Call it What it REALLY Is

The Smallest Minority has an article by a former A.G. who seems to see the crux of the problem of Gun Violence: focus on the bad guys who have guns, not on the "evil guns" themselves.

May be worth a read; and if so, definitely worth thinking about.

Or you can just ignore it ... to your detriment.

Something to keep in mind the next time you find yourself arguing with a friend who just doesn't seem to "get it".

And another "Good Guy" bites the dust

Xavier ("The Nurse with a Gun") is hanging up his blog.

I'm reminded of the song "The End" (from "Apocalypse NOW") by The Doors. Except when we got to the end of that movie, I was drawn to watch the end sequence even as I moved toward the exit.

Xavier is (was?) entirely Something Else.

Over the years I have stolen shamelessly from his blog, and every time I did he made me look good.

My hope is that he changes his mind. I have not always appreciated every single article he wrote, but I have read the all because he can make even photography and bicycles interesting.

Now I find that I'm watching The End of Xavier, as I'm moving toward the exit.

Perhaps "Xavier Thoughts" is not really dying from ennui. Perhaps if I cross my fingers and hope strongly enough, he will change his mind. And perhaps I will wake up tomorrow and discover that it is all just a cruel joke.

But if not, I can understand why a man who has published significant and meaningful articles for years might willingly hang up his hat and move on.

We saw it with Kim DuTuit a couple of years ago, so I know it happens.

But it's a damn shame for a quality Blogger to be driven from the Public Venue just because he tires of dealing with obstreperous readers.

Maybe if I beg him, he will change his mind?

Worth a try.

And it may be worth your while to stop by and do your own share of begging.

Jerry Miculek and the "Practical Rifle"

From Jim Shepherd's Shooting Wire, we learn that Jerry Miculek is offering a DVD set on shooting Practical Rifle:

Last night, I got word that Jerry Miculek and his Bang, Inc. had collaborated with Brownell's to create a DVD set that teaches the Miculek approach to today's practical rifle- the AR-15. Called "The Jerry Miculek Practical Rifle" this 3-DVD set provides more than two hours of Miculek on the modern rifle.

From the basics of rifle setup to grip, stance and trigger control, Miculek offers insights that will help you master your AR-style rifle whether you're a hunter, competitor or in law enforcement.

Jerry's mastery of the AR in practical application comes through when you see some of the drills on shooting multiple and moving targets, shooting from behind cover, reloading and even malfunction drills. And the lessons aren't long ones. They are in bite-sized, easy digested lengths, and illustrated with animations, slow motion and innovative camera angles that allow you to not only see the "how" but the "why" in his teaching.

The DVDs won't be available until the end of January, but you can see a demo for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBwDCbybnCA.

If you've been amazed by Miculek's shooting skills on a variety of television programs (like me), you'll want to hear the high-speed shooter's slow-talking explanations of how he does what he does.

Not all of us will get the opportunity to train with Jerry, but now all of us can see - and hear- some of his advice and instruction at speeds we can handle.

Here's the video:

While you're viewing the video, take note of what Jerry is doing with his Support Hand.

The thumb is laid over the top of the foregrip, and his pointing finger is pointing at ... what else ... the target. There's some discussion in recent days about how this helps indexing the muzzle from one target to the next.

Also notice that, when he isn't paying attention to the camera but rather is indexing from one target to the next, he tends to cant the rifle about 40 degrees counter-clockwise ... at least, for a right-handed shooter. This is (old-school) not recommended for long-range accurate shooting, but if it helps Jerry ... well, there may be an advantage when engaging many near-targets. We're talking about fat targets within 20 - 50 yards, so apparently parallax isn't as important as centering the target with your sight picture and getting that double-tap off quick.

I found a thread on the Brian Enos site which discussed shooting with your rifle canted. Apparently, there's a way to adjust for 'cant', which suggests (according to "jaredr") that the ...

rule of thumb was aiming "high on the magazine side", i.e. when rolling rifle left (ejection port up), then aim high right (i.e. the side the magazine is sticking out on". Most shooters found that when rolling the rifle 90 degrees, their POI would shift approx 6" - 8" down and to the side. A 2:00 or 10:00 hold worked for me.

I've shot a lot of Pistol stages with the gun canted, especially when engaging "weak-hand only", and at the distances (under 20 yards) involved it doesn't seem to much matter how much the gun is canted, but the ability to find and hold a sight picture long enough to squeeze the trigger.

Still, it looks odd to watch a Grand Master engaging targets quickly and accurately with such an extreme cant.

But that's just me.

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Nancy Pelosi Is A Horrible Woman! Jack Cafferty

Nancy Pelosi sent 20 staff and members of congress ... along with their spouses and children ... to the Copenhagen Climate Summit last month. The cost of the military jets (two 737s and a Gulfstream 5) exceeded $700,000 dollars. Pelosi decided who went, but she refused to answer any questions about costs.

See this for the details:



But now take a look at this video of a Nancy Pelosi speech to Congress on September 29, 2008. Just when America is searching desperately for a viable Presidential Candidate, and during the era of the "Bailout" Nancy the Horrible discusses the Democratic view of George W. Bush's term in office.

