Gunblogger Rendevous, con't

Wake up in Leavenworth, have breakfast in Phoenix, and lunch at Carnelian Bay on Lake Tahoe. Gotta lurve the marvels of modern transportation!

Best.Margarita.Ever at Gar Wood's in Carnelian Bay. Gonna hafta find some agave nectar for CastleRitas.

Snow, slush, rain, sun, breeze, brisk temps, the smell of a pine forest - what's not to like?

We've met Mr. Completely, Rivrdog, and a blogger I'm kicking myself to remember - I think it's Conservative UAW Guy... whose guns got lost by the airline yesterday but were recovered and delivered at 1AM this morning. The Circus-Circus has been great to work with (and I would note that the facility here is really rather nicer than their property down in Las Vegas). They did ask if we'd store our firearms in the rooms rather than in their rather-too-small for this group facility in the office. But they have been gracious hosts.

Rivrdog brought three cases of Oregon microbrews for us to knock down...

Much discussion of beer and brown spirits. This might be a verrrrrrrrrry interesting crowd to spend a day at the range with. Very different crowd, so far, from a milblogger meet! More characters, if that can be believed...

SWWBO is asleep at the moment, dragging from not having slept last night worrying about all the things that could go wrong (she worries, so I don't have to- good thing, too - because she's going to worry whether or not I do), the altitude, and walking around at altitude.

I made the mistake of checking my work email... and that generated... work. D-oh! More to follow after I get the incriminating pictures taken and delete any taken of me...

Gunblogger Rendevous!

SWWBO and I are here this weekend, while Prodigal Son guards the demesne.

The Gunblogger Rendezvous!

To keep you busy while we're getting there, another Whatzis? This one... well, this one is for MajMike.

Sometime last century.

A Giant Has Passed.

Colonel Jeff Cooper. Rifleman. Pistolero.

A giant in the field of firearms. The Armorer is a pale, pale, pale reflection, a shadow furtively lurking *in* the Colonel's shadow.

As JimB observed - at least now we know there will be a well-run range in Heaven.

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam.

It's that time again... Periodic Goblin Warnings...

This is my basement:

It's been a while since I've done this, and we've lost readers and gained new ones. So, it's time to drag this thing back up into the light for all you not-long-time readers. This is just a periodic post for relative newbies to the site who don't realize the real reason I set this thing up was to share my gun and militaria collection -The Arsenal of Argghhh! - with the world. I decided to move out from primary deviancy (where you hide what you are) and move past secondary (where everybody knows what you are) to tertiary - where you embrace what you are - and point out you don't know what the guy next door has in his basement... but that doesn't mean he's a nut. I did that after a friend asked me to be the guest speaker on the subject of gun collecting at my Rotary Club (which has a fair number of liberals in it) and the response was not hostile, though some were taken aback - but mostly, "Wow - that's kinda kewl, and you aren't some troll hunkered down in your basement with racks of AR15s and cases of ammo waiting for the Apocalypse..." Mind you, if you have a rack of AR15 and cases of ammo, that's fine with me, as long as you aren't (hopefully) delusional on top of that... if you are, get out more, eh? I *do* have cases of ammo, but they aren't stored with the weapons... But be damned if I'm going to spend the money on new-manufactured when there's all the nice surplus fodder out there! But that experience, along with being poked by Beth and Jonah to blog, is what got the Castle established, back on Blogspot, three years and 610,679 1,498,188 unique visits ago.

As the blog has morphed over time, now and again I've gotten a little too wrapped up in the politics and the war - and, well, yes, work, too - and I've strayed a bit from my roots. A lot, really. Well, that and the great parties the Denizens throw in the comment sections now and again... It makes it fun when sometimes it's real work to maintain.

I don't believe that I make the mistake that many celebrities make - that my opinions on things political somehow matter more than others. Not really. The Denizens are always there to deflate the ego. This is more the equivalent of standing on a soapbox at "Speakers Corner". And you have to come find me - I'm not infesting broadcast media. You *ask* my server for these packets.

Anyway - for you guys who are here because you heard that John of Argghhh! actually sometimes talked about guns and militaria - here's the navigation map to The Story So Far. They link to the appropriate archives by topic. I'm (still)working a new post on the evolution of the Vickers Machine gun - but these things take time! In fact, here's proof - I have the collecting jones so bad that I actually tracked down this - an actual Australian Army inventory sheet - so that I could fill this (procured buck-nekkid empty three years ago) so that it looks like this. (and the dang post *still* isn't finished... too much work and too many bright shiny objects!)

Hi-res click here.

Anyway - here's some linkages to the discussions - where it says "The Arsenal" is a link to the photo-archive. (always available on the sidebar) - the rest are links to the blog archives.

Rifles
Pistols
Sub-machine Guns
Machine Guns
Gun Pr0n: A Naughty Expose' of the fiddly-bits.
Artillery
Grenades
Helmets
Ammunition
General Militaria
Guns by Nation

And, of course, there is always the direct link to the Imperial Arsenal itself!

Visitors should also note the following caveats:

Periodic Goblin Warning (SM)

As a service to Goblins who are considering Seizing The Arsenal (this excludes LE types: y'all come with a warrant, knock [no no-knocks, please, the front door is expensive], take what the warrant specifies and we'll talk about it in court - just please take care of 'em, you know, periodic cleaning, oiling, etc. They're used to being spoiled like that) here is a periodic warning on Why Trying To Steal My Collection Isn't A Good Idea.

Note to thieves trying to figure out where I live: Once you do that, you've got to get past the living interior and exterior guard, the security system (hint, cutting the phone and cable WON'T help), and finally, if I'm home - me. WonderWife (TM) v3.x is also right handy with the Winchester M97 trench gun. I like that one because it's handy, will blow you into large chunks, but not pass through the walls of the house to annoy my neighbors. Hardwood floors, so clean-up is easy. I'm a reasonable fellow, if you surrender meekly or run away, that will be fine. Not interested in killing or maiming anyone unless you are dumb enough to attack me or my family. The furry members count as family, BTW. Do that, then I will clean the gene pool. Plus guys, impressive as it looks, it's not as valuable as you might think - and it would be very hard to move, since you would be flooding the market. Not to mention the fact that every dealer within a (classified) radius would have a list of serial numbers and descriptions within 24 hours (ain't the internet great?). Oh, yeah - did I mention that robbing licensees is a federal offense? The feds don't go overboard after little stuff, but whacking this collection would likely garner their interest - so choose your accomodations! Plus 'bangers won't like these - the ones that look like they can shoot a lot - can't, and many of them won't work properly if you hold them sideways like they do in the movies.

So, go find an easier target, eh? No - better yet - get a real job that has better fringes.

Periodic Disclaimer for anti-gunners and law enforcement surfers (I don't mind you LE types) Heck, I don't mind the anti-gun types until they start trying to send LE types to take 'em away... here we go with the Periodic Disclaimer (TM):

Everything you ever see in photos here that I own is fully legal to own, federal, state, and local - WHERE I LIVE! Your mileage may vary, such as living in the Borg Collectives of California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, etc. Though ya might be surprised to find out what's legal where you live. I am a licensed collector (which isn't a license to collect, just to receive via the mails), and that only applies to curio and relic firearms. Fortunately, that's about all I want to own. On these pages I will from time to time share my toys, much like Kim du Toit does.

