I photographed both of these flowers in the patio yesterday. It’s the first time I can recall the Easter Lily cactus (left) and my Easter Lily (right) were blooming simultaneously. I have to be vigilant for the cactus to bloom since it does so overnight and will wilt before the next sunset. Each is beautiful in it’s own way.
David W. Spears, who lives in the city where we live has filed suit to be issued a permit to carry a concealed firearm. We’re going to watch this story as it develops since it could change our police chief’s policy for issuing CCW permits.
California has a ‘shall issue’ law on the books that assigns the issue responsibility to local law enforcement. The chief’s policy seems to conflict with California Department of Justice rules for issue.
Excerpted from the Daily Breeze:
Spears contends that when he applied for a permit in Torrance, he was issued an application form, but at the same time received a letter from the Police Department stating that “we do not have records on the issuance of any such permits, since it has been the long-standing practice of our chiefs of police not to issue such permits to citizens.”
“Defendants’ formal policy is logically and clearly intended to put a ‘false face’ on defendants’ public persona, making it appear that defendants comply with the requirements and rules of the Department of Justice and with (the) Penal Code – when they actually do not,” Spears’ lawsuit alleges.
“Instead, defendants willfully disregarded and ignored their own written policies and procedures, willfully disregarded and ignored the law, and willfully violated plaintiffs’ constitutional rights in order to deprive him of a means of self defense.”
One of several supporting documents to the lawsuit includes a letter from the state Department of Justice that states the Police Department is required to notify the agency of any license denials and retain records of those denials.
Terry A. Nelson, Spears’ attorney, said in an interview that the Police Department doesn’t follow those requirements either.
“It would be funny if it weren’t so serious, but Torrance totally acts in the concealed carry weapon permit arena in violation of federal law,” Nelson said. “I speculate that the reason they don’t is if they kept the records they’d show numerous applicants being told, ‘don’t bother'” to apply.
Spears works in an occupation where he regularly is confronted with hostility. All he wants to do is to pack his Glock subcompact .45 pistol in case one of his hostile ‘clients’ gets too rambunctious.
I don’t blame him. As I said earlier, we’re going to be watching this case.
During a shoot in March 2008, Damsel dropped six 125 grain .38 special rounds and one 158 grain .357 magnum round in her Smith & Wesson 686 revolver. She then squeezed off the rounds in three pairs and then the final round. Bang bang … bang bang … bang bang … BOOM!
The seven-second video at the right demonstrates the difference both aurally and visually. You can hear the difference (if you turn up the audio level) and you can see the bigger kick as she fires the magnum round.
We both tried this experiment and got about the same results. One patron at the range asked ‘Mixing rounds, are we?” We both nodded and laughed as did he.
I was curious about the reason that Smith and Wesson developed the magnum round, so I looked in Wikipedia and found this historical account:
The .357 Magnum was developed over a period of time in the early to mid-1930s in a direct response to Colt’s .38 Super Automatic. At the time, the .38 Super was the only pistol cartridge capable of defeating automobile cover and the early body armor that was just beginning to emerge in the post-World War I “Gangster Era”. Tests at the time revealed that those early ballistic vests defeated any handgun cartridge traveling at less than about 1000 ft/s. Colt’s .38 Super Automatic just edged over that velocity and was able to penetrate car doors and vests that bootleggers and gangsters were employing as cover.
Then there is the original question about S&W’s development of the magnum round:
In order to reassert itself as the leading law enforcement armament provider, Smith & Wesson developed the .357 Magnum. The new round was developed from its existing .38 Special round; it used a different powder load, and ultimately the case was extended by 1/8th of an inch (3.2 mm). The case extension was more a matter of safety than of necessity. Because the .38 Special and the early experimental .357 Magnum cartridges were identical in physical attributes, it was possible to load an experimental .357 Magnum cartridge in a .38 Special revolver, with potentially disastrous results. Extending the case slightly made it impossible to chamber the magnum-power round in a gun not designed for the additional pressure.
Oh, and then there’s this – the famous .357 magnum muzzle flash that didn’t show up in the video above . . .
When getting ready for the annual vacation this summer, the first thing on our list of priorities is to get our Utah CCW permits. It will be for a good reason – we like to travel via other than Interstates to scenic places – and we’re getting a little older and could be seen as easy targets by those with criminal intent.
I read an article today where the problems facing older unarmed Americans is described:
Criminals like easy targets. A nice new Motor home with out-of-State plates, some friendly retired folks traveling on vacation, out of their normal environment, sounds like an easy target? Have you ever considered what you would do if you were traveling in a remote, unpopulated, unfamiliar area and your vehicle broke down or you had a tire blow out?
For some reason that expensive cellular phone plan with three bars and excellent coverage around town suddenly has a dead zone exactly where you are now stranded? What if the wrong person stopped to help you? He or she may look innocent enough, but could actually be a serious criminal predator, searching for stranded motorists in need of assistance.
The author of the article also quotes John Lott on the effect of CCW on violent crime:
John R. Lott, Jr.: Author of More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws, reveals that States with the largest increases in gun ownership also have the largest decreases in violent crimes. Thirty-eight states now have such laws – called “Shall-Issue” or “Right to Carry” laws. These laws allow adults the right to carry concealed handguns if they do not have a criminal record or a history of significant mental illness. Lott also points out that States with the most restrictive Gun Laws, such as California, New York, and Washington D.C., also have some of the highest violent crime rates in the Nation.
The Utah CCW permit is accepted by many states. When planning our vacation route, states that are candidates for where we’ll be spending our vacation dollars are shown in pink below.
Last weekend, we bought some new Russian-made Wolf .45ACP ammunition, primarily to shoot with my Para Warthog. The gun is a little finicky when shooting the reloads we buy at the range. On Sunday, all but one of the rounds fired with no misfeeds – the one that did not feed was toward the bottom of the magazine that I suspect might have a weak spring. We’re going to get all the Warthog magazines re-sprung one of these days.
The rest of this post is dedicated to the artistic aspects of this fine-looking ammo.
“As long as it’s still movin’ I’m still shootin’!” That’s Damsel’s description of her target practice technique when shooting at silhouette targets with her shotgun. To that I say “As long as she likes doing that, I’ll keep the targets coming.”
. . . in the cost of fuel, that is – $4.35 per gallon of regular.
On the way to the indoor target range today, I stopped to fill up the truck. The tank was a little dryer for my bi-weekly fill-up because of the trip out to the gun show yesterday. I lost the bet to Damsel that it would take over a hundred bucks to fill the tank – barely.
I blame the asswipes in government that disallow drilling, refining and production of petroleum products domestically.
Specifically (update 6/9/08 14:38z):
ANWR Exploration
House Republicans: 91% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed
Coal-to-Liquid
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 78% Opposed
Oil Shale Exploration
House Republicans: 90% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Exploration
House Republicans: 81% Supported
House Democrats: 83% Opposed
Refinery Increased Capacity
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 96% Opposed
Hat Tip Redstate
Update: The Pelosi Premium . . .
