Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics...

So I watched the president speak at his support party today.  I can't call it anything else since there was wild applause, supporting yells and hoots throughout the speech.  He joked, he played the audience, I was surprised no one held up a lighter or yelled "Freebird!".  He made reference to debunked studies and statistics once again.  I had to laugh when he mentioned Chicago for gun violence, since they have such extensive gun laws and restrictions to go with their high gun violence record.

There was a lot of the speech dedicated to calling up memories of people slain that his executive action would not have saved.  In fact, he admitted it in his speech.  But despite that, he has to do something.  And as such, something results in this executive action.  And really, its about as much as he could do and hope to get away with maybe half of it.  I went to the White House website to look at the actual documentation and found it to be both weak and worrying.

We'll see if he gets the funding approved for the extra ATF agents, but I am willing to bet it'll be approved in return for some other favor.  The FBI will be hiring more people for background check staff and move to 24/7 operation.  Based on the volume the have seen over the last 20 years, I really can't believe that this wasn't done long ago.  And the real loophole that existed, the "Trust, Corporation or Legal Entity" for acquiring NFA listed items (and firearms in general) will be closed by ATF rules.  However, I foresee a lawsuit at some point on that one.  The gun safety research item looks to be a toothless request for reports that will in the end do nothing but waste some interns time.

The items that I see as an issue is the mental health area, because I see a lot of room for abuse of the system.  The last line in the shows that they learned from past battles: "The rulemaking will also provide a mechanism for people to seek relief from the federal prohibition on possessing a firearm for reasons related to mental health."  I worry that this item will be a back burner item, as it appears to be an afterthought and the rest will move forward immediately.

Overall, tho, it looks like a lot of smoke and mirrors.  Creating the illusion of doing something, when it really is only stating that we need to enforce when is already on the books.

Oooh, shiny... Wait...

Bass Pro Shop just opened a store near me.  I was shocked when I heard that they were building one here in the Bay Area.  I just didn't think that there were enough people into the outdoor sports that included fishing and hunting in this area to support it.  Also, not the most gun friendly area.  Still, a real sporting goods superstore right here in my area.  Sweet!

I went in during the opening week celebrations hoping to see some good deals.  Sales on items that I have not bought at other retailers due to price or availability.  Hope ran high.  Parking on a Thursday in the early afternoon was still scarce.  The place was packed.  The restaurant and bowling alley both took me by surprise.  The store was as I expected, extravagant upscale redneck.  I looked at the archery equipment, since my daughter has shown an interest, but I did no research beforehand, so I don't know if anything was a good deal.  However, they had a lot of choice.

So now we go on to the firearms department.  Prepare to be amazed!  They have a firearms counter that is measured in the tens of yards.  Sweet!  Brands are clearly displayed and there were plenty of people behind the counter.  They even set up extra tables and computers to help with the expected overflow of paperwork.  Excellent.

However, I notice that there are very few sale labels.  While I was tempted by the Savage Axis for $299, it wasn't what I was looking for.  So I went over to look at gun safes.  Surely they would have a wide selection.  Mmm, not so much.  They had one safe that would do for holding both pistols and ammunition.  They only had a few rifle safes that did not require a forklift, but a higher prices than Big 5.  Then I went over to the recoil pad section and beheld the disappointment.  Not a lot of selection, only two manufacturers and all way overpriced.

So after all that, I ended up going back to the happy little gun shop that I like (Sportsman Supply) and gave them my business.  They may have lost my last shotgun purchase, but once again I received excellent assistance and advice from the salesperson.  I'll be back.  I'll treat Bass Pro Shop like I treat Fry's for my electronics:  They will have something that will fulfill a need, not necessarily what you wanted, not necessarily at the price you wanted, but they will have something in a pinch.

F#$king California...

I went to the store today to purchase a new shotgun.  I have determined that I hate shooting skeet and trap with a pump.  A local store had a entry level over/under model on sale for very good price.  I normally use a different store to purchase my guns (4 out of my last five, and the fifth was transferred to a new owner there) but both price and a poor sales person inspired me to take my money elsewhere for this purchase.

When I arrived, I found that the only person certified to complete the sale was at lunch.  As I was going to get lunch after, I reversed my plan and had lunch first.  When I returned I found the gentleman there and ready to help me.

I expected paperwork.  California has decided that this is the first step in gun control.  However, I forgot that a new law came into being this year.  Last year I only needed a safety certificate to buy a pistol.  Now you need one for all firearm purchases.  I had my handgun safety certificate in my wallet, so when he told me of the change I thought I was set.  Nope.  I needed the new spiffy one.  Okaayyy...

The salesman completely understood my annoyance.  He thought it was stupid as well.  So now I have to pay an additional $25 to take this test.  Fine.  Then I get the test and find it is just as worthless as the pistol test I re-certified on last year.  I found that several of the questions were (in my opinion) trick questions.  I basically went with what I thought the Brady Campaign would want as the answer and ended up with a perfect score.  However, taking the test and having everything entered into the computer added a half hour to my experience.

Then we got to the rest of the paperwork, made more difficult behind the scenes by local ordinances, and spent another 45 minutes.  After all of that, I still get to wait 10 days to pick up the gun.  And I get to fill out more paperwork when I pick it up.  Did I mention that I can't wait to move out of California?

Strappin a gat or just shooting clays?

I have been reading a study on the correlation between "Youth Gun Carrying" and state gun laws.  While reading the initial article, I saw an immediate red flag, that of the Brady Campaign.  However, the study only uses their state gun law rating system as a baseline for gun laws, so that's minimal damage.  

