My answers for Piers Morgan

John R. Lott appeared on CNN Wednesday night along with Jeanne Assam.

I tuned in in time to see Jeanne retell part of her story.  After Piers Morgan cut her off, he assaulted Lott with the inquisition

"WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF AN AR-15?"

Then he interrupted with another question

"HOW MANY BULLETS CAN IT FIRE A SECOND?"

When Lott attempted to continue answering the first question Morgan demanded again

"HOW MANY BULLETS DOES THE AR-15 FIRE A SECOND?"

And things went down hill from there (I walked away after setting the DVR)...

Now Lott is an economist who has researched crime statistics. I have no idea if he even owns a gun.   His explanation began that all semi-auto firearms function the same whether they look like a military weapon or not. After that was mostly cross talk.


I will take it upon myself to answer these question to the best of my ability.


"WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF AN AR-15?

To fire a projectile...  same as any other gun. You want more? OK... To fire a projectile while weighing less than other guns of a larger caliber.

"HOW MANY BULLETS DOES THE AR-15 FIRE A SECOND?"

Hell if I know... Typically you refer to the cyclic rate of a fully automatic weapon in rounds per minute ie: a machine gun.  A semi-automatic weapon is the  opposite of a machine gun, as a machine gun continues to cycle when the trigger is held, but a semi-automatic weapon cycles once and stops when the trigger is held. Truth is almost all semi-autos will cycle faster than you can pull the trigger.  Let's just call it 4 rounds a second based entirely off this youtube video.


Good enough... That takes care of Morgan's questions. What about the question he didn't ask? You know the one that might provide a little context for the audience.

How Many Bullet Does A Non-Semi-Automatic Weapon Fire A Second???


How about 4 rounds a second.

Plus a reload in the middle.

But that's not fair... a world record holder against a youtube star.

What we need is a world record holder against a world record holder...

Enter Tom Knapp and his semi-auto shotgun.


With his 12-ga. Semi-Auto Shotgun and extended magazine tube, Tom launched ten clay targets into the air with one hand and shot all ten with individual shots in an unbelievable 2.2 seconds flat.

And the challenger? Tom Knapp and his pump action shotgun.

Tom Knapp, with his pump Shotgun in one hand, threw eight clay targets in the air with his other hand and broke every one of them with individual shots in an amazing 1.87 seconds.

So each shot with a pump shotgun took 0.23 seconds. While each shot with the semi-auto shotgun took 0.22 seconds. Not a very big difference especially when the police take 20 minutes to respond.

 One more question for Piers Morgan. Can you explain this photo???


...

Bad at Math

So we must ban guns to save lives, but if the police go door to door taking away all those guns how many people will they kill in the process?

There are over 300,000,000 guns in the US now in over 50% of the households.




If it saves only one life...

(Side note Officer Harless is back on the job.)

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Black (Gun) Friday

Black Friday 2011 set the record for background checks for gun sales (NICS), a record that stood for one year until Black Friday 2012.

From NSSF:
The November 2012 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,525,177 is an increase of 38.5 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,101,076 in November 2011. For comparison, the unadjusted November 2012 NICS figure of 1,997,703 reflects a 30.8 percent increase from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,527,454 in November 2011.


And from Emily Miller on Fox News.


I have my own theory as to why... politics and the election aside, the economy sucks, people are broke and guns were on sale at Walmart.

In fact this is my old theory from last year. From my own research (note: I haven't done any research) at my local Walmart, they began selling long gun again in 2011 after they had been removed for several years. 

I have not found much online about Walmart's gun sales. This WSJ poll is the best information I have found.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is quietly bringing back rifles, shotguns and ammunition to hundreds of U.S. stores as the struggling retail giant seeks to reinvigorate its one-stop shopping appeal and lure more male customers. The world's largest retailer stopped selling hunting rifles and bullets at all but a third of its U.S. stores five years ago, citing diminishing sales. It is now restoring them to hundreds of locations, bringing the total to nearly half of its more than 3,600 U.S. namesake stores, as part of a larger push to restore "heritage categories" of merchandise such as fishing rods and bolts of sewing fabric that it removed in an attempt to go upscale that backfired.
 This year I noted several of the large sporting good chains also ran Black Friday ads for guns at sale prices.

