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Don’t drop the Baby.

Ballistic Radio Melody Lauer baby Drop

 

Well, it seems that statement has drawn a lot of butthurt across the Tactical Tommy Interwebs. It seems that Ninja Bois disagree with Melody or they offer some solutions that you see in movies coming from the Far Easy with really bad lip sync. The biggest counter attack has been prove it! Well, I will only share what I have seen.

In our IDPA Club, at least once a year, a Stage With A Baby is run. We even ran it during a Florida State Championship and bar none, it has been the most entertaining stage I have ever ran. Why? Because what some shooters did to the life-size baby doll would have sent them to prison or at least guarantee them a nasty divorce.

The instructions were always clear and repeated twice, more if asked: You were to treat the doll as a real baby. Any mistreatment to the doll would be given a Procedural Penalty by the Safety Officer and you could accumulate as many as you needed. The baby usually started in a chariot or cradle of some sort and you were told LOUDLY that the procedure was to first pick the baby up and then draw your weapon, as to avoid muzzling yourself. Most of the stages provided a safe point where you could gently put the baby down (usually on the ground) behind cover and finish the stage engaging other targets.

So what happened? For most of the shooters was an enlightening stage. That was something they never faced and with the instructions still bouncing in their heads, they did their best to shoot right (one-handed) and carry the baby safely…only to find out it was not that easy. It was hilarious to see usually great shooters become Rain Man while their brain was to come up with a new way to shoot and move and that led to much slower times and less than shinning displays of tactical coolness. Those who sprayed and prayed, suddenly found themselves trying to perform a reload with an arm busy and shook them badly, enough to make some dumb mistakes with the baby. The most common expression at the end of the stage was something akin to “effing baby” demonstrating that it was a teaching experience.

But yes, we had our fair share of “Child Abusers.” Dropped babies on both accidental and supposedly categories? Had them. One tried to hold the baby under his chin performing a reload while other placed the baby under his arm like it was a rolled newspaper. One shooter was so dedicated, that somehow started shooting one hand and transitioned to two-hands while keeping the baby in a choke-hold.  One placed the doll on his shoulder like he was going to burp the baby, but what it happened is that the baby fell behind him and he had to pick the baby back up and did so like he was grabbing a bag of groceries and slammed him back on his shoulder. But the best was a friend of mine who did a fantastic job holding the baby all the way to the safe cover, only to spike the baby like a football.

One Hand Shooting is hard by nature. One hand Shooting, under stress while holding a precious cargo and trying to get to a safe location item is amazingly difficult. You know what I think about shooting competitive and specially IDPA and I doubt many Tacticool schools have even thought about this. And by the amount of heat Melody is getting, I am sure  am 100% on the money.

You can follow Melody via her Blog Limatunes’ Range Diary or her Facebook Page. And don’t let the cute looking petite woman pictures deceive you, she will probably beat 99% of the Tactical Tommies in both Real Life and the range.

 

The Need for Christian Self-Defense.

Snyder said, “Pope Francis, in addition to calling upon Our Merciful Lord for spiritual assistance in this trying situation, could initiate a worldwide program through which Catholic churches collect funds for the acquisition and distribution of self-defense guns to Christians facing barbaric Islamist persecution.”

Source: Islamist Plot Against Vatican Highlights Need for Christian Self-Defense Firearms, says Catholic Gun Dean – Christian Newswire

As much as I appreciate the sentiment, under the care of Pope Che The First, I’ll give you a snowball’s chance in Hell for that to happen.

Are the Maryland National Guardsmen forced to play Security Theater?

I lost the Facebook post where I saw the warning originally, so kudos to whomever it was and my apologies.

Empty mag pouches?
Baltimore NG1

 
Empty magazine?
Baltimore NG2
I can’t tell, but I read comments that say they are not wearing body armor but only the mesh. The Ceramic Plates do seem to be missing.

There are stories from when Hurricane Andrew where a similar Rules of Engagement were applied and ended up with Guardsmen being robbed of their weapons.

But after how this whole week has been handled in Baltimore, I would not be surprised they have no ammo to go with their rifles.

Albertsons/Safeway: Gun Owners Bad. But Violent Criminals and Sexual Predators?

