Month: November 2012

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The Spoils Of Winning The Presidency

November 27, 2012 by

Ah, the spoils of being the victor. Not only does Barack Obama get to stay in the White House another four years with Secret Service protection, Air Force One at his beck and call, and a whole host of other amenities but now he has had a fish named after him.

The Etheostoma obama or Spangled Darter is a newly discovered fish that lives exclusively in the fresh water river systems of Tennessee. (corrected)

According to Sci-News, a total of five new darters were discovered and named after Obama, Teddy Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Jimmy Carter because they “worked to promote conservation and environmental protection.” These five darters live in the river systems of Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Kansas and Oklahoma.

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Black Friday Gun Sales Crash NICS

November 25, 2012 by 7 Comments

According to a story in the Bangor (ME) Daily News, the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS suffered intermittent outages on Black Friday due to call volume. A number of Bangor-area firearms dealers reported trouble with the system which caused them to lose sales. While a number of their customers were local, a good proportion were from the more rural areas of Maine and made a special trip into the Bangor-Brewer area just to purchase a firearm.

The FBI confirmed the outage to the newspaper.


Black Friday sales played a role in the problems with NICS, the director of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division said, responding to an email from the Bangor Daily News.


“The NICS has experienced intermittent outages today due to high call volumes,” Stephen G. Fischer Jr. said at about 2:15 p.m.


Lozier, who has worked at Van Raymond’s for more than a decade, said the outages cost him at least half a dozen customers by the time the business day was only half over.


“If we can’t call it in, we can’t sell a gun,” Lozier said. “It’s cost us some money.”

This report of high sales and resultant outages on the East Coast correlates with what Dave Workman was finding in Washington State. 


Friday may have broken records for gun sales across the country, and for background checks with the National Instant Check System (NICS), and gun dealers here in the Pacific Northwest were definitely along for the ride.

Examiner checked with Wade’s Indoor Gun Range in Bellevue and learned that there were times during the day when sales clerks simply could not get through to the NICS headquarters to conduct the necessary background checks.

It was the same story from Robin Ball, proprietor at Spokane’s Sharp Shooting Indoor Range, who told this column that “We had guns (and paperwork) stacked up…and we were doing speed dialing to finally get through.” When they did, she noted, clerks would have to do several checks at a time. She noted that Wednesday was also busy.

Ball said that NICS access began improving Friday afternoon as East Coast and central-U.S. gun shops began closing for the day.

I can’t wait to see the NSSF-adjusted NICS statistics for November. I think you are going to see records broken yet again.

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Doing My Part To Stimulate The (Gun) Economy – 2012 Edition

November 22, 2012 by

For the last couple of years, I have posted all all the Black Friday (or earlier) sales that were gun, knife, tactical, or outdoor related that I could find. This year I’ve also added some sales that are prep related.

I have included any coupon codes if needed. If you find others, please share them in the comments section.

MidwayUSA Black Friday All Week

Every day through Monday, Nov. 26th, Midway will be offering select items such as SOG knives, Leatherwood scopes, Hornady reloading kits, and other stuff substantial discounts. There is a limit of 3 items per customer at these prices.

Deer and Deer Hunting

They will be offering stuff such as game cameras, hunting clothing, knives, and books at 15% off through Sunday night. Use code EXTRA15.

 Core 15 Rifle Systems Black Friday Sale

They will be running their Black Friday specials Nov. 23 through 26th.

Sportsman’s Warehouse Black Friday Super Sale

Their doorbuster specials run from 6am until 10am. They will also have a Cyber Monday sale beginning 12am on Nov. 25th. Doorbusters include SmartWool (and other brands) wool socks, buy 1, get the second for $1. They also have the Ruger SR22 for $289 and the 10/22 for $199.

Gadsden and Culpepper

All of their black shirts, caps, patches, jackets, flags, etc. will be 30-50% off. I’ve bought patches, caps, and shirts from them in the past and have been very satisfied.

Gunsite Black Raven Friday

Gunsite Academy’s ProShop will have everything on their Christmas Ideas page priced at 20% off on Friday. Free USPS shipping for orders over $200.

Surefire Cyber-Monday Holiday Blowout

On Monday, Nov. 26th only (all day), SureFire will be offering 25% off and free shipping on select products. Use code XMAS25

Wilson Combat Black Friday Sale

This sale begins on Wednesday evening at 7pm EST and ends Monday morning at 1am EST. Items on sale include certain 1911 magazines, holsters, shirts, gun lubes, gun parts, and ammunition.

