A Dixie Carpetbagger

This is Bonnie Blondie reporting for WPSH.  This just in, a mentally unstable gun owner arrested for transporting several thousand rounds of ammunition– some of it ARMOR PIERCING!!!!– into the peaceful country of Mexico.  Also, in New York City, a crime ring was busted attempting to secret away several dozen guns, including several sniper rifles and assassin’s crossbows.  No statement has been released yet from the NRA…

Please, 30 guns, 7 knives and a coupla crossbows?  I call that “a good start.”  Less than 3,000 rounds of ammo?  I’ve walked out of a store with more than that!  (5 bulk packs of .22 plus 3 20 round boxes of .40 S&W.)  And forget saving the pants when I make a gun show run– Ms. Reporter Lady would expel feces at supersonic speeds…

Also, please note that while Office Depot workers aren’t as susceptible to PSH, they are a bit touchy.  So if you happen to have, say 6 or 7 (maybe 8 ) ammo cans in your trunk, please remember this before you pop the hatch and tell them “just put that chair in there with everything else…”  Otherwise, there will be an awkward moment that ends with you agreeing with the salesman that yes, that might fit better in the back seat…  (Don’t ask me how I know this…)

(H/T both stories Tam)

First, it was the grackles, then the turkeys, and now the emus have been co-opted by the terrorists.

The article is funny on one point, though: “Emus, they said, are fragile and can overheat easily, and they feared scaring the animal could cause it to run and injure itself further.”  Fragile, my hind leg– the ones we used to have reminded me of the raptors from Jurassic Park.  (Clever girl…)

Of course, Jay has to ask “But the real question is, of course: What caliber for emu?”  I’ve heard that a hot .38 Special (158 grain +P) double tap does the trick, but those birds were standing still…  Personally, I say modern terror birds require at least a 12 gauge pump.

Buy A Gun Day is coming.  Are you going to participate?

I think I am.  It’ll have to be something on the low end (.22 pistol, maybe a used .38/.357 revolver), but I’ll see what I can find.  The lookin’ is the better part of the findin’, you see… even Jay thinks so:

Y’see, living in the Volksrepublik, it pains me greatly to just walk into a gun store and buy a new gun (handgun) off the shelf. There’s no sport in that. I’d much rather stake out the perfect acquisition, then put out WTB requests, scour gun shop websites, and hit the local online forums looking for private sales. It’s a good way to find “off list” firearms of interest (like my P3AT) or stumbling across a killer deal (like the S&W Model 19). Kinda the whole “thrill of the chase” thing, with the added bonus of honing my haggling skills when I do find something of interest.

That’s why I know pretty much every FFL within a hundred mile radius.  There is one guy out there who has what you want– now go find that one guy.  He might be in the store on Main Street, he might be in a little hole-in-the-wall on a side street, he might even be in his garage (like my favorite FFL is).  But he’s out there.

Now, if I had my choice of any gun to get for BAG day… this would be it.  But, I’m not rich.  And I don’t want to spend 5-10 trying not to drop the soap.

(Originally seen at Learn About Guns)

From the Wikipedia article on supply and demand: “[w]hen the suppliers’ costs change for a given output, the supply curve shifts in the same direction.  [...]  In a supply curve shift, the price and the quantity move in opposite directions.”  Thus, if the supply is cut, the price will increase.  The more drastic the supply cut, the more drastic the rise in price.

Now, the application to guns.  Per the Hughes Amendment, no automatic weapon manufactured after 19 May 1986 may be transferred to a civilian.  The result?

As Robb found out, a Class III (fully automatic) M-16 lower receiver can go at auction for a pittance.  Compare that to the prices of transferable M-16s like this one.  (In case it has sold already, it is a heavy barrel M16A1 with a grafted M-14 bipod.  $19,995… but it is new in the box.)

As Mike at Everyday, No Days Off found out, a Glock 18 (fully automatic with extended magazine) cost a police department… $507.

For true sticker shock, go look at this list.  All of this is due to an Amendment that passed on a late night voice vote presided over by Charlie Rangel.  No chance that he fudged the voice vote, right?  Right?

And who best epitomizes all these?  Ted Nugent.

A man so awesome that he’s a cop and a Monster Hunter.  He’s also a staunch conservative– to the point that he has used the words “New Independence Day” to refer to the upcoming elections.  Oh, and he’s vocal on the Second Amendment, too:

Did I mention he hunts, too?

The AK-15.  Once a mere myth, thought to be the conjuration of a madman’s mind.  Until now.  Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with photographic evidence of the AK-15.  Not an exact match to the artist’s depiction… but close enough.

Also, please note– like most monsters (Dracula, werewolves, hippies) this beast hails from Europe.  Who knows what foul hybrids lurk in the former Soviet Union?  Somewhere in the Urals, there’s probably a factory churning out a Glock-Makarov combination. (Maklocks)

Arfcom thread about buying an abandoned church.  Add to this kaveman’s “Church of G.O.D.“, and I’m beginning to get an idea…

Temple on Saturday, church on Sunday.  Monday through Friday it’s a membership based gun store during the day, and a educational center at night.  Bible study at 6, CCW (or other gun related) class starts at 7.  Friday night is movie night– this week it’s Red Dawn followed by Death Wish.  Volunteering in the soup kitchen gets you a 10% discount, and a week with the community assistance team gets you 2 free FFL transfers.

As far as a name… I’m thinking “Saint John of the Desert.”  Who’s in?

Open carry of firearms tends to… well, it tends to start debates that– if held in person– would probably end up with the participants in the burn ward of the local hospital.  (“It’s evil.”  “No it’s not.”  “It reminds people of the Wild West!”  “Is that so bad?”  “You’ve watched too many Westerns, you imbecile!”  “Fill your hands, you son of a…”)

However, the real world is a tad different.

