I called earlier today to see if the background check went through so that I can pick up my shiny “new” arm-extension, and was told that the system was still down.

I was told last night that it would be up today.

The range told me to call again this afternoon to check, so I did.

And it’s still down.

I suppose I shouldn’t expect much from the entity that can’t even keep a whorehouse from losing money.

So I suppose the gun pr0n will have to wait another day or so.

Anyone else have to deal with this?  How do you keep from going insane?  I was totally looking forward to shooting a couple (yes, a couple) of boxes of rounds tonight.

*sigh* And now the waiting and whining begin…

Clayton Cramer has an article running on Shotgun News about HR2640, and what it really means.  Go have a read.

Part 3 in the three-part series is excellent reading. The punch line:

There are no good guys in this story. Misguided and incompetent regulation combined with utilities that found ways to game the system resulted in what had been the best communication system in the world becoming just so-so, though very profitable. We as consumers were consistently sold ideas that were impractical only to have those be replaced later by less-ambitious technologies that, in turn, were still under-delivered. Congress set mandates then provided little or no oversight. The FCC was (and probably still is) managed for the benefit of the companies and their lobbyists, not for you and me. And the upshot is that I could move to Japan and pay $14 per month for 100-megabit-per-second Internet service but I can’t do that here and will probably never be able to.

In case you haven’t been reading Crigley’s blog (and you should be), Part 1 and Part 2.

I take a look on the web and see:

First they came for the cockfighters…

Oi. But it was only to be used to fight terror?

Paul Helmke is quoting Sarah Brady:

 The fact is that this debate isn’t about guns at all. It’s about how we as a society relate to guns. It’s about how we buy them, sell them, store them, and use them. When we talk about gun control, what we’re really talking about are ways to encourage people to behave differently around guns. A gun may be just a tool, but it’s a tool whose misuse can have profound and permanent consequences.

When we talk about gun control, we’re talking about ways to make criminals out of otherwise law abiding citizens.  That’s what it does.   I don’t disagree with Mrs. Brady’s characterization of gun control about being how we relate to guns, but I certainly disagree with the Brady solution, which is more laws, and more regulations.  The way to encourage responsible gun use is through education and outreach to gun owners, something that the NRA has done far more of than The Brady Campaign ever has.

You see some guns online and just drool on your keyboard.  Then you look at the price tag, and you dry up.

When you see one of those guns used, with all the accessories you’d get from the original manufacturer, and for a sizeable discount, sometimes you just gotta make the purchase.

Tonight I go to pick up and make my payment for a Springfield XD 9mm service pistol, after finding it for consignment at Range USA last night.

So there you have it.  I’m a gun owner as of this evening.  It’s a new era…or something.

I’m only supposed to go pay and pick it up, but I’ll probably shoot a box of ammo while I’m there.  Just because I can.

From Common Folk Using Common Sense (wish I’d come up with that name), commenting on the line below, comes the Quote of the Day:

There are too many people who are just evil and mean-spirited. They will hurt you for no reason. If more people were packing guns, it might serve as a deterrent.

To which Shamalama replies:

I wish people didn’t have to have a gun pushed into their face to understand this simple concept.

Amen, brother.

I am not a hunter, I never really have gotten “into” hunting.  However, if all hunting was like this, I’d probably do a lot more hunting.

How to hunt Feral Cats with a mortar

Now that is funny.

Granted, the Onion isn’t as influential as it once was, but when its opinion pages stand solidly behind the 2nd Amendment, I can’t help but smile.

It seems freedom of speech is alive and well in the United Kingdom, as long as you’re not wearing a t-shirt that’s “using offensive, abusive, or insulting language.”

If you decide to be a rebel, you might end up being threatened by law enforcement.

Tam says that you can’t swing a cat in Knoxville without hitting another blogger. Apparently Philadelphia is quite a bloggy city itself.  Some Philly area blogs I know about:

Support Your Local Gunfighter
Classical Values
I know GeekWithA.45 moved somehwere around here!
Tony Phyrillas
And last, but hopefully not least, me.

So we have a few folks, but I don’t run into other bloggers.  We’re a pretty big area, so it would take a pretty big cat.

Mostly because I can’t think of anything serious to write about, I’ll give you one of my favorite words.

“Ambisinister”: clumsy or unskillful with both hands.

Ambisinister, or ambisinistrous is the antonym of ambidextrous.

What makes this word interesting is an examination of the Latin roots of both ambisinister and ambidextrous.  Omitting the “ambi”, which is the same for each word, you’re left with “sinister” and “dexter“.  The Latin word for right-handed is “dexter”, and the Latin for left-handed is “sinister”.

Thus, ambisinister, literally means “like having two left hands”, and its antonym means “two right hands”.

