PMY commented in the last thread the following:

Absolutely NO ONE swore obedience to the president or to any one appointed by him unto death, as God is our witness. ONE person pleadged SERVICE to him. Two others pledged to be a “servent” to him. (ie to help him)

And missed the whole point. We, the Citizens of the United States of America, do not pledge to anybody. Our only pledge is to the One Nation, Under God. We pledge to the basic principle that created this country and is represented in the Constitution. We respect but never bow whether by body or by mind. Not even the President, who was elected to serve the Country and us, does not (should not) pledge to anything but to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.  But I guess if he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, it would be natural that us, lesser mortals should bow to him.

Pledge:: a bailment of a chattel as security for a debt or other obligation without involving transfer of title b : the chattel so delivered c : the contract incidental to such a bailment
2 a : the state of being held as a security or guaranty b : something given as security for the performance of an act

By via of Michelle Malkin, the new Hollywood production of Buttkissers for Obama shown at Eagle Bay Elementary School in Farmington, Utah. This has gone far beyond Beverly Hills left wing rubbish and now us just plain scary. No, I am not making it up, the title do reflect a pledge in the video.

I know that any comparison to the Nazis is considered a Non-Starter, but this is the first thing the video above reminded me of:

We pledge to you, Adolf Hitler, loyalty and bravery. We swear obedience to you and the superiors appointed by you, even unto death, as God is our witness.
The SS Oath

Sorry, but this is the only pledge I’ll ever say.

And just in case:

I do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; pledging my life, my fortune and my sacred honor, so help me God.

And if you still haven’t figured it out: Only subjects pledge to a head of state. We are Citizens!

On September 1, 2004, School Number One (SNO) in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia-Alania, an autonomous republic in the North Caucasus was on its first day of the school year. The Riyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs took over the school and 1,900 hostages while wiring the place with explosives.

By September 3 it was over and 186 children and over 100 adults were killed.

THERE IS A MAN WITH A LEGAL GUN AT A POLITICAL EVENT! OH MY GOD!

That has been the cognoscenti reaction to New Hampshire and Phoenix. where law abiding citizens had the unspeakable gall to legally carry firearms in the open. Immediately the race card was brought into play (“You know them rednecks just wanna kill our black President!”) but MSNBC pretty much shredded it when it manipulated the video of a man with a rifle at the Phoenix rally and vapid newsgirl Contessa Brewer explained that “because people feel like, yes, there are Second Amendment rights for sure but also there are questions about whether this has racial overtones. I mean, here you have a man of color in the presidency and white people showing up with guns strapped to their waists or to their legs.” Unfortunately for the MSNBC Race Card players, other outlets (Mostly Internet) showed that the alleged racist redneck was in fact a Black Gentleman.

After that colossal failure, the “reasonable” crowd of reasonable morons entered the fray. “Well yes, you do have a right but is it reasonable to have a gun at a politically charged event? What if…?” The Reasnoally Afable Idiots want to point out that tempers could flair if a gun is brought to such an emotionally charged event and bad things could happen.  HELLO? There are no “what ifs” here my dear moron. There were TWO EVENTS WERE WEAPONS WERE PRESENT AND NOTHING HAPPENED! q.e.d.

I know, it is obvious, but some people need to be foresmacked with a cricket paddle to loosen up the gears inside the cranium and process the information right in front of their noses.

Now, should I scare them and inform them about the people attending these rallies and carrying a concealed weapon? I better not, they would not look their best if their bowels loosen up in front of the camera.

I told my wife about how I want my remains disposed off when I die. Cremation for sure, but I want inside the box with my body some 20 pounds of hickory chips and 5 gallons of molasses. I also want some sort of audio reproduction device that activates with a fast rise in temperature connected to a cellular telephone which will send out a pre-recorded message to a select few (or many.)

The idea is that when they shove the box in the crematorium, the audio device will activate, call those above mentioned selected few and hear me say “Damn it, it is getting hot in here! Somebody crack open a window or something!” And for the hickory and molasses, I want people that, as they leave, have a sudden urge for BBQ and head for the nearest pit. And no, there will be no after-funeral munching cold cuts in my name at my house. If I ain’t going to be there to enjoy it, neither will you.

Unless my wife decides something she would really like to do with my ashes (like using me to fertilize the lawn) I wouldn’t mind being sneaked half  into Stones River National Cemetery and half in Evergreen Cemetery, both in Murfreesboro, TN. They are both Civil War cemeteries and I would not mind listening to the old soldiers and their stories. I can’t think of a better way to spend the afterlife.

I just finished some state-mandated training in firearms and the old thought of you always learn something whether is how to do it or how not to do it is very true. One of the things I learned is that some people take securing their firearms a tad too cavalier which is to say, they don’t. I will not go into specifics but there is no reason for anybody to leave a weapon unsecured or barely so. The amount of options to properly secure a firearm in almost any situation is plentiful, affordable and with a good level of security.

