In happier news....

Oklahoma's legislature passed the Open Carry bill with a wide enough margin to make it veto proof.

So, there's a w00t...

Winter Shooting.

As the temp drops, shooting tends to drop too. Nothing wrong with that, that's just the way it is. Trouble is as shooting drops, the skills atrophy too. So, what to do.

I'd say now is the time to increase your dry fire practice. Turn it into a video game even. I'll take my carry gun, drop the mag, lock the slide back, verify clear, verify clear verify clear and then have someone else verify clear. Now, pick a show on TV and whenever whatever you choose happens, draw, sight and squeeze (or say bang, whatever). I like shooting hubcaps. Every time a car shows on the screen, I try to get at least one hubcap. But it's more important to run the draw by the numbers and verify a good sight picture than anything else.

Practicing the draw is more important now too. We as (nominally) non-fur bearing mammals tend to wear more layers and your draw will need to take this in account too. It's pretty easy to sweep a covering polo or Hawaiian type shirt up with the off hand, now I find that I have to grip the cover garment (hoodie, sweater, flannel) to get it clear. Which changes things a bit.

I know this is all stuff you've heard before. But even the basics bear repeating. Like the 4 rules of safe gun handling. Wanna recite them now? So, if you don't have an indoor range all heated and lit to go to, call your shooting buddy up, invite him over and you can drill each other on your draw and sight techniques. What the hey, put some chips and dip out and some chili on the stove.

About Last Night...

Or Why I Carry a Gun, Reason 1157.

So, last night. Let's see. At about 1:15 a.m. I was woken up by the dulcet sounds of gunfire.

First off, I'm not exactly the lightest of sleepers. I snore. I enjoy my sleeping. I don't want it interrupted. But none the less, there I am, jarred awake by the sounds of gunfire loud enough to do that. It was close. And I'm not talking about a stray shot or a couple of firecrackers. I'm awake enough to remember a few strings of shots, like pow powpow... pow pow pow powpow... powpowpow..., so I know there had to be at least a few shots before that before I was conscious enough to start recording.

So, just like in the Christmas Carol, I sprang from my bed. And made sure I had my 1911 loaded with a spare mag by my head and then I went and got the two loaded mags I had for my M14, loaded the rifle and set it and the spare mag by my bed. And then I waited. No screeching tires, no sirens, no investigating police. I finally fell back asleep around 3:30.

It's nice to know my neighbors care. Tonight, I'll have my AR with the EOTech sight set for low light ready.

And screw you Chad, there's no way in hell I'm going out "hunting" like you suggested.

Blogorado: The depression.

Okay, I'm not going to give a play by play of the weekend. Others more eloquent or just plain better at ranting have done that.

I want to say, simply even, thank you.

Thanks to FarmGirl, FarmDad, FarmMom, and Mamaw for hosting us, cooking for us, providing land for a range and things to shoot at, for by far the best chicken fried steak I've had, for putting up with us cantankerous, independently minded blog-type folks. I may have moaned about missing the riding to set up the range, but setting it up was a blast too. You all are the best.

Thanks to you, The Breda, for coming. You took time off from GunNuts:TNG and took the chance on meeting a slew of people you've never seen before, for stepping up and shooting everything we put in your hands, even when I gave you bad advice on shooting stances, but mostly for just being you. You may not admit it, or even understand it, but you're an incredible person and having the chance to meet you in person was truly an honor.

Christina, thanks for coming as well. I know you were worried about being "a total n00b" shooter and, I don't know, embarrassing yourself or something. What you missed is that, one, we all started as new shooters as some point, and two, we're the sort of group that loves coaching people. Give us a new shooter and we were falling all over ourselves to help you have fun and learn about all the different types of guns out there. I hope you had as much fun learning and shooting as we had teaching and demonstrating. And the massages were a great treat.

Alan, what can I say. Great knees. Seriously, it was great seeing you again. You've got one sweet long range AR set up and letting me shoot the M-11 even though I didn't bring any 9mm to speak of was a treat.

Stingray and LabRat, it was really neat to finally meet you both. I could gush about your blog and epic rants, but I wont. I do want to say the real people are so much better than the internet blog. And your beer is worth a loveblog all its own. And watching LabRat do an entire movie with KatyBeth was a highlight of the evening for me.

Speaking of, Ambulance Driver and KatyBeth. It was great seeing you again. And KatyBeth is such a little darling. I am ready to declare that she must accompany you on any blog meets we attend together. And we need to get together more often. Once every 8 months is just not right, dude. I hope the venison is good. That deer gave his all for your taste buds.

Sal, I'm sorry you had to leave early. I hope the kids are better. Next time, all I can say is next time. Don't forget to drop me an email with your contact details either. Don't make me go through FarmGirl to get them. Don't think I wont. And believe me, it won't be pretty if I have to.

