I Thought That Was Illegal??

Ya know, shooting people.

Oh year, and bringing a gun into a post office. Thats what the little signs tell me every time I go inside one.

Especially in California.

A person opened fire at a postal station on Monday night, killing three people and critically wounding a fourth, authorities said.

Sheriff's spokesman Erik Raney said police were advising people in the immediate area to stay inside their homes while authorities searched for the shooter Monday night.

The suspect was believed to be a former postal employee and all of the victims were believed to be current employees, Raney said.

Authorities were looking both in the neighborhood and in the postal station itself.

I guess no one told him.

A Dem I Can Live With

Republican's passed the Cloture motion on Alito's nomination 72-25 indicating that there are, nominally at least, 25 Democrats who aren't complete and utter fools.

Here's one more you can add to the list of D's I might vote for.

I'm as pro-gun as a Democrat can be. Virginia's current gun laws are fine with me. I don't mind Delegates packing heat at the Capitol Building. In fact, I think we should cut a 4 foot wide hole in the ceiling of the Rotunda so that delegates from the Southwest will have a place to stand and hoot and holler while they shoot off their pistols into the air after passing a really cool bill.

I can live with that!

The Gunnies

Round one voting ends tomorrow so head on over and cast your votes.

Uh, no.

THe AP is reporting:

Americans' personal savings rate dipped into negative territory in something that hasn't happened since the Great Depression. Consumers depleted their savings to finance the purchases of cars and other big-ticket items.

Thats not entirely fair, nor true. Some of us have dipped into savings to try and simply pay for the necessities - food, water, electric and natural gas for our homes, and clothes for our kids. I guess you could also add gas for my 10 year old car too.

Of course, the alternative would be for my wife to work as well and allow our kid to be raised by others. It sure would hope us compete with all the assholes who live in our $250k a year per capita income neck of the wood (which might give you an idea about why Washington seems so corrupt to the rest of America).

Lying Liars and their Lying Lies

Ouch!

The staff of U.S. Rep Marty Meehan wiped out references to his broken term-limits pledge as well as information about his huge campaign war chest in an independent biography of the Lowell Democrat on a Web site that bills itself as the "world's largest encyclopedia," The Sun has learned.

The Meehan alterations on Wikipedia.com represent just two of more than 1,000 changes made by congressional staffers at the U.S. House of Representatives in the past six month. Wikipedia is a global reference that relies on its Internet users to add credible information to entries on millions of topics.

Matt Vogel, Meehan's chief of staff, said he authorized an intern in July to replace existing Wikipedia content with a staff-written biography of the lawmaker.

Looks like its time to help someone keep their pledge.

Cat Bloggin??

Did someone say catblogging?



Hmm. . . . we played with these cats this afternoon.


A cuddly leopard cat



Rokan, a rather fuzzy and hungry tiger

MacBook Pro

I got my current iMac back in April 2002, shortly after they were released, when my son was born. Its served me well, is used pretty heavily by myself and my wife, but has started to show some signs of age. Don't get me wrong, its still 10,000 times better than a PC (especially the crap PCs I have to use at work) but its just not as sprite as it once. The screens still sharp, the R2D2 design is still cool (and the erie translucent pearl white is still gorgeous to look at) but it has had some hard ware problem, a video card thats constantly farting, ever more frequent kernel hiccups and the software on it doesn't handle the powerful internet computing tasks the way it once did . . . . and I can basically forget about games.

I say all this, because while we intend to keep it and continue to actively use it, the time is near when we search once again for the next computer on the horizon.

Our focus is the new, intel powered MacBook Pro



Anyone have any thoughts or other suggestions?

Challenger

I didn't realize it was 20 years ago today. Makes me feel pretty old.

I was in New Jersey at the time, president of the 8th grade class at the private school I attended and out for the day attending a special workshop for the state's future leaders at the Oak Knoll School.

Mid afternoon, shortly after lunch, as we were making presentations on the projects we spent the day working on (how to address New Jersey's mounting trash problem - my solution was to turn it into those highway sound barrier walls that have cropped up all over America the last 20 years) when a teacher came in to interrupt the event. She announced that a terrible tragedy had occurred, asked us all to sit down, and then solemly told of the Challenger's fate.

While the shock wasn't the same as 9/11 (no where near) it was nevertheless one of the most shocking events (with the greatest impact on the national psych) that had occurred in my lifetime. Still to this day, I really can think of few things that seemed to impact the nations mood as much. 9/11 of course, but I don't recall anything else. Perhaps the hostages in Iran. Watergate, for sure (though I only slightly recall the fallout - not recollection of Nixon but I knew who Ford was at the time).

In the midst of the great arms race with the evil Soviet empire, President Reagan was correct to describe it as a "national tragedy."

We've moved on as a country - and sadly the last time a Space Shuttle sufferred a catastrophic disaster few relatively seemed to notice - but Challenger remains one of the defining moments for a small generation of Americans.

More on Wal Mart

Convienience and price, its always a winning combination.

Wal Mart

Lots of good Wal Mart blogging.

Les Jones:

Yep. I'm aware Wal-Mart is declasse. I'm also aware that in some cases their prices are 50% lower than Kroger's and Target, which is why so many single moms shop there. I also know that they have generous return policies (unlike Target) and that they provide their best prices without using a membership card (unlike Kroger's and most grocery store chains). And unlike Target, Wal-Mart provides the libertarian ideal where Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is a store rather than a government agency. (Target sells none of the above.)

An Instapundit reader:

I've never worked there, but I do know that it is one of very few companies where you can start at the very bottom and work your way to the top. I grew up in Bentonville, Arkansas, the home of Wal-Mart and most Wal-Mart executives. I think people would be surprised at how many of the people at the top started out working at Wal-Mart stores. One man I knew in particular was one of the VPs in the international division making a six figure salary, and he started with Wal-Mart as a cart pusher. I think "cart pusher" is probably the lowliest job you can get at Wal-Mart.

Says Uncle:

where else can you go grab some ammo, pick up a Ruger 10/22 for less than $120, a Leupold scope for less than $200, a six pack of Guinness, get your oil changed, grab a pack of underwear, sample snacks, get a fishing license, have your pictures developed in less than an hour, review popular brands of HDTV flatscreens, get tax software, and grab a pack of Chiclets?

Yeah, I can vouch for that. Hit the Wal Mart last night to pick up some of those great Winchester White Boxes of .45 ACP (I may be reloading, but I seem to shoot more than I reload), a six pack of Red Hook ESB, and a gallon of milk. Forgot to check out the firearm pricing, but I suspect they'll be on end of season sales.

Anyway, a commentator at Uncles had this to say:

There’s a lot of good reason to not shop at Walmart. Most of them center around really nasty labor practices and union-busting.

I personally believe balancing the power of capital with stronger unions would improve America. Unioninizing Walmart could do an awful lot of good for an awful lot of people.

Here is my response:

Really, I recall in one instance the union was protesting with hired temp-employee picketers (some of whom had applied to work at wal mart cause it paid much more than their current job).

Seems to me the claims of Union busting are vastly overstatated and come mostly from union officials who have seen their power base disappear as a result of the rampant corruption that continues to plague unions as well as the utter unwilllingness of union officials to actually, ya know, represent the views of their members.

To some extent, I think you can criticize Wal Mart for predatory pricing and perhaps some other anti trust violations, but really most of those concerns are going away as other savy outfits rise up to compete with Wal Mart, some doing it rather effectivly.

Bagels and Pizza

The two things I really miss about living in Northern New Jersey.

I'm eating an Einstein Brothers Bagel right now, and folks, I got to say it just sucks. Folks here in DC love them, but I think its cause they just never had a decent Bagel before.

Same thing goes for Pizza. Dominos, Papa John, Pizza Hut, etc. They all suck. They don't deserve to be called pizza.

Just thought you ought to know.

The Damage Done

10 yards
Georgia Arms 230 grain .451 FMJ bullets
6.5gr Alliant Unique Powder
CCI 300 primers

SS NRM Colt 1991A1



1.65 inch 8 shot group - both ways
(1.5 inch group center to center)

Sweet.

If You Want .45

You Got It

apologizes to AC/DC

Del. Jack Reid is an Asshole

Seriously,

I am sure I probably support Del. Reid (R-Henrico) on most issues - and am thrilled to find out he has a concealed carry permit and takes advantage of the law by carrying it to the assembly building, but he ought to realize that when you carry a firearm you take on significant responsibilities.

