Sheriff Joe Doubles Down

Our affable vice president Joe Biden doubles-down on stupid in this interview where he tells people in a self-defense situation, just shoot through the door.  Really.

I said, “Well, you know, my shotgun will do better for you than your AR-15, because you want to keep someone away from your house, just fire the shotgun through the door.” 

Yeah, that should please the mailman to no end.  Sterling self defense advise from a guy who is one heartbeat away from the Presidency.

Joe Biden's going to give this poor eagle a heart-attack.

In other news, Mario Cuomo, the gun-banning governor of New York is already backpedaling on his newest gun-control law, if you're from the motion picture business.

He said movies and TV may use fake guns that wouldn’t be subject to the new law but the industry wants “certainty.” The revised law would allow them to use real weapons without real ammunition. “There’s no reason not to make a change like that to give an industry comfort, especially when it’s an industry we want to do business in the state,” the governor said.

Well, yeah.  Laws are for the little people.

Thursday rambling

I see that the Senate confirmed Jack Lew for Treasury.  Excuse me if I don't get excited.  This is a yawner of substantial proportions.  He's not going to do a good job, but he's the man that Obama wants.  Like Hagel in  Defense, how Obama picks his cabinet is a bit of a head-scratcher.  Unless you are actively planning to destroy a nation, it's hard to understand the choices.

The Senate is, of course, a lapdog to the President, so they'll confirm whomever he sends up the hill.  There's a special place in hell for Harry Reid, who hasn't done his job in over 1400 days.

However, on the up-side, today it appears that the weather will cooperate and PawPaw will actually get to watch a girl's softball game today.  I like softball, so this afternoon's detail should be fun.  Tomorrow, I've got our track meet and while I don't particularly enjoy track-and-field, it's part and parcel of the job.

I was remarking to a co-worker that I really need to get out and shoot.  It's been a while since I felt recoil, and I need the therapy.

It's a Gun, It's a Gadget

This article over at Wired magazine explains the appeal of the AR15 to today's modern sportsman.

In the past two decades, the AR-15 has evolved into an open, modular gun platform that’s infinitely hackable and accessorizable. With only a few simple tools and no gunsmithing expertise, an AR-15 can be heavily modified, or even assembled from scratch, from widely available parts to suit the fancy and fantasy of each individual user. In this respect, the AR-15 is the world’s first “maker” gun, and this is why its appeal extends well beyond the military enthusiasts that many anti-gun types presume make up its core demographic.

That's true.  I've always considered the AR15 to be like lego for grownups, like Barbie for men.  

Completing the gun-as-PC analogy, the AR-15 community even has its own operating system flame war — users literally refer to a critical part of the gun as the “operating system” — with proponents of the traditional direct gas impingement operating system facing off against newfangled piston operating system fanboys in gun forums across the internet. The debate has become so played out on AR forums that most threads on the topic now end fairly quickly, with a plea that the original poster just use Google. “We have had a gazillion threads on this comparison,” writes user ArtEatman in a recent Firing Line thread on the topic. “So far, there is no ‘preponderance of evidence’ after bunches and bunches of posts on both sides of the squabble that either one is better than the other.”

That's true, there is still disagreement over which OS is better for the system.  I'm a fan of DI (direct impingement) for all sorts of good reasons, but I understand the arguments of the guys who like piston guns.

Go read the whole article.  It is from the perspective of a guy who is not a gun-nut, but who found that he could shoot the AR very well.  I think, in the end, that's both the appeal of the system (for gun nuts) and the horror of the system (for the hoplophobes)..  The AR system is one that's extremely easy to use.  I've never introduced a new shooter to the AR system that they didn't come away with a big grin on their face.

Cool Photos

I love these photos and I've shamelessly stolen them from SondraK, who owns the blog linked.  If you're looking for an interesting read, go over there are surf around.  But first, two fotos that I filched from her.

Which is the way I feel about this administration, Joe Biden excepted.  Sheriff Joe deserves a better photo than that, and SondraK always satisfies.

That cracks me up.  And perfectly mirrors my response to Biden's ramblings.

Goblin Down

From Fox News Dallas, we get this heartwarming tale of a long-time criminal, 33, named Deyfon Pipkins, tried to climb in a window of a home.  The elderly owner inside saw him and fired one shot, ending Deyfon's criminal career.

As the police do, they came by,  gathered the corpse, then went to notify Deyfon's family of his timely demise.  It seems that the family is upset though, because they showed up at the scene.

He could have used a warning," Lakesha Thompson, Pipkins' sister-in-law, said. "He could have let him know that he did have a gun on his property and he would use it in self-defense."

