Straight Case

B.O.H.I.C.A.

Oregon's Gun-Banner In Chief (OGBIC) pukes up a presser to announce (at a gun-free-zone venue) that a new "Gun Safety Agenda" is being promulgated rammed down our throats.

Governor, my guns are perfectly safe already, thank you. I carry at least one every day, and none of mine have ever hurt anyone yet, although with your continuing curtailment of gun freedoms here, and a corresponding expansion of crime and thuggery, the chances of my having to use one of my guns in defense of myself and/or my family increase every day.

As you set your "Agenda", bear in mind what the ultimate purpose of the Second Amendment really is: to allow us to keep and bear arms so as to be able to remove tyrannical governments. 

What caliber for attacks by vehicle?

Awful attack in Nice, France, on their celebratory day, Bastille Day. It seems most of the 70 dead and 100 wounded were run down by the vehicle, after which the driver started shooting.

THIS is where your high-capacity semi-auto comes in. Your defense is to fill the cab of the assault vehicle with bullets, as many as you can. This is NOT a "one-shot stop" situation.

You need to be armed with a high-caliber, full-size service arm, with high-capacity magazines, at least three magazines. My choice would be a Glock 22 converted to 357 Sig.

The .357 Magnum - Ideal Urban Warfare Cartridge?

The "Ideal" Urban Warfare cartridge? I keep coming back to it. I own several long guns in .308 Win-7.62x51. They are all fine long-range rifles. As we saw in the recent anarchist attack on the Dallas, TX PD, some rifles are a must, if for no other reason than to put up harassing fires to keep the snipers' heads down until the streets are cleared and the heavies come in for counter-attack. DPD had damn few long guns of any kind to bring to bear. When they called their Code Zero, they had dozens of cops respond very quickly. You saw the video, cops, under sniper fire, with drawn pistols, herding civilians to safety (or where they thought it was safe, no one had eyes on the sniper's hide for a full 10-20 minutes). Then, you saw the occasional AR-15, MAYBE one for every 30 officers.

Dallas PD was outgunned in that fight. Yes, they had numerical weapons superiority. Yes, they had mobility. Yes they had comms. No, they never ID'd the threat until maybe 20 minutes into the attack, and they offered NO counter-fire until the SWAT got the perp pinned down in that parking garage, at which point the threat to the core are of the city was managed.

My what-if.

What if each officer had been carrying a handgun suitable to present fire at 200 meters? THEY USED TO. Those were heavy, six-shot revolvers with 6" barrels, firing the .357 Remington Magnum cartridge. In certain loadings, such as this, this and this, the .357 Magnum is perfect against thin-skinned targets out to that range. The longer barrel is key, as you can see by those ballistic comparisons. You have to be able to SEE the target, and there are all sorts of fine revolver scopes which will give the edge out to those ranges. 2.5 magnification is sufficient.

Imagine if 25 of those officers covering the "protests" had been equipped with those revolvers. As the first shots rang out, they could have returned fire effectively enough to keep the sniper's head down. If the sniper shifted position, they could have shifted fire to follow.

Okay, I hear the howls now, "Your handgun only gets you to your long gun." Oh, very well, but your handgun is ON YOUR HIP. Make it the most effective tool you can. Drop back 50 years, will you?

Oh, and that long gun? Here it is. Put a good Scout Scope on that handy .357 carbine, and it will get the job done with the same ballistic authority as a 30-30 centerfire, which is the same ballistics as what that sniper was using.

No, I don't like the poodleshooter.

A different threat, your responses

The events unfolding in San Bernardino show us a different threat. Not an unknown threat, just a different one.

We have been used to seeing various formats of homicidal/suicidal Jihad here: 9-11, the various Jihadi gun attacks since then, etc. All these attacks had one common characteristic: the Muslims involved were all determined to kill members of the Western Civilization, but pretty much stuck to methods which left their shock troops dead with the event. One-way attacks. Don't "pass go", Get your 72 raisins immediately.

With San Berdoo, we have just seen an attack in which the Jihadis had trained and prepared to strike with force and effect, but moved on quickly to, presumably, strike again later. Far from the normal homicide/suicide attack, this is more like revolutionary attack. This resembles what we used to refer to as a "partisan" attack. Similar to the tactics of the French or Yugoslavian partisans who attacked the Nazis during WW2. What we just saw could have been very successful for the Jihadis, and the only reason it wasn't, was better training and discipline/communication on the part of the police authorities.

