The Wandering Minstrel

The last time I went to a gun store or a gun show, I do not recall seeing RPGs, automatic weapons, high capacity magazines or hand grenades. So how do A.G. Holder, members of congress and the anti-gun community manage to blame U.S. gun ownership on the ability the cartels have to obtain this kind of firepower? The answer is they are purposely being myopic about the reality of the situation (as always) and focusing on their primary enemies, the legitimate gun owners of America.

From the NRA-ILA:

Trouble in Mexico? Anti-Gunners Say, “Blame America.”

Over the past few weeks, the number of stories in the press regarding the escalating violence in Mexico has dramatically increased. Now, hardly a day goes by when another story describing the atrocities committed by violent drug cartels cannot be found in an American newspaper or on a cable news channel.

Gun owners need to pay attention to these stories, because the opponents of our Second Amendment rights are starting to use this situation as a pretext to push their gun ban agenda here in the United States.

New Attorney General Eric Holder is the first Administration official to cite Mexican drug cartel killings as an excuse to reinstate the semi-auto ban. And now some in Congress have jumped on the bandwagon.

Or you just glad to see me?

Taken last summer after cleanup. The other gun in the cargo pocket is his .357 revolver.

Half of me thinks this is sorta cool, but the other half is outraged that someone would do this to a classic. I think this started life as a late 1940’s or an early 1950’s Chevy Pickup . . .

Seen in LA LA Land - clickable Image.

Click the triangular start doodad . . .

Hat tip to Liberty Sphere and The Columbia Conservative Examiner . . .

I am pleased to see the name Alan Gura mentioned as the attorney for the plaintiffs in the latest litigation over the color of Tracy Ambeau Hanson’s gun being ‘unsafe.’ Gura, you will recall, led the defense team in the landmark D.C. vs. Heller case before the SCOTUS.

Shortly after the Heller decision, Gura ‘cleared the air,’ by explaining the purpose of keeping the legal focus narrow - in that case, specifically, Dick Heller’s 9-shot revolver:

“There are significant, practical limits on the number of arguments that can be put together in one lawsuit. In our case, we chose to focus on the handgun and functional firearms bans – and that was plenty work for the courts to consider.”

Gura further explained that if the lawmakers in D.C. didn’t ‘fix’ their ordinances that there would certainly be an opportunity for the courts to fix them in the future:

“It is our hope that Mayor Fenty and the City Council, or Congress, if the Mayor and City Council are unwilling to do so, sit down with their code books and the Supreme Court’s opinion, and make a serious effort to conform the former to the latter. If the political branches do not make the city’s firearm laws constitutional, then as we’ve seen, the courts will do it for them.”

And now it looks like that may be starting to happen . . .

The Second Amendment Foundation and three Washington, D.C. residents today filed a lawsuit challenging a regulation by District of Columbia city government that arbitrarily bans handguns based on a roster of “acceptable” handguns approved by the State of California.

The District is using this list despite a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last summer that protects handguns that ordinary people traditionally use for self-defense. This scheme could eventually bar the ownership of any new handguns.

Attorney Alan Gura, representing the plaintiffs in this case, noted that District bureaucrats “told Tracy Ambeau Hanson her gun was the wrong color.” Americans are not limited to a government list of approved books, or approved religions, he said. A handgun protected by the Second Amendment doesn’t need to appear on any government-approved list either.

“The Springfield XD-45 is approved for sale in Washington,” Gura noted, “so long as it is black, green, or brown, but her bi-tone version is supposedly ‘unsafe.’” . . .

Maybe a fallout of all this is that California’s list will be stricken down. Here in the ‘Golden State,’ we can only hope so.

After the trip to the range on Sunday, there is always the inevitable cleanup. What you see disassembled in the clickable image to the right is Fat Man and Little Boy (the Glocks) and my Remington 870 Express Magnum 12 gauge 6+1 security gun.

Also on the table, you will notice a mug wearing what looks like a ‘wife beater‘ shirt. The mug is one of those that you can put in the freezer to keep your beverage cold as you sip it. One pesky property of the frozen mug is the condensation that forms on the outer surface. The last thing I need on the workbench is anything dripping water on my disassembled guns. The ‘wife beater’ is an invention of the Better Half, who came up with it after my continual bitching about the dripping. She cut it out of a worn-out pair of athletic socks (yes they were washed). It’s surprising how well it works - the condensation is absorbed by the fabric and evaporates back into the air.

I gotta give her credit - if necessity is the mother of invention, then ingenuity must be the father. In her case it was an ingenious and elegant solution to the problem.

I am a lucky guy. In addition to her prowess at invention, she is even more enthusiastic about firearms and shooting than I.

I took ‘Jerry Lee,’ (my S&W 686 revolver) to the range today and loaded him up with 7 rounds of .38 special. This was the first shot on target of the day. It got progressively worse from here.

Actually, I was satisfied with all the shooting today. In addition to ‘Jerry Lee,’ I took ‘Fat Man,’ my Glock 30 .45 ACP pistol, ‘Little Boy,’ my Glock 26 9mm and my Rem 870 12 gauge shotgun. I needed the practice since missing last week’s session.

The ammo shop at the range was out of 45 caliber reloads today. Fortunately, I bought 250 rounds the last time I was there, so it was not a problem - yet.

UPDATE: Once again, we’re happy to be linked in Liberty Sphere’s Second Amendment Roundup. The Welshman does an excellent job of providing a concise daily reference to political and technical matters of interest to defenders of the Second Amendment. If you haven’t visited there, give it a try.