Friday, April 30, 2010

I Don't Think I Make Enough Money!

Maybe Barry will send me a mil or so out of his expansive pocket! Probably not, huh?

Office at this point is functional, so I've gone back to writing on THE NEW SURVIVAL GUNS, although I need to get some .32 H&R reloading done this afternoon for my Sweetie's cowboy revolvers.

This morning's WSJ takes a slap at open carry, written by their TV critic, Nancy DeWolf Smith:
Speaking of serious shooters, I don't know a soul among gun owners who is itching to prance around showing everybody what is in their holster. Most of the time, citizens who carry weapons in public places are doing it for protection, and that means concealment. They don't want their handgun easily grabbed by some idiot in a checkout line, and they don't want a potential aggressor to know what they have on them or where it is. If flashing an armory were anything but a stunt, our air marshals would be strapped like Pancho Villa.
I personally think Air Marshals should open carry, although perhaps without the linked shotgun bandoleros of Pancho Villa. I wonder that WSJ considers their television critic, who recently delved into the sociopolitical implications of Cougar Town, suited to write about anything but this week's Survivor episode (which was, BTW, excellent). To be fair, Ms. Smith sits on the WSJ editorial board, in case perhaps there's some critical international financial issue with Two-And-A-Half Men this week.

My friend Caleb over at Gun Nuts Media says that shooting revolvers will "make you a stud." Perhaps I should mention this to my Sweetie...no wait, she shoots revolvers, too! A stud-ette, maybe? Seriously, or as seriously as I'm likely to get today, it's a good article on how mastering the DA revolver will make you a better shooter...just ask Jerry Mickulek.

Finally, my good friends over at Crimson Trace and Ruger are getting some great mileage off Texas Governor Rick Perry whacking a coyote with a CT-equipped Ruger LCP .380 while out jogging with his dog:
Perry said he was jogging shortly after sunrise when the coyote appeared, stopped in its tracks and stared at his dog.
“I holler and the coyote stopped. I holler again. By this time I had taken my weapon out and charged it. It is now staring dead at me. Either me or the dog are in imminent danger. I did the appropriate thing and sent it to where coyotes go,” he said.
Texas state law allows people to shoot coyotes that are threatening livestock or domestic animals. The dog was unharmed, Perry said. Perry holds a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
The governor left the coyote where it fell. “He became mulch,” Perry said.
"Mulch"...I like that! Notice the coyote didn't even laugh one little bit at being shot with a "mousegun" in an "inadequate" caliber...how can that be?

Finally finally, in our Cheesecake De Jour file, the guys over at International Military Antiques are offering a WW2 metal sign repro of Hellcat Honey, complete  with Thompson:


This'll probably send Nancy DeWolf Smith straight into an aneurysm! Put your head between your knees, Nancy, take a deep breath and go back to watching The View...everything will be all right!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Am Reorganizing My Office...



today...heaven help me!

(*not a picture of my office...mine has a lot more wires hanging off things...)

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Too Cool...


...and the very essence of steampunk weaponry...the Webley-Fosbery automatic revolver. I totally agree that the quirky Webley design perfectly defines the late 1800s' Gilded Age, and the Webley-Fosbery is maybe the most superb example. As it happens, I've been doing some research on George Fosbery, VC, in regard to Paradox guns, another of his inventions. I think the appeal of that time period is its wide open vistas, the first great explosion of exploration and gentlemen and lady adventurer/explorers. Richard Sir Francis Burton has always been a person hero...even his Wikipedia bio causes the blood to race!

It's also the gun used to kill Miles Archer, Sam Spade's partner, in The Maltese Falcon. When I first read the book, I was shocked that a pro like Dashiell Hammett would talk about a ".38, 8-shot" when I knew of no such gun at the time. Of course, I was wrong...when I first researched the Webley-Fosbery, I discovered 8-shot .38s!

I've been lucky enough to handle a couple of the Automatic Revolvers, with their weird single action cocking cycle requiring two hands and a monkey to accomplish. The Cody Museum has a .455 version in absolutely perfect condition. There are a few around for sale, but they come dear...

BTW, I hope your preparations are well under way for Friday's Walpurgis Night...I always like to hang cloves of garlic in the doorways, listen to Wagner and never, ever let really hot girls with overly long canines or guys in capes in the house. OTOH, I strongly support traditional Beltane festivities this coming weekend...break out the Maypole; light the fire; shuck the clothes; prepare for earthquakes.





Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Sorry...Light Blogging Alert

Between the travel and the fact that I had a whole day in the studio today, I haven't really had a chance to sit down and blog...I even missed the Boobquake! That's not like me, no-sir-eee-bob! Well, maybe no-sir-eee-boob...

Anyhow, tomorrow I'm going to sleep late, that is, later than 7AM, and you can't stop me! Try it...just try it. It has been a 6-week run of filming with what amounted to ours, rather than days, at home. I got through it, but I did have to bag the Single Stack Classic this coming weekend...May is just too tightly scheduled to do anything that doesn't directly concern work.

Through Roberta X's blog, I've relinked with Royal Enfield motorcycles...the Military Model appeals to the retro steampnky side of me (that's the same side that used to restore Nortons, which is dangerously close to self-abuse). 


Retro is cool...


Monday, April 26, 2010

Steampunk 101

From Wikipedia:

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction and speculative fiction, frequently featuring elements of fantasy, that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used — usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era England — but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles, analog computers, or digital mechanical computers (such as Charles Babbage's Analytical engine); these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or with a presumption of functionality.
Steampunk is often associated with cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase and theme of rebellion, but developed as a separate movement (though both have considerable influence on each other). Apart from time period and level of technological development, the main difference between cyberpunk and steampunk is that steampunk settings usually tend to be less obviously dystopian than cyberpunk, or lack dystopian elements entirely.
Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual artisans into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk.
Ah, Little Grasshopper...here's a collection of steampunk weapons:



You have to remember, I dress up for SASS, so it's just a short putt to something weirder...


Try again...

From The Firearm Blog this AM, a Turkisk 1966 Winchester fitted with a water-cooled barrel...that is so steampunk it cries out fir its own SASS class!


-- Post From The Road

Total Steampunk Rifle!

http://cdn1.thefirearmsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/2857039896_1b_5d_80fba_9_o-tfb.jpg


-- Post From The Road

Boomershoot!

Great event and some amazingly talented shooter! Joe Huffman and his family not only run a super match but went out of their way to make things smooth for me and the SG crew. Thank you, Joe!

Traveling today...more on Wednesday's podcast!

BTW, got my appetite whetted for long-range handgunning again...no good can come from that!


-- Post From The Road

Friday, April 23, 2010

At the Cody Airport...

...after a successful trip to the Museum Gift Store, one of the truly great museum gift stores!

Also did a quick tour of the Whitney Museum of Wester Art...thank HEAVENS I don't have the money to collect art!

-- Post From The Road

Thursday, April 22, 2010

All Hat; No Horse



Or cows, for that matter...yippie-ky-aye...or something like it.

Filming went great at the Cody Museum today...Curator Warren Newman is one of the most knowledgeable people on firearms I've ever met. He also has a really good eye for quality leatherwork. So much so that I immediately went back to the hotel room and ordered a holster just like his for my Ruger LCP from Ringler Custom Leather. I was also pretty impressed with Ringler's Wyoming Combination Holster:

Neat stuff, and the handwork in Warren's piece was exceptional.


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Me & the Big Buff


Things went great at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center today...Curator Warren Newman of the Cody Firearms Museum is a walking encyclopedia of gun trivia, and that's my definition of a good day! I'm thinking of having a 1450s-vintage hand cannone made and see if I can shoot through a suit of armor...that's more of a SHOOTING GALLERY than a COWBOYS. My Sweetie wants to see a show on blunderbusses:
Hard to argue with, to be sure. 

BTW, I've seen some stuff on the web that the low turnout of the Second Amendment March was the fault of the NRA...not so. There were a lot of issues that contributed to the low turnout, not the least of which was that event was on a Monday workday and it followed the Tea Party Tax Day events the previous week. The event got good press, and noted by Snowflakes in Hell, and as such was actually a success. I agree with Sebastian...lay of the blame game.

DRTV Weekly 042110

The video podcast is posted on Down Range:
http://www.downrange.tv/blog/?p=2997

Cody Firearms Museum...

...today after an all-day flight across the country yesterday. Cruised the mean streets — actually street — of Cody, WY yesterday afternoon...what a cool little town! I did find a pair of Olathe purple-and-orange cowboy boots, but after sitting down for a few moments and using an ammonia inhaler I was able to leave the store without buying them.

Once again, am staying across the street from Jeremiah Johnson's gravesite, leading to decidedly odd dreams. I have an overwhelming urge to trap and skin a Prius.

