Walls Of The City has a very cool drawing to raise fund for this great charity. Plus you are helping a great cause.

What are you waiting for?  Click here for details.

CSGV Laddite complaining about Scottsdale Gun Club Santa Pics:

Click to enlarge

I bumped into a Venezuelan news article where the Presidential Commission for Guns and and Ammunition Control and Disarmament went to Brazil to visit CBC  (Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos. Brazilian Ammunition Company) to learn about “ammunition marking and control of its usage” guided by CBC’s Director of Commerce Salesio Nuhs.

Since I am used to gun tech terminology in English only, I wanted to make sure if they were talking about micro-stamping. I googled “Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos” and it led me to their English website where I find out that they are the manufacturers for Magtech ammunition, a brand well known in the US. I could not find a thing about micro-stamping or ammunition marking anywhere so I next Googled the name of Salesio Nuhs. It confirmed that the man works for CBC and also an article in Pravda’s Portuguese version where Mr. Nuhs explains how the company helps the Government. He said:

Brazil already has one of the world’s most restrictive laws on guns and ammunition. All weapons manufactured in the country have a serial number marking in several parts, also the ammunition that have an ID in the base that allows you to track the buyer in real time and via the online system….It allows the the Army to consult in real time, the ammunition sold, inventories in the stores and the amount of ammunition purchased by the consumer.

Where specifically is the ammunition marked was found in the Brazilian on-line publication O Cone Sul:

“The ammunition for the organs of public security  have a laser marking on the rim of the shell, which allows identification of its purchaser. From the information provided by industry was found that the ammunition from the PM’s armed gangs were supplying the German Complex, “explains Salesio Nuhs, vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers of Arms and Ammunition (Aniam).

Farther down in the article, Mr. Nuhs explains that the authority actually calls CBC to a crime scene where cases are present to trace the origin of the ammunition because it is CBC the one that created and maintains the micro-stamping technology.

Although I doubt the Brazilian Army is somewhat tracking the lots of Magtech ammunition sold in the US, it is alarming that such capabilities are not only available but running somewhere else. Still the idea that micro-stamped ammunition is already flowing through our commercial pipelines is disturbing. I confess that I do not have Magtech ammunition with me so this is all speculation on my part (so far), but it would be nice to see if the cartridges sold here do have some sort of markings in the cases or even the bullets themselves.

I sent an email to CBC and I will be expecting an answer sometime next week. Withe any luck I’ll try to find not only if they do see if I can get a description of their micro-stamping techniques and tracing system.

PS: CBC also produces a limited amount of firearms (The site shows what appears to be a clone of a Ruger 10-22) and they admit in the article that RFID chips are embedded and that they provide the tools for their tracking. Chiappa all over again.

Sean Sorrentino corrects rightfully:

I think that you are using the term incorrectly. “Microstamping” has always been used to refer to the idiot idea that you could modify guns to stamp a serial number in the case as it was fired in order to ID the gun from which it was fired. Since only a moron would believe that this was possible, it hasn’t gotten far.

What you are talking about is ammo serialization/ammo registration. That’s expensive and wasteful of resources, but technically possible. It requires that all ammo sold be “registered” at the point of sale. That type of registration has been outlawed in the US. That’s why the gun grabbers are trying to argue about how many serial numbers can dance on the head of a firing pin.

I bumped into a Venezuelan news article where the Presidential Commission for Guns and and Ammunition Control and Disarmament went to Brazil to visit CBC  (Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos. Brazilian Ammunition Company) to learn about “ammunition marking and control of its usage” guided by CBC’s Director of Commerce Salesio Nuhs.

Since I am used to gun tech terminology in English only, I wanted to make sure if they were talking about micro-stamping. I googled “Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos” and it led me to their English website where I find out that they are the manufacturers for Magtech ammunition, a brand well known in the US. I could not find a thing about micro-stamping or ammunition marking anywhere so I next Googled the name of Salesio Nuhs. It confirmed that the man works for CBC and also an article in Pravda’s Portuguese version where Mr. Nuhs explains how the company helps the Government. He said:

Brazil already has one of the world’s most restrictive laws on guns and ammunition. All weapons manufactured in the country have a serial number marking in several parts, also the ammunition that have an ID in the base that allows you to track the buyer in real time and via the online system….It allows the the Army to consult in real time, the ammunition sold, inventories in the stores and the amount of ammunition purchased by the consumer.

