The .380 rehabilitated

Perhaps you find it as amusing as I do that over the last couple of years or so, the .380 ACP, or .380 Auto, if you prefer, has somehow become the rediscovered darling of the concealed carry world. Prior to that, it was always viewed, at least for the last couple of generations, as a pipsqueak round best relegated to last-ditch or back-up-gun work. Lately, however, it seems to be accepted as a serious contender for self-defense consideration. Has it suddenly become a much better cartridge? Or does its new patina of respectability have to do with advertising revenue? (Such a cynic I am.)

I'm not going to go into the statistics on one-shot stops with the .380 because there are far too many variables to take that data at face value, such as bullet placement, mindset of the shootee, etc. But I have heard a certain person, a person whom I enjoy listening to on MP3, state in the past that the .38 Spl. and 9mm are the absolute minimum for defensive calibers. Now, he's apparently changed his mind and accepted the .380 as the new minimum although, in fairness to him, he doesn't seem to support it with much enthusiasm.

Oh well. I guess having a gun, any gun, if/when one needs one is the most important thing, along with knowing how to shoot it accurately under stress of course. I just found the flip-flop on the .380 round curious.

Take care.
DAL357

Starbucks Appreciation Day

In light of Starbucks' level-headed decision on the open carry of firearms in its California establishment, in which they stated they would follow the law as it's written (what a concept), some in the gun community (here and here) have proffered the idea of having a Starbucks Appreciation Day on Sunday, February 21, 2010. I'm just passing on the information; you can do what you like with it.

Take care.
DAL357

Trendsetter?

Man angry at IRS crashes plane into Texas building
Feb 18, 2010 (5:18p CST)
By JIM VERTUNO (Associated Press Writer)

AUSTIN, Texas - A software engineer furious with the Internal Revenue Service launched a suicide attack on the agency Thursday by crashing his small plane into an office building containing nearly 200 IRS employees, setting off a raging fire that sent workers fleeing for their lives. At least one person in the building was missing.

The FBI tentatively identified the pilot as Joseph Stack. A federal law official said investigators were looking at a long anti-government screed and farewell note that he apparently posted on the Web earlier in the day as an explanation for what he was about to do.

In it, the author cited run-ins he had with the IRS and ranted about the tax agency, government bailouts and corporate America's "thugs and plunderers."

"I have had all I can stand," he wrote in the note, dated Thursday, adding: "I choose not to keep looking over my shoulder at 'big brother' while he strips my carcass."

So a man who's fed up with it all decides to off himself and, he hopes, take a few IRS employees with him. Is this the start of a trend of Americans pushing back against a tyrannical government? I seriously doubt it, at least when it comes to this course of action. Generally speaking, Americans don't have the stomach for what it would take for a real revolution. Sure, we talk about a second American Revolution, but it ain't going to happen. Instead, we content ourselves with Walter Mitty fantasies, stockpiling ammunition, and swallowing pointless political rhetoric.

But who can blame us? TPTB are far too strong and insidious to even think of prevailing against. To try is to do what this man did: commit suicide. No, this production will have to play until its final act, where the lead actors--the Federal government and various state governments--become so thoroughly weakened through fiscal ineptitude, not to mention moral turpitude, that they can no longer meet their obligations to their minions who use force to keep it all functioning. At that point, the entire system will come to halt, and that is the place for a revolution for liberty. Until then, we'll just have to persevere and savor the (very) occasional victory/triumph for liberty.

Take care.
DAL357

I must be getting old

Some years ago, I heard talk show host Phil Hendrie make the statement that "there's nothing dumber than a Raiders fan." While I'm not sure about the complete veracity of his assertion, in the particular case I'm going to write about, I believe it has merit.

I stopped by my local gun emporium while out and about yesterday just to see if anything interesting was in the used gun section (nothing was). Before I even went into the store, my eyes and sensibilities were assaulted by a bumper sticker plastered to the driver's-side back window of a truck directly in front of me (the Raiders sticker on the passenger's side I couldn't have cared less about). I snapped a photo of it (see above) for posterity. Perhaps fortunately, the photo didn't come out well enough to read the sticker, so I'll have to quote it here in an edited (for vulgarity) form. It read "Imports are like tampons, every pu--y has one."

Now, I don't have a problem with his message, inaccurate as it may be, but I do have a major problem with the words he chose to convey it. Do you? If not, please tell me how you couldn't have, because I just can't fathom it. I guess this all goes back to the basic slob nature of too many Americans who think liberty means license to be boorish. I wonder if this dude had even the slightest inkling that kids would see this. You know, it's fools like this, sad to say, who give liberty a bad name.

What can be done about this? Probably not much. I would be wholly against the state, via a cop, ordering the sticker, offensive as it may be, to be removed. Nor would I remove it myself, as that violates my principles concerning private property rights. Waiting around and speaking to the guy about his taste in vehicular adornments would likely be counterproductive because anyone who's daft enough to put a sticker like that on public display in the first place would be too thick to reason with. I'm truly at a loss.

As I age, I find myself with a lower tolerance for suffering fools gladly. More's the pity, because there seem to be so many now more than ever. It's enough to drive one to despair.

Take care.
DAL357