How's that again?

"It's just tragic, that based on the guns that are on the streets, that three young men have lost their lives today," Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis said.

I defy anyone to parse that sentence for linear logic. 

I suppose he meant "because of" rather than "based on." It would be just as bone-headed, but at least it would illustrate that Chief Jody is up to the demands of constructing a simple declarative sentence.

Heeeeeere they come again

Southside Chicago: Three teenagers killed in a gang war, and the responsible party is an "assault rifle."  The newspaper leads varied from "an apparent assault rifle" to "at least one assault rifle." But the dreaded words were always in the lead, usually also in the headline. 

In a better world reporters would follow up with a few salient facts:

-- Unregistered "assault rifles" are already illegal in America.

-- Guns that look like assault rifles are already illegal in Chicago.

-- The shooter possessed whatever kind of gun  it was illegally unless he had an Illinois Firearms Owners Identification Card. Any bets?

-- The shooter had an uncased and  loaded rifle in the car, and that's already illegal.

I know TMR readers already know this stuff, but it's offered as a handy guide for instant education of the hand-wringers you may know. We might also ask them to explain why some new gun law would dissuade such shooters. 

Steel yourselves. The left is in national  control, and the gun-ban media are anxious to bang the drums for any placebo that appears to "do something." 

Financial Management

Writing that latest post reminded me that it is cheaper these days to drill a hole in a penny (and sometimes a nickle)  than it is to buy a flat washer. I believe that will answer whatever other questions you may have about the American economy.

Bra Straps

Sometimes I think we need to suspend the First Amendment as it applies to the advertising industry.  

In a single 30-minute jabbermercial, some outfit is creating a brand new trauma for the world's  women, to wit, unstable bra straps sometimes slip and reveal to an aghast world that the lady does, in fact, use suspension. Clinical depression ensues.

The solution to trauma is a revolutionary piece of plastic about the size of a half-dollar with a couple-three slits and holes. If Ms. America can control her sobbing hysteria long enough, she weaves her straps into it, slips it up or down, and in a moment of pure magic becomes the Belle of Gloccamora, perfectly yet invisibly  cantilevered for just $19.95 plus $5.95 S&H. Call now. Have your credit card ready.

It doesn't take many spazz decisions like that to eat up the mortgage money.  

(Gender equity nod: Don't even get me  started on Extenze or howeverthehell you spell it.)

There are obviously enough insecure gullibles to make these pitches profitable. They are allowed to vote. Ditech loaned them McMansion money.  That should take care of most of your questions about the economic meltdown.

Obama's Economic Succubus

The Christian Science Monitor this morning offers a calm, measured analysis of the Economic Disaster Plan. It notes that the immediate effect is the tax credit boosting the average weekly pay check by $13, and...

"The hope is that taxpayers will react to the new cash, however small it is, by temporarily adjusting their opinions of how much money they make, and spending accordingly."

There it is. My  income is not a datum. It is an opinion. Or sort of, y'know, like a feeling or a vibe. So off to this singles bar I know; sidle up to the two hottest chicks in  the joint. "What color cars you girls want?"

Well, Suntory IS pretty good

Poor old Shoichi Nakagawa showed up stinko at a news conference and was forced to resign at Japan's finance minister.

Seems a bit unfair. As P. J. O'Rourke remarked in a similar situation, "We let Ted Kennedy vote in the Senate all the time."

Milestone

“We’ve passed the most comprehensive sweeping legislation as it relates to economic activity, ever, in a three-week period of time,” White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told reporters ... (Bloomberg).

And that statist (&^)()&*^^&%) said it as though it was a good thing.

The Cost of Freedom

The Sioux Falls show is a big one.  For what it's worth:

--The $2,000 price range for issue 1911s and A1s is bringing them out of the safes. Saw more at this show than any I can recall for years.  So-so examples are offered around $1800 very nice ones around $2,000 up to one good 1911 at $3,000.

--The actual value of an M1Carbine is anyone's guess. Today's range was $750-$1250 with no apparent correlation of maker, condition, etc. to price.

