Les Jones

Guns > Tuesday Gun Links #4

The new tradition continues. I have more good stuff lined up for next week.

Just a reminder to local Knoxville bloggers that the first-ever Rocky Top Brigade Pistol Night is tonight.

Gun Blogging

Donald Sensing of One Hand Clapping
You've probably heard about the terrorists' four-shot .22 pistols that look like cell phones. They're real. Donald has a friend in law-enforcement who had access to one of these phones, so he made a video of the phone being fired. Link.

Donald shoots trap, and is excited about Winchester's new Select Energy Trap.

In the wake of the death of Carlie Brucia, Donald offers parents some advice on what to tell teenage girls.

James Rumel of Hell in a Handbasket
James notes his 500th student that he's taught to shoot. I'd love it if he posted some tips for showing new people the ropes. I just took on my first student - a co-ed from the local university who had been broken in on three times, and who decided she needed to be able to defend herself. I helped her, but I saw some weaknesses in my teaching approach that I need to improve on.

Rich Hailey of Shots Across the Bow
Rich recently decided to buy a gun. You can read about the reasons for his decision, his first shooting foray since the military, and his first gun purchase at the Shooter's Carnival. Rich mentions the Sevier Indoor Range, which I've been wanting to visit. That could be the site of a future Rocky Top Brigade Pistol Night. There's also Farnsworth's Firearms in Vonore.

John Donovan of Argghhh!!!
What do you get when you combine computer geekdom with gun geekdom? Answer: John's PowerPoint presentation on the U.S. military's proposed XM29 Weapon System. Good stuff.

Clayton Cramer
Clayton reviews a case of a feral dog attack to argue for personal carry and high-cap magazines.

Clayton also maintains the Civilian Gun Defense Blog. I don't cover cases of self-defense nearly as much as I should, in part because there are so many cases that I just can't keep up. But the fact is that ordinary citizens use guns for self-defense all the time, and it's one of the best arguments for an armed populace.

Choice Quotes

Speed is fine, but accuracy is final.
- Bill Jordan

Only accurate rifles are interesting.
- Townsend Whelen

Don't worry. The nice policeman will save you

One argument of the Gun-Fearing Wussies is that we should trust our protection to the cops. You and I are dumb slobs, but cops are professionals. Even when they lose their guns in elementary schools. And of course professionals would never leave their guns on the side of the road.

Of course, those were local cops. I'll bet an FBI agent would never, say, have their gun, car, and credentials stolen.

OK, maybe they would. But surely Air Marshals wouldn't. After all, they're the creme de la creme. Or maybe not:

The TSA has proven inept in the air as well as on the ground. It was determined to expand the number of air marshals quickly from a few hundred to more than 6,000. When most of the applicants failed the marksmanship test, the agency solved that problem by dropping the marksmanship test for new applicants. (The ability to shoot accurately in a plane cabin is widely considered a crucial part of a marshal’s job.) Some would-be marshals were hired even after they repeatedly shot flight attendants in mock hijack response exercises.

USA Today’s Blake Morrison noted a report that "one marshal was suspended after he left his gun in a lavatory aboard a United Airlines flight from Washington to Las Vegas in December. A passenger discovered the weapon." Another air marshal left his pistol on a Northwest flight from Detroit to Indianapolis; a cleaning crew discovered the weapon.

Post-9/11, airline pilots were going to be armed to protect passengers against terrorist hijackers. Now reports say the Transportation Safety Administration is rejecting many pilots who want to protect their passengers:

One pilot, a retired Air Force colonel and fighter wing commander responsible for multimillion-dollar jet fighters, said he was allowed to carry his pistol aboard military aircraft.

"The USAF considered me psychologically sound enough to be directly responsible for nuclear weapons," the pilot wrote. "Yet a TSA psychologist has determined I am unreliable to carry a weapon in my own airliner."

This Week's Flame War

The Texas Defensive Shooting Academy invited Glock and 1911 owners to a 1,000 round Glock vs. 1911 shootoff. Huh. I wonder if that produced any strong opinions?

Your Weekly Gun Bunny

Here's the Smith &Wesson Forum's January Playmate of the Month:

Last Week's Gun Links

Posted by lesjones