Happy 4th of July!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Another N&O Column With False Information

Imagine my surprise this morning when I opened up the paper and saw the caption on a photo said, “Bullets from an assault rifle travel three times the speed of handgun bullets. Once they enter the body, they fragment and explode.” This came from an opinion piece by Dr. Leana S. Wen who is an emergency physician and the Health Commissioner of Baltimore City. One would think a Doctor would be able to do simple math and also understand how bullets function. So let’s explore her statements. I’ll choose a 9mm bullet because it is probably the most common round one will find today in semi-automatic firearms. The muzzle velocity of a 9mm varies, but if we select a middle of the road round it will travel at least 1,200 ft/s. Now let’s compare that with the muzzle velocity of a .223 which is the round most commonly associated with a modern sporting rifle. Again a middle of the road number would be 3,000 ft/s with some being faster and some being slower. Let’s apply a little mathematics to determine 3 / 1.2 = 2.5 which I suppose one could round to three, but should people with advanced degrees round? Suppose Dr. Wen was administering a drug to a patient in the ER. Should she say 2.5 cc is the exact amount, but let’s round that to 3 cc? I think not. Now she could choose an exact manufactured round which has a muzzle velocity of 3,600 ft/s, but by the same token we could choose one with a muzzle velocity of 2,500 ft/s which in Dr. Wen’s world would round down to 2. The patient requires 2.083 cc of the drug, but let’s just round down to 2, no worries.

Now let’s hit on what really caught my eye. She said, “once they enter the body, they fragment and explode.” No, no they do not. They do fragment, that much is true, but there is no explosion which happens from a rifle bullet hitting a target. The .223 bullet is unstable once it contacts a target and it begins to tumble and fragment, but it NEVER explodes. I despise when people who should know better choose to represent statements as fact when they are actually false. Dr. Wen should know better (or at least Google it) and The News & Observer should not print opinions such as this with statements which are so easily fact checked for validity. Perhaps there are words of wisdom in Dr. Wen’s opinion piece, but sensationalizing the photo in the print edition is yet another example of poor journalism standards from the N&O. Maybe Ned is hitting the bottle again?

Memorial Day 2017

Never forget the reason for Memorial Day and all those who fought and died to give you the freedom you enjoy today in America! If you know a Veteran, tell them thank you for your service, if you are a Veteran, I thank you for your service.

TSA Rules Recap: Air Travel With Firearms

If you plan to travel with firearms, please pay attention to this recent article from the NRA. It is important to follow the TSA rules, the airline rules for the particular airline on which you will be checking luggage, and also the suggestions in the article. Something I found interesting was the requirement to have a lock in every padlock hole as opposed to just a single lock. I checked on of my cases which has two locks on it and also found it had two padlock location so to fly with that case would require me to put two additional padlocks on the case. Not a big deal, but something which would certainly ruin your day if you showed up at the airport without the additional locks.

Aiming Is Useless Video

Ran into this video of Rob Leatham explaining why aiming is useless. Take a few minutes to watch it and you might learn something along the way.

Rest In Peace Mark Binker

Longtime readers of the blog may recall in 2012 a database of concealed handgun permit holders in North Carolina was published. It contained streets and some house numbers to alert residents who had a permit in their area. Mark Binker was one of the people behind that database and he caught some heat from the public for it and was mentioned in this blog several times until the database was taken down in 2013 because House Bill 937 made the information private.

Mark passed away unexpectedly over the weekend at the age of 43. He leaves behind his wife and two young sons. While many disagreed with his publishing of the concealed handgun permit database, no one wanted to see any harm come to Mark or his family.

There is a YouCaring fund which has been set up to received donations for Mark’s family. Please keep the Binker family in your thoughts.

