ACP Episode 029: Open Carry to Catch Some Amberjacks

In This Episode:

• Erin and Weer’d discuss the recent Open Carry event in Miami and the new political trend of anti-gun politicians concealing their anti-gun views;
• Lara Smith tells us about  the Liberal Gun Club in part of her interview;
• David brings us his observations on how the wishes of gun owners change from location to location;
• Oddball tells us about Damascus and pattern welded steel;
• and Weer'd brings us an audio fisk on the sad subject of suicide and how the anti-gunners attempt to exploit it for political gains.

Listen to the episode here.

Did you know that we have a Patreon? Join now for the low, low cost of $4/month (that’s $1/podcast) and you’ll get to listen to our podcast on Friday instead of Mondays, as well as patron-only content like mag dump episodes, our hilarious blooper reels and film tracks, and eligibility for our giveaway of a Hammond Cruiser folding knife by CRKT!


Show Notes:

Main Topic

• Erin’s write up of the Line in the Sand event
• Gun Control Groups Fund Abortion Ads
• Claire McCaskill Hides Gun Control Agenda

Lara Smith Interview

• Liberal Gun Club Instructors

Weer’d Audio Fisk

• Everytown Suicide and Guns
• HIPAA
• Gun control Act 1968
• Suicide by Country
• Suicide in Massachusetts (PDF)
• In Gun Debate, a Misguided Focus on Mental Illness
• Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255
• Samaritans  Suicide Prevention

Pathfinder RPG: Standing Up in Combat Without Dying

I don't know about you folks, but in my Pathfinder games there are certain PCs who are regularly reduced to zero hit points or less, then receive healing (usually some channeled positive energy from the cleric) and then want to stand up.

Unfortunately, standing up in combat provokes an Attack of Opportunity from everything that threatens your location, and since you're prone, you get a -4 to your AC to be hit by said threatening things (a generous GM might reduce that to a -2 because the act of standing means you aren't fully prone, but neither are you completely vertical). Heck, you can't even crawl away, because crawling also provokes AoOs.

So the question is, "What can a player have his character do so they aren't just sitting ducks when they're prone-but-conscious in a fight?"

I thought about it for a bit and came up with three tactics. The first technique is 100% within both the letter and spirit of the rules, so it can used in any sanctioned gameplay; the second is legal to the letter of the rules, but some people might argue that it's against the spirit of the rules to Withdraw at a crawl; and the third is legal within the spirit of the rules, but isn't technically Rules As Written.

Total Defense Technique

1. Become conscious, either through healing or stabilization roll. 
2. While still prone (-4 AC), use your standard action to adopt Total Defense (+4 AC). 
3. Use your move action to stand up. 

Benefit: Attacks of Opportunity still happen, but your AC isn't penalized. 100% legal within both letter and spirit of rules.


The Combat Crawl

1. Become conscious, either through healing or stabilization roll. 
2. While still prone, use the full-round Withdraw action. You no longer suffer Attacks of Opportunity from opponents who threaten your starting square. 
3. Crawling while prone is 5' as a move action. Withdrawing is a full-turn action that doubles your speed, meaning you can crawl at 10' as a withdrawal. 

Benefit: Gets squishy PCs out of the fight in a hurry. Just be careful of your path, because you can still get AoD'd along your path!


Acro Like a Mofo

1. Become conscious, either through healing or stabilization roll. 
2. Roll Acrobatics to tumble out of the square without provoking an Attack of Opportunity, with the DC determined by the "Move Through Threatened Squares" table. 
3. Stand up in a non-threatened square OR add +5 to DC to stand up at then end of you tumble. 

Benefit: A great way for high-Dex PCs to get back into the fight without having to burn their Standard Action. Tumble and attack!


If you'd like to print out a copy of these rules, there's a handy button right below these words that will enable you to print it out or turn it into a PDF.

Have fun, and don't die!

GRPC Concealed Carry Fashion Show 2018

Just like last year, this year I was invited to participate in the Concealed Carry Fashion Show at GRPC by Amanda Suffecool.

My personal thoughts on being asked were "Amanda, I think you're crazy because I'm not at all attractive or fashionable, but if you really want me then I'll do it as a favor to you." And she really wanted me, so I did it.

