Category Archives: Gary

Chicago City Councilman: “No legislation, no matter how strict, will keep weapons out of the wrong hands. We all know that…”

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Chicago toughens ban on assault weapons amid violence – Yahoo! News.

Albert Einstein once said that that doing the same thing, over and over again while expecting different results was the definition of insanity. Apparently, insanity is running rampant in Chicago.  Chicago City Councilman Robert Fioretti voted to expand Chicago’s existing ban on modern firearms but, also said, “No legislation, no matter how strict, will keep weapons out of the wrong hands. We all know that…” If you know it doesn’t work…What is the point?”

-GM

The government is no longer the biggest threat to your right to own a gun…It might be your neighbor thanks to Brett Stalbaum.

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By now you may have heard of a new app available on the Google Play Store and likely coming to the Apple iTunes Store soon.  It’s called Gun Geo Marker and it’s developer claims the app is designed to help protect children by allowing anonymous users to mark the homes and businesses of “potentially unsafe guns and gun owners.”  The Gun GEO Marker F.A.Q. claims the app does not invade anyone’s privacy because it does not “connect U.S. government database, PRISM, or utilize any magnetic remote sensing applications or satellite systems…to invade our privacy.”

The developer, Brett Stalbaum, is listed as a lecturer in the Visual Arts department of the University of California, San Diego.  In spite of his locale, place of employment, or the stated purpose of his app to out gun owners, Stalbaum claims he is a “gun owner who wants to see our rights preserved.”  He goes on to claim his intention is merely to simply give parents and community members a means to alert each other to dangerous conditions in their neighborhoods.  Stalbaum also parrots the Obama claim that 90% of the American People want what he calls “commons sense, constitutional measures” to improve gun safety.

The app itself, as mentioned earlier, is on the Google Apps Play Store and free to any user. Users, according to the developer’s website, are anonymous. And once a location is marked, IT CANNOT BE UNMARKED, though Stalbaum claims these markers will eventually be deleted (presumably by him) for the sake of keeping the data “fresh.” There are no specifics on how long it takes a location to be deleted from his database.  Stalbaum claims that anyone expressing concern about the potential criminal use of this application is simply paranoid.  He goes on to say that the U.S. Constitution does not protect anonymous gun ownership or stop others from speaking freely about gun owners.  His view is that it’s the gun owners’ responsibility to keep the fact they own a gun a secret (never mind that some states/municipalities don’t give you that option) and that criminals would look for softer targets like the homes of those whose cars sport  NRA bumper stickers.

Stalbaum says he can’t be held responsible for the criminal miss use of his app.  Painful as it may be, I have to agree with him on that single point but, guns are actually a federally regulated item. Though we have a right to keep and bear arms; at present, anytime we buy a gun from a licensed dealer, we have to submit to a background check. That’s been the law since NICS went online in the late 1990s. There is no background check to Stalbaum’s app.  As much as people of his ilk claim that access to guns it too easy, his app makes it too easy to mark innocent people as potential targets for home invasion , strong-arm robberies, or domestic violence should an abusive husband/wife use the app to locate an estranged spouse. But he seems too short sighted to see any of these concerns because, as usual, it’s for the sake of the children. Never mind how many children the app itself might endanger.

-Gary

A tactifool gets butt hurt on Gunbroker.com

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GLOCK 23/19 (1 GUN PACKAGE) RTF2 WOW! : Semi Auto Pistols at GunBroker.com.

Tacticfool's Custom Glock

This one has been discussed and commented on quite a bit online.  We’re not going to let it slide either.  What’s funny is, apparently the owner has spent way too much time using it as a butt plug rather than an actual handgun. I say this because he has amended his original summary on this gun with apparent retorts to comments he has seen online. In other words, he’s butt hurt. But let’s quickly run down what’s wrong with this “Tactifool’s” Glock and offer a few reasons he’s deserving of all the flak he’s catching.

The first thing that jumps out at shooters is the lack of a trigger guard. This is not only plainly dangerous with a Glock (or any other handgun) but, if you’re going to make a Fitz Special, do it right and leave the bottom of the trigger guard in place so your hand has a positive index/stop point on the grip rather than running into the back of the trigger.  But keep in mind that now, we’ve got nothing protecting the trigger or other wise providing retention point for a holster!