One of which is not to discharge it unless your life is threatened or you are at an appropriate firing range.

Not surprisingly, his office in the state house is not an appropriate firing range.

Reid said he has a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon and regularly brings his gun to the legislative session. But he said he usually ejects the cartridge that holds the gun's bullets and carries that separately in his pocket.

As he was doing that Thursday morning at about 9:15, he said, the gun went off. At that time, the nine-story General Assembly building was filled with lawmakers conducting committee meetings and lobbyists, citizens and reporters.

If your gonna carry your gun, carry your gun. Why did he feel the need to disarm and how did the gun discharge unless his finger was on the trigger.

Perhaps he needs to be reminded of the 4 laws again (especially number 3).

1. Treat All Firearms As Loaded
2. Never let the muzzle of a firearm point at anything you are not willing to destroy
3. Keep your finger off the trigger unless your sights are on the target
4. Be sure of your target and what is behind it

Luckily, he happened to have a bullet proof vest hanging on the wall and greater tragedy was averted. Though, I suspect the gun banning bigots will have a field day with this one. Thank god it was one of the protected class doing the firing, and not your average VCDL citizen.

UPDATE According to the VCDL, he was carrying a .380 KelTec. If thats the case, I can understand the difficulty unloading it as I've always found my father in laws rather difficult to clear. Still, it begs the question of why he was unloading it to begin with. If your gonna carry it, carry it. Phil Van Cleave is doing a great job of turning this lemon into lemonade by using it to showcase why the Restaurant Ban is so dangerous and needs to be overturned.

The Gunnies

Don't forget, voting in the initial round of the Gunnies is still going on.

So far, the competition is very interesting.

• Oleg Volk is beating Castle of Aaaarrrgghhh! 54.9% to 45.1% for Best Gun Pr0n


• The AnarchAngel is beating Mr. Completely by 5 votes for Most Educational


• Kim du toit is crushing mAss Backwards 58% to 42% for Best Rants


• John Lott is beating Dave Kopel by 9 votes


• Alphecca has walked away with Best Aggregator winning 52.9% to Mr. Completely's 26.9% and Resistance Is Futile's 20.2%


• Mr. Completely is narrowly beating Kim du Toit for Best Range Reports 52.1% to 47.9%

and

• Kevin at the Smallest Minority is beating Kim du Toit by ONE vote for Best Commentary


• is beating

If your favorite isn't in the running, don't despair. Come on buy and vote anyway. A dedicated campaign by almost any of the nominated bloggers can still turn the results around in almost any of the categories.

100,000 Visitor

I miscalculated and the 100,000th visitor (since site meter reset on me after about 7500 total visitors sometime in the summer of 2004 - which I forgot about the other day) just arrived.

Lyrics by Men At Work

Who can it be knocking at my door?
Go 'way, don't come 'round here no more.
Can't you see that it's late at night?
I'm very tired, and I'm not feeling right.
All I wish is to be alone;
Stay away, don't you invade my home.
Best off if you hang outside,
Don't come in - I'll only run and hide.

Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?

Who can it be knocking at my door?
Make no sound, tip-toe across the floor.
If he hears, he'll knock all day,
I'll be trapped, and here I'll have to stay.
I've done no harm, I keep to myself;
There's nothing wrong with my state of mental health.
I like it here with my childhood friend;
Here they come, those feelings again!

Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?

Is it the man come to take me away?
Why do they follow me?
It's not the future that I can see,
It's just my fantasy

Oh...Who can it be now?
Oh...Who can it...Who can it...
Yeah yeah yeah

Who Are You???



Email me at countertop AT gmail DOT com

BREAKING NEWS: Must Credit

Straight from the source, I learned this evening that Robert Douglas and the Backroad Blog will be returning soon!!!!

I actually just flew in this morning from the
Philippines.  I'll get off my butt and blog soon!

The world slowly awaits. Once he returns, perhaps I can return to my interrupted sabbatical.

The Whole: Kit and Kaboodle

I used to go to a local Five and Dime store in Rockaway New Jersey as a little kid called Bob's Kit and Kaboodle.

Got matchbox cars, cap guns, and little plastic toy soldiers there (and GI Joes too).

Anyway, it would make a great name for a blog.

I'm just saying.

Idiot Gun Banning Bigots

There is one of them on C-Span right now complaining about gun shows and gun dealers and gun suppliers targeting blacks in a conspiracy to destroy blacks to the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Idiots.

UPDATE Its Josh Horowitz, Executive Director of The Coalition To Stop Gun Violence.

Like I said, a real Gun Banning Bigot. He's now saying registration prevents crime and holds Trenton and Camden, New Jersey up as an example of where registration systems and shutting down gun shows has lowered crime rates.

Camden, of course, is infamous as the most dangerous city in America.

Ferrari 360 Modena

I'm a Ferrari 360 Modena!

You've got it all. Power, passion, precision, and style. You're sensuous, exotic, and temperamental. Sure, you're expensive and high-maintenance, but you're worth it.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

All Of Maryland Laws

Didn't stop another senseless shooting.

But for some reason, the rocket scientists at the Washignton Post can't seem to figure that out.

AT A DAY-CARE center in Germantown, an 8-year-old boy shot a 7-year-old girl with a handgun yesterday, hitting her in the arm but not killing her. The boy, whose father is a convicted felon with a long rap sheet, had bragged that he had access to guns. But why is it that after years of similar incidents and anguish and debate, the country has yet to enact laws to prevent such tragedies?

Perhaps cause when you have no regard for the law, the law has no impact on your actions.

Lets just look at how many laws were broken in this first ridiculous paragraph. I'll let others fisk the rest of the Post's clueless editorial.

1. The father is a convicted felon. He can't own or possess a firearm. Apparently, being a convicted felon with a long rap sheet (which begs the question, why was he not an incarcerated felon) he obviously has no regard for the law. Hence, he owns guns illegally.
2. His 8 year old son apparently never received any training in proper gun safety. That’s not quite violating a law, but we know how the anti gun bigots in Maryland feel about the evil right wing kooks at the NRA. Too bad the NRA also has a much longer and more accomplished legacy of providing firearms training and safety instructions than protection our civil rights, cause I bet you dollars to donuts that the bigots in Germantown wouldn't let Eddie Eagle visit the school.
3. His 8 year old son also was too young to possess a handgun. Ooops, another law violated. Not really the kids fault, lets blame that on dad (who we already know has zero regard for the law). Its probably not too big of an assumption to presume his mother has a similar regard for the law.
4. You can't carry a handgun in Maryland without a license (which, as we all know, the gun banning bigots won't allow to be issued). Yep, simply carrying it from the home violated another law.
5. Can't carry a gun onto school grounds. Yep, that’s one more.
6. Ahh, what do you know, it seems its illegal to shoot someone. Geese, Louise. Another law violated.

Of course, when a "convicted felon with a long rap sheet" is involved, do we really think additional laws are going to make one iota of difference?


Heck, I'll continue.

In the late 1990s, then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening's task force on gun violence in Maryland pushed for tougher rules mandating safety devices on handguns.

Oh, you mean that corrupt and lying former Governor. The one who's veracity was on par with Slick Willie's? Yeah, we can believe anything his politically motivated "task force on gun violence" concluded? Who was on the task force? I don't know, but I bet there weren't a lot of folks who actually knew much about the basic operations of a firearm. And, do you really think that even if "safety devices on handguns" were mandated, that a "convicted felon with a long rap sheet" who was willing accomplice to at least 5 violations of the law - including shooting someone - would comply with that one?

In the following years, the state adopted a number of laws -- stronger than most in the nation -- including a requirement that handguns sold in Maryland be equipped with a childproof locking device, and another forbidding people from leaving loaded firearms within reach of unsupervised children.

Well, I guess we have the answer. Make that at least 6 violations. I don't think the "convicted felon with a long rap sheet" broke a law by not having a trigger lock on the gun, but he certainly broke the law that forbid allowing his kid access to a loaded firearm.

But other regulations -- potentially more effective ones in preventing accidents such as yesterday's -- went nowhere. Most notable was a proposal that guns be "personalized" by incorporating technology restricting a gun's use to its owner, for instance by using fingerprint recognition. In a study published in 2003, researchers led by Jon S. Vernick of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health examined 117 unintentional homicide deaths in Maryland from 1991 to 1998, four-fifths of them involving handguns. The conclusion: 37 percent of the deaths could have been prevented by a "personalized" gun.