My purpose here is not to figure out how to defeat this different flavor of Jihad, but to prepare the average citizen to survive it. Methods of defeat for the Muslim Jihad will have to wait for a National Command Authority determined to defeat Islamic Jihad itself, and we don't have such leadership now, we have the opposite. We have political and command leadership determined to NOT face down islamic Jihad instead of the other way around. The effect for John Q. Citizen is that he will probably have to face the shock troops of Jihad alone, possibly with the help of local police.

A personal note: I am trained in various aspects of public safety, and as events unfolded and were reported yesterday in San Berdnardino, I evaluated the events as if they were the result of criminal gang activity, since, to me, the events more resembled the activity of, say, Mexican drug cartels or the criminal gang MS-13 (both very active in San Bernardino), and both are orgs not unwilling to create mass murder to get their point across. I was wrong in that analysis, mostly because I applied the usual standard of homicide/suicide Jihad, then rejected it, and this event did not fit that model.

So, how to prepare?

1. Arm up. The protected citizen will be armed at all times, with handgun(s) within hands' reach at home and away, and a long gun close by as well. You will have to figure out how to conform to "safe storage" laws to accomplish this in your home and in your car (presumably, your "away" long gun stays in the car). At home, I have quick-reaction pistol safes (plural), and the long gun goes back in the big safe when kids are present, so I comply. In the car, I carry on my person as I am permitted to do, and my long gun is a Kel-tec folding rifle with internal lock, carried in a locking gun case, kept in the locked trunk of the vehicle.That complies with local law as well (it would NOT comply in CA or several Eastern states though).
2. Train up. At this point, if you have not already done so, join a local gun club or commercial firearms practice facility. Your preference should be one which has practice facilities for handgun (any caliber), rifle (any caliber) and shotgun. With the exceptions of no 50BMG and no full-auto, my club fits these requirements. You will need to allot sufficient funds for ammo, and/or begin to reload your chosen calibers. You will need to allot sufficient time to practice, probably a minimum of once per month in the training phase, and four times per year with all defense firearms as a maintenance-of-training effort.
3. Smarten up. Apply some common sense as to your selection of events to attend, particularly if you will be responsible for others' safety. Large outdoor events are Jihad targets of opportunity, as are crowded shopping malls. Organized athletic events in arenas and stadia are probably safer to some degree, but the Jihadis wouold love to target one for the kill ratio that they could achieve. Consider applying a sliding scale of risk to your life and it's chosen events. Yeah, that's a bummer, but we are at war, dude! You are probably safest at home, relatively safe out and about in your vehicle, safe enough doing shopping that is NOT done in large, crowded venues at peak predictable times. You are less safe in any public crowd, on mass transportation, at any outdoor event which has been heavily advertised as to attendance prospects. The training and/or dedication of your local policing authority is a factor in your relative safety also. Evaluate it.
4. Vote up. National elections are close at hand. Regardless of your political affiliation, you need to vote for your own safety. Safety is personal, and politicians and political parties which refuse to recognize your personal safety as their Job #1 should NOT get your vote. This is not about flavors of morality, this is about survival. See my note on National Command Authority, above.

Again, we are at war. The war has been brought to these shores by Islam, and it's not going to get "wished away", even though this seems to be the primary "combat strategy" of the current political Administration. YOU are responsible for your OWN safety, so make safety happen for you, NOW!

A final word. Religion. Your personal religious creed should give you the mental strength to survive the mental rigors of mortal combat. It is NOT required for that purpose, but if you hold to a creed, it will pay you to increase your attention to it in these anxious times. Your creed is your business under our Constitution. Your survival is a natural AND Constitutional Right under our system. You MUST consider anyone who attacks you for your creed or attacks your Right to survival as your enemy. Islam is attacking/denying both

The events unfolding in San Bernardino show us a different threat. Not an unknown threat, just a different one.

We have been used to seeing various formats of homicidal/suicidal Jihad here: 9-11, the various Jihadi gun attacks since then, etc. All these attacks had one common characteristic: the Muslims involved were all determined to kill members of the Western Civilization, but pretty much stuck to methods which left their shock troops dead with the event. One-way attacks. Don't "pass go", Get your 72 raisins immediately.

With San Berdoo, we have just seen an attack in which the Jihadis had trained and prepared to strike with force and effect, but moved on quickly to, presumably, strike again later. Far from the normal homicide/suicide attack, this is more like revolutionary attack. This resembles what we used to refer to as a "partisan" attack. Similar to the tactics of the French or Yugoslavian partisans who attacked the Nazis during WW2. What we just saw could have been very successful for the Jihadis, and the only reason it wasn't, was better training and discipline/communication on the part of the police authorities.

