Linkwhoring, Generally AND Specifically

This blog's policy is that no linkwhoring is done here. Trackbacks, which are a formalized version of linkwhoring, only provide a conduit for spammers, so they are turned off on this site.

This subject came up because of the strange strategy of Front Sight, Inc, the weapons training folk down in Nevada (no link, you notice, you can Google it).

Front Sight made a curious offer. If you gave them about 25-30 links, they would have sent you a certificate for one of their good, but overpriced training sessions.

They must not have enough bookings, but have staff which they can't let go, so this is the business plan they came up with to fill their class dates and boost their standing, a "reverse Google-bomb" of sorts.

Everybody I know (2 people) who have taken classes there were satisfied with the training, but it isn't cheap. First you have to get yourself to Vegas, and only those in the Southwest can conveniently drive there. Flying means shipping guns on the air-cattle cars, and Sec'y Chertoff won't like you if you do that, even though it's legal.

So, couple of thou for the class, maybe $500/800 for the air tickets, ammo, incidentals and you have shot the hell out of Three Large.

There's another way to do it. Several ways, actually. You could join your local police reserve, and get decent training for free. You could go to an equal quality but lesser-cost venue such as Oregon Firearms Academy, which puts on fine classes for around one tenth of Front Sight, or, if you were intent on spending the bucks, go to your local commercial firearms range and hire a qualified instructor to give you one-on-one training. My guess is that you won't pay much over $75/hr for the range tutoring, so you can get quite a bit of it for your money.

Of course, if you're a real range rat, and practically live at the Boom Saloon, you probably already know some range instructors and can cadge your lessons for free.

The best use of Three Large is to get some local training, and spend the rest on good firearms and ammo, or reloading gear.

This tempest in a teapot has consumed too much of our time.

No real offense to Dr. Piazza, but you sir, are a whore-master, and those gunbloggers who succumbed to that offer are link-whores.

I haven't gotten into it, but if you ask YOUR lawyer, said barrister will probably tell you that the best thing you can do with your blog is to keep it as a hobby, and not try to earn money from it. If you're a gun blogger, in the not-too-distant future, the gummint may be looking for an excuse to shut you down. What better way to get your good gunny advice off the Intarweb than by intimidating you over non-payment of business taxes for money you made off your blog?

I can see a day coming when offering gun advice will be pushed into the category of promoting violence, and perhaps even promoting rebellion. Of course, when that day comes, I will no longer be blogging because I won't have time out in the field, where I will be participating in the Second American Revolution, to do any blogging. I have a bright line that I am fairly well convinced that the government WILL cross, in their attempt to convert us to good unarmed Socialists. When I see a target backlit by that bright line, I'm off to war.

Still, it will help all of we prospective revolutionaries if we aren't in concentration camps when that line is crossed. One way is to stay below the radar and give no agency cause to plot a Ruby Ridge at your house.

Comments

[DirtCrashr]

I can't afford the ammo-costs and travel that would incur anyhow. I only link-whore to other blogs, and the History Channel review-thing - which I'm on the fence about because it seems very suspiciously like work...