3 Boxes of B.S.

Well, all good things come to an end and so it is with the trip to Tennessee.

We arrived back in Texas via DFW airport yesterday at 6:00 p.m.

Kids have taken good care of the house and each other. Actually, Daughter cleaned the carpets while we were gone so the place actually looks better then we left it.


Wife and I have today off, her as part of her vacation. In my case, my company has reduced everyone's hours to 32 hours a week. Everyone has Friday's off. If you are so inclined, please pray for the economy to improve and our hours to go back to normal. A 20% pay cut isn't a lot of fun.

I have some photos from the trip that I hope to share here. Maybe everyone will find them interesting but if not, hey it's my blog :)

Thanks for all the comments and activity while I was gone.

In the comments to debunking availability part 2, MikeB thinks comparing various countries is comparing apples to oranges. And to some small extent that is true. What is true is that countries with more guns don't necessarily have greater suicide rates...so that demolishes his theory.

He say this:

The real comparison would be if you could compare Japan with very few guns
to a Japan with lots of guns.

Since I couldn't easily find information on Japan (hey, I'm on vacation - I get to be lazy), I substituted America for Japan. No one will deny that America has been increasing the number of personally owned firearms through the years, right?

So, if the theory - more guns = more deaths- should have suicides going up if that is the pre-dominate factor.

But has it happened?
From the CDC WISQARS site, the second number is the age adjusted rate (edit -- OOPS, According to Weer'd, I shouldn't have used the age adjusted rate. So, here is the edited column, first number is the year, second is the age adjusted and the last number is the crude rate.
1981..........12.31..........12.03
1982..........12.44..........12.19
1983..........12.33..........12.10
1984..........12.58..........12.42
1985..........12.51..........12.38
1986..........12.99..........12.87
1987..........12.82..........12.71
1988..........12.48..........12.44
1989..........12.30..........12.25
1990..........12.46..........12.39
1991..........12.28..........12.18
1992..........11.98..........11.88
1993..........12.04..........11.97
1994..........11.89..........11.84
1995..........11.79..........11.75
1996..........11.53..........11.47
1997..........11.24..........11.20
1998..........11.12..........11.08
1999..........10.48..........10.46
2000..........10.44..........10.43
2001..........10.70..........10.74
2002..........10.93..........11.00
2003..........10.75..........10.84
2004..........10.94..........11.06
2005..........10.88..........11.03
2006..........10.95..........11.15

Edited - still a general down turn in the number of suicides. For the 2003-2006, I wonder how many of those suicides are related to the increased number of veterans committing suicide. Still, doesn't this disprove the theory. If availability was the factor, the predominate factor, then the number of suicides should have climbed each and every year. The rate didn't.
So, once again NO INCREASE that can be directly related or attributed to the amount of firearms owned. So, once again NO evidence to support the availability myth.

It appears that other factors are at work here, factors that have greater correlation & causation then availability.

Shouldn't we be addressing those issues before we try to take away people's rights?

Looking at the myth that firearm availability is the predominate or major factor in "gun violence" brings us to suicide.

In Part 1, I presented evidence showing that there was greater correlation between poverty and homicide rates than there was correlation between firearm ownership and homicide rates by state.

That wasn't enough for some people. They claim we shouldn't exclude suicide from the comparison. I disagree because if someone truly wants to end their life, NOTHING is going to stop them. Most people who use suicide attempts as a cry for help don't want to be successful thus choice methods that are less likely to succeed.

Even still, let's demolish the myth a little more

Country Ownership Suicide Rate
Russia 9 32.2
Finland 20.1 32
Japan * 23.7
Ukraine 9 22.6
Serbia 37.5 19.5
France 32 17.6
Switzerland 46 17.6
Austria 31 15.6
Sweden 31.5 13.3
New Zealand 26.8 13.2
Germany 30 13
Canada 31.5 11.4
United States 90 11.1
Australia 15.5 10.9
India 4 10.6
South Africa 13.1 10
Argentina 12.6 8.7
Spain 11 7.8
Thailand 16 7.8
Italy 12.1 7.1
United Kingdom 5.6 6.8
Colombia 7.2 5.7
Brazil 8.8 4.3
Mexico 15 4.1
Greece 23 3.5
Philippines 4.7 2.1
Iran 5.3 0.2

Wikipedia is the source for both set of statistics.