She offers comments about a "Seven Hundred Billion Dollars" and presidential "Recklessness Economic Policy" ("Anything Goes Mentality ... no regulation, no supervision, no discipline. .. Those Days are over!").

She lauds the leadership of Barney Frank, who was responsible as much as anyone else for the collapse of the Mortgage market (Fannie Mae, etc.)

Other notable sound-clips:

"Not Jobs, Not Capital ... Chaos!"

"Secretary of the treasury Czar-like Powers ..."

"Working together in a bi-partisan way we were able to ...."

"Unemployment is up ..."

"Working together we managed to put together some standards, and I'm really proud of what Barney Frank said ... Barney insisted that we would have forbearance on foreclosure ... help responsible home-owners stay in their home ... Strong, strong oversight. Equity for the taxpayer .. oversight on what the government for what they were doing ... end to the Golden parachute."

".... the American people have to pick up the tab." "Protection of the taxpayer. We need to stabilize the market ..."

"If we can't get the 700,000,000,00 back that we have invested ..."

"The minute that things get tough [snaps her fingers], they nationalize the risk..."


I can't go on any longer.

Pelosi should be making this same speech today, except that she should be talking about the Democrats and instead of talking about Billions of dollars, she could be talking about TRILLIONS of dollars!

But Nancy the Horrible is no longer inclined to denounce the Nationalization of Businesses, or the spending of taxpayer dollars. Why? Because it is HER guy who is trashing the economy. It is HER guy who is nationalizing businesses. It is HER guy who is making the same economically unsound Hail-Mary plays with the national economy, and she thinks it's A Good Idea.

Politicians. I hate them. Liars, Damned Liars, and Politicians.

Texas SASS

The Hobo Brasser is Snow-Birding in Texas again. I received this email from him a couple of days ago. The say that" Old Dogs can't learn New Tricks". That may be true, but anybody who's a shooter knows that any excuse to shoot somebody else's guns is a good excuse.

Well last Sunday it was either drive 320 mi round trip to Corpus Christi @ 2.79/gal or shoot Cowboy in McAllen. There is a local small, but very active cowboy group here. I know all of them, because they all shoot speed steel and some shoot IPSC. Three of them offered to let me use their guns. A no brainer huh?

They had four stages and in all it took about the same length of time as an IPSC match. Each stage had 10 rifle, 10 pistol and 2-4 shotgun. The guns I borrowed were a Marlin model 1894, two Ruger Bisleys and a model 94 shotgun with a short barrel. The rifle and pistols were in .38 spl. I supplied my own ammo.

On all stages the course description called for one on each and repeat with the pistols. My very first pistol target, I double tapped for a procedural. Old habits don't die they just surface at inopportune times. Cowboy scores time+ so I had 15 seconds added to my time for this and a miss I had on another stage. I finished 3rd overall out of 14 shooters and was 7 secs behind 2nd place. 27 behind first place.

It was a lot of fun. Cowboy requires you to remember things like how many shots on each target and a sequence to shoot them. I got a shotgun target out of sequence, but was not penalized when several people pointed out that the walkthrough was not specific enough.

I'm not rushing out and buying new guns and lord knows I cannot afford the clothes, but all said, I will be doing this again next month.

Talking to the shooters, all friends from other disciplines, I learned some interesting things about cowboy guns. Most, if not all, cowboy guns do not run smoothly off the shelf. They have to be tuned. Even double barrel shotguns. Uberti rifles are way over priced. Two people have them and said they had to tune and polish and keep working on them. On guys said he will not have another one. The most popular rifles are Marlins and the pistols are 90% Ruger's of one model or another.

Next month I'll wear my cowboy boots and maybe get a cheap hat (I left my good one at home-in Oregon). Ah well, next Sunday is speed steel and at the end of February I will drive to Corpus for the Texas State Carbine Championships which I will shoot with my CX4.

There's more there than I ever wanted to know about SASS, but it appears that the Good Ol' Boys in Texas aren't too proud to let a Dude shoot with him. Suppose he wore his Air Jordans to the match?

Bob Howard Medal of Honor Winner, Vietnam Veteran, Dies at 70 | NowPublic News Coverage

Bob Howard Medal of Honor Winner, Vietnam Veteran, Dies at 70 | NowPublic News Coverage

Bob Howard (Robert L. Howard) a Medal of Honor winner and one of the most highly decorated soldiers from the Vietnam War died December 23, 2009, at age 70 in Waco, Texas.

He was born July 11, 1939 in Opelika, Alabama, and served in the Army from 1956 to 1992. He served five tours in Vietnam and was a Sergeant First Class in the Special Forces on December 30, 1968 when he rallied his troops against 250 enemy soldiers despite being outnumbered and unable to walk himself. He was injured from grenade blasts and he was still the last man to board the helicopter out of there.

He was nominated for the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor, three times during a 13-month period. His long list of awards also included the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star and eight Purple Hearts.

He is remembered most for caring about his country and about the people in it.

He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

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That's the crux of the article. But watch this video to understand just how Bob Howard is an inspiration to all of us who think ourselves to be Men