This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Guns

  • LACSD and “accidental” weapons discharges

    LACSD and “accidental” weapons discharges

    M&P9

    The LA Times, whose habit is to blame guns for problems rather than the operator of a firearm, blames the gun for what they call accidental discharges among LA County sheriff deputies since they changed their duty weapons to a Smith and Wesson M&P9. After reading the reports of the weapons discharges, they seem more “negligent” than accidental. In every instance, the officers involved had their finger on the trigger before they intended to fire the weapon.

    The M&P has obvious benefits. It is easier to shoot accurately, can be fired more reliably under stress and is a better fit for people with small hands. The switch was prompted in part by the threat of a lawsuit by women who had failed the Sheriff’s Academy. More recruits — including more women — are now passing the firearms test, and veteran deputies are also logging better scores at the firing range.

    I don’t know anything about the M&P9, I’m not a S&W fan, but only because of my experience with them decades ago. I’m sure it’s a better pistol than when they tried to keep up with the demand of Models 27 & 29 during the Dirty Harry craze. I’m also not a Beretta fan – the gun that the Smith & Wesson replaced.

    I do have a Glock 30, one of the guns that the Times blames for negligent discharges, but only because it has a couple of 25-round magazines for that day that the Zombie Epoc begins. When I carry it, the chamber is empty, because I don’t like a safety that is on the trigger – that really doesn’t prevent negligent discharges, like the three safeties on a 1911. Which is why I mostly carry my Colt Defender and not my Glock.

    The article complains that the Beretta is too big for folks with little hands to operate;

    People with small hands often have trouble flipping up the Beretta’s safety as they prepare to fire. The first shot requires 12 to 15 pounds of pressure on the trigger, forcing some to use two fingers and reducing shooting accuracy for many. Subsequent shots take about 4 pounds of pressure.

    I haven’t heard any complaints about that from the military, that also uses the Beretta. In fact one of the reasons that military went to a Beretta was because the 1911-style handguns were supposedly too big for the ladies. While the 1911 was the Army’s service handgun, the lady MPs were issued the smaller .38 caliber revolvers for exactly that reason.

    It sounds to me from the description above, that the Beretta is a double action semiautomatic because the initial trigger pull is so much more than follow-on shots. It seems to me that a solution to that would be leaving the gun cocked when the round is chambered – but still you’d have to keep your finger off the trigger until you’re aiming at your target. That doesn’t seem like something in the realm of possibility of the LA County deputies;

    In 2012, there were 12 accidental discharges, none involving the M&P. In 2013, there were 18, eight of which were M&Ps. Of the 30 incidents in 2014, 22 involved M&Ps.

    […]

    In one December incident, a sheriff’s deputy in Compton approached a car he thought might have been stolen. The occupants had already ran off. As he walked up with his M&P drawn to make sure there was no one else inside, he accidentally pulled the trigger.

    The bullet hit the driver’s side door. There were bystanders nearby, but no one was injured.

    A month earlier, a Lancaster deputy was following a driver he suspected of having a gun. When the man got out and walked toward the patrol car, the deputy took off his seat belt and was pulling out his M&P when he fired it into his own thigh.

    […]

    In a Walnut-area house in January 2014, a deputy accidentally fired a round into the ceiling when a golf bag fell on his hand. Another deputy was in the room at the time.

    When a deputy tripped over a stroller and fired a round through a wall in October 2014, there was another deputy nearby, with more deputies and a civilian elsewhere in the Huntington Park house.

    Yeah, those are negligent discharges. It has nothing to do with “accidental” and everything to do with officers who have their fingers on the triggers when it’s not necessary. You can’t blame the gun for this one either, LA Times – it has to do with training and the operators.

    The bigger question should be; why are they using 9 millimeter handguns? Do they plan to shoot a lot of Europeans or something?

  • Jim Cooley and the 2d Amendment

    Jim Cooley and the 2d Amendment

    jimcooley060515

    As you can imagine, I’ve had quite a few emails about this Jim Cooley guy who dropped off his daughter at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport while he was carrying a scary black long gun strapped to his bony chest.

    Mr. Cooley was confronted several times by law enforcement, even though the Georgia legislature last year made it legal to carry properly licensed weapons at airports in the state.

    Cooley took affront to the attention, citing a common refrain among public-carry advocates: that he doesn’t need to account for other people’s feelings or fears when conducting lawful activity. He’s correct, and he was not arrested.

