09:55 – I was shocked to learn that the “hispanic male” sought in the mall shooting in Washington state supposedly turned out to be a Turk, presumably musloid. The first image they released was so blurred it was difficult to tell much. Images that they finally got around to releasing later appeared more to be of a young man of Middle-Eastern appearance than a Hispanic, although I saw no comment about that at the time.
Brick and mortar retailers are already suffering at the hands of on-line retailers, so the last thing they want is for people to start thinking it’s dangerous to go to the mall or big-box stores. And the truth is that it’s not particularly dangerous, even with musloid terrorists targeting such places. The risk of being killed in a terrorist outrage disappears into the statistical noise, but it still makes sense to avoid shopping malls, big box stores and similar locations, particularly as they become more crowded during the holidays, especially since there are good on-line alternatives for shopping. Buying from amazon.com, walmart.com, and similar retailers gives you the same products at the same or better price, delivered to your door. And you don’t have to go out among the teeming masses to get your stuff. Those were pretty strong selling points before musloid terrorists started attacking groups of people, and they’re even better selling points now. I certainly intend to do most of my shopping on-line, but I’ve been doing that for more than 20 years anyway. The next attack could be in your town, and it’s best not to be there when it happens.
We’re working on more science kits today.
11:35 – Email from Jen. She, her husband, brother, sister-in-law, and two nephews are all experienced clays shooters, and are now well-equipped with tactical barrels, night sights, and other accessories for their Remington 870 shotguns. They also have a large stock of buckshot and slugs for them, as well as a spares kit of items recommended by a local gunsmith. They’re also now well equipped with tactical rifles, magazines, other accessories, and ammunition for them. They’ve all shot familiarization with the tactical rifles and have scheduled regular training/practice sessions with them.
In terms of self-defense, their only glaring lack was pistols. They live in a Constitutional Carry state, and after some discussion all four of the adults agreed that it was time for them to start carrying. The problem is, none of them have any experience to speak of using pistols.
A few months ago, Jen asked me what I recommended. I suggested that all four of them plus the two nephews should find a reasonably local shooting range that offered various pistols for rent and get some experience actually shooting different models and calibers. I also suggested that they look for an NRA-certified pistol instructor and take the intro class.
They did all of that, and then got together to discuss what to do. There were different favorites of make/model/caliber among the group, but they decided for commonality of magazines, spare parts, and ammo that it made more sense to pick one model that everyone found acceptable and standardize on it. The instructor offered gentle advice as well. They ended up standardizing on the Glock 23, which wouldn’t have been my first choice, but is certainly a reasonable one, particularly given the diversity in size and strength among the group members. They’ve purchased seven Glock 23’s, half a dozen spare magazines for each, and several thousand rounds of .40 S&W. Jim and Claire’s sons aren’t old enough to buy pistols themselves, so the parents bought two each. Jen and David bought one each plus an extra one as a community spare.
They’re happy with the stock 23’s, but decided on the recommendation of the instructor (with my support) to install tritium night sights on all of them. They’ve also each chosen a suitable holster, which choice varies from person to person, as well as a magazine pouch. Jen’s husband added a set of carbide dies for reloading .40 S&W, since they’ll be generating a lot of reloadable cases during practice sessions. They intend to get in at least a few hundred rounds each of practice/familiarization on a butt that they’ve set up on Jen’s property. Once they’ve all completed that, they intend to hire their instructor, who’s a retired Marine and police officer as well as a former combat pistol competitor, to teach them how to defend themselves with a pistol.
Any “holiday” or other shopping I do or will do in the coming months is either online or at local downtown stores up here.
So much for trying to sleep in a normal bed again last night; no can do. There is no comfortable position anymore and the pillow trick doesn’t work anymore, either. More or less continuous pain all night long and then I finally wised up at around 06:00 and moved to the recliner downstairs, bingo. Able to get four hours in with minimal pain.
My VA appointment tomorrow is at the “Pain Clinic,” so here’s hoping they can do something for me; I can’t function like this or even think straight.
