Striking a blow for equality, an unidentified woman ripped off the shackles of the patriarchy and became a female mass shooter today. What a more appropriate place is there than Progressive YouTube Headquarters to prove to the world that women are just as capable as men? Although her massacre cannot compare to the devastation wrought by her male counterparts, she did manage to successfully wound three people and twist the ankle of a fourth before shooting herself. You go Grrrl! In her defense, she probably was exhausted from having to walk there all the way from a gun shop in Indiana.
And now that we have shattered the glass ceiling in addition to windows, those seeking equality of outcome need to start pushing to end the ridiculous gender imbalances still infesting our society. First and foremost, the homicide rate at a ridiculously lopsided 79% male. More women need to be murdered by their fellow man woman, which will also even out the blatantly sexist 96% percentage of male murderers. And while we are at it lets tackle the inequality of suicide rates (67%) and the incarceration rate (82% male).
But should we really stop there? We cannot truly end the patriarchy until we see and equal number of women die from work related injuries (93% men) and force more women to be chronically homeless and live on the streets (75% men), push more women to die of heart disease (62% men), cancer (58% men) and the ultimate sign of equality – fix the average life expectancy gender differential.
So let’s do it ladies! Let’s pull up our sleeves and demand 100% equality of outcome! These men have had it too good for too long.
I have been lugging a pistol around for thirty five years. It is a nuisance. I have to make certain I remember to bring it with me every time I leave the house. I have to always know where it is, make sure it is safe from theft or curious hands, and it can be heavy and uncomfortable to wear. Mind you, I love my pistols because most of them are the pinnacle of the machinist’s art. My collection, better than I ever thought I would have as a young man, goes back five generations in my family. They aren’t just tools. They are a testament to the ingenuity and skill of man, but just carrying a hunk of steel around is a pain in the butt. When I am home, I always have one either within arm’s reach or a step or two away. I have solved some of the problem by stepping down from a full sized pistol to a sub-compact, but it is still a nuisance.
Stainless, timeless, priceless
I find recreational shooting enormously enjoyable and years ago I did some competitive shooting. For me, the competition was just organized recreational shooting. Back in those days, I would burn through fifty thousand or more rounds per year. I was no Jerry Miculek but I guess I wasn’t too bad. I could break clays with ease with a pistol even drawing after the clay was in the air. Unfortunately, that is a perishable skill as I recently learned. Despite my enjoyment of all that, utility carrying is no fun. I wish I lived in a world where I could just put them all back in the safe after playtime is over.
I raised or partially raised several children, but I have only one biological son. He was the kid everyone wishes they had. He was never any trouble and actually followed the advice I gave him. I don’t know how much of that was because of me. I know his mother was no small part of it, but I like to think I wasn’t, either. He is a grown man now, married with two children and owns his own wildly successful business. He is smart and industrious and a true credit to our society.
When he was one year old, or thereabouts, his mother and I had our own business. It was a lot of work and meant long work days, sometimes up to 16 hours. We took turns in the evenings taking our son home and putting him to bed. One evening it was my turn so I put him in the child seat and strapped it in on the passenger side front seat. It was a dreary night, pissing rain and cold. Visibility was bad. In those days we had a small traffic circle that I had to navigate through to get home. Because it was so small, it was impossible to yield and then zip around. Invariably cars had to stop and wait. It functioned more as a four-way stop than a circle. On that evening, as usual, I had to stop. There were several cars in front of me and cars stopped behind me.
Without any warning a man began pounding on the passenger side window with his fist, just inches from my infant son. He was yanking on the door handle and trying to break the glass at the same time. He was screaming and cursing at me and demanding that I open the door. I don’t know where he came from. I have no idea what his circumstances were or why he was doing that, but no way in hell was I going to unlock that door. Fortunately, I had my pistol tucked between the seat and the console. I drew it out, reached across the cabin and pointed straight at his chest. I tapped on the window three times with the end of the barrel. *Poof*. The guy disappeared like smoke in the wind. I looked around the windows and in all of the mirrors, but I couldn’t see him anywhere. He must have dropped to the ground and crawled away. I still thank God he had the wisdom to do that. I didn’t have to pull the trigger but if he had broken that window or gotten that door open I certainly would have. In all of the years I have carried a pistol, that is the only time I have had to lay hands on it in earnest.
A pistol is exactly analogous to a fire extinguisher: another tool that I keep close at hand all of the time. I keep two of those in my jeep. You lug it around and 99.9999% of the time you don’t need it, but when the moment arises that you do need it, by God you need it.
As you can imagine, anti-gun and anti-second amendment arguments don’t carry much weight with me. Walk out all you want. Yammer lies until your jaw falls off. I am keeping my guns. It just isn’t up for discussion. My son is likely in the world today because one rainy evening twenty five years ago I had a pistol.
