H&K XM8

While I'm on this kick of posting videos, here's one related to my favorite gun manufacturer:



Unfortunately, I don't think H&K got the bid because of the problems the XM8 had--or, at least, that's what I heard from someone who worked over at the Cold Weather Testing Center over at Ft. Greely. Kind of a shame, because the concept behind the XM8 was really good--a modular battle rifle, able to be reconfigured for a variety of roles (full auto support, marksman, and basic configuration).

Still, the below battle rifle is my absolute favorite:



The venerable G36. I wonder how that civvie got hold of one...

Reminds Me of a Billy Squier Song...

(h/t Xavier Thoughts)



My kinda woman! (I know the song was "My Kind of Lover," but what the hey).

At any rate, I couldn't recommend a better firearms instructional training video...

This Got me Chuckling...

Another thought-provoking picture by Oleg Volk.

I Like Bigger Numbers!

In most cases, the bigger, the better. I remember when, after buying that box of Cor-Bon .40 for that young woman I've had my eye on for a while, I opened up the box and examined the goods.

After being used to .44s and .45s., .40s seemed so...small!

Anyway, this has nothing to do with comparing calibers, but rather some numbers I've been coming across while hunting up stuff for the blog.

Specifically, the number of guns in this country. If you remember last year, I quoted the Brady Bunch as estimating some 200 million guns in this country. Recently, though, I've seen someone quote 240 million, and while watching a fuller version of Penn & Teller's Bullsh*t concerning gun control, the number seems to have grown to 250 million.

This drives down the ratio of guns used in violent crime to overall guns in the country. If the 250 million estimate is correct, then the 277,868 incidents of violent crimes involving a firearm comprise a miniscule .11% of all known firearms in this country.

And for those of you who haven't seen that Penn & Teller feature, here it is in three parts. Worth a look.

Part 1:




Part 2:



And Part 3:

Still More Fallout

This time from a forked-tongue apparatchik with little regard for Civil Rights (h/t: War on Guns).

Funny how tragedy fuels libs to jump to the most extreme of conclusions, without any thought to its effect on our liberties, save some oblique disparagement of the "gun lobby" who would no doubt work overtime to prevent such an overt flouting of Federal Law.

But look at this...no discussion over the Constitution whatsoever. It isn't mentioned once.

And, naturally, with that kind of disregard, the sort of scenario Mr. Simpson describes could very well happen:

- Steep financial penalties and a year in prison for exercising a human right.
- Government control of personal property.
- Police Squads searching and seizing personal property, including scenes like this little jewel:

On the streets it would be a question of stop-and-search of anyone, even grandma with her walker, with the same penalties for "carrying."

Thank God this moron isn't in office, nor running for office.

Campus RKBA Roundup #8

The Fallout from Blacksburg Continues...

From the University of Oregon, we get a threefer from the Daily Emerald. The first, appearing in April 23. Elon Glücklich identifies two major parts to tragedies like this: The disturbed individual and the weapon used. Hmmm, nothing new nor necessarily profound there.

Since (says Glucklich) you can't do so well identifying a potential killer, then you "logically" must control the tools they can use. So, it seems to him that the threat he has chosen to major on are inanimate objects which don't suffer from disaffection (kind of reminds me of the "why beer is better than women" line of jokes). And, to get to them, he will gladly call the Second Amendment outdated:

The Second Amendment used to make a lot of sense. When I say "used to" I mean about 200 years ago. The United States of America was a lot different back then.

Is this sounding like a broken record to you folk? It would seem that our high schoolers are by and large spending four years under some sort of an academic Gleichschaltung, because I am hearing the exact same lines of reasoning from all these anti-2A positions.

My brother's girlfriend is a public school teacher. I'll have to check around for some handbook or something when I go visit them in a few weeks.

The article elicited two responses, explaining some of the shortcomings of Glucklich's thinking. The first response points to the need to consider the disturbed individual, and blames intolerance for Cho's state of mind (teasing, harassment, racism). In passing, he mentions the deterrent value of weaponry.

The second blasts Glucklich's ignorance on self-defense situations. We've heard and understand these sort of arguments, but it may be a first to an Ivory Towerer like Glucklich.

Ohio: The broken record plays over at Bowling Green, starting off with a very whimsical account of having attended a candlelight vigil for the victims over at VT. But then the emotionalism disengages the higher functions as the writer laments over how easy it is to get a gun at a pawn shop, and that some screening process is needed, without understanding that Cho's gun purchases were done completely by the book, including background checks.

However, Cho could have been denied the purchase by Federal law had some consideration been given to two stalking incidents that happened in 2005. However, this is definitely a case of too little, too late.

In my former home state of North Carolina, we find one short but to the point opinion expressed in the Seahawk:

Ted Nugent alluded to on CNN that gun-free zones could become targets for those who already plan illegal actions. If someone wants less resistance to his or her violent force, the best place to be is where no one can fire back at you.

But, on the flip side, a student at Wake Forest attempts a different approach at the broken record. But instead of attacking 2A outright, he vilifies the NRA and another organization (National Association of Firearms Retailers) as part of some sort of conspiracy to keep our country dangerous.

He laments the sunset of the AWB 3 years ago: "This ban did not threaten anyone’s right to bear arms; it merely restricted the purchase of automatic clips for handguns, as well as semi-automatic assault rifles." What he failed to see was the ban's ineffectiveness at stopping gun-related crime.

He says in the next sentence: "Even in the wake of horrific mass-murders, no major action has been taken to limit the availability of the weapons that facilitate these tragedies." Erm, Matthew, the AWB was in full force in April of 1999. But yet, it didn't prevent Columbine.

Come to think of it, the AWB didn't prevent any of the following school shootings, either:

Richland High School, Lynnville, TN (1995)--1 student, 1 teacher killed.
Frontier Junior High, Moses Lake, WA (1996)--2 students, 1 teacher killed.
Bethel, AK (1997)--Principal, 1 student killed.
Pearl High School, Pearl, MS (1997)--2 students killed, 7 others wounded.
Heath High School, West Paducah, KY--3 students killed, 5 wounded.
Stamps, AR (1997)--2 students killed
Westside Middle School, Jonesboro, AR (1998)--4 students and 1 teacher killed, 10 others wounded.

And some 21 others that happened during the years of the AWB. Bill Clinton's words are ringing in my head now: "Now tell me that this bill will not prevent crime!"

Point being, Matthew--the government's actions to restrict gun ownership in the interests of preventing crime have been, by and large, impotent.

Not a Force Field, but still straight out of Science Fiction

In order to deal with RPG threats, Israel is developing an active point defense against these weapons to outfit its AFVs.

Now, this link's title is a little misleading. It and the commentator mention something about "force fields," but it actually uses a shotgun-like blast to set off RPGs before they contact the armor.

I saw this very thing featured in the Hammer's Slammers series of novels and short stories some 20 years ago, where their tanks and combat cars are outfitted with radar-triggered point-defense mines to destroy incoming "buzzbombs."