MP Testing

And what does it all mean?

A member at the Weapons Evolution forum gives us a simplified insider's look into what all the jibber-jabber's about.

It's worth a look if you've ever wondered.

Delicious

I picked up a half pound of coffee before going to play games, and forgot it was in my car all afternoon.  Lets just say that Emy J's Sumatra is the most mouth watering scent I've ever known for freshly ground coffee, and now my whole car smells like it.  I thought I was going to drown on my drive home.

A couple questions...

...that have apparently lead Google to the blog.

First off, "Is the M&P15-22 a good home defense gun?" has popped up again a few times this last week.  I've talked on that point before, and my thoughts have not changed.  Go buy a used Remington 870 or Mossberg 590 and a few boxes of 00 buck. They should be about half the price and more than enough to do the job. Make sure you buy a few boxes to practice with too, and actually practice.

Another interesting one: "Do snipers use slings?"  I'm pretty sure this found my review of the Savvy Sniper Tac 1-2 sling, but it's still a good question.  As far as I know, US snipers don't really use them on their sniping weapons anymore.  They tend to use bipods, tripods (modified camera ones), and other various rests, and sling techniques aren't really needed with those.  The other reason for a sling is to carry the gun around, but a good sniper will use a discrete case to hide the fact that he is a sniper.  I couldn't tell you about other countries though.

Those are the two big ones that stuck in my mind, but if you've got any other questions, go ahead and click that "email me" link on the left, I can always use the blog fodder.

OC Update/roundup

A little more about Saturday's confrontation with Madison PD.

Journal Sentinel and Wisconsin State Journal articles, as well as a story from WISN. (Looks to be primarily about the return trip the next day, the computer at work is missing it's flash player for some reason...)


A more in depth play by play from WCI on the OC Forum.


Madison PD internal newsletter from 2004 showing the officers should have known they were in the wrong (right side, first page, 3/4s down about...)-

However, Wisconsin law currently does not allow officers to arrest citizens simply for failing to identify themselves.

Also a press release from ICarry.org:

ICarry.org - Sept 20, 2010 Breaking News Release: Lessons from Wisconsin's Last Incident of Police Harassment of Citizens Lawfully Carrying Firearms in the Open




On Saturday, September 19th, a group of five responsible firearms owners gathered to share company and conversation at Culvers on Town Blvd in Madison, Wisconsin. Approximately eight Madison police officers approached the firearms owners who were enjoying food and discussion with one another.


Demanding identification of the gun owners, officers used intimidation and coercion in attempts to force the citizens to provide ID. State law does not allow officers to demand ID in circumstances like this, and Madison PD’s very own “legal updates” explains exactly why refusing to provide ID is not “obstructing.”


http://www.cityofmadison.com/police/...Summer2004.pdf


Despite this well-known aspect of law, at least two of the law-abiding firearms owners were arrested and cited with “obstructing” charges for not providing ID. All of the citizens were harassed in public, intimidated and coerced, and inconvenienced and humiliated by the disrespectful, diminishing, and suppressive behavior of Madison police officers.


ICarry.org would first like to thank Wisconsin Carry, Inc. for its steadfast resolve to protect citizens’ rights in Wisconsin. ICarry.org is committed to supporting Wisconsin Carry, Inc. and all responsible firearms owners in the state.


The vast majority of officers are well-trained to respect the rights of citizens openly carrying firearms. Over the past few years in Wisconsin, a great deal of education has been provided for police, and police throughout the state have been exhibiting exemplary performance. There have been only a select few isolated incidents of failure of training or behavioral problems with police.


ICarry.org would like to see this incident be the last. It’s time to accept and embrace the lawful practice of open carry. There is no need to discriminate or profile against open carriers – they should be afforded the same level of dignity and respect as all other peaceful citizens. Like police officers, they too carry a sidearm only for self-protection.

 (note: date should be Saturday, September 18th)



Photo from the incident (from the OC Forum)



Audio from the event here or here.



