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DSC North Carolina Chapter Organizing

August 28, 2023 by

The North Carolina Chapter of Dallas Safari Club is in the process of being organized. Currently, the only chapters DSC has in the Southeast are in the Low Country of South Carolina (Charleston) and in Georgia.

I received a text this past week from Emaneul “Kappie” Kapp announcing the formation meeting. He has been active in the Georgia Chapter and is helping organize the North Carolina Chapter.

The meeting is scheduled for Saturday, September 16th, at 11am at Suffolk Punch Bowl Brewing South End. The address is 2911 Griffith St, Charlotte, NC.

Kappie told me in a follow-up email that DSC has approximately 100 members in North Carolina. I would add that even though there is a South Carolina Chapter, Charlotte is a lot closer than Charleston to the Upstate of SC as well as to Rock Hill.

From what I understand, Bruce Boroski, DSC Chapter Development Manager, will be joining Kappie at the meeting.

So if you live in NC, the Upstate, or the Rock Hill area and you have an interest in promoting the DSC mission of conservation, education, and advocacy, I would urge you to attend this meeting. Even though this is a 2 1/2 hour drive for me, I intend on coming down from the mountains to attend.

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Playing Politics With Guns In St. Louis

August 23, 2023 by 1 Comment

Leftist politicians everywhere would prefer to blame the implement rather than the criminal who used it. Such is the case in St. Louis, Missouri where Mayor Tishaura Jones (D-St. Louis) is proposing a multitude of new firearms ordinances.

From her press release issued yesterday:

  • Prohibit military-grade weapons on our streets 
  • Prevent transfer or sale of guns to minors
  • Take action on ghost guns and similar untraceable firearms
  • Prepare St. Louis for the passage of Blair’s Law
  • Prohibit insurrectionists and those convicted of hate crimes from having guns

She goes on to say:

“In the coming days, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office, aldermen are ready to introduce commonsense gun safety legislation,” said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. “We come together around a shared vision: a safer, stronger St. Louis, ready to stand up for our values. We know Missourians are demanding state-level action to pass measures like red-flag laws and background checks, but we are ready to try every tool available to us at the local level to protect families from gun violence.”

As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes on her press conference, she includes AR-15s and AK-47s in the list of firearms subject to prohibition. Mayor Jones also expects blowback from Republican legislators.

Other than the obvious constitutionality issues with Mayor Jones’ moves at gun control, there is an even bigger obstacle at the state level. Missouri has state preemption on all issues regarding firearms with the exceptions of banning open carry to those without a carry permit and regulating discharge within municipal boundaries.

Missouri General Statute 21.750 states, in part:

 *21.750.  Firearms legislation preemption by general assembly, exceptions — limitation on civil recovery against firearms or ammunitions manufacturers, when, exception. — 1.  The general assembly hereby occupies and preempts the entire field of legislation touching in any way firearms, components, ammunition and supplies to the complete exclusion of any order, ordinance or regulation by any political subdivision of this state.  Any existing or future orders, ordinances or regulations in this field are hereby and shall be null and void except as provided in subsection 3 of this section.

  2.  No county, city, town, village, municipality, or other political subdivision of this state shall adopt any order, ordinance or regulation concerning in any way the sale, purchase, purchase delay, transfer, ownership, use, keeping, possession, bearing, transportation, licensing, permit, registration, taxation other than sales and compensating use taxes or other controls on firearms, components, ammunition, and supplies except as provided in subsection 3 of this section.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey reacted swiftly to Mayor Jones’ attention-grabbing pronouncements. He reminded her that Missouri has strict scrutiny with regard to firearms laws and that her proposed ordinances were against Missouri general statutes.

When speaking of St. Louis, it should be noted that the city and the county are not one and the same. St. Louis County has a population of just less than one million people. The City of St. Louis, by contrast, has a population of 296,000. What locals refer to as North County, West County, and South County compromise a much larger proportion of the population than the City.