Off shortly to go pick up Mrs. OFD at her mom’s and maybe grab some lunch.
IYRC I called the scumbag yesterday and included a link to our local paper with 3 photos (http://www.ttgnet.com/journal/2016/09/24/saturday-24-september-2016/#comment-110851).
Profile, profile, profile. In addition to the physical appearance there was the scene and subjects; Macy’s perfume counter and 4 women. The relevance to the scumbag being a mooslem is text book. In addition is knowing the population in the area. Calling the scumbag an Hispanic was pure Left Coast blather.
The reports of his capture also relate to my comments on these scumbags. He was reportedly walking in a stupor, I take that to mean on “drugs”. So I am sure he was well medicated while at the mall (it would have taken many center of mass shots to bring him down) and his current condition is his stupor while coming down. BTW, is was an observant Officer of the Peace who saw the scumbag walking, did a u-turn and then captured the “young-turk”.
Charllote needs to put a bounty dead (preferred, double bounty) or alive not “shame” on the Charlotte rioters.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/09/name-shame-charlotte-police-post-photos-mugshots-looters-online/
I am shocked — shocked! — to find islamorrhoids in this shopping establishment!
Really, I thought the guy looked Swedish. You know, the new Swedes, the ones who’re responsible for approximately 100% of rapes in Sweden, approximately 90% of assaults, and so on. You know, the overachievers who are compensating for their being 3% of the population. (A 30,000% increase over their ratio 20 years ago. Extreme overachievers!)
I buy a lot of stuff online already. Because of these shootings I’ll probably spend less time at the mall. I’ll probably still shop in stores, but it will be for the kinds of things you don’t buy online. Groceries, Costco and Sam’s Club come to mind as places I’ll still go. I’ll probably still shop at specialty retailers without crowds.
I won’t be browsing as much, it will be get in and get out. I’ll be less likely to view shopping as a social activity. (I’m a guy, I don’t do that much shopping as a social activity in the first place.) There will be a lot less time for impulse buys however, which is the thing which probably hurts brick and mortar retailers.
Calling the scumbag an Hispanic was pure Left Coast blather.
Yup. The MSM wanted this dude to be a natural born, Hispanic/WHITE, NRA Lifetime Member, so baaaaad! Now they have egg on their gob.
It’s getting to be very hard to tell the islamics from the hispanics, especially 15-40 yo males.
They have similar skin and hair color, and they’re all wearing the ‘jaw line’ beard.
n
I am shocked. Apparently the young Turk is a self-proclaimed Hillary supporter too. Shocked.
Jen’s guns. Splendid! I can’t fault anything, other than, for emergency use, I’d want to have at least one .45 and one 9mm pistol, those being the calibres in which ammunition is most likely to be available. I therefore applaud the decision to stock up now on their chosen .40 ammo and reloading gear for it.
.40 S&W is the most manufactured caliber in the US. So many police departments and other agencies at the local, state, and federal levels use it that it’s readily available when even stuff like .22LR, .38/.357, .45 ACP, and 9mm is hard to find. It’s also often reasonably price, since factories do huge runs and they have to sell the overrun.
I have the Glock 23, 26 and 19. I’m thinking about the .45 version for when I start finding ammo when Lake Mead dries up.
Regarding 40… now that the FBI has moved to 9mm agencies all over the country are abandoning the SW40 in droves. This means a large number of 40 cal glocks hitting the resale market. Which is good.
RBT’s comment about ammo availability is true too, at least for the near future. .40 was available throughout the last big ammo shortage.
I almost spent my hard earned coins on a 40 and ammo for that very reason. It’s a good reason too. Just be certain to track the ‘feel’ of the situation going forward. If at some point it looks like this might become an ‘orphaned’ caliber, act accordingly.
