Gather 'round, all ye ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and small furry woodland creatures; Carnival of Cordite #6 is here!
Let me begin right off the bat by saying how overwhelmed I am with the response to the carnival. There are more participants than I ever would have imagined and readership is huge! Thank you all.
This week, I am supposed to be on Spring Break, but I have found myself doing more for work and school than ever before. That, along with the huge turnout, means I don't have much time to put too much editorial content into this week's carnival. So this will be a trimmed down version, more like a link-fest. I hope y'all don't mind. Besides, there is enough here to keep y'all reading for hours on end, even without a whole lot of extra input from the Gullyborg.
And so, without further ado...
John Clifford of Thirty Second Thoughts is ready to go out hunting small game, and ponders what would make the ultimate small game rifle. His idea:
How about a four-barrel set, with .17 HMR, .17 Mach II, .22 LR Match, and .22 WMR? Use the .22 barrel for squirrels and other small game within 50 yards. The Mach II is a great starling gun out to 100 yards. The HMR works great on small varmints out to 200 yards, and the WMR works for turkey (where legal) and small predators out to 150 yards.
I've always been a fan of versatility. The versatility the new .17 rimfires bring to the basic .22 LR platform is certainly exciting. And one rifle with four barrels is certainly more affordable than four separate rifles. Good thoughts there, John.
From the American small game hunt to a hunt of a different sort: Captain Oates of Little Man, What Now? wanted to point out a new website dedicated to the English ban on fox hunting. He asks us all to visit Fight The Ban.
Not everything we "hunt" has to be alive... Last-week's host, Kevin the Techno Gypsy, writes in with a report on his quest to hit the elusive... CLAY! I can say from experience that those little clay buggers can be a devil to hit, especially starting out. So let's all be sure to visit Kevin's blog and give him some words of encouragement.
And on now to yet another type of hunting, about as different from the above as you can get, Individ talks about hand-gunning for bears.
From armed for bear to bearing arms:
Publicola takes on a topic near and dear to my heart, the leading U.S. Supreme Court case on the Second Amendment, U.S. v. Miller. People outside the realm of constitutional law are probably pretty ignorant about this issue, and Publicola does a great job getting to the meat of the issue: that the Supreme Court has actually guaranteed your right, even your duty, to own military weaponry. This is a must read for anyone who's ever been told that the Second Amendment doesn't apply to individuals, or doesn't mean you should be able to own a semi-automatic weapon.
Speaking of military weaponry:
Chris of The Anarchangel has a lot (more) to say about military small arms. His post comes complete with a LOT of high-quality photographs of the arms he writes about, so be sure to check it out. Regular readers will know by now that when it comes to small arms for military, police, and personal defense, Chris know his stuff.
On a similar note:
Gregory of American Realpolitik offers his two cents worth to the discussion on the Army's new battle rifle.
My thoughts: we should just rip off the Russkies and mass-produce a variation on the AK, chambered in a shortened version of the .243 Winchester. But what do I know?
Gregory has also done quite a bit of shooting a variety of military small arms. Want proof? Check out his photo album! Yes, that's a real Ma Deuce!
Some people out there are afraid of guns, and afraid of people like Gregory and Chris. The Libercontrarian is here to explain why liberals hate your guns so much.
Of course, we should be afraid of some people having guns. Josh explains:
And yet, liberals insist that only the police should have guns...
A lot has been said about the ban on guns in our nation's capital. But did you know that you can actually legally buy and own a gun in Washington, D.C.? Well, sort of... Trigger Finger explains here. Jeepers, I'm glad I live in Oregon. But I'd rather live in Texas..
El Capitan writes about TEXAS BLOGGERS WITH GUNS! In Texas, even the liberal green pagans know their way around the range. Here's a photo:
Speaking of pictures, Jay of North Georgia Dogma wants to share this one:
You can see the full-size photo and read about this sentimental revolver here.
Another fine little handgun, the Makarov, is the subject of Firehand's review over at Irons in the Fire. Another fine picture:
Be sure to read the entire in-depth report on the Makarov.
From pictures and reviews to real-world application:
There are always stories in the news about people using guns for self-defense. Ever wonder where you could find a nice collection of all those stories in one place? Look no further: the Civilian Gun Self-Defense Blog scours the news for every relevant story. This was the first place I checked today after hearing on the radio that someone in Florida tried to steal guns from a gun store in a heartfelt, but incredibly stupid, attempt at taking over Terri Schiavo's care center. Lesson one: never bring a knife to a gunfight.
On the topic of personal defense, Owen's Life has an excellent post about the dilemma of citizen self-defense when the assailant may or may not be the police. What happens when a criminal breaking into your home to steal your possessions, rape, or kill your family members kicks in your door and yells "POLICE"? I have often thought about this scenario, and Owen's conclusions make a lot of sense.
