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Interesting Name For A PAC Backing Obama

May 28, 2013 by 7 Comments

The Harrisburg, PA newsite Pennlive.com reports on an Obama-backing super PAC that plans to push gun control in meetings tomorrow with NAACP leaders from Harrisburg, Lancaster, and York.

The name of this PAC is 1911 United. I have absolutely no clue where the 1911 in their name comes from but it seems strange to hear 1911 connected with a push for gun control.

Members of 1911 United plan to engage community leaders in a conversation about how gun violence has impacted their communities. The work is part of research the group is conducting as it prepares to to lobby Congress to pass gun control legislation.

Representatives of 1911 United plan to meet with NAACP leaders from Harrisburg, York and Lancaster as they make their way to Chicago, which has one of the worst homicide rates in the nation.

The super PAC is comprised of members of Omega Psi Phi and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternities, although they will be acting as individuals, according to a press release.

Local tour organizers Jesse Rawls, Sr. and Homer C. Floyd will hold a press conference at 11 a.m., Tuesday at the Martin Luther King Jr. City Government Center in Harrisburg. Floyd retired last year as longtime executive director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.

The NAACP has launched a nationwide campaign calling for tougher anti-gun laws and increased programs to fight gun violence.

The 1911 United campaign will make its way to Chicago, where it plans to spend 30 days working in communities there hard hit by gun violence.

The comments on this story are not exactly complimentary to this group. That said, I was amused by the one that suggested the group should have been called the “Colt 1911 United Plan”.

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Memorial Day 2013

May 28, 2013 by 1 Comment

Thanks to the wonders of the Internet (and Ancestry.com), I found the draft cards of both of my grandfathers as well as that of my Dad.

Neither grandfather served in the military nor was drafted for World War I. I think a lot of this had to do with their ages. While both were over 21 in 1917, they were both towards the upper range of the age group considered. My Grandpa Richardson was 32 and had 3-4 dependent children by that time. Meanwhile, my Grandpa Sheridan was 28 and single but had poor vision. My mother said he always regretted that this prevented him from serving during WWI.

William Thomas Richardson, 1918

John Francis Sheridan, 1917

My Dad was drafted in 1940 and swore his enlistment oath on Dec. 10, 1940 at Fort Bragg, NC. He was originally drafted for the “Hawaiian Department” but ended up serving most of the war in the Caribbean Defense Command.

Paul Thomas Richardson, 1940

This could be one of those family legend stories but my Dad was reputed to be the first man drafted and actually inducted from Randolph County, North Carolina. What I do know is that he served in the Army from 1940 until 1945 and then again from 1953 until 1972 when he was medically retired as a First Sergeant.

Interestingly enough, I also found my Grandpa Sheridan’s draft card from WWII when he was in his early 50s. By this time, he was the Tax Assessor for the County and Borough of Richmond, New York. I haven’t been able to find my Grandpa Richardson’s even though all men between 18 and 65 were required to register after we actually entered the war.

John F. Sheridan, 1942

On this Memorial Day, let us remember all that served and, more importantly, those who gave their lives in the defense of this nation and its liberties.

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Dick Is A Dick

May 27, 2013 by 5 Comments

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), Majority Whip and the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate Leadership, was a guest on Fox News Sunday along with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

Part of the discussion surrounded having Attorney General Eric Holder investigate Holder’s own role in the DOJ’s targeting of journalists. Graham said there should be a Special Counsel appointed to investigate the matter. Durbin disagreed.

From the transcript of Durbin’s remarks:

But here is the bottom line: the media shield law, which I am prepared to support, and I know Senator Graham supports, still leaves an unanswered question which I have raised many times, what is a journalist today, 2013?

We know it’s someone who works for Fox or A.P., but does it include a blogger? Does it include someone who’s tweeting? Are these people journalists and entitled to constitutional protection?

It is obvious to me that Sen. Durbin has about as much respect for my First Amendment rights as he does for my Second Amendment rights. It really isn’t that surprising coming from a statist such as Durbin.

My response while I’m still entitled to any measure of First Amendment rights is that Dick Durbin can go straight to hell and take the rest of his ilk with him.

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Comment Of The Day

May 25, 2013 by 6 Comments

From Ann Althouse’s blog in a discussion of the woman who knelt by the body of the British soldier who had just been murdered by two radical Muslims. The discussion also asked where were the men.

That was a Brit thing. She could not act any better than she was trained
to act. But she will courageously take flowers to the funeral.

An American mother would have grabbed a gun and shot the attacker with a high capacity magazine until it was empty.

The British cops also just stood around waiting for their firearms unit to arrive. Perhaps, just perhaps, if someone had come to the aid of the soldier when he was getting stabbed and before he was beheaded, he might be “in hospital” recovering from his wounds.

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Illinois House Passes Concealed Carry 85-30

May 24, 2013 by 3 Comments

The Illinois State House of Representatives passed the compromise concealed carry bill today by a vote of 85 yea, 30 nays, and 1 present. SB 2193 now goes back to the State Senate for their concurrence.

MyStateline.com reports that Gov. Pat Quinn (D-IL) is opposed to the bill and will work to defeat it. The sticking point for Quinn is state preemption of all firearm laws which negates home-rule for places like Chicago and Cook County.

The margin in the House would override a Governor’s veto, but Governor
Quinn pledged in a statement to do whatever he could to defeat it,
calling it “a massive overreach on the concealed carry issue that would
automatically repeal local public safety ordinances including Chicago’s
assault weapons ban. … The principle of home rule is an important one.
As written, this legislation is a massive overreach that would repeal
critical gun safety ordinances in Chicago, Cook County, and across
Illinois.”

