"Common sense gun control"

So, we've been hearing so much talk about "common sense gun control", and that we need to have a "discussion about gun violence". And the antis are pushing hard. And I have had a LOT of people question why my side isn't willing to come to the table.

Here you go, folks. Basically every scheme the antis try foisting off on us, laid out as a step in a full ban.

Also...

... in tonight's random discussion: Spoon was claiming to have far more cleavage than I, while wearing a crew neck sweater. I commented "if it can't be seen, it isn't there", leading to a discussion of Schrodinger's Bra...

More (oddball) thoughts on school shootings

So... sitting around the kitchen table, and having semi serious discussion about current events. The recent twit in NY is mentioned, and I suggest "maybe we should outlaw nutjobs", to which my friend Skip replies "nah... that would just create a black market for nutjobs"

Go ahead, run with it

On ghouls

Sometime before 10am this morning, a sub-human walked into a school and committed an atrocity.

Within hours, the bodies likely still warm, pundits are calling for gun bans.

Yes, I disagree with that premise. But that's not the point of this post.

I've also heard pundits calling for allowing teachers and admin to carry, so that any future shooter faces resistance. I kinda agree, but that's also not the point of this post.

The real point, is the ghouls need to fucking stop now. The bodies aren't even cold, the parents of the victims are still completely shell-shocked. In many cases, they probably haven't even started to wrap their heads around what happened.

And yet, folks on both sides are already trotting out their position, trying to use this tragedy to further their political agenda.

You wallow in the blood of the innocent, you're lower than the monster that shed that blood.

Thoughts on monsters...

Caught this post over by LawDog. And it got me thinking...

There have been many times I've had similar discussions to the one he describes, dealing with people who wish to profess that they could never hurt anyone. That call themselves "pacifist", and claim moral superiority to me, since I am armed and willing to defend myself and those around me.

Oddly enough, they usually end up calling me when there's a "problem" in their life. Funny, that.

I met my monster early in life. It took many years for me to learn how to keep him leashed. Took even longer for me to learn the other part of the control equation...

A couple times in my life, I have sensed that I was about to blow: that the monster was about to slip his leash, and run amok. Realizing that Hell was about to break loose, I leave: no explanations, no dramatic words or gestures. Exit, immediately.

The last time was at an outdoor event with BACA. Tempers had been running high all day, and mine had finally gotten frayed to breaking. I recognized what was about to happen, and left. One of our SSMs ("prospects" to you MC folks) asked me about it a couple days later, and self-rightously denounced me for my "inability to control my temper".

I looked at her for a few seconds, and calmly asked if she always kept herself under control. When she replied yes, I asked about her arrest for disorderly conduct, and some of the other conflicts she'd been involved in. "That's different!", she exclaimed. And I agreed: *I* recognized when my temper was about to slip, and would remove myself from the situation. Whereas she didn't have that self awareness.

Folks, everybody has a bad day. And controlling the monster doesn't just mean keeping it locked down. Being human, it will sometimes slip it's leash. Knowing that it can happen, and being big enough to walk away from the provocation, makes one an adult.

Also know when it's appropriate to release the beast: he's there for a reason. Spend the time to get to know him, learn his ways, and learn to not only restrain him... but control him.

Overheard on the tee wee...

As usual, while sitting at my desk, I have H2 on as background noise.

Right this minute, they're going through the different myths. And one of the commentators made the awesome statement "In Greek myth, when a young girl is picking flowers in a meadow, something BAD is about to happen"...

Maybe it's lack of sleep. Maybe it's all the BS going on in life. But that kicked my gigglebox

Something silly

For those of you on Facespace, the son of one of my BACA sisters is trying to win a contest at school.

Click here. "Like" the page, and leave a comment that TJ Villa sent you. He's a good kid, and I'd like to help him out a lil

Federal Holiday

Hope y'all have a happy "But I thought I could get to India this way!" day today

Correction

Ok... two loyal readers pointed out that the link I posted yesterday was, in fact, from a parody site.

Not to self: don't post when worn out from working too much

Easter Eggs=Evil?

Ok... someone posted to a friend's FB page the cover of a book, entitled "Are Your Children Playing with Lucifer's Testicles?"

Of course, my mind blanked for a bit on that: seriously? So I Googled the phrase, and found this.

Yes Virginia, there ARE psychotic nutjobs in the world. And not all of them are Muslim (just the most organized & violent). Couple of quotes:

is a Bible based book for Christian parents who by lack of faith can't afford to send their children to a decent Christian school.