Does the City of St. Louis have issues with crime? Absolutely. Are the guns recovered by police at the scene of crimes AR-15s or AK-47s? Not really. 90% of all firearms recovered are handguns.

The meme below does give an indication of the level of crime in St. Louis. Perhaps if Mayor Jones focused more on criminals and gangs she would have more success than focusing on firearms.

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For Sale For A Friend – FN Five-seveN

August 22, 2023 by

My friend Cliff has a FN Five-seveN for sale. Given he has two, he is looking to sell one of them.

He is selling one of his FN FiveseveN pistols. It comes with three 20-round magazines and some ammo. He said he paid $1,200 for it but is willing to sell it for $900. This seems like a great price to me as I am seeing them on Gunbroker.com starting at $1,150. If this was something I wanted or needed, I would have jumped on it myself. Frankly, I don’t think Cliff has put many rounds through this pistol.

Stock photo – not actual pistol for sale.

If you are interested or want to know more about the pistol, please contact Cliff O. at inhisstepscliff AT gmail DOT com. You can also call him at 828-707-0603.

Cliff is a great guy and is the co-coordinator of the Grass Roots North Carolina booth at the Asheville Gun Show with me.

UPDATE: Cliff requested that if you plan to call him about the FN Five-sevenN that you text him first. Use “FN 57” in your text. If you have already called him about the pistol, he may have not answered due to not recognizing the number. Cliff is a senior citizen so is a bit more careful about screening his calls.

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Not THAT Mike Hammer

August 20, 2023 by 3 Comments

In my email this morning, I received an alert from the US State Department with the following headline:

Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Mike Hammer Travels to Stockholm and Brussels

Given I am a fan of older detective stories such as those from Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane, the name struck a chord with me. I’m like “are we really sending Mike Hammer to Stockholm to discuss water issues or is he just there to hang out with blonde Swedish dames with great gams?”

Sort of like the creator of Mike Hammer in this 1970s ad for Lite Beer from Miller.

Was this Mike Hammer like the early Mike Hammer played by Darren McGavin?

Or was he more like the later Mike Hammer played by Stacy Keach? Does he carry a .45ACP 1911 or does he carry a .38 Special J-frame?

Unfortunately, I don’t think this Mike Hammer is as cool as Spillane’s hard-boiled detective.

Official US State Dept photo

This Mike is a career Foreign Service Officer with degrees from Georgetown, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and the National War College. He also speaks four languages in addition to English. He holds the FSO rank of Minister-Counselor which is equivalent to a 2-star general.

While I’m sure this guy is supremely qualified for the job of Special Envoy, I actually prefer Mickey Spillane’s version as that one seems more authentic even if he is fiction.

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Deal On 30-Caliber Plastic Ammo Cans

August 19, 2023 by 4 Comments

Harbor Freight is having their “parking lot” sale this weekend both in-store and online. While I don’t buy critical tools from them, they are OK for occasional use tools as well as some odds and ins. One of those odds and ins is their 30- caliber size plastic ammo cans. Officially they are called the ammo dry box and they do have a rubber gasket to seal out moisture.

They are on sale this weekend for $2.95 each. I just bought 10 of them to store brass by caliber and to store bullets for reloading. I am finding that I as I pick up a box of bullets here and a partial box there that I’m losing track of what I have.

Are they the best quality that is out there? Probably not but they will, as economists say, satisfice and they will do the job for which they are intended by me.

I have similar boxes at Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops for upwards of $19 each. Are they worth that much more than the Harbor Freight ones? I doubt it.

If I planned to store and carry really heavy items, I’d probably go for the used GI metal ammo cans. I have a number of those so I think the plastic ones will do.

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SCI And Sportsmen’s Alliance File Intent To Sue

August 17, 2023 by

Safari Club International and the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation have filed a Notice of Intent to Sue with the US Department of Education over the department’s interpretation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. That interpretation states that archery and hunter safety programs in schools are ineligible for Federal funding as a result of the 2022 law.