Baby Pictures!

From Publicola, mind you - so you can guess what kind of baby... about 8.5 inches or so and 30 ounces. Werekitty! Sit! Stay!

hey y'all,

I picked this up last weekend. I had ordered it in April. Not crazy about the wait time but it seems to have been worth it.

Witness Elite Match. 4.75" barrel, 33 ounces empty, single action w/ over travel stop, extended mag release, adjustable sights (windage & elevation) & two tone finish w/ rubber grips. Mine is in 10mm. The magazine holds 15 rounds. & it's a steel frame.

It's got polygonal rifling which I'm no fan of but they didn't offer conventional rifling as an option. I may get a replacement barrel for it one day. I'm also thinking about switching out the rubber grips for some nicely figured wood, but I'll see how it shoots before I make up my mind. I'm not crazy about the two tone finish either. I mean it looks nice & all but I might make it a nice matte black all the way around in the next few weeks.

& no I haven't made it to the range yet. I'll try to do a range report on it when I get a chance. Just wanted to share a peek with y'all.

take care,

Publicola

Larger pics available here, here (note his reading material), and here.

Feel free to send in your baby pictures, too!

Gun Blogger Rendevous.

A note from Mr. Completely:

The Gun Blogger Rendezvous is only a couple of months away, and registration for the dinner is way below what it needs to be. I haven't got a head count in front of me, but it's about a dozen people total, near as I remember. I think what's needed is for two or three of the big high-profile bloggers to commit to be there, and then have then make a big splash on their blog about it, so others will join in. You and Murdoc have been great slipping in a plug here and there and it's really appreciated, and a couple of other bloggers have been great too, but it's just not getting the job done. I'm just failing badly on getting the word out and encouraging folks to attend. So far I've got range time lined up, hospitality rooms for Friday and Saturday night, discount room rates, a Saturday night banquet with an outstanding guest of honor, and Reno itself as an attraction. The Rendezvous has all the stuff to be a fantastic weekend, and it's going to be fun anyway even if only a small group attend, but it ought to be a slam dunk to get 50 or 60 folks at a minimum, I'd think. KOS got over a thousand moonbats into Las Vegas earlier this year, you'd think between mil and gun bloggers we ought to be able to get 5% of that to a Gun Blogger Blogfest!

Reno, Nevada October 6th., 7th., and 8th at the Circus Circus Hotel.

Otay - serious question here, gun nutz: what's it gonna take to get you guys to go? Help a brother out here. Venue, cost, timing, who gives a fark? So far, every blogfest I've attended has been worth the effort of getting there... what will it take to get some of you guys there?

SWWBO and I *like* Reno, it's a beautiful place, and Lake Tahoe is an hour away. I've got a client deliverable to work around - but as of right now, we intend to be there.

Public Service Announcement:

Bored with the same old dull, sit-in-chairs-listening-to-bloggers-earnestly-discuss-how-important-they-are kind of conference? (Hey, I was there, I was as self-important as anyone, and lord the Press made sure we knew about YearlyKOS!)

Interested in attending about the most dangerous gathering of bloggers since YearlyKos? The Gunblogger Rendevous in Reno, Nevada! Well, dangerous if you're Sarah Brady, or The Senators SchuBoxerClinStein The pic says it all!. C'mon, Blogs, guns, booze, and gambling. Pretty much what we're fighting for around the globe, ain't it? At least *the bad guys" think so.

SWWBO and I are going to try to be there, too - client willing and the creek don't rise.

H/t to Ride Fast and Shoot Straight for the pic.

Announcement is made...

Of the 1st Milbloggers Shootout! Francis Marion is recruiting.

Maggie claims she doesn't shoot, and what sort of entertainment will we provide her?

I say - she runs the butts.

Now, who will be first to explain why *that* is simply perfect?

Speaking of horrible disappointments...

(The post below is about husbands...)

Imagine being *me*, the Freakin' Armorer for pity's sake, and coming across this in the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

Egads, what was the point of visiting the place, indeed, what is the *purpose* of the place, if not the National Firearms Study Gallery? I was so looking forward to the Sarah BoxSchumerstein Exhibit! Featuring Senator Feinstein displaying all her skillz in this safety briefing...

Stolen Gun Alert

Okay collectors (if any of you guys still read this space)...

There was a big theft at Ft. Davis, Texas, National Historic Site.
If you see or hear of any of the following guns being offered for sale, contact the following person. :

John R. Heiner Chief of Interpretation Fort Davis National Historic Site National Park Service (432) 426-3224, ext. 23; or(432) 426-3122 (Fax)

Print this out if you're trolling the gun show circuit and if you find nice examples of the following weapons see if any MATCH these descriptions:

ALLEN & THURBER BAR HAMMER PERCUSSION PISTOL .36 cal. Manufactured by Allen & Thurber, Grafton, Ma. -. "319\" stamped upside down, left side of barrel; oval steel triggerguard stamped inside with \"287.\" - Museum number FODA # 4381

COLT MODEL 1849 REVOLVER .31. SN# 62416 - Manufactured by Colt, Hartford, Ct. Pistol encased in mahogany case lined with light brown velveteen. Inside of lid covered with velveteen. Case equipped with powder flask, bullet mold, cap tin, and loose bullets. - FODA #s 4376-4380

COLT MODEL 1851 NAVY REVOLVER .36 cal. SN# 101394 - Manufactured by Colt, Hartford, Ct. - FODA # 174

COLT MODEL 1860 ARMY REVOLVER .44 cal. SN# 112540 - Manufactured by Colt, Hartford, Ct. "K 10CAV", "K2K" on left side of barrel. Weapon cut for shoulder stock. FODA #206

COLT MODEL 1873 SAA REVOLVER .45 SN# 11065 - Manufactured by Colt, Hartford, Ct. Mixed serial numbers: 119999 on triggerguard; 190.illegible on butt. FODA# 12

COLT SAA .44RF SN# 316 - Manufactured by Colt, Hartford, Ct. - Weapon converted to centerfire. Barrel cut-down to 5 ½". FODA # 4374

U.S. MODEL 1842 PERCUSSION PISTOL .54 cal. Manufactured by Ira N. Johnson, Middletown, Ct. Barrel is stamped: U.S./SK/8. - FODA # 51

If you find any of them, be polite, put 'em down, leave, and go find the law enforcers and let *them* deal with it. But be thorough and be right. Why? The guy showing the gun isn't neccessarily the thief, okay? I've been there and done that. Bought a stolen gun from a *storefront dealer, not a pawnshop* (I *always* make a copy of a 3373 I fill out for my own records - which sometimes annoys the dealers) and when I traded it to another dealer - he ran the serial number and found out it was stolen. The first dealer (used to be in North Kansas City, Missouri) is no longer in business. Guess who was out the money? Just me. But the cops talked to me about where the gun came from.