“Dear direct, lineal descendant of the impenitent thief on the Cross, that happens to represent me in Congress…”
After the Parkland school shooting, I decided to write my elected officials. This is out of character for me because A) I hate elected officials and B) I’m not that great of a writer. My arguments or points are not conveyed clearly. What I wrote was meant to suggest there is perhaps a better, or at least different way of educating children that doesn’t leave them as easy targets. I don’t think I conveyed that point, but I also wanted to avoid rambling. Anyway, I received 2 responses, one from a Republican and one from a Democrat. I also come across a little bit like Judge Napolitano, whom I enjoyed reading most of the time, but some of his articles got a little redundant at times. Here is what I wrote:
“The recent school shooting has brought out the calls for action. The arguments are the same on both sides, “ban assault rifles” on one and “protect my rights” on the other. Which one is correct? Do we ban assault rifles and guns altogether? Do we repeal the second amendment? Who will enforce the law? Will there be a massive policing and forced confiscation? One only needs to look at history to see that will not go well and would likely be the end of America.
What if there was something we could do that did not infringe on the rights of law abiding citizens, but at the same time protected our children from gun violence in schools? Would we do it? Would we at least entertain the idea?
A school is made up of children from a wide range of backgrounds. Some children are smarter than others, some struggle with certain subjects, some are gay, some are athletic, some are of a different religion, some would rather be doing other things. This diversity is great in any society, but as humans we tend to mock something we view as different. We do this as children and adults. I’m not a psychologist so I don’t know why we do it, I just know it happens. The aforementioned types of children just want to be accepted like everyone else, and when they are not they are made to feel inferior in some way. This may be the cause of emotional issues that lead to these tragedies.
So what if there was a school for your smart child, or gay child, or disinterested child (this was me) where they can be around others like them or get specific help in an area of interest? What about a school for children that have an interest in and accel at science, art, dance, sports, music? Would that not lead to a more confident child to be surrounded by others like him or her sharing similar interests and activities in an environment of encouragement?
Now here comes the most outrageous part – what if these schools were not run by the government but were private schools that the parents could pick and choose to send their kids to? Private schools are too expensive one may offer as a counter argument. I would then counter “What if they weren’t?” How much money does it take to educate a child, $1000 a month? What if it was $500? That’s getting in the car payment range. $250 A month? Less? How can this be done? The good news is it is already being done. It is called the Free Market. As consumers we pick and choose where we spend our money, so why not apply that same concept to education? Parents are already asking for vouchers and a choice in schools, this would open up that possibility to every parent. Educators would then meet this demand with a supply of education, and competition would bring prices down to a balance of cost versus product, or value. We see this in everything else we buy, so why not apply that same concept to education and treat it as a service provided by businesses? Should we at least entertain the idea that there may be a better way?”
First response:
“Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the devastating attack on students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. These are terrible events for our nation and we must find appropriate ways to respond.
On the afternoon of February 14, 2018, former student Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, killing 17 people. Students should be safe at school and those with mental illness should have their needs met. Here are 3 things we should do to help prevent these kinds of attacks:
– We need to enforce the laws we already have on the books. The means making sure U.S. Attorneys and state and local law enforcement officials have the resources they need to keep guns out of the hands of people are not supposed to be able to buy or possess a gun.
– We need to make existing background checks more effective. This is why I’ve cosponsored Senator Cornyn and Senator Murphy’s legislation – the Fix NICS Act – which helps ensure that federal agencies and states get information about individuals who should be prohibited from buying a gun into the national background check system.
– Finally, we must continue to help the large number of Americans suffering from mental illness.
Last Congress, we passed two new laws to help do that. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides federal dollars to states and school districts to help meet the needs of students with mental health disorders. Along with ESSA Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act which makes it easier for those suffering from mental illness to get the care they need and encourages early intervention and the use of the most up to date and evidence-based treatments.
People with good mental health are not causing these incidents, so if we can find ways to diagnose and treat people with mental health issues, that will be an actual solution to the problem. I’m grateful you’ve shared your reactions with me and will keep them in mind as we move forward.”
Second response:
“Thank you for contacting me about gun control.
Mass shootings happen in America far too frequently. Yet Congress has refused to do anything to reduce gun violence, even ideas Americans overwhelmingly support.
House Republican leadership has not allowed a single vote on any gun legislation, even Republican bills, that would reduce gun violence. Democrats even organized a sit-in last Congress to try and force a vote on gun legislation. In fact, Republicans are trying to loosen gun laws. They rolled back Obama-era regulations that limited gun ownership for people with mental health issues. The House also voted to make it easier for veterans who have serious mental health conditions like PTSD and schizophrenia to own a gun and allow people from out-of-state to come into Tennessee with concealed weapons, even if these outsiders have had no training or background checks.
