Talking a Good Game

2A Gaming: Spreading Gun Rights Message via Video Games [More]

I have to admit upfront the gaming phenomenon is something I have never grokked.  When I was in college a bar had Pong and I remember playing PacMan and Asteroids, and Snakes on an old Windows machine. The wife enjoys Solitaire in her spare time, and back when I had some, I enjoyed a miniature golf game. Oh, I also remember playing Duck Hunt for a few minutes at a relative's house.

By the time the X-Box/Play Station stuff with multi-function controllers came out, I was too wrapped up in demanding jobs to give them a moment's thought, and my limited free time was eaten up doing Dad things with the family and around the house and yard. Anything in excess of that and it was a cigar and a couple fingers of the good stuff on the porch for me to decompress.

Feral sons Uday and Qusay, on the other hand, grew up with it all and are quite adept, but I would watch them for a few minutes and decide it was all above, if not my pay grade, any incentive to spend the time to learn.

So with my near-total ignorance stipulated, let me venture an opinion:  My impression of gamers is they had better be given top-quality graphics, compelling character and scenarios, and top-notch competition, and anything less will be rejected and ruthlessly ridiculed. So if they're going to do it, do it right and spend the needed money to employ "top men."

Do it on the cheap or make the primary purpose to ham-handedly preach and you may as well not do it at all.

It's not a bad idea, but its success will all be in the execution. I hope you guys do it right. Good luck.

A Plea for Understanding

Folks, I'm working my tail off. I even have to go to the library today to do some research. I have two book reviews in the queue (meaning I have to find the time to read them first), a ton of marketing effort to do for my column, and literally hundreds of emails I process every day--I read them all and try to reply when I can, although of late I must apologize for not being able to.

In short, I am forced to make a decision between:
a. Working on the priorities on my overflowing plate
b. Processing and responding to every news tip I get (many of which are repeats)
c. Having a life, which includes a wife, two sons and a yard and house screaming for attention, not to mention my other professional commitments.

Please, please understand if I don't feature your tip or even reply. It does not mean I don't appreciate your interest, and I apologize if you think it's rude.

There is only one of me, and I'm doing the best that I can. I don't even plan to post on WarOnGuns any more today because of that afore-mentioned library trip, which I hope will result in a pay-off I can share with you soon.

Thank you in advance for understanding and not attributing non-responsiveness to not caring.

Oh, and if you do understand and want to help, share my Examiner column links. Page views help keep meager gruel in feral sons Uday and Qusay's bowls. I've heard some intentionally won't link to my GRE columns because of that.

For the Children

Really? My kids? Just wow. [More]

Let's review the bidding: Anne Coulter makes a demonstrable assertion about the effects of current immigration policies on the American electorate. I make an equally demonstrable extrapolation (if you deny that, you answer the challenge) about the legal and judicial effect that will have on the way the right to keep and bear arms is recognized by government.

Then out of nowhere this crazy lady appears and wishes my kids (by the way, I considered mine cubs) dead? Gun-grabbers sure are violent.

So them being killed
would teach me?

As disappointed as she'll be, feral sons Uday and Qusay both managed to make it to adulthood with  the chances of that happening minimized. That's because their mother and I knew that part of our job as parents committed to their protection was making sure they both received continued development-appropriate firearms exposure and training. That's as opposed to, you know, the avoidance and ignorance demanded by "common sense gun safety" advocates.

So who is this monster carrying around such bloody-minded, seething resentment for the millions of more-traditional Americans with whom she disagrees?

Her Twitter account says she's a "Musician, lover of design and art " out of Clearwater, FL. That matches up to a Facebook account that further tells us she
is "Now performing with At Large Band."

Oh, look. Nice to put a face and a CV with the person who wishes such nice things for me. And nice to see their calendar of upcoming performances.

How curious, though: Some of their regular gigs appear to be for American Legion Post 79 and a couple VFW posts, Dunedin and Indian Rocks.  I say "curious" because like me, they also advocate for caring adults providing youth firearms instruction, meaning they understand that responsible firearms ownership is an American tradition to be honored and carried on:

[More]

[More]

I wonder if Lotte would express the same hateful sentiment to her patrons about their children as she did to me.

I think I'll ask.

Still Under the Weather...

Believe me, I'm more sick and tired of it than anybody.