Old_NFO. Thanks for swinging by and hauling my big butt and all my junk to the meet. And thanks for bringing some of the most awesome rifles I've ever had the privilege to handle, much less shoot. Next time, we're confiscating your wallet and we'll treat you.

Snarky, you are a hoot! Being a "n00b" shooter didn't stop you from being full of energy and fun. Do not forget to stay in touch. And next time, maybe the munchkin can come along.

Phlegmmy and LawDog. Oh. My. God. When you two showed up and were in the same area as Breda, my head went 'splody. No, srsly! You guys are awesome and just thinking of you two makes my grin go from ear to ear to meeting around the back side of my head.

Gay_Cynic, thanks for travelling from literally, the corner of the US to see us. Putting up with the hassle that is TSA to bring guns means a lot to me. Other people would have looked at that and decided it wasn't worth the trouble or the risk. You grinned and bared it just for the chance to meet us. That means a lot to me. It was an honor and a pleasure and whether you like it or not, I'm including you amongst my friends.

Matt and Johnny. When people say "A giant among men", I want you to know that it's not just your physical height that they're referring too. You are great people and those who don't get the opportunity to meet you are just that much the less for not having that chance.

Finally, to the town of FarmFam. For a little town that resides in a county that doesn't have a stoplight, you allowed us in, made us welcome and didn't bat an eyelash at a bunch of nutty outsiders OC'ing all over the place. That's the way it should be and I thank you for showing us how this country should be.

I wish the weekend could have gone on forever. And everyone I've talked to seems to be as sad about that as I am. I'm calling it post-blogorado depression. I'm afraid the only cure will be to meet again as soon as possible.

States and the State of CCW

This last weekend I traveled from my humble home in Oklahoma to the Big D in Texas for a major shindig at Phlemmy's. And being the conscientious CHL holder that I am I went online and looked up the differences between OK's and TX's CCW laws. Wait for it....

Which got me to thinking.

I've heard rumblings every so often from forums and blogs about having to worry that something you do carrying in one state might make you a criminal in another and there should be a national CCW so we don't have to worry about differences in laws from one state or municipality to another. Some of the same people will also cry that that's just a backdoor registration and our second amendment means we shouldn't need any CCW license at all. They'll also state that their CCW means they've been vetted and are therefore less likely to commit a crime and more legal and they should be hassled less etc.

Which struck me as a cake and eating situation. And having the likes of Lawdog, JPG and Matt in the same room seemed like a unique opportunity to bounce my thoughts on the matter off of some experts.

It seems to me that we have a mission creep problem here as well.

First off, if there was a national CCW law, which state should be base it on? Omitting IL and WI, because they don't have any, the states run the gamut from AK and VT with none required to CA, NY, and NJ where you need the agility of a circus performer to jump through the hoops required and a personal phone call from the Great Pumpkin to boot. Whose do we use? Or do we take a middle of the road stance like TX, KS or the likes, which should equally piss off everyone.

But, you cry, what about driver's licenses? They're accepted in every other state. Why can't CCW's be like that.

The thing is, when you travel to another state, you have to abide by that's states driving laws. If they have a no turn on red law, you comply or get ticketed. Which brings me full circle to the beginning of the issue. A national reciprocity law would not relieve CCW holders from knowing and complying with whatever the state laws are when they get there.

Secondly, having a national CCW law could very quickly be turned into a database used or rather abused by those with other agendas. Where could the law be set so that couldn't happen? Lawdog had a good idea. If I remember it correctly, there would be a random set of numbers, if one came up, the person being queried wasn't okay to carry, any other number meant they were. Careful, I didn't use the words allowed or not allowed. I'm severely over simplifying a simple plan here too. Perfect right? Sort of. While there isn't a database per se with peoples names, every time a LEO called a check in, there would be an instance of a name and a "gun inquiry" What happens to that record transaction. What's to stop that from being saved and later used to build a database of sorts. The fact is, and I agree with the fear behind it, every weapon confiscation by any government has been preceded by a registration.

Also, this will get me in all sort of trouble. Why do they point to the second amendment and decry the CCW laws? To me, the second amendment is there to protect us from a tyrannical government. Whether it be a foreign or domestic one. It does not guarantee us a right to self-protection. That's a concept so basic, so fundamental, that it shouldn't need enumeration. If a goblin is after your shiny or whatever, there isn't any question that you're allowed to resist. Asking permission to pull your hand out of a fire is just as silly. The issue of registration isn't one of self-defense, it's one of defense of the people from tyranny . My opposition to registration is there and not in the CCW arena.

Finally, crying about CCW's infringing on your rights and then using the same CCW to crow that you're more law abiding seems a bit hypocritical to me. Do you hate it or like it?