Whether it’s increased security at venues, expanded background checks, allowing objective federal research on gun issues, banning bump stocks like the ones used by the Las Vegas shooter, or even banning military style weapons and high capacity magazines, we should begin seriously debating ways to minimize risk.
I am a gun owner and have my concealed-carry permit. But almost all the gun enthusiasts I know think that Congress can take sensible steps to try to reduce gun violence.
Thanks again for reaching out to me.”
Clearly neither of them read what I wrote, and I probably ended up on a list, but I avoided profanity and insults.
As I may have mentioned before, I hail from the far away land of Romania, a country with a history of communism which basically wrecked the country and without a particularly strong tradition of limited government, where most peasants were still serfs almost up to the 19th century. I was asked before on various positions on limited government Romanians hold, and thought I’d write a quick post on it, mainly an anecdote, really.
Too scary for locals, but we export them
Are notions of limited government increasing? Not really. You would think after a history of bad government and massive abuses of power, many would think to give the other side a shot. But sadly, this does not happen. We just need the right top men, you see. One problem is that people want things and rarely thing of the implications, the ramifications, and both the expected and unexpected consequences. They have the view of government which does everything they want and nothing they do not. And I am talking here about the upper echelon in terms of intelligence, education, and professional success. As such, I have little hope of clear improvements in the future.
As an anecdote, I will talk of someone I know who is, let’s say, someone I had high hopes of when I thought of a move towards freedom in Romania. He grew up in communism, finished Polytechnic university in Bucharest, got his PhD in France, and was a very successful semiconductor engineer. Of course, for most of his life, he was the kind that didn’t pay much interest to things outside his field, and only recently did he read some books on economics and political philosophy. But this makes him more knowledgeable than most in my company who did not read anything on these topics, although they have really strong opinions on politics and economics. He is what, for Europe, would be vaguely classical liberal / libertarian on economic issues, although quite vaguely. When he reads a libertarian book, he often agrees with what it says, but he simply cannot get past his many years of thinking that government must do way too many things in society. So this generally causes a few days of thinking a bit differently, followed by a comeback to the old ways. So he would not be a reliable voter for strictly limited government, and if he is not, I have little hope for most other Romanians.
As a Romanian, he hates guns. He thinks they are dangerous and wants them banned. The government’s job is to disarm the population, he states. In this he is joined by his brother, also an engineer by trade in semiconductors, who immigrated to the States and now lives in a leafy and quite lefty suburb of Boston. His brother also hates guns and republicans in general, and thinks America is too right wing.
We need ourselves a better version of one of these things in Romania
The man I speak of trusts his brother’s judgment, and I had several debates with him on US politics which ended because his brother is his ultimate argument and tells me he is more informed than me because of what the brother tells him. I, frankly, find this rather annoying because his knowledge of US culture, economy and its politics is probably 10% of mine. And his brother’s does not seem much better, as he forwarded to me some emails that could have been taken directly out of the New York Times. I remember speaking about certificate of need legislation in US and he outright said that is not true, such things do not exist; it is not possible in a capitalist country like America for the government to prevent a hospital from expanding, let’s say. He did not really care to read about it because he had his sources. This is his answer. It is obviously impossible to argue with someone whose main argument is “my brother told me this so it must be true.” I have asked countless times for data for his claims, but he literally said, “I do not have data but it is true. I have my sources,” – his main source being his brother. This is quite dispiriting. Someone who is more politically knowledgeable than most people I know, one of the few to have actually read some economics. If he can’t argue properly and form a more informed opinion, who can? Most Romanians still tell me that the US is the land of no government and unrestrained free market capitalism, and they believe that. Especially when it comes to the completely private and completely unregulated healthcare systems you Americans seem to have.
Recently I hear the complaint – coming from the brother originally, of course – that the problem with US in that the constitution is too difficult to change as to disarm the population. A smart, accomplished engineer with some knowledge of economics does not give a jot of thought to the ramifications of what he claims if it will lead to his preferred outcome. He would be so willing to see all guns banned for civilians, that he would tear the constitution apart for this. Of course, he does not claim that. He says only the second amendment, not others. But if you give the power to easily change the second, how would you prevent that power being used to change the others? How can you create a system where just one article of the constitution is easily changed? The ridiculous view of government doing everything I like and nothing I don’t.