Where specifically is the ammunition marked was found in the Brazilian on-line publication O Cone Sul:

“The ammunition for the organs of public security  have a laser marking on the rim of the shell, which allows identification of its purchaser. From the information provided by industry was found that the ammunition from the PM’s armed gangs were supplying the German Complex, “explains Salesio Nuhs, vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers of Arms and Ammunition (Aniam).

Farther down in the article, Mr. Nuhs explains that the authority actually calls CBC to a crime scene where cases are present to trace the origin of the ammunition because it is CBC the one that created and maintains the micro-stamping technology.

Although I doubt the Brazilian Army is somewhat tracking the lots of Magtech ammunition sold in the US, it is alarming that such capabilities are not only available but running somewhere else. Still the idea that micro-stamped ammunition is already flowing through our commercial pipelines is disturbing. I confess that I do not have Magtech ammunition with me so this is all speculation on my part (so far), but it would be nice to see if the cartridges sold here do have some sort of markings in the cases or even the bullets themselves.

PS: CBC also produces a limited amount of firearms (The site shows what appears to be a clone of a Ruger 10-22) and they admit in the article that RFID chips are embedded and that they provide the tools for their tracking. Chiappa all over again.

Courtesy of Linoge I got his Team Patch, yeah!
East Tennesee MHI are also known as the Tritium Gang (Glow in the dark joke.) Since 1944, the team are the experts in radiation-mutated monsters for the whole world. Based out of Knoxville, they are tough as they come. They drink lemonade made with  Heavy Water and use graphite for combat make-up. There is the persistent rumor that one Ronnie Barret used to be a Hunter before he decided to retire and dedicate himself to the design and creation of weapons that can reach out and touch monster where they hurt the most.

The link takes you to a media press release. Some excerpts:

Washington, D.C. – Eighteen years ago today, on November 30, 1993, President Bill Clinton was joined by Jim and Sarah Brady and many others in the White House for the signing of the Brady Law, the landmark legislation that instituted criminal background checks on firearm purchases from federally licensed gun dealers and created the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The bill signing in 1993 was an emotional capstone for Jim and Sarah Brady, who fought bravely and tirelessly to pass the Brady law after Jim was severely wounded in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

On February 28, 1994, the law started blocking handgun purchases by felons and other legally prohibited buyers, such as fugitives from justice.   For the first five years of the law, authorities had up to 5 business days to complete background checks while the FBI built the computerized system to conduct the checks.

Let’s go over the whole thing again: Brady Campaign is telling you straight to your face that the NICS check and the Five Day Waiting Period would have stopped John Hinckley. Stop. Nothing and nobody can argue that….except the facts: Hinckley was not a Felon, had not been determined mentally incompetent before the shooting and the gun was bought six months before the assassination attempt.

One more thing on the media press release:

Through the end of December 2009, the latest year for which data is available, the Brady law had blocked over 1.9 million attempts to purchase a gun by legally prohibited purchasers at gun dealers

And that is an outright lie. Brady fails to inform that immense majority (way over the 90 percentile) of those “blocks” were false positives by either data input error at the time of purchase or other mistakes. If truly 1.9 million felons were stopped from buying guns, it means 1.9 million federal cases that had either be taken to trial or pleaded for violating 18 U.S.c. §§ 92] et. seq., are punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and/or up to a $250,000 fine as printed on top of ATF form 4473 which is done in every firearms transaction with a Federal Firearms Licensee.

At the first anniversary of the Brady Bill, Then president Bill Clinton said:

Well, now we know that, as the Secretary said, over 40,000 convicted felons, fugitives, drug dealers, gang members, stalkers, were prevented from purchasing handguns in the Brady law’s first 11 months. I should point out that the real national number is bigger than that because, as you know, there are some States that have companion laws that go along with that. And the estimates are that, nationwide in the States with Brady-like laws and the Brady law, the total is more like 70,000.

