Yesterday I finally had to put away my old battered Eotac Lightweight vest (not made anymore, damn it) and start using a Woolrich my beloved Better Half got me for Christmas. As I was leaving work and kitting up in the parking lot as discreetly as possible, I was approached by a co-worker, a gentleman well in his 70s who wanted to ask me a question about the vest.

I mentally went “Oh crap. After 13 years of carrying concealed with a vest, somebody finally has tagged me. Blame Michael Bane’s last podcast! He jinxed me!”

So I readied myself to be polite and prepared myself to be asked the usual questions about why I carry, is it legal, etc. Instead the gentleman said he liked the vest a lot and wondered where he could buy one for himself!  So I wrote down the brand and model and told him that the easiest way was to get it online from slew of merchandisers.

The Myth of the Shoot-Me Vest remains a myth.  I think sometimes we worry about stupid stuff instead of the things that can actually hurt us.

The New Jersey Assembly’s Law and Public Safety Committee was scheduled to hold a public hearing on Monday (postponed for snow) about a bill that reduces the maximum magazine from capacity from 15 to 10, but in effect goes even further. Since the legislation covers both detachable and fixed magazines, it has the effect of to banning popular, low-caliber rifles…

…They discovered that the bill would affect tube-fed, semi-automatic rifles because the magazine cannot be separated from the gun.

Thus, the experts found that at least 43 common rifles would suddenly be considered a prohibited “assault firearm,” such as the .22 caliber Marlin Model 60, Remington Nylon 66 and Winchester 190.

Just having one such gun would turn a law-abiding owner into a felon overnight.

Possession of an “assault firearm” is a second-degree crime in New Jersey. The penalty is up to 10 years in jail and a mandatory minimum sentence of three to five years, with no chance of parole.

…“This bill is a gun ban, there’s no question about that,” Scott Bach, the executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, told me in an interview…

Even worse, the bill has no grandfather clause and no amnesty period. So as soon as this legislation becomes law, everyone in possession of these rifles is automatically a felon and the guns are subject to seizure by the government.

via MILLER: New Jersey bill is outright gun ban on .22-caliber rifles and leads to confiscation – Washington Times.

As predicted, the Federal Legislative side has been forgotten and they are concentrating on the legislatures. If the bill passes (although I am expecting a big resistance and maybe the Opposition saying “Ooops, we did not mean them little rimfire rifles and it was also a ‘technical mistake’ about the grandfathering” so they can save face and see if they can shove the 10 round restriction anyway. Why? because that would be a compromise and we need to be understanding.

Sort of, “OK, I promise I will use Vaseline… Do you trust me now? And stop wiggling, the handcuffs will bruise your wrists.”

A common question we get regarding home defense is should the home owner use a rifle or a pistol. For about 90% of the population our advise seems counter intuitive; but hands down it is the pistol.

via Realities of a Defensive Rifle.  Jeff Gonzales

I am of the idea that any household should have the Triumvirate of handgun-shotgun-rifle. But I also believe that for inside work, the pistol is the better option.

Ha tip to TacticalYellowVisor.net

Soviet Army WWII, Third Shock Army snipers with Mosin-Nagants.

775 confirmed kills. 

So Professor Hampikian pen an opinion piece picked up by the NYT full of “See How Cool I Write And Make Fun If Rednecks” expressing his passive-agressive opposition to an Idaho bill that would allow Campus Carry.Let’s check it out

My comments in bold.

When May I Shoot a Student?
By GREG HAMPIKIAN FEB. 27, 2014
TO the chief counsel of the Idaho State Legislature:

In light of the bill permitting guns on our state’s college and university campuses, which is likely to be approved by the state House of Representatives (It was approved yesterday) in the coming days, I have a matter of practical concern that I hope you can help with: When may I shoot a student?

I know you are just being an intellectual asshole but the answer can be found in that marvel of technology called The Internet. If you are uncomfortable with such advanced technology, pick up the frigging phone and call somebody from the Department of Criminal Justice which you are member of and find out.

I am a biology professor, not a lawyer, and I had never considered bringing a gun to work until now. But since many of my students are likely to be armed, I thought it would be a good idea to even the playing field.

Many of your students? Did you poll them? Oh yes, you are being snide. Carry on.

I have had encounters with disgruntled students over the years, some of whom seemed quite upset, but I always assumed that when they reached into their backpacks they were going for a pencil. Since I carry a pen to lecture, I did not feel outgunned; and because there are no working sharpeners in the lecture hall, the most they could get off is a single point. But now that we’ll all be packing heat, I would like legal instruction in the rules of classroom engagement.

You have to love the ignorance shown here. This is a guy who is involved with Idaho Innocence Project so he has had contact with convicts serving hard time and must know that even a pencil can be used as a deadly weapon. Of course he deals with students so in his mind they are all a bunch of stupid little shits incapable of dong nothing but getting high/drunk and chase each other naked around campus.

At present, the harshest penalty available here at Boise State is expulsion, used only for the most heinous crimes, like cheating on Scantron exams. But now that lethal force is an option, I need to know which infractions may be treated as de facto capital crimes.

So, the nastiest crime at Boise State is cheating on a test? Of course! He does not access the internet or he would have at his disposition the campus security Crime Log.  Checking on the log for 2013, I see a variety of major crimes including burglary, theft, assault, assault with deadly weapon, arrest warrants, battery, stalking (always a favorite for female students), arson, bomb threat, strangulation and a boatload of drug offenses that leads me to believe you have some serious drug trafficking problem with the obvious drug dealers on campus.

