Emily Miller (courtesy washingtontimes.com)

“As I was writing the previous paragraph, I went to my closet to see how much ammunition I have. Iā€™m no gun nut, just a woman who owns a gun for self-defense and goes to the range occasionally to train. I have 1,500 rounds of 9 mm ammunition in boxes right now. It takes up about as much space as my TiVo.” Emily Miller,Ā Liberal media distort the gun debate; loaded language misleads the public [atĀ washingtontimes.com]

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55 COMMENTS

  1. NOTE: I’ve swapped out the Quote of the Day because I blogged the entire New Jersey story in a separate post. Your comments on that more detailed post will be most appreciated. Sorry for the delay.

  3. I’m glad that Ms. Miller is trying to get the word out on the stupidity of how these stories are often reported. It’s nice that she can do it in a place where the more liberal-mind folks might actually read it, as opposed conservative outlets where those folks would never set foot.

    • The Ruling Class does NOT read the Wash Times – They read the NY Times and Wash Post. If they read. Apparently most just do the White House talking points.

      NY Times – leftist progressive rag
      Wash Times – conservative paper

      • Ah yes, that great American conservative icon Rev. Sun Moon and the free-thinking Unification Church, which owns the Wash Times and Kahr/ Auto-Ord/ Magnum Research. Won’t buy any of them; wingnut religions offend my sense of… good sense. We’ve gotten so carried away with the whole liberal/ conservative polarization that it’s no wonder things are such a mess… if someone doesn’t buy into the whole “corporations are people without liability/ rich people shouldn’t pay taxes/ social programs bad, corporate subsidies good/ unions are Communist/ it’s a lie that Rick Perry and Michelle Bachman need to be watered twice a week” nonsense (brought to you by Rupert Murdoch, the Koch brothers, and Morgan-Chase) they are a durn liberal Obama-lover who wants to take our guns away so our children can be forced into gay marriage with illegal aliens while singing the “Star-Spangled Banner” in Muslim. (The Trilateral Commission, Jews, Freemasons, and Knights Templar are in there somewhere, but I get a headache thinking about it that much.) But “conservative” is a term that has lost as much meaning as “liberal,” and independent freethinkers who are willing to agree with individual issues across the spectrum instead of buying a box set of thoughts from Wal-Mart (made in China, two-for-one sale for Labor Day!) are the most endangered of species.

        • The Washington Times has been doing the hard work of fighting leftist orthodoxies in DC and elsewhere for decades. You may be disappointed in some of the views of the newspaper’s owners, but it’s a little silly to launch an invective against them as if they’re as bad as the owners of the NY Times. By all means, subscribe to a different publication, if there is one that matches your views, but don’t heap scorn on a partial ally.

        • “…wingnut religions offend my sense ofā€¦ good sense.”

          Nice Jim, come here to support the Second Amendment and start out by trashing the First while hiding behind its freedom of speech clause. Classy. Need I point out to “independent thinkers” that EVERY religion in history, without exception, was at its inception considered to be the work off some bunch of fringe anti-establisment wackos? Took Christianity quite a while to climb out of that pit and gain a foothold and after 2,000 plus years it is still not the majority religion in the world.

          I believe I am not the first person to comment that one major purpose of the Second Amendment is to protect our rights as deliniated in the First Amendment. All of them, not just the ones that people that belong to your church (also a fringe group within its class that many of the other sub-groups would consider a bunch o’ wingnuts) like.

          And when was the last time, specifically, that some political “independent thinker” managed to get elected to a significant public office and accomplish anything of value for you? You have to choose to support those who most closely align with your goals but are cpable of playing somewhat within the rules of the game or you will waste a lifetime waitiing for someone perfect to come along and never see ANY progress at all.

          Neveertheless, given the manifesto you have posted here, please continue to waste your vote wherever you see fit.

        • Independent free-thinkers winning significant office… well, there’s Libertarian-pretending-to-be-a-Republican Ron Paul who I have had nothing but admiration for (even though I’ve got doubts about the gold standard, and it’s a shame his son is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch), and Reagan-Republican-turned-anti-war-Democrat James Webb who had sense enough to quit the Senate after one term. But it’s pretty much a wasteland out there. Of course, I’m from the part of Texas that sent both Shelia Jackson Lee and Steve Stockman (not to mention the odious felon Tom DeLay, who I’ve known for over 20 years) to Congress, so I’m pretty much disgusted with the process as it stands. I just believe that voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for Evil, and I look behind the sound bites for motivation/ sponsorship. (For example, when someone (like Ted Cruz) hollers about Obamacare, I get curious about how much they are taking from the pharm and insurance companies.) Yup, I vote for every Libertarian and Green that makes it on the ballot, and thank the god or gods I worship in private I have an alternative. Far as the religion thing goes… you can handle all the snakes or sacrifice all the chickens you want. Just don’t tell me yours is the One True Path. Because I’m already on it, and I don’t try to convince anyone to join me.

