All Hail the Police State, University Edition

It's been a while since I've posted about how this country is trending towards a police state, but by no means does that indicate it's not still going on.  Today I'll be discussing how the movement of militarizing police has even spread to higher education.

Colleges and universities often have their own police departments.  They do this to handle student problems without having to get the local police department involved, but often also to insulate the town they are associated with from having higher crime rates.  Crimes like vandalism, drug possession and assault (including sexual assault) are often more common in the typical student population than the nearby sleepy town.

But none of this is news, it's been going on for some time.  What is news is how police and security departments associated with higher education are fully embracing new tools that increase their surveillance capability and armories.

Armories?  Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?  I really wish it was, but we are seeing Universities acquiring armored vehicles.  It's poetic that this article speaks about a university in Ohio.  If a few soldiers with bolt action rifles were able to carry out the Kent State Massacre, just imagine what some troops with machine guns and tanks can do.

As well, we see educational institutions have been commonly applying with the FAA to deploy drones, along with police departments.  Will these drones simply be used to spy on students?  Will they be restricted to the airspace over the university property?  Or will they extend out?  Most college campuses are already blanketed with stationary cameras, so it's curious as to what the intent is for drone use.

Welcome to the future, where even educational institutions are getting militarized and buying high tech spying gear!

Beware the Squib

A couple weeks ago I actually experienced a squib centerfire round.  It was in a box of Wolf 9x18 (9mm Makarov) that I've had for an undetermined time.  It was maybe only a couple months old or maybe 5 years old.  I can't say I keep that kind of track of my pistol ammo.

What is a squib?  It's a round that either doesn't have powder in it (only a primer) or the primer doesn't ignite the powder at all.  You get some sort of "pop" instead of a bang.  This small pop is often enough to lodge the bullet in the barrel.  If you pull the trigger and nothing happens that's called a dud and isn't the issue here.

In this case the squib load did lodge the bullet about halfway down the barrel.  There was enough power to move the bullet, but not enough to get it through the barrel and headed towards the target.  This is a very dangerous situation!  Anytime you get a squib load, or any cartridge that sounds significantly different than the others you need to stop, unload the gun and inspect the barrel.  If a bullet is stuck in the barrel and you fire again you are likely to burst the barrel, blow the top of the gun up and hurt yourself and others nearby.

How can you tell a squib?  It's very obvious.  This one sounded like a cap gun going off.  If a bullet doesn't clear the barrel then you aren't getting any sound out that way.  If it's way underpowered it's not going to open up the slide and allow noise out that way.  It's a lot quieter than a normal round.  Do not fret, if you experience one you will have known it happened.

So what does a round stuck in a barrel look like?  Well, like this.  Notice the shiny copper bullet in the barrel.  To see it from this vantage point you need a light, and the pistol needs to have been unloaded and preferably disassembled.  Pointing a gun at your eye isn't something you should do without taking all the precautions you can first.

In this case, the primer didn't ignite the powder.  It could be because there wasn't enough powder.  Maybe the primer was weak.  Maybe the powder was bad.  It's a Russian round, and their QC isn't known to be top notch.  I can tell there was at least some powder in the cartridge because it was all over the chamber.  It doesn't look like any powder I use when I reload, but I made a tiny pile with some and lit it with a match and it acted like smokeless powder.  In this picture you can see some of the powder and the base of the bullet.  This particular bullet has exposed lead at it's base, the copper jacket doesn't fully cover the whole bullet.  Because of this it's not as shiny from this perspective.

To get the bullet out I grabbed a section of an old broken cleaning rod.  It was aluminum so I didn't have to worry about tearing up the barrel.  I slid the rod in and gave it a couple taps with my Leatherman.  It didn't budge.  Always push the bullet in the direction it was traveling, trying to push it the wrong way can damage your barrel and make it harder to get it out.  But after an initial try I realized it wasn't going to easily tap out.  It was time to get some real tools and lubricants involved.  This would not have been an easy fix in the field.

I dropped a couple drops of Kroil down the barrel and waited a few minutes.  Then I used a real hammer to tap on the rod.  No movement.  It ended up taking both penetrating oil and 20 solid whacks with a hammer to get the bullet out.  You can see the picture of the bullet most of the way out, it's a perspective you don't get to see very often!

The last picture shows what the bullet looked like once it was removed.  It was in pretty good shape.  The gun it was lodged in uses polygonal rifling, I'm not sure if that made it easier or harder to push through the bore.  But in the end the bullet was cleared and the barrel was undamaged.  It cut a range visit short, but no harm was done and I learned a thing, so I'm calling it a win.

Stay safe out there!

A Sort of Legacy?

Over the weekend I went to an event, a burlesque show that was a fundraiser for a local charity.   This isn't an uncommon way for me to spend and evening, but it left me thoughtful.  It was organized by Zombie Squad, an organization I've volunteered with for a number of years, including some leadership positions.  In fact, one of my most prized possessions came from ZS, a gift given to me after I was in charge of the forums for two years.  As I was observing the show I realized that I had an impact on the organization.  I guess I never realized it as it was happening, but my involvement has shaped the group in at least some small part.  Often I thought I was just treading water and not being very effective.  Last night I realized that probably wasn't the case.  I found that heartening, knowing I had made a difference.

