I’ve recently noticed that the Virginia Shooting Sports Association blog has been a great place to get fast and relevant news on Virginia political happenings. Since the General Assembly is only in session until the end of February, the speedy coverage of important issues is important.
Category: Guns
Google Killed Bambie!
I’m going to guess the Google car hit its bag limit for this season.
A Response of Sorts from Dan Cooper
David at Random Nuclear Strikes received a response – if you could call it that – from Dan Cooper recently.
A Fruitcake Shoot – Not What Some May Think
Shooters at Cedar Creek Sporting Clays shot up a bunch of fruitcakes recently. Before any anti-gunners assume that means that gays in NJ were forced to duck for cover, I should clarify.
Fruitcakes in particular were in the cross hairs Saturday as some 40 shotgun-toting marksmen gathered in Cumberland County for an unconventional target practice at the first-ever John DeBella Fruitcake Trap Shoot.
“Every year people make jokes about fruitcakes, how no one really eats them,” DeBella said. “Personally, I think that they don’t even make new ones each year — they just use the old ones.”
For years, the DJ at Classic Rock 102.9 FM (WMGK) said, he wanted to host an event that involves gunning down the dreaded confection.
They report that about 40 people showed up, including several from Pennsylvania.
Cedar Creek also built a catapult to launch the sweets from an elevated scissor lift. But the fast-flying fruitcakes proved particularly difficult to eliminate, so many were later set up on boards as stationary targets for shooters to blast away.
Somehow New Jersey ranges always end up hosting really great events. Even though we have far more gun owners on this side of the Delaware, we don’t really have much in the way of these kinds of fun events. (h/t Outdoor Pressroom)
NRA Gets Blamed for Everything
Much like BDS, there exists NRADS – NRA Derangement Syndrome. Anti-gun advocates seem to believe that everything bad in the world is the fault of the NRA. It’s nice to see a paper willing to publish a pro-NRA response in Montana.
This past week The Gazette published a letter by Carol Mick criticizing the National Rifle Association for not policing its members. One of the examples she mentioned was the “hunter” from New York who shot a feral llama and attached his/her nonresident elk tag to it. Unfortunately, ignorance is not a criminal offense, no matter how much we might hope it would be. Perhaps Mick has information unavailable to me indicating that this knothead was an NRA member.
Her other example was of a friend purportedly shot by two hunters while the friend was in an orange tent “at twilight or darker.” The NRA then “got the two hunters off.” More information on this incident would be informative. The only way I was aware someone could “get off” from a possible criminal charge would be if they were not charged because no crime was committed, or they were found not guilty at trial.
The NRA has done more in the interest of firearms and hunter safety than any other group or organization in the country. NRA training is considered the gold standard for firearms and hunter safety. I understand that they are unpopular among those who don’t like guns or hunting, but attacking them for something over which they have no control seems to be a little over the top.
Larry Elliott
Billings
Appellate Brief Filed in Chicago Gun Rights Case
See Alan Gura’s update here. Â Looks like all the Chicago-area cases are being consolidated on appeal. Â Let’s hope we win on this.
Home Defense Ammo
If you’re going to use a rifle for home defense, you’ll always have the problem of over-penetration, and in a suburban neighborhood, that can be a problem.  The last thing you want is for your shot to go through the bad guy, and leave the premises, or to ricochet off something, and head off in an unsafe direction.  This summer, we did a lot of close range steel shooting with frangible ammunition from International Cartridge Corporation. It occurred to me that if I wanted to use a carbine like an AR-15 for home defense, I would need appropriate ammo.  So I ordered up some of ICC’s .223:
I didn’t shoot any of the .223 Frangible, but if it’s a good as their .45 ACP, it should be pretty good. As you can see, the shape and color are much different than FMJ, but it’ll turn to dust if it hits any surface harder than itself. Â You can always use a shotgun for home defense, but I like the AR platform, and its operation is more drilled into my head.
What Calibers Do You Keep Stocked?
Tam seems to do what I do, but with a lot more calibers. Â I have guns in several calibers, but I will put them in order of what I shoot the most, and thus what I stock the most of:
- .22LR – Rarely do I have less than 1000 rounds on hand. Â Usually several thousand. Â I go through a brick every few weeks.
- 9x19mm – It’s what I carry, so I go through a lot of it. Â I try to buy it 500 or 1000 rounds at a time.
