Between Hither and Yon

I'm a busy little bee right now, but I thought you might like to read a bit on the continuing slide of America off the cliff and into the abyss. The first is from William Murchinson writing In the Dallas Morning News, titled quite appropriately, "The Elites Versus Us:"

We live at an odd and dangerous moment -- one framed only in part by the court's recent extension of marriage rights to same-sex couples. There is much else to flummox and worry us. "Consent of the governed" seems the last thing on the minds of those determined to herd the sheep -- you and me -- to supposedly brighter pastures.

It reminds me of John Brunner's relentlessly depressing dystopian novel THE SHEEP LOOK UP. Don't read it if you're looking for a fun evening!

Historian Victor Davis Hanson, writing in NRO,  notes the similarities between modern American and democratic Athens (appropriate reading for the days when Greece itself swirls around the Great Toilet Bowl of History):

American democracy has become increasingly Athenian, as it periodically whips itself up into outbursts of frantic indignation. While the government in theory still operates according to the checks and balances of the Constitution, in reality, in the hyped Internet world of modern pop culture, fevered passions can seize the majority of the population in a matter of hours.

Well, darn cheery, doncha think? How about something a little cheerier? Dan Wos is the author of the book DEFINING SUCCESS IN AMERICA. He also runs a blog of the same name, one one recent entry is on The Feer of Guns...it is an excellent primer for dealing with people who might not agree with us...here's just a little selection, but definitely read the whole thing:

 I was talking to a guy who was anti-gun (I say "was" because he was finally able to see the benefit of self-defense) and I gave him a scenario. I said:
 "Let's say hypothetically that you and I are walking through the mall. We don't know each other  but it's Christmas time and the place is hopping'. People are walking around with their shopping bags full of gifts that they can't wait for their families to open, Jingle Bell Rock is playing on the sound system, you have your Starbucks Latte in your hand and we happen to be near each other. All of a sudden a masked gunman announces that everyone needs to lay down on the floor as he starts shooting people. I know this could never happen..sarcasm... But if it could and knowing your strict anti-gun rules, you knew that I had a licensed firearm on me. You knew this because you saw me duck behind a wall as I pulled it out of my belt. My question to you is, in that moment what thoughts and feelings are rushing through you and.........who just became your new best friend?"

BTW..Am typing this on phone on the fly...pls forgive typos,mmisssspellllings and assorted formatting crap!

Feeling Reasonably Human...

...which is a plus. I'm looking forward to campaigning the Ruger .45 ACP. It should be a lot of fun. I'm thinking it would carry nicely in a cross draw holster for EDC here at the Bunker.

Also interested in seeing how long the SBR paperwork takes for the .300 Blackout pistol. Still pondering optic...maybe Trijicon?

Hope to shoot my first precision rifle class in a few weeks! Probably use the McCrees Precision .308.

Ground Up, As In Ground Beef, Day...

…I am somewhat desperately trying to shake a nasty case of ebola I seem to have picked up at the dentist's office. Short story, I had a root canal a week and a half ago in anticipation of an impending trip out of the country. Easiest root canal a ever had…bing…bang…boom and out. And it steadily hurt worse and worse as the week progressed. Soooooooooooooo I go back and they say, surprise, you have a budding infection! Gee, I've gone through this before. So, the doc says, here's some penicillin and a pain killer that works so poorly it doesn't actually, you know, block pain but you can't sell it to junkies on the street in Denver!  Rats…there goes my plans for the evening…and penicillin…I'm surprised they didn't ask me to lick a moldy piece of bread.

Predictably, the infection really starts rocking and rolling. I get back into town after a few days of sitting up in bed all night eating Advil and hating Bill O'Reilly, get another appointment and, wow again, I'm a wreck, jaw swollen, big pain, etc. So they refer me to a specialist, give me nuclear antibiotics and few enough Percocet that I can't become some discount version of Walter White peddling pills on the streets of Ft. Collins to university students trying to recover from the microaggression of seeing a picture Confederate flag on the roof of "The Dukes of Hazzard's" General Lee while surfing the Internet looking for recipes General Lee's Crispy Chicken.

