Terror Comes Again to America

thegatewaypundit.com

         Last week terror came again to American soil. Two ISIS affiliated terrorists sought to kill hundreds of people expressing their free speech rights by drawing the Prophet Mohammad.  The attack was stopped cold, ended by a policeman possessing a tremendous amount of bravery and skill -- and a commonly available pistol.

          A sixty-year-old Garland, Texas traffic cop responded to the gunfire that wounded his partner. From the available reports, he advanced into their rifle fire, wounding one terrorist, killing the second, then shot the first one again as he reached for a backpack possibly containing explosives. Details are very sketchy at this time, but in overhead pictures it’s possible to see the trail of shell casings left as the policeman took the fight to the terrorists.  

slate.com

        There are lessons aplenty in this incident. It appears now that the dead jihadis were not directly sponsored by any foreign terror organization. That is not the good news it may seem. The two were radicalized through social media, choosing to achieve ISIS’ ends on their own. ISIS infected malcontents could appear anywhere across the US in large individual numbers. With ISIS training camps a few miles from the deliberately opened southern border, better arms and training could easily be provided to enhance the skills of those sorry individuals.  

          ISIS boasts that they have 71 soldiers in 15 different states, with

foxnews.com

targets in 5. By chance or design, those five states are amongst the most gun restrictive. Concealed carry would be limited there, along with other defensive advantages of the gun culture. Several commentators have noted how much the Garland situation looked like an IPSC stage. Could Texas’ vibrant gun culture have contributed to the success of the gentleman? Would an anti-gun environment have hurt?  We know which way we would bet.

         Garland is very much an everyman’s triumph. An aging traffic cop armed with the ubiquitous Glock pistol defeated two armed and armored terrorists. The skills and equipment to make a difference are well within the grasp of the common man and woman. All of us will need to take them in hand. We need to get armed, frequently train, practice, carry everywhere, and stay alert. 

         There is no telling where we will be when the balloon goes up the next time.   

Happy B.A.G. Day, 2015!

(image links to source)

I always thought Buy A Gun Day was April 16th — the day after Tax Day.

Apparently, I was mistaken. If you're partaking of the "festivities", feel free to share in the comments what you're doing and/or getting. (No obligation; if you believe such sharing violates OPSEC, or if you're like me and your refund monies are already ear-marked for other expenses, feel equally free to not share. We're all about freedom here. ;) )

Stay safe.

(Hat tip to ASM826, posting over at Borepatch's site, for the reminder.)

A Gunnie's New Year's Resolutions for 2015

Happy New Year, everyone!

The tradition of making personal resolutions at the start of a new year goes back to ancient times. According to the Wikipedia, the Babylonians and Romans made promises to their respective deities, and in medieval times knights would re-affirm their commitment to the code of chivalry every year after Christmas.

Good for them.

In keeping with this tradition, I'm putting up a few of mine, particularly the ones related — directly or tangentially — to promoting positive gun culture and/or improving my shooting:

• I will shoot more often and structure my range time: You'd think this would be natural, but due to a variety of factors — limited time, limited funds, family commitments, etc. — I don't shoot anywhere near as much as I'd like or should. I also got into the trap of calling slow-fire "practice". It's not; it's just pulling the trigger, when I should be actively training. I aim to remedy both of those this year (pun intended).
• I will take new shooters to the range with me: Part of being a good "gun culture ambassador" is introducing new people to shooting in a safe, fun environment. Thus, I'm pledging to invite new shooters — friends and family, mostly — to the range. I (regrettably) may have to ask that they chip in for range fees and/or ammo, but I'll bring the guns, eyes, and ears.
• I will engage in pro-gun diplomacy, where and when appropriate: Another part of "gun culture ambassadorship", I will promote positive gun culture — and provide counter-points to anti-gun propaganda — any time and any place it's appropriate to do so. I will recognize when it's not appropriate (there are some times/places), and not make an ass out of myself (and by extension, all of you).
• I will be more politically active, and encourage my representatives to vote pro-gun: This one is especially important, as it seems Oregon is the one state in the Union that came out of the mid-term elections bluer than it went in, and the Democrats, true to form, wasted no time promising to push for more "gun control". This is bad news, but I'll do my part to prevent bad gun laws (and per the last point, encourage others to get more active, too).

So that's my short list. There are others, which I might (read: probably will) get into in future posts.

What about you all? Any big resolutions?

On the So-Called "Caliber Wars"

It seems everyone has an opinion, so I thought I'd take a turn stepping into the minefield weighing in on this highly divisive topic.

(source: Gun Nuts Media)

Via Uncle, in turn via Roberta X, we have an article from Caleb over at Gun Nuts Media, "Let's Talk About Handgun Stopping Power". Caleb does a good job dissecting the issue and burning away the straw-man arguments that come up, both in the article and the following comments.

