Via Bob Owens at Bearing Arms.

Surveillance footage and audio recordings released after a grand jury declined to indict the officer who shot Crawford showed that Crawford was holding the rifle at his side and pointing it to the floor at the time when Ritchie alleged that “he just pointed it at, like, two children”.

Crawford’s father and the family’s attorney said that Ritchie, 24, should be questioned by police over the discrepancy between the footage and his allegation, which he made about 80 seconds before Crawford was shot, and confirmed when asked soon after. Knowingly “making false alarms” is a crime under Ohio law punishable by a fine or jail sentence.

“He was the catalyst, if you will, in the whole sequence of events leading up to my son’s death,” John Crawford Jr told the Guardian. “It was a crank call. He excited the call, and exaggerated the call, and frankly it was just a bunch of lies.”

Ritchie declined to comment in an online message on Friday. He has previously maintained that Crawford posed a threat to shoppers and that the 911 call was justified.

via ‘It was a crank call’: family seeks action against 911 caller in Walmart shooting | World news | theguardian.com.

Both local PD and DOJ should seriously investigate Mr. Ritchie. As for myself, I have no problem saying that it is my opinion he is the one who caused the death of John Crawford III.

Is Ritchie a member of a Gun Control group or favors them? I have no idea and nobody has come forward with the information. The reason why he chose to call 911 and give the take he gave resides in his head and since he already lawyer-ed up, I doubt we will ever know.

I hope there is an investigation, I doubt there will be one by either law enforcement or the Media. The deafening silence from Civil Rights groups is a bad omen, conflict of interest if it happens to be a politically influenced SWATting incident.

Do you remember not too far back when Moms Demand and Media Matters threw a hissy fit about the alleged insult that NRA  gave modern moms because they (and pretty much nobody) bought the line that Shannon Watts was a June -Cleaver-stay-at-home mom ? They made it clear that what was seen back then as traditional roles for a woman are now insulting and degrading and we are horrible people for thinking that (which we weren’t) and Shannon was cool because she didn’t do those things?

Well, apparently very old tradition of quilting is not on the list of degrading things modern chic mothers won’t do.

DENVER, Colo. (CBS4) – Mothers across Colorado are using quilting to fight gun violence.
The group called Moms Demand Action is stitching together memories and a message as part of their Mother’s Dream Quilt Project.

via Moms Stitch Together Memories To Fight Gun Violence « CBS Denver.

I just don’t get it. How is it possible for these media and public relation experts to constantly screw up, try to cover it up and when doing so, make the problem twice as big as before?

I need coffee….

Then I got it, ol’ Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He’s the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: “Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground.”

via The Ultimate Ground Speed Check – Tales from the Blackbird.

Many planes have come and gone but the good old SR-71 will always be my favorite. Read the whole thing and smile .

And to Daniel in the improbable event that he is reading this blog: I want my Blackbird book back you bastard!

So down here in South Florida, we have been in the celebratory/remembering mood since this month is the 30th anniversary of Miami Vice. Ink and bytes have been spent on the influence that Miami Vice had on TV shows, the use of popular music and modern musicians for its sound track, the effect it had on the economy of South Florida and the resuscitation of South Beach and even the coolness of the cars used in the series. But I have seen nothing about the guns used in Miami Vice.

Michael Mann is a Gunnie. I say so because he is about the only director/producer other than John Millius that does not fall for the Hollywood staples in both guns and usage and because he took classes with Col. Jeff Cooper . Even though for today’s standards and training, the way shootings were portrayed in Miami Vice are bit over the top and still “show-bizzy” for the time they were revolutionary.

Miami Vice brought to TV a real modern shooter: Jim Zubiena. For those with memory, he was the contract killer known as The Argentinian.  In the third episode there is a  scene in which he draws and mozambiques a cop with such an impressive speed, the thought of many was that it was trick editing or speeding of the film but he was just a very good shooter.

But let’s get it on with the hardware. With very few exceptions, the guns of the TV shows were basically a Smith & Wesson Model 10, a 1911, Colt detective Special or some S&W J-Frame, M-16 for the SWAT guys, maybe a bolt-action rifle and the omnipresent Remington 870 pump shotgun.

Abusing the powers of the Internet Movie Firearms Database, just in the first season, Miami Vice blows every single cop show out of the waters of Biscayne bay.  Handguns? From Sonny Crocket’s Bren 10 to a Remington 1866 Derringer were used. Hell, what was not used? More S&W Model 29s than in all Dirty Harry Movies. Imports like the Heckler & Koch P9S, Beretta Cheetah, Walther PPK/S and the SIG-Sauer P220. Even Back Up guns were represented with a Detonics Pocket 9.
The Franchi SPAS-12s taking the limelight over the traditional pumps shotguns with a Browning Auto-5 for flavor, a Blunderbuss Flintlock for old times sake and High Standard Model 10 for sheer weirdness. The rifles went from the good old M-16 and the little brother CAR-15 and the well-known Ruger Mini-14 to Steyr-Mannlicher Sporter to a Ruger AC556.

And let us not forget the machine guns. Uzi and MAC 10 became part of the common vocabulary. An M-60 shooting from the back of a van in the middle of Miami Beach? Check. And you also get your HK94, MP-5, Smith & Wesson M76, Beretta PM12S and the soon-to-be infamous Interdynamic KG-99.
Not enough? How about an FIM-43 Redeye Surface to Air missile?

And again, this was just the first season of the show. By season 2 things get really interesting.  If you have a couple of hours to waste, please drop by the IMFDB Miami Vice page and enjoy yourself. And kudos to these people, they do a great job and get little recognition.

Seen in Facebook

Not a case separation but a case flip. It somehow ended up not ejecting, turning 180 degrees and lodging itself in the chamber case head first.

Now imagine having this malfunction when the chips are down…. That does not come out without tools.

Then again you have a better chance of hitting the lotto than this happening to you.

Clarification of the “Graves Act” 2008 Directive with Respect to Offenses Committed by Out-of-State Visitors Where Their Gun-Possession Conduct Would Have Been Lawful. (Click to download PDF)

So the new official position for prosecutors in the State of New Jersey regarding cases of people who in good faith brought guns into the state breaking their ancient and ineffective laws is that they will be allowed to go the Pre-Trial Intervention way or (I don’t know if I am reading this right) take a plea with the understanding that the person will get a Non-Custodial sentence (no prison term to be served but you are still considered a felon.)

But it is not that clean-cut as it sounds. The prosecutor has to agree and they threw enough crap in the process to make it murky enough. You can read the “clarification” on the link above.

How about bringing the law into the 21st Century? Nah, that would make sense.