That's certainly true, Lakesha.  He could also have invited him in and gave him a beer, then helped him cart the TV out to the curb.  Unfortunately for Deyfon, Texas is a Castle Doctrine state, and the homeowner chose to shoot Deyfon, as it is right and proper to do.  For that matter, Lakesha, you could have warned Deyfon "Deyfon, you need to quit breakin' into those peoples houses and stealin' they stuff.  Someone is goin' to pop a cap in yo' ass!" which is just exactly what happened.  It's your fault, Lakesha, for not warning Deyfon.

This bunch sounds like a bunch of damned Democrats to me.

The Human Interface

The human interface of the F-22 jet fighter is so bad that it tries to kill the pilot, yet the airplane is smart enough to bring your corpse home.

the human interface is so bad that it actively tries to kill you the entire time you’re using it, and so good that it can deliver your comatose body back to safety with no help from you at all. 

The AR15, on the other hand, has a wonderful human interface:

 The AR-15, has such a “good” UX that even an untrained lunatic can use the technology with hellish effectiveness

It makes you wonder about the things the military makes.  When I was training in tanks, they routinely reminded us that tanks were designed to kill people, both our enemies and the crew.

Sunday Morning Dawg

After hellacious rain all week, Saturday turned off very nice, sunny and breezy and mild.  Altogether a wonderful day.  The dog wanted to go outside to check the mail, so I brought the camera along.

He's not sure how to get to the mail, but he likes sniffing the bottom of the mailbox post.  It must be a territorial thing.

Everything seems to be okay, so he heads back toward the house.  He didn't manage to get the mailbox open, so I'll do that later.

Sequester?

Oh, the sequester!  The humanity!  The absolute tragedy of the cuts to government.  Thousands of workers laid off, lots of problems in airports, everything is going to grind to a halt.  If you believe any of that, we need to talk about a bridge I'm trying to sell.

They're not cutting anything, simply slowing the growth of government.  This whole sequester problem is only a problem if you believe that government should grow every year at a set rate.  This graphic from George Mason University shows how they intend to cut government under the sequester.

That looks like quite a cut, doesn't it?  Such a cut that government continues to grow.  No, dear friends, our problem is that we elected a President who doesn't understand that cutting a budget entails spending less money than we spent last year.

Mr. President, we intend for you to cut a trillion dollars from next year's budget, not simply slow the growth of government, but to actually use smaller numbers than you used last year.  A trillion dollars in next year's budget would be a good step.  A good first step.

And In Oregon

It looks like the Oregon legislature is trying to one-up Washington and California on legislation to prohibit modern firearms with cosmetic features that are scary to some people.  Courtesy of Hot Air, we learn that HB 3200, if passed into law will require that scary-looking weapons and standard ammo boxes will be banned from the state.  If a citizen desires to keep one, it will be registered.  If it is registered, "the department" will be required to inspect the premises to make sure that the modern rifle and the ammo boxes are properly stored.

The department may conduct inspections of registered owners of assault weapons and large capacity magazines to ensure compliance with the storage requirements of section 4of this 2013 Act.

That ain't the worst.  Because this law is such high-priority, and it's the public safety is so urgent, they want to declare an emergency.

SECTION 6. This 2013 Act being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this 2013 Act takes effect on its passage.

This law is ripe for a smack-down.  It violates the Constitution on so many levels that I can't begin to enumerate them.  The one thing that strikes me most about laws of this nature is that The People seem to accept that laws such as this will be proposed, and the legislators that propose them don't seem to have any fear of push-back.  The People of Oregon are evidently willing to elect legislators to the state house that don't have any concern for the rights of those same People.  The People who elect such legislators are despicable.

The Real Agenda

Democrats in Washington are pushing an agenda where if a person owns a modern rifle the Sheriff can come in and check to make sure that it is stored properly.

There is no need for a warrant; there is no probable cause requirement; and the Seattle Times columnist writing about this clearly unconstitutional law observes that the sponsors include “Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, a lawyer who typically is hyper-attuned to civil-liberties issues.”

That's the agenda, ladies and gentleman.  Violations of both the Second and Fourth Amendments, couched as a public safety argument.  Imagine the furor if an elected representative from Louisiana, Alabama, or Texas proposed that the police be required to inspect homosexuals homes to make sure that they weren't abusing little boys and girls?

The Democrats want full control and a ban on certain firearms that  many of us find useful, interesting, and perfectly legal, but Washington Democrats are willing to abuse the Fourth Amendment to advance their agenda.  This isn't the first time they've tried, either.  This is about control, plain and simple.

Virtual SOTU

Bill Whittle gives a virtual State of the Union address.

