Author: r2kba.patriot

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Alien Gear compact grip assembly grip module holster P320 rail Sig Sauer slide sub-compact

Converting my P320 Compact

I ordered a sub-compact grip module for my Sig Sauer P320 Compact handgun.

I couldn’t find ANY place that had the medium sub-compact grip modules in stock, though, so I settled for the small module. The main difference between the two is that the grip is a tad smaller (in girth and thickness) on the small grip module assembly, and the medium has an accessory rail while the small does not.

 I also ordered 2 sub-compact magazines (12 round capacity). I can use the mags that came with my Compact but they’d stick out a bit and be more difficult to conceal. Sig Sauer also sells mag sleeves for the Compact mags so that they can more easily be used with the sub-compact frame, but that wouldn’t help with the length of the mags and kind of defeats the purpose of going down a size (if the grip will print easily, it’s counter-productive).

 I also will have to contact Alien Gear to see if I can swap my SP2022 holster shell for a P320 Sub-compact shell. The P320 Compact shell I have will not fit the P320 Sub-compact.

The grip module is plain black. I’d thought of getting OD green or FDE but I couldn’t find any in stock. I can always paint the grip module if I desire a different color.

I’ll be using the Compact slide on the small Sub-compact grip module. It’s been verified that this type of modification will work without issue. I don’t want to have to buy the Sub-compact slide when the Compact will work fine.

I’ve been itching to buy a new gun but this is the next best thing…can’t beat converting a gun!

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2A 2nd Amendment A well regulated militia Bill of Rights Penn Teller

The Meaning of “A Well Regulated Militia” within the 2nd Amendment

One of the things anti-gunners tend to rant about is the wording of the 2nd Amendment where it states “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

The key focus of many antis is the wording of “a well regulated militia”.  Well, Penn and Teller break it down as I’ve stated in the past, but deliver the message in a way that I never could.

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executive order Governor House Republican response Terry McAuliffe VA Virginia

Virginia House Republican Leaders on Executive Order 50

VA House Republicans on VA governor Terry McAuliffe’s recent executive order:

RICHMOND, VA – Virginia House of Delegates Republican leaders responded Thursday to Executive Order 50, released by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe. The Governor’s Executive Order can be found here.

“For years, we have consistently said the best way to keep Virginians safe is to enforce existing law,” said House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford). “We will monitor the work of the task force. The Governor’s policy on firearms in state buildings will not apply to the State Capitol or the General Assembly Building. Most importantly, the House of Delegates will continue to focus on investing in mental and behavioral health care improvements that will have a meaningful impact on individual lives and our communities as a whole.”

“It is curious that the Governor and Attorney General are putting such special emphasis on enforcing Virginia’s gun laws when they have been so eager to ignore other laws in the past,” said House Majority Leader Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights).  “We are confident that our local law enforcement officers and Commonwealth’s Attorneys are enforcing all of Virginia’s laws to their full extent. The Governor and Attorney General should take extra care before interfering with their work.”

“The Governor’s decision to prohibit firearms in state buildings is shortsighted. As we have seen again and again, such policies leave law-abiding citizens vulnerable to acts of senseless violence rather than protecting people from such tragedies,” said House Deputy Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah). “We will review this policy during the 2016 legislative session and take the appropriate action to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens.” 

I don’t understand how this is supposed to stop bad guys when current laws aren’t stopping them.  House majority leader Cox has it right…enforce the current gun laws before adding more.

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concealed carry handgun self defense

9 Things You Should Never Do While Carrying Concealed

http://americanconcealed.com/9-things-you-should-never-do-while-carrying-concealed/

Armed self-defense can be a lifesaver- except when silly mistakes get in the way of responsible carry.

Some people might think that just carrying a concealed handgun is enough to protect themselves and the community. And that’s partly true- it’s a step in the right direction. But there are some things that should just never be done. Here are 9 of them.

 This is a good read.

