Guns – Page 466 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Then Why Does the Military Have Artillery, Dennis?

Acting Brady President Dennis Henigan notes about the Norway massacre:

For those who are quick to argue that â€œguns donâ€™t kill people, people kill people,â€ it is instructive that the Norway killer took many more lives with his guns than with his explosives. Violent individuals intent on inflicting multiple fatalities donâ€™t choose knives or baseball bats. With few exceptions, they choose guns.

That the explosives did not kill more people has more to do with luck and bad planning on the part of the killer. His shooting spree, in contrast, was much more thought out. McVeigh’s bomb killed 168 people. There’s no fundamental reason explosives have to result in a lower death toll. If small arms were so unbelievably deadly as Dennis would have people believe, the military would have no use for grenades, bombs, rockets, missiles, and artillery.

Lautenberg Blood Dancing

Didn’t take long:

â€œThis terrorist took the lives of innocentÂ people, including many children, and itâ€™s outrageous that flaws in Americaâ€™s gun laws may have helped him carry out such a horrific crime,â€ said Senator Lautenberg. Â â€œOur country cannot be the weaponsÂ depot for terrorists and criminals here at home and around the world. Â High-capacity magazines are built to shoot and kill people quickly, and they do not belong in the consumer marketplace.â€

I wasn’t aware magazines were built to shoot and kill people quickly. I wasn’t aware they were built to shoot at all. Here all along I did not realize a box with a spring and follower in it was a highly refined killing machine.

Tough Aspects of Job Searching

One thing I can say, I’m tired of writing either formal cover letters, or formal e-mails that serve the purpose of a cover letter. It takes me minutes to bang out most medium length blog posts, because I do little proofreading and refining. Cover letters have to be as close to perfect as possible, and I go over them with a fine tooth comb, then have Bitter go over them with a fine tooth comb.

The one aspect I find very difficult is balancing possible offers. Right now I have no offers on the table, but several leads. One lead I have an interview scheduled for, and am very optimistic about. It’s going to be a pay cut because I’d be moving to an academic environment. The job is a step up in title, however. The other lead, which I developed just this morning, is well within my skills, but it’s a gig with a consulting company. It is also a pay cut, but seems to be coming in about the same level as the academic position, is not a step up in title, but well within my set of skills. The third lead is a long shot, but a dream job with a very well known and well respected company. I had a fourth lead, but found out today, after a phone interview, they didn’t think I had the skills they needed.

The quandary is, do you just try to go as fast as possible to an offer, any offer, or do you hold out for the job you think you really want? This is an easy answer when you already have a job; you hold out for the job you really want. When you’re unemployed, that’s a much harder decision. I’m doing my best to try to synchronize the process as much as possible. I think it comes down to this: I won’t turn down an offer on the table, that I’m mostly satisfied with, for a long shot at an offer I’d be very happy with. But I may turn down an offer I’m only mostly satisfied with for a pretty good chance at an offer I’m happy with.

Salary negotiation for the unemployed is tough, though. I expected any job not with my previous employer was going to be a salary cut. Our company was unstable for several years, and they could not afford to lose me. I was paid a pretty good risk premium for sticking it out. It’s looking increasingly likely I will not be able to make that back in a new job. Everything I’ve been looking at, except the jobs in New York City, are a 20% cut in my previous salary. Jobs in New York City pay better, but it’s about a 20% premium that needs to be added to those jobs to cover commuting and New York State taxes, which are, to put it mildly, insane.

I have little doubt I’ll find something by the end of the summer, it’s just going to be a question of whether I get something I really enjoy, or have to settle. Salary cut is already largely a given, and that’s painful, but I’d hate to get paid less for a job I hate.

UPDATE: Just got word the lead I developed today evaporated just as quickly. It was short term contract work that would not result in full time employment. I’m still turning down contract work right now, but that could change in a few weeks.

New Shooter

Shooting Illustrated takes a new shooter to the range. It’s someone you might know.

Kahr Settles Suit for $600,000

Kahr Arms has settled a suit brought by the family of a shooting victim, with help from the Brady Campaign. I’m going to bet for a company the size of Kahr, this is a serious chunk of change. They had motioned to have the case dismissed under the PLCAA, but the judge never ruled on the motion because settlement talks were proceeding. I don’t think PLCAA would have preempted this kind of suit. Kahr probably realized that too, which is why they settled.

The case came about because a drug-addicted employee of Kahr pilfered a few pistols from the assembly line before they were stamped with serial numbers. Most manufacturers have security systems in place to prevent guns from walking out of the plant, but Kahr apparently did not. Because this was a negligence suit, there’s a strong argument PLCAA would not apply.

Shelley on Concealing

Shelley at Gun Nuts says:

A lot of people are quick to observe how a gun would not work for concealed carry but seem hesitant to think about how it could. Â With the right holster and the right outfit it is much easier than most people expect to conceal carry full size firearms, much less a compact or smaller.

I’ve carried a Glock 19 pretty much since I’ve been carrying. It’s concealable in Winter, easily. Summer concealment is doable too, but does pretty much rule out the khakis and polo common in offices during summer months. I’ve been able to conceal it with an untucked t-shirt by moving to the 2:00 position (not practical if you’re going to spend any time sitting). I’ve also found looking down, you’re in a much better position to see printing than someone looking at your head on. Always ask someone else if you print. You might think you are when you really aren’t.

More VPC Nonsense

The Mini-14 is now, apparently a “poor man’s assault rifle.” They have become a parody of themselves, truly. I’m pretty sure the Mini-14 is legal even in California. Josh Sugarmann has gone from being the evil genius of the gun control movement to a sad joke. How the mighty have fallen. That said, Josh can still comfort himself by taking home a bigger salary than most of us can dream of, for producing essentially nothing. Certainly nothing of greater value than most of us produce for free every day. How does it feel to be a joke, Josh? Hell, I feel worse for his patrons. How does it feel to fund a joke?

What Every Gun Collection Needs

A 40mm auto cannon:

And yes, this Bofors L60 is fully transferrable.

Fast and Furious Hearings

First from local Congressman, and former US Attorney Pat Meehan:

Meehan represents the Congressional district I grew up in. Also see this clip from Congressman Jason Chaffetz from Utah:

Dave Hardy is reporting the press is finally starting to really pay attention, and points to all the articles appearing about the scandal. I have to hand to Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea, who stuck on this story when a lot of folks, including me, were skeptical, and were reporting on this long before the media had a peep to say about it. Despite whatever differences I may have with them, I feel they deserve some recognition for top notch citizen journalism.

Norway Killer Used Mini-14 and Glock 17

Apparently the Mini-14 was the “most military weapon allowed in Norway.” The pretext he used to get it was deer hunting. The irony is that a Mini-14 is not generally enough gun for hunting, though I don’t know, maybe deer are smaller in Norway.

In regards to the Glock 17:

Getting a permit for the pistol proved more difficult, as he had to demonstrate regular attendance at a sport shooting club.^[21] He also bought 10 30-round magazines from a US supplier. In November, December and January he went through 15 training sessions at the Oslo Pistol Club, and by mid-January his application to purchase aÂ Glock pistol was approved.

We’ve seen this before. Mass killers seem to be willing to jump through whatever hoops you put in front of them. He even went to Prague in an attempt to illegally obtain firearms, but was unsuccessful. Sounds like he wanted specifically an AK-47, and I guess didn’t realize the Czech equivalent is this rifle.