My purpose here is not to figure out how to defeat this different flavor of Jihad, but to prepare the average citizen to survive it. Methods of defeat for the Muslim Jihad will have to wait for a National Command Authority determined to defeat Islamic Jihad itself, and we don't have such leadership now, we have the opposite. We have political and command leadership determined to NOT face down islamic Jihad instead of the other way around. The effect for John Q. Citizen is that he will probably have to face the shock troops of Jihad alone, possibly with the help of local police.

A personal note: I am trained in various aspects of public safety, and as events unfolded and were reported yesterday in San Berdnardino, I evaluated the events as if they were the result of criminal gang activity, since, to me, the events more resembled the activity of, say, Mexican drug cartels or the criminal gang MS-13 (both very active in San Bernardino), and both are orgs not unwilling to create mass murder to get their point across. I was wrong in that analysis, mostly because I applied the usual standard of homicide/suicide Jihad, then rejected it, and this event did not fit that model.

So, how to prepare?

1. Arm up. The protected citizen will be armed at all times, with handgun(s) within hands' reach at home and away, and a long gun close by as well. You will have to figure out how to conform to "safe storage" laws to accomplish this in your home and in your car (presumably, your "away" long gun stays in the car). At home, I have quick-reaction pistol safes (plural), and the long gun goes back in the big safe when kids are present, so I comply. In the car, I carry on my person as I am permitted to do, and my long gun is a Kel-tec folding rifle with internal lock, carried in a locking gun case, kept in the locked trunk of the vehicle.That complies with local law as well (it would NOT comply in CA or several Eastern states though).
2. Train up. At this point, if you have not already done so, join a local gun club or commercial firearms practice facility. Your preference should be one which has practice facilities for handgun (any caliber), rifle (any caliber) and shotgun. With the exceptions of no 50BMG and no full-auto, my club fits these requirements. You will need to allot sufficient funds for ammo, and/or begin to reload your chosen calibers. You will need to allot sufficient time to practice, probably a minimum of once per month in the training phase, and four times per year with all defense firearms as a maintenance-of-training effort.
3. Smarten up. Apply some common sense as to your selection of events to attend, particularly if you will be responsible for others' safety. Large outdoor events are Jihad targets of opportunity, as are crowded shopping malls. Organized athletic events in arenas and stadia are probably safer to some degree, but the Jihadis wouold love to target one for the kill ratio that they could achieve. Consider applying a sliding scale of risk to your life and it's chosen events. Yeah, that's a bummer, but we are at war, dude! You are probably safest at home, relatively safe out and about in your vehicle, safe enough doing shopping that is NOT done in large, crowded venues at peak predictable times. You are less safe in any public crowd, on mass transportation, at any outdoor event which has been heavily advertised as to attendance prospects. The training and/or dedication of your local policing authority is a factor in your relative safety also. Evaluate it.
4. Vote up. National elections are close at hand. Regardless of your political affiliation, you need to vote for your own safety. Safety is personal, and politicians and political parties which refuse to recognize your personal safety as their Job #1 should NOT get your vote. This is not about flavors of morality, this is about survival. See my note on National Command Authority, above.

Again, we are at war. The war has been brought to these shores by Islam, and it's not going to get "wished away", even though this seems to be the primary "combat strategy" of the current political Administration. YOU are responsible for your OWN safety, so make safety happen for you, NOW!

A final word. Religion. Your personal religious creed should give you the mental strength to survive the mental rigors of mortal combat. It is NOT required for that purpose, but if you hold to a creed, it will pay you to increase your attention to it in these anxious times. Your creed is your business under our Constitution. Your survival is a natural AND Constitutional Right under our system. You MUST consider anyone who attacks you for your creed or attacks your Right to survival as your enemy. Islam is attacking/denying both

The 40 S&W as a revolver round

Whatziss you say? a Fotay Revolver? Ain't no sucha thang, you say. Yes there is, and I own one. It is the Charter Arms Pitbull snubbie in 40 S&W caliber. Charter arms deals with the concept of using rimless ammo in a revolver by a mechanical construct which projects little tabs out of the ejection star to grab the cartridges by their rebated-rim channel for ejection. The cartridges headspace themselves in the cylinder by the mouth of the brass.

