Second Class Citizenship

There are fucking metal detectors to go into the Florida Aquarium in Tampa.

Because someone might hijack the aquarium and force the fish to swim to Cuba?

I am increasingly sick of the proliferation of gun-free victim zones.

It's especially galling that they were giving free admission for Veteran's day.

I have yet to reconcile that I can be trusted to carry gun virtually any place but somehow it's more dangerous to have legal conceal carry in aquariums, museums, amusement parks and convention centers.

Trust me, I am WAY more angry at the people in Target or Wal Mart than I am at anyone at the zoo!

But nobody gets shot, despite that, because irritating me is not something that rises to the level of requiring a lethal response.

I might sigh.

I might grumble.

I might complain.

I might rant.

But I am not shooting my fellow customers unless I'm shooting back.

That's the deal we make when we carry.

I keep seeing the justification that this is for the "safety" of everyone so that they can "feel safe."

I'd rather be safe than feel safe.

There's a lot of people in Florida alone that felt safe right up to the moment they were killed.  Too many died because they had been deprived of the means to defend themselves.

Gun owners are, indeed, still the new CENSORED of society. 

It Wasn't A Problem 20 Years Ago

NRA is suing over Denver's non-resident carry ban.

Back in 2007 when I was in Denver to say goodbye to Mom, my Florida permit was good to go.

Not sure what happened in the meantime, but...

The NRA wouldn't have to sue if it hadn't changed.

Florida!

Florida, where guns are so easy to get that criminals are forced to use pick-axes to assault people!

News link.

But since guns are easy to get, our assailant got shot for his trouble.

Slow clap.

Note that this was the second time the assailant had come at the victim. 

What?

From the Baltimore City Crime Gun Intelligence Facebook page:

On August 23, at approximately 3:40 p.m., NED DAT detectives were in the 5400 block of Sinclair Lane when they observed an individual exhibiting behavior consistent with being armed. During the investigation, detectives arrested the suspect and recovered (1) Polymer80 9mm handgun.

The gun in question:

 

What is "behavior consistent with being armed?" 

Gotta Read The Whole Article

Road rage or self defense?

Iowa is a Constitutional Carry state, so what does, "one count of being a person ineligible to carry dangerous weapons," mean?

Is that how Iowa phrases, "felon in possession?"

But look how far down the article you have to get before you find out that the person with the gun is the victim of a rear-ending and the person who rear ended them has a history of driving without a license and insurance.

That mentioning the behavior of this person post-impact was, in fact, criminal is tossed in as an aside.

This case might end up, eventually, at the Supreme Court over whether felons have the right to own a gun to defend themselves.

And since the cops have, repeatedly, used "tried to run me over" as a positive defense for shooting someone trying to run them over, pulling a gun to get someone who's just rear ended you from continuing to move their car seems fairly justified. 

Equalized

I give you the S&W Equalizer with thumb safety!

The cuts on the slide give a better grip for Harvey to pull and the lighter spring means she can work the slide like a pro!

The slide stop, on the other hand, is almost impossible to press down and release the slide.  I tend to slingshot the slide, but she'd prefer to use the stop.  I worked it obsessively for a bit and it's better, but still not easy.  Harder than a Gen 1 Glock!

It introduces a 15-round magazine to the Sheild Plus line-up in addition to the 13 and 10 round choices.

Plus!  Optics ready!

It's almost the same size as the M&P 2.0 Compact:

At least with the 13-rounder in the Equalizer and the 15-rounder in the Compact.

It's a bit longer with the 15-rounder.

A bit lighter and narrower means it carries better for her.

It's a bit bigger than a Shield Plus, mostly in length.

The trigger doesn't have a hinge or a little paddle in it.

That's because it has a grip safety.

If you think about it, the trigger safety is also a grip safety, just a different grip...

Waiting For It To Take Effect

Watch this video:

This is excellent news.

It also eliminates the last vestige of utility for Florida's conceal carry permit.

You won't need it to carry in state and there won't be a waiting period for it to bypass.

You might still need it for travel to other states, but as more and more of them become constitutional carry, you won't need any permit to travel to any of them.

And the places that aren't constitutional carry are the most likely places to have zero reciprocity; so the permit doesn't help anyway. 

Impulse Buy

Harvey has complained about her grip strength since she went bionic.

