Ye Gods and little fishes…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

This one came over the transom from a reader… 

Delegate Joe Morrissey, Democrat of course, from Richmond and Henrico County on the floor of the VA State House…

Proof positive that Democrats cannot be trusted on the gun issues:

Safe Rifle Criteria:
Magazine out-NOPE
Bolt locked back-NOPE
Safety on-Not clear, but appears from finger position that the safety is OFF
Rifle pointed in a safe direction-NOPE There is a gallery above him with people in it.
And last but not least: This idiot has his thumb through the trigger guard engaging the trigger.
And we should listen to this genius about gun control?
As a firearms instructor, I have personally observed 8 year olds who have a better safety ethic!


And I cannot disagree with him one bit… This is just unconscionable to be THAT unsafe with a weapon… Hell, the damn thing ‘could’ have been loaded for all we know… 

Did anybody else see this one???

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Came in via the mil-email  net…


Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 226 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 226

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against tax for surrendering to authorities certain assault weapons.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 14, 2013

Ms. DeLauro (for herself and Mr. Grijalva) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against tax for surrendering to authorities certain assault weapons.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,


“SEC. 25E. ASSAULT WEAPON TURN-IN CREDIT.

“(a) Allowance of Credit.–
“(1) In general.–In the case of an individual who 
surrenders a specified assault weapon to the United States or a 
State or local government (or political subdivision thereof) as 
part of a Federal, State, or local public safety program to 
reduce the number of privately owned weapons, on the election 
of the taxpayer there shall be allowed as a credit against the 
tax imposed by this chapter an amount equal to $2,000.
“(2) Year credit allowed.–The amount of the credit under 
paragraph (1) shall be allowed \1/2\ for the taxable year 
during which the assault weapon was so surrendered and \1/2\ in 
the next taxable year.
“(b) Special Rules.–
“(1) Weapon must be lawfully possessed.–No credit shall 
be allowed under subsection (a) with respect to any specified 
assault weapon not lawfully possessed by the taxpayer at the 
time the weapon is surrendered.
“(2) Substantiation requirement.–No credit shall be 
allowed under subsection (a) for the surrender of any specified 
assault weapon unless the taxpayer substantiates the surrender 
by a contemporaneous written acknowledgment of the surrender by 
the Federal, State, or local governmental entity to which the 
weapon is surrendered.
“(3) Denial of double benefit.–The taxpayer may elect the 
application of this section with respect to only 1 weapon, and 
if such election is made for any taxable year, no deduction 
shall be allowed under any other provision of this chapter with 
respect to the surrender or contribution of the specified 
assault weapon.
“(c) Assault Weapon.–For purposes of this section–
“(1) In general.–The term `specified assault weapon’ 
means any of the following:
“(A) The following rifles or copies or duplicates 
thereof:
“(i) AK, AKM, AKS, AK-47, AK-74, ARM, 
MAK90, Misr, NHM 90, NHM 91, SA 85, SA 93, 
VEPR,
“(ii) AR-10,
“(iii) AR-15, Bushmaster XM15, Armalite 
M15, or Olympic Arms PCR,
“(iv) AR70,
“(v) Calico Liberty,
“(vi) Dragunov SVD Sniper Rifle or 
Dragunov SVU,
“(vii) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, 
or FNC,
“(viii) Hi-Point Carbine,
“(ix) HK-91, HK-93, HK-94, or HK-PSG-1,
“(x) Kel-Tec Sub Rifle,
“(xi) M1 Carbine,
“(xii) Saiga,
“(xiii) SAR-8, SAR-4800,
“(xiv) SKS with detachable magazine,
“(xv) SLG 95,
“(xvi) SLR 95 or 96,
“(xvii) Steyr AUG,
“(xviii) Sturm, Ruger Mini-14,
“(xix) Tavor,
“(xx) Thompson 1927, Thompson M1, or 
Thompson 1927 Commando, or
“(xxi) Uzi, Galil and Uzi Sporter, Galil 
Sporter, or Galil Sniper Rifle (Galatz).
“(B) The following pistols or copies or duplicates 
thereof:
“(i) Calico M-110,
“(ii) MAC-10, MAC-11, or MPA3,
“(iii) Olympic Arms OA,
“(iv) TEC-9, TEC-DC9, TEC-22 Scorpion, or 
AB-10, or
“(v) Uzi.
“(C) The following shotguns or copies or 
duplicates thereof:
“(i) Armscor 30 BG,
“(ii) SPAS 12 or LAW 12,
“(iii) Striker 12, or
“(iv) Streetsweeper.
