Coincidence, yeah, that's it

Hmmm, let's see. Someone goes on national television claiming the Russkies killed, via poison, Alexander Litvinenko.

This guy claimed that:

"A message has been communicated to anyone who wants to speak out against the Kremlin: 'If you do, no matter who you are, where you are, we will find you and we will silence you — in the most horrible way possible.'"

Shortly thereafter, he's shot in front of his house.

I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

A little weekend giggle

Enjoy this classic from one of the greatest movies of all time. Have a great fantabulous weekend.

Texas Declaration of Independence

Sorry Texicans we'd be if we weren't to represent on Texas Independence Day. Man, I wish we were a country again...

The Unanimous Declaration of Independence made by the Delegates of the People of Texas in General Convention at the town of Washington on the 2nd day of March 1836...

Happy Birthday, Texas!

Postbulletin.com: Hunting with assault rifles? Zumbo was right to scoff

And no sooner do I post on how ALL gun owners should unite to a common cause, here comes another misguided, so-called "hunter" who advocates the "middle ground," which is so eloquently illustrated thus:

I know the whole "slippery slope" argument, that any infringement on our rights to own a handgun, assault rifle or howitzer could eventually lead to the repeal of the Second Amendment. I know that hunters are a minority in this country -- and a dwindling minority at that.

But do I think my right to own a shotgun or rifle is in danger? Not at all -- because I have confidence that the majority of non-hunting Americans will ignore the yelling from both sides of the gun-control issue, choosing instead to find that middle ground in which people will be allowed to hunt, shoot recreationally and defend themselves, if necessary, with firearms.

Yeah, but what firearms? Single-action revolvers? Black powder muzzle-loaders? Bolt-action sniper hunting rifles?

From whence comes this ridiculous mentality, you might ask? How could someone be SO uninformed, SO ignorant, SO misguided? He is a Fudd of single mind and singular focus. A Minnesota Fudd. Witness:

On Wednesday's Opinions page in the Post-Bulletin, I participated in a pro-con debate about gun control. I strongly defended the rights of hunters, but I fully expect that the response from the gun community in southeastern Minnesota will be largely negative -- because I admitted there are too many handguns and assault weapons on America's streets.

The rights of hunters. Nevermind the rights of citizens. Nevermind law-abiding citizens who wish to defend themselves as they see fit from the criminal element that possesses firearms in spite of laws to the contrary. It's not about you lowly plebeian masses. It's about...the elite, the Illuminati of gun owners. It's about...The Hunters.

By the way, I do hunt. Poorly, and mostly birds, but I do hunt. And squirrels - I forgot them. Oh, and coyotes. I use a shotgun for birds, a .22 rifle for squirrels, and my AR-15 for coyotes. Oops. An evil black rifle for hunting. Yes, so get OVER it. I also use that same carbine for 3-gun matches. I have scary black guns for USPSA and IDPA competition and self-defense. I even have a scary black plastic-stocked shotgun for the same purposes. NONE of these weapons meets the Fudd definition of "sporting" firearms. Does that mean I can't have them, or don't have the right to own them?

Molon Labe.

--King Leonidas of Sparta

One last time: the Second Amendment to the Constitution does not protect your right to hunt. That is merely incidental. It protects your right to keep and bear arms - any type of arms, irrespective of some imbecile's opinion on what is a "proper" firearm.

We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.

--Benjamin Franklin

Getting Zumboed

Here's a nifty little post that pretty much lays it on the line for all of you that believe hunting and other shooting sports don't have anything in common. The premise of this article is that there are hunters who are somewhat elitist when it comes to what types of firearms are "proper." Given Jim Zumbo's recent boo-boo in revealing his true colors and his opinion on this very topic, this site points out a simple fact: if anyone bad-mouths any firearms, they risk losing all firearms.

This article goes a long way in illustrating why it's important for all gun owners to stick together. For a hunter to bad-mouth sporting arms, or a sport shooter to bad-mouth hunting arms, well, it's a losing proposition.

By the way, did you know the recent H.R. 1022, introduced by Carolyn McCarthy, would ban virtually ALL semi-automatic long arms, including shotguns and hunting rifles?

