North Carolina CCH Update

From NRA-ILA comes this:

House Bill 111, which would expand where Right-to-Carry permit holders may lawfully carry firearms for personal protection, passed Second Reading on Tuesday and then passed in the House of Representatives today on Third Reading.  H 111 will now move to the state Senate for their consideration.

 

Introduced by state Representatives Mark Hilton (R-96), Jeff Barnhart (R-82), Fred Steen (R-76), and Kelly Hastings (R-110), H 111 would remove the prohibition on permit holders from carrying firearms into restaurants that serve alcohol. As introduced, it would have also completely removed the ability of local governments to prohibit the lawful carrying of firearms by permit holders into parks.  Finally, it clarifies that permit holders may carry firearms for personal protection within the state parks system.

 

As previously reported, H 111 was amended in subcommittee with language to allow servers in restaurants to ask patrons who order an alcoholic beverage whether they are carrying a concealed firearm.  This amendment was proposed by state Representative Debra Ross (D-38), one of the most virulently anti-gun legislators in the General Assembly. On Tuesday, state Representative Leo Daughtry (R-26) offered an amendment to strip the Ross Amendment from H 111.  This amendment passed by a 72 to 46 vote, removing Ross’s “poison pill” language.  Two additional amendments were offered on Tuesday that were designed to weaken provisions dealing with carrying in parks.

 

First, state Representative David Guice (R-113) introduced an amendment that would allow local governments to prohibit permit holders from carrying firearms onto certain “recreational facilities,” which are defined as playgrounds, athletic fields, swimming pools, and athletic facilities.  Unfortunately, this amendment passed by a 70 to 48 vote.  The NRA will work to remove this emotionally-based, anti-gun amendment from H 111 when it is taken up in the state Senate.

 

In addition to the Guice Amendment, state Representative Bill Faison (D-50) offered an amendment to weaken the provisions regarding the state parks system.  That amendment failed by a 44 to 74 vote.

 

Today, state Representative Darren Jackson (D-39) introduced an amendment that would strip out the restaurant carry provisions entirely.  That amendment failed, but at this time, we do not have a vote count.

 

H 111 is now headed to the state Senate, where the NRA will work to make a good bill even better by trying to remove the Guice Amendment.  Please take a moment to contact your state Senator and urge him or her to work with the NRA to improve and pass H 111.  Contact information for your state Senator or help identifying your state Senator can be found here.

 

To see how your state Representative voted on H 111, as well as on all of the amendments, click here.

 

 

If you are here in this State I urge you to tell your Senator how you feel about this! 

Strength.....

It manifests itself in many ways:

Choose wisely.

So now this project!

Remember this? I finally have obtained enough currency to purchase this:

For here:

I was amused at the "Premium Exotic" description for the flooring. You want that for the bedroom right? Even if it is the Fortress of Solitude. 

It's on it's way!

My gift to my parents for their Wedding Anniversary! Supi is great to work with! Cotton mill town!

Instructor Evaluations....

Warning! Shameless plug follows!

Lets contrast and compare a couple here shall we?

"I consider Mr. XXX very knowledgeable. He knows his subject very well. He is very encouraging and will take that extra time to enable you to succeed. Kudos to Mr.XXX, an Economics and Finance person like me can now speak the IT and networking language. Never thought that could happen! THANK YOU!"

"Just a short note to tell you that I really enjoyed the Concealed Carry Class taught by XXX on Sun, Jan 23rd.

XXX is an excellent instructor. He's very knowledgeable and his classroom style is natural and easy. He has that rare quality of being able to impart his knowledge to others in an easy-going and unassuming manner. I remained engaged and interested the entire time.
I previously held a Concealed Carry Permit in New York State, for may years, before relocating to North Carolina, and knew a lot about guns and their safe use, but I learned a lot of new things (not just the NC legalities), and that pleasantly surprised me,

Thanks again XXX & Elite !!"

And then just when you think your head will not get through standard doorways here comes this: "I am not sure if the instructor had good knowledge of the subject he was teaching"

So, which of the above do you think I like the best and has the most import to me as an instructor?