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2A blog Gadsen Guns VCDL Virginia Citizen Defense League

Gadsen Guns & VCDL

Gadsen Guns is a gun shop that I was made aware of by the VCDL (Virginia Citizen Defense League) Facebook page.  They’re not local to me (but they’aren’t all that far away, either, being between Fredericksburg and Richmond), but their website has competitive pricing relative to the local gun shops around here.

There’s an additional bonus:  there are some pretty good articles within their blog.

On a small tangent, if you’re a Virginia gun owner and value your right to own and bear arms, joining the VCDL will definitely benefit you.  The Virginia Citizen Defense League is:

…a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to advancing the fundamental human right of all Virginians to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I Section 13 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

I became a member a few months ago, as I tired of seeing the 2nd Amendment under attack.  This is my way of contributing to the defense of the 2nd Amendment.

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active shooter background BATFE Bryce Williams checks McAuliffe Roanoke VA-ALERT VCDL Vester Lee Flanagan WDBJ

Further Discussion of Roanoke Reporter Shooting

Last week, I posted about the Roanoke shooting where a disgruntled ex-employee of station WDBJ killed two ex-coworkers.

I want to explain again that this incident was tragic.  The shooter apparently was delusional and probably needed mental help.  WDBJ had issues with the Flanagan when he worked for them.  He was one of the types of employees that give employers and fellow employees headaches with HR complaints due to narcissistic behavior.  Even when WDBJ terminated his employment, he had to be escorted out of the building by law enforcement and the room had to be cleared so that there would be no confrontation with the employees while he cleared his desk.  He had issues and his employment with WDBJ didn’t help at all.

Many people have been making this into a gun issue.  The government will never be able to predict if people will mentally snap (or not).  Penalizing people because it *might* happen is stupid.  Penalizing a whole population because a small percentage lose their minds is stupid.  Adding additional laws when the current ones don’t stop such tragic events is stupid.  Each mass murder or active shooter incident needs to be analyzed scientifically (not emotionally), as each shooter/killer has different motives and none of them represent the population that legally carries.  Case in point, when Flanagan was being escorted off of WDBJ property by LEOs, and if he’d obtained a concealed carry license, they would almost certainly have been in a much higher state of alert after seeing how belligerent he was.

So far, we know the following:

  • He obtained the weapon via legal means — a bought a gun after passing a background check and the check didn’t flag him as someone that shouldn’t own a gun.  He didn’t obtain the gun via any anti-2A declared loopholes.  This isn’t really the norm for a bad guy.
  • He had a narcissism issue (which Laurence Hammack highlights here).
  • He claimed he killed the victims because they made racist statements and because of the recent Charleston, SC church killings.

The first bullet showng above is an exceptional finding, as Virginia anti-2A groups and even the VA governor himself stated that they were going to use this killing as a means to further restrict gun ownership.  In a land of millions of gun owners, there’s no exception to someone wigging out?  More people drown in pools than people who commit mass murder in a given year.  More people die by car accidents than when getting shot by a firearm.  Just as many people swim or drive on a daily basis and many more die because of it, yet there’s no uproar over driving or swimming.  But in the end, Flanagan didn’t use any loopholes to get his gun.  He didn’t steal it.  He didn’t buy it at a gun show or via private means.  He bought it from the state- and federally-regulated method: via FFL.  He had no felonies or any history of domestic violence, so his background check came back clean.  The system worked as designed.  Did he have mental issues?   Almost certainly, but he hadn’t yet committed any crimes.

The latter two bullets listed above were personal issues that no one can control, although I fully believe that WDBJ had a responsibility to report or file a complain against Flanagan’s past aggression…that may have given the background check a chance to work, and may have prevented him from being able to purchase a gun.  Then again, if a background check prevented his purchase, he may have just used another tool as a murder weapon.

A guy was shot by LEOs in NYC this year because he was attempting to hit people in the head with a hammer while walking down a busy street.  They saw him and confronted him, he tried to kill an officer, and he was shot dead.  People die by aggressive acts all the time, but guns only get the scrutiny.  Some people use tools other than guns.  Some have run people over, purposely.  Some have poisoned their victims.  Some used airplanes (WTC and Pentagon attacks).  Some used chemically-made explosives using non-banned ingredients (McVeigh).  None of those tools have faced scrutiny and made to be regulated or illegal.  They’re tools that were abused by deranged people.