(Not an armorer, and too sick to google)Also, look at 9mm conversions as part of a spares strategy. For the 23, I think you just need the barrel and mag and you are good to go.
nick
I recently spent two weeks in India. You do not get into malls, hotels, or airports without getting frisked. To get on an aircraft, one must pass through exterior perimeter security (you cannot just walk into the airport), baggage scan prior to the ticket counter, personal scan including a frisking at the security checkpoint, and two or three additional passport checks prior to getting on the aircraft. They are much closer to the spewing font of terrorism there, of course.
“They are much closer to the spewing font of terrorism there, of course.”
Not to worry or fret; we’re heading in that direction pretty quickly; the more musloid scum we let in, the faster we’ll get there, too. So if we have legit biz at a mall, hotel, or airport, let alone gummint buildings, we must be disarmed and utterly dependent on the costumed gummint constabularies and security guards. Plus, of course, metal detectors, frisking, cameras, etc. Cui bono?
I’m not gonna bother with amassing .40 guns and ammo; my take is that there will be plenty of 5.56/.223 and 9mm for a long time to come. And my thinking regarding any more acquisitions is to focus on older stuff that won’t necessarily show up on any radar, including the ammo for it. Also, rolling yer own is good if you know what you’re doing.
Back from picking up wife and doing lunch; I had fish and chips and told the waitress/server “LIGHT” on the chips, please. They always still insist on a PILE of them, no matter where I go. But the fish was good, with plenty of malt vinegar and tarter sauce.
I started 50 years ago with a Lee Loader.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=lee+loader
It was slow, doing just one round at a time. Amazingly, Amazon sells them now for $29. IIRC, they were $9 back in 1966.
Apparently the NFL is now a constitution free zone….
“Interim City Manager Ron Kimble declared the NFL game ‘an Extraordinary Event’, which allowed for increased police control, CBS reported.
Because of the designation police were allowed more room to stop and search people within an area for several blocks in all directions and prevent protesters from gathering all together.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3806643/Riot-police-brace-trouble-outside-Carolina-Panthers-stadium-Cam-Newton-wears-shirt-Martin-Luther-King-quote-warming-up.html”
The NFL has long had an anti-2A policy so they don’t get any of my time or attention. This is a bit more. It DOESN’T look like this guy got grabbed at a turnstile. He’s “outside the stadium.”
“Charlotte-Mecklenburg police arrested Bruce Garmon when they found an unloaded pistol and a fully-loaded magazine in his bag outside the Bank of America Stadium on Sunday, according to WSOC.
A photo was captured of Garmon being zip-tied by police as they searched the man’s bag.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3806643/Riot-police-brace-trouble-outside-Carolina-Panthers-stadium-Cam-Newton-wears-shirt-Martin-Luther-King-quote-warming-up.html”
added- lots to see for the wise in those photos. Look at gear, deployment, etc.
I cannot imagine wanting to be anywhere near some “professional” or otherwise major sports venue, but it’s all too likely that I could fumble into some such area (and have my rights violated, at best). I guess sports awareness needs to be added to survival techniques…
For those of you that are bored this evening I present some pictures from a high school football game on Friday. I had a contract with a local paper.
http://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/Midway
Click on a thumbnail for a larger image, navigation links are on each page.
I really dislike local HS football stadiums. The lights flicker badly. Not visible to the naked eye but certainly captured by a camera. One frame is perfectly exposed, next frame is orange, next frame is too dark. Camera does 10 frames a second so depending on when the image is captured relative to the 60HZ cycle of the power, the image is radically affected. White balancing takes forever and sometimes cannot be fully corrected because of a specific color being non-existent in the light being emitted.
Holy crap that center is a big boy!
n
“”I really dislike local HS football stadiums.””
So do I… Not meaning to be rude, but it scares me to be near any school. Too many options for somebody to make me out to be a perv… doing 15 mph on a major highway with a tiny Swiss knife in my pocket and a camera in my glovebox…
I can hear the band occasionally at local HS; too close!
And, all those fireworks at the “pro” (semi- ?? whatever, I’m not interested enough to define it) sports venue… make me duck and cover, thinking it’s an attack.