The good news is I'm on the mend. The bad news is, overdoing it would be stupid. So expect less for a while.

As such, I'm going to be doing an abbreviated set of posts, to give you some of what others of you want me to talk about (and I won't mind if the emails slow down a bit for a while longer--honest), and stuff I want to point out.

In the interests of making my job as effortless as possible, please forgive me if I don't get to your submission, and also if I don't go through the detail work of adding links to contributor names.

Together, we shall persevere through these dark days...or some such.

As always, please do what you can to evangelize my Examiner columns. I know I sound like a nag, but really--it's not like I have a tip jar or anything, and regulars here want to see me be able to feed feral sons Uday and Qusay their daily crust of bread, I trust...?

We're the Only Ones on a Jihad Enough

I'd say Supervisor Chris Norby has it exactly right, and Sandra Hutchens needs to be confined to the Hut of the Unclean. Go on over and lend some support in "Comments." [Via Maureen]

We're the Only Ones Released Enough

Tell me Oscar Grant would have made bail had he executed Johannes Mehserle. Plus the guy already ran to Nevada once--why isn't he considered a flight risk? [Via Maureen]

Meanwhile, Across the Pond in Sarah Brady Paradise

It looks like the entire culture has been infected with mistrust. No wonder they don't trust each other with guns--spouses don't even trust each other with computers.

Fairfax Rumor Control

If it's a legitimate concern, rest assured your NRA-ILA will promptly address it and will give you the straight story.

Just like they did with the Holder nomination!

And I guess Olofson and Fincher aren't legitimate concerns.

Less than Understanding

A local school district has suspended a member of the Young Marines youth leadership group after students saw drill props in her vehicle.

Read this and seethe. Can you imagine being Tustin Amhole...oh wait, that's Amole...

The schools says they have no discretion. Right. Like anyone would dare haul them away if they did the right thing.

You can contact these excremental administraitors here. [Via Tom S]

At Least He Didn't Make the "III" Sign

Tough to know if he was stalking. If he was, no sympathy, but the principle involved ought to raise some flags.. [Via Ed M]

Explosive Revelations

The vans included homemade explosive devices connected to remote detonators, firearm silencers and jugs filled with sulfuric acid, a known agent for accelerating the decomposition of a body, authorities said.

A fake mustache. Good grief.

Hey--what do you want to bet he got all that stuff at one of those damned American gun shows? [Via Ed M]

Yesterday

I just sent the following to a friend in response to something else, and decided what the hell, I may as well share it here:

I was so busy, I didn't even have time to give feral sons Uday and Qusay their daily beating.

Spent a needed day with wifey. Went to the outdoor farmer's market yesterday morning in the heart of Hudson. Took our goodies home after making fast friends with a happy poodle pup we met along the way, and then went to the art fair -- we always get our Christmas cards from a local artist who does home-towny Thomas Kincaid-type stuff we're suckers for.

Then went to visit my Mom. She got out of the hospital a week ago after having her knee replaced.  Visited, went grocery shopping for her, then found out she forgot her cell phone charge cord at the recovery hospital-- they couldn't find it so we had to buy a new one.

After that it was time to grill bacon cheeseburgers in time to leave by 7, when we went to Blossom --every year I get her Cleveland Symphony Orchestra summer season tickets, and we take out lawn chairs and listen under the stars, last night to Bach and Liszt, followed by the main event, Carmina Burana, which I just then realized is where Milius got some of the music for his Conan the Barbarian movie.

We got home in time for me to light a cigar on the back porch, pour a couple fingers of the good stuff, and continue my appreciation for the arts and culture by watching horror host Svengoolie present "Abbot and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

I hope with all the negative crap we feel compelled to devote so much of ourselves to dealing with, you find time for soul restoration and just plain enjoyment for its own sake.

Happy Trails to You, Until We Meet Again

I'm leaving for vacation in an hour and will be back Aug. 6.

I have no worries about making that knowledge public. Now that I've replaced the batteries in their shock collars so they can't escape the property and maul anyone (again), I've unchained and released feral sons Uday and Qusay from the basement, leaving them free to prowl the grounds.

Please hold off on all news tips, emails, tweets, FB messages and blog comments (which I have turned off until I get back). Anything you send will be a wasted effort, as I'll have a full plate and just won't be able to get to it when I return.

