"When seconds count,...

the police are only minutes away."

Anyone who's been around the self-defense arena for very long has probably heard this little truism more than once. The Binghampton shootings reinforces the dead-on veracity of this maxim. In a statement by Police Chief Joseph Zikuski on the shootings, he showed that sometimes the police are MANY minutes away.

The chief defended the time it took officers to go into the building — an hour to 90 minutes.

"If some crazy lunatic decides to pick up a gun and go someplace and start shooting people, I really don't have the answer how long for us that could prevent anything like that," Zikuski said.

"What I will tell you is that the police did the right thing," he said. "We have procedures and protocols."

Remember this the next time someone exhorts you to leave your own self-defense to the police and just dial 911. Procedures and protocols are fine, usually, but sometimes exigent circumstances dictate actual thought over mechanized rote.

Oh, by the way, Chief, I do have an answer on how to, at the very least, keep the body count down: responsible armed citizens. Had someone in that facility been armed, although no one can guarantee it, I'd be willing to bet things would have turned out less favorably for the murderer. But, with the average resident of New York state rendered helpless by governmental decree by not being allowed to be legally armed, a tragedy occurred instead.

No one can predict what will make a weak mind snap. The best we can do is be prepared to take defensive action when it happens, be that defensive action running away or defending yourself with a weapon, especially a firearm.

Take care.
DAL357

Ipso facto

Yup, this proves it: Anyone who is a gun owner and is concerned that the Obama administration is hostile to the private ownership of guns is only a hair's breadth away from a mass shooting. Or so the following report would love for you to believe (by implication, of course).

*****

Police official: 3 officers killed in Pa. shooting

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press Writer

PITTSBURGH – A man opened fire on officers during a domestic disturbance call Saturday morning, killing three of them, a police official said. Friends said he feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns. [Okay, so are a lot of people, what does that have to do with what a disturbed individual has done? Nothing, of course, but it helps to associate in weak minds that gun ownership, concern about confiscation, and (especially) insanity are somehow linked.]

Three officers were killed, said a police official at the scene who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Police spokeswoman Diane Richard would only say that at least five officers were wounded, but wouldn't give any other details. [My condolences to the families of the officers killed and wounded.]

The man who fired at the officers was arrested after a several-hour standoff. One witness reported hearing hundreds of shots. [The implication here being that the assailant fired hundreds of rounds. But what if it was the cops pouring in the rounds? It wouldn't be the first time.]

The shootings occurred just two weeks after four police officers March 21 in Oakland, Calif., in the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001. [The day when a lot of police officers died and not a shot was fired. Forgot that little detail, didn't you, you Brady and VPC shill.]

Police did not immediately release the gunman's identity, but his friends at the scene described him as a young man who thought the Obama administration would ban guns. [Would that they could, believe me.]

One friend, Edward Perkovic, said the gunman feared "the Obama gun ban that's on the way" and "didn't like our rights being infringed upon." Another longtime friend, Aaron Vire, said he feared that President Obama was going to take away his rights, though he said he "wasn't violently against Obama." [I'd say this young man, aside from his time-out for insane behavior, had a better grasp on things than many folks.]

Perkovic, a 22-year-old who said he was the gunman's best friend, said he got a call at work from him in which he said, "Eddie, I am going to die today. ... Tell your family I love them and I love you." [Eddie, being a heterosexual, was naturally repulsed.]

Perkovic said: "I heard gunshots and he hung up. ... He sounded like he was in pain, like he got shot."

Vire, 23, said the gunman once had an Internet talk show but that it wasn't successful. Vire said his friend had an AK-47 rifle and several powerful handguns, including a .357 Magnum. [Ewww! "Powerful handguns." No attempt at shading/influencing there, right Mr. Reporter-man?]

The officers were called to the home in the Stanton Heights neighborhood at about 7 a.m., Richard said. [The gunman was an early riser.]

Tom Moffitt, 51, a city firefighter who lives two blocks away, said he heard about the shooting on his scanner and came to the scene, where he heard "hundreds, just hundreds of shots. And not just once — several times." [What!?!? So Moffitt heard hundreds of rounds fired several times? Does this mean close to a thousand or more rounds were fired? This makes no sense, the ignorance of this witness is abundantly apparent, and his statement can be dismissed as unreliable.]

Rob Gift, 45, who lives a block away, said he heard rapid gunfire as he was letting his dog out.

He said the neighborhood of well-kept single-family houses and manicured lawns is home to many police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other city workers.

"It's just a very quiet neighborhood," Gift said. [I guess the point of including Gift's statement is to show this wasn't some inner-city neighborhood filled with drug houses. Plus, it shows that those darn, dirty gun owners just can't be trusted not to fly off the handle and start popping people, even in good neighborhoods.]