- 5.56x45mm – I load all this myself now, so I keep a few hundred at a time for matches, then reload when I need to.
- .380 ACP – Carry this one too. Â But I usually won’t keep more than 250 rounds in stock, since I don’t shoot this as often.
- .44 Spc/Magnum – Don’t keep more than a hundred or so rounds loaded at any one time. Â I use this for shooting field pistol in IHMSA matches.
- .45ACP – Just got a 1911 this summer, and have been collecting many rounds of brass to reload.
- 7.62x39mm – I typically keep about 500 rounds on hand.
- 5.45x39mm – I have a thousand or so of this, all corrosive. Â Another 300 rounds of non-corrosive.
- 9x18mm – For the Makarov and CZ. Â I was shooting this a lot for a while, but don’t so much anymore.
- .30-06 – For the Garand. Â Club matches require buying the ammo from the club. Â Don’t keep all that much loaded, as I don’t practice with the Garand as much as I should.
- 12 Gauge – Sometimes I like to shoot trap night at the club.
- 7.62x54R – I haven’t shot much of this lately, but when I get in the mood I can go through a lot.
- 8mm Mauser – Have one box of this for if the mood ever strikes me, which isn’t often.
- .17HMR – New caliber I have added to my stocks. Â Have only shot about 50 rounds of 200 so far.
- 7.62x38R – For the Nagant revolver. Â Expensive ammo. Â I have a partial box because I will typically blow through one cylinder at the range and call it a day when the mood strikes me.
I need .308 now that I have a FAL, but my backorder for some hasn’t been filled yet.  That is the only firearm I have for which I have no ammunition.  I have the most number of guns in .22LR, since that’s what I shoot the most.  I like any caliber that’s cheap, and I don’t have to reload.  What ammunition to you keep in inventory.  I suspect many of us are poster children for the old Brady “Arsenal License” nonsense from back in the days when they dreamed big.
We’re Very Happy for Kim Rhode
Some of you might remember back in September that Olympic shotgun shooter and Gold Medalist Kim Rhode had her one-of-a-kind very expensive shotgun stolen from her car. Â I think I was actually remiss in blogging about that here. Â But I just got this from The Outdoor Wire:
The Riverside, California Sheriff’s Department has recovered four-time Olympic medalist Kim Rhode’s shotgun. Police officials say the gun was recovered during a routine parole check. According to Rhode, the gun is in “immaculate” shape, although the competition stickers she had collected during her shooting career had been removed. “I can’t believe it,” Rhode told The Outdoor Wire only minutes after the gun was returned. A complete report in tomorrow’s edition of The Outdoor Wire.
We’re very happy for Kim that she got her shotgun back. Â That’s one of those things you almost don’t expect to ever see it again, and it breaks your heart. Â Obviously that gun had to have meant a lot to her, and it’s good fortune that she is reunited with it. Â Good work on the part of the Riverside Sheriff’s office.
Holder Approved by Judicary Committee
By a vote of 17 to 2, Eric Holder’s confirmation vote has been voted out of committee and onto the Senate floor.
The votes against him were John Cornyn of Texas, and Tom Coburn of Olkahoma. Senator Specter, who is the ranking Republican on the committee, voted yes. Cornyn did mention gun rights among his reasons for voting no. No doubt Coburn shared some concern also.
I anxiously await commentators suggesting if the NRA had just made this a “key vote” we could have turned around the eight votes needed, while they simultaneously denounce the NRA for being ineffectual.
UPDATE: One commenter suggests the use of a hold. A hold in this case isn’t going to stop the vote from happening on the floor.  A hold is basically a Senator telling the Senate Majority Leader that he does not wish a particular matter brought to the floor.  The Majority Leader can either heed the hold, or ignore it.  Typically a hold is used as an indication that the Senator would filibuster the vote.  It worked to stop the vote on Mike Sullivan because Harry Reid didn’t have much of a reason to ignore a Republican hold on their own President’s nominee.  In this case, Obama is going to be expecting Reid to deliver on his nominations, and Reid will almost certainly comply.  Given that 6 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee already voted yes to pass Holder’s confirmation onto the floor, the Republicans don’t have a filibuster.  Any threat of one will be empty, and Reid will know that, since the votes are already there for cloture.