When you think about the 40 S&W, it is simply a larger semi-auto cartridge than the 9mm Luger, and it will handle the pressures that a Nine will, up into the mid 30,000 CUP range. 38 Special, even in +P+, won't take over 20K-CUP. 45 ACP, same as 38 Special. 357 Magnum will take up into the low 40,000 CUP range, but for most snubbie applications, you have to load it down well below what it will take.

So, the Fotay makes a decent snubbie cartridge. Out of the Charter Arms' 2.5" barrel, it will make close to 1,000 fps in most defensive loadings, and closer to 1,050 fps in the lightest bullets.

I am currently loading some 40 S&W for my Pitbull in 135-gr, the lightest bullet commonly available. I get these from MidwayUSA, which house gets them from Rainier Bullets. They are Copper Plated Lead Truncated Cone. The first batch for testing will be shoved by 6.2-gr of IMR Hi-Skor 700-X. Federal Small Pistol primer lights the fire. In a 4" test barrel, these get 1,210 fps, which would be 439 #/ft muzzle energy, about a third more than a 9mm out of that barrel. Out of the 2.5", with a cylinder gap to jump, I will likely get 1050 fps, translating to 330 #/ft muzzle energy, about a third more than a 38 Special loading out of a snubbie revo. For comparison, the NATO 124-gr 9mm war round gets 336 #/ft out of a 5" service auto.

After the 135s, I will load some with Hornady Action Pistol JHP-180s. This is a bullet designed for the competition crowd. It has a tough hide of copper to handle metal targets, unlike the lightly-plated Rainiers. It will make decent penetration, pushed by 6.0-gr of Unique out of the snubbie at about 950 fps, giving me 361 #/ft of muzzle energy, just a tad more than 45ACP military ball gives. I have a 1911A1, and it weighs twice as much as the Pitbull, carries 3 more rounds and does not easily conceal. My shoot-all-day Glock Model 22 doesn't conceal well, either (no Glock double-stacker does).

The revolver, with two reloads of ammo, gets me to my rifle, in the case I can't end the fight with five rounds, but that's why we make lots of ammo and practice a lot, isn't it?

Public money DIRECTLY spent for a gun grab

Interesting case, all the more so because it all happened within 5 miles of my residence.

Fact set: Crazy kid defeats lock on older brother's gun safe (a sheet-metal type, it sounds like), takes an AR-15, a vest and plenty of ammo then goes to shoot up the local High School (biggest high school in the State). He kills one, wounds another, but when the pressure is applied by the good guys, he kills himself (standard MO of these cowards).

Of course, that's when the gun-grabbing drama-llamas took over, and as a result, you have probably heard of the Reynolds High School shooting of last year.

Continuing. At the time, there was quite some speculation that the liberal Multnomah County District Attorney would charge the shooter's older bro (gun owner) with some crime, but in the end, no one could prove that the safe was left unlocked (and Oregon lacks "safe storage" laws anyway), and older bro said he had locked it. So, no crime was charged, but the authorities kept the AR and associated equipment. The older bro SUED THE CITY OF TROUTDALE, because Oregon law is quite clear that when no charges are preferred, evidence seized MUST be returned to lawful owners within a time certain.

Enter: the Troutdale City Attorney. It seems that he disagrees with his superior prosecutor, the DA, and wanted charges on older bro, but lacks jurisdiction to file them (in Oregon, only minor crimes may be charged by a City, most crimes have to be charged by the District Attorney), so he dithered and kept the gun, which was in the custody of the Troutdale Police Property Room. A State Judge heard the lawsuit, and ruled in favor of the plaintiff (older bro) that the gun and equipment must be returned. The City Attorney stalled, but apparently figured out a way to keep the plaintiff's gun: give him Fair Market Value for it. The lawsuit was soon settled.

According to this article, the City Council buried the payment to older bro on a lengthy and boring agenda of City Council administrative business, and snuck it through, except for the reporters on the City Beats. Oregonian Reporter Steve Duin, a gun-grabber himself by many previous writings, noticed and wrote the story up. Okay, at least said reporter is a digger, is willing to take on government hanky-panky, right?

Nazzofast, Guido. Read the whole article.

About fifty words in, Reporter Duin writes a paragraph listing the property involved in the lawsuit:

"One Daniel Defense Armament DDM4 carbine rifle, one of the bullies in the AR-15 family (emphasis added). Eight 30-round Magpul magazines. A “plate carrier” vest, a United State Army standard-issue laundry bag and “several hundred rounds” of ammunition."

