Joe spoints out that some anti-gunners are just giving up. Good!
Category: Guns
Pigeon Shoots
Last month, we brought up the topic of pigeon shoots, which is a sport which is still practiced in Pennsylvania. Though I would not take part in a pigeon shoot myself (I have enough trouble hitting clay birds, let alone real ones), I have no problem with the sport. You see, pigeons are vermin. In urban and suburban environments, they are trapped and killed, or poisoned, because they are filthy and spread disease. Poisoning is less humane than shooting them.
This weekend Jeff Soyer wrote a post that was unfavorable toward pigeon shoots. Bitter immediately took exception to it, pointing out that the sport might be politically incorrect, the tactic that HSUS is using pigeon shoots and dove hunting for is exactly the same tactic anti-gunners have used to go after assault weapons. As Countertop pointed out in the comments, the proposed ban on pigeon shoots would also have the unintended (intended on the part of HSUS) consequence of banning dog training.
I will be honest here, I think HSUS will succeed in destroying hunting in North America. Why? Because hunters show a complete willingness to throw other hunters off the lifeboat when the animal rights nut-jobs come knocking, because they personally don’t participate in their sport and don’t think highly of it. I will agree that pigeon shoots aren’t the best public face of our sport, and I kind of wish the people who organize these things would stop. But I’m not going to join HSUS in calling for it to be outlawed. Apply all the shame and social pressure you want, but I’m not going to stand with HSUS on destroying any type of hunting or shooting. They have an agenda, and a tactic. Their tactic is to divide and conquer. It’s the same tactic the Brady Campaign and VPC used with shooters when they went after assault rifles. It didn’t work with shooters. I don’t see any indication why it’s not going to work with hunters. You’re going to lose your sport guys, and you’ll only have yourselves to blame.
They came first for the pigeon shooters, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a pigeon shooter.
Then they came for the dove hunters, and I didn’t speak up, because I don’t hunt dove.
Then they came for the bear hunters, and I said not a word, for I do not hunt bear.
Then they came for the deer hunters. I am a deer hunter, but when they came, there weren’t enough hunters left to speak up.
Gun Blog Rifle League, Proposed Rules
There does seem to be some interest in a gun blog rifle league, both in small bore and big bore, so I thought I’d start out outlining some rules, and seeing what people think. First the league is open to anyone. It’s just we’ll coordinate through blogs. Second, I won’t be too picky about equipment, since this is mostly for fun and bragging rights. But let’s get down to the nitty gritty:
Center-Fire Rifle
Any rifle capable of rapid fire qualifies. Rapid fire is ten shots in sixty seconds. If you can do this with a bolt action rifle, knock yourself out. I would suggest a semi-auto though, with a magazine capacity of at least ten.
Other than being more lax on equipment. Target will be the SR-1 target. You can buy them at MidwayUSA here.
You will need a shot timer. A kitchen timer would work fine for this. Just as long as you have something that will beep when you hit your time limit.
Course of fire will be identical to NRA high power, but we’ll modify it a bit so we only have to use the SR-1 target:
- Slow fire, standing, unsupported – 10 rounds in 10 minutes, at single SR-1 target @ 100 yards.
- Rapid fire, sitting or kneeling – 10 rounds in 60 70 seconds, at single SR-1 target @ 100 yards.
- Rapid fire, prone – 10 rounds in 60 70 seconds, at single SR-1 target @ 100 yards.
- Slow fire, prone – 10 rounds in 10 minutes, at single SR-1 target @ 100 yards.
We will have two classes for center fire rifle. One class for open sights, and one class for optical sights. Participants can enter in either or both classes, and results will be scored separately. Participants may make multiple entries in each class, provided a different gun is used.
Smallbore Rifle
Any rimfire rifle of .22 caliber or less. Rapid fire is not necessary for small bore competitors. Small bore competition will have three courses of fire. We’ll be using the NRA A-23/3 50 yard targets. Match will be 30 shots.
- Standing, 10 rounds in 10 minutes at 50 yards.
- Kneeling or sitting, 10 rounds in 10 minutes at 50 yards.
- Prone, 10 rounds in 10 minutes at 50 yards.
Again, one class for open sights, and one class for scoped rifles. Multiple entries can be made in a single class if different guns are used.
For both smallbore and center fire, we will generally follow NRA rules, though, I’m not going to get as picky about your rifle or scope. If your AR has a free floating barrel and a tricked out trigger, fine. But let’s try to keep it traditional in regards to positions, and equipment other than the gun. You’ll be able to use slings that are approved for NRA matches in positions for which slings are approved. Things that help artificially support a position would be out, such as arm braces, wrist braces, and the like. No bipods in the prone position, etc. We’re going to depend on the honor system, since this is meant to be fun, and help sharpen our skills. I’ll trust everyone will keep in the spirit of fair play and good sportsmanship.
I will propose the first match end the last day of summer on Sunday September 21st, 2008, with results being due in by midnight on that day. Thereafter, seasonal matches will end on the first Sunday after the end of each season.
