Friday, November 5, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
OFFICER CHARGED WITH BEATING CITIZEN
After the altercation, Officer James Mandarino charged the motorist with DUI and Resisting Arrest (the charges were later dropped.) Imagine how this case would have ended up if the patrol car had not been recording video.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
2ND AMENDMENT : EXTREME
I've not a fan of Bill O'Reilly. I'm not going to waste time listing the reasons why. But on Thursday night he did an interview with the founder of Oath Keepers, and in the process stated that swearing to uphold the Bill of Rights is "extreme".
My grandfathers were WWII vets. My father is a vet. My stepfather was a vet. My favorite uncle was a cop, who was shot in the line of duty (and thankfully, survived and went on to have a great life with his future family). I am not anti-military or anti-cop. What I am is someone who despises people who are entrusted with protecting American citizens, and abuse that power through either ineptitude or advancing/protecting their own self-interests.
In case you aren't familiar with Oathkeepers, here's a description from their website:
After the illegal confiscations in New Orleans after Katrina, several good laws were passed to protect 2A rights from being disregarded in the future. Bill O'Reilly believes this is extreme. One wonders how he would feel if he was told that during a state of emergency, he would not be allowed to broadcast his views. I doubt he would support the same "part time" validity of the First Amendment.
My grandfathers were WWII vets. My father is a vet. My stepfather was a vet. My favorite uncle was a cop, who was shot in the line of duty (and thankfully, survived and went on to have a great life with his future family). I am not anti-military or anti-cop. What I am is someone who despises people who are entrusted with protecting American citizens, and abuse that power through either ineptitude or advancing/protecting their own self-interests.
In case you aren't familiar with Oathkeepers, here's a description from their website:
Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, peace officers, fire-fighters, and veterans who swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic … and meant it. We won’t “just follow orders.”Oath Keepers deserves respect, not a condescending brush-off from Bill O'Reilly. They are the best of the good guys, taking a public stand and saying "We will do what we swore to do." The men and women of Oath Keepers will not trample the rights of their fellow citizens, merely because a superior orders them to. They will use their own morals, their intelligence, and their love of their country's Constitution to protect the rights of everyone. Their views are not "extremist"; they are the epitome of professionalism and personal honor.
After the illegal confiscations in New Orleans after Katrina, several good laws were passed to protect 2A rights from being disregarded in the future. Bill O'Reilly believes this is extreme. One wonders how he would feel if he was told that during a state of emergency, he would not be allowed to broadcast his views. I doubt he would support the same "part time" validity of the First Amendment.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
EZ-JECT
The only part that is tricky is removing the spent primer tube, but it's not exactly a trick - it's just a step you need to do carefully. Hornady includes a small tool to assist in the process, to keep the tube from being crushed during removal. It's very easy to remove the tube, just be sure to do it the right way.
There are a couple of modifications beyond the ejection. The trench that the retention spring moves through (near station #1) has new bevels around the edges. I suspect this is to help the spring rotate more freely. There's also a new bolt for attaching the shell plate to the hub. It uses an allen wrench instead of a standard wrench for removal - conveniently, one is included in the bag. I don't know the reason for this change, but it does look nicer.
The shell plates have been sent to Hornady for the machining, and I hope they'll be arriving next week... I can't wait to try it out.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
PRICE CHECK
Ever since the Presidential election and the subsequent "Buy Before They Ban" shopping started, gun owners have been buying ammo faster than retailers can restock it. The highest I've seen someone charging for 9mm was $35 for a 100rd box. This wasn't high-end defensive ammo... no, this was the same budget ammo that "normally" sells for around $22/box.
Those of us that reload our own ammo think paying $22 for a box of WWB is incredibly amusing, by the way. But I digress.
Along with the fear of future bans, there's always talk of the increasing price of ammo. This is reportedly due to one or more factors: the war, China's manufacturing, EPA regulations, increased orders by law enforcement, price gouging retailers, global warming, the economy, the price of oil, sunspots, etc. It's often said that whatever your reasons for buying 10 more cases of 9mm - the sooner, the better - as prices never go down.
I was reading The Firearm Blog and came upon this picture. It's an advertisement from a gun magazine, in 1959. Note the price of 9mm: $9.50 for a hundred rounds.
In 2010 dollars, that comes to $70.99.
It kind of deflates that "ammo prices never go down" argument.
Those of us that reload our own ammo think paying $22 for a box of WWB is incredibly amusing, by the way. But I digress.
Along with the fear of future bans, there's always talk of the increasing price of ammo. This is reportedly due to one or more factors: the war, China's manufacturing, EPA regulations, increased orders by law enforcement, price gouging retailers, global warming, the economy, the price of oil, sunspots, etc. It's often said that whatever your reasons for buying 10 more cases of 9mm - the sooner, the better - as prices never go down.
I was reading The Firearm Blog and came upon this picture. It's an advertisement from a gun magazine, in 1959. Note the price of 9mm: $9.50 for a hundred rounds.
In 2010 dollars, that comes to $70.99.
It kind of deflates that "ammo prices never go down" argument.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
1A VS 2A?
From MercuryNews.com:
Further down in the article is a mention of the forum at calguns.net, a discussion forum for 2A supporters in California. A member named .45Shooter claiming to be Det. Tuason has made at least 2 posts trying to both apologize and clarify his remarks.
While I find Det. Tuason's facebook comments to be troubling, his department's reaction is no less so:
This isn't a problem of privacy or First Amendment. It's the matter that of one of your officers finds it amusing to forcefully detain citizens who are not breaking a law, and his only regret appears to be that he vocalized his enthusiasm for such things on Facebook. It's offensive that you're more concerned about the 1A rights of your officer than the abuses your officer has been directly involved in.
