From my friend Rob Morse at slowfacts: 2020 is unusual. We added millions of new gun owners each month. Gun ownership has been increasing, but this year is remarkable. We bought firearms when government failed. We saw the police withdraw because of an epidemic. We saw courts put criminals back on the streets. We saw government officials overwhelmed by protests, riots, looting, and arson. We realized that we are on our own to defend ourself and the people under our care. Continue reading here.
Gun laws make guns bad because someone says guns are bad.
The problem with gun laws is that they are Malum Probibitum, which is defined at Cornell Law School as “An act which is immoral because it is illegal; not necessarily illegal because it is immoral.”
Malum Prohibitum contrasts with Malum in Se, defined as “An innately immoral act, regardless of whether it is forbidden by law.”
Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target.
Identify your target, and what is behind it.
B: When in doubt, refer to A.
The recent and ongoing global pandemic hysteria has caused many people to recognize that they cannot rely on the government to provide for their safety. Some states have released felons, including violent sex offenders, while some arrest peaceable citizens for failing to wear a mask. When these newly woke individuals go to a gun store they find the selection is limited. One available gun that was found in a store in California is the Walther P22 [Note California has its own state-specific pistol version.]. The new purchaser of one of these has a steep, but not impossible learning curve toward its safe operation.
There have been numerous bills introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly in recent years designed to restore Constitutional/Permitless Carry in Tennessee. Dean Weingarten recently reported in Ammoland on the virus shutdown jeopardizing the 2020 effort. So far, these bills have never made it out of committee, in spite of having a Republican Super-majority since the 2012 election. Read more in my column at Ammoland.
Here is my short book review on this book at Amazon. I recommend you read it.
Hardy writes this documentary in a way that is easy to read, while still covering the shenanigans that occur "at court" very well.
He notes in Taney's decision that citizens were understood to be able "to keep and carry arms wherever they went." If freed slaves were to be citizens, they could do likewise, and (my words) in effect would mess up the social order.
Today, we still see vestiges of Taney's attitude in gun laws among the states. For example, North Carolina's pistol purchase permit requirement; and Tennessee's carry permit law being a modernized version of her antebellum slave codes.
MAYBE you have thought about buying a home defense firearm, but haven't gotten a-
In view of the current worldwide pandemic, you may be ready to make the plunge, but don't know where to start.
Here are some ideas to consider if you are a newcomer. I am limiting this discussion to handguns and .22 rifles.
HANDGUNS - The double action revolver is the simplest to operate, but difficult to shoot accurately. The semi-automatic pistol is easier to shoot accurately, but they are more complicated and there are a variety of action types.
Caliber - .38 special, .357 magnum, or .22 LR. If you get a .357, get .38 ammo which will have much less recoil. At this time, you get what is available. Make sure you can buy ammo for the gun you are purchasing. There are other calibers available, but in today's market, you may have to take what you can get. The .22 is the least powerful of these, but is better than a snowball, and easier to shoot.
Caliber - 9mm is the most popular, but shelves may be bare. Once again, make sure you can buy ammo for the gun you are purchasing. .380 or .22 are also choices. There are other calibers out there, too. One issue with semiautomatic pistols is the fact that you really need to test the ammo to make sure it will function reliably in your pistol. So. . .
At this time, a revolver might be the better choice.
Note that smaller, lighter handguns in a given caliber will have more felt recoil. If the handgun is not going to be carried concealed, larger, heavier handguns would be easier to use in home defense.
RIFLES - The .22 caliber rifle can be relatively inexpensive, and there are many types to choose from. One of the most popular is the Ruger 10/22. It is a simple to operate semiautomatic. There are others, including its clone the Thompson Center T/CR22. The Marlin .22 is another choice which comes in several models. There are also bolt action and lever actions to consider.
If you can, get some dummy cartridges for whatever caliber you buy.
OK, you got your new gun and ammo, now what?
First - read the manual. It will instruct you on how to safely operate and clean the gun.
Second - memorize and follow Jeff Cooper's Four Rules of Gun Safety:
Third - since we appear to be getting more and more into lock-down conditions, there may not be a chance to actually go to a range. Do some dry firing: With no live ammo in the room, practice operation and trigger pull with dummy cartridges or an empty gun.
