My Letter from Wayne

I hope you all have gotten one of these letters. If not you should join the NRA.

Dear Fellow NRA Member,

           In the next few days, you'll receive your new NRA membership card.

           The moment you receive it, I urge you to validate your new membership card as soon as possible. More than ever, we need you to stand with NRA and fight to save ourSecond Amendment freedoms.

Because Barack Obama's campaign promise
not to take away our guns is a lie.

           He's not even in office, yet he's fired the opening salvos in a war against the future of the Second Amendment, our hunting and shooting traditions, and YOU.

           Obama's FIRST attack on YOU: Appointing Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel to be White House Chief of Staff. In Congress, Emanuel earned an "F" rating from NRA, and while working in the Clinton Administration, he was known as the "point man on gun control." He is an avowed enemy of the Second Amendment and will wield enormous power in the battle for the future of our firearm freedoms.

           Obama's SECOND attack on YOU: If Hillary Clinton is confirmed as Secretary of State, she'll rip the Second Amendment right out of the Bill of Rights. She'll be our nation's top diplomat with the power to determine whether the United Nations will pass, and Obama will sign, a global gun ban treaty that will surrender our Second Amendment rights and our national sovereignty.

           Obama's THIRD attack on YOU: Nominating ex-Senator and former Majority Leader Tom Daschle-an avowed enemy of NRA-to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. NRA was responsible for defeating Daschle when he ran in South Dakota for re-election to the Senate. If Daschle is confirmed, he could hold the ultimate power to declare guns a "public health menace" and regulate away our essential liberties.

           Obama's FOURTH attack on YOU: Nominating Eric Holder to be Attorney General. As former Assistant Attorney General, Holder was a key architect and vocal advocate for the Clinton era's sweeping gun ban agenda. He supported national handgun licensing, mandatory trigger locks, and ending gun shows as we know them.

           Just recently, Holder opposed the District of Columbia's Heller decision that declared the Second Amendment an individual right. Holder also called for reviving the Clinton gun bans and, as Attorney General, would fight in court to prevent the landmark Heller decision from being made applicable to state and local governments.

           Worst of all, if Holder is confirmed as the nation's top law-enforcement officer, he would control BATFE and wield enormous power to harass gun owners and sue America's arms makers out of existence.

           Obama's FIFTH attack on YOU: In the job application for the Obama Administration, he made it clear that gun owners are second-class citizens and told 80 million gun owners not to even bother applying for a job. In the "White House Personnel Data Questionnaire" he asked:

           "Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide
           complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever
           lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has
           been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage."

           This chilling notice to gun owners-that they are not welcome to serve in his Administration-shows the deep hostility for Americans' Second Amendment Freedoms that Obama and his Administration have in their hearts.

           On its face, that question endorses gun registration-a mandate in only five states in our nation-and buys into the anti-gun premise that firearms are inherently dangerous and gun owners are prone to misusing them.

           That's an outrageous mindset, especially for the President-elect whose sworn duty will be to uphold the U.S. Constitution, including our right to keep and bear arms.

           Obama CLEARLY wants to make gun registration the law of the land.

           First for employees under his control...AND THEN FOR YOU.

           Working with a Congress dominated by gun haters like Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, John Conyers, Henry Waxman, and Charles Schumer!!!

           Rubbing salt in gun owner wounds is the Brady Campaign, which just issued a completely bogus poll claiming that two-thirds of the Americans-including 60% of all gun owners-favor gun registration, licensing of firearm owners, and other sweeping restrictions on our firearm freedoms!

Add it all up and you have the potential
for a Second Amendment disaster that's unlike
any other NRA members have ever battled.

Is anyone surprised?

The story

Tonight, a call for a little more transparency from President-elect Barack Obama about what he did or did not know about the allegations against Gov. Rod Blagojevich in Illinois.

I will first re-iterate what we heard from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. He said Obama did nothing wrong and there are no allegations of wrongdoing against the president-elect.

Then Obama himself said he never had contact with the governor about who should replace him in the Senate and had no idea any of this was going on.

Fair enough. But that is all Obama has said.

And what now looks pretty clear, at least based on these tapes and what the U.S. attorney is telling us, is that someone from Obama-world did have communication with the governor about this.

This is a great call for Obama and his team to live up to his campaign promise of being more transparent. Yeah right. Let the lies begin. How many people voted for Obama based on this kind of rhetoric. It's going to be a painful four years.

