That victory would be that the alleged tax cheat Daschle is out! Good riddance. Hopefully he will also resign his seat in Congress (edited: My mistake, I guess he is no longer in Congress having lost his last election). As I see him he is probably a crook and a tax cheat, and does not deserve to be in a seat of authority. I heard a democrat senator today saying how wonderful is Tom Daschle's integrity - I guess that means whoever was saying that just has absolutely no clue as to the meaning of integrity!
My bet is that the calls placed to elected officials had a lot to do with this. I tried calling my senators today and got a busy signal about 30 times each. I also tried to write to the White House but the email would not go through. is that because the new President has changed things and doe snot allow The People to send emails, or maybe because they were so inundated by them today that the systems could not handle all of them.
If you contacted a senator, representative or the president's office to oppose the appointment of Tom Daschle - good for you. We won a small victory today.
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Economic Stimulus - Let's Get Transparent
I tend to imagine that the politicians involved in the economic stimulus dealing in Congress right now are mostly hypocrites, at least they who are trying to get this bailout (or whatever they want to call it) pushed through so they can give away our billions and billions of tax dollars to the already rich. Here is how I figure it:
1. President Obama and most of the Democrats are all screaming at the rich saying they need to pay more taxes, that is not just that they pay more based upon a flat rate for everyone whereby they make more then of course they pay more, but they want an actual higher tax rate for them. There is already such a rate system in place and they already pay more but that does not matter to the Obamites, they want the wealthy to pay at an even higher rate so the poor will have more - or so they say. The glitch of hypocrisy here is that they also want to give hundreds of billions of our dollars directly to the already rich to bail them out. So they have to pay higher taxes but get to use the taxpayers money in order to do so. Yes folks once the government give the the so called Economic stimulus, any taxes they pay can be paid with that money. So they are getting off absolutely free and who suffers. The middle class will suffer most, the class that socialists have always tried to eliminate.
2. All the politicians are screaming that people need to pay their fair share of taxes, and that means a higher rate for those with more money. Yet two people recently in the limelight have not paid their taxes, at least not until they were caught not paying them. Then they suddenly found the ways and means to cough it up to the tax man, but only so they could get into positions of power in our government. If an IRS employee failed to pay some of his or her taxes over a few years period they would likely be fired and have the case referred to the office of the United States Attorney in the relative district for federal criminal prosecution. I have to wonder, since President Obama apparently favors tax cheats, will the cases of Daschle and Geitner go to the office of the U.S. Attorney for criminal prosecution! You can bet not, anyway I certainly am betting that way; and if by some chance they do - you can bet they actually will not be prosecuted.
3. There has been a lot of talk coming from President Obama's mouth about transparency in government. Okay let's see that in action. Let's see if he and every Congressperson (yes every Senator and every Representative) will allow us to see their stock and bond dealings. Most of them are screaming for us to give our money, in the forms of hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions, to all sorts of businesses that are failing. Some of those business, apparently the worst off, include two major automobile manufacturers, many banks, many mortgage companies, many giants in the financial industry - all business who sold stocks and bonds. If the financial bailout (aka: the economic stimulus package) is really such a good thing, then politicians should have faith in these companies in that once they have received stimulus monies they will recover and recover strongly. The proof is in the pudding so to speak so lets see some transparency to the pudding. We should demand, and elected officials - each and everyone of them from the president to the vice president, to the senators to those in the house of Representatives should show us their stock and bond portfolios. Why, because then we would see if they truly believed that the stimulus package would work or not because those who believed it would all be holding stocks and bonds in the companies who need stimulus money. In fact if they are not holding stocks and bonds it would be obvious they have little faith in the stimulus plan, and if they recently sold whatever stocks and bonds they had it would be even more proof to that hypothesis. of course a shrewd one may buy up all the stock he can right before the money is doled out hoping to make a killing when his stocks in a particular company are revitalized by a bailout. That guy should just be arrested outright because such would be a felony conflict of interest. No matter how you look at this the criminal mind can prosper.
Hey wait a minute, what did I just say about criminal minds prospering. That thought goes right back to alleged tax cheats being supported by the president and allowed into high power political appointments. As far as I can see, it is all hypocrisy folks, it is all a scam, if you do not see it you are blind. Maybe you have been blinded by all that pudding, well I say let's force them to make it transparent so we can see for ourselves how much faith these elected officials and political appointees have in their own plan. Call your senators and representatives today and demand transparency and also demand that they vote down the economic stimulus package because all it amounts to is robbing the tax payer!
All the best,
Glenn B
1. President Obama and most of the Democrats are all screaming at the rich saying they need to pay more taxes, that is not just that they pay more based upon a flat rate for everyone whereby they make more then of course they pay more, but they want an actual higher tax rate for them. There is already such a rate system in place and they already pay more but that does not matter to the Obamites, they want the wealthy to pay at an even higher rate so the poor will have more - or so they say. The glitch of hypocrisy here is that they also want to give hundreds of billions of our dollars directly to the already rich to bail them out. So they have to pay higher taxes but get to use the taxpayers money in order to do so. Yes folks once the government give the the so called Economic stimulus, any taxes they pay can be paid with that money. So they are getting off absolutely free and who suffers. The middle class will suffer most, the class that socialists have always tried to eliminate.
2. All the politicians are screaming that people need to pay their fair share of taxes, and that means a higher rate for those with more money. Yet two people recently in the limelight have not paid their taxes, at least not until they were caught not paying them. Then they suddenly found the ways and means to cough it up to the tax man, but only so they could get into positions of power in our government. If an IRS employee failed to pay some of his or her taxes over a few years period they would likely be fired and have the case referred to the office of the United States Attorney in the relative district for federal criminal prosecution. I have to wonder, since President Obama apparently favors tax cheats, will the cases of Daschle and Geitner go to the office of the U.S. Attorney for criminal prosecution! You can bet not, anyway I certainly am betting that way; and if by some chance they do - you can bet they actually will not be prosecuted.
3. There has been a lot of talk coming from President Obama's mouth about transparency in government. Okay let's see that in action. Let's see if he and every Congressperson (yes every Senator and every Representative) will allow us to see their stock and bond dealings. Most of them are screaming for us to give our money, in the forms of hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions, to all sorts of businesses that are failing. Some of those business, apparently the worst off, include two major automobile manufacturers, many banks, many mortgage companies, many giants in the financial industry - all business who sold stocks and bonds. If the financial bailout (aka: the economic stimulus package) is really such a good thing, then politicians should have faith in these companies in that once they have received stimulus monies they will recover and recover strongly. The proof is in the pudding so to speak so lets see some transparency to the pudding. We should demand, and elected officials - each and everyone of them from the president to the vice president, to the senators to those in the house of Representatives should show us their stock and bond portfolios. Why, because then we would see if they truly believed that the stimulus package would work or not because those who believed it would all be holding stocks and bonds in the companies who need stimulus money. In fact if they are not holding stocks and bonds it would be obvious they have little faith in the stimulus plan, and if they recently sold whatever stocks and bonds they had it would be even more proof to that hypothesis. of course a shrewd one may buy up all the stock he can right before the money is doled out hoping to make a killing when his stocks in a particular company are revitalized by a bailout. That guy should just be arrested outright because such would be a felony conflict of interest. No matter how you look at this the criminal mind can prosper.
Hey wait a minute, what did I just say about criminal minds prospering. That thought goes right back to alleged tax cheats being supported by the president and allowed into high power political appointments. As far as I can see, it is all hypocrisy folks, it is all a scam, if you do not see it you are blind. Maybe you have been blinded by all that pudding, well I say let's force them to make it transparent so we can see for ourselves how much faith these elected officials and political appointees have in their own plan. Call your senators and representatives today and demand transparency and also demand that they vote down the economic stimulus package because all it amounts to is robbing the tax payer!
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Pittsburg Super Bowl 43 Champs - and Me I Am The Big Money Winner
Yes folks, this evening I put my money on the Pittsburgh Steelers is for no other reason than they have been in Pittsburgh for as long as I can remember, and that goes as far back as when I used to be a football fan. Those Arizona Cardinals, on the other hand, just seem to flit around way to much from one home to another. Then of course there was that other reason, both Brendan and Julia told me they were rooting for the cardinals, and so was Onkel Hans at whose home we were about to watch at least the first half of the game (we'd have to leave at half time so Brendan could drive Julia back to her college, but I got to watch the rest of the game at home). With them deciding to go for the other team, I decided to make a big money wager on my team and that is just what I did to show my faith was in them all the way.
From the early score by Pittsburgh, to the absolutely awesome all time Super Bowl record touchdown/interception return run (or whatever you call it), to the touchdown with less than a minute to go, to the fumble caused by the Pittsburgh defense with seconds remaining - Pittsburgh did not let me down. Now I have got to point out, those Cardinals sure helped make it one heck on an exciting game. No matter which way it turned out that was one amazing 60 minutes of football; and it just so happened that it turned out in my favor! Thanks to the play of Pittsburgh, the nonstop full 60 minutes of play, I am so much the richer tonight.
Well, at least I will be so much the richer when my son pays me the single dollar I won from him. Now that I think of it, I just gave him eight bucks in singles I had in my pocket for a bit of extra pocket change, and all I'll be getting is one of my own dollars back. Oh well it was an exciting game anyway. I may have that dollar framed, but my bet is Brendan would like to burn it.
All the best,
Glenn B
From the early score by Pittsburgh, to the absolutely awesome all time Super Bowl record touchdown/interception return run (or whatever you call it), to the touchdown with less than a minute to go, to the fumble caused by the Pittsburgh defense with seconds remaining - Pittsburgh did not let me down. Now I have got to point out, those Cardinals sure helped make it one heck on an exciting game. No matter which way it turned out that was one amazing 60 minutes of football; and it just so happened that it turned out in my favor! Thanks to the play of Pittsburgh, the nonstop full 60 minutes of play, I am so much the richer tonight.
Well, at least I will be so much the richer when my son pays me the single dollar I won from him. Now that I think of it, I just gave him eight bucks in singles I had in my pocket for a bit of extra pocket change, and all I'll be getting is one of my own dollars back. Oh well it was an exciting game anyway. I may have that dollar framed, but my bet is Brendan would like to burn it.
All the best,
Glenn B
HR 197 - National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2009 - Just So Much Window Dressing
I just read about HR 197 over at Cap'n Bob & the Damsel. Then I checked it out a bit further. Here is a link to a site that gives information about it: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-197 and I have copied and pasted the full text of the bill below. Before you read it, let me tell you what I think of it. It is a great bill, it is about time that someone introduced such legislation but whom is this Representative trying to kid by introducing this bill under the current regime administration. It it would have been well worth contacting our Representatives and Senators to show our support of it if it had been introduced during an administration that was in any even tiny way friendly toward the right to keep and bear arms. The fact is that it has been submitted to committee under what seems to be the most anti-gun administration within my lifetime, and probably within the lifetime of our nation. Does the Honorable Representative Clifford Stearns of Florida, who introduced this bill, actually think it even has a chance of passing through and surviving committee? Does the Honorable Rick Boucher believe that his co-sponsorship of this bill will matter? I just find it all to be wishful thinking.
Having said all of that, will I support the bill. You bet I will. I will be making calls, sending emails, writing and mailing letters to my elected representative Carolyn McCarthy all the while knowing it will do absolutely no good in swaying her mind on the issue of gun control. She is the most rabidly anti-gun person I can think of in the United States. Yeah, I know, her hubby was killed by a lunatic gunman on the Long Island Railroad, and she rode that fact all the way into a seat in Congress. She still hangs her hat on it too. I can feel for her, but I sure would never vote for her, not with her anti-gun agenda; but I will try to sway her over to our side regardless. It is too bad she did not strike out against the real culprit in the case of her husband's murder - she should have called for the death penalty against the dirtbag who killed him. Then she should have tried to make it so that every citizen could be armed for self defense and defense of the Constitution. Had her husband, son and others on the train been armed, maybe they would have killed the criminal instead of being shot themselves.
The thing is that is my way of thinking and not hers. The thing is that the HR 197 bill is Representative Clifford Stearns' way of thinking not hers, and not the rest of Congress' either. It is a real shame that this bill was not introduced at a better time, when it at least stood a chance of becoming law. It is, by my guess, just so much window dressing for something else that Jones has up his sleeve. Of course, I have been wrong before on matters of great importance like this one and that is why you can bet your bottom dollar that I will support it just as I said I will do. If enough people support it, well maybe it will pass, or at least make us feel good that we tried getting it passed. Wasn't it our current president who said his administration will be one of change? What a change this would be indeed!
