Month: February 2013

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Back From Charlotte

February 23, 2013 by 4 Comments

I spent the last two days in Charlotte attending a regional meeting of my company which explains the light blogging. Anytime I take a trip out of town I try to scope out the local gun shops. This is especially true now in light of the run on guns since Obama was reelected and the Newtown shootings.

On the way down I stopped at the Shooter’s Express in Belmont. I had bought my first AR lower there many years ago. I did see a few ARs and AKs in stock plus a decent assortment of handguns. The used rack was a bit sparse. One of the clerks told me that before the rush they had six used racks and now they have one.

I was looking for some reloading supplies and the folks at Shooter’s Express suggested Little Hardware which I checked out this afternoon once the meeting ended. What a cool place! It was like the old fashioned hardware store on steroids with a little bit of everything yet better organized. The clerk that helped me told me that they had sold out of most of their reloading supplies. I was looking for powder to reload 5.56×45. Specifically, I was looking for Hodgdon CFE223. I didn’t have any luck there. The clerk pulled out a reloading manual and we looked to see if anything would be appropriate. As luck would have it, I found a 1 lb. canister of IMR 8028 XBR which has a great reputation for accurate loads. I also came home with a 500 round box of  148 grain HBWC for my .38 Special.

On my way out of town I dropped in at Lawman’s Supply off Clanton Road. Having been there a couple of years ago, I knew they often had a number of police department trade-in pistols. They didn’t have anything I really wanted. However, if you are in the market for either a Glock 21 (.45 ACP) or a Springfield XD-9, they had a number available in the $350-360 price range. I’d guess they had about 10 of each.

Finally, I went all yuppie and visited Ikea for the first time ever. It was actually a rather cool place even if I felt like the only conservative in the store. I was looking for the Ordning cutlery canister to use as a bushcraft/hobo stove. I figured for $2.99 how could I lose. The only problem is that I kept finding other stuff that caught my eye like a LED lamp for my desk, some new towels, and some small glasses that I thought would be great for a bourbon tasting.

I’ll be back to regular blogging tomorrow. I’m just glad to be back home in the mountains.

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What If…

February 22, 2013 by 4 Comments

Jim Shepherd, publisher of the Outdoor Wires, had a very interesting column this morning regarding the new gun control legislation that has been surfacing in places as disparate as Colorado and New Jersey. The language of the bills seems to have been derived from the same source – Mayor Bloomberg and his Illegal Mayors. This is something Michael Bane just pointed out about the Colorado legislation in his weekly Down Range Radio podcast on Wednesday.

Jim asks the question what if the purpose of the legislation is really the redefinition of legal terms.

But what if the intent of this legislation wasn’t really the banning of magazines or classes of firearms? What if the real intent was to let the bans be watered down while pushing through sweeping redefinitions of terms we all think are clearly defined?

Consider, for example, the lawful transfer. That’s a transfer of ownership between two private parties or between a federal firearms licensee and a purchaser, right? To a point.

But what if language broadened to the point that the term “transfer” was applicable to any regulated item -such as a “high-capacity magazine” used in competition and not just a “firearm”?

It seems to be a very small distinction, until you realize that a lawful transfer, as stated under Colorado’s proposed statutes, would be applicable to magazines. And those definitions went on to broaden a “recognized competition” as having been run by either a state agency or non-profit. SASS, IDPA, USPSA are not, technically non-profit organizations. Under that broadened definition, USPSA/IDPA match officials picking up a magazine dropped during a competition stage would be participating in an illegal transfer.

Jim poses a very interesting question which illustrates the Machiavellian nature of some of our opponents. Read Jim’s whole column. It is a must-read.

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Ahh, Those Leftist Monkeys

February 22, 2013 by

I’ve been at our regional business meeting since yesterday morning which explains the lighter than normal blogging. One of our presentations yesterday included this clip from YouTube involving grapes, cucumbers, and Capuchin monkeys. It was from the TED talk by Frans de Waal.

You will notice that it is the monkey on the left that pitches the fit when it is only given something that is good for it. I’ll leave it at that.

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GRNC – Five Phone Calls For Freedom

February 21, 2013 by 3 Comments

In response to news that Obama’s former campaign organization would be having a “National Day of Action” in support of gun control on February 22nd, Grass Roots North Carolina asks that people make five phone calls on February 25th and 26th. They are calling this Five Phone Calls for Freedom.