Personalized. Yep. Smart gun technology. Apparantly, especially if this was the brainchild of the Task Force, my initial impressions were correct. There were simply no members of the task force with even a passing knowledge of how firearms actually operate.

I don't have Jon Vernick's study - and in fact I am not familiar with it at all - but I find ludicrous that it actually found 37 percent of deaths could have been prevented (He is about as partisan and crazed a gun banning bigot as your likely to find).

I do have a better suggstion though, one that will prevent 100% of deaths. The simple, basic, four rules of firearms safety.


1. Treat All Firearms As Loaded
2. Never let the muzzle of a firearm point at anything you are not willing to destroy
3. Keep your finger off the trigger unless your sights are on the target
4. Be sure of your target and what is behind it

100% effective, but don't expect the Post to publish that anytime soon.

Fuq Google

Yep.

May the rat bastard fsacists running google rot in hell.

On NPR's Morning Edition this morning a Google official was quoted as saying some information is better than no information. I vehemently disagree. I would rather be in the dark, and know I was being kept in the dark and not to believe what the government told me, than to have faux freedom bestowed upon me through which the all oppressive government simply brainwashes the masses even further.

Fuck Google.

Give me 2 weeks. I am swithching from blogger. I am dropping my gmail account (returning to Yahoo?).

And will not "google" anything else. I recommend All The Web for your searching pleasure.

Or Yahoo. Forget Yahoo. See the comments. Thanks folks. Didn't know that.

Or Dogpile.

Or Teoma.

Heck, return to the first and original net master - Alta Vista.

Anything but the bastards at Google who would sell the country down the river in a heartbeat.

Plain Meaning

You are the Plain Meaning Rule! You interpret

statutes according to what an ordinary

speaker of English would understand from the

text. You're upfront and direct. You claim

that you're just following the rules, but

often find a clever technicality to interpret

the rules however you want.


Which Canon of Statutory Construction are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Happy Blogiversary To Me

Hey,

Its my blogiversary.

Yippeee. Just realized it tonight. Two years and 2,219 post ago this evening, on a cold snowy January night, Countertop Chronicles were born.

Its been an interesting couple of years as my traffic has steadily grown from next to nothing the first few months to its current pace of a few hundred reliable visitors a day.

Certainly more than I ever imagined.

Anyway, in addition to my Blogisversary I am also set to surpass 100,000 visitors in the next couple of hours (was less than 50 away when I checked). wouldn't it be cool to do it on the Blogiversary???

Maybe They Ought To Do Better Research

Its cool and stuff that Metal Storm, Inc is developing a super gun.

Next month a new high-explosive munition will be fired in Singapore and then tested again by the U.S. Army, heralding what may be a sea change in weaponry: a gun that can fire 240,000 rounds per minute.

That's compared to 60 rounds per minute in a standard military machine gun.

But, the last time I picked up an MP5 I was able to empty the 30 round magazine in all of 2-3 seconds. Seems to me that is slightly more substantial rate of fire than the AP press release. Maybe they are talking about M-16/M-4. Nope, couldn't be. They have a rate of fire of between 750 and 900 rounds a minute. An AK-47?? Nope, that too has a rate of fire of around 600 rounds a minute. Must be the M240, right? Nope, it clocks in at 650-950 rounds per minute. Its replacement, the Mk 48 Mod 0? 710 rounds/minute.

The Gunnies

Welcome to The Gunnies.

Each of the thumbnail images will take you to the individual ballots for that category. If you click on the title, underneath the thumbnail, it will take you to an individual posting with more information on that category. For information on The Gunnies, generally, here is the original post and here are the complete rules.

Best Gun Porn	Most Educational
Best Rant	Best Legal Analysis
Best Aggregator	Best Range Reports
Best Commentary

The Gunnies: Best Commentary

Welcome to The Gunnies!!!

The seventh ballot is for Best Commentary - This category honors those blogs that provide the most insightful original editorial commentary.

Please click on the poll below to vote. Polls will close on January 31. The winner, in addition to being awarded the Gunnie Crown for Best Gun Pr0n will also earn a nomination for Best Gunnie Blog!!



As they say: Vote early, Vote often.

The Gunnies: Best Range Reports

Welcome to The Gunnies!!!

The sixth ballot is for Best Range rReports - - Nothing is finer than a day at the range, whether testing a new gun, participating in an organized competition, out in the hunting fields, introducing new members to the nation of riflemen, or simply plinking away in the backyard, this category honors those blogs that either organize or record range sessions and best spread through actual example the true joy of firearms.

Please click on the poll below to vote. Polls will close on January 31. The winner, in addition to being awarded the Gunnie Crown for Best Gun Pr0n will also earn a nomination for Best Gunnie Blog!!



As they say: Vote early, Vote often.

The Gunnies: Best Aggregator

Welcome to The Gunnies!!!

The fifth ballot is for Best Aggregator - This category honors those blogs that provide the best top level one size fits all access to the widest range of firearms related postings - whether to other blogs or mainstream media sources and whether with constructive commentary or not.

Please click on the poll below to vote. Polls will close on January 31. The winner, in addition to being awarded the Gunnie Crown for Best Gun Pr0n will also earn a nomination for Best Gunnie Blog!!



As they say: Vote early, Vote often.

The Gunnies: Best Legal Analysis

Welcome to The Gunnies!!!

The fourth ballot is for Best Legal Analysis - This category honors those blogs that provide the most concise, accurate, and easy to read/understand analysis of the legal and legislative developments impacting firearms and firearms ownership.

Please click on the poll below to vote. Polls will close on January 31. The winner, in addition to being awarded the Gunnie Crown for Best Gun Pr0n will also earn a nomination for Best Gunnie Blog!!



As they say: Vote early, Vote often.

The Gunnies: Best Rant

Welcome to The Gunnies!!!

The third ballot is for Best Rant - This category honors those blogs that fisk the best, bitch the most, yell the loudest, snort the angriest, and do it all with the most style.

Please click on the poll below to vote. Polls will close on January 31. The winner, in addition to being awarded the Gunnie Crown for Best Gun Pr0n will also earn a nomination for Best Gunnie Blog!!



As they say: Vote early, Vote often.

The Gunnies: Most Educational

Welcome to The Gunnies!!!

The second ballot is for Most Educational - From how to posts, shooting tips, gunbuilding/ gunsmithing tips to historical information, this category honors those blogs that consistently advance the state of actual mechanical and operational firearms knowledge. The nominees were chosen by the blogging public as the best of the best.

Please click on the poll below to vote. Polls will close on January 31. The winner, in addition to being awarded the Gunnie Crown for Best Gun Pr0n will also earn a nomination for Best Gunnie Blog!!



As they say: Vote early, Vote often.

The Gunnies: Best Gun Pr0n

Welcome to The Gunnies!!!

The first ballot is for Best Gun Pr0n - This category honors the blogs that consistently showcase the most beautiful images of firearms and firearm related subjects. The nominees were chosen by the blogging public as the best of the best.

Please click on the poll below to vote. Polls will close on January 31. The winner, in addition to being awarded the Gunnie Crown for Best Gun Pr0n will also earn a nomination for Best Gunnie Blog!!



As they say: Vote early, Vote often.

To the hospital

Off to the hospital. My wife is sick, I'll finish the gunnies later.

God Bless David R. Elms

See Update Here

Seriously, isn't this what every guy wants?

They want a centerfold model who will hang adoringly on their every word in public, then perform any sex act in any position with professional skill in private.

I'm sure the same can be said for the ladies out there too, but I don't know where they can go for reviews. I'm sure the marketplace will respond, if it hasn't already. In any case, if your so inclined, here is Mr. Elms page.The Erotic Review

God Bless Him and God Bless America

H/T to Bitter

The Death of Juan Non-Volokh

Well, not the death, but apparently the end.

I look forward to Prof. Non-Volokh's post tenure non pseudonymed return but do wish he could have left us with at least ONE MORE song lyric.

Do You Really Want A Cop On Every Corner

I don't.

We can’t have, nor would we want to have, a cop on every corner. The most important liberty imaginable is the liberty to have the means by which you can defend yourself. Maryland has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the US, and none of them kept the criminal who robbed me on my doorstep last year (as reported in the Sun) from having a gun.

Well put. At least one person in Maryland knows whats up, and the fact that they are a liberal ta boot is even better.

