This is what we get for letting the inmates run the asylum . . .

Find Global Warming and Climate Change resources HERE.

Especially read how the Sun works and about how sunspots affect global temperatures.

According to Mr. Completely, you should “Get Your Registration and Reservations in ASAP.” They have blocked out rooms for Wednesday the 9th, through Sunday the 13th. Damsel and I have already made our hotel reservations and continue to plan the trip. We’re going to drive from the Los Angeles area and plan to make some touristy stops going and coming.

As for the GBR-IV event, we’re looking forward to meeting other attendees, participating in the events and activities, and, of course, winning one or more of the door prize drawings. Ride Fast and Shoot Straight has a rundown on some of the events and prizes.

A quick update to getting a Nevada CCW permit: We won’t have enough time to get through all the hoops required for a permit - however, we think that open carry may be do-able. I’ll continue to do the research, but this is on the OpenCarry.org website:

Nevada is a traditional open carry state with complete state preemption of firearms laws. However, Clark County (Las Vegas) is grandfathered so as to continue a “Deadly Weapons” registration scheme. Fortunately, Nevada law exempts travelers to and through Nevada from these registration requirements for 60 days.

Open carry seems to be allowed in vehicles and on one’s person as long as the weapon is visible. We’ll continue to evaluate this option.

This may put a crimp in our plans to go to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous at the Silver Legacy Hotel (image) in Reno September 10,11,12 . . .

According the the NRA-ILA, Utah and Florida CCW permits will not be honored after July 1, 2009 in the state of Nevada.

Effective, July 1, Nevada will no longer recognize Right-to-Carry permits from Utah or Florida.

. . .

The Nevada DPS dropped Utah because it does not have a live fire requirement, which is a part of Nevada’s training requirements. When the Nevada DPS first began its state by state audit of Right-to-Carry laws in 2007, DPS admitted to NRA representatives that they overlooked the live fire training requirement. After further review, they determined that Utah wasn’t similar enough to keep it on the list of recognized states.

Florida will no longer be recognized because its permits are now valid for seven years instead of five.

The USA Carry website says that Nevada is a shall issue state for residents and non-residents with a list of steps to qualify:

Step 1. Meet Requirements
Step 2. Obtain Firearm Training (Usually a course specifically for CCW Permits)
Step 3. Qualify with the weapon or weapons you are adding to the permit.
Step 4. Get Documentation and Payment ready
Step 5. Go to your local CCW office (insert correct wording) and begin the last step of submitting your application. They will also take your fingerprints and take your picture.
Step 6. Wait! Now the paperwork starts. They do a background check, process everything, and then mail your CCW Permit to you in the mail.

Application Fees:
New Permits: $105.00
Renewal: $70.00
Duplicate or change: $25.00

Step number 6 - Wait! - worries me since there are less than 75 days until the Rendezvous. I plan to do some groundwork to see if it’s feasible to get a permit in the time remaining. The trade off is whether it’s worth the $105 application fee (X2 for us) plus Nevada CCW training class and qualification shooting ($???) to get a permit for a state where we seldom travel and that has limited reciprocity at that.

Friday, we visited the South Coast Botanic Gardens. The garden management recently added a water feature with a koi stocked pond and a small waterfall. Some of the Ruby Meadowhawk dragonflies (sympetrum rubicundulum) have adopted the pond and spawn their aquatic nymph larvae in the pond. One dragonfly lighted on a lily by the pond seen just to the left of the center of this image. Click image to enlarge.

Click here for a close-up of a ruby meadowhawk dragonfly.

These were in the flower concession at the supermarket today. This bunch came home with me and are in the vase by the staircase. I just love the bright warm colors of these beautiful tulips. Click the image to enlarge.

We had today off and decided to head over to the range for some target practice. I took my little Warthog .45ACP pistol and put about 50 rounds through her without incident. The .38 special seen in this shot did not go with us this time - we don’t have any .38 special ammunition and have not been able to find any lately.

Bob took the Glock 30 and we each took our shotguns - my 20 gauge Remington 870 junior and Bob’s 12 gauge Remington 870 magnum. Shotgun practice is always fun and today was no exception.

Today’s trip to the range was relaxing and served to take some of the edge off the tensions of the last several days. I’m sure my Dad would approve.

Damsel’s Dad passed from us last week and today he was sent off with full military honors. He was a veteran of the US NAVY in the late 1940s through the early 1950s. The Cold War was fully in progress, and Dad’s Squadron was right in the thick of it all. He was a flight crew member and flew missions on the Navy version of the old B24 - the PB4Y-2 ‘Privateer.’ He flew missions all over the Mediterranean, Europe, the North Atlantic Ocean and back to the US for logistics and repairs.

The sailors who performed the honors were squared away and precise in their execution. We stood and saluted as one sailor sounded taps. The other sailor and the officer carefully and precisely folded the flag with crisp movements and presented the flag to Damsel’s Mom.

We will miss Dad, who was a wonderful family man and a really great guy.

I wanted to blog about this last weekend, but things have been hectic around here. Hopefully, things will settle down after this week and we can get back to normal.

Anyhow, this is the wonderful meal we had after our regular Sunday shoot. I had a beef tri-tip roast in the freezer and had been wanting to roast it on the BBQ for a while now. Damsel prepared some Danish stuffed potatoes and crookneck squash in a tomato sauce as side dishes. Day-yam this was good. I had leftovers from this sumptuous meal today - mm mm. Click the image for the life-sized drool-inducing view.

I pity the poor vegetarian/vegan community . . .

We missed target practice last weekend, so we were ready to hit the range when they first opened on Father’s day. There were a number of fathers and sons there shooting. It’s good to see the kids involved.

We practiced with the 9mm guns and one of the .357 magnum revolvers. It was good fun and we were hitting close to the target center most of the time. As always, however, there is always that wayward round (or 10)

When it was time for the shotguns, we put up a silhouette target with cardboard backing. Damsel’s first five 20 gauge rounds were on target producing five big holes. The weight and thickness of the cardboard kept the paper target from fluttering backward, allowing for better visual location of the shots on target.

I’d say she delivered five goblin-stopping rounds.

Happy Fathers Day to all the fathers out there! If you’re a father, take some time to let your kids admire your wonderfulness. If you’re a son or daughter, spend some time with Dad. If your father is no longer with us, spend some time remembering and thinking about him.

Have a great day everyone!

I made this video a while back and think it’s time to post it again. We had a family tragedy this week and need to be cheered up a bit. This helps.

If you listen to the lyrics from ZZ Top’s ‘Gun Love‘, you will realize how appropriate the soundtrack is to the video clips I cobbled together. I did this in celebration of her enjoyment of the shooting hobby, and the self-defense benefits that result from training and practice.

These shots are from 2007 and her technique has done nothing but improve since then, with encouragement from the likes of gun professionals like Todd Jarrett, Michael Bane and Kerby Smith.

She’s a real gun lover!

Here - you try to pronounce the name of this little cactus:

By any name you might call it, though, it has pretty little flowers - don’t you think? Click the image below to enlarge.