Would that we had politicians who thought as clearly as Bill, or enunciated their beliefs as plainly.  It's only 7:25.  Click on it below and watch it.



After watching this, ever member of Congress should be ashamed of themselves.

Chicken Salad

One the way home today I started jonesing for a chicken salad, so when I passed by the grocers I stopped and picked up the fixin's.  When I got home I did the chopping and put it all together.

Ingredients.
One rotisserated chicken
Half an onion
Two eggs, hard-boiled
4T Hellman's Light mayonnaise

Prep.
Peel that chicken from the bone.  Chop the meat.
Peel the shell off those eggs.  Chop the eggs.
Peel the husk off that onion.  Chop that onion.
Dump everything in a bowl, add the mayo.
Stir.
Salt and pepper to taste.

When I was at the store, I also picked up a loaf of fresh whole-wheat bread, and a box of whole-wheat Ritz crackers.  And a bag of Lay's potato chips.

Chicken salad and chips.  It's what's for supper.

Now, I declare Happy Hour.  I think I'll sit near a window and watch it rain.

Gas Prices

I went to fill the pickup truck earlier this week, and I found that gas prices have jumped about 30 cents a gallon locally to $3.50 per gallon.  Damn!  I'm not the only one who has noticed, as this article tries to explain the phenomena.

I do note, for the record, that when George W. Bush left office, gas was at $1.68 per gallon locally.  Now, at $3.50, President Obama has more than doubled the price of gasoline, in line with his stated goals.  His energy secretary thinks that Green Energy is the way to go, and he's holding up drilling on federal land, failing to approve the Keystone Pipeline, and generally causing higher energy prices at a time when America has more energy than we've ever had.  As a matter of fact the Obama administration has said that they'd like to get gasoline prices to $8.00 per gallon.

In fact, he said that "somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe," which are in the neighborhood of $8 a gallon.

President Obama doesn't believe in cheap energy. Period. He wants to bankrupt us all. All you folks who voted for him can thank him at the pump.

Voter Fraud

Why is it that the face of voter fraud is always Democratic?

"Yes, I voted twice," Richardson told WCPO-TV. "I, after registering thousands of people, certainly wanted my vote to count, so I voted. I voted at the polls." Authorities also are investigating if she voted in the names of four other people, too, for a total of six votes in the 2012 presidential election.

 These folks are shameless.

Manufacturers Support

Manufacturers who support the 2nd Amendment are very cognizant of the problems we freedom-loving people face right now.  Many of us believe that the police are simply citizens who do full time what every citizen should do part-time.  Many of us look on disgust with the laws that allow police to have things that law-abiding citizens cannot have.  The manufacturers are supporting the 2nd Amendment by restricting sales to law enforcement and state agencies to just exactly those items that the citizens of that state are allowed to purchase.

As far as I can tell, LaRue Tactical started this boycott with a simple Facebook post.

Effective today, in an effort to see that no legal mistakes are made by LaRue Tactical and/or its employees, we will apply all current State and Local Laws (as applied to civilians) to state and local law enforcement / government agencies. In other words, LaRue Tactical will limit all sales to what law-abiding citizens residing in their districts can purchase or possess.

State and local laws have always been a serious focus of this firm, and we are now dovetailing that focus with the constitutional rights of the residents covered in their different areas by the old and new regulations. 
State and local laws have always been a serious focus of this firm, and we are now dovetailing that focus with the constitutional rights of the residents covered in their different areas by the old and new regulations. 

LaRue Tactical posted that on February 8th.  As far as I can tell, the following manufacturers/retailers have followed suit.
Olympic Arms
Extreme Firepower LLC
Templar Custom
Cheaper Than Dirt
Smith Enterprise
 Spikes Tactical
Alex Arms
York Arms

There is a rumor that Midway USA is considering joining the boycott.  If you've got a few minutes, drop Larry Potterfield a line.  I'm sure that he knows about the boycott and we'd love to see him on board.  Midway's contact page is here.  Send an email.

Now, if we could get Glock, Smith & Wesson, Colt, and Remington on board, maybe the state legislatures would start to see the light.

Coffee's Dripping

The coffee is dripping and I'm looking forward to when the pot quits gurgling.  In another hour I'll pull on my boots (well, tennis shoes, actually, that foot isn't ready for boots yet) and head toward the school house.  The weather is calling for sunny skies, moderate temperatures and gentle breezes.  Today we have our first home game for the softball season, so I'll work that game before I head home.  Baseball starts next week.

Good Times.  I grew up playing baseball and I enjoy the time I spend at the ball park.  Of all the extra time I work during the school year, I enjoy this time of year most.

Time to get that cup of Joe.  Y'all have a wonderful day.

