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Awesome.

If you’re a typical leftist, that title probably got you picturing a couple of poorly educated white males with too much testosterone and a sick desire to empower themselves by shooting something, or someone – those sick bastards.

Look at these two. A uniform and a suit.  Look at how much fun they’re having playing with their new toys. But it’s all right though, because they’re government officials, right? Nevermind that the dumbass on the right is pointing his "assault" rifle right at the guy on the left, violating two cardinal rules of gun safety: always treat the gun as if it’s loaded (even if there’s no magazine in it and you’re absolutely certain it isn’t) and never point it at anything you don’t want to destroy. At least their fingers aren’t on the triggers, but still. If I were the guy on the left, I would have knocked the other guy’s barrel aside and buttstroked him upside the head for his stupidity.

Recognized these ignorant bastards yet? They’re New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley and Major Ray Nagin. Yes, the very criminals who confiscated the personal firearms of countless innocent victims in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, violating their rights and thus preventing them from being able to defend themselves from real criminals while Riley and Nagin displayed monumental incompetence in securing their safety. These hypocrites think we private citizens aren’t qualified to keep and bear arms but they, ignorant and irresponsible though they clearly are, nevertheless think they themselves are so qualified. Give me a break.

http://www.local6.com/news/14505886/detail.html

Excerpts:

ORLANDO, Fla. — An argument that erupted between several Indian men during a cricket match in Orlando led to a shooting that seriously injured one of the players, according to police. Sunday, November 4, 2007.

Officers said Singh apparently became involved in a fight and threatened Devan Bascom, 37, with a cricket bat.

Police said Bascom then pulled a small semi-automatic gun and fired at Singh, hitting him at least once.

“The shooter was defending himself from an attack with a cricket bat which is simlar to a baseball bat but it’s flat,” Orange County sheriff’s Sgt. Spike Hopkins said. “For this man to bring a firearm to a sporting event is odd but then again, he has the right to do so. He has a concealed weapons permit and if, in fact, he was protecting himself, he was authorized by law to do so.”

Hat tip to Dick Clark for bringing this to my attention.

I’ve got a couple of months worth of gun updates to catch up on.

I joined the Eastern Nebraska Gun Club on October 15th. I haven’t been able to go shoot there yet, but I’m planning on going this weekend. There’s a monthly USPSA Practical Pistol match and an HP Rifle Silhouette match on Sunday. I’m thinking of going to watch. Not sure if the pistol match will take up all of the pistol ranges or not.

I bought a 135-count case of clay pigeons for $9 and a clay target thrower for about $25 to practice trap shooting with my shotgun. I’ll probably give it a shot this weekend on the trap range.

In September I took and passed a concealed carry course given by Omaha Concealed Carry. I had a good time and learned a few things.

By now I’ve fired off another few hundred rounds of 9mm through my pistol since the last time I posted an update (not all at once though). Not a single FTE (failure to extract), which gives me far more confidence in my Taurus PT111. I think it is finally broken in, or it likes the ammo I’m using better, or I’m cleaning it better, or I’m handling the recoil better, or some combination of these. Oh, and it also turns out that the reason my pistol was shooting low was me, not the gun. My CCW instructor noticed I was anticipating recoil, jerking the trigger and therefore the muzzle downward before the shot went off. I’ll have to work on that.

For eye candy, to tide you over until I post pictures of my guns, here are two targets I shot with #3 buck at 20 ft. One target took 10 shells, the other 15. Not bad for my first time shooting my shotgun, eh? The bigger holes you see in odd places are the shot wad or shot cup following the buckshot into the target.

In related news: “Terror watch list swells to more than 755,000” (USA Today)

Are you on the list?

“Couple Make Burglar Clean Up at Gunpoint“

My first response was: Hahahahahahahaha!!! Serves him right.

Then when I read the article I laughed even more:

When police arrived, Bullock complained about being forced to clean the home at gunpoint.

“This man had the nerve to raise sand about us making him clean up the mess he made in my house,” she said. “The police officer laughed at him when he complained and said anybody else would have shot him dead.”