Rumor is that a 60+ year old woman, possibly a customer, called them in saying something to the extent of "I don't know if it's legal or not, but there's a bunch of guys with guns, and I would just hate to have not called if something bad were to happen."

Not a big deal really, however, as has happened several times in the past, the dispatcher has not simply told the caller that it is legal, and maybe had a squad drive past, but instead dispatched officers, who then unlawfully detained and charged individuals.  Poor practice by MPD.

From how it all sounds, WCI's got a cut and dry case, with plenty to back it up.  I'm glad I'm a member.

Yeah... that sounds like a great idea...

UK Proposes All Paychecks Go to the State First.

Avast! Madison Police Overstepping Their Bounds

The following press release was sent out a couple hours ago by Wisconsin Carry Inc.:

Saturday night at approximately 7:30 pm 5 Wisconsin Carry members were peaceably dining at a Culvers in Madison.


8 Madison Police officers arrived and demanded ID from our members. As Wisconsin is not a police-state, Wisconsin law does not require you to provide identification to an officer unless you are operating a motor vehicle.

2 Wisconsin Carry members, in consideration of their legal rights politely declined to provide ID and were handcuffed, detained, and issued citations for obstruction.

Wisconsin Case-Law clearly states that refusing to give your name is not grounds for obstruction.

"No law allows officers to arrest for obstruction on a person s refusal to give his orher name. Mere silence is insufficient to constitute obstruction." Henes v. Morrissey,194 Wis. 2d 339, 533 N.W.2d 802 (1995).

Wisconsin Carry filed suit against the Racine Police Department on January 8th 2010 for unlawfully arresting one of our members, Frank Hannon-Rock, on obstruction charges for refusing to provide ID. Wisconsin Carry obtained a $10,000 judgement against Racine in that case where the Racine City Attorney explains to the Racine City council that the officers did not have the authority to arrest Mr. Hannon-Rock.

audio of that encounter is available here:

http://www.youtube.com/wisconsincarry#p/a/u/1/PuiO8tixuKY

Wisconsin Carry will be taking action against the Madison Police Department and the officers who illegally detained, handcuffed, searched, and cited our members.

Wisconsin Carry, Inc. is a non-profit Wisconsin corporation dedicated to the protection and expansion of the right of law-abiding Wisconsinites to carry in the manner of their choosing. www.wisconsincarry.org

Nik Clark
Chairman/President - Wisconsin Carry, Inc.

I'll try to keep track of this one.

Yar!

Avast! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Couple pics...

Hit up the range... yesterday... afternoon (I miss sleep...)

Got some fairly decent pics.  More after the jump.

Full-auto Remington ACR

Video over at TFB.  Looks quite controllable.

I still wouldn't mind one.  Maybe in a couple years when the price comes down.

Plotting...

Anybody have any experience with this upper?  I gather they're pretty new, but BCM is a pretty good manufacturer, and being a Wisconsin company is a definite plus.

Note to self: get that paperwork rolling...

Marty & Remy

Deep Fried Beer

We interrupt this irregularly scheduled blogging break for some important news.

A Texas Chef has deep fried beer.

I am a little ashamed to learn that it was not a Wisconsin Chef...

Time....

...I haz none.  Classes and work today, barely had time to put some food in my tummy.

Hopefully back on the blog-horse tomorrow.

Possibly Awesome...

...or disastrously disgusting.

Well that's about as irritating...

...as a pair of 60 grit chamois...

Apparently you can't vote for multiple parties in the WI primary even if you don't just get lazy and simply check one.  The computer rejected my mix of Republicans and Libertarians, despite only voting one person per office.

Party line voting is retarded.

Coffee...

Delicious delicious coffee... I don't think I would be able to make it through this month without it.  The Basement Brewhouse on campus serves up various flavors of Stone Creek Coffee, right now I'm sipping the excellent Hazelnut blend.

There's some darn fine roasters in this state.

MOH Vid'ya Game

If'n you hadn't heard, apparently the powers that be are rather butt-hurt that you can play as a Taliban in the newest MOH title and pulled it from AAFES's shelves (er, won't be putting it on them... it's not actually out yet.) For you non-.mil folks AAFES is the Army/Air Force Exchange System, better known as the PX.  There's also talk around the intertubes about boycotting the game over it too, which is just silly.

Apparently there's thought that our service members can't handle the option of playing as the bad guy and killing a digital representation of the good guys.  Nevermind that anytime you do force on force training somebody needs to be OpFor... Nevermind that in MW2's multi-player settings half the time you're playing the bad guys... The people in charge simply don't think that the unwashed enlisted masses aren't grown up enough to realize it's just a video game.


In reality, guys are still going to buy it.  All AAFES has accomplished is driving sales for Amazon.  I know I'm still planning to buy it eventually.  I just hope the single player narrative is longer than MW2's.  I suck at the online stuff.

Old Story...

...but always a nice one.  Uncle mentions the FBI stats show crime is down, despite the huge upswing in gun sales in 2009.  Some more numbers over at ENDO.

Of course the anti's will cry out it's unrelated, despite the mentioned upswing in sales, the death of the DC ban, and the increase in the OC movement, all of which should have caused us to be swimming in a blood ocean (heh).  It should be real interesting to see what happens to Chicago's numbers when the 2010 numbers come out...

Absolutely Gorgeous.

I completely agree with Steve, this rifle is simply stunning.  I just wish there was a better sense of scale in those pictures...

Heh.

Usually "Pundit Kitchen" seems to be pretty one sided, but every now and then they sneak one through.

Vote

Wisconsin Primaries are tomorrow.

Sure is purdy...

$4k 1911 from Kimber.   Could use better grips though.

September

I didn't get much of anything posted this weekend, I was pretty busy with Army stuff and just didn't have time.  Yesterday kind of snuck up on me, otherwise I would have had something written up in advance.  I'll have to make a note to remind myself next year.

Anyways, as I was catching up with the blogosphere's weekend developments, I read one of the posts over at The Warrior Class from yesterday and thought it was too good not to link to, so go on over there and read it (don't be afraid to wander either, they've got some good stuff.)

It's a start...

...but I can think of some better methods.  I do not know the bank's feelings towards OC, but I'm sure it would have made the bad guy think twice.

It's about time.

That's really all I have to say about this at the moment.  To my knowledge this is the first time since Vietnam that the MOH will be awarded to a living recipient.

More on yesterday's Pirate Raid

Kit Up! has the inside info on how things went down.  Sounds as close to perfect as you could hope fore.

Complacency Kills

I was going to mention this last night, but I'm lacking in motivation as of late, so Tam beat me to it.


In the handful of places I've seen mention of this story, it never fails that one of the first comments is in regards to how dumb of an idea it is.

I completely agree.

I don't care how much you publicize the "virtual speed-bumps," there's still a percentage of people who won't have heard about it, and could conceivably swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid hitting little Suzie.

There's another percentage that will no doubt be driving that same route every day, and that's where the post's title comes from.  It's a long standing saying in the military.  Don't get used to things, or you'll wind up dead; don't let your guard down; etc...  In this case there's a chance that one of those regular commuters will become so accustom to "running over a little girl" on the way to work that if a kid did chase a ball onto the road in the area that driver's not going to think twice until the telltale "thump."

The forced perspective aspect is kind of cool, but the anthropomorphizing of the image is equal parts morbid, tasteless, and dangerous.  Why not just a giant 3-D "SLOW DOWN"?

I'm all for it.

US Marines free German ship from Pirates.  Good to see them getting back to their roots.

Meals Rejected by Everyone

In case you haven't seen it, the New York Times has a slightly interactive article about various field rations from the various forces in Afghanistan.  It's always interesting to see what's out there.

Nastolgic

Ruger's going old school.  Make it black, throw a flash hider on it, call it "tactical," and jack up the price! (Although there is a modern touch, it's got an optics rail...) The Mini-30 has gotten the same treatment.