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Quote of the Day – Joe Huffman(10/9/2012)

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I think it’s doable. Won’t you help make my dream come true? It’s for the children.

Joe Huffman – The clock is ticking
October 8th, 2012

[It’s a worthy dream and important for the children of the future. Remember every time we create a smile like this:

Sarah Brady cries and they continue their decent into political irrelevancy.  Wont you think of the children and help throw a group of bigots into the dust bin of history.

Think about it, a generation who’s only knowledge of the Brady Campaign and CSGV will be that there is evil in the world that must be watched for and even if it’s found, it can be destroyed.

Donate, become active, continue the push.  Honestly I want to be able to buy a suppressor in the next 5 years and not have to wait for a year for a “stamp” so I can merely own a piece of safety equipment.  I think that is certainly within the realm of possibility.

Again, do it for the children.  Sarah Brady’s tears are just a bonus, a sweet, sweet bonus. -B]

Where’s the Kaboom!?

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I swear I’m beginning to feel like Marvin the Martian.

Now I know there won’t be a Kaboom, but our opponents keep on promising an equivalent and it never happens.

Almost no incidents have been reported involving concealed-carry permit holders, and there has been no spike in violence as predicted by some opponents concerned about the volatile mix of alcohol and guns.

What do  you mean there wasn’t a sudden increase in crime.  Our opponents promised blood in the streets, where is it!?  You mean that when the law was passed it followed the historical example of the past 20+ years where nothing happened?

Our opponents continue to bring the same old tired and false arguments to the table and are wondering why they are loosing so badly in their fight to infringe on the rights of people.  It’s obvious that they’re loosing because many of their supporters are descending into the second stage of grief.

After I went through 16 of the steps to register a gun earlier this year, I had to endure the 10-day waiting period to “cool off.” During that time, I received a terrifying call one evening. The stranger, whose number was blocked, left a minute-long voicemail.

“I know everything about you,” said the caller in a high-pitched voice. “I’ve been watching you. Your every step. I’m coming for you Emily.” Also, “I’m a crazy mother f–er. This is not a game. This is not for some f–ing scary f–ing movie. This is real business.” Finally the caller ended with, “Don’t you think of going to the police.”

This is the way our opponents behave when they’re loosing.  They say that we are the violent ones, yet they are the ones who regularly devolve into threats and violence.  Some have devolved into the third stage and are attempting to bargain, bargaining for an extra few minutes of life for their beloved cause.

They will get no sympathy from me. We bargained with them in the past and they took that inch and made it a mile.  We learned then and there they have no will to actually compromise or work together, their sole goal is the complete destruction of the right to keep and bear arms.

They can merely move on to depression and finally acceptance.  Our opponents must ultimately accept the fact that their bigoted view on rights was on the wrong side of history.

I wish the day that they finally implode would have an “earth shattering kaboom”, but alas I think they will just slowly fade into the dust bin of history.  Even once that happens it’s going to be a long road to undo the damage they have done and regain the full respect this right deserves.  I will fight tirelessly until that goal is achieved.

I suppose that when their irrelevance is sealed up, I can head out and make my own Kaboom!  I’ll make it a Bada-Big-Boom.

h/t David Hardy

Shooting Like A Girl…

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So I was browsing through footage from Boomershoot 2012 and there was a couple clips I had intended to use but forgot about.  You see when Anette heard there was a rifle caliber pistol, she looked all giddy when I told her that.  Then we warned her about all the things that could possibly go wrong, most importantly making sure you provide correct eye relief before the shot. 

Below is the video of Anette and Shelly teaching us how to shoot like a girl.

Yes, Anette squealed like a little girl and Shelly just turned around and rocked it like a boss.  Now in Anette’s defense, she hadn’t seen that pistol fired every.  She didn’t know really what to expect other than what we warned her about.  Well when you’re warned about it flying back punching people in the face, you get a bit apprehensive.   Shelly got the benefit of watching Anette shoot it so she knew exactly what to expect.  Never the less, it was fun for everyone there, even Anette!

