Honest

What makes an honest gun owner/shooter? Tagged in a meme by Jigsaw, the rules are simple.

"I will write down five things that indicate to me that a gun owner or shooter maybe is an honest one. Then I will tag five other gun owners who are also bloggers and I hope will participate."

There is of course the usual overlap between shooters and everyone else. Things like respecting other people's rights are universal standards, shooter or not. Within the shooters world, there are some specific markers.

5. Realistic assessment of your own skills... and flaws, as well as admitting mistakes.

People who claim to be gods gift to the shooting world yet can't hit the paper at 7 yards are in violation of this. The ability to accurately assess yourself is an indicator of both how honest you are with other people and yourself. A subset of the violators of this are the seekrit squirrels, being those claiming military/paramilitary experience/training without anything more military than the BSA in their history.

4. Basic knowledge of the workings, pros, and cons of the major firearms types.

I am a little leery of including this one, as there is a distinct difference between dishonesty and ignorance. However, the ability to differentiate a rifle and a shotgun means that you are versed in the most rudimentary levels of the firearms world. It means more that you are a gunny than it does that you are honest, but indicates enough legitimate interest that you cared to learn more about it.

3. Logical consistency, and ability to admit to mistakes in this.

This applies more to the gunbloggers world than the world of owners and shooters in general, but all the same. It's hard to maintain honesty when you hold double standards. If dancing in blood is wrong for the antis, it's always wrong. To err is human, but admitting when you're wrong is paramount.

2. Thorough understanding of the 4 rules, including the why, and strict adherence to them.

Guns are potentially deadly tools, and to disregard, discredit, or discount that is dangerous, dishonest and unexpectedly alliterative. An understanding of the dangers and caution in the face of them is necessary for safe and proper treatment of firearms. Knowing and advocating the four rules while violating them yourself because you 'know how to handle it safely' is a violation of all three of the above.

1. Educating children and other people who will be exposed to your guns in firearms safety.

I cannot express this one firmly enough. Laws will not stop curious children from finding and playing with unsecured firearms. Firearms safety doesn't just affect you, it affects everyone who has any exposure to you. Teaching children, spouses and anyone else who will be living with you and your collection in proper handling is absolutely critical. I wouldn't trust anyone who had not impressed on their children the nature of firearms.

In tagging further, I tag

AEPilotJim

Weer'd Beard

MattG

Bayou Renaissance Man

Lawdog

Come on guys...

I won't drop the name again for fear of further spamming, but come on now. NF Scopes, mentioned in my top 5 post, has twice now commented with ads on posts. The second one almost didn't look like an ad at first, making a couple bland statements then linking the main site. on realizing that the 'blogger' who commented had only one post up of information concerning the scopes, I figured it was a shill.

Two things need saying in reply to this. First, the scopes advertised are at the cheap end 1200$. Why is a company working in high end craftsmanship using spambots on little read blogs for attention? That leaves me somewhat confused.

Second, and more importantly, on commenting in general. I allow comments, and will not moderate apart from removing spam and advertising. I like comments, as they frequently lead to a much deeper and more interesting discussion of the material than I am capable of putting forth in my posts. As such, I won't moderate real content, no matter how much I may disagree. Advertisements and spam however are not allowable. I considered for a while adding ads to this blog, because I'm a poor college student and anything helps. I chose not to in the end because that's not why I'm doing this, and it's not why my readers come here. As such, this blog will remain ad-free, (my personal endorsements notwithstanding) including comments.

If 'Mark' who posted on the guns and coffee post is in fact not a spambot, let me know.

Valentines

I got Starbucks today. Did you?

Victim Blame

In the past few weeks, I have seen a rash of anti-victim blame posts, statuses, and statements, normally to the effect of "It's the criminal's fault. It's not my fault for wearing whatever I want. I'll wear what I want, and you teach people not to be rapists."

In an ideal world, this is precisely what would happen. People would be decent to each other, and not force anyone to act against their will. As my readers hopefully know, we don't live in an ideal world.

In my post about the SlutWalks, I talked passingly about victim blame. There is unfortunately a certain mindset in the world that says that dressing a certain way or acting in certain manners transfers fault from the rapist to the raped, to the effect of "they were asking for it," or "if you don't take . This is patently absurd. The only party responsible is the rapist, period, full stop, end of story.

The reaction tends to go too far though. While it does not make it the victim's fault, certain actions do make it more likely that a rapist may choose to victimize them. Rape is the extreme example, and perhaps the most polarizing. It extends to any case of victimization however. There has been a recent rash of cell phone thefts, with people talking on the phone having the phone, purses or other items stolen in a snatch and grab. The solution to this is basic situational awareness. Making yourself an unattractive victim* is likely to keep you safer, be it by carrying a gun, covering yourself, or even just having a baseline situational awareness.