Cover your eyes, Special Snowflakes!

Anyway, the nuclear antibiotics make me sick but seem to have squelched the roaring infection…sort of trading a headache for an upset stomach, so to speak. I rallied enough this afternoon to spend some time refining the zero on my Scout rifle. I'm not totally happy happy happy with the 150-gr Superformance GMXs…the groups are okay, but not the absolute laser beams the 168-gr Superformance A-Maxes are out of that rifle. Maybe it's me.

I am, however, absolutely blown away by the new Ruger Redhawk .45 ACP/.45 Colt. 4.2-inch blaster. I picked mine up today and can't wait to wring it out. Here's the first part of Ed Head's report on DRTV, along with one of Ed's pixs:

This gun segues perfectly into my rebirth of interest in big bore revolvers. As you guys know I've been routinely carrying and shooting the Talo 2.75 inch .44 Magnum Redhawk as my EDC here at the Bunker…I left it with Hamilton Bowen for a tune-up, BTW. I really like the idea of shooting an ICORE match with the big Ruger. Ken Jorgensen and I did a GUNSITE revolver class with the 4-inch .44 Redhawks shooting .44 Specials…it was big fun, like shooting a really heavy, very accurate stapler. Since I've shot a .44 Special with moon clips in an IRC, I've got the experience. In fact, there should be a special class, "S-Class," for stupid.

I've got to fish out my Blade-Tech Dropped Offset for the 4-inch Redghawk and see if the new 4.2 inch-er will fit (something about Canadian laws dictated the barrel length).

Still, it's kinda neat to have a revolver capable of running .45 ACP or the incredible variation of .45 Colt loads. Ashley Emerson had some 365-gr .45 Colt loads @ 1250 fps…that ought do it.

Plus, I finally got everything I need to finish my .300 Blackout pistol, adding a DoubleStar lower to the AAC upper.

BTW BTW, congrats to the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who have giving the big ole "You're Numbah One" middle finger salute to Andrew Cuomo's Safe Act…some 23,000 New Yorkers have registers around 45,000 of the estimated 1 million "assault weapons" in that state. Color me surprised…not.

Kinda Non-Day...

The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.

 — Marcus Aurelius

…like pushing the rock up the hill, then standing there while it rolls back down. I got most of the stuff done that needed to get done, but not done 100%. SIGH.

I gotta run the Scout rifle tomorrow, clean it and make sure I still have a happy happy joy joy joy zero.

Finally, Some Good News!

Actually, it was a toss-up between this from Real Clear Science:

A Chimpanzee Has Rattled Off a Drum Solo

And this one from The Daily Mail:

Angry dwarf is jailed after sticking a sucker dart on his head and pretending to be a Dalek in row which led to him being Tasered twice by police

All I can hear in my head is, "Inna gadda vita, baby…exterminate exterminate!"

And These Are Our "Friends…"

From the Daily Caller:

Republican strategist Karl Rove said on “Fox News Sunday” the only way to stop gun-related violence, like the Wednesday massacre at Emmanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston S.C., was to repeal American citizens’ Second Amendment rights...

What to say…what to say…

How about, "μολὼν λαβέ, asshole!"

I Am Profoundly Tired of This Crap

So President Nine Iron bloviates:

“It’s not because there aren’t violent people or racist people or crazy people in other countries; it’s that a 21-year-old kid can’t just walk in and buy a firearm and, oftentimes, through gun shows, avoid background checks, and then act on this hatred,” he said. “And we’ve got to change that, and it’s not enough for us to express sympathy — we have to take action.”