No Sense Common Or Otherwise – House Bill 723

House Bill 723 was introduced yesterday and passed the first reading today. There is so much wrong with this bill that nothing is right. So what that means is every gun grabber will be on board with it and tout it as common sense. What does it do you ask? Removes your right to protect yourself in the workplace or vehicle so get ready to run boys and girls. You’re still good to go INSIDE your home or residence, but otherwise you have to retreat if this passes. Got a kid coming by, better make sure the kid isn’t an idiot because if they gain access to your firearm your butt is on the line. The way I read it, that is true even if it isn’t your kid. More warnings if someone purchases a firearm. Gee thanks, that will solve a perceived problem. Better run out and get liability insurance if you own a firearm, it will be mandatory if this passes. Got a magazine capable of holding more than 15 rounds? Better hold on tight because you will not be able to buy any more if this passes. There’s more, but just that quick list should be enough to have every gun owner calling their representative and telling them this bill should die a quick death.

On the bright side here is a list of representatives to vote AGAINST in any future election if you care about your Second Amendment rights.
Rep. Pricey Harrison
Rep. Verla Isko
Rep. Susan Fisher
Rep. Carla Cunningham
Rep. Cecil Brockman
Rep. Elmer Floyd

This is a terrible bill and it should never see the light of day again!

PS: The news is saying they are getting rid of the NC Stand Your Ground law. We don’t actually have such a law. We have a Castle Doctrine instead. The difference is Stand Your Ground means wherever you are, Castle Doctrine covers your home, vehicle, and place of employment. Just goes to show if you want to know the law do not rely on your representatives and the media.

Celia Rivenbark – Do Signs Make Us Safer?

Happened upon a column this morning penned by Celia Rivenbark entitled Going Shopping With Guns. Apparently this was an earlier column entitled Guns In A Bookstore – – Really? It was marked as humor, but Celia describes sitting in a gift store/bookstore and seeing a family walk in with both parents open carrying firearms. Celia grew up in Duplin County and now resides in Wilmington, NC. She called the couple Bonnie & Clyde and mentioned after the family left the store posted a “no firearms allowed on premises” sign. My question for our country girl is since when to signs make us safe? Would a sign on your property to not break in ever cause someone to turn around who was intent on breaking into your home? Do speed limit signs keep people from speeding? Do nutrition labels keep us from overeating or getting fat? I was not aware of Celia before noticing her column and will probably ignore her moving forward, but if she believes a family legally open carrying is a problem and signs will keep us safe she truly has issues she needs to work through. Perhaps she should herself check out that self-help section of the bookstore.

Harris Bipod Swivel Pivot Lock

I recently found myself in the market for a bipod and settled on a Harris, not a knockoff, and opted for the 6″-9″ with a swivel. I must say finding information on the bipods was almost painful. I settled on the HBRMS which is spring loaded and has notches for 1″ increments. There is also the HBRS which is not spring loaded and does not have notches, but is the exact same price. There are options without the swivel and with longer legs, but for my purposes a 6″-9″ will work just fine.

Anyway, the Harris HBRMS comes with a knurled knob which is very difficult to grasp. For that reason there are many aftermarket pivot lock handles. After dropping the coin on the bipod, I really did not want to spend much on a pivot lock handle. After reading some Amazon reviews I settled on the Caldwell which at the time was $9.99. It is made for their Harris knockoff, but also comes with an SAE adapter which fits the Harris. Putting it on was a cinch. You remove the nut on the Harris with a 1/4″ socket or nut driver and after removing the knob, thread on the SAE adapter. Then put on the handle and using an allen wrench, 2.5mm IIRC, tighten down the screw for the handle. After that you are ready to roll. It took longer to find the tools in the toolbox than to change out the knob for the handle. I especially like that I can lift the handle if I need to reposition it to make it tighter or looser.

Anyway, if you need a handle for a Harris bipod with a swivel I recommend the Caldwell. The price is right and it only takes a few minutes to install!

Keanu Reeves Training For John Wick Vs BuzzFeed

Some time back there was a video of Keanu Reeves training 3 Gun for John Wick 2 which went viral. It wasn’t this one, but this one demonstrates his abilities.

Recently BuzzFeed went to Taran Tactical to train like Keanu. While they did not quite beat his time, with more training they probably could have matched it.