100 Acre Wood Rally

In a little over a month, I'll be leading half the rally through the Ozark foothills in south central Missouri. Ken Block and co-driver Alex Gelsemino will be competing in the brand new Monster World Rally Team Ford Fiesta. Here's video of Block and Gelsemino at Sno*Drift in the snow.



I am really looking forward to this.

Child of the eighties memories

I was listening to some conversation about the movie Breakfast Club and thought about all the cool music that came out of all of those eighties teen movies. This one comes from that movie



Yep, I am such a geek

Not enough time to barely contemplate a bucket list

But should the zombcopalypse come and I become bitten. It would take me this long to become infected.

Created by Oatmeal

Hopefully good egg Taupe of the Chain would just end my misery and put me out of his.

Jim Rome is an Ass

But I repeat myself. I despise sports reporters. Hate em' with a burning passion. I could give a rat's ass less about how (insert athlete here) took a crap and it came out blue with white stripes. Jim Rome is one of THE worst of these parasites. They're journalists who report on games, not even covering really important issues. Sure we need entertainment, and professional sports can be a fun pastime. Here's the parasite commenting on how Brock Lesnar is ill qualified to speak on government run healthcare.



Frank Caliendo does THE best Jim Rome impersonation. Rome takes himself so seriously, I understand he HATES it. That alone makes me a Caliendo fan. Here's the video.

Getting your belly scratched

President Nobama is creating a 'middle class' task force, council, feel good do nothing but sit around with thumb's up our bums and spin something or other. What the anointed one doesn't quite get, if at all, is that he is the one attacking the middle class. Here's an analogy; you have the upper 10 percent of income earners in this country. Bankers, lawyers, etc., who probably supported Obama. Then you have the lower 10 percent, the people on welfare. That leaves you 80 percent in the middle. It's like a dog, where the head is the upper 10 percent. It get's petted, it's chin scratched and told it's a good boy. The tail, the lower ten percent wags at the behest of the head. Then there's the body. It moves the head and the tail along. Occasionally it rolls over on it's back in a sign of submission and get's it's belly scratched. I like to scratch my dog's tummy, however, when the anointed one wants to scratch mine, I worry that he's the wolf looking to tear the soft flesh from my bones.

From the Carolyn McCarthy school of guns

This quote comes via Joe, and is from WA state senator and anti-gun advocate Adam Kline.

Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, sponsor of the bill and chairman of the Judiciary Committee that was hearing it, said the bill includes descriptions of features on firearms such as pistol grips on rifles and barrel shrouds that make a gun “more lethal than your average deer rifle.” That prompted laughter in the hearing room...

Do you think we can get Tucker Carlson to get him to say, 'that thing that goes up on your shoulder?"

QOTD

...if we wish to preserve a free society, it is essential that we recognize that the desirability of a particular object is not sufficient justification for the use of coercion. F.A. Hayek

The gun grabbers desire to take away all guns, and will coerce anyone they can to help in achieving that goal. The anti's have little, if any, concrete evidence that what they want works. Gun owners on the other hand, for the most part, only wish to be left with the choice to own a firearm. Having that choice is a freedom. That right there, the evidence of a peaceably armed citizen, is why we win.

Para GI Expert in Stainless Steel

Para has announced they'll be producing the GI Expert in Stainless Steel. Buddy Taupe of the Chain prefers Stainless Steel and two tone guns. He seems indifferent to 1911 pistols, and claims that SS ones are pricey. With an MSRP of $699.00 this one will retail for less. My lust has just been upgraded.

(h/t to Uncle)

Gettin' skooled in Economics

Alan has a really fun video. The quote at the end by Hayek is so apt. No matter what political party you adhere to.

24 January Range Report

I have been trying to get Taupe of the Chain to get out to the range and send some copper coated lead downrange. Alas, he had other things to consider so I braved the cold to do my part to make Sarah Brady cry. FINALLY he agreed to go to the range yesterday with me. He picked up a Ruger LCP earlier in the week. I knew he was jonesin' to go shoot it.

We left the target at seven yards to get a feel of the gun. Shooting such a lightweight gun was quite snappy and he was putting holes in the paper. I shot through two magazines and was having to readjust my grip after every shot. It is not a gun that is a pleasure to shoot. The sights are extremely low profile and this made target acquisition a challenge.