I am not endowed with a high paying job (actually I am ‘in between jobs’ at this time) but my firearms are safeguarded. The system is not top of the line, Houdini-proof, fire resistant to the flames of Hell for eternity but your average thief will have tough time trying to break in and steal the guns.A bit of research can provide you with the best level of security according to your budget. Remember: you do have a sizable investment in guns, may it be a $500 Glock or a $5,000 AR-clone with all the bells and whistles. Invest in security wisely. With that said, I am gonna focus on the budget-minded gun owner that does not have a vast arsenal or a vast budget but still wants to properly secure his or her handguns.

Handguns at home: If you are only in possession of handguns, your best bet is a small safe. And no, the night table with a lockable drawer is not a secure location for your handgun and the same goes for that “secret” place in your attic, basement, under the bed or old shoe box in the closet. A quick search in the net brings a great variety of small document boxes & safes and from stores like Walmart to Cabelas. But I recommend buying without actually examining. One cannot appreciate craftsmanship on a website so it is imperative that you take the time and actually go to a store to check them out. Stack-On and Homak make great pistol safes in price ranges starting well under $100. In fact, the Stack-On Medium Personal Safe With Electronic Lock can be bought at WalMart for $68 and is big enough for several handguns and even documents.  Small safes are a great for handguns only if you properly bolt the darn thing.  Invest in long lag screws, epoxy, more screws and whatever else you can imagine to make life almost impossible for a burglar.  If by any chance you happen to know somebody in the hotel liquidation business, you can get your hands on a hotel room safe for almost peanuts (usually under $50) and it will be big enough for guns, ammo, laptop and may other things. I personally own one and right now it has 2 handguns, 5 magazines, and about 500 rounds of ammunition in boxes and still has plenty room to spare.

Handguns in the car: Securing a weapon in a vehicle is and it is not easy. I am still amazed that anybody would consider leaving a handgun in the glove box, center console box or just under the seat. The issues with securing a handgun in the car is comprised of space, ability to access the gun and our desire (or lack of) to modify the inside of the vehicle to accommodate the box and risking depreciate its value at trade-in or selling time. A simple solution is Center Of Mass Gun Safe. The COM Safe are one-gun, well built safes that come with a 3 foot long security cable that can be looped or secured to any hard point inside your car. The COM safe comes in three flavors: Lock & Key, Combination Lock (both under $40) or Biometric Lock ($180) and they can even be used as airline/TSA approved gun containers for air travel.

Please remember this: there is no 100% secure method to keep the guns out of the hands of a determined burglar if he has time and tools. Our best bet is to make it difficult so he must invest time that does not have and force him to choose a softer, faster target. Thinking otherwise is just fooling ourselves.

There is one more layer of security that you can use to protect your handguns and it is the one between your ears. I already mentioned that a safe that is not properly installed is rendered useless and the same applies if you leave it open or visible to anybody. Securing a handgun is not only to protect it from burglars but also to protect your loved ones and even curious visitors that should know better but still have the stupid need to irresponsibly manipulate a gun. If you have kids, keep the safe locked at all times. If you have visitors, do the same. At the end of the day you are the only one responsible if a firearm ends up in the wrong hands and hurts people. Be safe and keep everybody around you safe.

How many times we see in movies and TV that a good or bad guy engages in a shootout from behind a car and the incoming bullets bounce harmlessly off the body with a cute spark indicating a strike?  The image of a Police officer stopping his car, getting off and taking cover behind the door is deeply embedded in the minds of anyone who has seen 2 episodes of any Cop show from the 1950’s till today. Unfortunately physics are a bit more unforgiving and quite more deadly.

This particular vehicle is parked at a range in South Florida where Local Law Enforcement train. I assume (yes i know) that it is being used as training aid and I might say it is a quite sobering demonstration of the property of bullets flying at high speed. The vehicle was the target of different calibers shot by handguns, shotgun and rifle and the result is evident as shown in the following pictures.

The “puny” 9 mm and the .40 S&W had no troubles making their way through the door of this cruiser which pretty much kills that old Hollywood visual staple. But the real butt kicker lays on the nex couple of pictures. Do click on picture for better detail.

As you can see, almost all the most common rounds used in the US were used to ventilate a tad the trunk of the vehicle. But the kicker lays on the next picture.

Yep, those are exit holes on the other side of the car. Even the allegedly less-than-lethal 9mm managed to go through on both sides.

If we ever have the misfortune of having to use a vehicle during an armed confrontation, about the only safe area you could use is behind the engine which possesses enough mass to block incoming rounds.  That is if the person shooting at you decides not to look under the vehicle and aim for your feet.

So, unless you own an armored vehicle, do not make the mistake of believe you are driving an item that will produce cute sparks while deflecting projectiles. Remember: Your average vehicle is about as bulletproof as a Radio Flyer and you will be the bullet stopper in the end.