to disarm our military? Surely they do not take the position that there is something wrong with Marines being proud of their service, or having to hide their service, because one of the tools they use to protect freedom is a firearm?

I show this only to point out how far outside the mainstream the leadership of the anti-gun movement truly is. Soldiers carrying guns… well, that’s just icky.

“Good” Gun Safety or “Bad” Gun Safety?

Pennsylvania Senate Democrats put out a press release about an event hosted by a state senator on “gun safety.” I immediately wondered whether this version of “gun safety” was about gun control or actually using firearms safely. It’s tough to say:

State Sen. Judy Schwank (D-Berks) joined with several law enforcement officials today to hold a gun safety event at her district office. The event was intended to promote safe handling and storing of personal firearms.

â€œProper storage and handling of firearms, especially in homes with small children, is crucial,â€ Schwank said. â€œIt is my hope that through this event and the information we provide here today, more gun owners can keep their families safe through proper gun storage.â€

At the event, Sen. Schwank and Berks County District Attorney John Adams discussed the importance of properly securing guns with a gun lock.

There’s nothing in there that indicates a call for more gun control. But, we also know that the last Democratic candidate for governor kept using vague talking points on “gun locks” that actually translated into mandatory locked storage that has already been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court – so some of her colleagues do have a history of taking some rather extreme liberties with the topic of gun locks as a matter of policy. Hopefully, she meant this event as strictly education and outreach rather than endorsing any kind of further restrictions on how we use firearms.

Unfortunately, there’s no grade on an NRA questionnaire by which to guide any assumptions about policies that may have been discussed. Her district, while certainly home to many local anti-gun politicians, was previously held by an NRA A-rated lawmaker who won their endorsement. The other potential signal for us would be the previous Castle Doctrine vote in the Senate, but that was on March 8 and she wasn’t elected until March 15 and did not actually take office until April 5. The only vote on the bill since she’s been in office has only been in a committee.

UPDATE: From a reader who attended the event: “I was at this event, and spoke with the Senator afterwards. For disclosure let me state that I volunteered with Medagliaâ€™s campaign against her.

She supports HB40, and we should see her vote on that this week. She also thinks that current law is ‘sufficient’ when it comes to storage of firearms. So at this time at least she is not publicly calling for mandatory ‘safe storage’ laws.” Huge kudos for his efforts, and I’m glad that we know she appears to be ready to vote with us! To all of you who doubted in the comments based off nothing other than the press release or things you haven’t confirmed on your own, please let this be a reminder that getting involved is absolutely key to making a real difference on the issue.

The Take

Still some goodies scattered around the office that didn’t sell at auction, and were destained for the dumpster. I managed to get:

Two HP3005dn workgroup printers. These are pretty fast networkable B&W laser printers.
A few 125ml Erlenmeyer flasks, new in box. There’s plenty of used glassware around, but that are not suitable for use outside a lab environment.
A dorm fridge we used in the crystallography lab. It pristine, and was never used to store hazardous materials.
A large box meant for transporting a sensitive instrument by air. The instrument is long gone, but the box is rugged, lockable, with wheels and a collapsable travel handle like on carry on luggage. My first thought was that it would make a completely excellent ammo container.
Two clear plexiglass boxes that were meant for storing radioactive materials. They were new in box so never actually stored any such material and are very cool. They will come in handy on my reloading bench, because they are very sturdy, and crystal clear.
A fire extinguisher meant to extinguish chemical fires. You never know when that could come in handy.
A completely new living room set. Our company bought a bunch of leather furniture a few years ago for an employee lounge. It hardly got used, because who has time to lounge? This is the one thing we bid on in the auction, and won. Other things I bid on was a top of the line electronic balance (two guesses what I intended to measure with it), two geiger counters (always handy), but I lost out to other people with deeper pockets. Got the sofa for a few hundred bucks, and it cost the company a few thousand. Furniture was to be had cheap in our auction. Lab equipment not so much.
I also picked up a few office chairs, one for my reloading bench and one for my workstation at home. The one for the reloading bench is really nice.

All in all I’d rather have a job, but there are benefits to sticking it out from beginning to end. Tomorrow I might recycle a bunch of scrap aluminum. At this point, we’re just looking to get crap out. Fortunately, most of it is already. My former office is completely stripped bare. Someone decided the furniture in that, which was not attached to any cubes, was worth hauling off.

Saturday is my 10th Anniversary with the company. Tomorrow the last of us will go out to lunch and celebrate :)

Bemoaning Carry Restrictions

Democrats are starting to use the fact that most concealed carry bills in them contain certain exceptions, such as for schools and courthouses, using this as proof that carrying is just plain dangerous. From Wisconsin:

Some Democrats pointed to the exemptions as proof that allowing concealed carry does introduce a new set of dangers.

“If this bill helps make Wisconsin safer, then why are there any exceptions?” said Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville.

You really want to make this argument? We’d be happy to introduce a bill that contained no exceptions. Careful what you argue.

NRA Dismissed from Suit

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal that ruled NRA did not have standing to challenge the Lost and Stolen ordinances appearing around the Commonwealth. This basically means that a lawsuit will have to be brought by someone actually prosecuted under some of these ordinances, which as far as I know has not yet occurred. For a law our opponents tell us is an important law enforcement tool, badly needed to fight gun trafficking, you’d think they could point to at least one prosecution?

Picking Over the Bones

As a proud member of the species Packus Ratus, I am driving into the soon to be closed office to pick over the remains of anything that’s left that’s destained for the dumpster if a rescue mission is not mounted.

“Teacher and Counselor Showed a Severe Lapse in Judgment”

So says a spokesman for Oakland, California schools. We would ordinarily call these individuals hypocrites, in addition to people who lack judgement. I’m sure the teacher and counselor will be out of a job as a result of this. As soon to be freshly minted gun criminals, I would encourage them to apply or a position at the Brady Campaign, since it’s hard to see how this particular lapse in judgement is any worse than what Plaxico Burriss did.