*****

Take care.
DAL357

Sportsman's Warehouse

Last week, Sportsman's Warehouse filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Apparently the chain is yet another victim of a shrinking consumerism-based economy. Judging merely by the scarcity of reloading components on the shelves of the Colorado Springs store, I am not surprised. The scarcity makes me believe they should be called Sportsman's Wherehouse.

I first became aware of Sportsman's Warehouse after I stumbled upon one in Denver about five years ago. The store had a fantastic selection of shooting goods, as well as many other things outdoors related. When Colorado Springs finally got a store, I looked forward to it with anticipation and, for a while, I was not disappointed. But after a couple of years, some cracks started to show. Reloading supplies began to be stocked with increasing irregularity and spots on the shelves for the more popular items would stay bare for weeks on end, and this was long before the current buy-it-all-now-'cause-they're-gonna-ban/hyper-tax-it ammo hysteria.

I'm not sure who was handling the supply logistics for the store/chain, but their incompetency during the good times was painfully evident. As everyone with even a cursory understanding of how to run a business knows, keeping a ready and steady supply on hand of products, especially popular ones, is crucial to the bottom line and to the long-time survival of the concern.

Maybe this bankruptcy reorganization will help SW get its act together and, once the ammo hysteria dies down a bit and ammo makers can catch up on backorders, become a successful retailer. But the pessimist in me says that is unlikely, particularly if some changes are not made in upper management and the usual way of doing business.

There, see how easy that fix was? I'll tell you, the problem with the world is that it doesn't have me to run it. For example, I can fix the US economy with just the few following words: STOP SPENDING MORE THAN YOU MAKE, AND ALWAYS VOTE FOR LIBERTY FIRST (making the huge assumption that you have a clue what liberty is), NOT A PARTY, MORONS! (Actually, there's a bit more to it than that, but those are the roots of most of the problem.)

Take care.
DAL357

Gouging out your own eye to help your neighbor see better

Gun control debate hangs over U.S.-Mexico violence
By SUZANNE GAMBOA, AP Writer

WASHINGTON – Members of Congress may be alarmed by the surge in Mexican drug violence and its potential to spill across the border, but they grow silent when the talk turns to gun control as a solution. [Yup, nothing like fear of not winning re-election to shut a politician's mouth; so, these creatures can be taught simple tricks, eh?]

With related kidnappings and killings occurring in the U.S., the Obama administration is likely to shift dozens of enforcement agents and millions of dollars to the fight against Mexican drug cartels. [A losing proposition, as the War on Drugs is unwinnable, and those without a vested interest in keeping it going (law enforcement, to name one) and a scintilla of sense know that.]

Underscoring the Obama administration's concern over the violence and the potential for a large-scale spillover into the United States, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Mexico on Wednesday to show support for its crackdown on drug cartels. [Oh, "the potential" for violence to come to the US. Yes, let's legislate on the "potential" of something that hasn't happened. Sure, why not? It helps distract attention from the FedGov's abject failure to protect its citizens from financial fraud, and it makes the pols seem like they're efficient go-getters, when, of course, they are not.]

Mexico has long tried to get the United States to curtail the number of guns — many purchased legally — that wind up south of the border, where gun laws are much stricter. The State Department says firearms obtained in the U.S. account for an estimated 95 percent of Mexico's drug-related killings. [So, in essence, what this paragraph is saying is that strict gun laws do not prevent murders (so why have them?). Also, I like how the word "estimated" is thrown in there. Whose estimate is that, what's it based on, and from which orifice did they pull that figure? Nonsense like this is easy to see through, unless you're a weak-minded dolt, and we have millions of them in the US--basically anyone who votes Republican or Democrat because they think there is no alternative.]

"If President Calderon's policies to roll back organized crime are to be successful, we need to defang the power of the drug syndicates to inflict damage upon our state, local and police forces," Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, said in January. "The best way we can do that is for a real ratcheting up of the United States' capabilities of shutting down the flow of weapons." ["Flow of weapons," could you please quantify that? Heck, one or two guns (or knives, or baseball bats, etc.) could be a "flow of weapons." You know, I agree with the ambassador on one point: we should ratchet up the US' capabilities by building a wall from one end of the border to the other, patrolling it incessantly, and shooting any Mexican citizens who happen crawl over or under it. That would cut down on the imaginary "flow of weapons" in one direction and the very real flow of illegal immigrants in the other.]

"I don't think the solution to Mexico's problems is to limit Second Amendment gun rights in this country," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the Senate GOP's election committee. "What we can do is help our Mexican friends enforce their own laws." [Now here's a politician with his finger firmly in the wind. He's right, except about the part where "we" (the US) should help Mexico enforce its own laws; I missed that part of the US Constitution.]