Thanks to our friends pushers at Antique and Collectible Firearms and Militaria Headquarters for passing this info along. John Spangler has personally caused some Ramen nights at Castle Argghhh!!!.

As John observed:

Let's hope that the crooks are promply located, and we can all meet back at the local saloon for whiskey for our men and beer for our horses after dispensing justice to the theiving varmints.

How much of a gun nut are you?

Their code is hosed for my installation of Moveable Type (something farked with the table and I don't feel like troubleshooting it) - so here's the relevant data, with an edit or two:

You Are 96% Gun Nut!

You are a true gun nut. The number of guns in your house is probably over five well over 100. All of them are truly effective in your hands. [Well, the ones that are deacts are only effective as bludgeons, and some of them aren't very handy for that...]

Heh. I got one wrong, but I really really really like the wrong answer, because I've got no idea which one I got wrong.

Take the test yourself by clicking here.

H/t, Cowboy Blob.

House Guns

There's a meme running around the Gun Blogs that's interesting.

House Guns, started by Say Uncle, who further elaborates here.

The house gun is merely the gun you keep accessible at your home in case something goes bump in the night. I think there are generally three schools of thought on the house gun: handgun, carbine and shotgun.

The recent escape of a murderer from the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing, Kansas (the little town south of us that butts up against Leavenworth), brought about a relook at the issue here at the Castle. Nothing changed in my choices, but it's always good to revisit key things like that.. The prison is only about 4 miles away from us - though, in truth, the last place escaping inmates want to be is here, hiding in an area that has 6 incarceration facilities...

Here at the Castle, we do two out of the three choices Uncle lays out. Pistols and shotgun. And we do both major varieties of pistol, auto and revolver.

The shotgun is a Winchester Model 97 full-choke 12 gauge, loaded with 00 buckshot. It's the "Fort Up" weapon you'd face if you were to come through the door or windows of the bedroom at SWWBO. The Polish Tokarev, seen here with a magazine of Soviet service ammo in it, is the primary 'roaming gun'.

Here is where I will get snarked by the Home Defenders. The revolver. The load for the revolver is... shot.

Why? I understand *all* the arguments about "In the house and advancing, dead on the floor". Got it. I'll carry the revolver loaded with one round of shot for *two* reasons. 1. It's a critter that has gotten inside. 2. It's a kid. Yes, I know that the feral little savages may be packing and may happily shoot me for a thrill. They could also just be stupid punks. If they're being stupid, they get a "whiff of grape" so to speak, and the chance to leave, and live. If they don't surrender, or run, but come forward after that, or reach for anything, then the Tokarev will speak. And in any situation, if the Tokarev jams, the Smith will bark at least twice in quick succession, and six times if yer stubborn.

That's how I plan to defend the Castle. And with classicly Armorer-style armament, tried, true and proven. None of that new-fangled stuff here. Heck, I was reluctant to put up the flintlock saddle pistols... 8^D. And as our targets show, We can do it. SWWBO - she's just going to turn you into hamburger. Life's tough when yer stupid. Better hope you run into me.

Others blogging their thoughts on house guns are Jeff at Alphecca, Tamara at View From The Porch, Jay, at Toys in the Attic, and South Park Pundit. I'm sure there are more, I'll add 'em if I find 'em.

And with that, and the discussion developing in the comments - it's time to Re-run the Notices (in the Flash Traffic/Extended Entry).

Guns@school

SNERK, Snerk, snerk! From Jeff at Alphecca, discussing an initiative to teach some gun safety in Ohio schools:

The Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence called a potential relationship between schools and guns "a little bit obscene." The group's executive director, Toby Hoover, labeled the effort a ploy by the gun lobby to indoctrinate children in its beliefs.

Meanwhile, local educators said they can't fathom mixing weaponry with the classroom.

"I really think it's something that's better left in the hands of parents," said Bob Scott, superintendent of Avon Lake schools. "Even couched as gun safety, it would be too divisive. I don't know if it's the school's position to get involved."

You can't make this stuff up. For the people who generally inhabit that side of the political spectrum... teaching sex isn't obscene, and it too important to be left up to the parents. Abortion is too important to be left up to the parents. Evolution or Intelligent Design? Too important to be left up to the parents. (and no, you don't know my positions on those things, either. Don't make assumptions!)

But gun safety... well know, you know, that's divisive (like the other issues aren't)... and well, *that* ought to be left up to the parents...

Just sayin'.

Speaking of Jeff - he just went over a million visitors! Wa-hoo!

And people wonder...

...why gun owners join gun rights organizations. And why gun owners are not necessarily trusting of agents of the government. Even those of us who have *been* agents of the government. Perhaps even more so.

"I don't care what the laws or the Supreme Court say. WE are NOT going to have people running around, wearing guns..." [the alleged words of a Gonzales, Louisiana LEO - ed.]

Mark Edward Marchiafava did not break the law in Gonzales, La. on January 28, 2006. But nonetheless, he was handcuffed, arrested, and his firearm, which he was legally carrying in the open on his side was confiscated and not returned.

So starts this entry by Nicki at The Liberty Zone, about an abuse of police authority in Gonzales, Louisiana.

One wonders, when will some Law Enforcement Officers recognize that *most* gun owners, especially ones who carry openly, or follow the rules to get permits, etc, are *on their side*?

Certainly, as someone who was briefly an LEO and is a retired soldier, I understand that all persons with weapons must be viewed with caution until intents and bona fides are established. I don't have a problem with that. There are ways to do it without being an a$$ at the same time - much less, as appears to be the case here, setting yourself up as above the law you are sworn to uphold.

Now, in looking around for some more data, I came upon this.

Mark, his wife, his daughter and other employees were at Mark's place of business 25 days ago when the parking lot was stormed by a dozen or more heavily armed, ninja-suited (complete with face masks) "law enforcement officers" who grabbed Mark and wrestled him to the ground, re-igniting an old jaw injury. These individuals presented no warrant and refused to tell Mark who they were as they hustled him off. They had "their man", but this wasn't enough. They stormed his place of business and pointed guns at a half-dozen or so women in the building, one of them in the bathroom at the time, and, still without identifying themselves or showing any sort of warrant, ordered them against the wall, faces to the wall, with guns pointed at all of them.

Mark was escorted away from the scene as he saw automatic weapons pointed at his wife and daughter. These people took Mark to the Coroner's office where the coroner asked Mark if he knew why he was there. Mark replied that he didn't, but that he had been asking. The Coroner said that Mark had threatened to kill 250 public officials, buy property in Mississippi, dig a hole and bury them in it. Mark denied making such comments, and to this date no proof of such comment has been offered, nor has any person taken the stand

That info (and more) comes from this website.

But, better - Mr. Marchiafava explains it himself, in this post at The Sierra Times.

Obviously, Mr. Marchiafava has F r iends in High Places. I suspect he's also a real pain in the a$$ to deal with when you are on his wrong side. And pugnaciously so.

Fine. Let's accept for a moment the premise that Mr. Marchiafava (whom I don't know personally) is an a$$.

