Hipsters hit the range . . . Creative Types Learn to Shoot Guns – “Ross Smith is a self-described ‘visual anthropologist;’ in the past, he has photographed gun owners and female boxers. At the range, wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with a white boom box and the message ‘turn the hate down,’ he informed the creatives, ‘Today, we hope to raise the questions of who is a victim, who is a target, who is a threat, and how is that related to how we perceive violence.” He added, “I’m always curious who people think should have guns. I’m black and American and I don’t trust only the police and the military to have them. So who gets to have them?'”

SNL keepin’ it classy . . . Katie Rich of ‘S.N.L.’ Is Suspended for Tweet Mocking Barron Trump – “Katie Rich, a writer for ‘Saturday Night Live,’ has been suspended from her position at that show following a widely criticized post she made Friday on her personal Twitter account in which she mocked Barron Trump, the 10-year-old son of President Donald J. Trump. She was suspended immediately after her tweet, and her suspension is indefinite, according to someone familiar with the plans at ‘S.N.L.,’ who was not authorized by NBC to comment on personnel matters.”

Let us count the ways . . . Shooting In Kentucky Taught Me Why Americans Love Guns – “Of all the freedoms that puzzle non-Americans most, the Second Amendment must surely top the list. While most of the constitutional rights, such as freedom of religion and speech, enjoy similar recognition and respect in Europe, the right to bear arms seems far removed from our definition of freedom. So when I knew I would be heading to Kentucky, the gateway to the South, experiencing the freedom of shooting was near the top of my ‘do list.'”

California Gun Owners Are Already Subverting the State’s Expanded Assault Weapons Ban – “Just as they did the last time California updated its longstanding assault weapons law, enterprising gunsmiths are ready with new products that could render the tighter restrictions largely moot.” Gun grabbers will never learn…you can’t stop the signal.

So thought provoking . . . ‘Guns in America’ art show in Paso Robles confronts controversial subject of firearms – “At Studios on the Park in Paso Robles, artists from across California are taking aim at a contentious topic: ‘Guns in America.’  ‘There’s no more controversial or polarizing issue than guns,’ said Sasha Irving, executive director of the nonprofit art center. ‘There are so many viewpoints on this issue. … It’s not just simply black and white,’ Irving said. ‘The goal was to be as inclusive as possible. … We made it clear that this was an opportunity for artists from all political perspectives to come together’ and start a dialogue.”

OMG! A house key! OMG! . . . Gun-shaped house key almost ruins couple’s cruise trip – “Henry Echevarria, a deputy sheriff in Pasco County, Fla., was boarding the cruise ship in Port Canaveral with his wife Lisa Jan. 15 when a ship security agent halted them at the entrance. ‘He pulls out my key and says ‘Oh, here’s the problem,’ Echevarria told WTSP. As a law enforcement official, Echevarria says he understands routine security procedures but was shocked such a small item would cause an issue.”

Dispatches from fly-over country . . . In Wyoming grizzly country, DeVos’ gun remark lands differently – “In grizzly country, comments by President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary that schools should have guns on campus to protect against the bears aren’t a punch line. … (I)n places such as Wyoming, the issue is more about safety than politics. Grizzlies attack hunters, tourists and others while they are deep in the backcountry and sometimes even on a quick hike near home. The bears have killed six people in the Yellowstone National Park area since 2010.”

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38 COMMENTS

  1. “Now, how about we move on to something bigger,” said Mr. Hampton, reaching into the trailer to retrieve his piece of pride: a heavy-duty AR-14 assault rifle, the same model used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was a slick piece of machinery, with the stylish, clean finesse of a top-range sports car. He smiled proudly as I looked it up and down.

    I made it that far. Couldn’t stand it any more.

      • The Brit’s ignorance is understandable and excusable. But one would think that The Federalist would have at least one person on staff who might know a little bit about guns, who could have given that article a quick proofread.

        Or, you could do like I did, and channel “Mr. Mom” when you read that sentence… “AR-14, 15, whatever it takes…”

        • Understandable, yes. Excusable, no. He had only started to hyperventilate at that point in the article.

        • Though to be fair, it does lend the author credibility as a person who knows nothing about guns. Perhaps The Federalist proof read it for spelling errors and figured it would be more authentic to let the technicalities slide.

  2. Big thumbs up to SNL…I may never say that again. Maybe they thought yer house key was one of them thar .9mm’s 🙂

  4. Here I thought we were being given open season on hipsters. Are they hard to mount and are they worth the cost of the taxidermist?

