HA HA So long:

• Assembly Bill 1810
• Assembly Bill 1934
• Assembly Bill 2358

Check out the NRA site (HERE) for dumbed down descriptions each of those bills.

I’m glad that common sense prevailed (this time).

Source – Chainsawsuit

Cool comic stip.  Just found out about it today, definitely worth checking out.

The so-called open-carry movement took a hit today when the state Assembly approved a bill that would forbid anyone from openly carrying an unloaded handgun in public.

The Assembly approved the bill 45-25 with nine members not voting. It now moves to the Senate for consideration.

Full Story – HERE

Ugh.. Brutal. I was hoping it would miraculously get squashed.

The DARPA “One Shot” program at the Pentagon was originally aimed to give snipers the power to hit a target from 2000 meters away in winds as high as 40 miles per hour. In the first phases of the 3-year-old program, shooters used prototype rifles dressed with lasers and fancy computer hardware to do damage from 1,100 meters away in 18-mile-an-hour winds. The scope-mounted lasers can “see” wind turbulence in the path of the bullet and feed the data to computers, enabling real-time calculation of — and compensation for — the wind-blown trajectory. The agency is looking for 15 ultra precise sniper scopes to put in shooters’ hands by next year.

Full Story – Wired

More info at DARPA – HERE

I wonder when this will be coming to the consumer market?   On second thought, hitting the target every time with no effort would completely take the fun out of shooting.

The article in Wired mentions the cost at $7 million…. that seems like a steal of a deal if they can actually get this type of system to work for that amount of money.  A lot of lives potentially will be saved.

A man accused of murdering an up-and-coming rapper who was fatally shot at the Beverly Center last year was found not guilty Friday by a Los Angeles jury.

The trial of Aubrey Berry, an events promoter from Atlanta, revolved in part around the victim’s violent rap lyrics as the defense sought to portray the rapper as a threatening gang member who was shot as he attacked Berry.

As an up-and-coming rapper, Dolla glorified the gang lifestyle, bragging about carrying a pistol and his ability to use it.

“You be running when I shoot, I be shooting where you running,” he rapped in his debut single released in 2008.

Full Story – HERE

The fact that Berry was found not guilty blows my mind. Dolla was shot 3 times in the back, and police never found a gun on him.  How the hell can they call Berry’s actions self defense?  Sounds more like shoot first ask questions later.  The jury must have been so fixated on those rap lyrics that they completely lost sight of the facts.

Heartbreaking to see young men wounded so severely while serving our country.

Angel Barcenas and William Gibson of the Marines wish each other good luck prior to their 1,500 Meter run during the 2010 Warrior Games for wounded soldiers on Friday 05/14/10 at U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Full set of photos – HERE

More info on this year’s event – HERE

This was the first year that the games were held, but as the article above says, they are already planning on holding it again next year.

I’m glad to see these guys aren’t letting their injuries ruin their competitive spirit, camaraderie,  and zest for life.

Pretty interesting to see in some of the pictures, how far prosthetic limb technology has come.

Another heads up for all you Californians who read the blog…

Wednesday May 12, the Assembly Appropriations Committee passed Assembly Bill 1934.  AB1934 now heads to the floor of the Assembly for consideration.

Source: NRA-ILA

Not good guys… Not good.

It’s your last chance to contact your Assembly Member and urge them to oppose the Bill.

A reader and frequent commenter Bryce who is a resident of California notified me that they are definitely trying to sneak this one in.  He says there is NO COVERAGE whatsoever on the local news stations. Very troubling.

Hat Tip: Bryce

YAWN…

On S&W’s website – HERE

Details in the PDF Brochure – HERE

Someone tell me why I should care about these? They look like a Sigma crossed with a M&P.  Interesting how S&W chose not to design these with removable backstraps.

Maybe the “Self Defense Trigger” (SDT) is the selling point?   Who knows … anything would be an improvement on that scratchy mushy M&P trigger.  The design of this “new” trigger looks the same with the joint right in the middle, so I’m not holding my breath in anticipation of it being awesome.  I’ll hold further judgment until I try it out someday though.

The price is predictable … both have an MSRP of $530

Thanks but no thanks… For now I’ll be sticking with Glock to fulfill my polymer pistol needs.

