Our resident Certified Practical Shooting Accountant tells you which divisions are compatible in IDPA and USPSA.

The county I live in says that there’s no need to ban guns in parks because it’s already prohibited. Another case for preemption. Park carry in Tennessee is becoming a complex patchwork that no law-abiding citizen can possibly keep up with. The state should extend Tennessee’s preemption with respect to parks.

Pics from an open carry picnic

Deputies watched while gunman killed two on bridge

Good question: Why would disappointment in one’s country inspire increased loyalty?

Finally signed up for that. Lost an hour and a half. I told you so.

Upheld in Florida. Opinion is here.

From reader Mik.

Yesterday, I got the latest issue of NRA’s American Rifleman. This issue doesn’t appear to be online yet. But the main article is the Top Ten Handguns of All Time. That will lead to some debate.

And Adam Dread lies:

Tennessee is now the only state to allow guns in bars.

That fib has been refuted here, here, and here. Here’s the data that lie is based on.

Chatting last night, Alan on blogging:

People don’t want to read. They want to click links.

True.

I wondered what the term wookie-suiter meant. Now, I know.

The White House supports civil rights:

White House Backs Right to Arms Outside Obama Events

Armed men seen mixing with protesters outside recent events held by President Obama acted within the law, the White House said Tuesday, attempting to allay fears of a security threat.

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said people are entitled to carry weapons outside such events if local laws allow it. “There are laws that govern firearms that are done state or locally,” he said. “Those laws don’t change when the president comes to your state or locality.”

I guess this had one of the desired results.

Dissension in the ranks!

A black man lawfully carries his AR-15 at a political rally. The press loses its collective shit, tossing it over in the corner with its objectivity. And the reactions from the pro-gun side are varied. I’m on record as saying it’s a poor marketing decision. Some say it’s good. Others say it was a bad thing. First, the scenario:

those open carry advocates at yesterday’s event in Arizona arranged for a police liaison the day before the event, and were constantly afforded security by the Phoenix Police Department and had at least one known Secret Service agent shadowing them to assure they were following the law. These citizens were never anywhere near the President, nor did they attempt to go anywhere near the Secret Service’s security perimeter that cordoned off the event and the building in which it was held.

A rather different picture than the one painted by the press who acted as though the situation was out of control. The press never tried to interview the guy. Rather, just displayed their ire and distrust of a black man with a gun.

Several gun bloggers also thought it was a bad idea:

Sebastian: part of breaking down stereotypes and misconceptions about gun owners being deviant or abnormal is to act normal. Normal people do not walk around with AR-15s slung over their shoulders

Jeffy Weffy: I have to waver, though, on slinging on a rifle as you protest an event — regardless of who the speaker is — because it naturally coarsens the conversation and serves no justifiable purpose other than to attempt, by visual means, to silence the other side by an implied threat that you will use whatever means possible to achieve your side’s goal.

David: I can’t say as I’m fond of the idea — the media is quick to portray gun rights activists as menacing or intimidating, and there’s no reason to set the stage for just that.

Conversely, other gun bloggers disagree. Commenter Steve says: How long will it be before the public starts to think, “Wow, this is about the tenth/hundredth/millionth time somebody wore a gun to an event……AND NOTHING HAPPENED!!! It’s news because it’s unusual. Once it’s usual, it will stop being news.

Well, it just takes once. Robb addresses the marketing aspect: THE MEDIA HATES US. Get used to it. We will never get good, national coverage. To worry about how the media is going to portray us is asinine. Because of their inability to remain objective, more and more people are no longer trusting the MSM, but that’s still going to be a thorn in the side of gun owners for decades to come.

Linoge brings the civil rights analogies.

And Oleg offers: Showing up with openly carried arms took bravery and preparation. I am sure that the people using their Constitutional rights would have been molested had it not been for the media and individual attention. The admission by the various reporters that open carry is legal in many states is the payoff from the calculated risk taken by the demonstrators.

Sebastian rounds up reaction.

As for what I think? It’s good and bad for the reasons outlined above. The question is was it more good than bad? Frankly, your average non-gun-nut that I have discussed this with seems unconcerned by the whole idea. And, as long as there’s no violence, will remain unconcerned. Seems like a win to me.

44 years of Camp Perry

A video report from the pit at Camp Perry.

The NSSF corrects the press on their use of scare words.

Squeaky has a new shooter report.

Ruger Old Army cap and ball revolver’s

Video here.

Brigid looks at home defense.

I made a bowl of ice cream the other night. Putting away the ice cream, I turned around to see this:

From Pets

Then, a minute later, I saw this:

From Pets

I was, last night. Discussing this

Bryan Brasher:

Our reasons for owning guns were once noble.

Some people wanted them for personal protection.

Some wanted them for hunting and sport.

Others wanted them just to collect, display and admire.

But nowadays, we have a skyrocketing number of people who want guns simply because they believe someone else doesn’t want them to have them.

I have cases of incandescent light bulbs for the exact same reason. Next thing you know, they’ll be protesting or something.

Nice!

Speed limit enforced by angry neighbors with paintball guns. Interesting.

I was driving through a neighborhood once and some one had written on the street in kids’ sidewalk chalk to slow down because kids were playing. Some smart ass wrote underneath it in a different color chalk keep your kids out of the street.

Radley Balko: Second Amendment-Loathing Mayor Attacked With Lead Pipe.

Hats off to the mayor for intervening. However, he would have been more effective with a weapon. This is the same town where the chief of police, with the support of the mayor, said:

My message to my troops is if you see anybody carrying a gun on the streets of Milwaukee, we’ll put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide whether you have a right to carry it.

Black man with a gun not breaking the law. Press panics. Says the man:

In Arizona, I still have some freedoms

Last night, I read Glenn’s and Brannon’s Heller High Water(Mark?) Lower Courts and the New Right to Keep and Bear Arms which noted the gun control movement’s failure to denormalize gun ownership and Heller was a testament to that. I would say an incident like this may, in the views of some, go too far. Sure, it’s their right but I think it may be a poor marketing decision.

Update: Meanwhile, the black gun-toting libertarian speaks.

Whenever someone proposes one gun a month, we gunnies say Then why not one per year or lifetime? Or we could just skip that and say none.

I dig the rules. A taste:

Retention holsters- don’t.

And:

Rails on a gun are like a clean shirt: they attract the oddest things.

Heh.

Nazis, lunatics, racists, and lynch mobs. Oh my.