          • You haven’t been trying to convince anyone to join you? What have you been doing here with your posts, then? I’ve never met a Ron Paul supporter who wasn’t ten times more evangelical than the most zealous evangelical.

        • Hmmm… think the point I was trying to make is in there somewhere. (And if you think Paulistas are worse than evangelicals, either you know some extreme Libertarians – they are out there – or I’ve got a magnetic attraction to the extreme religious.) But in either case, it’s a rabid opposition to differing views, and a demand for complete compliance, that really offends me. I’ve liked Paul’s honesty – no contact with lobbyists, and voting his conscience – for 25 years or so. Doesn’t mean I think he is preaching the inerrant gospel. I’m a rabidly pro-2A (and 1A; recovering journalist who occasionally backslides) fan of the small business and family farm, with a deep distrust of the notion that government-backed no-accountability corporations are “free enterprise.” My “single issue” is campaign finance reform, so neither party has much to offer. And like some of the more rabidly religious who have tried to convert me, the current version of “conservative” (meaning regurgitating whatever Beck and Limbaugh have been paid to tell their followers) creeps me out. Someone – may have been you, didn’t mean to start a ruckus – suggested if I didn’t like the Washington Times I should just find a paper I agree with. Know too many people who only have one source of information, which only reinforces what they believe. Do I agree with everything in/ on NPR, New York Times, or countless other sources? Of course not. But the more viewpoints I study, the more informed and well-rounded mine will be. Beware of bumper-sticker solutions to complicated problems.

  4. Excellent point. The media’s sinister “thousands of rounds” actually equals a few months worth of range trips, especially if you shoot multiple calibers. Plus we all like to buy in bulk because it’s cheaper

    • I bought my Mom a 1,000 rounds of 9mm a few months back for the Sig I got her for Mothers day. I don’t want her feeling like she has to save them and not practice.

  5. Nice piece, but let’s talk about the real controversy: 1,500 rounds of 9mm! I wish I had that much in reserve right now…

    Most of the local gun stores around me are still limiting people to 50 to 100 rounds per day. Thankfully, the interwebz seems to have a more steady supply and wide range of selection.

    • sitting on about 7,000 rds of 9mm alone. šŸ™‚

      i stocked up as the 2012 election neared. . . . daily cabela trips helped

  6. Emily looks comfortable with a firearm in exactly zero of those pictures.

    She looks like she likes to have her picture taken though.

  7. I just finished reading Ms. Miller’s book, “Emily Gets Her Gun.” It’s a great read, and has lots of good arguing points for our side, all backed up with references.

      • I did fun with math before but just in case you missed it here is reason for the ammo shortage. If 10 million gun owners, a small fraction of the gun owning public, decides to increase their demand for 9mm ammo by a mere 100 rounds then that represents a increase in demand of 1 billion rounds. That is the source of the shortage not purchased by the government.

        • Yep. And if only 2% of that number have decided in desperation to max out their credit cards, which seemed to be happening regularly in the stores over the winter, then the demand is far upward of a billion rounds.

  9. 1,500 rounds? Sounds like a good day at the range to me.

    That aside, she either has a really big TiVo, or really efficient storage procedures…

  10. Sometimes lots of ammo just reflects a good deal made, sometimes it’s a defense against scarcity. I’d call 1000 rounds divided between 3 or more calibers inadequate. Back in the good ol’ days before scarcity and price hikes I used to shoot 300rnds per week of center fire pistol. 1000 rounds wasn’t enough to make it to the end of the month. Back when 7.62×39 rifles and ammo were about as expensive as Pez and a dispenser my circle and I would regularly shoot 1000 rnds in an afternoon, often much much more. A simple traffic stop might have revealed many thousands of rounds and a multitude of scary rifles that were evidence of nothing but a whole lot of perfectly legal fun to be had later that day.

    One is forced to wonder if those in the media are so badly informed that they’re unaware of how many rounds might reasonably be used in an afternoon range session or if they’re intentionally fear mongering, playing on the audiences ignorance and fear, or both interchangeably.

    • This. Sometimes if we wanted to go shoot after work, rather than lose daylight by going home, we’d just buy another AK at the same store as the cheap ammo. At one point I think I had 5 AKs in the safe.

  11. I hope she’s got a safe place to store her ammunition. Assuming 6 grains of powder per round (Handloads.com shows 5-8 grains), 1500 rounds equals about 20 ounces of powder. Not a large threat, but enough to make one nervous in a house fire.

    • Candidate for the funniest thing I’ve heard this week. If your house is on fire, the burn from 20oz of smokeless powder isn’t even going to be visible.