At the end was my new production clip I’m going to put at the end of every video I do.  That was my first venture into the world of After Effects and over time I may add more but that was 100% done in house.  I recorded the sound and edited it, did the 3D animation, and did the effect for the writing.  The animation was the hardest part because for some reason my render would break about a quarter of the way through.  Finally I did it in a bunch of stills and then condensed it into a clip.  Also of note, creating models in Solidworks is much easier than Blender.  Honestly I think blender has to be the most counter intuitive UI I have ever encountered.  When you’re excuse is, you haven’t learned it, you’re doing it wrong.  It doesn’t even lend itself to playing to figure it out, that’s a freaking clue!

Quote of the Day–220ST

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What a fucking drama queen.
Try doing it over again with a duty holster duty belt and body armor like a LEO.
They act like a police qualification course is suppose to be the pinnacle of marksmanship.

220ST – Post on AR15.com Thread

[It appears he is probably the one that also posted a comment here.  My initial response can be seen here but I had a realization this morning.

From the point of view this video was done for it doesn’t freaking matter.  Obviously this man is deaf so I will write out what I stated at the beginning of the video.

This came about because a reader of his blog said the LAPD qualification course would be beyond the realm of capability of most non-law-enforcement shooters.

I don’t wear an LEO duty belt, body armor, every day so why the hell should I have to qualify with it?  The whole thing came about because of the reaction of someone who supports gun control.  She argued that the police meet a high standard of marksmanship and that we wouldn’t be able to match it.  I matched it, in my everyday carry gear.

Being a man of my word though, if you have a pile of duty gear you don’t want and are willing to donate to the cause, I will shoot the course again.

Further, there’s not running involved in the course so the extra weight doesn’t matter, the most is limited mobility, except there is only one stage that requires a draw so even then that doesn’t really matter

I do love AR15.com though, it does provide hours of entertainment and reminds me why I don’t usually bother with forums.

nice ND at 2:19 – notarpole

What ND?  It may have been a mike but it wasn’t an ND.  ND would have been over the berm or around the 180.  Try again there sparky!

Why do 90% of the people who make youtube videos involving guns have to have unusual choices in hair style and dress.
Don’t wear sunglasses or hats when talking to the camera, especially big sunglasses and Australian cowboy hats. The only thing he was missing was a duster and I bet he owns it.
Is that no-sideburn beard to keep his chin warm?
At least he’s well spoken. Dude is dressed for radio interviews. – Lomshek

At which point a couple people join in with Spartacus-boy’s rant.  I wore the hat and glasses because it’s easier than trying to find someone to do camera make up to take the glare off my head (I am bald, not by choice) and face.  Sorry my facial hair isn’t what you would like either, didn’t know I needed to call out for your approval.  Guess next time I’ll just wear a ball cap, aviators, a wife beater, and trim completely down to a goatee.  Sorry I didn’t want to have facial hair like everyone else in the world regularly has.  Pardon me for offending you!

At least a friend had my back:

Fucking fashion police.

Now there is one post that did get my attention:

First I will say that most cops suck at marksmanship
Second, that was not even close to the LAPD qual course and they are not using approved LAPD duty gear or firearms. –500SWshooter

If this wasn’t close the LAPD course of fire, please supply me with the latest version in the comments.  As for LAPD duty gear and firearms, see the comment above and the goal.  The argument is that every day shooters, who don’t regularly wear LAPD duty gear while carrying, couldn’t pass the course.

That said, I live a block from an FFL, send a duty arm to him and send me the duty gear and I’ll run it.  Put up or shut up.  If you’re willing to put up, contact me.

Overall though I was pleased to see the AR15.com thread for the most part other than the few outliers was positive and many were correcting others pointing out what the actual purpose of this exercise was.  -B]

Police Qualification Standards, Debunking the Myth

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So Joe talked about it at the beginning of the month.  I did as Ry suggested and put some extra effort into the video this time around.  It isn’t professional quality by any means though my skills are improving.  It was new unfamiliar software and there were tons of little features I wanted to play with.  I’m getting better with Adobe Premiere, next is After Effects.