It appears that TWO people have now personified the rifle (illogically made an inanimate object into a person), not only the City Attorney, who could not bear the idea of the gun being returned to it's rightful and blameless owner, AND Reporter Duin, who has declared that the most popular rifle in the USA is a "bully".

I was taught that there is no higher authority on the etymology of the English Language than the Oxford English Dictionary, so I went there and looked up "bully":

"(pl. bullies) a person who uses their strength or power to frighten or hurt weaker people"  (my emphasis).

O.E.D. very specifically refers to a "bully" as a PERSON (twice, once directly and one indirectly).

So sorry, Steve Duin, old sport, your anti-gun predjudice is STILL showing in your public writing. Don't bother apologizing or issuing a correction though, it would compound your anti-liberty personality defect by adding insincerity to it.

 

Defending Fallen Veterans

Again!

This is cross-posted from my Rivrdog Blog.

Typepad is fixed, so I write...

So now I can scribble my sweet nothings about Saving The Culture again! Oh, goody!

Bragging Humble: Yes it is possible for a little fish in a big ocean to matter, all you have to do is migrate upstream to a smaller water body, to wit:

Gresham, Oregon. I live in the 4th largest city in Oregon, and all of the other Cities bigger than Gresham are far more liberal. Portland being the best example of a lib-town.

Gresham is over 100,000 now, but there are enough conservatives (relatively-speaking, the citizens are "conservatives") living here to actually cause the City Administration and other functionaries of Government to have to plan to accomodate our points of view.

Example: Recently, a wrong-headed school Principal sent a lad home for wearing a tee shirt depicting the "Battlefield Cross", or combination of boots, rifle and helmet that has come to symbolize a soldier who fell in battle, making the ultimate sacrifice for his country. This caused an immediate outrage in Gresham, an outrage which spurred the liberal Oregonian newspaper to opine:

  Common sense deficit: The subject of firearms is a sensitive one these days, particularly in schools. Even so, the treatment an eighth-grade student in Gresham’s Dexter McCarty Middle School almost beggars belief.    Alan Holmes wore a T-shirt to school last week that featured an image of a rifle. No, Holmes wasn’t wearing promotional NRA gear. On his shirt, rather, was an arrangement of helmet, boots and rifle widely used to indicate respect for fallen soldiers. Lest anyone mistake the arrangement for anything but a memorial, the shirt also read, “Standing for those who stood for us.” Holmes was told that his shirt violated the school’s dress code, The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Laura Frazier wrote. His choices: Change it or go home. He went home, and the district has since promised to review its dress code. We’ll see where that goes.    The code, as Frazier reported, prohibits clothing with, among other things, “violence related references.” To cram Holmes’ shirt within this definition is a stretch, to say the least. But if a memorial arrangement that contains a rifle is too disturbing a thing for Gresham’s eighth-graders to witness, district officials might want to reconsider Gresham High School’s fight song too. It begins as follows: “March, march on down the field/ Fighting for Gresham High/We’ll back the blue and white/With the spirit of do or die.”    March, fight, do or die. That’s awfully martial.    And talk about “violence related references.”

Well, then. If Liberal Portland can opine, conservative Gresham might feel a tad stronger. The Gresham Outlook published my letter on the subject, a letter in which, as a Veteran, I demand redress of insults to me and all local Veterans, as well as the child directly affected. Note how the Editor dressed it up with a bold sidebar of my demands:

Folks, this business of Saving The Culture can get into some conflict. I am laying MY creds on the line here, and demanding, as a citizen, that the culture be protected from the erosion of the faceless liberal zombies. In MY day, this erosion would never have happened, because respect for veterans who fell in battle was automatic, and never questioned. Maybe we can't go all the way back to that time, but we can and MUST demand the respect due our heroes of war.war.

I am shortly going to have major surgery, and will miss the next meeting of the School Board, in which I would, in the normal course of events, have presented these demands in person. I am working on a surprise for the School Board, though, and my message should still get through. Let's just say that I am not the only Grumpy Major in these parts, and two others ought to be there in my stead at the meeting on November 5th. Thanks to the magic of You Tube, I might be there myself...more later when I get that video up.

POTUS shows his colors

On Wednesday, the pro-2A site, Bearing Arms, published an article detailing several parents of Roseburg shooting victims who had objected to President Obama's political blood-dancing for gun control immediately after the horrific crimes were committed.

Yesterday, as the parents/families of the victims were assembled at Roseburg High School to meet Obama for his supposedly-humanitarian trip to Roseburg, one parent was excluded. Note that he was one of the parents who had expressed his displeasure at Obama's blood-dancing.