“(D) A semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to 
accept a detachable magazine, and that has–
“(i) a folding or telescoping stock,
“(ii) a threaded barrel,
“(iii) a pistol grip,
“(iv) a forward grip, or
“(v) a barrel shroud.
“(E)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), a 
semiautomatic rifle that has a fixed magazine with the 
capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.
“(ii) Clause (i) shall not apply to an attached 
tubular device designed to accept, and capable of 
operating only with, .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.
“(F) A semiautomatic pistol that has the ability 
to accept a detachable magazine, and has–
“(i) a second pistol grip,
“(ii) a threaded barrel,
“(iii) a barrel shroud, or
“(iv) the capacity to accept a detachable 
magazine at a location outside of the pistol 
grip.
“(G) A semiautomatic pistol with a fixed magazine 
that has the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.
“(H) A semiautomatic shotgun that has–
“(i) a folding or telescoping stock,
“(ii) a pistol grip,
“(iii) the ability to accept a detachable 
magazine, or
“(iv) a fixed magazine capacity of more 
than 5 rounds.
“(I) A shotgun with a revolving cylinder.
“(J) A frame or receiver that is identical to, or 
based substantially on the frame or receiver of, a 
firearm described in any of subparagraphs (A) through 
(I) or (L).
“(K) A conversion kit.
“(L) A semiautomatic rifle or shotgun originally 
designed for military or law enforcement use, or a 
firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is 
not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as 
determined by the Attorney General. In making the 
determination, there shall be a rebuttable presumption 
that a firearm procured for use by the United States 
military or any Federal law enforcement agency is not 
particularly suitable for sporting purposes, and a 
firearm shall not be determined to be particularly 
suitable for sporting purposes solely because the 
firearm is suitable for use in a sporting event.
“(2) Related definitions.–
“(A) Barrel shroud.–The term `barrel shroud’ 
means a shroud that is attached to, or partially or 
completely encircles, the barrel of a firearm so that 
the shroud protects the user of the firearm from heat 
generated by the barrel, but does not include a slide 
that encloses the barrel, and does not include an 
extension of the stock along the bottom of the barrel 
which does not encircle or substantially encircle the 
barrel.
“(B) Conversion kit.–The term `conversion kit’ 
means any part or combination of parts designed and 
intended for use in converting a firearm into a 
semiautomatic assault weapon, and any combination of 
parts from which a semiautomatic assault weapon can be 
assembled if the parts are in the possession or under 
the control of a person.
“(C) Detachable magazine.–The term `detachable 
magazine’ means an ammunition feeding device that can 
readily be inserted into a firearm.
“(D) Fixed magazine.–The term `fixed magazine’ 
means an ammunition feeding device contained in, or 
permanently attached to, a firearm.
“(E) Folding or telescoping stock.–The term 
`folding or telescoping stock’ means a stock that 
folds, telescopes, or otherwise operates to reduce the 
length, size, or any other dimension, or otherwise 
enhances the concealability, of a firearm.
“(F) Forward grip.–The term `forward grip’ means 
a grip located forward of the trigger that functions as 
a pistol grip.
“(G) Pistol grip.–The term `pistol grip’ means a 
grip, a thumbhole stock, or any other characteristic 
that can function as a grip.
“(H) Threaded barrel.–The term `threaded barrel’ 
means a feature or characteristic that is designed in 
such a manner to allow for the attachment of a firearm 
as defined in section 5845(a) of the National Firearms 
Act (26 U.S.C. 5845(a)).
“(d) Termination.–This section shall not apply with respect to 
any weapon surrendered during a taxable year beginning more than 2 years after the date of the enactment of the Support Assault Firearms Elimination and Reduction for our Streets Act.”.
(b) Clerical Amendment.–The table of sections for subpart A of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 is amended by inserting before the item relating to section 26 the following new item:

“Sec. 25E. Assault weapon turn-in credit.”.
(c) Effective Date.–The amendments made by this Act shall apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.