From the USS Laffey Association

Sad news indeed. The passing of a plankowner of DD-724:

"I am so sorry to pass this information but, our shipmate Glen Radder has been transferred to the ULTIMATE DUTY STATION.
After a long illness, Glen passed away this morning, March 28. 
Glen loved the Laffey and all of his shipmates.
Tom, Glen's son, called me this morning and told me that Glen was resting beneath a his Laffey wall display and alongside was his Laffey coffee cup that he used every morning.
Glen was a true Laffey sailor. He always had a smile on his face and spread good times wherever he went.
I had the honor of knowing Glen after I joined the association. We had a lot of good talks at reunions and a work party that he attended aboard the ship. I shall miss Glen a lot, as will his shipmates. 
Tom told me this morning that Glen has joined many of his shipmates and he knows there is a big party planned. Glen will probably read some of his poems.........???
Please remember Glen and his family in your prayers. 

Sonny Walker
President"

Fair winds and following seas sailor. Thank you for your service...

Retro Sunday.. Colt Lord and Lady Derringers

I am off today to help people with tactical zombie bowling pin training. It looks like this. I do have these to present to you however:

Not worth a lot, chambered in .22 short, but neat anyway. They are not top breaks, the barrel rotates horizontally to load.

If any one wants to model the Lady model (that is a Lady) with a garter, let me know!

Hey Winchester! I'm talking to you!

Remember when?

Today at the range with my friend we come across this round from a sealed Winchester box of .380Auto:

Winchester will hear about this, but in the meantime if you buy factory ammo, check it! Keep ammo in the original box in case of recall! I don't know what would have happened if this round got fired but I am thinking it would not be pretty.

Labor of Love

I do not own this Pistol. I do take care of it as best I can however. Tomorrow I get to shoot it with the friend that owns it. I clean it and take care of it because it is a common bond between us.  It took a long time to get here with my friend. I know this pistol and can recognize it immediately without looking at the serial number due to the method of carry for so many years by him.

I am honored to do yeoman's tasks on this handgun.

I hope I can do it for many more years for my friend.

Getting Ready....

So for vacation this year I need to have "1200 rounds of ammunition". I'm working on it:

.45ACP; some assembly required!

I think... Part II!

Ok media watch this before you continue to rant:



Thanks!

I think...

That I know more about nuclear power than any of the bleached, peroxided, saline/siliconed, tailored suits clamoring about imminent death. Until they can say they were here in this time and space with hardworking talented people that did exhausting and demanding work I will discount the blathering:

I looked rapidly tonight for a picture of rough men that did this work along with me standing in front of the secondary containment structure. I did not find it. I need to find that picture. 


On the other hand if you really want to make the hippies cry break out this jacket:

Huge irony here huh? I love it! 

Update from Japan

Memo received today from the COO of my company here in the US. We are a wholly owned subsidiary of them:

A week passed since the biggest earthquake happened on March 11^th in the afternoon.

The northeast Japanese coastal area was heavily damaged and the first couple of days have been spent mainly to try to rescue people in trouble on top priority, then entering this week, the aid/care of refugees such as supply of food/water/blanket/heating oil etc have been a key concern as well as an on-going and growing problem of Fukushima Daiichi power plant trouble. It is among 5 nuclear power plants in the northeast coast of Japan and damaged worst among them while the other 4 plants (from north to south : Rokkasho, Onagawa, Fukushima Daini, Tokai no.2) are now under control and fortunately not in an immediate risk of radiation problem.