Maybe we need to start focusing on our apparent problem with mentally unstable people?  Make obtaining help a more available option, or notify people that when they see overly aggressive people to report them to law enforcement so that there’s a record of the issue.

I firmly believe that to remove from citizens the option of protecting themselves via firearms is a dangerous means of trying to keep bad people from causing harm.  If you’ve a wolf problem, is removing the guard dogs the solution?  What do you think happens when the guard dogs are removed?

You want to beat the criminal?  Make laws that stop the criminal and not the good guys.  Another thing:  if you want to catch a criminal, you’ve to think like them…the intelligence community has a saying:  “know your enemy”.  If you know them, you can exploit their weaknesses,or predict their next move(s), or at very least not play into their strengths.  Removing guns from average citizens plays into their strengths, because less guns for the good guys means more power for the bad guys.

Apparently, it was found that there were 2000+ instances where background checks stopped people from buying guns last year.  2,661 examples, to be exact.  The actual comment:

About 405,000 checks were made last year, and 2,661 attempted purchases were denied, according to the Virginia State Police, which runs the program.

That’s 2000+ examples of the checks working properly, yet you don’t see the anti-2A people focusing on that.  2000+ examples of background checks working…in a single year.  That’s very significant, in my opinion.  What we need to do is focus on the laws that work and ensure they keep working (or enhance them to work even better, if possible) and kill bad laws that only hurt legal gun owners.

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active shooter BATFE Bryce Williams McAuliffe Roanoke VA-ALERT VCDL Vester Lee Flanagan WDBJ

Roanoke Shooting – 2 Reporters Dead, Interview Person Wounded, Suspect Dead

I’m sure most of you are already aware of what happened in Western VA today (Roanoke).

A disguntled ex-employee of WDBJ by the name of Bryce Williams (also known as Vester Lee Flanagan) killed two former co-workers and also shot and wounded a person who was being interviewed at the time of the shooting.  The shooter also used a GoPro action camera to record the shooting.  The shooter, after a long attempt at escape and after uploading the footage for the public to see, shot himself in a suicide attempt hours from Roanoke, off of I-66 in Faquier county.  He was flown to the INova care center in Fairfax where he died.

This guy was a pure nut.  He was a gay Black man that appeared to have a chip on his shoulder, to the point where WDBJ terminated his employment.  He was so belligerent that the room had to be cleared of employees while he cleared his desk and was escorted off the site with a police escort.  His excuse for the killings was explained in his manifesto:  the recent Charleston SC killings and the fact that at least one of the people he shot had apparently made racist remarks toward him.  In fact, the bullets that he used to kill his victims apparently had their names written on the bullets.  He also idolized several well-known deceased active shooters (Seung-Hui Cho of the Virginia Tech murders and the Columbine school killers).

The Left wasted no time in condemning the attack but also blaming background check ‘loopholes’ and lax gun laws.  The VA governor (McAuliffe) assumed that the shooter obtained his gun via private sale, which doesn’t require background checks (which they think is a loophole in the law).

Well, it has been discovered (by ATF) that the shooter obtained his handgun, a Glock 19, via normal means — FFL.  This means he submitted and passed a background check as most VA citizens have when buying through local gun stores.

This should take the wind out of the Left’s sails, as the shooter followed the process of the law in obtaining his weapon.  Granted, he still killed two people, but there is no way to close any loopholes because no loopholes were exploited when he obtained his handgun.

The following is from VCDL’s (Virginia Citizen Defense League) VA-ALERT notification system:

This comes as no surprise to me, yet another killer passed his background check. BATFE has confirmed to ABC News that Bryce Williams had indeed purchased his gun “legally” from a dealer and passed a background check!

So, Governor McAuliffe, what was that you said this morning on your soapbox about how Virginia needs background checks for gun purchases?

Oh, and Delegate Patrick Hope – you already started an online petition to push for more background checks – what made you think that Mr. Williams had not passed a background check, just like Cho and virtually all the other mass shooters?

