An object lesson on gun safety: DEA agent shoots himself

I'm apparently one of the few gun-nuts left on the planet who hadn't seen this video which our state concealed-carry instructor showed to our instructor's class last week. When he asked how many had already seen it, I was almost the only one in the room who didn't raise his hand.

On April 9, 2004 DEA Agent Lee Paige shoots himself in the foot with a Glock .40S&W handgun while talking to children and parents about gun safety at the Orlando Youth Minority Golf Association.

It would be funny if it wasn't so stupid. The DEA agent had 14 years experience, but screws up the basic gun safety procedure of unloading his duty Glock. He opens the slide but does not remove the magazine. So when he hits the slide release, that puts a round in the chamber. Then he puts the Glock between his legs, pushes down on the slide-removal levers to remove the slide and pulls the trigger. And the inevitable happens with a loaded Glock: Boom!

Incredibly, he tries to continue his lecture while bleeding on the floor, saying it could happen to anyone. Yeah, anyone stupid enough to pull the trigger on a loaded firearm in their crotch.

Then it gets worse. He asks his assistant to bring out another gun, a full-auto M4 carbine. Needless to say, pandemonium erupts in the kids and parents watching. He assures them the M4 is unloaded and somebody in the back yells "You just shot yourself with an unloaded gun!"

And here's the postscript for this sad tale. The DEA fired him and released the video of the incident as an object lesson about gun safety. And the agent has now filed suit against the DEA alleging they have made him "unemployable." Do ya think shooting himself on video might actually be the proximate cause of this idiot becoming "unemployable"?

Montana zigs while Obama zags: Fed gun laws challenged

How about a little Monday morning irony to start your day? While President Obama is rewriting the constitution for socialists and mass murderers at Gitmo yearning to breathe free, the great state of Montana -- and several other states -- are challenging federal gun laws.

A new Montana gun law puts the state at the forefront of a national bid to restore states' rights by attacking up to a century of federal court decisions on Washington's power.

Two other states - Alaska and Texas - have had favorable votes on laws similar to Montana's, declaring that guns that stay within the state are none of the feds' business. More than a dozen others are considering such laws, and more-general declarations of state sovereignty have been introduced this year in more than 30 legislatures.

The federal courts may not respond well to these laws in the short term, but backers who acknowledge this say that regardless, they intend for the laws to change the political landscape in the long term. They hope these state laws will undercut the legitimacy of contrary federal law - as has happened with medicinal marijuana - and even push federal courts to bend with the popular wind.

"What's going on is that people all over the country have decided, 'Enough is enough,' " said Kevin Gutzman, a professor at Western Connecticut State University and the author of "Who Killed the Constitution?" "This is supposed to be a federal system, but instead Congress seems to think it can legislate anything it wants."

In May, Montana became the first state to approve the Firearms Freedom Act, which declares that guns manufactured and sold in the Big Sky State to buyers who plan to keep the weapons within the state are exempt from federal gun regulations.

According to the act's supporters, if guns bearing a "Made in Montana" stamp remain in Montana, then federal rules such as background checks, registration and dealer licensing no longer apply. But court cases have interpreted the U.S. Constitution's Interstate Commerce Clause as covering anything that might affect interstate commerce - which in practice means just about anything.

So if this law sounds ripe for a court challenge, well, that's the idea, said Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Sports Shooting Association, the state's largest pro-gun group.

"The Interstate Commerce Clause has grown and grown until the government asserts authority over everything under the sun," said Mr. Marbut, who wrote the original firearms legislation. "How much water you have in your toilet. Almost all environmental laws. Maybe one-third of all federal regulations are asserted under the Commerce Clause."

Go Montana! And Alaska and Texas and any other state considering anti-fed gun laws.

A victory for gun rights -- from the Obama administration!

I'll take a victory for gun rights regardless of where it comes from, even from President Obama. The unlikely victory in this case is the right of lawfully licensed concealed-carry gun owners to be lawfully armed in our national parks. There's more danger than bears out there, and the parks rule was set up in the waning days of the Bush administration, only to be suspended in the early days of the Obama administration. Now it seems like that gun right will be restored by Obama as he compromises with his own party members in Congress to get some votes he needs for one of his totalitarian state plans. Credit-card users will take a hit but gun owners will get something good as a trade-off. Win some, lose some. But it is a win.

WASHINGTON — Advocates of gun rights are poised to win a Congressional victory that eluded them under a Republican president.

To the frustration and discouragement of many Democrats, House and Senate lawmakers and aides say it now appears likely that President Obama will this week sign into law a provision allowing visitors to national parks and refuges to carry loaded and concealed weapons.