CDNN Sports Black Friday Sale

Ends on Nov. 23 at midnight CST. Flat $6.99 shipping and free shipping for orders over $99 with code FS99.

CRKT Knives

Offering free shipping on all orders over $50. Began Tuesday and will run through Jan. 7, 2013.

Galco Gunleather

Order online beginning Thanksgiving Day and get 20% off complete order with code BF2012. Sale runs through Sunday, Nov. 25th. Does not include custom orders or exotic hides.

Cabela’s After Thanksgiving Doorbuster Sale

Special doorbuster sales are in-store only from 5am until 10 am on Friday. Includes the Ruger 10/22 Take Down for $279. They will have a number of other firearms at special prices through Nov. 28th.

OPSGEAR Thanksgiving Weekend Sale

OPSGEAR will have special pricing on their DVDs, targets, and other gear. On other gear, they are offering 20% off your entire order with code thanks20. This ends on Nov. 26th.

Harbor Freight

They will be having a special sale on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Items of interest include a 45 watt solar panel kit for $139 and a 60″ workbench with 4 drawers for $129. I bought the latter to use a solid reloading bench.

WalMart

Of interest to gunnies are a couple of their in-store firearms specials. They will have the Sig M400 for $867 and the Ruger American Rifle in .270 for $337. I have read that each store should have at least 2 each of these rifles. The doors open at 8pm on Thanksgiving evening.

Dicks Sporting Goods


Dicks is having their doorbuster sales starting at 12am on Friday until 2pm. There are some good gun buys including a Remington 700 Varmint for $349, a Troy AR-15 for $799 (with full rail system), and the Ruger 10/22 for $179. Check your local store’s circular online.

eFoods Direct

If you are looking for some long-term storage foods, eFoods Direct is having some good specials for the holidays with free shipping through Nov. 30th on certain items.

DSG Arms

Their Black Friday sales are good through Nov. 30th or until they run out. Included are Magpul non-windowed PMags for $100 for a 10 packs or $125 for windowed. They also have mil-spec stock hardware kits for $35 for your AR builds. No codes are required.

Palmetto State Armory

They have released their list of items on Arfcom here and it includes a M4 assembled upper (no BCG) for $249. If you are looking to do a build, they have a lot of their parts on sale including Geissele triggers.

For other listings of Black Friday-Cyber Monday deals, Rob Reed, the Michigan Gun Rights Examiner, has his list up. If you are looking for more tactical oriented stuff, Soldier Systems has a large compilation of tactical gear sales on their webpage here. Here is another compiler of the Black Friday sales that is more general in nature.

I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving and if you do venture forth for Black Friday, stay safe.

UPDATE: Here are some more to add to the list.

Uplanders Warehouse

They will be having their Blaze Orange Friday sale which will run through Monday at midnight. Use code shipfree for free shipping if your order is over $100 and ship3 to get $3 off shipping for orders under $100.

Brownells

They will be having the Black Rifle Friday sale. Use code DU9 to get 10% off on order of $150 or higher.

U.S. Cavalry

Get 20% off storewide beginning today through Nov. 24th. Use code PN12N20.

Sportsman’s Guide

Now through midnight CST on Monday, Nov. 26 get free shipping with no minimums. Use code SH974.

Slick-Guns

This is another compilation site that has many of the gun offers for Black Friday.

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This Should Convince You That The Fiscal Cliff Is Real

November 21, 2012 by 3 Comments

In what I consider a combination of gun and financial news, Sturm, Ruger & Company declared a special dividend of $4.50 per share. By contrast, their regular third quarter dividend was 38.2 cents. While CEO Michael Fifer says in the statement below that this special dividend will increase Ruger’s return on shareholder’s equity, I can’t help but wonder if tax considerations also played a role in this.

Come January 1, 2013, there will be a new 3.8% Medicare tax on investment income including dividends for individuals with adjusted gross incomes over $200,000 and couples with adjusted gross incomes over $250,000. In addition, dividends for those in the 25 % or above tax brackets are currently taxed at 15% and nothing if one is in the 10 or 15% bracket. If Congress and the President do not come to an agreement and the Bush-era tax reductions revert to their old levels, dividends will be taxed at 10% for those in the 15% tax bracket and 20% in any bracket above that. Thus, some taxpayers could be seeing their dividends taxed as high as 23.8% or an almost 59% increase over current levels.