But, I'm an Episcopalian

Or, as we like to say around here, a Whiskeypalian.

What do I shoot?

A Colt 1991A1, but I do accept others.

WaPo on Winchester

Who would have guessed. The gun banning bigots at the Washington Post turn out perhaps the best newspaper story on firearms in a generation.

Wayne, something of a gun expert himself, knew that a handgun's only purpose was to fight your way to the rifle you were going to win your fight with. He used the Winchester a lot.

Read the whole entire story. The detailed description of a lever action's mechanical process is startling in its depth of understanind and its clarity. Post staff writer Stephen Hunter should be commended for turning out such a well written piece that conveys both his emotions over the demise of Winchester but also the intricate role of Oliver Winchester in the rise of America.

The tough old capitalists who invented it wouldn't shed a tear for it: If you can't sell it, dump it, was their motto. Actors, farmers, hunters and lawmen have all found better guns, and so have Cowboy Fantasy shooters.

But here's a vaya con Di os for the old smokepole. May it go to a Long Branch in the sky where the whiskey's always flowing, the gals are purty and the clock always reads High Noon

The Gunnies

Its 12:30.

I'm tired.

I've been working on compiling the nominations and making the tough decisions and coding the polls and do all that needs to be done.

I'm going to sleep and i don't expect to post anything until later tomorrow, probably in the evening.

Hark The Raven, For Ever More

Heh!

I always get a kick out of this story. I knew the original visitor and I know the current visitor. Of course, I'm not going to disclose their identity, but they are long time friends with my wife's family.

The Gunnies

Nominations are in for the 1st Annual Gunnies and I will be working today to try and sort through them and put up the polls. I've got a lot to do at work (real life job) so don't know how much progress I will be able to make during th eday, but the polls will go up at some point.

Also, at least one person recommended that we change the name to the Snubbies - in part due to how the awards arose and (mostly, I believe) in deference to her love of all things S&W Revolver like).

Been There, Done That

Take a break Steve, we will see you when you get back.

Reloaded

OK,

Followed everyone's advice and bought a box (120 count) of Mountain Fresh Anti Cling Fabric Softener sheets for my clothes dryer. Proceeded to take one out and wiped down my bench, my funnel, my scale, the bottle of Unique, and the gun powder hopper on my reloading press (as well as the Lee Auto Disks).

It worked wonders and I had no problems with static electricity tonight. Still, the Unique would not dispense in anything even approaching a consistent fashion. Because the loads last time were on the weak side, I used the next highest Auto Disk, the .71. According to the Lee chart, it should have provided me 6.5 grains of powder. In fact, it dispensed anywhere from 5.3 to 6.2 grains. What I discovered was that if I tapped the hopper - or reloaded with more powerful thrusts and shook the entire press (and bench) - the charges would be closer to 6.2. It makes sense as the powder gets caught up in the hopper and doesn't fall consistently.

I also tightened the crimp a fraction in an effort to increase pressure. I loaded 100 rounds tonight and am planning on hitting the range tomorrow night. If I can, I will post a report.

1984

The second blog post I ever made was 1984. In light of the present expansion of regulatory powers and seemingly unauthorized (and if not illegal, at least creepy and wrong) wiretapping and spying on individual American citizens, perhaps we should all revisit it.

Maybe Orwell was right. Maybe we have entered that world he warned us about, and Ridley Scott so fabulously portrayed on Super Bowl Sunday, after all.

The slow incursion of PC-speak has been creeping upon us for years. My earliest recollections are from the mid 1980s, when I would routinely get into arguments with a certain friends liberal mother about the threat posed to society from the revisionist historians and speech police invading college campuses and our high schools. She of course, like any good member of the proletariat, denied its existence or concern.

I don't recall any awareness of its impending attack as far back as 1984 (the connections would have been obvious), but this was certainly on the radar by 1987-1988. However, for me to have caught on to what was occurring, when I was simply a punk teenager in the Jersey suburbs (prescient as I was of current events, even back then), means it must have been stewing for a couple of years at least among the left wing liberals terrified over Reagan's success against their Evil Empire.

Nevertheless, as damaging as PC-speak has been to society, Orwell's vision didn't fully threaten us until much more recently.

The attacks of September 11 brought about Congress's quick passage of the Patriot Act (Countertop's Law of Better Public Policy #1 - Whenever a tragic event gives rise to calls for immediate Congressional action, Members of Congress best serve the Republic by going back home, serving their famous bean soup in a homeless shelter, where they can't cause any harm, rather than f*#% things up more by showing up to work.) Since its passage, we have witnessed a frightening expansion of federal policing powers and the threat of an FBI more powerful than even J. Edgar Hoover could have imagined.

This expansion, and its concerns, are not the fault of any one person, but simply a product of Washington, D.C. itself. The President signed what Congress, in its best efforts under a short time frame, could draft. Attorney General Ashcroft, the scape goat of the hour, is simply doing his job by enforcing the law as its written. Most claims of abuse are overstated and based simply on misunderstanding the dynamics of federal bureaucracies. When they come from presidential aspirants with a deep knowledge of D.C., they are duplicitous, or more troubling, representative of a serious lack of intellectual capacity.

Will these powers continue to expand unchecked? Unfortunately, without a serious re-evaluation by Congress and the President, I think they will, and they could lead us into a world like that which Orwell warned about (well, maybe not exactly).

Now, its true, as some have pointed out, that the Patriot Act has been a corner stone of our success in the war on terror. I completely agree with this assertion and fully support its continued use. Furthermore, the inclusion of a sunset provision in the act was a most welcomed and rare sign of reason and foresight by our elected officials. However, I think its important that when Congress begins the process of reauthorizing it, that particular attention is paid to both oversight of the agencies under its jurisdiction, as well as inclusion of prophylactic measures to prevent its perversion by a runaway and unaccountable judiciary.

Government agencies are like the blob. They don't think, they just keep rolling along, absorbing all they can. As I mentioned earlier, when good, well intentioned citizens come to Washington, they take a few sips of the water and go native (thats why I drink bottled water).

In the hands of misguided bureaucrats, interested only in their own power and titles, the Patriot Act can become a dangerous tool. Transformed by a run away judiciary, its powers are frightening. Congress and the President need to proceed towards it reauthorization with due care, and should consider creation of an oversight body, not unlike the Office of Information and Regulatory Policy within the White House Office of Management and Budget, but located outside of Washington, D.C. to best protect its autonomy.

In the meantime, we can thank Apple Computer for reminding us that we still face these serious threats, though with slight, and very much 2004, difference.

Originally posted on Friday January 23, 2004

The Gunnies

As originally proposed back on January 7th, I have decided to organize The Gunnies, a web poll to determine the blogsphere's favorite gun bloggers as of the beginning of 2006. Jeff Soyer was the first (or at least the first I stumbled across) to notice that The Bloggies had once again decided to snub one of the largest and most diversified segments of the blogsphere - the Gun Bloggers.

Hence, The 2006 Gunnies Awards. First a few blegs.

I am still in need of graphics. If anyone is in the least bit artistically talented, please please please consider designing a logo for these awards. You, of course, would retain full ownership of any rights associated with the logo and would merely grant permission to The Countertop Chronicles to use the logo in promotion of The Gunnies as well as allow the winning and nominated blogs to use the logo in promotion of their web log.

Also, if anyone is interested in offering prizes for winning blogs, feel free to let me know.

Without further ado, here are the rules:

Eligibility

• A "weblog" is defined as a page with dated entries
.

• The contest is open to any weblogs that existed for a period of time during the year 2005, so weblogs that were discontinued during 2005 are also eligible.


• Nominations are to be made based upon the relevance of a weblog postings (or posting) to any of the specific categories in the first round of voting.


• The nominees for each category will come from comments posted to this blog or emailed to countertop AT gmail DOT com with the subject line "The Gunnies". All previously made nominations will be factored in (so if you've made one, no need to resubmit it).


• Nominations will be accepted until 11:59 pm on January 18, 2006


• Nominations must include a working internet address.


• In the event that one or more categories fails to garner the minimum of 10 nominations, the judges of the award reserve the right to nominate the necessary number of blogs to ensure 10 nominations for a catagory.


• The judge of the award (that would be me) are not eligible for nomination to any category (unless, of course there is an overwhelming bloglanche of outrage at the web's premier blog being left out of the voting).

The Categories (what you all have been waiting for)

• Best Gun Pr0n - This category honors the blogs that consistently showcase the most beautiful images of firearms and firearm related subjects.


