A trip to a gun show (our heritage, history, and inheritance)

My wife and I went to the Alexandria gun show Saturday morning and we're sure glad we did.

This was the first show put on by Central Indiana Gunshows that we've ever attended, even though we've been running their Web site for over six years! (I know, shame on us!)

It was nice for us both to finally meet Daniel and Tami in person. They urged us to try to also make the Crown Point show, which is a much bigger show with lots of sellers from the tri-State area.

I traded the wife's little Taurus PT-25 (see P.S. below) in the original box, 50 rounds of FMJ ammo for it, and 680 rounds of surplus Argentine Mauser 7.65x54mm ammo in two US ammo boxes in exchange for an SKS carbine.

It’s a Norinco with a Combat Exchange (now A.T.I.) black plastic folding stock and hand guard plus three high-capacity magazines.

I had to do some work on the SKS, but that doesn't really bother me. I enjoy it, and it's a great excuse to tinker.

It came with a 4x20 scope mount tack welded on an aftermarket receiver cover whose mounting hole was just too small. It was pure hell to field strip that way, but I drilled it out and now it works like charm.

Also, the gas tube that came as part of the hand guard was too long, with a loose retaining pin and ferrule. When I first got it, I had to literally pry the gas tube out with a big screwdriver. (Yes, it was that tight!)

I crimped the rear ferrule a bit and replaced the loose pin with a fatter but softer one, which I dimpled into place. This will do until I get a proper pin.

Then I lightly ground and burnished the end of the ferrule's mount and the gas piston so now they drop right in just like they were made for it.

I plan to sell the ATI folding stock and replace it with either an original type military wood stock or an ATI Monte Carlo stock. I can’t decide which...

We also bought her a really nice MAK-90 for a decent price, and it came with three magazines. As of now, she only wants me to slot the safety / selector lever so it will lock the bolt open, but she may also have me add an ambidextrous magazine latch / release lever extension, too.

(I consider both of these essential modifications for any AK variant.)

All of this from a private seller - with no sales tax, no fuss, and no waiting period. Just the way it should be!

When in doubt, we should err on the side of liberty.

Capitalism is not dead, friends... it's only rearming...

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P.S. The Taurus PT-25 was really too small for her, and she had put it on the shelf several years ago in favor of a Walther P-38 (matching numbers, AC-41) that used to belong to my late father.

This was the excellent wartime pistol I had found for Dad in 1984 on my lunch break at a pawnshop near 38th & Pennsylvania in downtown Indianapolis for a mere $270.

As a finder's fee (as he called it), he gave me my first gun, a Harrington & Richardson model 732 .32S&W long caliber revolver.

I carried that little wheelgun daily for the next 18 years until he "pre-bequeathed" me his .38 special F.I.E. Titan Tiger, which has since been my daily companion.

My mushroom hunting buddy died three years later.

Only a gun owner can understand how a firearm can be so much more than the plastic and steel it's made of: It is a part of our heritage, history and inheritance…

No wonder we fight so hard when they try to take them away.

As well we should…

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Democrats Show Little Appetite for Gun Control (G. Gordon Liddy audio link)

This past weekend my wife and I were in a sporting goods store mulling a rifle purchase and I mentioned that the fear of Obama that's been driving gun and ammo purchases since his election may be unwarranted in actual fact.

Not that he's not anti-gun, by any means! I'm sure that if he could have his way, he'd have all of our guns.

As I've said, "Obama's never met a ban he didn't like".

But I told my wife and the store employee that I didn't think the Dems would try any serious gun control stuff until after the 2010 election and that conservative Southern Democrats would be the key to stopping it.

Furthermore, since their "stimulus bill" (which of course is just a just a huge pork spending bill by another name) will not stimulate the economy, and according to the Congressional Budget Office would be far worse than simply doing nothing, many Congressional Democrats will get thrown out on their asses in 2010, maybe even enough for a GOP takeover in one of both houses.