Unlike last year, there was a camera crew from Vice News to film us. They also wanted a sit-down interview with all of the participants. They talked to me for about 45 minutes.

.. which became 30 seconds of television. This is, unfortunately, about standard for these sorts of things. I remember back in 2016 when I talked to the BBC for hours about gun rights and it was reduced to about 3 minutes.

Anyway, here's me. The quality is crappy because Vice News is HBO-only and a friend recorded the screen so that those of us without HBO could see it.

I'm told that Vice will eventually upload their segment to YouTube. When that happens, I'll take down my crappy video and embed theirs instead.



I've been asked for details on the shirt I was modeling. It's a Panaca from Silver State Apparel. As you can see from the video, I was able to conceal a full-size 1911 inside it. There are pockets on either side for you sinister folks and/or if you wanted to carry two pistols.

Action Movie Physics

As teased in this post, the Action Movie Physics RPG is published and available for purchase at RPGNow and DriveThroughRPG!  Please use those links; they have my affiliate ID on them and that gets me a little percentage of each purchase.

Only $14.99! 

My main contribution to this book was bringing my knowledge of firearms and firearm accessories to the game. I don't claim to be an expert, but I knew more about guns than anyone else in the development group, and most importantly I spoke both languages (role-playing game mechanics and firearm details).

There are, of course, going to be things to quibble about, the most obvious is that of Rate of Fire. What you need to keep in mind is that per these rules, PCs can only shoot a maximum of three times per round (each round is 5 seconds), so I went with the Hollywood-ism that semi-autos shoot more quickly than revolvers. I adjusted for this by having revolvers be more reliable. For full-auto guns, I derived the ammo spent via burst fire by dividing the cyclic rate by 60 to get a 1-second trigger squeeze. It's a rough approximation, but I think it works.

Magazines are another issue; I know there are all sorts of wacky things out there, like 100-round Beta-C drums. I decided to go with what was most common, deferring to military standard if possible.

So in short, I know it won't be perfect. There's no way to perfectly model real life in a game, mainly because real life has too many variables to account for. My main goals were to ensure that the firearms rules were fun and playable and didn't set off the BS detectors of gun owners. I hope I succeeded in that respect.

There's already a Facebook discussion group for AMP. Buy the game, join the group, and tell us what you think! If there's demand I'll probably be asked to contribute more to future supplements, like Old West or Roaring 20s or a Military sourcebook.

My Appearance on This Week in Guns

I was a guest on another firearms podcast!

Wait... is it a podcast if it's on YouTube and had video?

Whatever. Give a listen; you'll get to hear me talking about the passing of Doug "Krikket" Krick, how England defines murders differently than America, and of course my attendance at the Line in the Sand event in South Miami.

Pink Pistols Founder Doug Krick Passes

My sympathies go out to the Krick family for their loss. May Krikket find the the peace that so long eluded him in life. 

ACP Episode 028: Salt, Steel, and Spurious Statistics

In This Episode:

• Erin and Weer’d explore an article which disputes the the validity of the CDC's rising numbers for gun violence in America... from Michael Bloomberg's The Trace;
• Weer'd interviews Lara Smith of the Liberal Gun Club to discuss the not-so-mythical liberal gun owner and how important diversity is in the Second Amendment fight;
• the General Purpose Egghead gives us another segment on the penny stove, this time  talking about on how to use one, some accessories for one that are useful, and fuels for it;
• and friend of the show Oddball felt called out to do a segment on what knife steels are good and what to avoid.

Listen to the episode here.

Did you know that we have a Patreon? Join now for the low, low cost of $4/month (that’s $1/podcast) and you’ll get to listen to our podcast on Friday instead of Mondays, as well as patron-only content like mag dump episodes, our hilarious blooper reels and film tracks, and eligibility for our giveaway of a Hammond Cruiser folding knife by CRKT!