Amazingly so, there were only four prosecutions for violation of the Brady Bill during the same time period with a grand total of zero convictions.In fact during CYs 2002 and 2003, only 154 (less than 1 percent) of the 120,000 persons who were denied during the NICS background check were prosecuted.

But wait, there is more! The press release said that the Brady Law helped block 1.9 million attempts to to purchase a gun by legally prohibited purchasers at gun dealers. Yet the FBI reports that between November 30, 1998 to October 31, 2011 there was a grand total of 882,447 denials. This is half the number Brady Campaign is touting, why the need to inflate them?The reason is simple: The Brady Law was heavily advertised by both Government and the Media as the solution to all gun problems and pushed through Congress.The moment it was signed by president Clinton, they changed the tune to “A good first step” indicating that more gun control measures were on the way. Yes, they lied. Then  statistics started to come in and

The Review of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Enforcement of Brady Act Violations Identified Through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Report Number I-2004-006. July 2004 states the following:

Our review also found that few NICS cases are prosecuted. During CYs 2002 and 2003, only 154 (less than 1 percent) of the 120,000 persons who were denied during the NICS background check were prosecuted.

You want to know the total number of NICS checks for 2002 and 2003? 16,935,910. If my math is not too bad, that means only 0.0009% of the total NICS checks for those years were prosecutable.

There is more to the Brady Law, but this should suffice for now. If you are not convinced by now of the capability of the Brady Campaign to lie through their teeth and their desire to treat Law Abiding Citizens like criminals, I don’t know what else can.

A Geek with Guns takes on the fake supporters of the Second Amendment.

Must read.

On an article about people lining up for free food because they are starving.

Fail One: A Fat person is not the right image to convey the message.

Fail Two: Knowing the liberal slant of the Herald, the editors were sleeping on this one.

Which, of course begs the official bumpersticker of the Obama Recovery:

Under the proposed Deaprtment of Justice guidelines to detain terrorists suspects, if you happen to have guns, ammunition, food for seven days or happen to have digits missing from your hands, you can be detained.

Who would have thought that hurricane preparations would make you a terrorist? And somebody had been watching The Kingdom and The Hurt Locker one too many times.

This is not new. During the 90s and the crazy fear of Militia groups, pretty much the same hysteria. Some congressmen tried to introduce legislation to forbid people from stocking food, fuel and basic supplies. They were unrelenting and passed restrictions on gun ownership (Assault Weapons Ban) and even wanted to prohibit books that were deemed “dangerous” although none of them were from know socialist or communist sources.

I guess they rather see people living in a Post Katrina way than self sufficient.

Seriously, we need to vote out the current bunch of morons.
(h/t Say Uncle)

With the upcoming Senate vote on the the Reciprocity Bill, the usual suspects are raising the hysterical volume to Occupy Drum Band levels. The main argument appears to be that cops and local governments cannot verify if a concealed weapon license is valid and that it is a risk to LEOs who might stop a car or a person with a concealed gun and this puts their lives at risk. The other argument is that out of state visitors will run amok and kill innocent people because the requirements vary too much from state to state.

Let’s clear the air, shall we?

1) Police Officers are trained to treat every stop they make as if they were dealing with a dangerous subject. Basically, if they do not know you, you are a suspect until proven otherwise. I am still amazed that Police Chiefs go on camera insinuating that their officers are dumb enough or untrained on how to approach a person. And if they are not trained in that particular subject, the blame lies with the Police Chief, not on legal gun owners carrying a gun with a permit. It only takes watching several episodes of COPS and hear the rank and file officer comment on how they approach every single call to realize the Richter magnitude scale of rubbish in the assertion that LEOs will become lambs to slaughter because they might stop a Law Abiding Citizen carrying a concealed weapon.

2) If you are stopped, the officer will run a background check on you anyway. So, if you are a criminal and manage to get your hands on a carry license or have a fake one, the standard background check will show you are not allowed nearby a weapon and your license to carry is invalid in any and all states. And if you are packing, you are going to jail or get shot on the spot if your hand goes anywhere near your gun.