What is the point of the constitution is it is easily changed? Majorities are fickle. One may have the 51% now, the others the next time. Laws change with majorities. The whole point of the constitution is that it is not as easily changed and it needs broad consensus. And if you look at US history, many bad things came exactly when the constitution was not respected. How can we get a more libertarian view in Romania when people lose their reason when it comes to topics they feel strongly about? How can we argue when people say, ‘I don’t have any data but my brother told me”? I do not know, but I do not have my hopes up, lest I be too often disappointed.
I have returned, brave glibs! Certain real life circumstances have kept me away from the site, but know that I am always here, watching, waiting, and ready to talk about guns for hours on end. SHOT Show finished off today. For those that don’t know, SHOT Show is the biggest firearms trade show on earth. It is where all the big (and small) manufacturers gather to show off their newest toys. Unfortunately, my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail so I was not able to attend in person, but I have been scouring the tubes looking for the biggest gun news to share to you, our loyal shitposters. So, without further delay, here are the biggest stories from SHOT 2018:
Probably the biggest shakeup of the show was Franklin Armory’s debut of a gun they call ‘The Reformation’. It’s an 11.5″ barreled fully functional AR with a stock and does not require a NFA tax stamp. People were freaking out about this thing for at least a week before the show. It turns out that the secret is a pretty big let down: it has a straight rifled barrel. This means the bullets don’t come out spinning. For those wondering, yes, that gives it terrible accuracy. They claim something like 4 moa at 50 yards before it starts keyholing. They also claim they are working with ammo manufacturers to create finned bullets specifically for this design. If it works, we could (possibly) see a major change in firearms production as companies make special non NFA sbrs with straight rifling. Most likely scenario? This thing becomes the gyrojet of the 21st century. Only time will tell.
On a significantly less disappointing note, Ruger has come out swinging with their ‘new’ PC Carbine. It’s a traditional looking rifle chambered in 9mm that can take either SR series magazines or Glock magazines with a simple adapter change, and the adapter is included. The gun is fully reversible for right or left hand operation, and it even breaks down into 2 parts for transport and storage. Those of you that have been around guns for awhile probably remember Ruger making a very similar gun called the police carbine, hence the quotes around new. This is basically an updated version of the same gun. This thing is a real winner, and there is a very good chance I will be picking one up in the near future.
IWI dropped a bombshell this year by debuting it’s new TS 12 bullpup 12 gauge shotgun. It has a fixed 15 round magazine consisting of three separate 5 round tubes that can be loaded from either side. Once the selected tube is empty, simply rotate the magazine and snap the next 5 rounds in place. Not a perfect solution but it might be good enough. It’s going to be an expensive AF shotgun, but we will have to see if it’s worth the coin. Between this and the new Tavor 7, I might have to sell some of my concubines.
It has finally happened. A company has made a housing for the P320 FCG that turns it into a sbr style pistol. Called the EXO ONE, it is sure to put me even further into debt.
Century has decided to jump on board the 9mm gravy train with it’s new Draco NAK9 pistol. It is a blowback 9mm AK style pistol that takes Glock mags. Do want.
Not to be outdone, CZ has come out with the Scorpion Micro. Sporting a 4 inch barrel and a collapsible stock brace, this looks like quite a nice little, uh… ‘pistol’ for your truck or other tight space.
This is quickly becoming the year of the 9mm and the 12 gauge. Mossberg and Remington have both come out with magazine fed 12 gauge pump guns. The Mossberg ones are slightly more interesting seeing as how the magazine are actually double stack. This allows them to hold considerably more ammo without sticking out freakishly long below the gun. Is the era of the tube fed shotgun coming to an end? Could be…
Strike industries has developed an AR magazine that will eject itself on the last round fired. I can see this becoming the go to standard magazine for 3 gun matches. No word on pricing or availability yet. I am anxiously awaiting their arrival.
Palmetto State Armory is going into production with an AK pattern 9mm carbine that takes… MP5 magazines? Huh. Well A for originality on that one. They also plan on releasing a 5.56 AK that takes AR mags and a 9mm AK that accepts Glock mags, proving that they haven’t completely lost their minds. Much more interestingly, they also are working on producing their own in house MP5 clones; however, those will not be available anytime soon.
Sig has officially announced you will be able to buy the M17 on the civilian market, ensuring a steady consumer base of up and coming Call Of Duty neckbeards for generations. They also introduced a slim frame subcompact 9mm with a 10 round capacity called the P365.
Attention Canada: You can now purchase Glock 19s! The Canadian legal Glock 19 has a slightly longer barrel to comply with your retarded barrel length laws. You’re welcome.
And last, but not least, my favorite handgun company Walther has finally release the PPQ Subcompact. Took you guys long enough.
That is all for now, my loyal readers. As for when I shall return, I cannot say. But know this: When the future is darkest, when the world needs me the most, I shall return. Until then, I will always be watching through my magnified red dot.