And that his history with government and law enforcement probably generated the initial response by Gonzales Police.

I can accept that response, harsh as it seems to be, having been on the other side of the equation.

However, the apparent ignorance of state law and arrogant disregard for it when apprised - that is inexcusable.

Note to Gonzales cops - people who have bad intentions with their weapons usually don't carry openly while doing routine things, and are generally unable to produce concealed carry documents when found carrying concealed.

The Federal and State Constitutions are binding on you, too.

Y'all need to work a bit on your threat evaluation and target identification, and a little bit less about practicing for your 15 minutes of fame on Cops.

Just sayin'

H/t to Publicola for the head's up (and he takes a more direct view of actions that should be taken against the Officialdom involved) and David Hardy for the Sierra Times link.

Just a reminder.

From KCSteve, a reminder (via Head's Bunker.) that there are Bad People out there.

Gentleman in Georgia has his (very nice) Luger collection stolen while transporting it to a gun show.

Bad for all the usual reasons. Any readers in the Southeast US who frequent gun shows or watch the classifieds for guns should carry this list around with them - especially if you see a new vendor selling Lugers.

BTW - the ATFE people have thoughtfully provided a form (not required for anyone) to record your personal weapons on that captures the data law enforcement and your insurance company would like to have in the event your weapons are stolen. I note that it is *nowhere* near long enough for the Castle.

I know I take a risk by talking about the collection, and it doesn't take rocket science to figure out where I live. One of the reasons I started the blog was to get "out of the closet" so to speak - to show people that normal people you meet in everyday life may just have a basement full of guns, yet aren't that dangerous. I'm doing okay with that, I think - well, except for the 'normal' part.

I've actually gotten positive comments from people who really did think that anyone with as many arms as we have here at the Castle pretty much had to be a dangerous, if not deranged, individual. Job holding, solidly middle class, over-educated me broke a paradigm for them.

But, reality is - you can figure out where we are, which *is* a risk. Of course, Precautions Have Been Taken, both passive and active, that extend beyond the Interior and Exterior Guard. The fact that the Armorer actually prefers beaters to museum pieces not only helps keep the cost down, it reduces value to knowledgeable thieves, and the fact that the Armorer has very little New Stuff (none, actually) and most of it is in odd, expensive, hard-to-get calibers also reduces the temptation *and* the risk to the public should the collection get stolen.

None of that will stop the Stupid Thieves, however. That's just a risk you take in life.

And there is this:

I know the fellow who owns these guns, and yes, this collection was many years in the making. He's a nice guy, very knowledgeable about German handguns and always willing to share his knowledge. Damn shame that some POS would steal from him. He's like many on this board, self employed, and selling off his collection was part of his retirement plan.

This is the second big gun collection theft I have heard of in the past few months. In the other case, they got some of the guns back and caught the guys, but not before the scum bags had sold off some of the better items.

Interesting tidbit: in the second case the collector had a C & R license, and because he had a federal license, the BATF got involved and the perps are now facing some major federal charges in addition to state charges.

So - It's time to Rerun the Notices®:

This is my basement:

It's time to drag this thing back up into the light for all you not-long-time readers. This is just a periodic post for relative newbies to the site who don't realize the real reason I set this thing up was to share my gun and militaria collection -The Arsenal of Argghhh! - with the world. I decided to move out from primary deviancy (where you hide what you are) and move past secondary (where everybody knows what you are) to tertiary - where you embrace what you are - and point out you don't know what the guy next door has in his basement... but that doesn't mean he's a nut. I did that after a friend asked me to be the guest speaker on the subject of gun collecting at my Rotary Club (which has a fair number of liberals in it) and the response was not hostile, though some were taken aback - but mostly, "Wow - that's kinda kewl, and you aren't some troll hunkered down in your basement with racks of AR15s and cases of ammo waiting for the Apocalypse..." Mind you, if you have a rack of AR15 and cases of ammo, that's fine with me, as long as you aren't (hopefully) delusional on top of that... if you are, get out more, eh? I *do* have cases of ammo, but they aren't stored with the weapons... But be damned if I'm going to spend the money on new-made when there's all the nice surplus fodder out there! But that experience, along with being poked by Beth and Jonah to blog, is what got the Castle established, back on Blogspot, almost three years and 1,077,000 uniques ago.

As the blog has morphed over time, now and again I've gotten a little too wrapped up in the politics and the war - and, well, yes, work, too - and I've strayed a bit from my roots. A lot, really. Well, that and the great parties the Denizens throw in the comment sections now and again... It makes it fun when sometimes it's real work to maintain.

I don't believe that I make the mistake that many celebrities make - that my opinions on things political somehow matter more than others. Not really. This is more the equivalent of standing on a soapbox at "Speakers Corner". And you have to come find me - I'm not infesting broadcast media. You *ask* my server for these packets.

Anyway - for you guys who are here because you heard that John of Argghhh! actually sometimes talked about guns and militaria - here's the navigation map to The Story So Far. They link to the appropriate archives by topic. I'm (still)working a new post on the evolution of the Vickers Machine gun - but these things take time! In fact, here's proof - I have the collecting jones so bad that I actually tracked down this - an actual Australian Army inventory sheet - so that I could fill this (procured buck-nekkid empty five years ago) so that it looks like this.

Hi-res click here.

Anyway - here's some linkages to the discussions - where it says "The Arsenal" is a link to the photo-archive. (always available on the sidebar) - the rest are links to the blog archives.

Rifles
Pistols
Sub-machine Guns
Machine Guns
Gun P0rn: A Naughty Expose' of the fiddly-bits.
Artillery
Grenades
Helmets
Ammunition
General Militaria
Guns by Nation

And, of course, there is always the direct link to the Imperial Arsenal itself!

Visitors should also note the following caveats:

Periodic Goblin Warning (SM)

As a service to Goblins who are considering Seizing The Arsenal (this excludes LE types: y'all come with a warrant, knock [no no-knocks, please, the front door is expensive], take what the warrant specifies and we'll talk about it in court - just please take care of 'em, you know, periodic cleaning, oiling, etc. They're used to being spoiled like that) here is a periodic warning on Why Trying To Steal My Collection Isn't A Good Idea.

Note to thieves trying to figure out where I live: Once you do that, you've got to get past the living interior and exterior guard, the security system (hint, cutting the phone and cable WON'T help), and finally, if I'm home - me. WonderWife (TM) v3.x is also right handy with the Winchester M97 trench gun. I like that one because it's handy, will blow you into large chunks, but not pass through the walls of the house to annoy my neighbors. Hardwood floors, so clean-up is easy. I'm a reasonable fellow, if you surrender meekly or run away, that will be fine. Not interested in killing or maiming anyone unless you are dumb enough to attack me or my family. The furry members count as family, BTW. Do that, then I will clean the gene pool. Plus guys, impressive as it looks, it's not as valuable as you might think - and it would be very hard to move, since you would be flooding the market. Not to mention the fact that every dealer within a (classified) radius would have a list of serial numbers and descriptions within 24 hours (ain't the internet great?). Oh, yeah - did I mention that robbing licensees is a federal offense? The feds don't go overboard after little stuff, but whacking this collection would likely garner their interest - so choose your accomodations! Plus 'bangers won't like these - the ones that look like they can shoot a lot - can't, and many of them won't work properly if you hold them sideways like they do in the movies.