As you can see from the chart, the country with the highest suicide rate doesn't have the highest firearm ownership rate. That alone should end the debate, right?

Finland, the country with the twelth highest firearm ownership rates is nearly tied with Russia. So, isn't that a strong indication there are other factors besides firearm ownership at work in suicide rates?

America with the highest level of firearm ownership is 13th in suicide rates.

Also, for the final evidence destroying this myth - JAPAN. Firearm ownership in Japan is practically non-existent!! Read that again, personal firearm ownership in Japan is practically non-existent, yet their suicide rate is the 3rd highest.

So, doesn't that definitely disprove that firearm ownership is the major factor in suicide?

Hey everyone,

Hope you are having as great of a time as I am. Thanks for still checking in occassionally.

We left Saturday afternoon, getting to the airport the required 2 hours early. Breezed through security and found ourselves sitting around for a while, waiting to board the cattle car -- I mean the puddle jumper  the regional shuttle for the flight to Chattanooga.

The flight went well and Tn FIL met us at the baggage claim. A little rest then out to a great country-homestyle resturant for a terrific meal.

Sunday was church, then a drive into Atlanta. We ate at a cousin's resturant (definitely a post all on it's own) for an even better meal then Saturday night. Visited with family in Atlanta for a couple of hours then back to Chattanooga.

Wife and I both have friends that live in the area, so we'll spend today catching up with them.

More later if I can work up the energy.

It won't be long now before I'm on the way to see my father in law.

I realize I haven't shared much about my family (by design) but here is something. I have two father in laws.

Wife's folks divorced long time ago and her Dad moved back to Tennessee.So, from here on out, he will be the Tn Father in law.

Not to be confused with the man her mom married, hereby designated Tx Father in Law.

I don't talk much about my in laws, mainly because I don't want to make everyone jealous. I'm one of those lucky or blessed people that have great in laws. I like my in laws, we get along great....all of them.

So, stay safe while I'm gone and hit the range folks. Get in some practice, I know I'll be doing that when I get back.

Just letting everyone know that I'm heading out of town for the holidays and then some.

For the first time in a long time, I'm taking some time off for a real vacation.

Between illness, deaths, and many scouting functions, most of my vacations have been used up on various activities. While I've completely enjoyed the Scout activities, they aren't always the most relaxing ways to take vacation days.

My lovely wife, who I still can't believe married me, and I are heading out to Tennessee to spend some time with her dad and related family. We fly out tomorrow from the always fun DFW airport. Hopefully, we won't have any trouble with the TSA.

I'm not sure how much computer time I'll be able to sneak in to update the blog, but I will try hard to keep up with vacation pics and reports.

I do have a post in the hopper, please tune in on Tuesday the 26th.

I don't know what is happening but I sure appreciate everyone stopping by.

I posted my first entry on April 15th and made the blog public until 2 days later. In that short time, I've reach, what I consider my first milestone -- 1,000 visits.








The person hitting the milestone came from the great site Borepatch. Thanks for the referral.


Thank you each and everyone for stopping by and reading what I have to say. So many people that I've read for so long have stopped by, linked to me, commented here that I just want to say that I'm incredibly blessed to be able to do this.

May 21, 1940 to March 7, 2009.

Not a lot of time and too much of it spent not really knowing you Dad.

Missing you is still very fresh. Rest in Peace.

From a comment on Kevin Baker's The Smallest Minority Blog; Geekwitha.45 says in so few words what I've tried to say over and over again.

With all of Kevin's recent (and excellent!) focus on how well founded the the right of arms is on a utilitarian basis, I should like to remind folks that the right of arms is supported by four distinct pillars, all of which are well founded and factually based:

*The utilitarian pillar, which Kevin describes in such detail: that arms in the hands of the people are on the balance an overall benefit, and strongly so at that. (In many ways, it's our weakest argument, it's durable, but not a first order eternal truth and could theoretically change with circumstance)

*The moral pillar: that the right of arms flows directly and immediately from the eternal truth of our inalienable right of self defense and self determination.