Interesting story

Old NFO has an interesting story up. Read it. Good food for thought.

Why I carry.

There was a shooting in a Knoxville Mall earlier today. My sympathies go out to the victim, co-workers and families in this.

Again, I'm NOT saying that being armed would have prevented this. I AM saying that just because thinking someplace is safe, doesn't make it so. If wishfull thinking worked, we'd all be living in mansions with Lexusii in the driveways. Violence can and does happen anywhere. All it takes is a sick or twisted individual to make it happen. Leaving your self-defense tools at home because you're "just running down to the store, won't be a minute" makes no more sense than leaving your spare tire and jack home because you're "just driving around".

Like the commercial says, life comes at you fast.

On concealment choices.

A friend of mine just submitted his paperwork for the CCW and he's opted for a Kahr PM9 for his carry weapon. One of his concerns was anything larger would be impracticle to conceal effectively. I've mentioned it before, I think. But if not, I believe that the two best things you need for concealment are an appropriate belt and a well designed holster. I carry a full size Springfield M1911A1 and have no unusual troubles with printing. In fact I've had friends at gun shops mention that they didn't know I was carrying till I lifted my cover.

A good belt and holster don't need to break the bank. In fact the best IWB holster I've owned only ran about 70 dollars and it's the one I use every day. My belt is a Looper Leather belt. The internal kydex reinforcement completely changed the way the holster hangs on my frame, and that belt alone did more for pulling the butt of the gun snug against my side than any holster has ever done. My holster is an AKJ Concealco IWB. The design is great, the fold open mouth works as good as the all kydex holsters I have for ease of reholstering. The snap loop system allows me to take the holster off and put it on without having to drop trou to do it.

His other concern was comfort. I didn't tell him at the time, and maybe I should have, but we don't carry a gun because it's comfortable, we carry it because it's comforting. A good belt/holster combo can help in that area too. A holster that rides on the belt higher may be better for someone long waisted than someone long legged. There are as many different body types as there are, well, people. Fortunately, there are a great many holster and belt makers out there. A holster that fits me comfortably may not be right for you. On top of all that, men and women are shaped differently (Vive la differance!) and a women's curves mean a completely different class of holsters. For the same reason jeans are cut differently for men and women. Did I mention vive la differance?

I, like many others, have a drawer full of holsters that for one reason or another weren't right for me. I've collected them in my way to finding the right holster for me. Unfortunately, I can't think of any other way to find the right holster. And I'm still looking for an OWB holster that fits me.

Two excellent reads

I was trolling teh intrewebz for something to blog about. And in my daily read list are two excellent posts. One by Brigid at Home On The Range called "TIMES PAST, COMMON SENSE LOST", and the other by Xavier at Xavier Thoughts called "Evil Among Us". Sorry couldn't get a direct link to Xaviers post. But it's the first one of Tuesday, July 15th.

Both cover two of my favorite topics; "Why I carry" (Xavier's post), and something I'm thinking of entitling "BoVLB" (Bears of Very Little Brain), (Brigid's article) concerning the lack of intelligence or even a basic education among those who've taken it upon themselves to rule... lord over... trample upon... govern us.

I'd love to be able to write as well as these two. Xavier's been at it a while and has the polish that comes from experience. Bridig's only been at it a few months and seems to be a natural. I'd hate her for that except she's just so damn good at communicating via the written word. You've got to respect that.

On the subject of concealed carry.

I just read an excellent Op-Ed article on the one year anniversary of Kansas' concealed carry law. One thing struck me as epitomizing the anti-gun crowds thought process.

"Recently, a legislator in an eastern state was pushing a law against allowing guns in the State House. Her argument was about as irrational as a person can be. She was given a “what if” scenario, “What if a killer came into the state house and started shooting people. Wouldn’t it be a good thing if honest citizens had a weapon to fight back?” She said, “I would worry about someone accidentally killing an innocent person while shooting at the killer." WHAT? Some one is standing there deliberately killing helpless people and she is worried that someone will “accidentally” kill an innocent person,"

I was left trying, I mean really trying, to fathom this particular persons thinking. Somehow, she believes that its better to meekly submit and ultimately die than to even think about trying to stop this kind of tragedy. This, and I've blogged about it before, is a professional victims mentality. This type of person just sits there and waits for it to happen. I've met and talked with these types. To be aware that something could happen and still do nothing about it is, well, insane. If I told you to go out to your car and take the spare tire and jack out and leave them at home you'd look at me like I was some kind of fool. Yet, that's the same sort of logic that leads this woman to wait to get gunned down.

Oft times, there are things that happen that give people wake up calls. Something shocking enough that they are forced to actually fire cerebral neurons on an idea. Unfortunately some wake up calls are less survivable for said thought.