Because, of course, the ONLY reason you wouldn't send your child to a "decent Christian school" is due to lack of faith. Which I suddenly find... disturbing

"In the old days, deluded pagans would gather round and hump like bunnies on Easter Sunday because they thought it would make their tomatoes grow faster"

Wow... just, wow...

"Pagan kids didn't have anything to do on Easter Sunday because their mommies and daddies were stuck in a false temple all day

Wait... it's only a "real" temple if it's dedicated to Christ?

Go take a look. Make sure to read the reviews: they're just as "worthwhile"

Gotta love football players

Anyone that knows me, knows I personally despise professional sports. I absolutely refuse to pay any attention to what someone paid obscene amounts of money to play a damn game has to say about most issues in life.

So imagine my surprise to read this lil gem.

Lemmie break it down. Seems that a player for the Baltimore team made a statement in support of gay marriage. And one of the local politicritters, in response, sent a letter to the team management to try and stifle this player's right to speak his mind.

So far, so oppressive? Well, it seems a player from Minnesota took umbrage at the 'critter, and sent a letter of his own. Let me quote some of my favorite parts:

The views you espouse neglect to consider several fundamental key points, which I will outline in great detail (you may want to hire an intern to help you with the longer words):...

It baffles me that a man such as yourself, a man who relies on that same First Amendment to pursue your own religious studies without fear of persecution from the state, could somehow justify stifling another person's right to speech. To call that hypocritical would be to do a disservice to the word. Mindfucking obscenely hypocritical starts to approach it a little bit...

They won't magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster...

Read the whole thing: almost makes me a Viking's fan...

Religious shenanigans

So, I just realized that I'm tired of hearing about religion on Facespace. Seems like once an hour, I'm either having an Atheist(1) challenge me to "prove the existence of my invisible friend", or someone else wanting me to repost "if Jesus is welcome in your house"(2)

Folks, this is one of the major problems we're having in our country: y'all are taking that stuff WAY too seriously. Not everyone in the world has to have the same views as you do. And some people (most of them) who have differing views from you are not complete morons. Nor do they want to hear constantly about how they're doomed to Hellfire.

Worship a kumquat for all I care: if it gives you solace/happiness/whatever, knock yourself out. But do you HAVE to broadcast your faith to the world?

(1) I always try to capitalize the name of any religion. And, at this point, Atheism qualifies

(2) Jesus is perfectly welcome in my house. Like any other visitor, He's expected to say "thank you for dinner", and haul Himself out the door when the evening is done. A short stay is even ok, but rent gets charged after one week. Privateer policy

Dear Manitowoc County Republican Party

Having worked with you the last couple of years, live blogging election night from your headquarters, I figured we had something of a working relationship. Your president's voicemail today, stating that "this is a Republican endeavor, and our office is only for that purpose" came as a little bit of a shock. Especially in light of the fact that, since the last election, you haven't spoken to me.

I'm glad to know that the leadership on the Right in Manitowoc County is so capable of making snap decisions, without getting all the facts or talking to involved parties. Particularly in light of the fact that we have until November to make that decision.

Good luck, folks. With leadership like this, you'll need all the luck you can get.

Collateral damage in the War on (some) Drugs

Via Popehat, we find this lil gem. Go, read the whole thing. I'll be here.

Done? Blood pressure spiking? Good.

Folks, is this REALLY the price we're willing to pay to wage our War on Drugs? Are we willing to have kids terrorized, to attempt to combat something that has been proven to not go away?

Children traumatized, and one denied needed medication, all to try (unsuccessfully) to stop the use of some chemical. Or to block the usage of a plant any idiot can grow and dry.

Is this REALLY what we're willing to accept as a nation?

Protect your damn eyes!

Ok... before I ever got on 2 wheels without a bucket, I needed a decent set of shooting glasses that could accept a prescription. I did plenty of research on several boards, but it seemed that every variation would involved an expenditure of several hundred dollars.

Then, I discovered Rudy Project. They have a system in several of their lines that uses a prescription clip in the frame, leaving the different lenses straight. Which, needless to say, reduced overall price considerably!

I picked up a pair of Ekynox (no longer available, but can be found on Ebay), and fell in love with them. Lens swapping was easy, they had great field of vision, and were stylish. Heaven!

Then, I decided I wanted to ride sans bucket: this means finding a way to protect your eyes. Well, no problem: there was a goggle system for the glasses I already had. And they worked like a charm, completely sealing my eyes from the dangers of windborn debris (and bugs).

