- Why is the U.S. government building a secret underground facility in Israel? And why are U.S. taxpayers funding a project that includes religious symbols at every doorway? The mezzuzah is a charming tradition, but the fedgov funds enough superstitions without secretly forcing us to pay for another one.
- Memo to robbers: If you want that girly-girl c-store clerk to take you seriously don’t charge in firing your guns into the air.
- James Bond, Dirty Harry Callahan and what gun is “good enough.” Can’t say I agree with the recommendation, not even one little bit. But the thinking is interesting. (H/T JG)
- That Senate bill that got the privacy stripped out of it and the warrantless searches put back in? The privacy’s been restored. This bill still has a long way to go before it becomes law, though.
- Bradley Manning on his many months of torment. I knew a political prisoner who was put through similar hells, though for a blessedly shorter time. He vehemently insisted that the “suicide watch” they subjected him to was solely an excuse to punish and dehumanize him. And Manning offended even nastier people.
- Annnnnd … one more career drug warrior gets busted for guess what?
- An oldie but … well, I hate to call it a goodie. The anti-snitch book quoted a 1995 James Bovard Playboy article on entrapment. Here’s the whole piece, courtesy of Jim. Things have only gotten worse now, with feds targeting the most naive and vulnerable in both the War on Some Drugs and the War on Any-Terrorism-Not-Sponsored-by-the-State.
Another round of thanks to Living Freedom Santas:
Unfortunately mostly Secret Santas again.
- For the delightfully demented Seth Casteel “Underwater Dogs” calendar, thank you SR, and a big pat to Caeli.
- For UCO stormproof matches for bug-out bag, vehicles, and attic storm shelter, thank you Mr. or Ms. Anonymous.
- And for one more bag of
orgasmicsinfulso fabulous there surely must be a law against themsucculently delicious California dried apricots … one more thanks to a Secret Santa.
Even Jeff Cooper thought that a .22 rifle was a reasonable home defense choice for those of minimal skill. I imagine that 10 rounds center-of-mass would discourage most bad guys.
If you can’t light a fire with those matches, you probably have bigger things to worry about. Just saying.
Good enough is probably the gun you have with you when you need it.
That secret (?) underground complex makes me think someone took “Raiders of the Lost Ark” too seriously.
No gun is “good enough”- only your ability to use the particular gun in your hand is good enough.
An ex-Police chief around here was busted for dealing prescription painkillers and a bunch of illegal hunting. He was facing up to 42 years but got a deal where he only had to spend three months in jail. Now even that sentence has been suspended. Wonder what would happen if I was facing those charges?
The “enough gun” article touched a nerve. Every time we hold a women’s shooting day one of the ladies shows up with a pistol-grip shotgun someone got her. We help her fire it a couple of times. Whether it’s 12GA or .410, her next question is ALWAYS, “How can I get rid of this thing?”
Good enough is what you’re willing to actually spend time practicing with. That said, .22LR wouldn’t be high on my list.
What the duece is an attic shelter? (Yeah, did a web search — found some nice bat houses.) Okay, I can picture something; it’s not an actual product? How do you get the dogs into the attic? (Very carefully?)
LOL. jed. Neither a bat house (unless you’re casting aspersions on my sanity) nor a product. It’s just that I keep some preps in the sloped-ceiling room I’ve previously referred to as the garret.
And on .22LR … I’m surely no firearms expert. But I totally agree that a powerful shotgun could be a terrible weapon to recommend to a woman as her very first gun. I can see a .22LR pistol being a self-defense/home-defense gun. As others have said, if .22 is what somebody would be comfortable practicing with, fine.
But a rifle??? Yeah, I can just see grabbing that out of your nightstand drawer when you hear a noise in the middle of the night …
As Kent said, the gun isn’t the essential part in reality. Without the will to survive, and the determination to do what it takes to defend oneself, it wouldn’t matter what weapon or system was in place.
The real weapon, as well as the “safety” device is the one between the ears. Everything else is just a tool, and almost any tool will do in a pinch.
No, I do NOT use my table knives as screwdrivers… LOL I actually have a TOOL BOX full of appropriate tools… and know how to use them. Ok, most of them.
ML – yeah, but there’s always that weird widget down in the bottom of the toolbox that you’re sure you bought for some reason, at some point, but can’t for the life of you remember what it went to.
Claire – what’s wrong with grabbing a rifle? That’s what my AR is at the nightstand for, after all. The advantage of the .22 in the story is that it’s a good starter gun, to be sure, and it’s better than no gun at all for someone without other training. But as ML sort of implies, she needs to get her cranial tool-box in order as well. Just having “a” gun, whether dinky Beretta .25 or Remington 870 thumpenboomer is not enough without the skill to understand what and where and how it gets used.
Matt, another, gets it pretty much spot on – the .22 you have with you is infinitely better than the .45 at home in the closet … IF you have the skill and the will to use it. Otherwise … get a sharp stick.
It takes some willpower to use a pointed stick too. I suppose for some people moreso than a gun, because you would have to close with your assailant, which is typically not the best plan. But the perception that it’s not as dangerous a weapon might make someone more willing to use it.
Obligatory: Defense Against Fresh Fruit
“What the duece is an attic shelter?”
Might come in handy in a flood zone. Or deep snow. And I don’t think zombies can climb ladders, particularly if you pull them up.