Remember this was last week.

This week comes an AP story that backs up my assertion, even though my geography may have been off a bit.

If you would prefer to hear G. Gordon Liddy reading the first several paragraphs of this article, click here.

Democrats Show Little Appetite for Gun Control
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
By Jim Abrams, Associated Press

Washington (AP) - The National Rifle Association warned in a
campaign ad that if Barack Obama were elected president he would
try to take away hunters' guns and ammo. But with pro-gun
Democrats a powerful force in Congress, it's already pretty clear
there will be no messing with Americans' right to bear arms.

Twenty-two Democrats, including Majority Leader Harry Reid of
Nevada, joined Republicans last week in a Senate vote to negate
the District of Columbia's tough gun registration requirements
and overturn its ban on rapid-fire semiautomatic weapons. More
than 80 House Democrats voted for a similar measure last year.

"It was a pleasant surprise, but it's not a huge surprise that
elected officials are listening to their constituents," said
Chris W. Cox, the NRA's chief lobbyist.

It's not certain that the gun measure, attached to a bill on D.C.
voting rights, will be a part of the final version of that bill.
But with six of 11 Democratic Senate freshmen - from pro-gun
states such as Alaska, Colorado, New Mexico and Virginia - voting
for the proposal, it was a clear sign of where Congress is
heading on gun issues.

"There has been a shift in thinking among Democrats in the last
six to eight years, away from old ideas about gun control and
limiting access to guns and toward ideas about how you actually
reduce gun crime," said Matt Bennett of Third Way, a group of
moderate Democrats active on gun control issues.

That shift has been frustrating for lawmakers who have long
decried the NRA's ability to block gun control legislation.

"We do not debate guns around here much anymore," said the
Senate's no. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, during debate
on the D.C. gun amendment. "Basically, we reached a point where
there are not many people who will stick their political necks
out to vote for sensible gun control - too big a hassle."

A case in point is new Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, a steadfast
gun rights advocate when she represented a pro-gun, Republican-
leaning district in upstate New York. Her appointment to succeed
Hillary Clinton as New York's junior senator drew protests from
gun-control Democrats, but after she voted against the D.C. gun
amendment Republicans accused her of abandoning her principles
for political expediency.

Gillibrand's spokesman, Matt Canter, said the senator supports
Second Amendment rights. But she also believes that local
governments have the right to put legitimate limits on firearms
and that law enforcement must have the tools to protect the
public from gun violence, he said.

This is where G. Gordon Liddy quit reading, but the article continues:

A major turning point came last June, when the Supreme Court, in
a 5-4 vote overturning D.C.'s ban on handgun possession,
confirmed that the Second Amendment gives private citizens the
right to bear arms.

Gun control advocates were consoled that the decision also
specifies that gun rights are not open-ended, that government can
impose some restrictions in the public interest.

With the court ruling, the argument that gun control will lead to
gun bans no longer applies, said Paul Helmke, president of the
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "The slippery slope
doesn't go anywhere anymore, and I think people realize that."

For the time being, any gun-related legislation will be
incremental. Helmke's group is urging the Obama administration to
overturn a rule imposed in the last days of the Bush
administration allowing people to carry concealed, loaded weapons
in most national parks.

There will also be a push to repeal the so-called Tiahrt
amendment, named after Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., that limits the
authority of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives to disclose gun-trace data to the public and requires
that certain records submitted to the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System be destroyed after 24 hours.

Both the Third Way's Bennett and Helmke said it may take another
major gun crime, like the shootings at Columbine High School or
Virginia Tech, to get Congress to act on more ambitious gun
control initiatives.

Those include overturning a law enacted in 2005 that denies gun
crime victims the right to sue firearms manufacturers and dealers
for damages.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she plans to push
legislation to reinstate a federal ban on some assault weapons
that became law during the Clinton administration in 1994 but
expired under the Bush administration in 2004. Another long-term
goal is requiring that all gun shows conduct background checks
before selling firearms.