For whatever reason we decided to move the target stand out to 25 yards. All I can say is, we hit something. That something being the dirt berm behind the target. Oh, there were holes in the paper, but frankly we couldn't tell whose were whose. Deciding that 25 yards was asking a bit much of a 2" plus barrel, it was wisely undertaken to move the target stand back to 15 yards.

I asked Taupe later on about his gun and he said,

It cleans up as any semi auto with a free floating barrel. The takedown pin is kind of a PITA to remove. I wish Ruger would have used a tooless design, but space constraint was probably the #1 priority.

So there you go.

Update: Taupe of the Chain sent me this:



I just recently purchased a Ruger LCP and went to the range. I would like to report on how I did.

The little pistol certainly has some recoil, darn near what my P11 had. Needless to say the LCP is not the most comfortable pistol to shoot, but with its light weight and small profile I figured it was not going to be a fun range pistol.

I primarily bought the pistol for self defense purposes so I am not interested in supreme accuracy.

Ammo:
Herters 380ACP 95gr FMJ brass case berdan primed
MFS 9mm Browning Short(380ACP) 95gr FMJ brass case boxer primed

A friend of mine and I went out to the local shooting range where it was 41F with a decent breeze.

I started out with a 7 yard target and was able to keep all my shots in the 8" target area even scoring a couple of bullseyes.

We then moved the target stand out to 25 yards just for grins. Out of 2 mags I was able to put 6 shots on paper. 25 yards is probably pretty far outside the range of this little guy.

We then tried 15 yards and I was able to put half of my shots on the paper.

I went through 2 boxes of ammo. I know the ammo is cheap stuff (since when did $17 a box of 50 become cheap?), but I only had one failure in 100 shots. YMMV, but Rugers have served me well.

I was able to score a box of 20 Magtech JHP 77gr First Defense ammo for $20 at the local gun show for defense purposes.

http://www.magtechammunition.com/sit...search=details

I was also able to score this little pocket holster for $10 at the show as well.

http://acecase.com/pocket-holster-rubberized.html

All in all I was pretty impressed with the little pistol. I will need to train with it to get better accuracy, but out to 10 yards I can hit my target fairly well.

For $300 plus $20 FFL transfer I think the LCP is one heck of a value. I recommend the little pistol for anyone wanting a CCW or BUG.

Demystifying Gun Ownership

One of the books that came out of the Gun Rights Policy Conference held here in St, Louis last year was "Keeping Your Family Safe, The Responsibilities of Firearm Ownership" by Doctors Timothy Wheeler and E. John Wipfler. A quote in the book taken from a 1994 DOJ study goes thus;

Boys who own legal firearms, however, have much lower rates of delinquincy and drug use and are even slightly less delinquent than nonowners of guns. The socialization into gun ownership is also vastly different for legal and illegal gunowners. Those who own legal guns have fathers who own guns for sport and hunting. On the other hand, those who own illegal guns have friends who own illegal guns and are far more likely to be gang members. For legal gunowners, socialization appears to take place in the family; for illegal gun owners, it appears to take place "on the street."

First off, I do take issue on what exactly makes a gun legal or illegal. The Glock 19 bought & paid for through a FFL and used in a safe peaceable manner, is legal. That same Glock 19 is stolen and used in a crime. It became illegal now. The tool is not legal or illegal, rather the intent of the user has legal ramifications. As to what the quote was saying, DUH! Introducing children to guns in an environment where responsibility is the biggest lesson can yield a host of disciplines in other areas of the child's life. Whatever in life a parent is teaching a child, if the parent wishes influences on their spawn, then they must be the source of that influence. It can be a trusted someone outside the family, but the parent must verify what is being taught to their child coincides with the parents wishes.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander

Or rather it is until it directly affects your pocketbook. It seems that Furious Mike has gotten all butt hurt now that the anointed one has asked told congress to limit the size and salaries of financial institutions. Well there Mikey, when you push your agendas on people and expect them to do away with their trans fats and table salt, what do you expect? Bloomberg is reaping what he has sown. I don't agrees with this either. If there ever was a guy who needs to be marginalized and shown as a tyrant, it's Mike Bloomberg. The day he leaves office is the day I eat til I'm stuffed salt laden trans fat added bacon. Then I'm gonna go shootin' with my EBR.

(h/t to John Lott)

Scott Brown's win summed up...

