Arf, C@#%"&%!&R!!!!

I love this, from the Phat Phree dog blog (via InstaPundit), referencing the poor pooch pix above:

Seriously, Get This Sweater Off Me!

I mean it, I feel ridiculous. Get it off.

Lady, just because your boyfriend doesn’t want to settle down, doesn’t mean you should pretend that I’m a real baby in hopes that he’ll play along in your twisted game of “house”. I promise you’re scaring him off, and it makes you look insane. Think about it, you dress me like a Gap employee and tote me around like a damned fashion accessory. It’s disgusting, and you need to get your shit straight. Meantime, you can stop force-feeding me Altoids, you bitch.

Read the whole thing, and be prepared to spew milk out your nose!

Taurus PT-1911 Range Report Up!

...on the SHOOTING GALLERY site!

After a day at the range and aboput 450 rounds of hardball, I am tremendously impressed with the Taurus. Read all abut it in DROPPED SHOT!

Saturday Catch-Up Before My Bike Ride

I meant to mention this yesterday, but the August 2006 edition of SOLDIER OF FORTUNE Magazine has a great summary article on the USFS antigun jihad, written by Gun Week editor and Second Amendment advocate Dave Workman. Right now, that story is available only for on-line subscribers, but I'm going to ask Bob Brown to post it openly on the SOF site. Here is one of the germane quotes regarding the "150 yards from an occupied area" USFS rule, which the USFS Greenies, on their own authority, are enforcing as "150 yards from any road:"

But it appears the shooting restriction may be on shaky ground, both legally and administratively. Mark Rey, undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment for the Department of Agriculture told Gun Week the "occupied area" interpretation that some local USFS officials have been using to prohibit shooting within 150 yards of a road is bogus. Rey, in an interview published last August, said the alleged ruling by the unidentified federal judge is an "urban legend, or, in this case a rural legend."

"There is no such ruling." Rey said emphatically at the time.

When you read the earlier Gun Week article, you'll see that the Boulder USFS district ranger told Dave there was a "subdivision" nearby the first shooting area closed down, and she had received complaints from the subdivision. Upon reading that, I raced up to the range to search for the subdivision. There isn't one, and I'd be HAPPY to provide digital pictures. I live in the closest "subdivision," which is not a subdivision in the urban sense of the word, and I'm at least 2 miles as the crow flies to the range.

Yes, I could occasionally here gunfire from the range — pretty rarely; depends on the weather — just as I can hear gunfire during the hunting seasons. I LIVE OUT IN THE COUNTRY, FOR HEAVENS SAKE! That's why I live here. When newcomers from California move to our little mountain town, we give them a pamphet that explains the facts of life of rural Colorado living...it snows and the roads don't get plowed, cowshit smells bad, the police and volunteer fire response time may occasionally be measured with an hourglass, cows may wander onto your property, bears will eat your garbage and lions and coyotes will eat your pets, forest fires are real and scary things and, YES, we shoot and hunt. Live with it or leave.

The same USFS official told Senator Wayne Allard's office that the range was ACTUALLY closed because there was a natural gas pipeline nearby, and it was at risk. Yes, there is a pipeline nearby, ALONGSIDE THE ROAD, and it is at risk...from Californians with brand new 4-wheel drives on icy roads! There has NEVER been a problem from shooters.

You can read Dave Workman's excellent initial story in Gun Week from June 2005, when the jihad started. Check the Archives for "Obscure Reg Threatens Forest Lands Shooting." In that story, the USFS Greenie mouthpiece, Ann Melle, urged recreational shooters "not to panic."

Melle urged hunters and shooters to approach their local ranger districts in an effort to seek common ground and accommodation, rather than declare open political war.

[...]

Meanwhile, USSF’s Melle encourages shooters and hunters to not become alarmed. “Rather than fire off a Second Amendment letter to your congressman,” Melle suggested, “here’s what you can constructively do in your area.”

Using the shooting sports roundtable as an example, she suggested that shooters and hunters should work at the local level within various ranger districts to deal with shooting sports issues.

Amazingly, we (with the possible exception of my big mouth) stood down. Within 12 months, USFS-planted stories began appearing in local papers about the "shooting crisis" on public lands. USFS officials privately spoke to local politicians and told them that full prohibition was on the table. Public meetings to "address the crisis" were promised, then announced in such a way that the only reason we even found out about them was an emergency bulletin from the NRA.

In short, USFS officials have lied to the media and to public officials about the scale of the antigun jihad...it is well-planned and well-funded...the POSTED signs were in the warehouse and ready to go up. If you know anything at all about federal procurement, you'll know it doesn't happen overnight. The USFS mouthpiece was sent out to difuse criticism and buy time to get the signs up and the program established...and it worked!

The public meetings were a disaster for USFS, because they highlighted the facts that:

1) There is no problem regarding recreational shooting, including plinking, on public lands.
2) There is a USFS agenda regarding recreational shooting.
3) USFS was unable to find ANY supporters for their program in Boulder, the most liberal city on the Front Range.
4) By their own admission, USFS has NO documentation on problems with shooters or shooting areas.
5) Now that they've been dragged into the light, USFS is scrambling to find authorization and justification for the jihad.

After the metings, USFS officials were so angry they could barely speak to us. In one case, a top USFS official was throwing her "charts and graphs" back into her cars and snapping at subordinates. My sources inside the Greenies tell me that the largest shooting area in Boulder Canyon, Lefthand Canyon, which is TOTALLY within 150 yards of a state highway, remains open because the Greenies "lost their nerve" after the meetings. The Greenies expected to do "showcase" meetings and come out with "mandate" to end shooting on public land.

DOOM ON GREENIES!

So now the USFS is putting together their "suggested solutions" to the non-problems they uncovered!

Does anybody actually think those USFS "solutions" will be in our favor? Here are some of our "solutions" the Ad Hoc Committee has been discussing:

1) Immediately reopen all shooting areas closed by the 150-yard misinterpretation. To me, this is not a negotiable point — those areas were closed in violation of the law, and a reopening of the closed areas is nothing more than an act of good faith.
2) Immediately adopt a "no net loss" policy on shooting areas — if USFS LEGITIMATELY closes a traditional shooting area, they should be obligated to open another of the same size and access within a reasonal area.
3) Immediately cease and desist harassment of shooters, including those just "plinking."
4) Immediately provide maps at Ranger headquarters and on Ranger-maintained bulletin boards at ALL trailheads and recreational areas that show traditional shooting areas and explain the REAL federal statutes that govern shooting on public lands. USFS routinely does this for equestrian groups, kayak put-ins, climbing areas, etc. — all of which, by the USFS' own admission, carry the same legal liability risks as recreational shooting.
5) Immediately meet with shooting groups, including the Ad Hoc Committee to discuss appropriate signage for traditional shooting ares.
6) Immediately begin consultation with real shooting sports/firearms experts on safety and shooting issues. The one thing to clearly come out of the meeting is that USFS Rangers are abysmally ignorant about firearms, shooting, shooting sports and gun safety. The Department of Wildlife officers would be a good start!