I myself have never bought a gun a at Walmart; I try to support local gun shops, I have bought lots of ammo there. I don't view Walmart as the evil empire. and in the long run it may help the case for gun rights...  After all an "Assault Weapon" can not be much more "in common use" If you can buy it with your groceries.




Sunday, December 9, 2012

Black Sunday

...



"I know that you have suffered, lad,
But suffer this awhile:
Whatever makes a soldier sad
Will make a killer smile."

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Saturday, October 27, 2012

DayZ

Found some youtube videos of what may be the greatest game ever...
I have not played it, as far as I know it does not run on Mac.

From the wiki:

Day Z is a zombie apocalypse mod for the military simulator Arma 2 and its standalone expansion pack, ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead. It assigns the player to the role of human survivor and drops them into a bleak wilderness dotted with villages and small cities.

Throughout the game, the survivors must scavenge for resources such as weapons, ammunition and medical supplies. Unlike other zombie games, food and drink are also needed to satiate hunger and thirst.



Zombies in the game are mostly an annoyance. They will move to the sound of gunfire. The real danger is other players. You can run around murdering people, and become a Bandit. Or you can run around helping people, and become a Hero.

Here are some daring heroics  (NSFW Language)


There are also live streams of the game. As I type they are holding a contest  of two man teams called
Survivor Gamez

Later on I will likely add several you tube channels to my sidebar.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Boberg Videos

 ...
When I get the money... You can see more cool videos of odd guns at Life Size Potato.   And here is a range report from Oleg Volk. And also  a holster.


Monday, September 17, 2012

Friday, August 3, 2012

We violate more safety rules before 9AM...

Caught wind of a new TV show called Combat Pawn. It focuses on the store Guns Plus near Ft. Bragg and follows the basic format of other  TV show that came before it.

This is the opening of the pilot episode:

I know their is not a lot of reality in "Reality TV" so maybe someone from TV land talked them into this display, but even so, I can't wrap my mind around putting you name out their as the guy pointing a gun at the next door neighbor every morning. More here (link removed.) Comments there say they really clear the lot every day.  If you don't get the title watch this link and get off my lawn.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

SMLE

My 1904 Enfield through the eye of the Volkmeister.


The Wiki page says that 1904 was the first year for the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk I.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Do you know where your towel is?



THE BLACK SUNDAY SOCIETY 
EMERGENCY HEAT PROTOCOL

STEP ONE:      Obtain a medium size towel (for example a dish towel from O'Charley's).

STEP TWO:     Run cold water over the towel to soak it (you may wring it out if you like).

STEP THREE: Place the wet towel in a freezer ( for example the walk-in at O'Chaley's).

STEP FOUR:   Remove the towel when frozen (5-10 minutes) Run a small amount of cool water over the towel to make it pliable.

STEP FIVE:     Place the semi-frozen towel on the back of your neck (Yes your shirt is going to be wet).

STEP SIX:       Repeat as necessary.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Black Sunday

...

Some Friends of mine are putting a new cover band together (Super Band). This video is from last night.

Tonight the full band will play at Dave & Buster's in Tri-County, OH from 9-11.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Zombie Car

I've just got one question... Can you jump a shark with it?


This was made for Comic Con to promote "The Walking Dead" Comic Book. If they worked it into the TV show it would be a lot more entertaining.


h/t Hot air headlines.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Serving Faithfully

Speaking of Kukris.

Here is a BBC documentary on the Gurkhas. 

Click this link and all 6 parts will auto play.


I have no idea what the British are thinking cutting Gurka Regiments. 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Ice Breaker

My very first Kukri, and the start of my knife collection. It was love at first sight. Bought at the Ohio Renaissance Festival about 18 years ago, today it is battered and abused.




I don't recall that I ever really sharpened it. Still it managed to take down a small tree (or was it a large bush) in a friend's back yard.

It's true calling however was breaking ice. I may have used it on the side walk a few times, and I remember using it to carefully remove very thick ice from my car windshield.  