I missed this quote last night, so thanks to JRebel for pulling it out of the ether and capturing it for posterity.

{cjrmultigun} Something like, "Rubbing the balls of freedom in the face of tyranny..."

It might be crude if you know what teabagging is. And the left hangs that moniker on people opposed to all the crap that Obama and the progressives want to heap upon us. Embrace it and make it your own.

Austin Texas Gun Show

Recently the Austin TX PD and the BATF have contacted the organizer of the Texas Gun Shows, Darwin Boedeker. They informed him that they would like to see all non FFL holders be denied the selling of firearms without going through an FFL. There is no law against private sales at gun shows in the state of Texas. Instead, the ATF and Austin PD 'suggested' that if Mr Boedeker didn't acquiese to their suggest, they would investigate him for past supposed infractions that his business was involved in. There is just one problem with that. Mr. Boedeker is not the same proprietor as past shows. When he pointed this out to the Austin PD, they applied pressure to the landlord of where the show takes place. There is no statutory authority for the Austin PD to demand this. The police are not resposible for your safety. Yet, responsible business owners are coerced and intimidated into these thuggish demands. I would urge my readers to be peaceably armed citizens and not abide by the coercion of overzealous law enforcement officials. Mr. Boedeker is down two major vendors for his next show. Please, if you're in Texas, support this show.

Haiti, still a craphole

It is disheartening to see so many people pushed beyond civilized behavior. The thought of people trapped alive under debris for days on end is a nightmare as well. That being said, over half of Haiti's budget comes from foreign aid. As to that, where has that money gone to? Surely there were supplies prepositioned to aid in such a disaster? Nope not a drop. Surely, trained local emergency responders were first on the scene. Nuh uh, nope, nada, none. There are none. Haiti is a cesspool of corruption with no accountability. And the best part of all of this, the local UN office was buried in the quake. Whos' gonna rape help the locals now?

OnStar and it's potential for abuse

Stingray of the Atomic Nerds as only he can has posted on the evils of potential abuse of one of it's capabilities. The post is here Warning: The post is heavy with profanity and Stingray will warn you again before you're being allowed to read the rest.

Should I decide to buy a GM car ever again, Onstar will be disabled or deleted if it comes on the car.

St. Louis County is doing it for the children

St. Louis county chairwoman Barbara Fraser set aside legislation that has many gun rights activists concerned over an obviously illegal measure. Mo state law gives very little power to local jurisdictions over how they may regulate the right to keep and bear arms. The only areas that local entities may set law is where a weapon is discharged and where it may be carried.

There are a number of parts to the bill. The one dealing with guns is thus;

-- "Intentionally or recklessly storing or leaving a loaded firearm or an unloaded firearm and ammunition within the reach or easy access of a child unless such weapon is secured in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant safety device so as to render the weapon inoperable by anyone other than the lawfully authorized user emphasis mine

Lawfully authorized user? What law authorizes me to use a weapon? Kurt Hoffman asks a similiar question about the legality of seeking permission to exercise our natural to defend ourselves and the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

Does St. Louis county really wish to enforce something that will ulimately be rejected by the courts?

(H/T to Dana)

Let em eat cake

Perhaps those people who wish that only police and military should have guns wish to chafe under the sole of a tyrants boot. Or perhaps more appropriately, looking down the barrel of a tyrants gun.

Buying American

Being new (again) to gun ownership I have to rebuild my collection. I currently own 2 pistols, a shotgun and a rifle. I am lusting after a Para Ordnance GI Expert, as I want a 1911 pistol. I received recently an e-mail from a reader who knows of my want and stated that even though the company is Para Ordnance USA, they are in fact a Canadian firm. He is of the belief that in the future he'll only purchase new guns that are manufactured in America. He has stated that his purchase of a Taurus Raging Bull was a mistake and should have purchased a Ruger. His current want is an AK-74. Now he couldgo and find a private seller and do a face to face transaction. What if he instead buys the gun through a dealer? My question is thus, if you are going to purchase imported used firearms, how is that any different than purchasing new imported firearms?

A new place for earworms

My friend, Curt, whom I have the pleasure of crewing for on his RX-7 when he goes racing is getting his own radio show. Tuesdays from 10 am to noon. You can listen live if you live in the St. Louis area or stream it via the intrawebz if you're not from around these parts.