I assume that if a student shoots first, I am allowed to empty my clip; but given the velocity of firearms, and my aging reflexes, I’d like to be proactive. For example, if I am working out a long equation on the board and several students try to correct me using their laser sights, am I allowed to fire a warning shot?

He is so funny! A warning shot! That would mean that you were not in fear of your life and you are in violation of the law on several felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon. You’d be on your way to jail with the mysteries of  how to shower without bending over and sharing close quarters with other felons will be discovered.

If two armed students are arguing over who should be served next at the coffee bar and I sense escalating hostility, should I aim for the legs and remind them of the campus Shared-Values Statement (which reads, in part, “Boise State strives to provide a culture of civility and success where all feel safe and free from discrimination, harassment, threats or intimidation”)?

Dear Professor? Do I detect a certain (lots) of repressed and unsolved hostility inside your soul? It seems that if you were to posses a gun, your preferred method of conflict resolution would be to shoot at anything and anybody. Are you having problems at home? Feel unappreciated by fellow coworkers and the administration? Should we fear that you’ll pull a Charles Withman from top of The Towers Dormitory? I think you should seek help.

While our city police chief has expressed grave concerns about allowing guns on campus, I would point out that he already has one. I’m glad that you were not intimidated by him, and did not allow him to speak at the public hearing on the bill (though I really enjoyed the 40 minutes you gave to the National Rifle Association spokesman).

I am glad you liked it. We are here to help.

Knee-jerk reactions from law enforcement officials and university presidents are best set aside. Ignore, for example, the lame argument that some drunken frat boys will fire their weapons in violation of best practices. This view is based on stereotypical depictions of drunken frat boys, a group whose dignity no one seems willing to defend.

Other than the issue that only those with an enhanced concealed carry permit would be allowed to carry, which means over 21 years of age, that means seniors and Post graduate students, administration personnel, assorted adult workers & visitors and even faculty (not you with all your apparent emotional problems), basically people that are past the binge drinking age and are a wee bit more mature that your fresh-from-high school Freshman.

The problem, of course, is not that drunken frat boys will be armed; it is that they are drunken frat boys. Arming them is clearly not the issue. They would cause damage with or without guns. I would point out that urinating against a building or firing a few rounds into a sorority house are both violations of the same honor code.

We covered your ignorance of Campus Crime earlier. Let’s go on.

In terms of the campus murder rate — zero at present — I think that we can all agree that guns don’t kill people, people with guns do. Which is why encouraging guns on campus makes so much sense. Bad guys go where there are no guns, so by adding guns to campus more bad guys will spend their year abroad in London. Britain has incredibly restrictive laws — their cops don’t even have guns! — and gun deaths there are a tiny fraction of what they are in America. It’s a perfect place for bad guys.

I am so glad that in his academic honesty, the professor makes sure to mash the most law-abiding group of US Citizens with the lowest of the criminal element just because we carry guns…of course that means that anybody that carries a gun like a cop or a soldier or even campus security are equally criminals in the eyes of the professor. Good to know, that should make him popular. By the way, the England thing? you are safer in downtown Boise after midnight that in London at high noon. You may want to do some research on that.

Some of my colleagues are concerned that you are encouraging firearms within a densely packed concentration of young people who are away from home for the first time, and are coincidentally the age associated with alcohol and drug experimentation, and the commission of felonies.

Remember that part when i said over 21? Seniors? You didn’t even read the bill, have you? You are just flying by the seat of your own self-imposed ignorance. 

And wait one second. You are now admitting that felonies occur on campus? 

Once again, this reflects outdated thinking about students. My current students have grown up learning responsible weapon use through virtual training available on the Xbox and PlayStation. Far from being enamored of violence, many studies have shown, they are numb to it. These creative young minds will certainly be stimulated by access to more technology at the university, items like autoloaders, silencers and hollow points. I am sure that it has not escaped your attention that the library would make an excellent shooting range, and the bookstore could do with fewer books and more ammo choices.

By now I am wondering why does Prof. Hampkian have such a low opinion of his students?  It seems that he treats them like a bothersome bumps on the road or First Graders incapable of having a coherent thought. I wonder what the students think about him:
“he talks about his outside projects a lot”
“he’s sometimes gone a lot for trials he works on so that made it a little tough.”
“class project is pretty easy and tests are mult. choice. some essay quizzes are graded pretty easy.”
“made us teach class ourselves for a project.”
” You have to read the book before going to class and teach yourself most of the material.”
“His work is incredibly interesting and sometimes he’ll talk about it more than what you’re studying”

He gets very good ratings which is par for an easy teacher who apparently does not teach but lets you “do it yourself.” Imagine if Firearms Instructors did it that way, he’d defecate building pre-fab materials. If you are a parent shelling up to $33,000 a year for tuition, you would expect that a teacher would actually be in class and teach.. and you be wrong.

I want to applaud the Legislature’s courage. On a final note: I hope its members will consider my amendment for bulletproof office windows and faculty body armor in Boise State blue and orange.
via When May I Shoot a Student? – NYTimes.com.

Well, since apparently and according to your students, you do not spend much time on campus, the Legislature may feel that any expense on you would be a waste of taxpayers’ money.