3) Under National Reciprocity, the Citizen MUST abide by the laws of the state he is visiting. I have seen hints and even outright accusations from the sophisticated people fearing that “weirdos” from Florida or Arizona are not good enough to have a gun in their more “advanced” states and follow the law. First of all, comments like that reek of unadulterated prejudice and I am tired of idiots that consider themselves superior because they live in a zip code that begins with 10 and thinks the rest of his fellow citizens are to be considered mentally retarded fools that should be put in pens unless they are taking a vacation in Boca Raton visiting the In-Laws and he might need somebody to valet park his rented Caddy of fix them a Mojito.
There are plenty of CCWers that have already traveled to other states where there is reciprocity without problems because we are the must Law Abiding segment of the population. If there was an actual problem, they would have data showing problems with Out Of State CCWs and that data would have already come up and be used by  the Chiefs of Police that oppose National Reciprocity, but since we behave, their only recourse is to lie about what might happen.

4) States that do not require a license to carry still issue a license at the request of the Citizen. With the exception of New Hampshire Vermont, states with Constitutional Carry will issue a license to those who apply for it. That way if a citizen of those states wants to travel across the nation with his/her gun, he/she will be complying with the law.

5) Antis complain that some states requirements are too lax and will endanger people in states with more stringent requirements. This is a veiled accusation to instill in minds that Criminals can get permits easily in supposedly lax states. As far as I know, all states that issue licenses have the same basic pattern: Fill a form with your personal data, have a picture taken, have your fingerprints taken, have a NICS (federal) background check done and proof of safely being able to handle a firearm which requires a certificate from a firearms instructor (Note:Georgia and Alabama do not require training to exercise a Constitutional Right). There are some minor variations per state but that is pretty much the minimum. Some states add different things such as longer training, some restrictions as who can obtain a permit and even some use the old Jim Crow standard of “Good Character determined by Law Enforcement” and getting recommended by 2 respectable people. Now, remember that Gun Control is not about guns but about control; with that in mind, what the antis are afraid of is to lose the control they have on their local citizens because somebody from other state would be able to carry a gun and defend himself whereas the residents of such state have an incredible hard time getting a permit or not at all. Can you imagine the storm of controversy that would result at the headline “Florida Tourist Attacked by Gang Members In NYC Subway Uses His Gun And Defends Himself.” Or “Arizona Woman Shoots Would-Be Rapist in Trenton, NJ.”  These are two states that have concealed weapons permits in their laws, but it is almost impossible for the local Joe or Jane to obtain one. But if they happen to see that somebody from other state can carry a gun and defend himself where he or she can’t would will be too much to bear and you can bet people will demand that the process to get weapons permit for the citizens of those states be expedited.

And again, there are many states with supposedly “lax” requirements that have reciprocity agreements with states with more “stringent” ones and, if there are problems, they are not being reported (fat chance, media would love to bash on that) or they are so miniscule as to be inconsequential.

I think I covered the gist of it and the post in itself is getting to long. Please feel free to comment or add to my rant.

I generally give the Miami Herald tons of crap for their politically laden left wing reporting, but kudos deserved and given to Deborah Acosta for this map detailing the locations of Drive-By shootings in Miami Dade.

After the IDPA match Saturday, some of the shooters decided to adjourn to the nearest Flanigan’s for food, beverages (adult & otherwise) and just conversation. The post meal conversation was centered on scoring issue and if a shooter having to slice the pie, shoots targets out of order and if he is to receive one or two procedural penalties for it.

After a while I looked at a table nearby and saw two males and a female eating, very quietly and throwing nervous glances at our table. It was then I realized that our conversation might had something to do with it since we were saying stuff like “No, if you shoot this guy (IDPA Cardboard target) first and then this other guy, you are getting two Ps.”  or “Remember that everybody gets shot once before getting seconds.” For a Saturday afternoon in a grill bar filled with TVs showing football games & other sports, our section was pretty quiet.

Shortly after that, we left our table and went home. Later on the club’s forum I made the comment about the family and several of the other shooters commented that it was not that table alone but everybody in our section was pretty much quiet and with their faces buried in their plates.

Lessons learned: We are going deaf, we are too loud sometimes and talking about shooting in a restaurant right smack in the middle of ultra Democratic Broward county may scare some folks. Our job is not done yet.

At least nobody called the cops!

PS: I had the Texas Burger. Fully recommended!