Sunday Morning Dawg

On the stroll to get the newspaper this morning, I am reminded how shaggy the dog has become.  That's a damned shame.

Especially when you look at him from head-on, he looks like a dust mop come to life.

He does enjoy the brisk morning air and the bright sunshine.  As do I.  We're having a gorgeous weekend and hope that everyone has a wonderful Sunday.

The Shortage

I was on the way home from work yesterday when my son called on the cellphone.  He told me that he was at the Alexandria Indoor Range, and they had primers.  Really?  "Yeah, Pop, I'm here now and they've got primers in stock."

"I'll be there in half an hour."  I turned the truck around and headed for the range.  When I got there the guy told me that, indeed, he had received a delivery of primers (40,000) earlier in the week and had sold about half of them in the intervening days.  I picked up 2,000 large pistol primers for about what I could have gotten them for online, less the HAZMAT charges.

I haven't used many pistol primers since summer ended.  I've been hunting and working with the rifles.  However, in another month it will be springtime, when a man's eye turns toward pistol work.  My stocks are woefully low on .45 ACP, .38 Special, and .44 magnum.  So, with primers in hand, my search turns toward bullets.  There are non available anywhere I can see, but I do have my molds, my lead pots and a stock of raw lead.  So, PawPaw had best get busy casting bullets if he wants to tune-up his pistolcraft for the springtime shooting season.

I'm still reloading on a single stage press (for almost two decades) and I'm thinking about upgrading to a turret press for pistol work, simply to speed up the process.  The one I'm looking at is here, but like everything else they're out of stock.  Just Damn.

UPDATE:  Now, tell me there's a bullet shortage.  At 11:00 this morning after a session with my lead pot, I managed to produce this.

That's a mixed pile of 230 grain .45 ACP bullets and 158 grain .38 caliber bullets.  If I do this for a couple of afternoons a week during February, I'll have enough bullets for the springtime shooting season.  I'm using two-cavity molds that I've had for years and looking online I notice that molds are hard to find as well as reloading supplies.  Now, to start scrounging more lead.

Muskets

Let's talk about muskets, specifically the muskets that were in common use in 1789 when our Constitution was ratified.  I refer to the British Army's Land Pattern Musket, commonly called the Brown Bess.  It threw a .71 caliber round ball and was generally considered effective to 100 yards.  An infantryman could get off three or four shots per minute and the rifle dictated the military tactics of the day, which generally consisted of long ranks of men standing in line, shooting at one another.  Very effective for its day, it was the general use musket of several armies, to include our own Continental army.  We're not sure how many were made, they were still being produced in limited numbers in 1854.

I hear people talking about the Second Amendment, and the quote goes something like this: "At the time the Constitution was written, the weapons in question were muskets." That's true. When the Constitution was ratified, most armies used the Brown Bess. However, when the Constitution was ratified, the Founders also wrote in Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. In those days, there were no internets, nor televisions, nor radio. Electronically amplified speech was unheard of. The Freedom of Speech was limited to how far a person could shout. Also in those days, Ben Franklin had a pretty good idea of what a press should look like

The Freedom of the Press was limited by how much paper Dr. Franklin could shove into that machine every day and how much his delivery boy could carry.  Ben could print anything he wanted, but getting it to the people was a bit of a problem.

Marriage was considered a union between a man and a woman.  Only white male property owners could vote.  Slavery was an established fact.

So, if the argument is that the Second Amendment was about muskets, I'll propose that the first Amendment was about spoken speech and screw-type presses.  That marriage was about a man and a woman, and that voting rights were about white male property owners.  How long to you think those arguments would fly?

No, dear readers, the Second Amendment wasn't about muskets.  It was about commonly used military arms.  The Founders were smart enough to realize that science and technology, along with the social sciences would march forward and they gave us enough leeway to absorb all those technological changes in the document that founds our government.

If you want to read more, go read Mad Mike, who lays it out for you.  And, for all my liberal friends, if you want me to support your pet causes, don't let me hear any more about muskets and the Second Amendment.  Unless you're willing to give up your cell phones, your twitter, your facebook.  The First Amendment doesn't cover any of those.  Oh, your voting rights are at risk also, unless you're a white male property owner.

Let Freedom Ring.

Back In Harness

I got up this morning, drank coffee, then put on a uniform, strapped on a gun belt and headed for the school house.  Walked into the place like I'd never left and went to work.  Quiet day.  I love a quiet shift, excitement is something that nobody wants at a school house, especially the cop.  The quieter the better.

Shooting Tuesday

Younger son called me this morning, said that he wanted to function fire a little pistol he's considering.  I also wanted to test fire my chromed 1911, so I told him to come on to the house and we'd run out to our private range and give the pistols a shakedown between rain storms.  He showed up about 9:00 and the rain stopped long enough for us to set up some targets and put lead downrange.