But the main event was at my restaurant job, where I used it to de-ice the tile floor in the walk-in freezer.
It did the job well, but it suffered the price. The edge of the blade has been beaten completely flat.
 Usurped by my Cold Steel LTC Kukri (which gets abused doing yard work) This blade has been retired for years. But it served faithfully and did everything asked of it. As a Kukri should.
...   

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Saturday, June 9, 2012

UK Pen Knife

Grabbed a New Spyderco at the gun show today.  A  UK Pen Knife drop point.

Keep your index finger in the choil.
 Where Great Britain Used To Be You can't carry a locking knife without a good reason.
  

Spyderco's non-locking, one-hand open, clip carry folders are called SLIPITS.  Starting in 2004, Spyderco launched a folding knife model called the UK Penknife, targeted for carry in the United Kingdom where newly imposed legal restrictions forbade folding knives with locking blades.  As the SLIPIT concept gains momentum Spyderco keeps expanding the line with folders in varying sizes, steels and handles.  Newly added are Lightweight SLIPITS.

Lightweight UK Penknife blades are held open by a notched-joint at the knife's pivot.  When closing the blade the notch produces resistance functionally similar to traditional slip-joint penknives.  Heightening control and comfort, Spyderco designers added a deep finger choil positioning the index finger on the bottom of the blade directly under the thumb.  This lets you choke up near the cutting edge with comfort and dexterity.  A tension-wire clip carries the folder deeply in a pocket, tip-up and ambidextrously. 

Very light (1.9 oz), and fast and easy to open and close. Blade length is just under 3 inches.
Made in Golden, Colorado, U.S.A. Earth.  (Says so right on the blade.)
Next to my old Endura.
The knife come with instructions on proper grip (index finger in the chiol), and advises cutting with pressure that keeps the blade open, and a warning to only use the point for delicate tasks. Stabbing something hard with this knife could cause it to close on your hand.
Not the proper grip.
 I usually carry a big scary knife on me. But I also like to have a small not-so-scary knife to use in polite company. Right now it is clipped on my shirt collar and I can hardly feel it there (bonus the wire clip is not grabbing my beard).  

Last year I posted a video of another slip knife the Spyderco Squeak.

And here is a "short" vid from Nutnfancy.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Act of Valor

Today you can go out and buy Act of Valor on DVD or Blu-ray.

And I suggest you go do so if you want to encourage them to make another movie.

In lieu of my own review,  I'll quote the world famous Tam:

 The plot is not Hitchcockian: Some bad guys are going to try and do bad things to America. A bunch of SEALs are attempting to stop them, mostly by shooting them in the face.
 
I am so used to watching gun handling in movies and thinking "You're Doing It Wrong!" that it was refreshing to see one that made me think "Huh. I'm Doing It Wrong."


I will also link  this review of the Blu-ray.  I assume it has more special features (I'll check that in the store).

Special Features:

audio commentary
six deleted scenes
introduction to the film by its directors
Seven of the Navy SEALs give brief interviews
“The Making of Act of Valor”
“Real Bullets”
“Real SEALs: Real Tactics”
“Silent Warriors” (heh...)

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Lawyers and Zombies

Joe Barrett host of Trigger Time Sunday nights on 55KRC posted a very interesting observation on Facebook. He warns against carrying Hornady's Zombie Max ammo because it could be used against you in a court of law.

I had a listener tell me he carried this ammo in his self defense guns, but heard someone say perhaps he shouldn't due to the "Disclaimer" from Hornady. Having read it, I have to say I wouldn't own it either. It doesn't matter if it really isn't any more effective than something else, THIS ONE comes with the instructions by the manufacturer that it should never be used against a human being, and I am guessing an attorney could make good use of that in a civil trial if nothing else. I hope Greg, David, Bill and/or some of the more experienced trainers will give their two cents on this topic.