If you ignore sports you are in danger of just being frisked in your back yard for being too close to the venue. I’m just making a point here, not even trying to be hostile towards sports, but just not understanding why all the fuss and crowds…
I’m sorta over-stressing on and about this, but there’s a whole huge (probably minority) population out here that has no interest or knowledge in the area of sports, “pro” or amateur [though I do think that good amateur athletics is to be admired… though I mostly have better things to think about] …
I mean I seldom know when and where the Superbowl (to name what I gather to be an extreme example) will be played, much less who’s competing. Guess I won’t be anywhere near such a venue, but what if some local hype sports thing is taking place and I have no idea about it… and I’m on my way back from the beer store, minding my own business, cold sober, tiny Swiss knife, speed limit… Get my drift?
I turn the corner, and there’s all them guys in black… on whichever side…
The only aspect of the mall shooting in WA State that surprised me was the location. I view the I-5 corridor from Portland to Downtown Seattle as a dystopia, but my theory on the danger in the northern end of the corridor was that it would be overrun with Canadians looking for food when things fell apart.
(If you live in the area, go watch the milk palettes at Costco in Bellingham on a Saturday afternoon if you want a preview of what will happen.)
When I first heard the news, I assumed Tacoma, but I never believed for a second that the shooter would be Hispanic.
Still, Turks settled in Mt. Vernon?!? Doh-bama’s been busy.
Nearly 50 years ago, I turned the corner on a street adjacent to my college campus, and the annual Halloween “riot” and Volkswagen toss was in progress…
and I was in the VW…
It didn’t turn out well, actually.
So, yeah, situational awareness and all that… but it’s hard to know what the assembled masses might be planning or doing if you ain’t in that sort of social circle.
Suggestions?
“”I started 50 years ago with a Lee Loader.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=lee+loader
It was slow, doing just one round at a time. Amazingly, Amazon sells them now for $29. IIRC, they were $9 back in 1966. “”
I’m gonna guess it beats cap-lock and especially flintlock …
Iirc, old men I knew loaded shot-shells with a lever pull that possibly even compressed powder and wad(s) and hot and crimped at five or so per lever pull… or was it just that each station on the loader had to be done separately…
Run them down.
You’re talking about a progressive reloader, and in this case progressive is good. Each pull of the handle drops a finished round into the bin. You ut an empty case into station one with each handle pull, and after (usually) five or six pulls that empty case, now fully reloaded, drops into the bin. All you have to do is keep feeding it cases and pulling the handle. That and make sure the powder and primer reservoirs don’t run out.
Back in the 70’s a friend and I used his Star press to reload mostly .45 ACP by literally the thousands. We alternated every 15 minutes or so, because pulling that lever got old fast. We’d routinely load 500+ rounds/hour (not counting prepping cases, weighing each finished round, etc.).
“” progressive reloader “”
Yeah, I think that was it … Nearly endless cheap shot-shells for the old men and for us kids…
Lots of utterly reliable good quality shells for rabbits and dove and quail… and those pesky clay pigeons!
My buddy had a shotshell progressive press, but I never used it with him. He was set up to do only star crimps (for birdshot) rather than the roll crimps that buckshot requires.
>> star crimps (for birdshot)
Yep. Little yellow cylinders that put food on the table (and fun in the guns).
“” Suggestions?
Run them down.
“”
Remind me to work on this rant later…
“”So, yeah, situational awareness and all that… but it’s hard to know what the assembled masses might be planning or doing if you ain’t in that sort of social circle.
Suggestions?””
Back on to my actual question… Even with obsessive observations of any and all national and local news sources, seriously, how does one know that some shit is going down somewhere that one might fumble into?
If you see a dead cat, watch out.
You probably aren’t going to know. You are going to have to make a judgement call based on what information you have. You are going to have to go shopping sooner or later. You can choose which places and times are safer. If things are worse than normal in your area, err on the side of caution.
Prepping isn’t a panacea, it’s about minimizing risks, not eliminating them. Avoiding potential risks isn’t always possible. Minimize the risks where possible and be prepared to deal with problems as they happen.
