Tour d’Horizon is the weekly collection of mildew-crusted open tabs that we’re trying to power-wash off of our monitor array. Some of these are this week’s news; some are older news that we just found this week; and a few of them have been sitting around here wof aiting for us to conduct some de-hoarding operations.
Enjoy!
Posting Saturday may be slow as we’re trying to finish up some airplane stuff and move on to the next major set of assemblies.
Guns
I don’t wanna work, I just wanna bang on my gun all day.
How Kalashnikovs Get Built
Here’s a Russia Today (i.e. Russian state-sponsored media) video on the making and testing of the AK.
Note that the pile of AKs on the splash screen are Chinese Type 56s, complete with pigsticker.
We might have used this one before, but we’re just suckers for how-it’s-made video.
Gander to Stock Slovak Grand Powers
While there have been a lot of great Czech gun designers, Jaroslav Kuracina of Grand Power is the only Slovak one we can think of. Their centerfire pistols have a rotating barrel with a unique patented roller action, unlike the Beretta/Obregon/Nickl(CZ) lugs. The DA/SA is very CZ-like (there are other trigger options). We like these things and they should grow some sales legs with the wider exposure they’ll get at Gander Mountain.
Gander Mountain to stock Grand Power pistols in stores, online
A Strange Story of HK, Journalists, and Threats of Jail
Last December, a German court threw out a case (in the equivalent of an American court’s motions stage) charging some anti-weapons-exports journalist/activists with releasing secret documents from a prosecution investigation. The kicker? The prosecutor only had the documents because the journos gave them to her, and when she didn’t take any action for five years, they published:
The documents – which showed German government officials may have colluded with H&K to circumvent weapons export controls – were published in the book “Netzwerk des Todes” (“Network of Death”) and shown in a documentary aired on public broadcaster ARD in September 2015. The investigation won Harrich Germany’s Grimme journalism prize.
Only then did she try to drag someone into court — not the export violators, but the leak publishers. In the end, the court brought her up short with a judicial spanking. These involved the H&K G36 rifles that were supplied to Mexican police, or Mexican cartels… which must have made the cartels’ usual suppliers, the ATF’s Phoenix field office, jealous.
Glock BTF Still Happening
The Freeholder got a G30 Gen 4 and it kept plinking him with the brass. (BTF is Intertubes slang for Brass To Face, the ejection pattern that some random percentage of Glocks seem to have, some with certain ammo and some with all of it). He’s sent it off to Glock for warranty repair, and now it’s on its way back to him. What causes this is unknown, whether you’ll get it with any particular Glock is unknown, and whether sending it back fixes it is pretty much a toss-up. He has a good blog with interesting stuff many of you might like.
Gun Stocks update
As you see, we’re continuing with the chart. We’ve also added something new, though: a graph. (We actually did the graph for last week, originally, and then forgot to plug it in. Eh.)
Gun Stocks since the Election
Week Ending
RGR
SWHC
AOBC
VSTO
11/8/16 (pre-election)
64.40
28.45
38.94
11/18/16
53.20
24.13
40.02
11/25/16
52.50
23.82
41.05
12/2/16
50.25
21.10
39.66
12/9/16
51.90
21.07
38.62
12/16/16
53.45
21.59
36.81
12/23/16
54.05
22.11
38.03
12/30/16
52.70
21.08
36.90
1/6/17
54.15
21.00
38.08
1/13/17
51.35
20.60
28.70
1/20/17
50.65
20.13
27.78
1/27/17
51.90
20.58
28.33
2/3/17
50.05
20.12
26.18
2/10/17
50.15
21.08
21.58
Ruger and Smith were essentially flat, although that reflects a Friday rally (they were both down Thursday’s closing). They got caught in the shrapnel of VSTO financials blowing up again this week. Vista CEO Mark De Young issued a warning on earnings for the year (cut to about $2/share, down from around $3) and reported slow sales and high inventory, especially in the hunting and shooting accessories lines (this is being widely misreported as a collapse of gun sales, but that’s not what De Young said). With VSTO having lost nearly half its market capitalization in two months, dozens of class action suits have been filed, and the ambulance chasers have pumped out so many press releases it takes some doing to find the actual company release — which is, of course, just the way the lawyers like it.