For his part, Obama has signaled a willingness to tighten restrictions on guns, calling the flow of drug money and guns "a two-way situation." Yet 65 Democrats said in a letter to Holder that they would oppose any attempt by the administration to revive a ban on military-style weapons. ["Obama has signaled a willingness to tighten restrictions on guns." Really? Just a "willingness?" I'll bet he's foaming at the mouth at the prospect.]

Tom Diaz, an analyst at the Violence Policy Center, a gun [banning] control group, said cartels use military-style weapons such as the Armalite AR-50, a .50-caliber sniper rifle. ["Military-style weapons"...so the guns just have to look like military weapons, but not really be military weapons? Now we're talking about cosmetics?]

Semiautomatic rifles used by the cartels [Why would a drug-runner use a semiautomatic rifle when fully-automatic rifles are readily available from former Eastern-bloc countries, and corrupt soldiers in the Mexican army itself? These drug gangs have enough money to get practically anything they want, so why would they mess around with the relatively slower firepower of a semi-auto? The answer is they wouldn't.] are imported legally into the U.S. as "sporting" weapons, a policy that was stopped for years but revived under President George W. Bush. [I see, lay the blame at Bush's feet. The policy was "revived" because its ten-year lifespan expired--Bush had nothing to do with it. Not that I'm a fan of Bush, I'm glad he's gone, but let's at least try to act like an unbiased reporter, okay SUZANNE GAMBOA?]

Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., who chaired a hearing on guns going to Mexico, said he is not seeking widespread gun control [No, that would be too ambitious. Just another nick in the Death of a Thousand Cuts gun owners are enduring will do.] but Congress must do something. [Even if it's the wrong thing. Hey, portraying a situation with an aura of desperation demanding extreme exigence worked like gangbusters for the TARP fiasco, so why not trot out the ploy again for this circumstance? If you really want to do something, as I said above, make the border as impenetrable as humanly possible. Until you do that, Tierney, you're just wanking around.]

"We don't want to get distracted by the gun industry lobby of the NRA trying to talk about (how) every attempt to bring some sanity to the situation is somehow an attempt to get rid of everybody's Second Amendment rights," he said. "That's a red herring." [I see. So any discussion that runs contrary to the course of action you've already decided upon should somehow be dismissed as a distraction? Further suppressing the God-given and Constitutionally-guaranteed rights of US citizens is somehow bringing "sanity" to a situation? No thanks, fool.]

*****

Honestly, if this is the best ploy the Obama administration can come up with to further suppress our rights, and I don't want to get over confident, but I believe we have little to fear as gun owners. If this is the best argument they can proffer for another AWB, then this is a sorry, incompetent administration with such a paucity of ideas that they may make the Carter administration look good.

Take care.
DAL357

Rubber band Indoor-Varmint Getter

Here's a short article I wrote to submit to a varmint hunting magazine which didn't turn out the way I wanted, so I thought I'd post it here.





Can’t get out to your favorite shooting range due to this or that reason? Too hot/cold outdoors to pop varmints? No problem. Allow me a few minutes of your time and I’ll clue you in on a pastime that, while it can’t replace firearms hunting, can at least distract you from your inability to get your fix. Plus, you don’t even have to leave your home!

Practically every home in the United States is not only a shelter for humans but, somewhere in its nooks, crannies, or bowels, is also a haven for unwanted (as opposed to wanted?) insects. Sure, you can spray them, but you, dear varmint hunter, know that while insecticides may be efficient, they’re not quite as satisfying as personally squashing the little buggers. That’s where the following method of insect extermination comes into play that rids your home of pests AND gives you some quality hunting time.

Before I get to the specifics, I’ll tell you that I first was introduced to this sport back in 1971 by an acquaintance I made in 7th grade named Bernie. Where he learned it, I have no idea, and it’s really not important. What is important is that it works and it’s fun. (Wherever you are, Bernie, thanks.)

To participate in this sport, you won’t need any fancy equipment. Rangefinders, camo clothing, pet loads, etc. would be more of a hindrance than a help. Nope, the only things you’ll need are two 3.5” x .25” (size no. 64) rubber bands (see photo 1 above), and possibly a damp cloth.

By joining the two rubber bands together as shown (see photos 2 & 3 above), you will lend enough speed and accuracy to this simple device to make clean (relatively speaking--more on that later), humane kills. After a bit of practice, which I’ll outline next, you’ll be at least as deadly as DDT.

