We’re going live in a few
Going to talk about SHOT show announcements.
EP176 GunBlog VarietyCast Radio – So Long and Thanks for all the Downloads
It’s a wrap! Episode 176, our finale, is the end of more than three years of weekly podcasting. We have farewell segments from Beth, Barron, former contributor Nicki, Miguel, Tiffany (and her Mom!), Co-host Emeritus Adam, Weer’d, and of course Erin and Sean.
Our sincerest thanks to our sponsors, both current (LuckyGunner and Remington, as well as Carolina Ceramic Coating) and former (The Law of Self Defense). We especially thank our longtime supporters at Firearms Policy Coalition for their generous support over the years.
Our biggest thanks are however reserved for you, our listeners. Thank you for downloading, listening, and subscribing. It was an honor to be invited into your lives each week.
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Been out of town for Christmas, and being doing a lot of shoveling.
Thought I’d share two stories I’d found that have ties to the 2nd Amendment fight.
First is one that dropped before the Holiday:
President Trump’s nominee to be the Pentagon’s health chief has withdrawn from consideration after a Senate panel stalled his confirmation over comments on gun control.
What did he say?
Winslow was asked about shooting during the hearing, to which he replied: “But I also would like to, and I may get in trouble with other members of the committee, just say how insane it is that, in the United States of America, a civilian can go out and buy a semi-automatic assault rifle like an AR-15, which apparently was the weapon that was used.”
Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) interjected, telling Winslow, “I don’t think that’s in your area of responsibility or expertise.”
Now the anti-gun forces were pushing this at the NRA stifling political speech or some such nonsense….even they knew it was a nutty position, as I can’t find this story on anti-gun channels anymore.
Really this was a guy who decided to speak up during a confirmation hearing about something that had NOTHING to do with any chain of questioning, or the job he was hoping for.
Better yet he knows that talking about gun control was controversial, he SAID SO, and then said it anyway. Now I can make some speculation on the popularity of the anti-gun side here, but that isn’t fair. What this guy displayed was he has remarkably bad judgement, and nobody wants a lose cannon in a position of authority. (Irony noted given this guy is a TRUMP nominee)
You all know me as a libertarian-leaning gun-rights advocate, but I’m also a Scientist….guess what I never talk about when I interview for a science position….
If I spend my time in an interview talking about politics guess who isn’t getting the job!
Next is this story from the People’s Republik of Massachusetts:
During a six-month investigation, Boston obtained police records through a public information request and examined 618 shootings over 994 days, from the start of 2014 through September 20, 2016. The results were staggering: During that time frame, Boston police had arrested fewer than 4 percent of gunmen involved in non-fatal shootings.
Gee that’s an awful lot of people shot in what is the most gun unfriendly state in the Union. Of course the antis ALWAYS say “But the guns are coming from the gun friendly states!”
Nope The vast bulk of traced firearms come from INSIDE the state, and the “Time-to-crime” numbers is over ELEVEN YEARS! That is not an iron pipeline, that is just people changing residences over time, and their guns moving with them.
Still another interesting point was how the story was framed:
No matter how you parse the numbers, though, one thing has become alarmingly clear: Shooting someone is not a punishable offense in Boston—so long as the victim doesn’t die.
Interesting angle…except:
Not that the BPD is doing such a great job of locking up murderers, either: During the same time period, police made arrests in barely 15 percent of fatal shootings.
I mean 15% is better than 4%, but that’s ARRESTS not convictions, and overall those numbers are SHIT.
Really this story isn’t about gun laws or guns….it’s about GANGS. See if I went out and murdered somebody, everybody on the planet would be gunning for me. My own wife would turn me in if she suspected I had committed a murder. That’s how it works in law-abiding America.
In the criminal underworld violence takes the place of most of our legal system. If you’re selling drugs, women, or having a turf war you can’t talk to the police, your lawyer, or the zoning board, you have to use violence, so when somebody uses violence in the bad neighborhoods, it’s considered “Business” by many.
