The Wandering Minstrel

The Better Half caught this (clickable) image of the state line between Ehrenberg, AZ and Blythe, CA, directly over the Colorado River. I’m not saying that there is NO graffiti in rural Arizona, but once you cross the border into Kalifornistan, there are orders of magnitude more instances.

Football tonight and a road trip in the morning. Hope you enjoyed your weekend.

The Better Half and I had to go out among ‘em this afternoon. Every couple of weeks or so, we venture away from the security of our little desert enclave to head to the greater Phoenix metro area in order to do some shopping for provisions not available in our small town. We brace ourselves for the inevitable traffic and congestion and head southeast.

Another phenomenon, which seldom fails, is the presence of idiots on the road. This guy (whose face I fuzzed up in the photo) was texting or using some sort of handheld device while driving - in motion no less.

Now, I’m libertarian enough to deem laws against this sort of activity unnecessary in the hope that sanity and common sense will prevail. In California, this moron would be committing an illegal act. Also in California, there still are just as many dudes like this guy talking on cellphones or texting. As we involved in Second Amendment Rights know, laws don’t stop idiocy.

I just hope that this guy made it home today instead of texting his way directly to the scene of the accident where an innocent person(s) could be involved at best or injured at worst.

The Better Half took this (clickable) image of a Smith & Wesson M&P 360 .357 magnum snubby revolver at the S&W booth when we attended the 2009 NRA Convention in Phoenix, AZ. At the time, we were visiting from California and we camped in a rented RV a few miles north of the convention center. We did not know that less than two years later, we would have moved to Arizona as full-time residents. We even camped overnight in one of Wickenburg’s RV parks after departing Phoenix on our way back to California.

We had to head down US 60 today to the Valley Metro Area. Every once in a while, we have to leave our little enclave here in the country to go and get some provisions from the big city.

We had a list of things that we needed to get plus we scored a few other things to re-stock the freezer in the garage. I bought a pork loin and some pork baby back ribs. I divided the ribs into two slabs and packed them into vacuum freezer packs for later consumption. I carved the loin into several chops, a couple of thicker chops for stuffed pork loin and another couple of petite roast chunks for making pulled pork sandwiches or carnitas burritos at a later time. As it is, we don’t need to go there again for a while, although next week we may go and look at some furniture for the office.

We pity the folks that abstain from pork. And, we pity even more those that abstain from meat.

. . . and there’s nobody there to hear it, does it make a sound?

This is the spectacle that greeted us as we pulled into our driveway after our trip out to California. Clickable image courtesy TBH.

I did some research today on the topic of CCW on the Navajo Nation since we’re planning travel to that area. I found this information on an ArizonaShooting.com forum:

There are 21 Indian reservations in Arizona. If you are otherwise carrying lawfully, you may carry on federal and state highways that cross reservations. If you are not an American Indian, a reservation cannot prosecute you for carrying a firearm if your carry is legal in the surrounding county. However, if your firearm should be confiscated, it is up to the tribe if it wishes to provide you a means to seek its return; you cannot sue a tribe unless it consents to be sued. A privately conducted 2005 survey of 20 of the 21 reservations asked if they honored the Arizona CWP:

1. Ak-Chin Yes   2. Cocopah No   3. Colorado River Yes   4. Fort McDowell Yavapai Yes   5. Fort Mojave No   6. Fort Yuma-Quechan Yes   7. Gila River No   8. Havasupai No   9. Hopi Yes 10. Haulapai No

11. Kaibab-Paiute No 12. Navajo Yes 13. Pascua Yaqui No 14. Salt River Pima-Maricopa No 15. San Carlos Apache Yes 16. Tohono O’odham Yes 17. Tonto Apache No 18. White Mountain Apache Yes 19. Yavapai Prescott No 20. Yavapai Apache No

Note that tribal governments may change, that open carry is likely to be viewed as provocative if you are not engaged in a licensed hunt and that many tribes don’t allow their own members to carry deadly weapons.

Caveat: If you plan to get out of your vehicle, it’s best to contact the specific tribal government before packing on their reservation.

Even though Arizona is a Constitutional Carry state, The Better Half and I will be taking Arizona CCW training so we can carry in the 32 other states that recognize Arizona CCW permits. This will come in very handy as we will begin our tour of the Southwest.

Clickable Image: Arizona Reciprocity

Several new Arizona firearms laws have been signed into law. Excerpt from The
Tuscon Citizen (emphasis mine):

Since July 29, 2010, people 21 and older have been able to carry a concealed weapon without a permit in Arizona except in bars and restaurants that sell alcohol. Although the law does not require permits in most cases, some people still apply for them. A new law tweaks the permitting process by reducing some of the requirements for instructors and permit-holders.

The number of new concealed-carry permits issued has dropped by more than half since the change in 2010, according to the Department of Public Safety. From August 2010 through May 2011, the DPS issued 9,485 new permits. In those same months in the previous fiscal year, the DPS issued 20,208 new permits.

Bill sponsor Rep. David Burnell Smith, R-Carefree, said a permit is still an advantage because it gives residents privileges in 32 other states.

House Bill 2146 removes the requirement that instructors – who must be authorized by either the DPS or the National Rifle Association – submit fingerprints and a fee to undergo background checks.

Charles Heller, spokesman for the Arizona Citizens Defense League, said instructors already undergo background checks when they apply for their concealed-carry permits.

The law also allows permit seekers to apply with an older training certificate, rather than one obtained in the past five years.