Whenever you are reminded that “commonsense firearms laws” are the right way to go, remember to point them at that former bastion of common-sense, Britain.

I say former, because now that firearms are effectively banned from the law abiding, the laws and rules continue to slide into crazy-land.

The 47-year-old entertainer, also known as Tony Turner, has previously had to ditch his bubble-making machine because he could not get public liability insurance as companies assessed that youngsters might slip and hurt themselves.

He said he was also told by one venue he could not twist balloons into the shape of guns for fear of encouraging youngsters to commit violence, although swords were deemed acceptable.

As far as encouraging violence goes, have you ever seen what happens when a clown makes shapes out of balloons? While waiting for the little’un to get his fill of playing in the “tubes” at Mickey Dee’s a clown showed up and started making animals and such. Everything that was long and thin, such as swords and snakes were used by the kids to whack each other over the head. Those with twist shapes, such as dogs, ships and rabbits turned them into guns. and used them by standing back out of the way making “Kapow” noises.

Political correctness trumps reality when you let things slide too far.

But the kids understand…

Reader, commentator and reasoned-discourse-inator Thirdpower now has a blog. So, is it like a law that if you have a gun blog on blogspot you have to use that template?

Anyhoo, get thee hence and read.

How a machine gun works.

This Chicago-Sun times porters asks “Why aren’t others joining the call for gun control?“:

We have become blithely dulled by the headlines. A 10-year-old girl in Englewood shot to death at her own birthday party. During the last academic year, 34 Chicago schoolchildren were lost to gun violence. Early this month, three college students were shot to death in a Newark, N.J., schoolyard.

A few know the clock is ticking and they are doing what they can. Mayor Daley knows. Daley may be the Evil Enemy of Black People to some, but he is doing more than just about anyone to get guns off the streets. He has made gun control a signature issue and has vainly pushed to get anti-gun state legislation through the intractable and juvenile Illinois General Assembly.

Maybe the reason we’re not joining, Laura, is because New Jersey, California and Chicago already either heavily restrict, or ban firearms, and are held up by gun control groups, like The Brady Campaign, as models for the nation. If it’s not working, why do you think more of what’s not working would help? Perhaps instead of accusing other people of a juvenile outlook, you ought to take a long hard look at the abusurdity of what you’re actually suggesting.

As Uncle would say: Gun Control, it’s what you do instead of something.

Hat tip to, a new gun blog, by commenter Thirdpower, Day of our Trailers.

UPDATE: Coutertop has sent her a great response.
UPDATE: Thirdpower too.

Fred Thompson weighs in on the Newark, New Jersey shooting tragedy. I’m probably a good bit more pro-immigrant than a lot of hard core conservatives. I support making it easier for people who want to come to this country to work to do so, but I definitely believe that when an illegal immigrant has a run in with law enforcement, they should be reported to ICE and put on short list for deportation.

It’s baffling to me how politicians in these “sanctuary” areas can calim that the gun is still to blame, when they refuse to do anything to protect their cities against criminals, especially when the easy option of deportation is available. I’m all for anyone who wants to come here to work to be able to do so, but they have to follow our laws. The politicians who are running these “sanctuaries” should have to answer for that, before forcing me to answer for my gun ownership.

If you are, there’s a new group that is planning on lobbying in Virginia to forbid universities and colleges from restricting licencees from carrying on campus. It’s an uphill battle, but one worth fighting, and I’m glad to see those young people who are actually affected taking the lead. It has never made sense, when these young adults are licensed to carry anywhere else, that they are forbidden from carry on campus, as if their fundamental character changes as soon as they enter a lecture hall. As the tragedy at Virginia Tech illustrated, someone bent on muder isn’t going to be stopped by a policy written in the student handbook.

Actually, I’m always happy to see young people getting involved in the issue. At 33, it’s kind of scary to consider that my age is actually pretty young for this issue. Let’s face it, not too many 21-25 year olds have the money to get into this hobby.

Dr. Helen reminds us of the importance of fighting back.

So this guy opened fire in a church service (First Congregational in Neosho, MO).

He first told the kids to get out, then started shooting church “leaders”.

Apparently he had a grudge.  Ya think?

This caught my eye, toward the middle of the article:

The gunman had two small-caliber handguns and one 9 mm semi-automatic machine pistol with a large magazine

Where’s the PSH icon?

“one 9 mm semi-automatic machine pistol with a large magazine”

Let’s try to cram as many adjectives into that description as possible, shall we?  Make it scary, because people are becoming comfortable with guns, and that can’t happen!

I like how they left the “small-caliber handguns” alone…I guess a .22 revolver just isn’t scary enough (note:  I don’t know based on this article that that’s what he used, but I’m willing to bet that it is, since they didn’t really provide any more details).