Here he's test firing the little pistol he's thinking about buying.  It's a Diamondback in 9mm and he has it on loan until he makes up his mind on it.

Here he's running that chromed 1911.  It ran good, but I've got an issue with the slide stop.  About half the time the slide locks back, about half the time it doesn't.  I may have to invest in a new slide stop for that pistol, or I may have to tweak the magazine.  It's too early to tell, and a slide stop issue doesn't affect how the gun runs.  It ran just fine.

Next, we got out a CO2 BB gun, posted a target, and let little man shoot.  He'd been singsoning the Four Rules all morning and his dad had promised him some trigger time as well.

After firing, we walked downrange to his target and he was mighty pleased with the results.  Granted, we started off at seven (7) feet, but two in the bullseye ain't bad at all for a low powered gun with a lousy trigger.

He needs to work on his stance, along with his sight alignment and trigger squeeze, but I know plenty of folks who need to work on those thing.  We've got time to teach him.

Default

I normally don't follow news from Illinois, because I frankly don't plan to go to the state, or to Chicago.  It's impossible to carry a gun in that state and Chicago.. well.. enough said about Chicago.  However, it looks like there's some interesting news there.  It seems that in December, a federal appeals court struck down most of the prohibitions in the state as unconstitutional and told the legislator they had six months to come up with a plan.  The clock is ticking, and if something isn't done by June 10th, it looks like Illinois, and Chicago with it, will revert to Constitutional Carry.

Oh, wouldn’t that it be rich if this comes to pass? Illinois Republicans are forcing Illinois Democrats to consider “shall issue” concealed carry legislation without exemptions for Cook County or Chicago. If Democrats don’t compromise by June 10, they lose everything, and the citizens of Illinois will be able to carry any gun, any time, anywhere.

So, if the Dems don't cooperate the Repubs won't cooperate either and in June, the law reverts.  In this case, gridlock is a good thing.

Let Freedom Ring.

Hat tip: Say Uncle.

Crutches Update - Final

Went to the Doc late yesterday afternoon and he looked at the burnt foot, declared my progress satisfactory, and said that I could go back to work.  I'm able to wear socks and shoes.  Most of the time I don't have any pain and although I still limp a little bit, I've dispensed with the cane.  Today, Tuesday, is a state holiday, so I'm off for one more day, but I called my boss yesterday afternoon and told him I'd be back at work on Wednesday morning.

Today is Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras and the weather in Louisiana is not cooperating.  Where we normally make the drive to Mamou and Eunice for small town Mardi Gras, today I'm going to stay inside and watch the rain.  However, this is the day that south Louisiana celebrates the last day before Lent, where we give thanks and party so that we can prepare ourselves for the Easter season.  Do not confuse the New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration with the traditional small-town Mardi Gras.  Although each is a valid celebration, in the flat prairies of south Louisiana, the celebration is much, much different.



I have much to be thankful for this Easter season.

NY Times Notices

The rising voice of gun ownership is female, according to the New York Times.

Women’s participation in shooting sports has surged over the last decade, increasing by 51.5 percent for target shooting from 2001 to 2011, to just over 5 million women, and by 41.8 percent for hunting, according to the National Sporting Goods Association. Gun sales to women have risen in concert. In a survey last year by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, 73 percent of gun dealers said the number of female customers had gone up in 2011, as had a majority of retailers surveyed in the two previous years.

That mirrors my experience.  In our household, the women are becoming shooters.  Two daughters-in-law have taken their concealed permit and one of my sisters likewise carries with a permit.  Yesterday at Sunday lunch, while grandkids played on the living room floor, we talked about the various pros and cons of the Glock and the Springfield XD.  One daughter-in-law pronounced a decided preference for the XD and announced her plan to purchase one soon.  She already owns several handguns and was talking about which one she'd sell to acquire the Springfield.

My sister-in-law began hunting several years ago.  She now owns a really nice custom Remington 700 in .260 Remington and she's four-for-four on whitetail deer.  I wouldn't want her shooting at me; she can drive nails with that thing.

Milady has her pistols, and I have mine.  I haven't gotten Milady to the deer stand yet, but she knows how to use the revolver in her vehicle.  Any goblin who tries to hijack my lady who is only 5'2" would have made a severe miscalculation.

I reference Oleg Volk recently, and I notice that a lot of his models are female.  Here's another.

The rising voice of gun ownership is female.  Let Freedom Ring.

Benedict to Retire

According to both CNN and Yahoo News, it seems that Pope Benedict has decided to resign the ministry.

