Range Report #1 - it did not blow up!

Got out to a friend's private range on Saturday to both verify my build and my hand loaded ammunition as well as to teach my son to shoot.  It was an excellent day, 100% accomplished.

I am now addicted to the immediate response from shooting at AR500 steel targets.  Paper and shoot-n-see plastic bullseyes are boring in comparison.  When you hit, you hear it.  When you miss you see the dirt cloud from the berm.  Bowling pins are almost as fun.  ;)

I also got to use my new optic, an EOTech EXPS3-0.

I got my new optic in a weird way for me.  I won it.  Field and Stream is working along with EOTech to celebrate EOTech's 1 millionth manufactured optic milestone by giving away one set of EXPS3-0/G33 magnifier per month to a lucky entrant to their mail-in sweepstakes.  I am the March 2012 winner.  Since I currently have an A2 upper the magnifier is not something I needed right now, so I sold it for a bit less than retail but was able to use the money from it's sale to finish paying off the 2000 Impala.  Win/win!

I had a forward mount that attached to the carry handle and put the red dot somewhat co-witnessed with the iron sights but the rail is way out of spec and the EOTech will NOT mount to it.  I have a new/used mount on it's way to me from an eBay purchase which should work MUCH better.

I had hoped to get pics of the kiddo shooting, pics of my wife shooting and video of my AR but the phone ran out of juice and I forgot to pack our camera.  Fortunately, my friend was gracious enough to give us an open invitation to return at any point.

My son is eagerly awaiting his 10/22, which I hope to have purchased for him before the end of summer.

Howler's Den calls out pro-gunnies on the EO's from POTUS

Holwer's Den called out a couple guys on ARFcom in regards to the negative response that the Executive Orders that President Obama laid out earlier this year.

Here's the rebuttal I posted which may or may not be posted to their site, I have no idea if they actually allow more discussion than other anti-gun sites do.  I have been banned from several for being 'a shill for the NRA' or being 'off message'.  These are my opinions of the EOs that I have shared on several other forums and FaceBook pages since they were first published. 

"A rebuttal:

"1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system."

This makes sense to me and falls well within the purview of the POTUS' abilities; all Executive branch agencies should work together. This is an internal 'play nice' from their boss/our Employee the POTUS.

"2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system."

How is the Federal government allowing government bodies to violate HIPPA a good thing? Please, explain this to me. If someone was adjudicated and forcibly remanded to state mental healthcare, this is a public record so HIPPA has no bearing. this is what the NICS is interested in. Or is this going to allow fishing expeditions based upon privileged doctor/patient information?

"3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system."

This should mean that states that have been conforming (such as Missouri) the whole time that NICS has been around should be rewarded. Somehow I don't see that happening and instead I see this as trying to 'slap around' states who are non-compliant. Considering that the NICS has been in place for a couple of decades, there has been plenty of time for states to send representation to the federal level to get this repealed. "game on" as it were to the non-compliant states.

"4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks."

#4 is rather troubling considering the continuation of US PATRIOT Act and the failure of indefinite detention to be removed from NDAA 2011 as well as several other actions and threats made by the executive branch over the last 12+ years. 'Domestic terrorist' lists similar to the 'no fly' list that has zero oversight?

#5 is somewhat ok, I'd rather see a federal database that is publicly searchable for recovered stolen/seized firearms. Verification of ownership and access to their Right to Keep and bear Arms is fine, but looking at the 'List' in #4 this could be troubling if determination of ownership of a specific type of weapon puts one in a 'restricted' class.

If #13 includes a recommendation from the DoJ to NOT allow plea deals in cases where any weapon was used to commit a crime, I'd be ok with that as long as Castle Doctrine and no duty to retreat come into effect and DA's are unable to go after defensive gun use when employed by those who are not barred from using their 2nd Amendment right to self defense with a firearm.

The EO's in and of themselves are relatively benign but looking at the direction that we have been going since the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11 they can been seen in a negative light. The other issue is that even if the current Administration does nothing to curtail rights, who is to say that future ones won't?

Oh, if you want to publish my personal information, feel free. I am the interim Chairman of the Democratic Gun Owners' Caucus of Missouri, a member of the Blue Steel Democrats and run the blog at www.armedliberalinmo.blogspot.com so any publicity or additional memberships you want to send my way, please feel free. ;)

My wife is an immigrant from Canada who is working on her Citizenship so I am not doing anything that would impede her progress.

Again, this is the view of someone who identifies as a Liberal, feels that Civil Rights are held by no one if anyone's are disrupted and disagrees that we need as much federal government as we have.

Thanks,
Armed Liberal in MO"

Oh yeah, they did respond.  A very polite "Thanks, but we disagree".  They seemed intrigued that there are Liberals who tend to vote Democrat yet actually *LIKE* firearms.  The shock!  ;)

They also posted some personal info on other blog posts of RKBA activists.  I'm not sure why they did that, it seems that it would potentially put folks in harm's way but I am not sure if that would be the folks whose family and addresses were printed or those who would seek to do them harm...