* The legal pillar: For whatever flaws you care to mention about our Founders, they did get many things right, and they understood that the closer our core laws were aligned with axiomatic truths, the more durable the thing they built would be. In their wisdom, they directly and inextricably embedded personal rkba into our legal core.

* The historical pillar: Although public comprehension and rhetoric has ebbed and flowed, the simple reality is that we have always been an armed, and free civil society.
geekWithA.45 | Email | Homepage | 05.20.09 - 7:01 am | #

Alternate Title - Bob's attempt at justifying spending money on more guns or equipment.

Okay folks, a lesson that has been said many times by many people. If you can't carry comfortably, you probably won't carry. This was brought home to me in a very real way due to my recent appendectomy.

My normal carry piece is my Taurus Millennium Pro PT-145 using an Ace Case Inside the Waist Tuckable Holster. My abdomen could not have supported the weight of the PT-145 for very long in comfort. Nor would it have advisable to have that much weight pulling on the incisions. Incisions that were only closed by medical glue, no sutures involved.



I would like to have several different options to carry the PT-145 instead of just IWB. Ankle holsters wouldn't have worked because of the extreme difficulty in bending over but a shoulder holster rig should have acceptable.

Or I could get something that wouldn't weigh heavily and still be able to carry IWB; something like the Kel-Tec P3AT. I saw a couple of those at the Gun Show and was amazed at how light, thin and concealable they were.


So, the importance of not relaying on one system became very apparent. Luckily, I have a mouse gun that I can carry as a back up. It's puny caliber (.25) is not one I want to rely on every day, but it is my "when I can't carry a gun" gun. I pocket carry it and the weight is nearly negligible.


Folks, for those who are married and have to convince the comptroller that spending money on firearms or holsters is a good thing, please use this as an example. Should our safety be jeopardized due to temporary physical limitations or should we have alternate methods of safety available.

I am so tired of hearing that we need to move to the "common ground". Usually from left leaning socialists who are upset that not everyone sees life the way they do.

For example, take free speech; now this is a subject near and dear to my heart and most people but to hear some of the liberals talk, we are miles apart. So, what are we hung up on? Well, first they tell me I have to agree that not all speech is "free speech", that some of it is "hate speech" and shouldn't be protected. If I can't agree to that, we don't have common ground.

But that is the crux of the free speech debate; what, if any, speech should be off limits. To say I have to agree to a position to "move to the common ground" means I have to give up my ideals, my principles.

Another favorite is gun control and "common sense regulation". Moving toward common ground for so many of the liberals means we have to agree to their position that 1.)Regulations are good, 2.) We don't have enough regulation, & 3.) That regulations will solve the problem.

Well, no. I don't have to agree to those. I think we can point to decades of regulations that haven't worked, that haven't made a different, that deny average people their rights, etc. How about starting off with the position of excessive regulation versus NO Regulation -- then finding the common ground. To argue we have to start with our current regulations and then MOVE isn't finding common ground at all. It's tilting the argument and saying the other side isn't playing fair when they disagree.

The other aspect is that we may not have common ground. To me the restriction of government power is an admirable goal. If your goal is the expansion of government power....why should we agree to meet in the middle?

We have documents, remarkable documents (Constitution for the United States, laws, etc) that already define what we should allow the government to do. Changing that requires you to convince me, to move me to your position. IF you can do that, then we've found common ground...but it won't be in the middle.
Some positions should be all or nothing types. If the subject is warrant less searches, shouldn't the case be overwhelmingly in favor of that before we start?

What do you think? Am I being unreasonable, should I try to find the common ground?

From Fox News comes the report that "The Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2009" is back in the news and moving forward.

This is something we need to contact every one of our Congress critters to try to stop. On the face of it, it sounds like a decent idea- keep terrorists from getting weapons. As always, the devil is in the details.

How would the government define a terrorist?

"[An] act of terrorism, means any activity that (A) involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life that is a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State; and (B) appears to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping."