(Note: Before it comes up here, too, let me clarify one thing: For the purposes of discussion, we're talking about service calibers for pistols — 9mm, .357 SIG, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP. No rimfire or magnum loads, and no rifle or shotgun rounds. I'm aware that plenty of bad guys have been put down by .22LR, .25 ACP, and .32 ACP, and that the 12-ga shot-shell is king of one-shot-stops, but let's stay on topic.)

What? No .357 SIG? No .38 Spl?
(source: Buckeye Firearms Assoc.)

I also found this article by Greg Ellifritz at the Buckeye Firearms Association site, "An Alternate Look at Handgun Stopping Power". Among other things, he points out that the vast majority of "one-shot-stops" are psychological; the wound isn't necessarily life-threatening, but the bad guy decides on his own initiative to cease his bad behavior. Being shot* tends to do that to most people, and if that's the case, even the lowly .22 will do the job. It's when the psychological aspect fails as a deterrent — when the bad guy is not inclined to cease after being shot or shot at — that the bigger calibers are useful for a physiological stop. It's worth a read, as well.

The bottom line: Assuming quality ammunition, a quality gun, and good shot placement, there's no appreciable difference between any of the "service calibers". So carry what you want. The "best" caliber is the one that you are comfortable with, that you practice and train with, and — most importantly — that you have with you when you need it. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, but the best "carry caliber" is the one you shoot well and will actually, y'know, carry.

Is that a non-answer? Yes. Does that make it an entirely personal choice? Yes.

Will people still insist that the 9mm is the best because of higher-round magazine capacity and lower felt recoil, or that the .45 ACP is best because it leaves a bigger hole (and because John Moses Browning!), or that the .40 S&W is the best because the FBI uses it? Absolutely. (The FBI, by the way, is switching to 9mm.**) Gun enthusiasts become invested — financially and emotionally — in their preferences, and will continue to present their opinions as if they were absolute truth. They're free to do that. Liberty is funny that way. But most will admit that when the feces connects with the rotary air impeller, any gun beats no gun.

Stay safe.
------------
* - The threat of being shot tends to discourage most bad guys, as well. That the vast majority of defensive gun uses end with no shots fired is old news.
** - So, what's going to happen now to DHS' infamous order of 1.6 billion rounds of .40 S&W hollow points from a while back?

I Am The Second Amendment

Brigid, proprietress of the Home On The Range blog, is a rare gem in the gravel pit of the intrawez. She writes an eclectic daily blog tinted with firearms, family, friends, dogs, philosophy, history, food, scotch, beer, aircraft, flying, military, fellowship, duty, and bacon.

It may seem to be a bit of dog's breakfast, but she writes about all these subjects with an unmatched, effortless brilliance. Words and thoughts flow together as if someone else was playing Tetras. It's said that she writes in Technicolor, but that's probably too bland a description. I think she writes with a Kodachrome pen dipped in bacon grease.

Brigid has the rare ability to bring focus and clarity to a subject; like a sudden, deft adjustment of a telescope. The latest example is her piece I am the Second Amendment. Stop reading this drivel; go there - Now!

Highly recommended. 
 
Pix from the Home on the Range blog




 

The Powerless Are Despised by the Powerful - Sunday Truth

Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised.        ―Niccolo Machiavelli  
  
  

Support the Polite Society Podcast and the RKBA

Not Paul - But Close Enough
(absurdintellectual.com)

One of the true heroes of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms movement is Paul Lathrop. He's the majordomo of the Polite Society Podcast, a gun rights internet broadcast that twice weekly examines all the breaking firearms news and hot issues. His ‘cast melds the talents of several leaders of the RKBA movement, and is always a must listen as well as being highly enjoyable. What isn’t apparent; Paul does all this podcasty magic with a simple laptop, mixer and Google+, often from the front-office of his 18 wheeler. He’s a past-master at wringing the most out of his equipment. Now, he’s looking for a bit of financial assistance to further expand his efforts in support of the 2^nd Amendment.    

In his own words:

"The Polite Society Podcast is trying to raise funds to purchase and ship equipment to Phoenix for the 2015 Gun Rights Policy Conference. The GRPC is an annual conference that features some of the biggest names in the gun rights world speaking about the fight to maintain and restore our 2nd Amendment rights. While it is a free conference to attend many cannot make the trip, and the folks at the Polite Society Podcast are planning on streaming the conference so that anyone anywhere in the world can get information to help with the struggle to regain our freedoms. Previous speakers at the conference have been people such as Massad Ayoob, Dr. John Lott, Allan Gottlieb, Alen Gura, Tom Gresham, Chris Knox, and many many others.