First I’ve seen or heard of it…

Well, the ‘fit’ is hitting the ‘shan’…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
More ‘reaction’ both official and unofficial to sequestration…

At the Surface Navy Association, VADM Copeman was the guest speaker.  Friend of mine was in attendance, and somber does NOT describe the crowd’s response, but most will admit privately what he’s saying is true…

From AOL Defense-


Navy crews don’t have enough sailors, training, or spare parts to keep up with operational demands, the Commander of Naval Surface Forces said bluntly this afternoon. The service needs to make better use of smaller budgets by standardizing equipment and adopting new training simulations, Vice Adm. Tom Copeman said, but even that’s not enough: Ultimately, he said, the Navy must get smaller to stay ready.

That approach doesn’t play well on Capitol Hill, which is so focused on the keeping up the size of the fleet that last year it refused to let the Navy retire three aging Ticonderoga-class cruisers which admirals said cost more they were worth to keep maintained.

[Click here for more from a Navy 4-star on readiness problems and how the fleet is “terrified” of the damage sequestration could do]

Even as the Navy’s tempo of operations has increased — largely in response to a new assertiveness at sea by both China and Iran — “we’ve taken away people and training,” Copeman said. “It’s getting harder and harder to look the troops in the eye and say, just meet the standard…. We’re getting more ships that can’t.”

Full article HERE, with good links embedded…

In other news, I got an email from a friend this afternoon, apparently the Navy is freezing all hiring, cancelling conferences and limiting travel to ‘critical’ requirements… 

60 years ago today…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
60 years ago today, the Corvette was introduced by Chevrolet at the NY Auto Show…

Two years in development, pushed by Harley Earl it was originally a concept car; but so many wanted it, they actually put ‘almost’ the identical car into production that year…


Along the way, there were a few more…

The ‘iconic’  Gen 2 Corvettes…

1963 Stingray Split Window


1967 L88 427 Roadster


Gen 3/4/5 pretty much blah…

Gen 6 started the Corvette back on the road to being a TRUE American sports car with the Z-06…

Seven generations later, the Corvette symbolizes the American sports car as no other can…


I just wish I had the $$… sigh…

Sequestration… It’s coming…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Well, it’s coming… I don’t have any doubt at this point…  

From Wired, Danger Room…


A memo released late Thursday by Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter instructed the military to begin “reductions in flying hours, steaming days, vehicle miles, and other operations/training/support activities that address force readiness.” The services are supposed to identify cuts to “large programs” and “significant” changes to “joint programs” that they buy or operate together. (While it’s not identified in Carter’s memo, perhaps the most prominent of these is the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter family of jets.) Upcoming “ship maintenance availabilities and aviation and ground depotlevel maintenance activities” are to be cancelled; “contracts and studies” to are to be “review[ed] for cost savings”; and facilities maintenance upgrades are to be paused. 

According to Carter’s memo, defense programs “closely associated with the new defense strategy” — that is, the “rebalance” to Asia and the Pacific region — are to be spared, but only “to the extent feasible.” Neither the Pentagon nor the services have specified which programs, planes, ships or R&D are “closely associated” with the new strategy. But it likely means drones, special operations forces, new jammers, next-gen sensors, and cyber weapons. It also probably means the retrofit of the USS Ponce, which the Navy is turning into an “Afloat Staging Base” to ferry commandos, Osprey tilt-rotors and other gear.


The entire article is HERE. 

I’m at the point that we just need to shut down the government, even if it does cost me my job… I don’t see any other option to get our government under control.

For my flogging, er… golfing friends…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

I’m going with humor today, “I” need it…
And these are the ‘other’ birdies I shoot (actually probably a better chance with these than a real one)… sigh

SOME GOLF FACTS YOU MAY NOT KNOW

1. 125,000 golf balls a year are hit into the water at the famous 17th hole of the Stadium Course at Sawgrass.

2. The longest drive ever is 515 yards. The longest putt ever is a monstrous 375 feet

3. Phil Mickelson, who plays left-handed, is actually right handed. He learned to play golf by mirroring his father’s golf swing, and he has used left handed golf clubs ever since.