Without further babble from me, here is the text of the bill:
HR 197 IH
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 197
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a national standard in accordance with which nonresidents of a State may carry concealed firearms in the State.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 6, 2009
Mr. STEARNS (for himself and Mr. BOUCHER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a national standard in accordance with which nonresidents of a State may carry concealed firearms in the State.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2009’.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL STANDARD FOR THE CARRYING OF CERTAIN CONCEALED FIREARMS BY NONRESIDENTS.
(a) In General- Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 926C the following:
‘Sec. 926D. National standard for the carrying of certain concealed firearms by nonresidents
‘(a) Notwithstanding any provision of the law of any State or political subdivision thereof, a person who is not prohibited by Federal law from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm and is carrying a valid license or permit which is issued by a State and which permits the person to carry a concealed firearm (other than a machinegun or destructive device) may carry in another State a concealed firearm (other than a machinegun or destructive device) that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, subject to subsection (b).
‘(b)(1) If such other State issues licenses or permits to carry concealed firearms, the person may carry a concealed firearm in the State under the same restrictions which apply to the carrying of a concealed firearm by a person to whom the State has issued such a license or permit.
‘(2) If such other State does not issue licenses or permits to carry concealed firearms, the person may not, in the State, carry a concealed firearm in a police station, in a public detention facility, in a courthouse, in a public polling place, at a meeting of a State, county, or municipal governing body, in a school, at a professional or school athletic event not related to firearms, in a portion of an establishment licensed by the State to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, or inside the sterile or passenger area of an airport, except to the extent expressly permitted by State law.’.
(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of sections for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 926C the following:
‘926D. National standard for the carrying of certain concealed firearms by nonresidents.’.
Well there it is. I recommend supporting it, but just not getting your hopes up too high.
All the best,
Glenn B
Having said all of that, will I support the bill. You bet I will. I will be making calls, sending emails, writing and mailing letters to my elected representative Carolyn McCarthy all the while knowing it will do absolutely no good in swaying her mind on the issue of gun control. She is the most rabidly anti-gun person I can think of in the United States. Yeah, I know, her hubby was killed by a lunatic gunman on the Long Island Railroad, and she rode that fact all the way into a seat in Congress. She still hangs her hat on it too. I can feel for her, but I sure would never vote for her, not with her anti-gun agenda; but I will try to sway her over to our side regardless. It is too bad she did not strike out against the real culprit in the case of her husband's murder - she should have called for the death penalty against the dirtbag who killed him. Then she should have tried to make it so that every citizen could be armed for self defense and defense of the Constitution. Had her husband, son and others on the train been armed, maybe they would have killed the criminal instead of being shot themselves.
The thing is that is my way of thinking and not hers. The thing is that the HR 197 bill is Representative Clifford Stearns' way of thinking not hers, and not the rest of Congress' either. It is a real shame that this bill was not introduced at a better time, when it at least stood a chance of becoming law. It is, by my guess, just so much window dressing for something else that Jones has up his sleeve. Of course, I have been wrong before on matters of great importance like this one and that is why you can bet your bottom dollar that I will support it just as I said I will do. If enough people support it, well maybe it will pass, or at least make us feel good that we tried getting it passed. Wasn't it our current president who said his administration will be one of change? What a change this would be indeed!
Without further babble from me, here is the text of the bill:
HR 197 IH
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 197
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a national standard in accordance with which nonresidents of a State may carry concealed firearms in the State.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 6, 2009
Mr. STEARNS (for himself and Mr. BOUCHER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a national standard in accordance with which nonresidents of a State may carry concealed firearms in the State.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2009’.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL STANDARD FOR THE CARRYING OF CERTAIN CONCEALED FIREARMS BY NONRESIDENTS.
(a) In General- Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 926C the following:
‘Sec. 926D. National standard for the carrying of certain concealed firearms by nonresidents
‘(a) Notwithstanding any provision of the law of any State or political subdivision thereof, a person who is not prohibited by Federal law from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm and is carrying a valid license or permit which is issued by a State and which permits the person to carry a concealed firearm (other than a machinegun or destructive device) may carry in another State a concealed firearm (other than a machinegun or destructive device) that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, subject to subsection (b).
‘(b)(1) If such other State issues licenses or permits to carry concealed firearms, the person may carry a concealed firearm in the State under the same restrictions which apply to the carrying of a concealed firearm by a person to whom the State has issued such a license or permit.
‘(2) If such other State does not issue licenses or permits to carry concealed firearms, the person may not, in the State, carry a concealed firearm in a police station, in a public detention facility, in a courthouse, in a public polling place, at a meeting of a State, county, or municipal governing body, in a school, at a professional or school athletic event not related to firearms, in a portion of an establishment licensed by the State to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, or inside the sterile or passenger area of an airport, except to the extent expressly permitted by State law.’.
(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of sections for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 926C the following:
‘926D. National standard for the carrying of certain concealed firearms by nonresidents.’.
Well there it is. I recommend supporting it, but just not getting your hopes up too high.
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Onkel Hans' Super Bowl Party...
...will kick off at about 5PM this evening. Brendan, Julia and I will be going and I imagine he will have a couple of other folks over. He is planning on having pizza, a 3 foot hero, and some good bier. I told him that this time, instead of bringing a case of Warsteiner, I would bring horses ovaries hors d'oeuvres. So last night I went out and stocked up on shrimp, squid, cuttlefish, clams, small thin rib eye steaks, pork bellies, shitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, small (and I mean tiny) white potatoes, pearl onions, green onions (scallions).
I browned the pork bellies and rib eye steak, same for the mushrooms in extra virgin olive oil (heck I have never heard of an extra virgin maiden but that could be interesting), added lots of salt, garlic and black pepper while doing so. Then I threw all that into a nice sized dutch oven along with the potatoes, a few ounces of tomato paste, a bottle of Spaten Octoberfest bier, a bottle of Franziskaner Weiss bier, several pearl onions, three bunches of scallions, a pound of cuttlefish, a pound of squid, some really hot Chinese pepper sauce, a lot of garlic powder, more black pepper, more salt, and even more of the Chinese pepper sauce as it progressed. After about an hour or so of simmering I threw some cinnamon and a shot or two of Irish Whiskey. Another 1/2 hour and lots more garlic powder and some more weiss bier, about 1/2 a bier. Then, another 15 minutes and I threw in the shrimp. Brendan and I just tasted it, mmmmmm goooood and just a tad spicy. I have no idea what you would call this, but it taste darned good. I have made it twice before, but used baby octopus the other two times instead of cuttlefish. When I was at the store last night, the octopus looked pretty lousy so I opted for a package of frozen cuttlefish. I tried a few - they are great.
You may have noticed though that the clams have not yet been added to the mix. Since they are alive, I put them into a bowl of water with a good amount of sea salt. As the night passes on they will excrete most of whatever sand they have inside of their shells. Then once they have cleaned themselves I will throw them in the mix tomorrow when we heat it all up again just before we eat it, or maybe I'll just steam them and have them on the side with lemon or melted butter. Decisions, decisions!
As for the Super Bowl, I do not care who wins. I am not a football fan - at least not until Uncle Hans has one of his end of the season parties. Me, I just root for the hottest cheerleaders, and enjoy the party, the food and the company! We had a blast for the conference championships, and I imagine tomorrow will be some of the same. Hopefully both teams have cheerleaders - but I have got to say I miss the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders of yesteryear!
All the best,
Glenn B
I browned the pork bellies and rib eye steak, same for the mushrooms in extra virgin olive oil (heck I have never heard of an extra virgin maiden but that could be interesting), added lots of salt, garlic and black pepper while doing so. Then I threw all that into a nice sized dutch oven along with the potatoes, a few ounces of tomato paste, a bottle of Spaten Octoberfest bier, a bottle of Franziskaner Weiss bier, several pearl onions, three bunches of scallions, a pound of cuttlefish, a pound of squid, some really hot Chinese pepper sauce, a lot of garlic powder, more black pepper, more salt, and even more of the Chinese pepper sauce as it progressed. After about an hour or so of simmering I threw some cinnamon and a shot or two of Irish Whiskey. Another 1/2 hour and lots more garlic powder and some more weiss bier, about 1/2 a bier. Then, another 15 minutes and I threw in the shrimp. Brendan and I just tasted it, mmmmmm goooood and just a tad spicy. I have no idea what you would call this, but it taste darned good. I have made it twice before, but used baby octopus the other two times instead of cuttlefish. When I was at the store last night, the octopus looked pretty lousy so I opted for a package of frozen cuttlefish. I tried a few - they are great.
You may have noticed though that the clams have not yet been added to the mix. Since they are alive, I put them into a bowl of water with a good amount of sea salt. As the night passes on they will excrete most of whatever sand they have inside of their shells. Then once they have cleaned themselves I will throw them in the mix tomorrow when we heat it all up again just before we eat it, or maybe I'll just steam them and have them on the side with lemon or melted butter. Decisions, decisions!
As for the Super Bowl, I do not care who wins. I am not a football fan - at least not until Uncle Hans has one of his end of the season parties. Me, I just root for the hottest cheerleaders, and enjoy the party, the food and the company! We had a blast for the conference championships, and I imagine tomorrow will be some of the same. Hopefully both teams have cheerleaders - but I have got to say I miss the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders of yesteryear!
All the best,
Glenn B
Ballseye's Firearms Accessories Tournament 3 - We Have A Winner
Two entrants, Randy Allen and Bryce MacLennen wound up with their guesses being closest to the amount of bullets I fired at the target for this contest. They both said 60, and the correct answer was 57. So I threw their names into the hat, so to speak, and had a random drawing with Randy coming out the winner.
Once Randy complies with the rules, sends me his name and address along with a copy of government issued photo ID showing he is 18 or older, I will send him the holster.
Thanks to all of you for joining in the fun, and my congratulations to Randy
I'll try to post another one of these contests by next weekend.
All the best,
Glenn B
Once Randy complies with the rules, sends me his name and address along with a copy of government issued photo ID showing he is 18 or older, I will send him the holster.
Thanks to all of you for joining in the fun, and my congratulations to Randy
I'll try to post another one of these contests by next weekend.
All the best,
Glenn B
Teaching A Child To Shoot & Getting It Right
A lot of what you read about or hear about in the news when it comes to kids and firearms is that this kid got shot in a drive-by shooting, or that kid accidentally killed a friend with his parent's gun, or some kid shot a person while out hunting in the woods. As usual the MSM (Mud Slinging Media) tells us the bad stuff. There is another story though, one that is not heard about as often as it should be heard about.
That other story is the one wherein the responsible shooter teaches his or her son how to shoot, or maybe even teaches someone else's kids how to shoot (with parental permission of course). Shooting is a great sport. In order to excel in shooting sports you need to be able to develop great eye and hand coordination, along with coordination of many muscles in other parts of the body. Shooting also requires a great deal of concentration. In addition, shooting sports require discipline. Before you can start any of this, safe sport shooting also requires that you learn about firearms safety, firearms nomenclature, and shooting in general in a classroom or sit down type situation before you ever handle a firearm. With all this in mind, shooting sports are a great pastime for children if done properly and at an age appropriate level with proper adult supervision. Starting children, as young as 7 or 8 years old in shooting sports was once common practice. While no longer as common a practice as it once was, children of that age can - under proper supervision of a responsible adult instructor - begin learning how to shoot (you will need to determine if your 7 or 8 year old exhibits enough concentration and discipline to be ready at that age). In my opinion, shooting sports are a great way to spend quality time with them.
Proper responsible adult supervision is a key element of training anyone to shoot. This goes for adults as well as children. In each instance, whether training adult or child, the responsible instructor should have a hands on approach at first. Yes, you read that correctly the responsible instructor should have a hands on approach. This need not be for an extended period and need not seem intrusive to the shooter but should take place at least for the first few shots fired by the new shooter. Simply put the responsible instructor should though use of verbal commands and helpful guidance with hands instruct the shooter in proper hold, proper direction for the muzzle, and other things like proper stance. As the shooter is taking those very first shots, it is advisable especially with young children to make sure the firearm is fully controlled by making sure the responsible adult instructor and the shooter both have hands on the firearm (or possibly that the instructor has hands on the shooter's hands for a handgun). Once the instructor is satisfied that the shooter has the basics down concerning safety, stance, grip, aim - it is then that the instructor can ease up a bit and allow the shooter to completely control the firearm. Of course this does not mean that the instructor should step back and away from the shooter; rather the instructor should remain within easy reach of the firearm should intervention be necessary in order to prevent the muzzle from pointing in a direction where it should not be pointed. With adult shooters, and even with teenagers, the instructor usually can step back and away from the shooter, out of arms reach, once the instructor is satisfied that the shooter is competent enough to continue on his own with instruction from a distance. However, when instructing younger children the instructor should remain within arms reach of the shooter for at least a few to several lesson after the instructor has been satisfied that the young shooter is competent and safe. Bear in mind that while adults and even some teenagers maybe ready to shoot on their own, young children should never be allowed to shoot without responsible adult supervision close at hand.