MSNBC keeps with the “small handgun” description, while adding a new angle of sexual assault to the mix.  Maybe it’s revenge?  Maybe not.  Who can tell?  Let’s add more drama!

STL Today just says that he was carrying 3 weapons, choosing to focus on the crime rather than the means.  Good on them.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t a machine gun synonymous with an automatic weapon?  So…semi-automatic pistols (which only fire one round per trigger pull, as you’re well-aware, I’m sure) wouldn’t be called “machine pistols”.

As Uncle would say, “What media bias?”

You can see it here.

It seems the best course of action is to audit all departments under the control of the Knox County Mayor’s office along with all non-profits that receive money from Knox County government.

Nothing else can restore faith in Knox County government.

According to Dave Hardy, ammo prices are about to go up even more.

You know how some anti-gun types seem to think guns are sentient beings, capable of actions all on their own?

Maybe we should think that way too, that way guns would be considered innocent until proven guilty.

Wonder what a jury of its peers would look like?

Checking in. Just got back from the beach, two different pools, and a bike ride. The Mrs. and Junior are shopping. My job is to get the second to sleep.

Looks like one of you scored an instalanche.

Oh, and no pictures. Someone didn’t pack the cable thingy and my laptop only has a mini SD slot not whatever the camera is.

Update: handy tip when on vacation is to subtract eight hours from your usual beer:30 to get your converted beer:30

It would seem that some mayors in California have more sense than others.  No doubt Mayor Gomez is not eager to see all the money that gun owners would spend in Daly City go poof because they offend Gavin Newsom’s sensibilities.

Chris Byrne has a pretty good read on carrying a backup gun and spare magazines.  I’ve always been a fan of the New York reload.  There’s no surer way to clear a jammed pistol than by quickly producing a second pistol.

I will admit, I seldom carry a backup gun or a spare magazine in summer.  In winter, I do more often.  The Glock 19 holds 15+1 rounds of 9mm Corbon DPX.  When I a carry a backup, it’s generally the Makarov, which holds 8+1 Pow’R Ball 9×18 rounds.  In summer the Mak is often my primary carry pistol.

Continuing my discussion of World War One aviation from WWJWD, here I’ll do a little gun porn.

The Fokker E. series of fighters during WWI were the first fighters to mount the interrupter gear that allowed them to fire their machine guns directly through the propeller arc without damaging the propeller.  This gave the E. series a tremendous advantage in air to air combat, as to aim the guns, the pilot had to simply aim the plane.

The machine gun that the E. series uses so effectively was the Maschinengewehr 08, or as it was often known, the Spandau MG08.  The Fokker Eindecker aircraft mounted two of the “lMG08” (light MachineGun) models as early as 1915.  Chambered for 7.92mm, with a cyclic rate of 400 rpm, one can only imagine the fear that Allied reconissance pilots would felt when they saw the silhouette of an Eindecker diving out of the sun.

Link to image of the ground emplacement version of the MG08.

That Mayor Gavin Newsom is a world class turd is hardly news to the readers here, but he has allies. Ace of The Madman Raves digs up a great quote from Mark Leno, who has been working with the mayor of the weirdest city in America, to close down the Cow Palace Gun Show once and for all:

Leno said that even if there’s no direct proof tying a particular gun used in a homicide in San Francisco back to its sale at a Cow Palace gun show, a ban still makes sense.

He said the shows glamorize guns with “neon signs shouting guns, guns, guns” and aren’t wanted by the neighbors who live around the arena. He added that if gun shows took place at venues in wealthier neighborhoods – say, at Kezar Pavilion or the Palace of Fine Arts – they would have been shut down long ago.

I regularly attend the Valley Forge Gun Show, which is held just outside of Valley Forge National Park, and directly adjacent to the very upscale King of Prussia Mall.  The show is held about four times a year, in one of the wealthiest areas in Pennsylvania. Newsom and his buddy might want to turn this into class warfare, but it doesn’t pass the smell test for me. People like owning and shooting guns.  Get over it!

Newsom and Leno can take their pant shitting hysterics, and stuff them back from whence they came.

Turn yourself into a Simpsons Character. You can save your work as a Yahoo avatar or AIM Buddy icon.

My sister did a perfect one for herself, but I wasn’t able to get a good one for me.

Pro-Gun Progressive says that Washington DC mayor Adrian Fenty has forgone his armed detail and is driving his own car, presumably to deflect criticism:

The cynic in me thinks it’s no accident he’s doing this as the Supreme Court gets ready to consider the Parker decision; he knows he’s about to argue that gun control is keeping DC safe, that you don’t need an armed guard, that you don’t need a gun to feel safe, etc…and he’s trying to practice what he preaches.

Of course, Washington DC is not that safe of a city.   Just ask former DC mayor Marion Barry.