East Palo Alto cop takes heat for Facebook remarksFor those unfamiliar with California law, it's illegal in most cases to Open Carry with a loaded firearm. However, one may Open Carry if the gun is unloaded - this is often abbreviated "UOC".
An East Palo Alto police detective is taking heat in online forums for allegedly posting comments from his Facebook account that advocate shooting Open Carry gun advocates.
Detective Rod Tuason apparently made the remarks in response to a friend's status update, which joked that gun advocates who carry unloaded weapons in plain view as a political statement should start doing so in places such as Oakland, Richmond and East Palo Alto "and not limit themselves to hoity toity cities."
"Haha, we had one guy last week try to do it!" Tuason replied, referring to a Redwood City man who strolled into the Mi Pueblo Food Center in East Palo Alto on Jan. 27 with a gun on his hip. "He got proned out and reminded where he was at and that turds will jack him for his gun in a heartbeat!"
After several more comments in the thread, Tuason apparently joked that officers should shoot the advocates, who have made recent headlines throughout the Bay Area for sipping coffee at cafes and performing other everyday acts with visible weapons.
"Sounds like you had someone practicing their 2nd amendment rights last night!" Tuason wrote. "Should've pulled the AR out and prone them all out! And if one of them makes a furtive movement ... 2 weeks off!!!" [Ed: IE, shoot them]
Further down in the article is a mention of the forum at calguns.net, a discussion forum for 2A supporters in California. A member named .45Shooter claiming to be Det. Tuason has made at least 2 posts trying to both apologize and clarify his remarks.
While I find Det. Tuason's facebook comments to be troubling, his department's reaction is no less so:
East Palo Alto police Capt. Carl Estelle said the department's professional standards division is looking into the Facebook remarks to see if they violate any rules or policies.Capt. Estelle, it's irrelevant that his comments were on a "personal private Web page." You seem to be taking the same position that Det. Tuason holds in his "apology", when he stated "I know now that there are certain comments or expression of views are better off not said!".
"We have to be careful because they're on his own personal private Web page," Estelle said. "We have to be careful not to violate his First Amendment rights."
This isn't a problem of privacy or First Amendment. It's the matter that of one of your officers finds it amusing to forcefully detain citizens who are not breaking a law, and his only regret appears to be that he vocalized his enthusiasm for such things on Facebook. It's offensive that you're more concerned about the 1A rights of your officer than the abuses your officer has been directly involved in.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
EJECT
As regular readers know, I reload my ammo on a Hornady LNL-AP press. Though it's quite capable of reloading rifle ammunition, I don't shoot my rifles enough to bother with reloading for those. Perhaps it seems a bit of a cardinal sin to a few, but buying $100 worth of dies and equipment instead of buying 2 boxes/year doesn't seem like a great financial idea to me.
I do load all my own centerfire pistol ammo, of course... both 9mm and 44mag. I use Hornady dies almost exclusively, with the exception of an RCBS powdercop die. I've found that they are of very high quality, and with proper maintenance will keep performing as the day they were new.
The press itself is also very solidly built, and almost perfect in my opinion... solid, smooth action, and predictable behavior. For example, I've never had a primer insert upside-down... nor any other kind of feeding strangeness that I've read with about other presses.
But if there's one thing that the LNL-AP has been not-so-great at, it's been ejecting the finished round. Their ejection wire works fine with larger calibers, but smaller ones (such as 9mm) have a tendency to bind at the last moment, and not eject into the bin. There are several home-made fixes for this; most involve bending the wire itself:
However, it's not a perfect solution. In my case, the modified wire won't work with 44mag - so in addition to changing the shellplates, dies, and primer seating pin, you also have to change the wire.
A few months ago, Hornady finally fixed this problem by modifying their subplates and shellplates. Owners of an "old" LNL-AP can purchase a conversion. Nearly everything I've seen from owners that have the new parts are very enthusiastic about it.
I've been putting it off, as it would require sending my shellplates to Hornady for modification. In the meantime, I'd be unable to reload anything. I'm told the first 2 are done free, so it wouldn't cost me anything but a couple of dollars in shipping. The new EZ-Ject replacement parts are only $30.
I think I may reload some extra boxes this weekend, just in case my press is out of commission for the next 2-3 weeks - but for that price, I think it's time to take advantage of the deal.
I do load all my own centerfire pistol ammo, of course... both 9mm and 44mag. I use Hornady dies almost exclusively, with the exception of an RCBS powdercop die. I've found that they are of very high quality, and with proper maintenance will keep performing as the day they were new.
The press itself is also very solidly built, and almost perfect in my opinion... solid, smooth action, and predictable behavior. For example, I've never had a primer insert upside-down... nor any other kind of feeding strangeness that I've read with about other presses.
But if there's one thing that the LNL-AP has been not-so-great at, it's been ejecting the finished round. Their ejection wire works fine with larger calibers, but smaller ones (such as 9mm) have a tendency to bind at the last moment, and not eject into the bin. There are several home-made fixes for this; most involve bending the wire itself:
However, it's not a perfect solution. In my case, the modified wire won't work with 44mag - so in addition to changing the shellplates, dies, and primer seating pin, you also have to change the wire.
A few months ago, Hornady finally fixed this problem by modifying their subplates and shellplates. Owners of an "old" LNL-AP can purchase a conversion. Nearly everything I've seen from owners that have the new parts are very enthusiastic about it.
I've been putting it off, as it would require sending my shellplates to Hornady for modification. In the meantime, I'd be unable to reload anything. I'm told the first 2 are done free, so it wouldn't cost me anything but a couple of dollars in shipping. The new EZ-Ject replacement parts are only $30.
I think I may reload some extra boxes this weekend, just in case my press is out of commission for the next 2-3 weeks - but for that price, I think it's time to take advantage of the deal.
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