Your daily limit of Coney Island Whitefish

In Washington D.C. in addition to being a gun free victim disarmament zone,it is the law that if you carry more than two condoms, you can be charged with selling sex. I guess virile men who practice safe sex are screwed then. And yes, pun intended.

(H/T to Unc)

Oh look, another vampire movie

Tonight instead of going to see Dances with Pocahontas Smurfs I went with my buddy and his dad to see that other sympathetic vampire movie, Daybreakers.

It seems that Ethan Hawke plays Vlad Tepid cause he has no heart beat but recoils at the thought of drinking human blood.

Much gore and plot holes ensue. The sympathetic human female enlists Hawkes character to help with a cure for Vampirism. Willam Dafoe plays the grizzled 'cure' Obligatory chase scene, more gore and blood. Did I mention, LOTS. OF. BLOOD. Plot holes big enough to drive a M1 Abrams through.
Oh and classic wasting of vampires, stakes through the heart and exposure to sunlight cause the Vamps to BBQ.

Since this is my first movie review, I'm gonna go with a five link system. Five links of chain is a glowing review, 1 link is crap. I'll give Daybreakers 1 1/2 links of the Top's Chain.

Letting go of unconditional love

Two people who have been blessed with the unconditional love of their pets have had to let go and end the poor creatures misery. The blessed mercy we can offer our pets should be viewed as a kindness to what becomes a member of our family.

First off as I was doing the Vicious Circle podcast, Breda had to leave for a family emergency. It turns out her first cat, Sebastian had fallen ill and Breda's mom decided it was time to free Sebastian of his suffering.

Second, Wirecutter had to put down his Punkindog. By the picture, Punkindog was a black lab. It really kinda hits home for me as the older of my two dogs is a black lab who is getting up there in years.

Letting a family pet go to it's reward is never easy. My heart and prayers go out to everyone who has had to go through this. Please go offer both of these fine people your condolences.

Awwww isn't the anti cute? Trying to make a point

I know enough not to feed internet trolls. But I can't help myself. Mo Rage, has provided me with some good chuckles.

He blogged about the recent shooting here in the St. Louis area. He called me out as being for the right to own an 'assault weapon' Yes I am for that right. However, this reply to commenter Sevesteen is too funny not to bring to the light of day.

I think it's only important to ban the 38 special, which kills, it's estimated 10,000 Americans each year and is almost solely designed for this purpose (holdups, to use a term), assault weapons, as I mentioned earlier, and hollow point, armor-piercing bullets, at the request of the police departments, nationwide, for their protection and safety.

Pretty radical, huh?

Yes, I think the 2nd Amendment puts some restrictions on the government, as other parts of our Constitution does, sure. I don't think it's relevant to most people's everyday lives but sure, yes.

My view of the world isn't shaped, like some cheap network TV show, by guns, day in and day out. I tire of the whole outlook. It's silly. It's absurd. It's not how most of us live, even here, in the US, where we have this ignorant, too-violent "cowboy culture".

So he wishes to ban the .38 special because it is solely designed for holding up various people. And it kills an estimated 10,000 people per year. So .38 special bad, .357 magnum, ok? I can imagine the Winchester .38 Special Ad, The Stick Up Round. Good for liquor stores, convenience stores and muggings. Not recommended for bank heists. Also, 'assault weapons,' not to put too fine a point on it, but I drive an 'assault' station wagon. It's ton plus of weight would work just fine in running someone over. And hollow point armor piercing bullets as well are mentioned. In all but the lightest weight body armor would a hollow point bullet be stopped. The Cop Killer bullet of Lethal Weapon fame is a myth.

My view of the world isn't shaped like some cheap network TV show either. it's shaped by knowing that someone, somewhere out there doesn't value my life as much as me. When I meet that person, I intend to give a good accounting of myself. I pray to live a long, relatively stress free life, but you never know.

God help us all...

I made my Vicious Circle debut last night. Do you think you're evil?

AEPilotJim couldn't quite get BobN to view the initiation video. But still, I believe fun was had by all.

Check it out. It's free

Standing Pantsless and Proud

I'll be standing pantsless, tall and proud with my brother in er nopants.

Jan. 10th

Update: It's such a fun day, Robb gets to celebrate it twice a year. YAY!!

