Interesting Spike

NICS Checks

I wonder what caused it?

Doomsday Provision

"The Second Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances where all other rights have failed - where the government refuses to stand for re-election and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees. However improbable these contingencies may seem today, facing them unprepared is a mistake a free people get to make only once." - Alex Kosinski, US Federal Appeals Court Judge

The Advantage of Being Armed

“Let a regular army, fully equal to the resources of the country, be formed; and let it be entirely at the devotion of the federal government; still it would not be going too far to say, that the State governments, with the people on their side, would be able to repel the danger. The highest number to which, according to the best computation, a standing army can be carried in any country, does not exceed one hundredth part of the whole number of souls; or one twenty-fifth part of the number able to bear arms. This proportion would not yield, in the United States , an army of more than twenty-five or thirty thousand men. To these would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million of citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves, fighting for their common liberties, and united and conducted by governments possessing their affections and confidence. It may well be doubted, whether a militia thus circumstanced could ever be conquered by such a proportion of regular troops. Those who are best acquainted with the last successful resistance of this country against the British arms will be most inclined to deny the possibility of it. Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms? - James Madison, The Federalist Papers, No. 46.

It Is Above the Law

"The right of a citizen to bear arms, in lawful defense of himself or the State, is absolute. He does not derive it from the State government. It is one of the high powers" delegated directly to the citizen, and `is excepted out of the general powers of government.' A law cannot be passed to infringe upon or impair it, because it is above the law, and independent of the lawmaking power." - Cockrum v. State, 24 Tex. 394, at 401-402 (1859)

dlr

The Meaning of the Second Ammendment

Bryan

A Dangerous Servant and a Fearful Master

The conclusions seem inescapable that in certain circles a tendency has arisen to fear people who fear government. Government, as the Father of Our Country put it so well, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. People who understand history, especially the history of government, do well to fear it. For a people to express openly their fear of those of us who are afraid of tyranny is alarming. Fear of the state is in no sense subversive. It is, to the contrary, the healthiest political philosophy for a free people. ~~ Jeff Cooper's Commentaries, vol. 4, no. 16, December, 1996


Bryan

It Ain't Easy

A good friend of mine wrote this, I thought it was very good.

It Ain't Easy Being (O.D.) Green


I remember a book title from sometime in the past, when I was a child, entitled, "A Three Speed Dad In A Ten Speed World". Never read it, as I was but a munchkin, but that cover has always stayed with me.

Sometimes I think of Appleseed being to that title. Teaching basics in a bigger-better-faster-more world is tough to do. Everyone wants to fly, never mind having wings. In the shooting world, it seems that everything has lights, battery powered optics, bi-pods, lasers, handgrips, etcetcetc. Single point, dual point, triple point, drop leg trama plate molle attached nvd red dotted bused co-witnessed over under side by side pelethera of gadgetry. Tactical sniper hell-what-have-you camel backed maxpedition packed multicamed to the max....(gasping for breath).

Where do lil ol' O.D. green Guys like me fit in with our iron sights and alice gear left over from the old days?

I will tell you that all that stuff aforementioned above is neat as all get out, and if I kicked in doors for a living, I would be the very first to have it all.

But I don't.

Call me a coward, but I want nothing to do with up close and personal. I like long range, and I like the idea of dumping a mag in cadence, shifting from target to target before the first one falls, 20 rounds in one minute, then leaving before the aliens have a chance to respond or the zombies get close enough to eat me. I figure that if I am UCAP (up close and personal), somewhere, somehow, I really screwed up.

All that aside, let this be said for the basics.

By using all the 6 steps (all together now, Sight Alignment, Sight Picture, Respiratory Pause, 4a Focus Your Eye On The Front Sight, 4b Focus you Mind On Keeping The Front Sight On The Target, Squeeze The Trigger, Follow Through a. Calling Your Shot b. Keeping The Trigger Back Until The Recoil Has Settled Resetting The Trigger) combined with a proper prone position in a loop sling, with Natural Point Of Aim, I can drop a 20 round mag in twenty 4 MOA targets in 1 minute or less, all by little shifts of my hips. With the basics, I have taken shots at 950 yards at a 20 inch target making hits with surplus ammo. There were times when I had 2 bullets in the air before the first hit at that range (was about a two second flight time, took three for the sound to get back. With a total of a 5 second turnaround, one could fire two shots and still hear the first hit just after. Cool.). I have shot a 2 MOA group lying in prone on the ground in the dirt. I have shot all day with 7.62x51 and never felt it when I was doing my part by doing the basics correctly. And I am skinny as heck.

The hell of it is, I am not alone. Anyone who has mastered the basics, understands the loop sling and the Human Portable Shooting Bench MKI can do it. There are those here who can put me to shame.

Not bad for the basics.

Appleseed also taught me proper trigger control, with which I can give nice double taps now with my XCR. Appleseed has taught me the ablity to do a basic mag swap under duress. Appleseed has taught me the ability (with help/inspiration from Birdman, Ornell, Son Of Martha and Fred) to teach others how to do the same.

Appleseed has taught me to be able to look at a target and know that someone is dragging wood, or doesn't have their elbow under the rifle, or the butt is slipping in the pocket, or their forward hand is slipping further forward, or their breathing isn't consitant, or they aren't looking at the front sight, along with many other issues.

I am able to now, with full confidence, speak in front of large groups of folks and let my feelings show. Maybe even a tear in my eye as I speak of Johnathan Harrington, Isaac Davis or of the many others who fell that first day to start the process that brings us to present day America.

Not bad for a measly 200 bucks for that first Rifleman Boot Camp.

The ten speeds are fine, after I know how to ride. Mastering the basics have propelled me into the elite of shooters in this country, and for that, I will never forget them. They have been forever etched into my mind and soul.

As for kicking in doors, well, I will leave you with this little bit from a movie most gun folk heartily enjoy;

"I said I never had much use for a pistol. I never said I didn't know how to use one." Mathew Quigley, Quigley Downunder.

The Guy