An excellent photo essay of pictures from Life Magazine of a gun safety program being taught by an Indiana game warden. Contrast that today where even making a finger gesture in the likeness of a gun is likely to get your kid on the wrong end of zero tolerance policies.
Category: Guns
A Cynic on the Media
I assume the worst when I see a headline like this: Too much gun-related crime in Tennessee
So imagine my surprise when I see the editorial ends with this:
We want all of our law-abiding people to feel safe. But it is highly inadvisable to pursue that goal by abridging the gun rights of responsible citizens.
That makes it vitally important to impose firm, meaningful sentences on those who use guns while committing crimes.
Home Made Rifles
On a CNC machine. As Uncle says, “Gun control is no match for technology.” It’s amazing to me that people still think you can stop criminals from getting guns, and pooh pooh the idea that even if you instituted a comprehensive ban, they’ll just be made in garages. Uncle has proof that it’s not that hard, especially with modern technology.
My friend Jason has a CNC machine in addition to the 3D printer we made an almost working 30 round magazine with. He been bugging me to try to fix the program that’s used to calculate the tool path for his CNC machine so he can turn out an AR-15 receiver on it. He’s quite capable, but doesn’t have the time. Even now, though, I’m not sure I do either. Finding a job is turning out to be close to full time work, and then I’m developing a game of sorts, also in Python.
Interestingly, a Python programming contract job just fell in my lap today, for which I threw my resume into the ring. We’ll see how that goes. I’m more of an IT systems guy than a developer, but beggars can’t be choosers, and if I can pay the bills for six months while I find a more permanent gig, that’s fine by me. I had been eschewing contract work, but there’s a lot more of it out there than full time employment.
Is Gun Control Racist?
Professor Adam Winkler takes a look at the topic, in an article over at the Daily Beast:
Actually, the gun-rights websites are on to something. As I discovered in researching my new book Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America, for much of our history, gun regulation has been tainted by the stains of racism and discrimination. Today, the story is more complex than the simplistic slogans of gun-rights advocates. But there is no denying that racial politics have profoundly shaped America’s gun laws.
Professor Winkler is not someone I’d classify as being on our side, but he’s intellectually honest, which puts him in contrast with some of our opponents in the various gun control groups. I may not agree with him on everything, but I can respect his point of view, and his willingness to honestly engage people on both sides of the issue.
Jerry Brown Signs Open Carry Ban
It’s disappointing, but if Jerry Brown was going to veto one for us, I wouldn’t have expected it to be this one. It will also help deal with the issue of federal judges arguing “Well, you know, if some form of carry is allowed, then the constitutional requirement is satisfied, even if it’s unloaded open carry.” While I’ve been impressed to the degree that federal Judges have twisted intermediate scrutiny to uphold every restrictive gun law in creation, this is now, unambiguously, a complete ban on carrying a firearm, except with a permit that’s issued in California in an arbitrary and capricious manner in most juridictions.
More on Social Coupons & Shooting Lessons
While the coupon I mentioned yesterday sold nearly 2,000 training deals, I decided to see if there was any other data on how well shooting instruction coupons sell through the various Groupon knock-offs.
Buffalo, NY – Current count: 262 people buying coupons to be trained
Charlotte, NC – 442 people trained
Gainesville, FL – 642 rounds of trap shot
Ft. Lauderdale, FL – 567 people trained
New Orleans, LA – 618 people trained
Winston-Salem, NC – 120 rounds of sporting clays shot
Richmond, VA – 351 people trained
Birmingham, AL – 992 shooters took to the range
Miami, FL – 374 people trained
It’s not just the US, either!
Edmonton, Alberta – 894 people trained
This is actually just highlights from one easily searchable site. I didn’t cover all of them, so the numbers are actually far higher than this. But, if you consider that the low number I found was 120 more people getting out to the range on a coupon that’s only available for 1-2 days at a time, these things are actually great for our movement.
It’s also a reminder people truly have fun going to the gun range. It’s much more exciting than the anti-gun range.
Popularity of Shooting Coupon Bargains
I clicked on an old link from a friend for a Living Social coupon offered a couple of weeks ago for an hour of firearms instruction, gun rental, and eye/ear protection in the DC area. Said friend was amused because of the description:
Are you ready for the best firearms deal to hit the DMV since District of Columbia v. Heller? Well, sharp shooter, focus your crosshairs on today’s deal and pull the trigger…
But today, I noticed just how many they sold – 1,957. Considering the coupon applies for up to 3 people with each deal purchased, that’s the potential for nearly 6,000 people to learn how to shoot thanks to this deal.
For the Love of John Moses Browning
Caleb talks about why we love the 1911 so:
[W]e love 1911s because there are quintessentially American. Like big fast muscle cars, the 1911 eschews European trends like big magazines full of tiny little bullets and seems to say that “if you can’t get it done with 7 rounds, bullets aren’t your problem, you just suck.â€
I am an unapologetic driver of one of the ugliest cars Honda ever made, and while my computers were “Designed in California,” they were definitely made by exploited workers in China.
But being a practical kind of guy, my 1911s are safe queens, and I have plenty of reasons to carry more rounds. If I’m going to bear that extra weight on my belt, I want it to be hot lead, and not cold steel.
The Eric Holder Defense
The BattleSwarm Blog notes Eric Holder’s latest defense, ““I didn’t lie, I swear, I was just incompetent” It’s kind of sad when those are your choices.
Training in Wisconsin
It’s now up to the Attorney General to prescribe regulations in regards to how much training is necessary to be able to get a concealed handgun license. And now the range operators come out to try to get their slice of the pie:
At Fletcher Arms in Waukesha owner Sean Eaton says the more gun safety training the better.
“Wisconsin’s never had concealed carry, so anyone who is not a police officer has never had concealed carry,” Eaton said.
It’s a good rule that if you’re an FFL, you should never speak to the media. I agree that the more training the better, saw a general rule, but the question is how much should be mandated. Shooting is a skill, much like playing the piano. You can’t learn to play the piano well with 8, or even 180 hours of training, and neither can you become an expert with a gun. This is true of cops as well as citizens. What we want is for people to understand the law, and have enough basic knowledge to get them started on a safe path toward being a competent shooter on their own. That can be successfully taught in a couple of hours. Mandating further training would have no effective purpose other than frustrating people out of getting permits.
Personally, I think a better way to do it, rather than training, is to quiz people on the law in regards to deadly force, and then a live shooting test. As long as the standards are reasonable, and in line with the same qualifier police have to take (which is easy, BTW), I don’t see why this wouldn’t be an acceptable substitute for a training regimen. That way the requirement is competence, rather than some arbitrary number of hours, or mandating courses that are expensive. This way, you only have to pay someone to administer the shooting test. The legal quiz could easily be done online.