• Most Educational - From how to posts, shooting tips, gunbuilding/ gunsmithing tips to historical information, this category honors those blogs that consistently advance the state of actual mechanical and operational firearms knowledge.
• 
  
• Best Rants - This category honors those blogs that fisk the best, bitch the most, yell the loudest, snort the angriest, and do it all with the most style.


• Best Legal Analysis - This category honors those blogs that provide the most concise, accurate, and easy to read/understand analysis of the legal and legislative developments impacting firearms and firearms ownership.


• Best Aggregator - This category honors those blogs that provide the best top level one size fits all access to the widest range of firearms related postings - whether to other blogs or mainstream media sources and whether with constructive commentary or not.


• Best Range Reports - Nothing is finer than a day at the range, whether testing a new gun, participating in an organized competition, out in the hunting fields, introducing new members to the nation of riflemen, or simply plinking away in the backyard, this category honors those blogs that either organize or record range sessions and best spread through actual example the true joy of firearms.


• Best commentary - This category honors those blogs that provide the most insightful original editorial commentory


• best Gun Post - This category honors the single post made to a weblog over the course of 2005 that best exemplified the 2nd Amendment or advanced the state of knowledge of the second amendment and related issues or simply put to shame by its sheer brilliance all other posts in the blogsphere.

Voting

• There shall be two rounds of voting.

First Round

• During the first round, votes will be cast in seven different categories.


• Each category will be comprised of 10 nominees.


• Voting will be open to anyone in the blogsphere.


• Voting will be limited to one vote per computer


• Voting will be conducted via a free, independent, public, online voting service.


• At or about 6:00 pm on the first business day following 5 days voting, the voting will finish and a winner in each of the initial 8 categories will be declared

Round Two

• During the second round, votes will be cast for the title of Best Gunblogger and for the Best Gun Post.


• Eligible blogs for the title of Best Gunblogger include each of the seven winners from the first round as well as at least three at-large nominations.


• The at-large nominations are made at the sole discretion of the judges (that would be me), but lobbying and petitions and additional nominations will be considered.


• Eligible nominees for the title of Best Gun Post include any single firearm related posting between the period of January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005.


• Voting on Round Two will commence 2 business days following the conclusion of Round 1 and last for a total of seven days.


• Voting will be open to anyone in the blogsphere.


• Voting will be limited to one vote per computer


• Voting will be conducted via a free, independent, public, online voting service.

Awards

• Winners of each category shall be deemed to have the Title 2006 Gunnies Best followed by the category that they won.


• Winning blogs are eligible to advertise and promote their victory to any extent they desire.


• All nominated blogs are eligible to advertise and promote their nomination to any extent they desire./li>
  
• All gun bloggers are eligible to advertise and promote their participation and intellectual superiority over gun banning bigots everywhere


• Additional prizes may or may not be provided at the sole discretion of the judges (that would be me) and any organization which may desire to donate a prize


• In the event that prizes are awarded for any category or offered to be donated by any sponsor to any eligible winner or nominee of any category, it is the sole responsibility of the winning or nominated blogger to ascertain the legality of accepting such prize (if such prize materializes) under the laws of their state of residence as well as the laws of the United States and to file and report and pay any taxes that may be due for the value of such prize to any tax or other revenue collecting arm of any appropriate government entity.


• In no case shall The Countertop Chronicles be deemed responsible for the violate of any laws related to the hosting of The Gunnies.

The Legal Crap

• This is all for fun, lighten up.


• You will notice there is no affirmative action here. Its not cause I'm a homophobe or a racist or a sexists or anything like that. Its cause there ain't no one alive who can show me any disability that would warrant balkanizing the RKBA community and creating a special award for some idiotic subset of the population. I don't care if your a gay black mexican hermaphrodite in a wheel chair, there is nothing preventing you from competing adequately with any one else nominated here.


• In the event you can't lighten up and have an actual complaint, go stuff it. I don't want to hear it. Its my blog, its my opinion, and its my attempt to honor those blogs that deserve honoring. If your going to get all pissy, go ask Ted Kennedy to discuss it with you while driving over Dyke Bridge.


• The rules are my own and can be altered or changed at any time for any reason - or no reason at all - by me.


• Fuck off an die


• If after reading this far, you are still upset about something, feel free to email me at countertop AT gmail DOT com. I may or may not respond. In either case, my decision and my response are my own and are final.


• If you are still upset, we can consider further means to resolve the problems in accordance with the terms of use.

Terms of Use
By reading, linking to, quoting, printing out, or in any way making use of the content provided at The Countertop Chronicles in any means, place, or forum, you agree to the following:

1. All original content of The Countertop Chronicles is copyrighted by The Countertop Chronicles owner and is not to be used without permission except as provided herein. In using The Countertop Chronicles you recognize that The Countertop Chronicles is primarily a guide to content on the Web, that all content is provided on an as-is basis, and that no factual statement on this site should be relied upon without further investigation on your part sufficient to satisfy you in your independent judgment that it is true. These terms of use are subject to change, and should be reviewed regularly.

2. Permission is granted to read, quote, cite, link to, print out or otherwise use The Countertop Chronicles content, so long as you comply with the terms below.

A. All quotations from The Countertop Chronicles will include credit to The Countertop Chronicles and, wherever practicable, a hyperlink of the form http://countertop-chronicles.blogspot.com ... to the site.

B. In exchange for the access to The Countertop Chronicles content described above, nomination to The Gunnies, participation in The Gunnies, or any other use of The Countertop Chronicles or The Gunnies, you agree not to sue The Countertop Chronicles and its owner for its content, whether original or linked or quoted from another source, in any court, on any grounds whatsoever in law or equity. Should you violate this agreement by filing such a lawsuit, you agree to pay The Countertop Chronicles's owner or owners the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) as liquidated damages, in addition to all attorney's fees, court costs, and other expenses associated with this litigation, and to indemnify and save harmless The Countertop Chronicles and its owners from any damage award made against them in such an action. Should this agreement not to sue be held unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, you agree to binding arbitration, with all arbitration expenses to be paid by you. The arbitration panel shalll be composed of three (3) weblog operators selected by The Countertop Chronicles owners or operators from those in the links list on the The Countertop Chronicles site. The award in such arbitration shall be limited to (1) a monetary sum not to exceed $10; and (2) the publication of a retraction on the The Countertop Chronicles site. Should this arbitration provision be held uneforceable in a court of competent jurisdiction, you agree to accept as liquidated damages in any lawsuit against The Countertop Chronicles the sum of ten dollars ($10), and you agree that you will be entitled to no other relief of any kind in law or equity. You agree that all disputes concerning these terms of use or the content of The Countertop Chronicles are to be resolved in the courts of Fairfax County, Virginia, under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States of America.

C. You agree that efforts to obtain The Countertop Chronicles content in violation or circumvention of these terms of use constitute a violation of The Countertop Chronicles copyright and you understand and agree that (1) by virtue of this agreement you are estopped from arguing otherwise: and (2) such violations may lead to civil or criminal penalties.

D. If you are a corporation, you agree to provide, upon the filing of any lawsuit or the mailing of any letter threatening legal action, a bond in the amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000) as security against the liquidated damages provided for in paragraph 2.B. above. If you are an attorney or law firm representing a party filing such lawsuit or causing such a letter to be sent, you agree to provide a bond in the same amount as security against the liquidated damages provided for in paragraph 2.B. above unless you have never accessed, viewed, read, or otherwise made use of The Countertop Chronicles content in any form.

3. If you do not agree to these terms of use, exit the site immediately, destroy all copies of The Countertop Chronicles content remaining in any form on your computer, any other computer or network device under your control, in print form, or on any information storage or retrieval device that you possess or control. Then execute the following affidavit, filing it in Fairfax County Courthouse and providing an electronic version (image copy via .pdf or otherwise accessible through an Adobe Acrobat reader) of a signed and notarized copy of it by e-mail to countertop AT gmail DOT com.

Affidavit

I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that I possess no copies of the The Countertop Chronicles website in any form whatsoever; that neither I nor any employee or associate will access that site in the future in any form whatsoever; that I will immediately destroy any copies of The Countertop Chronicles content that happen to come into my possession. I understand that action contrary to these statements constitutes both perjury and a violation of the The Countertop Chronicles Terms of Use, subjecting me to possible civil and criminal liability.