When I went to work for Freedom Roads, I contacted Rudy Project about advertising with us. And they sent me a pair of new glasses/goggles (their Guardyan) for review. That review was written within a week but, sadly, the magazine was closed down before publication of the review...

It's been a few years now, and I've worn that set of specs almost daily during riding season for all those years. I looked over the review I originally wrote, and decided to completely rewrite it.

To start off with, the package had almost everything I needed: was missing the prescription clip, which I ordered fairly quickly. Inside the hard case was the frame with regular temples in place, smoke black lenses, goggle strap, and counter mask. As straight-up sunglasses, they were good: switched over to goggles, they quickly replaced my Ekynox!

Comfort is awesome: I often forget I'm wearing them, especially with the addition of photochromic lenses (another Ebay find). Periphiral vision is not QUITE as good as with the Ekynox, but I have yet to have had any problems.

But how well do they hold up, you ask?

Well... I received these in midsummer of 2008. Since that time, they've been worn as goggles almost every day of each summer (I tend to forget I have a car during riding season), and often as shades during the winter. THE only problem has been the counter mask. The mounting tabs in the bridge broke off during the first year (rough handling, my fault). This season, the foam rubber has started to give up the ghost. And, in rain, the vents at the top of the mask allow WAY too much water in.

Even with those problems, these are probably one of the best sets of riding goggles I've yet to see. The lenses are incredibly durable, and Rudy Project has a replacement program. Given the easily removable prescription clip, they can be used as loaners for folks who have good vision (or those who sometimes wear contacts). And switching between goggle and glasses takes roughly 30 seconds.

The only changes I could see making would be to use a closed-cell foam or similar, in place of the open-cell. And eliminating the top vents. Otherwise, it seems they've come up with the perfect riding goggle.

If you're in the market for riding or shooting glasses, especially if you need interchangeable lenses and/or prescription, look into Rudy Project: you won't be disappointed!

Upcoming content. No, really...

Working on a couple of product review posts, aimed at the "on two wheels" crowd. And getting things ready to bring back Humpday Hardware, and see if I can't finish out the Privateer's arms locker...

LOTS going on, including far too much work. Desperately need to get back to the gym, and get more up here...

Kilted to Kick Cancer

Well, it's that time of year again: AD has the details up here, Jay G throws down the gauntlet here

I doubt I'm going to participate directly, because me wearing a kilt is no big deal: I wear one regularly, when I'm not on my scoot. So I have to decide now: who should I support?

See, I consider both AD and Jay friends. Thing is, Jay I've actually met: he let me know when he was gonna be in Wisconsin. AD, on the other hand, forgot about liil ol' me when he was gonna be in Milwaukee.

Decisions, decisions...

Colorado

Not going to roll around in the blood of the victims: I'll leave that to certain other folks, who have lesser souls.

However, my heart goes out to the families of the victims

OMG! I'm a Tamism!

So... catching up on my blog reading. Perusing Tam's place, and I come across this piece discussing unintended consequences to our actions.

Not going to rehash: go read it there. However, this line jumped at me:

Suppose the kid carried a pistol openly on his right hip... and another one not so openly in his left pocket?

Oh jeeze: I'm one of Tam's "what ifs?" for this situation. I feel special now!

GAH! LEARN ENGLISH!

No, this is NOT a rant about immigrants. As per usual, I have H2 on in the background. Show on is talking about "prophecy", and the Oracle of Delphi and the Sibylline Oracle get mentioned. The theory gets mentioned concerning how oracles worked (the whole "hallucinogenic gas" thing)... "And the cave of the Sibyl was also underground, just like the caves at Delphi" Seriously? WOW, I never would have thought a cave would be UNDERGROUND. Imagine THAT! Times like this, I lose my faith in the world

If you ride...

So, I'm goofing around on Facespace, and out International VP posts a link to something that sounds cool. If you ride, and use an Android, you REALLY should check this out Needs some tweaking (like being able to contact more than one person), but every rider should have something like this!