On Feb. 25 & 26, make ‘Five Phone Calls for Freedom’

Friday, February 22, will witness an unprecedented attack on your rights as Obama mobilizes his army of left-wing activists to push for federal gun bans. “Roll Call” recently ran a piece entitled, “Organizing for America Plans ‘National Day of Action’ to Mobilize Grass Roots on Guns.” It went on to say:

“Organizing for Action is planning its first official mobilization in support of President Barack Obama’s proposals to curtail gun violence. The nonprofit that inherited Obama’s campaign infrastructure and 2 million strong volunteer army will hold a ‘national day of action’ on Feb. 22, officials said Tuesday.”

If that doesn’t scare you, it should

What you are seeing is “Barry the Community Organizer” doing what he does best: Attacking your rights using millions of rabid radicals who will stoop to any level of deceit in order to control you. The grass roots initiative began with his State of the Union address, in which he packed the house with families of victims of mass killings. Next, Obama went on the road to sell his plan at schools in Atlanta and elsewhere.

Now MoveOn.org is joining the fray by running TV ads that proclaim, “The NRA doesn’t speak for me.” In case you didn’t know it, these are the same folks that you brought you “ACORN”; MoveOn.org is funded by the left wing “Tides Foundation” which is itself funded by none other than freedom-hating billionaire George Soros.

Your voice needed now more than ever

You have politicians scared. As a founding member of the Coalition to Stop the Gun Ban, which now comprises 38 state and national organizations, GRNC members have been blasting Congress with a coordinated message that we will punish any legislator who supports gun control. So to counter your influence, “Barry” plans to “out-grassroots” you. Will you let him?

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

Make ‘Five Phone Calls for Freedom’

To fight back against this left wing attack, we are asking millions of Second Amendment supporters, represented by the Coalition and others, to deliver a loud and clear message to Congress by making 5 phone calls on Monday and Tuesday (Feb. 25 & 26). Please note that we said CALL, not email. We want millions of voices to ring through the congressional switchboard, so please note that you might have to try several times to get through.

Specifically, we are asking you to call:

  1. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at 202-224-2541

  2. House Speaker John Boehner at 202-225-0600

  3. Senator Richard Burr at 202-224-3154

  4. Senator Kay Hagan at 202-224-6342

  5. Your representative to the U.S. House. To identify your US House representative, go to: http://www.house.gov/representatives/ and then enter your zip code in the upper right corner of the page.

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Give congressional staff 3 simple talking points:

  1. Nothing about the federal proposals is acceptable – not banning semi-automatic firearms and magazines, not expanding the list of people prohibited from owning guns, and not registering private gun sales via the National Instant Check System;

  2. Because “compromise” means losing freedom, you will not “compromise” on this issue, including any “lite” version of registering private sales through the National Instant Check System; and

  3. As a member of one of the organizations comprising the National Coalition to Stop the Gun Ban, you will support coordinated Coalition action against any legislator who supports gun control.

ADDITIONAL ACTION

If you have additional time, please CALL other US House representatives in the North Carolina delegation, including:

Rep. G. K. Butterfield, Jr. (D – 01) 202-225-3101

Rep. Renee L. Ellmers (R – 02) 202-225-4531

Rep. Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R – 03) 202-225-3415

Rep. David Price (D – 04) 202-225-1784

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R – 05) 202-225-2071

Rep. Howard Coble (R – 06) 202-225-3065

Rep. Mike McIntyre (D – 07) 202-225-2731

Rep. Richard Hudson (R – 08) 202-225-3715

Rep. Robert Pittenger (R – 09) 202-225-1976

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R – 10) 202-225-2576

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-11) 202-225-6401

Rep. Mel Watt (D – 12) 202-225-1510

Rep. George Holding (R – 13) 202-225-3032

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Reading Between The Lines

February 21, 2013 by 2 Comments

Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO) represents the district in which magazine manufacturer Magpul is located. He plans to tour the Magpul plant in Erie, Colorado today and had invited Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) to join him. Hickenlooper won’t be able to attend because he is headed to the East Coast for meetings in New York, Philly, and DC as well as attending the National Governors Association meeting.

In making the invitation Gardner said:

Gardner, R-Yuma, said the governor could benefit from the tour because, “as elected officials, I think it is important that we educate ourselves on how legislation can affect our constituents.”