Well really not MANY, as even in the worst parts of Boston or any other violent city the vast majority of people living there are good people with no options. These people know the gangs and know who’s doing what, but if they tell the police, they’re now a “Snitch”, and while Thug A might go away for murder, his posse is still in the neighborhood, and they will not treat prosecution witnesses kindly….or members of their family who had NOTHING to do with anything. That’s a LOT of incentive to keep mum, and that is why most violent crime goes unsolved in the gang-infested cities.
But about those poor good people with few options….there is where a gun rights angle comes in. See the anti-gun cycle goes like this, take an area that is high crime (generally doesn’t hurt if the crime is minority members either) and blame the crime on weapons (I say weapons, not guns, because remember, not only can you not carry a gun in a place like New York City, but you also can’t carry a pocket knife, and most urban areas have stupid weapon laws banning everything from “Gravity Knives” to Nunchaku.) and disarm the legal population. The criminals both have their guns, but also violence in general, so they can still shoot, stab, and stomp the life out of each other, as well do horrible horrible things to anybody who might help the police get the violence under control.
Well with the victim pool expanded and the criminals empowered violent crime goes UP, so the antis call for MORE gun control…..when really we need to empower the good people to fight back. Those horrible arrest numbers show that the cops are never there to save the day, so the person to protect the streets are the men and women living on it.
For the time being that is all wishful thinking as it will take federal laws to overturn this cycle of violence, and the politicians that represent the area are supporting it for a reason.
EP175 GunBlog VarietyCast Radio – ‘Twas the ‘Cast Before Christmas
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good podcast!
It will be Christmas Eve when this podcast drops, so in order to get everyone into the proper spirit, Beth performs a reading of “ ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas”… but with a twist!
A minister foils an Orange County church break-in by shooting out the tire on the fleeing suspect’s car. Sean takes a look.
You thought they just wanted to steal your data, but now there’s malware that turns your computer into a Bitcoin miner for someone else. Barron tells you how to avoid having someone steal your computer’s processing power.
When you find yourself in a hole, you should stop digging. Miguel is here to talk about how to get your mind off your problems and find inner peace.
Those who want tighter controls on firearms ownership are always telling us that gun owners agree with them, so when Dave Workman and Alan Gottlieb wrote a widely-published article seeking that common ground, you’d expect that it would start an instant dialog with “Gun Safety Advocates.” Our special guest today is Dave Workman, here to tell us about the whole lot of nothing they heard from the the other side.
In Episode 171, Tiffany chatted with firearms trainer Aqil Qadir about using affinity groups to help connect separate firearms cultures. This week, she talks to Aqil about his law enforcement background and how we might begin to mend the frayed relationship between many black communities and police.
Not to be outdone by ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, Erin tells us the story of the Nativity from a prepper point of view.
This week Weer’d takes on part two of the Jordan Klepper interview on Kickass Politics where he plugs his Comedy Central special “Jordan Klepper Solves Guns”.
And our Plug of the Week is the Survival Blanket 2.0.Thanks to LuckyGunner and Remington for their sponsorship. And a special thanks to Firearms Policy Coalition for their support.
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We’re going live in a few, Going to do a brief history of handgun safety.
EP174 GunBlog VarietyCast Radio – What Caliber for Taylor Swift’s Husband?
” ’Cause baby, now we’ve got bad blood
You know it used to be mad love
So take a look what you’ve done
’Cause baby, now we’ve got bad blood, hey!” — Taylor Swift, “Bad Blood”
Beth and her husband are getting ready to shoot a 3-gun “buddy match”. What is it? What kind of gear do you need? How do you practice for it? Listen and find out!
Where do they find each other? It sounds like a random shooting, but the records make it sound like more is going on. Sean takes a look.
Barron runs the websites for several pro-gun blogs, including the website for this podcast. He recently dealt with a bizarre issue where the websites were basically spamming people. He walks us through the thought processes necessary to effectively troubleshoot what turned out to be a rather complex problem.
Miguel is on assignment.
In this week’s Main Topic, Sean and Erin analyze the CNN article “How an ‘ugly,’ unwanted weapon became the most popular rifle in America”.
Tiffany is on assignment.
Holidays are naturally the most wonderful time of the year… except when they aren’t. Erin has some practical tips on how to manage holiday stress and depression.