Because she's hit the wall in improving her shooting, we decided to rent a gun designed for people with bad grip strength.

The S&W Equalizer!

It's like a Shield Plus and an M&P EZ had a baby.  Even uses the Shield Plus magazines that I already have stacked deep for my pocket gun.

She liked it well enough that she decided we could pay interest on the credit card for it.

In GURPS terms it's identical to the M&P 2.0 9mm Compact it replaces, except for being 1.8 lb. loaded instead of 2 lb.  Same 15 round capacity.

Another plus is it fits slightly better in her purse's gun compartment.

It came with a 10-rounder, 13-rounder and 15-rounder and an UpLula.  You need that UpLula to get all 15 rounds into the big mag.

Thanks to the Shield Plus, we have a lot of the 13 rounders around already, gonna have to get some more of the 15 shot mags.

She didn't shoot the rental any worse than the M&P 2.0 9mm Compact she's been carrying; but she was much better with manipulating the slide.  She gushed about that.

One oddity was the slide lock is insanely hard to push down to let it slide home.

I'd have never noticed because I slingshot the slide, but she's been using it to release the slide on all of her pistols since she started learning to shoot.

Should be easy for her to adapt.

You Have A Right To _Say_ It Not *DO* It

I have said before that you have every right to be a hateful racist.  You have no right to act on your hate.

I prefer bigots to be open and honest about it so that I can avoid them better.

Them being open and honest about it also means that when they act on their hate, it becomes a sentence enhancer.

Case in point.

Calling someone a filthy Jew is being very rude and obnoxious; but it's probably protected speech.

Assaulting someone after calling them a filthy Jew is a hate crime.

And, yes, you don't have to actually touch someone to commit assault!

Once you've articulated an actionable threat that appears to be imminent, you're assaulting.

And you're lucky if your chosen victim is armed and declines to shoot you.

It's noteworthy that this happened in Florida and the actual victim is home, safe, with their family and the (alleged) perpetrator is behind bars without bail. 

Does This Mean Veterans Too?

My service connected disability gets me a gate pass to go to the commissary on post.

Does Hegseth's lifting of the gun free zone apply to everyone allowed on post or just active duty?

I haven't seen it clearly stated one way or the other (or I'm missing where it was). 

Even if I am still barred from carry on post, it's a great step forward. 

Gun Shopping

A buddy of mine has, mostly, decided to get his first gun.

He's got a degenerative neurological disorder, so his grip strength can vary a lot.

So I suggested the S&W M&P 2.0 Shield EZ in 380.

It's got several features that are designed to make it easier to operate and load.

We found one in stock for $500 at the store that has one of those handgun "petting zoos" where you can rack the slide and pull the triggers on guns that have been defanged and are tethered to a display.

He felt that was a bit much, so I suggested the store I normally shoot at.

They had it for $450 and he almost dropped the money on the counter.

A major snag was the stupid waiting period.  If he'd bought Tuesday, he'd have had to schlep back down here from Ocala on Saturday to get it.

This might be a blessing in disguise!

Marv has found several on Gunbroker for $400 buy it now and a few even lower.

The problem is shipping and the transfer fee.  It's easy to add the money you saved right back onto the purchase.

PLUS!  He's a first time buyer who's not familiar with how us long-time owners do things.  Though, he's a wheeler-dealer with other things, he's prolly familiar enough with how it works in a different context that he wouldn't be totally confused by it.

The FFL closest to him wants $40.  That means that shipping would have to beat $10 to be better than my local range.  Or the price needs to be lower than $400...

I can see him shopping hard and bidding on the cheaper guns until he got lucky.

Crossing The Aisle

I still say that the cops are a bit too quick to employ deadly force.

Especially if it turns out that Pretti got shot because the officer that disarmed him had a negligent discharge from Pretti's gun after disarming him.

He deserved to get arrested for what he was doing, but if he was a threat with that dogpile on top of him...

Officers, learn to dogpile better!

If he had a second firearm and was trying to get it out to shoot the dogpile, then good shoot.

But where's that second gun?

I've long maintained that the cops should be held to the same standard as any other citizen when it comes to shooting someone.

The main complaint is that would make it too difficult for cops to do their jobs.

I says that letting us non-cops use the same, looser, rules as the cops wouldn't make it harder for THEM at all.

Just sayin'.