Wot Mr. Dave said; can’t say it any betta.
Lots of innocent people get caught in bad situations. The was the woman who ran over protesters in MN last go round.
And Reginald Denny as a very famous example.
More recently, the asian guy pulled from his Range Rover in NYC.
Like any self defense situation, you have to decide what your limit is. Kathy Jackson at corneredcat.com spends some time talking about this.
“They can have my wallet but not the car.” “They can have the car, but not if the kids are in back.” “I’d rather die right here than allow myself to be taken to a secondary location.” [read Kathy for discussion about what that means- secondary location]
Or “I won’t let them pull me out of my car.”
All these are responses to different threats. The common element is if you put yourself at the mercy of your attacker or not. You trust them to stop after you give up your wallet. You trust them to stop once you are out of the vehicle. You trust them to stop after rape and a beating. You trust them for ANYTHING, and you’re making a mistake.
I have decided- I won’t take a beating. I’ve seen too many ‘knock out game’ style assaults that ended in death. I won’t allow myself to be removed from my vehicle. Reginald Denny, brain damaged for life. I won’t allow anyone to remove my kids from me. I will not be moved to a secondary location. I will not allow myself to be separated from my wife or kids.
I may not be able to live up to these decisions, but I’m going to try.
nick
And it seems we’ve got an active shooter this morning….
n
Which I got notified of by an email alert. Your local office of emergency management may have alerts you can sign up for. Our OEM does, as well as ‘reverse 911’ to notify people in an affected area, and our Constables have alerts as well. That’s one way to find out about breaking news.
I signed up for the Red Cross First Aid class in the middle of a big city. The location is far from the best, but I’m going to be there on Saturday morning. I’m figuring Saturday morning is the safest time to be there. Most of the trouble makers from the night before will be asleep or in jail. I won’t spend any more time there than I need to. At present, I think the risk is worth it. I can (and will) revisit this decision just before class. I missed out on the class three weeks earlier because I waited too long. I chose a mostly online class to minimize my time in an undesirable neighborhood. I am choosing to take a risk to gain a useful skill.
Brief, but well said. Having listened to both you and Bob about guns and self defense, I went with shotgun first after considering that. I have no problem with drawing an imaginary line at the first step to our second floor. Replaceable things are on the first floor. Irreplaceable people are on the second floor.
Before I take the next step, I have to decide if I am willing to kill someone to keep them from taking my handgun. Handgun owners who hesitate get shot with their own gun. There is a line somewhere, and you need to figure out where the line is for you before you get near it.
Update: You need to figure out where the line is before it gets near you.
“You need to figure out where the line is before it gets near you.”
Yep, however, easier said than done. In the heat of the moment, all planning goes out the window.
I worry about the groups of young males I have to walk past in various train stations. While 99.9% of them are peaceful, just guys hanging out, there is the 0.1% that causes trouble. It’s easy to get complacent…
I suspect that most commenters here go through life in Cooper’s Alert Status Yellow, while the average person’s situational awareness puts them firmly in White. That’s particularly true of most women, for some reason. A couple million years of evolution should, if anything, make women more cautious than men. The problem is that nowadays very few women understand that they’re prey and men are predators. I understand that women hate the idea that they’re vulnerable, but it’s the simple truth. And even fewer men understand that they’re vulnerable as well.
I’ll point out that this issue, when and where to draw a line, has received a ton of consideration and discussion throughout history.
First, be sure of your legal situation. Do you live in a legal hellhole that requires you to retreat? Take a class, or get good online info for your jurisdiction. There are tons of wrong ideas that are widely held and repeated. Generally speaking, you can’t use deadly force to protect property. (you CAN in TX, under some conditions). Generally speaking, you CAN use deadly force to defend another person, if you would be justified in using that force to defend yourself. Generally speaking, you can’t pursue someone and shoot them (stopping a kidnapping is a good exception). Generally speaking, you shoot to ‘stop the threat’ and anything past that is suspect. You NEVER ‘shoot to kill’. Even if you are training to double tap, or put 5 shots center of mass, you are NOT ‘shooting to kill’, you are attempting to stop the threat as quickly as possible. Semantics, yes, but possibly the difference between life and death for YOU…
Generally speaking, there are 3 conditions that must be met for lethal force to be justified. Ability, Opportunity, Jeopardy. Being able to articulate them afterward can keep you out of jail
http://www.secondcalldefense.org/using-lethal-force
Generally speaking, most honest people make mistakes AFTER a defensive encounter.
https://www.armedcitizensnetwork.org/3-most-common-post-shooting-errors
nick
gah, still sick. better today but guts still messed up.
