New Week; Same...Stuff

Maybe because it's the heart of winter up here in the high country, the steady pounding of the wind and temps too cold to do much of anything except walk Alf the Wonder Beagle. We've been pushing those walks out longer and longer with the African walking safari on the horizon. I figure I'll treat it like an ultramarathon and start building up my base. I'll probably accidentally lose some weight, too. I'm putting together a sort of "challenge course" on property I own. Some of that property is pretty steep and rugged, which makes it perfect for training.  I ordered a bunch of air gun targets, which I'll place at various distances, then run the course with my Benjamin Marauder .25 air rifle. I chose the Benjamin because it's got a heavy (7.12 lb w/o optics) "real rifle" feel. It'll be fun!

Take a look at this NYT article on "Why the AR is the Most Wanted Gun in America," which ran over the weekend. It's interesting, but I especially want you to note how "the narrative" works. One of the most important parts of the narrative for the progressive Left — that would be our blood enemies — is that the firearms industry, in collusion with the NRA, are constantly forcing hapless consumers to purchase  more and more powerful weapons.

I would say that the NYT has confused cause and effect. Prior to the 1994 AWB, we rarely saw ARs in the field because they were expensive, or to be completely fair, there were more cost-effective semiauto rifles in the marketplace...the Ruger Mini-14 immediately comes to mind. Remember, Colt was still in Chapter 11 in 1994.

The AWB, though, turned out to be a business school study in unintended consequences. With the big players temporarily out of the market, the field was open to smaller companies that might have been swamped otherwise. Also, the AWB itself created the demand it sought to quash. The free market opened the floodgates for innovation, and America shooters discovered that the AR-15 was indeed the "Swiss Army Knife" of rifles. I think it was only after the AWB went into place that the market really latched onto the "kit gun" concept, too. Rather than a cabal of gun manufacturers and the NRA driving the market, the consumer demand pulled larger companies back into AR-15s.

Anyway, read the NYT article and ponder it yourself.

My friends Mark Passamaneck and James Casanova's company, Carbon Arms, got a nice plus for their TWinS shotgun shell caddy, aimed at 3-Gun shooters, on The Firearm Blog today. It is a super fast system, and you'll see it on SHOOTING GALLERY later this season.

BTW, have I mentioned that the Jerking the Trigger blog is doing yeoman's work on letting everyone know when AR products become available. JTT is a daily read for me, and I've been able to snag parts I've been looking for at sane prices. Thanks!

And guess what's coming to my Bunker...an FNH TSR XP in 7.62/.308! Oh goodie!