Hello? Are you paying attention now?

Obama for Prez?

Good God man. As if the proposed AWB in Congress wasn't bad enough, take a look at how bad it could be with Obama as Prez...

Obama Positions on Gun Control:

• Ban semi-automatics, and impose more restrictions on other types of firearms possession;
• Ban the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic weapons;
• Increase state restrictions on the purchase and possession of firearms;
• Require manufacturers to provide child-safety locks with firearms.
For the rest, check out Bane's blog....

But I can tell you. It ain't good.

American Badass Rulon Gardner survives small plane crash

A lot of us here at the Tattler had the pleasure of meeting Rulon when one of my best friends brought him to a party last year. His life is nothing short of amazing and I feel fortunate for having a chance to visit with him.

In the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, he ended the 13 year international win streak of the Russian Greco-Roman wrester, Alexander Karelin, and brought home the gold medal. This was one of the greatest upsets in sports history.

In 2002 he was stranded while snowmobiling in Wyoming. He fell into water while trying to walk out, and suffered from hypothermia. He suffered from frost bite and was close to death when he was found. He was told he would lose both of his feet, but made a remarkable recovery and ended up only losing a middle toe on one foot. He even continued wrestling.

In 2004 he was struck by a car while riding his motorcycle and sustained serious injuries, but recovered.

Last week he was flying with two friends in a small airplane that crashed into Lake Powell in Utah.

"The plane went from 150 mph to none in about 2 seconds," Gardner told CNN early Monday morning.
Authorities are uncertain of the exact location of the crash, but the three men swam for more than an hour in 44-degree water before reaching shore and then spent the night without shelter, according to the release. "It takes only about 30 minutes for someone swimming in 44 degree water to start suffering the effects of hypothermia, so the fact that they swam in it for an hour, not to mention surviving the plane crash and the night without fire or shelter, is pretty amazing," said Steven Luckesen, a district ranger at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. "If these guys were a cat with nine lives, they just used up three of them."

Nothing surprises me in regard to Rulon. He is a true American Badass.

Hey it's the weekend!

So of course we were pulling the trigger today. Heckuva day in North Texas, probably the best range day, weather wise, in quite some time.

For your viewing pleasure, here's me, JR, and Dan on a couple of stages. And yes, that's JR shooting a real gun. First Dan came to the Dark Side, and now JR is within its grasp.

Oscars Schmoscers

Yeah, so what if the Oscars are on tonight. I don't think I've watched one of those in at least a decade. And tonight's host - has Ellen EVER been funny? Whatever.

Anyway, stole this concept shamlessly from Outlaw's blog.

Name the best military movies ever.

Drumroll please......

In no particular order, here's my top 10 picks:


Patton

A Bridge Too Far

Apocolypse Now

The Dogs of War

The Dirty Dozen

The Final Option

The Wild Geese

The Boys in Company C

Full Metal Jacket

The Great Escape

I'm sure there are more that I've left out - but hey, let's hear yours.

The 416?

You know, soldiers have been bitching about the M16/M4 platform for almost longer than I have been alive.

It seems that for every round of bitchin', the higher ups always say "they just didn't clean the damn thing well enough!"

Here it seems that HK has come up with a viable solution - to replace the existing gas system with one that's more reliable, easier to clean, and easier on the weapon's parts - and of course, it's a no go with the Pentagon bureaucracy.

There are some of these new uppers out on the market - Cowboy Blob has picked one up; perhaps we can get a good range report from him as he puts the new upper through its paces.

I've never used my AR's in combat - but from what I've seen of ARs in all sorts of different environments and configurations - from massive humidity and rain in the woods on the Gulf Coast to gusting fine dust in Wichita Falls - ARs either work - or they don't.

I had one that I couldn't get to function no matter what I did to it. JR took that upper and it works just fine in his AR. My new Bushmaster has functioned perfectly to this point, but I've probably only got 500 rounds or so through it - but as of now, it's doing just fine.

If these new uppers prove to be as reliable as we're hearing, I wouldn't mind having one myself....