Before moving on to such things as the techniques and equipment I prefer to use to teach a child to shoot let me cover one word I used several times above. If you read the last paragraph again, you may notice I used a word in conjunction with the word instructor a few times and that I also used the same word in conjunction with adult a couple of or a few times. That word is RESPONSIBLE. When you teach anyone to shoot you must be responsible not only for your actions and instruction but also for the actions of the shooter (at least to some extent, and with young children you are held much more responsible than are they). The amount of responsibility changes over time as the shooter gains experience and become more competent at shooting safely; however when it comes to young children the adult supervising and instructing the child holds the great majority of the responsibility to make sure it is done both safely and correctly. So before you even think about setting out to teach someone to shoot, especially a child, you must be aware of such things as firearms nomenclature, firearms safety, the actual workings of the firearms you intend to use, how to hold a firearms, how to aim in a firearm, sight alignment and picture, trigger control, follow-trough and so forth. You must also have an idea of how you will present all of this to the potential new shooter before you begin.
Note I said to the potential new shooter in the last line above. Now, since I am mostly talking about firearms instruction for children, why on earth would I call a child a potential new shooter. For example let's say you are a parent who is adept at shooting sports. You are aware of the rules of firearms safety above and beyond the 4 rules that others so foolishly use as the only safety rules for firearms (yes there are many more cardinal rules of firearms safety other than the 4 taught by Jeff Cooper). You have thought ahead and you have prepared a brief lecture about nomenclature and safety so you can start your youngster off in the right direction, and you plan to begin shooting right after the lesson is given. You sit down your child, who is seemingly eager to learn how to shoot, and you start talking about the parts of the gun. After that you get into safety. As you are talking safety you notice that your child's mind has wandered off, and that he or she is daydreaming as children will do. My suggestion - stop the lessons - take a break. After the break of maybe 5 or 10 minutes see if the child is now paying attention or not. If the child still seems distracted, call it quits right then and there - at least for the day. Explain to the child why you are doing so, and further explain that full attention is needed for such important topics as nomenclature and firearms safety because the child having learned them will soon be shooting a real gun, and real guns can hurt or kill people. If the child does not seem able to fully comprehend the gravity of the situation, well then I strongly recommend that you hold off on teaching that child until he or she is ready to grasp those subjects with full attention geared at them. Bear in mind you are the RESPONSIBLE party in all of this; the child while needing to learn firearms nomenclature and safety before actually shooting will only do so if you make sure it is being done right. If you have any question about how to accomplish this you can take a firearms instructor course offered by NRA qualified firearms instructors, or you can take a hunter safety course and have your child take it with you. I am fairly certain that some states even allow children to young to hunt to take the hunter safety course. These course usually cover a lot to do with firearms safety and require passing a test at the end of the course. If your child is too young to take the test, he or she could sit through the class with you. In addition you could learn a lot from such a class yourself, probably enough for you to be able to formulate your own firearms safety course for your child with an age appropriate test at the end of the instruction. Am I harping on this subject, yes maybe I am. Why am I putting so much emphasis on it, well because all it takes is one bullet to ruin a lot of lives, and a stray bullet fired by your child could have devastating effects on the remainder of his or her life as well as on yours, let alone had devastating it would be to anyone who might get shot. Thin about that and make a decision now that if you are going to teach a child to shoot you will do so responsibly.
Once you are satisfied that the young shooter is ready to handle a firearm it is time to hit the range - that is if you already have selected a firearms of suitable size and caliber for him. If you have not gotten the firearms already then a trip to the local gun shop is in order. My recommendation for a first firearm for a new shooter is a bolt action rifle in .22LR caliber. This is an especially good choice of first firearm for a new shooter who is a child. There are several things about a bolt action rifle that make them inherently safer than a semi-automatic. Of course, along those lines, there are at least a few things that would make some bolt action single shot rifles inherently safer than a repeater and many folks recommend them over repeaters. On the other hand, I recommend purchasing a bolt action repeating rifle fed by a box type magazine for use with new young shooters. The reasons I make this recommendation are as follow:
1. A bolt action rifle requires that the bolt be operated manually in order to fire it, then unload it, and fire it again for each shot. This is much more preferable than a semi-automatic rifle which only requires that the shooter repeatedly squeeze the trigger to fire it so long as it has ammunition. When it comes to safety especially with a young shooter who would probably be more easily distracted than a more mature student shooter the bolt is my choice. If the shooter is distracted with finger on trigger it could be disastrous if he or she turns and lets off a round, and another and another and another. Sure you want to train the youngster to pay attention and to execute proper firearms safety but even adults make mistakes at the range and it is just so much easier for a child to be distracted. A bolt action requires more concentration than does a semi-automatic rifle in that the shooter must remember to actively operate the bolt in order to unload and fire. If you shoot a lot and shoot semi-autos and bolts then almost certainly you can recall a time that you put down a semi, picked up a bolt, fired a shot and forgot to operate the bolt before squeezing the trigger for a second shot. Yep you have to think more when shooting a bolt action rifle, and thinking keeps the child shooter's mind focused on the task at hand. You could argue for a pump action here in that it requires the same amount of operation and thought, however a bolt action is inherently safe than is a pump gun for a few reasons. With the pump it is harder for smaller children to operate the mechanism than it is a bolt action thereby sometimes having the child contort or turn in an unsafe manner with the pump gun. Also, a hand that slips off of the fore stock while operating a pump gun can wind up in front of the muzzle, or the muzzle can wind up tilting in a bad direction. Finally while operating a pump action there is too much of a chance that the finger can be left on the trigger resulting in an unsafe shot being taken while the student shooter activates the pump in its forward motion. With a bolt action rifle that is properly operated, the trigger finger hand operates the bolt and therefore the trigger finger is removed from the trigger in order to do so. I'll take the bolt action any day as a beginner rifle.
2) The box type magazine is my choice of preference over a single shot, and over a tube magazine for beginning shooters because it is more versatile. The reasons for this are fairly simple. First of all if you buy a single shot rifle, you cannot progress from single shot to repeater without buying another rifle. Buying another rifle can have some advantages but also has some disadvantages. First and foremost is cost. Why buy two rifles when one will do the chore nicely. In addition you have to retrain the shooter for any difference in the mechanisms between the single shot and the repeater when you buy the second one. I prefer the repeater as a first rifle because it can be used as a single shot and then, when the shooter is ready, it can be used as a repeater. To use a box magazine fed repeating rifle as a single shot, simply place an unloaded magazine into the magazine well (be absolutely sure it is an unloaded magazine). Then load shots singularly directly into the chamber, have the student shooter shoot the shot, eject the spent shell casing, and reload with a single round again directly into the chamber. Once you as the responsible instructor are sure the child is ready to progress to a repeater you can then load the magazine with any number of rounds up to its full capacity and have the child shoot from a loaded magazine.
3) A box type magazine is safer than a tube magazine in my opinion because it is more easily operated with less risk to the shooter. Why, well because to load and unload a tube magazine you sometimes need to turn the gun in what is not the safest direction, or at least you need to bring the muzzle closer to you even if you pull the gun straight back without changing the direction of the muzzle. While removing it, your hand is very close to the muzzle. Not the nest of situations with a young shooter. A box magazine on a bolt action rifle is much easier to reach and remove from the rifle. Remember that if there is ever a need for the young student shooter to make the firearms safe, that will require clearing all ammunition from the rifle. That includes first taking finger off trigger, placing the safety into safe position, taking out the source of ammunition (the magazine), then clearing the chamber and assuring it is clear. It is much easier, in my opinion, for young hands to accomplish with a box magazine.
4) There are a large number of available bolt action box magazine fed rifles on the market. At least a few of them are made in youth models to fit younger shooters. Get one of these for smaller shooters because a smaller shooter will have more confidence using a rifle that he or she can properly operate, aim and shoot well.
Okay, enough on the rifle, let's get to the range. Try to select a rifle range that is actually a rifle range as opposed to learning how to shoot out in a field with a hill for a backstop. I am not saying a field with a good sized backstop is a bad thing mind you, just that I prefer a professional range. Choosing a professional range actually can do a few things to help the new shooter. First of all your child shooter will see this is serious business because there are range officers at the range. Secondly the child will probably be somewhat impressed by the range set up, and will learn somethings about the: firing line, downrange, line commands such as cease fire, and so forth. In addition the child will be able to watch some other shooters and how they get good or bad shooting done. Pointing out good and safe shooters, as opposed to bad and unsafe shooters, to the student child shooter can make a big and lasting impression and give the child someone to emulate. of course you probably want your child to emulate you but the child being able to see that other safe shooters do just what you told him or her to do will fix in in their mind that you were right all along.
While using a professional range where others are firing you should allow the child shooter, or any new shooter, to become accustomed to what is going on fort at least several minutes before you beginning teaching him or her to shoot. This is especially important if anyone nearby is going to be shooting large caliber firearms. The percussion caused by such firearms can be quite distracting and even frightening to a new shooter. Once they watch for a while and realize they are not going to be hurt, then the fun of learning to actually fire a gun can begin. If possible you may want to ask if there is a section of the range where it is less likely for you to encounter someone shooting larger calibers.
Bear in mind that while you are doing all of this at the range you have to be mindful of range safety. This means that both you and the child student shooter, and any bystanders are all wearing protective eye and ear covering. Note I did not say protective ear inserts. I much prefer protective ear covering as shooters ear muffs as opposed to ear plugs, but you can use ear plugs under the muff for additional hearing protection. As for eye protection I recommend only shooters' safety glasses or shooters' safety goggles. Regular eyeglasses are often not enough and anyone requiring prescription glasses should wear additional protection over them.
Once there is a break in the action, and the range is having a cease fire for target repair or replacement, you can set up your targets. Such a cease fire is not necessary at all ranges such as those with retrievable target holders (those for which you operate a crank or electronic mechanism to bring the target to you instead of you needing to go downrange). If at all possible, set up the targets at 50 feet or less, but not less than 15 feet (these distances are usually easiest to achieve at an indoor range with target holders on a pulley system that you can set at any distance as allowed by range policy at to the maximum for that range). Use the blank side of a 50 foot small bore target to face the shooter (this is easier than shooting at a bulls eye and once the child is hitting near center you switch to the other side and then shoot at the bulls eyes). Once your targets have been safely set up, and the commence fire com and is given, or when otherwise safe to fire, you can start in with shooting lessons for real. Ease the child into the first few shots by helpfully explaining what to do, and by giving hands on direction. if the child is not comfortable with this type of instruction explain that it is absolutely necessary because a firearm can be deadly. If the child resists this, then stop the lesson and take a break during which you can explain this is how it must be for at least the first several shots after which you will allow the child to shoot by himself with you watching nearby. Remember that is is extremely important that you as the responsible adult instructor are in control of the student and that it is not the student in control of you no matter how mature the child student shooter seems to be.
As the child is shooting talk him or her through the first shot by going over the basics. Make sure the child has a good hold on the rifle and a decent stance whether standing, seated or prone, supported or unsupported (I recommend support of some sort such as a bench). Then softly talk the child student through aiming, breath control, and squeezing the trigger to get off the first shot, and then make sure the child follows though without turning toward you for your approval. You want to make sure all the concentration is on the gun and shooting it safely. Then tell the child to take another shot in the same manner and again talk him through it. Do it one more time for an third shot. Then bring back the target for a look at it, or wait until the next cease fire if necessary to retrieve it for a look. Why only three shots? Well this is because it will give you a good idea of whether or not the rifle is sighted in for the shooter, or if the shooter is making some mistakes that need correction. Three shots are enough to read the target and through triangulation you can then formulate any corrective action. More shots will only muddy up the water so to speak. Fewer shots will not be enough to grasp whether or not the child was accurate or inaccurate with any reliability.