TEXAS BURGER
Our whopping 10 ounce, fresh, never frozen, charbroiled beef burger, topped with crumbled
bleu cheese, two strips of bacon, a stack of tumbleweed onions, and drizzled with our
homemade wing sauce… Texas Bold and Texas Big!

Newbie Shooter gives a good after action report on having fun shooting his first IDPA match.

Like Massad Ayoob said:

” If you worry about shooting a match and “Oh My God! I’ll never get over it if I come in dead last,” consider you are pretty close to the one in a million people who is willing to test their skills at this. If you ever do come dead last, you still came out ahead of a few hundred thousands of people who thought they were cool but didn’t have the guts to get out there and test themselves like you just did.”

There used to be a TV Game Show called Press You Luck. I don’t recall much of it, but the basic theme was you will get burned if overdoit. Four crooks did press their luck and robbed the same house they visit previously, only this time the owner was ready.

The result: Two to the morgue and two to the hospital. Homeowner safe.

I hate Range Nazis and that is double if they are misogynistic bastards that see a female shooter under the “Here little Lady, why don’t you shoot a .22 so you don’t get hurt” light.

With more and more women joining the ranks of self-defense training, it behooves us that we are true ambassadors of the Gun Culture and offer our support and our utmost politeness to every single female that steps in a range. Behavior like the one suffered by Warrior Knitter as told in her blog must not be tolerated ever. That “instructor” should be drummed out and sent to be a receptionist at the Brady Center.

In my humble opinion, he should have shot the bastard in the boys with a bean bag.

Yesterday TSSA finally got around shooting the IDPA Postal Match. We had great weather, cooling breeze and fifty shooters. Some even came dressed for the occasion!

The match also was the first time three Prospective Safety Officers were to run squads. Basically this was their final examination and in the tradition of our club, we made their lives miserable.

Some of us became the worst possible shooters. We were “unsafe,” argumentative, cheating scum-suckers that had one thing in our minds: Expose the new SOs to the worst they will face in the future in one single match. You will see that in the next videos. That is not the regular “us” but just acting like Richard Craniums to add stress to the poor New SOs.

On this particular stage, the shooter was “reading a magazine” and at the tone, he is supposed to drop it, move to the right, engage the targets and then move left to clear the other targets. The Shooter apparently “did not understand” the stage and shoot it the way he saw fit. Plus he behave like a jerk and took forever to get ready to shoot.

On this one, the shooter is the Safety Officer Instructor who gave the class and is shooting the stage for real points. However the New SO makes a mistake giving a command and gets promptly raked for it.

At the end of the video you hear another SO ask: “Look at the ground. What do you see?”
Answer: Dropped magazines with ammo; a no-no in IDPA. Even SOIs make mistakes.

On this one, the shooter is simulating an Air Marshall during a flight and suddenly 4 terrorists armed with knives start their misdeeds. The shooter is supposed to stand up, completely turn around, draw and shoot the four targets from where he is standing and once again the shooter is being less than helpful. I was “DQed” earlier in this stage as I partially drew the gun before completely turning around, a good call by the New SO but he was expecting something similar to happen again… it did not go quite as he thought.

On this stage, you started on your knees, hands in the surrender position and your gun inside the IDPA box. I also got “DQed” by having a shot impacting less than 2 yards from the firing line which would be the closest side of the IDPA box to the shooter.
I think this was one of the hardest shots I’ve ever taken in a match. It violated all it was ingrained in me about safety and IDPA rules to take a shot so close. I knew nobody was near (I made sure of that) and I also knew that the round was going to go deep in the ground (reclaimed Everglades ground, mostly dried up swamp) but it required a conscious effort to fuck up big time. Also the little red devil on my left shoulder kept whispering “go ahead and shoot the box for dramatic effect!” but I managed to resist temptation. Once again the New SO did his job right and stopped me immediately even though he was caught by surprise. I did gave him hell because he shouted “WOW! STOP!” instead of “STOP” which is the approved IDPA command. The lesson learned was that even though I am an experienced shooter so I am not supposed to do this kind of things, shit still happens and you better be ready.

