Nope, no need at all. They are perfectly safe places, really.
Category: Guns
Sour Grapes
Kansas is about to join the twenty other states that have passed “Katrina Bills” which prohibit mass confiscations of firearms during states of emergency. Not everyone is happy about this:
I understand the unfairness of disarming citizens and not criminals, but Greensburg isn’t New Orleans.
It just seems silly to craft a bill to guard against something that never happened in Kansas and probably never will.
I don’t see how whether or not this ever happened in Kansas is really at issue, and pardon me if I don’t take a reporter’s word that it’ll never happen there. What harm is there in passing this law? I don’t know about you, but it sounds like a case of sour grapes to me.
Careful With that Muzzle Blast
Anti-Hunting Folks
New Jersey is a long ways down the slippery slope, thanks to people like, this who now see their goal of banning all hunting and gun ownership within political reach:
Hunting makes an unnecessary contribution to a world already plagued by too much violence and suffering.Wildlife and the outdoors can and should be experienced through activities such as camping, hiking and wildlife watching; ways to get close to nature without having to cause suffering and death.
Joe Miele, President, Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting
Maywood, NJ
Anti-hunting forces in New Jersey were dealt a pretty significant blow in New Jersey’s last election, but they aren’t going away. Joe Meile and his ilk are not biologists, they do not understand the role hunters play in conservation and wilflife management efforts.  He also, apparently, isn’t above telling people from Mississippi how they ought to be living their lives. People like this need to be vigorously opposed.
Quote of the Day
From Barack Obama campaign spokesperson Jen Psaki:
Barack Obama believes the Second Amendment creates an individual right, and he greatly respects the constitutional right of Americans to bear arms. He also believes that the Constitution permits state and local governments to adopt reasonable and common-sense gun-safety measures.
This was their answer in regards to the question of why Barack Obama, if he’s such a supporter of the second amendment, didn’t sign onto the Congressional brief with 55 other colleagues asking the Supreme Court to find the DC gun ban violates the second amendment. We can only assume that DC’s gun laws are “reasonable” and “common sense” in the senator’s eyes.
It’s a Gun Porn Morning
Very nice example of an M1903 Springfield. From the serial number, this is 1942 production.
Very interesting can opener. Just remember, can openers are always loaded. I once had a Russian guy show me how to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew if you had sufficiently decent knife to stab and twist the cork out with. You won’t keep a Russian from his drink, apparently.
Real Reasoned Discourse?
CSGV’s blogs (both blogs) appear to be approving pro-gun comments. I’ve added a comment of my own. We’ll see if it appears. They are also responding to the comments. Judging from the comments I’m seeing approved so far, I’m going to guess it’s selective moderation. Not fully open debate, but I won’t ding them if they approve substantive comments without a bias. If they don’t approve something, post your content here, and we’ll let it be judged whether their moderation is meant to foster open debate, or help them make their points.
Load on Sunday …
… keep shooting all week.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE888XOS12U[/youtube]
Lessons on Body Armor
A lot of non-gun folks don’t have a good understanding of body armor. Too often you hear the term “bulletproof vest” bandied about, and that term is about the farthest from the truth as you can get. There is no such thing as a bullet proof vest, only bullet resistant vests, and how much resistance you get depends on exactly what the vest is rated for.
An intrepid blogger actually did some real world experiments on this, to see what would penetrate and what wouldn’t. The lowly .22 Magnum rimfire round fired from a rifle would seem to be enough to penetrate a level IIIA vest, which is considered sufficient to stop a .44 Magnum. This seems surprising, but not really; penetration is always a matter of being small and fast. I would like to see data on some other “pistol” rounds fired from rifles, to see what would happen there. What about some of these hot small bore rimfire rounds like .17 HMR or .17 HM2?
Kevlar vests have been a lifesaver for law enforcement, but they aren’t magic. They defend against the kind of threats cops are likely to encounter, but it’s important for folks to have an understanding of the technology, and its limitations.
Let’s Start a Pool
How long before Reasoned DiscourseTM commences? I’ll give it a few weeks.
UPDATE: In the comments, it would appear that Reasoned Discourse has already commenced, as comments there would appear to be moderated. That makes you wonder about this:
I came because of anger. But, I have stayed because of faith. A faith that tells me that love is stronger than hate. A faith in our cause that gives substance to our hopes for a safer society and makes us certain of realities we cannot see.
I would think someone that has faith in their cause wouldn’t be afraid of honest debate. You also have to love the implication that they are the side of love, and we are the side of hate.