Make no mistake...this is a full-blown "open political war" and maybe the biggest RKBA issue to surface in years. It goes to the heart of the antigunners' campaign...give us small victories while eliminating places to shoot (and access to guns and ammunition). If we have fewer and fewer places to shoot, to introduce our children and newcomers to shooting, to practice, to recreate and have fun shooting, the antigunners don't need to win any big victories. We'll be dinosaurs, and just as dead.

No, As a Matter of Fact, I Haven't Blogged Anything Today!

It's Friday, after all, and I've been busy as all get-out. I did take my motorcycle out at lunch and ride for an hour, just to clear the cobwebs out of the bike's engine and my head. I rode up to toward the Continental Divide, and I was reminded of the Bob Seger song, Roll Me Away, where he's standing on the Divide, knowing he could go west or east, it was all up to him to decide:

And as the sunset faded
I spoke to the faintest first starlight
And I said next time
Next time
We'll get it right...

Well, it has been a long week. Spent too much time worrying last night and ended up at 2 AM watching Shaun of the Dead. No wonder I'm jello today.

Had a major meeting last night on the Forest Service antigun initiative — we're now officially the Ad Hoc Committee for the Preservation of Recreational User Rights, and we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore. Attendees included the ubiquitous Col. Robert Brown, ace police trainer Diane Nicholl, John Higgs from Paladin Press, Firearms Coalition of Colorado President Steve Schreiner, NRA rep Darin Goens and several other long-time advocates.

How serious is the USFS antigun initiative? Well, despite representatives from the Department of Agriculture, which alledgedly controls the unruly mob of Clintonistas that pass for "Rangers," roundly denying that the USFS has called jihad on recreational shooting, the new "no shooting within 150 yards of a road" is now being enforced throughout the West. Posted signs are up in several states; citations are being handed out...and the ringer here is that federal law says, "no shooting within 150 yards of an occupied area." My own attorney read the statutes and said the law clearly doesn't not include "roads" as "occupied areas."

You can read the details here, from last June, when the jihad first came to light. In short, USFS Greenies, who readily tell everyone who will listen that they are the USFS"law" in their districts, opted to revise federal law all on their ownsy, and since nobody stepped on them last year, they've expanded the jihad.

Let me make this perfectly clear — if we don't stop this USFS antigun initiative in its tracks, there will be precedents on the books for shutting down whole national forests to recreations shooting and plinking. Yes, they already do that in California, but USFS has never been able to pull off a total ban — and that is clearly what they are after — outside of that beknighted state. USFA is now bleating like a goosed sheep that, "hunting won't be affected."

Yet.

If you believe that antigun activists will stop at shutting down recreational shooting, I have a lovely bridge I'd like to sell you!!!

The Ad Hoc Committee will be ramping up our national efforts, aimed at legislators and our own lobbyists to make sure they understand the seriousness of this issue. This is the real deal, folks.

Jihad 101

For those having problems separating the good guys from the bad guys during the current conflict in the Middle East, perhaps this cartoon, courtesy of Michelle Malkin, might help.

I May Be a Retrosexual

...which, through the miracle of morning television, does not have anything to do with Mrs. Robinson. Suddenly, I've learned, both American women and Madison Avenue have tired of "metrosexual" wussy-men who pluck their eyebrows and fret about correct sock height.

Thankfully, it is still okay to moisturize and drink imported beer!

What can I say...I was planning to moisturize the Box Car, my nondescript 2004 Honda Element, this weekend, but imported beer with the exception of Guinness taste like piss, so I'll stick to local microbrews — I'm currently in a summer pilsner phase (and, yes, if I could get real Czech pilsner over here I would drink that).

Well, while I'm getting back in touch with my macho self, take a few minutes to read John Lott's piece at NRO Online:

According to Justice Department numbers, since Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992, the number of federally licensed firearms dealers in the United States has plummeted by 80 percent. Kmart no longer sells guns, Wal-Mart just recently stopped selling guns at a third of its stores, and tens of thousands of other gun shops have gone out of business. With all the talk of the recent legislative success by gun owners, they have been winning some battles but possibly losing the war. Gun-control advocates may be the ones winning where it really counts.

John puts his finger on what I think is a troubling point (and the reason I've hammered the importance of a national firearms agenda) — it is possible to win battle after battle and still lose the war.

If it becomes harder and harder to buy guns and ammunitions; if there are fewer and fewer places to shoot; if there are no positive media portrayals of guns, shooting and shooters, we will lose the war. Or our children will. I think our enemies totally understand this, which is why both Brady and nitwits like the VPC are pretty much silent these days. They know they can't win the battles, so they focus on the long-term war.

I have a meeting tonight on the on-going Forest Service initiative to close the national forests to recreational shooting. Essentially, the meeting is to map out our next political response. I'm hopeful, but not optimistic, if that makes sense. I'll let you know how it goes...

Alphecca's weekly check on media bias is up as well, and, sadly, it's his last regular "Check" posting...it seems his real life is impinging on his Internet life. It's easy to forget that all this blogging is, essentially, donated time. THANKS, JEFF, for a job well done!

And, of course, with the new Miami Vice movie opening this weekend, you might want to check out MSNBC's comparison of Crockett and Tubbs then and now. And speaking of retrosexuals, according to the print versionof Entertainment Weekly, when real bullet shooting erupted on the Miami Vice set in the Dominican Republic Jamie Foxx reportedly raced back to Los Angeles crying like a little baby girl that he was scared scared scared and wouldn't do any more filming in the DR or in the no-man's-land of Paraguay, where Mann was planning to do the shoot-out to end all shoot-outs. While Mann's gun guys were trying to get the military hardware into one of the most corrupt and dangerous places on the planet:

"Jamie Foxx was freaking out in Santa Domingo. According to multiple sources and published reports, the actor was so spooked that a guy with a real gun could get so close to the set that he immediately left the Dominican Republic and annoounced he wouldn't do any filming there or in Paraguay."