Moms Demand are still at it on their campaign to shame Krogers into banning guns from their stores. As manner of example of flexing muscle and showing people how butch they are, they exhibited exchanges they had with the recently merged Albertsons/Safeway and call it a triumph even though Albertsons had forbidden guns in their stores for a long time.

Now my curiosity was piqued. Apparently for Albertsons, we gun owners are a very powerful threat even if we are law-abiding. So I decided to contact Albertsons myself and ask them a question and expecting a prompt response like they did to Moms. I filled the customer comments form and got the automated response, normal thing. The question was:

I wish to enquire about your company’s policy and measures to keep violent felons and sexual predators from going in your stores.

Here is the first batch of emails:

Albertsons1

Note the date. We are talking an impressive response time. Good customer service!

So, what was the answer? Well, it has been almost 2 weeks and not a peep.

Albertsons2

So from April 16 till today, Albertsons has not dignified itself with providing an answer. I know I am not as cute as Shannon Watts, nor I have the name recognition of Moms Demand or Michael Bloomberg. And they may even have done some checking and say “Well, this guy here is a gun nut troll!” But to go silent on the issue? I mean a simple “Dear Mr. Gonzalez. Rest assured that we have policies in effect to avoid as much as possible that our customers face danger. But I know you will understand that these policies are to remain private so they could not be abused by ill-intended parties. Here at Albertsons/Safeway are always doing our best to keep your shopping experience safe
Signed
Julius C. Pumpernickel III”

It does not take much imagination to pull this one out.  Now my personal take will be that Albertsons/Safeway is more afraid of Law Abiding Citizens with a proven record of being good guys than actual armed robbers and child molesters or that at least the bean counters have decided it ain’t worth it to have any decent safety measures.

PS: In case Albertsons Lawyers decide to get stupid, print this post for your records. Insurance by Streisand Effect.

 

 

 

 

Everytown For Gun Safety: It is a good idea not to crap on your boss.

Because they are experts on Gun Safety, right?
Everytown Glock Fail

 

Let’s start with the 2005 Protection of Legal Commerce in Arms Act.

“Glock handguns, for example, have no external safety: If a round is chambered and the trigger is squeezed, the gun fires. As Aaron Walsh, a criminal defense attorney in Augusta, Georgia, put it, ‘With any other product in the world there would be no Glock company because they would be sued out of existence. You don’t have a safety? That can’t be right.'”

 

I won’t even go into the fact that this is another old defeated talking point that is being recycled by the New Republic. Instead, I want to ask whomever happens to be working for less than $15 an hour as Social Media intern for Everytown, What were you thinking?

Your boss is one Michael Bloomberg who was the Mayor of New York City for a bunch of years. The NYPD, which he identified as “his” army used and still uses those “Can’t Be Right” Glock pistols as official sidearms. And if that was not enough, the official off-duty firearm for the NYPD was until very recently the Kahr CM9, also a “Can’t Be Right” pistol without external safety.

So, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, their own boss while being the Mayor of New York City engaged in an irresponsible and dangerous behavior when allowed the more than 30,000 men and women of the NYPD to move around the city while carrying unsafe sidearms?

Dudes, don’t crap on your boss. It looks bad.

No Debates is officially their strategy

The research director for Everytown for Gun Safety, the gun control advocacy group co-founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, recently refused to appear for an on-air debate with longtime gun law researcher John Lott on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal.”“When there’s a credible scientist — somebody who wants to have a real constructive conversation about this, we’re going to be there,” researcher Ted Alcorn said. “But folks who seek to minimize the issue of gun violence, the grave issue of gun violence in this country or to draw attention away from the real issues to themselves — that’s not a conversation that I think is productive to be a part of.”

Source: Michael Bloomberg gun group’s research director refuses on-air debate with longtime researcher – Washington Times

We have seen done by Shannon Watts since she started cultivating her astroturf. Then again, Mr. Alcorn according to his Linkedin profile, is basically a filmmaker and not truly a scholar in the arts of research. A debate against Dr. Lott would have been like tossing a 4-year-old in a mosh pit.

What is really sad is that he “Filmed testimonies in-country with genocide survivors for use in a video archive and educational program” but the lessons of the genocide seem to have gone over his head at Mach 5.

Astroturf pays well, I guess.