--WW2 webbing is going out of sight --pistol belts $30 and more. .45 pouches $10 plus. A humdrum-shape canteen with cup and cover at $55.

--Mossberg .22s are drawing a little collector interest at last. One two-table dealer specializes in them. 

--All the Winchester 22s from the 1930s-50s seem to be gaining a little value. 

--Otherwise we didn't notice much gun-price movement compared to early 2008. Economic problems are apparently outweighing the Obama-driven rush to buy.

--EDIT: The comment just above ignores whatever might be happening to EBR prices. We just don't pay much attention to them. 

Loopholing

It is by official decree of His Majesty's Government  both a sniper rifle and an assault weapon, fully capable of modification to accept a silencer.

Or, as the Brits called it in 1941, a "sound moderator." 

Winston's plan was to issue  the Winchester 74s to the able-bodied in coastal counties. They would lay low as the German invasion wave swept over them, then emerge in the Nazi rear -- take the image any way you want -- to wreck general havoc. Some 74s  were equipped with "No.42 straight scopes"  and the government freely admitted they should be employed by citizens for assassinating Wehrmacht  officers and "important administrative officials."

More on this noble use of one of the excellent little .22 semi-autos here. Dandy site, by the way, for  research on several civilian rifles we sent to Albion when she needed them. 

Anyway, the pretty one that got loopholed*  in Dakota Territory today joins a twin brother in the rack, and the guy who bought it says he's now damned well ready to defend liberty against any heathen hordes of left-wing gophers.

---

*Decent citizens rightfully despise gratuitous verbing,  but the the blooming idiots on the left have made "loopholed" and its derivatives  both useful and graceful. 

 

Blooming idiots

I'm too old to cry, too BTDTish to be surprised. But I'm fully capable of anger when I read crap like this. Give a cop a gun and he hands you a rose and a cheap gift  card on Valentine's Day.

And everyone says  wow, what a neat thing to do, New-Age-wise.

Note to a lawmaker

Everyone should cultivate a good working relationship with at least one state legislator. If you do, you'll probably get actual answers to little notes like this:

---

M****,

Can you find a spare few minutes this week to make a check for gun bills -- pro or anti -- that might be hiding in some committee chairman's drawer or otherwise on a stealthy road to last-day passage? 

With everyone focused on the economy, the gun banners might try to sneak one through.

Thanks
Jim

----

Forces of Light in my state are fully engaged with the enemy which, this session, happens to be the more ambitious and self-important union bosses.  A little later the big headlines will be about how we're divvying up the Obamian New-Age Unicorn Money (about $1.9 billion in this state.) 

What with the crisis and all,  most folks are paying attention only to getting their cut of the federal loot, and that creates lots cracks where bad bills can be slipped through almost unnoticed -- often as amendments to must-pass measures. And does anyone doubt that in every state, some smart lobbyist in the pay of the antigun left is looking for ways to exploit popular inattention?  

Drop your legislator a little line this morning, eh? Even if he ignores it, it will make you feel all snug and cuddlywarm.

... and pass the ammunition

From the Christian Science Monitor:

A bill to allow Arkansas churchgoers to carry concealed guns was passed Wednesday by the state's House of Representatives by a 57-to-42 vote. The measure, introduced in response to a series of church shootings across the country, now moves to the Senate.

HR 45 - Gun Control from an Expert

This is the brain child of one Bobby Rush who earned his first 15 minutes by going  long-term Army AWOL, founding the Illinois Black Panthers, and then doing six months in prison

.  

More lately he's been one of the Nation's Leaders, a nine-term congressman from Southside Chicago, but he's had trouble finding another Warholian quarter-hour. Trying again, Congressman Rush has created H.R. 45, a simple little bill making you license yourself and most every gun  you own. 

For whatever interest it may hold,  (a) Bobby's slammer time resulted from gun-law violations (b) prior to joining the crowd at the public tit, he listed his occupation as "activist." I think that's kinda like a community organizer, although the latter seems to be a more productive resume entry.