What a baby, complaining about having to clean up the mess he made.

This is what comes from a culture with a government that encourages shirking responsibility. And that’s no laughing matter.

It’s a good thing the victim had a gun too.

I just ordered one of these. A nifty little self-defense tool for when you don’t want to kill your opponent, just beat him. You can buy one yourself for a reasonable price here.

Well, I ended up going back to the range a day earlier than planned; this morning. My wife wants to go to the AppleJack Festival in Nebraska City tomorrow. Today after lunch we went to one of the Omaha malls. She bought a bunch of clothes. I bought some stuff for my shotgun, at Dick’s Sporting Goods: a 25 capacity plastic shotshell case – more convenient than digging 5 shells at a time out of the cardboard boxes they come in; a sort of wallet-style shotshell belt pouch that holds 10 shells; and a 12″ by 36″ cleaning mat. I also bought an nice gun bag for my shotgun at Wal-Mart before hitting the range. Shotgun pictures to come.

Before trying out my shotgun for the first time, I fired another 4 mags (48 rounds) through m PT111 again. No problems. My aim is all right. I won’t be winning any competitions anytime soon, but I can hit the body of a man-sized and shaped target.

Shooting the shotgun was fun. I’m glad I got a 20 gauge. It has more than enough recoil: not too much for me to handle or so much that it is no fun to shoot or throws off my aim, but enough to make me a little sore. A 12 gauge would probably be impossible for my wife to manage. As it is, she’ll probably have some trouble with the 20. I’ll have to get her to practice at least a little. I shot 15 shells of Federal Premium Vital Shok #3 buckshot and 10 shells of Remington Express #3 with the 18.5″ barrel. The Federal ammo had a noticeably more pronounced kick. It’s a good deal more expensive too. I seem to have a knack for hitting the upper-left torso of the target every time (from the sternum to the left side and shoulder, and from the upper stomach to the collarbone – good heart and left-lung shots). I’ll try the field barrel and slug barrel later. I think I’ll look for some slugs that can be fired through a smooth bore as well; #3 buckshot will be my primary home defense load but I don’t think it would hurt to have a few slugs on hand for that security barrel as well – perhaps one or two on the stock cuff.

I went to The Bullet Hole on Tuesday to fire off a few rounds with m PT111 and to pick up my shotgun. I fired 4 mags (48 rounds) without a hitch. I shot far fewer rounds this time to economize on ammo and to go slow, focusing on improving my accuracy.

The shotgun is awesome so far. I’ll run some ammo (#3 buckshot) through it for the first time when I go back to the range on Sunday. And in a bit of excellent timing, my security barrel was delivered Wednesday. It’s remarkable how much more maneuverable and lighter the 7.5″ shorter barrel makes the gun feel. I already have a stock cuff shotshell holder for it. It puts five extra shells within easy reach right on the gun itself. I’ll probably buy a side saddle to mount on the receiver too. Pictures to come.

Taurus PT111 – 3rd Range Report: I went to a nearby indoor shooting range in La Vista, NE, called The Bullet Hole. Fired 12 mags (144 rounds) of WWB. No problems of any kind.

Also, I ordered a Mossberg 500 20 Gauge Field/Deer Combo from R&R Arms for $262.86 plus $16.68 shipping for a total of $279.54. Thanks to federal firearms law, I had to have it shipped to a federally licensed firearms dealer. I chose The Bullet Hole. They’re charging what seems to be the standard $20 fee for that service. So all in all I’m saving about $60 plus tax off of the retail price, about $30 plus tax off of the sale price at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

The combo includes an all purpose 26″ vent ribbed field barrel that can accept different chokes. Three are included: improved cylinder, modified, and full. A gun lock and, I believe, a choke wrench are also included. The other barrel is a ported, fully rifled 24″ barrel with rifle sights, for shooting slugs. This week I plan to order an x-full turkey choke and an 18.5″ security barrel straight from Mossberg. That’ll cost me an extra $87 plus shipping [Update/Correction: $88.18 total]. All bases covered for about $400 [$388.04]. Not bad, eh?

Whoa.