So let me start off with a rehash of what we did and why we did it.

Last January a reader on Joe’s blog commented about the LAPD qualification being exceptional and that since they have to qualify every month it’s stringent.

Joe and I weren’t able to find a detailed description however she did and linked us to it. Joe then set about making stages.  You can find the stages here and here.  At this point we had everything we needed to run “a bunch of beer guzzling, uneducated hillbillies“, many of them were the same as before, through the course and see how they did.

Now Joe noted earlier that we had a 90% pass rate for those who scored above 60% and he’s right.  We did have a 90% pass rate at that score level, which is for qualifying in the dark.

Three people were just under the 70% mark, which is the LAPD pass requirement for daylight.  There however is another difference I couldn’t easily cover in the video.  You see the LAPD uses automatic turning targets for their qualification course.  For them it is impossible to have a scoring hit after the time limit is exceeded.

We didn’t have that option, instead we had to fall back on USPSA rules and penalties for shooting a fixed time course of fire.  What this means is that any shot fired after the second buzzer carries with it a penalty of -10 points.  Note the highest possible score for a single shot is 5 points.  So if you make up that shot the best you can do is be down 5 points if you hit an A.

This becomes a serious issue with single shot strings because most likely you will only fire one shot after the buzzer.  You have no extra shots to even out the debt and you just continue to decrease the score.  To give you an idea of how quickly this adds up, 5 penalties will result in a failing score.  So if you have trouble with the 2 shots in 2 seconds and are right on the edge, there’s three penalties.  Couple that with 4 misses on top of that and congrats you have failed.  It doesn’t even need to be full misses, just the aggregate non Alpha hits can add up and shove you under, especially if you’re shooting a minor caliber instead of major.

I know that at least 2 of the three failures had penalties for exceeding time limits, I would need to get the raw score sheets to see exactly how many there were for each shooter.  Though I suspect given their scores, if you change the penalty to -5 from -10, IE subtract just the best possible hit and just turn that shot into a mike, the three in the 60% region would most likely pass.

I think this quote from Tam puts it better than I could.

 I have yet to run across a standard LE qual course that couldn’t be passed by anybody who could stand flat-footed, aim at the ground, and hit it.

In twenty years of being in the firearms industry, I have had the opportunity to see LOTS of police officers shoot. Those that are good are generally good because they are also firearms enthusiasts and sport shooters in their spare time. Most cops aren’t.

In other words they are good shots in spite of being trained and certified by their department, not because of it.

Yup, that’s about how I felt about the LAPD course after I shot it.  Next on the list though is shooting the bonus course.  I’m not sure exactly when I’ll be able to do that but I’ll draw up the stages and may do it over a couple matches.  Doing it all in a single match makes for a lot of “standards” and much less puzzle solving.

The 2nd Amendment Foundation and You

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So I got an email from my friend Ray Carter at the Second Amendment Foundation this morning.

Unbeknownst to me there was a Kick Starter drive started for a film that is dear to our cause.

There’s 14 days left in their drive with a goal of $65,000 dollars.  Yeah times are tough on wallets, but you know what it’s also only going to get tougher for our right to keep an bear arms.

There is no question that California is dead center in the fight to keep an bear arms.  Every time I’m around other gun owners and the subject turns to our rights, inevitably the subject of California’s draconian laws comes into play.

If you have 10 bucks, kick into the bucket and you’ll get a digital copy of the film.  Hell, at just 50 you get a DVD and a crew T-Shirt.

How serious does the Second Amendment Foundation and Calguns Foundation consider this project?

The Second Amendment Foundation and the Calguns Foundation have each contributed $5,000.00 to get this project off the ground. 

Let’s get this project completely airborne and complete their goal.  This is something that definitely needs to be spread around.  Tell your friends, tell your relatives, make this happen, it isn’t just California in trouble.  California is merely the front line. 