That would be like the same 21-year-old "kids" that you and George Bush threw away on worthless wars? The same 21-year-old "kids" that keep your ass safe day in and day out? The same 21-year-old "kids" running multi-million dollar military hardware; hell, probably the same 21-year-old "kids" flying the killer drones you love so well?

One lunatic, or even 10 lunatics, doesn't indict everyone else in the country. LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT…if a whole bunch of Islamic whackos kill, behead, torture, rape, pillage  destroy holy sites, sell women into slavery, send snuff videos out to the whole world and vow to kill every single one of us, it is OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE that we DON'T BLAME ALL MUSLIMS for the barbaric actions of a few.

Yet if a single white lunatic acts out his sick fantasies, we should IMMEDIATELY blame:

• All gun owners
• All white people
• All young people
• Everyone in the South
• Donald Trump
• Fox News
• Republicans
• Rand Paul

What the HELL is wrong with those ass clown?

Charleston

Yes, it makes me sick, and my heart bleeds for the families of the victims.

There are things, however, that need to be said as the political posturing begins...excuse me, has already begun.

Last season on THE BEST DEFENSE we made the decision to include a church shooting scenario. This was probably the toughest decision we've ever made on TBD, and it is one we argued at length. Finally, I, Michael Janich, Michael Seeklander, Marty Hayes, Producer Jeff Murray and DP Brandon Green agreed that including the church scenario was important.

We discussed it with the pastor and his congregation. While the pastor didn't agree with us, he did agree that the message we wanted to present was important. Frankly, the scenario was disturbing for all of us...after all, we were bringing violence onto holy ground. But we did that scenario, and we all learned from that scenario.

We proved -- PROVED BEYOND ANY DOUBT! -- that a good guy with a gun, or a good guy willing to fight, are the only antidotes to this evil, this nightmare violence.

I will not go beyond this tonight, but I will be talking about it on this week's podcast.

Gun-free zones, as the church in Charleston was, are killing grounds for terrorists and the mentally deranged. 

Mourn the dead; comfort the living; wake up tomorrow AM and face the Real World.

Linebaugh

Oddly Enough...

"500 Fights" -- A Must Read

From Richard Fernandez at the Belmont Club:

The problems we are witnessing are the result of the fact that Xi, Vladimir and the Ayatollahs have already done their 500 fights. They’ve stomped over whole cemeteries full of rivals. They are genuine tough guys. And against them all Barack Obama can set are his sealed academic records, a couple of books which may or may not be his, a “present” voting record, no job experience and a string of failures dating back to the day he was elected. In the contest of totalitarians, America is overmatched. The “elite” — determined to play the power game — are in over their heads. 

The mismatch did not exist back when America was a country content to be run by its citizens; that didn’t aspire to be run by elites who were nothing but media creations. The earlier America didn’t need an experienced thug for president. It could rely on its freedom to be a superior, productive society as a trump. For it was the country — not the elites — that beat its rivals. When you let America be itself it simply overwhelmed the opposition. All the cleverness of Hitler or Stalin did them no good. They still lost the Second and Cold Wars to an America of ordinary free people.

Trans-species?

Seriously, lately I've been identifying as a llama named Felabeorbt…I feel like I've been sheared and have an overwhelming urge to spit at Democrats. I'm starting to like the ocarina. Maybe I am a llama. I'll have to give this some more thought, but meanwhile I need to orgle.

While I try to come to grips with my trans-species-ism, I have some thoughts on trans-gunny-ism. While I was down in Texas with Bill Wilson, I had a chance to put a bunch of rounds through a couple of Wilson Combat Beretta 92 9mms. Wow!

I have never been a fan of the Beretta 92…the ones I've had always seemed oversize to me, and the trigger pull was w-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-y too long. The Wilson 92s are masterpieces, the first DA pulls in the 5-6 pound region, with the trigger in exactly the same place on the DA and SA pull (a really big deal, BTW…I have shot Beretta where the SA pull broke almost all the way to the back of the trigger guard).

