Walmart & Winchester

The local Walmart that I shop at most regularly just went through one of those crazy re-organizations. Basically re-arranging the entire store, including moving an exterior entrance & wall.

One area that was greatly scaled back was the hunting/firearms section. Before it had a large circular ring of glass counters and display cases.  They essentially cut that down to a third of the size. I had seen this occur at a few other Walmarts recently. I do have some concern that this could be a trend. However, apparently they added a large tall shelf for storing ammo.  Which I must confess is a much more efficient use of space.  They can actually stock and display more ammo in a much smaller footprint.

So if that is all it was, I am okay with that…but I think we should keep a watchful eye to ensure that Walmart is not turning toward an anti-firearm bias.

Another item I found interesting was the change in stocked products. Basically, everything is now Winchester branded. Gone are almost all the Remington products and many of the products by smaller companies.  I’ve always been amazed at the price of Winchester ammo at Walmart versus elsewhere. With other chains often asking as much as 2x a round.  Apparently, they sweetened the deal for Winchester, as nearly half the products on the shelves are now Winchester branded.

Has anyone else seen this change-over at their Walmarts?

In the news…

Evil man who kidnapped an 11 yr old and fathered 2 children with her was arrested AGAIN!!!

“That check revealed that Garrido was on federal parole for a 1971 conviction for rape and kidnapping, for which he had served time in the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas.”

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/27/california.missing.girl/index.html

I don’t know about you, but I am sick and tired of judges/parole boards releasing these guys back onto our streets. People talk about vigilante justice and how bad it is. Frankly, it’s far better than a legal system that feeds little children to the man-lions.

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Senator Ted Kennedy has passed.  The quest to choose his heir has begun. List includes numerous potentials. But being Mass, we can pretty much ensure the following, the winner will be: Democrat & liberal!

Is there any chance of us getting a pro-gun Senator. Not likely…but we can always hope.  The article mentions a possible bid by former Representative Joe Kennedy.  Who if he ran, would probably get elected from the mere fact that thousands of elderly will go to the polls and vote for Kennedy, not even realizing he is dead.  If you don’t think that sort of thing is a factor in elections, than you don’t understand politics of cities.

And who is Joe Kennedy?  It goes like this “We need a Kennedy!”  “Which one?”  “Oh, I don’t care, just give us any ol’ Joe”…

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/26/kennedy.senate.seat/index.html

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Totally off-topic. But I couldn’t resist sharing…

Man hires contract workers, pays them only $2,000 a year. But he pays them with United States $50 coins. (Which happen to be 1oz of gold.)  IRS states it’s a tax-evading scheme.  As the value of the gold is approx. $40,000.  But since the workers only earned $2,000 officially, according to the law they do not have to report it.

“The IRA claims it’s a tax-evading scam”

But I think we all know the real problem. The problem is the government is the SCAM!

http://www.liberty-watch.com/volume03/issue08/coverstory.php

PAGunRights.com

The following is a site updated by a number of local NRA-EVCs. It is a good resource for helping to keep Pennsylvanian’s up-to-date on current events related to the Pennsylvania gun owning community.

http://www.pagunrights.com/

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PS – As the EVC for York County (District 19), I will also be posting information to PAGunRights.com as it relates to local York County gun ordinances, elections, etc.

York Lost/Stolen Update – Committee Meeting on 9/8

September 8th,  Special Comittee Meeting @7pm to discuss the proposed Lost/Stolen ordinance.  Said ordinance would require residents of York city to report their firearms lost or stolen within 3 days or face penalties.

As has been discussed in the past, this proposed ordinance has several issues:

1. Violates the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s pre-emption laws. (ie: illegal)
2. Essentially creates a situation in which one is guilty until proven innocent.
3. Essentially redundant to present state level laws and penalties for straw purchasers. The only difference is that this proposed ordinance has the potential to automatically punish innocent gun owners.

My understanding from talking to Councilman Joe Musso is that Councilwoman Toni Smith may just push for a “resolution” rather than the passing of the ordinance.  As has been stated before by the proponents of this ordinance, the real purpose is to send a message to Harrisburg. Which is why I believe it affects everyone in York county and not just the residents of York city proper.

Depending on this meeting, anything that comes out of it, will likely be moved to the following meeting for a decision on September 15th, next  @7pm.

***

Councilman Joseph Musso has been very helpful to the gun owning community in regards to this proposed ordinance. Helping to keep us informed and providing a strong advocacy that this is an improper action for the city to take.

