guns

Chris Knight's avatar

Click here for the official purchase order for 27 Remington shotguns, deliverable to the Department of Education.

And here’s the full text, in case it goes down the proverbial “memory hole” (or if you’re too lazy to hit the link)…

Remington Shotguns
Solicitation Number: EDOOIG-10-000004
Agency: Department of Education
Office: Contracts & Acquisitions Management
Location: Contracts (All ED Components)

Synopsis:
Added: Mar 08, 2010 10:39 am

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) intends to purchase twenty-seven (27) REMINGTON BRAND MODEL 870 POLICE 12/14P MOD GRWC XS4 KXCS SF. RAMAC #24587 GAUGE: 12 BARREL: 14″ – PARKERIZED CHOKE: MODIFIED SIGHTS: GHOST RING REAR WILSON COMBAT; FRONT – XS CONTOUR BEAD SIGHT STOCK: KNOXX REDUCE RECOIL ADJUSTABLE STOCK FORE-END: SPEEDFEED SPORT-SOLID – 14″ LOP are designated as the only shotguns authorized for ED based on compatibility with ED existing shotgun inventory, certified armor and combat training and protocol, maintenance, and parts.
The

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Chris Knight's avatar

One county to the west of my position in King, North Carolina, the authorities have banned the sale of guns and ammunition during the “state of emergency” there caused by the winter storm of the past few days.

From the story at the WXII.com website…

Authorities lifted a curfew and alcohol restrictions in King on Sunday, but said a state of emergency declaration remained in effect until Monday.

Authorities said the state of emergency declaration would continue until Monday 9 a.m., barring any unforeseen circumstances or severe changes.

Effective Sunday afternoon, alcohol restrictions and a curfew were lifted. All other remaining restrictions would continue until Monday, said Paula May, King police chief.

Other restrictions include a ban on the sale or purchase of any type of firearm, ammunition, explosive or any possession of such items off a person’s own premises.

King is a rather small town. If people are inclined ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

Here’s the call for quotes that the IRS has put out. The agency says that the shotguns are for its “Criminal Investigation Division”.

I could understand (kinda) investigating crime, insomuch as I do acknowledge that the IRS is still a legal entity despite my beliefs on taxation. But there’s a far difference between investigating a possible criminal and approaching said possible criminal in a way that entails possessing means of self-defense if necessary.

Or I guess it could mean that the IRS is going to attempt to make war on moonshiners. But after what happened to Popcorn Sutton last year, y’all can be assured of where my sympathies in that would be....

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There is no way that a TV commercial like this would ever be made, much less allowed to broadcast, in 2009. But once upon a time when boys were allowed to play “cops ‘n robbers” there were fewer toy weapons as kewl as Mattel’s Tommy Burst arsenal. For three bucks you could get the revolver and for seven you got the Detective Set complete with handgun and holster, toy bullets, badge and one neat-o machine gun!

Behold the commercial from about 45 years ago…

And if that adult looks familiar, it should: that’s Hal Smith as the thief and the commercial’s pitchman. Smith will forever be known as that lovable town drunk Otis Campbell on The Andy Griffith Show.

I remember about two decades ago when every Toys R Us had an aisle devoted to toy guns. Seems like we had a lot less real-life crime then than ...

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The techies at Waterloo Labs in Austin, Texas are putting “shooter” into the first-person shooter game… literally! Using accelerometers, a big sheet of drywall and computer triangulation, they’ve made it possible to play a FPS like Half-Life with actual firearms and other physical weapons!

Behold the carnage…

I’d love to play Doom like this, but knowing me I’d just wind up chainsawing the drywall to pieces not long into Episode 1 Mission 2 😛...

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A Kentucky minister plans to celebrate the Fourth of July next month along with the Second Amendment… by inviting church members to bring their guns to Sunday service.

New Bethel Church is welcoming “responsible handgun owners” to wear their firearms inside the church June 27, a Saturday. An ad says there will be a handgun raffle, patriotic music and information on gun safety.

“We’re just going to celebrate the upcoming theme of the birth of our nation,” said pastor Ken Pagano. “And we’re not ashamed to say that there was a strong belief in God and firearms — without that this country wouldn’t be here.”

The guns must be unloaded and private security will check visitors at the door, Pagano said.

He said recent church shootings, including the killing Sunday of a late-term abortion provider in Kansas, which he condemned, highlight the need to promote safe gun ownership. The New

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Chris Knight's avatar

(I soooo wanted to put an “i” in that word, but as it’s a Sunday I’m trying to restrain myself.)

Longtime readers of this blog already know that I loathe, loathe, LOATHE the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration, and damn nearly everything else that George W. Bush implemented in the name of “national security” when he was President. I have never liked them for a very many reasons: that these were measures that were rushed into becoming enacted with little consideration or even seriously reading the language of the associated bills, for one thing. Because there are numerous fascist connotations surrounding it all. And because the Department of Homeland Security and everything connected with it has proven to be the most abused, corrupt and inefficient example of government bureaucracy to have come along in a VERY long time.

But most of all: because I have never ...

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Betsy Ramsdale of Wisconsin apparently likes guns. Nothing wrong with that. And she likes them so much that she posted a picture of herself aiming a rifle on her Facebook page. Nothing wrong with that either: it’s her own account, she gets to do with it on her own time whatever she likes and if Facebook doesn’t think it violates the terms of service, nobody else should hassle her about it.

Except that Betsy Ramsdale is also a teacher employed by what is all too often the modern monstrosity of public education. And when officials at Beaver Dam Middle School were “alerted” to the photo, they immediately placed Ramsdale on administrative leave.

So what it all comes down to is that Betsy Ramsdale is being punished for practicing her freedom of speech and right to privacy, by her implied advocacy of the Second Amendment. That’s a heckuva civics lesson ...

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This has gotta be one of the most innovative and clever uses for the iPod touch that I’ve ever seen…

The BulletFlight application software, available through the iTunes store, turns the iPod touch into a full-blown ballistics computer that helps hunters in the field plot their firing solution. Users can tap in the ammunition type, wind speed and conditions, and distance to target. Profiles for three weapons come loaded with BulletFlight, although more can also be added.

Maybe Apple should look into this concept further. I mean, wouldn’t it be nifty if we could own an iGun? 😛...

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I found this at the Kotaku website. Its creators have dubbed it the “Firearm Mounted Anti-Zombie Device”. But fans of Gears of War will readily recognize it as a primitive version of the Lancer assault rifle, complete with chainsaw bayonet.

As you can see from this video, both the gun and the chainsaw work fine.

Click here for more pictures and videos of this thing in action.

This blog occasionally gets visitors from the United States House of Representatives and the Senate (I know ‘cuz of the meter logs). Wonder how soon it’ll be before some elected official with too much time on his/her hands sees this photo, and introduces legislation banning chainsaw modifications…

(And I wonder how soon it’ll be before my Dad sees this and begins conjuring one up in his workshop.)...

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