The Wilson grips bring the Beretta to, at leads for me, a perfect size. The next result is a super gun...fast to run, easy to carry, the Beretta perfected!

Sunday Whipped Puppy

So I went out today and shot a USPSA match…I was trying to remember the last USPSA match I shot, and I think it was the Single Stack Nationals when I used up all Patrick Sweeney's match .45 ACP, which would have to be at least 10 years ago. Hmmmmmmmm…

Well, it was fun! I eeked out 11th out of 22 Limited shooters, which is great after BOMBING the one stage I figured I'd smoke. For reasons known only to the God of Glocks, the trigger on on G34 absolutely, positively, flatly refused to reset about halfway through the run-and-gun stage, Everything was going swimmingly until the trigger stopped triggering. It's a GlockTrigger's Edge. I kept changing magazines and smacking the G34's butt until, amazingly, on the last bank of targets the trigger decided, what the hell, let's work.

I detail stripped it after the stage, and it was dirty…still…

I cleaned it up a little, lubed it slightly and it ran like a top for 2 more stages. I'll strip it down and make sure there's nothing hanky going on, then run a couple of hundred rounds through it.

TOMORROW…we count it down for Colt as the rampaging pony is goes for Chapter 11!

Okay, I'm Back!

It's that time of year, where I'm working like a dog. We've got GUN STORIES WITH JOE MANTEGNA wrapped, and SHOOTING GALLERY just spinning up. As soon as I get back from whacking God's creatures in NZ, it's time to start THE BEST DEFENSE. As soon as I get a grip on TBD, SHOOTOUT LANE starts filming. In between all those, Marshal and I are finishing up AMERICA'S RIFLE. But other than that…

I spent some quality time with my Ruger Gunsite Scout .308 today. My original plan was to set it up with a Burris 3-9x 50mm for NZ red stag. Unfortunately, my Scout has an XS rail on it, and I just couldn't mount a 50mm scope without extra extra high scope rings, which is a problem on the cheek weld…in fact, a decent cheek weld is DARN HARD on high high scope rings! Like using an AR scope mount on a bolt action rifle. So I fell back on my Swaro 3-9x 36mm and an FTW cheek rest. I sighted it in today with Hornady 150-gr Superformance GMX...my Scout has always liked Superformance stuff, and I have a lot of faith in the GMX bullet.

My plan is to use the Scout on this hunt in NZ. I was originally going to use a Ruger No. 1 in 45-70, but for reasons known only to God and the NZ government, the No. 1 didn't clear. The Scout, which I'd included as a back-up rifle, blew through the permitting process. Well, cool. It makes a good story for SG, since I've been reading on the Internet that the Scout rifle was a "gimmick." Okey-dokey…so you say. Although in fact, I did go with a more traditionally mounted scope. BTW, I will be carrying a Burris 2-7X Scout scope in QD rings as a back-up scope.

I was initially pissed off because I couldn't figure out where the bullets were hitting at 50 yards, It turned out they were all hitting in the same hole. I sighted for 1.25 inches high at 50, based on Hornady ballistic charts for the round, less the loss of velocity from the short barrel. Should give me more or less a 200-yard zero. Next week I'll stretch it out a bit and see how it syncs with the Real World.

As an aside, the Timney trigger is excellent (Jon at Cylinder & Slide did the work), and the Miculek .308 comp pretty much eliminates the recoil and muzzle rise, as Jerry promised me. I'm having some problem with the polymer Ruger 3-round magazines, but the 5 rounders work perfect (NZ has a 7 round mag capacity limit, so my 10 round AI mags, which are bullet-proof, are verboten).

I spent all last week with Joyce and Bill Wilson at the WC Ranch in Texas. As you guys know, I'm writing Bill's book, as I did that first book on THE COMBAT .45 AUTO back in the back-when. Bill and I have been friends for a lot of years, and it was wonderful catching up with both of them. Of course, Bill and I shot a lot of rounds…duh! Joyce and I talked a lot about IDPA and how things are going, and Bill and I talked guns, guns, guns. the Wilsons have a wonderful afternoon regimen, hopping in an ATV and touring their 14,000 acres as the sun goes down. Damn, that was nice!