As so often happens, the Congressman’s office didn’t coordinate with the Governor’s office before announcing the invitation.  I’ve read two reports on this invitation in the Denver press. In one report (the Denver Post), the story stops there. Moreover, the headlines in both stories are about the invitation and the governor’s inability to make the tour with Gardner.

However, in the other report on this tour put out by KDVR Fox 31 Denver, there was this little tidbit about HB 1224, the Colorado magazine ban bill, and the governor’s position on it.

Hickenlooper told reporters last week that he supports the high-capacity magazine ban; but, during a panel discussion about gun restrictions Tuesday night, the governor appeared to waffle on the matter.

“We haven’t taken a position on that bill yet,” Hickenlooper said. “But I from time to time have said contradictory things on it.

“It’s a tough issue: I mean, how many lives do you save, and how real is the inconvenience to the people who want to have a larger capacity magazine and feel it’s essential for defending their house?”

Hickenlooper’s former legislative lobbyist, R.D. Sewald, who left the administration last year to start his own private lobbying firm, now represents Magpul.

In terms of whether or not a magazine ban is enacted in Colorado or not, forget the news about the tour. That is just publicity seeking by a politician. The important stuff is the relationship between Gov. Hickenlooper and Sewald, the fact that Sewald now represents Magpul, and whether or not Sewald can convince either Hickenlooper or enough Democrat State Senators to can HB 1224. That’s the real story.

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About That Right To Choose

February 21, 2013 by 1 Comment

The commentators on TheBlaze’s Real News discussed whether liberal men are being hypocritical. While most of them support a woman’s right to choose an abortion, very few of them support a woman’s right to choose her method of self-defense. They termed this the New Leftist Patriarchy.

Will Cain started the discussion out speaking of how the gun control debate is being framed by the political elite and the media. He made a very astute point when he said that while gun prohibitionists (my words) question why you need a firearm (or a particular type of firearm), the real question in a free society is why you need to take it away. I think this a point that we in the gun rights community need to make more often.

The remainder of the clip deals with the fallout from Rep. Joe Salazar of Colorado’s absurd statements regarding the need for a gun to prevent rape.

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Sen. Kay Hagan Goes Wobbly On Background Checks

February 20, 2013 by 2 Comments

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) was interviewed by Chris Fitzsimon of NC Policy Watch on a number of issues. Among the issues was gun control and where she stood on President Obama’s proposals. NC Policy Watch is a project of the NC Justice Center which is a self-described “progressive” organization.

In her comments in the interview with Fitzsimon, Hagan appears to commit to supporting universal background checks without actually committing to them. In other words, she’s trying to play both sides of the debate. Her comments on gun control begin near the 5:30 mark and run for about a minute. It should be noted that Hagan is one of the most at-risk Democrat incumbents in the Senate.

Grass Roots North Carolina has called her out on her statements and issued an alert asking constituents to email and/or write Hagan.


Demonstrating poor judgment characteristic of an anti-freedom politician who earned only a GRNC 1-star evaluation, Senator Kay Hagan recently gave a radio interview with left-wing activist, Chris Fitzsimon, Director of NC Policy Watch, a “progressive” policy organization.

During this ranging interview, which turns to gun control at about six minutes, Hagan made clear her support of expanded background checks that are a key part of the Obama/Biden/Feinstein gun ban. Hagan claims such checks represent a “positive move” toward keeping “guns out of criminals’ hands”.

What “universal background checks” actually are is a mechanism for gun registration, the necessary prelude to confiscation. Usefulness of such checks in stopping crime is vanishingly rare. According to economist and social scientist John Lott, Jr., purchases prevented by the current NICS system are almost always false-positives, serving only to harass and hinder the law-abiding.

Sen. Hagan clearly needs to be reminded that NC gun owners will tolerate NO COMPROMISE with Obama’s gun ban.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

Call AND email Sen. Hagan: Tell her background checks only harass the law-abiding, and NO COMPROMISE is acceptable.

CONTACT INFO

Call Hagan’s Office: 202-224-6342

Email Hagan: Use her webform: http://www.hagan.senate.gov/contact/

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: “No Compromise on Private Sales!”

Dear Senator Hagan:

You recently informed liberal activist Chris Fitzsimon that you believe “universal background checks” will effectively keep guns out of the wrong hands.

You should be aware that we already have an extensive background check system, “National Instant Background Check System” (NICS), which almost never results in identifying criminals attempting to purchase guns. Almost all NICS denials are false-positives and only serve to inconvenience and infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

Proposed expansion of background checks is nothing more than another “feel good” measure that will do nothing to prevent the type of violent crime perpetrated within “Gun Free Zones” that have been created by gun control extremists like Fitzsimon.