Japanese government, TEPCO (a power supply company who operates Fukushima Daiichi), the metropolitan police, Jieitai (Japanese self defense force) are trying their best to control the trouble in Fukushima Daiichi by injecting sea salt water into damaged units in pursuit of refraining nuclear fuel from melting and also trying to restore power supply line to the units to let the electrical water cooling system resume. So far no significant sign of improvement of the situation yet appeared but the desperate efforts are going on. Japanese citizens thank for the support and sympathy from other nations such as USA and also well recognize how keenly the citizens of those nations are concerned about the situation. I would like to provide you with the following Japanese websites through which you may get to know how they are struggling. 

http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/index.html

(Japanese government : the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

http://www.nisa.meti.go.jp/english/index.html

(Nuclear and industrial safety agency : An organization in charge of nuclear power plant operation and safety under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html

(Tokyo Electric Power Company : Operator of Fukushima Daiichi)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_I_Nuclear_Power_Plant

(Wikipedia : Fukushima Daiichi)

http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/freetop.aspx

(Nikkei : Japanese leading paper )

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nhk-world-tv

(NHK : Japanese leading broadcast system)

This is a worldwide concern, in the meantime, if this situation turns worse, it will be Japanese citizens who suffer most so I would like to ask you for trusting the desperate efforts to avoid the worst case by Japanese parties concerned and kindly hope for the best outcome."

Pray for them! Help if you can! 

Diversity....

I haz it!

Troubleshooting 101

A long time ago I was on a job interview after passing the written test. The written test had such questions as: "Design a 24VDC power supply with supply voltage of 110VAC in with less than .5v ripple voltage. Show all work". The interviewer first thing opened up a desk drawer and handed me this simple object (yep it is the same one from long ago):

A flashlight. He told me it was not working. I turned it on and it DID work. I was told later that if you started to take it apart without verifying the complaint you failed this question.

So many in the field want to discover something. Case in point 25 plus years later after that lesson we have this scenario.  Operator says he is getting incorrect readings on a machine display. OK, fair enough. Looking at the display several indicators are obviously wrong. Time to go to a 19 year old PLC (programmable logic controller) for a look see.

Ah ha! Closer inspection revealed this:

Two identical analog in cards. The one on the left shows from the LED's two things. A.- It's not ready and B.- not active. 

Some would have already pulled out a voltmeter, loop simulator, ect. Check the obvious first!

Let them eat cake!

Over at Lagniappe's Lair, Murphy's Law has telling commentary on how it seems that some pigs are more equal than others. This is a sad commentary. 

Retro Sunday Addendum! The 1971 Mustang

So I took the new camera out for a drive. Here is video from it. Lighting is bad, but you get the idea!

If you would like to help wounded warriors from active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, take a look here. I'm in! If I win I will sell you the 2012 Boss so I can build a garage for the '69 Boss!

Retro Sunday- The Colt Woodsman

Some have watched my attempts to improve the quality of the photos on my humble Blog. I have a friend that I consider a talented photographer, yet he is some distance away and busier than I am.

The fellow Blogger North suggested a camera. I went to Best Buy and got it today. I am also reminded why I do not go to Best Buy. I prefer "One Click" shopping. I stand around for 15 minutes at the cameras. I go to customer service to ask for help in the camera department. Repeat standing around. Someone finally comes up. I point to the Canon I want ( PowerShot SX 130 IS). He disappears to check stock. I have already done that before I came. No I do not want a case, no I do not need a SD card, no I do not need the Best Buy credit card with "double points" or whatever, no I do not need the protection plan on a 200 dollar camera.

So here is the first picture taken in "AUTO" (click to embiggen):

   
















This is a Colt Woodsman .22LR in case you have not figured that out by now! Looks to be a 1957 model. I have not gotten the letter from the Colt Historian yet, but it is forthcoming!

I have not loaded the CD with the manual for the camera yet. Let me know what you think!

Photos Part Two...

So after some feedback today I decided to upgrade from this camera:

To this one:

So I tried again for the Woodsman picture. Got this:

North, a fellow blogger did some post production editing from last night and produced this:

So although I really do not need another hobby, here it comes!

Photos...

Many people ask me about the photos on my blog. Not in a nice way. They ask if I am taking them with a Kodak Instamatic or Brownie. They may be right. So I attempted to stage a couple of photos and messed with lighting. Result? Photos still are underwhelming.

First attempt!


Then this:

I seem to need a better camera! I messed with everything on this little Phd (push here dummy) camera.

Battle of the Technologies!