Okay, you have made your projectile, now what? Have you ever heard of point shooting? Look at photo 4 above and notice what’s missing when the rubber band is in firing position…sights! This may seem a big problem at first, but I can assure you that after a modicum of practice, you won’t even think about them anymore. Draw a one-inch black circle on a piece of paper, tape it to a wall about shoulder high, step back approximately 6 to 8 feet, and draw the rubber band to firing position. (Note: I strongly urge you to use some type of eye protection when doing this because a rubber band once slipped off of my fingertip and hit me in my aiming eye. OUCH!) Make as straight a plane as possible between your fingertip, aiming eye, and the target. Then, just open the finger and thumb of the hand holding the rear portion of the rubber band. Whack! You should have come pretty close to your aiming point. If not, keep repeating, making any needed minor adjustments, until you hit your target at least 7 out of 10 times. When you get to this point, you’re ready to stalk your prey. (By the way, although I am right-handed, with the rubber band I use my left hand to shoot from. You’ll need to figure out which hand works best for you.)

As any successful hunter knows, you’ve got to go to where the game is unless you want to come home empty handed. The same holds true for the sport of insect hunting (hereafter referred to as insecting). The most fertile hunting ground in my house, and I suspect many houses, is the basement. A basement is like an insect magnet, probably because it’s an easy means of ingress for the little critters. We finished our basement several years ago, but that didn’t stop the never-ending procession of water bugs (aka roly polys) and spiders. I’ve lost count of the number of spiders I have killed, both by shoe and rubber band, over the years, but it has to be many dozens. Find the place(s) in your home where you have been invaded, then get to work insecting.

Once your quarry has been located, use the skill you’ve practiced to obtain to dispatch it swiftly and efficiently. Aim for center mass as you draw your rubber band to full length (don’t forget that eye protection), and make as flat a plane as you can between your aiming eye, the tip of your finger, and your target. Get as close as you think you need to (but please, no closer than 4 feet…5 to 6 feet is much more sporting) and let ‘er fly. Great, one dead insect!

Here’s where that damp cloth comes into play, especially if you’ve just splattered the creature against the wall. Wipe off the residue immediately, otherwise you run the risk of staining the area. Believe me, if your wife sees the mess you made, she’s not going to be too happy, and you may find yourself repainting a room, which could dampen your enthusiasm for your new hobby. Be safe--wipe up your slop. Don’t forget to clean off your rubber band also.

If you miss, the insect, especially spiders, I have found, usually obligingly stick around for another try, particularly if they are ensconced in their webs. Flies are less amenable to giving you another chance, but they usually alight again somewhere nearby after a few seconds of agitated buzzing, affording the opportunity for redemption.

So, there you have it. A sport that offers a tiny bit of the excitement of hunting that’s likely no more than a few steps from any point in your house. Granted, it will never replace real hunting, but some days, it’ll do.

*****

Take care.
DAL357

Cooler heads prevail in Mexico

Mexican drug gangs dump human heads in ice coolers
Tue Mar 10, 3:04 pm ET

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Suspected drug gang hitmen dumped five severed human heads in ice coolers on a road in western Mexico on Tuesday with a message threatening rivals, a state attorney general's office said.

Police patrolling a highway on the edge of the Mexican colonial city of Guadalajara found the heads inside five coolers left on the roadside, the Jalisco state attorney general's office said.

"They were recently severed heads, cut off about four hours before they were found," a spokesman said, adding police found a message left by apparent drug hitmen threatening rival gangs. The victims' identities were not disclosed.

*****

Sorry, but it was irresistable.

Take care.
DAL357

Anomalous?

Here's a story that came out last month, but which I've just gotten around to commenting on.

*****

Muslim TV exec accused of beheading wife in NY

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - The crime drips with brutal irony: a woman decapitated, allegedly by her estranged husband, in the offices of the TV network they launched to counter Muslim stereotypes. [I'll bet the tact of this station was that the West just doesn't understand Muslims and Islam, so it's the West that has the problem. It didn't work out too well, did it? The West has your number just fine, Islam.]

Muzzammil "Mo" Hassan is accused of beheading his wife last week, days after she filed for divorce. Authorities have not discussed the role religion or culture might have played [of course not, someone might get offended], but the slaying gave rise to speculation [by those with a brain in their head and stones in their pants] that it was the sort of "honor killing" more common in countries half a world away, including the couple's native Pakistan.

The Hassans lived in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, N.Y., — a well-off Buffalo suburb that hadn't seen a homicide since 1986 — and started Bridges TV there in 2004 with a goal of developing understanding between North America and the Middle East and South Asia. The network, available across the U.S. and Canada, was believed to be the first English-language cable station aimed at the rapidly growing Muslim demographic. [Uh oh.]

Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz said his officers had responded to domestic incidents involving the couple, most recently Feb. 6, the day Mo Hassan was served with the divorce papers and an order of protection. [Yup, nine out of ten murdered wives and girlfriends would agree, if they could, that pieces of paper make poor shields against murderous louts.]

Said Paul Moskal, who became friendly with the couple while he was chief counsel for the FBI in Buffalo, "His personal life kind of betrayed what he tried to portray publicly," Moskal said. [Yeah, just slightly.]

On Feb. 12, Hassan went to a police station and told officers his wife was dead at the TV studio.

"We found her laying in the hallway the offices were off of," Benz said. Aasiya Hassan's head was [conveniently] near her body.

"I don't know if (the method of death) does mean anything," said the chief [a distant relative of inspector Clouseau], who would not discuss what weapon may have been used. "We certainly want to investigate anything that has any kind of merit. It's not a normal thing you would see." [Not here, but in certain other countries it no doubt is quite common, along with the quaint practice of female circumcision.]

Nadia Shahram, who teaches family law and Islam at the University at Buffalo Law School, explained honor killing as a practice still accepted among fanatical ["fanatical"--a word chosen specifically to make it seem to Western minds that ol' Mo and his ilk represent only a small fraction of Muslims, an assertion I find dubious] Muslim men who feel betrayed by their [viewed-as-chattel] wives.

On Feb. 12, Hassan went to a police station and told officers his wife was dead at the TV studio. Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz says Aasiya Hassan's head was found near [conveniently] her body.

Nancy Sanders, the television station's news director for 2 1/2 years, remembers Aasiya Hassan. "She was beautiful, small, delicately built," she said, "while Mo would fill up a door frame. I always thought of him as a gentle giant." [Perhaps his future fellow inmates will too. Yes, just a big teddy bear of a man to be cuddled and rocked to sleep after an old-fashioned prison rape!]

"I just do not feel it was an honor killing," Sanders added. "I think it was domestic abuse that got out of control." [Huh? This guy not only murdered his wife, but then he took the time to perform a highly symbolic and ritualistic act on her corpse. He didn't just mean to kill her, he meant to dishonor her per the barbaric customs of his tribe. Intelligence, apparently, is not a prerequisite to being a news director.]

*****

Cripe! The only thing that surprises me about this item is that it doesn't surprise me.

Take care.
DAL357

Paul Harvey dies

Just last night I read that Paul Harvey had died; his unique voice and delivery will be missed.

I remember when I first heard him: it was in Panama (the country) when I was a wee lad of nine. Riding with my father (who was in the U.S. Army) in the front seat of the family car (sans seatbelt), I first laughed at Harvey because his delivery was so different from anything I'd ever heard before I thought it was a joke. I even remember the story he was reporting on, which was about a circus tent that had collapsed as it was being erected, killing several people. Still chuckling, I asked my father who this guy was, because he was funny. A bit perturbed, my father said, "It's Paul Harvey." Finally, I got the clue that it wasn't a joke and piped down.

That was back in 1969, and I began to enjoy, off and on, Harvey's show as I grew up. I haven't listened to him in a few years, and now I guess I never will again.

One thing I wonder about is how likely it would be for him to succeed in today's media, where little, if any, deviation from a cookie-cutter image/voice/philosophy is tolerated.

Take care.
DAL357

Flame on!

If you don’t like the direction the United States is going, and you’re wondering what went wrong, ask yourself this: “Did I vote for the Democrats or the Republicans in the last election, or in any other previous election?” If you said, “Democrats,” you’ve just found out what has gone wrong. Those who said, “Republicans,” however, have no reason to feel smug or superior, for you too are part of the problem. If, in fact, you have ever voted for either party in your lifetime, you bear direct responsibility for the collectivist state America has become. (Honesty compels me to admit that I, too, bear direct responsibility for this mess, although I have achieved at least a partial absolution by voting for a Libertarian candidate in three out of the last four presidential elections. Prior to that, I voted a straight Republican ticket since Reagan was first elected, when I became eligible to vote.) Neither of the two major parties supports liberty (the ONLY thing you should be voting for), therefore, a vote for either is a vote against the principles espoused in the U.S. Constitution and a vote against liberty.

If you identify yourself with and support either major party, you truly are anti-liberty and un-American. I’ll even go so far as to say you have disrespected and spat upon the efforts of all our military war veterans, both those who returned and those who didn’t, in a way that’s far more grievous than any street protestor has ever done. You, my fellow countrymen, have offered up your precious, precious liberty to the monsters you’ve created: people, aka politicians, who tell you what you want to hear and promise to suppress or steal from others, even though it flies in the face of that one cardinal rule of reality: You can’t get something for nothing.