As my Senator you need to understand that NC gun owners and I will not tolerate any compromise on or cooperation with Obama’s misguided gun-ban agenda. I will be monitoring your actions via Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts.

Respectfully,

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More On Women Owning Guns In America From NBC

February 20, 2013 by 2 Comments

NBC is actually presenting some relatively balanced reports on firearm ownership by women. This report aired on the NBC Nightly News on Sunday evening. The mandatory reports on shootings in Chicago – a city with extremely strict gun control – preface this report by Stephanie Gosk. According to a Gallup poll, firearm ownership among women has risen by a full 10 percentage points over the last eight years.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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Hornady Steps Up

February 19, 2013 by 4 Comments

Like firearms manufacturers Ruger and Smith & Wesson, Hornady, makers of ammunition, components, and reloading equipment, has stepped up to the plate with their own gun rights letter generator. The letter is a bit different than the others but it still can be sent to Congress, the State House and Senate, and other state level officials. More importantly, unlike Ruger and Smith & Wesson, the message can be edited and you can add in your own verbiage.

I know this is not the same as a personal letter that is mailed or faxed. Nonetheless it helps build numbers and numbers are important. The Ruger letter has been sent over 4.9 million times.

Here is their basic message that you can customize as you see fit. The message is stronger and more to the point than either of the letters from Ruger and S&W.


As a voter who believes in the U.S. Constitution, I am writing to express my views on gun control legislation currently being discussed in every level of government. I am one of over 100 million law-abiding American citizens who responsibly owns firearms for target shooting, hunting, personal and home defense, and collecting. I care deeply about the Second Amendment, and I am closely monitoring legislation that would restrict my right to keep and bear arms.

I am saddened by the tragic events in Newtown, Connecticut, but I believe that efforts to impose new restrictions on me, a lawful and responsible gun owner, are misguided and unwarranted. The so-called “Assault Weapons Ban,” which for a decade restricted the sale of semiautomatic rifles and limited magazine capacity to ten rounds, did not reduce crime, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice. And since the expiration of the ban in 2004, violent crime has declined.

Your focus should be on real solutions to the problem of misuse of firearms, such as strengthening mental health care and improving the quality of data supporting the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

Do NOT pass more gun or magazine laws; instead, work to enforce the thousands of gun laws already on the books and help step up prosecution of criminals who commit violence and misuse firearms.

We need to be calling, faxing, and writing weekly to all of our elected representatives. We may not have the billions of Mayor Bloomberg to buy out of state congressional seats but I learned a long time ago that money, though important, isn’t everything in politics.

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Hornady Clears Up Some Rumors

February 19, 2013 by

On some of the reloading lists that I subscribe to I’ve seen a lot of rumors about ammo and ammo component manufacturers. While this response from Hornady certainly doesn’t cover other large scale ammo/ammo components manufacturers like Remington, Federal, and Winchester, it is still good info especially with some reassurance for reloaders.


A Word on Availability

The current political climate has caused extremely high demand on all shooting industry products, including ours. Empty retail shelves, long backorders, and exaggerated price increases on online auction sites – all fueled by rumors and conjecture – have amplified concerns about the availability of ammunition and firearms-related items.

If the information you hear doesn’t originate from Hornady Manufacturing, don’t believe it.

Here are some of rumors we’ve heard, and questions we’ve received:

  • Have you stopped production, or has the government forced you to stop?


    • Not at all.

  • Did you stop selling bullets so you could only make loaded ammunition?

    • Absolutely not.

  • Since we can’t find your product you must be selling it all to the government.

    • Nope, less than 5% of our sales are to government entities.

  • Why can’t you make more? Ramp up production? Turn on all the machines?

    • We’ve been steadily growing our production for a long time, especially the last five years. We’ve added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, people and space. Many popular items are produced 24 hours a day. Several hundred Hornady employees work overtime every week to produce as much as safely possible. If there is any question about that – please take a tour of the factory. You’ll be amazed at what you see.

We are producing as much as we can; much more than last year, which was a lot more than the year before, etc. No one wants to ship more during this time than we do.

We appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience. We don’t know when the situation will improve, so please bear with us a little longer. And remember, when it comes to Hornady Manufacturing, if you don’t hear it from us, please don’t believe it.