EW #888; July 28, 2006; Page 29

Sheeeeeeet! I'll bet my man Snoop Dogg wouldn't have puss'ed like that!

Give Her a Hand!

I'm so on top of this story, so to speak:

Stripper skips hearing over human hand, skulls
Nude juice bar dancer who won’t reveal origin of ‘Freddy’ the hand on lam

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. - Police were looking for a nude dancer who kept six human skulls and a human hand in a Mason jar in her home here after the woman failed to show up for a court arraignment on Wednesday.

Seems the lovely Linda was a Goth exotic dancer in an all-nude juice bar. Why do I feel popular culture is passing me by, and why do I feel a sudden urge to do a Google search for "human skulls for sale?"

I didn't know that it was a felony in New Jersey to disturb human remains...how do they ever talk to their politicians?

Sharp Things Can Hurt You!

As most of your regular readers know, I am a lifelong "knife guy;" we knife guys (and guyettes as well) used to have a saying:

Guns are guns, but knives are important!

Well, the Wall Street Journal, titularly our friends, have opened a fascinating can of worms with this story. I'm referencing it off The High Road rather than the WSJ site so you don't have to sign up:

Wall Street Journal Looks at Pocketknives
How New, Deadly Pocketknives
Became a $1 Billion Business
By MARK FRITZ
July 25, 2006; Page B1

A decade ago, Jim Ray brought together a champion martial artist, a former Navy Seal and a police-weapons specialist to draft designs for what he hoped would be the perfect pocketknife.

But the high-tech knives the team created were never meant to whittle sticks. Instead, the team produced knives whose blades could be flicked open with one finger faster than the widely outlawed switchblade -- but were still perfectly legal. "Nobody wanted to call it a weapon" at the start, says Mr. Ray, a former proprietor of a North Carolina tourist shop. But eventually, he adds, "that changed." And soon Mr. Ray and the company he formed, Masters of Defense Inc., were marketing the blades' utility when "shooting is just not appropriate."

The knives have ergonomic grips and are compact -- and they can inflict deadly damage.Mr. Ray was a pioneer in a technological revolution that has transformed "tactical" knives -- originally used in military combat -- into a $1-billion-a-year consumer business, aimed at just about anyone in the market for a small knife. These 21st century pocketknives, with their curved, perforated or serrated blades and ergonomic grips, can inflict deadly damage, but they are also compact, easily concealed and virtually unregulated.

In March, a monthly FBI bulletin alerted law-enforcement agents nationwide to "the emerging threats" posed by the knives. Though there are no statistics on how many crimes have involved tactical-style knives, the FBI says knife-related crimes have edged up, to 15.5% in 2004 from 15% in 2000. In that time, violent crime in general dropped 4.1%.

"Virtually unregulated?" I'm am shocked...shocked, I tell you!

Of course, a lovely Emerson commemorative HD-7, MSRP'ing at $364.95 if — and this is a big if — you can pry one out of the hands of a knife collector, is NOT ONE BIT DEADLIER than a sharpened stick, which can be obtained rather freely by breaking off a branch of a tree in your backyard. Those damn sticks are "virtually unregulated" as well.

Before I carried the Spyderco "Yojimbo," before I carried my Emerson, before I carried my Pacific Cutlery Bali-Song, before I carried ANY knife with a pants clip, I carried a straight-razor that I got for $1.00 from a barbershop going out of business when I was still in junior high.

Let me tell you about a straight-razor in Tactical-Speak — it is "compact;" has an "ergonomic grip;" is "easy to conceal" and "fast-opening" with an "easy-open" stub that allows "even minor manual movement" to open the knife; can be "closed with one hand," and can "inflict deadly damage."

In fact, my very first knife "sensi," a black man named Rozell who delivered packages for my grandfather's drugstore in one of Memphis' less desirable neighborhoods Back in the Back When, said it best — "Straight razor'll kill you before you know you cut." That's why he used them.

Straight-razors are also "virtually unregulated."

Who'd'a thought it?

Anyhow, you all get my point (haha!) — no sharp thing is more dangerous or less dangerous than the hand who wields it.

BTW, in my on-going effort to keep SHOOTING GALLERY on the straight-and-narrow Path of Total Political Correctness, in a couple of weeks we'll be filming our third episode with master instructor Michael Janich. He's one of the specialists referenced in the first sentence of the WSJ article; now chief designer for Masters of Defense Knives, also referenced in the article, and acknowledged as one of the great masters of the blade.

The topic will be: Knife Training For The Gunfighter, a look at integrating folding knife techniques with firearms concealed carry.

Sharp, huh? I know...I know...we could have done a a dull-as-dirt episode on some lame rifle because its makers were paying us a bunch of money to say how good it is...maybe next season.

Go Buy John Farnam's New BOOK!

SG-featured trainer John Farnam graciously sent me an autographed copy of his new book, GUNS & WARRIORS, basically a collection of his Quips that appear regularly on his Defense Training International website.

In truth, I thought I'd just flip through it for a minute, then set it aside until I had a little more time. I ended up spending a couple of hours with the book, pouring over John's thoughts and keen analysis of the many incidences in his own and his students' lives.

Here's just an example, the "lessons learned" from one of his student's observations of a violent encounter:

• It's always a "come-as-you-are" war. Violent threats to your life never happen when you are "ready."
• "Chance favors the prepared mind." Even though the woman [in the incident] was unarmed, she did what she could, immediately.
• "Who hesitates is lost (dead)."
• Extending the distance is nearly always tactically sound.
• It's hard to someone who is running like hell!

Yeah, you say, common sense...I refer you to your local newspaper as to how "common" Mr. Farnam's sense is!

Unlike a lot of the "new wave" of firearms trainers, John Farnam has walked his talk for decades and is one of the most knowledgeable observers out there.

I don't agree with everything he teaches, but hell, I don't agree totally with what anyone teaches. But if I was going to pick a trainer because I absolutely positively knew my life was in danger, John would be on the very short list of instructors I'd trust.

Go buy the book, read it, then start living the advice!

The Ultimate Bear Thread

As you all know, "bear threads" — "What sort of gun should I carry in bear country?" — are a staple on the various shooting forums (although I believe I'm the only person answering those threads who has addressed the bear piss all over the place issue). This report, from last Sunday's Boulder Peaks Triathlon here in the People's Republic, is, however, the bear thread to end all bear threads. This from the morning's Denver Post:

Boulder
Triathlete survives bear crash

A Denver woman is recovering from injuries she received after colliding with a bear during a triathalon in Boulder on Sunday.