10-33! -- Unauthorized Fornication

With nothing much else to do,  City Leaders in Council Bluffs decided there was just too much unsanctioned coupling going on along the banks of the Missouri. Time to show those low-life hoes and their Johns.  The sting worked, but, ooops.

The armed Copulation Controllers snagged six would-be customers,  including a Council Bluffs city councilman, one school board president, one lawyer,  and one teacher.  Only  two were Commoners. 

Thus,  two-thirds of the scoundrels who sin against decency are members of the classes which write,  teach,  and interpret  the Purity Statutes. 

Statistics can be fun, I muse, preparing to cite myself on the topic.

 

Dream a Little Dream

Whatever the Bush/GOP sleaze index may have been, Obamastan seem to be catching up in a hurry. So  there's this vision I've been having.  Chuck Schumer seeks romance in an airport men's room. Then Joe Biden takes Hillary bird hunting in Texas.

First annual ...

Travis McGunGeek award to Dr. Strangegun for his fine photo essay on detail stripping the 1911 frame.  If you own one or plan to, it's a must-read.

Dr. S is carbinizing the JMB classic too, but with a complete new Buck Rogers top in a, errr,  subcaliber.

Trigger-happy

To a guy brought up on the elegance of Mausers and 1903s, the Stevens folks got carried away with moving parts on their 110e trigger. Five-count-em-five adjusting screws in the trigger group, enough to make it imprudent to wing it based on experience.* 

So you go to the internet and discover what the Stevens design fellows had in mind. Ten minutes later you're smiling.  The letoff isn't crisp, but it's better than pretty good, and I won't have that venerable "crappy trigger" excuse for missing. 

You also learn the sear and associated  parts are made of sintered metal, and the hardening is no deeper than Obamian economic understanding. So put the hones away.  Right now.

I think I'm going to like this one enough to float the barrel and pretty it up a bit, maybe try a new magic formula I thought up for making birch look something  like walnut. Stay tuned.

---

*"Experience"  -- that accumulation of knowledge permitting me to credibly explain how I screwed up this time.   

Roger Miller, economist

The beginning of wisdom:

"Two hours of pushin' broom gets an eight-by-twelve four-bit room."

Four hours gets you a better one. 

The notion takes root: five years of pushin' broom and brain and you're in a three-bedroom split level,  worth more than you owe.  Further application leads to a magnificent view from your paid-for veranda. And you own a safe because you need one.

The Fix is Sin

Some Washington  mentalities -- even at the congressional level -- are slowly grasping that economic stimulus as Obama, Reid, &Co. understand it is a socialist wish list. 

So these so-called moderates and conservatives are reverting to a simpler theme -- the  warm snuggery of the rain-tight roof and elegant window treatments, i.e. "We must fix housing." 

Now,  it is quite true that my house is broken. To a rational soul that means that if I stopped all this damned writing and got out the carpentry tools it would be fixed.

My Leaders  think it means my Fairy Godmother (probably about a GS16) should wave her wand and make it worth more money. Then I have more "equity." Then I can borrow money against my "equity" and buy stuff.  Then Starbucks won't have to peddle value meals. Then we're all rich again, at least until I've spent all my equity again. 

"Keep people in their homes."  Think about that possessive pronoun.

Supposing I had seen the place where I live, coveted it, and set out to make it "mine." Penniless and witless, I  borrowed the down payment and accepted a ruinous mortgage for the rest.  I get to move into the place, hang my pictures, and lay down a commode-hugging rug -- any color I want. 

But no tortured logic, no further waterboarding of the English language, makes that house "mine."

What I actually have is the monthly right to to send the bank money so I may continue to live in the bank's house.  I don't own anything.  I suppose that's Ron Paul's fault.

Tasering the Language

Daschle took a dive. Zzzzzz. Old news by now.

But the assault on English continues. Through at least three separate leads (updates),  AP has described his wimpout as "stunning." 

