You Might Be Gun-Nuts If…

1. If your Valentine’s Day present to your wife is a Sig Sauer P220 and you get serious lovin’ for the gift… You might be gun-nuts
2. If your birthday present from your wife is a Cowboy Assault Rifle (level action rifle)… You might be gun-nuts
3. If your idea of a good father’s Day Present for your wife’s Dad is a box of hand-made 45 Long-Colt Cowboy Action Shooting loads… You might be gun nuts
4. If you go to the in-laws’ for dinner and bring your new shotgun to show off… You might be gun-nuts
5. If your “date-night” consists of a candlelit dinner where you and your wife discuss the best grain-weights for the .45 ACP… You might be gun-nuts
6. If you and your wife remark to friends that shooting is: “The most fun you can have with your clothes on…” You might be gun-nuts
7. If you look at the 12 firearms in your safe and think to yourself:  “That’s a good start…” You might be gun-nuts

-That is all

Gun-Toting …Liberal? -Nah!

I had a conversation a while back with an acquaintance who was going on and on about the “right” to torture, the virtues of the Iraq invasion and the evils of “liberals,” who was appalled when I took him to task on all of the above.

The reason I’m keeping the guy completely anonymous is that frankly, he’s one of the more typical right-wing gun nuts I run across (there are plenty of left-wing gun-nuts out there too)! and like so many of those on the ask-no-questions, salute the flag, God is on our side Far-Right, he was woefully misinformed about everything except guns.

When I finished bashing Bush’s statism, constitution bashing and inept handling of Iraq, my acquaintance informed me that I was a “liberal.” (I think as an insult).  But when we decided to change the subject to guns he was amazed to find I not only owned several, shot them regularly and had a concealed weapons permit for many years but was adamant about the importance of the Second Amendment to the U.S.  Constitution.

What’s sad about the gun community is that it’s become a pawn of the extreme right. They’ve taken advantage of the idiocy of the Democratic party over guns and made it a signature issue, all the while manipulating the hell out of gun-nuts (which I proudly admit to being).

One of the things I’ll never forgive the Clintons for is the stupid “assault weapons” ban.  This idiotic piece of legislation handed the GOP and the extreme right a wedge issue on a silver platter which they’ve been milking ever since. And only recently has there been any pushback from the Dems on this (small though it’s been).

In America, gun control does not equate to less crime. I realize that among many doctrinaire “liberals” (whatever the Hell that means anymore) this is heresy, but facts are facts. Statistics have shown conclusively that the AWB did nothing to substantively reduce gun violence.  According to the Justice Department:

Should it [The Assault Weapons Ban] be renewed, the ban’s effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement. AWs [Assault Weapons defined by the AWB]were rarely used in gun crimes even before the ban. LCMs [Large Capacity Magazines] are involved in a more substantial share of gun crimes, but it is not clear how often the outcomes of gun attacks depend on the ability of offenders to fire more than ten shots (the current magazine capacity limit) without reloading.

The Democrats were saddled with the label of gun-grabbers before 1993, but after the passage of the AWB that label had more meaning than ever before, because it outlawed many firearms commonly in use by enthusiasts, replacement magazines for hundreds of firearms and was (rightly) seen as the first step in a move towards a complete ban of privately owned firearms.  And not people to lose an opportunity, the extreme right-wing lost no time at all in grabbing these disenfranchised voters, filling them with conspiracy theories and paranoia and setting them loose on the polls.  A giant proprtion of the anti-Obama vote this last election came from gun-owners who took one look at Obama’s dismal record on the issue and voted the other way.  If the Dems continue battering this issue at all, they will push yet more people away, and it seems as though at least a few people in the party are taking notice of this.

But back to the subject at hand, to wit: how can someone not buying into Guns, God and Flag uber alles be a gun nut?  How about because I simply enjoy the shooting sports? Or because I like to collect firearms? Or more importantly because I realize that an armed person never need be a helpless victim to criminals or our own government –Which has always seemed to me the best reason for the right to keep and bear arms being enshrined in our constitution.

The Wingnut-right may have taken over much of the gun rights argument, but not all of it.

As I said to my shocked acquaintance: Gun control isn’t about liberalism, it’s about totalitarianism.  The first among all human rights is the right of self defense. Once this right is gone, all the rest are soon to follow.  Am I a “Liberal?” Nah!  Because once again….Labels are a poor substitute for thinking.

You know you’ve been re-loading too much when…

You see this headline:

Making the Military Brass Lean Left

And you automatically click on it to see why someone is doing that to 5.56×45 NATO cartridges.

That is all

Gotta love being married to a gun-loving girl

My wife just looked at a web-site about “assault weapons.” Her comment?

“It’s not gonna go ‘splodie killing spree all by itself!”