The White House petition expires in two days and will be ridiculously undersigned. I'll talk about that when I get back including that I'm not giving up and will figure something else out.  At least I can take comfort that the effort to free A$AP Rocky got the president's attention (not to mention almost 630,000 signatures at this writing).

I have two articles that should be coming out soon:

• On Ammoland, look for "Take Shannon Watts’ Advice and ‘Fight Like a Mother’ -- against Her."
• On Firearms News, look for"Riding the Tiger," my take on what to do about Wayne and why.

That's it. See you on the other side. Until then:

26, and It's Only March

Franco Avila's stepfather believed the teen when he said he didn't want to be in a gang anymore. But as the 17-year-old left their Albany Park home Tuesday afternoon, his stepfather asked him not to go, or at least be home before curfew.

Later that night, Avila, a 10th-grader at Roosevelt High School, was shot to death just blocks from his home. [More]

Ah, see, feral sons Uday and Qusay are in twelfth and ninth grades respectively. There's no quitting a gang option for either of them, because I, well, you know...I parent them. And set boundaries. Pretty simple, really. My house, my food, my rules. Deserve trust and you'll get it. Don't, and woe unto you. I know your friends and I know where you are. Speaking of which, where are you on your homework? And clean that room.

But don't worry--I'm even tougher on myself. Gotta set an example, you know.

Then you balance all that with a lot of love and a lot of laughter. Every day.

So we can see what the obvious solution to all these Chicago "students" getting shot is: Ban guns in Chicago. Don't allow gun carrying in Illinois.

Right?

Forget it Jake, it's Chi-Town.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles...

...starts this morning with a single step.  Meaning I won't be posting for a week, or moderating comments, which I've shut off, or responding to emails/tips, messages and tweets, Please hold off on those, as any received in my absence will probably go unanswered.

As usual, things have been coming across the transom I'm itching to field, including two offers for "exclusives." I just won't have time to even look at those until I return, so when I do they may be old news.

I also have four articles out awaiting publication and can't say what days they'll be posted. They'll be under the following links when they are:

• AmmoLand: New Jersey's "name and shame" efforts and "unique" gun-grabber suicide tools
• Firearms News: The Swiss EU disarmament referendum and ATF's swamp director nominee

Since I won't be here to promote them I'd appreciate help spreading the word. Also, you may find earlier articles you haven't seen, so feel free to give any you find worthwhile a boost.

That's it and now I've still got some tasks to complete before I head out, first and foremost turning feral sons Uday and Qusay's shock collars up to "Max" to keep them from escaping in my absence.

See ya on the other side.

Voyage to See What's on the Bottom

[Click to enlarge]

What with the hours I work and demands on time I don't write about here, I generally finish up late and turn on the tube to just veg out for a bit before sleep.  Right now I'm catching up on "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," which I used to watch back in the Sixties.

Feral sons Uday and Qusay think it's a hoot that we had shows like that taking place in the "future" years of 1970s and 80s. "Voyage" actually had some thoughtful episodes, especially in the black and white era before much of it devolved into cheesy special effects and hokey monsters, like much of the -- face it -- dreck Irwin Allen produced.

Long story short, I found a Richard Basehart commemorative site that has posted another fond memory, back from the days when I was a Mad Magazine regular, their "Voyage to See What's on the Bottom" parody.  You'll probably either think it's childishly stupid or funny.  If you're like me, you'll think it's both, and enjoy it all the more because of that.

I don't know what "netiquette" is for a link that appears to go to a directory instead of a content page, so I'm not going to make this link hot. If you want to see more, copy and paste it into your address bar.

http://www.richardbasehart.com/images/vttbots/mad/

There's an App for That

Find and rate businesses who support Second Amendment rights. [More] 

Their press release gives more information.

We discussed a similar effort back in March. I can't say how the two ventures compare, because I still carry an old clamshell pull-start model, so those of you who are not reta...uh...technologically challenged will need to weigh in with your own comparative product reviews.

New-fangled gizmos are tough for me.  When I was in college, the hot new bar novelty was Pong, so by the time the gaming industry took off, I was a "grup" and didn't have incentive to learn such things, which seemed geared for much younger people. That doesn't mean we hadn't mastered what was necessary: I recall (in the days when many smoked cigarettes at their desks) transcribing assembly parts lists onto 80-column forms to be punched into cards to feed a mainframe. My first "PC" had a 512K drive, an amber monitor and a daisy wheel printer. I recall being irritated as hell the first time I tried to use a mouse, because the damn thing seemed so non-intuitive. 