A new way of doing "spring cleaning"

And today, we take another from the “they don’t make ‘em like that anymore” file… If you wanted a handgun before 1896, you were pretty much stuck with a revolver. Although there was an autoloader design or two out there, none had really met with much success. And then Mauser entered the fray…

From Wikipedia: The Mauser C96 (Construktion 96) is a semi-automatic pistol that was originally produced by German arms manufacturer Mauser from 1896 to 1937. Unlicensed copies of the gun were also manufactured in Spain and China in the first half of the 20th century. The distinctive characteristics of the C96 are the integral box magazine in front of the trigger, the long barrel, the wooden shoulder stock which can double as a holster or carrying case and a grip shaped like the handle of a broom. The grip earned the gun the nickname "Broomhandle" in the English-speaking world and in China the C96 was nicknamed the "box cannon" (Chinese: 盒子炮; pinyin: hézipào) because of its square-shaped internal magazine and the fact it could be holstered in its wooden box-like detachable stock. It was used by the Latvian anarchist Peter Piaktow in 1911 and was therefore known as a 'Peter the Painter' gun by the IRA. The Mauser C96, with its shoulder stock, long barrel and high-velocity cartridge had superior range and better penetration than most other pistols; the 7.63x25mm Mauser cartridge was the highest velocity commercially manufactured pistol cartridge until the advent of the .357 Magnum cartridge in 1935. Approximately 1 million C96 pistols were manufactured by Mauser, with the number produced in Spain and China being large but unknown due to the loss, non-existence or poor upkeep of production records from those countries. 

 Carried by no less a luminary than Winston Churchill, the C96 was the first successful autoloading pistol, and still serves in the modern era in an oddball fashion (being found on the silver screen on the hips of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker). This example was my first experience at internet gun buying: found it on Guns America for $350, needing a LOT of work. Including relining the barrel: someone had started to bore it out to rechamber in 9mm. After a trip to a specialist in FL (no longer in business), I have the wonderful piece you see before you.

He still has problems: need to replace the sear, sear arm, and follower: he doesn’t always want to reset his trigger, and the follower doesn’t hold the bolt back quite far enough to insert a stripper clip. Oh… commercial .30 Mauser isn’t exactly common, so prepare to be spending time at the reloading bench of you get one. Why “he”? Well… his name (y’all name your guns too, don’t lie) is Han, of course! Sites are graduated FAR beyond anything *I* would believe I was gonna hit at with a pistol:

Holster is by HBE. Which involved sending Eric the gun to mold it right: stunning work, reasonably priced. And this has gotten me some looks (this was my preferred “open carry march” piece).

Note about things going wrong...

OK... actually had some concern expressed about my post a few days ago.

I am not in any trouble. Someone I thought was a friend opened a business, and hired me. Worked there for 2 months, and never got paid.

That business is now Tango Uniform: they closed their doors yesterday. Criminal charges are on the owner (he has a few felony charges waiting for him in another part of the state), and POSSIBLY on his partner (who basically wrote rubber checks to all their vendors).

However, this could be a good thing: has spurred me to try something, details to follow if I can make it work... ;)

Insomnia=Return of Humpday Hardware

Ok, let’s get back in the swing of things by goin’ cowboy again…

This is one of the prizes of the Privateer’s arms locker: a Winchester Model 1887, produced (assuming I looked it up properly) pre1890.

When Spoon and I were first involved in cowboy shooting, I noticed that this model was listed as a “legal” shotgun, although I had never seen one (outside of T2). Finally got a chance to handle one at a match, and absolutely fell in love…



Of course, actually finding one for sale took a bit more time. Finally managed it a couple hours away, and stumbled on it: they didn’t know what it actually was, having it marked as a rifle (I THINK it was as an 1885). Had ‘em bring it down, looked it over, and handed them my plastic: then had to find the SN for them.



She was in slightly rougher shape: looked like a previous owner was grinding the muzzle on concrete. Figured that as I was only going to use her for CAS, I had the BBL shortened slightly. The smith smiled at me when he checked the action: said it was one of the tightest ’87 actions he’d ever encountered, and the $1K I paid was a steal.




Since then, I’ve not only shot CAS with it, but both trap and sporting clays. Not exactly the best gun for those tasks, but it preforms admirably. Despite the fact that it’s older than the combined ages of the entire squad on the line…

One note: the “tack cross” was there when I got it. Would LOVE to know the story behind it (which is one of the things I love about old guns like this).

Why did I chew out through the straps?

Well, the last couple months have been... interesting. Will give the full story at a later date (some things need to settle down a bit, including potential criminal charges). Suffice it to say that I got seriously scammed by someone I thought was a friend. Will give full details after all the smoke clears...

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As some may remember, last year I FINALLY got a Harley. Had a small problem with her in June: she threw her compensator on the way back from Kentucky. No problem: took her to the local HD shop, and they made it all better.

