Captain's CornerLove is a cabin in the middle of nowhere.

While the title could actually apply to very nearly every problem facing our nation, I am of course speaking about the very real threat against the Second Amendment in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.

What most people seem to be forgetting is that there are only two tools available to us as humans to change someone’s mind and/or actions. In our civilized society we understand that we have the tool of reason. However, the further we get away from hunting and gathering the more we seem to forget about the other tool: force.

Reason, as seen in societal values and legislation, stops the reasonable, civilized man. For instance, licensed concealed firearm carriers will typically not carry in a gun free zone. Reason, however, does not stop individuals like the Sandy Hook shooter. People who are committed to doing something the rest of us see as insane are beyond reason. Reason, in their own mind, would have stopped them and caused them to seek help before this point. Because they are now unreasonable, there is no “civilized” discourse or action left to us. This leaves us with only one tool against them, force. This is why legislation does not and will not ever stop them. This is why a civilized man (or woman) who has taken responsibility for themselves and is not afraid to use the tool of force is the one thing that has always stopped them. We cannot pass more laws (of any kind) and expect mass shootings of innocents to end.

Taking guns away from law abiding citizens will not stop school shootings – it will remove the victim’s tool of force and thus their means of stopping the unreasonable. Giving the government sweeping power over the citizenry’s mental health with not stop school shootings – it will, however, give the government a greater tool of force to use against dissidents and “enemies of the state.” This should be a terrifying proposition after the last 12 years of building an imperial presidency, but that is an issue for a much longer post. Mandating armed personnel in schools may actually make them safer – because it is applying force to a problem only solved by force. However, it takes away the rights of the school administrators and would add an exorbitant cost to an already over-burdened federal government.

The solution? Enforce the laws you already have in place when it comes to firearms. Make as effective use of this tool of reason as you can. Secondly, rollback legislation and federal control over the security of schools. Allow schools decide how best to keep themselves safe. If they want to hire armed guards, let them craft a plan and implement it. If they want to allow trained personnel (ie: teachers and administrators who have qualified) carry firearms, let them. If they want to allow concealed weapons carriers carry on school property, let them. We all must take responsibility for our own safety and quit relying on a nanny state (or worse a police state) to keep us safe.

In this light we need to remove “Gun Free Zone” legislation at the federal, state, and local levels. Criminals use these signs to find soft, easy targets. If you want to lower mass shootings create more hard targets – armed and armored public places. The military knows that if you want to keep someone from attacking something, you make it appear as costly as possible to attack it. If criminals and sociopaths wanted to work for a living, they’d get a job. If a target can fight back or is too difficult to penetrate, they will move on.

Despite what the anti-gun crowd will say, I value human life. I value our nation’s children. We should protect our children at all costs, with both reason and force. In fact, we should be brutally and violently swift in protecting our children by force. I value the freedoms that were encapsulated and protected by our Founding Fathers. I value the blood that was spilled to free us from tyranny over 200 years ago and has been spilt since then to allow us to remain free. We must not surrender our freedom for any reason. We especially must not surrender our freedom for an empty promise of safety that will leave us in greater danger.

Today I wrote the President of our country and my legislators expressing my concerns. I used the form found here and sent them the following letter:

Dear Legislators and Mr. President,

Considering recent events there is now a concentrated effort to limit the rights of law abiding and free men. My heart, as a father, was broken on December 14 as I saw the events play out in the news. I grieve with the families who were broken and destroyed by the actions of a sociopath. However, blaming firearms or their law-abiding owners and punishing them is not the answer to the challenges we face as a nation. History has shown such actions to be completely ineffectual.

The laws we currently have in place did nothing to stop the Sandy Hook shooter. He was stopped by the mandatory background check from purchasing firearms. He then decided to murder his mother and take her legally owned firearms to commit this tragedy. A dedicated man who does not value life nor the limits of society or government cannot be stopped by more legislation. Laws do not stop those committed to breaking the law.

I agree that we need to do all within our power to protect our children and I partner with all of you to do just that. So I beg you to enact legislation that will genuinely be effective. Banning firearms used in less than 1% of crimes committed is not going to stop such tragedies. Again, this was proven in 1999 when the Columbine shooting took place under the 1994 ban.

Do something meaningful, please. Help reform the mental health care system and help remove the public stigma from needing said mental health care. Allow schools and school personnel the freedom to set their own security policies and to use all available methods to make their school a hardened target, which is the surest way to prevent these tragedies. Do not strip us of our rights and property by passing additional antigun laws that have historically had no positive effect on crime in our nation or others.

