My favourite Nokia product

Here's a scan of my favourite Nokia product so far:



And the reverse side:



Yep, that's Nokia as in phones... Sako is part owned by them. Here we have a flattened box for.222 Remington cartridges, which would appear to be a popular choice for the hunting rifles made by Sako...

I wonder if the hippy types will give up their phones knowing just how diverse Nokia's interests are...

I have a sudden urge to visit Texas again, and do some more shooting.

Attaboy!

The interwebs (WSBTV, Atlanta) reports that a group of college students said they are lucky to be alive and that they're thanking their quick-thinking gun carrying friend.

Bailey said the gunmen started counting bullets. “The other guy asked how many (bullets) he had. He said he had enough,” said Bailey.

That’s when one student grabbed a gun out of a backpack and shot at the invader who was watching the men. The gunman ran out of the apartment.

Now, if you're taken at gunpoint by two guys, told to hand over your wallets, phones and jewellery, then the gunmen start asking themselves how many rounds of ammunition they have. They separate the men and women. Now one of them is about to sexually assault someone in the apartment. What are you going to do? Most people are powerless to fight back.

The first rule of a gunfight is bring a gun.

Of course, if this had happened in Britain, we'd have the student arrested.
Time and time again we see law abiding folk being victims because they are not able to respond to violence from criminals. It makes a refreshing change to see that a potential victim turn the situation around, and save the lives of his friends.

Just remember, when you have seconds to live, the Police are only a few minutes away.

Piracy

The Hootsman tells us of a cruise ship being attacked by pirates, the pirates being repulsed by an on-board Israeli security force...

"the pirates retreated after the security officers returned fire and sprayed them with water hoses. The ship then continued its journey, with windows darkened."

Jolly good.

Now, what do you think a chap from the East African Sea Farers Assistance Programme said about this?

"Having weapons on a passenger or merchant ship is dangerous. They should have used other means to shake off the pirates, like a loud acoustic device."

As one commenter on the article said - is that chap willing to stand at the rail, and shout "Go away!" at the pirates? And just which African sea farers is he spokesman for?

I am reliably informed, by a friend in the Royal Navy, that our modern warhips still have a yardarm... When I asked him why we were not hanging pirates from them, or returning them from whence they came he replied that apparently returning them to a home country where the penalty for piracy is death would be a breach of their human rights. Ah well.

I think The Englishman has the right idea with an alternate cruise offering. His readers have some excellent suggestions for things to take on the cruise.

Arrrr.

Airgun confusion - no confusion

Again with The Scotsman...

Can we say: posturing move with Westminster?

"Mr MacAskill said: "The law around air and replica guns is too confusing and needs to be reformed. However, the Home Secretary refuses to either do this or devolve the powers so that the Scottish Government can."

No, it's not confusing at all, it's just that MacAskill is an idiot.

I think the comments say it all.

Don't mess with Texas

I went on holiday to Texas to see friends, eat BBQ and steak, and shoot guns.

Austin was warm and sunny, as usual - 80F (ish), and rained only the once. My timing was near perfect - warm enough to be pleasant to be out - evenings cool down fairly quickly though. Certainly not as hot as it gets in the summer 100F for weeks on end.

Amusingly enough, I hired a car (well, more like a tank) for the duration - a Chevy Blazer. I don't drive in Edinburgh, but obviously it's hard to get around a city like Austin without your own transport - and one can't impose upon friends for transportation all the time, particularly since they're at work, or up to whatever they get up to. The last time I was behind the wheel was the last time I was in Austin, which was about 3 years ago. They've sprouted some new freeways - toll roads, which make going places a lot quicker than the parking lot otherwise known as I35. And I only nearly crashed once.

Here are some pictures of my remarkably anger and stress free vacation...

Austin:


I worked in Austin, almost 10 years ago, during the .com craziness. It was all very stressful, I didn't make my millions there, but did make a lot of friends.