The White House is lukewarm at best on the gun provision, which was added to a popular measure imposing new rules on credit card companies. But the Democrats who now control both Congress and the White House appear ready to allow it to survive rather than derail a consumer-friendly credit card measure that Mr. Obama is eager to sign as Congress heads off for a Memorial Day recess.

“Timing is everything in politics,” said Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma and the champion of the gun proposal.

A majority of Democrats in the House and Senate still typically come down on the side of gun control. But the fact that they have been outmaneuvered by Republicans on gun issues is rooted in the fact that recently swollen Democratic ranks include senators and House members who represent Western states and more rural areas where gun ownership is popular and deemed sacrosanct.

When those Democrats team up with Republicans, they constitute a clear majority in the House and Senate.

“It is a shame,” said Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California. “But you have to come to a realization around here that at this point in time, the N.R.A. gets the votes,” she said referring to the National Rifle Association.

There's some delicious irony here. Democrats in 2008, led by Rahm Emanuel, now Obama's chief of staff, recruited some conservative candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in order to win some elections last fall. But now those blue-dog Democrats are voting their conscience vs. typical libtard anti-gun views and the result is a victory for gun rights. Don't you just love it when an underhanded political move turns around and bites the devious politicker in the behind?

Marlin Model 1894 in .44 Magnum/.44 Special assaults senses

So there I was, starting another day at the gun shop when it happened. I was pulling the covers off the gun counters getting ready for business when this bright, shiny Stainless Steel Marlin lever-action rifle just jumped right off the rack into my arms and refused to leggo of me.

A Marlin Model 1894 in .44 Magnum/.44 Special! It was exactly what I was looking for when I sold my Remington 742 in 30'06, but I couldn't find a lever gun in .44, so I settled for a Charter .327 Federal Magnum snubnose revolver instead. I had almost forgotten about my lever gun plans as I began saving toward the next carry pistol I have on my ever-growing list.

And then it happened. Oh well, life is what happens along the way to wherever you're headed.

I really do need a lever gun to match up with my S&W Model 29 and share its ammo. I had a brief fling with a Ruger .44 Magnum carbine, but it wouldn't cycle .44 Specials, so that nixed it.

But this Marlin lever gun will feed and cycle .44 Specials just fine because I tested it at the shop. And then promptly put $200 of my small firearm fund into layaway until I can raise the rest.

Wish I could bring it home tomorrow, but I gotta learn patience. Oh Lord, I need a big load of patience. And I need it right now!

Seriously, I'm really looking forward to getting this Marlin .44 out of hock and shooting it. If it shoots as good as I expect it to, and I know it will, it's going to be my car trunk carry gun. Or maybe I should break down and buy myself a pickup truck and hang in the rear window.

After all, I am a genuine Southern redneck, so I gotta have a truck!

My new Gun Shop career-change launches today

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. Really. I got laid off yesterday at my full-time job as a technical writer/photographer for a local industry. A recession is when other folks are getting laid off. A depression is when you get laid off. But I ain't in no depression. The Good Lord looks out for fools and drunks and me, too. I have already been working part-time in a local gun shop and today I start my latest new career, full-time. I've been keeping pretty busy just doing gunbroker.com pages for one gun shop. Now I plan to add two or three or four more, as many as it takes to add up to one full-time job. Let's see, I started out in '75 right out of Missouri U J-School as a photojournalist and since I've worked at newspapers doing that, worked for a health-food business as webmaster and catalog creator, worked as a full-time web developer for an Internet business, worked for myself as a web designer (poorest paying boss I ever had), taught classes in web design and Photoshop at a community college and then worked as a technical writer/photographer for the past four and half years. And guess what business ain't suffering from the recession but is actually booming? Gun shops. Is God's plan perfect or what?

So this is career change number six and counting. Time to go to work. See y'all later. Among the many things I love about working at the gun shop is I can go to work with open carry. Hoo-ra!

Photos for gun nuts: What you can't see

Here’s a couple of interesting photos for gun nuts like me. First shows the gas cloud, shock wave and projectile as an AK-47 assault rifle is fired.

Then there’s the same effect as a revolver is fired, showing the gas cloud escaping around the cylinder as well as the muzzle.

Photos are by Gary Settles of Penn State University, part of a slide show illustrating an article about his amazing photography in the New York Times: The Mysterious Cough, Caught on Film

Now doesn’t that give you the proper warm fuzzy feeling to rush right out and vote for the most anti-gun presidential candidate in our history?

Sarah's got a gun! And she knows how to use it

Stole this photo from Ace. I bet if Obama sees this, he'll wet his pants.

Don't play with my pistol!

What's a gun nut supposed to do when his wife won't listen to his warning not to play with his pistol?