Sabrina B. Oei received a bad case of road rash, but wasn't seriously injured and was able to complete the triathalon.

The bear also survived the crash, and scampered back into the woods.

Oei was racing downhill at nearly 40 miles per hour when the collision occurred.

Okay, let's do a little quick math...say a 135 pound traithlete...a 16 pound bicycle...so the total weight of the "projectile" impacting the bear is 151 pounds, not counting water bottle and two packs of GU.

151 pounds = 2416 ounces = 1,057,000 grains

Let's say she throttled her brakes, but was still moving at 20 miles per hour when she smacked the bear. I've done that descent in Left Hand Canyon a zillion times, including twice as a competitor in the Boulder Peaks Triathlon...she'd be lucky if she got the bike down to 20 mph! Sooooooo...

20 mph = 29.4 feet per second

To figure power factor, we multiple the projectile weight in grains (1,057,000) times the velocity of the projectile in feet per seconds (29.5). This yields a power factor of in the vicinity of 31 million, versus an average 225,000 for 230-grain .45 ACP ball ammo.

Still, I think I'd rather be hit with a sweaty athletic blonde 1,057,000-grain projectile from a bicycle than a 230-grain one from a 1911.

No word from the bear...he's probably on the way to piss on my porch...

Surfing Toward Friday

“No one gets out alive, Doc.”

Al Swearengen
Deadwood

I had one of those best-laid plans sort of weekends…I did get to the range Saturday, but instead of shooting I ended up helping out the local cops on one of their training cycles. They have a new firearms trainer, and this was his first solo class. I remember my first solo class, and it was scary as all get-out. Anyhow, glad I could be of service!

I also had a really tough exercise day planned for Sunday, as my Sweetie has a triathlon coming up — 1/2-mile open water swim at the local reservoir, a one-hour bike at race pace and a 5-K run. We whipped through the swim in the diesel/baby pee/sludgy rez, then headed out on the bike. Rather, my Sweetie headed out on the bike…Mr. “Sure The Tires Are Worn But There’s One More Good Ride In ‘Em” blew a tire about 10 feet from the car. Upon examining said bike tires, I discovered that I was basically riding on the tubes…yes, we ride a lot!

I left my Sweetie to do the ride, raced to Excel, bought new tires and tubes, mounted them, then was able to get back and do a really hard 30-minute ride. When I caught up with my Sweetie on the way back in, though, she was a hurting puppy…a combination of lots of heat, full-strength Gatoraide and rez-sludge. Needless to say, we cancelled the run and retreated to Mountain Sun, a hippie microbrewery in Boulder, where, if they knew what I did for a living, would have me summarily thrown into the street. It has been my experience after some three dozen triathlons (including 3 finishes at the Alcatraz tri, where the water in the shipping lane off San Francisco tastes just like Number 3 Diesel and ship wastes!) that nothing settles Open Water Stomach like beer. It’s better than Pepto-Bismol and blessedly not pink.

Through the careful internal application of their amber ale on the nitro pump (if you don't know what this is, shame on you! You flunk Beer 101), my Sweetie was instantly better. They ought to bottle this stuff! No, wait...they do, don't they?

Anyhow, gotta love my old home down of Memphis, where assault seems to be the local pastime. Still, here's even more prooof of the ole "knife to a gunfight" saw:

A knife-wielding grocery store employee attacked eight co-workers Friday, seriously injuring five before a witness pulled a gun and stopped him, police said.

If you happen to be in Memphis and have an urge to participate in the local fun pastime, keep in mind that my good friend Tom Givens at Rangemaster has trained hundreds of "civilians" how to deal with scumbags like yourself...and he is really, really good. Me, I'd just stick to the BBQ!

If you're not pissed off already this morning, I suggest you stop by and visit Bill and Denise's Tenring Blog. This morning's excellent rant is about the continued assault on firearms ownership all around the country — which is going to continue, people, until we have a NATIONAL ACTION PLAN we can ram down our legislators' throats!

This one from California is particularly troubling:

LA County Gun Task Force Serving Search Warrants

Officers from the Los Angeles County Gun Task Force in CA have begun serving search warrants on residents in that county who are suspected of holding un-registered "Assault Rifles" including 50 BMG target rifles.

Read the whole piece...the police don't agree, but they're "just doing our jobs, ma'am!"

Fresh Stainless Steel Meat!

Just before the weekend really starts, here's some FRESH MEAT, especially for the boys over at Sixgunner.com who are into obscure single actions.

The gun is a United Sports Arms Seville in ".454 Magnum," one of only 30 made before United Sports Arms packed it in. Simply put, United Sports Arms single actions were spectacular guns — the first big stainless single actions; the first offered in .454 Casull, super-slick actions and trigger pulls — a gun before its time.

You can read the complete history of these great guns by visiting Lee Martin's super website singleactions.com and reading his comprehensive article on Sevilles! For all you collectory sorts, the gun is frame-marked on one side:

United Sports Arms, Inc.
Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.

And on the other:

.454 Magnum
S/N 7-00400

The barrel is engraved: "SEVILLE STAINLESS"

This gun is special to me because it was a gift from country superstar Hank Williams Jr. after I wrote his autobiography, LIVING PROOF, and consulted on the television movie of the same name. It was one of Hank's working guns, and we put a bunch of rounds through it at various times.

Now, I'm probably going to go to hell for this...and I honestly admit I didn't appreciate how rare the gun actually was..as I said, it was a working gun with honest nicks and dings. A few years ago I sent it to master gunsmith Dave Clements for a complete checkup and light tuning. Because I wanted to keep using the gun, I had Dave clip the barrel back to 5 1/2 inches...a length I really like on heavy single actions...clean up the action a tiny bit, then bead-blast the stainless steel to give the gun a matt finish. One of these days I may bet ambitious and refinish the grips, which are pretty nice just as they are.

I think the gun is now just about perfect as a "packing pistol." I hesitate to launch max load .454s through it, thinking of it more as a really hot .45 Colt (Lee Martin suggests a 50,000 psi pressure cap for the Seville, which would auger for either lighter bullets at the upper end of the pressure range or heavier bullets with throttled down velocities, say 300+-grain bullets at 1000+ fps). AND DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR THIS! DO YOUR OWN DAMN RE

There are some LOONEY TUNES .454 loads out there in Internet World, some approaching 75,000 psi! BEWARE!