I'll be talking about some of Bill's insights on next week's podcast. He is one of the most savvy gun people in the business. And he builds a hell of a 1911, or Beretta 92, or AR!

You might want to take a gander at this thread on THE FIREARMS BLOG on lever guns. Are any of you surprised I came down on the side of Sheriff Jim Wilson and Grant Cunningham? I suspect not. There's a certain humor in a nerd boy talking math against a hunter talking what happens when you really pull the trigger.

Plus, if you're looking for a little humor, read this: "Let's Talk About Abolishing Gun Ownership:"

But even if you actually thought it might be good idea to stock up weapons to overthrow your government, you have no reason to think your government should allow you to do that. Moreover, we must remember that many people we do not like and with whom we have fundamental moral and political disagreements might also dream of resisting the government through armed conflict.

LOL! I suspect Mr. Cody Fenwick never read Mice In Council…

If you'd like to read something by someone with an IQ better than lukewarm water, how about NR's Jonah Goldberg's weekly blog? This week: "America's Progressive Autoimmune Crisis Continues Apace."

The progressive vision sees all of mankind as clay to be molded, sheep to be herded, a third-grade diorama to be diorama’d. There are no safe harbors from politics because the personal is political.

The problem with saying “the personal is political” is twofold: You politicize what is personal (“Everyone must celebrate my lifestyle!”) and you personalize the political (“Your opposition to the minimum wage hurts my feelings!”).

This is how you un-think yourself out of a civilization; When politics becomes a fashion choice and fashion becomes political. If you wear your politics on your sleeve, it usually means you don’t keep them in your brain where they belong.

Between Hither & Yon!

Sorry for the absence! 

Bac in the saddle tomorrow!!!

Caliber Wars Rear Their Ugly, Reptilian Heads!

Friday I noted that the new Standard DP-12 double-barreled pump 12-guage would be the medicine gun for velociraptors. Misfires and Light Strike's Kevin Creighton dropped me note that Chris Pratt, the star of the upcoming Jurassic World (which will predate Jurassic Backyard by at least 2 films), is a serious hunter himself and, in fact, owns the same gun his character uses in JW, "a 1895 Savage Arms 45-70."

Well, no, but I suspect that's a translation error, since the original article was in Elle (money headline: "The Perfect Cheese For Your Zodiac Sign"). I would say "Marlin" 1895 in 45-70, although I could be completely wrong and he could be referring to a "Savage" 1895 lever rifle, except the only one I've ever seen is in the NRA Museum and I thought they were all in .303. Or the original "Big Medicine," and 1895 Winchester in, I don't know, one of those weird "45-something" cartridges or Teddy's own .405. I'd probably go with the 1895 in .405 over a Marlin in 45-70, but I'd say it's probably a wash as long as you keep away from even a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The Internet Movie Firearm Database speaks the truth:

It's a Marlin. Cool sling, though...

If we go back to the original Jurassic Park, recall that JP game warden Robert Muldoon, presented as an old Africa hand, carried a Franchi SPAS-12 12 gauge. The Spaz 12, a pump or semi auto, has to be the least pleasant shotgun I've ever pulled the trigger on. It makes a G3 seem like a laugh riot. However, you can get an Isla Nublar Dinosaur Hunting Permit on the SPAS site…don't leave home without one!

Moving to Sequel #1, The Lost World, the star firepower there is a purely Old School double rifle, an American-made B. Searcy and Co. in .600 Nitro Express, pretty much anyone's go-to cartridge for big ass dinosaurs like the T. Rex.

Supposedly, Steven Spielberg, stealth gun owner that he is, has the movie rifle's working twin. I think this is an excellent choice, given that T. Rexes are worse than fleas these days. For $40,000, it's a steal.