    • Hipsters smell worse than a skunk and should be classified as a “nuisance” or better yet “rodents”, bag limit “unlimited”.

    • “Here I thought we were being given open season on hipsters. Are they hard to mount…”

      Not particularly, with enough alcohol.

      And they tend to not stick around in the morning.

      They usually make a beeline for the nearest Starbucks…

      *snicker*

  6. Freedom of speech in Europe? Have you looked at their laws concerning commentaries on religion, politics, public figures…?

    • Really. I seem to recall an incident in which a Brit was arrested for “offensive speech” while reading a Winston Churchill speech in public. And it is OK to insult Christians, but Muslims will get you sentenced to a state paid vacation. War is peace.

    • And hopefully, with Trump as POTUS, we’ll be able to smack down political correctness and maintain our high-powered, full-auto, version of freedom of speech.

      Betsy DeVos, are you listening?

  8. A Brit explaining that freedom of speech is similarly respected in Europe is unbelievable in light of what really happens.

  9. I read that Trace article for funzies. Supposedly the bullet button ban bill was proposed after the San Bernardino shooters used bullet button equipped ARs to kill a bunch of folks, etc. WRONG! The bill was proposed a year or two earlier but was dropped when its proponent, Senator Yee, was busted for conspiracy to commit gun running and for malfeasance in office (bribery). It was revived after his sentencing. And DOUBLE WRONG: the shooters in San Bernardino had modified their ARs to have standard mag releases. The only thing right was the timing of the filing of the bill. Not a bad try for someone who knows nothing about guns, but not close enough to be truth.

  10. I actually enjoyed the Brit’s article.

    He clearly had a pretty open mind about the whole thing and came to discover that the safe shooting of firearms is enjoyable and that gun owners are not all a bunch of irresponsible idiot rednecks who just want to own murder machines.

    • I agree. He was talking about my neck of the woods and I enjoyed it. I don’t blame him for the goof ups, at least he tried.

    • I once picked up an itinerant Deadhead crystal-merchant hitch-hiking (actual crystals, not the meth kind), and took him to Flagstaff from Alamosa (hey, I was bored on a weekend and had just filled up my VW TDI). He finally noticed my shoulder-holstered stainless steel 9mm somewhere after Durango, and during a roadside break on BLM land near Mesa Verde I offered to teach him how to shoot right then & there, after learning he’d never even seen a gun up close before. The idea of it was so foreign that he didn’t say no.

      He was also quite shocked to learn after accepting, that I had an AK and a Mosin Nagant in the trunk… and that it was perfectly legal. Like even the thought of such a thing just didn’t compute (being from Hawaii and all).

      But after eight rounds of 9mm Federal JHP through a Norinco TT33, and two 7.62x39s through an Arsenal AK, at an old rusted Mitsubishi tailgate, it was like a whole new world had just opened up for the guy.

      And my newly subverted Deadhead picked the AK first (it was “less scary”). After enthusiastically taking up the pistol and blasting the tailgate he said, I shit you not, “That was for Pearl Harbour!!!”

      I almost fell over… The juxtaposition of a Deadhead happily shooting a Chinese copy of a Russian pistol and him coming out with that last bit was just too much.

      But the best part is that now when he breezes through on a Phish/Dead/Ren-Fest circuit, the first thing he asks me is “Hey, got the AK?”. And though he’s still a Hawaii resident part of the year (on an agricultural commune no less), he keeps a Bersa 380 at his parents’ house in AZ waiting for when he goes on the road. He decided for himself that if he’s traveling with $1k’s of crystals & rocks, it’s a good idea to protect them with lead & steel.

      And the past two elections, he didn’t vote. Because guns. He just couldn’t bring himself to vote for Trump (because of the whole reality-show/billionaire thing).

  11. I happen to think the Baron Trump memes are hilarious, and he probably does too. It’s their version of that whole “Harambe” business; getting all snowflakey about this could backfire on us.

    • Indeed. One of the best things we can do for ourselves, as gun owners, is to be sure that we always project an air of inclusivity. Of course, I enjoy mocking idiots as much as anyone else, and responding to the most vitriolic antis in kind. However, we always have to watch that we don’t cross the line from mocking people who want to deny us our rights to assuming people’s view on guns because of their hobbies, sexuality, or how they dress, and then excluding them on those bases (I think that’s the plural of basis?).

  15. Impressive, most impressive, how you in California have been resisting the empire. It remains to be seen if you “want” to defeat the death star of the coastal political power machines in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

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