Note sent to Southern Poverty Law Center

Hi Daniel, I'm not sure if you remember myself or my wife W. but we are concerned about the 'Patriot' report. 

Do we fit your current definition of Domestic Terrorists?  We do not feel that the federal government has any right to say who I can sell my private property to and have been working to increase the enjoyment of folks' Natural Rights to self defense.

I am an advocate for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.  Much like the rest of our Civil Rights, minority access has historically blocked either by force of law or by the cost of entry.  While I do not fit their demographic, I agree 100% with the Deacons of Defense and the Black Panther Party for Self Defense (the old school one, not the recent hate group) that everyone who has not separated themselves from their rights.

Backing gun restrictions is saying that Bull was right to block MLK's application for a concealed carry license.

Please think carefully about any response you have on this issue.

Thanks,
'Armed Liberal In Missouri'  (I did use my real name)
Former Asatruar, current gun rights advocate.

______

Years ago, my wife and I were actively supporting the SLPC.  Now, they have released a paper on 'domestic terrorism' which defines Second Amendment supporters as teh same as John Birch Society or other Right Wing groups.

They may have just lost my support.  I am awaiting their response and will post it here.

And done enough to shoot!

Ok, I'm pretty happy now. Thanks to Code Red and the AR15.com equipment exchange, my pistol is shootable. Not quite done, the barrel needs to get chopped to 10.5" from the 14.5" it is now with some no-name break welded to it. Also I need to get a CAA saddle type cheek weld platform to attach t the buffer tube and a Z style handle optics mount so my red dot will co witness with my iron sights.

Book of Grudges

A long time ago I had a different hobby.  It was Warhammer Fantasy and I played the Dwarf Kingdom.  GW Dwarves are a surley lot and their High King is transported around on a special throne.  This throne was made of a book, the Book of Grudges.

This is my Book of Grudges.

Over the past year of building my AR pistol, I have run into several companies that just did not want to take my money.  Either they would say something stupid and I'd get into a 'FaceBook/Email Rumble' with them or they would have something negative on their website that I took issue with or else esposed some political belief outside of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms that I just could not support.

Today, that was Molon Labe Industries.

There is a graphic going around stating that the major mass murders of the 20th century were Liberals.  They put this up on their site and I stated an objection to it.  I made the statement that this is not the time to try and divide the RKBA community by Conservative/Liberal lines.  Their supporters continued that screed and I ended up unliking their page after I suggested that they post their anti-Liberal bias directly on their website and that I had helped close to 40 AR's be started to be built via a group buy of stripped lowers.

I will not be buying any of their 2.5 million projected polymer magazines on the primary market.  I may buy them on the secondary market but even that is in doubt.

They are now on my list of Traitors to RKBA.  We need to bring all of the activists that feel that our civil rights include the Right to Keep and Bear Arms together to keep the pressure on Congress and our state assemblies or else the bullshit laws that will accomplish nothing but the loss of control to the GOP at all levels. 

Any company that espouses a love of firearms ownership need to either be clear about not wanting Liberals to support them or any of their causes or else they need to play nice.  We Liberal gun owners catch enough crap from our 'fellow' liberals that feel that we should die due to our enjoyment of firearms or wanting to have effective tools available for our self defense. 

While the Conservatives are doing a great job of voicing their dissent, Democratic elected officials tend to listen more to their base.  If we fall silent on this issue, there is a good sense that it would be seen as 'consent'.  With no Liberal support, the war to retain our Right to Keep and Bear Arms will be a lost cause.

Just something for anti-Liberal Conservatives to consider.

You need us as much as we need you on this issue.  Help us be able to be good example to others who have not considered the reasons why we are fighting for this issue and you will have our support.

Where we are at today.

Ok, time for an update. After the number of times I've dropped this blog into conversations on FaceBook I feel the need for an update.

AR pistol build is not as stalled out. As a way of saying 'thanks' for running a group buy of their new lowers, a very new AR manufacturing company in Florida is sending me one of their first bolt carrier groups. Now I just need to get that 12" barrel on order from Surplus Ammo (Black Hole Ordinance).

Folks, we are deep in a horrible situation. Ammo supplies are starting to come in but no primers will be available until either July or August. Powder and bullets are also in short supply but are starting to trickle back in.

Many factors have lead to where we are at today. Fear/Uncertainty/Doubt has been sewn by both sides of the gun restrictions argument. Folks that never considered owning an AR platform firearm have spent two or three times MSRP to get them, magazines are trickling out, companies like Cheaper Than Dirt! have gouged customers on the cost of previous stock and ammunition has flown off the shelves.

I was close to getting rid of my project. Thankfully that does not seem to be happening now.