Quote of the Day – A Girl and Her Gun (9/19/2012)

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The most dangerous thing about these people is that they want to affect our minds. They want to convince us that we do not matter. That we have no value. That if we were truly decent and caring people we would care more about the man trying to shove parts of his body into you or me by force than our right not to have that happen.

A Girl and Her Gun – You Have Worth

September 19th, 2012

[I find it interesting that our opponents arguments are exactly as A Girl points out more and more.  There is little to question about the way our opponents view criminals and the law-abiding.  Their views are that the life of the criminal is worth more than the person who is being violated.

How sad is it when their position in the argument is that you should let the criminal violate you and then the state will give him “due process”.  I don’t think he really understands how the legal system works.  Due process isn’t a method to argue against self-defense.  Due process is a legal term to protect the innocent from the force of the state.  Due process only applies within the realm of the state.  A criminal does not get entitled to have a jury vote thumbs up or down before their victim can fight back.  The victim is a one man jury and the state will apply due process on that one man jury.

What does this mean for criminals?  It means that if a criminal tries to kill someone, the victim can try to kill them right back.  In the eyes of the law and due process, the victim will be justified in their actions while the criminal will not.

Never mind that the particular individual who brought about this argument failed reading comprehension 101.  As I told A Girl yesterday regarding his commentary on “due process”:

WTFO? I think I just killed brain cells trying to make that supposedly logical leap…

It is unbelievable how willfully our opponents voice their distaste for the law-abiding while embracing, defending, and supporting criminals. -B]

Why do you carry a gun?

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Recently an individual asked me why I carried a firearm in little old Pullman.  He was an elderly gentleman and I went through the standard statements:

  • No where is safe, I probably wont need it but it’s better to have it.
  • It’s like a fire extinguisher or first aid kid.
  • It’s a lighter burden than regret.

He made a comment that a fire extinguisher was safer than a firearm.  At which point I chuckled and said, CO2 in a confined space in a basement can easily kill you.  It’s just that the fire can kill you just the same.  My firearm has never jumped from its holster or magically discharged without my somehow being involved.  Though fire extinguishers if not properly maintained can burst on their own.

I bring this up because I saw this come across my news reader:

Police Chief David Duke said employees inside the restaurant were confronted by a man with a handgun wearing a mask and dark hoodie after responding to a knock at the door around 10 a.m. The man forced the four employees into the walk-in freezer and locked them in without saying anything, said Duke. One employee used their cellphone to contact law enforcement while another notified the manager of the Pullman restaurant.

Now why would an individual rob Pizza Hut?

Pizza Hut made the most money in its history Monday night when it hosted the The Sonia Todd FUNdraiser Day. Todd is a mother of two who was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer.

So here’s the deal folks.  There is evil in the world.  There are those who would hurt others merely for the thrill of doing so.  These people don’t just exist in particular geographic or social areas, they can be found anywhere.  This incident occurred earlier this year in Pullman.

The bottom line is the real world isn’t wrapped in bubble wrap.  Sometimes evil shows up not just in your neighborhood but on your very doorstep.  Some would rather not worry about self-defense and consider the probability of evil finding them so small it is not worth the effort.  That is their choice and their choice alone.

My issue with that choice is that the effort to prepare for a fight against evil isn’t that difficult a task, recovering and becoming whole again after encountering evil is a mountain.  That mountain is even more treacherous if you were un-prepared to begin with.

As Sean said,

When I reach the Pearly Gates, I want the first thing I will hear to be “Unload and show clear.” I don’t ever want to hear, “Why weren’t you carrying your gun?” Or worse “Because you weren’t carrying, your wife will be along as soon as her killer finishes up.”

So why do I need to carry a gun?  Because I want to stack the deck in my favor as much as I possibly can.  I will do this so I can fight every last step of the way against anyone that would bring violence to my door.

Why?  Because I am worth it.