Let me know what you think of my proposed plan. We’ll hash it out in the comments, and I’ll start taking info down for people who want to be part of the league. Perhaps I will make a seperate part of the site to track everything.
Exactly Where We Want Them
This is not the reaction of a man who is at the top of his game. This is the reaction of someone that’s losing and knows it:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_k0EXWrbg8[/youtube]
Here’s what struck me:
“Any contribution helps to make a difference. It allows us to defend the good laws that are on the books, and then we can start pushing for better laws in the future.”
Emphasis mine. This is exactly where we want them. They are on the defensive. They are begging for money to defend the laws that are already out there, and maybe then, sometime in the future, they might be able to actually get some new laws passed. They essentially admit there is no hope for that now.
This is not the time to let up. This is not the time to become complacent. We must send these people to join the Women’s Christian Temperence Union in the dungeon of political irrelevance. That’s going to depend on making sure that 5-4 majority grows, rather than shrinks. 2008 is the most important election for gun rights in my lifetime.
Hat Tip to Jacob, for finding the video.
Standing Up
Chicago residents are standing up for what is theirs, and what crooks like Daley should never have the presumption to take away.
Hat Tip to Dave Hardy
Congressional Preemption of DC Gun Laws
It’s looking like it very well may become reality. It needs to, because we can’t end up in an endless back and forth with DC city government before challenging Chicago.
Air Gun Silhouette
Last night I went and shot an air gun match at the club. One thing I’ve discovered: I suck at air gun. You remember the last e-postal match?  Those chickens are 1/10th scale animals, the same size used for NRA air gun competition. I hit about 21 out of 60. When I shoot IHMSA small bore, which are 3/8th scale, 21 is about what I typically get out of 40.
Air gun I think is harder because for one, I’m shooting with iron sights instead of a red dot. For two, the Crossman 2300S is CO2; powered, and I’m not quite so good at compensating for more pellet drop as the match goes on. Hopefully I’ll get my score up to something respectable eventually. Air gun is a great way to sharpen your skills without paying a lot of money. The guns are cheap, pellets are cheap, and air is free (though CO2 costs some money). It’s a great way to stay sharp through these days of high ammo prices, and you can even practice at home.
Speaking of competitive shooting, I will be releasing some details about the Gun Blog Rifle Leauge shortly. Stay tuned.
I have to say …
… this is the finest example of gun nuttery I’ve seen for quite some time. Hat tip to SayUncle for this one.
Quote of the Day
Well, forget the quote. You just have to see this.
The Suicide Angle
One thing that’s really been bothering me lately is all this talk that suicide is driven by gun ownership. It doesn’t just bother me because the notion that guns cause suicides is absurd, it bothers me because it’s obviously absurd, even to a casual uninterested observer. Most reasonable people, I’d suspect, would not in the slightest be persuaded that we have to reduce gun ownership levels to reduce suicide. Suicide is primarily a function of depression, and there are many effective ways of carrying out a desire to kill oneself. Citizens of Japan kill themselves at a far far higher rate than Americans without needing guns to do so.
So why are the anti-gun folks pushing this so hard? Are they desperate? Are they stupid? I think the answer to the former is a little, and to the latter, no. I couldn’t figure out why they might be latching on to an argument that’s clearly not going to get any traction in the sphere of public opinion. But thinking about it last night, it occurred to me. It’s likely a ploy to develop a new constituency for gun control.
Most of us have interacted with gun control advocates. The vast majority of the people I’ve come across who have become activists in the issue have been relatives of victims of gun violence. Hell, even The Brady Campaign’s namesake fits that profile. So does Bryan Miller. The gun control movement’s bread and butter is tragedy; it’s what makes anti-gunners, and it’s what keeps their organizations churning.
In the pre-Heller world, various gun control groups were not performing all that well. In the post-Heller world, it’s going to be even harder. If you’re a gun control group, and you need to enlarge your base of core supporters, how can you ignore the largest pool of people who have been affected by tragedy involving the gun? There are far more folks out there who have been affected by suicide of a loved one than have been affected by gun violence, and more importantly, families affected by suicide are often middle class, and have money and time to donate.
But why now? Well, because Heller offers them an opportunity. We can’t really deny that where law abiding people have access to guns, some small fraction of people will choose a firearm to commit suicide over other methods. If the gun bans in Chicago and other major cities are struck down, the gun control movement is virtually guaranteed to be able to point to rising levels of suicide with firearms. This creates new possibilities for them with gun control schemes, possibly including expanded mental health prohibitions, renewed calls for waiting periods, and various other requirements that could be plausibly linked with suicide prevention.
I had said previously the gun control movement will change post-Heller, and this might be an indication their focus is shifting away from crime control, which we’ve shown doesn’t work, to suicide prevention. Regardless of how well the message resonates with the public at large, if it allows a larger constituency for gun control, and more money rolling into the coffers of gun control groups, they’d be foolish not to exploit the opportunity. I think we’re seeing a deliberate shift in rhetoric. Time will tell how it pans out, but we must be ready to counter it.