You who support either major party are not Americans; you’re far from deserving that lofty title. Perhaps when, if ever, you think outside your little self-imposed box and see yourself for what you really are--a stooge for those who purportedly stand for liberty, but who actually work feverishly against it--you will see I’m 100 percent correct. I won’t, however, hold my breath waiting for that to happen. Heck, you’re probably so PO’d at me now that you can hardly contain yourself. Tough. It’s high time those of us who understand what liberty truly means stop pussyfooting around with you one-dimensional psuedo-Americans and call you on your part in ruining what was once the most exceptional nation the world had ever seen.

Enjoy the country you have made, for you deserve it.

Take care.
DAL357

A new cartridge

Ready for yet another new handgun cartridge, as if one is needed? If not, look elsewhere, but if you have the guts, read on.

I've been toying with this idea for some time, and I'll be the first to admit it's all pure conjecture based solely on my very limited knowledge of ballistics, but since when has ignorance been a bar to pontification? If knowledge of what one is speaking about was required, the Internet would be a lot smaller.

Without further ado, here's the new round: the .380 Manstopper. It's a bottleneck cartridge made from the .45 GAP necked down to accept .380 bullets in the 80-90 grain range that scoot out of the barrel at (here's where my ballistic ignorance really starts to show) around 1500-1600 fps. With a Barnes 80-grain bullet and that velocity, I suspect it might be a good fight stopper. (Of course, I might be on another planet with this idea, but who knows?) The round could be chambered in a 9mm-framed gun and it probably would be relatively pleasant/easy to shoot. Sure, this round will probably over penetrate like crazy, but...

I'll be anxiously checking my e-mail for all of the manufacturer's interest this new idea is sure to generate. Yup, after this idea gets picked up it looks like it's Easy Street for me, what with all the royalties and stuff. Yee-haa!!!

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. The photo above shows the .357 Sig cartridge, not the .380 Manstopper, since the .380 Manstopper exists only in my mind, but it would look somewhat similar.

Bands That Blew

While I no longer listen much to pop/rock music, and I haven’t for a good many years, my mind occasionally goes back to the days when rock, especially AOR (album oriented rock) ruled my roost. When that happens, invariably it will come to those bands that were just plain God-awful. In other words, they were formulaic, contrived monstrosities designed to rake in cash and chicks (I can’t blame ‘em for that last one) with as little originality as possible.

Probably my all time winner in the Bands That Blew category is Foreigner. Even after all of these years, I still cringe when I hear “Cold as Ice,” or “Hot Blooded,” or "Head Games," or "Juke Box Hero," or "Feels Like the First Time," or "Double Vision," or "Waiting for a Girl Like You." What complete and utter schlock. If you liked power chords played with precise monotony, not to mention lyrics of intense asininity, then Foreigner was probably your cup of tea. No doubt you also thrilled to the sounds of the band Whitesnake, another sorry excuse for a musical group, or even--GASP!--Journey.

Of course, these aren’t the only bands that would fit into the BTB realm. They are just the ones that that I recall most vividly. Perhaps the rest have been, mercifully, forgotten. Do you have a few bands in mind that you believe were/are worthy only of scorn? If so, do tell.

Take care.
DAL357

Isn't it ironic?

On Tom Gresham's Gun Talk radio show last week, as I recall, he spoke the praises of the Springfield XD design as opposed to the Glock design because Gaston Glock's pistol is essentially unchanged from when it was introduced and it's dated. I find it curious that he would knock the Glock design when he often pays homage to a gun whose design is far older--the 1911. Granted, the 1911 is a good design, but let's not disparage the Glock because it is a little older than the latest wonder-thang without acknowledging how long in the tooth (98 years and counting) the too-often-worshipped 1911 is.

Take care.
DAL357

Oh, GAWD!

More proof that fashion designers are inbred, quite likely for several generations back.

A model wears a creation by British fashion designer John Galliano as part of his men's Fall-Winter 2009/2010 collection, in Paris, Friday, Jan. 23, 2009.

Yup, just what we need, more gender-bending, not to mention sloppy-looking, apparel.

Take care.
DAL357

SHOT show...again

Ah, the SHOT (Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade) show, the outdoor industry's annual festival of dubious innovation and massive marketing. The acronym SHOT would be better described as Splitting Hairs On Things, for there are rarely any totally new and fresh ideas, at least gun-wise, that come out of the event. But, hey, it gives gun folk a good excuse to get together, rub elbows, fawn over all of the glittery new objects without questioning their utility, and shoot the breeze. Plus, it keeps all of those marketers, not to mention gun writers, who push essentially unnecessary products, employed.