4. The chances of making two holes-in-one in a round of golf are one in 67 million.

5. Tiger Woods snagged his first ace at the tender age of eight years old.

6. Balls travel significantly further on hot days. A golfer swinging a club at around 100 mph will carry the driver up to eight yards longer for each increase in air temperature of 25°F.

7. The longest golf course in the world is the par 77 International Golf Club in Massachusetts which measures a fearsome 8325 yards

8. The highest golf course in the world is the Tactu Golf Club in Morococha, Peru, which sits 14,335 feet above sea level at its lowest point.

9. The longest golf hole in the world is the 7th hole (par 7) of the Sano Course at the Satsuki Golf Club in Japan. It measures an incredible 909 yards.

10. The largest bunker in the world is Hell’s Half Acre on the 585-yard 7th hole of the Pine Valley Course in New Jersey.

11. The largest golfing green is that of the 695-yard, 5th hole, a par 6 at the International Golf Club in Massachusetts, with an area in excess of 28,000 square feet.

12. The driver swing speed of an average lady golfer is 62mph; 96mph for an average LPGA professional; 84mph for an average male golfer; 108mph for an average PGA Tour player; 130mph for Tiger Woods; 148-152mph for a national long drive champion.

13. There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.

14. The first golf balls were made of thin leather stuffed with feathers.

Tightly-packed feathers made balls that flew the farthest. Feather balls were used until 1848.

15. The youngest golfer to shoot a hole-in-one was Coby Orr, who was five years old at the time. It happened in Littleton, Colorado, in 1975.

16. 22.8% of golfers are women.

17. Golf was banned in Scotland from 1457 to 1502 to ensure citizens wouldn’t waste time when preparing for an English invasion

18. The term birdie comes from an American named Ab Smith. While playing 1899, he played what he described as a “bird of a shot”, which became “birdie” over time.

19. The word golf does not mean “Gentleman Only, Ladies Forbidden”. This is an internet myth. It is thought the word golf comes from the Dutch word “kolf” or “kolve”, meaning “club”. Historians believe this was passed on to the Scottish, whose own dialect changed this to “glove,” “gowl” or “gouf”.    By the sixteenth century, this had evolved into the word we know today.

20. Don’t feel bad about your high handicap – 80% of all golfers will never achieve a handicap of less than 18.

Random Musings…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Well, welcome to Obummer care… 

Went in an picked up my prescription meds, and they have gone up $100 a MONTH!!!  And when my MSA runs out, my copay will be $60 each!  Last month my copay was $10 each… 

Just frikkin lovely…

And got into a ‘discussion’ with a left wing loonie today (I KNOW better dammit)…

She knows I’m a shooter, doesn’t know I carry.  She was crowing about ban this/ban that, etc.  BUT, she ‘supports’ the second amendment… Discussion went something like this…

Me- So I asked her should that ban extend to LEOs and Feds?

LWL- Of course not, they might NEED those guns.

Me- Well, what about ME? Shouldn’t “I” be able to protect myself the same way the LEOs do?

LWL- Grudging acceptance, but ONLY with a pistol with limited ammunition. I like the 7 round maximum… 

Me- Why 7 rounds?

LWL- Well, that’s what NY is doing, and they have ‘researched’ this.

Me- Ummm, okay, what about a shotgun?

LWL- Oh no, and if I have any other guns they need to be ‘properly’ stored.

Me- Ummm, I have them in a safe.

LWL- Oh no, they need to be ‘safely’ stored, and you can go check them out when you want to use them.

Me- Say whut???

LWL- As she warmed up, oh yes you could keep ONE pistol, everything else would be in secure storage.

Me- So, who would pay for this?

LWL- Oh, you’d be charged by the gun and by the magazine and by the ammo.

Me- So what if I want to go hunting?  That normally occurs EARLY in the morning.

LWL- OH no, you wouldn’t be able to do THAT, you could only check them out during daylight. And you could only have enough to hunt or go to the range.

Me- Huh???  Well, how many rounds is that?