So, go find an easier target, eh? No - better yet - get a real job that has better fringes.

Periodic Disclaimer for anti-gunners and law enforcement surfers (I don't mind you LE types) Heck, I don't mind the anti-gun types until they start trying to send LE types to take 'em away... here we go with the Periodic Disclaimer (TM):

Everything you ever see in photos here that I own is fully legal to own, federal, state, and local - WHERE I LIVE! Your mileage may vary, such as living in the Borg Collectives of California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, etc. Though ya might be surprised to find out what's legal where you live. I am a licensed collector (which isn't a license to collect, just to receive via the mails), and that only applies to curio and relic firearms. Fortunately, that's about all I want to own.

Cheney @ The Range.

Obviously, someone was out of position when the Veep went hunting yesterday. Whether it was the Veep or the Victim, the Veep has ultimate responsibility as the trigger puller, unless the victim was behind some bushes taking a leak or something. I'll leave that for others to settle.

It certainly didn't take long for the jokes to appear, once it was clear Mr. Whittington would survive.

Owen Dyer, in an email to me, observed it was a good thing that Cheney was a Republican, and therefore hunting with fatcat corporate lawyers. If he'd been a Democrat, those would have been personal injury lawyers...

IMAO has a contest going.

Go forth, Denizens, find the good, the bad, the ugly jokes. Find the Moonbat Howls at the Moon from the anti-gun, anti-Cheney, anti-anything-not-me crowd.

If you have posting privileges, slap 'em in here. If you don't, put 'em in the comments. Lets be a Cheney@TheRange clearinghouse!

For the record - after the investigation is over, based on whatever evidence is gathered and what the laws of Texas provide for - Cheney should suffer whatever consequences fall out from that. No more, no less. And no, a hunting accident is no more justification for confiscating weapons from law abiding citizens than car accidents are justification for banning car ownership.

Speaking of investigations, The Keystone Cops go Hunting.

CHENEY STATEMENT -- ON THE LICENSE, NOT THE SHOOTING [Byron York]

Vice President Cheney has not yet made a public statement about the incident in which he accidentally shot a fellow hunter in Texas Saturday, but his office has just released a statement about the issue of whether he had the proper license to be hunting quail:

It has been brought to the Vice President’s attention by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department this afternoon that, although he had acquired a 125 dollar Texas non-resident season hunting license, he lacked a 7 dollar stamp for hunting upland game birds. To address any questions about the licensing:
-- A member of the Vice President’s staff wrote a check for 140 dollars understanding that this would purchase a Texas non-resident season hunting license that would permit the Vice President to hunt quail in Texas. It appears now that the license itself cost 125 dollars, and an extra 15 dollars covered the cost of a Federal migratory bird stamp. The Vice President did not need the Federal stamp, as he already possessed one.

-- The staff asked for all permits needed, but was not informed of the 7 dollar upland game bird stamp requirement.

-- Because the requirement is new, the Department has informed us that it is issuing warnings, and the Vice President expects to receive one. He will take whatever steps are needed to comply with applicable rules.

-- In the meantime, the Vice President has sent a 7 dollar check to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which is the cost of an upland game bird stamp.

Sigh. Amateurs. In my case, that would be a literal truth when it comes to hunting in Texas. In the Veep's case, he's been let down by his staff, *and* Ms. Armstrong, on whose ranch the hunt was conducted (if it's done as a business, anyway). No, I *don't* expect the Veep to take the time to personally check on all these details - that's what the staff is for. But he *should* take the time to clear his target area.

Rednecks of Argghhh! - and a vote bleg.

As SWWBO noted in her post yesterday, it was a very Red State day at Argghhh! Buying large animal supplies, taking care of the horses, late breakfast at Waffle House, 400 rounds downrange in the afternoon. And of course it was a Castle Argghhh! Range Day, with two WWII vets providing the fun.

SWWBO is getting more famous among gun bloggers (hey, she's getting *linked* and I'm not!) than Castle Argghhh! Why is that? She's getting dangerous with a pistol. And by dangerous, I mean to the intended target, not random locations generally downrange, either. Just take a look here.

That's three magazines, 45 rounds. No misses. Not bad for her first day shooting a semi-auto. And this isn't her only target, she put over 150 rounds downrange yesterday.

It was a typical day for a beginner - first round was a 10x. After that, we had the usual issues with grip, anticipating recoil, closing the eyes, etc. Rather than get all anal about technique, etc - I just let her blaze away downrange, keeping the occasional eye on things when they got bad (grip problems, especially) but mostly just let her get comfortable with the whole concept of shooting a pistol. We can drag out the Right and Left handed Castle Shooter Analysis Targets on a later trip, and start working on the pathologies. For all that - I must note - every round she sent downrange - hit her target. No misses, which I think says a lot about the pistol *and* the shooter. She tried both the Castle Nazi-marked Radom VIS-35 pistol and the Inglis Hi-Power. Although the VIS-35 probably fit her hand better, she likes the Inglis better - as that target above shows.

We went shooting at Total Range, L.L.C, in St Joseph, Missouri - a place we were introduced to courtesy of KCSteve who invited me to a Christmas party held there by members of MissouriCarry.com. At $20 per person per year, we bought memberships. Very nice place. We don't recommend it to you, however. Then you'd go buy memberships and start taking up range space and we might have to wait to get a shooting stall. Nothing to see here, move along.

The Armorer was pleased with his performance yesterday. I only put one magazine through the Inglis, at 5 yards, with this result. Mostly making sure the Inglis was in good shape, so that problems in shooting would be SWWBO-related, not weapon-related. Easier to fix when you can isolate the variables, eh? Our Product of Canada was in fine shape, only suffering from his user's problems, not those of his maker or bad storage.

I then shifted over to the Nazi-marked Polish Radom VIS-35 pistol. Also a 9mm like the Inglis. Three magazines (24 rounds) through that, again at 5 yards.

This is the first time I've shot the VIS-35. I'll spare you the target by target details, but after I was comfortable with it, I sent the carrier downrange to 20 yards. [I'll note at this point while I did cherry-pick the targets to post here, they were *all* like this] The head shots in the following picture are at 20 yards.

Not being happy with the leftward drift (combination of my glasses and how the downrange and uprange light interacted with target and sights), I pulled the target in to 10 yards and put a box of 50 through the Vis. You can see that in the pic above - or better yet - in this pic.

The Armorer *really* likes the VIS-35. A lot. That's 50 rounds in that target - no flyers, no misses. I really really really like that pistol. I need to find some more magazines.

Note to goblins - just remember - if you *do* get past me, SWWBO's right behind me, turning your liver into pate'. You should take the offer of "Turn around and leave" when it's offered. It will only be offered once.