Other “items” covered by example were muzzle sweeps, finger inside the trigger guard, phantom reloads, range “lawyering”, excessive number of rounds, extra magazines and pretty much anything we have seen happening in both regular and sanctioned matches (Oh yes Virginia, you will find cheating assholes in Sanctioned Matches.)

The New SOs passed with flying colors and they were properly congratulated for it. They were stressed out, tired, probably deaf from the combination of shots and our screaming but happy. Of course we needed to deflate their balloon a bit so they were told to expect a similar treatment at the next match. <evil laugh>

We might, we might not. Who knows?

The Miami Herald serves us this bit of news from the Palm Beach Post:

A tired Target employee on her way home from working an early morning Black Friday shift lost control of her vehicle in Pahokee, drove into a canal and nearly drowned.

And after describing the horrifying scene, “reporter” Cynthia Roldan inform us that:

Target was among retailers that announced it was moving its Black Friday opening time to midnight. Others opting to follow suit included Macy’s, Kohl’s and Best Buy. Toys R Us bumped its opening to 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving, and Walmart joined the fray with a 10 p.m. opening.

That’s it! Those F@$#^ at Target made the poor woman work so hard and so long that she almost killed herself! We ought to do something about it! OCCUPY TARGET!!!!

But wait, if you read a bit too fast, you may have missed this little tidbit of information.

The woman was treated at Lakeside Medical Center in Belle Glade and released. She declined to speak with reporters.

Whut???She never spoke with reporters? Then how come Ms. Roldan knew if she was tired or was not or whatever?

What kind of people would write and publish an article purposedly designed to mislead readers?

Oh hell, I remember now: Newspaper People.

And the wonder why we do not trust them.

I swear they make my life so easy.

Wait one second there Mr. Brooks. Are you trying to say that after passing some of the most draconian anti gun laws in history, laws that make Sarah Brady drool at the thought of being applied here, you guys still have “too many bloody firearms”? Now that is rich!

And Dear Mike, nobody believes that line of BS, OK?

Found during my Facebook Patrol of the Brady page:

The date of her post is Wednesday November 23, 2011.

At first it was just going to be another chapter on the saga of “Why are Anti Gunners so Violent?” But when I clicked on Ms. Heaphy’s profile, I found this:

Click to enlarge

Wait one? City Council? Elected position? I did a Google Search of The Stamford Board of Representatives (spell checked just in case) and I did find that Eileen Heaphy is in it and with the title Deputy Majority Leader. This is her bio in Irish American Democrats.

She was a Diplomat, but I guess it did not take after all. And maybe I am getting myself in trouble for messing with a former NSA member, but that an elected official would demonstrate such glee about the accidental death of a fellow Citizen even when he was not in her district is just appalling.

Gun owners in Stamford should be aware of the sentiments of Representative Eileen Heaphy and possibly remind her that he duty is to all Citizens, gun owners or otherwise and that the accidental death of a human being in front of his four children is not a matter of celebration.

Found this little photo in the interwebs:

I have no idea where was it taken or what kind of march was it, but strikes me as one of the dumbest & dangerous things I have seen in quite a while.

The concept that all what ails our world can be fixed with “feel-good” education and laws is terrifying. Real education has taught us that most (if not all) rapists are mentally unbalanced individuals that more than sex, seek power over their victims. You cannot “educate” this type of individual and about the only way to modify his behavior is with radical & invasive procedures once he is in custody. The discussion about the humanity or constitutionality of such procedures are subject for other discussion.

Demeaning the idea of “Don’t get raped” is asking potential victims that they are not responsible for their safety but that society should take care of you. The same crowd will also tell you that defending yourself is somehow morally wrong and you shouldn’t do it. At most they will tell you to scream real loud, blow a whistle call 911, vomit, pretend they have a disease or are pregnant, etc.

At the end it all comes to the same result, more rape victims and more calls for funding education on “Do Not Rape”.

Ladies, be aware, fight with all your might if necessary and have the tools that will allow you to overcome your attacker. That will teach them “Do Not Rape” better than any silly social program.

Yesterday I served as Safety Officer for a private shooting party at Trail Glades Range. We had shooters of all kinds but mostly they were Gun Owners with very litle trigger time on their private gun and zero experience on any other.