Sorry for the quality of the video, but worth a look:



Hah! Kids these days!

Spring Break Retro!

I'm on Spring break this week so I have my evenings free. Since Mr. Bell patented the telephone today in 1876, here are a couple.

Way back when (the seventies), telephone customers increasingly chose to buy and install phones not manufactured by Western Electric, the manufacturing arm of the Bell System. So the Bell System came up with the "Design Line" series of telephones that customers could purchase. Not really though. Early phones came with this disclaimer: "The telephone housing is your property. To assure quality of service, all working parts, e.g., dial, cords, and electrical components remain the property and responsibility of the Bell Telephone Company." Western simply stuck the working components of existing Bell telephones into contracted housings. Customers still had to pay rent on the guts. Finally around 1980, customers were allowed to own the phone outright. These sets were marked "CS" to denote that distinction. In 1986 manufacturing was moved out of the US.

This sort of thing simply marched to its death starting in the late eighties:

 

Here is a 1976 version of the Micky Mouse phone:

Sports an original Bell issued number card with the 219 area code. Indiana.

This was a standard Model 2500 desk phone with a Micky Mouse housing (insert joke here).

The Bell 2500 above.

So at about at the end of it and here is an example:

A Trimline phone totally encased in a Micky Mouse housing. I added the Southern Bell service award and a commemorative centennial paperweight to the picture.

I hope to spend some time here this week, but I do have laundry to do in prep for my vacation!

Why I Teach

Many people that know me in "meatspace" ask me this. They note that I have a full time job, teach part time 2 nights a week ( four hour classes) at the Community College and yet still go teach Basic Pistol and Concealed Carry classes on the weekends. 

The answer is really simple. First understand that you will not get rich doing this (well I won't anyway). The cost of liability insurance, certifications, training, and ancillary costs eat into your profit. Simply put I do not do it for profit, but the "pocket change" is simply an added bonus for doing something I enjoy and more importantly feel is important.

I love teaching new shooters how to responsibly handle a handgun. Some after the first shot on the line have a smile so big it defies description. The talented Blogger Brigid however can describe it: "There is the smell of fresh blueing, the smell of the first handgun I bought. A Colt Python. Finally I held it, taking in the deep blued finish that seemed to hold all reluctant light and breath, feeling the weight in my hand, the scent of cold steel bracing me. Then I simply stepped up and fired it. A single shot, in which a lifetime lay behind me." 

I have to understand as I meet people from all walks of life brought together by one common desire that what I have known for years is not common knowledge.  Four decades ago, I picked up a Firearm with my Fathers blessing. 

 
Have I observed magazines loaded backwards? Sure. I have also observed people cry, shake like mad, vow never to touch a firearm again and leave the range. I have learned much in this endeavor. To me growing up with firearms was a given. I am thankful for that after watching many that have not. I am simply trying to carry the legacy forward. 


The legacy is rich indeed. The first rifle I shot is here:

This is a Winchester Model 290 .22 S, L, LR rifle. I remember licking and sticking S&H green stamps in books to get this rifle. 

It was shipped via USPS to the house! 

The first pistol I carried casually  in my back pocket was this one:

Colt Woodsman Match Target .22. I am appalled that this handgun was cavalierly carried in a back pocket for so many years in one sense, yet appreciate the fact that someone could do it without repercussions long ago. 


I recently had a middle aged student in the Basic Pistol class with a new Ruger LCR. She was an intense student. She has been at the range every Saturday ever since. Adept and serious student on the line, yet funny and personable off of the firing line. She has signed up for the concealed carry class this month. She finally told me the story about how her Mother was killed with a handgun 40 years ago. That is all she said about the matter and I did not pry. She will be back at the range next Saturday.

This is why I teach. I do not have any children to pass my legacy on to. I probably will not have any unless there is a bright star in the east and camel crap in the yard. 

I can however pass my legacy on to people that have come to the conclusion that they alone are responsible for their safety. It is empowering. I am humbled and honored to serve in this way. 

Cooking with Dog

Its not what you think!



h/t to Lumberjack!