BBQ:



The evil people at The Salt Lick have opened up a new pit BBQ and restaurant up by Round Rock. I have made the pilgrimage to Driftwood a number of times for the fab BBQ, and now excellent MEAT can be enjoyed after a much shorter drive to Round Rock. They were doing a $3 off the family style (all you can eat) which is pictured above. Plates like that keep coming to the table until you stop them. Family style is best enjoyed in large groups and (obviously) when hungry.

Guns:



I'll not post pics of my targets here - they're online elsewhere. My shooting was fairly crap, but then again, I haven't shot anything in 3 years. For the record, everything hit the target card. Most hit close to the centre, but I have done better in the past. I was rather rushed though, Red's Range was closing early for maintenance so a blitzkrieg session was had. 50 rounds through a HK USP 40 S&W pistol, and 50 rounds through the (pictured) .223 Colt AR-15.

The 2 weeks I spent there were ab-fab, with many thanks to my hosts. I definitely could have done with staying for another week or so - particularly since there were a few people I didn't manage to see. That and I returned to find work in the middle of another cluster-fuck.

Sheep worrying in Fife

The Beeb have reported that the good folk of Pittenweem have been letting their dogs run unchecked through fields of livestock. The local constabulary are reminding dog owners that farmers may shoot dogs found to be running uncontrolled through fields, worrying the sheep.

"This could result in a much-loved pet being shot for worrying livestock, with no recourse open to the pet owner."

It's not the dog's fault it is only doing what comes naturally, like shitting on the pavement, and licking its self - the farmer should shoot the idiot that's supposedly looking after the dog.

Booga Booga Booga

In London, Manchester, West Yorkshire and the West Midlands, people are being encouraged to grass folk up for having more than one mobile phone.

The Metro reports that in those 4 areas, a counter terrorism campaign has been launched, and apparently having more than one phone, or swapping SIM cards is seen as suspicious - and worthy of having your arse felt under the suspicion of you being a terrorist!

Never mind the number of people I work with who have a work phone and a personal phone... Next thing you know, they'll be calling the armed cops if you use your MP3 player in public. Oh wait... That already happened.

We're going to hell in a handbasket, and all in the name of prevention of Terrrrrrr.

The scourge of civilised society...

I am referring to the deactivated weapon, not the large, angry, man pictured. (That's a Mk II Bren, by the way.)

The politicos and pantywaist whiners want to ban deactivated guns, to somehow protect the public... Protect the public from what exactly? Being beaten to death by an inert firearm? That's all the above Bren is good for...

The BBC helpfully reports that:

"Deactivated guns are not capable of firing live ammunition, but criminals often alter them for re-use."

The BBC don't cite any figures for how many of these deactivated guns are being converted.

Why bother converting a deactivated gun anyway? I would expect it's cheaper to buy a fully working firearm on the qt than have a replica converted, and risk being called "lefty" when it blows up in your hand.



A fully working Mosin Nagant rifle can be bought in the USofA for $100 (here) and a deactivated version can be bought in the UK for £155 (here)
The fully operational firearm is a third of the cost, excluding conversion costs etc. I expect that deactivated pistols are similarly priced...

"Tackling gun crime is key to making people feel safer and more secure in their communities. We already have the tightest controls in Europe but there is more we can do to remove the threat of gun crime."

That's our Home Secretary speaking. With some of the tightest firearms laws in the world, why are law abiding citizens still being shot at by head-bangers? Would that be because criminals don't give a fuck?

These same politicians tell us that "Firearms are not an acceptable means of protection in Great Britain and authority will not be granted to possess a firearm for this reason." Yet they have protection from armed police officers. Will they tell the police to hand in their Glocks? I don't think so!

(It's worth noting that in Northern Ireland, you *are* allowed a firearm for personal protection).

Anyway, back to crime sprees committed using deactivated weapons:

"the most recent Home Office firearms figures from 2005/6 show that reactivated or deactivated firearms were recorded as being used in just eight offences, out of a total of 11,084."