Gun Snobbery

Maybe it should be just snobbery in general, but why is it that some people must talk ill of what someone chooses to do with their money? If I want to buy the two grand sub 1" moa tactiblaster, that's my choice. If I want to buy a less costly gun that is in my budget, then who are you to degrade my choice? Then again, maybe everyone ought to take a LOT closer look at what they are getting for their money. If you claim to be a believer in the free market, then leave the other guy the hell alone and let him be 'free' in his market choice.

QOTD

Seen over at Tam's place

Any money that the government "pumps into" the economy to "boost" it had to be pumped out of the economy in the form of taxes in the first place.

Run congresscritters, run

In a move of desperation, Senacritter Ben Nelson called on the SC Republican Attorney General to back off his and twelve other AG's challenge as to the constitutionality of a Medicare provision.

Run you little weasels, run like the cockroaches that you are. You're dead men walking politically speaking. We the executioners will be calling on you in November of this year, at the polls.

Blogroll additions

So I'm checking my Top of the Chain e-mail account and I do check the spam box for errant 'real' mail that gets misdirected from time to time. The sender had a .org email address and I googled the .org to find out where it came from. It was legit so I went ahead and opened up the e-mail. It was a very nice note from Hell On Earth.

HOE likes his guns, purdy womenfolk and 69-72 Chevy trucks. A winner in my book. Oh yeah, he's formerly one of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children. What is it with Marines & me. I know or are acquainted with a disproportionately high number of them. Just kidding Welcome to the TotC blogroll.

Next up is Just Another Missouri Rebel. He's a fellow co-conspirator at the GBC. He lives close to this. I help organize the event and look forward to meeting him in person fairly soon.

As always, my blog policy is that if you don't see your blog in my blogroll, please let me know. I do reciprocate. I enjoy feedback, so let me know you're out there and what you think.

Jews in the Attic and MAIG's Blueprint for Gun Control

Recently Calgunlaws.com made a freedom of information act request for MAIG's Blueprint for Federal Action on Illegal Guns. Make no mistake, MAIG has some very smart people who realize that their agenda will not be able to be implemented through passing new laws. Instead, they intend to make an end run around gun rights by using regulatory and administrative devices. This bypasses any congressional check. Many of these reccomendation do not pass Joe Huffman's Jews in the Attic test.


Government mandated ID cards and the authority to demand them at any time. The oppressed class will be unable to masquerade as a member of the neutral or oppressor classes.

The first one of these is requiring REAL ID in order to purchase a firearm. Of course, here in Missouri we've even passed a law that that gives a big middle finger to the whole .gov REAL ID thing. It's another matter entirely but Governor Jay Nixon has yet to sign it into law. Back to my point though is that our federal government is demanding 'PAPERS, PLEASE!' and you will be marked and singled out if you do not comply. All is in order indeed.

Searches without probable cause. Imagine you are attempting to smuggle your "Jews in the attic" to a safer hiding place. If the police at the roadblock can search all vehicles then you and your precious cargo are headed to the "work camps".

MAIG would have the ATF implement the Richmond Model In this case, the ATF and local law enforcement confiscated people's newly purchased firearms and issued letters threatening federal arrest warrants be issued if they did not comply with ATF's 'request' The Richmond model stepped WAY over the line as to probable cause.


Firearm or firearm owner registration. The registration information can be used to confiscate the firearms used to protect innocent life -- as it was under the 1938 Weapons Control Act in Nazi Germany.

The report wants FFL to comply with a whole host of intrusive, duplicative record keeping. With records being kept up to twenty years.

Elimination or severe restriction of anonymous financial transactions. The purchase of food and other supplies for your "Jews in the attic" would show up in the records as being excessive compared to what your needs were. Just as power consumption records are used today to catch home marijuana growers.

MAIG wishes to ban the importation of 'non sporting' firearms and all military surplus ammunition. This is akin to buying 'food' for your tool. In this case, ammo. Don't think they don't wish to limit how many rounds you buy as well? Keep dreamin'

I just checked out MAIG's website and they are claiming that 68% of NRA members are supportive of background checks at gun shows. I believe they are twisting that statistic. I can see NRA members being ok with NCIS background checks and 4473's. I seriously doubt that NRA members are ok with private person to person, face to face transactions being subject to the cost, inconvenience and hassle of an NCIS background check.

MAIG is quickly becoming the 800 lb gun control gorilla. Let's do everything in our power to make them as extinct as the dodo bird.