By the time we get to Jurassic Park III, not only does the plot get stupider and stupider, proving even the great William Macy needs a big paycheck now and again, but the guns also get stupider…a Barrett M82A2 .50 BMG disguised as a 20mm cannon. From my standpoint, the Barrett XM-109 is a lot cooler. Or they could have simply gone with the M82A2. I would if I was hunting a T. Rex, or maybe a "plains game" triceratops. Might be easier to cart a Desert Tech HTI bullpup around, though it's still a 20-pound lump.

For velociraptors, various smaller raptors and plains game-sized veggie-sauruses, I'm going to stick with the DP-12 for a couple of reasons. The first is that it offers the blazing fast second shot of a double rifle; the second is a pretty quick follow-up pair of shots, critically important when you're dealing with a pack animal like raptors. I think that once the velociraptor market overtakes feral hogs as America's number one game animal, you'll see ammo companies specially tailoring 12 gauge rounds for the velo hunting market.

Maybe I should rest…

BTW, broke in my now mostly finished meditation area today. I decided my first meditation should be with something fun, so I went with a silenced Ruger Charger…om mani padme hum…clang!

The Week Sputters to a Stop

So I'm in Home Depot yesterday afternoon buying a saw blade when the PA announces, "Please, do not panic, but make your way quickly to the checkout. A funnel cloud has been sighted on the ground in the area…do not panic!"

Of course, my initial response was to scream, set my hair on fire, flap my arms like a chicken while running wildly up and down the paint aisle shouting "WUH! WUH! WUH!" and slathering myself with Martha Stewart "Natural Twine" eggshell flat interior paint. The guy next to me, who was trying to decide between "Framing" and "Fast Framing" blades, looked at me and said, "I don't know about you, buddy, but I'm going down with Home Depot."

Suffice to say we all were not sucked up to Oz. I'm busily building a lovely extension to the flagstone patio here at the Bunker. When finished, the extension will be a restful place to sit and ponder the universe. I am referring to it as "Shooting Position A, prone." There are many ways to ponder the universe. I cold probably finish it all up today if it would JUST STOP FREAKIN' RAINING! I'm beginning to feel like I need an ark....maybe a second ark to carry the ammunition. This is like living in Seattle, albeit with less hipsters.

I picked up my production T&E of the Standard/CT Shotgun DP-12 double-barreled pump shotgun yesterday. I've been fiddling around with it while it's raining, and I'm still thinking the same thing as when I worked with the photos — is it a massive step forward for shotguns? No. Is it the definitive bedroom defense gun? I'm going to say a qualified "Yes" on that one.

In case you've forgotten, the DP-12 is a bullpup design, but with a twist...think 2 870s bolted together. The single trigger fires both barrels, first the right, then the left. Shells eject downwards. With both tube fully stoked, you've got 16 rounds. I mean, the gun kicks, but the bullpup design takes a lot of heat out of the recoil.

The DP-12 was born for a red dot sight, and there's no shortage of them here at the Secret Hidden Bunker. It comes with a vertical fore-end grip to keep Mr. Weak Hand away from Mr. 12 Gauge Pellets, always a good thing. Both barrels have screw-in chokes, leading to some interesting ideas..."Taste great?" or "less filling?" As I said in my original write-up, a tube of buckshot and a tube of slugs would be Big Medicine for anything up to and including velociraptors.

"Eat hot lead, you oversized gecko!"

— Jurassiac Backyard, coming to a theater near you right after the EMP Strike.

Anyway, when the sun breaks though I'll start lobbing some pellets downrange

"Let the Wookie Win"

This is an absolutely brilliant brilliant analysis of the situation we're in from Varad Mehta writing in The Federalist, mixing insights from popular culture with an incisive understanding of the foundations of free speech:

The right to blaspheme is not a duty to blaspheme. We are under no obligation to desecrate the Host or draw pictures of Muhammad. But we are no more obliged to allow those who find either action blasphemous to forbid them or dictate our response to them. Choice is intrinsic to the concept of an “individual right.” We may choose to exercise a right or we may refrain from doing so. But this choice must be made freely and without duress or coercion. 