Now before we leave the gun alone, have I mentioned there are NO SIGHTS on this gun? Zip, zero, nada. Not even “Homeboy Sites.” So I guess this guy is a student of the instinctive/intuitive/telekenetic school of shooting in which sights are unnecessary. Or may be it’s the Ray Charles/Stevie Wonder school of shooting in which Braille is used for finding one’s target.

Last and perhaps least, there’s the “color matching” of the magazines.  If you’re going to bother, shouldn’t you do such that magazines match when the magazine is seated rather than the top of the magazine that no one can see even when it’s in a pouch? I mean, really?

Folks, I’m not above recommended mods for your gun. But if you’re going to do mods, make sure you’ve really thought them through and when in doubt, talk to your gunsmith or a qualified, professional gunman.  Serious shooters have probably already done what you’re considering and can offer their opinion on what the find works or doesn’t work. Just a thought.

There’s nothing “collectible” about this gun at this point. When I was apprenticing with a gunsmith, I was told always “cut the least expensive part.” Tactifool has cut/ruined the frame which as far as the ATF is concerned, is the gun.  So if you want to “fix” this screw up, you basically have to buy a new gun. #FAIL!

A matter of perspective…Why I’m NOT mad at Hawthorne PD for shooting Leon Rosby’s Rottweiler

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For the last few days, the FB and Twitter universes have been a buzz with threats against the police and photos being passed around featuring memes about the police arresting you and killing your dog just because you’re recording them.  Now I’m not saying some of this isn’t well deserved criticism brought on by over zealous officers over stepping their bounds and trampling on the rights of citizens. However, I don’t think all that is justified in the recent case of Hawthorne PDs shooting of a Rottweiler in California. So, allow me to play the Devil’s Advocate for a second before we crucify an officer and his department.

Having watched the video above, knowing what has happened as a result of this video going viral, there is no question in my mind the officer MIGHT have handled the situation differently if he had it to do over again.  But, I’m not faulting the officer either. Based on the force continuum taught in most reputable use of force programs and the law as I understand it, the officers’ actions are legally justifiable as it applies to all of us and even tactically sound according to many officers I’ve asked.  The officers’ priority during this incident was maintaining control of an active scene during which they had an unknown number of persons with whom they were dealing and it was obvious they were basically trying to lock down that block while the made entry on a house in the background. Leon Rosby interjected himself into that scene by parking on that block with his music turned up and stepping into an active scene where everyone else was smart enough to stay back or at least in their own yards as I could see with one person in the video. When asked to leave or at least stay back to avoid being considered an obstruction, Rosby did not comply.

Keep in mind the police were dealing with what appears to have been a barricaded suspect not 100 yards from Rosby. The officers told Rosby to turn down the music and step back. He refused and didn’t put his dog away until it was clear the officers were going to confront him again at which point he volunteered himself to be handcuffed. What he could have done before that was get in his car and leave. It’s highly unlikely the police would have chased him if he’d left. At the very least he could have walked across the street to the same vantage point as the person shooting the video above as instructed the first time. Again, if this was really about the police having a problem with you recording them, then how is it the folks who provided us the video of Leon’s dog getting shot, did so without getting arrested or molested in any way? And don’t you dare say it was because he was black!

Wonder how the politicians will explain it if Chicago’s crime rate goes down?

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Chicago prepares for new concealed carry gun law – Yahoo! News.

Predictably, the anti-gunners are screaming there will be blood in the streets as Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn decides whether or not to sign the bill that ends the last concealed carry ban in the country.  News flash folks, you already have blood in the streets! Chicago is among the most violent cities in the country and has been since the Prohibition Era. Like Washington D.C. before them, Chicago and most of its surrounding communities enacted bans on handguns and most modern long arms beginning in 1982.  It is well known that you must have a valid Firearm Owner IDentification (FOID) card just to buy ammunition in the state of Illinois. One must pass a background check to get said FOID card.  So even with all of these measures in place, it would seem that denying law abiding citizens the right to own guns has done little to help.

-Gary