The effort is to raise $1250 for additional equipment and shipping. I am going to be getting the audio feed from Charles Heller for the audio portion of the stream, however I still need to bring my mixer, microphones, etc so that we can do interviews live during breaks. Part of the equipment that I have to buy is a wireless transmitter so I can feed the audio from his mixer into mine for broadcast." 

http://www.gofundme.com/fg2dhw

Click here to support Video Equipment to stream GRPC 2015 by Paul Lathrop

This is a very worthy cause – and I’ll happily be kicking I've happily kicked in to Paul's important effort to support our gun rights.

Quote of the Day - Vik Khanna (Sept. 11, 2014)

Vik Khanna
(Source: Khanna on Health Blog)

Vik Khanna, writing for The Health Care Blog, lays down some unfortunate truth:

Public health students are taught early on that guns are evil, that the people who think otherwise are an ignorant, backward, Jerry Springer watching lot and that there are some questions you don’t ask: at least not if you want to pass the class.

This says more about the public health community than it does anything else.

Bingo. I couldn't have said it any better than that myself.

Actually, the whole article is chock-full of potential Quotes of the Day, so I strongly encourage you to read the whole thing.

(Hat tip: Robb Allen at Sharp as a Marble)

Gun *& Hunting* Culture 2.0

Michael Bane

Author and Outdoor Channel producer Michael Bane is credited with identifying the new Gun Culture 2.0. In his view, the old Gun Culture was mostly rural, largely male and pretty dang much inseparable from meat hunting. It was also largely fragmented; deer hunters didn’t associate with duck hunters, nor varminters, and certainly not handgunners, but they all agreed that those sport shooters were completely nuts. With the demographic shift to the cities, the Gun Culture found itself shrinking, divided, weak and easy prey for politicians looking for scapegoats. Too often, segments of guns (handgunners, large capacity mags, etc.) were thrown to the wolves with the age-old plea of “eat me last”. 

Gun Culture 2.0 Develops: Fortunately, for all of our rights, a new firearms culture has emerged. Gun Culture 2.0 grew from the basic attraction of shooting; ranging from fun to deadly serious; from Trap to Self Defense.  The new gunners are more open to all types of firearm experiences. They’re shooting Skeet, then deciding to try IPSC, cowboying up, training for concealed carry, run and gunning and just plain having fun plinking. 

Jessie Duff (R)

Diverse: The National Shooting Sport Federation (NSSF) reports that gunners are now much younger, more urban, as well as much more diverse with a broad range of race, education, occupations, and earnings.  And they are increasingly female. Women (including my wife) are now 22% of the CCW holders in several states surveyed by USA TODAY. Gun owners now largely resemble – hell, are – America. 

Why? Because Race Gun!

Economic Impact: GC 2.0 shoots more; buys more guns, and lordy, at least tries to buy much more ammunition. (On a cowboy weekend, I’ll shoot more ammo than a real cowboy would have shot in three lifetimes.)  We also purchase all sorts of gun chotskies (shotskies?) Gunnies now swing a heavy checkbook. In 2013, the NSSF reported that the firearm and ammunition industry’s economic impact was nearly $38 Billion in the United States alone. Most every locale would like a share of that pie. Gun friendly states are welcoming firearm firms when politics (and out-of-state money) make their current locations untenable. Those politicians are now facing the ire of their citizens as good paying manufacturing jobs flee over their border. 

Unified: Forged under the hammer of our sworn enemies, today’s gun culture is an effective, aggressive, unified defender of our firearm rights. Where the old fragmented gun culture gave in and compromised (read: threw a right under the bus) when attacked, Gun Culture 2.0 recognized that an attack on one – was, in fact, an attack on all -- and just one more step toward the goal of universal civilian disarmament. Unity prevailed in the firestorm following the Sandy Hook tragedy. In the face of an overwhelming political and media assault, GC 2.0 stood firm and denied national anti-gunners their legislation. I for one, reveled in the sweet, sweet, crocodile tears of Harry Reid as his anti-rights coalition collapse around his ears.  It may have been Sebastian, of the blog Shall Not Be Questioned, who correctly predicted “This is not our Waterloo, it’s Their’s.”

Kendall Jones

Hunting Under Assault: Lately, our brother and sister hunters have fallen increasingly under the gun of the elites; with trophy hunters receiving special ire. Animal “rights” activists disrupt hunts, even using drones. Social media is infected with urban hipsters whose only exposure to hunting is a picture of a deer with a Bud cap, lights in the antlers and a cigarette in its mouth. Young women have been vilified for their hunting passion. The attacks have gone as far as death threats and a politician who asked for nude pics of the woman hunter in order to destroy her. Emboldened by the elite’s disdain for hunting, the Fish and Game, EPA, and BLM bureaucrats use the vice of regulations, politicians have eagerly raided the taxes and fee meant for wildlife preservation.  And the politicians are all to eager to restrict hunters anywhere they can. 