Going Hunting (I hope)

There's a guy at work, Dwight, I love shooting the shit with. We'll start off talking about work and in 15 minutes or so we'll finish up with business and begin going on about almost anything. We're both techies and Mac Users, so there's lots to go on about.

I was telling him how I had wanted to learn to hunt years ago, when I didn't even own a gun. There was a sales rep who used to come into a store I worked at and he offered me a trade. He'd take me hunting (muzzleloading) if I shared my wood-lore in return. I've always regretted not taking him up on the deal.

Back to today, Dwight said that he'll be going out soon with his father to go hunting during the flintlock season and I quickly invited myself along. He said OK and I've been amped all day today.

Now, I still don't own a gun, well a flintlock that is. Even if I did just get one, I wouldn't actually bring it in the field since I probably couldn't shoot it well enough to hunt game. I don't own any camo, so that I'll have to work on.

My wife is great. She was happy for me. We'll see how that continues.

Now I'll need to begin thinking about everything I'll need for a day in the woods. After I figure that out, I'll need to begin thinking of a rifle for next year.

• I wonder what I should do in exchange for this great opportunity with Dwight and his father. It really means a lot to me.
  
• What are the licensing laws here in PA?
• What's up with the hunter safety course?
• What kind of clothing will I need to get?
  
• What kind of gear will I need to bring with me?
  
• What kinds of rifles should I be thinking of for next season?
• http://www.tcarms.com/firearms/mzModernFlint.php
  
• http://www.cva.com/
• What are some good articles I should begin reading up on for the season?

UPDATE: I just realized that I'm traveling most of the hunting season. Crap.

Russia modernizes missiles in response to US plans

This news article from Newsvine talks about Russia's recent response to the build-up of anti-ballistic missile systems in Eastern Europe.

We come out with better ABM system and they develop and test newer missiles. Not only are we headed back into the Cold-War, we're still fighting the damn Islamic-Radicals.

If only we could develop cold-fusion or some other form of technology to get us out of the position where we need oil and we could get the oil money flowing into Russia and reduce our interests in the Middle East. I know that's overly simplistic, but doesn't it seem like we're headed to hell-in-a-hand-basket? It's bad enough that America is enamored with Barack "Osama's" promises of change. Sure, I'm not totally thrilled w/ McCain, but I'm not going to let my country dissolve into a socialist cult.

Obama Kids: Sing for Change (Pyongyang Remix)

ASAP Drink Mix

From the Southwest Shooting Authority Podcast...

It's a chocolate drink mix that would be used as a food supplement in hard times. Cole really loves the stuff.

Shooting USA

I started watching Shooting USA, thanks to my TiVo. They mentioned their Pro Tips a number of times and I found the link. Now, I'll have to find some time to watch them all. I'm particularly interested in the reloading section. It'll go well with Midway's video tips.

Convert your M1A into a "BullDog"

Obama has made is veep choice?

Wow, that's great.

Pretty soon we can see what color lipstick the dems are putting on their pig.

To Hell with the TSA!

I could list a number of articles from the web about how lame the TSA is and how poorly they've done with tests and such. First it was limiting anything that could be use as a melee weapon. Then we had to put everything into stupid plastic bags.

Now, they've told us what kinds of bags we can and can't use. I am so sick of them. Does anyone really feel safer in an airport or on a plane because of the TSA?

Looking for a Cap-n-Ball Revolver

I've just started looking into picking up some history for my collection. I'm looking into picking up a Civil War era piece.

I'm very interested in an 1858 Remington Army, but I have to look into the different replica manufacturers.

EMF Company

More to come...

Losing our Guns

On one of the forums I browse, I recently saw this following passage in the member's signature:

At Thermopylae 1,000,000 Persians lost 20,000 yet failed to disarm just 300 Spartans. 80,000,000 lawful Americans would resist even harder. That we promise.

I would like to think so, but unfortunately I don't think there will be anyone we would be able to fight against. The process to take our guns away has been and will continue to be an ongoing process.

I think the only way we will be able to keep our rights to own guns is through helping those who aren't hard set against guns to understand our Constitutionally established rights (arguably), electing politicians whom will protect our rights, and through fighting every piece of anti-gun legislation that comes up for vote.

These kinds of "quotes" do no service to preserving our rights. The issue is not to fight if we have to, but whom will we be fighting?

