Thursday, May 31, 2018

Political pressure on guns

I recently had the opportunity to meet with Florida Senator Marco Rubio. I discussed school shootings with him, and pointed out that there are many veteran and former law enforcement officers who are teachers, and when a school shooter enters a school, all they can do is hide with their children in the dark and hope that the shooter doesn't find them.

He seemed pretty receptive, even though he pointed out that there is a lot of opposition to teachers carrying weapons. He wasn't sure that there were votes at the Federal level to change that any time soon.

I did bring up a few points that it seemed had never occurred to him. I think it is important to meet with our legislators so that they are aware that there are pro gun rights people out there who think this is important.

In the past three months, I have met with my state rep, my congressman, and one of my Senators. I have made political donations to several, and have told the Republican party of Florida that there will be no donations from me, until they can stop assholes like Rick Scott from selling us out.

Let's put some pressure on our elected officials.

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Bulletsafe

In mid April, I ordered two level IIIA Bulletsafe vests, and a pair of lightweight ballistic plates, so that the vests would be rated as level IV. The vests shipped and arrived as promised. The problem is the plates.

They originally were supposed to ship on May 15th. That date came and went, with no notice that my plates had shipped. I contacted the company and received a return email from Chris Hale, the operations manager. He said that there were delays in production, and that my plates would ship by May 30th. Today, I checked and now the ship date has been pushed back again, this time to June 5th. I emailed Mr Hale and asked him to cancel my order, and since I was getting really close to the 60 limit for disputing credit card charges, I went ahead and disputed the charges with my credit card company.

At this point, BulletSafe does not appear to be able to deliver their products in a timely fashion. I would recommend that they be avoided until they can reliably deliver their products as promised.

Some facts

This day marks the beginning of the 100 deadly days. What are they? They are the 100 days of summer, the days between the last day of the school year, and the beginning of the next. In each of the last five years, 1,022 people were killed in car crashes involving teens during those 100 days.

Some statistics:
- 89.2% of teens will be involved in a car crash during their first three years of driving

- 20% of all motor vehicle deaths are caused by teen drivers

- 50% of all fatal accidents involving teens are single vehicle accidents

- Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death among 15-20 year olds

If you are REALLY interested in saving the lives of teens, you should protest cars, not guns.


Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Orlando Defensive gun use

A 60 year old man is robbed at gunpoint at an ATM in Orlando. The would be victim has a CWP and was carrying. He drew his weapon, and the criminal and his intended victim exchanged gun fire. Both fled, and the 60 year old called 911 and then returned to the scene.

The robber was transported to the hospital and did not survive.

Florida statistics

The Washington post cites a study that claims Americans overstate the number of gun owners. I want to take a look at the numbers, because that is what I do here on this blog.

According to the US census, Florida has a population of 20.6 million. 20 percent of that population is under the age of 18, meaning that there are 16.45 million adults living in Florida. There are 7.4 million households in the state of Florida, equaling an average of 2.1 adults in each household. 

According to the Department of Agriculture (the state agency that issues CWPs), there are 2 million non-law enforcement citizens in Florida who can legally carry a firearm. (pdf warning) That means that, on average, 27 percent of Florida households contain at least one permitted firearm owner.

Looking at the NFA, there are 343,288 NFA firearms in state, including over 36,000 machine guns. There have been 12.4 million NICS checks carried out in Florida since 1999. Since it is possible to buy more than owe firearm per NICS check, and since there are many firearms that have been brought in from out of state, as well as firearms that were in the state prior to 1999, 20 million firearms in the state is likely a low number.

I will admit that there is no way to know for sure hoe many firearms each gun owner has, all of the above evidence points to 30 percent being a low estimate of the number of adults in the state who own firearms:
- 2 million concealed weapons permits, 27 percent of all households having a permit holder
- 343,288 NFA weapons, including 36,000 machine guns
- More firearms in the state than there are adults

Monday, May 7, 2018

Screwed

The Florida Senate race for 2018 just sucks. The candidates are:

Bill Nelson, Democrat

versus the Republican field:

Rick Scott, aka Governor Gun Grabber

Roque De La Fuente, who was a Democrat candidate for the Florida Senate as a Democrat in 2016, but is now running as a Republican in 2018 in Florida and in California.

So we have a choice between a Democrat gun grabber, and a pair of RINO gun grabbers.

Florida is screwed, no matter who we vote for.

Saturday, May 5, 2018

The process is a punishment

I was recently having a discussion about voting against Rick Scott in the Republican primary in the contest to replace Bill Nelson. When I stated that I will never support that gun grabbing RINO, one of the commenters in the discussion remarked that I must support crazy people and 18 year olds having weapons.
First off, 18 year olds have rights as American citizens, just like the rest of us.

Second, I will tell you why I am against GVROs.
In 2014, a woman that I had dated filed for a Domestic Violence restraining order, claiming that I was stalking her. There was a hearing that was held without my knowledge or presence. I had not spoken with, nor had any contact with this woman for four months, yet she went to the courthouse and filed for an injunction. The first I knew of it was when a Deputy arrived at my house and served me with the order.

In it, she alleged that we lived together (we did not), and that I was stalking her (I was not), and that I showed up at her workplace and got her fired. There were no allegations that I committed any violent act, nor any claims that I threatened any violent acts. The basis of her claim was that I owned a lot of guns, and she was afraid that I might "snap" one day.

 I was a prohibited person. I was not allowed to possess firearms or ammunition. My concealed weapons permit was revoked. It took three weeks, two hearings, half a dozen witnesses, an attorney, as well as dash cam footage and toll receipts, and over $2,000 in legal fees to show that I was nowhere near her on the days she claimed I was stalking her and clear my name.

To protect myself from any allegations of violating the restraining order, I left the country/state for two weeks. I went into exile. I traveled to Atlanta, then I went to St Martin, St Thomas, and to the Bahamas. I can prove that I was nowhere near her for those three weeks, because I had receipts from ICE showing I was not in the country.

I finally cleared my name, but it was an important lesson in the US court system.

All it takes is one pissed off ex-girlfriend making an allegation, and you are screwed. Is there any reason to believe that GVROs will be different?

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Voter fraud

The Democrats are constantly telling us that there is no evidence of voter fraud. Yes there is. I'm sure this isn't an isolated incident.

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Brand selection

Vista outdoors announced that they are caving to antigun pressure, and are exiting the firearm market. Vista sells over 50 other brands. Where I have a choice, I try to only patronize companies that support human rights. A few years ago, I stopped shopping at Cheaper than Dirt when they sold us out after Sandy Hook, and Central Florida gun store L&R armory for trying to sell stripped lowers for $900.

For that reason, my primary handgun ammunition will be primarily Hornady. I am henceforth avoiding any further purchases of Blazer, Federal, CCI, Federal, American Eagle, or Speer ammunition. I will also be avoiding Camelback, Tasco, Uncle Mike's, Bushnell, Simmons, Hoppe's, as well as any others.