 "Strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me," the pope told the cardinals, according to the Vatican.

A little Googling shows that the last Pope to resign was Pope Gregory, in 1415.  So, there is precedent and the Church normally takes the long view.  However, I bet that the Vatican is in a tizzy this morning.  It will be interesting to watch the selection process, as it's always interesting to watch the Church select a Pope.

Calm Down!

The manhunt for whatshisname continues in California, and the police are jumpy.  Unfortunately, the good officers of Torrance CA have wrecked a pickup truck and shot at a man that turns out to not be whatshisname.

David Perdue was on his way to sneak in some surfing before work Thursday morning when police flagged him down. They asked who he was and where he was headed, then sent him on his way.
Seconds later, Perdue's attorney said, a Torrance police cruiser slammed into his pickup and officers opened fire; none of the bullets struck Perdue.

 Simply a case of mistaken identity?

His pickup, police later explained, matched the description of the one belonging to Christopher Jordan Dorner — the ex-cop who has evaded authorities after allegedly killing three and wounding two more. But the pickups were different makes and colors. And Perdue looks nothing like Dorner: He's several inches shorter and about a hundred pounds lighter. And Perdue is white; Dorner is black.

What?  Torrance police wrecked and shot a pickup truck that was a different make and color, and they injured a man who was also a different make and color?

"As you know, officers of the Torrance Police Department attempted to kill Mr. Perdue" Thursday, the attorneys wrote in a letter to the agency's chief.

 This marks the second time that police have shot up the wrong pickup truck, injuring people in the process.  The first time it was two women delivering papers, this other incident was a white guy.  Just for the record, the guy they're looking for is neither female, skinny, nor white.  It's hard as hell to claim mistaken identity.

No, the cops in California are jumpy as hell and they need to calm down, check a picture of their fugitive, and take a deep breath.  They can't endanger the citizens they're sworn to protect.  The manhunt for whathisname is starting to look like a Chinese fire-drill.  My apologies to the Chinese.

Sunday Morning Dawg

It's early Sunday morning, and I'm sitting at the computer, pre-daylight when I suddenly remember that I haven't posted a Sunday Dawg.  The sisters will be upset, so I go about stalking the dog with a camera.  I find him in my easy chair.

The dog looks at me like I'm going to eject him from the chair.  "What are you doing, old man?  Cripping around with that camera?"

That is my chair, after all, but the dog seems to think that he has some claim to it.

Daily Reads

I don't talk too much about the blogs I read on a daily basis.  Some of them are in my right sidebar, but some of them aren't.  One that I read more than occasionally is Oleg Volk's blog.  Oleg is a photographer by trade and a gun-nut by inclination, and he's done great work over the years combining the two.  He's done some great work for the 2nd Amendment, and he's very talented with his lens.  Just one example of his work.

While the quote is probably apocryphal, the way Oleg puts together the images and the evocation of the quote is interesting.  So, when PawPaw is uninteresting, if you want to see good photogrraphy, go over to Oleg's blog and look around.  Interesting stuff there.

More on Dorner's Rampage

I don't like using the names of hate-filled, misogynistic, demented murders, but it's useful to differentiating between hate-filled, misogynistic, demented murderers.  ABC News has the latest here.  SO, lets review what we know about this guy.

Ex-military.  Yep.  Former cop.  Yeah.  Never adjudicated for mental issues.  Yeah.  Never convicted of a felony.  Yeah.  Loves Obama, Loves Piers Morgan, thinks gun control is a good idea.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I do notice that the LAPD is acting very poorly, shooting up women trying to deliver the newspapers.  That's sad and if an armed citizen had acted this poorly, any prosecutor would be charging them with every crime on the books.  Someone is in deep kimchi over that lapse, and rightfully so.

Hot Air is all over this story, from the perspective of the left's double standard on gun violence.

But, here's my question on this murderous bastard as part of our national conversation.  How would anything currently proposed have stopped this guy?  Is there anything in the proposed laws from Feinstein, et al, that might have prevented this outrage?

Left-Wing Hate

So, this guy used the Southern Poverty Law Center's list of hate groups to decide which victims to target..

This guy confesses that he learned to hate white people in college.

And today, this guy is citing left-wing hate as he goes around killing cops.  He's making arguments for gun control online while killing people.  Great argument.

…give Piers Morgan an indefinite resident alien and Visa card. Mr. Morgan, the problem that many American gun owners have with you and your continuous discussion of gun control is that you are not an American citizen and have an accent that is distinct and clarifies that you are a foreigner. I want you to know that I agree with you 100% on enacting stricter firearm laws

 Does anyone see a disconnect here?  Why is the Left so hate-filled?  Another question?  Where is the media on these atrocities?