All in all, a good Red State kind of day.

Which is why we think you should vote for us in the Best Master Gunnies competition! Early and often! <===Click that link! Once a day, every day! From home *and* work! At Internet Cafes! We think The BMG Trophy would look good on an Arsenal Bookshelf... but the only way *that's* gonna happen is if I steal it - unless you guys get really busy and start doing what Bill's been doing- borrowing other people's computers... of course, that would be wrong.

The BMG Award - Still Bleggin'!

The vote bleg continues, and will through the 15th. But what better way to bribe than with archival Gun Pr0n? Especially since I'm on the road and producing new Gun Pr0n is a challenge. Many Castle readers are new, or, newer, and so haven't seen some of this stuff. Hey - I know I don't routinely dig through a blogger's archives without a reason - I don't expect that you would.

As mentioned in this post, I'm still shilling for votes in the Gunnies - the Best Gun Blog competition.

It's working. We're at number 3 and holding, too. But Kim can be a devious sort, and may unleash a horde of minions, who knows.

To help justify the bleg, I've offering up stuff from the archives, today however - something new - the litt'lest Castle Firearm, our Webley .25 Automatic.

One with a completely unsubstantiated (but passed down through the family) history, and plausible, so we like it. But the story is the subject of a Future Post.

Because of stuff like this, we think you should vote for us! Early and often! <===Click that link! Once a day, every day! From home *and* work! At Internet Cafes! We think The BMG Trophy would look good on an Arsenal Bookshelf... but the only way *that's* gonna happen is if I steal it - unless you guys get really busy and start doing what Bill's been doing- borrowing other people's computers... of course, that would be wrong.

The BMG Award - Best Gun Blogger.

The vote bleg continues, and will through the 15th. But what better way to bribe than with archival Gun Pr0n? Especially since I'm on the road and producing new Gun Pr0n is a challenge. Many Castle readers are new, or, newer, and so haven't seen some of this stuff. Hey - I know I don't routinely dig through a blogger's archives without a reason - I don't expect that you would.

As mentioned in this post, I'm still shilling for votes in the Gunnies - the Best Gun Blog competition. I'm just trying to get on the stand at number 3, folks. We're slipping, compared to yesterday, too.

To help justify the bleg, I'm offering up stuff from the archives, today highlighting Max the Maxim.

Because of stuff like this, we think you should vote for us! Early and often! <===Click that link! Once a day, every day! From home *and* work! At Internet Cafe's! We think The BMG Trophy would look good on an Arsenal Bookshelf... but the only way *that's* gonna happen is if I steal it - unless you guys get busy.

The BMG Award - Best Master Gunnie (gun blogger)

...than with archival Gun Pr0n? Many Castle readers are new, or, newer, and so haven't seen some of this stuff. Hey - I know I don't routinely dig through a blogger's archives without a reason - I don't expect that you would.

As mentioned in this post, I'm still shilling for votes in the Gunnies - the Best Gun Blog competition. I'm just trying to get on the stand at number 3, folks. We're slipping, compared to yesterday, too.

To help justify the bleg, I'm offering up stuff from the archives, today highlighting one of the teaser contests I've run. This is the answer to the teaser.

Because of stuff like this, we think you should vote for us! Early and often! <===Click that link! Once a day, every day! From home *and* work! At Internet Cafe's! We think The BMG Trophy would look good on an Arsenal Bookshelf... but the only way *that's* gonna happen is if I steal it - unless you guys get busy.

What better way to bleg for votes...

...than with archival Gun Pr0n? Many Castle readers are new, or, newer, and so haven't seen some of this stuff. Hey - I know I don't routinely dig through a blogger's archives without a reason - I don't expect that you would.

As mentioned in this post, I'm still shilling for votes in the Gunnies - the Best Gun Blog competition. I'm just trying to get on the stand at number 3, folks. We're slipping, compared to yesterday, too.

To help justify the bleg, I'm offering up stuff from the archives, today highlighting the Ugly Guns of Castle Argghhh!, those weapons in the Arsenal that were subject to the no-longer-in-effect Assault Weapons Ban (also known as the Ugly Gun Ban) or other extra controls beyond your normal over-the-counter purchases.

Because of stuff like this, we think you should vote for us! Early and often! <===Click that link! Once a day, every day! From home *and* work! At Internet Cafe's! We think The BMG Trophy would look good on an Arsenal Bookshelf... but the only way *that's* gonna happen is if I steal it - unless you guys get busy.

The Gunnies - Still Vote Blegging.

As mentioned in this post, I'm still shilling for votes in the Gunnies - the Best Gun Blog competition. I'm just trying to get on the stand at number 3, folks.

To help justify the bleg, I'm offering up stuff from the archives, today concluding with Ammunition, Part the 3rd.

But we think you should vote for us! Early and often! <===Click that link! Once a day, every day! From home *and* work! At Internet Cafe's! We think The BMG Trophy would look good on an Arsenal Bookshelf... but the only way *that's* gonna happen is if I steal it - unless you guys get busy.

The Gunnies - the vote bleg continues!

We didn't win in the first round but we apparently snuck into the finals as a wildcard.

We're still gonna get creamed. Oh, sure you could vote for these guys... Kim du Toit, Oleg, John Lott, Mr. Completely, Head's Bunker, Alphecca, Smallest Minority, mAss Backwards, or the Anarchangel.

But we think you should vote for us! Early and often! <===Click that link! We think The BMG Trophy would look good on an Arsenal Bookshelf... but the only way *that's* gonna happen is if I steal it - unless you guys get busy.

We do some good stuff in this category - today's bit on the PIAT for example... how often d'you see those on any blog but this one?

And, as I said in yesterday's bleg - we've done some good stuff in the past, including the second installment of the Ammunition posts: Ammunition, Part the Second, a tale in three parts (thus far), and I'll link to other bits and pieces of past work as justification for the vote blegging.

But thanks is due to Countertop Chronicles for running this - and unlike the Weblog Awards - there's more than just pixels for a prize!

The "Gunnies" continue.

We didn't win in the first round (hard to compete with Kit's tits over at Oleg's place) but we apparently snuck into the finals as a wildcard.

We're gonna get creamed. Nothing that happens here can compete with Kim du Toit, Oleg, John Lott, or, frankly, most of the others, like Mr. Completely, Head's Bunker, Alphecca, Smallest Minority, mAss Backwards, or the Anarchangel.

But if ya wanna go vote - go for it! We think The BMG Trophy would look good on an Arsenal Bookshelf... but the only way *that's* gonna happen is if I steal it.

We really do some useful stuff around here in this category - but I admit most of it of late is in the Archives.

Like: Ammunition, a tale in three parts (thus far), and I'll link to other bits and pieces of past work as justification for the vote blegging.

But thanks is due to Countertop Chronicles for running this - and unlike the Weblog Awards - there's more than just pixels for a prize!

Time for a gun post...

...and not just because we've been nominated at Countertop Chronicles for "Best Gun Pron" in the Gunnies, either!