Opening the Umbrella: In his Down Range Radio Podcast #376, Michael Bane calls for expanding Gun Culture 2.0 to include Hunting. Unity is the key, as examined by our co-blooger Archer in a post: On "Othering" Allies.     

“An attack on any hunter is an attack on all hunters is an attack on all gun owners. Simple truth. Respond accordingly.” 

        Michael Bane

But it does mean, as gunnies, we have to put away our petty sneers. There can be no more Fudds, Cletti, Neckbeards or Rednecks. We are all Brothers and Sisters of the Gun.  We are all gun owners, shooters, and hunters.

Our Freedom depends on it. 

This Week's Activism Requests

OK, more like suggestions, but strong suggestions.  I'll try not to ask for much, but there are important goings-on afoot.

(source)

First, via David Codrea:

[Representative Chris] Stewart [D-Utah] has introduced H.R. 4934, the Regulatory Agency Demilitarization Act, “To prohibit certain Federal agencies from using or purchasing certain firearms, and for other purposes.”

This is huge, and by huge, I mean HUGE.  It's worth reading David's whole piece, and looking into the actual proposed legislation (PDF warning).  If it's enacted with no amendments, it does a few things:

1. It prohibits federal regulatory agencies* from purchasing firearms no later than 30 days after enactment.
2. It requires the Comptroller General to provide Congress an annual report detailing every SWAT and SWAT-style tactical team operating under all regulatory agencies, including the people, training, weapons, criteria for activating the team(s), how many times they were activated each year, and the annual cost of training/maintaining the team(s).
3. It removes firearm carry authority, arrest authority (with or without a warrant), and search/seize authority from Offices of Inspector Generals and their subordinates.

Item #3 is the most impressive, I think.  The proposal would completely strike subsection 6(e) of The Inspector General Act of 1978 (read subsection (e) here) -- which basically gives the Attorney General authority to grant firearm and arrest authority to whoever he (or she) wants -- including this little gem:

[6(e)](6) A determination by the Attorney General ... shall not be reviewable in or by any court.

WTF?  No judicial oversight?  Separation of powers, anyone?  That's gotta go!

Do your research.  Call your Congresspeople.  Ask them why regulatory agencies like the Dept. of Education, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, and the Small Business Administration need SWAT teams.

And if you're on Twitter, spread the word with the hashtag, "#DisarmRegulators".

Simple enough (source)

Second, via Dave Workman, if you live in Washington State -- or if you know anyone who does -- spread the word about the pending ballot battle between Initiative 591 and Initiative 594.  I-594 is being pushed by "gun control" groups and is backed financially by extremely wealthy "Seattlites" and out-of-state interests, including everyone's favorite former mayor, good ol' Michael Bloomberg.  Among other things (it's 18 pages long!), it would criminalize most firearm transfers without background checks, including letting a buddy borrow a firearm for a hunting trip -- you'd have to run a check to give the firearm to your buddy, and he/she would have to run another one on you to give it back.

I-591, on the other hand, is a simple, single-page proposal that says Washington State background checks must comply with a national standard (currently the NICS system for retail purchases only), and that authorities CANNOT seize firearms without due process (preventing a repeat of "Hurricane Katrina"-style disarmament).  It is supported by the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs (WACOPS), the Washington State Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Association (WSLEFIA), and at least seven county sheriffs.

This is a ballot battle, so calling representatives won't help.  We need to get the grassroots going on this, and so far, it hasn't been going as well as we'd hope (no offense to NRA members).  "Yes" on I-591, "No" on I-594.

Shaneen Allen & family (source)

Third, consider donating to the legal defense fund for Shaneen Allen.  Charlie Foxtrot covered this earlier in the week, but it bears repeating.  This has already gone too far, but it's far from over for Ms. Allen, and counting on Gov. Chris Christie to step in and do the right thing is foolhardy at best.

(Note to libertarians and parental-rights activists: This hasn't been mentioned in the news -- at all -- but as a single mother, while she's in prison, her children will be wards of the State, with ALL that entails.  Think about that.)

Finally, also from Charlie earlier this week, there's a raffle benefiting "American Sniper" Chris Kyle's family.  If you have anything left after supporting Shaneen Allen, there's some REAL nice stuff up for grabs.  Tickets are $10.

That's about it for now.  As always, hug your family.  Here's to hoping for some good news this week.

(* - The proposal naturally exempts some federal agencies whose duties include actual law enforcement.  It's intended to target strictly regulatory agencies with no law enforcement functions.)

[UPDATE] Post updated to reflect No Mas' re-assumption of his previous nom de guerre, Charlie Foxtrot. Nothing else has been changed. [/UPDATE]