Tam over at View from the Porch has a nice smack-down on Brady's endless vapors about people carrying guns:
I mean, guns were all over most every state capital this past week, and nobody busted caps, so what's your problem? You keep tearing at your hair about this blood in the streets that keeps not happening. For heaven's sake, get a grip on yourselves, okay? Everyone with a gun is a violent spree killer armed robber only in the way everyone with a car is a drunk driver or everyone with a p33n is a rapist...

Monday, April 19, 2010

Grinding to a Halt...

...for the evening. Am tired, not to mention a 4:15AM call for tomorrow...

I think my talk went well — I certainly wish it was to a bigger crown, but things are what they are. My focus was on Gun Culture Ver. 2.0, which was boistered this AM by the newest NSSF poll:
The first comprehensive survey to look at ownership and use of modern sporting rifles reveals that 8.9 million Americans went target shooting with AR-style rifles in 2009 and that participants using this type of rifle were the most active among all types of sport shooters.
"These findings underscore that modern sporting rifles are becoming commonplace in America and are among the most desired firearms by sport shooters," said Steve Sanetti, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, trade association of the firearms industry. "Those who want to ban these civilian sporting rifles simply because they look like military rifles must acknowledge after seeing this study that AR-style rifles are exceedingly popular with millions of Americans. These rifles are our industry's high-tech, cutting-edge product -- rugged, accurate, versatile, fun to shoot and easily accessorized -- and they're here to stay."
Not a surprise to us, certainly, but glad to see it coming from NSSF.

Also — and I can't go into this just yet — there is very positive movement from the industry on allocating Pittman-Robertson funds specifically for range development. I brought this subject up today and got great response, so I think the fledgling industry initiative is very timely. There are also some very specific legislative remedies that are available to us, but I'd rather see the industry step up and lead.

Finally, the Remington 1911-R1 is now at least announced, in this issue of SHOOTING TIMES, a sort of GI version with a $699...looks like a nice pistol (I especially like the nubby vintage thumb safety and the classic diamond walnut grips). I should have one in my hands within the next few weeks, even if it's only for a limited time. We'll get it up on DRTV very quickly.

View from the Stage




-- Post From The Road

Second Amendment March





-- Post From The Road

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Audio from Armed American Radio

Here is the portion of tonight's AAR with yours truly:



Download mp3 file

Armed American Radio

Here in the studio...



-- Post From The Road

Watch the Twitter Feed

...will probably be Twittering more than blogging throughout Second Amendment March...may post my comments Monday PM or include them in the weekly podcast...


-- Post From The Road

Friday, April 16, 2010

R.I.P.

The Wild West was a dangerous place!


-- Post From The Road

God Help Us All...

Tupelo Flash on a horse...never work with children & animals...of course, which is which?


-- Post From The Road

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Man, Another Late Nite!!!

Finally back in the room after a good day of filming...everything went well, rain and all (and it was a steady drizzle with occasional downpours).

Couple of cool things happening I wanted to touch on. Back home in Colorado, the Court of Appeals has ruled that the state preemption law prohibits the University of Colorado and other universities from not honoring state CCWs. From the Colorado Daily:
In a ruling issued Thursday, the court sided with Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a gun-rights group that sued CU and argued that a 1994 university policy banning concealed weapons from its campuses violates state gun laws.
Attorneys for the group pointed to the Concealed Carry Act of 2003, a state law that prohibits local governments from adopting an ordinance to limit state concealed-carry rights. In Thursday's opinion, the judges wrote that the Concealed Carry Act applies to universities.
A huge victory for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus...congratulations!

On a more mundane topic, fro The Firearms Blog, TAPCO is now making polymer 30-round magazines for the Mini-14. I've never had much luck with aftermarket Mini mags, and Ruger is now selling 30-rounders. Still, the price is right...I'll probably give a couple a try.

Finally, I've been communicating with folks in the industry on the whole issue of Pittman-Robertson, and I think I may have something to announce as soon as next week (hopefully in D.C.). All I can tell you at this point is that wheels are turning...how fast and how fine they're turning I don't know yet...but you'll know as soon as I do. It is clear that the issue of new range construction has touched a nerve, both with the industry and in certain legislative quarters.

Evil Roy Goes Rogue!

Gene Pearcey and his main match revolver for the new cowboy action shooting division, COW-MANLY!


-- Post From The Road

Grumble Grumble Snort Snort

Back to the soggy ranges for another day of filming COWBOYS. We're running 2 crews — 1 with Gene Pearcey on the instructional; the other doing the openings, closing, etc. with Tupelo Flash. Tomorrow we may try get enough video to do another opening for the show. Try to do a longer post tonight....