Unless these conditions are met, one cannot speak of an individual right, for the choice is being made for one, not by one. I may carry a gun, or I may not. I may testify on my own behalf, or I may not. I may write this essay, or I may not. But none of these choices may be compelled. A person with tape over his mouth is not remaining silent, he is being kept silent. There is no right if it may be exercised in only one direction.

I urge you to read the whole thing. In fact, I wish every high school student in America would read the whole thing…oh wait…if it's for high school, it would have to be at a slightly less intimidating reading level:

"Have you killed an infidel?

Does it make you feel real swell?

Knife and gun and bombs in pockets

For drawing cartoons of the prophet!"

Okay, every college student should read the essay...oh wait...we'd need a puppy room the size of Mile High Stadium to keep the Special Snowflakes' little heads from exploding! Trigger warning! Trigger warning! Run and hide!

We dance on the precipice, people.

Radar Wednesday

I spent the morning assembling my LabRadar ballistic radar thingie and doing all the initial data input…it was actually pretty easy. Tomorrow I'm going to run a bunch of .308 tests out of the Scout so can tinker together a decent DOPE chart for the Hornady 150 GMXs out of the 16-inch barrel.

You know, I remember a time not so long ago when I would have said, hey, sight it in at 200 yards and call it good. All these long-range classes are, I think, having a bad effect on me.

I'm also working on building shooting platform "A" here at the Bunker, with "B" and "C" on schedule this summer. "D" is still an argument frappant between my Sweetie and I…really, who wouldn't want a short shooting tower on their property? Okay, maybe 10 feet high…sort of like a heavily armed tree house…wait…wait…don't answer that.

Amazingly enough, I signed up for a USPSA membership today…I think it's my third. The first number, if I recall, was like 770-something; the second was in the 13000s…of course, I could be just making this up. Anyway, my Sweetie wants to shoot USPSA since this summer's 3-Gun season has fallen prey to mud, mud, mud and rain, so I thought I'd suck it up and reenlist. I hope to be shooting the Sig P320 pretty soon, but in the meanwhile it's the G34.

Read this article in WIRED on the Defense Distributed "Ghost Gunner" CNC mill. I've reached out to Cody Wilson at DD about demo'ing a Ghost Gunner on SHOOTING GALLERY. Cody thinks it's do-able, and if we can work it out you'll see me milling my own AR receiver on television. I'll take it slow, step by step, so you'll know how to make your own. At least, that's the plan.

Vince Vaughn Stands Up

What I have learned in my limited time in Hollywood is that we have more supporters than one might think. Their silence is based on the fact that mainstream Hollywood can and does punish transgressors — a few years back the absolutely wonderful character actor, Marshall Teague (who has died on screen 103-some-odd times, including Death By Patrick Swayze in the legendary Road House) told me that he could track roles he didn't get because of his fearless activism for hunting and gun rights.

But as the Lady of Light Galadriel notes in the opening of LOTR, "The world is changed, I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air…"

I believe Joe Mantegna has profoundly shaken those Hollywood truisms, an A-Lister with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a starring role on a current network hit series, who weekly talks about his love of guns…with impunity.

Now culture hero Vince Vaughn has stepped up to bat with his interview in British GQ…from The Blaze:

“I support people having a gun in public full stop, not just in your home. We don’t have the right to bear arms because of burglars; we have the right to bear arms to resist the supreme power of a corrupt and abusive government. It’s not about duck hunting; it’s about the ability of the individual. It’s the same reason we have freedom of speech. It’s well known that the greatest defence against an intruder is the sound of a gun hammer being pulled back…"

Good on him!