(United States Code Congressional and Administrative News, 98th Congress, Second Session, 1984, Oct. 19, volume 2; par. 3077, 98 STAT. 2707 [West Publishing Co., 1984])

That is the official definition but from the recent report on "right wing extremism" we know that the government will use the classification to address anyone, any group that they dislike. The adage about power corrupting still rings true for a reason folks.

From the report:

Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

Doesn't that cheer you up? To know that some faceless bureaucrat may decide that someone constitutes a possible threat and take steps leading to the deprivation of right? All this before a trial, before a hearing, before any due process of any kind; people can loose their rights.

Although I'm using the "right wing extremist" as an example, this isn't a left/right issue. This is an authoritarian versus libertarian issue. We need to check the power of the government and we need to do it soon otherwise it may be too late.

Greetings,

Thanks for sticking around if there is anyone left out there. I started feeling nearly normal yesterday morning. I actually got out of the house Saturday night.

We had to purchase some additional fish for our tank that we recieved from a friend several weeks back. Our largest denizen of the tank -Frank the Turtle- may be snacking on some of the smaller residents. The divider keeps Frank on his side, but not all the fish on their side. It's difinitely Darwin in Action there.

I've been waiting on a sunny day to get a decent shot of the tank, it's just in the last 3 weeks those have been in short supply.


So, today is church, maybe a little shopping than working on a post I've been trying to complete for a while. No promises, but I hope to have it ready for Monday.

Updates to follow during the day

For some reason, I didn't feel up to doing much today.

Seriously, the recovery is going well. Hopefully, I'll be back up to full speed tomorrow.

Thanks for all the kind thoughts and prayers

Sorry for a lack of posting but I spent some time in the hospital because of a sneeze!


Tuesday, about 4:15 p.m. I sneezed, not even a hard sneeze, at work and felt like someone stabbed me in the kidney. It wasn't a pulled muscle, it wasn't anything like what I've experienced before....expect PAIN. Thought it might be kidney stones.

My wife and I carpool to work, she works only a couple of miles from me so it saves us gas. By the time she arrived at 5:00 I was a hurting puppy.

So, when she suggested a visit to the ER, I agreed. (Ok, after trying not to the first time).After a relative fast trip through the ER, it turns out that I had an inflamed appendix.

Turns out if you are hungry waiting for the test results, it isn't a good idea to get a snack ot tide you over. It pushed back the appendictomy until 1:00 a.m.


12 hours after the surgery and I was ready to go home. Just made it back from the hospital.

More later folks

Okay folks, once again I get to show off how much of a newbie I am.

I'm looking for some assistance in determining what to consider when selecting a round for my shot gun.

I currently have a Beretta White Wing Over/Under 12 gauge shotgun that is my back up home defense weapon. It is chambered for 2 &3/4 or 3 inch shells (hope I have that right).

My problem is the construction of my house. Below is my very feeble attempt at being an architect. The roundish unmarked area is the enclosed sun room. The bedrooms across from each other have sliding glass doors and their is a door near the garage. The rest of the room is all windows (subject for another day).


(drawing not to scale or entirely accurate but concept and arrangement is accurate)

So, I'm concerned about over penetration definitely.

I have been looking for an acceptable home defense load for the shotgun, any suggestions?

I've read a little bit and I'm leaning toward something like #4 shot but honestly don't know enough to know if I'm in the right ball park.


Since I don't believe in having a firearms without ammunition, I picked up a couple 5 round boxes of double 00 buck shot.


One of the great things about this community of our is the willingness of others to help and teach others...I never forget how much every person is willing to share with the newbies like me.

Any advice or suggestions welcomed and appreciated

Just received this as a response to the issue I had with the breakfast entree

Dear Bob,

Thank you for contacting Sara Lee. It is always important to hear from our
consumers, and we appreciate the time you have taken to contact us. We apologize
about your poor experience with the Jimmy Dean Entree.

Sara Lee Food and Beverage is committed to providing our customers with the
highest quality products.  Although we use "state of the art" production and
inspection systems at our facilities, we still experience product irregularities
on occasion.  Fortunately, consumers like yourself bring these issues to our
attention which allows us to take measures to correct the situation.  Our
Quality Assurance team has been notified.

