Some dude in my area took a shotgun to kids toilet papering his house. The kid’s alive and well, probably got peppered by bird shot. Charges have been filed against him.

Sounds good to me.

According to the article the prosecutor states that he believed they were trying to break into his garage. A detached garage 50 yards away from the house. He fired a shot into the air, the kids scurried to the car, he fires at the car as they’re getting in, peppering the passenger’s side and injuring one kid, then blows out their back window as they leave.

Yeah, this dude doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on.

They weren’t in his home, they weren’t breaking in, and they were in retreat when he fired upon them. Kudos to the local news (WoodTV 8) for brining up Michigan’s rather unique “fleeing felon” stance and pointing out how that doesn’t apply here.

If you’re going to keep a firearm handy for home defense you should maybe spend, oh, I dunno, perhaps an hour every year researching when you’re allowed to use deadly force. It’ll save you some legal costs in the long run.

I ran two rounds of trap again on Wednesday.

A 12 and 13. Okay, so that’s horrible, but I’m starting to notice what works and what doesn’t.

1) I started using an isosceles type stance. I’m not sure why that’s helping but it is. Noticed the guys breaking more birds tend to stand that way and figured I’d copy them.
2) Making damned sure I get a good cheek weld and concentrate on the front sight for a split second before I call for the bird.
3) Making sure that bead is actually slightly below the clay when I pull the trigger helps a LOT! Shocking, eh?
4) Slowing the hell down. Takes a while for that bird to hit the ground, so there’s no huge rush.
5) Starting with my barrel higher. I’m ignoring some advice I got years back on this one, but when I start too low I end up frantically raising the barrel on a quickly rising bird, get excited, and blow the shot.

Note to self: Time to break out the shooting gloves. It’s getting cold out there. Better switch to the winter coat too.

I’ve been hearing a bit about this lately. I honestly don’t see much future in it, but let’s talk about it.

Sebastian points to a roundup and notes:

It would seem like the round is a good compromise between the .308, which requires a different lower receiver, and the 7.62×39 Soviet round…

That’s pretty much what I’m thinking, and I see where it has merit, but I have no idea how they’re going to sell hunters on this thing. Actually I’m not sure how they’re going to sell anybody on this.

If you follow the link to Sebastian’s place you’ll see he’s referenced Murdoc on the matter who has a nice round-up post which links to The Gun Shots and their nice comparison table between .308 Win and .30 RAR

The .30 RAR is clocking out at 2800fps compared to .308 which does 2700fps at the muzzle. Okay, that’s comparable, but they’re using a 125 grain bullet in the .30 RAR there, whereas the .308 is firing a more traditional 165 grain bullet. Naturally the lighter 125 grain bullet drops energy levels faster than the traditional 165 grain .308.

I’m just not seeing who in the world is going to buy this thing. I highly doubt that somebody looking for .308 performance in a hunting rifle is going to concern themselves with having a lower receiver that could take a .223/5.56 upper. If they wanted an AR platform rifle they’d just go with an AR-10. I can’t imagine anybody that currently has a .223/5.56 upper going for .30 RAR instead of the 6.8mm upper either.

I’m not seeing a lot of sales in their future on this one. Nobel effort, and all that, but I don’t know anybody that’d buy one.

Theresa called my attention to this sign when we pulled into a rest stop in BFE New York State. I was rather amazed.

Now, I’m as pro-gun as you can get, and I have no qualms with hunting at all, but who the hell sits sits their arse down on a picnic bench at the local rest stop to harvest a deer?

In all my travels, from Montana to Florida and Maine I’ve never before seen such a sign. I can only presume that a local yokel figured that was a good hunting spot (looked like it to me) and actually took a deer from there.

First, it’s good to be home. We did a 2600 mile trip through New England for our honeymoon and it was great.

Except for Ohio. I have a special, somewhat irrational, dislike of that state. Perhaps I just can’t let go of Toledo?

Nah, that’s not it. Seems like every time I stop in Ohio I see a “no firearms allowed” sign somewhere. In Michigan, and plenty of other states, it’s only a trespassing charge if you refuse to leave the area. I find this to be a nice balance between private property rights and my fundamental human rights.

For instance, if you pump some gas and go into the station to pay and see a “no firearms” sign when you go to pay, you can ignore it and just remember never to visit that place again. In Ohio you’re a damned criminal if you proceed^* to pay for your gas. Heck, you might even be a criminal just for driving onto the property armed the way I read the official sign’s wording.

On this trip I discovered something new: The one state funded rest stop we stopped at was posted as a no firearms zone. I presume all the others are too. How the Hell does that work? I’m driving down a highway controlled by the DOT, pull off into another DOT controlled area, and BOOM: I’m a criminal if I’m still carrying.

What asshole came up with this idea? You want me to try and stow a firearm while driving down the fucking expressway or something?!

I did find it interesting that the privately owned rest areas on the tolls roads were not posted. You know, the areas where there are 7-8 businesses, a gas station, scads of people, etc. They don’t seem to see any reason for turn away CCWers there.

The yokels running the shitters and pissers? Well… can’t have any guns near that kinda high dollar stuff I guess.

*: The last time I was in Ohio was probably 2004 or 2005. I went to Cedar Point with some friends. On the way out I stopped at a gas station, pumped my gas, went to walk inside, and saw the dreaded “no firearms” sign. Wasn’t carrying, but it still irked me. Largely because I’d have drove by the damned place if I knew. What’s worse is there was a uniformed cop right in front of me in line with a pistol on his hip. So much for “no firearms.” Plus there was the fact that I had a Kalashnikov in my luggage at the time. I’m not exactly “Seal Team 6″ material but I’m pretty sure a sheet metal sign and Officer Sparky wouldn’t have kept me from knocking the place over.

I found out the other night that if you slip a round of .40S&W into a 1911 mag it’ll stay put. If you chamber that round it’ll fall straight out the barrel and onto the floor.

Note to self: It’s a good idea to actually look at the ammo before trying to load it.

Oleg has recreated The High Road over at www.thehighroad.us. From the email Oleg sent out to members:

Welcome to the new home of The High Road(tm) forum.

My name is Oleg Volk, and I am the owner of The High Road(tm). When I started the forum in 2002, my vision was to create a place where people from around the world could engage in cordial discussion of RKBA related matters. Since then, you have helped make The High Road(tm) one of the best places on the web for learning about firearms, for educating new shooters and for supporting effective advocacy of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

Due to pending legal issues, I am moving the forum to a new home at TheHighRoad.us. This is the one and only official site at this time, owned by me. The same high standards of civility apply. In the near future, we will provide more than just a forum. The High Road(tm) is becoming an information and activism center for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

With the help of GeoVario, our new host, The High Road(tm) is now online in its new home. The new location of The High Road(tm) — http://www.thehighroad.us — will serve our members while the conversion of the .org domain name by THR’s former sysadmin is being challenged in court (Copy of the complaint available: http://www.geovario.com/legal/Complaint1.pdf ).

Feel free to mirror this announcement on your blog (here is a link to mine with details of this matter and how you can help. http://olegvolk.livejournal.com/474369.html ). If you link to THR, please update the link to point to thehighroad.us Eventually, both .us and .org addresses will point to the same site again.

Thank you all
– Oleg Volk, Owner
The High Road(tm)

I’m following Oleg and moving to the new domain.