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Sigh...




-- Post From The Road

Liquid Sunshine in Texas

Filming COWBOYS at Tin Star Ranch...


-- Post From The Road

Good Morning, I Think!

First, thanks to my friend Dave Kopel for the link to DOWN RANGE Radio over at the Volokh Conspiracy!

I think my alarm went off for about half-an-hour this AM while I struggled through some nightmare about bombing an interview with Sandra Bullock...sorry, Sandy...maybe next time. Yesterday was a filming day for COWBOYS, and it ran until giant Texas mosquitos and darkness finally shut us down. Hopefully today I'll be able to get in a little practice myself on the .44 Specials.

I love the big ole Magnum Research BFR .410/.45 7-inch we've got out here to break some clays, a la the Wild West Shows. First BFR I've really handled a bunch, and I'm very impressed with the overall quality...super metal-to-metal fit and great lock-up...more after I shoot it some...

Gotta go to work...

Monday, April 12, 2010

Still Running Like Crazy!



That's an accurate illustration of me these days...my travel schedule scares me, and I'm supposed to be used to it!!!

When I light someplace, I plan to put together an open letter to NSSF, the NRA and the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation outlining the issues I think we all face — based on your excellent comments, first and foremost the shortage of ranges  — and a viable solution for those problems. My thinking on the solution is 30% of Pittman-Robertson, effective for the 2009 collections (which show the windfall 29% increase driven by our money). That should amount to $120 million the first year, which would translate into the beginnings of a Ben Avery-style range in every state in the Union.

I will suggest that NSSF's range planners create a model that states can work from. I will also suggest that the money be contingent on ranges offering programs for handguns, rifles and shotguns — a skeet field alone isn't a range in the sense that we are talking about it here. To be funded a range must also make provisions for outside training to be available.

Does that about sum it up?????

Sunday, April 11, 2010

The New Improved Supremes

A look at 2 top Supreme Court picks through 2A lenses. From David Kopel on Judge Diane Wood:
Instead, Judge Wood chose to preemptively rule on the constitutionality of gun registration. Her ruling was bereft of the analysis that is necessary for judicial analysis of restrictions on any enumerated right. It is safe to say that Judge Wood has ample legal skills to conduct carefully-reasoned legal analysis when she chooses to do so. Accordingly, it is plausible to infer from her unreasoned opinion a disregard for Second Amendment rights.
Then Merrick Garland:
Details here, regarding the 2000 case NRA v. Reno, and Judge Garland’s refusal to require the Clinton Department of Justice to obey the federal statute requiring the destruction of records of firearms purchases by law-abiding Americans. The decision also suggests a cavalier disregard for privacy rights in general, such as the right not to be put on a government list simply because one engaged in a lawful activity.
This from the Democratic Underground on Elena Kagan, the Solicitor General and currently considered the frontrunner:
During her Solicitor General nomination proceedings, Ms. Kagan provided answers to Senator Chuck Grassley regarding her view of District of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (2008):
"The Supreme Court held in District of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (2008), that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. The Court granted this right the same status as other individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution, such as those protected in the First Amendment . . . . I understand the Solicitor General’s obligations to include deep respect for Supreme Court precedents like Heller and for the principle of stare decisis generally. There is no question, after Heller, that the Second Amendment guarantees Americans “the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation."
We'll see, won't we?

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Working....then Shooting....

Worked like crazy on Friday on a new Internet proposal for OC.com/DRTV...big project for 2011...then got up early this AM and shot a cowboy match down in the People's Republic of Boulder. My Sweetie just simply killed me in the match...she's getting better and better and better! Bizarrely, the only thing I shot really well were the Texas Stars.

I was shooting the .44 Special Blackhawks and the 1866 clone in .44 Special...I've still got some work to do on mastering the .44s...I really want to run the .44s as fast as I can run the .357s, but I'm going to have to put some more time into them. That's okay — it's fun.

Am in the market for a good — well, relatively good — 1897 pump for trap shooting...would love a Black Diamond Trap, but not for the prices being bandied around. 

Thursday, April 08, 2010

A Decidedly Toxic Day

Spent the day in Picher, OK, a town that was poisoned by it's lead mines, then wiped off the map by an F4 tornado in 2008.

Whew!

I just wanna get back to the Secret Hidden Bunker and hole up!


-- Post From The Road

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Darn! A Cool Little Gun!