This is precious to me, as silly as that may seem

I discovered Zombie Squad back in 2005 when they were just over a year old.  As I got to know them I realized it was a group of people who wore sturdy shoes and thought you should take care of yourself, help your neighbor and be prepared for emergencies.  But more importantly they weren't also racists, tin foil hatters, wacky militia types or religious extremists that often make up groups focused on emergency preparedness.  This was the peer group I'd been missing and I was instantly attracted to them.  These were my people.

I got involved right off.  I attended events and even started coordinating things like Mock Bug-Outs, Mock Bug Out hikes and Mock Disasters.  None of these are new ideas, but I brought the implementation of the ideas to ZS.  As time went on I became a chapter officer and was then responsible for coordinating and organizing larger events.  The first big charity fundraiser I did was a zombie-themed burlesque show.  Burlesque was really coming into it's own in my town.  Again, I wasn't the first person to come up with the idea that one could raise money for a charity by using scantily clad people, but I'm the one that organized the first one in my town for Zombie Squad.  (I actually got the idea from our Las Vegas chapter who did one a couple months prior).  After I organizing a couple, the ZS charity burlesque show became a regular thing.  I had nothing to do with this last one and little to do with the two before that.  It's an idea that now has a life of it's own, 3 different people ran those last 3 shows.  That's fantastic.  They've raised a lot of money for local charities.

Questions About the Human Condition

I was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend today regarding people's predispositions towards relationships.  The question I really pondered was where the line is between choice and orientation when it comes to human sexuality.  I'm going to share some of those thoughts here.

Is a gay life style a choice?  Of course it is.  At various places and points in history people who had a homosexual orientation chose to live heterosexual lifestyles.  It's not a choice as to whether a person has a homosexual orientation or homosexual tendencies, there is a variety of current scientific data that supports this, but people do make choices in how they live their life.  Choice is one of the fundamental qualities of the human condition.  My daughter well tell you I'm fond of saying "In any situation we have the choice to choose our attitude.".

But this then led to a question about monogamy, marriage and social norms.  I probably have a more diverse group of friends than many people.  I have a friend who ran for local office as a Republican and another friend who worked on the campaign for a Democratic mayor.  I have a lot of friends in between and on the edges of the political spectrum.  I have friends who march in pro-life rallies and friends that have been escorts at Planned Parenthood.  I have friends who are Christian, Buddhist, Pagan, Atheist and even one that leaves weekly offerings at a local tree.  In this group of diverse friends, it seems I know an increasing number that are in non-monogamous relationships.

Articles With Great Data

I don't often just pass along links, but I read a couple articles recently that were so excellent and full of data I'm going to do that.

First is a test of shotgun patterns and effectiveness from Field and Stream.  Totally worth a read.

Second, Andrew did some exhaustive testing of AR-15 muzzle brakes and flash hiders.  It's broken into a Part 1 and a Part 2.  This is amazing work.  This is the same guy that a few months back did exhaustive testing on different ammo and barrel life in AR-15's.  And also measured how noisy different pants are in his recent review.  This guy rocks.  

Anyway, I hope you enjoy those as much as I did.  Stay safe out there!

Dick Moves

While Republicans and Democrats are seeing who can be the bigger dick over passing a continuing resolution to fund the federal government (I think the Republicans are winning that contest right now), we are seeing a lot more examples of the federal government making some dick moves.   Some of them are making the news, others not so much.

You may have seen where Veterans were denied access to the war memorial in Washington DC, but bypassed the barricades and visited it anyway.  Since the barricades didn't work the first time, federal government tried again.  During a period of partial federal government shutdown, the federal government spent extra resources to deny the public access to an unmanned monument.  And it seems they are only doing it to popular locations, not all memorials and monuments.  That's a dick move.  It's sad that this happens enough there is even a name for it, the Washington Monument Syndrome.  We saw this in the spring during the sequester, when hyperbole and hysteria reigned the day as the white house spoke of doom and gloom, and in the end almost no services were effected.

What you may not have seen is all the other places the federal government is shutting down.  Most of these places are unmanned.  For example, the federal government has taken down some websites.  The websites still exist and the servers sit there waiting to dish out information, but when you go to the page you get redirected to a shut down notice.  That's a dick move.  It actually takes more manpower to setup those redirect pages than to just leave the pages up.  In a time of tightened budgets and resources they chose to do more work to block citizens access to information just out of spite.  That's a dick move

As well, we have federal agents working to close off access to open-air unmanned federal property.  Things like parks and monuments.  Why could I go hiking in a national forest last week but today the federal government spent money to restrict my access?  Why spend the time and resources to barricade off parking lots?  It's not like the forests are manned, it's being done purely to spite us and sway public opinion.  It's an opportunity to convince the public we really need the federal government to be as large as it is.  However, I think it proves just the opposite.  A government that has enough resources to use them for purely spiteful reasons is a government that has too many resources as their disposal.  They have too much power.