The lawyers will beat it down further, but the Price/Earnings ratio is already down to about 9.4.
Disclaimer: Your Humble Blogger holds RGR, bought at about 56.40 on 9 Nov 16. It bottomed in the 40s later that day. We still think it has longterm growth potential, and we like the dividend. (We’d better really like the dividend, eh. Well, it’s in the income part of our portfolio).
Gun Poly-Ticks
Where The Second Amendment Goes to Say Aloha
You might think Californians have it bad on the gun rights scale (and they do!), but imagine the condition of the poor Hawaiians. The 2nd Amendment is such a dead letter there, that exactly zero pistol permits were issued in 2016. Indeed, it appears that rounds-to-zero have been issued since 2000.
There’s a Lot of Licensees Out There
John Lott has some interesting data on licenses and crime by state. Just from the abstract of his paper, three states have over 1,000,000 permit holders, 6.06% of the whole population has a permit, and in ten states, more than 10% of adults have permits. Permits are up 190% 2007-2015, in aggregate nationwide.
So why’s all the murderin’ taking place among prohibited persons in gun-control enclaves?
Shorts
The owner of POF has offered to provide the guns for the border wall. Troll level: publicity stunt.
National reciprocity has reached 150 sponsors in the House (it needs 218 to pass, if everybody votes).
Bloomberg is spending his money trying to stop Constitutional Carry. For example, in NH, where it still passed anyway.
Usage and Employment
The hardware takes you only half way. Nothing this week.
Cops ‘n’ Crims
Cops bein’ cops, crims bein’ crims. The endless Tom and Jerry show of crime and (sometimes instantaneous) punishment.
When the Cop Was a Crim, I
This guy wasn’t a cop (technically, a Border Patrol Agent) any more, when he did all this, but, damn:
According to court documents, Shannon Keoni Gaillard, 32, was driving a Nissan Pulsar with stolen plates in Everett, Washington, just north of Seattle, around 3:30 in the morning on Oct. 29. When police tried to pull him over, he led them on a chase, “driving dangerously and evasively at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour.” Gaillard eventually lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a cement barrier before fleeing on foot. Officers arrested him at the scene.
When police searched his car, they found M16 and AR-15 parts, instructions for turning an AR-15 into an M16, nearly 200 rounds of ammunition, unregistered homemade silencers, 3.71 grams of crystal methamphetamine, two pipes, empty vials of testosterone steroids, documentation of previous DUI’s in Utah and Tennessee, tactical gear and a U.S. Border Patrol badge.
The BP fired him in 2014, after an earlier arrest and he’s been seeing America from the other side of the bars for a while.
Pathetic Police Work
The University of California, Berkely, has a well-staffed police department with, largely, professional officers… and dreadful leadership. Jack Dunphy (pseud.) takes down their feckless Chief’s stand-down order in the face of a violent riot.
Hundreds of rioters committed thousands of crimes, and the police were not only forbidden to make any arrests, but they were even forbidden to identify the criminals. Because the Chief sympathized with the rioters.
Napoleon said, “There are no bad regiments, only bad colonels,” and while he wasn’t referring to police leadership, he really was.
When the Cop was a Crim, II
He was a North Randall, OH, police officer. Now he’s serving another role in the justice system: inmate.
Kevin Lumpkin, 30, was found guilty in December 2015 of selling rifles, pistols and a ballistic vest to felons Calvin Kelly and Michelle Devine. Lumpkin’s deeds were first discovered in 2013 when Cleveland police found boxes for two of the guns while investigating a domestic violence complaint between Kelly and Devine.
This was only one of several incidents of arming felons; he was a one-cop crime wave, even getting nailed for tax fraud. Lumpkin was already lumped in to gen pop in the Club Fed in Lisbon, OH, but an appeal came up lately. He lost.
Child “Welfare” Again
People in every jurisdiction think that their own child welfare/ juvenile misconduct bureaucracy is the worst in the world. Actually, they’re all equally dreadful. This week’s entrant is New York, where the state is looking to pull New York City’s agency’s funding over the death of a neglected six year old, for which — stop us if you’ve heard this before — no one has been held accountable.