A heads up for all you Californians who read the blog…

On Wednesday, May 12, the Assembly Appropriations Committee will consider Assembly Bill 1934.

AB1934 is a blatant attack on the self-defense rights of law-abiding Californians.  Simply put, this legislation would outlaw the open carrying of a handgun for self-defense.

Please contact the members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee TODAY and strongly voice your opposition to AB1934.

Also, please contact your Assembly Member in opposition to this bill.  Their contact information can be found here.

Source – NRA-ILA

Hat Tip: Bryce W

According to the news so far, on April 20th the BP oil rig in the Gulf exploded.  Now since those rigs are inherently dangerous, I wasn’t really surprised by this and took it as an accident.

Then this from from Obama today:

• Potentially getting the Department Of Defense to address the incident
• Department of the interior is sending SWAT teams to the gulf to “inspect” all platforms and rigs

What the hell actually happened there, that the department of defense and SWAT teams would need to get involved? Smells fishy… I don’t like to don my tinfoil hat too often.. but I’m going to go out on a limb and question whether it was terrorism.  It definitely meets the criteria and M.O. of terrorists.

Wouldn’t be the first time we have been left in the dark when it comes to details.

Some amazing pictures of the Oil Spill – HERE

Hat Tip: Aaron

• Slingshot
• Two Knives
• Stun Gun
• Pepper Spray
• Flashlight

When you get hit with this… it’s over
 
 

 
He seems to be pretty serious about most of his slingshots. I wonder if he actually thinks this one is practical for self defense?

No, not the same Sabre that owns the Dunder Mifflin paper company on the hit NBC show The Office.

This video is all I think of anytime someone mentions Sabre Defence Industries now though:

Full Sabre Defense Story – HERE

For those that don’t know, Sabre Defense is originally from the UK (although they also operate in Nashville, TN now) which explains why they spell Saber and Defense wrong

The song they parody in the video is the Miley Cyrus track “Party In The U.S.A.” (YouTube video) she also happens to be from Nashville… Coincidence?

I am posting about this because it is self defense related.  Oakland California February 15, 2010 – 67 year old Thomas Bruso did everything possible to avoid confrontation, but still ended up having to take care of business because a guy just wouldn’t leave him alone.

The incident:

Read the rest of this entry »

I saw this ad in the March 2010 issue of GUNS Magazine:

Two things immediately struck me as odd:

1. It is being marketed as a good gun for home defense
2. The ad is targeting women

Maybe FN Herstal re-thought this advertisement after it was printed, because  http://www.fnhusa.com/FIVESEVENhomedefense6 does not go to any sort of relevant product page.

I don’t consider myself a ballistics expert by any means, but just like every other cartridge, I believe 5.7x28mm has its purpose.  In my opinion, close range home defense is not one of them.  I’d much rather have a bigger and slower round (9mm, .45 etc..) for that purpose, over a tiny fast one any day.   The way I look at it, is the bigger the wound(s) you create, the faster the fight is going to be over.

There is a common misconception that all 5.7x28mm rounds will penetrate body armor.  Although there are variants of the cartridge that will, they are not available to anyone outside of law enforcement.  In January of 2005 the ATF released a letter to the public outlining the capabilities of commercially available 5.76x28mm ammo.

The only relevant reason I can see for targeting women in this ad campaign is the fact that the 5.7x28mm round has less recoil than other popular home defense rounds.  The manageable recoil would allow for more accurate follow up shots.

The FN Five-Seven MSRP is $1317.19 (ouch!)

What do you guys think?

Lower receivers CNC machined from certified 7075 aluminum forgings and anodized per Mil-A-8625. Lower receivers are marked with “multi-use” for use of different calibers.

I had never heard of SI Defense until now.  I’m sure after this deal they will be a lot more well known, especially if the lowers are quality.

$500 for a custom logo though? LOL that seems a touch excessive!

$10 extra for clear anodizing, or $40 for colors is definitely reasonable though.

Too bad I already have more lowers than uppers   I’m sure they will have enough orders to keep them busy, without one from me.

