Senator Flake's Response

I have been contacting my senators and congress critters about gun control and such. Always be polite! Below is Senator Jeff Flake's response. It is not known if this is a canned response but it is a fairly good one. I am starting to like him more but we will see where his votes carry him.

"Thank you for contacting me about gun control legislation.

In the wake of the tragic December 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, there has been a surge in the introduction of congressional legislation attempting to address gun violence. A ban on assault weapons, restrictions on ammunition and magazines, and increased background check requirements have all been proposed.

As you may know, I support the Second Amendment, and I do not believe our society needs more laws restricting gun ownership. What we really need is to do a better job of keeping guns out of the hands of those who should not have them, while ensuring that those who break existing laws are fully prosecuted.

To that end, I do not support universal background checks, which would be extremely costly, create further delays for those eligible to buy guns, and apply to private transfers between family members, friends, neighbors, and even firearms passed down through wills. I do support making the existing background check system more effective in order to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. For example, many states and federal agencies are not providing the required disqualifying records of individuals barred from buying guns to the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which checks the names and records of would-be gun buyers to determine if they may possess a firearm. For this reason, I am an original cosponsor of S. 480, the NICS Reporting Improvement Act of 2013, which would require states and federal agencies to report individuals involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital, those incompetent to stand trial in a criminal case, and those found not guilty by reason of insanity – among others – to NICS. S. 480 was introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on March 6, 2013. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, where it is awaiting further action.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to do so again in the future. I also encourage you to visit my website, which may be found at flake.senate.gov."

Elk Hunting - Again!

Surprise, surprise! I have been drawn for elk again. This time I have a cow hunt in 7E. I put in for a premier spot (can you say - low odds?) for bull for my first pick and a high odds cow hunt on the second choice. I realize that I did not do a report on my last hunt that utilized an outfitter. I will modify this post later with details from the hunt in November. This outfitter was pleasant to be with. We had good shelter, food and company. There were some bull elk but we did not get to drop the hammer on anything. I will explain the rest later, but for now........woooohoooo!!!!

Unintended or Intended Consequences?

"Illegal Border Crossings Double, Border Becomes Less Secure as Beltway Gets Close to Deal on Immigration Reform"

Every time that our elected officials talk about "comprehensive" immigration reform, the result is a new wave of illegal aliens. My stance has always been that the federal government must perform one of its primary tasks of defending our borders before we talk about anything else. I must see that there are real results as I will take no politician's word. Nappy's claiming that the border is secure is not proof of anything but a willingness to lie.

There are places that I no longer hunt along the border. The reasons vary for me to abandon these areas. Some are so overrun that the game has left the area (Calabasas). Other areas are flat out dangerous to be in (Ruby, Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge). My better half basically has asked me please to not hunt certain areas. She doesn't sleep well and constantly worries if I am camping there. These are the same places we used to go together to camp for a weekend in the Santa Rita Mountains for fun.

I always talk to the Border Patrol agents. They ask if I have seen any illegals and I ask if they have seen any deer. The officers used to tell us to stay away from the Ruby area as it was the drug runners corridor. Sound advice as it is rugged and dangerous territory. We now see various areas with warning signs saying to stay out as it is too dangerous. Do any of you from the government really expect us to believe you when you say it is secure? We are being warned off of our own land!

There was a time (1980s) when the drug runners were armed and the coyotes running people were not. This has faded to all being armed. If you stayed out of the way of the drug runners, you were pretty safe. You are now allowed to carry a firearm while archery hunting in Arizona due to this danger. I personally know people who have been shot at by smugglers/runners only for being in the area and seeing the bad guys.

Our government officials have failed us miserably. Do you ever wonder what else is coming across the border aside from the Mexicans? I hope that the general populace never has to pay with loss of life and property on a grand scale due to this government failure.

All the Border Patrol agents that I have met afield have been courteous and professional. This catch and release program must be so frustrating for them. My hat is off to the BP agents trying to do their jobs with both hands tied behind their back.

Aye, Aye Captain .......Spork

HATE cleric Abu Hamza is set to be fitted with a SPOON to replace his famous hook, it was revealed last night.

"Hamza, who lost his hand and an eye in an explosion in Afghanistan, has been fuming since he was stripped of his metal hook by US jail staff because it was a security risk.
His lawyers say he is unable to use toilets properly and can’t turn taps on or off."

Hold it. Aren't you supposed to use your left hand for bathroom chores, not your right hand hook spork? Don't these people know that a spoon can be dangerous. It could be sharpened up. Anyone remember that old Chex Quest game? It was actually rather fun. When you were out of ammo for everything else, there was always the spoon!

Who's to Blame

Obama: I Didn't Cancel W.H. Tours, Secret Service and Congress to Blame

Oh, come on. You know that there must be some way that you could blame President Bush for this. You have managed on so many other topics that were not related to him. What a (another) bald face lie. The Secret Service just takes care of business as directed and does not schedule events. What does Congress have to do with White House scheduling? At least go back to blaming Bush as the delusional base loves it.

It is disturbing that the mind set of the tax & spend crowd along with the bureaucrats always have to find the most painful and highly advertised way to cut the budget. Wow, you had to cut a little over 2% and you are going to make a huge show of cutting everything but waste. I imagine that it should not be such a surprise as these people truly believe that this money belongs to them. They even come right out and say that this is the governments money. Cutting anything, even including cutting increases to spending, is viewed by them as theft. You stole my money, therefore you must be punished.

We see only a few of the "Upstart" representatives objecting. These are the people that are branded as Tea Party, Libertarians, and wacko birds. I like the term wacko birds. It reminds of when the children were little and had some fierce name calling such as poopy head. Good grief, do we actually elect these people? I am looking for the flush button but fear that one was never installed properly. Perhaps there could be another consideration to ridding ourselves of career politicians. Can you say, "Term Limits?" I knew you could. We might have a chance of getting that passed. There is no chance that we can rely on the dumbed downed and dependent voters to do anything but look for the best handout.

Renaissance Festival

Daughter #1 was the festival a couple of weeks ago. She enjoys the events and seems to go depending on her school schedule at NAU. The archery game was looking for some action and challenged her to play for five dollars. If you could put up five straight bulls eyes with five arrows then you would win fifty dollars. She had informed them that they didn’t want her to play. I believe they assumed that meant the she didn’t want to play. The normal hawking harassment ensued but she was keeping her ground. They finally wanted her to shoot one arrow for free. She said, “OK, how do you hold the bow?”

Keep in mind that this young lady surprised the heck out of me the first time she shot. She wanted to go with daughter #2 and me to the archery range. We must have been talking about what fun we had and she decided she wanted to join in. We went down to the caveman warehouse to have a look at bows. She did not want any of those things with wheels and pulleys so we selected a stick bow for her to try. We stepped the range in the back and went through a few basics of stance, grip, etc. She shot a bull’s eye on the second shot and proceeded to keep doing it while announcing that this was easy. It turns out that she seems to be a pretty natural shooter. She shoots well!

I asked, “So you really asked them how to hold the bow?” I guess that she must have been paying attention when some of us were talking about hustling up games in past years. She shot her free arrow about a foot low and to the right on purpose. She definitely was paying attention when we were talking about hustling. She said, “Dad, the target was only about 5 meters away!” Now the guys running the range went into full sale mode to convince her to pay the five dollars. She “reluctantly” agreed and proceeded to place the next five straight into the black. The fellows seemed surprised and then asked why she didn’t want to play. She let them know that she did not say that. She had told them that, “You don’t want me to play.” She merrily collected her loot and went off to spend at the fair for other items.

I wonder if her picture is under the counter at the archery setup with a note to not challenge? That’s my girl!

A New Gun Rights Friend?

VP Biden, "You’ve had no better friend over the last 35 years than me".

Really? I am surprised that we never noticed it in the past. This statement is from the administration's attack dog on gun control.

That rain running down the back of your neck is just warm because of global warming!

Happiness is a Warm Gun (Not!)

Woman 'shot' and wounded as she cooks a snack after bullets left in her OVEN explode

I would love to hear the "rational" explanation for storing a magazine in the oven.
I like to keep my bullets warm because...........fill in the blank.

Illegal Amnesty

Here we go again. I say, once again, that I am opposed to any talks until the border is secure. Once we have secured the borders then we come move forward with the rest of the topics. The follow up topics should be about a naturalization path, not amnesty. Illegal behavior should not be rewarded with amnesty. Rewarding bad behavior begets more bad behavior.

Not before a secure border is in place will I believe that any of our politicians are anything but pontificating baboons. My apologies to the baboons for comparing them to politicians. It is just a mental image that I would like to see most politicians spanked until their buttocks are as red as a baboons.

Fun Day at the Range

Come on, sing along. You know you want to.

Oh, give me a home where liberals groan,
Where the riflemen and pistoleros play,
Where often is heard an encouraging word
And the ammo keeps going downrange.

(Chorus)
Home, home on the range
Where the targets are neatly displayed.
Where often is heard an encouraging word
And weapons are freely exchanged.

Where the wind is so calm, the ammo is free,
And the targets they reset themselves,
That I not give up second amendment rights
For the promise of security.

Chorus)
Home, home on the range
Where the targets are neatly displayed.
Where often is heard an encouraging word
And weapons are freely exchanged.

I am frequently told by my children that I am either primeval or weird. Pick a day for which it might be true but don't pick payday as they get more polite when there is a possibility of money being involved. My wife just shakes her head and smiles as this behavior is expected.

The 2013 Southern/Central Arizona Blogshoot was a lot of fun, again! This was organized, I think,  by Exurban Kevin and The Smallest Minority. Thanks to everyone who showed up. We had a fine time exchanging weapons, ammo, advice and stories. Exurban Kevin has a fairly complete list of attendees in the comments so I won't repeat here.

I have two disappointments from my time on the range. The first is that I did not bring more 44Mag ammo. The Henry Big Boy was bigger hit than I had thought it would be. It is a sweet shooter. The other item that I need to correct the next time is that I had to leave too early and missed out on meeting a couple more bloggers.

My two Bernardelli Model 80 pistols were finally fired. The 22 needs a new extractor spring and the 380 has a light primer strike (firing pin or main spring). Otherwise, they functioned just fine.I will have to keep and eye on Numrich for parts. Another weapon that I had collected but not fired was a CZ 52 (Tokerov). It sure is LOUD even for a pistol. I had some problems with it that all cleared up with an ammo change. I also had a chance to fire that old H&R 999 Sportsman. This shot well but does have a weak mainspring for a light hammer strike. This is the revolver with the pin on the hammer so I do not know of another good reason for a light strike as the hammer looks clean.

I had also brought my old 44Mag SBH that has been cut down to 4 5/8" and guncoated. The modification I made to the front sight seemed to hold up and worked just fine. I needed to get this checked out again as this is the one I typically carry when archery hunting. One just never knows when he will be attacked by some wild beast while taking the bow for a walk.

Thanks to everyone for the fine time!

Needs vs. Rights

Robert Avrech wrote an article after the LA riots. The article has been reposted.

Jew Without a Gun

Read it!

Gun Control

Not a short read but very much worth your time.

An opinion on gun control

While your there, check out some of Larry Correia books. If you haven't read the Monster Hunter International series, you are missing out on some great reads. The other novels are also fun.

H&R 999 Sportsman

I neglected to mention that while I was at the September gun show a Harrington and Richardson Sportsman was spotted. I like these 9 shot top break 22 revolvers.


I couldn't bring it home right away as it was just transferred in to the dealer. Turns out that it could be delivered to me about a week and a half later. Works for me. This has a better trigger pull than the other small HR 22 I have.



 I believe the little one was dubbed, "The definition of a bad trigger." It is still pretty accurate after you compensate for the trigger.

I Get Tired of Being Beat Up

I was at Pima Pistol this last Sunday as it is time to sight in some of the rifles that have had scope changes. I have a muzzle load deer hunt in mid November and an Elk hunt in early December. It was mentioned previously that scopes had been shifted around. There was a bit of time in gathering all the stuff for 3 calibers but I still made it to the range in the mid-morning. The target was set up at 25 yards on the 100 yard rifle range. The plan was to get all three rifles set about a half inch low at 25 and then move out to the 100 yard line for final adjustments. I have typically always shot from sand bags.

The 50 cal muzzle loader was fun, slow but fun. I like the new Leupold UltimateSlam 3-9x40mm with the Sabot Ballistics Reticle.

The 30-06 was nice. That is first time it has had a decent scope on it. The previous optic was a Bushnell Sportview 3x9. This is really an entry level scope but has been fog free for about 20 years. The Rem 700 has always shot well but now it was clear and easier. I had taken the scope from the 300 Win Mag, which was an older Leupold Vari-X II 4x12 Adjustable Objective, and sent it to the factory for the CDS dial to be installed on elevation prior to going on the Remington.

The Ruger 77 RS in 300 Win Mag has always been less than pleasurable to shoot from a bench. What an understatement! This thing beats you up. It will bruise you through a Past recoil pad. I had picked up a new Leupold VX-3 4.5x14x40mm CDS. Nice scope.The session started with 150 gr bullets as I have a bunch of them and they don't kick as bad. This is all relative as it still is not pleasant. After dragging the pattern over to the correct spot, I switched to the Barnes 165 gr TTSX. The 165 gr is what I have picked for elk this year so the CDS dail is tuned to it. I was a starting to flinch and decided to quit for the day.

I am going this weekend to finalize at 100 yard but .........enough is enough. Hopefully, one of these Lead Sled Plus units will make sighting in more enjoyable. I went over to the Sportsmans Warehouse and bought one.

Anyone have good/bad experiences with these? I will post back up my thoughts after the range trip.

I Actually Won Something!

The Masonic lodge located in Payson, Sy Harrison Lodge No. 70, held a fundraising raffle with three weapons as prizes. The weapons were a CZ Mallard O/U 12ga shotgun, a Remington 1911 R1, and a Henry Big Boy 44Mag. First place had pick of the weapons, second place had next choice, and third place got the remaining weapon. I had purchased a raffle ticket at one of the state events. My thanks to the Brothers of the Payson Lodge for organizing the raffle and getting out there selling tickets.

I received a call Wednesday that I was the third ticket drawn but did not know what I would receive yet as the other two had not made their choices. A call came Friday that I had won the Henry! Being the patient person that I am, I jumped in the vehicle Saturday and drove to the Old Town Pawn Shop in Payson to pick up my loot. The winners needed to go to the pawn shop, with their winning ticket, to fill out the paper work.

Sweet! I was actually hoping for the Henry but figured that others did too. Now I will have dust off my Tombstone Stetson, western boots, and dress up like a cowboy! Since I don't have a horse, perhaps my wife can find a couple of coconut shell to make clopping noises while I prance around the backyard!

BAG Day 2012

Update - I was at the gun show this last weekend and what did I find? That Bernardelli Model 80 in 22LR. The price was right and it is now mine. My wife queried, "Isn't that the one I liked?" Sure is sweetie!

I was roaming the gun show yesterday. What else is more important on BAG Day? I enjoy roaming around and looking at all the goodies.What did I spy but an old Bernardelli Model 80 in quite good shape. I used to have one of these in 22LR but I traded it off for Ruger Single Six Convertible in stainless. I wish I had kept the Bernardelli. That Single Six never shot 22 mags worth a darn. It was OK with the LRs but that was it. I hardly used it as I had actually bought it for the 22 mag.

I later found out that it was also not a good trade for another reason. My wife really liked it and she shot it well. I traded off that Single Six for a Walther P22. A couple of years ago, I purchased an Old Model Single Six Convertible from one of my lodge brothers. This one shot both the LR and mag quite nicely. Too bad the New Model couldn't match it. So the Bernardelli became another one of those I regretted selling.

Now back to the gun show. The Bernardelli I was looking at was a .380 caliber. That model was produced in 22LR, .32 and .380. I don't think they ever bothered with a .25. I liked it, I bought it, so there! I am curious to get this one to the range and see if it shoots as well as the 22 did. The fixed barrel on these tends to make them pretty accurate. Looks like this.

I am still looking for the same in a 22 that is in good shape. I had seen another about a year or two ago in .32 and was interested. It was not in as good of shape and the vendor thought is was worth $400. I offered $200 and was informed that was the price and that they weren't budging. I wished them a nice day and suggested that they would have that pistol for some time. I saw them about a year ago again and was still there. I again offer $200 but was given the same line. I laughed and continued on. I saw it about six months ago and it was still tagged at $400. The vendor asked if was still interested. I reminded them that I had made offers twice and they surely remember what I offered. They said they had more into it than that. Your poor bargaining choice does not mean that I become your "sucker of the day". We will see if it still around in another year or so. The usual question can then be asked, "Aren't you tired of toting that around yet?"

First Ever Technical Support

Fishing at Parker and Crescent

My darlin' wife and I went fishing on July 1st at Parker Canyon Lake. The fishing was average, meaning that we caught a bunch of sunfish and kept a few of the larger ones. I always get a two pole stamp so that I can throw some bait in deeper water while playing with the sunfish. I ended up with one Rainbow Trout about 14" long fishing that way.

It was overcast and a bit cooler than normal making for a very enjoyable day. It had started to sprinkle about 1 PM and then commenced to rain a bit harder. We took the boat closer to the landing in case it got bad and proceeded to fish some more. There had been no thunder or lightning so we put on rain gear and continued fishing until............there was one large thunderclap directly overhead. We didn't hear any sizzle so figured it was atmospheric.

I must say that I have never seen my wife pull up the front anchor with such enthusiasm while very firmly and loudly proclaiming it was time to go! We motored over to the launch only to have it quit raining and clear up. That was fine as we had spent more time than originally planned so decided we would call it a day.

Daughter #2 was camping with her Marine (not aquatic - armed services) boyfriend and his family over the weekend in the mountains. She said it was camping but I never really considered an RV as camping. They went to Crescent Lake to fish and there was nary a nibble. I never bother fishing Crescent as it is very shallow and sometimes there is a full fish kill during the winter due to lack of oxygen. I checked and there had not been a fish kill this last winter. They probably were not holding their mouths correctly while fishing. They should have gone the extra three miles to Big Lake.

We were aware of their skunked status so we paused prior to cleaning our fish. We took a picture of trout and sent it along with a text message that said, "This is a trout." We wouldn't dream of rubbing it in....much! Hahahaha!

The baked trout and a few fried sunfish made a perfect dinner for two.

BTW, I need some Marine jokes that don't involve a monkey at the bar (already heard that one) or foul language.

Hell Freezes Over and a Pig Flies!

From the Arizona Daily Star: Our View: Obama's claim of executive privilege falls flat
"But in this case, it doesn't matter what motivates the Republicans. The documents must be released."

I had thought that when Executive Priveledge was claimed for "Fast & Furious" that this seemed like a bad idea. It has seemed that the DOJ's intent was to try to bury this story for some time. Silly questions go through your head like is this a legitimate use of Executive Priveledge, how does this keep it quiet, and what am I missing in the big picture?

I would imagine that it was thought to bury this in lawsuits until after the elections. It would appear that this move has brought about greater attention and may even go so far as to get the alphabet news to talk about what the government did here.

I never expected this article out of our local fish wrap as it has always been very strongly liberal to the point of being Leftist. Local refer to it as the Red Star instead of the Daily Star.

Now for those of you who don't know where to go for this fine shirt - click the link.

Atheist for President?

A majority of Americans say they'd vote for an atheist for President.
Would you vote for an avowed atheist for prez? I will raise a fuss here and say that I have my doubts that I would but I might. For discussions sake let's go further.

Is the oath of office binding when an atheist swears to uphold the Constitution? What would he be swearing to? The Presidential oath does allow one to say "affirm" instead of "swear". The exact reasons for this are not clear. Some believe this may be the case as some Christians take not swearing as literal in all ways, such as the Quakers. Some presidents have not used the bible for the oath. John Q. Adams took the oath on a book of law and Teddy Roosevelt used no book. Many of our current politicians could take a thousand oaths on a stack of good books without anything good coming of it. The book and Constitution mean nothing to them. It carries the same weight as their promises. At least you can still truthfully call them hypocrites.

Can an atheist follow moral law? I would suggest that an atheist can subscribe to moral law but for different reasons. A religious man may believe that moral law is a sacred or divine teaching while a man without religion may feel that "doing good" is beneficial. Some would suggest that when an atheist is following moral law that it is nothing more than a whim to be abandoned at will. I would propose that if a man has been upstanding his entire life that he he will attempt to continue do so for whatever his reasons may be.

It would seems that I have made more of a case for the defense of the atheist as the President or at least have not made any valid disqualifying points. I know some atheists that I would give my house key to and some so called Christians that I don't trust at all. The people that I distrust the most are politicians. It seems to be a prerequisite to cheat, wrong, and defraud anyone in your path. The louder a politician "avows" something, the more my senses tells me to follow the money. There are a few exceptions in the group of politicians but most are not trustworthy.

It would appear that my distrust is based more on the fervency of the claim than the subject.

A quote from one the movies I like seems appropriate.
Ten Bears: "It's sad that governments are chiefed by the double-tongues."