The study arrives at the conclusion that the states with more gun control laws have a lower incidence of youths carrying guns.  But, after reading through the article, the study and all of the associated materials, I found one thing lacking.  There is no actual definition of "Youth Gun Carrying" in the study.  No definition between children taking a trip to the range with their parents for target practice and gang members "strappin a gat" in case of violence during their daily illegal business.  The only reference to that particular piece of information in the note that the data is based on voluntary response to surveys, so the initial data is to me suspect.  

I spent a considerable amount of time going through all of the links associated with the article and the links associated with those additional articles.  Still have not found any of the actual details on what "Youth Gun Carrying" actually means.  So I went to the source, the CDC to see what was asked regarding this subject.  I went to the study in question, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).  

Guess what?  The CDC is kinda vague on that item too.  

The actual question on the survey is "During the past 30 days, on how many days did you carry a gun?".  This is a specific statistic that can be represented many different ways.  No clarification is asked for beyond that question.  In my farming community high school (where duck, pheasant, pig and deer hunting were all popular) an honest answer from all would be just as damning as honest answers from a gang ridden high school in an urban area. There is no context, no difference between safe lawful use and unlawful use.  The basic piece of information needed to get this study rolling is already in question.

So, after reading this study, all of the associated articles and information and researching what wasn't linked, I have come to the same conclusion that I have seen far too often.  The study's conclusion was reached far before the evidence was collected.  Everything else is just window dressing.

Common Sense... Not so common.

Hillary Clinton has finally admitted in clear speech that her use of a personal email server to conduct business as Secretary of State was a mistake.  Now, technically, it was apparently allowed according to whatever rules she was following.  Even investigators admitted that she is correct on this issue.

However, the colossal stupidity of this course of action should have been evident to anyone with even a small amount of experience in public office.  The clear choice of proper and improper should have stood out.  If this is the type of decision making that is evident as Secretary of State, how can the same person be trusted to make better decisions as President?

You act like it existed...

I have just watched a news report on the BBC about some journalists that have been sentenced to 3 years in prison.  Something that the newscaster said made me laugh.  She reported that Amnesty International said that the sentences were a death-knell for free speech in Egypt.  I actually backed up the DVR to make sure that I heard it correctly.

It seems that at some point, many people in this world lost track of something.  Freedom of Speech is not something that is guaranteed wherever you go just because you are a journalist.  Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Press is in fact restricted even in countries like America and England.  If you are standing in a country that has blasphemy laws in place, there is no such thing as Freedom of Speech or Press.  Additionally, if the country is run by communists or dictatorships these items don't exist.  Your press credentials have all the rights and powers afforded toilet paper in these countries, and is likely worth less on the street.  So, while I sympathize with these men on the unfair situation that they find themselves in, please remember that Freedom of Press never actually existed there.

A good day

My daughter decided out of the blue last Saturday that we should go to the range.  It seemed like a good idea, as I had just finished a very frustrating first week of being unemployed and trying to correct that issue.  I called my in-laws to see if they wanted to go, as they were in town.  A short while later the details were set and I made a big production out of getting ready.  We went out to get a spare rifle hard case because I planned to bring all of my guns.  Then I created a giant mess in the living room getting all the ammo, magazines and guns into the bags, as well as tools, eye and ear protection, backups of said items, a folding table, clays for the skeet range...  I haven't done this in forever so I packed for every possibility.  Yes, I packed too much.

The next morning we got up, loaded the cart for the trip to the car (I hate living in an apartment) and got going.  After stopping for gas and cash, we ended up getting to the Santa Clara Field Sports Park at 2 minutes to 8.  It was a beautiful day and the range was already half full.  Apparently they open the doors early.  We checked in, fielded the call from my in-laws telling us that they were running late due to forgetting their eye pro and going back for it.  Then we carted the table, the guns and the ammo to our preferred lanes, all the way at the end.  We missed the first shooting session but that gave us time to load magazines.  At this point I realized I forgot all but two of the magazines for the Jericho 9/41.  Damn.  Then I found that the staple gun that I bought the day before for target setup was worthless.  Lovely.  Still, we had plenty of ammo, plenty of other magazines and plenty of time.  Once the grandparents arrived, it was a party.  We destroyed the complementary targets that were supplied by the range fairly quickly.  The six target ones that I bought the day before lasted longer. but we still trashed them as well.  The grandparents were eager to go though the steel case 9mm they had so after my first box of Winchester White Box was gone, we started on theirs.  God that stuff was dirty.  However, we blew through 400 rounds of that, plus mine, plus 100 rounds of .45, 500+ rounds of .22 and 100 rounds of .40 in my father in law's pistol.  it took several hours but we all had a great time.  My daughter is a magazine loading machine, once she learned how to use the tool.  By the time we stopped shooting, neither of the .22 pistols would cycle consistently due to general buildup.  I haven't cleaned them in several range trips, so this is not surprising.

After that we decided to head over to the skeet and trap range.  They have a very nice setup there, pricing is good and I should have left my clays at home.  There are no manual machines there.  It is all automated and staffed, so we did not have to do anything but shoot.  The price per round was good and the staff were very patient walking us through the proper protocols.  My daughter decided that while she was OK shooting the 9mm and the .22 pistols, this was not for her at the moment.  So my in-laws and I each did a round of skeet and a round of trap.  My mother in law decided that she liked my Mossberg 500 much better than their Winchester.  I had the 28 inch barrel on mine and they had an 18 inch barrel on theirs.  I did better than I expected on skeet and hit more than I missed on trap.  I'll be going back more often.

After we packed everything up, we headed for a late lunch at Red Robin and then home.  Then I started to realize that I forgot to apply sunblock.  whoops.  Still, it was a really enjoyable day.  Now I just have to work on cleaning all the guns...