    No one is more pro-2d Amendment than yours truly. I carry a handgun in my house and every time I leave the house (unless I find myself in a State that doesn’t allow my firearms – I usually avoid those places, though). I’ve even carried a firearm when I go to the airport, because airports seem to be favorite targets of those who want to create terror. But, no one stops me at the airport and questions my motivations because I carry my weapon concealed, because my motivation for carrying a weapon is personal safety, not being an exhibitionist.

    There is no good reason to carry a long gun in public. Self-defense engagements are usually at a distance of less than ten yards, well within the range of handguns. People like Mr. Cooley are just carrying long guns in public spaces because they like the attention, it has nothing to do with 2d Amendment or with personal defense. The article linked above says that Cooley “took affront to the attention” he garnered, but, actually, that’s what he was hoping would happen, so he could get his fifteen minutes in the media.

    Openly carrying a long gun is also going to make you the first target of someone with malfeasance on their mind giving me time to bring my concealed weapon to bear on the situation.

    Everyone is making a big deal of the new legislation in Texas that allows open carry, but, the law requires that anyone who openly carries their weapon in Texas, under the new law, would be required to attend training and get licensed – just like carrying a concealed weapon. So why not carry concealed? Unless, of course, you’re just a drama queen and looking for attention. Like Jim Cooley.

  • Judge strikes down DC’s “good reason” gun law

    Judge strikes down DC’s “good reason” gun law

    According to Fox News, U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr. called unconstitutional the District of Columbia’s requirement that an applicant for a permit to carry a concealed weapon must have a “good reason” in order to qualify for the 2d Amendment right.

    “For all intents and purposes, this requirement makes it impossible for the overwhelming majority of law-abiding citizens to obtain licenses to carry handguns in public for self-defense, thereby depriving them of their Second Amendment right to bear arms,” Scullin wrote in his 23-page ruling. His next hearing in the case is July 7.

    States including Maryland, New Jersey and New York already require people to provide a reason for these kinds of permits, and federal courts have found them to be constitutional, according to a report the city did before passing its own new law.

    We kind of need the Supreme Court to weigh in on this – the best way is for Congress to pass a National Concealed Carry law.

    The DC Metro police chief, Kathy Lanier isn’t happy about the judge’s decision;

    “The vast majority of people applying for permits to carry in the District are not D.C. residents,” Lanier said on NewsChannel 8’s “NewsTalk” program. “Our residents are very clear that this is not something they wanted.”

    Yeah, well, that’s exactly why there is a Bill of Rights – to prevent a tyranny of the majority that prevents a minority from exercising their God-given rights. If DC residents are worried about law-abiding citizens arming themselves, and they’re not as concerned about the armed criminals in the District, DC residents need to take a look at themselves in the mirror.

    Thanks to Hondo for the link.

  • Good guy with a gun in Chicago

    Good guy with a gun in Chicago

    This last weekend, 22-year-old Everardo Custodio opened fire on a crowd of people in Logan Square, Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune;

    A group of people had been walking in front of the [Uber] driver around 11:50 p.m. in the 2900 block of North Milwaukee Avenue when Everardo Custodio, 22, began firing into the crowd, [Assistant State’s Attorney Barry] Quinn said.

    The driver pulled out a handgun and fired six shots at Custodio, hitting him several times, according to court records. Responding officers found Custodio lying on the ground, bleeding, Quinn said. No other injuries were reported.

    Custodio was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic hospital, where he was treated for gunshot wounds to the shin, thigh and lower back, authorities said.

    According to police the Uber driver, had a legal permit to own a firearm and a concealed carry permit, a rare commodity in Chicago and probably a big surprise to Everardo Custodio who was probably expecting that the draconian firearms laws in Chicago would protect him from the immediate response that he got instead.

    And since no one else was injured or killed, it won’t register in the liberal media as a mass shooting that was prevented by a good guy with a gun. They require at least three dead victims to pay it any attention.

    Thanks to Bobo for the link.

  • Well, This Could Get Interesting

    It seems that 3-D printing has achieved another milestone.

    Recently, a group of gunsmiths put together a working rifle. No great surprise there.

    Specifically, they put together an AR-10 – the NATO 7.62mm version of the AR-15. Again, no big surprise there, either.

    However, precisely how they did it was a bit unusual. It seems they used a 3-D printer to produce the lower receiver. (The remaining parts were stock.) And after assembling the weapon, the creator of the receiver claims to have fired over 100 rounds using it without visible signs of wear and tear.

    Yeah, that’s a bit . . . different.

    Look for the calls for “printer control laws” from your friendly neighborhood gun control advocates any day now. Once they wake up after fainting due to hyperventilation, of course.