From the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education FAQ released in April 2023 on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act:

D-1. May Stronger Connections funds be used to arm teachers or other individuals,
or to provide training in the use of weapons?

No. Section 13401 of the BSCA amended Section 8526 of the ESEA to prohibit the use of ESEA funds, including those under Stronger Connections, to provide to any person a dangerous weapon or training in
the use of a dangerous weapon. A “dangerous weapon” as defined in section 930(g)(2) of title 18 of the United States Code is a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that
is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, except that such term does not include a pocketknife with a blade of less than 2 1/2 inches in length. Accordingly, funds may not be used, for example, to purchase a firearm or to train teachers to use a firearm.

SCI and the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation filed the Intent to Sue on Friday, August 11th. They argued that the Department of Education’s interpretation was “arbitrary and capricious”, contrary to law, violated the Administrative Procedures Act, and misconstrued the intent of Congress. The Notice of Intent to Sue gave the Department 10 days to respond or a suit would be filed seeking to correct the misinterpretation of the law.

A number of House Republicans have sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona objecting to the Department’s interpretation of the law. Spearheading the move were House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Education and Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC), and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC). Three sponsors of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in the Senate – Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) have likewise said the Department is misinterpreting the the law.

Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) has introduced H.R. 5110 to amend the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965. The bill would clarify “that the prohibition on the use of Federal education funds for certain weapons does not apply to the use of such weapons for training in archery, hunting, or other shooting sports.” That bill was introduced on August 1st and currently has 26 co-sponsors including one Democrat (Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska). The bill has been referred to the House Education and Workforce Committee.

I am happy to see that SCI and the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation has stepped up. Likewise, I am glad some in Congress want to make a correction. I will also say that none of this would have been an issue if a number of RINO Republicans in both the House and Senate hadn’t caved to pressure from the gun control industry to “do something”. I thought it was foolish then and I think it remains so today.

You can read the full Notice of Intent to Sue below:

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National Rum Day

August 16, 2023 by

National Rum Day is celebrated on August 16th.

In colonial America rum was the drink of choice. A tax on non-British West Indies produced molasses was a bone of contention between the American colonists and Great Britain. The Molasses Act of 1733 created the tax to try and give molasses from the British West Indies (islands such as Jamaica and Barbados) a leg up over that from the French West Indies. However, the colonists effectively nullified the Act through smuggling of molasses from French and Dutch sources and it was repealed in 1767.

Rum is made from molasses which comes from sugar cane. Spirits such as rhum agricole and the Brazilian cachaca, while similar, are made from fermented sugar cane juice.

Rum or rhum is made around the world. I have bottles of it from Barbados, Jamaica, Colombia, Panama, Martinique, Haiti, and the US (Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands) in my collection.

There are a number of rums that come from the state of Hawaii. A quick search on the Internet finds rums being distilled on the islands of Oaha, Kauai, Hawaii, and Maui.

As has been extensively reported, wildfires on the last island mentioned, Maui, have left homes destroyed, people killed, and families uprooted. One factor that made the wildfires worse was the decline in sugar cane production which let non-native invasive grasses to flourish. These dry grasses provided an abundance of fuel for the fire. There had been upwards of 36,000 acres of sugar cane grown in the area around Lahaina through the late 1990s. The last sugar cane mill on Maui closed in 2016.

National Rum Day is a good day to remember our fellow citizens in Maui and to help them out. If you want to make donations, here are a couple of non-profits that I trust to spend the money wisely.

The Salvation Army of Hawaii

Catholic Charities of Hawaii

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Vista Outdoor’s Sporting Products To Be Named The Kinetic Group

August 11, 2023 by 2 Comments

Vista Outdoor announced in May 2022 that they were splitting the company into two segments. The segment dealing with ammunition and powder was called Sporting Products. Meanwhile the segment dealing with other products such as Bushnell scopes, CamelBak packs, and Bell bicycle helmets was called Outdoor Products. Both companies would be publicly traded, independent companies.