Finally, proceed with caution. It is very easy, in a moment of pain and hurt, to overreact and in the process unnecessarily and detrimentally limit freedom. Whether we are addressing mental health, gun legislation, or armed guards in schools we must be wary of assigning too much control or responsibility to our government. Many Second Amendment supporters cite protection from our government as a reason for needing firearms and then call for a veritable police state to protect out children. We must be ever vigilant and mindful of our freedom.

Thank you,
Kevin Dooley

According to reports released by the European Union and the United Nations, the UK has been named the most violent country in Europe and is listed as being more dangerous than the United States and South Africa, which has long been thought to be the one of the most violent countries world wide.  Check out this article for more information.

All of this despite the fact that Britain has sweeping and severe gun control which is generally considered to be the strictest gun control in the world.

In addition to this, the UK has more CCTV cameras per person than the communist regime in China – the UK averages 1 camera per 14 residents and each citizen is captured on camera approximately 300 times per day. Check out this article for more info.

So what does all this mean?  It means that nanny-state, oppressive control by the government cannot keep their people safe – but it can keep them docile and under the thumb of their government.  What it says is that there is no replacement for taking PERSONAL responsibility for your own safety and the safety of those you love.

Alternately – “How to ruin your senior year of high school.”

So this past week someone rang my mom’s doorbell rather agressively at around 12:30 am or so… My mom looks out her peephole, and seeing no one calls the police to report the incident. The police ask if she saw anyone and if they were driving a particular pick up truck. She says nope, cuz she didn’t see anything.

The next day we find out that her neighbor saw quite a bit. He’s a cop and the minute a pickup truck holding approximately a dozen young men parked outside his house, he woke up. Unsure what was going on, he armed himself and kept an eye on burgeoning mob.

Suddenly two of the young men charge across the street and up the sidewalk towards the neighbor’s door. He throws open his front door and levels his issued Glock at what is now clearly two very, very frightened teenagers who were merely trying to get in a little post-graduation “Ding, Dong, Ditch” or “Ring and Run” or whatever they call it near you (we called it something involving a racial slur where I grew up, but this post is not about that). The cop chases after the two guys and watches them hop into the back of the pickup which is quickly filling up with young men who just found out what a stupid idea it is to go onto someone’s property uninvited in the middle of the night in Texas.

By the way, deadly force is authorized against criminal mischief in the dark in the state of Texas. Meaning? Just for annoying the crap out of people like this gives them the right to shoot you in Texas… as long as it’s dark out.

One last note, since I forgot to mention it. My mom was at her door with her custom-made, stainless steel .45, just for the record…

So I built a rifle recently.  That’s right, I BUILT a rifle.  It’s an M4 styled AR-15.  Here it is:

For those that are spec driven, here’s the details.  I used a stripped Essential Arms lower from a little company in Louisiana.  It’s not the prettiest receiver (there’s no prancing horse or coiled snake or anything on it), but its functional and it was affordable, and since one forged lower is as good as another, that’s what I went with.  Inside of it is a lower parts kit from Rock River Arms – that’s all the little pins, detents, latches and the fire control group that make the lower receiver functional.  I used a mil-spec receiver extension tube with an H-weighted buffer.  The upper receiver group is from Bravo Company USA which builds some of the finest components you can get.  Their M4 upper comes with the following specs:

• M4 Feed Ramp Barrel Extension (USGI)
• M4 Feed Ramp Flat Top Receiver
• T-Marked Upper Receivers
• USGI 1/7 Twist Rates
• USGI 5.56 NATO Chambers
• Mil-Spec 11595E – 4150 Grade Barrel Steel (CMV)
• Chrome Lined Bore and Chamber
• Manganese Phosphate Barrel Finish
• Mil-Spec F-Marked Forged Front Sights
• USGI Government Profile Barrels
• HPT (High Pressure Test) Barrels
• MPI (Magnetic Particle Inspected) Barrels

All of which basically means that it’s pretty much as close to mil-spec as you can get without enlisting.  Inside of that is a Lewis Machine and Tool Bolt Carrier Group and a Continental Machine and Tool charging handle.  I then added some Magpul goodness to round it out – there’s the MOE (Magpul Original Equipment) buttstock and handguards and Magpul’s new back-up rear sight – the MBUS.  I will shortly be adding a receiver endplate that adds a sling attachment (the ASAP from Magpul) and a weapon light down towards the front sight and this little rifle will be done…

I found this online and wanted to share it…

Why I Carry a Gun

I don’t carry a gun to kill people. I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don’t carry a gun to scare people. I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m paranoid. I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m evil. I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.