Not much of a spree, is it?
That's less than 0.1%

"Gill Marshall-Andrews of the Gun Control Network said: "We are delighted, this has been on our agenda for a long time. It is a big loophole in our firearms legislation."

And she can fuck right off. Big loophole? <0.1% Big loophole my arsehole.

Gill Marshall-Andrews appears to be well known for spouting such claptrap.

Gun Free Zones - 1/2 Hour News Hour

We should have gun free zones everywhere... Because that way it makes us all safer. Oh yes, it does.

Commonwealth Games hosting bid shot by gun laws

As expected, the draconian firearm laws in this country continue to prohibit law abiding citizens and visiting sportspeople from enjoying their pursuits. The Sports Minister is looking into the issue.

When will people realise that lunatics and criminals will get a hold of firearms and other weapons whether they are illegal or not - and all we're doing is meaning real people don't have guns and all the arseholes do.

I'm not in any way advocating that we should be able to buy guns like sweeties, but I for one would like to be able to go down to a pistol range, and enjoy shooting in my own country. There should be a sensible middle ground - not knee jerk reactionary nonsense.

Firearms for the Police

First off, I would like to add my condolences to those already expressed by the British people to the families and friends of the murdered Police Officer in Bradford, and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded officer in hospital.

I have been reading the papers, and various news websites, most of which have included letters from the public. I think I shall add my tuppence worth here.

There are a few schools of thought - Arm the police. Keep the status quo. Ban all guns. Bring back the death penalty for those who kill police officers.

Here are a few thoughts on each:

• Death Penalty. Don't be daft. We'll tie ourselves in knots if we get into that one again. Let sleeping dogs lie.
• Ban all guns. Haven't we done that already? Oh, no - we've stopped law abiding citizens from keeping licenced firearms, and enjoying recreational shooting with pistols because they couldn't be bothered to apply the existing laws. Yes, that's a Labour Government we have to thank for that. The populus cannot carry firearms, and so are relying on the Police to protect them, which brings us nicely into...
• Maintain the status quo - well, that clearly hasn't worked in this case... It does seem to work in most cases though. I have to admit, I am still pretty comfortable with this option. Trouble is... what happens if another situation like this occurs... We'll rely on the local police officer saying "Stop! Or I'll have to ask you to stop again!" once again, and when something like this happens again, we will be back here, asking the same questions. I have got news for you people: criminals have firearms, and are not afraid to use them!
• Arm all of the police officers... People seem to have a fear of firearms, rather than a fear of the people (of the criminal persuasion) who have firearms. People seem to have been watching too many films, westerns and perhaps Police Academy, and seem to think that an armed police force will bring about the end of civilisation. Apparently some citizens in Edinburgh felt intimidated simply by the increased Police presence during the G8. Why? Feeling guilty, perhaps? I have worked in the US (Texas) and shared office buildings with SWAT, Vice and Gang units - sharing elevators with armed officers on a daily basis. Did I feel intimidated? No. They were there to protect me. Same with armed officers here. Edinburgh does have a few dotted around. They are here for my protection. Why should them carrying a firearm make me feel any different?

If we go down the road of arming all Police, do we get to ask the question, what is so special about the police? Why can't we be armed and protect ourselves? I find this all very odd.

So today, I am not so much angry, as sad.

Taser vs HK MP5

So, the crybabies are whining that tasers are bad... Strathclyde Police have just rolled them out to their firearms officers. The crybabies are complaining about the number of taser related deaths and injuries (in the US) and want to exercise extreme caution...

It all comes down to this though - I think most people would rather be tasered than shot.

These are firearms officers. If they are called, the situation is serious. The other things they carry are Heckler & Koch machine pistols, and glock pistols. Clearly, I'd rather not be on the receiving end of any of that, but the taser would be the winner for the one I am most likely to live through.

Idiots.