Here’s the story – thanks to member Walter Jackson for the link:
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/08/26/atf-confirms-virginia-gunman-vester-flanagan-bought-his-firearm-legally/
or
http://tinyurl.com/q4a3klt 

ATF Confirms Virginia Gunman Vester Flanagan Bought His Firearm ‘Legally’ – Breitbart
by AWR Hawkins26 Aug 2015

The gun was a Glock 19 9mm.

According to ABC News, Faison said Flanagan bough the gun “legally.” And BuzzFeed reports that Faison said the ATF had recovered the weapon today. 

News that Flanagan bought his gun at a store squares with what Flanagan wrote in his manifesto, where he indicated that he “put down a deposit for a gun on 6/19/15.” That was two days after the heinous attack on the church-goers in Charleston, and The Telegraph reports that Flanagan said that very attack pushed him over the edge. 

Confirmation that Flanagan passed a background check means he joins numerous other attackers and alleged attackers who have passed background checks for their guns. These include John Russell Houser  (Lafayette), Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez (Chattanooga), Dylann Roof (Charleston), Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi (Garland), Jared and Amanda Miller (Las Vegas), Elliot Rodger (Santa Barabara), Ivan Lopez (Fort Hood 2014), Darion Marcus Aguilar (Maryland mall), Karl Halverson Pierson (Arapahoe High School), Paul Ciancia (LAX), Andrew John Engeldinger (Minneapolis), Aaron Alexis (DC Navy Yard), Tennis Melvin Maynard (West Virginia), Wade Michael Page (Sikh Temple), James Holmes (Aurora theater), Jared Loughner (Tucson), Nidal Hasan (Fort Hood 2009), Jiverly Wong (Binghamton), Seung-Hui Cho (Virginia Tech), Naveed Haq (Seattle), and Mark Barton (Atlanta). 

The fact that Flanagan passed a background also calls into question Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe’s (D) call for background check legislation earlier today. He called for that legislation while the police pursuit of Flanagan was still underway.

***************************************************************************
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to
Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.
VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]
***************************************************************************

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carry conditions of readiness firearms israel israeli method

Condition 1 Carry VS the “Israeli Method”

Semi-automatic pistols can be carried in various conditions of readiness. First defined by the legendary  Lt Col John Dean “Jeff” Cooper, these conditions are commonly accepted to be:

  • Condition 0 – A round is in the chamber, hammer cocked, and the safety is off.
  • Condition 1 – known as “cocked and locked”, means a round is in the chamber, the hammer cocked, and the manual thumb safety on the side of the frame is applied.
  • Condition 2 – A round is in the chamber and the hammer is down.
  • Condition 3 – The chamber is empty and hammer down with a charged magazine in the gun.
  • Condition 4 – The chamber is empty, hammer down and no magazine is in the gun.

These conditions are/were designed with a 1911 style pistol in mind. The Glock with no external safety (but with its “safe action” safety measures) technically can’t have the thumb safety applied so it’s condition when loaded and chambered is a matter of debate amongst handgun owners and experts but it’s commonly accepted that a Glock is in “Condition 1” when loaded with a round in the chamber.

More @ http://tgace.com/2011/11/08/condition-1-carry-vs-the-israeli-method/

 

Another page on the subject is @ http://www.sightm1911.com/Care/1911_conditions.htm and it elaborates on the different conditions.

In which condition do you carry and why?

Categories
appendix artery Bearing Arms carry Concealed Nation condition one condition three deceased femoral holstering negligent shooting

Man Dies Attempting Appendix Carry Reholster – Bearing Arms

A 22-year-old Milwaukee man accidentally shot himself in the femoral artery around 11:00 PM Friday evening while attempting to reholster a pistol. Despite the best efforts of the local hospital trauma units, Timothy Phonisay did not survive his wounds.

Read more @ http://bearingarms.com/man-dies-attempting-appendix-carry-reholster-milkwaukee/

This is a reminder to not be complacent when you’re handling firearms, no matter how tacticool you think you are.