Examining the 30 nay votes on SB 2193 finds that they are all Democrats and, with one exception, are all from Chicago, Cook County, or an adjoining county. The one exception was Rep. Charles Jefferson (D-Rockford).

The roll call of the votes is found here.

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Assaulted Theatrical Trailer

May 24, 2013 by 1 Comment

The Second Amendment documentary Assaulted: Civil Rights Under Fire has its theatrical debut on June 20th. They have just released the theatrical trailer for the film which is below.

The executive producer Kris Koenig was interviewed by FoxNews about the film yesterday.


“’Assaulted’ turns the gun debate around. It is a civil rights issue, and we take a look at the history of the Second Amendment. It’s a right that has been abused over the years and one that gets overlooked the most,” the film’s executive producer, writer and director, Kris Koenig, told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “It’s a self-defense right that gets distorted into self-offense. Our civil rights are very precious to us. The reason our country exists is to balance individual rights against the whole. It has kept our country safe.”

Narrated by Ice-T, the film features myriad voices on the topic. Nugent appears along with Dan Gross, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence,as well as UCLA professor and author Adam Winkler. The movie aims to take a critical look at our current gun laws, Koenig explained, and how the concept of people rising up against the government in the U.S. may not be so farfetched.

“When you look at what is happening with the IRS targeting certain groups, or the FBI looking into media phone records, you realize it doesn’t take a lot to push a government into tyranny. I’m not suggesting we are anywhere near that point now, but governments do break down,” Koenig cautioned. “Look at what happened after Hurricane Katrina, or the L.A riots. The government wasn’t there to protect the people, and Koreatown was left as something of a battleground. We see small incidences like this where the government does fail us.”

The Fox article also quotes one of our favorite “historians” and gun prohibitionists Ladd Everitt.

“Our chief concern with ‘Assaulted: Civil Rights Under Fire’ is its advocacy for ‘Second Amendment remedies’ – the perverted and treasonous idea that there is an individual right under the Second Amendment to threaten and/or initiate violence against government officials when one senses ‘tyranny,’ said Ladd Everitt, director of communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. “The film glorifies those who have employed political violence in the past and makes fraudulent historical claims.”

That should be enough to get most of us to go to the theater and I have not been in a movie theater since the year 2000!


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Just Because..

May 24, 2013 by 1 Comment

I’m posting this just because it entertained me. I love Greg Hickok aka Hickok45’s YouTube videos and this one is no exception. Who among us wouldn’t want to shoot a Sten submachine gun? I know ammo is in short supply but I’d scrounge the “ammo bunker” to find enough 9mm to go shooting for an afternoon with the Sten.

While you can’t legally make and register a new Sten under the NFA with the ATF thanks to the Hughes Amendment, full blueprints are available. If we ever enter a TEOTWAWKI (or the new acronym, WROL) period, I have no doubt that a competent machinist with a decent workshop including a milling machine could make one.

Below is an animation of the Sten firing. You can see that it is an open bolt, blowback operated, firing mechanism.


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Stage Planning For Steel Challenge With Doug Koenig

May 24, 2013 by

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has released another of its pistol training videos featuring champion shooter Doug Koenig. In this video, Koenig discusses how he approaches shooting a five-plate set-up. He also discusses alternatives to his way of shooting including one that is used successively by Max Michel. As Koenig makes clear, you need to take the approach that you feel most comfortable with shooting.

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Center For Biological Diversity Loses Again

May 24, 2013 by

The US District Court for the District of Columbia has dismissed the lawsuit brought by the Center for Biodiversity and other groups to force the Environmental Protection Agency to ban lead ammunition and lead fishing tackle.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation was granted permission to be an intervenor. It was their motion to dismiss the case that was granted. They have more on the case and the dismissal below:

U.S. District Court Dismisses
Lawsuit to Ban Traditional Ammunition

NEWTOWN, Conn. — The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today dismissed a lawsuit brought by the radical anti-hunting Center for Biological Diversity and six other groups demanding the Environmental Protection Agency ban traditional ammunition containing lead components.

Traditional ammunition represents 95 percent of the U.S. market and is the staple ammunition for target shooters, hunters and law enforcement, with more than 10 billion rounds sold annually.

NSSF filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit last August. The court today agreed with NSSF that EPA does not have the authority to regulate traditional ammunition under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

EPA had already twice denied attempts by CBD to have the agency ban traditional ammunition, and the court had dismissed an earlier case brought by CBD seeking the same relief.

“We are gratified that the court has found this second frivolous lawsuit, which is essentially the same as the one dismissed last year, was equally without merit,” said Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry. “This was a waste of taxpayers’ dollars and EPA resources spent in having to defend a baseless lawsuit.”

CBD’s serial petitioning of EPA and its repeated lawsuits were designed to cripple the shooting sports in America by banning the ammunition that millions of hunters and target shooters choose to use safely and responsibly.

“There is quite simply no sound science that shows the use of traditional ammunition has harmed wildlife populations or that it presents a health risk to humans who consume game taken with such ammunition,” said Keane. “Banning traditional ammunition would cost tens of thousands of jobs in America and destroy wildlife conservation that is funded in part by an 11 percent excise tax on the sale of ammunition. The protection and management of wildlife is properly handled by the professional biologists in the state fish and game agencies, as it has been for over a hundred years.

In addition to NSSF, the National Rifle Association, Safari Club International and the Association of Battery Recyclers intervened in the case.

Organizations that joined CBD in its lawsuit were the Cascades Raptor Center of Oregon, the Loon Lake Loon Association of Washington, Preserve Our Wildlife of Florida, Tennessee Ornithological Society, Trumpeter Swan Society and Western Nebraska Resources Council.

NSSF was represented by Roger Martella and Christopher Bell from Sidley Austin.