Interestingly enough, when I was getting ready to move to the new house six years ago and cleaning out all my boxed reloading stuff, I discovered a box of hot .45 Colt/.454s loaded for this gun by Hank Jr. Those are the rounds pictured in the above photos — 260-grain Keith hard-cast bullets over enough 296 powder to bring the pressure close to the 50K mark (based on my data exterpolation). There are also some hotter loads in the box that are best left to the Bad Old Days!

A quick word about the holster...it's a presently uncataloged TEQUILA HUNTER rig from Kirkpatrick Leather. Basically, it's a blending of the "Tequila" competition rig — the best darn competition rig for cowboy shooting! — designed by COWBOYS host and 5-X World Champion Richard "Tequila" Young and Kirkpatrick's best-selling Crossdraw rig. We tweaked it a little while Tequila and I were down at the shop, and the result (in my never so humble opinion!) is the best field carry rig out there!

Range Day Rained Out!

Not complaining...when it's fire season up here we'll take all the "wet" we can get!

Anyhow, some of the commenters were sounding a little shaky, so I did take some pictures of the Taurus PT-1911. Let me step you through the gun, which is all I can do until I can get to the range.

First, check out the front and rear serrations...looks good; feels good. The slide/frame and barrel fit are DNO* (*Dead Nuts On) and feels very much like the fit on my custom 1911s. Trigger clocks in at a spec over 4 pounds, with only the tiniest bit of creep. I've done some draws and haven't had the slightest problem hitting the grip safety every time...a big big issue for little Miss Girly Hands here. The grip safety is one of the Ed Brown "Speed Bump" styles...perfect, IMO.

The ambi thumb safeties are also perfect, which, in my definition, means that they crisply snap off and on. This is a BIG TIME pet peeve of mine! I mean, along with the trigger it's the most important control on the gun! If it sticks or binds, you can get an unfortunate case of DEAD!

To sum up the operating controls, I WOULD NOT send this gun to a gunsmith! That's a big compliment...I send virtually every 1911 I handle and plan to keep to a gunsmith because I know EXACTLY how I want the operating controls to feel — in short, I want them all to feel just like the Wilson Master Grade I competed with. Period.

Handling-wise, I like the 30 lines-per-inch checkering on the mainspring housing and the frontstrap, maybe because I'm old. When I was seriously competing, I preferred 20 lpi with the diamonds cut sharp as razors. My hands occasionally bled — 1911 Stigmata! — but the gun never shifted in my grip. The checkering under the trigger guard is a nice touch. Grips feel good, but I'd change them out for something stickier...AlumaGrips or some of the gator-type grips.

Two 8-round mags, both marked "Made in Brazil" are included. They look like the ACT/Novak mags supplied with the S&Ws and SIGARM GSRs. These feed fine in hand-cycling ball, and I've had great luck with the ACTs — so much so that I now prefer them over the Wilsons that I've used for years. Magazine well is beveled, but like all 1911s it crys out for a blended in Smith & Alexander or Heinie well.

Sights are Heinie-marked and exactly the same as I have on my Dick Heinie Springfield Armory. The straight-8 sight picture is excellent, especially with the wider opening in the rear sight

Yes, the hammer has one of those ridiculous locking mechanisms on it, but:

1) Live with it; they ain't gonna go away.
2) It's not obtrusive.
3) Everybody I know has stacks of 1911 hammers lying around. Go buy a Cylinder & Slide hammer if it makes you happy.

The Taurus has a full length guide rod...I suppose there's nothing to be done for it. No , you really don't need it, but all your friends probably have one, so there.

Anyway, that's all I can tell you without shooting it!

Magazine Half Full/Magazine Half Empty

I guess it’s fair to say that yesterday was one of those “magazine half empty” or “magazine half full” days.

I got to spend lots more expensive time with the ophthalmologist ascertaining how badly the bout with shingles damaged my right eye…the answer is not as much as it could have. I’m also working with a contact lens specialist to get just the right lenses for shooting…there’s been a bunch of new lenses coming to the market.

Still, it’s infuriating to me, Mr. “Class A” Personality, that the dentists who “probably” caused the shingles attack will get off clean…the general consensus is that because both effect the same nerve clusters, the shingles attack was probably triggered by the botched dental surgery earlier this year, but there are too many “might have been” and “could haves” to make a clean malpractice case.

I am hopeful that what goes around will indeed come around!

On the “magazine half full” side of the equation, it’s raining guns here at the SHOOTING GALLERY Redoubt. Yesterday I got two long-awaited surprises, my Ruger Flat-Top Anniversary Model .44 Magnum that has been on order for months and months, and one of the production versions of the Government Model-sized Taurus 1911 .45 ACP. See the specs on the Ruger here and the Taurus here.

All I can say about both guns is WOWIE-ZOWIE!

I’ve said before that I believe we’re in the Golden Age of Handguns, and if you needed proof these two guns would supply it. Fit and finish on both are flawless. The Taurus especially was a revelation…it feels like my custom 1911s…the difference being that the Taurus’ MSRP is $599. Heck, if you wanted a set of the Heinie Straight-8 sights that come standard on the Taurus on your 1911, it’d cost you more than $200 bucks from Dick H.!

Anyhow, I have a range day scheduled for tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Also today, I've been reading a fascinating new white paper from Radley Balco of the Cato Institute on the militarization of police forces and the rise of SWAT in the United States. You can download a copy from the above link.

As regular readers know, I do worry about that trend (for a hardware example, some of the local tiny town cops up here have M-4s they've never shot at a distance greater than 15 yards and with no real full-auto training...not dis'sing the guys at all, but that level of hardware requires far more training than the departments can afford to give them).

Secondly, I've seen an increasing number of no-knock raids go bad...lousy intel from informants, etc...and it weighs on me. Anyway, read the report and make your own minds up!

A Priceless Resource for Your Antigun Christmas List!

I'm surprised I haven't run across this stuff before. Maybe I have and have forgotten...uh oh! At least I haven't had an original idea yet!!!

CBS to Offer "Solutions"

Gosh, I am so excited! the lovely and intelligent Katie Couric is ready to take MSM "news" to a new level when she takes over. Remember her trip to talk with the peasants out here in sad, pathetic Red-State-Land? Here's what she learned:

Viewers told her they want more perspective and "a better understanding of the ramifications of the news," she says. "I got the distinct sense they want us to go a little bit deeper" with historical background and "how is this relevant to their lives. (And) we heard from many people the news is just too depressing. Obviously, we can't sugar-coat what's going on, but there are cases where we can be more solution-oriented."

I know that CBS — America-hating, gun-grabbing, socialist-oriented Northeastern effite liberals that they are — will have lots of solutions for us to help our everyday lives! Given what those bastards really think of us, any "solution" they come up with will probably involve Zyklon-B.