The MasterPiece Arms Mac-10 based Tactical Rifle in .45 ACP...no recoil...no malfunctions...and heck , you can't get the darn thing to miss!






I wanted to add a couple of notes when I got back to the hotel...yes, the little beastie is heavy, but I'm not planning on schlepping it across Afghanistan. I'm thinking of more of a home defense gun...it's short, handles easily, and I think the .45 ACP is a superior home defense round to a 7.62 (and yes, I have a FAL) unless you really really don't like your neighbors!


And say what you will...it's MADE IN AMERICA, and that still counts for something with me. I also like that it comes with a natty little red dot sight, a white light and mount and a vertical foregrip if you want to use it.

In the end, this was a little gun we all had fun shooting...heck, we shot it until we ran out of .45 ACP! I've never been one to play the, "Yes, but it's not a..." game. Things are what they are...if I was stuck in my bedroom with this little MasterPiece rifle and 4 or 5 magazines with 160-gr Corbon DPX .45s, I'm pretty sure I'd be okay...

-- Post From The Road

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

What Do We Need To Do?

Read the previous posts on the changes in the gun culture, then, if you get a chance, listen to the Wednesday podcast, then I'd like to ask you all a favor...tell me what you think we need to do to make these changes happen.

On the way to the airport this afternoon I had a long conversation with a very good friend of mine. He challenged me to take this to the next level. It's not enough, he said, to be a gadfly. Fair enough, but I am basically a gadfly with a big audience. I worked for 5 years within the firearms establishment and, frankly, was unable to get beyond running a program, no matter how successful that program was. And I pushed hard. I'm good at media...of course, it helps to have a wizard like Marshal Halloway as a partner and top-end producers like Tim Cremin, Mike Long and John Carter...team is everything...and I have the platform.

So I'm throwing this one open for comment...there's a lot of brainpower out there, including other gun bloggers like my friends Sebastian, Uncle, Bitter, Tam, Joe H., Frank J., Steve, Mr. Completely, etc., plus our great crew of regular  commenters (and the comments on these posts have been just superb).

At 3PM on April 19th in D.C. I'm going to walk into the stage at the Second Amendment March...what do I need to say? If I'm going to call for action, what action should I be calling for?

Inquiring minds want to know...

This week's Down Range Radio and Video Podcast

This week it’s all rant all the time as Michael continues to discuss the implications of the new NSSF/Harris survey that confirms self-defense and concealed carry as the primary drivers in the new gun culture. We need more ranges, Michael says, and he has a plan on how to get them.

Click here for the video podcast...

or click here to listen to Down Range Radio...

Running in mud...


...some trips go smoother than others...in the meantime, here's me working on a new holster for one of the Schofield .44 Russians...need to finish stitching, then wet-fit the gun, then finish the leather...when I finish, I'll start on holster #2....I also want to build a Doc Holliday style shoulder holster for the Hamilton Bowen .44 Vaquero, which'll be my packing pistol fpr hiking this summer...assuming there is a summer...23 degrees, snow and a 50 mph gusting wind at the Secret Hidden Bunker this afternoon!

Definitely listen to the podcast tomorrow AM, where I elaborate on my earlier posts (not the one about the mouse, either)...

-- Post From The Road

Headline of the Week

From Fox:
Komodo Dragon Cousin Has Two Penises
...Dubbed Varanus bitatawa, the lizard measures two meters in length, according to the account, published by Britain's Royal Society. It was found in a river valley on northern Luzon Island in the Philippines, surviving loss of habitat and hunting by local people who use it for food.
Males have a double penis, called hemipenes, also found in some snakes and other lizards. The two penises are often used in alternation, and sometimes contain spines or hooks that serve to anchor the male within the female during intercourse...
No word yet from Tiger Woods or Jesse James, but it seems certain that they will be exploring surgical options...

Monday, April 05, 2010

Sorry for the Light Posting


Had a production meeting for COWBOYS and the filming of the weekly video podcast ran long...we also had to shut down production while I shot a house mouse in the gun room...hollow-point pellet out of an air pistol...got it just before it charged! The videographer (my Sweetie) says shooting a mouse during filming is definitely a hostile workplace issue...only for the mouse, I said...does Glenn Beck have these problems, I ask you?

I have a lot more to say on these issues (say, there's a surprise!); I led the video podcast for Wednesday with the NSSF survey. I've also been talking to my friends at NSSF, so I've got some info there.I'll try to post more tomorrow...