  • Media Targeting Dakota

    Media Targeting Dakota

    dakota-meyers-instagram-800x430

    Of course, you’ve read that Dakota Meyer, a former Marine sergeant and a Medal of Honor recipient has declared his intentions to marry into the Palin family. Well, apparently, he’s also marrying into the histrionics of the Leftist media that swirls around that family, as well. The UK’s Daily Mail and Raw Story have published a picture from his Instagram account that shows him playing with a toddler while a gun rests on the table “next to them”;

    The outspoken fiance of Bristol Palin can be seen playing with a newborn baby in a Instagram photo as a gun sits next to them on a side table.

    Former Marine Dakota Meyer is holding the baby, identified as Rowan, with his gun by his side.

    ‘Just love the fact that there is a pistol laying on the little table behind you,’ wrote one person on the post.

    ‘That’s just how we roll haha,’ joked Meyer.

    Of course, the narrative is that Dakota is a gun nut and that it’s irresponsible for him to have a hand gun in the same room (maybe the same house) with a toddler. But the gun is clearly out of reach of the child, and upon closer examination, the magazine for the 1911-style handgun has been removed – it’s chamber is probably empty as well.

    I think if the media thinks that they can chase Dakota around and stir up controversy about him, they’re going to get a life lesson. The Marine sergeant doesn’t seem to take any shit from anyone. The Inquisitr feels a need to tell us about the laws in Kentucky where Myers resides;

    In Kentucky, the state from which Dakota Meyer hails, it is legal to openly carry a gun even without a permit or license.

    As if any of this is relevant. None of the three articles about this photo bother to point out that the pistol is cleared and unloaded and so it’s as dangerous to the health and welfare of the child as that lamp on the table.

    Thanks to Chief Tango for the link.

    She said

  • But I’m Feeling MUCH Better Now

    West Virginia almost became a safer place to live today.  Our state legislators had passed a bill with large majorities clearing the way for our citizens to freely carry concealed weapons. There were a few reasonable restrictions, but, in general, no longer were special permits and/or fees required. The legislative session ended and the bill went to the Governors desk.

    And Then… This afternoon the Governor vetoed the bill.

    The nature of the process is that it won’t be up for a vote again until the next legislative session – practically speaking  that means next year.

    Curiously, West Virgina is already an open-carry state. One could carry a side arm in a holster, BUT you need a special permit  to wear a coat that might cover the thing.

    Really! It is THAT simple folks.  Not simply carrying a weapon – that’s okay… but throw on a coat to be warm, or a raincoat to be dry, and VIOLA yer a criminal.

    I know it is just politics as usual. Still, I’ve been trying to figure out whether to giggle at the absurdity of this situation or just sit and mumble curses in the general direction of Charleston.

     

  • Yet Another Mass Shooting . . .

    . . . but this one is a bit different.

    Seems that in a city – I’ll name it in a bit – someone went into a restaurant and shot up the place. Several were wounded, and two have died so far.

    Authorities believe the shooting to be gang-related. It’s thought that an automatic weapon was involved.

    However, this isn’t a good news story. The perps got away; there was no one on the scene with a weapon to confront them. And no: that’s not because the restaurant had declared itself to be a “no gun zone”.

    It’s because the shooting happened in Goteborg, the second largest city in Sweden – or, as someone we “know and love” might spell it, “Sweaden”. (smile) One of those calm, safe, “nanny-state” countries in Europe that US gun control advocates keep holding up as the “model we need to emulate”.

    There was no one to oppose the shooter because Sweden’s firearms laws make it exceptionally difficult to obtain a permit for concealed carry. While firearms ownership is legal, virtually all firearms ownership requires a permit (a few exceptions – including weapons made before 1890 which do not use “gas-tight unit cartridges” and air rifles – require no permit). The number of firearms that may be owned is restricted unless one can demonstrate a “valid reason” for owning more.

    Even carrying a weapon in public in Sweden is in general unlawful unless for a “specific, legal purpose” such as hunting or going to a gun range. Concealed carry permits are rarely issued to anyone except police and “specially-trained security officers” – and only then when one can demonstrate compelling need, such as a “proven and very real threat to one’s life”.

    Yet the incident happened in Sweden anyway – in spite of Sweden’s rather severe restrictions on firearms. And the article goes on to state that violence involving firearms is “is not uncommon in Sweden’s major cities”, though incidents such as this one are said to be “rare”.

    Sounds like criminals in Sweden pay about as much attention to gun laws as criminals here. So, pray tell: what makes our “liberal brethren” think new gun control laws here will work any better than they do today in Sweden in preventing gun crime?