Blogshoot! (BUMPED with addendum)

The annual Central Arizona Blogshoot is scheduled for Sunday, January 10 - just two weeks away. As previously, it will be held at the Elsy Pearson Public Shooting Range just off Trekell Road and I-8, just West of I-10 near Casa Grande.  (Ignore the labeling on the map.  The one marked "Pinal County Public Shooting Range" is the one we're at.  The other is the Casa Grande Trap and Skeet club.)

Same as last year, the range opens at 7:00AM. There are no rangemasters. There are no chairs - bring something to sit on. The firing line is covered and there are concrete shooting benches, however.


And the city has porta-potties out there on a permanent basis, so we don't have to rent our own (but bring your own TP just in case.)

The rules are pretty simple:


No explosives, no .50BMG rifles, clean up after yourself, don't be a dick.

The rifle range is 300 yards deep with the first berm at 200.  The mountains that form the ultimate backstop are another 300 yards out and farther.  The ground there is reinforced concrete disguised as sun-baked clay. Forget about any target stand that needs to stick into the ground, it ain't happenin'. Steel and targets that don't need taping are best. And the benches are funky-shaped. Regular camping chairs are marginal, stools are better. I bring a folding chair, a target stand made of 2" PVC pipe, and my steel swingers. I also have some .22 rimfire rated rolling targets made of steel.

I recommend you bring:  water or other non-alcoholic beverages (no alcohol on the range), sunscreen, ear and eye protection.  Ladies, don't wear anything low-cut or open-necked.  Yes, I'm sure it looks lovely, but you don't want to catch hot brass down in there.  OPTIONAL:  Something to shoot with, and something to shoot AT.  If you're a reader or a non-gun blogger interested in coming to a off-the-cuff funshoot, please come on down!  I imagine most of us will be bringing multiple firearms and lots of ammo, but if you don't, well, I'm willing to let people shoot my stuff (with my ammo), and I'm willing to let them shoot at my targets.

Hope to see you there!

ADDENDUM:  It has been brought to my attention that exit 199 to I-8 off of  Westbound I-10 will be closed starting Monday, January 4.  So if you're coming from the direction of Tucson, the recommendation is to exit at Jimmy Kerr (Exit 198, I believe) get back on I-10 Eastbound, then take Exit 199 to get on I-8 West.  Exit I-8 at Trekell Road.

Pastafarians Rejoice!

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is now approved to perform marriages in New Zealand! 

Texas Pastafarians are allowed to wear the sacred colander on their heads when getting photographed for driver's licenses, will marriage here in the States be far behind?

Boomershoot 2016

OK, I'm officially signed up - Position 26.  Saturday Field Fire and Saturday High Intensity shoot, Saturday dinner, and Sunday Long Range event.  Room reservations at the Konkolville Motel are made for Friday through Sunday.

Still need a co-shooter/spotter.

And I really need to start working on my .300 WM loads!

As Tam Said: Same Scene, Different Angles

The first one, from the film Secondhand Lions:


The second, from Terry Pratchett's Hogfather:

Have a Glowier Christmas

Peace on Earth, Good Will to All:


(Click for full size)

Wow, That Was a Lot of Work

Looks like I just finished another epic comment exchange over at Quora.  I'll give Matthew Heminger credit, he held on longer than most, but then he's a self-confessed hypocritical gun owner in favor of controlling other people's guns.

Whew.  Glad that's over.

Boomershoot?

I'm seriously considering attending Boomershoot 2016, which is April 22-24 this year.  Unfortunately DC, my shooting buddy, can't make it this year.  I need somebody to share a slot with and to trade spotting duties.  I'd also like to trade off on driving and split the fuel costs.  It's a two-day drive from Tucson to Orofino, ID.  I could pick somebody up in or near Phoenix or Salt Lake.

Anybody interested?

Tam's Fun Show Song, as Sung by Bonnie

For your enjoyment!


Needs another stanza, I think!