New contributor Boxing Alcibiades likes the idea of a firearm for personal defense, but thinks one should also be prepared to use other methods. Given his blog name, wanna guess what those methods might involve? And I certainly agree. Simply being armed is not the end-all be-all of self-defense. One should also be physically fit and ready to fight back with hands, feet, even teeth if necessary. But more importantly, one should be mentally prepared for self-defense. Not just in terms of thinking about how to win a fight, but also how to avoid a fight. The firearm is not a tool to make you assault-proof; it is a tool to give you an advantage should an assault occur.
Bad Example is an excellent blog full of good Second Amendment content. Even the guest on this blog are amazing; Guest-Poster Peter has this to say about getting that first gun:
The mistake we gunnies make most often is recommending our favorite iron to that non or new shooter, Lord knows it's a mistake I've made myself. Trouble is, the right iron for an experienced enthusiast is not necessarily the best first gun for a beginner. As a matter of fact it seldom is.
Read the whole post for some good insights from an old pro. If you are new to all this, and are considering buying a first gun for self-defense, Peter displays very sound judgment!
From the good to the bad:
Denise of The Ten Ring reports in this week, regarding a tragic shooting. As she points out, the liberal Brady Bunch reaction sounds more like parody than a legitimate press release. It really sickens me that, instead of focusing on things like bad parenting and bad schooling, the gun grabbers always insist that the solution to all our problems is taking away our guns... even though, as usual, the shooter stole the guns and no law could have stopped him from committing these heinous acts. In fact, this most-recent school shooter stole the guns used from the police! As Denise says:
We’ll never be safe from gun violence anymore than we’re safe from any kind of violence. Bad or mentally disturbed people will always find a way to get a weapon. We can defend ourselves, we can work harder to recognize when people need help, and we can lock up violent offenders until they’re too old to commit violent crimes. In Minnesota and in Atlanta the perpetrators got their guns from police. How do you stop that, short of disarming law enforcement?
Denise isn't the only blogger writing about the school shooting. New contributor Gaijin Biker of Riding Sun also reports in. His post is short and to the point, so I'll give you the whole enchilada:
If this kid had driven the family car into a crowd of people, we wouldn't be hearing calls to ban cars.
And if he had stabbed his victims, no one would demand a crackdown on knives. (Actually, maybe they would.)
But because he used guns, you can look forward to a barrage of rants claiming that these killings demonstrate why America needs strict limits on gun ownership.
In what other situation are the actions of a mentally deranged teenager held up as a reason to curtail the rights that all Americans enjoy?
Be sure to see his post for some additional links and reader comments.
The Heartless Libertarian is worried about some pending legislation. Didn't we just see the end of the stupid "assault" weapons ban? Haven't stupid liberals learned their lesson after the Republican Revolution of 1994, immediately after the stupid ban went into effect? I guess stupid is as stupid does. Which makes a perfect transition to this week's entry from The Smallest Minority and The Safety Valve, a fine illustration:
New contributor Jed of Freedom Sight has an interesting take on pending legislation in Montana. I have to admit, I am torn on this one. As Jed points out, there is a difference of opinion among solid gun-rights groups on this issue. I am all for the rights of individuals to protect themselves. At the same time, I am all for the rights of private property owners to make and enforce rules for their own land. This one requires a lot of deep thought, and respectful debate.
It's not all bleak:
If the liberals succeed in taking away guns from private citizens, and if, as some would like, guns are taken away from the police, then who will still have guns? Criminals, and industrial cementers.
Thank you, Les, for pointing out some of the lesser known uses for firearms.
That's the end of this week's Carnival of Cordite! We'll be back again in one week's time, right here at Resistance is futile! Be sure to e-mail your entries to:
c a r n i v a l o f c o r d i t e A T h o t m a i l D O T c o m
If you would like to host a future carnival, we'd be happy to have your help. Just shoot us an e-mail and we'll work out the details. Hosting is a great way to have fun reading a ton of new posts about guns and gun rights. It also gets your blog a lot of new readers.
If you enjoy reading The Carnival of Cordite, please put up a link on your blog. More links = more readers = more support for guns and gun owners here and abroad. And that's what this is all about.
Thank you for reading, and in the meantime, keep your powder dry!
Have put up a link to Carnival of Cordite #6 at Lord Balderdash blogsite here:
http://lord-balderdash.blogspot.com/
I always love this stuff, you come up with a wide range of info on 2A stuff. I am still building Lord Balderdash, but hope to include more of this thoughtful commentary as time passes. Keep up the good work.
LB
Posted by: Lord Balderdash | Sunday, 27 March 2005 at 06:54 AM