It’s all kabuki. The state politicians making the empty threats depend on the votes and mandatory “donations” of the unionized agency drones. They’ll do nothing.
When the Crim was a Cop (!)
A felon named Jericho Gunter, a serial cop impersonator, won a contract to manage a prison. Other cops became suspicious, and when his bona fides were belatedly checked, he wound up back in prison for for over five years — not as the management, this time.
Did These Dogs Make a Critterzen’s Arrest?
Sometimes there’s a story that makes you feel all good inside:
The teen snatched the purse off a woman about 8 p.m. Tuesday after she disembarked a bus at 145th Road and Springfield Blvd. and placed it on a bench for a moment.
The teen dashed into nearby Springfield Park, only to be chased by a stray pit bull and German shepherd, officials said.
The two ferocious dogs tackled the teen to the ground.
The cops had difficulty prying the dogs off the worthless little thief. He’s going to need skin grafts where they were gnawing on him. The lady got her purse back. The dogs were tranquilized by ESD and given to Animal Control, and we want to adopt those precocious pooches. Read The Whole Thing™.
Law, Order, and Cashing In in LA
This happened first:
Ford reportedly spun around, knocked [Officer] Wampler to the ground and tried to grab his gun during a struggle, police said.
Wampler shot Ford once in the back, prosecutors said. His partner Antonio Villegas fired two additional shots at Ford.
And you’ll never believe what happened next. Because Ford’s family says he should be allowed to attack cops, because he was black and crazy, the LA city government bought them off with $1.5 million of the taxpayers’ money.
Called the Cops What?
A gerrymandered-black-district Congressman named William Lacy Clay displayed this artwork in the Capitol, showing cops as pigs. An intra-Congressional dispute over the value and accuracy of the art led to it being voted out on party lines, despite Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi standing up for this depiction of police.
The Perils of Kathleen: She’s Almost Gone
But not yet, dammit.
ITEM 10 Feb: Another Crooked Prosecutor Bows Out. Seth Williams, who was the Philadelphia prosecutor who sometimes competed with Kane for the loyalty of black Philadelphians, and who tangled with Kane over the prosecution of corrupt black Philly politicians (Kane took a dive on the case) will not stand for reelection after paying a $63,000 fine to settle corruption charges.
There’s really no overestimating the moral turpitude of gun control proponents.
Shorts
Sumdood showed up complaining of ricin exposure. He had the deadly toxin his car. The FBI arrested him but hasn’t said much.
Howie Carr accuses Massachusetts pols of honoring an illegal alien who killed a citizen drunk driving. C’mon, Howie, they’re not honoring just one; they’re celebrating ’em all.
Different Sumdood pulled off a brazen shoplifting job in entirely the wrong venue: the SHOT Show. He’s in jail.
Unconventional (and current) Warfare
What goes on in the battlezones of the world — and preparation of the future battlefields.
Quick, Who Said This about the Terrorist Travel Ban:
Can you ID the author of this quote? He’s in the picture; a serving SEAL is blanked out.
Look, these countries don’t have a database that keeps track of its citizens. And we can’t depend on a government database in countries that do, because if they have one it has a political agenda behind it.
It wouldn’t be hard for someone to get into the U.S. whose loyalty lies with ISIS or a militia aligned with Iran. While the militia isn’t necessarily our enemy right now, they don’t have loyalty to the U.S., they are loyal to the interests of the government that funds them. And that government says “Death to America.”
“Johnny Walker,” Chris Kyle’s Iraqi interpreter. Yes, he’s a moslem. But he’s an American first. This is what that sounds like, if you haven’t heard it before.
War Crime Charges Were Bought and Paid For
A shady British lawyer and his firm sued the British Government on behalf of many Iraqi “war crime victims.” Where did they find the victims? They paid an Iraqi agent to generate them. The charges were all bogus. The lawyer will be “struck off,” which is Brit-speak for what is called “disbarred” in Yankistan. So where does Tommy Atkins go to get his reputation back?