In appreciation of your time, we would be happy to send you a complimentary
coupon to be used on a future purchase of a Jimmy Dean product.  You can expect
the coupon to arrive in 7-10 business days via the mail.  Should you have any
comments or questions in the future, please contact us via our website at
www.saralee.com or by calling our toll-free number, 1-800-925-3326. Our
representatives are available Monday-Friday between the hours of 7am and 6pm
CST.

Sincerely,


Julie
Sara Lee Customer Affairs Representative



I'm impressed that they responded, responded in a timely manner and trying to make
situation right.

As someone in the manufacturing field, getting information back on the issues is
often harder than people imagine. Hopefully, the Quality department will be able to
work with the production line and resolve the issue.

From the ever vigilant JR at A Keyboard and a. 45 blog (you are reading him every day, right?) reports that the bill to expand our right to bear arms has moved forward.

As JR says:

It is important to take a moment or two and check here to see if your rep is a sponsor/author of this bill. If they are, please be sure to thank them for their support in your communications. I think it is also important to add a fax to your communication efforts. Faxes and emails over the weekend, followed up with calls on Monday morning will be the most effective way of expressing your support for this bill.

Folks, I have a daughter in college now. Many of her friends are in college now. I have a 16 year old that will be going to college in a couple of years. I would feel more confident in their safety if some of their fellow students were Concealed Handgun License holders that weren't deprived of their rights at the edge of the property. The Magical Force created by the "Gun Free Zone" signs doesn't work, let's try having responsible citizens carrying firearms for a while, eh?

Please all Texas residents, contact your house representatives. If you don't know who represents you, you can find that information here.

Over at MikeB's place, I've enjoyed (for the most part) discussing the issues around gun control but there is a limit. In response to a never ending stream of insuinations, accusations, distortions and sometimes out right lies, pro-freedom, pro-firearm people have tried to provide information, facts, data, legal opinions, etc to Mike.

What we get in return is more of the same. At first, I disagreed with Weer'd Beard about the worth of continuing to debate at Mike's, now I'm completely convinced he was right.


In response to comments made on this post Mike made the following comments

 Bob says, "Sorry but your "belief" doesn't rise to the level of proof needed to deprive people of their rights."Perhaps your "belief" doesn't rise to the level of proof needed to maintain that right. Perhaps that's how "rights" are changed through history.

YGTBSM -- My proof doesn't rise to the level needed to maintain our right to keep and bear arms???
We've provided evidence from the CDC showing that firearm fatalities are declining. We've provided evidence that some countries with strict gun control laws have higher firearm homicide and crime rates while some countries with lax gun control laws have lower crime rates. In other words, no evidence that strict gun control laws work.

We've provided evidence showing that there are other factors -- social, cultural, economic, educational-- that affect crime rates more then firearm availability.

We've provided evidence showing that firearms save lives.

Over and over again, we've provided proof, sound proof that our right to keep and bear arms should not be infringed. And what does MikeB provide to back up his opinion? Quotes & sound bites from the Violence Policy Center and the Brady Campaign. Slanted stories from the left stream media.

And our proof may  not be enough to keep our rights in his mind?? Abolutely frakkin amazing.

Bob also said, "I know, I know you say you don't want to stop good people from having firearms, but how can you reduce availability and still let good people have firearms."One way is to redefine what we mean by "good people." Obviously the definition we've been working with is not working. As much as you deny it, the flow of these so-called "good" gun owners over to the dark side is significant.

We've provided evidence, time and time again, showing that the "flow" of guns is insignificant.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics report 419,640 for 2005.  The CDC reported 12,352 fatalities related to firearm homicides in the same year.

Estimates place the number of firearms in America around 280,000,000.  Even allowing for every firearm to be a new and unique firearm used in crime, that means only 0.15428% of all firearms were used in crimes in 2005. Hardly significant! That type of irrationality can not be swayed by the facts, by the truth.


This was the final straw - One way is to redefine what we mean by "good people."

So, what does MikeB propose to do? Redefine every gun owner as "bad people"? Despite the evidence that gun owners are by and large law abiding, despite the fact that most firearm related crimes are committed by people who have criminal records (and most gun owners don't have a criminal record) MikeB wants to take away our rights.