I was actually pleased to hear that Mr. Musso was going to run for mayor as an independent. Today I found out that his petition to be on the ballot was invalidated. This is a disgusting tactic used by the big parties, and especially the Democrats.  In which they get an official to invalidate enough signatures to make the petition no longer eligible to be on the ballot. The cause for removal are often very questionable; including removal for not utilizing cursive script.  One example Mr. Musso gave was a signature they invalidated because it did not match the signature on the signer’s voter registration card.  Mind you, the signature was of an 87 yr old man. And the voter registration card was from the 1940’s.

I really hate this crap, it’s the same methods Barack Obama used to get elected. And it’s a common crap method that the big two have used to squash 3rd party and independent candidates.  Truly unamerican.

From what I gather, Mr. Musso is not planning to fight it. In part I understand. We have lives to live. And it’s tough expending so much of your life for a longshot. And the ’system’ knows that, using that fact to make it hard for anyone outside the system to compete. It undermines the democratic system.  The result, is good people don’t, won’t or can’t run.

The real result is America loses out.

Man carries AR-15 to townhall protest…

CNN has video a video, which includes a brief interview with the individual who carried the AR-15.  This is the first video I’ve seen that actually gave the individual a chance to speak.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2009/08/18/cb.gun.touting.protestors.cnn

The video includes another 4-5 minutes of debate. Which can be a bit grueling at times. A lot of the usual soundbites.  The one advocate does a fair job holding his own, but makes a few concessions I would not have. But that’s to be expected when they pit three opposing pundits against one advocate.  Not quite fair and balanced…

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Recently someone asked whether I thought this incident helped or harmed gun rights.  My feelings on this are rather mixed.  I believe it both helped and harmed.  For some it harmed and pushed away, and gave them some good sound bites.  But there is evidence that this particular situation actually helped.

You see, I believe this situation completely caught the media off-guard.  Usually, whenever such an event occurs the media resorts to right wing extremist, Nazi, white supremacist, militia statements.  Except in this case the individual carrying the AR-15 was a black gentleman.  This fact seemed to cut out much of the media’s usual rhetoric.  In fact, I’d go so far as to say the media was a bit afraid of this event and unsure of how to handle it.  The result is that many of the first articles I saw didn’t even show a picture of the man. Just the AR15 strapped to his back.   It’d be a couple of days after hearing about this incident that I finally saw a video on CNN.com that including a brief interview with the man involved.

But why do I consider this a victory?  Because it was one of the only times I’ve read a media article about guns that used proper terms like semi-automatic rifle, instead of referring to it as an automatic or assault weapon.  Even CNN seemed to tread a bit more lightly.  The individual’s actions were a blatant testimony to the fact that our 2nd Amendment right is for everyone.  Both of those facts combined lead me to feel that we broke even or even came out slightly ahead on this incident.  And when taken in light of the fact that our cause seldom wins or breaks even in the media’s coverage – then I say this is a win.  I am sure others will disagree with me. Heck, I’ll disagree with me to a degree.

Why carry? Deadly Dogs?

Elderly couple attacked and killed by a pack of wild dogs.

Video at CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/08/18/regan.dogs.kill.couple.WSB

Periodic Table of Ammo

Oleg Volk posted photos of the “Periodic Table of Ammo” T-shirt.

Shirt available here.  I wouldn’t mind a poster of this. *hint hint*

4 down, 2 permanently…but…

4 men enter a Harlem store. The NY Times article notes that the business had been robbed several times before, despite the fact that his shop is around the corner from a police precinct.

The owner, 72 yr old Charles Augusto Jr. fired 3 shots with the Winchester 12 gauge pump action shotgun (with a pistol grip handle). Normally, the NY Times would describe this as an assault shotgun. But even the NYT had trouble finding a way to spin this negatively.

The first shot took down the gunman in the front. While his subsequent blasts hit the other three accomplices.

But the next tidbit is what really ruffled my feathers. [The shooter] was 29 and had been arrested for gun possession in Queens last year.  (He was also the nephew of a police officer.) What I want to know is WHY are we releasing criminals with prior gun possession charges back onto the streets in less than a year.

Perhaps it’s to give NYC Mayor Bloomberg something to wine about. Of course, it’s his type of mentality that results in the next statement.

“A law enforcement official said that the district attorney was considering a possible misdemeanor weapons charge against Mr. Augusto, indicating that he did not have a permit for the shotgun.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/nyregion/14shoot.html?_r=3&hp

PS – Dear NY Times, why do you waste time giving us the boo-hoo’s of the family of the criminals.  These men died, but they died in the act of committing a crime.

He had a Gun, she had God!

Sandal clad nun chases down an armed suspect

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,539294,00.html

(Probably not the smartest thing in the world to do. But hey, if you’re going to do it. It’s good to have God on your side.)

.45 ACP – sighted!

