Click to ginormisize.

And Jindal for president.

And this report from the floor.

ARs from somebody:

I met Jacob of Gun Legislation & Politics in New York. He has some write-ups on the convention here, here and here.

I also got to hang out with Tom King of Gun Talk. Tom is a nice guy and he’s about twelve feet tall. I asked him what it was like tilting at windmills err talking about guns for a New Jersey paper and he said his blog was the second most visited page on their site. Cool.

I also got to spend some time with Mike W. who thinks we need to remind convention attendees about the rules of gun safety. Tam concurs.

And I met JR. He’s got some gun porn from the show here, here, and here. Also, a write up on the American Values speeches here.

Update: I see Squeaky is having the same issue.

Click to embiggen.

They have no info on their page and have done no pressers. So, you can consider this an almost exclusive. Or rather, as exclusive as it can be when 70K other people may have seen it at the convention too.

Anyway, some interesting bits (and these are from memory so I may be wrong). You’ll notice that the stock folds, which is odd for an AR. They use a short bolt carrier assembly with a spring already in it. This, in addition to allowing it to be fitted with a folding stock, also means that the firing cycle is shorter. As such, a full auto version can likely fire much faster. And if I recall correctly, it has a gas piston system instead of a gas tube. This keeps its insides cleaner and enhances reliability. And they look cool.

Update: Probably not a piston system. See comments. I said I could be wrong.

The US Army Marksmanship Unit was there and they displayed some of their handguns:

Tam pokes fun of HK. We were actually going to get Squeaky to walk up to the HK booth and ask them why they hate us while we videotaped the encounter. That would have been instant youtube gold. But I could never get Squeaky and a camera together at the same time. Bummer.

Rusty has more pics.

I was also unaware that PDB was there.

Joe:

I spent probably 15 minutes talking with Jarrett and he got really interested in Boomershoot and told me he wanted to blow up a car. He wants to be able to shoot bullets into it and have it lift about four feet off the ground. I gave him my card and told him I thought I could do that. He seemed interested in exploring that further. Cool!

And it’s true, the “blogosphere” was a phrase tossed out like it was nothing – and the NRA took what I think may be one of the most daring steps by the firearms industry to reach out to the new media.

There were plenty of main line media folks in attendance. But there were also credentials bearing accredited titles that were getting more than a few double-takes from attendees and fellow writers as well. After all, Snowflakes in Hell, Say Uncle and Bitter (won’t write the whole title), were there this year as well. These were the bloggers who for the first time were welcomed as accepted media members.

Bloggers who registered for & attended the Second Amendment Blog Bash are eligible to win a weekend in August training at the Blackwater USA facility with practical shooting champion Todd Jarrett.

Thanks to Para USA and Michael Bane for doing this!

Also, I met Kerby from ParaUSA while there. Heckuva guy.

Pics of famous gunnies Kevin met.

That was neat, I have to say. Also, I met a few blog readers like Carl in Chicago, JFMan, and ParatrooperJJ. And that was just as cool. Those guys know their stuff.

Rusty has gun porn.

Thoughts from Thirdpower.

Semi-auto gun porn.

SCAR Video.

David E. Young meets the gunbloggers.

Man, the truthers always ruin it for everybody.

Do it again!

A bunch of Smiths:

Me: I have good-enough pitch.

Chiappa Firearms:

20mm Rifle.

Pics and video of the Kriss Super V.

Some serious gun porn.

Write ups and pics here. Just keep scrolling.

A write-up from Michael Bane.

More pics from Rusty.

More pics and another write up here.

I opposed the ban on so-called “assault weapons,” which was first proposed after a California schoolyard shooting. It makes no sense to ban a class of firearms based on cosmetic features.

I’ve had my disagreements with McCain but of those running for president, he’s the only one to say that. Hell, he’s one of the only Republican contenders to say that.

Of course, it’s also important to note that he buys the gun show loophole nonsense only he doesn’t call it a loophole. And it looks like he’s sticking with his support McCain-Feingold, which he’s reportedly violated.

I was also bummed that I didn’t get to see Tam.

There were other bloggers at NRA Con. Ol Broad has a couple of pieces with pics here and here.

Oh, you’re the GLOCK guy.

It was a joke, of course, because he had a bright neon shirt on that said Para USA. I don’t know if he realized I was kidding or not. But I hope he did. Speaking of Para, they have a new line of AR-15s coming out soon that I got to handle this weekend. I don’t see them on their webpage though. I have pics and they are coming soon. But not today as neglected to put the pics on my laptop.

First of all, Bobby Jindal for president. Though I have to confess it was odd seeing an Indian-American with a southern accent.

I’d never heard Glenn Beck before. He was very entertaining and expressed a sentiment shared by many at the convention: disappointment in both political parties (you know, those three Democrats running for office).

Up next, despite how the press and some bloggers are spinning it, carrying weapons was allowed at the convention. However, the room where McCain was speaking had a prohibition on the day McCain was speaking. And I didn’t drop my weapon off in the room which is why I didn’t go see him speak. NRA says it was McCain’s call. McCain says it was the secret service’s call.

Also, there was a pretty cool announcement there that I’m not sure if I can release yet.

And next time, I’ll have to geek out and make SayUncle business cards or something. Everyone wanted a URL, Email, etc. And I’d have to write it all down.

Couple of ARs from Yankee Hill Machine, who I highly recommend. I use their forearms and flip up front & rear sights.

A couple of reports from Michael Bane here and here. BTW, Michael is a helluva guy.

Thoughts on the convention from Glenn Renolds.

A list of attendees.

Videos from the event.

Denise watches a reporter work.

Another video.

That guy turned out to be Chris Edwards, GLOCK’s director of training.

Speaking of GLOCK, here’s one made of Legos.

I kept running into David Kopel, David Young, and David Hardy. Every time I did, I thought I immediately became a blithering idiot, like some teenage girl who just met a member of her favorite band. I must have thanked each of them for their work no less than 1,200 times. For them, it probably got old after a while. But it was cool to meet those guys.

For the gunny who has everything.

I see famous people.

Update: more pics here

But remember we’ll be doing happy hour with Michael Bane at the Bass Pro Shops in Clarksville, Indiana tonight 5:30. Directions are here.

Just got in from the main convention center. There were guns everywhere. Spent two hours there and only made it through about half of it. So, here’s some goodies.

AR15s from Rock River Arms. Nice group of folks who I chatted with briefly:

Up next, some AKs:

About to head into the convention center where I will get enough gun porn material for weeks.

McCain’s about to speak and I’m going to miss it because I didn’t drop my weapon off at the room. But the convention hall will probably be less crowded now.

Update:Oh and some mainstream media folks are behind me. I’m going to try to have some fun with them.

More as it happens.

Just got some media credentials. When we went, we were all packing despite what has been reported at Braisted’s joint.

Secret service apparently got scared and, to my knowledge, only the McCain event prohibits carrying of arms.

This is the first convention where carry has been allowed. The restrictions in the past have been a function of local ordinances and not NRA policy.

And we’ll be meeting here tonight at 6:30.