The critical distinction to make is that not taking measures does not render you responsible for whatever should happen to you. You are under no obligation, moral or otherwise** to take these actions. However, they are simple enough, and of potentially so much benefit that to not take the measures is foolhardy. Foolhardy is not immoral though.

In short form: it's not ever the victim's fault; there are things that can be done to limit risk; limiting actions are easy enough that not taking them is foolish. It's the difference between obligation and good sense.

*Rape is so polarizing because of the different sort of attraction.

**This is a generalization, as there are arguments for a moral obligation to defend yourself from goblins for the sake of preventing further victimization, but this is a tricky sort of argument and not one I'll get into now.

Talk to me!

I just set up an email account to go with this blog. Feel free to contact me at scribblerscrawls@gmail.com.

Guns and Coffee

It seems an anti-gun group has gotten it into their heads that because Starbucks allows carry of firearms in their stores, Starbucks is not worthy of their business. They have organized a boycott for Valentine's day in lieu of this. That's their prerogative, and I frankly don't care where they get their caffeine kick. However, much of the gun world noticed and has decided that while the anti's have every right to boycott, we in turn have every right to send our business where we will.

Watch here for a fuller explanation of the event.

One thing touched upon in the video that I want to talk about a bit is the difference between gun supportive and accepting. Apparently some people object to this support because of Starbucks' indifference instead of activism. This mindset seems both bizarre and damaging to me. First, if you want everyone to fight for your side, you'll never get anywhere. Secondly, and more importantly, hostility towards those who are otherwise indifferent to our cause makes it more likely that they will become hostile in turn. Indifference is fine; it's almost ideal. Gun ownership and carry should not be a big deal. In a perfect world, it would simply be part of the background of life.

In short, go buy a coffee on Valentines Day. Starbucks may be expensive, but it's cheap enough for showing that you appreciate being allowed your rights. If it's legal in your area and for you, I also encourage you to carry. For those without permits or in areas that do not allow carry, wear a gunny shirt or something like that. No need to go full tacticool mall-ninja, just enough to show why you appreciate them. It's hard enough to make any headway on this issue that we don't want to let what support we have go unappreciated.

NOTE: as a quick last comment about something mentioned in the video, it's probably best to show up in smaller groups. While a large group makes a more obvious statement, it is also more likely to cause conflict, and more importantly, makes the jobs of the baristas that much harder. I know someone who worked in an ice cream parlor, and large parties were always things to be dreaded.

Fantastic Five

RobbAllen asks here what 5 firearms top the want list, with no regard to price or practicality. Most lists circulating that I've seen consist of specialty, obscure or unique firearms.

Without ado, the list.

#5 Sako .308 with Nightforce scope -- I shot my uncle's Sako out to 1000 yards with military ball ammo, and it was a simply unparalleled experience. Despite the non-target ammunition, that combination could put the rounds precisely where we wanted them with ease. The gun almost does all the work for you.

#4 Remington 870 or similar -- The home arsenal as of now does not have a shotgun. A nice pump gun seems a must.

#3 Military 1911 -- I admit that I am something of a 1911 fanboy. Owning a piece of US military history rather tickles my fancy.

#2 M1 Garand -- This one has a double appeal. First is the historical perspective mentioned previously. The weapon Patton called "The greatest implement of battle ever devised" has significant interest to the history buff in me. Secondly, it's a semi-automatic rifle in a serious caliber that has withstood the test of time. Something like the m-14 could probably substitute in here well, but WWII is of particular interest to me.

#1 AR-15 -- This should be self-explanatory. The AR seems to be something of a swiss army knife. It is acceptable and occasionally preferred as a home defense weapon. It is an excellent long range target piece. It's modularity means it can be practically anything you want it to be. It is also noticeably missing from the home arsenal. This to me is the one piece that we really need to add, rather than one that would be a nice addition.

I found it interesting in determining this list how little regard I give handguns. The one that passed muster was for more historical curiosity reasons than practical considerations. This probably stems from a combination of factors. I was introduced to shooting in rifle, shot target .22 competitively for several years, and am generally more comfortable with a long gun. I'm a fair shot with a pistol, but already have a couple pieces I like and am not as particular about them. I know what I don't like, (for instance, I have yet to meet the .40S&W I like) but that is a small enough set within all handguns that none of the others really stick out as special.

What are your top 5s?