I don’t carry a gun because I hate the government. I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m angry. I carry a gun so that I don’t have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don’t carry a gun because I want to shoot someone. I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don’t carry a gun to make me feel like a man. I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don’t carry a gun because I feel inadequate. I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.

I don’t carry a gun because I love it. I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

The mailman is bringing me a present from Austin, TX soon!

ETA:

IT’S HERE!

So I have dirty little secret. I love a weapon that has come to be known as a symbol of communism and terrorism world wide. I am talking about the Avtomat Kalashnikov. It started as a milled receiver rifle in the 7.62x39mm caliber, designation AK47. Compared to other infantry weapons of its time it was compact, of comparable power and range, and select fire (aka it has full auto). Only the rifles produced prior to 1959 are actually designated AK47. In 1959 the Soviet Union began to produce the rifle with a stamped sheet metal receiver, which reduced weight. At the same time a muzzle device was added to help maintain controllability on full auto. This rifle was designated the AKM (Avtomat Kalashnikov Modernizirovanniy). It is this rifle that was then copied by nearly all eastern European countries. Because of this it is the most produced and most prolific assault rifle today. Below is a picture of a Hungarian produced SA-85 (their designation for a stamped-receiver AKM).

For those that don’t know, the AK style rifle has undergone quite the evolution. It is now most commonly issued in the 5.45×39 round. AKs in this chambering were first adopted by the soviets in 1974, thus AK’s in this caliber are called AK74′s. Now for some interesting variants.

First up is what has come to be known as the Khyber Pass variant of the AKM. It is a rifle that was never mass produced in a factory, but has showed up in recent years. It is an AKM (meaning it is chambered in the original 7.62x39mm caliber) rifle that has a triangular folding stock only produced for the AK74. It has been seen in the hands of freedom fighters in Afghanistan and most recently, being carried by Osama Bin Laden in the various videos he makes. The name comes from a region of Afghanistan that is known for mud-hut gunsmiths that can produce a copy of nearly any firearm that has ever been sent to their region. Some go boom and some go KA-BOOM-but at any rate, that’s where it gets its name. Here is a picture of one:

Next in line is the Krinkov. Official designation for this rifle is the AKS-74U. It is generally (given the 74 designation) a 5.45x39mm rifle with an extremely short barrel and gas system and a folding stock. With the stock folded it comes to a grand total of 19.3″ long. This necessitated moving the gas chamber further to the rear, and shortening the gas piston rod. To ensure reliable function the barrel was fitted with a distinctive conical flash hider/gas expansion chamber. Several countries produced variations of this, however their numbers were never very high. It is for this reason that the rifle is usually considered a symbol of prestige in Kalashnikov culture. Below is a picture of a Yugoslavian version that is actually chambered in the 7.62x39mm round.

Last is a rifle that isn’t really an AK, though it is based loosely on the design.  The original Russian version of this rifle is the SVD, Tiger, or Dragunov.  It is chambered for the 7.62x54R (Russian) round and is a semi-automatic sniper rifle.  It has a much longer barrel than the AK variants and greater accuracy.  It also employs a 5 or 10 round magazine versus the AK’s 20, 30, and 40 round magazines (not to mention 75 and 100 round drums).  Below is a Romanian imitation of the SVD, known as either a Romak or PSL:

And for those of you wondering why I’d be interested in such dangerous and terrifying weapons… ask my wife, she loves to shoot our SA-85.  Semi-automatic “assault weapons” are fun to shoot without being overly powerful (and thus fatiguing).  In addition to that military surplus weapons offer  a bit of history in the collecting.  Also, firearms are not dangerous in and of themselves.  In the hands of responsible owners, they can be used for fun, competition shooting, and self-defense.

Finally, I take no responsibility for the quality of the pics, except the first one… that’s the only one of the four I took.  Though I will one day be able to take new pics of all of these rifles… as they are on the list of “things to buy when I have money”.

Okay, in the wake of a couple of mass murder shootings and now a couple higher profile armed robberies (one last week near a mall in PA, and one today in the New Orleans area), the morons are crawling out of the wood work.

The premise of their argument is simple, though fatally flawed. They stipulate that the reason there is so much violence is because of access to weapons. In fact, they maintain that if you ban all the weaponry that private citizens own, violent crime will stop. Does anyone else see the flaw here? People who have determined to commit violent acts are already determined to break the law. Why would ANOTHER LAW stop them? By this reasoning, (that weapons are the problem)no one could possibly have committed any violent act before weapons of any kind were invented.