Peter Capstick Moment

Years back when I was living in Florida I saw in a G&A that the great African hunter and one of my idols, Peter Hathaway Capstick, was in Sarasota for some medical treatment. I immediately called directory assistance and discovered that Capstick had a listed number.

I called the legendary hunter, and he answered his phone on the first ring, in a whisper.

"Mr. Capstick," I said, "...my name is..."

"SHHHHHH!" he whispered. "I'm in my blind hunting"

"You're in Sarasota..." I whispered back.

"Palm rats," he said. "They come down out of the palm trees, and I take 'em with an air rifle. One of 'em will go Boone and Crockett easy..."

So I'm sitting in my blind, a.k.a. office, deeply engaged in the 2006 Rodent Apocalypse in my Sweetie's backyard flower garden. So far this morning, I've bagged a pretty nice chipmonk and a Boone and Crockett-worthy ground squirrel. Because we're working on a handgun hunting show, I thought I should stick to air pistols. Unfortunately, my aging Webley Tempest, which I got at the prodding of Mr. Capstick maybe 20 years ago and which has taken some fairly impressive palm rats, needs to be sighted in — which, with the quintessentially British Tempest is no mean feat.

So I'm cheating and using a Gamo target gun (super accurate; less velocity) to head shoot the little bastards, then if necessary finishing them off with the Tempest...

...okay I'm back from Number 3, a good clean shot just behind the left ear, which pole-axed him. Ms. Fox and the two kits get an excellent free dinner tonight!

Carnival of Cordite!

This week's Carnival of Cordite is up, and that's where I cribbed this cool graphic! I once sketched out an organization called Gun-Free And Proud, whose primary purpose would be the printing of large brightly colored stickers that read:

"GUN-FREE And Proud Of It!
This home DOES NOT contain any FIREARMS!"

Then I'd hand them out to all my antigun friends...I must have one or two somewhere. I first introduced my new organization in a radio interview n Florida ages ago. I was "debating" a local antigun activist, which was a little like debating a retarded cat (is that an oxymoron?). I talked about how important it was to have the courage of one's convictions and how important it was to stand up and be counted, to put one's beliefs right out there where everyone could see them. My opponent heartily agreed. Then I rolled out my organization and told her she would be the first person to get the new stickers, which could be affixed to both the front and rear windows of her house, since she believed so strongly in standing up.

"But that would be like putting a 'Rob Me First' sticker on your..." she said. "...uh, oh..."

Meanwhile, back in Stupid World, the Colorado Wildlife Commission is considering hiring sharpshooters to cull the booming elk population in Rocky Mountain National Park, which it stopped doing in 1968 because people from nearby Boulder thought killing animals was "icky," unless it was done well out of their sight and the resulting "natural foodstuffs" was delivered prepackaged, preweighted, wrapped in plastic and certified organic.

So anyway, the proposed plan would bring in "sharpshooters" with suppressed rifles fitted with night vision scopes to cap 50% of the elk herd quietly while the nearby town of Boulder was either sleeping or drifting in a marijuana-induced stupor. This stunt would probably cost taxpayers in the vicinity of $18 million dollars.

Hmmmmmm...now I know it's important to kill animals in the dark of night and not make any noise so people can pretend all animals die of old age quietly in their sleep — after all, slaughterhouses rarely offer tours! — but I keep racking my brain trying to figure out if there are any people who might be willing to "cull" elk for free...or even — and this is a wild and crazy reach! — who might pay money to harvest an elk????

I don't know...that's crazy talk...I would ask my local USFS "wilderness professionals" for their professional opinion if I could pry them off each other. That'd probably take a crowbar, a blowtorch and a gallon of K-Y. However, Col. Robert Brown, erstwile publisher of SOLDER OF FORTUNE magazine, has alerted me to another wild and crazy solution, forwarded to him from Tom "Moose" Ferran, Chairman of the USMC Scout/Sniper Association:

To: COLORADO STATE WILDLIFE COMMISSION
From: UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS SCOUT/SNIPER ASSOCIATION (headquartered in Monument CO)
Ref: Reducing the Elk Herd Population, Colorado, meeting 13 July, 2006

Dear Sir or Madam:

In accordance with the above meeting I would like to offer the following:

The need to keep natures laws of herd over population in check is totally understandable. The method however, is of concern. To hire "sharpshooters" to curtail a species of animal life is the not best solution...not to mention the 18 million dollars spent on said activity. Our national and state hunters are the most effective at this mission. They should be employed first. As a secondary consideration please consider using professional trained Marine Scout/Snipers (both active and retired) to do
this mission. They will effectively and efficiently accomplish the mission in the minimum amount of time. Note: Marie Scout/Snipers are effective up to and beyond 1,000 yards. Your average state licensed hunter cannot perform to those distances.

Meat would be salvaged and processed for the various homeless programs. All fees to said "sharpshooters" AKA Marine Scout/Snipers will go to the below tax exempt non profit 501 (C)(19) association for your tax deduction. All proceeds will be marshaled to support our military overseas and families in need. Please see mission Statement as required by the IRS...

As necessary, I could assemble within one week, a squad of 12 men, a platoon of 36 men, or a company of 144 men (two weeks), or a combination there of, all of which are schooled trained highly professional Marine Corps Scout/Snipers.

The advantages of this proposal is as follows:

1. Total command and control of all personnel
2. We are self insured
3. Maximum human efficiency (no wounded elk)
4. Maintain skills for both active and retired, some who are going back to the battlefield
5. Reduced costs, i.e. less than 50% of stated allocation
6. Coordinate the timely delivery of meat to the appropriate recipient for the welfare of the homeless and others
6. All funds received will go to support our troops overseas or families in need
7. Tax deductible ( We are a 501 C 19)
8. The State of Colorado will reap this press (both civilian and military) and increase tourist dollars

We respectfully request you consider the above proposal. It would be a "win-win" for all concerned...except the Elk!

Respectfully Submitted,

Moose
(cousin to the Elk!)

Tom "Moose" Ferran
CHAIRMAN, USMC,
SCOUT/SNIPER ASSN.
P. O. BOX 2508
Monument, CO 80132
(719) 237-2424

There is no hunting like the hunting of man,
and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it,
never care for anything else thereafter...Ernest Hemingway

LOL! What do you suppose the chances of Colorado doing anything this smart would be? Or, say, having a 5-day limited elk season in the Park and charging $5000 for the license? I'm willing to bet the state would much rather spend $18,000 per elk for their own guys to cap 'em. Maybe they'll hire sharpshooting Forest Rangers to help...whoops...wrong gun!