The truly odd thing was the run on .22lr ammo. It seems that a lot if folks felt it was the End of Days...

I'll get more into my thoughts and feelings of discussions I have had and friends/foes I have made on FaceBook and other online communities at a later date. I'm having too nice a day to do so.

Assault wepons bans are bad ideas.

Many folks have been moved by the events of last week and rightly so.  They were horrific and they were preventable, just not in the ways that Senator Diane Feinstein from California would have you believe.

In 1994, a ban was put in place to restrict the ownership of military-style 'assault weapons' from civilian hands.  This was based upon certain exact models as well as some ergonomic features that some folks saw as 'dangerous' or 'scary'.  They included the Colt AR-15 (named directly in the ban) as well as the following items along with others:  pistol grips, detachable magazines, barrel shrouds, flash hiders, collapsible stocks, and bayonet lugs.  Also banned were any magazines that could hold 30 or more rounds of ammunition.  This ban had zero effect on any items made before 1994, ex post facto laws are prohibited by Article 1 Section 9 of the US Constitution.  Those items are called 'pre-ban' as several states - including New Jersey and Connecticut -  still have active bans on these items.

This ban expired in 2004, despite President George W Bush stating publicly that he would sign any bill that came to his desk that would extend this ban.  Thankfully, no such bill came his way.

There are several reasons for this.  First, no appreciable increase in the decline of violent crime under the AWB was found by either the CDC or the FBI.  The one thing that did increase under the AWB was the number of crimes committed with magazines that were larger than 30 rounds in capacity.  Also, the Democrats took a severe beating in elections from 1994 through 2008 in no small part to their support of this ban.

Now, I have blogged about Diane Feinstein, the DNC's plank on Firearms and other things that the Dems have done in the past year to try and get the ban back in place so I won't cover those here.

Diane Feinstein has written a bill to reinstate the AWB with no provision for currently legally owned firearms to be allowed, total ban on production of parts for these firearms and a magazine capacity limit that would be accompanied with destruction of any 'high capacity assault clips'  (her words, not reality) held in civilian hands.  I have three words for the Distinguished Senator from California:  ex post facto.  Congress has no right to take anything away from me that is currently legal today to possess without fair compensation.  Looking at the current price of complete AR platform pistols and rifles, this would mean I would be owed $5000+ for my rifles/pistols and $300 for my magazines.

But wait, the battle has just begun!

United States v Miller in 1939 established that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms 100% covers military-grade firearms (Mr Miller's sawed off shotgun sans short barreled shotgun tax stamp was not fitting the court's description as no short barreled shotgun was in use by the military at that time) which means that 'assault weapons' under Diane's plan ARE PROTECTED.  Several jobs done in the US military use the semi-automatic AR-15 as an active part of their jobs, they do not require select-fire M4 rifles to conduct their duties.

This so far prompted the following letter to be sent to my Representative and Senators from Missouri:

Dear Sen. Roy Blunt, Sen. Claire McCaskill, and Rep. William Clay:

I oppose Sen. Feinstein's New Version of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban because it attempts to stop crime by making some 'features' on modern firearms illegal. This will not work.
During the previous ban, crime rates for violent crimes went unchanged from previous rates of decline as outlined in the FBI's Unified Crime Report from 1986 to 1994 and again from 2004 through 2011.
Also, Senator Feinstein's call for making existing firearms illegal to possess or transfer is in direct conflict with Article 1 Section 9 of the US Constitution. Ex post facto laws are a waste of time and resources as they are patenly unconstitutional.
The judicial review issued in United States v. Miller (1939) clearly states that Mr Miller's sawed off shotgun was not protected by the Constitutional Right to Keep and Bear Arms as it was not a military style firearm. The semi-automatic civilian versions of the M16A2 and M4 MBR fall under this decision as they are semi-automatic versions of current main battle rifles in use by our military today.
Please, work on actually funding the mental healthcare initiatives that were unfunded in the 1980's by the same group that is calling for them today.

Signature seen by Members of Congress:
Mr. Armed and Liberal in MO
My street Address
SAINT LOUIS, MO 63xxx
Missouri’s 1st district

The call for additional healthcare funding for mental health assistance grew out of this article:  http://www.sociology.org/content/vol003.004/thomas.html.  In it, it reminds us that the Conservatives under Reagan fought back against the 'welfare state' put in place by the New Deal.  This very same group of politicians - some even the same Senators who as Representatives worked to de-fund this system -  are now rightfully calling for these intiatives to be refunded instead of enacting meaningless bans.  I agree with them, spree killers are the issue, not the tools that they use.

Please, craft letters similar to  the one I copied above and send them to your local, state and federal representatives.  We need common sense mental health care, not 'common sense' gun restrictions.  There are already laws against murder, we need fewer plea bargains and no new gun restriction laws.