If you are at a range that requires you to await a cease fire before being able to retrieve your target the time waiting can be utilized to shoot another target (hopefully you have two points next to each other from which to shoot), or you can observe other shooters. Better yet you can ask the student shooter how he thought he did, and what it felt like doing it. Of course if you have a good spotting scope, you can check the target from the firing line and do not need to wait to retrieve it before making any adjustments in how the shooter is shooting or to the sights on the rifle. One of these days I'll buy a spotting scope; but if anyone out there is feeling generous after reading this, well I would not turn down an offer of a free one. If you do use a spotting scope, I recommend taking pen and paper and making a representative drawing of the target, then marking off where each shot has hit the actual target. This way there is no doubt as to where later shots hit the target. Even with a spotting scope, I recommend retrieving your target and putting up a frwsh one after about every 10 to 15 shots at most. Make the shooter take his or her time with those 15 shots and if you are on a range where you need to await a cease fire the time will fly by before you know it. Another way to take time while shooting, and I think is important not to rush a new shooter, is to take a short break after every three to 5 shots. The reason for the break is that holding a rifle is new to the student's muscles, and all the concentration required to shoot is or can be pretty stressful. So take some short breaks in between sets of shots. At frst three shots is enough. After the shooter has fired off three rounds, have him or her make the gun safe. Talk them through how to do so, then have them place the gun down on the bench pointing downrange, or back into a rack as appropriate at the range on which you are shooting. Follow the range rules in whatever you do, it only helps to solidify the concept of firearms safety for the child student shooter. Talk to the shooter, give him or her some pointers, and when ready go at it again.
If the student shooter has been right on target, that is great. Keep him or her shooting and if the accuracy proves reliable that is a good thing. If on the other hand the shots have not accurately and reliabley hit their mark, then you may neeed to either critique the shooter (as during one of the breaks I mentiuoned) or you may need to sight in the gun. Before changing anything with the sights talk to the shooter and ask what his or her sight picture and sight alignment look like. You need to know if they are seemingly getting that right before you even think of sight adjustment. Of course you also want to be sure they are properly holding the rifle and squeezing the trigger, but you need to watch their techniques on those rather than just aksing about them. If you think it may be that the sights need adjustment, then you try the rifle first. Even I can fire my son's Armscor 14-Y youth model bolt action rifle accurately. Yes it is a youth sized rifle, but that does not mean I cannot fire it. If it is shooting the same way for me as it does for the child, such as all shots low to the left, then I would need to make adjustments so that the rifle will fire higher and more to the right. If the rifle was shooting all over the paper for the child and is also shooting like that for me, then the rifle may need repair or the ammunition may need changing, or maybe I had just better improve my shooting. Shooting all over the paper like that is usually indicative of shooter error. Of course it could also be that there is a dominant eye problem too. If the child is a right handed shooter and is left eye dominant, you may have to take steps to adjust for shooting with the right eye such as blurring out the left lens of the shooting glasses - but do this only after making absolutely sure that it is a off side eye dominance problem, and only after consulting with and having the child examined by an eye doctor.
Shoot over the course of an hour or two but not more on the frst trip to the range. If there has been an laxness in safety it is something you must address as soon as you see it. Don't wait until later. Have the child take finger off of the trigger, make it safe, and then explain what was done that was unsafe with suggestons as to how to remain safe. Don't only find fault, make sure to praise things done right. If the young shooter showed some improvement over the course of that time from first shots to last then congratulate him or her on it. Congratulate the shooter likewise if he or she even hit the paper and did not improve, some people rally cannot hit the broadside of a barn, and I am not kidding. Even if the child shot poorly throughout the time at the range, congratulate him or her if she or he handled the firearm safely. Make sure to remain patient. I cannot recall how many times I have lost my patience while out with my son or daughter and ruined what would have otherewise been a good day, but I do know it has happened too many times. Patience is key to having fun while learning to shoot, i goes a long way toward helping the shooter keep at their goals, and keeps thing safer at the range. If you ever do lose your cool, make sure to recompose yourself before any more shooting, or even gun handling, is done.
Next time you go to the range continue with the basics. Don't ever assume that a child has retained everything you told him or showed her for the next time. Such an assumption could lead to a tragic accident. As the second range session progresses you may want to swirch targets to make things a little more interesting. Instead of using a bullseye target, why not try one with several bullseyes, or a small game target. Sooner or later you may decide to try shooting at places other than a professional rang. if you can find someplace where it would be practical you can set up a wide variety of targets from paper bullseye and small game targets to plastic bottles full of water (add food dye to make it more interesting), to ballons tethered on a short string (this way they will move in the breeze but keep the srting very short, only an inch or two of free string otherwise the balloon may blow off to one side or the other enough to make an unsafe shot very tempting). You may even wind up shooting at exploding targets (available commercially where legal). A good idea for a true beginner are splatter targets. These are essentially bullseye stickers that you place over a target and when a bullet hits them the black covering spaltters leaving a bright een or yellow under layer visible. If your eyes are good, you can tell from a good distance as to whether or not you hit your mark without a spotting scope.
Each time you are finished shooting, either at a range, out in a field, in your backyard (should you be so lucky to have a place to shoot on your property) you should teach the young shooter that cleanup is part of a range day; and that you do not leave the area until it has been cleaned. Once you get home you can have the youngster help clean the guns. This is a good way to help assure that young shooters will develop good habits leading to them maintaining their own firearms in good condition when they are old enough to own some for themselves. Of course with children you want to be especially careful when it comes to contact with such things as powder and lead solvents, fouling from firearms, oils, and lead. Make sure that the child wears proper protective clothing while helping to clean any firearms. Rubber gloves, eye protection, and a vinyl or other spill and splash proof apron would all be good things they should wear while doing the chore. A good wash up when done is highly recommended. In additio, once home from the range you will want to change out of your range clothing and throw them right into the wash. This helps cut down on any contamination of lead dust that may have ben picked up at the range. One other note about lead and lead dust exposure. You willr ecall I kept talking about a professional range above. I like to go to an indoor range when I teach youngsters to shoot if only because a properly operating indoor range will have a good ventilation system that sucks out the air containing powder and lead residues, and pumps in fresh and filtered air. You may think an outdoor range would be better than an indoor range for giving you fresh air, but that could possibly depend on which way the wind is blowing. I am not sure it is correct but I have heard that in this regard it is much better to shoot at an indoor range with a proper and fully functioning ventilation system.
By now you maybe thinking that I left out some things about teaching a child to shoot. For example I made no mention of how a child should be taught to hold a gun, nor did I describe in any detail sight alignment, sight picture, breathing control, trigger control and follow through. The reason I did not give specifics on those and other techniques that will lead to a child becoming a good shot is because that is their instructor's job and not mine. In other words, if you are planning on teaching your child how to shoot, you had better be ready to do so. Being ready means that you have all the basics down, and also have an idea of how you will go about teaching the basics to the new shooter. If you don't know the nomenclature of a gun you will be suing, or as related to guns in general, learn it before you think of teaching someone to shoot, and make sure you have it right. Same goes for all of the techniques of the actual handling and shooting of firearsm. Of course, the same also goes for firearms safety rules. More than anything else you want it to have been a safe and enjoyable experience when the day is done.
Speaking of safety, here are a couple of safety tips that you may or may not think of when going shooting. Have a first aid kit available for minor to serious injuries and know how to apply first aid. You do not need to be an EMT to stop or control bleeding if, heavens forbid, someone is shot or otherwise seriously wounded at the range. Take a first aid course if you don't have a clue, the life you save could be your child's, heck it could be your own. Teach your child what you have learned or have them go to the class with you. In addition to a good first aid kit, always, and I mean alway take along a charged cell phone. You could be out in the middle of nowhere and be with someone who gets seriously injured, and while the phone may not help there, as you get closer to a hospital the phone may wind up back in service. It just makes all the sooner that you can contact someone for help. As it is nowadays though, you are in cell phone range in much of the USA, and the phone will get throiugh on a call to 911 when you need it. Either way it is an important item to include on any range trip. Finally you should have an idea of where you can get medical aid if needed and you have to drive the injured person there. A little planning and preparation goes a long way to avoiding a fatal catastrophe should a bad accident occur.
Now you do not have to follow everything I recommended, and you may even think of something I left out that you deem important, bear in mind the very basics of teaching a child to shoot and it should turn out well. Those basics mean that if you strictly follow proper firearms safety, if you closely supervise the young student shooter, if you know what you are doing beforehand, if you do so at a professional range where the shooters are monitored by range officers in addition to you monitoring the new shooter, if you go at it with patience and a good attitude, then things are likely to turn out to be quite enjoyable for you and the young shooter. In closing let me say one thing about you - the person who is ready, willing and able to teach safe shooting to a youngster and then actually does so even if you only teach your own kids how to shoot - Bravo For You! You. You are among a minority in today's world, and you are preserving a piece of our American heritage that should never be forgotten - our right to keep and bear arms and our liberty to do so. Without folks like you, shooting sports will become a thing of the past.
All the best,
Glenn B
That other story is the one wherein the responsible shooter teaches his or her son how to shoot, or maybe even teaches someone else's kids how to shoot (with parental permission of course). Shooting is a great sport. In order to excel in shooting sports you need to be able to develop great eye and hand coordination, along with coordination of many muscles in other parts of the body. Shooting also requires a great deal of concentration. In addition, shooting sports require discipline. Before you can start any of this, safe sport shooting also requires that you learn about firearms safety, firearms nomenclature, and shooting in general in a classroom or sit down type situation before you ever handle a firearm. With all this in mind, shooting sports are a great pastime for children if done properly and at an age appropriate level with proper adult supervision. Starting children, as young as 7 or 8 years old in shooting sports was once common practice. While no longer as common a practice as it once was, children of that age can - under proper supervision of a responsible adult instructor - begin learning how to shoot (you will need to determine if your 7 or 8 year old exhibits enough concentration and discipline to be ready at that age). In my opinion, shooting sports are a great way to spend quality time with them.
Proper responsible adult supervision is a key element of training anyone to shoot. This goes for adults as well as children. In each instance, whether training adult or child, the responsible instructor should have a hands on approach at first. Yes, you read that correctly the responsible instructor should have a hands on approach. This need not be for an extended period and need not seem intrusive to the shooter but should take place at least for the first few shots fired by the new shooter. Simply put the responsible instructor should though use of verbal commands and helpful guidance with hands instruct the shooter in proper hold, proper direction for the muzzle, and other things like proper stance. As the shooter is taking those very first shots, it is advisable especially with young children to make sure the firearm is fully controlled by making sure the responsible adult instructor and the shooter both have hands on the firearm (or possibly that the instructor has hands on the shooter's hands for a handgun). Once the instructor is satisfied that the shooter has the basics down concerning safety, stance, grip, aim - it is then that the instructor can ease up a bit and allow the shooter to completely control the firearm. Of course this does not mean that the instructor should step back and away from the shooter; rather the instructor should remain within easy reach of the firearm should intervention be necessary in order to prevent the muzzle from pointing in a direction where it should not be pointed. With adult shooters, and even with teenagers, the instructor usually can step back and away from the shooter, out of arms reach, once the instructor is satisfied that the shooter is competent enough to continue on his own with instruction from a distance. However, when instructing younger children the instructor should remain within arms reach of the shooter for at least a few to several lesson after the instructor has been satisfied that the young shooter is competent and safe. Bear in mind that while adults and even some teenagers maybe ready to shoot on their own, young children should never be allowed to shoot without responsible adult supervision close at hand.
Before moving on to such things as the techniques and equipment I prefer to use to teach a child to shoot let me cover one word I used several times above. If you read the last paragraph again, you may notice I used a word in conjunction with the word instructor a few times and that I also used the same word in conjunction with adult a couple of or a few times. That word is RESPONSIBLE. When you teach anyone to shoot you must be responsible not only for your actions and instruction but also for the actions of the shooter (at least to some extent, and with young children you are held much more responsible than are they). The amount of responsibility changes over time as the shooter gains experience and become more competent at shooting safely; however when it comes to young children the adult supervising and instructing the child holds the great majority of the responsibility to make sure it is done both safely and correctly. So before you even think about setting out to teach someone to shoot, especially a child, you must be aware of such things as firearms nomenclature, firearms safety, the actual workings of the firearms you intend to use, how to hold a firearms, how to aim in a firearm, sight alignment and picture, trigger control, follow-trough and so forth. You must also have an idea of how you will present all of this to the potential new shooter before you begin.