It really isn't that far of a step to imagine that as not good people our rights will be completely trampled to reduce the availability of firearms. Never mind that no prohibition, no ban has ever stopped the flow of an item, we see MikeB's eventual goal in these words....the confiscation of firearms from the law abiding.

So enough is enough, I'm mostly done with this troll. I'll raid his site for occasional blog fodder but I won't be commenting on a regular basis there. I'll post my replies and thoughts on this blog where I know that my comments won't be moderated out of existence.

/rant off

Breakfast is a favorite meal of mine. Normally some brands can be counted on to deliver a high quality product that meets all the requirements.

Here is a image of one of those normally reliable brands.


I understand that the pictures are staged and may not depict the exact product, I understand manufacturing variation. I truly understand all of that....I also know how to count - note the 12 pieces of sausage depicted in the picture.

Here is the reality.



I understand that some products are measured by weight and not quantity, but this in no way came close.

So, what should I do?

In the past, I would vetch to a few close friends (what I'm doing here) and would let it go. After being in the retail business for a couple of years, I've changed my approach. I realize that companies need to hear back from their customers, especially when the product doesn't meet expectations.

So, I found the Web site for the product in question, located their easy to find "contact us" link and am doing that. One surprise was that I didn't know this brand was owned by Sara Lee.

I submitted a comment and will post any information if there is any follow up.

Just ranting here....anyone else have a product they were disappointed in because it didn't meet their expectations?

Good News Bad News situation.

First the bad news; a judge in Colorado dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.
I'm not sure I understand the full legal reasoning here. It seems one of those bizarre only in the legal world definitions.

The students claimed that the state Board of Regents was an agent of government subject to state law allowing concealed weapons in certain circumstances. Miller ruled that regents are a statewide authority with their own legislative powers. He also found nothing in the state constitution that would prohibit the regents from enacting a campus gun ban.

So, a state ran entity, elected by the people of the state but they aren't bound by the state constitution or law? Someone help me out with this.

Now the good news...some judges get it.

Miller wrote that while "any right-thinking person" could see that a campus shooting spree could be mitigated by a well-placed concealed weapon, the students' argument was flawed.

Sounds like he wanted to overturn the ban but the legal basis for the challenge wasn't accurate enough.

Any lawyers out there or do any of my 4 readers know a lawyer who might be familiar with this case, I would be interested in hearing from others.

Please leave a comment.

Breaking News - I have found evidence that the liberals may be right. As you can see from the photographic evidence below, grenades are being sold at GUN SHOWS.









Oh, maybe the grenades are as hollow as the liberals' claims.


Sorry, folks just couldn't resist.

Attend the Fort Worth Gun show at the Will Rogers' Coliseum - some place I haven't been since they had wrestling back in the 70s.

Parking wasn't an issue, I parked in a back lot and walked a couple hundred yards to get to the exhibit hall. I carried concealed (since I was hoping to try out some holster options), the police manning the entry table didn't bat an eye, just put a tie down through the barrel and action. Never saw an argument, not a harsh word or argument over the safety precautions.

It was a packed house, I stood in the middle of the room and took shots facing either direction.






I don't know if it is just the combination of Texas manners, friendly gunnies, or just people's natural good nature but as crowded it was almost everyone apologized if they bumped into me or I apologized if I bumped into them.

There were literally thousand of firearms there....so much for the canard that increasing the number of firearms increases the danger. There were many armed confrontations, people buying and selling. I saw many table of licensed dealers, with form 4473 ready and phones set up for back ground checks. I didn't personally see any individuals selling to individuals but I am sure it happened. How many, I don't know.

MikeB asked about Nazi memorabilia. I saw 3 tables with some WWII German items. One table was packed with Lugers and other WWII firearms that I couldn't identify. Could have spent hours learning the history of those guns.

Here are two pictures that show the extent of the "memorabilia". I saw more table selling ShamWow's then I did Nazi items.















I didn't see any booths or even individuals identifiable as "skin heads" or white supremacists. And I was looking. I covered the entire hall, aisle by aisle.