Actions

There's some who're not getting this gun ownership is a right thing about carrying and protesting.

It's not owning a gun that's a problem.

It's not carrying a gun that's a problem.

It's what is done with that gun that could be a problem.

If someone is screaming about their grievances while their gun stays in its holster, no problem.

Waving that gun around while screaming...  Problem.

In fact, let's put an etiquette tag on it:  If you're protesting or at a rally with a firearm, keep your hands completely off the gun.  If you cannot carry it without touching it, don't bring it!

That's just manners. 

Purses

Women conceal carry too!

Many of them carry off body because women's clothing lacks pockets and often hugs curves that prevent effective concealment.

You could find clothes that have pockets and don't accentuate your bod, but, sometimes, MAN you feel like a WOMAN! 

That means purses.

Harvey has been an enthusiastic user of Gun Tote'n Mamas' wares since we discovered them.

Her current bag is wearing out because she uses it.

SEO doesn't take you to GTM's web page, it takes you to Hiding Hilda.  Hiding Hilda doesn't do a good job of showing the customer who will actually use the purse to carry a firearm what firearms fit and how it will carry....

That led us to check the locals stores.

Carry purses are thin on the ground at the gun shops, and it's important to be able to touch and feel the items to see if they're gonna work.

But we did find two she liked at Shooter's World on Fletcher in Tampa. 

Really Sad

Got this message on Facebook:

This is a gun range.

No open carry.

Blink blink blink

Sooner or later, a gun range has to trust you with a loaded firearm that is not concealed.

But I am fed the fuck up with gun shops, shows and ranges who don't seem to trust anyone with a gun that's not sanctified with a badge while they simultaneously pander for your money to sell guns, ammunition and

HOLSTERS THAT ARE FOR OPEN CARRY! 

For fucks sake.

Coincidence

Shooting News Weekly posted an article about shoulder holsters yesterday too.

I didn't find out until after I'd posted and saw a link to the article from Instapundit.

Great minds and all.

Gun Bras

I've been toting in a shoulder holster since I was in the Army.

The M9 holster and the M1911A1 were my first jam.

I toted, illegally, a Glock in a Uncle Mike's nylon holster in Iowa for a while too.  No pics.  That holster was not very good and it has long since been discarded.

When I came back to gun bras, it was Galco Miami Classic II and a Springfield 1911.

This same holster carried a Colt Gov't Model in .38 Super too.

But then the siren call of 9mm hit me...  All the best Gunwriters insisted it was best.

A full size S&W M&P 9 went in a Galco Miami Classic here.

This same holster ran an M&P 45C

And currently totes my M&P 2.0 9 Compact:

But wait!  There's more!  How much would you pay?

I tracked down what might be a Galco Jackass or very early Miami Classic to see if I was disarmed carrying a mid-70's S&W Model 59.

I was not unarmed.

I find this manner of carry comfortable and easy to conceal if I can wear a Hawaiian shirt, or more over it.  Not always possible in Florida.

They're handy riding in the car because the gun is presented where it's readily accessible.

CCW Real Gun

Two years running it hasn't really gotten cool enough to wear enough to carry a "real" gun here in Suncoast Florida.

I have not tested the idea of semi-concealed carry and have seen a lot of "no open carry" signs.

So the Shield Plus has been in my pocket and the M&P 9 Compact has stayed in the safe. 

Guntube Lawyers

I am getting sick of all the people on our side of the gun debate constantly coming up with new ideas to use in court against us.

Thankfully, it seems that what they've come up with is almost entirely theoretical still.

But the current round of speculation is about what training you've had and if your lawyer is being paid by some form of CCW insurance.

Because those things indicate "planning" to create a "self-defense" situation where you get to shoot someone.

Oh, and not getting training indicates gross irresponsibility and negligence.

There's no way out of the process as punishment.

Especially since it appears that the ccw insurers are essentially scams because of all the exit clauses built into the contract that lets them not pay for what you think you hired them to pay. 

No Force Of Law

Harvey reports that the local McDonalds has put up no gun signage.

Concealed means concealed if you still wanna go there, and the worst they can do is ask you to leave and have you trespassed if you refuse AND wait around for the cops to give you your trespass citation.

I think I am inclined to shop elsewhere for my heart attack inducers.

I like Culver's and Wendy's better anyways.