Guns, Cars, and Tech

Blog

  • And that’s the ballgame for the next two years

    The chief reason the Tennessee Firearms Association and the NRA went after TN House Caucus Chair Debra Maggart was because she prevented every gun bill that made it out of committee from being heard on the house floor. Presumably, this was on orders from Speaker Harwell. Maggart was primaried because she spent so much time working with us to get a Republican Majority, only to cast us aside once she actually got it. Harwell has never been a friend to gun owners, and never pretended to be, so her stance didn’t shock us. With Maggart, it was personal.

    Maggart wasn’t the only incumbent Republican who lost their primary. Seven other incumbents are looking for new work today.

    Speaker Harwell narrowly defeated conservative Glen Casada for the speaker position two years ago, so there was a good chance that he would win this year.

    Except he’s decided not to challenge Harwell. That’s unfortunate, because it means that we likely won’t get much done in the next two years with Harwell as speaker.

    I guess I’ll be spending the next two years working on someone to primary her–unless she changes her spots.

    Oh, and Gerald McCormick? Don’t think we’ve forgotten about you. We watch the news, you know.

  • lesson 1: Gun stays in holster unless in use!

    How bloody difficult can that be to remember?  It seems to happen a lot that people (specifically “Only Ones”) have this tendency to take their pistols out of their holsters when they need to use the bathroom.  This leads to the possibility of someone finding a nice shiny loaded weapon on the toilet.

    Yep, it’s happened again.  This time, at the Detroit Metro Airport.  This time it was an air marshal who left his piece on the porcelain throne.  Some random passenger found it, and decided to turn it over to the local law.  No word in the story as to which side of the secured area it was on, but I’m hoping that it was on the unsecured side since there was also no mention of screening or mass panic.

  • “It’s not like you’re going to start voting Democrat over this”

    It’s been reported that TN House Republican Caucus Leader Debra Maggart said this to some TFA folks when they expressed their displeasure at her blocking gun rights bills last session.

    Well, Debra, you’re right. We probably wouldn’t start voting for Democrats.

    But we will primary your ass.

    Have fun in retirement! The NRA and TFA set an example with you. We are not kidding.

  • Well, obviously!

    I buy a lot of used cars. I mean, I used to, back when I would buy an $800, drive it for a year, and sell it for $800.

    So as a direct result of that, I have spent a lot of time looking at used car lots. Mostly, that involves driving down the local highway that has 86,000 used car lots on it and stopping when I see something that might meet my criteria.

    I pull in, jump out of my car, check the mileage, and leave when I see they are asking $4,000 for a 20 year old car with 250,000 miles on it.

    Apparently, that makes me a racist or something:

    Abdullah told Channel 4 News he faces religious bigotry in many subtle ways as he conducts business at his car lot.

    “When I approach a customer pulling up, they see me, and they get right back in their car again. I know for a fact they were interested in a certain vehicle,” Abdullah said.

    Okay, then.

  • CNN Answers it’s own question

    How do you avoid Olympic spoilers?

    Step 1: Don’t visit CNN.com
    Step 2: Read our helpful article on avoiding Olympic spoilers!

  • “That’s how we Italian gangsters roll”

    Says the guy with the thick Russian accent:
    I love that guy.

  • I am ashamed

    That I have never heard of this case before today.

    Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go pick up my wookie suit from the dry cleaners.

    Via ace

  • What the…?

    last weekend, I was at Libertycon.  Truly a great con, which was good, since I needed to blow off some steam.  Maybe one of these years, I’ll get in with the cool crowd enough that I’ll get to go to the gun range with the Baen guys.

    Anyways, I was playing Descent with some folks, when my buddy rolled this:

    Notice something odd about the blue die?  After taking a couple pictures, we checked, and there were no divots in the table that we could find.

    This is up there with flipping a coin and having it land on its edge.

     

  • Gun Porn: Family Heirloom Edition

    Gun Porn: Family Heirloom Edition

    This is a Smith and Wesson .32 revolver with a low 5-digit serial (20xxx). It was recently handed down to me. My grandmother’s father bought it used in 1920. Best I can tell it was made in 1904. Click any to embiggenate.

    It’s probably valued at $200, but worth a hell of a lot more than that to me.

  • Ineffective Signage

    So a guy open carried into a showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Cookeville this weekend. This caused a theater employee to call police, since the theater is posted “no guns allowed.”

    The cops show up and try to find the guy amongst the other guests, but can’t. The decision was made to stop the movie and ask to speak with the gentleman with the gun.

    Three guys stand up.

    No arrests, because all three had permits and our statute requires the posting to be “prominent.” Police decided the theater’s sign did not meet that criteria.

    Betcha they have a bigger sign now.