Several observations:

• This puts the definite lie to Obama's claim that the trip was solely for humanitarian purposes, to "hug" the parents and family members of the victims. Even if Mr. Cooper had had an angry moment before, he should have been invited. He could have been privately frisked for weapons and accompanied by several Secret Service agents if there was any threat past verbal anger, but he should have been invited, not excluded.
• Obama can't stand the heat, and should stay the HELL out of the kitchen.
• Politically, Obama just lost ALL of the bona fides he might have built up for making the trip, and the National orgs which protect the 2A ALL need to follow my example and spread this news far and wide. NOW!

Anyone who still lacked an insight into Obama's character need look no farther than this display of discourteous cowardice.

Yes, COWARDICE.

Resign, Mister President. You are unfit to hold office for another minute.

Cross-posted to the Rivrdog blog.

 

Try THIS Background Check, Obama

...and BTW, NRA, you should have no objection, either.

The Straight Spine people propose that NICS be replaced with a system that:

1. Works. For EVERYONE, not just gun dealers and cops. The present NICS totters along, breaking down frequently. It needs to be scrapped and replaced. BTW, Mister President, there are just a few states requiring NICS checks on all gun transfers now. If you DID get your way, and suddenly, ALL gun transfers in the whole Nation had to go through NICS, it would prevent gun transfers because NICS would fail at the start of every business day when it was turned on. You KNOW that, though, don't you?
2. Gets the minimal information. We are checking only PEOPLE here, so there is absolutely NO reason to have to enter any descriptors for the gun. I give you MY name and DOB, then the name and DOB of the transferee, and you check us out. You then issue a confirmation number for the transfer which we must keep for a time, or the dealer must enter on the 4473. The system keeps the record for the current 24 hours allowed by the NICS enabling law, then flushes it.
3.  Performs as close to "instantly" as possible. The system designers would be required to sample current NICS traffic to determine the period of highest traffic the system handles now, to set performance the new system would have to handle. The system would have to handle TWICE that traffic at acceptance, and be scalable to handle FIVE TIMES that traffic with minimum adjustment.
4.  Has no enforcement action attached. Two things: the current NICS, which HAS enforcement action avenues attached, results in VERY few enforcement actions, and also, few people who know that they must hide their gun possession from the authorities are going to involve themselves with the new system anyway. Criminals do not do regular gun transfers.
5. Has no cost to users, other than as a budget line item. The Feds can just eat the cost if they want the transfer checks made. The wet dream of gun-banners, of course, is to figure out some way of attaching crippling fees to all gun transfers, solely to discourage gun ownership. That is probably actionable as being a Civil Rights violation, BTW.

Some of my more die-hard 2A-defending buddies are going to scream at me for this, but I don't give a flying fig what they do, frankly. There is ONE very good reason to have this system. Can you guess what it is?

If you said, "keep crazies from getting guns", you get to wear the Dunce Cap.

If you said, "let the Government track guns", you are not only a Dunce, you didn't READ my proposal. No gun info in the system, remember, Sparky?

That reason is Civil Liability. I will predict right now that Obama could be successful in harassing gun owners if he wanted to be. He COULD impose (Congress would have to go along) Liability Insurance on us. I can predict that such a mandated insurance system would be as much of a clusterfuck as ObamaCare is now, maybe worse, BUT IT WOULD PASS. It would pass because the claim will be made (and sold) that it imposes NO undue hardship on gun-bearers to buy insurance. If my system is in place first, it will serve as a model to insure PEOPLE against civil liability arising out of their ownership/carriage of firearms. It will NOT involve registering the guns. It MIGHT involve so-called "safe storage", and insurers MIGHT be allowed to require certain other ameliorations of risk, perhaps even TRAINING in firearms use (horrors, say my buddies) or maybe even standardized QUALIFICATION (double horrors, isn't there an inalienable right to shoot things that you don't intend to?). I do NOT disagree with the idea of insurance. I would buy it myself now if the available policies were any good, but they suck, have too many "outs" for the insurers, too many limits on the insureds.

In summary: Our Courts have ruled that certain folks may not possess firearms. We are not likely to change that short of a total Re-Do of the Republic. Given that certain persons MUST be excluded from possession/commerce in firearms, some sort of background check is appropriate, so let's design a system we can live with. That system is NOT NICS.

 

Re-purposed blog

Straight Case, formerly a simple gun-blog dedicated to older cartridge weapons, will now become the home of Straight Spine, a prospective new organization which I am putting together.

Watch this blog for details.