Shooters had many choices of firearms to shoot from as can be seen in the next pictures:

On rifles alone, the examples present ranged from a 1903 Springfield to the latest M4 going through M1, M1 Carbine, M14 and M-16. All in all we had 112 years worth of US Military Service rifles present. Quite a bit of impressive history in my humble opinion.

But the most fun I had was seeing shooter’s skill growing exponentially after the proper amount of  instruction was given. I took over the pistol side of things and went from station to station checking on shooters and adjusting a grip here or advising on concentrating on the front sight for a reliable hit on the steel targets.

My shooters ranged in age from a boy 8 years to a lady in her 60s. Both extremes were the more satisfying. Both were first time shooters, both started on .22 caliber weapons and both left after shooting a Springfield 1911 in .45 ACP and getting solid hits on the steels. In fact the lady was so proud, she commanded her husband to take a video of her shooting the big boomer.

My biggest joy was seeing a shooter get hits after a few seconds of corrective instruction and the huge smile in their faces when they hit the gongs regularly after that. They left the range sweaty, dirty and happy, I cannot ask for anything else.

And for that I am thankful.

I live in a quiet neighborhood in North West Miami Dade County just a stone’s throw from the Everglades. Violent crime is so rare kids actually play on the streets and they do the Halloween house by house candy raid.

Yesterday morning while I was doing some work on my laptop and enjoying the mild weather in my back porch, I heard what seemed to be all the Police and Fire Rescue sirens come on at once. Since the Florida Turnpike exit is nearby, I thought there might be a nasty accident on the entrance or exit ramp. Not 5 minutes later, news choppers were flying the area but it was not an accident.

A husband, for reasons yet unknown, went into the restaurant where her wife worked as a cook and shot her twice in the head.

I drive by this place every single day. It is just 6 blocks from my house, the house in a quiet neighborhood. But when a killer’s mind is made, there is no “quiet neighborhood” or “safe place”, there is just a location for a murder to happen.

And that is why I not only carry when I go out but I have a weapon always at arms length when I am at home. The saying goes: “Fortune favors the prepared mind.” Even though the shooter only aimed his ire against the wife, nobody else in the restaurant was armed and it was only by the grace of God and a sick one-track mind that nobody else got shot.

It seems that they got the husband who went out in a confrontation with Miami-Dade Police.

There. Is. No. Safe. Haven. Anywhere.

I am still trying to digest the fact that I am a professional writer.

No, you are not making boatloads of money, but it gets you in the SHOT show since you are a Media-Type guy. The fact I can’t go to Las Vegas is a whole ‘nother subejct.

Some people I know are going to be mighty pissed.

Update: I want to thank Art Director Betty Shonts for the great work she did illustrating my article. If anything, it is proof positive that you can lay up make-up on a pig and make it look good.

After watching all the movies, TV series and websites, I have decided that we in good ole SoFla are more than ready to tackle a Zombie Horde without breaking a sweat and the reason is simple: Hurricane Building Codes, Hurricane Preparation, Firepower & other available resources.

Hurricane Building Codes are perhaps the most important part of the equation. We in South Florida do not evacuate when a hurricane comes because our only option is going north and it takes one car breaking down to be caught in the interstate highways. So we prepare and hunker down in our abodes built to withstand your average Big Blower.

How many times have you seen Zombies breaking in a house via doors and windows? And the victims keep making the same mistakes over and over: Either do not protect those weak points or nail a couple of boards from the inside to fend off a zombie crush. The result are always the same: Zombie food. Down here our doors are usually metal and open to the outside which prevents just plain pushing to access the inside. Add to that the installation of hurricane panels in all other apertures and you get yourself a nice zombie proof bunker.

Unless the Zombies figure out how to use power metal cutting tools, we are pretty much covered. And don’t worry about accessing the house from the basement: there are no basements in South Florida.

For some reason or other, Zombie Outbreaks always happen in the Summer which, coincidentally that is also Hurricane Season. By the end of April, we renew our Hurricane Survival kits & stock up on gas (for the generators) food and water. I personally follow the Southcom Hurricane Survival List which I think is the most comprehensive out there and tested during past Hurricanes. While the Gulf Coast was losing their everloving minds because of Katrina, we were pretty much doing fine and even when we got hit by Wilma (Cat 3) a couple of months later, I bet you do not remember seeing horror stories coming out of Miami. People here have learned to be ready.