Note I said to the potential new shooter in the last line above. Now, since I am mostly talking about firearms instruction for children, why on earth would I call a child a potential new shooter. For example let's say you are a parent who is adept at shooting sports. You are aware of the rules of firearms safety above and beyond the 4 rules that others so foolishly use as the only safety rules for firearms (yes there are many more cardinal rules of firearms safety other than the 4 taught by Jeff Cooper). You have thought ahead and you have prepared a brief lecture about nomenclature and safety so you can start your youngster off in the right direction, and you plan to begin shooting right after the lesson is given. You sit down your child, who is seemingly eager to learn how to shoot, and you start talking about the parts of the gun. After that you get into safety. As you are talking safety you notice that your child's mind has wandered off, and that he or she is daydreaming as children will do. My suggestion - stop the lessons - take a break. After the break of maybe 5 or 10 minutes see if the child is now paying attention or not. If the child still seems distracted, call it quits right then and there - at least for the day. Explain to the child why you are doing so, and further explain that full attention is needed for such important topics as nomenclature and firearms safety because the child having learned them will soon be shooting a real gun, and real guns can hurt or kill people. If the child does not seem able to fully comprehend the gravity of the situation, well then I strongly recommend that you hold off on teaching that child until he or she is ready to grasp those subjects with full attention geared at them. Bear in mind you are the RESPONSIBLE party in all of this; the child while needing to learn firearms nomenclature and safety before actually shooting will only do so if you make sure it is being done right. If you have any question about how to accomplish this you can take a firearms instructor course offered by NRA qualified firearms instructors, or you can take a hunter safety course and have your child take it with you. I am fairly certain that some states even allow children to young to hunt to take the hunter safety course. These course usually cover a lot to do with firearms safety and require passing a test at the end of the course. If your child is too young to take the test, he or she could sit through the class with you. In addition you could learn a lot from such a class yourself, probably enough for you to be able to formulate your own firearms safety course for your child with an age appropriate test at the end of the instruction. Am I harping on this subject, yes maybe I am. Why am I putting so much emphasis on it, well because all it takes is one bullet to ruin a lot of lives, and a stray bullet fired by your child could have devastating effects on the remainder of his or her life as well as on yours, let alone had devastating it would be to anyone who might get shot. Thin about that and make a decision now that if you are going to teach a child to shoot you will do so responsibly.
Once you are satisfied that the young shooter is ready to handle a firearm it is time to hit the range - that is if you already have selected a firearms of suitable size and caliber for him. If you have not gotten the firearms already then a trip to the local gun shop is in order. My recommendation for a first firearm for a new shooter is a bolt action rifle in .22LR caliber. This is an especially good choice of first firearm for a new shooter who is a child. There are several things about a bolt action rifle that make them inherently safer than a semi-automatic. Of course, along those lines, there are at least a few things that would make some bolt action single shot rifles inherently safer than a repeater and many folks recommend them over repeaters. On the other hand, I recommend purchasing a bolt action repeating rifle fed by a box type magazine for use with new young shooters. The reasons I make this recommendation are as follow:
1. A bolt action rifle requires that the bolt be operated manually in order to fire it, then unload it, and fire it again for each shot. This is much more preferable than a semi-automatic rifle which only requires that the shooter repeatedly squeeze the trigger to fire it so long as it has ammunition. When it comes to safety especially with a young shooter who would probably be more easily distracted than a more mature student shooter the bolt is my choice. If the shooter is distracted with finger on trigger it could be disastrous if he or she turns and lets off a round, and another and another and another. Sure you want to train the youngster to pay attention and to execute proper firearms safety but even adults make mistakes at the range and it is just so much easier for a child to be distracted. A bolt action requires more concentration than does a semi-automatic rifle in that the shooter must remember to actively operate the bolt in order to unload and fire. If you shoot a lot and shoot semi-autos and bolts then almost certainly you can recall a time that you put down a semi, picked up a bolt, fired a shot and forgot to operate the bolt before squeezing the trigger for a second shot. Yep you have to think more when shooting a bolt action rifle, and thinking keeps the child shooter's mind focused on the task at hand. You could argue for a pump action here in that it requires the same amount of operation and thought, however a bolt action is inherently safe than is a pump gun for a few reasons. With the pump it is harder for smaller children to operate the mechanism than it is a bolt action thereby sometimes having the child contort or turn in an unsafe manner with the pump gun. Also, a hand that slips off of the fore stock while operating a pump gun can wind up in front of the muzzle, or the muzzle can wind up tilting in a bad direction. Finally while operating a pump action there is too much of a chance that the finger can be left on the trigger resulting in an unsafe shot being taken while the student shooter activates the pump in its forward motion. With a bolt action rifle that is properly operated, the trigger finger hand operates the bolt and therefore the trigger finger is removed from the trigger in order to do so. I'll take the bolt action any day as a beginner rifle.
2) The box type magazine is my choice of preference over a single shot, and over a tube magazine for beginning shooters because it is more versatile. The reasons for this are fairly simple. First of all if you buy a single shot rifle, you cannot progress from single shot to repeater without buying another rifle. Buying another rifle can have some advantages but also has some disadvantages. First and foremost is cost. Why buy two rifles when one will do the chore nicely. In addition you have to retrain the shooter for any difference in the mechanisms between the single shot and the repeater when you buy the second one. I prefer the repeater as a first rifle because it can be used as a single shot and then, when the shooter is ready, it can be used as a repeater. To use a box magazine fed repeating rifle as a single shot, simply place an unloaded magazine into the magazine well (be absolutely sure it is an unloaded magazine). Then load shots singularly directly into the chamber, have the student shooter shoot the shot, eject the spent shell casing, and reload with a single round again directly into the chamber. Once you as the responsible instructor are sure the child is ready to progress to a repeater you can then load the magazine with any number of rounds up to its full capacity and have the child shoot from a loaded magazine.
3) A box type magazine is safer than a tube magazine in my opinion because it is more easily operated with less risk to the shooter. Why, well because to load and unload a tube magazine you sometimes need to turn the gun in what is not the safest direction, or at least you need to bring the muzzle closer to you even if you pull the gun straight back without changing the direction of the muzzle. While removing it, your hand is very close to the muzzle. Not the nest of situations with a young shooter. A box magazine on a bolt action rifle is much easier to reach and remove from the rifle. Remember that if there is ever a need for the young student shooter to make the firearms safe, that will require clearing all ammunition from the rifle. That includes first taking finger off trigger, placing the safety into safe position, taking out the source of ammunition (the magazine), then clearing the chamber and assuring it is clear. It is much easier, in my opinion, for young hands to accomplish with a box magazine.
4) There are a large number of available bolt action box magazine fed rifles on the market. At least a few of them are made in youth models to fit younger shooters. Get one of these for smaller shooters because a smaller shooter will have more confidence using a rifle that he or she can properly operate, aim and shoot well.
Okay, enough on the rifle, let's get to the range. Try to select a rifle range that is actually a rifle range as opposed to learning how to shoot out in a field with a hill for a backstop. I am not saying a field with a good sized backstop is a bad thing mind you, just that I prefer a professional range. Choosing a professional range actually can do a few things to help the new shooter. First of all your child shooter will see this is serious business because there are range officers at the range. Secondly the child will probably be somewhat impressed by the range set up, and will learn somethings about the: firing line, downrange, line commands such as cease fire, and so forth. In addition the child will be able to watch some other shooters and how they get good or bad shooting done. Pointing out good and safe shooters, as opposed to bad and unsafe shooters, to the student child shooter can make a big and lasting impression and give the child someone to emulate. of course you probably want your child to emulate you but the child being able to see that other safe shooters do just what you told him or her to do will fix in in their mind that you were right all along.
While using a professional range where others are firing you should allow the child shooter, or any new shooter, to become accustomed to what is going on fort at least several minutes before you beginning teaching him or her to shoot. This is especially important if anyone nearby is going to be shooting large caliber firearms. The percussion caused by such firearms can be quite distracting and even frightening to a new shooter. Once they watch for a while and realize they are not going to be hurt, then the fun of learning to actually fire a gun can begin. If possible you may want to ask if there is a section of the range where it is less likely for you to encounter someone shooting larger calibers.
Bear in mind that while you are doing all of this at the range you have to be mindful of range safety. This means that both you and the child student shooter, and any bystanders are all wearing protective eye and ear covering. Note I did not say protective ear inserts. I much prefer protective ear covering as shooters ear muffs as opposed to ear plugs, but you can use ear plugs under the muff for additional hearing protection. As for eye protection I recommend only shooters' safety glasses or shooters' safety goggles. Regular eyeglasses are often not enough and anyone requiring prescription glasses should wear additional protection over them.
Once there is a break in the action, and the range is having a cease fire for target repair or replacement, you can set up your targets. Such a cease fire is not necessary at all ranges such as those with retrievable target holders (those for which you operate a crank or electronic mechanism to bring the target to you instead of you needing to go downrange). If at all possible, set up the targets at 50 feet or less, but not less than 15 feet (these distances are usually easiest to achieve at an indoor range with target holders on a pulley system that you can set at any distance as allowed by range policy at to the maximum for that range). Use the blank side of a 50 foot small bore target to face the shooter (this is easier than shooting at a bulls eye and once the child is hitting near center you switch to the other side and then shoot at the bulls eyes). Once your targets have been safely set up, and the commence fire com and is given, or when otherwise safe to fire, you can start in with shooting lessons for real. Ease the child into the first few shots by helpfully explaining what to do, and by giving hands on direction. if the child is not comfortable with this type of instruction explain that it is absolutely necessary because a firearm can be deadly. If the child resists this, then stop the lesson and take a break during which you can explain this is how it must be for at least the first several shots after which you will allow the child to shoot by himself with you watching nearby. Remember that is is extremely important that you as the responsible adult instructor are in control of the student and that it is not the student in control of you no matter how mature the child student shooter seems to be.
As the child is shooting talk him or her through the first shot by going over the basics. Make sure the child has a good hold on the rifle and a decent stance whether standing, seated or prone, supported or unsupported (I recommend support of some sort such as a bench). Then softly talk the child student through aiming, breath control, and squeezing the trigger to get off the first shot, and then make sure the child follows though without turning toward you for your approval. You want to make sure all the concentration is on the gun and shooting it safely. Then tell the child to take another shot in the same manner and again talk him through it. Do it one more time for an third shot. Then bring back the target for a look at it, or wait until the next cease fire if necessary to retrieve it for a look. Why only three shots? Well this is because it will give you a good idea of whether or not the rifle is sighted in for the shooter, or if the shooter is making some mistakes that need correction. Three shots are enough to read the target and through triangulation you can then formulate any corrective action. More shots will only muddy up the water so to speak. Fewer shots will not be enough to grasp whether or not the child was accurate or inaccurate with any reliability.
If you are at a range that requires you to await a cease fire before being able to retrieve your target the time waiting can be utilized to shoot another target (hopefully you have two points next to each other from which to shoot), or you can observe other shooters. Better yet you can ask the student shooter how he thought he did, and what it felt like doing it. Of course if you have a good spotting scope, you can check the target from the firing line and do not need to wait to retrieve it before making any adjustments in how the shooter is shooting or to the sights on the rifle. One of these days I'll buy a spotting scope; but if anyone out there is feeling generous after reading this, well I would not turn down an offer of a free one. If you do use a spotting scope, I recommend taking pen and paper and making a representative drawing of the target, then marking off where each shot has hit the actual target. This way there is no doubt as to where later shots hit the target. Even with a spotting scope, I recommend retrieving your target and putting up a frwsh one after about every 10 to 15 shots at most. Make the shooter take his or her time with those 15 shots and if you are on a range where you need to await a cease fire the time will fly by before you know it. Another way to take time while shooting, and I think is important not to rush a new shooter, is to take a short break after every three to 5 shots. The reason for the break is that holding a rifle is new to the student's muscles, and all the concentration required to shoot is or can be pretty stressful. So take some short breaks in between sets of shots. At frst three shots is enough. After the shooter has fired off three rounds, have him or her make the gun safe. Talk them through how to do so, then have them place the gun down on the bench pointing downrange, or back into a rack as appropriate at the range on which you are shooting. Follow the range rules in whatever you do, it only helps to solidify the concept of firearms safety for the child student shooter. Talk to the shooter, give him or her some pointers, and when ready go at it again.