New acquisitions: Making Sarah Brady cry

As you may (or may not) know, this was the week our gun licenses came in from the Third Reich Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

It’s been a three-month process, gathering information on how to apply, (The Commonwealth makes it intentionally vague and difficult to navigate their complicated gun laws), the mandatory training course, (which doesn’t even require you to pass written or practical test, so what’s the point?) And then of course the Abu Ghraib-style interrogation from the Commonwealth and our local police department, plus fingerprinting and background check. Not to mention the money: $125 for the safety course and $100 for the license. Each.

But finally the licenses came in, so we can actually take advantage of our Second Amendment rights.

The day the licenses came in, we picked up two previously arranged purchases: A Springfield Arms 1911A1 pistol, and a Ruger Security Six revolver. Additionally we saw a good deal on a Beretta 92 FS, so we picked this up as well.

Now we didn’t get to this out of a vacuum. I’m a long-term firearms enthusiast, temporarily disarmed due to gun laws which have made it more trouble to be armed than it was feasible to deal with. Since I was moving between three States for a couple of years, all of which have different requirements, licensing, mandatory training, registration etc. I just sold my guns years ago. It wasn’t worth the hassle (nor could I afford all the fees).

So we knew what we wanted and had made arrangements to get it well in advance of the licenses actually arriving, though we couldn’t take possession until we had permission from the government to exercise a fundamental right guaranteed under the constitution.

Sorry for the rant, but frankly I’m so angry about being treated like a criminal by my government and having to get permission to exercise a fundamental right, I hope you’ll bear with me. If you don’t understand the frustration, imagine if you had to go through all this in order to vote. My rights under the Second Amendment are no less fundamental than my right to vote; which is why I become so incensed over having to go through all this rigmarole.

At any rate, as I have reported already, we took all three pistols out to the range, got a feel for them, and had a pretty good time.

In addition to the pistols, we had wanted to acquire a couple of rifles. One of these we planned would be of the AR family, or what you see if you look at the news and see what the guys in Iraq are carrying. (In a semi-automatic version, not the full-auto military models).

The other rifle we weren’t quite sure of. On the one hand, I really wanted a 7.62 mm rifle, preferably magazine fed and capable of handling a 20-round magazine. On the other hand, I wanted something reasonably light.

Now in Massachusetts we live under an “assault weapon” ban. Which means basically that any firearm which scares a gun-phobe is illegal unless it was manufactured and in the state prior to 1998.

This means the top contenders on my 7.62 list, the FN-FAL, HK-91/G3 are either unobtainable, or so expensive they are out of the question.

The top contender for the 7.62mm category that is available here was the Springfield M1A1, a civilian version of the M-14, which is probably among the finest battle rifles ever made. And while not exactly light, it’s not so heavy you can’t use it for stand-up shooting, or carry for hunting. Unfortunately, this excellent firearm is something I definitely plan on getting eventually. Sadly it runs about $2,000, which is honestly more than we’re able to pay at the moment.

Yesterday I took a trip up to State Line Gun Shop in Mason, NH (an excellent shop with terrific staff. I highly recommend them) to have a look at a very cool DPMS LR-308. It’s Massachusetts legal and not too bad a price. Unfortunately, one heft told me it would be a non-starter for my wife. Simply too heavy in the barrel. Lighter versions are available, but overall, If I’m going 7.62, and AR-style rifle isn’t too high on my list for a lot of reasons.

But, they did happen to have something else which had been on my “definite maybe” list:

Ruger Mini 14 with scope

First, the Mini-14 an excellent firearm with wide usage and a terrific reputation. Second, it’s in 5.56 mm, a caliber I like and finally, it’s very light. My wife can shoot this baby from a standing position all day long with no trouble. So at the excellent price State Line offered, I snapped it up and brought it home, along with a scope and a couple hundred rounds of Ammo.

But a funny thing happened about five minutes after I got home. As I was about to show my lovely bride our new rifle, she shouted for me to come quick and look at a “for sale” post on a gun forum we frequent.

I could not believe my eyes. As I said, a rifle in the AR family was definitely on the list prior to the Mini-14 acquisition.

But there’s something I wanted to have a lot more than an AR. A lot more than an AR. However these babies are extremely hard to get in Massachusetts for less than a donated body part. -As in nearly impossible. But Sweetie found one and got us a terrific deal. (Thanks Steve, you are a Gentleman, a Scholar and Judge of Good Whiskey)!

Yes, I speak of the Sig Sauer 556.

Here it is:

An interesting side note here. Both my wife and I have traveled in Europe rather extensively and I lived in Germany for about 3 years, so we have friends all over the place. Among these are a few from Switzerland.

As you may or may not know, Switzerland has both mandatory military service, and also mandatory reserve service for all men from ages 18-50. Each of them goes home with their firearm, and reports for training every year until they retire.