Disclaimer: Hornady® Zombie Max™ ammunition is NOT a toy (IT IS LIVE AMMUNITION), but is intended only to be used on…ZOMBIES, also known as the living dead, undead, etc. No human being, plant, animal, vegetable or mineral should ever be shot with Hornady® Zombie Max™ ammunition. Again, we repeat, Hornady® Zombie Max™ ammunition is for use on ZOMBIES ONLY, and that's not a nickname, phrase or cute way of referring to anybody, place or thing. When we say Zombies, we mean…ZOMBIES!

  http://www.hornady.com/ammunition/zombiemax


UPDATE: The disclaimer is not on the box. I looked at one today.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The Reason I Write

The reason I write

is to make something

as beautiful as you are

When I’m with you

I want to be the kind of hero

I wanted to be

when I was seven years old

a perfect man

who kills

-L. Cohen

Monday, May 28, 2012

Memorial


I got drafted at 19
Me and a bunch of boys from home
January ’43, drove out to Pine Bluff and signed on
Went to basic south of Birmingham
Put me on west coast bound train
Spent three days out in San Diego
And they shipped me back east again
Left a port out of New York
Slept for months in British rain
Tore it up down in London town
And they shipped me back out again
The preacher said “Boys he who is killed tonight will dine with the Lord in Paradise”
One boy spoke up, said “preacher come on, eat your supper with us
Never talk about those first days
Lots of friends left behind
But I made it all the way across France
And I fought at the Maginot line
Road a tank into Belgium
Like them better than the French
Like my daddy, thirty years before
I did my time in a trench
Lots of days there’s no water
But the liquor kept me warm
The cellars were stocked to the ceiling with booze
So I carried a bottle with my gun
The preacher said “Boys he who is killed tonight will dine with the Lord in Paradise”
One boy spoke up, said “preacher come on, eat your supper with us”
Three times I made sergeant
I’m not that kind of man
And pretty much just as quick as I could
I get busted back to private again
Cause taken’ orders never suited me
Giving them out was much worse
I could not stand to get my friends killed
So I took care of myself first
Now I know that don’t sound right
Don’t think too bad of me
Now it keeps me up nights
What I could have done differently
The preacher said “Boys he who is killed tonight will dine with the Lord in Paradise.”
One boy spoke up, said “preacher come on, eat your supper with us”
I’d be no guest at the table of the Lord
His food was not to be mine
‘Cause I cursed His name every chance that I could
And I recon that’s why I’m still alive

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Black Sunday


I hope you're in a better place with soul set free 
I hope you're still singing loud with soul set free
Too bad you're not around for us to see
But I still feel you around
Like
You
Never left us
...
 ...
 ...
...
...
...
...
...
...

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Hands & Feet

How easy is it to kill a man with your bare hands?



It happens more than twice a day, on average. Fists and feet were responsible for 745 murders in 2010, or 5.7 percent of all murders that year, according to FBI statistics. (The data on this have been remarkably stable in recent years. In the five preceding years, the percentage of murders perpetrated by fists or feet fluctuated between 5.6 and 6.1.)


Anecdotal evidence and boxing mechanics are discussed as well, but what is not mentioned is that a stat I vaguely recall that hands and feet cause more deaths than the dreaded evil "Assault Weapons".

"Assault Weapons" i.e. semi-auto rifles would only be a subset of All Rifles in the FBI Uniform Crime Report. In 2010 Rifles where used in 358 murders less than half the number for hands & feet. That trend continues back through the years.

It is a nice little stat to have in your toolbox and pull out next time you hear calls to renew the "Assault Weapons Ban". 

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Black Sunday


...


"The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with."

-- Douglas Adams

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Glenn Beck Charity Auction

Beck just spoke about this on the radio...

This auction supports his charity mercuryone.org

There are several Gun Nutty items listed:

Dove hunting trip

Project Appleseed Weekend

Go Shooting with Marcus Luttrell

Black Bear Hunting with Ted Nugent

Fighter Pilot for a day

Aviation Wilderness Survival Kit

Benchmade and Martin Knives

Several Alessi Holsters and a gun purse


PLUS  you could bid on the John Stossel Experience

or EVEN BETTER

NASCAR Experience with S E Cupp...








Tuesday, May 15, 2012

What Truck to Buy?

Uncle is blegging.

I don't know much about it, so let go to the video...




...

 

 


Also when Top Gear drove to the North Pole they did it in Toyota trucks...

