Gun Free Zone

Go ahead and read the article first.

Between The Berms: A Case Of Sportsmanship | Shooting Wire.

I have the great pleasure and honor to know Toni. He is one of those natural shooters that put tons of work on his craft and makes him a great shooter. The article is no exaggeration, Toni has no rock-star ego anywhere in his DNA .

To say he is effervescent is putting it mildly. If Toni is somewhere near, you will hear him and laugh at whatever antic he is involved in at that particular second. If you get to talk to him for more than 5 minutes, you are his friend and be ready for the next time he sees you to be greeted by a loud “Honey Bunny!” and a hug.

He is only serious when on the line and right after the Safety Officer says “Load and Make Ready.” After that, be ready to see him blaze through a stage and miss very little if anything. He shoots with an economy of effort and movement that will scare you. Once he is done, the gun is cleared and in the holster, he will give himself about 30 seconds of self-analysis, maybe a frown if he did something not to his liking and the he will revert to his normal self up and including mocking the poor performance on his part that us earthlings would consider the best shooting we could ever hope to achieve.

Unfortunately as John Ross said in his book, some people run on envy and being a nice guy plus a great shooter made him & makes him the target of petty jealous souls so I am sure there will be some upcoming negative crap about him coming up soon enough in the interwebs. And he will do what he always does: Laugh it off, grab you by the arm and say: “Let’s go shooting!”

.I will admit that this will probably my first and last GRPC and allow me to explain why: To have this great line up of speakers and only assign 10-15 minutes per person is a crime. I like the fact I got to meet other bloggers and readers of my blog, but I went there for the information and that limited amount of time forces the speaker to do a “tweet” version of what could be a great exposition. I could have gone all day if it was just John Lott, Eric Friday Jon Gutmacher and Mark O’Mara on the stage about Florida’s Self Defense and Stand Your Ground laws plus a Q&A after they were done. I know it is a limited focus that might not interest everybody but then again many non-Floridians watched with all the attention they could muster for that hour.

The Second Amendment Foundation are top at what they do but are about 10 years behind schedule regarding new media, their website itself is a good example. The conference format as it stands now is obsolete and expensive to maintain. I did not mind the meet-and-greet with fellow activists, but the point is to spread the word to many people as possible more than any cocktail party. To put it mildly, they are still on AOL Free Trial Period.

Don’t get me wrong, a conference where you can get the best and brightest together is a darn good thing, but I felt shortchanged as I expected more time with each speaker. I generally went the smart way picking and choosing which speakers I wanted to hear. I can’t stand still for too long in crowded situations, specially if the subject matter is not something I care about. I understand that what’s going on in the UN is important, but it just does not catch my interest as much as a discussion about Carry & Self Defense laws.

I’d think that a mixed format that includes new media would be a great solution. Keep the conference but have panels on subjects that people can go to and spend more than 15 minutes listening to a speaker. You will also have to reduce the number of speakers to give them time or run panels parallel to each other while letting people decide which one they want to attend. The mixture of a live & present audience with the ones attending from home will be the best of both worlds in my opinion.

Most importantly, use the power of the internet to spread the message. One word: Webinar. Imagine how many extra people could the SAF reach if the conference was available at the click of a mouse. And few people would mind paying for it, I sure as heck wouldn’t mind. My expenses for the trip (I drove) were close to $350 and I wouldn’t mind paying $100-$125 if I could listen and interact with the speakers from the comfort of my home for 2 days.

SAF admitted during the conference that they were behind on social media and the internet. More than behind, I’d call it being blissfully unaware as some (many) gun bloggers are commenting about something that happened during the conference.  SAF mustn’t be afraid to ask for help from the new generation, the experts on the cyber battlefields. Besides it will leave the old heads with the time to concentrate on more legal battles and prepare the next generation of Second Amendment barristers.

“Evolve or Die”
Carved note found near a fossil of a dinosaur.

One suspect was hit and taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in serious condition. “I feel safer living next to him,” said next door neighbor Michael Wilson. “So if anything happens to us, I’ll make sure to call him.”

via Homeowner shoots robbery suspect during attempted home invasion robbery | News – Home.

Sometimes a story will provide you with an object lesson. First kudos to the homeowner who was able to thwart the home invasion but please, don’t open the door unless you are really sure there is no danger outside. From the pic I think the doors open to the outside (usual in South Florida) so it was not like the bad guys could kick it down easily.

About Mr. Wilson comments; apparently he did not figure out that when the criminals come with evil intention, you will have no time to call anybody, being your neighbor or 911. Either that or he is a wee bit lazy for his own good & safety.

Oy!

UPDATE: The bad guys cut the power to the house before attempting to go in.

No Lawyers – Only Guns and Money: My Kind Of Store.

The wife would have to send a search & rescue team to get me out of that place.

You may have to log in to Youtube to see this video. Warning: It is not ketchup on the walls and they are not actors or stuntmen in the floor. The purple bruises are not make-up….

This video from Syria and allegedly Pro-Assad militias “dealing” with civilians arrested in the area. When the Chosen Factions decide to have at it, it is those who cannot defend themselves the ones that suffer.

If by know you don’t know, allow me to inform you that Mr. O’Mara is the Lawyer for George Zimmerman and he spoke at the GRPC 2012. The Media was all drooling over the possibility that Mark O’Mara would engage on advertising in favor of his client but he killed that upfront with the obvious: It would be stupid as not all the testimonies and evidence are in or even known and because it would be unethical. Some people’s dreams were shattered…Oh well.

Mr. O’Mara did a fantastic job explaining Florida’s laws regarding self-defense, Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground complementing the two heavy hitters that came before him: Eric Friday who is counsel for Florida Carry and Jon Gutmacher who wrote Florida Firearms Law, the best book about the gun ownership in Florida.

Before he was finished I realized that George Zimmerman couldn’t be better represented. O’Mara’s delivery is calm but not sleepy, full of facts but far from boring and you connect with what he is saying rather easily. Grant you he was in a room full of Gun People but we are a mistrusting bunch by definition and lawyers are high on the watch list. I was told that he is a force to be reckoned with in court and he will politely destroy the opposition’s case. He is also very much respected among LEOs who call on him to review cases of deadly force.

I was told that Angela Corey will be prosecuting this case herself. From what info I have collected about her, she is not gonna have a good time in court against O’Mara. If the Zimmerman trial goes on TV, I am gonna record every bit of it as I think it will be a great learning experience.

Now, if I could only have Nancy Grace automatically muted every time she opens her mouth……..

Were are in a transition period regarding Gun Rights. The folks that have been fighting the good fight since pretty much the 80s are getting a little long in years and deserve a well-earned rest. But there is a new generation coming in and building on what their predecessors established. They are smart in the ways of the new media and with a fire in their bellies; prognosis is very good.

One of those groups is Florida Carry. They had a table at the GRPC 2012, I stopped by and listened a bit to what they were saying. They were energetic and passionate with that dash of “We ain’t joking” that makes you feel that not only they know what they are doing but will not be stopped.

If you live in Florida and care about your gun rights, go ahead and make a contribution to Florida Carry. I feel these guys are going places and will represent us damn well.