The takeaway is that the fiscal cliff is real, taxes do matter when it comes to investments, and that companies are taking it seriously. Now if only those within the Beltway were equally as serious.


Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR) announced today that its Board of Directors voted to declare a special dividend of $4.50 per share on the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock. This cash dividend will be paid on December 21, 2012 to shareholders of record as of December 7, 2012.

Chief Executive Officer Michael O. Fifer commented on the special dividend, “The decision to return this cash to our shareholders was based on an analysis that indicates we can continue to fund our high rate of organic growth, including expected increases in both working capital and capital expenditures, and fund our quarterly dividend while still growing our cash reserves at a modest rate. In addition, the special dividend will substantially increase the Company’s return on our shareholders’ equity, as the equity will now more accurately reflect the net assets being used in the conduct of the business. Likewise, after the special dividend, our long-term investors will still own the same future stream of earnings, resulting in an increase to their return on investment.”

Mr. Fifer concluded, “This special dividend reflects our confidence in the future to be able to pursue good opportunities that come our way. We remain committed to our new product development strategy and will continue to seek accretive acquisition opportunities and prudently expand our manufacturing capacity.”

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About That Secession Petition You Signed…

November 21, 2012 by 1 Comment

In the aftermath of the election, secession petitions for all fifty states (and maybe for the rest of the 57 as well) have sprung up on the White House’s petition website and over 800,000 signatures have been collected. There is also a counter-petition asking that anyone who has signed such a secession petition be declared a traitor and then be hung, drawn, and quartered with the remains scattered to the four corners of the earth. Actually, I’m kidding about that last little bit but the true believers are asking for signees to be declared traitors.

In the midst of all of this has come the Department of Defense’s Defense Security Service. They are the agency at DOD charged with managing the Secret, Top Secret, and other such security clearances for defense contractors. A few days ago, they issued a notice regarding the secession petitions and whether signing one would be considered a reportable event for contractors.


November 16, 2012

DSS personnel have recently received questions from security personnel at cleared contractors about whether contractors should file adverse information reports pursuant to NISPOM paragraph 1-302 regarding cleared persons who sign petitions to allow a state to withdraw or secede from the United States.

It also appears that erroneous statements have been made to the effect that DSS is directing contractors to treat the signing of such petitions as reportable adverse information.

Please note that DSS has not provided any approved direction or guidance. DSS is not directing any contractor to file adverse information reports regarding persons who have signed secession or withdrawal petitions. This issue is under review and DSS will provide information to contractors when that review is complete.

So while they aren’t requiring defense contractors to report employees who has signed such petitions yet, they are still studying the situation. David Martosko of The Daily Caller has more on this story.

David Codrea has written on some of the implications for gun owners of signing these secession petitions at the National Gun Rights Examiner. His advice is to not sign any of these petitions. While it may not equate with renunciation of your citizenship which is a disqualifying event for gun purchases, I wouldn’t put anything past the Obama Administration. When it comes to being vindictive and petty, they could have given Richard Nixon lessons.

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A Couple Of Blog Meets Of Note

November 21, 2012 by 1 Comment

A few days ago Kevin of Misfires and Lightstrikes wrote me about a blogger meet-up at the 2013 SHOT Show. One of these days, I’ll get there again but not this coming year. Here are the details as sent by Kevin who asked that I post this:


As another SHOT Show approaches, (is it REALLY only 60 days away?!!), it’s time for another SHOT Show gunblogger meetup!

As the evenings during SHOT are dedicated to awards dinners and the like, this year, we’ll be meeting on Thursday, January 17th at 11:30 am for lunch at the Grand Café Lux restaurant in the Venetian Hotel and Casino.

If you can’t make it, I’d appreciate a post letting people know that it’s not just for bloggers; Vloggers, podcasters and blog visitors are all invited, too.

Please RSVP via email  (Kevin AT Exurbanleague.com) or join the event on Facebook.

Sean Sorrentino of An NC Gun Blog and Borepatch are trying to set up blogger shoot in the Raleigh-Durham area of central North Carolina either before or after Christmas.

From Borepatch:

Who’s up for a Christmas blogshoot in the Carolinas?