This past week I saw something that I have not seen in over 6+ months. In fact, something I had not seen since the year 2008.

“Winchester .45 ACP White Box at Walmart”

I was able to pick up 5 boxes of the .45ACP. Which cleaned out my Walmart’s stock. But I had little guilt in lieu of the fact that I have not been able to buy any .45 ACP in over half a year – even checking several Walmarts regularly on a monthly basis in both Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

I also picked up two 100 round boxes of the Federal .223 for $40 each. And a box of the Winchester Supreme Elite .38 Special for $19.95. Which is a really good price for decent personal defense ammunition. This is Winchester’s new bonded  personal defense ammo, which is supposed to ensure expansion by welding the copper jacket to the lead. As I did not have any personal defense ammo for our Ruger GP100 chambered in .357 Magnum.

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N.U.G.U.N. Arsenal Update:  With this recent purchase and the 12 boxes of 9mm I picked up in Connecticut; I am finally reaching a point where I am almost comfortable with the state of the family arsenal (ammunition stockpile). I believe it was Michael Bane who commented that the bare minimum stock should be 200 rounds for each caliber you own.  After the past year I am of the opinion that 200 rounds is the bare minimum ONLY for those firearms you do not regularly use.  I nearly ran out of .45ACP, and essentially had to stop shooting my Ruger P-345. (I did keep a reserve of about 100 rounds just in case I needed to have some target on hand.)

I am now of the opinion the 500 rounds is the minimum quantity one should own for a given firearm that they shoot regularly. By regularly, I define it as any firearm you shoot 4 or more times in a year.

N.U.G.U.N. stockpile (arsenal as the media would like to call it).

• .223 = 1,500+ rnds
• 9mm = 800+
• 45 = 600+
  [This had been unacceptably low for the past 6 months.]
• .22LR = < 10,000 rnds
  [Imagine how the media would spin this. *LOL*]
• .357 Magnum = 300+
  [I'd still like a little more.]
• .38 SPL = < 100
  [This is unacceptably low. But I have a fair amount of .357 Magnum. Our revolver takes both so it's not a major concern. I hope to remedy this over the next few months.]
• .380 = < 100
  [This is unacceptably low. Worse, this is a cartridge we need for practicing with our LCP. Definitely need to remedy this!]
• 7.62×39 = < 100
  [But as I don't actually own a rifle chambered in this, it's not a biggie.]
• 7.62×54r = 1,200+
  [Surplus sardine/sealed cans of 440 each.]

While some of those numbers may seem excessively high to those unfamiliar with the shooting hobby.  Let me assure you, it’s really not.  Especially if you engage in any form of competitive shooting. Our small local shooting league’s 6 week series require 300+ rounds of ammo. That doesn’t even include what you might expend during practice.  There are three of these league tourney’s a year, which equates to approx. 1,000 rounds.  Just plinking with friends can easily burn through a few hundred rounds of ammo.  So while the above quantities may seem extreme; they equate to maybe a year’s worth of ammo for the semi-casual recreational shooter.

I also have small quantities of premium personal defense ammo in .45ACP, .38 Special, 9mm, & .380. I don’t really count these in the tallies.  If a non-shooter is trying to fathom the quantities of ammo, thinking “Why would anyone need 1,000 rounds of ammo.”  Understand that such large quantities of ammo are for practice and sporting activities, and do not reflect any form of threat or danger.  Target ammo differs from premium personal defense ammo in both design and cost.  If you asked someone how many rounds of personal defense ammo they have; you’ll likely get a much much lower figure.  One that may seem more reasonable to the conflicted mind.

A good way for the non-shooter trying to understand the gun community, is to think about how many glasses (actual glass) they own.  Then compare it to how many plastic cups they buy from Costco for the 4th of July and other summer BBQs.  You know what I am talking about – those packages of 500 red plastic cups.  Now if someone asked you how many glasses you had, and you replied 500 or even 1,000. They might think that was cooky. But if you explained that you had about dozen or two glasses, but 500 disposable plastic cups. No one would look at you strangely.

Likewise, a recreational shooter may have 500+ rounds of target ammunition, but only a box or two of personal defense ammo (approx 20-50 rnds in a standard box).  It’s really not crazy.  It’d be nice if the media and reporters did a little research to understand the matter.  It’s funny (and sad) when we in the gun community read some article in the newspaper declaring such and such man had an arsenal of more than 1,000 rounds of ammo. Especially when they mentions a 22 caliber rifle.  As .22LR ammunition is commonly sold in 550 round boxes at Walmart for $10-$20.  Two boxes equates to the media’s 1,000+ arsenal.

It’s really just ignorance and lack of due diligent research on the part of the media – or deliberate sensationalism.