Snowden Return Rumors
Edward Snowden is in a tough position: kept by a foreign intelligence service that has pumped him dry, they have no real use for him except as an example for other turncoats of how well they treat spies and defectors. He has no access (and no prospect of any, should he live to 100), so apart from that, he has no practical use. If he becomes a greater liability than that small benefit, or if he is more useful to Russia as a gift to their negotiating counterparties in the United States, his vacation in sunny Moscow will come to an end in handcuffs on whatever the 21st Century equivalent of the Glienecker Bridge is. And there’s a rumor that it’s in the works.
Veterans’ Issues
Is it time to o disband this thing yet, and letting all its bloatoverhead seek its own level in the Dreaded Private Sector™?
Shulkin Nomination Advances
The nomination of Dr David Shulkin to head the DVA passed committee Thursday, unanimously, and is expected to be approved by a bipartisan majority of the full Senate on Monday.
Phoenix VAMC Still a Mess
You want us to define “Mess”? How about 7 different leaders in the last couple of years, “each with more baggage than the last,” a facility still given the lowest internal rating, the phalanx of whistleblowers — the only ones punished, ultimately, for the Phoenix mess — who swear the place is still a disaster, and the fact that, as one puts it, “vets are continuing to die” due to neglect. Read The Whole Thing™. Dr Shulkin has already defended the current director, who failed at previous jobs (one had such poor sterile conditions that vets in dental and surgical treatment contracted HIV and Hepatitis C). He’s got his job cut out for him, and Congress has to give him the hiring and firing authority he had when he ran a real hospital.
Or just do the right thing, and disband the whole thing. However, Shulkin has signaled that he isn’t going to do that, pretty much guaranteeing that we’ll be writing VA horror stories for the next four years.
Fake News about VA Transition
In the Gannett-owned Military Times, Leo Shane writes this headline: Trump held his first VA listening session without veterans advocates. But if you read deep into the story, this meeting was with health care experts and other advisors; a future meeting will be held with the VFW, American Legion, and DAV. So what President Trump actually did was hold a meeting with advisors on VA subjects, without having a 360º representation of stakeholders. And that’s certainly not the way that President Leo Shane would have done it.
Health & Fitness (NEW Category!)
Nothing this week, sorry.
Lord Love a Duck!
The weird and wonderful (or creepy) that we didn’t otherwise get to.
Archaeologists Finally Do Something Practical
A group of them unearthed (literally) an ancient Chinese brewery from circa 3,000 BC (yes, that’s 5,000 years ago) complete with enough residue to try to decode the ancient Chinese brewmaster’s recipes.
And then they brewed some. And drank it. Because, science.
[Stanford Professor Li] Liu taught her students to recreate the recipe as part of her archaeology course. “We include two different kinds of beer making – one is by chewing, and the other one is by sprouting the cereals.”
Madeleine Ota, an undergraduate student, tried both methods. For her first drink, she adopted the sprouting method and used red wheat as her core ingredient. The university quoted her as saying the beverage had a pleasant fruity smell and citrus taste, similar to a cider.
Ota also recreated another beer by using a vegetable root called manioc, which required chewing and spitting out manioc before boiling and fermenting the mixture. The end result smelled like funky cheese and Ota herself had no desire to check how it tasted, the university quoted her as saying.
Ota said the beers the students created had “sort of a sour taste” in general. Students had to use straws to drink them, which ancient would have done as the ingredients used for fermentation were not filtered out.
How much of that sour taste was the ancient Han process, and how much of it was first-time undergrad brewmasters, we leave as an exercise for the reader.
Life in the ‘Shire
Annoying autoplay video, but this is one of the most ate-up domestics we’ve ever heard of. She flipped out him because he said the dinner she made was “OK.” No, this din’t happen anywhere near Hog Manor or even Big City… but still. Lord love a duck. Hat tip, Stacy McCain.
NYC Dopers Poisoning Their Dogs
What’s going through a druggie’s mind? Well, apart from the chemicals and the urgent desire for more? In New York City, a bunch of them think it’s funny to get their dogs high… which occasionally kills the dog, and other times makes Fido deathly ill. The New York Times had to do a typically stuffy public-service type article to warn their readers not to do that. And yet these people are absolutely convinced that they are a natural aristocracy, born to rule you.
Thanks for visiting WeaponsMan.com this week, and we can’t wait for all next week’s posts!