Film At 11...

"I think I'd rather be a cowboy
I think I'd rather ride the range..."

John Denver
I Think I'd Rather Be A Cowboy

Hang with me on this one...so I'm in a Texas Longhorn calf branding pen in south Kansas, never mind why, close enough to Dodge City to feel the wind off Boot Hill. The little doggies, or whatever the hell you call calves, are been roped off horseback and dragged into the pen one at a time to get their shots, get their first tattoo and, if male, get relieved of their prairie oysters. Yum!

The cowboy drags a little doggie in and his superbly trained horse spins around and sets so the cowboy can tie off the calf. The calf, which is about the size of a medium size doghouse or one of Paris Hilton's male companions, has other ideas...or would possibly like to retain his nads a little longer. He shakes loose of the other branders and, with a rope still attached to one hoof, breaks to my left; the horse and rider with the other end of the rope attached to them, move to my right.

Directly in front of me is one of our $150,000 high-def video cameras on a tripod; the rope, pulling taunt between horse and rider and pissed-off baby Longhorn, moves like a striking rattlesnake toward the tripod, which is going to topple like a New York City drag queen with her Manolo caught in a subway grate.

My ass or the camera? Who am I kidding? Just as the rope hits the tripod I jump forward and grab the camera. The rope snags the tripod, pops up and hits me on the chest and, breaking the camera's fall, I go into a full-blown World Wrestling Federation back body slam into the cow dookey.

Now, in more than a decade of time in dojos, I have hit the ground more than once. In fact, I fancy that I fall rather well. I didn't even attempt to break my fall...just went limp. In all that time in the dojo, however, I never once did a full-speed fall with a small metal camera in my back pocket.

I now have a bruise the size of Pittsburg imprinted with the "SONY" logo on my ass, and I swear if I squeeze my butt cheeks just so I can take a digital picture...

PS: No no, don't worry...both the hi-def camera and the pocket Sony were unscathed...

Missouri Monsoon Season

I'm riding out an apparent monsoon in Columbia, MO, hoping to have some great meetings tomorrow. And it has been a great trip so far...today was a great interview with John Ross, even though his house caught on fire last night and his living room burned up! He was amazingly gracious, considering all he was having to deal with. This is one SHOOTING GALLERY you're not going to want to miss! Watch for it January 2007.

Good news from the Senate:

U.S. Senate Votes to Protect Second Amendment Rights During Emergencies

Thursday, July 13, 2006 Fairfax, VA – Senator David Vitter’s amendment to prohibit the use of funds appropriated under the Homeland Security appropriations bill (H.R. 5441) for the confiscation of lawfully possessed firearms during an emergency or major disaster passed the United States Senate with broad bi-partisan support, the final vote margin was 84-16. In the House, Congressman Bobby Jindal of Louisiana introduced HR 5013, the “Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006,” an NRA-supported bill amending federal emergency statute laws to stop local authorities from confiscating lawfully owned firearms during times of disaster.

The bill's probably a slam-dunk in the House, so hopefully we'll be able to check one item off our list of political "musts." Now, let's get that CCW Reciprocity bill going!

I got great news from Taurus today that I should have one of their long-awaited 1911s in my hands by next week. I'm looking forward to it, because the samples that I've handled have been really top-drawer.

I plan to wring it out next week and hopefully shoot it in a local match, then post the story on shootinggallery.tv, so — as usual — you'll be able to read about it here first. With those carpetbagger faux shooters, of course, you can see a new gun when somebody pays them to let you see it...can you spell "sleazy?"

In other great industry news, it looks like everybody's favorite cowgirl, Holy Terror, is getting ready to accept another challenge as a factory shooter for a major firearms company. Can't tell you which one yet, but think Tupperware.

Congratulations, Randi! You deserve it!

It looks like the great gunsmith Bruce Gray is finally going to ESCAPE FROM CALIFORNIA for the wilds of central Oregon. He tells me he's signed the papers on a nice chunk of land, which will morph into a new gunsmithy and training facility. Don't be surprised if revolver ace (I was going to say "great" again, but I started creeping myself out) Randy Lee at Apex Tactical joins Bruce in OR-REE-GONE to create a mega-gunsmithy. In no time at all they'll be swilling microbrews and sporting, "Welcome To Oregon; Now Go Home!" bumperstickers!

Strike Me Dead & Call Me Cornpone!

Geez, even the Moonbat Left is abandoning gun control! Leftie blogger infante terrible Markos Moulitsas in what he described as an appeal to the Mountain West Democrats, explicitly endorses the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms. Read about it at Slate (and a tip of the hat to Instapundit). Nice contrarian commentary at Daily Pundit:

I conceived my current understanding of the power of personal firearms and the Second Amendment not as a libertarian or even as a conservative, but in my early twenties, as a committed revolutionary leftist...

Definitely worth reading.

At this rate pretty soon the only people in favor of any kind of gun control will be the helpless pitiful bleeting sheep over at the Brady Center, who can't even score invitations to the B-list Beltway parties anymore. Even the Tell-A-Big-Lie spinners at the Violence Policy Center have gotten really really quiet.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO, all this begs the question of why we can't get behind my simple five-point progressive firearms plan to protect our future gun rights. Here's my link to the whole enchilada, but let me whip out a Cliff's Notes version for the uninitiated:

What We Want
"We" being the gun culture, of course

• Immediately pass a federal law banning confiscation of legal weapons during any emergency.

• Rein in continued BATFE abuses.

• Stop all antigun initiatives in other branches of government service.

• National CCW reciprocity and enforcement of federal "Safe Passage" laws!

• Dismantle the onerous conditions of the 1968 Gun Control Act, the machinegun amendment of the 1986 FOPA, the 1990 Crime Control Act and the 1999 "Al Gore Stands Up, Barks Like A Seal and Ends His Presidential Asperations!" trigger lock requirement.

Again, the "gun control movement" is and was a paper tiger, a pathetic convergence of elite Northeastern liberals and academics, discredited Socialist theories and a wildly biased and unchecked Mainstream Media with a hard-on for the Flyover States.

Nobody — not the rudderless Republicans, not the disspirited Democrats, not the legal academics, not the social "scientists," not even the far left side of the blogosphere — thinks gun control is anything but what it really is...a really bad idea left over from a time of really bad ideas. It has been tried, and it doesn't work...here, there or anywhere. All gun control does is leave dead bodies in its wake. I can't believe even Sarah Brady believes any of the crap she spouts.