Look at any other country that has banned guns, knives, etc. and see if they have a violent crime rate of 0… I’m guessing that’s not the case. In fact, the European country with the least amount of violent crime arms it’s citizenry with a fully automatic “assault rifle” and demands that they keep 50 rounds of ammunition on hand to defend themselves until they can report to base. Switzerland has for years had this policy, demanding military service and arming it’s general populace.

Which brings me to my point. Wouldn’t MORE, RESPONSIBLE armed citizens curb these violent outbreaks? Who would attack a mall if they knew that their victims were armed? Look at the Colorado shootings.  The perpetrator killed two people at the first location and escaped.  However, once he arrived at his second location, an responsible and armed VOLUNTEER stopped his rampage through force and decisive action.

What do you guys think?

My dad taught me everything I know about how to handle a firearm. He taught me how to shoot on an old .22 LR revolver that resembled some old-west shooting iron out of a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood film. He taught me the destructive power of firearms, taught me to respect them and treat them as if they are loaded, even when you’ve double and triple checked the action… There’s not a habit I have when I handle a fire arm that doesn’t stem from time I spent with my dad as a kid… But after the instruction something happened… I sorta lost interest during high school (I mean, there were girls there man!) and I didn’t shoot anything other than rubber bands or water balloons out of a sling shot for many a year… Then I turned 21 and I decided that I needed a handgun in the house, so I bought one off of my brother-in-law, who loved to shoot and owned (at the time) a plethora of handguns and long guns. We spent many a chilly morning at the range, blasting away a small fortune in ammo in nearly every caliber handguns have been chambered in. Occasionally my dad would come along, but usually it was just my brother and me. In fact, I hadn’t been out shooting with my dad for over a decade and a half…

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words:

For those of you who don’t know… I enjoy firearms. I enjoy heading out to the range with a toolbox full of ammo and a variety of different rifles and pistols. I enjoy the challenge of putting holes in paper, bottles, metal at various ranges. I enjoy the noise, I enjoy the kick of the fire arm (that’s right… I enjoy the bruise my Enfield .303 gives me!)… there’s just nothing quite like it.

Unfortunately Ann has been a little leery of firearms and has never understood why I enjoy it. In fact, buying ammo has previously been hard to justify. I’m sure I’m partially to blame… after all I took Ann shooting for her first time while we were dating (HEY, we’d been dating a year or so… it wasn’t our first date or anything…) and I made a few mistakes… I took a pistol that had an aluminum frame (ie: more kick) to a local indoor (read: LOUDER) shooting range, and didn’t ensure we had some space between us and the other shooters (in other words, lots of noise all around us)… so Ann shoots, screams, drops the gun on the counter and leaves… waiting in the car until I had packed up my stuff.

Six or seven long years later we go on vacation to Kerrville, TX where they have an official Olympic Training Site and Ann tells me to bring a gun along, because she’ll suffer through an hour or so of watching me shoot. So I take a long my Hungarian SA-85 AK (yes, that’s a variation of an AK-47 you see in the pictures above… Yes, it’s semi-automatic…). We’re outside this time, the AK doesn’t really make much noise, nor does it kick much. I set Ann up with the foam kind of ear plugs and I give her my over the ear muffs so she’s got double protection from the noise and I get to work. After a while of punching holes in paper at 100 yards I start to move my stuff over to the 25 yard range a few feet away. Ann asks why I’m moving and I tell her it’s she can hit the target easier since she’s never shot a rifle. At this point she laughs.

After a few minutes I talk her into taking one shot. I start by explaining the rules of firearms… Go ahead and ask her… she’ll probably remember. Then I show her how to load the rifle, chamber a round and put it back on safety. Then I hand her the rifle and explain to her how to hold it, how to sight it in, etc. She does as I instructed and fires one round, stops and asks if she hit the target. She did, so she tells me she’ll try one more. She fires and again, asks if she hit the target (she did), and says again she’ll shoot one more. A few minutes go by and there’s a distinct click (instead of the normal boom). Ann looks around kinda spooked and asks me what she did to the gun. I laugh and tell her she’s shot all 30 rounds… the magazine is empty. She looks at me kinda funny and asks if I want to shoot… so I load her up and do some shooting standing and about as fast as I can and still stay on target. About 45 seconds to a minute later, I’m reloading the gun and Ann says, “Hey, this is fun… mind if I shoot again?”

I of course let her. She shoots another magazine, the last that I brought on the trip and we start to pack it up. Turns out I needed to get her into the right environment for her to enjoy it… So now she keeps bugging me about when we’re going shooting next.

Anyway, we did a lot on vacation, mostly a lot of relaxing (read: nothing), but one of my favorite parts was getting Ann to enjoy something I enjoy…

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