    • I think TTAG did an article about loaded ammunition in fires…basically they “cook off”, but do little to no damage, and do not cause explosions, but rather tiny little pops. Not that Ill be tossing ammo in the campfire anytime soon…stuffs too expensive ;

    • Obviously you are not a firefighter, as there is no threat from bullets in a fire not contained in a firearm barrel. They just pop and bounce off of turnout gear.

      Then again, many firefighters are still scared of bullets in a fire nearly as much as they are scared of a bloody patient and can’t wait for the Paramedic to arrive and take control, so….

    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlOXowwC4c

      You might assist your local Vol FD with a training night on this subject. Set up a time to take them some pizza and beverages and this video. Depending on your area they will have a high % of warm fuzzy helping people types (in particular if heavy into EMS stuff), or high % of active gun nut types. You’ll know which you have if they are crying thru this video. In etiher case most FD do not have/know this info.

    • Burning small arms ammo makes a frightening pop if you’re standing close but not as scary as the house burning down in the first place. In fact, when small arms ammo is detonated, unconstrained by a chamber the bullet (being much heavier) stays put and ‘fires’ the casing off at low velocity. Being hit by these stings a bit but not as bad as simunitions and certainly nothing like a gunshot wound.

      Now loaded guns in a fire. . . I suppose the odds of being hit are low but such could be deadly. Loose ammo? Merely annoying.

    • they don’t call .22s “Cajun firecrackers” for nothin’, ya know. Not that you see much of THAT these days.

  12. Between 9mm and .22lr (only 2 I own), I have close to 5000 just in my dresser drawer… Liberals would call me a gun nut hoarder, many gun owners shoot that in a weekend… I can’t win šŸ˜€

    • well, whenever someone cast doubt on your stockpile, just tell em those goddamn zombies are not gonna kill them selves. That will get you off with a chuckle or nervous grin, either way, I call it a win.

  13. Well, I don’t have 1500 rounds of 9mm, but when prices and paychecks equalize, I will.

    In fact, when I die a old man, and social services come to clean out my stuff (dont plan on having kids), I want to make the front page of NY Times. Something like “Military grade arsenal discovered in retired mans home, CHILDREN IN DANGER!@!!”, and the other usual pantie in a twist nonsense, like how he lived within 50 miles of some schools and assorted other gibberish.

    I know many of us were caught short on ammo this last go round, but never again. I will get what I can, when I can, and stock up on reloading components as well.

    • RF should keep stalking her like he did at Shot Show. She’s cute, likes guns, is a writer, is conservative, and she’s Jewish.

  16. I fire about 150 rounds per range session on an average day. For many guys I know, 300 rounds is a slow day at the range if not a morning warmup. Antis are incapable of understanding that we don’t go to the range, fire 10 rounds, say “Ouch my shoulder hurts” and go home like they would. To them, anyone who owns more than 50 rounds of ammo has some kind of nefarious scheme.

    • I envy you. I used to fire 120 per session, but then Sandy Hook struck…
      Now im lucky to fire 40. Not that the ammo isn’t there, its just too expensive for a college students budget.

  17. I don’t have 1500 rounds of 9×19. But that ain’t my only caliber either. I got enough of each to feel comfortable.

    And that old wives tale about ammo being dangerous in a house fire just shows the true ignorance of the troll posting it.

    • I’m embarrassed to say how much ammo I’m sitting on. I think it would be impolitic to rub people’s noses in it when some of us are still hurting.

      Is it insane that I have a spreadsheet that tracks my stash and usage? My wife seems to think so…

      • Sounds like you need to involve your wife in the process. Have her take over your ammo inventory and you audit it once a month to make sure she’s not stealing from you. Ammo is very valuable these days.

        • That’s why I started tracking it…she’s sneaky as hell and works 4 on 3 off. She also never buys ammo.

        • I feel your pain, man. My wife has never bought a gun or round of ammo. She just rummages around in my stuff til she gets what she wants. And then I get to clean the mess up. It’s a tough life.

        • + infinity. My lady does not clean firearms. She just says “oh, by the way, I took your ____ to the range today.” I think she thinks that they clean themselves. I’m very happy that she likes shooting and never bitches when I buy guns and gun stuff. It irks me that she has more time to do such things, and makes a mess of my pistols, with ammo I bought. OTOH, she is a good cook, does all the laundry…and puts up with me and my dogs. I suppose it is a fair trade off.

  18. Thanks. You helped me make up my mind about getting a TiVo. If it takes up as much space as 1500 rounds of 9mm ammo, I’m not sure I could get a TiVo in a car trunk!

  20. haha.. 1500 rounds of 9mm.. a nice start. I’m a reloader, i keep about 1000 9mm rounds boxed & ready to use.. currently have ~ 10,000 9mm projectiles, probably another 10k in assorted other calibers, 30k+ primers & about 20# of assorted powders.. not a psycho school-shooter, just a guy who doesnt think ammo is ever gonna get cheaper..

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