And when I see the ease with which feral sons Uday and Qusay navigate through all the intricacies of making what's on a screen conform to totally confounding controller commands, and all the stuff they seem to be able to do on devices called "phones" but that do so much more, none of which I grok or see as necessary, all I want to do at that point is keep small furry mammals from eating the eggs. Trying to learn to keep up convinces me if I'd been born a couple decades later, I'd have been a prime candidate for attention deficit drugs.

But for those of you who haven't outlived your usefulness and aren't obsolete, by all means, do try out this new application and make sure you let everyone know if you get value from it.

When the Balloon Goes Up

There's a new click-through graphic over in the left sidebar for BalloonGoesUp.com, run by Ron Larimer, who's been blogging about "training, tactics and gear used by civilians to prepare for the likely challenges we will all face" since October 2011, and who "decided to expand the mission of WTBGU! to include providing the best gear available for training, competition and preparing to survive the 1st 72 hours after a critical incident" this past August.

Go ahead and tour the site, spend some time looking at what he offers, and importantly, how he thinks. If you like what you see and are in the market for what he's got, you might as well get it from someone you think merits your business.

By way of full disclosure, I've decided to give becoming an affiliate a try, meaning I'll get a modest referral commission to help fill feral sons Uday's and Qusay's gruel bowls on orders originating from WoG.  They're holding their bellies and eying a trembling Humphrie the Wonder Pig as we speak.

Weekend Update

I was hoping to take a long weekend off--lots of family coming in and chores a-plenty--just got done splitting mucho wood for the firepit--my bro-in-law brought his 8-Lb maul and I was pleased at how easy that made it--my 6-pounder doesn't do the job and I was starting to take the resulting failure with it personally.

Probably no new GRE column for the weekend. Unless something big happens. But if you're on the internet looking for gun stuff, feel free to go over there and click around on my links, because page views help put meager gruel in feral sons Uday and Qusay's bowls. Then go share the links with everyone and get them to do the same thing, and help make ME that billionaire everyone is complaining we don't have to help finance 2A efforts. Now that sounds like a plan.

Anyway, the real reason I decided to do this one post is Mike Vanderboegh may have an insight on the next head of BATFU, so I wanted to share that with anyone still hanging around this place.

Go here and see.

Then log off. The weather map for most of the country says it's pretty nice.

Happy Independence Day tomorrow. Enjoy the blessings of Liberty. Go pursue some happiness.

The More Dead Children Through Mandated Ignorance Act of 2016

“The small hands of children and big power of machine guns are a deadly combination,” Markey said in a statement. “Assault weapons are weapons of war and should not be allowed in the hands of children." [More]

This lying parasite and every traitor like him has blood on their hands, because it's children who are ignorant of guns who end up "accidentally" shooting themselves and others (it's actually incompetence on the part of parents to not provide development -- not "age" -- appropriate training.

I handled that for my children, they never came closer to a mishap, and the damn busybodies can keep their snotty noses out of that relationship. If I'd relied on central bureaucratic control, we wouldn't have the fine young savages feral sons Uday and Qusay have grown into.

Markey gets bonus points for repeating the Sugarmann lie, and his "small hands" fixation would eliminate plenty of adults who wouldn't measure up.

Fortunately, this will go nowhere  -- at least for now. But it does show how the state monopoly of violence cultists throw up in-your-face harassment every chance they get.

[Via Roger J]

Still More Election Coverage...

No, not for political offices. It's nearing that time of year when eligible members (Life and above, or members for five consecutive years) get to elect candidates for the NRA Board of Directors.

But there's a problem. [More]

You knew there would be.

Also in today's Gun Rights Examiner post:

• Len Savage on Lou Dobbs Radio. Find out how and when to listen.
• A call to action in Arizona...some gun bills need to get moving.
• Guess who the new Columbia Conservative Examiner is?
  

Anyway, click on the title link, and spread it far and wide to help me feed feral sons Uday and Qusay their meager daily crust of bread. It's cheaper than a tip jar, and you may just find the experience worthwhile.

