Justin Buist

Ryan Horsley of Red’s Trading Post notes:

Tomorrow we will be receiving 28 Maine Lobsters overnighted from Bushmaster. This is a promotion that they have done for quite a few years, but we have never got this many. Who do I have to thank for this…none other than Carolyn McCarthy D-NY. We have sold more so-called “assault weapons” than we have standard rifles this year with the new and improved Assault Weapons Ban, which is looming, that was introduced by McCarthy.

A common saying a decade ago in a gun shop was; there has never been better gun salesman than Bill Clinton.

I, and this blog, are evidence that gun bans really do get folks buying guns.

I was persuaded to purchase my first firearm back in 2001 by my general manager. It didn’t take much. I remember watching the NRA and VPC debate on Donahue of all things back when I was 13 and even then I thought the Assault Weapons Ban was bullshit. He took me and a number of us from the office out shooting, I figurd it was time to buy a pistol, and he took me to my 1st gun show. While there I boughta CZ-75B and I’m pretty sure I pickd up a 15 round magazine for it that very day, afraid that they wouldn’t be available later.

The very next day I was out at another gun shop and I bought a Glock 21. Shortly after I aquired “banned” 13 round magazines for it. Damn did that ever cost me! They were $125 each! Still, I bought them, because I was afraid if I didn’t then I’d never get the chance.

I bought a shotgun next, a Remington 870 Express with the 20″ rifled barrel.

Then I got an AR-15, and 30 round mags to go with it.

Then I got an Egyptian AK-47 clone, and 30 round mags to go with that.

I dropped about $3 grand into guns and magazines just because the AWB passed. Then, now comfortable with ownership of firearms, and not caring what people thought about me, I’ve bought another 30-something. I’ve sold a few, given away a couple, but not too many have left my posession.

If the 1994 AWB never passed I might own a shotgun right now.

There’s a lesson to be learned from this:

As much as I fear every gun law that comes up that can be used to restrict our rights, I must admit that they probably freak out a number of rational people enough that they go out and get armed to some extent. That may or may not snowball like it did with me, but it’s a possibility.

The gun banning crowd might be best served by holding off for a decade or two on any legislation and then calling for the total bans that they want. Incremental measures are simply creating more enemies to their cause.

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I’m kinda geeked up about this one. The Walther PPS.

Image stolen from official Walther site. I’m pimping the product, that’s fair use, right?

Two reason:

1) It’s 1.04″ thick. That beats the Glock 26 by 0.14″ which doesn’t seem like much, but it can be.

2) That magazine release. God I love that thing on my P22. Sure, the P22 is a pile of crap, but the magazine release is really spiffy and the PPS is using the same kind. I’ve got little hands. They’re about the same size that you’d find on a 5′2″ to 5′6″ sized woman. I can work a traditional American-style thumb magazine release but it usually requires me to position my hand outside of a firing grip to do it. With the P22’s lever at the bottom of the trigger guard I can drop an empty mag without changing my grip at all. Plus, it’s ambidextrous by it’s very nature.

Do I plan on buying one? Well, no. I’d like to, but the funds just aren’t there. Still, I consider this a rather exciting introduction to the pistols currently on the market. I’m suspecting that it’ll work well for a lot people, and I’d really like to get my hands on one and give it a go.

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So, I haven’t talked about this too much, but we’re getting closer to Michigan shutting down portions of the government. Gov. Granholm says it might start this Friday.

The idea makes me all giddy, quite frankly. Government gets too big, spends too much money, and poof it just goes away for a while. That’ll teach ‘em a lesson, right?

Then I see this:

Granholm said non-essential services will stop if a new budget is not in place. Among those services are state-licensed casino gaming in Detroit, sale of lottery tickets, distribution of packaged liquor, state parks, and welcome centers.

Emphasis mine, obviously.

More:

The state regulates liquor sales as well and once inventories are sold, customers won’t be able to buy any more. Beer and wine won’t be impacted.

Soo… if you’re one that enjoys themselves a little liquor, you might want to stock up for a month’s worth before close of business on Friday.

I wonder: Michigan recently deregulated the price of liquor. They used to control it but now they only dictate minimums. I wonder how long it would be before they started kicking up prices in response to constant demand but a limited supply?