Jordan Klepper, former Daily Show member and current host of “The Resistance” on Comedy Central made a special titled “Jordan Klepper Solves Guns” and it’s filled with anti-gun nuttery. Weer’d is here to set him straight.
And our Plug of the Week is the NeuYear Monday First Large Wall Calendar.
Thanks to LuckyGunner and Remington for their sponsorship. And a special thanks to Firearms Policy Coalition for their support.
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So if you’re like me, you dig Mexican food. And if you’re EXACTLY like me, when you’re ordering a taco or a Burrito you ask for Carnitas.
Well I found this recipe online, and it looks really good.
LOOKS good, but I never tried it. Instead I made my own version copying really only the last bit.
So to start off you need a fatty piece of pork, preferably something that has some bone in it. A Boston Butt or Picnic shoulder is ideal, but my last batch I used bone-in loin ribs or country style ribs.
Get about 2-5 lbs, the amount of meat really doesn’t matter.
So I would have no hesitation using Chef John’s seasoning, but really I went much more simple.
So I toss the pork into my slow cooker whole, and add
1 onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic, slivered
1 large bay leaf
1 green bell pepper, Chopped (if you have an Anaheim pepper even better!)
Juice from one Orange, and one lime
Fresh ground pepper
Let that sucker go on low for 8 hours. (This is why I haven’t tried chef John’s method, no trimming of meat, no oven which I don’t trust as much as my slow cooker)
Once the meat is done, pick out the bones, skin, and vegetable matter, and put the meat on a baking sheet, and bust it up into smallish chunks (see the video for approximate size, but really whatever size you want your carnitas) then take a basting brush and dip it into the liquid in the bottom of the crock pot….try and just skim the surface so you’re getting more fat than anything else, and start painting those meat chunks until they are shiny.
Then toss the whole thing under your broiler on high. DO NOT WALK AWAY, keep a close eye on it, and as soon as you see browning, pull it out and test it for crispness.
Oh and strain out the liquid in the crock pot….you can use that stuff to make enchilada sauce from this recipe.
Now what’s nice about this stuff, is not only is it awesome, but since I didn’t spice the hell out of it (I just smother it in salsa and hot sauce when I use it), if you get sick of Mexican you can cover it with BBQ sauce and make a really interesting pulled pork. The added crispness really makes for a great pulled pork sandwich. Also if you had some ham, you could make a pretty damn good Cuban sandwich!
All of that and it’s stupid easy, and uses REALLY cheap pork, so it’s a nice meal for short money!
EP173 GunBlog VarietyCast Radio – Too Many Acronyms
GOA and NAGR tried to make HR38 DOA with FUD.
Self Defense with Kids and Dogs! No, not using your kids as shields or throwing dogs at intruders. Instead, Beth discusses the self-defense options that are available when you have small children and/or dogs.
In a story that hits a little too close to home, Sean knew the victim (but not the son) in “Friends, family grieve after Franklinton man killed, allegedly by his son.”
Barron is back with us this week to talk about why you should keep your cell phone number secure, safe, and private.
Miguel has a temper. The guy in that truck you just accidentally cut off has a temper. You have a temper. In this “Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” Miguel offers some tips for how to avoid having the worst part of you make the worst decisions possible.
In this week’s Main Topic, Sean and Erin discuss the “Fix NICS” half of HR38, and why you shouldn’t let the freakout by GOA and NAGR over NICS frighten you away from supporting this important bill.
Tiffany is attending a week-long Deadly Force Instructor course in Live Oak, FL. She has just enough time on a break to record her thoughts on why you should attend… and stay tuned for a surprise cameo!
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year for you to buy stocking stuffers for the preppers in your life. Erin makes a list, and you should check it twice.
There was so much anti-gun nuttery on the “Professor Puppet” video Weer’d did last week, he had to come back for more.
And our Plug of the Week is Contact Your Senators and ask them to support HR38 Concealed Carry Reciprocity.
Thanks to LuckyGunner and Remington for their sponsorship. And a special thanks to Firearms Policy Coalition for their support.
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Saw this ad, and let’s just say it struck home:
We already own a swiffer….but when it comes to a glitter problem, I reach for my Dyson.