Education and Lawyers

If you read Instapundit, you'll read about current topics and problems in education.  As Glenn Reynolds is a professor of law, he covers legal education pretty well.  However, a current article in the Atlantic talks about problems with law-school grads finding work.

There was a time that graduating from law school meant that you had a fairly sure shot of landing gainful employment as an attorney. No longer. Since the recession, the fraction of new J.D.s finding a full-time job requiring a state bar license withered from roughly 74 percent down to less than 60 percent. That tumble is depicted in the chart below, which compares how the classes of 2007 and 2011 fared on the job market, based on data compiled by the National Association for Legal Placement. 

I've got a degree in Business Administration, but that doesn't mean that I've ever worked in retail.  No, my degree was more a vehicle to a commission in the Army, and my graduate work was done to get the most value out of the GI Bill.  However, I understand the problem with folks who get an education and are unable to find employment in their field.  If you're an Art History major, or an English major, you might not be able to find employment in your field.   There is an old joke that went around when I was an undergrad.  "What phrase does a psychology major use most during his first job?   Would you like fries with that?"

These days, STEM degrees are the most marketable, but not everyone wants to study STEM.  However, we can assume that law-school grads are fairly intelligent and that they know how to do research.  Assuming that they pass the bar exam, they're licensed to practice law.   So, the question becomes; Why don't those folks who can't find jobs, simply hang a shingle and start practicing law?

I remember when the one-person law office was the standard, and I don't see any reason why an attorney couldn't practice law out of his one-man office.

Or, am I missing something?

By The Numbers

Sunlight Foundation takes a look at the Senate debate over gun control, and it assigns numbers to some of the key Senators, where 10 is likely to support gun control and 0 is unlikely to support gun control.  I was interested to see that it has our own senator, "Katrina" Mary Landrieu rated with a score of 8.71 of 10 possible, as supporting gun reform.

I doubt their numbers.  Senator Landrieu knows that gun control is a non-starter in Louisiana, and she's going to face re-election in 2014.  Mary knows, or should know, that a vote for gun control would be a huge distraction during her re-election campaign.  Louisiana is probably the most gun-friendly state in the Untion.  We recently expanded gun rights by amending our state Constitution and we now have some of the best gun laws in the country.  Louisiana also hosts a television show, Swamp People, where folks routinely use firearms for pleasure, sustenance, and business.  Louisiana is very gun-friendly.

I've accused Mary Landrieu of a lot of things, but I've never accused her of being stupid.  Mary knows that the Second Amendment is strong in Louisiana and we believe that those rights are sacrosanct.  If Mary votes against us, she may as well retire from politics before we retire her from politics.

Crutches Update

I went to see the Doc today.  Milady was off performing other chores so I did this visit without my nurse..  Doc showed up, asked where Milady was, and I reminded him that she was working for him today.  Okay.  He turned and left the room, then came back with bandage materials and those purple gloves that surgeons wear.

He cut the bandage off my foot, then balled the gauze in a knot and commenced to scrubbing my foot like it was a dirty frying pan.

":Damn, Doc!"  I hollered, "Hold on!  Crap!  What the hell are you doing?"

"Don't tell me how to do surgery!"

"I'm not telling you how to do surgery, I'm telling you it hurts."

He started bandaging the foot.  "I'm getting that dead skin off the wound.  Doesn't that look better/"

I looked at my foot, raw, red like a crawfish.  "Oh, yeah, that looks a lot better."  I had to admit, all that dead skin was gone.  Vanished under his pot-scrubbing method.  Whether it looked better or not is a surgical conclusion I'm not qualified to make.

"You'll be off work another week, then I'll probably release you.  See you next Monday."

Okay.  That's why I have sick leave.

More on the Shortage

Speaking of the ammo shortage, John Hinderaker, at Power Line blog has a few thoughts.

So what is going on? In part, certainly, the perception of a potential shortage due to the policies of the Obama administration has led to the reality of a shortage, as everyone started to stock up. I can understand the mentality: if I wandered into a gun store and found that they had just put 1,000 9 mm rounds on the shelf, I would buy them all. But does that fully explain what is happening? How about the fact that government agencies are buying up billions of rounds? There have been lots of news reports and lots of rumors, but no clear explanation of why the federal government has invested so massively in ammunition–including the most popular civilian calibers–over the last year. One way or another, it seems that there is a story here. But for it to be pursued, we would need “reporters.” Remember them? Nah, that was a bygone era: you probably don’t.