If the student shooter has been right on target, that is great. Keep him or her shooting and if the accuracy proves reliable that is a good thing. If on the other hand the shots have not accurately and reliabley hit their mark, then you may neeed to either critique the shooter (as during one of the breaks I mentiuoned) or you may need to sight in the gun. Before changing anything with the sights talk to the shooter and ask what his or her sight picture and sight alignment look like. You need to know if they are seemingly getting that right before you even think of sight adjustment. Of course you also want to be sure they are properly holding the rifle and squeezing the trigger, but you need to watch their techniques on those rather than just aksing about them. If you think it may be that the sights need adjustment, then you try the rifle first. Even I can fire my son's Armscor 14-Y youth model bolt action rifle accurately. Yes it is a youth sized rifle, but that does not mean I cannot fire it. If it is shooting the same way for me as it does for the child, such as all shots low to the left, then I would need to make adjustments so that the rifle will fire higher and more to the right. If the rifle was shooting all over the paper for the child and is also shooting like that for me, then the rifle may need repair or the ammunition may need changing, or maybe I had just better improve my shooting. Shooting all over the paper like that is usually indicative of shooter error. Of course it could also be that there is a dominant eye problem too. If the child is a right handed shooter and is left eye dominant, you may have to take steps to adjust for shooting with the right eye such as blurring out the left lens of the shooting glasses - but do this only after making absolutely sure that it is a off side eye dominance problem, and only after consulting with and having the child examined by an eye doctor.
Shoot over the course of an hour or two but not more on the frst trip to the range. If there has been an laxness in safety it is something you must address as soon as you see it. Don't wait until later. Have the child take finger off of the trigger, make it safe, and then explain what was done that was unsafe with suggestons as to how to remain safe. Don't only find fault, make sure to praise things done right. If the young shooter showed some improvement over the course of that time from first shots to last then congratulate him or her on it. Congratulate the shooter likewise if he or she even hit the paper and did not improve, some people rally cannot hit the broadside of a barn, and I am not kidding. Even if the child shot poorly throughout the time at the range, congratulate him or her if she or he handled the firearm safely. Make sure to remain patient. I cannot recall how many times I have lost my patience while out with my son or daughter and ruined what would have otherewise been a good day, but I do know it has happened too many times. Patience is key to having fun while learning to shoot, i goes a long way toward helping the shooter keep at their goals, and keeps thing safer at the range. If you ever do lose your cool, make sure to recompose yourself before any more shooting, or even gun handling, is done.
Next time you go to the range continue with the basics. Don't ever assume that a child has retained everything you told him or showed her for the next time. Such an assumption could lead to a tragic accident. As the second range session progresses you may want to swirch targets to make things a little more interesting. Instead of using a bullseye target, why not try one with several bullseyes, or a small game target. Sooner or later you may decide to try shooting at places other than a professional rang. if you can find someplace where it would be practical you can set up a wide variety of targets from paper bullseye and small game targets to plastic bottles full of water (add food dye to make it more interesting), to ballons tethered on a short string (this way they will move in the breeze but keep the srting very short, only an inch or two of free string otherwise the balloon may blow off to one side or the other enough to make an unsafe shot very tempting). You may even wind up shooting at exploding targets (available commercially where legal). A good idea for a true beginner are splatter targets. These are essentially bullseye stickers that you place over a target and when a bullet hits them the black covering spaltters leaving a bright een or yellow under layer visible. If your eyes are good, you can tell from a good distance as to whether or not you hit your mark without a spotting scope.
Each time you are finished shooting, either at a range, out in a field, in your backyard (should you be so lucky to have a place to shoot on your property) you should teach the young shooter that cleanup is part of a range day; and that you do not leave the area until it has been cleaned. Once you get home you can have the youngster help clean the guns. This is a good way to help assure that young shooters will develop good habits leading to them maintaining their own firearms in good condition when they are old enough to own some for themselves. Of course with children you want to be especially careful when it comes to contact with such things as powder and lead solvents, fouling from firearms, oils, and lead. Make sure that the child wears proper protective clothing while helping to clean any firearms. Rubber gloves, eye protection, and a vinyl or other spill and splash proof apron would all be good things they should wear while doing the chore. A good wash up when done is highly recommended. In additio, once home from the range you will want to change out of your range clothing and throw them right into the wash. This helps cut down on any contamination of lead dust that may have ben picked up at the range. One other note about lead and lead dust exposure. You willr ecall I kept talking about a professional range above. I like to go to an indoor range when I teach youngsters to shoot if only because a properly operating indoor range will have a good ventilation system that sucks out the air containing powder and lead residues, and pumps in fresh and filtered air. You may think an outdoor range would be better than an indoor range for giving you fresh air, but that could possibly depend on which way the wind is blowing. I am not sure it is correct but I have heard that in this regard it is much better to shoot at an indoor range with a proper and fully functioning ventilation system.
By now you maybe thinking that I left out some things about teaching a child to shoot. For example I made no mention of how a child should be taught to hold a gun, nor did I describe in any detail sight alignment, sight picture, breathing control, trigger control and follow through. The reason I did not give specifics on those and other techniques that will lead to a child becoming a good shot is because that is their instructor's job and not mine. In other words, if you are planning on teaching your child how to shoot, you had better be ready to do so. Being ready means that you have all the basics down, and also have an idea of how you will go about teaching the basics to the new shooter. If you don't know the nomenclature of a gun you will be suing, or as related to guns in general, learn it before you think of teaching someone to shoot, and make sure you have it right. Same goes for all of the techniques of the actual handling and shooting of firearsm. Of course, the same also goes for firearms safety rules. More than anything else you want it to have been a safe and enjoyable experience when the day is done.
Speaking of safety, here are a couple of safety tips that you may or may not think of when going shooting. Have a first aid kit available for minor to serious injuries and know how to apply first aid. You do not need to be an EMT to stop or control bleeding if, heavens forbid, someone is shot or otherwise seriously wounded at the range. Take a first aid course if you don't have a clue, the life you save could be your child's, heck it could be your own. Teach your child what you have learned or have them go to the class with you. In addition to a good first aid kit, always, and I mean alway take along a charged cell phone. You could be out in the middle of nowhere and be with someone who gets seriously injured, and while the phone may not help there, as you get closer to a hospital the phone may wind up back in service. It just makes all the sooner that you can contact someone for help. As it is nowadays though, you are in cell phone range in much of the USA, and the phone will get throiugh on a call to 911 when you need it. Either way it is an important item to include on any range trip. Finally you should have an idea of where you can get medical aid if needed and you have to drive the injured person there. A little planning and preparation goes a long way to avoiding a fatal catastrophe should a bad accident occur.
Now you do not have to follow everything I recommended, and you may even think of something I left out that you deem important, bear in mind the very basics of teaching a child to shoot and it should turn out well. Those basics mean that if you strictly follow proper firearms safety, if you closely supervise the young student shooter, if you know what you are doing beforehand, if you do so at a professional range where the shooters are monitored by range officers in addition to you monitoring the new shooter, if you go at it with patience and a good attitude, then things are likely to turn out to be quite enjoyable for you and the young shooter. In closing let me say one thing about you - the person who is ready, willing and able to teach safe shooting to a youngster and then actually does so even if you only teach your own kids how to shoot - Bravo For You! You. You are among a minority in today's world, and you are preserving a piece of our American heritage that should never be forgotten - our right to keep and bear arms and our liberty to do so. Without folks like you, shooting sports will become a thing of the past.
All the best,
Glenn B
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Obama's First Change
While running for the presidency, then senator Barack Hussein Obama pledged that his government would be one of change. As president elect, under new policies put into place by President George W. Bush, president elect Obama began to select his cabinet; but from the looks of things there was no real change taking place - his cabinet consisted of many old Washington, DC hacks including quite a few from the prior Clinton Administration. So where was all this change that Obama had spoken about, when would it come. We did not have to wait long to find out, but I have seen little mention of it, certainly nothing on the major online news media networks that I remember. On the bitterly cold night of January 20th, just hours after Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as president of the United States of America, he instituted what may have been his first change in the way presidents have done things for the past 56 years, and that was by way of the cold shoulder. The most telling thing about the change I am about to describe is that it was one that had the effect of being extremely discourteous and disrespectful to the members of the United States Military Services. You see, ever since the day of the presidential inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower in January 1953, each and every president since then - with only one exception - has attended a certain gala event - a ball - on the night of his inauguration. Of course, President Obama attended many balls on the night of his inauguration, just like virtually all others before him. He reportedly attended 10 balls that night, all with no worry about time to attend and no worry about whether or not security would be tight enough at each. As a matter of fact his disregard for security concerns was amazing considering the amount of drug users and other undesirables who would be at some of these events; but that is not the point. The point is that he attended these events and had no excuse not to attend them. He attended such events as: The Neighborhood Ball, The Home State Ball (for two states, both Illinois and Hawaii), the Commander In Chief Ball, a youth ball, and several regional balls. Yet somehow he managed to miss a ball that every president since and including Dwight D. Eisenhower back in 1953 was able to attend, one that he was honor bound to attend if only because of his dependence upon the image of Abraham Lincoln.
The one he missed was the Salute To Heroes Inaugural Ball. This ball is special indeed because it honors a group of very select individuals. The people who are honored, as one can guess from the name of the ball, are all heroes. More importantly they are American heroes - either citizens or legal immigrants. Even more importantly is the type of hero who is honored. You see these are not make believe television heroes, they are not sports figures who earn millions, they are not rappers, they are not talk show hosts, they are not political hacks - or in other words they are not like many if not most of those in attendance at the balls President Barack Hussein Obama actually attended. While they can be any of the above, in fact they could be any loyal American man or woman of almost any background at all, there is something else that makes them heroes, something different about them. That something is that they have all performed their duties heroically. You see, these heroes the real deal.
The people honored by the Salute To Heroes Inaugural Ball are ones who have been honored since 1953 by the American Legion and 13 other veterans organizations, and who should be honored by each and every citizen and legal resident alien (and anyone else) living in the U.S.A.. They have also been honored by each and every president since then with the one exception of Barack Hussein Obama. You see this ball honors those of the United States Military who have achieved the highest honor that this land can bestow upon any of her military service people. They are all medal of honor winners. This year there were reportedly 47 (or 48 depending on which report you see) medal of honor winners in attendance at the ball. Yes, that means there were 48 folks there who risked their own lives doing service for our country above and beyond the call of duty; and guess what - President Barack Hussein Obama turned a cold shoulder to them. He apparently paid them less attention than he would a piece of dog excrement stuck on his shoe. While he sent Vice president Joe Biden to said ball, I would be willing to bet that President Obama himself would take the effort to scrape dog excrement off of his own shoe instead of having the Vice President do it for him.
So with whom did President Obama decide to spend his evening/night at the 10 balls he attended. Well he spent some of it it with these people instead of with the Medal Of Honor Winners: Stevie Wonder, Shakira, Mary. J. Blige, Faith Hill, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Adam Levine, will.i.am, Sting, Mariah Carey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kanye West, Kid Rock, Marc Anthony, Cheryl Crow, Beyonce, Usher, Shakira, will.i.am, Samuel L. Jackson, Sting. I have to wonder, other than in movies, what honors have they won for service to their country.
What is the Medal of Honor. Well first of all it is correctly called The Congressional Medal Of Honor. Not because it is awarded by congress, it is actually awarded by the president, but because it was a bill put through Congress that led to its creation and because it is awarded in the name of Congress. This medal is an award, no actually more an honor, bestowed upon servicemen and women of the United States Military forces who have distinguished themselves either in battle or otherwise in the face of the enemy during hostilities. It is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a U.S. Military Service Person. There are three types of Medal of Honor currently awarded, one for the Army (pictured), one for the Navy and one for the Air Force. President Lincoln signed the bill into law, on July 12, 1862 authorizing this Medal of Honor. To date about 3,468 of them have been awarded for heroism "above and beyond the call of duty". Yes folks that means that out of all of the U.S. soldiers, seamen, marines and airmen who have served their country since July 12, 1862, only a relative handful have performed their duties in a manner to become Medal of Honor recipients. Only those few since the time of Lincoln!
Yes, you remember president Abraham Lincoln. He is the same president upon whose bible President Elect Barack Hussein Obama laid his hand while swearing into office. Lincoln, whom Senator Obama quoted and referred to throughout his own candidacy. Lincoln who sent northern soldiers to fight against their brothers in the south so that slaves could be freed and all men would truly become equal while at the same time preserving the Union. Lincoln, the president who was in office when the Medal of Honor was created, and who signed the bill authorizing its creation. Lincoln the first president to award said medal to anyone. Lincoln, the man upon whose image President Obama leans so heavily. I wonder, would Abraham Lincoln have snubbed Medal of Honor winners on the night of his inauguration had such a ball been held back then. I doubt it very much, it is not fitting with the history of that great man. I think, and this is my personal opinion, only a lessor man would do so, a much lessor man in my opinion.