For instance, Linoge met a Canuck, and had a nice, rational, discussion:

One of the favorite memes of the anti-rights advocates of America (and, probably, the world) is that firearms, in and of themselves, frighten people, and their presence will chill conversation, and cause other people to give you a very wide berth.

Obviously, this is true for certain particularly-irrational individuals, but this is far from the universal constant the anti-rights advocates would have you to believe.

Today, while headed down to Atlanta, we stopped off at the Steak and Shake in Cleveland, Tennessee. I was openly carrying, as I have taken to always doing when not at work and not in the house, and stepped inside the restroom to wash my hands and such before perusing the menu. The facilities at this particular establishment are not terribly well laid out, and while I was washing my hands at one sink, I was blocking the paper towel dispenser for the other gentleman who had just finished using the other sink. I apologized, and did my best to scoot out of the way, and while he was drying his hands, he asked, “Is that real?” while gesturing at my side.

[...]

Did the presence of my firearm “chill conversations”? Hardly. It inspired a conversation I would not have had otherwise, and it facilitated an exchange of information that likewise would not have otherwise occurred – one party came out of the conversation with the knowledge of the rights we can enjoy, freely and peaceably, here in the States, and the other came out with the understanding of how oppressed our neighbors to the north really are.

And Robb flashes some people (easy to do with no pants) at a Dunkin’ Donuts:

Where is the reaction?  There was supposed to be a hysterical reaction!  I mean, people openly carrying and flashing guns in public!  What is this, the Wild West?  I mean, according to gun control advocates, the reaction should’ve been something like this:

Maybe (just maybe) people aren’t evacuating stores (or their bowels) at the sight of a gun because it’s not the gun they’re afraid of?  (You know, most adults aren’t afraid of objects…)  Also, why is it that a private citizen carrying a sidearm openly (supposedly) causes mass panic, while a police officer doesn’t?

About a month ago, Sebastian had a post up about how the polls favor pro-gun advocates.  Looking at some of the Rasmussen polls over the last year or so, the numbers are… in our favor, to say the least.  69% say that municipalities cannot ban handguns, half oppose stronger gun laws, and fully 3/4 of those surveyed believe in the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

Over at Sensibly Progressive, Stephen has a post showing the member counts of several anti-gun Facebook groups compared to pro-gun Facebook groups.  The short version is that the total following of the six biggest anti-gun groups COMBINED is about 1/3 that of the Gun Owners of America.  (Also, for the humor factor, Smith & Wesson’s Facebook page has 7,100 fans, and Springfield Armory has over 15,000.  Even the manufacturers leave the antis in the dust.)

The first comment on the post is by none other than mikeb302000: “Good thing this isn’t a democracy. The apathy of non gun owners vs. the passion of gun owners would lose every time.”

So, let me get this right… clicking on a button in Facebook shows that our side is “passionate,” but their side is too “apathetic” to click a button?  For some odd reason, I’m reminded of the Monty Python pet shop skit… “No, no, they exist!  But they’re… apathetic!  Remarkable people, gun control advocates!  Beautiful voices!”  No, your side is kaput. Even Bloomberg has been reduced to writing scathing letters to the President.

What do the antis have to offer?  I mean, besides protesting in small groups with all-too-serious signs while much larger groups protest you?  What positive can the gun control crowd bring to the table?  Like Robb says here: “to be anti gun is to focus your energies on the negatives.”  For instance, look at Mr. McDonald.  (H/T Cocked and Loaded)  Here’s a gentleman who has served his country, and because of his desire to stay in his old neighborhood, he has been placed at the mercy of criminals.  What can the gun control crowd offer him?  “Your local police force can handle things, just call 911 and co-operate with your assailant!”  Good luck with that.  Oh, by the way… the police have no legal responsibility to protect you.

To put it as simply as possible, I’m going to echo thirdpower.  “How many gun control advocates do you think convinced firearm owners to sell their guns and never shoot again?”  In response, Weer’d points out that the number’s probably negative– in other words, the gun control lobby has probably made more new shooters than gun control converts.  I know that Weer’d, Bob S. and I all became pro-gun due to the lies of the antis, and I know several people in my personal life who share that story.

Lies?  Yes, lies.  Like comparing a handgun to “the firepower of a SWAT team,” or saying that “gun shows supply criminals,” “more guns equal more crime,” or even “gun owners are violent and uneducated.”  Most of which (with a little help from Google) can be proven false in a few moments.  To quote Linoge: “[lies] so stupid and easily disprovable that you honestly have to wonder why they even tried.”  For instance, the link above that goes to the Wikipedia article on the Warren case?  It took me all of 45 seconds to find it.  Betting on your audience to not fact check you isn’t that bright…

So what can the pro-gun side offer?  Well, besides good looking librarians firing M14s and wearing mustaches?  Or reading a guy discussing his lack of pants?  Maybe reading a Microsoft employee talk about sex and the male brain?  Still not sold?  Okay, well how about this:

That’s a Canadian shooting an AR-15 at reactive (read: explosive) targets.  (H/T Linoge)  We “gun nuts” also get together sometimes, and nobody dies!  (Note to self:  must plan Florida/Southeast blogmeet.)  Some of the best fun I’ve had is to grab some friends, print out a list of gun stores in a x mile radius, grab a map and go on a road trip.  (Trust me, you will never, never predict what you will find.  Plus, every gun shop has at least one good looking female employee.)

So, to sum it up– the pro-gun side has the facts, the hot women, and actual activities to do together.  The antis have… protesting.  And they wonder why they always lose…