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Part of PATRIOT Act ruled unconstitutional

Spiffy.

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Uncle sums it up pretty nicely.

If you haven’t been following the recent events online with the anti-gun blogs coming up, getting nailed in comments by the pro-gun side, and evetually closing down comments he’s got a pretty good refresher course over there.

There’s simply more of us than them in the online community. We’ve naturally organized ourselves into groups, like at The High Road, The Firing Line, ARFCOM, and our blogs. Hell, even Democratic Underground has an online forum for gun rights.

The anti-2A crowd is never going to win the online debate. There are simply too many gun owners in this country and with that ownership comes knowledge. We know the laws, we know that our guns are out on the streets shedding innocent blood, and we can smell bullshit from a mile away.

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300 spoof:

‘300′ Halo Spoof - For more of the funniest videos, click here

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Got in a little trigger time at the range today.

I noticed a couple of young girls there (both between 9 and 13, sisters) and they were shooting for the first time. One shot some skeet, the other tried her hand at trap on the same line as me. She pegged 10 of them.

I got 11.

Yeah, I suck at trap.

After trap I drove home, got a handgun, and found the same father and his daughters on the pistol range. Cool. He was showing them how to shoot pistols with a .357 Rossi, stainless steel, about 6″ long barrel, loaded up with .38 Specials. They seemed to really enjoy it and I didn’t hear any complaints about recoil.

One of them put 6 rounds into 2 holes at 7 yards. I’d dare say she was shooting a bit better than her old man.

Fun day.

Oh, and I got to see a guy shoot trap while sitting on a five gallon bucket. he got bored and tried this at stations 1 and 2. He got all 10.

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Here’s something I just received via email:

You probably already know that junk mail cluttering up your mailbox is a nuisance and borders on being an invasion of your private property. What you may not be aware of is that junk mail represents a threat to your security and that of your family as well. That?s because junk mail is a favorite way ID thieves use to get to your identity.

Where’d it come from? The NRA. The same organization responsible for at least 25% of the junk mail that I get.

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Red’s Trading Post is being audited again. That’d be the second audit in about a month, with the previous audit showing an error rate of 1 in every 250 forms. Errors as small as letting a customer place “Y” on a form instead of “Yes” or using “Dr.” instead of “Drive” on their address.

This is bullshit of the highest degree. My previous address was “XXXX Cobb Dr. SE Apt #2B” but damned if the ATF didn’t force FFLs to make me write it out as: “XXXX Cobb Drive South East Apartment 2B.” We teach fucking 3rd graders to write addresses in the form “XXXX Cobb Dr. SE Apt #2B” but the fucking ATF will come down on your ass if you let some schmuck write that on a 4473 and still sell them a gun. I’m not making this up, but I wish I was, and it’s even a little worse than that. Currently, if you want to mail me something you’d plop the following onto an envelope:

XXXX Leonard St. NW
Grand Rapids, MI, 49534

Amazingly, the post office can figure out where I live from this. Not good enough for the ATF. Instead:

XXXX Leonard Street Northwest
Grand Rapids, Ottawa, Michigan, 49534

Did you see the subtle difference? Not only did I refrain from using abbreviations a 3rd grader would know but I had to put my county in there too. If the buyer, and the seller, forget to include that stupid county (common mistake) the FFL is in violation of the law.

Red’s Trading Post is being harassed over paperwork violations that a damned 3rd grader could interpret!

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A few weeks ago it came to the attention of the gun community that NRA board member Joaquin Jackson made some dumbass comments regarding “assault weapons” and since then people have basically been calling for his head.

See here for the video. View the last video segment to hear what he said. It basically boils down to Jackson saying that nobody but law enforcement or military should have more than a 5 round magazine. When called on it Jackson tried to backpedal saying that he only meant that fully automatic guns should be limited to 5 rounds, not semi-automatic weapons.

This nonsense wouldn’t pass muster in a debate against members of the Special Olympics.

So, due to his 1) saying something stupid and 2) failing to admit he said something stupid, folks are taking action to remove him from the NRA board. If you’re an NRA member and you think Jackson was out of line then take some time to look into the matter of the recall.

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