Glock 30SF

Figures. I have a Glock 30 that I picked up a couple of months ago. I love it. It's compact, .45 ACP, and the handgun I'm going to get licensed to carry first.

Then I noticed that TopGlock.com has begun to take pre-orders for a new SF model, but with some significant differences. I haven't found official information on the new SF model on Glock's website. Apparently there's no ambi-mag relase (that's a shame) and no Picatinny rail (no surprise).

I'm going to have to check one of these out now as well. I won't part with my Glock 30. I put a lot of thought into buying a weapon and I don't believe in selling them.

Easy Mag definitely kicks butt

The guys over at Defensereview.com spotted this one and I've watched the videos and I'm very impressed. Easy, (looks) reliable, and durable. How much? About $40. Normally I wouldn't consider a mag over $20, but this is very cool. I always wondered why someone didn't design a mag like this.

Guns Don't Kill Kids...

Blog post with some good info

Universal Chest Rig Links

Purchase from SKDTac.com

Military Morons review

Article on good Shotgun Ammo

Biometric Gun Vault

Something to think about getting in the near future.

AR-15 Mags

I gotta start buying more mags soon and I was initially dead-set on the PMAG's from MagPul,

but then I heard about stainless steel mags and problems MagPul was having with some of their mags produced before 7/07. MagPul is offering free replacements for folks who have problems with their mags - nice, but that should have been picked up on in the earlier stages of development in my opinion.

Anyhow, the stainless steel mags are produced by C Products and they're selling for about $12.95 with optional spring types, followers, and even a tactical base plate (for an additional $3). I wonder how heavy they are?

Advantage Arms Glock 30 Conversion

I've been having a hard time finding a 19/23 LE kit. I was on TopGlock.com's backorder list for over a month and a half. I found 29/30 kits were more available so I picked one up. I only have one magazine for it, so I can't properly use it to train for my CCW, but that's just a matter of time.

I was very nicely impressed with the quality. Even the translucent case is very nice. It even has two locking holes next to the handle. I had some problems getting the slide to lock on assembly, but there's probably a little trick to doing it smoothly. I should probably read the instructions fully. My bad.

It comes with some pretty clear warnings about ammo to stay away from. So, I started of with a 100 rounds of CCI Mini Mags. I couldn't get through a single mag with out a FTF, FTI, or some other strange malfunction. I'm really hoping that it was due to a lack of cleaning or a faulty mag (which I wouldn't be so psyched about).

I've only been to the range once with it and had quite a lot of problems with it. I didn't clean it before I used the kit, so that probably played a huge factor in it's reliability. I've cleaned it pretty well and intend on oiling it up for my next range session. I was happy with the accuracy. I was getting about 2" at 7 yards. Yeah, I know, I suck. That's what this kit is for, practice baby.

I really believe in this kit, even though I had so many problems with it. I went ahead and bought a 19/23 model through GunBroker and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. It'll be a great way for my wife and sister-in-law to shoot. They won't have to worry about recoil or excessive noise.

Here's some other reviews (in no particular order):
From shooter2-indy
From Owen
YouTube Video on Assembly

(original 12/14/07)

UPDATED: I just got my 19/23 LE kit. I was on TopGlock.com and almost every other Internet retailer's waiting list for one of these and I got sick of waiting. If you're waiting, check out the GunBroker.com - I got mine for $238 plus nominal shipping.

My wife and I went out yesterday and shot about 150 rds of CCI Mini-Mags and Remington Golds both in 40 grains. This time I thoroughly cleaned the kit and lubed it with Wilson's gun grease - great stuff by the way. I didn't have any oil on hand, but hoped the grease would suffice. The only problems we had were a few FTE's that were due to the wax-lube build-up from the Mini-Mags. Otherwise, we were able to burn through the 10-rd mags without much trouble. I'm fairly confident that with enough lubrication, the Advantage Arms kits will run great.

I'll have to adjust the sights a little. The 19/23 kit was shooting a couple inches high and a little to the right at around 15-20 yards. I'm really happy that I'll be able to improve my trigger control and general handling at a fraction of the price of 9mm FMJ.

Holster Resources

Pocket Holsters for the Kahr PM9
JS Pocket Holster
Galco Holsters
Universal Clipdraw

IWB Holsters for the Glock 30
DeSantis Cozy Partner
Masters of Concealment

General CCW
RM Holsters
Fal Gal Concealment Leather
Maxpedition

(original 9/17/07)
UPDATED