The NRA's Cox said his group is gearing up to fight a new assault
weapons ban, noting that Obama supports one and that Attorney
General Eric Holder recently linked the proliferation of
military-style weapons to the violence along the Mexican border.
"It's laughable if it wasn't so serious to suggest that
diminishing the Second Amendment will positively impact the
situation down in Mexico," Cox said.

But he said the NRA is also prepared to work with Democrats, as
it did in 2007 in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, to
pass legislation making it easier to flag prospective gun buyers
with a history of mental problems.

If this story can get out far and wide enough (hint! hint!), then gun and ammo prices may just come back down to more realistic levels. Run with it folks!

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System of a Down and the Armenian Genocide

Please note that I consider Wikipedia a resource - not a source - but a very valuable resource nevertheless. That said...

Read about this documentary and you'll recognize a name or two:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screamers_(2006_film)

Then read this article about one of the brave souls interviewed in the film:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrant_Dink

Then read the caption below...

"A panorama from Halaskargazi Boulevard in the Şişli district of Istanbul. One hundred thousand mourners marched in Dink's funeral, protesting his assassination. The office of the Agos newspaper, where Dink was gunned down, is near the right edge of the image; it is the first building to the right of the one with the large black banner."

...which describes this stunning panoramic photo of Dink's funeral march:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Dinkfuneral3.jpg

Sadly, the Holocaust was not the first or the last genocide of the 20th century.

Read more about the Armenian Genocide here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide

Despite his low opinion of Armenians, the American diplomat Leslie Davis deserves to be remembered for his unique and poignant account of the Armenian genocide, which he witnessed personally while stationed in Turkey.

More on him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Davis

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Save the Newspapers! Encourage them to take gun ads!

Newspapers in this country are in trouble. There are a few ways they can be helped.

Staffers at the Seattle Post Intelligencer are trying to get subscribers and philanthropists to fund the online version - at least temporarily - if and when the paper is sold:

Seattle is at risk of losing both of its daily newspapers, and along with them, the professional daily newspaper writers, reporters, investigators, editors, photographers and others who help keep you informed about news in your city, school and neighborhood.

This site is our effort to bring together all the ideas that have been circulating among different groups and organizations, at coffee shops and pubs during the last few weeks and see if we can all get behind one or two good plans that will keep Seattle's long history of competitive and professional journalism thriving.

Contribute your ideas, your expertise, and $10, $50 or even $250 as an early pledge-giver did at SeattlePostGlobe@yahoo.com and let's get the show rolling.

While I am very "plugged in" to Web-based news sources, I do still enjoy a good local newspaper and I hope a way can be found to save most if not all print editions.

It's just a lot nicer to sit at a picnic table, kitchen table or on the porch with a newspaper than with a laptop.

I've always liked the printed page and always will. It's a daily ritual of mine to print out a dozen or so articles and columns of interest for later reading. Sort of my own little newspaper, I guess.

Print all you want! We'll make more!

After all, trees are our only renewable natural resource, right?! Keep the tree guys and the paper guys in business, too, right?!

Seriously, one thing about these newspapers that we should really pat them on the back for is that they take gun ads! They should put that on their home page!

Despite any of their editorial positions, since they do take gun ads, folks should write and thank them for that, and maybe drop them a few coins while you're at it.

If you're in or near Seattle, consider placing a gun ad with them, or even buying a gun that's listed and then telling the paper you bought via their ad.

If your local paper refuses gun classifieds, you definitely should write a polite letter to the editor urging them to take gun ads and then splash that fact on the Web site's home page.

Not only will they have a little more revenue, they may get a few more subscribers to boot.

After all, while serious gun owners are usually very conscious of who is for them and who is against them, they can be surprisingly forgiving.

Yes, even toward those who have opposed their civil rights to self-defense and gun ownership.

But only after the offenders repent.

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