_________
Signed (include date)


_________
Witnessed (notary)

Notary Seal:


My commission expires: ______________

Thats About Right

You Are a Martini

There's no other way to say it: you're a total lush. You hold your liquor well, and you hold a lot of it!

What Mixed Drink Are You?

Weekend Range Report

Well, the crappy gun show, Redskins loss and lack of snow notwithstanding, I had a pretty good Martin Luther King weekend and was able to get everything done i set out to do (and then some) including finishing the latest round of renovations to our master bath (happy wife, very happy wife). After the project essentially being stalled for 6 months, I finished the wallpapering and wainscoting and put up new fixtures. The only thing left now is to instal a new faucet on the sink (we ordered it Saturday afternoon and it should go on next weekend if not sooner).

After the son fell asleep, I put some wood in the fireplace and the wife and I sat down to watch a movie - Mr & Mrs Smith. It was ok. The gun fighting was decent, Angelina Jolie is hot, and it had a few funny lines (Vince Vaughn always cracks me up). However, it did require us to be pretty wiling to suspend disbelief throughout the whole movie - like, when they are running away to escape the attack in their house in just their nightshirts how did they al of a sudden come into possession of a complete wardrobe of advanced bullet (rifle round) proof rubberized tactical clothing that would make Batman proud as well as the dozens of guns???

Afterwards, the wife went to sleep and I went reloading!!!!

I didn't get a chance to load the couple of hundred rounds I hoped for. Being the "first" time I reloaded on my own it took some time to get set up and make sure everything was working. In fact, the first few rounds out of the press were pretty bad.



After reviewing my manual, hoping on the internet, and pulling out the Lee instructions I made a slight (3/4 of a turn) adjustment to the die that flares the case and drops the powder and fixed the problem. I ended up loading 3 separate small batches. It was my first time and thought I would try things out. One thing of note though, there was a lot of static electricity and it caused problems. I didn't see any sparks or feel I was risking my life, but it was annoying trying to pour the powder and get accurate readings as it would jump around mysteriously. Anyone have any clues to methods to cut down on ambient static energy while reloading?

For each batch I used CCI 300 Primers, an assortment of Winchester and CCI Blazer brass, and Unique Powder.

The first two batches were with Georgia Arms FMJ .230 Grain .451 bullets.


The first batch was 10 rounds of ammo using the Lee Auto Index set at .66. According to the Lee Chart, it showed provide me with 6.0 grains of Unique Powder. In fact, it was pretty consistent (I test 3 of the 10 rounds) at 5.7 grains.

The second batch was 15 rounds of ammo using the Lee Auto Index at .71. It provided consistent loads that weighed in at 6.0 grains of Unique Powder.

The third batch was identical to the second, except I used Georgia Arms JHP .230 Grain .451 bullets.


Here are the first 25 rounds, in a case.



After completing some errands today, I hit the NRA Range for a quick range session. Made it there just in time as the were a dozen people taking the range test. Once on the range, I noticed something great - lots of people (including the folks on both sides of me) were giving people introductions to firearms and there were at least 8 women (including one 8 year old girl shooting with her father and older brother and sister).

Since I put a new trigger in the other day, I decided to start out testing that. Loaded 1 round in the magazine, followed by 2, then 3 then 4, etc. Made some slight adjustments to the take up screw and got the Colt working fine. Then I loaded up the reloads.

Honestly, couldn't tell much of a difference between the different loads. Accuracy was slightly improved over the Winchester White Box that I used testing the trigger, but shooting off hand at 15 yards today, my accuracy wasn't really what it should have been. The gun seemed to be shooting a bit low (3-4 inches or so) the whole day, but did keep smaller groups with the reloads than the White Box. Noticed a couple of strange things though. First, the reloads were a bit smokey. Not as bad as blackpowder, but certainly worse than with the WWB. Is this normal for Unique? Also, when i was done firing the 25 rounds my gun was far more dirty than normal and there was lots of unburned flakes of gunpowder on the table under the gun I was firing. It sure seems to my untrained eye like the Unique wasn't burning completely - and perhaps this has some impact on the amount of smoke. Is this a problem? How do I get the powder to burn more completely? Should I try different primers (recommendations???)? Is this just a normal characteristic of Unique? Is it possible Green Top sold me bad powder? Should I try a different powder?

I intend to load a bunch more tomorrow night (100 rounds????) and will post another follow up afterward. Appreciate any thoughts you might have. Thanks!

The Gun Show

Well,

I heard good things about the gun show in Richmond, so I decided to drop by Saturday morning. Loaded my father in law and son in the car and by 8:45 we were on the road. It was a nice morning for a drive - 60 degree and relatively sunny - as my son sat in the back singing

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
where?
down in my heart

and my father in law relayed war stories and discussed ballistics with me.

Should have known the day was going to go down hill cause it started out so nice.

Aah, the C&E gun show . . . where do I start?

Perhaps with the contingent of Nazi's and Skinheads and Aryans that greated us as we pulled into the parking lot. Seriously, where do these shit heads come from. I would have guessed they were just punk rockers, except there was aa certain gay bonding amongst them and they all had SS storm trooper shirts and swastikas on them. I know we shouldn't judge others by their looks, but really, why can't we just shoot these vermin on sight?

By the time I pulled into the parking lot, it had turned overcast and began to rain. Luckily though, we were able to drive right past the Nazis and land a parking space pretty close to the front door. From there we headed off to the ticket booth and found ourselves surrounded by Crips or Bloods or something. The 500lb gangsta' in front of us had a semi auto bull barrel MP5 with double drum magazines (he claimed it held 200 rounds, I sort of doubt it), the tactical flashlight, and a red dot sight on it. It was slung over his arm - like a man purse - and he was swinging it around for all to see. Didn't get whether it was for sale or not. Once we paid for our ticket, we got to stand in a second line where the cops checked everyone out for guns and we had our hand stamped.

Beyond the Aryan Nation and the Gangster's the crowd was a pretty good mix of white trash, rednecks, and bewildered folks. The selection of guns was poor - the normal bad deals, alot of surplus in horrible shape and the usual big local gun show dealers (Dark Sun, Trader Jerry, etc). I'd estimate there was more non gun stuff (jerky, toys, t-shirts, prints, historical crap, plain 'ol junkyard crap) than guns by maybe a ratio of 2-1.

I of course, didn't care as I was looking solely for bullets and primers so I could reload (bullets weigh to much to ship and I refuse to pay a $20 surcharge for primers or powders). Luckily, Georgia Arms was there just as we walked in. I ended up buying 300 rounds of .451 230 grain FMJ. Had a good conversation with the guy and his son - he gave us his card - and since they are only about an hour from my Georgia place I am gonna do a trip to the factory the next time I am down (probably this spring). Sadly, he was the only person I saw selling reloading supplies - and those bullets were it. There were a couple of tables with surplus ammo - but it was all pretty expensive like the rest of the stuff there. After making it around the entire floor, I headed back to the Georgia Arms table and bought 200 more rounds of .451 230 grain FMJ (the rest of his stock) and 100 rounds of .451 230 grain HP.

We quickly hightailed it out of there and raced over to Green Top Sporting Goods which is a really neat shop. I was able to buy powder and primers there and really enjoyed the aisles of rifles.

All in all, I would not go back to a Richmond gun show (and I now know what my wife meant when she said Richmond is a dive) but would return to Green Top in a second (and assume I will soon).

Incidentally, from what I gather, this is the gun show where there were lots of problems with the police last time around. I'm pretty much opposed to any government interference with the RKBA, but honestly, after attending and dealing with the Nazis and gang bangers and general attendees at the show Saturday morning, I can't say it upsets me too much anymore (at least at this location). If Saturday was an anomaly, and the crowd is usually better and more law-abiding, please let me know.

Jerry and Heff and the Bunnies

This is an even better video - mostly cause I am a bigger dead head than metal head.

Its from a Dead show at the Playboy Mansion and includes a stoned Jerry being interviewed by Hugh Heffner and comparing the dual drummers to a serpent chasing its tale. Meanwhile, the bunnies and hipsters are all milling around. With the wild and wacky Tom Constantine on the keys, they play Mountains of the Moon and St. Stephen.



yeah!!!!

Hollywood Roses

If you were ever a Guns N' Roses fan, you might get a kick out of this great early backyard Hollywood Rose video from 1984 (?) featuring a young Axl and Izzy Straddling in the pre Guns N' Roses days.