SI Defense Webpage – HERE

Hat Tip: SayUncle

When checking through the boxes of ammo used, we found five or six other cases that had no rim, there was nothing for the extractor to grab hold of and therefore couldn’t extract the spent case causing a malfunction.

WOW that is not good…  This is why it makes sense to give your ammo a quick look over before you use it.  Can you imagine this rimless ammo in a self defense situation? You would almost certainly be dead.  There is no method I know of to quickly clear a casing that can’t even be grabbed by the extractor without using something to poke the casing out from the barrel end.

Will paranoia of this situation bring about a new carry product developed by Speer to fix such a situation?

Story: Police One

Hat Tip: SayUncle

Most of the pictures I had seen of short barreled shotguns were your typical Mossberg 500 or Remington 870′s… seen one you’ve seen them all.

But then I came across this:

It’s a sawed off Franchi – Renaissance Sporting 12 Gauge.  This bad boy sports dual 3″ chambers in an over-under configuration, top notch walnut furniture with well placed cut checkering, a gold-embellished trigger, and lots of engraved scroll work. MSRP – $2249

Here it is in its pure form:

I would love to be able to afford $2249 on a Franchi Renaissance Sporting to do this.  The unfortunate reality is that short barreled shotguns lack utility in everything but personal protection and home defense.  Spending that much money, only to hack off 50% of the gun, is reserved for those with deep pockets and strong stomachs.

Rob from TacticalYellowVisor.net has a few great comparison charts that he was kind enough to make public.

These charts cover all major brands, and should make it a lot easier to narrow down your next purchase based on your wants and needs.

• Comparison Chart of Major Brands of M4-Pattern Carbines
• Comparison Chart of Aimpoint Models
• Comparison Chart of Various Free-Float Rail Systems for AR-Pattern Carbines & Rifles
• Comparison Chart of Major Brands of 5.56 Sound Suppressors

Although these charts seem to be updated from time to time, they may not be right up to the current date.  They are meant as a guide, so do your own due diligence when finally deciding what to purchase.

On December 4th I blogged that DARPA was holding a competition (On Dec. 5th) where you could win $40000 in prize money.

My Predictions:

My guess is the correct answer is submitted in less than 30 minutes, on behalf of some sort of tightly knit organization.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I wonder if anyone is planning on playing dirty and attaching a bunch of fake decoy balloons at various locations throughout the U.S. … If that is the case then maybe my prediction of 30 minutes isn’t realistic.

The Winner:

The Red Balloon Team of M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

I find it unsurprising that M.I.T. won, considering the people that go there are obviously very intelligent.

What I do find surprising though is the lack of information released by M.I.T. or DARPA about the details on the network that was established that led to the win.

There is a useless PDF that the DARPA site links to – HERE and all it says it it took “less than 9 hours”.

The FAQ of the M.I.T. Red Balloon Team offers some insight into the process, but still doesn’t give any details about how many people ended up signing up and how they eventually won.

Kind of anti-climatic considering I thought there would be a lot of fake balloons launched, and other random hi-jinx.  Well maybe there was, but who knows, because like I mentioned earlier there seems to be absoultely no information about the progression of the contest.

Here is the map from DARPA on where they placed the 10 Balloons.  I wonder what their problem was with the central U.S.?

DARPA Network Challenge

The competition kicks off Dec. 5 at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, when DARPA ( Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ) will display 10 8-foot, red weather balloons at undisclosed, publicly accessible sites around the continental United States. The balloons will remain at their locations throughout the day, until sunset.

The first person to identify the precise latitudes and longitudes of all 10 balloons will win the prize money.

Norman Whitaker, deputy director of DARPA’s transformational convergence technology office, conceded that it would be nearly impossible for any one person to pinpoint every balloon within the designated timeframe. But if the competitors worked together as teams – using social networking forums made possible through the Internet – it is possible, he said.

My guess is the correct answer is submitted in less than 30 minutes, on behalf of some sort of tightly knit organization.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I wonder if anyone is planning on playing dirty and attaching a bunch of fake decoy balloons at various locations throughout the U.S. … If that is the case then maybe my prediction of 30 minutes isn’t realistic.

Good luck to everyone that is participating.

More information on the contest – HERE