A topic covered in the gunblogs, I know by Murdoc and others, as well as me... Metalstorm gets closer to entering service. This is an ugly little spud.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Next month a new high-explosive munition will be fired in Singapore and then tested again by the U.S. Army, heralding what may be a sea change in weaponry: a gun that can fire 240,000 rounds per minute.

That's compared to 60 rounds per minute in a standard military machine gun.

Metal Storm Inc., a munitions company headquartered in Virginia but with its roots in Australia, has been developing a gun that can shoot at blistering speeds, albeit in short bursts as each barrel is reloaded.

Company website with video click here.

Speaking of Murdoc, I'll let him have at this story.

Speaking of machine guns... take a look at the durability (not to mention reliability) of the latest rendition of that venerable old pig, the M60. Do me a favor - right click and save as - don't stream it. Right-click and save-as here.

I'll close this post with a picture of a new Castle Armory acquisition - a M1886 German Shrapnel round - that has a very interesting (to the Armorer) time fuze. Subject of a future post.

The Christmas Party of Argghhh!

For those who don't follow She Who Buys Me Machineguns' saga this holiday season will have missed the fact that the Armorer usually has 5 pretty fun Christmas Parties in the season. My firm's, Beth's firm's, Rotary, the client's, and the sub-section of client's (the guys I actually work with day-to-day, vice the whole organization).

The client, being government, everybody pays out-of-pocket for those. Rotary, being a fund-raiser, ya pay some more (but it's still a fun party). The corporate parties are paid for by the firms, with mebbe a kicker for spouses. I hate doing parties stag. Really hate it. Suffice it to say that this year, SWWBO's travel schedule has prevented her from going to *any* parties, and all the money we paid for her to attend... well, ain't getting any of it back. There's a used Lee-Enfield rifle-equivalent of our cash gone back into the economy as donations...

I did attend the Rotary party, and while I put in an appearance at my company party, my heart wasn't in it, and rather than paste on a happy face, I left early. As in during the cocktail hour, *before* dinner, after I had made nice with the Senior People. I just couldn't force myself continue to be pleasant, and *that* would have been rude to everybody, just being a depressed lump at the table, tapping my fingers waiting for everything to end. So I left. I spent more time driving to and from than I spent at the party itself. Sometimes the Armorer just isn't a people person.

So why all this recitation of that doom and gloom? Simple. KCSteve to the rescue! Steve is a reader who lives in the KC area and is a member of Missouri Carry. He invited me to their local Christmas party, held last night at the Total Range complex in St. Joseph, Missouri (just north of here, for those not up on their regional geography).

It was odd, being among a bunch of people who *really* know their modern stuff, given that the Armorer thinks anything younger than 35 or so years of age is a punk. I saw some *very* nice carry pieces, target pieces, a combat shotgun... all in hands of nice, polite, but *very* serious people. Steve's wife was there, and she's a live wire... Steve, like me, is a large, scary man with a beard. Unlike me, he's married to a very petite woman (SWWBO is *regular* sized). A very petite woman who likes to shoot her pistol... with a laser on it... and that laser dot doesn't move very much at all. I only wish I was as steady as she is... for those who remember the Lethal Weapon movie with Mel Gibson's character shooting the happy face on the target? This pistol-packin' momma can actually do it...

The range can take hiigh-powered rifles (though I didn't ask about .50's), and they have a combat shooting range inside - a shoot house. And they do force-on-force in there, too, with training ammo. That might be fun, if I get to feelin' the need to get shot at again. Definitely a venue under consideration for the Blog Shoot of Arggghhh! this spring.

I won the nonexistent prize for oldest weapon. Being the Armorer, I took something historical. In this case, Georg, the Luger.

For an 87 year old guy, Georg shoots pretty well, hampered only by the fact that his assistant isn't anywhere near as good as he is. No jams, functioned flawlessly with American Eagle fmj fodder, at 20 yards. For such a stubby barrel, Georg ain't too bad, though he takes a while to reload. Yeah, yeah, I know, get a loading tool. Heh. All of us older guys take a while to reload... but I digress.

The flyers in the 7 and 8 ring are all me in rapid fire. The trend left is a function of my glasses and lighting. I was paying attention to what I was doing with the trigger finger and grip. Shooting wearing progressive lenses is a challenge. If I was shooting competively, I'd get purpose made glasses for respective ranges.

For shooting bad guys in the parking lot at night... I think I have it down, even if I can't do a happy face.

On buying guns for people...

There was a deal-clincher for me marrying SWWBO. All the usual reasons were there - she bathed, laughed at my jokes, could cook, was passably likeable, didn't care (out loud) if I dropped my undies on the floor (usually next to hers, anyway), etc. All the usual reasons.

But... the deal clincher was she bought me a machine gun.

This one, in fact.

But wait! There's more! The joke is that we get everything we want *before* the wedding... and during the honeymoon... but after that, well, y'know, things slack off... right?

Not SWWBO! Next Christmas I got this!

But! There's *always* a "but," right? There was a condition attached. I couldn't get any more guns.

That's right. Not a one. Deal-breaker, right?

Nope. I couldn't get any more guns *unless* I put them on display. In other words, to feed my jones, I was *forced*... yes, *forced* I say, to do this: I had to take a room in the basement and make it a museum!

Now *that* is my kinda woman.

Heh. It seems that there's at least one other woman like that around... at least in Chris Muir's imagination.

And it's no mistake she's a Castle Gurl! You got Zed an AUG? You rock, woman! Those ain't cheap!

All right already! Back off the emails!

Sheesh! The Canadians (less CAPT H) are pinging me about the Liberal Party leader's proposal for a handgun ban in Canada.

Heh. File under "Oops I did it again!"

Alan of GENX@40 opened fire with this:

You know it is pretty hard to just slam them as liberals when they call themselves iberals: Martin set to promise tighter controls on handguns in bid to fight urban crime.

Being busy, I responded:

Heh. My only comment is that it's never worked anywhere else, but it will make them feel good.

Alan returned fire with:

Not to be snarky at all but how did the handgun ban not work in the UK? Is there any stats you are aware of? My interest is in writing about the topic not arguming so anything you are aware of would be useful.

Alan

And now Damian Brooks of Babbling Brooks jumps on me, too.

What? The Canadian Prime Minister proposes to ban handguns, and you have no posted opinion? I was expecting my favourite purveyor of gun-porn to blast the idea with both barrels.

Okay, I have an opinion. I sent it to Alan and to Damian.

It's a longish screed, so I'll put it beneath the fold, in the Flash Traffic/Extended Entry.

Serious Timewaster

Especially if you'd like to spend some time getting some practice with sight pictures, and setting sights for competition weapons.

I lost an hour of my life here so far... and will no doubt lose more.

Euro Firearm Simulator.

Heh. Might be a way to work this into a Cyber-shoot...

Work safe for just about everybody but Ry.

Let's mix 'n match a bit.

Jay wonders, if we change Muslim to, say, Episcopal, is it now illegal?

Alan coins a tongue-twister... guesstificationing. I agree with him, too.

Kat meets Captain America, and discovers that warriors are not drones... and gives a remarkable history lesson in so doing. On of your better ones, Kat - and that's saying something!