Some of us have been emailing for a bit, and so let me toss out a
question to the gunblogging community: who would be willing to get
together for a meet ‘n shoot sometime around the Christmas holiday?

I know that there are a bunch of folks in the Washington DC area, and
there are a surprising number of us here in Atlanta.  It seems like
Charlotte/Raleigh/Durham NC is about splitting the driving distance.

Please leave a comment if you’re interested, along with preferred date
and location.  Also, if anyone knows a range in any of those areas that
could accommodate a decent size group, please leave that info as well.

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Gun Owners Against Illegal Mayors Project

November 20, 2012 by 6 Comments



Given that yet another member of Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors was convicted on theft charges just last week, I’d say this new project coming from the Second Amendment Foundation is quite timely. The “Meet the Mayors” ad is quite interesting. Make sure to click the link to it below.


BELLEVUE, WA – Inviting Americans to “Meet the Mayors” who have been involved in the anti-gun-rights Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the Second Amendment Foundation is launching a campaign in newspapers, magazines and on the Internet that exposes the criminal and ethical wrongdoings of many members of that organization.

The “Meet the Mayors” ad can be seen at: http://saf.org/images/maig.pdf

“Michael Bloomberg created this group to further his personal agenda of public disarmament,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “But within the ranks of his organization, our research has found several politicians who have been convicted of various serious crimes, thus making it impossible for them to finish their terms.

“We discovered,” he continued, “one mayor convicted of perjury and embezzlement, another who was convicted of attempted child molestation, and yet another who was convicted of assault and racketeering. There was one who was convicted on bribery, fraud and money laundering, and another who was convicted of domestic violence.

“In short,” Gottlieb explained, “many of these elitist politicians can no longer own firearms. The crimes they were convicted of suggest they are public enemies rather than public servants. No wonder they want to take guns from law-abiding citizens!”

“Perhaps Bloomberg should worry about background checks on his colleagues, rather than law-abiding gun owners,” he suggested.

Gottlieb said SAF research discovered a far higher rate of criminal activity within the ranks of the MAIG than among the ranks of more than 8 million citizens who are licensed to carry concealed firearms in 49 states.

“While Michael Bloomberg has been campaigning to turn gun owners into criminals,” Gottlieb said, “the criminals in his own ranks were engaged in such activities as tax evasion , extortion, accepting bribes, child pornography, trademark counterfeiting and perjury. One was even convicted of assaulting a police officer.

“And these people have the audacity to smear law-abiding gun owners as potential criminals, simply because they exercise their constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” he concluded. “He should pay more attention to what his friends are up to than worry about the gun owners he’s been trying to demonize.”

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NC General Assembly Speaker Pro-Tem Race

November 19, 2012 by 1 Comment

It appears that there is a three-way race among Republicans in the North Carolina State House to be elected Speaker Pro-Tem which is the number two position. The race is between House Majority Leader Paul Stam, Rep. Bert Jones, and Rep. Julia Howard. Stam was instrumental in attempts to weaken the Castle Doctrine passed in the last session among other things.

Grass Roots North Carolina has issued an alert on the race and is asking that people write Speaker Thom Tillis to urge his support for Rep. Bert Jones who is strongly pro-gun.


As you will recall, House Majority Leader and current candidate for the Speaker pro tem position, Rep. Skip Stam (R, GRNC **) earned “Weasel” status last year by undermining pro-gun legislation through outright opposition and support of weakening amendments. His attempt to gut Castle Doctrine and successful removal of HB 650 language that would have allowed guns in locked vehicles at places of employment will not be forgotten.

Fate has smiled upon NC gun-owners in the form of Pro-gun challenger Rep. Bert Jones (R, GRNC ****) who vies with Stam for the No. 2 position in the NC House: Speaker pro tem. Also in the race is Rep. Julia Howard (R, GRNC ****) who is also a better choice than Stam.

All NC gun owners should urge House Speaker Thom Tillis to support Jones’ bid for the pro tem position.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

Email NC House Speaker Thom Tillis

Urge him to support Bert Jones for Speaker pro tem.

CONTACT INFO

Thom.Tillis@ncleg.net

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: “Support Bert Jones for Speaker pro tem”

Dear Speaker Tillis,

As a North Carolina gun owner I am pleased that a pro-Second Amendment Representative is seeking the position of Speaker pro tem.

I urge you to support Rep. Bert Jones in his effort to win election to this important leadership position.

Sincerely,