EPA announced that it would not acquiesce to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, the American Bird Conservancy and assorted tree huggers to ban lead under the Toxic Substances Control Act (which expressly exempts ammunition. The EPA cannot create legislation out of the thin blue sky realted to this, but they tried anyway) . It appears that once the news of the petition jumped from the Blogosphere to the Drudge Report, EPA decided that it would serve its interest better to pretend they did not jump into that bandwagon, even though they were asking for comments which is part of their “allow me to pretend I care about your opinion but I’ll do what I want” process. According to the USA Today article, the evil force behind the EPA backtracking is the NRA who challenged EPA to dismiss the petition under Second Amendment issues.

In Other News: The GOA says it was them who did all the grunt work on the EPA issue while vacationing from Martha’s Vineyard where they recued a bunch of kitties lost at sea. GOA is also requesting more donations because things are expensive up there and they ran fresh out of Great Poupon.

I am all for empowering women. From the point of view of the pure male chauvinistic pig, I think strong women are sexy as hell (24 years with my lovely wife should be an indicator) and from the point of view of sheer laziness, I like the idea of not having to drag a woman alongside the supplies, weapons, ammo and hear her complain she forgot her make up case. I just hate whiny I-am-a-victim-pity-me women.

So, I am all for women to learn to defend themselves and to take any and all classes on any self defense thing out there; the more & better tools, the more independent she will be. So, Why in God’s good graces will anybody come up with certified bullshit like this?

Gardner says your cell phone is the best weapon because you can hit someone in a sensitive area such as their neck or throat. You can even take a photograph of that person who is being violent to you.

Debbie Gardner is the Survive Institute’s co-founder…or some crap like that. Allegedly she was a cop and I assume that she was issued some sort of communications device in lieu of sidearm as she patrolled the streets and used it successfully against bad guys in order for her to say that a cell phone is the best weapon.

This is irresponsible training. You cannot text to death anybody when your life is at stake. Maybe back at the beginning of the cell phone era when we had huge suckers like the old Motorola Brick, but you really think a petite woman with an IPhone is going to defeat a 250lbs attacker bent on evil? There is no app for that.

Yes, teach as much as you can on any and all the options. But do not dare to guarantee that the best weapon in your purse is a flimsy cell phone when you know damn well that keeping distance from an attacker is anybody’s best chance and a firearm provides the opportunity to do that with the added benefits serve as a not-so gentle reminder to the attacker that actions will have serious consequences and delivering such consequences if the attacker pays no heed to the obvious warning.

Spare me of the Politically Correct Bullshit Training.

PS: I am not even going deep to comment on the “take a photograph of that person who is being violent to you.” That sounds like “We would appreciate that you should have some sort of evidence with you when we find your corpse.”

The NRA-PVF made it official: No endorsement for Harry Reid. Immediately after the news, GOA announced that they were actually responsible for the NRA “changing” their stance on Reid and requested to have people send more money to them. The Usual Cadre of Low Fat Milk Bloggers are still unhappy saying that the NRA has not done enough and demanded executions of dissenters at dawn or at least a free 2011 Cute Puppies Calendar and a “No Compromise” bobble head of Larry Pratt or they won’t rejoin the NRA… or do anything useful for the Second Amendment anyway.

Oh well!

This looks like something you may find in a low rider in East L.A. It just needs the bobble head doggie attachment.

Is there no shame in this world?

If you are a shooter, Stephen Hunter should not need an introduction. He is one of the few writers out there that knows guns and its applications plus he is a hell of a story teller. His Bob Lee Swagger series are well know and even one made into a movie (Shooter) but I confess I have a soft spot for Bob’s father Earl Swagger. He is old school, righteous and inflexible in his mission. He is mentioned in some of the Bob Lee Swagger books, but the ones were he is the main character are a world appart.

My favorite is Pale Horse Coming. The book is perhaps the one of the best portrayals of darkest and worst examples of the human souls unchecked. The first half of the book is Earl’s travels to Hell on Earth, almost abandoning all hope and so well described your own mood will become as miserable and hopeless as Earl’s itself. The second part is all Fire and Brimstone as only can be achieved when justice is served magma hot and shoved down the throats of evil men. It is St. Michael descending into Hell to whip Satan’s ass with a crew of like minded archangels. And what archangels! No spoilers here if you haven’t read the book, but even with the names disguised by Mr. Hunter, you will know who they are and agree that you would not mind going to a righteous war besides these men.

“I am giving you a night in Dodge City, where I bet in your heart of hearts you’ve always wished to be.”

Dodge City was a nunnery compared to what’s coming in that book.

I remember clearly that day min elementary school when a teacher read to us Horacio Quiroga‘s “The Feather Pillow”. I got home to literally beat the crap out of my pillow even though it was stuffed with some artificial filler. Quiroga was a fantastic horror writer from the early 20th Century and the absolute definition of a tortured soul. Later in High School I was treated to his Decalogue of the Perfect Story Teller and I was always haunted by rule 9.(Loosely translated):

“Do not write under the empire of emotion. Let it die and evoke it later. If you are capable to revive it as it was, you have artfully reached the half way point of your road.”

No doubt I am an emotional writer. I’ve been writing on and off for many years but mostly for myself and the occasional very non-professional works. The Word Processor and the Internet has helped me expand (and seriously get in trouble) but I still write in the moment when I am exploding emotionally about something. Now that I am forced to write “seriously” (as seriously I can which ain’t that much. I don’t take myself seriously enough) I find myself again remembering Quiroga’s #9 and damming his cursed soul.

Sometimes one wonders what goes through somebody’s mind when they design a product, specially safety related. Although I applaud ingenuity, I have to say the levels of dangerous consequences of this particular item are just too much. The idea that if I need a gun in a hurry and I have to add two slide racks on a semi automatic to get it operational or having to chase after a rod in a revolver is just too chilling. The potential to convert a firearm into a club in the heat of the moment is just too great. And it is kinda insulting treating a 1911 (or any modern handgun) like a muzzle loader.

And the weapon’s handling technique of the gentleman is less than desirable. I am guessing that kind of safety is not available in his universe.