Barb is still worthless and has 7 on the brain, likes critters, and wants you to read a letter.

AFSis is keeping an eye on the counter-demonstrators at Walter Reed.

CAP H is outraged! So am I. There is far too little of this going on over there in Blighty! CAPT H also uses his keen eye to discover a bit more about that Brit officer who lost her pistol...

An interesting compare and contrast in the Washington Post today. How is what Bennet said in order to discredit a bad argument functionally different from what this family endures?

Okay - homework. A little googlecize for you.

Here are hand held devices. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to identify them (yes, it can be done via the search engines). What I'm interested in are some of the ties between them. Yes, I have a specific set of things in mind, and those who have *really* read my ouevre will prolly get pretty close - but that's playing stump the chump to ask you to read my mind. Hmmm, that didn't *quite* come out the way I meant.

Anyway - I'm interested in the connections, the odd juxtapositions, etc. Simpler than you think, but not necessarily up front. Have some fun.

Here's another view.

Ummmm, guns!

WE CAN'T LET THE ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN EXPIRE! BLOOD WILL RUN IN RIVERS DOWN THE STREETS! GUN BATTLES ON EVERY CORNER! HOUSES POCK-MARKED WITH BULLET HOLES! SCHOOLS OVER-RUN WITH GRUMPY TEENS WITH GUNS!

Oh, wait - no, that's just prime time tv.

The reality is a little more prosaic.

And, I'm being a little disingenuous, given the ban expired in September 2004. The 2005 numbers will be more instructive. Still, Sarahillary BoxSchumerstein *can't* be happy with that news.

Something to keep in mind while reading that - you are getting raw numbers and percent changes. So, what's missing contextually to help you better evaluate the news?

Well, best would be an apples to apples comparison, such as those figures given as a function of murders per hundred thousand people. That would be a good number. But it's not as fun as raw numbers for shock value. Showing the percent increase is okay - but it would be nice to know what the percent increase in the population was over the same time period... just to keep comparing apples to apples... Gives one a sense of perspective. Like the fact that a gross drop in discrete events, combined with the population increase actually makes the drop comparatively larger... just a thought.

SNERK! "Could cause serious injury..." If to nothing else, a career! H/t, CAPT H. (yeah, this *was* in the post below... you're not seeing things I just decided to move it up here).

In other news... Press Outraged Over Staged Flag Raising.

Well Damn! Despite our best efforts, too! War is on the wane... geez, where's them eeeevil Neocons when you need them? Jobs are at stake here! I blame Bush.

Big Gun Pr0n

The Arsenal at Argghhh! is more than small arms. We have grenades, mines, maces for trench raiding, comfort items... etc. We also have a relatively decent assortment of artillery ammunition (it *is* after all, the ammunition that is the true weapon).

We even know where we can get one of these:

The dummy training projectile for the Iowa-class battleships. They're in Idaho, and at around 1800 pounds each, they'd be a tad expensive to ship.

More importantly, perhaps, we don't have the proper gear in the Arsenal to schlep 'em around, either (including the surly sailor!).

But someday... someday, when the dream tower on the bluff overlooking the river is built... I'll get *two* to flank the driveway!

Oh, and I should caveat, all of this is in compliance with the Standard Disclaimers®.

And for all these reasons and more... the nomination of Judge Roberts is important to both sides of the debate. Why? Because things like the New Orleans rather arbitrary confiscation of firearms are going to end up before the court.

Taking care of business.

Tomorrow, the Castle Traveling Roadshow takes off for San Diego. I've got a little corporate training to attend, and intend to hunt up ways to leverage what we do in our local office with what our firm does in San Diego for the Navy. SWWBO, travelin' gal that she is, is gonna use up one of her free plane tickets and some hotel points so we can have a cheap mini-vacation. Joanie of Da Goddess is our entertainment director, and newly-wed Sean of Doc In The Box is hosting a BBQ on Sunday, where we're going to meet a bunch of local bloggers (that list is being managed by Sean, who knows what he can support)! I know the San Diego Zoo and the museums at Balboa Park are on the list - mebbe a visit to the Midway, as she's in port (snerk), and who knows what else. Joanie has all the energy, we'll just follow interestedly in her wake... We'll be back on Wednesday, I'm sure some reportage will come out of it all. Moving on...

Update: Heh. If only our traffic matched our linkage, we'd have skewed the curve - with our Joint Service Blog. Rusty Shackelford does a rough comparison of the military service of 101st Keyboardist Bde, vice the Chicken Little Brigade.

Barb points out that this is what happens when you Jump The Shark and become a cartoon.

Kapitalismo is a bit conflicted, finding he lives near a terrorist-wannabe. Smack in the middle of the country.

Jay of Stop The ACLU offers up some history of the organization... perhaps some of the supporters of the ACLU who I know lurk here will offer up some defenses.

The Confederate Yankee asks you to choose a side.

Mrs. Greyhawk gives us the Dawn Patrol.

Speaking of Ms. Sheehan, what about these guys? The You Don't Speak For Me Tour? More here, and catch the video at the bottom. H/t, Joe W.

Ah, the Wonderful World of the Mind of Disney. H/t, Alphecca.

Speaking of Alphecca, Jeff gives us his Weekly Check on the Bias against guns. Note the bit from the Mayor of Toronto, Canada. I suspect the Mayor would wet his tighty-whities at the sight of the Basement of Argghhh!

No one has griped about the lack of pictures of late. As many of you know, I got creamed by thoughtless people who hotlinked a video, sucking thirty-two thousand views of a 2 meg vid. Yeah, 32K. Which simply creamed my Fototime bandwidth, 32.7 gigs of bandwidth, vice the 20 I pay for. Hence, pic posting has taken a serious hit, and the blog had to be rebuilt, too. But, I've got *some* juice left, and I think we needa picture! Of something artillery-like. Modern. Yeah, that's the ticket. How about the brand-spanking-new Stryker 120mm Mortar Carrier? Firing? Yeah, baby!

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Even though it may seem like we're in a pause-ex, we aren't. Project Valour-IT is still on-going. Over $7,000 has been raised so far, and the first set of laptops is getting prepped for delivery to Bethesda next week. We'll keep you informed!

Meanwhile - This is the Roll of Identified Supporting Blogs! If you aren't on it - drop me a note and we'll fix that!

Paper targets fear them...

...and I have no doubt live ones would, too.

Castle Adjutant Barb and the Snarkatron Bad Cat Robot, Denizennes both, did a little shooting yesterday.

BCR has her target posted.

We are, *ahem* waiting on the Adjutant's target pics...

BCR needs to pull back the trigger finger a bit, and not pull so hard - an easy touch will do, and drag that center of mass right where it oughta be.

Not that where it *is* isn't going to be hard on a live target.

Lest anyone snark, the Armorer has posted his sadly deteriorating skillz before, too.

Here are some more Armorer targets.

Update: Okay, so Barb did post one some time in the past... Last night! Last Night! Last Night! The Peasants with Pitchforks are roaring!