Here are the lyrics:

Flintlocks and Flop-tops
And Number Three Russians
Black-powder Mausers
From jackbooted Prussians,
Shiny Smith PC's from limited runs
These are a few of my favorite guns.

Socketed bay'nets
On Zulu War rifles,
Engraved, iv'ried Lugers
That make quite an eyeful
Mosin tomato stakes sold by the ton
These are a few of my favorite guns.

Rusty top-breaks!
Smallbore Schuetzens!
And all of Browning's spawn
I just keep on browsing my favorite guns
Until all my money's gone.

Thank Kelly Grayson for the video and Bonnie Burgette for the vocals.

I Guess Harvey Weinstein's Anti-NRA Movie is on Hold...

Remember when Harvey said "They are going to wish they weren’t alive after I’m done with them"?

Guess he's got bigger fish to fry at the moment:

The Weinstein Brothers Have Oscar Gold. Now They Need Cash.

While a decent filmmaker, it would appear that Harvey's not much of a businessman.

Imagine that.

And not a mention of the anti-NRA film in the NYT piece.

Monty Python Reference Aside, It's No Longer Funny

Chris Muir dismembers The Black Knight the Republican Party:


What are they going to do next?  Bleed on us?

If Donald Trump was Voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch...

Seen on Rachel Lucas' Facebook page.



He'd win by a landslide.

QotD: The 70 Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries Edition

Howard Tayler of Schlock Mercenary comic fame is finally publishing the entire list of his 70 Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries (my favorite of which is Maxim 11:  Everything is air-droppable at least once.)  If you bought a copy of his upcoming role-playing game, you get a copy of the book.  If not, you had to wait for his annual calendars for twelve new Maxims each year.  No calendar this year, though.  You have to wait for the book.  But he has given out two new ones, (along with the original 51) and Maxim 64 is today's Quote of the Day:

An ounce of sniper is worth a pound of suppressing fire.

Quora Asks...

Someone asked, "Why are the presidential candidates so lame this year?"

I answered:

Back in the dim and distant past of the year 2000 when George W. Bush was running against Al Gore, Jr., comedian Lewis Black had the following observation:

In my lifetime we've gone from Ike to G.W. Bush.

In my lifetime we've gone from JFK to Albert Gore.

If this is evolution, in a few years we're going to be voting for PLANTS!

Long, long before that, newspaper columnist Henry Louis Mencken said:

As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

Ladies and gentlemen, this may be the election year for Phil O'Dendron.

Quote of the Day

Found on Facebook:

Blogshoot!

OK, let's schedule this thing for Sunday, January 10, 2016.  The venue will once again be the Elzy Pearson Public Shooting Range outside of Casa Grande, AZ, just South of I-8, just West of I-10.  Range opens about 7AM - roughly dawn.  Getting there early means getting a shooting bench.

The range has three areas with shooting benches and sun shades. There is a 100 yard range, a 300 yard range, and a 25 yard range. There's also a bigass rock outcropping on the side of the mountain about 600 yards downrange if you want something to bounce bullets off of. The city of Casa Grande has seen fit to equip the range with a Porta-pottie, but there still isn't any running water. Everyone needs to bring lots of fluids, if nothing else. Oh, and sunscreen. It may be cool, but the UV count is still high.

The range is unattended. We are expected to behave ourselves and clean up afterward. The site is posted "Absolutely No Explosives," so no Tannerite on site, and no exploding targets of any kind. Sorry. They don't like .50BMG at the range, but I've seen people shooting them there and so far as I know, no one has complained.

The same cannot be said for Tannerite.

Full auto, on the other hand, is A-OK. (Just have your paperwork. The police range is about 400 yards away, and they have come to inspect paperwork.)

There are concrete shooting benches, but no chairs. Bring your own. The shooting area is fenced, so no vehicles downrange. If your stuff is heavy, bring a cart that'll fit through a 3' man-gate. (I have one of those.)

