Call me Ahab

In case you had to get the memo, Squeaky is, to use the vernacular, my homeboy.  Since we’ve started doing the show together, in addition to working on that we’ve had some time to compare notes on other items of interest - which is why when she put her post up on what amounted to gross sexism from KdT, I decided to have her back 100%.

What kills me about the original post that started all this ruckus is that I, as a man who is also not a pig was offended by the implication that I’m standing around waiting to leer uncontrollably at women who are apparently running around ripping off their tops.  So based on that alone, I would have backed up Squeaks - but then she sends me IM telling me that someone called her a “stupid Nazi cunt” in an email because she had the temerity to disagree with KdT.

UPDATE #2:  To the guy who created one of those temporary email addresses JUST to send me an email calling me a “stupid Nazi cunt”:  you know, if your point was to make me feel badly for linking to KdT because he just happened to be the one using the phrase I found offensive, you’d do better to, you know, post a blog about it and link to me so that others can share in your oh-so-sophistocated opinion on the subject.  That’ll show me, right?  Yeah, I’m going to pronounce your efforts as EPIC FAIL.

That pretty much put me over the edge on this one, and though while being a fantastic example of epic fail  it also completely proved the point we were both trying to make.  I mean, aside from the fact that whomever sent her that email is essentially a completely balls-less coward, the fact that he had that kind of knuckle-dragging neanderthal reaction to Squeaks pointing out the obvious sexism would have been funny if it hadn’t been directed at my friend.

The point of all of this isn’t actually to call anyone out - well, except for the chickenshit who emailed Squeaks - but rather to illustrate a point that just because a certain amount of boorishness is often tolerated in the shooting sports, it’s still a pretty fucking stupid thing to tolerate.  You want to alienate women from the shooting sports?  Make the insinuation that women who shoot are a bunch of trollops, and see how many new shooters you bring in to the sport.

Today on Gun Nuts: The Next Generation, we had the opportunity to interview Philip Van Cleave, the President of the Virginia Citizen’s Defense League.  One of our big topics was open carry, which as we talked about in the past has a huge built in culture in Virgina.  Click here to listen to the show, or download the .mp3 below.

 

 Virginia Citizen's Defense League [39:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Also appearing on the show was Sebastian of Snowflakes In Hell, shedding some light on the Moms Against Guns billboards, which you can see in detail at his blog.

www.blogtalkradio.com/gunnuts goes live in 10 minutes - tonight we’re talking with the president of VCDL - one of the “Good Guys”.

Listener call in number is (347) 539-5436!

Tastes like chicken.

Only a short time ago the city of Fallujah served as stronghold for insurgents. Daily skirmishes, improvised explosive device detonations and public unease made operating a business in the city very difficult.

Today, with improved security throughout the region, the low price of 4,000 dinar, or $3.50, will purchase a full meal at the recently established Kentucky Fried Chicken in the Hey Al Dubat area of the city.

That’s so awesome it hurts a little bit, actually.

Plus, the fact that they’re opening a KFC in Fallujah of all places sort of makes it harder for the anti-war faction to claim that a) the surge hasn’t worked, or b) that things aren’t getting better - because let’s be honest, fried chicken and biscuits makes EVERYTHING better.

From Tamara her own bad self:

Some bright spark in the Letters to the Editor section of today’s cat box liner was opining that when the Messiah leads us to glory come November, a rational energy policy could be passed that would…

…are you ready for this?

…”[end] the use of fossil fuels in 10 years“.

May I suggest that you, sir, are a bleedin’ idiot and should keep your piehole respectfully shut when grownups are talking?

Are you seriously suggesting that in the space of a decade we could replace every moped and chainsaw, every combine and bulldozer with their equivalents from the Segway catalog? That the coal-fired powerplant that provides the juice to run the refrigerators in the organic produce section of your local Tofu-Mart be supplanted by some solar cells? That the big diesel generator that provides the emergency backup power for your Aunt Millie’s respirator down at Sisters of Mercy General be replaced by pink unicorns farting moonbeams through the blades of wind turbines?

And she wonders why she has a huge internet following.

On the topic of Obama supporters, I have never seen such a bunch of deluded idiots in my entire life.  When I talk to people who are planning on voting for him, it’s like talking to a bunch of cultists - I’m not kidding.  Of the dozen or so people I know that are planning (or say they’re planning) on voting for Barack, exactly 1 has been able to present a case for Barack that didn’t hinge on how “different” things will be when he’s elected.  One person.  Sadly, I suspect that this person is the exception, rather than the rule.

Robb asks if he should get into competitive shooting.  The short answer is “yes”, but there’s a caveat to go with that, namely “which kind of competitive shooting”?  Based on his post, he’s limited his options to “practical” shooting like IDPA or USPSA, and ruled out bullseye, silhouette and other competitive shooting sports.

I am always 100% in favor of people shooting more - practical shooting as I’ve said in the past is really the future of the sport, it has a low bar for entry in terms of gear, is actually fun to watch other people do, and has the added benefit of building skills that can be useful in a self defense situation.