There is no other way to say it: We have a trainload of guns in South Florida and they come out to play when SHTF. Weeks upon weeks of no power and resources strained you’d think looting would be normal and bands of marauders would be attacking residents. Well, not down here. When the grandmother that lives 5 houses down and has to move arouns on her motorized wheelchair is running around with a .357 on her lap, you know you are not to screw with the neighborhood (and she is not a figment of my imagination, she is a neighbor!) And Cops are smart enough to leave people alone taking care of their safety which in turns saves government resources that can be used in real emergencies that cannot be dealt by your standard civilians.

And having a heavy Caribbean & South American presence in the area gives us another great weapon against the Zombie Hordes: The Machete. They are kept very sharp and are a great tool to loop zombie heads in one strike, specially in the hands of people that have been trained for centuries. Ninjas do not like to mess with an old Cuban fart with a machete in hand. And let us not forget that baseball is a very favored sport to the same people so bats are plentiful and known how to be used in case of emergencies.

And I hate to admit it, but State and Local governments do a damn decent job during crisis. Political BS apart, a good infrastructure is set in place to deal with most common major disasters. Even FEMA did not botches stuff up after Wilma and that is saying a lot. Of course, crap goes back to normal BS once the emergency is over.

About the only drawback we have is the hot weather. You know all those corpses are gonna stink to high heaven and our temperatures never drop below freezing. We can only hope that the east to west breezes are kind and constant sending the obnoxious fumes over the Everglades which will also become dumping grounds for the bodies that will feed the gator population.
So, if you really fear the Zombie Apocalypse, move to South Florida! We are ready to take the Undead head on!

(FTC Disclaimer: Paid for the Florida Zombie Apocalypse Business Alliance and the AZLU (American Zombie Legion Unified)

Broward Sheriff’s Office opting out of Shot Spotter.

You’ve seen it in movies and TV where the system magically detects shots fired in a neighborhood and notifies the location to PD with a GPS locator. The problem apparently is that is too expensive and gives way too many false reports.

Acoustics is a funny thing and contrary to some scientists, it is not solved with a couple of math formulas.

And that is why we must oppose the National Reciprocity Law.  <snicker>

But let’s see what the judges say:

We may have a Gold Medal winner folks!

Police: Texas dad shoots suspect holding daughter at gunpoint during attempted home invasion.

Kudos to Daddy, not only he saved her daughter’s life but make sure no dumb teenager will try anything dumb with her for the next decade. Or if she ever marries, hubby will not be abusive.

From their Twitter Feed:

So are you gonna include in your feed all those who dies in car accident with a drivers license too? If they do not have a drivers license, they can’t drive and we would not have over 30,000 fatalities each year. BAN DRIVERS LICENSES!

From the Brady Facebook Page.

I tried to follow the logic of the thread, but you really cannot follow what is not there. There are two basic premises: Crime has gone down but gun sales are up and both related to exaggerated news reporting. But if the guns sales have gone up and crime has gone down, wouldn’t the ridding principle of Brady et Al that More Guns equals More Crime is false?  Not in this issue of Brady Mental Gymnastics!

From the Facebook page of the Coalition to Stop Gun Rights Violence

Now this is interesting. Just last week CSGV alongside MAIG & Brady were decrying H.R.822 because, among other things it would place police officers everywhere in imminent danger. An Anti-LEO comment like that should have been deleted in the best CSGV tradition. Yet what we see is that Ladd (or his approved flunky) actually tries to expand the discussion.

So after all, they are not as Prop Cops as they tried to portray themselves. Just good liars.

From the Daily Sound of Santa Barbara, CA.

I might actually need serious pain killers for the migraine I developed reading this. At least they didn’t say it shoots .50 caliber ammunition.

Shit My Students Write is a blog dedicated to share seriously stupid examples of … I really don’t know what to call it. Stuff like:

Dollree Mapp’s house was entered illegally by law enforcement officials without a labial search warrant.

or

The Octopus of Apathy is spreading its testicles throughout the land.

Done laughing? Now remember that these are the people that are supposed to take care of our country when we are ready to retire.