Light Postings

Don't expect much new posting here this weekend. Its a three day weekend, and things are going to be light.

In addition to putting together the polls and rules for the Gunnies (which I expect to unveil on Tuesday as the work week commences), I've got four big things going on this weekend.

First: The Redskins are playing Seattle at 4:30 on Saturday. I'll be in my basement, beer in hand, cheering them on.

Second: Saturday is also, as I've pointed out, is also the day that gun-banning-bigoted-former-mayor-of-Richmond-"Crime Central"-Virginia Tim Kaine is being sworn in as Governor. Since he opted to do the swearing in down in Williamsburg and not Richmond, I am heading down to Richmond at 8:00 am to hit the gun show. Gonna buy bullets, primers, and powder so I can start reloading. Might also try and do a photoblog of it.

Here's the combination reloading bench/workbench/laundry folding bench I built. As you can see, its got the Lee Turret Press on it (as well as the dies that arrived in the mail yesterday from Natchez). Its also still a work in progress. I am putting together a back stop for it and some more shelves to hang on the well behind it.



Third: I "decapped" or took the primers out of over 650 .45 ACP brass cases tonight. I don't expect to load that many this weekend, but I do hope to put a couple of hundred together. When I am done, I will post a review of the Lee Turret Press here. Look for it in the coming week.

Fourth: We are meeting some good friends for breakfast on Sunday morning. We haven't gotten together with them in some time and depending on the weather will either go to Dumbarton Oaks or hit the Smithsonian.

There ya go.

The Major Anouncement

The other day at lunch I took a long stroll out and about around town. Stopped off at JR CIgars, picked up a stogie, and headed down the street up to Dupont Circle and then back to my office. I used the time to think about recent events. To reflect on the life I have lived so far. To comes to terms with the truth of my current situation.

After thinking long and hard about it, internally debating for weeks (if not months), and trying to come to grips with all the emotions running through me, I have decided to undertake a major change in my life.

I am coming out of the closet.











Yep, I believe I might just be starting to become a Redskins fan.


It shouldn't be a surprise really. While I grew up a Yankees, Giants, Rangers fan, I've lived almost as many years outside of the New York/New Jersey area as I lived there. Further, while it didn't really impact me as a kid living in Jersey, my father has not relented in his anger and hatred towards the Giants (and now Jets) over their refusal to rename themselves in light of their real residence - New Jersey. Finally, Eli Manning is an asshole. I don't care if he's good or not, no one should ever forget what a fucking shallow minded selfish asshole he was when first drafted. I'm not a fan of the San Diego Chargers, but I really can't support one of the biggest fucktards in the NFL since Brian Bosworth.

While the Redskins are not without their own shitheads and assholes. The difference, of course, is everyone knows what pieces of crap they are and treats them with the appropriate amount of respect. In addition, while it pains me to get excited when they win (and win they have been doing) just because it might bring joy to that little piece of dictatorial shit, I can't help but have fallen for their scrappy nature, dedicated fans, and redeemed coach.

Plus, my kid really digs them and while they aren't the Giants, they do bring the upside of allowing me to hate the Dallas Cowboys even more. Oh yeah, even better, it ticks off the liberals of PC fucktards.

Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Vic-tor-y!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old Dixie!

Scalp 'em, swamp 'em — We will take 'em big score
Read 'em, weep 'em, touchdown — we want heap more
Fight on, Fight on — 'til you have won
Sons of Wash-ing-ton. Rah!, Rah!, Rah!

Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Vic-tor-y!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old Dixie!

Fire Phil Fulmer

He's the guy who's responsible for recruiting these thugs. Heck, I'm surprised he didn't offer Marcus Vick a scholarship after he was kicked out of VT.

Go Here Now!

He needs a traffic boost and has a funny picture of military recruits taboot.



Plus, he provided some very helpful advice on my first real gunsmithing foray!

God, Liberals Sure Know How To Drag On

No, I'm not talking about blowhard Senators Chuck the Schmuck, Chappaquidick Ted, or Plagerising Joe, but washed up and deceased liberal asshat Eugene McCarthy who's memorial service is being held tomorrow.

Once there was a liberal movement, kids. And its principles will ring through Washington National Cathedral tomorrow, when former president Bill Clinton eulogizes the late Eugene McCarthy at an 11 a.m. memorial service open to the public. Folk singer Peter Yarrow will perform one last song for the former senator, who died last month at 89. Also expected are members of Minnesota's congressional delegation, and all those idealists who worked on McCarthy's short-lived 1968 presidential campaign.

Too bad I'm gonna miss it. I decided to celebrate Tim Kaine's innauguration by attending the gun show in Richmond instead.

Places I Pack

HT, Says Uncle

C&R

Like I posted yesterday, I just ordered a K31. Imagine then, my thrill, when i learned about The Curious Relic this morning and his intention to focus on K31s!!!!

Who Cares?

Seriously, why does anyone care if Brad Pitt called his ex wife to let her know he knocked up his current girlfriend?

On the other hand . . . . kudos to Pitt for shacking up with both America's Sweatheart and America's Slut.

Shut Down Wal Mart

Seriously,

Wal Mart should just shut down their operations in Maryland. Fuck 'em, fire everyone of their 17,000 employees, bring in folks from Arkansas and haul their merchandise out.

Would't take long for the Bolsheviks running the People's Repupublic to stop celebrating. Nope, let them try and find other jobs and more importantly affordable places to shop for them.

Fuckers.

Just another reason I don't cross the Potomac.

UPDATE: In the comments, GunnNutt proposes this more workable solution:

I think WMart should just close down enough stores to get under the limit set by the new law. Then put up a sign on the locked doors saying "Please thank the following people that YOU elected for a) killing your job and b) making you drive further to get to us." with a list of the asshats that voted "Yea".

Major Anouncement

The Major Announcement Has Been Postponed.

Please check back tomorrow.

Gun Smithing

Well, I guess this counts as my first ever Gun Smithing Post.

Watch out, next thing you know and I'm gonna be giving Head and Uncle a run for the money.

Got two very exciting packages in the mail today. One, you'll learn about tomorrow. The other one, had a Chip McCormick adjustable 1911 AUTO LIGHTWEIGHT TRIGGER that I ordered from Brownell's earlier this week.

When I first got my Colt 1991A1 I had two immediate plans for it. I was going to replace the ass ugly black rubber grips and I was going to put a nice adjustable aluminum trigger on it in place of the cheap black plastic thing. Rosewood grips - and some Chip McCormick Power Mags - were on within days (a week at the most). Its taken about 9 months to get to the trigger.

Ended up ordering it and did a complete detail strip of it with the help of Sightm1911.com. From there, it was pretty easy to switch the triggers out and only a matter of reassembly. Yeah, right. Remind me not to take apart my guns the night before I have an article do at the publishers for work. It took all of 5 minutes to detail strip the Colt, it took almost 2 hours to put back together (mostly trying to figure out the Series 80 safety).

While Sightm1911 has some great diagrams and excellent photographs of the process, they are a bit weak on the reassembly. Luckily, I found a great article at Defense Review which when combined with Sightm1911's pictures let me figure out the Series 80 deal. I'm now pretty confident about doing other simple 1911 mods . . . what should be next?

Here she is.

Pretty Good For A Ludite

Considering I don't work in the computer/technology field, I've had a pretty good share of the 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years.

Lets see:
1. Sony Walkman TPS-L2 (1979) (Had a walkman, not sure which model)
2. Apple iPod (2001) (Still use the ORIGINAL model 5gb model I purchased in January 2002)
4. PalmPilot 1000 (1996) (Had an early Palm Pilot - not sure which model)
6. Motorola StarTAC (1996)
7. Atari Video Computer System (1977)(who didn't??)
9. M-Systems DiskOnKey (2000)
13. Motorola PageWriter (1996)(yep)
14. BlackBerry 850 Wireless Handheld (1998)(upgraded the Motorola)
16. Texas Instruments Speak & Spell (1978) (well, my brother did)
21. Zenith Space Command (1956) (The infamous "Clicker." We had one in the 70s)
23. Kodak Instamatic 100 (1963)(picked one of these up a couple of years ago)
25. Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 (1983) (I didn't own it, but as a lab monitor/computer geek/computer club member/student tutor I had my own dedicated one to use at school)
27. Commodore 64 (1982) (Not just the best selling computer ever, but perhaps the best ever. Had a VIC 20 as well).
28. Apple Newton MessagePad (1994) (Been there, done that. Its a shame it came out as Apple was on its downward spiral cause it did everything a Palm did but with style).
29. Sony Betamax (1975) (well, my father did. I was in 3rd grade. Uncle had one too. I ended up recording all of live aid on another one. Parents still have the tapes somewhere).
32. Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer (1999) (used one for a couple of years)
35. Motorola DynaTAC 8000X (1983) (Moms cell phone when I was growing up, and mine hin High School. Its sitting in my dresser at my parents house).
36. Iomega Zip Drive (1995) (yep)
37. Magnavox Magnavision Model 8000 DiscoVision Videodisc Player (1978)(Again, dad had it. I used it more).
38. Milton Bradley Simon (1978) (Another one of those - Didn't Everyone?)
40. Connectix QuickCam (1994) (It sucked).
47. Timex/Sinclair 1000 (1982) (Again, didn't everyone?)