Except that, when I brought her out of storage last week, she started making the same noise she did last June. WTF?

She's back at the shop: REALLY hope they fix her right this time!

And for starters...

I posted this once before, but I think it would be a good idea to revisit it. This is one lady's story, about what happened to her.

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At the end of eighth-grade, when I was thirteen; I was walking home from school. When I was ten houses down the street from my house, there were two or three guys outside talking. They stared at me from the moment I turned the corner and started waslking down Prospect.

When I got a little closer, they started talking to me and I don't really remember what happened after that but somehow I ended up in one of the bedrooms on the second floor of the house they were in front of. I was raped in that house by two boys at the same time. The first person I told was my best friend, she called me a whore for what happened to me.

After that I did not tell anyone until I met with Strings from BACA in 2006. I didn't tell anyone because I was afraid of what they would call me after hearing those words come out of my best friend.

Today, ten years later, it still affects me. Every relationship that I have been in, I always think that they are using me for sex and then will leave me; thinking that about everyone who truly loves me has made me push them away. I feel like I am not worth anything to anyone but for sex.

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Those of you who have daughters, especially of the "invincible" variety: have them read this. Maybe it will help keep them from becoming another statistic

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month

All kidding aside, no practical joke: April is Child Abuse Awareness Month. I'll do my best to post (and, in some cases, repost) things that are important to know to actually prevent your child from becoming a statistic...

Found on Facespace

Saw this posted by a BACA member, and figured I would spread it a bit...

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Hero? No I am not
I am a biker
I am a physical presence
I am emotional support
I am an OBSTACLE and A SHEILD
Child Abusing cowards beware for I am not one
I am part of a body, a family like no other
one of worn leather, shining chrome, and burning hearts!
Skin tattooed with our intent
EMBRACE & EMPOWER
For some we are the comfort after a bad dream, for others we ARE the nightmare
We are THE KEEPERS OF THE CHILDREN
THE CHILDREN- they are the Heros
- Baca Medusa

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'Nuff said

Politics... BAH, HUMBUG

So, I'm sure most people are just as tired of the Republican Primary Season as I am.

Seriously: are they in a competition to see just how badly they can fail?

Anyway, this post over at Atomic Nerds got me thinking: what would I want in a candidate? If I could build a candidate for office the way I would an AR, what features would I want?

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- No religion. Leave it at home, I don't care to hear about it. Don't recall ever seeing a spot on an employment application asking about my faith, so I don't want to know about yours.

- Knowledge of basic civics. Such as knowing the Bill of Rights, and that it means the government "may not". Bonus points for not agreeing with something (such as gun ownership), but defending it as being enumerated

- Stop trying to avoid "scandals". Seriously, that was one thing Obama did that I appreciated (and that Clinton seriously messed up). Prefer someone who will own their mistakes to someone who tries to excuse them

- Actually admit to not knowing something at some point. Seriously folks: nobody is an expert on everything. Would be refreshing to have a candidate answer a question "Honestly, I'm not sure what to tell you on that. I'll have to do some research on the topic..."

How about y'all: what do YOU want to see in a candidate?

Casting about for blogfodder

And caught this at MArooned

Rules are simple: "What 5 firearms would I purchase, should price nor practicality be an issue?"

Hoo, boy!

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Beretta 93-R Because Mack Bolan couldn't be wrong. Already have the Automag, need the Italian machinepistol to go with it.

Size of a 92F, select fire, uses commonly available magazines. What's not to love?

Le Mat The ultimate in percussion revolver fighting pistols

H&K MP5SD For Spoon, who considers this the ultimate in fun to shoot

Pfeifer-Zeliska .600 Nitro Express pistol Do I even NEED to explain?

.45 Luger C'mon... who WOULDN'T want one?

Interesting article

So... as anyone in the shooting community knows, there has been a long-standing debate about what caliber to use for a defensive handgun. Recently, a friend of mine sent me this article, which shows some interesting facts for the debate.

I've always told people to carry whatever they felt comfortable with. If you're fine with a pocket .22, and feel that will do what you need it to do, cool. If you feel you need a Smith .500, rock on with your bad self.

Me? There's always a .32 in my pocket. What's on my hip varies: my .45, or the .357, or even the Beretta 9mm. I'm certain any of them will preform well if needed.

Go read: what this man's study shows is something many have known for awhile. That there is no "magic bullet"

Ever have

... one of those days where you just don't know why you bothered chewing through the straps? Yeah... having one today