Sebastian – Page 1430 – Shall Not Be Questioned

The Battle of Baquba

I’m a little busy today with some other things, but everyone ought to read this article by Michael Yon about the major offensive against Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

It’s always puzzled me that, given we are fighting Al-Qaeda in Iraq, that some people think walking away sounds like a great idea.Â Walking away when things got tough is what got us a reputation for cowardice that made Al-Qaeda think they could attack us with impunity. Â Â There is no walking away from Iraq. Â We must finish what we have started.

Mental Disorders and Firearms Disability

Lynn Stuter is worried that we’re all going to be diagnosed with mental disorders, and it makes the H.R.2640 dangerous.Â Â It may be true that we’ll all be diagnosed with some kind of mental disorder, but the fact is that’s not sufficient for a person to have a firearms disability.Â Remember that you actually have to be committed to a mental institution against your will, which isn’t going to happen unless you’re as nutty as a fruitcake (and even then, it’s hard).Â Â The only other conditions that suffice for a firearms disability are outlined in 27 CFR 478.11, which we covered on Monday:

Adjudicated as a mental defective. (a) A determination by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority that a person, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease:
(1) Is a danger to himself or to others; or
(2) Lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his own affairs.
(b) The term shall includeâ€“
(1) A finding of insanity by a court in a criminal case; and
(2) Those persons found incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility pursuant to articles 50a and 72b of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. 850a, 876b.

This is far less encompassing than just being diagnosed with something from DSM IV. Â I am quite open to arguments against H.R.2640, but I’m seeing quite a lot of opposition out there that’s based on poor information and bad facts.Â When I see them, I’m going to keep pointing them out.

Via SayUncle

When Guns are Outlawed …

… only Hamas will have guns.

New Daily Update?

I can’t be too sure, but I’m wondering if this guy is trying to fill the niche left by Gun Law News retiring from the daily update. If that’s the case, we wish him well. It’s a lot of work, but a great service to the community.

Shrimp Fiend

I’ve always enjoyed seafood.Â Â If I had been born a Jew, I wouldn’t be a very good one, because my favorites are shellfish.Â Â I love scallops, crab, lobster, mussels, clams, and oysters.Â Â All good stuff.Â One of my big food weaknesses is shrimp.Â Â There’s nothing that makes me happier than sticking a dozen or so shrimp in the broiler and sprinkling some old bay seasoning on them.

Bitter planned to make a shrimp recipe for a party we threw up here, but she decided to cut out that particular recipe. Â That means I have a whole lot of shrimp in my freezer, which delights me to no end.Â Â I have a dozen or so in the toaster oven now, and soon I will peel and dunk into some cocktail sauce, and I will be in seventh heaven.

Back From the Range

I spent maybe half an hour at the range tonight.Â I meant to spend more, but my stack of targets wasn’t quite large enough for an extended stay.Â I’m also down to 100 rounds of 9mm, which is a most disconcerting situation.Â Anyway, I was practicing double tap reload drills for the upcoming e-postal match deadline, which is rapidly approaching.

These types of exercises are good because they expose flaws in my shooting.Â Â One thing I’ve discovered is that I tend not to hold my arm out straight when I’m rushing to aim.Â This was detrimental to my accuracy. Â I also noticed the swing up was a bitch.Â I need to practice drawing up and close, then moving out, rather than drawing out and swinging up.

Another Bunch of Corporate Cowards

The company that fired this guy is called Village Green Companies, and no, they don’t care, despite what their web site says.Â Â They sure don’t seem to care about their employees.Â Â This is true of most corporations, to be honest.Â Â There are two things that companies fear most.Â Â The first is being sued, and the second is bad publicity.

All laws aimed at employees are designed to address the former. Â They don’t really care if you die, as long as they don’t get sued for it.Â One of the primary functions of the HR department is to prevent the corporation from being sued.Â Â It isn’t to look out for you and your well being as an individual.Â Laws disarming employees have nothing to do with workplace safety, and everything to do with keeping the company from being sued.

I’m glad thatÂ Village Green Companies is taking a black eye over this.Â Remember the second thing that corporations fear is bad publicity, and that’s the only thing that’s going to make them reconsider these types of policies.

New Shooter

I took my ex girlfriend’s young brother shooting this weekend. He wanted to try it, and she said it was fine, despite the fact she’s not all that comfortable around guns herself. This was a true first time shooter, which I will typically start with long guns rather than pistol. The real question is whether to start with a .22 (best option, typically) or move up to the AR-15. Generally if someone is a little timid, I’ll go for the .22LR. If they don’t display any particular timidity around firearms, I’ll upgrade to the AR.

Guys typically like shooting the military stuff if they’ve never shot before, so I took the AK-47 and AR-15. He displayed a bit of recoil sensitivity with the AK-47, and struggled a bit more with the operating system. Consistently, people who are new shooters much prefer the AR-15 over anything else. I find they latch on to the AR-15 operating system really fast, and become proficient quickly. The sights are also easy to explain and intuitive on the AR-15. I noticed he wasn’t hitting anything with the AK, and after a brief explanation of the notch sight, I don’t think he was sighting it properly.

Setting the target out at 20 yards, with the AR-15 he was hitting groups about the size of an orange at first, from bench, then they’d loosen up. I see that a lot from new shooters, and I think it’s recoil anticipation that’s building up. His shooting with the AK was all over the place. I think the recoil was making him tense up too much and jerk the rifle too much in anticipation.

In conclusion, I think the AR-15 platform is really the best for new shooters. A more conventional looking .22 might be more apt for someone who is truly timid, because a lot of people make assumptions about military patterned guns are just aren’t correct. I’ve not had much luck with getting new people to enjoy shooting the AK-47 platform, particularly people who are recoil sensitive. For beginners, I think the AK-74 platform is a better choice. I will have to try that on my next new shooter.

VCDL and the Governor

I think the Virginia Governor’s Office is probably a bit confused here, since it makes no sense to me at all to worry about concealed carry.Â Â What I suspect was the concern is VCDL members quite often carry openly, as is their right.Â I think VCDL did the right thing by asking members to carry concealed to this event, rather than openly, and their response to the Governor’s office I think is quite apt, appropriate and well done.

Temperature Readings

Clayton Cramer points out this site on problems with temperature sensors that are being used to measures global warming.Â It would seem to be lending some credence to the urban heat island theory of global warming.Â I found it to be pretty amusing though.Â I should qualify this with two things.

It’s just anecdotal evidence
I’m far from an expert on weather instrumentation and how to properly place it, so I don’t know if the things pointed out are really problems.

But it sure is pretty funny, and does show that this is definitely a government operation.Â Go give it a read.