Yesterday, Vista Outdoors announced the Sporting Products would adopt the name The Kinetic Group with the ticker symbol of HUNT. The CEO of The Kinetic Group will be Jason Vanderbrink who has been heading both Federal and Remington. Management unveiled the new name to employees in Lewiston, Idaho at the CCI-Speer plant.

Vanderbrink said this about the renaming of the Sporting Products segment:

“The performance of our products is so often measured in energy on target. Kinetic energy is the force behind our world-class brands and exhibits the spirit of the 4,500 American workers who represent our company,” said Jason Vanderbrink, Sporting Products President and CEO. “The process of developing a new company name and identity has been exciting and inspiring. We’re all proud of the brands we represent and the products we make in our four American factories. Harnessing the enthusiasm of our employees throughout this process was pivotal to coming up with the best name and logo as we move closer to becoming a standalone company.”

Eric Nyman will become CEO of Outdoor Products on August 21st. The new name for this segment of Vista Outdoor has not yet been announced but is expected in the coming weeks. In the meantime, Gary McArthur will continue as interim CEO of Vista Outdoor until the completion of the spinoff. He will then serve as the Chairman of the Board for the Outdoor Products company.

The Kinetic Group did a short video of the announcement of the new name.

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Eye Candy From The Tom Selleck Collection

August 11, 2023 by

Tom Selleck has started to sell off some of his collection of very fine guns. He is using the services of Rock Island Auctions. They already sold some guns back in May and now some more go up for bid at the end of August. RIA has created a couple of videos with highlights from the collection.

The catalog for the August 25-27th auction goes into more detail. This second video is from the earlier auction held in May by RIA. You can see the prices realized for Selleck’s guns here. Some of the prices realized were within the pre-auction estimate range and a few exceeded it.

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Agent Orange Awareness Day

August 10, 2023 by 2 Comments

August 10th is Agent Orange Awareness Day. It marks the day that the defoliant was first used in the Republic of South Vietnam in 1961. The day is meant to pay tribute to those who were exposed to Agent Orange and is a reminder of its lasting impact on many of those who served in Vietnam.

This one is personal to me. My father was medically retired from the Army in April 1972 and died almost exactly nine years later at age 62. He had served as the First Sergeant of an Army Engineers’ road building company in 1970-1971 stationed north-west of Saigon. Undoubtedly, they had sprayed Agent Orange at some period of time. Among the ailments which caused his medical retirement were both a stroke and heart issues. I don’t mean to put all the blame on Agent Orange as he was a heavy smoker but ischemic heart disease has been directly traced to it.

In 1972 he nor we knew much about the relationship between his probably exposure to Agent Orange and the disabling ailments he suffered. Likewise, when he died in 1981 it was just beginning to be understood. President Jimmy Carter had signed off on a Department of Veteran Affairs’ study only two year previously. It was not until 1991 that Congress passed the Agent Orange Act.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has recently added hypertension to the list of disabling ailments directly related to Agent Orange exposure. This is in addition to multiple types of cancer and other illnesses.

There is still much research to be done and other diseases to be added to the list. For example, I had a friend and client who died in early 2021 from pancreatic cancer. He had served in DaNang with the Air Force in 1968. His job was loading ordnance and Agent Orange on the various aircraft. His protective gear was a T-shirt. The VA still didn’t recognize his pancreatic cancer as being related to his direct exposure to Agent Orange which is a shame.

The use of Agent Orange officially ended in 1971. It is still impacting a generation of now older Americans. I hesitate to guess of its impact on Vietnamese civilians living in those same areas.

Just as there are areas of northeast France which are still no-go areas due to unexploded shells from World War One, the impact of the use of Agent Orange is still being felt almost 50 years since the Vietnam War came to a close.