The word is strictly the reporter's, a piece of his "objective" narrative.  He does not quote anyone who is a qualified expert in the analysis of what is or is not stunning.

I didn't find it "stunning" that the former senator caved in. Neither did anyone I've talked with.  About as strong as a rational mind can go is to call it a little surprising this early in the game, especially given the Senate's stunning acceptance of tax-evader Teddy G.

Aside: Does Obama's "absolute" backing of Daschle (until he stunned) remind anyone else of McGovern's "1,000 per cent" loyalty to Tom Eagleton?

EDIT: Finally, in a fourth (or more) lead,  an authoritative source. AP reports: "I was a little stunned. I thought he was going to get confirmed," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont...." 

Uggo in .30-06 and bushido stupido

Don't say I didn't warn urbanites against sneering at us bucolics who while away hours at tiny gun shows.  The 75-table extravaganza Sunday boosted my lethality potential noticeably but cheaply.

Item 1: The Stevens 110e lacks visual grace. One's impulse is to opine, however wrongly, that such ugliness bespeaks  British origins (think Webley). Never mind. Its hole accommodates .30-06.  A quick trial proves it feeds, goes bang, and ejects,  plus you can see all the way through the genuine Bushnell Sharpshooter 3-9 scope. (Always insist on quality.) Two hundred bucks including the extended warranty, to wit:  "I haven't shot it, Jim. But take 'er home and if it isn't right, I'll take 'er  back." 

Item 2:  The Japanese once decided they could sell a  four-inch lockback with a floating hilt or whatever you want to call it. It looks like a shabby  Buck knockoff, but a substantial handguard folds and deploys with the blade, something new to me.  Ninja-mod cool.

The rifle is a low-round piece, though it needs a little cosmetic help. The goofy knife requires replacement grips. (I have some cocobala; nothing like a ten dollars worth of wood  on a three-dollar knife.)  

Okay, so the knife was a foolish extravagance. I made up for it by getting my buddy to pay for the beer. 

Since you insist, the Stevens did not come with documentation. Worrisome as Hell, eh Ms. Pelosi?

Next up: The big and beautiful Dakota Territory Gun Collectors Association show is 11 days away.  It's in Sioux Falls, but I suppose I can tolerate a megalopolis for a day or two. I mean, how often does a guy get to ogle the four or five old revolvers that killed Jesse James?

More on the uggo 1911 project

About a month ago I posted a bit on carbinizing a 1911A1. Sunday a reader was kind enough to ask about it.

"I assume that you, like me, bought one of those "carbine conversion kits" and then found that you were expected to grind away the back of your 1911 frame to get the shoulder stock to fit."

This stock requires mangling only an arched mainspring housing -- grooves for  the screw-clamp and a detente groove  in the rear for a tightening stud. I suppose guys working on a GI issue model would just buy a dedicated spare housing. 

"I couldn't find many other posts on on your blog about this topic, and I will be interested to hear about your progress."

No progress to report because (a) the shop is too damned cold and (b) I always have too many stupid projects pending to do prompt justice to any of them. This one should be ready to shoot in April or so -- depending on whether a possible March trip to Merry Old England actually occurs.  

"Can you direct me to any other web resources on this topic?"

Google "carbinize Colt 1911" and you'll get some hits on a newer kit that uses a lot of that crappin' plastic. I'd like to know more about my walnut-stock version (gun-show find)  but haven't found a thing yet.

Thanks for asking. 

Respite from Politics

Gun show today folks. A ~75-table affair 50 minutes down the road. Yuk it up you urbanites.  Last one like it - maybe smaller - yielded a minty pre-Series 70 Colt SS 1911. To tell you the price would be to ruin your day.

No special want list this time, but I'm fooling with notion of dickering for another .30-06 bolt action. And I need .25 bullets, around 117 grains.  Real bad, although not bad enough to cough up two bits a round, a price I consider violative of my Second Amendment rights.

I may or may not find them. The only thing fer shure is some laughs and a decent beer-and-burger stop on the way home.