Now as for the people whom in essence seemingly were ignored by President Obama, those living Medal of Honor winners who were in attendance at the 2009 Salute To The Heroes Inaugural Ball - who are they? I don't know, I do not have their names, but you can be assured that they deserved much more from our 44th president. If you want, you probably need do just a bit of detective work to find out who attended. You see there are only about 98 living Medal of Honor winners today, and 47 or 48 or them attended this ball. Even without knowing who they are I can tell you something about them, and the words I will use are to be found in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 32, Volume 2, Revised as of July 1, 2002, from the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 32CFR578.4][Page 395-396]. You can see them by visiting this link: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2002/julqtr/32cfr578.4.htm; but I will also reprint them here. These words tell you more than I ever could about who are the men and women who have received the Medal Of Honor (please note the below is specific to the Army but the words pretty much describe those of all branches of service who have received the medal):
The Medal of Honor, established by Joint Resolution of Congress, 12 July 1862 (amended by Act of 9 July 1918 and Act of 25 July 1963) is awarded in the name of Congress to a person who, while a member of the Army, distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party (figure 1). The deed performed must have been one of personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his comrades and must have involved risk of life. Incontestable proof of the performance of the service will be exacted and each recommendation for the award of this decoration will be considered on the standard of extraordinary merit. Eligibility is limited to members of the Army of the United States in active Federal military service.
Did you catch this part: "...distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States..."
What about this part: "The deed performed must have been one of personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his comrades and must have involved risk of life."
Do you see it? Do you realize the type of people who are the winners of the Medal of Honor? These heroes are not the plastic type, they are as I said above - the real deal. They are people who have gone beyond anything that others have done in the service of their country, and many have paid with their lives while doing so. Yet, there was no time in the president's busy but gala schedule to attend a ball honoring them.
What about this one: "Incontestable proof of the performance of the service will be exacted and each recommendation for the award of this decoration will be considered on the standard of extraordinary merit."
Do you understand that one? What it is saying is that in order to receive the medal of Honor, the act performed must have been proven upon the standard of extraordinary merit. Heck our current president apparently did not even have to prove, by way of producing even a birth certificate, that he was a natural born citizen of the United States. Our president is the same man who during his campaign promised great respect for our military. Yet, he evidently again fails to prove himself, and his words, by way of not giving the same respect as others before him, since 1953, have given to these brave few who performed deeds "...of personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his comrades and must have involved risk of life." Medal of Honor winners - who are they? They are the people of the United States Military who first won their medals during Lincoln's war. These are people who "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States" did the right thing for their country. That is who they are, the winners of the Medal Of Honor; but who is President Barack Hussein Obama? In my opinion President Barack Hussein Obama is the man who now holds the distinct dishonor of being the first president throughout a 56 year span and 14 presidential inaugurations to show the Medal of Honor recipients disrespect by not attending the inaugural ball. On January 20, 2009, at the Salute To The Heroes Inaugural Ball, the Medal of Honor recipients were ready to honor their new president as they had done without fail at 14 inaugurations prior this one; but in a change from those prior 14 inaugurations this president was not willing to honor them. Is that the change he promised us?
All the best,
Glenn B
references:
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Beretta 92FS - New U.S. Military Contract
As you may or may not be aware, I am a big fan of the Beretta 92 series of pistols. I own one 92SB (the pistol of my Ballseye 15 minutes of fame) and two 92FS Berettas. I like em, they work well, they take a beating and keep on shooting, and they are easy to maintain. It seems that the U.S. Army agrees with me since they have just awarded Beretta a new contract to supply up to 450,000 92FS pistols to U.S. military customers worldwide. This includes an order for 20,000 pistols for the Iraqi military. I am impressed, I wish I owned stock in Beretta.I have to admit, all in all, my Berettas have been my favorite pistols over the years. From the .25 caliber Jetfire, to the .22LR model 70S, and the .22LR model 21, to the 92SB to the 92FS, I have loved em all
All the best,
Glenn B
The Anticipation Is Just About Killing Me...
...as I await the planned big announcement that is going to be made by ClassicArms.us early next month. Here is the way they put it, and I quote:
TODAY IS MONDAY 01/26/2009
TICK-TOCK... TICK-TOCK...TICK-TOCK...TICK-TOCK.... 
THE CLOCK IS TICKING ON A HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT AND SOME EXCITING NEWS THAT WE WILL BE BREAKING IN EARLY FEBRUARY.
STAY TUNED. GREAT THINGS LIE JUST AHEAD.
Now you tell me folks, should I be excited. Are they going to announce a great deal on some new mil-surplus rifles. I hope so, but gosh darn it, chances are that whatever it is they are getting in stock will be illegal here in the land of anti-gun nuts Schumer & McCarthy. Then again I may get lucky and find out that whatever they are getting in stock will be a gun that is completely legal here in NY as well as across the rest of the nation, that it will be selling for less than $250 apiece, and that it will be C&R eligible. If so, I am probably going to buy one. One can only hope.
Of course one can hope that maybe they are also getting in a huge lot of 7.62x39 current production commercial ammo that is stuff of decent quality, and that prices of 2 years ago have returned. In that case I'll be buying more than a case.
Now anything they may announce could all be ruined by an announcement that the House and Senate have passed a new assault weapons ban before then that was signed by the president almost as soon as it was passed. Chances are slim for that to happen so quickly, but you can bet that something miserable like that is in the works. Hopefully whatever Classic Arms is about to announce will assure we can get hold of some decent arms before a new AWB goes into place.
All the best,
Glenn B
CheaperThanDirt.com - What Do They Know That We Do Not?
I am referring to the price of Wolf 7.62x39 Military Classic Ammo at CheaperThanDirt.com. It is a whopping $399.99 per case of 1,000 rounds as shown on their website today 01/28/2009. So I checked over at Sportmansguide.com - they apparently are out of it and do not even show Wolf 7.62x39 at all on their site. I also checked at Ammoman.com, they are out of stock. I then checked at AimSurplus.com and they did not have any listed in the caliber. I also checked with CenterfireSystems.com and they do not show any 7.62x39 ammo, well not real ammo anyway, they do have blanks for sale. Nor does ClassicArms.us show any ammo in this caliber for sale.
JGSales.com has Golden Tiger 7.62x39 FMJ with steel cases available (as per their website, who knows if they actually have any) going for $239.00 per case of 1,000 rounds. I do not have the money or I would be trying to order a case from them. (Thanks to my son's college, I will be paying about $295 just for two books for one Biology class. I cannot wait to see how much the books for his other 4 classes will cost.) We have some 7.62x39 on hand, I am guessing enough to last a year of shooting if we dole it out carefully, and then some. Lucky for us I bought ammo as soon as the presidential election results were in.
If you need any 7.62x39 ammunition, I strongly recommend (where legal) that you try to find some at a decent price and then buy as much as you can afford. Then store it for a rainy day, or something like that. Chances are that things will not be getting much better any time soon with the most rabidly anti-gun administration in place in Washington in our lifetimes.
All the best,
Glenn B
JGSales.com has Golden Tiger 7.62x39 FMJ with steel cases available (as per their website, who knows if they actually have any) going for $239.00 per case of 1,000 rounds. I do not have the money or I would be trying to order a case from them. (Thanks to my son's college, I will be paying about $295 just for two books for one Biology class. I cannot wait to see how much the books for his other 4 classes will cost.) We have some 7.62x39 on hand, I am guessing enough to last a year of shooting if we dole it out carefully, and then some. Lucky for us I bought ammo as soon as the presidential election results were in.
If you need any 7.62x39 ammunition, I strongly recommend (where legal) that you try to find some at a decent price and then buy as much as you can afford. Then store it for a rainy day, or something like that. Chances are that things will not be getting much better any time soon with the most rabidly anti-gun administration in place in Washington in our lifetimes.
All the best,
Glenn B
The Weather Has Not Got Me Down...
...but the weatherman certainly is trying to do so. I got finished shoveling about 4 inches of wet snow an hour ago. I am a little achy since I did not only my small sidewalk but also my neighbors pretty large corner sidewalk (he is in Florida - and is apparently happier with the weather he is enjoying than am I with mine).
My wife and I need to go today to get grocery shopping done, the weekly stuff we get from either COSTCO or BJ's. We are also going to visit my mom who once again is in the hospital due to a bad fall on Monday night or early Tuesday morning (she was found unconscious in her room, but at least nothing was broken). Because we are going out, I decided to check on the weather. According to the radio weather reports we are to get continued freezing rain, sleet and more snow throughout the day and evening. Being an Internet junky, I also checked online with MSN. Their weather report said this under "Today's Forecast":
TODAY - SPRINKLES
Well, I hate to tell them but sprinkles do not deposit 4 inches of that cold and wet white stuff on the ground. Nor do sprinkles come down in the form of steady fairly heavy rain, as it has now being doing over the past couple of hours or so; unless of course the word sprinkles means something different to them than it does to me. I think though they know what the word sprinkles means, and it is not heavy snow, nor is it fairly heavy and constant rain. Then again, isn't it the folks at MSN who went right along with that pompous buffoon Al Gore on Global Warming. Yep it was them at least as I remember, them and most of the rest of the media and the companies associated with them! Maybe the globe is warming, maybe all of this snow and cold we are experiencing is a result of the ice cap melting and all that cold coming down this way - and maybe they are all full of themselves in their inability to even report the weather while it is actually taking place. Sprinkles indeed - balderdash!
All the best,
Glenn B
My wife and I need to go today to get grocery shopping done, the weekly stuff we get from either COSTCO or BJ's. We are also going to visit my mom who once again is in the hospital due to a bad fall on Monday night or early Tuesday morning (she was found unconscious in her room, but at least nothing was broken). Because we are going out, I decided to check on the weather. According to the radio weather reports we are to get continued freezing rain, sleet and more snow throughout the day and evening. Being an Internet junky, I also checked online with MSN. Their weather report said this under "Today's Forecast":
TODAY - SPRINKLES
Well, I hate to tell them but sprinkles do not deposit 4 inches of that cold and wet white stuff on the ground. Nor do sprinkles come down in the form of steady fairly heavy rain, as it has now being doing over the past couple of hours or so; unless of course the word sprinkles means something different to them than it does to me. I think though they know what the word sprinkles means, and it is not heavy snow, nor is it fairly heavy and constant rain. Then again, isn't it the folks at MSN who went right along with that pompous buffoon Al Gore on Global Warming. Yep it was them at least as I remember, them and most of the rest of the media and the companies associated with them! Maybe the globe is warming, maybe all of this snow and cold we are experiencing is a result of the ice cap melting and all that cold coming down this way - and maybe they are all full of themselves in their inability to even report the weather while it is actually taking place. Sprinkles indeed - balderdash!
All the best,
Glenn B
Still Time To Oppose The Economic Bailout Vote...
...since that vote takes place later today. Has anyone wondered what will happen if the plan does not work. I just heard a newscaster quote Representative Charles Rangel of New York when asked that question, his answer according to the reporter: "I don't know". There is not even a back-up plan in place for what will be done if the plan using hundreds of billions of dollars of tax payers money goes bottom up, not even a plan. Is that because politicians are so confident it will work, or because they believe it must work otherwise we are doomed because they are shortsighted and inept and don't have any clue as what else could be done. I believe the latter. I will again be emailing and calling my representatives and my senators to tell them to oppose the bailout. Although I feel almost sure my calls will go unheeded, they may not if enough of us make them likewise. A link to contact Congress and the White House can be found on the right side of my blog. Use it!
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, January 25, 2009
A Comparison of Our Law Enforcement Officers To Nazis...
...is something that all too often can often be found on forums on the Internet. As a matter of fact, I recently visited a firearms forum in which the actions of police here in the USA were compared as being similar to Nazis. In the particular instance being discussed, a man was out doing yard work while legally wearing a handgun in a holster. The handgun was worn in plain view (which was quite legal where he lived). One of his neighbors called then police to report him. The police responded, detained the man wearing the gun, and after a somewhat extended period of detention decided to arrest him for disturbing the peace, or so the story is told. In the forum discussion about this event, our police (the officers in question, and law enforcement in general in the USA) were compared to Nazis in an unfavorable light for our police. I replied twice to said forum and in both posts I made sure to point out that I thought it ludicrous for people in general to say that law enforcement officers in the USA are similar to the Nazis. (Oh did I forget to mention, the man is now suing the police. Can you imagine someone arrested in WWII suing the Nazis over said arrest?)