My Swiss friends have been taunting me for years about what they have in their closets and frankly I was jealous. Now…not so much. While this isn’t the full-auto version they have, it’s close enough for me. (Plus mine has picatinny rails you guys)!

I’m stoked.

Tomorrow is another range day (today was one as well) and I’ll post a full range report on both new guns, as well as an update on the somewhat cranky 1911, which had been sitting in a box, new and unfired for 21 years when I got it.

But (at last) I get to the point.

Lissa has a line I quote all the time: “Every time Sarah Brady cries an angel gets its wings.” (apologies to Frank Capra).

This week, I think we went beyond making Mrs. Brady Cry. About right now my wife and I agree, she’s looking for razor blades.

-Nuff said

GUNS Dammit! -Firearms should be a family affair

Well today was the fateful day. The day the LTCs (License to Carry…which hilariously enough in Massachusets doesn’t ACTUALLY mean license to carry, but merely permission to own a firearm) arrived.

The delightful young lady (She’s a detective, but she is also both young and delightful) at out local police department, who processed our paperwork, was kind enough to call and let us know the LTCs had arrived from Mommy State (Massachusetts sucks, have I mentioned that lately?) My lovely bride ventured forth at 7:30 AM to pick them up. (Pfft! ventured forth…more like charged out the door. The woman has been like a kid waiting for Santa Claus for alomst 6 weeks now, calling me daily to check on the status of the mail).

An hour or so later, having carefully reviewed our permission slips from Mommy State to exercise our rights given us by God and guaranteed by the constitution, we traveled west with our two handsome dogs Nemo (left) and Pippin (right):

to go pick up a previously arranged purchase of a brand new, unfired, pre- 1998 Springfield Arms 1911-A1.

For you people fortunate enough not to live in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (count yourselves lucky) you may not realize that this was quite the feat, as these fine weapons are virtually unobtainable for less than obscene sums here. Due to the kindness of one of our fine Law Enforcement Officials, we were able to obtain this pristine, in-the-box, un-fired firearm for a price bordering on guilt-inducing. (Bless you Nick)! We plan on adding a match barrel, new trigger and commander-style hammer to the gun, along with some various soothing, but right out of the box, these babies shoot just fine and the excellent price we paid makes the extra steps of turning this baby into a true safe-queen manageable.

From the Western environs off this festering Hellhole we traversed the pox-ridden, litter-strewn highways and byways of (Massatwoshits as my friend Bear from Washington State calls it) to the the eastern side of the state, to pick up another fine firearm: The well-known Beretta 92FS, An excellent 9mm semi-automatic pistol, with two, yes count-em TWO pre-ban high capacity magazines. -All to be had another exceedingly reasonable price (Thank you Four-Seasons Firearms).

Now many of you might think this extreme. Some of you might think were were perhaps a tad single-minded. But then you folks would be mere firearms dilettantes.

Because we weren’t quite finished yet. First, we had to get the Gun Cabinet which had been awaiting the arrival of our LTCs, But then we had to pick up the very most important item of the day. My lovely bride’s birthday present: The venerable Ruger Security Six.

Well, even we have a limit to all things (mostly our budget) and having made Sarah Brady cry in excess (Wait til she sees what I’m picking up tomorrow, she’ll want to slit her wrists) we decided to call it a day, head back to the ranch and get my lovely bride familiar with our new acquisitions.

We have a couple of rules in the Nance household when it comes to firearms:

1. All (human) members of the household will be able to safely field strip, clean and maintain every weapon in the household.

2. All members will be able to competently and safely handle and shoot every firearm in our possession.

Step one was accomplished this evening:

Yes, my lovely bride was quite pleased with herself to completely disassemble (what’s in the picture is not all that was taken apart) every firearm in our possession, but was able by the end of the evening to put them all back together (with the helpful addition of having no parts left over) with the expertise of a real pro. (I have to be honest folks, she did things with that Security Six I wouldn’t have dreamed of…now you know who has the mechanical talent in the family, and it ain’t me)!

Guys, eat yer friggin heart out. She’s MINE. -Did I mention she wants to take gun-smithing courses?

All in all it was one of the best days we’ve had in years. Once again, we are finally, lawfully armed citizens. Tomorrow promises to be a full day for both of us since my bride has vacation days to use or lose and we have a yet-untested new gunclub with some 12 ranges to break in and large quantities of ammo.

Tonight (or perhaps I should say this morning) Life is good!

-Nuff Said.

Gunnie humor

It’s pretty hard to find a cartoonist who isn’t a gun-phobe. I just finished sorting through 170 yes, 170 political cartoons about gun issues and found a grand total of five which aren’t hysterical, illogical or blatant lies. -This was my favorite:

Hmmm, Looks just like Massachusetts to me.