Some things to ponder, after reading about the incident at Bearing Arms and Concealed Nation:

1.  Many are assuming that the deceased had his finger on the trigger.  If you read the article, it doesn’t state that he was at fault for that.  Regardless, we know that guns do not go off by themselves (although there’s the potential if the gun is dropped)…he either had his finger on the trigger or something snagged the trigger.

2.  The assumption is that, due to the wound’s location, he was carrying appendix style.  That assumption is highly likely.  Do you really need to carry at your appendix?  Some people think that appendix carry is their only option due to body type (tall, lanky, skinny).  I’d rather print with hip carry than chance a femoral artery gunshot wound.  That’s just my opinion, though.

3.  I saw a lot of berating of the deceased.  Many are calling him “dumb”.  We don’t have enough facts to make such judgments.  Besides that, you’d think the firearms community would show a bit of sympathy, because this could be any one of us, experienced or newly initiated.  We’re supposed to be comrades, no?

4.  The deceased was apparently taking selfies of himself with his gun.  Maybe he was so intent on getting a good picture that he wasn’t paying attention to safety.  The lesson here would be to not fragment your attention when handling a gun.

5.  The article states that he was using a Springfield Armory.  The author noted that he more than likely had an XD, but I don’t understand how that assumption was made.  Yes, XDs are popular, but I don’t think they’re so popular that there’s, for example, an 80% chance of a Springfield owner owning an XD. Hell, Springfield Armory sells a lot of 1911s, too.

6.  The article states that he was bleeding heavily from his lungs.  Conspiracy theorists are already getting uptight.  While I’m no doctor, they did state that there were only two areas of injury (I’m assuming it was an entrance and exit wound), in the groin area.  I’m not sure why the article mentioned the blood in his lungs. Maybe the projectile bounced around a bit in his body?

7.  Some are using this tragic happening as a reason to carry in condition 3 (mag in the gun but no round chambered).  I’m not sure this is a strong argument, as guns don’t go off by themselves…he either accidentally actuated the trigger or something snagged the trigger while he was trying to holster the gun.

8.  Lastly, if the deceased had holstered SLOWLY, and only after checking around the holster for anything that could snag the trigger, he might still be alive.  As well, if the guy’s weapon was an XD, those guns have grip safeties…most people don’t realize that when you’re gripping the gun (properly), you’ve disabled the grip saftety, which allows the trigger to be actuated.  Holstering such guns with the maximum amount of safety would mean that you’d have to holster the gun without grabbing the grip and disabling the grip safety.  The same applies to 1911s (in case he was carrying a Springfield 1911 when the mishap occurred).

This guy’s life was tragically ended.  It reminds me to always have the utmost of respect for these weapons and to train with them so that certain actions become automatic…it doesn’t hurt to slow down to evaluate what you’re doing in your routine — those are the times you might be doing something wrong or dangerous, but you won’t know it because you’ve become compacent.

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Anthony Industries Gander Mountain HTP laser sight Remington snap caps ST Action Pro

Extra Ammo and Supplies Ordered

Ordered some heavier grain ammo from Gander Mountain, Remington HTP 147-grain JHP.

I also bought more of the Remington HTP 115-grain +P JHP ammo that I shot earlier this week.

Both are listed as home defense ammo, so I think I’ll use them in that manner (will have to test the 147-grain ammo, though).

I also ordered 10 9mm-sized snap caps and 10 .45ACP-sized snap caps, from ST Action Pro.  I already have a few snap caps (5 x A-Zooms and 5 x Tiptons…they were expensive for 5 packs).  These were much cheaper @ between .95 and .98 apiece, so I ordered 10 of each caliber.

I also ordered a cheap Trinity Force rail-mount laser sight from Anthony Industries, for $30.  I’m not sure if this will crap out on me since it’s cheap, but I want a laser sight so I can practice dry fire (to monitor my trigger pulls and try to keep them steady).  I didn’t feel like spending a large sum of money to use a laser in such a manner.  I’ve a cheap light as well and that hasn’t crapped out yet, so maybe this one will be OK.