The range HAS NO TARGET STANDS. Bring something to put your targets on. The ground is about as hard as concrete, so the cheap-ass wire frames you're supposed to stick in the ground? Uh-uh. My stand is made of 2" PVC pipe and 2x2 lumber. Other people just bring big cardboard boxes they set on the ground, or their own target stands that just sit on the surface. Whatever works for you.  I'll also be bringing some steel targets that can stand up to .300 Win Mag.


Oh, NO GLASS.

Bear in mind, this is a public range. Other people not associated with this shoot will be there, too, and recently a negligent discharge at that range resulted in a 14 year-old girl being shot through the chest. She'll survive, but just damn.

We've been doing this since about 2010, so c'mon out and have a good time.  Please leave a comment if you think you can attend.

Hoplophobia

Hoplophobia: n. a morbid fear of weapons (Col. Jeff Cooper)

Here's an example:

Growing up, my greatest fear was dying in a school shooting. I still remember: Two boys in black walking into my classroom, one of them holding a stapler at a right angle. I saw the matte black. My mind read: gun. I panicked. I grabbed the arm of the student next to me. “What?” he asked, startled. I started shaking and laughing and breathing and sweating. The boys were only stopping in to see if my math teacher had any extra staples. They were not there to kill us, me first in the front row.

As long as guns exist, I don’t have a chance of saving the world. I feel useless against daily tragedy, against assault rifles and bullets. Here is something humiliating: I am afraid to write all this. Some people love guns. I do not love guns. I wish fewer people owned guns. Often, I wish no one owned guns. I realize many people will disagree with me, and I do not want someone who loves guns to hurt me.

What pathetic hubris!  "As long as guns exist, I don’t have a chance of saving the world."  You sure your shoulders are strong enough for that load? 

And sweetheart? Let Mr. Spock soothe your fears:

I do not have answers. I do not know which kinds of guns should be allowed and what types of background checks are most effective.

(And on a very personal note: I deal with mental illness every day....

This is my shocked face.

I visited the author's Twitter feed. I found that she had re-tweeted one by Matt Taibbi:

Putting aside the gun control argument for a moment, I wish people could simply agree that in an ideal world, there would be no guns.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2015

That prompted me to write my fourth Tweet ever:

A world with no guns? It's run by large men with swords and is not "equal," "fair," "safe," or "democratic." https://t.co/W1v4pA1Zwe

— smallestminorty (@smallestminorty) December 14, 2015

This is what we're up against, folks.  Magical thinking and mental illness.

Got Another Live One at Quora

A guy who claims to be an NRA member, but...

(Bumped) Let's See Who Still Reads This Blog

So, who's up for another Southern/Central Arizona Blogshoot?  It's about that time of year again.  Elsy Pearson Public Shooting Range, Casa Grande, AZ.  Chime in in the comments.

UPDATE:  New post.  The date is January 10.  Please check in there if you think you're coming.

The Christmas Tree for My Office Just Arrived

I'll put it up on Monday:

Markley's Law

XKCD weighs in on Markley's Law as only XKCD can:


As someone on Facebook noted, I wonder if the 'gun as a phallic symbol' meme explains why they keep wanting to grab 'em?

Thomas Sowell: Wealth, Poverty and Politics

His latest Uncommon Knowledge interview.  Worth your 45 minutes.


My favorite living economist and philosopher.  Still looking good and thinking brilliantly at 85.

I'd Like to Make an Observation

Not one of my three AR-15's is a "weapon of war."

But my M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, 1917 Enfield, No. 5 Mk 1, No. 4 Mk I* and P14 all are.

And you can't have those either.

Why the Sudden Push for Gun Control?

Glenn Reynolds says:

Because when people are talking about gun control, they’re not talking about Obama’s many failures, ranging from the failures of vetting and counterterrorism that may have led to the San Bernardino attacks themselves, to Obama’s foreign policy debacles in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, to how the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag campaign against Boko Haram accomplished nothing, to how Putin is running wild in Eastern Europe, to Obama’s plans to import more poorly-vetted refugees from Muslim countries that foment terror or the still-anemic economy that has left far too many Americans unemployed or underemployed despite years of “recovery.”