Why do I think that our law enforcement, here in the USA, are not like the Nazis. I guess it can be best explained by my second post at said forum, and I have reprinted my response below:
"Some of you folks really seem to have little to no real comprehension of what Nazism was all about, or about Nazis themselves. You continue to twist the facts to make it look as if the police in the USA are strikingly similar to them. Do they use informants, yes but so have all police departments throughout history - so maybe you got it backwards - maybe the Nazis were using a technique used by legitimate authorities for their own twisted ends. As for the Nazis using words like "papers please" you have been watching too many WWII propaganda movies. They did not ask for papers please in the course of making arrests, they carted people off while the people dirtied themselves out of fear. Papers Please - you really believe that about Nazis, yeah maybe when they dealt with a delegate from another government or from the International Red Cross, or when they were being ruthlessly sarcastic, but you have got to be kidding that you think the Nazis routinely used such courtesies. No the police in this country for the great majority are nothing at all like Nazis, but you can believe what you want. Or you can try to find out what it was really like. Why not get together with a survivor of Nazi Germany, or better yet with several of them, and discuss Nazis with them. Your eyes will be opened. Being of partial German descent, living in a German neighborhood up through my twenties and often coming in contact with Germans who were in Germany during WWII, living in NY and frequently coming in contact with Holocaust survivors, and being a person somewhat interested in history, my curiosity was always seeking to be satisfied about this subject. Over the years, I have met with, and discussed Nazis and life in Nazi Germany with several survivors of the Holocaust. I have also had in depth discussions with members of the German military from WWII. In addition I have had many discussions with German citizens who lived in Germany during WWII and encountered Nazis on a daily basis in their lives; and that includes with some people who still live in Germany. I also have discussed Nazis with people who were from Poland and Russia and who encountered Nazi oppression in WWII. Our police forces are not like Nazis, and those to whom I have conversed on such maters would likely laugh at you for thinking so, or maybe they would just shed a tear that you could even think such a thing of our police for whom they have respect.
I am truly amazed that anyone would think so if they really knew anything about what life was like under the tyranny of Nazi Germany. By the way, if you would truly like to get a real glimpse into what it was like, and if you cannot find any survivors who lived through it with whom to discuss it, there is an excellent and very short book called Night by Elie Wiesel. It is well worth the few dollars to purchase it, or a trip to the library to borrow it, and is well worth the few hours to read it.
Before I close on this one, please allow me to make a final observation. I am over a half century old. In all of the years that I can remember, I have never once heard anyone who was actually brutalized by Nazis, or who was persecuted in any way under Nazi rule, complain that the police in the USA are anything at all like Nazis unless that person was an absolute ultra leftist of the card carrying commie type – and then they called everyone who did not agree with them Nazis. Yeah maybe there are a few out there who would make, or have made, such remarks who were regular Johns and Janes but they are a rarity. Then again there are or were tens if not hundreds of thousands who escaped or survived Nazi persecution and came to the USA after during and after WWII. Yet, for some reason, they do not call our police Nazis or say that they are similar; and isn’t it they who would know! It is very funny to me though how it is the American citizen, living in relative comfort and able to enjoy his rights and liberties to a great extent, who is the one to call our police Nazis or to compare our police to the Nazis in a negative light. Think about that, and think about why it is that way, and then ponder the fact that you are at liberty to do so without being rounded up, placed into a cattle car, forced to labor in subhuman conditions, experimented upon by what amounted to mad scientists, and left for dead or killed in a horrible manner such as by gassing with Zyclon-B, and then having the gold from your fillings collected to enrich the Third Reich (or maybe to just be stuffed into the commandants pockets). Our police like Nazis, even on their worst days the comparison is ludicrous. Why not really try my suggestion to get a better understanding of life under the Nazis before you even think such things about the police in the United States on the whole."
Yes I will agree that it seems all to often that law enforcement in the USA oversteps the bounds of its authority, or that police officers make all to many arrests based upon bad probable cause (which equals no probable cause), or that law enforcement comes after people they should not (but remember they are guided by the legislative and judicial branches of our governments (local, state and federal) on much of this, as well as being directed by the executive branches). Yet we usually have some sort of redress. We can have our day in court, and if found innocent we can cause the officers or departments and agencies to have their day in court when we sue them. Just imagine having tried that in Nazi Germany. We can bad mouth them too, and we can call them Nazis and therefore by implication call our government a Nazi Regime. We can get as bent out of shape as we want and keep the name calling going for a month of Sundays if we want. We can call cops pigs, we can give federal agents the finger, we can tell LEOs we hate them, and that we are going to write to our Congressmen about them. All the while they usually eat the shit some of you throw in their faces. Imagine what a real Nazi, say an SS officer would have done in response to you calling him a pig and giving him the finger. He would not have stood there taking it from you, you can bet your life on it.
Now, while crude, rude, obnoxious treatment of law enforcement officers in the USA today is no excuse for them to shirk their duties or to overstep the boundaries of law - should they do so - well the truth be told they usually pay for wrongdoings they may commit. Guess who comes to arrest them - other LEOs - other guys you refer to, or compare to, Nazis! Do law enforcement officers screw up - sure they do. Do some violate your rights while trying to enforce the law - sure they do. Do some violate the law themselves - yes indeed - way too many. Do some commit atrocious criminal acts - yes indeed. Does that make them Nazis across our nation on the whole? You have to be of another reality, a twisted and sick one, and a misinformed one (about what is a Nazi) to believe that such is the case. Do we need to be on the watch for Nazism rearing its ugly head. Yes we do. In fact we are being vigilant all the time for that and for other forms of tyranny.
You see, here in the US of A, law enforcement is ruled by something called the law, and law enforcement officers are subject to the law as are you and I. Try to remember we are the ones who voted in the legislators who write and vote on the laws, and we are the ones who elected the executives who sign the bills into law, and we are the ones who elected the executive who appointed judges (or maybe we even voted for the judges) who rule on the law and those laws are applied to our law enforcement officers as well as to ourselves. Are their some exceptions where the law is somewhat different as it applies to an LEO than it does to a non-LEO, most certainly there are some, but not many. The bottom line is that law enforcement officers in this nation are part of our government, our legally elected and appointed government that we put in place. In no way, on the whole, do our federal, state and local law enforcement officers come even close to the Nazis in similarity of purpose, in execution of duties, or in their treatment of the citizenry. Any of you who think otherwise have an awful lot of learning to do on the subjects of Nazis, Nazi Germany, their victims, and the survivors of that tyranny most despicable.
All the best,
Glenn B
Why do I think that our law enforcement, here in the USA, are not like the Nazis. I guess it can be best explained by my second post at said forum, and I have reprinted my response below:
"Some of you folks really seem to have little to no real comprehension of what Nazism was all about, or about Nazis themselves. You continue to twist the facts to make it look as if the police in the USA are strikingly similar to them. Do they use informants, yes but so have all police departments throughout history - so maybe you got it backwards - maybe the Nazis were using a technique used by legitimate authorities for their own twisted ends. As for the Nazis using words like "papers please" you have been watching too many WWII propaganda movies. They did not ask for papers please in the course of making arrests, they carted people off while the people dirtied themselves out of fear. Papers Please - you really believe that about Nazis, yeah maybe when they dealt with a delegate from another government or from the International Red Cross, or when they were being ruthlessly sarcastic, but you have got to be kidding that you think the Nazis routinely used such courtesies. No the police in this country for the great majority are nothing at all like Nazis, but you can believe what you want. Or you can try to find out what it was really like. Why not get together with a survivor of Nazi Germany, or better yet with several of them, and discuss Nazis with them. Your eyes will be opened. Being of partial German descent, living in a German neighborhood up through my twenties and often coming in contact with Germans who were in Germany during WWII, living in NY and frequently coming in contact with Holocaust survivors, and being a person somewhat interested in history, my curiosity was always seeking to be satisfied about this subject. Over the years, I have met with, and discussed Nazis and life in Nazi Germany with several survivors of the Holocaust. I have also had in depth discussions with members of the German military from WWII. In addition I have had many discussions with German citizens who lived in Germany during WWII and encountered Nazis on a daily basis in their lives; and that includes with some people who still live in Germany. I also have discussed Nazis with people who were from Poland and Russia and who encountered Nazi oppression in WWII. Our police forces are not like Nazis, and those to whom I have conversed on such maters would likely laugh at you for thinking so, or maybe they would just shed a tear that you could even think such a thing of our police for whom they have respect.
I am truly amazed that anyone would think so if they really knew anything about what life was like under the tyranny of Nazi Germany. By the way, if you would truly like to get a real glimpse into what it was like, and if you cannot find any survivors who lived through it with whom to discuss it, there is an excellent and very short book called Night by Elie Wiesel. It is well worth the few dollars to purchase it, or a trip to the library to borrow it, and is well worth the few hours to read it.
Before I close on this one, please allow me to make a final observation. I am over a half century old. In all of the years that I can remember, I have never once heard anyone who was actually brutalized by Nazis, or who was persecuted in any way under Nazi rule, complain that the police in the USA are anything at all like Nazis unless that person was an absolute ultra leftist of the card carrying commie type – and then they called everyone who did not agree with them Nazis. Yeah maybe there are a few out there who would make, or have made, such remarks who were regular Johns and Janes but they are a rarity. Then again there are or were tens if not hundreds of thousands who escaped or survived Nazi persecution and came to the USA after during and after WWII. Yet, for some reason, they do not call our police Nazis or say that they are similar; and isn’t it they who would know! It is very funny to me though how it is the American citizen, living in relative comfort and able to enjoy his rights and liberties to a great extent, who is the one to call our police Nazis or to compare our police to the Nazis in a negative light. Think about that, and think about why it is that way, and then ponder the fact that you are at liberty to do so without being rounded up, placed into a cattle car, forced to labor in subhuman conditions, experimented upon by what amounted to mad scientists, and left for dead or killed in a horrible manner such as by gassing with Zyclon-B, and then having the gold from your fillings collected to enrich the Third Reich (or maybe to just be stuffed into the commandants pockets). Our police like Nazis, even on their worst days the comparison is ludicrous. Why not really try my suggestion to get a better understanding of life under the Nazis before you even think such things about the police in the United States on the whole."
Yes I will agree that it seems all to often that law enforcement in the USA oversteps the bounds of its authority, or that police officers make all to many arrests based upon bad probable cause (which equals no probable cause), or that law enforcement comes after people they should not (but remember they are guided by the legislative and judicial branches of our governments (local, state and federal) on much of this, as well as being directed by the executive branches). Yet we usually have some sort of redress. We can have our day in court, and if found innocent we can cause the officers or departments and agencies to have their day in court when we sue them. Just imagine having tried that in Nazi Germany. We can bad mouth them too, and we can call them Nazis and therefore by implication call our government a Nazi Regime. We can get as bent out of shape as we want and keep the name calling going for a month of Sundays if we want. We can call cops pigs, we can give federal agents the finger, we can tell LEOs we hate them, and that we are going to write to our Congressmen about them. All the while they usually eat the shit some of you throw in their faces. Imagine what a real Nazi, say an SS officer would have done in response to you calling him a pig and giving him the finger. He would not have stood there taking it from you, you can bet your life on it.
Now, while crude, rude, obnoxious treatment of law enforcement officers in the USA today is no excuse for them to shirk their duties or to overstep the boundaries of law - should they do so - well the truth be told they usually pay for wrongdoings they may commit. Guess who comes to arrest them - other LEOs - other guys you refer to, or compare to, Nazis! Do law enforcement officers screw up - sure they do. Do some violate your rights while trying to enforce the law - sure they do. Do some violate the law themselves - yes indeed - way too many. Do some commit atrocious criminal acts - yes indeed. Does that make them Nazis across our nation on the whole? You have to be of another reality, a twisted and sick one, and a misinformed one (about what is a Nazi) to believe that such is the case. Do we need to be on the watch for Nazism rearing its ugly head. Yes we do. In fact we are being vigilant all the time for that and for other forms of tyranny.
You see, here in the US of A, law enforcement is ruled by something called the law, and law enforcement officers are subject to the law as are you and I. Try to remember we are the ones who voted in the legislators who write and vote on the laws, and we are the ones who elected the executives who sign the bills into law, and we are the ones who elected the executive who appointed judges (or maybe we even voted for the judges) who rule on the law and those laws are applied to our law enforcement officers as well as to ourselves. Are their some exceptions where the law is somewhat different as it applies to an LEO than it does to a non-LEO, most certainly there are some, but not many. The bottom line is that law enforcement officers in this nation are part of our government, our legally elected and appointed government that we put in place. In no way, on the whole, do our federal, state and local law enforcement officers come even close to the Nazis in similarity of purpose, in execution of duties, or in their treatment of the citizenry. Any of you who think otherwise have an awful lot of learning to do on the subjects of Nazis, Nazi Germany, their victims, and the survivors of that tyranny most despicable.
All the best,
Glenn B
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)