22 out of 50. Not too shabby.

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT COMING

Tomorrow morning, around 8:00 am, I will be making a major, earth shattering announcement.

Prepare The Presses!

Gun Free DC

Who Says You Can't (Legally) Buy A Decent Gun In DC?

Not me. I just purchased myself a Swiss 1931 Carbin Scmidt Rubin K31 and it joins my S&W Model 66 and my since traded Evil So Called Assault Weapon SAR-1 as gun purchases I have made while in Washington, D.C.

Just thought you would like to know.

Bias

Two of the publications I read everyday as part of my job are Greenwire and E&E Daily. They are "trade rags" here in DC published by E&E News. Greenwire comes out every day and tracks policy and other developments in environmental law and E&E Daily tracks similar developments regarding Energy and Environment matters (get it, E&E).

Anyway, as part of the 4 Meme floating around the blogsphere recently, I noted that Greenwire was one of the publications I read every day. Apparantly, E&E publications has at least a partial clue. Yesterdat at 4:12 pm ET someone at E&E News did a google blog search for mentions of Greenwire (As Jeff Jarvis would agree, thats a very smart thing to do). They ended up finding the 4 Meme post (its the 2nd entry) and read the comments where I stated

you can probably trust your average NY Times staff writer more than you can trust a writer from Greenwire (or E&E publications generally)

Bitter picked up on it responding:

Yeah, I figured that one out really quickly. It wasn't hard to pick up on the bias the very first time I read it.

This morning, E&E revisited the post and has posted some follow up questions. Both Bitter and I have responded and I urge you to check out the comments for my take on media bias. (HINT: Irregardless of its overwhelming bias, I think the quality of E&E's products are head and shoulders above their competition, and thats why I continue to hold multiple subscriptions to them).

A Rather Pleasant Buggering

My loyal readers no doubt recall, when I purchased my 1996 Grand Cherokee last spring, I complained about the royal reaming Lord Fairfax was going to honor me with.

As I said at the time:

in all seriousness, I estimate the total cost to register my used 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo to be $326.76.

Titling: $10
Sales tax (3%): $180
Registration: $29.50
Car Tax: $4.57 per $100 of assessed value on a $6000 vehicle (watch them try to assess me at a higher rate than I paid for it) is $274.20 minus my "tax relief (since we now know Warner lied and the state really is running at a surplus, shouldn't this dumb tax have been fully eliminated)" of 70% means I am out of pocket $82.26
Property tax sticker (they charge you to prove that you've registered your car and paid your tax): $25

This estimate, of course, was a bit off.

Turns out, while I was buggered by the state, my appointment with Lord Fairfax won't be until later this year. Thank god.

It was bad enough being hit for $221.50 plus 2 hours of my time. I showed up at 7:30 and the line was already wrapped around the building. I finally got my number at 8:20 and wasn't called till 9:35. Once called, it took them about 20 minutes to process everything.

The breakdown today was

$31.50 for registration fee
$10 for title fees
$180 sales & use tax

The time has finally come to pay Lord Fairfax . . . . and rather than $82.26 I estimated, my burden was a paltry $30.85 plus a Late Filing Penalty (not payment, but filing. Apparently, I spaced on sending in all the paperwork to Lord Fairfax. Silly me, I should have realized that when DMV told me everything was set and I didn't need to file anything else that, of course, I would still need to file other documents). Anyway, the breakdown on the tax came out as follows

Assessed Value: $4500 (I paid $6,000 and with the low mileage its worth more - as I proved to the insurance company this summer - but $4500 is right in line with what USAA valued it before I complained to them. I have no problems with this).
Months Billed: 6 (I purchased it in June)
Tax Amount: $102.83
Car Tax Relief: -$71.98
Tax To Be Paid: $30.85
Late Filing Penalty: $10.29
Total Due: $41.14

Not too shabby. Sure, I still had to pay taxes, but it wasn't really that obscene (not like when I got my "luxury sedan" in 1999). Almost as if Lord Fairfax sort of said thank you the next morning. In any case, you know see why I will never buy a new car as long as I live in Virginia.

Tactical Assassin

Simply Awsome Timewaster

Gunbloggers

He may be a

culturally hegomonic anti-idiotarian functional-structuralist and anti-collectivist imperialist, among the smugly dreaming self-satisfied Prius-driving lizadroid-Leftbat Californoodlian Eco-Tofuistas

who is

standing by, out in the parking-lot with the outlaw asphalt gang of Illegitimati Non Carborundum, the bikers and smokers and amateur arsonists, the drunks and potheads and pimply society-crowd rejects, the pot-washers and floor-moppers and grinding student-aid recipients - the ones without the $1200 all-Campi featherweight pastel-green Bianchis and spandex-suits

but Dirtcrasher has put together a heck of a list of gunblogs.

Must Be Somthing In The Coffee

How else to explain this?

CHEAP SHOTS: To avoid insulting native American heritage, the Seattle Times decided to limit severely the use of the term Redskins in the paper -- even if a team with that name will dominate news coverage this week. The Times will not use the moniker in headlines or captions. Reporters can use it only once, as a first reference, in all stories. The Redskins will be referred to almost exclusively as Washington -- which could get a little confusing for local readers who also live in that state.

No wonder James J. Na left?

Well, here's how to get back at them. Don't shop at Starbucks and don't run Windows on your computer. I know, I know, some things are harder to do than others. If thats the case, then order a SHORT cappucino.

Gun Show Bleg

This is for the local Virginia contingent.

I missed (spaced on) last weeks gun show in Dale City. I see (thanks to the VCDL alert) that C&E Gun Shows will be holding one in Richmond this weekend.

Has anyone ever attended a C&E Show (outside of the combined Nation's Gun Show they do with Showmasters)? Has anyone attended their Richmond shows? Are they worth heading down for?

I promised my father in law I'd take him to last weekend's show and since I spaced was thinking about heading down to it. I am looking for reloading supplies (powder but mostly bullets), I think he just wants to roam the aisles and be surrounded by guns (nothing wrong with that). Anyway, is it worth the trip down or should we just head over to Clark Brothers in Warrenton?

Never Thought I'd Say It

but good for Specter.

Anyone who tells 'ol Chappaquiddick Ted where he can go stick it, can't be all that bad.

ALways a winning strategy

Politicians tend to be pretty ineffective against things like the truth.

He is like a very, very smart rock. And this stoniness is slowly wearing down his opposition. . . . Alito is crushing the Democrats with unrelenting tedium and a demonstrable love for material they don't really understand.

Cool Site

HuntingFootage.com, got to love web video.

Tom Coburn for President

Simply cause he had the balls to hold up his copy of the Constitution.

Why Concealed Carry Laws Work

Cause the goblins don't know.

It was a move more often used at a poker table than in everyday life, but one that luckily paid off for a 27-year-old Manassas man Sunday night.

He was walking in the 11200 block of Soldiers Ridge Circle in the Coverstone housing subdivision around 10:40 p.m. when a man came up to him with a knife, demanding his money, said Officer John Bogert, a spokesman for the Prince William County Police Department.

Not wanting to give up his money, the would-be victim decided to try a dangerous bluff, saying he had a gun although he did not. The robber became scared and ran off.

“It was a complete bluff,” Bogert said. “Luckily for the victim it worked out, but it was very dangerous. You never know what could have happened. The robber could have dropped the knife and pulled out a gun himself. In those cases, it’s best to just give the person what they want and then let the police handle it.”

My guess is that this tactic would never work in Cleveland Park, the posh DC neighborhood where David Rosenbaum was murdered. It would in mine though.