Check out the latest from other Gun Rights Examiners:

Austin: Another Brady hallucination: More guns, more ‘gun violence’ (Part 1)

Charlotte: Phony gun groups, Part 3: 'American Hunters and Shooters Association'

Cleveland: News from the weekend illustrates futility of gun control schemes

DC: DC City Council enables residents’ easy access to mail order handgun carry permits!

Denver: Granny, get your gun

Los Angeles: Gun Control: the very first pig with lipstick on it.

Milwaukee: Time to change our attitude about guns

Minneapolis: The folly across the river

St. Louis: What's next--a .499 caliber ban?

Off to GRPC

I'll be leaving for the Gun Rights Policy Conference tomorrow at dawn's early light.  Feral sons Uday and Qusay will be let out of the basement to patrol the premises in my absence, and I'm sure after fighting over the one bowl of kibble I'm leaving them, they'll be ravenous.

I'm told there is still room to accept walk-ins, so if you're anywhere within doable range, there will be plenty of good people there, and plenty of reasons why attending is something all activist gun owners should find a lot of value in, not to mention just a good time.  Click here for more details.

I'll be meeting up with colleagues and friends, doing some interviews, learning from all the speakers, having some fun, and doing a panel on the sorry state of journalism with Dave Workman on Sunday morning.  While I will be taking a laptop, I probably won't be doing much if any blogging or reporting. We'll see.

So please hold off on all comments and emails until Monday?  Because anything I get over the weekend may just need to go unaddressed, so save yourself a useless effort.

What, Me Quirky?

Mike and David are certainly quirky, and way too direct for mainstream sensibilities, but they are the real deal.  You want the full story on Gunwalker, you go to them. [More]

Thanks, Kevin Wilmeth!  This is exactly the kind of stuff that really helps get the word out, and is especially relevant to the GRE column I have in mind for today.

Darling kid in the profile photo, btw.  Reminds me of the one I posted of me with feral sons Uday and Qusay on our old GunTruths site.  The one in the hat  is a college junior and the one in my lap is a high school senior who's as tall as I am now.

Here's an old family video of me applying my parenting skills and them responding in kind.

"Quirky" indeed.

Touching the 'Third Rail' of Race and Guns

[We] also can't forget to look at race--not as a cause of violent crime, but as an indicator of populations most directly affected by and responsive to a continuing history of destructive government policies. If we're afraid to even address this, we're never going to be able to make things right. And those hurt the most by this self-imposed blindness will continue to be the least prosperous and protected among us. [More]

Today's Gun Rights Examiner column continues on the theme of minority citizen-targeted disarmament.

Also, South Dakota Gun Owners issues an alert about an anti-gun politician--one reportedly with an A+ rating from NRA. Links are there to find out more.

Links to the most current offerings from my fellow GREs are also provided.

Please head on over there and share it with your friends. I promised feral sons Uday and Qusay a scrap of goat fat in their gruel if I can earn enough from page views.

We're the Only Ones 'Boy Howdy!' Enough

An off-duty police officer accidentally shot his own son after mistaking him for an intruder. [More]

Son of a gun.

All these years with feral sons Uday and Qusay coming in at all hours and I've never even come close. And professionals make it look so easy.

Especially the "No arrests have been made, and the names of the officer and his son have not been released" part...

Hiatus

Not really, but I know that
upsets the animaladjusted.

I expect to be back around Aug. 7 or thereabouts.  In the interim, comments have been turned off and I ask you to hold off on emails and "social media" contacts.

Two things to watch for in my absence:

• T.L. Davis will be announcing the release of "Lies of Omission."  Please keep an eye out for it and then help spread the word.
• GUNS Magazine will be posting my latest "Rights Watch" column. It's called "The Long March," about the recent goose-waddle from Fairfax to DC.

I've unchained feral sons Uday and Qusay and opened the basement door to give them free rein of the redoubt in my absence. I'd better not find a gnawed shin bone like last time.

Work It Out Privately

Child Custody Conditions Restricting Parents' Speech and Gun Storage [More]

Bring the state into it and dead poodles are the least of your worries. 

You'd think survivalists would know that.

On a related note, there's a reason why I only refer to my guys as feral sons Uday and Qusay and have learned not to post current pictures from which they can be identified. If they want to enter the pit it will be their decision, not mine.

[Via Michael G]