Why is the United States buying billions of rounds of ammunition?  If you follow the link in the above paragraph, you come to an Examiner page which tells us, in part:

The DHS has so far refused to say why they are purchasing billions of rounds, as this is an unusually large amount. When more people started questioning these purchases, the DHS responded by classifying information, blacking out certain sections of a solicitation, including portions pertaining to 64 and 65 grain .223 ammo and the number being requested. 

So, if we ask the Government why they need all this ammo, they respond by classifying the information.  This is the most transparent administration ever.  I'm not a conspiracy nut, but this administration's penchant for secrecy is both confusing and damning.

The Market

No, not the Wall Street market, the market being driven by Obama, Feinstein, et al.  From Hobie, we get an update on the shooting sports market from Valley Guns.

SMITH and WESSON-is running at Full capacity making 300+ guns/day-mainly M&P pistols. They are unable to produce any more guns to help with the shortages.
RUGER: Plans to increase from 75% to 100% in the next 90 days.
FNH: Moving from 50% production to 75% by Feb 1st and 100% by March 1.
Remington-Maxed out!
Armalite: Maxed out.
DPMS: Can't get enough parts to produce any more product.
COLT: Production runs increasing weekly...bottle necked by Bolt carriers.
LWRC: Making only black guns, running at full capacity...can't get enough gun quality steel to make barrels.
Springfield Armory: Only company who can meet demand but are running 30-45 days behind.
AMMO: Every caliber is now Allocated! We are looking at a nation wide shortage of all calibers over the next 9 months. All plants are producing as much ammo as possible w/ of 1 BILLION rounds produced weekly. Most is military followed by L.E. and civilians are third in line.
MAGPUL is behind 1 MILLION mags, do not expect any large quantities of magpul anytime soon.
RELOADERS... ALL Remington, Winchester, CCI & Federal primers are going to ammo FIRST. There are no extra's for reloading purposes... it could be 6-9 months before things get caught up. Sorry for the bleak news, but now we know what to expect in the coming months. Stay tuned, we'll keep you posted...

So, I'm low on large pistol primers and all the ammo companies are using their primers to produce ammo. That makes sense to me, but I'm almost out of large pistol primers. Just damn!

Bob Owens has related thoughts on the current shortages.

It appears to me that the gun-banning Democrats have sold more guns in the last two months than anyone could have imagined.  Their insistence on grandstanding has pushed the industry to maximum production and it looks like the industry will be able to sell everything they produce.  That's not a bad position for a company.  I always thought that those guys had stock in the gun market, and their actions driving the shortages reveal their true motives.

Barack Obama is the greatest gun salesman in history.  Whatever else his failings, he knows how to sell guns, ammo, and reloading components.  He's started two panics now, and he doesn't show any sign of letting up.

New Grips

Last week, my son started some new grip scales for that chromed 1911 I picked up last month.  He presented them to me last night.

I think that they came out just fine, and put the finishing touch on what is destined to be my Barbecue Gun.

Thanks, Son..

Sunday Morning Dawg

Another crippled week at PawPaw's House.  The foot keeps getting better incrementally and the dog keeps getting shaggier.  I think that it would be a terrible joke to get him shaved in February.  In these climes, February is normally the coldest month of the year and if we get any snow or winter precipitation, it's normally February.  As seldom as it snows in these latitudes, if it does, sure as hell it'll be in February.

I think he'll last another month, but it will be a close thing.  We don't want the dog freezing to death when he goes outside.

Saturday Morning

Yesterday I tackled a problem that's been bugging me for a week or so.  The pool pump had quit working and in three months that will be very important as spring rolls around.  I had decided that the breaker that provides power to the pool had gone South, so yesterday morning I went out to the breaker box that hangs on the fence by the pump, made sure all the power was off, and snatched that breaker.

I went to the electrical supply company up the road and told the guy I needed a 220v, 20 amp GFI breaker. Electricity and water don't mix and because that breaker supplies power to a big water pump I want to keep the electricity out of the pool and a ground-fault breaker is mandatory.  That breaker cost me $100.00 and change.  I went home, installed it, turned the power on, then flipped the switch to the pump.  The pump started whirring and water started flowing and in just a few minutes the pool was back in business.

Later, we went to the auction and I picked up another Mr. Buddy heater.  These things are great for portable heat in a deer blind and as more grandkids get old enough to sit in their own stands, I need more heaters.  This makes three I own and as I intended to built another deer blind this summer, I thought I should pick up the heater at the auction where I could get it for well under retail.  I paid about half what I expect to pay at the box stores.

Today, Milady's siblings are getting together to help Brother Bill unpack boxes after his latest move.  Last night I put a pork butt in the crock pot.  After the second cup of coffee, I'll pull that pork butt and we'll bring that over to Bill's new digs for pulled pork sandwiches at lunch.