Want a quick illustration of the point? Compare and contrast these two news stories fom the last couple of days, the first from gun-free and proud Washington D.C.; the second from Florida, the first state to liberalize their CCW and castle doctrine laws, both stories via the AP:

Nation's Capital Declares Crime Emergency

WASHINGTON — Two groups of tourists were robbed at gunpoint on the National Mall, just hours after the police chief declared a crime emergency in the city in response to a string of violence that included the killing of a British activist.

The activist, Alan Senitt, was attacked in the Georgetown area on Sunday, his throat was slit and police say the attackers attempted to rape his companion. It was the 13th homicide in the city this month. Robberies are up 14 percent, and armed assaults have jumped 18 percent in the past 30 days.


Florida Crime Down to Lowest level Since '71

TALLAHASSEE — Florida's crime rate dropped for the 14th straight year in 2005 to its lowest mark since 1971 because of tougher laws, increased financial support from the Legislature and law-abiding citizens with guns, Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday.

"This report shows that staying tough on crime works," said Bush. "Law abiding citizens that have guns for protection actually probably are part of the reason we have a lower crime rate."

Thanks to gun control, the bodies keep stacking up! It's time to drive the nails in the ole gun control coffin, folks, and that means driving our politicians and lobbyists to swing the hammer.

I Wish I'd Thought of That!

There's been a winner in the annual "It was a dark and stormy night" San Jose State University's Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for bad writing, and, no, it wasn't me:

“Detective Bart Lasiter was in his office studying the light from his one small window falling on his super burrito when the door swung open to reveal a woman whose body said you've had your last burrito for a while, whose face said angels did exist, and whose eyes said she could make you dig your own grave and lick the shovel clean.”

"Lick the shovel clean?" Inspired, I say...inspired! Somebody call Days of Our Lives and tell them their new scriptwriter is waiting...

All The News That's Fit To Print!

FINALLY! A Question Answered!

"Johnny, there's some shit you got to walk through alone..."
Al Swearengen
Deadwood

It is Monday, isn't it? Or Tuesday. Yesterday was schedule day, in which I hammered out my travel schedule for August. Which took the entire day, with the exception of my mountain bike ride at lunch.

However, during the ride, it was as if scales were lifted from my eyes!

I found the answer to a question I've been asking over and over again to no avail. Well, I won't keep you in suspense one minute longer than necesary...I found out what USFS Rangers really do! That's right, I've been darned puzzled about what the Greenies do with their time, aside from harassing shooters, running from Rainbow People and scheduling public meetings to ask for more resources.

Well, now I know.

They make little baby Greenies!

Since it was a quickie lunch bike, my Sweetie and I biked the upsy-downsy gravel roads around here, eventually ending up on a dead-end road up pretty high. There parked at the end of the road under the "Dead End" sign was a Greenie truck, with what appeared to be a single Ranger in it studying a map. Upon, as they say in Deadwood, closer inspection, the one Greenie was revealed to be two Greenies...well, they might not have been Greenies, as they weren't wearing their Greenie Gear. They were in t-shirts...maybe they were undercover Rangers...

And, in truth, they may have been just reading the map. While I have never stretched out along the front seat with my back to the door and arranged to have a member of the opposite sex laying on top of me to help me read a map, maybe that's why I'm lost all the time!

In any case, I'm definitely not riding in the front seat of a Greenie truck...ick!

Anyway, I got a laugh out of it!

Gun Control is a "Loser" — MSM

Even the MSM is taking note that gun control is a suicidal political strategy for U.N. delegates, Democrats, probably even dogs and cats. This is from U.S. News & World Report, which has always been the least gun-grab-happy of the newsweeklies:

Not long ago, it was the gun lobby on the defensive from the passage of the Brady bill in 1993 and the 1994 ban on "assault" weapons. But some say support for gun control cost Democrats the House in 1994, and former President Clinton credited it with Al Gore's 2000 presidential defeat. "It's different than it was in the early '90s. Those were, in retrospect, the glory years," says Paul Helmke, former GOP mayor of Fort Wayne, Ind., who recently took the reins of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Meanwhile, with little fanfare, National Rifle Association backers in Congress allowed the assault weapons ban to expire in 2004 and last year shielded gun makers from being sued over crimes committed using their products. Since 1999, nine states have eased restrictions on concealed weapons, and NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre says the freedom of gun owners is in "the best shape it's been in decades."

Of course, that just means that the enemies of freedom will try even harder, especially this being an election year. I've been thinking about this for a bit, and from my standpoint, here's what our national political strategy should look like:

Michael's National Five-Point Plan for Consolidating Our Current Successes

• Immediately pass a federal law banning confiscation of legal weapons during any emergency. Katrina proved what we RKBA people knew all along, to wit, the government will happily strip you of your only means of self-defense if it can get away with it. Let's make sure they can't, once and for all.

• Rein in continued BATFE abuses. The laws are already on the books if anybody would step up to the plate and enforce them. There are enough legitimate law enforcement issues out there — for example, I have a friend at BATFE in gang intervention, a necessary and wildly dangerous job — without local agents launching their own personal crusades.

• Stop all antigun initiatives in other branches of government service. The U.S. Forest Service, for example, ought not to be allowed to run overt antigun programs while the parent USDA resolutely insists that it supports the rights of gun owners. How many other personal vendettas under the protection of a GS rating are running out there? Make them stop!

• National CCW reciprocity and enforcement of federal "Safe Passage" laws! We need this yesterday! Again, if it works for drivers licenses, there should be no problem with it working for carry permits. A second part of this issue is demanding that all states abide by federal "Safe Passage" laws — it is criminal that prosecutors in Boston, New York and Chicago can jail innocent people trapped for a night at their airports through no fault of their own because nobody in Washington D.C. has the balls to tell those cities that they are indeed part of the United States!

• Dismantle the onerous conditions of the 1968 Gun Control Act, the machinegun amendment of the 1986 FOPA, the 1990 Crime Control Act and the 1999 "Al Gore Stands Up!" trigger lock requirement. These laws were all passed as sops to a small minority of very loud antigun activists who no longer have any credible standing. The laws should go away! Now!

It has long been my contention that there never was a truly national anitgun movement; rather, it existed among a minority of residents in several major cities (NYC. Chicago, D.C., L.A. and San Francisco) and the febrile minds of the MSM. We need to convince our legislators to move as if that was indeed the case.

If you like my 5-point plan, pass it on...