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. Note to Ruger: Guys, you really could have had something with that new little snubby of yours, the LCR, had you made it a six shooter (and I'm not the first to say that). While I appreciate your efforts, once the SHOT show is over get back to the drawing boards and come up with a six-shot model, pronto, before Smith does. Oh, and fire whoever okayed this gun to come out with a five-shot capacity.

You're welcome.

Oh, GREAT!

Yup, JUST what we needed here in Colorado:

Go East, young man? Californians look for the exit
By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, AP Writer

LOS ANGELES – Mike Reilly spent his lifetime chasing the California dream. This year he's going to look for it in Colorado.

With a house purchase near Denver in the works, the 38-year-old engineering contractor plans to move his family 1,200 miles away from his home state's lemon groves, sunshine and beaches. For him, years of rising taxes, dead-end schools, unchecked illegal immigration and clogged traffic have robbed the Golden State of its allure.

Why are so many looking for an exit?

Among other things: California's unemployment rate hit 8.4 percent in November, the third-highest in the nation, and it is expected to get worse. A record 236,000 foreclosures are projected for 2008, more than the prior nine years combined, according to research firm MDA DataQuick. Personal income was about flat last year.

"We've lived off the investments our parents made in the '50s and '60s for a long time," says Tim Hodson, director of the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento. "We're somewhat in the position of a Rust Belt state in the 1970s."

Financial adviser Barry Hartz lived in California for 60 years and once ran for state Assembly before relocating with his wife last year to Colorado Springs, Colo.[!!!], where his son's family had moved.

As long as these dudes leave their scummy California politics behind, hey, they're welcome here in Colorado.

But I know they won't. How? I've seen the influx of Cali birds into Colorado for the last 15+ years and I've watched how they have nudged Colorado a little more to the left each election cycle. One example that springs to mind is the closing of the "gun show loophole." I'd bet bodyparts that that would never have gotten any traction prior to the migration of Golden Staters.

They say that as California goes, so goes the nation. I don't know about the nation, although I suspect that it's true, but I can testify to the fact that renegade Californians have changed the tenor of Colorado politics and individual liberty here, and not for the better.

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. I know at least one person who reads this blog lives in California, but he is quite libertarian in his politics from what I've read on his blog, so the above rant doesn't apply to him.

Yeah, I know you didn't ask, part II.

In another installment of this series (I have no idea if there'll be any more parts or not), I have decided to address the best choice for those who both want to keep things simple and who don't want to pay an exorbitant price for a semi-automatic centerfire rifle in military-like configuration, also mistakenly known as an "assault" rifle. (True assault rifles have the ability to switch between semi-auto and full-auto fire at the flick of a lever.)

As you can tell from the photo, I've chosen a lever-action rifle. Specifically, I've chosen the Marlin 1894C carbine in .38 Special/.357 Magnum. With its 18.5" barrel, it handles easily and really steps up the performance of both the .38 and the .357. Except for extremely rare scenarios, it will do as good a job as a high-dollar "assault" rifle in the hands of a competent operator. Besides that, it's a whole lot of fun to shoot.

Does this mean I am against the "assault" rifle? Heck no! If a person wants one, or a dozen or more, more power to him. Nor does my endorsement of the 1894C mean I think it is the equivalent of an "assault" rifle, for they are two different bullet-launching platforms. I'm speaking merely from a price/simplicity (it has its own internal magazine) standpoint.

As far as performance, I can remember chronographing some factory 158-grain JSP .357 Mag. ammo and getting several hundred more FPS than I got with the same load in a revolver. With my softball .38 Spl. handloads I was able to get nearly 200 FPS more than out of a revolver. Plus, the accuracy was excellent at the range I usually shoot this rifle, 25 yards (yeah, I know accuracy should be good at that short of a range; when the weather warms, I'll have to try it at 50 and 100 yards, but I have little doubt it will perform well at those ranges too).

One concern/complaint I've heard about using lever-action rifles for self-defense is, especially with a true rifle cartridge such as the .30-30, that they tend to heat up quickly and they aren't robust enough for long strings of fire, which is no doubt the truth. But the 1894C is chambered for a pistol cartridge, and I've fired several dozen .38 Spl. rounds in quick succession without any problem. Besides, how many rounds are you likely to need in the average (outliers be damned) self-defense situation?

If you're intent on getting an "assault"-like rifle, by all means, get one. If, however, you are balking at the prices they are going for these days, or you just want a simple, dependable repeating rifle that will serve you well, within its particualar limitations, of course, take a close look at a lever-action rifle chambered in a pistol caliber, especially if that caliber is .38 Special/.357 Magnum.

Take care.
DAL357

Eye, eye, sir!

Hmmmm.