I started shooting competitively when I went to the Academy, where I initially competed in NRA Collegiate Pistol, and then eventually shot in some PPC (lolbattletech - ed) club level stuff during that time.  After the Academy, I shot cowboy for a while, and then when I moved to Virginia with Mrs. Ahab, I just…stopped.  I don’t know what happened, but I stopped shooting competitions.  I would still go to the range and practice, but my desire to shoot matches of any type had died off completely.

That continued for a few years, actually.  When we moved back to Indiana I kept practicing and going to the range, but still no matched until my buddy Greg convinced me to go shoot a bowling pin match at Marion County Fish & Game.  Despite being pretty roundly trounced, I was hooked back in like whoa, and have since “gotten the bug again”.  I shoot at MCF&G twice a month, once for pins and once for steel, and bought a gun (Glock 24) just for shooting those matches.

Now I’m looking at single action revolvers and double barreled shotguns, because I’m starting to get the itch to shoot cowboy stuff again.  My wife has never seen me do this, as I pretty much stopped around the time we met due to budget constraints, and sold off my cowboy guns (a decision I thoroughly regret).

The point of taking you through the history of my competitive shooting was to attempt to illustrate how thoroughly addictive it is.  If you do it smart and don’t get burned out like I did, you’ll have a fantastic time and you’ll get a lot better at shooting as well.  Don’t worry about whether you’re shooting IPSC, IDPA, Steel Challenge, Cowboy Action, GSSF or whatever; the point is to have fun and become a better shooter.  You can let the internets argue over whichever is “best” form of practical shooting, all I know is that I wouldn’t want the world champion of any of those disciplines putting rounds downrange at me.

That does bring me to one final point, though - the part about this being fun.  Don’t do what I did, and get burned out by taking the competition so seriously that it’s not fun anymore.  The nanosecond that it becomes a chore, or a burden, or you wake up on a Saturday morning and think “shit, I have to go shoot today”  - stop.  Just like blogging, the minute that shooting action sports, or skeet or bullseye or whatever ceases to be fun, it’s time to take a big step back and evaluate why you’re playing a game that isn’t any fun.

But don’t let that discourage you, because most people will never reach that burnout point.  So yes, go shoot action sports, have fun shooting your action sports and learn a lot of solid fundamentals!

We will be speaking with the President of the Virginia Citizen’s Defense League, one of the most active state-level pro-gun organizations in the country.

You can listen live to the show by clicking the link to Gun Nuts: The Next Generation.  We’re live at 11pm Eastern time tonight, and if you’d like to call in and speak to Squeaky or myself; or you have a question for our guest, the show’s call-in number is (347) 539-5436.

Don’t miss Gun Nuts: The Next Generation Live tonight at 11pm Eastern time!

Circa 2008, it seems.

The origin of the phrase “keep your powder dry” comes from the era of muzzleloading blackpowder weapons, where damp powder was often much more than just an annoyance, it could lead to a painful death at the hands of Indians or large carnivorous mammals.

My co-host Squeaks seems to have encountered the modern day equivalent of  keeping your powder dry, which would seem to be the much less elegant phrase “don’t overoil the chambers of your carry gun and then leave ammo in there because the shit will corrode and foul your revolver”.  For the record, this is why I recommend the Bore-Snake (hur-hur) to people, especially revolver shooters.  I use the Snake not only the barrel, but after I patch the chambers, I’ll run them through with the Snake to get any lingering grit out, plus the Bore-Snake removes any excess oil that I might have left in the gun.

As much as I hate to sound like a product placement guy, if the zombies did rise, I would grab a Bore Snake to go along with my survival guns, because a dirty gun is almost useless to me.

Squeaks and I have set up a blog for Gun Nuts: The Next Generation.  You’ll be able to find all the old shows there in addition to at the main BlogTalkRadio Gun Nuts site - the widget in the sidebar will allow you to stream the show and listen live from that location.

This week’s show we’ll be speaking with the President of the Virginia Citizen’s Defense League, Philip Van Cleave.  We’ll be talking about state activism in the post-Heller world, not just specific to Virginia, but general ideas for pro-gun activists all over the country.

Do Want.

I know it was released back in March, but if this gun is 75% as awesome as their own hype page makes it sound, then it would be worth the approximately 1 kilobuck price tag hanging on it.

I have a theory about guns like that, which is simply stated “One can never own too many .45 Colt revolvers”,  and I think that’s a sound theory.  I figure if I don’t buy the Para that I’ll be shooting at Blackwater, then I’ll take that dough that I’ve squirreled away for the Para and redirect it into an STI Texican.

Speaking of all things western, Joe Huffman was giving me some good natured crap about not owning any major centerfire rifles - well, I did some shopping around, and I found a major centerfire rifle that I could well and truly love.  I mean come on, who wouldn’t want a Pedersoli replica Quigley Sharps rifle?  Sure, I could probably buy two or three decent quality bolt action .308 rifles for what I’d pay for that, but allow me to let you in on a little secret about ARs, AKs, and most bolt rifles - they kind of bore me.  I know, I know, it’s blasphemy, but there it is.

If I were to buy a major centerfire rifle other than the Sharps, it would probably be one of these babies - a Ruger #1.  That’s what they call a pretty gun right there.