Shooter at parallax adjustment has some comments on his recent CHL qualification. In the comments there I said this: During my recent re-qualification, we were told very specifically, "if you have a malfunction, do not attempt to clear it--WE will clear it for you." This is exactly wrong. Part of knowing how to use a semi-auto is knowing how to clear a jam, not just punching at least 175 points worth of holes in the paper. Unfortunately, under Texas law (I think), the ability to clear a jam is not required, only that one achieve the minimum score when shooting.

At my recent re-qualification (at which all 15 of us were re-qualifying), the most disconcerting thing I saw was the guy next to me who was shooting a Bersa .380. The sorry thing jammed constantly--I'm not kidding. He had to call the range instructor over to clear that thing 7 or 8 times during the entire 50-shot course. I hope he was only using it to qualify, and doesn't actually carry the thing. I'm hoping he carries a good, dependable revolver, if that's the only semi-auto he could come up with.

(In Texas, you must qualify with a semi-auto to be licensed to carry a semi-auto. If you qualify with a revolver, you are allowed to carry only a revolver.)

Senator Ginny Burdick of Oregon apparently thinks that law-abiding citizens are more dangerous than psychopaths:

"'I'm talking about Sally the reading mom who happens to leave her purse behind' with a gun inside, Burdick said."

Exactly how many times has this happened in Oregon, or anywhere else for that matter? And how many times have things like this and this happened?

Update: Or this?

Update #2: Or even this?

Clayton Cramer has more recent information on the old Hale DeMar case.

Only gun advocates speaking out:

"More than 100 passionate, angry readers from around the nation told me I was wrong. I have heard from exactly four gun control advocates."

Well, gee whiz, maybe you could look at the evidence and think for a change. This from Chicago, a city with some of the most repressive, anti-self-defense gun laws in the country, and also with one of the highest crime rates in the country. Seems like sooner or later they would figure it out.

I am accustomed to seeing lots of other blogspotters showing up on my web stats because of the "next blog" button which just selects a blog at random and sends you there. But when I noticed that I had had three hits from the same site, I had to check it out and see what was up. So now Lest Darkness Fall has been added to the blogroll. While there I also discovered the neat anti-spam web-doohickey that is now at the bottom of the sidebar: Spam Poison.

I should be working right now but am too knocked down from this thing I caught. It's one those things that starts at the top of the head, rips the throat raw, and keeps going down. So until I knock myself out with some Nyquil or something, I thought I'd just spend some time cruising. Just went over to Cruffler.com to get the C&R forms. I had this license once before, but accidentally let it expire. Now several months later, and I think I'll get it again. There are still a few old guns I'd like to get my hands on, although my funds are not unlimited. During my last stint as a cruffler, I picked up a Hungarian 7.62x54R carbine, a M1923 Argentine Colt (M1911 clone), and a CZ-52 (7.62x25mm pistol). The CZ-52 really draws looks at a public range. It sounds like the cough of God, kicks like nobody's business, and throws empties a good 30 feet before they hit the ground. Fortunately, it throws the empties at an almost perfect 90-degree angle, so I've never had one hit me when shooting left-handed. It is very fun to shoot.

Update: In case you are unfamiliar with the 7.62x25mm round, it is a bottlenecked cartridge that fires an 85 grain bullet at somewhere around 1,400 fps.

Just came across a three-year-old article over at Cruffler.com that is, of course, still quite relevant: The Anti-Gun Male:

"He often accuses men with guns of 'compensating for something.' The truth is quite the reverse. After all, how is he supposed to feel knowing there are men out there who aren't intimidated by the big bad inanimate villain? How is he to feel in the face of adolescent boys who have used the family gun effectively in defending the family from an armed intruder? So if he can't touch a gun, he doesn't want other men to be able to either. And to achieve his ends, he'll use the only weapon he knows how to manipulate: the law."

Australia politician urges golf with cane toads:

"CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australians in the country's Northern Territory should start smashing cane toads to death with golf clubs and cricket bats in a bid to stop the spread of the toxic creatures, a government politician has urged."

I bet if you hit them just right, a .45 round would really make those suckers pop. How about this (yikes!):

"Cane toads, which now number in their millions, are so toxic that crocodiles, death adder snakes and wild dingo dogs can die of cardiac arrest within 15 minutes of eating a toad."

And this:

"Animal welfare groups discouraged people from taking up Tollner's call to arms, saying freezing the animals to death was more humane."

I still don't get why they think a slow death is "more humane" than a fast death.

"Female cane toads can lay 8,000 to 35,000 eggs at a time and may produce two clutches a year. The toads reach maturity within a year and have a lifespan of at least five years."

Sheesh. That's potentially 350,000 new toads in one lifetime. Almost makes me glad I only have to worry about fire ants. Whoops, Australia has them too.