HOUSTON – A Texas death row inmate with a history of mental problems pulled out his only good eye and told authorities he ate it. Andre Thomas, 25, was arrested for the fatal stabbings of his estranged wife, their young son and her 13-month-old daughter in March 2004. Their hearts also had been ripped out. He was convicted and condemned for the infant's death.

While in the Grayson County Jail in Sherman, Thomas plucked out his right eye before his trial later in 2004. A judge subsequently ruled he was competent to stand trial.

A death-row officer at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice found Thomas in his cell with blood on his face and took him to the infirmary.

"Thomas said he pulled out his eye and subsequently ingested it," agency spokesman Jason Clark said Friday.

Thomas was treated at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler after the Dec. 9 incident. Then he was transferred and remains at the Jester Unit, a prison psychiatric facility near Richmond southwest of Houston.

"He will finally be able to receive the mental health care that we had wanted and begged for from day 1," Bobbie Peterson-Cate, Thomas' trial attorney, told the Sherman Herald Democrat. "He is insane and mentally ill. It is exactly the same reason he pulled out the last one."

At his trial, defense lawyers also argued he suffered from alcohol and drug abuse.

Thomas does not have an execution date.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in October upheld his conviction and death sentence for the death of 13-month-old Leyha Marie Hughes. Also killed March 27, 2004, were his wife, Laura Christine Boren, 20, and their son, 4-year-old Andre Lee.

Thomas, from Texoma, walked into the Sherman Police Department and told a dispatcher he had just murdered the three and had stabbed himself in the chest.

Thomas told police how he put his victims' hearts in his pocket and left their apartment, took them home, put them in a plastic bag and threw them in the trash.

Court documents described the three victims as having "large, gaping wounds to their chests."

Yeah, I'd say he definitely fits the definition of insane.

Take care.
DAL357

What a cheapskate!

Aside from the fact that he's a world-class puke, this guy is also a monumental cheapskate.

Cops: Dad ordered to pay child support kills son
NEW ORLEANS – A man who initially told police gunmen kidnapped his 2 1/2-year-old son was arrested Saturday, accused of committing an "extremely hideous" murder because he was ordered to pay child support, Police Superintendent Warren Riley said.

Danny Platt confessed, told police where to find the child's body and will be booked on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Ja' Shawn Powell, Riley said at a news conference.

"He had said he would kill either his wife or his child before he paid child support," which he recently had been ordered to do, Riley said.

Riley said he did not know the amount of child support and would not describe how the boy was killed, saying the coroner would do that after the autopsy was complete. The coroner's spokesman did not immediately return a call.

"The mother is in a safe place," Riley said.

Although he had visiting rights, Platt, 22, of New Orleans, had never visited the boy until he picked him up Friday, Riley said. [Emphasis mine. Hmmm, this didn't trip anyone's red flag?]

Police put out a notice Saturday asking people to look for the boy and saying his father had told them three men with dreadlocks and AK-47 rifles had piled out of an SUV and kidnapped Ja' Shawn shortly before midnight Friday.

"His story never really added up," Riley said. "He was a suspect from the very beginning."

Riley said Platt eventually confessed and told officers where to find the body.

Police spokesman officer Janssen Valencia said he did not know if Platt has an attorney.

Platt had only a couple of "very minor" previous arrests, Riley said.

"How does an individual — because he's ordered to pay child support to take care of a kid ... believe that this is so much pressure that he would face — he would do this hideous act to his own child, or to any child, and think that is a remedy to paying child support?" Riley said. "I mean there are some sick individuals in this society, and this gentleman is clearly one."

Indeed.

Fitting punishment for this slob would be for the state to lock him up in an unheated/uncooled cell and not spend one red cent on him thereafter, not even for food. Let him slowly starve to death while he thinks about all of the money he saved on not taking care of his own child.

Of course, this won't happen, and it probably shouldn't, but it's nice to dream, isn't it? No, more than likely he'll get some type of life sentence so he can go to the pokey, pump iron, talk crap, rape and get raped, etc. for the rest of his days. Well, I guess that's at least some form of justice.

Take care.
DAL357

Yeah, I know you didn't ask.

Yeah, I know you didn't ask the question, "If I could get by with only ONE handgun, which should it be?" But, being the prescient, not to mention nice, guy I am, I knew you were thinking of asking it, so here's your answer:

The Ruger SP101 in .357 Mag. (but shoot mostly .38 Special in it) with a 2 1/4" barrel, although the 3 1/16" barrel would work also.

That's it. That's all I am going to say about this gun. You can do a search on the 'Net to find out why it's a such a good choice for the average Joe/Jo.

Incidentally, you're welcome.

Take care.
DAL357