Those are all things that the Obama Administration — and the Hillary Clinton campaign — don’t want to talk about.

I think he may have missed something.

Remember Solyndra? $535 million in loan guarantees up in smoke?

Heard about Solana? A solar power station built here in Gila Bend, AZ? The Dept. of Energy under Obama guaranteed $1.45 billion in loans for that project. And now the parent company, Spain's Abengoa, is on the brink of bankruptcy.

But wait! It gets better!

In addition to the $1.45 billion for Solana, the Dept. of Energy also guaranteed another $1.2 billion loan for the construction of the Mojave solar power station in California - also an Abengoa project.

So $2.65 billion in loan guarantees - almost five times more than the Solyndra debacle - and another solar power pipe-dream flushes down the toilet. In an election year.

Let's talk about gun control, instead.  Oh, and climate change.

The media - Democrat operatives with bylines.

Yes, Yes I Am

Found at Facebook:



Here I stand.  I can do no other.

Interesting Information from the Trenches

My favorite local Merchant O'Death reports:

So, three days after the shooting in San Bernardino and we still have ARs on the shelf. As a matter of fact, we have sold a whopping total of TWO ARs and have put one on layaway. No other type of "assault rifle" has left the shop. I have yet to sell a single hi-cap mag for any type of long gun. Still have plenty of .223/5.56, .308, 7.62X39, 9mm, .40, .45ACP, .380 auto, .38 Special.....hell, we have a lot of everything except .22LR and .22 Mag.

We have been really busy the last three days for sure. I would attribute that to the usual hustle and bustle of the coming holiday but I know better. I have yet to hear a customer say "I want to get my husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend a gun for Christmas...." Judging by some of the purchases I have no doubt that some of the firearms being bought are to be stashed under the tree. Most of them are obviously being purchased to be stashed in purse or pocket.

Compact, concealable handguns are making a mass exodus along with spare magazines/speed loaders and the attendant ammunition. The majority of the buyers are older folks, men and women, couples and singles The usual "tacti-cool" crowd are noticeable by their absence. A large proportion of the buyers are inquiring about CCW classes as well as basic firearms handling courses and public ranges.

While there is no sense of hysteria among our patrons, there is an increasing amount of concern being voiced. Not so much about the political climate but more about the fact that the shooters in California had links to terrorists organizations in the Middle East. I do sense a bit of shock in a lot of folks as if they have finally realized that the threat is very real and not just something that happens "over there".

I would imagine that the SAR show in Phoenix this weekend is doing a land office business. I'll be interested to see what Monday brings. I do believe that POTUS is going to address the nation tomorrow regarding the recent event. This should be stunning....

I wonder if Tam is seeing similar things in Indiana.

ETA, 12/10/15:  The Washington Post reports:

Read the whole thing.

How About "No." Does "No" Work for You?

So much for "nobody wants to take your guns."

Seems the New York Times, Paper of (making up the) Record, found it worthwhile to put an op-ed on its front page for the first time in forever.  The topic?  Banning "assault weapons" - oh, wait, I'm sorry - "End(ing) the Gun Epidemic in America."  Excerpt:

It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency. These are weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection.

As was the Brown Bess musket, the 1903 Springfield, and now the AR-15. Your point?

Certain kinds of weapons, like the slightly modified combat rifles used in California, and certain kinds of ammunition, must be outlawed for civilian ownership. It is possible to define those guns in a clear and effective way and, yes, it would require Americans who own those kinds of weapons to give them up for the good of their fellow citizens.

Considering that our fellow citizens in Connecticut, New York and California won't even register them, I think your idea of banning them is a complete non-starter.

So, how does "NO" work for you?

LAYERS of Editorial Oversight

Another invocation of the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect.

The Clock Boy

Bill Whittle's latest: