Mild Rants

I had no idea of the widespread prevalence of Gun Crafters or GunWorks in the great state of Texas until I stepped out of our vehicle at an extremely popular and HUGE roadside convenience store between San Antonio and Houston named Buc-ee's which appears to be named after a DAMN BEAVER. This ultra accommodating service center has more gas pumps than employees and more urinals than longhorn fans!!!!!  It's homemade sandwiches are better than Quiznos and very fairly priced. The vehicle you see below is a 4 by 4 Dodge truck purchased at Helfman Jeep by a Marine who happens to love guns. He advertised his Pitchford Limited Liability Corporation business on the back window of his truck. No surprise there! So what does this have to do with anything? It reminded me of an article I had read about an outfit in New York State, if I recall, called  782 Custom Gunworks LTD who specialize in custom firearms, reloading, parts and gunsmithing in general. When I lived up t...

Despite all the mass shootings in public places by punk kids and adults with automatic and semiautomatic weapons, the redneck country bumpkins in Roswell,NM still don't want their second amendment rights encroached upon. Read the scan of the article in the RDR with the sign at the Western Frontier Gun and Craft Show. Yes, the sign reads If guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns . If the rednecks would only replace guns with automatic weapons, then the argument would be sound. We have relatives in Roswell and enjoy visiting for many reasons including the exceptionally friendly people and the beautiful sunsets, BUT Roswell has its roots as a cattle trail town with brothels and Saloons and gambling. All of this is, of course, accompanied by gun toting Cowboys who would shoot you if you messed with or stole their horse. There are very few shootings in Roswell that are of the crazy ilk notwithstanding the kid that had a screw loose at Berrendo Middle School. His par...

I don't know if it is really fair to characterize this as a rant. What follows is the exceptionally contentious issue of the right to bear arms. Does it mean that you carry weapons into WalMart or Target? Target, in Minneapolis, just made their position clear as Kavita Kuman describes in her well written article.  Target Corporation on Wednesday took a stand against customers who bring firearms into its stores. "This is a complicated issue, but it boils down to a simple belief: Bringing firearms to Target creates an environment that is at odds with the family-friendly shopping and work experience we strive to create," John Mulligan, the company's acting CEO, said in a statement. The gun carrying law in Texas states that permit holders can carry their weapon anywhere unless otherwise forbidden to do so by private entities. Apparently, this law does not hold in Minnesota. So a man from Texas, who believes it is his God given right to have a gun with him anyti...

Most certainly nobody can blame a grieving father for his perception of what caused his son's death. I know I play the blame game for much lesser grievances such as blaming my daughter's teacher for her failing grades, etc. However Richard Martinez blaming the NRA for his son's death in Santa Barbara, California is like blaming a baseball bat manufacturer for a beating death. His son Christopher Martinez was one of those killed in the rampage that claimed seven in the Isla Vista area near UCSB on Friday night. Dad exclaimed "When will this insanity stop? When will enough people say, 'Stop this madness!' Too many have died. We should say to ourselves, 'Not one more!'". I teared up when I read this quote. It is impossible to understand a parent's grief after they have lost a child in such a senseless way, but I still don't believe it is right to disarm the entire citizenry when 99.99% of the population is safe when shopping for groce...