And if you are a Christian and have the belief that you can never defend yourself or others without breaking doctrine there are good resources that look at self defense and defense of others from a scriptural basis. Not an issue for me, but I do know that some people are concerned about it. I’ll post a link later.
n
progressiveliberal reloaderThere, fixed it in this context as a “progressive” wouldn’t touch anything related to guns. 😉
“And it seems we’ve got an active shooter this morning….”
Yawn, so what’s new.
I’m waiting for the Chicago weekend head count. Oh, that’s a yawn too.
Edit: Got to put my 2-cents in on @nick’s comment:
“And if you are a Christian and have the belief that you can never defend yourself or others without breaking doctrine there are good resources that look at self defense and defense of others from a scriptural basis. Not an issue for me, but I do know that some people are concerned about it.”
Any Christen who does not believe in defending themselves or others is guilty of selective Bible reading/interpretation. This “lamb” and “turn the other cheek” stuff is pure pap. Pacifism gets you nowhere. The Jesuits used to be the badest Mo Fos on the planet until some idiot told them to repent. We wouldn’t have a mooslem problem today if they had taken then Crusades to victory. There you have it and I’m not changing my opinion.
“A couple million years of evolution should, if anything, make women more cautious than men.”
A young woman who used to board at my house in the early 90s wouldn’t go out for a walk at night with me for exercise but *would* leave doors unlocked and windows open when she went out during the day, despite my repeated requests. She once complained “This place is like Fort Knox: (it wasn’t). She was lucky she never got raped, that I know of.
I’ve been holding my tongue regarding the anti-caters in this thread. There are some things I do not tolerate but will not add to the fire. I’ll just be succinct: well, bless your heart. For you folks without a little South in you, look it up.
I’m waiting for the Chicago weekend head count. Oh, that’s a yawn too.
Well, they found “a head” in a bag in Chicago. It wasn’t a cat’s head, either.
I’ve been holding my tongue regarding the anti-caters in this thread. There are some things I do not tolerate but will not add to the fire. I’ll just be succinct: well, bless your heart. For you folks without a little South in you, look it up.
anti-catters ????
I got woken up this morning by our 12 lb white Siamese male and the next door 27 lb Maine Coon screaming at each other on our pool deck at 7 am after going to bed at 23o am. The Maine Coon’s owner missed her school bus because she was trying to pick him up and he screamed even louder at her.
??? A 27-pound housecat? A little on the pudgy side, perhaps?
For that matter, a 12-pound Siamese has either been getting into the steroids or has been getting into the kibble.
??? A 27-pound housecat? A little on the pudgy side, perhaps?
For that matter, a 12-pound Siamese has either been getting into the steroids or has been getting into the kibble.
The 27 lb Maine Coon is a little on the light side for a three+ foot long cat. I’ve heard of them up to 35 lb. This one can still climb our six ft brick fence so he is not too pudgy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Coon
Our 12 lb white Siamese has actually dropped 2 lbs according to the vet. He is only half Siamese as he has tan rings on his tail. He is very strong, I have seen him jump up a six ft wood fence.
Just measured Remy, our 12 lb white Siamese male cat. He is 40 inches from nose to tail. I would say that Tiger, the 27 lb Maine Coon from next door, is at least a foot longer. My wife found a large of amount of white hair behind the garage today with a little bit of tan and black hair. Looks like they did get into it before Remy (from X-men lore) ran inside our dog door.