This is exactly why these bastards can't be trusted with any power.  They look for any excuse to exert their superiority over us.  It's time we took that superiority away.  Remember this next time you go to the polls, the representatives we have in power now take any chance they have to use that power to be dicks.  It's time to vote them all out.

Value For Your Dollar

I spend a fair bit of time thinking about where my money goes.  In a consumer driven society, the people who spend money have the ultimate control, as I've mentioned before.  If we support good working conditions we have the option of patronizing establishments that have them.  If we want to see more local grown organic food we can spend our money on it and increase the market.  If we want to bring manufacturing back to the US, we can by domestic goods.  People often gloss often the power their dollar has when they spend it and instead just look for the cheapest of a given thing.

Recently I was trying to find a new pair of cargo pants.  My every day pants were starting to get worn, and one of the pairs has a rather obvious repair where I ripped them.  My wife doesn't hold me to many standards, but not looking like a homeless person when I'm out with her is one of them.  It's a reasonable restriction.  So I went looking for a pair of American made cargo pants or BDUs.  This ended up being more challenging than I thought.

A Habit of Losing Things?

If you follow the news, you may have seen the report recently that the BATFE has lost hundreds of millions of cigarettes.  That seems like a lot to me.  What I rather enjoy is that the news coverages mentions only that they were lost.  More likely they were sold off.  You can't "lose" dozens of pallets of goods.  If you can't find them in your warehouse, they aren't there.  It's not like not being able to find your car keys or your favorite pen. 

Of course, this isn't the first time the ATF has been accused of losing things.  There are many examples of them losing paperwork on NFA items, like machine guns.  Just recently during a sting one of their agents lost track of a full auto rifle.  By "lost track" they mean "ended up in possession of a criminal and we didn't get it back".  Oh, and in an audit a few years back it found the ATF lost 418 laptops, many with confidential information on them, and 76 firearms.


Oh, and then there was Fast and Furious, where they gave a couple thousand guns to known criminals and failed to get more than 1,400 of them back.  Sadly, many of the ones they did recover were at crime scenes, after they were used to shoot people, including one used to kill a federal agent.  I'm not the only one noticing this string of ineptitude either.

Next time you hear a politician talk about getting illegal guns off the street, suggest we disband the ATF.  They seem to be behind a fair number of guns that end up in the hands of those criminals.

Ineffectiveness of the Police State

In a post 9/11 world, we've been asked to trade liberty for security.  It's a false choice, as giving up liberty isn't increasing our security.  It's simply implementing another threat against us, overzealous police forces.  As police departments militarize, interactions with citizens are more likely to be drawn up like battles, which puts said civilians at risk.  Meanwhile, they don't stop petty crime or large scale attacks.

Last night in Chicago 23 people were shot including 13 in one place.  Oh, and the same number over Easter weekend.  And 19 in one night last August.  It's a frequent headline in that city, more than a dozen people shot in a day.

Yet, Chicago has more police per capita than any other city in the country.  And those cops shoot a lot of citizens.  Chicago also has some of the toughest gun laws in the country.

Add all that up and we have a large police force more brutally enforcing stricter laws than anywhere else in the country.  In a country that's trending towards a police state Chicago leads the way.  And yet, it's citizens experience the highest murder rate in the nation and the one of the highest violent crime rates.  It's citizens have given up liberty and it has not made them safe.  In fact, I think an argument can be made to the contrary.  The citizens have lost civil liberty and personal freedom and even civil rights and the tradeoff is they are at higher risk to be a victim of crime or a victim of the police.  That's a terrible tradeoff.

The War Against Guns in the Media

It is often heard that many mainstream media sources have a liberal bias that shows throw in their coverage of stories.  Many times this is dismissed, but a variety of sources have documented this phenomenon, especially during presidential elections. 

When it comes to the subject of firearms, this seems to be true as well.  The coverage of events often demonizes guns and tragedies are used as propaganda to promote control control points.  As well, when a shooter is conservative, the media runs stories on "right wing extremists" and blames the Tea Party or even Sarah Palin.  Shockingly enough, despite initial assertions by major media sources, most recent mass shooters have been left-leaning.  The DC shooter supported Obama, was a confirmed liberal and drove a Prius.  Of course, we don't see stories about how Obama supporters are crazed killers.  Imagine if the shooter was instead a big Tea Party guy, we'd hear nothing but how the Tea Party encourages extremists to be violent.

But what really stood out in this most recent event was how fast the media companies rolled out the anti AR-15 propaganda.  CNN ran a big special about how evil AR-15's are.  The Daily News had an AR-15 on their cover.  Even when it was shown that the shooter used a shotgun, not an AR-15, we saw stories that he tried to buy one. NBC did a "recreation" where the shooter had an M-16 with a grenade launcher.  Also it was classy the shooter was red (the color of Republicans) and all the victims were blue (the color of Democrats).  I am eye rolling so hard right now.....

The shooter never had an AR-15, yet there are hundreds of stories stating just that.  Why do we bother watching, listening and reading stories from these media companies anymore?  I don't.  You should probably consider avoiding them as well, since when you do you are making them money.