LWL- Well, you’d have to be photographed and your vehicle too. I ‘guess’ you could have one magazine of ammo per day.

Me- Umm, I don’t hunt locally all the time.

LWL- Oh you’d have to pay to have your gun shipped to a storage site at that location.

Me- So I couldn’t check it on the airline myself?

LWL- That’s not SAFE!

Me- So what about backcountry hunts that take a couple of days?

LWL- OH NO, they’d have to be checked back in every day before sunset.

Gah…

BUT, she ‘supports’ the second amendment… And I swear she said under her breath I was crazy…

I better hope SHE is never in a position to impact my legal status…

If you just bought a gun…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Grey Locke has an excellent point HERE…

If you just bought a gun, go get TRAINING!!!

I’m linking to Appleseed and the NRA below:

Appleseed

Find the Appleseed Location nearest to you:   Appleseed Locations

The National Rifle Association (NRA) Main site 

Find The National Rifle Association (NRA) Programs near you

This is an interesting set of facts…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

From the World Health Organization: 

The latest Murder Statistics for the world: 

  Murders per 100,000 citizens 

Honduras 91.6 
El Salvador 69.2 
Cote d’lvoire 56.9 
Jamaica 52.2 
Venezuela 45.1 
Belize 41.4 
US Virgin Islands 39.2 
Guatemala 38.5 
Saint Kits and Nevis 38.2 
Zambia 38.0 
Uganda 36.3 
Malawi 36.0 
Lesotho 35.2 
Trinidad and Tobago 35.2 
Colombia 33.4 
South Africa 31.8 
Congo 30.8 
Central African Republic 29.3 
Bahamas 27.4 
Puerto Rico 26.2 
Saint Lucia 25.2 
Dominican Republic 25.0 
Tanzania 24.5 
Sudan 24.2 
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 22.9 
Ethiopia 22.5 
Guinea 22.5 
Dominica 22.1 
Burundi 21.7 
Democratic Republic of the Congo 21.7 
Panama 21.6 
Brazil 21.0 
Equatorial Guinea 20.7 
Guinea-Bissau 20.2 
Kenya 20.1 
Kyrgyzstan 20.1 
Cameroon 19.7 
Montserrat 19.7 
Greenland 19.2 
Angola 19.0 
Guyana 18.6 
Burkina Faso 18.0 
Eritrea 17.8 
Namibia 17.2 
Rwanda 17.1 
Mexico 16.9 
Chad 15.8 
Ghana 15.7 
Ecuador 15.2 
North Korea 15.2 
Benin 15.1 
Sierra Leone 14.9 
Mauritania 14.7 
Botswana 14.5 
Zimbabwe 14.3 
Gabon 13.8 
Nicaragua 13.6 
French Guiana 13.3 
Papua New Guinea 13.0 
Swaziland 12.9 
Bermuda 12.3 
Comoros 12.2 
Nigeria 12.2 
Cape Verde 11.6 
Grenada 11.5 
Paraguay 11.5 
Barbados 11.3 
Togo 10.9 
Gambia 10.8 
Peru 10.8 
Myanmar 10.2 
Russia 10.2 
Liberia 10.1 
Costa Rica 10.0 
Nauru 9.8 
Bolivia 8.9 
Mozambique 8.8 
Kazakhstan 8.8 
Senegal 8.7 
Turks and Caicos Islands 8.7 
Mongolia 8.7 
British Virgin Islands 8.6 
Cayman Islands 8.4 
Seychelles 8.3 
Madagascar 8.1 
Indonesia 8.1 
Mali 8.0 
Pakistan 7.8 
Moldova 7.5 
Kiribati 7.3 
Guadeloupe 7.0 
Haiti 6.9 
Timor-Leste 6.9 
Anguilla 6.8 
Antigua and Barbuda 6.8 
Lithuania 6.6 
Uruguay 5.9 
Philippines 5.4 
Ukraine 5.2 
Estonia 5.2 
Cuba 5.0 
Belarus 4.9 
Thailand 4.8 
Suriname 4.6 
Laos 4.6 
Georgia 4.3 
Martinique 4.2 

And 

  The United States 4.2 

ALL the countries above America have 100% gun bans 


After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn’t do it. – William S. Burroughs.