Friday, April 02, 2010

Some Additional Thoughts on Yesterday's Post

I was doing this as a comment, and then I decided that it needed its own post...here's the primary comment I was responding to:
You seem to have equated target shooting with competition in your post, but is it REALLY? Are the people who answered "target shooting" casual shooters who shoot sporting clays or falling plates for fun but who have never entered a competition? The answer to that question would be interesting.
IMHO, "target shooting" encompasses "competition," but competition isn't the whole of target shooting. Target shooting is the shooting of targets, both formally and informally. Plinking by any terms is target shooting.
If you look at the big surge of AR owners, I would say that the vast majority of those new shooters are "target shooters" but
NOT engaged in formal competition. Some will find their way to formal competition, but based on my experience most won't (3-gun and Camp Perry type competition are are high barrier-to-entry sports)...which is fine. Shooting with one's friends is certainly every bit as valid an activity as competing in an IPSC match. Also, training is not competition, although you could probably make a case that it is target shooting — target shooting for a specific purpose.


In the past, the industry has tended to define ALL non-formal competition as "preparing/practicing for hunting," which is simply incorrect. At one point, the industry stats lumped both most .22 rimfire sales and most shotgun shells sold as "preparing for hunting," then used those numbers as "proof" that hunting was the primary driver in the industry. This wouldn't be important except that it skewed where the industry spent its promotion money for recruitment and retention, with 90+% of the bucks going to hunter recruitment and retention and virtually nothing going into the areas that had huge growth potential.

In a white paper several years back I argued for a 2-tier recruitment and retention system for the industry and the culture. My argument was that for newcomers participation in formal and informal shooting sports faced 1 major barrier, purchase of a firearm, while participation in hunting had 2 major barriers, purchase of a firearm and killing an animal. Rather than pour huge amounts of money into a 2-barrier jump hunter recruitment with what amounted to very low success rates, I suggested we put the lions' share of the money into recruitment for target shooting (both formal and informal), focusing on self-defense as the primary driver, and get them past Barrier 1. THEN create a mentoring system — which has been repeatedly shown to work very well — to introduce newcomers who got past the first barrier to the sport of hunting. 

We talked about the transformation of the gun culture a couple of weeks ago on the podcast. Here's my nut graf: The gun culture has morphed from a hobbyist culture focused largely on hunting and somewhat on formal competition (back in the 1960s and earlier) into a more coherent culture built around self-defense, concealed carry, RKBA issues, training, competition and some hunting. The elements of our culture that are growing, as noted by another poster, are self-defense/concealed carry...and that growth is in demographics where we historically have never been strong — women, young men, etc.

In my brief tenure on the NSSF committee to translate their "omnibus study" into something of value, I argued vociferously that to NOT include the needs and wants of informal target shooters like the new AR owners and concealed carry permit holders rendered whatever was to come out of that planning committee worthless. And that has proven to be the case.

Our goal in this culture MUST be to drive growth — the bigger we are, the harder it is to step on us —and the intelligent way to drive growth is to push the machine in the direction it is already going! I believe, for example, that the growth in women hunters, one of the only hunting demographics showing any strength, is proof of my 2-tier theory...more women have come into the culture through concealed carry and self-defense training issues, and once in the culture they are more easily recruited to the other things the culture has to offer.

Thursday, April 01, 2010

I Hate To Say "I Told You So..."

...but, hey, some of us have been telling the industry this "so" for years! I got a release yesterday from NSSF on their newest NSSF/Harris poll. Here's the nut graf:
A new National Shooting Sports Foundation poll conducted by Harris Interactive found that more Americans are target shooting now than six months ago, and that “home and personal defense” were the main reasons Americans recently purchased firearms.
Bottom line — concealed carry, self-defense and competition are the engines that presently drive the gun business:
In response to a question about why Americans made their most recent firearm purchase, 40 percent of respondents said “home protection” followed by 36 percent citing “personal protection.” Target shooting (30 percent) and hunting (28 percent) came next.
Note that hunting came in 4th on that list. It wasn't that long ago that our trade organization said that the future of gun rights in America was "irrevocably" linked to hunting, and their massive survey of a couple of years back (which I had the temerity to question) delivered the same warmed-over crap and, unfortunately, sent the industry haring down the same dead-end paths.

We'll be talking about this more on the podcast next week...

Alf the Wonder Beagle Update

She's actually doing so much better this AM. Yesterday she was hobbling around pathetically, but with a beagle it's hard to tell..she can look pathetic at the drop of a biscuit. She probably pulled a muscle or cracked one of the small bones in her left paw...