Saturday, May 12, 2012

God, The Gunman, and Me

Link to buy the book is on the sidebar...   >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> 

NRA News


Police One
 

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Monday, April 30, 2012

HuffPo "Controlling" the Gun Debate



It's not fair to call gun control "gun control"...




Gun "Control" is an anachronism. Look at the exact wording of the Pew question: "What do you think is more important -- to protect the right of Americans to own guns, or to control gun ownership?" This question uses the language of the gun lobby (rights), not the language of those working for stronger gun laws (safety). And it pits a right versus simply "control" for its own sake



(Disclosure: my firm, Momentum Analysis, has done numerous projects for the bipartisan group Mayors Against Illegal Guns.)

Oh have you now.
I wager if you go back in time to when gun control was more popular, you will find poll questions such as "Do you support gun control laws or the ownership of evil killer assault weapons that kill puppies?"


What is funny is that the gun banners lose even in the comments at Huff Po.

Forward, the Light Brigade!




Half a league, half a league,
 Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
 Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
 Rode the six hundred.

2.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
 Someone had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
 Rode the six hundred.

3.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
 Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
 Rode the six hundred.

4.
Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
 All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre stroke
 Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
 Not the six hundred.

5.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
 Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
 Left of six hundred.

6.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
 All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
 Noble six hundred.

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Black Sunday




My friend's band played this last night.


Thursday, April 26, 2012

If you want something done right...

Do it your own damn self.

I got an idea.
Googled around to see if it had be done before.
Found it had been, but I wasn't really happy with what I found.
So I took my own stab at it.

Lets call this a first draft. I'd like to get some feed back.

I'm not sure if everything works and have some changes in mind.

Also I am publishing this on my blog to prove it is mine.  I you want to use it please ask (if you use it I want to know about it).


2nd draft.

3rd draft. To add in DayZ.

Changed
Been prepping… on this theme… since I... was six-teen.
To
Been prepping… MREs… And playing DayZ.


Another... head rolls slowly,
Taken by a... Kukri. (Coo-Cree)
If the violence... breaks the silence,
We'll be over… taken.

If they see… they'll eat me… and eat my… family.
The undead, hoards of Zed, they are fighting,
Guard the flanks contact front,
With Cold Steel and warm guns.
The undead, hoards of Zed, they are biting …

Jacketed lead… Shoot the head...
Zombie, zombie, zombie,
Hey, hey, hey.
Two in the head… Kills the Zed…
Zombie, zombie, zombie?
Hey, hey, hey, hey, oh, bang, bang, bang, bang… bang-bang, bang-bang… bang-bang, bang-bang…
bang-bang, reload…

Window barricades are breakin',
Rally at the Wal-Mart.
Make your shots count… trigger… control,
We must conserve... ammo.

Been prepping… MREs… And playing DayZ.
Xbox Live, Run n' Gun I've been training.
On the flanks contact rear,
With Cold Steel and hot guns.
Walking dead, hoards of Zed, they're still moving …

Jacketed lead, Shoot the head,
Zombie, zombie, zombie,
Hey, hey, hey.
Two in the head, Kills the Zed,
Zombie, zombie, zombie
Hey, hey, hey, hey, oh, bang, bang, bang, bang… bang-bang, bang-bang… bang-bang, bang-bang…
bang-bang, click… AHH YAAAAAAAAAAAAA



Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Black Sunday

Not like anyone will notice I am a day late...



Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Jeanne Assam talks to Kate Krueger

Jeanne Assam talked last week with Kate Krueger's Talking Guns on Arizona Gun Radio 1260 & 96.1.

Click here to Listen (at 15:00)

Second Hour (JA it mentioned at 18:00)


Special Thanks to Massad Ayoob for facilitating this interview.  Mas was one of the first people I though of when I began seeking advocates for Jeanne. It was an honor to meet him in St. Louis.

Kate has an interesting page of guest links, some of whom I met at the NRA Meeting and delivered my 30 second pitch about Assam's book (that you can buy on my side bar).
Specifically:

Deb Ferns of WOMA

Julie G from Team S&W

and Kathy Jackson  who runs the Cornered Cat.