Here is a picture that shows what a rough crowd it was.


Those two schnauzers were simply worn out from all the attention they were getting. It was something to see folks in camo, in suits, carrying all sorts of gear....all of them stopped to pet them.


Not FEMA concentration camp stuff, no hate or fear of Obama. I did hear politics being discussed but nothing I didn't hear while Bush was in office.

There were a couple of tables for "survivalists" but nothing paranoid. There was a table discussing how to add gold or silver to your investment portfolio. There were a couple of tables with survival supplies, but in any state those items are common sense. Rechargeable flash lights are getting hot. There was a really interesting stainless steel water purifying system - (note to self -- remove pamphlets before washing clothes if you want to blog about it later). Here in Texas aka Tornado Alley, it is entirely possible to loose clean water for days. A system like that want be a smart investment. I think it was something like this.


One of the things this show really brought home was the opportunity to see which firearms fit my hand. I saw many that I would like to add to my inventory eventually. Being able to go from a Kel-Tec P3AT to a SeeCamps 380 to judge fit, size, etc was very helpful.

The other thing I realized is this is just like any other hobby. I've been to remote control exhibits, I've been to photography shows, computer swap meets and this was no different. A mixture of established businesses and private people selling and swapping gear, talking about what they like to do. Just regular people getting together to enjoy their hobby.

So I went to the show with some goals in mind. Well, let's see how I did.

1st item was some B27 style targets. -- Accomplished; picked up a roll of 20 for $9.

2nd was holster options. There were many to choose from but I ended up not purchasing anything. I didn't see any shoulder holsters that met my 2 requirements, comfort and price. The comfortable ones weren't in the price range for today....and the ones in the price range weren't as comfortable. Well, my birthday is coming up maybe I'll get some cash or gift cards.

3rd magazine carrier. Saw a couple but until I've settled on a holster I am going to wait. Most of the carriers weren't acceptable for the nature of the clothes I usually wear. I'll keep looking.
Didn't see any of the concealment undershirts at the show, but might spring for one online. A coworker highly recommends them.

4th ammo. When did they start making .45 ACP and .380ACP out of 18K gold? Luckily, I've stocked a little .380 so I'm okay there. Have some .45 coming, supposedly, so I'm okay there also. Didn't see any .38 special hollow points that weren't reloads so I'll keep looking. Did pick up some 12 ga. Double aught buckshot.

Also picked up some snap caps. I thought of making my own as suggested by Tom, but wanted something that would stand out at the range when doing malfunction drills. These are purple aluminum so they'll stand out. It will also make it easier to insure I'm using training rounds for practicing drawing from concealment.

All in All a very enjoyable 2 hours. If I hadn't had errands to do, I probably would have spend 3 to 6 hours there. Not bad for 8 bucks.

Heading out for my first gun show tomorrow at the Will Rogers' Coliseum in Fort Worth.

If anyone is going to be there, shoot me an email and we'll see about meeting up.

For my action plan (staying alive by not spending too much money), I have very limited goals this show.

1. Pick up some B27 style targets, something along the lines of these. Since my primary goal is to train for self defense, I figure it make sense to have realistic target sizes to work with. Besides, it might make a few of the anti-freedom, pro-ignorance crowd cry or something else.

2. Check out additional holster options. Yes, I'm still going through that phase for the Taurus. I have an Ace Case tuckable inside the waist band holster that works well but would like to see and try other options. Under consideration -- a shoulder holster rig, a 5.11 Concealed carry shirt and a belly band. I would like to find a better outside the waist band holster, something that snugs it closer to my sides then other holster that I use. Not sure if I'll purchase this outing or not but hands on is always a better evaluation.

3. Probably will purchase a magazine carrier for the extra magazine. Recent posts have convinced me that I really need to carry a spare mag.

4. Last and least probable is ammo -affordable ammo. Okay, both of you stop laughing now. I know it's a long shot, but practice rounds in .45 ACP would be nice (some is on the way), SD ammo in .38 special for the Ruger would be considered, practice rounds also. Probably won't happen this time but will be prepared.

5. Meeting people and enjoying window shopping...the easiest part.

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