Show Notes:

Main Topic

• Rifleman Roundtable
• Steyr Monobloc Rifle
• Line in the Sand gathering
• The CDC Says Gun Injuries Are on the Rise. But There Are Big Problems With Its Data.
• The Liberal Gun Club

General Purpose Egghead

• Make a Penny Stove
• Drying Isopropyl Alcohol with Salt
• How to “Cut” your Alcohol Distilling Run

Oddball

• Guide to the Best Knife Steel

Line in the Sand: How it Went

In a word: great. The worst thing that happened was that I got a little sunburned.

There were lots of police at first, visible as we walked through the park and then onto the pier itself, but the only hassling they did was demanding to see a valid fishing license when someone who was visibly armed got out of their car. That didn't really bother me, since the law does state that you can OC while going to or coming from fishing, and in order to fish in Florida you need a valid licence. So it was annoying in the sense that "Papers, please" is annoying, but it's no less reasonable than a cop asking to see your driver's license after you've been pulled over for speeding. 

Walking up to the pier, though, there was another uniformed officer with a bag full of lollipops that he offered to us while saying "Hey guys, did you bring a pole for me?"  I thought this was brilliant, because if he'd said straight out "I've got no problem with you being here" then that might get him in trouble at work, but his actions nevertheless indicated that he was 100% comfortable with us being there and didn't see us as trouble. 

The rest of the day passed without incident. I'd say about 90% of the people simply didn't give a damn one way or the other; I saw parents with small children  walking up and down the pier, obviously not worried about us. The other 10% was evenly split between people asking what we were doing (many of them foreigners on vacation and wondering why we had guns when we were fishing), and people who were clearly offended we were there and taking our pictures in an attempt to, I dunno, shame us or something?

Truly, the most disappointing thing that happened is that no one from any of the Florida Pink Pistol chapter, not even the one in Fort Lauderdale, showed up to meet me. 

The media did an okay job of covering us, which is surprising given this pearl-clutching article written about the event by the Miami New Times the day before the event. I expected a hack job, but because we are all law-abiding folks there was nothing sensational to write about (color me shocked, shocked I say that the MNT didn't write a follow-up about the event), so most media outlets just used an Associated Press article that went out on the wire. I say that because I've seen multiple networks using the same footage and saying the same thing; for example, here's an article on WPTV, a West Palm Beach channel, and here's the same article (only with fewer pictures and a different video format) from WFLA in Tampa.

Did you spot me in the video? I was in the frame from 00:24 to 00:31.

No? Here's the video again (no sound until the end):

Still didn't see me? Here's a picture:

Does this freedom make my butt look big?

Here's a neat photo taken shortly after.

What's interesting is that the fellow with the scoped and drum-fed M14
not only lives in my home town but also went to my old high school.

Finally, for those of you want to see as much of it as possible, here's three hours of livestream (the entire event was 4 hours and some change).

ACP Episode 027: Sweeping the Streets in a Ninja Wagon with a Penny Stove

In This Episode:

• Erin and Weer’d discuss proper glassware for liquor; media attention on the Operation Blazing Sword - Pink Pistols merger; and how the Armsel Striker/ Cobray Street Sweeper's pop culture status doesn't match up with its real world performance.
• Weer'd brings us another interview with Laura Carno of FASTER Colorado,  this time discussing her role in the historic 2013 Colorado Recall Elections.
• The General Purpose Egghead describes a simple, effective, and inexpensive piece of prepper kit: Penny Stove.
• In Gun Lovers and Other Strangers, David explains what happens when people's cultural views on guns doesn't reflect reality.
• The ACP House Dick is back, and so is his Ninja Wagon!  Steven gives us an after action report on what caused the accident and he wants in a vehicle as a private detective.

Listen to the episode here.

Did you know that we have a Patreon? Join now for the low, low cost of $4/month (that’s $1/podcast) and you’ll get to listen to our podcast on Friday instead of Mondays, as well as patron-only content like mag dump episodes, our hilarious blooper reels and film tracks, and eligibility for our giveaway of a Hammond Cruiser folding knife by CRKT!


Show Notes:

Main Topic

• Glencairn Glass
• Dana Loesch: LGBT Organizations Join Forces in Fight for Gun Rights
• Forgotten Weapons Cobray Street Sweeper
• Forgotten Weapons Cobray Ladies Home Companion

Egghead

• How to make a Penny Stove

Gun Lovers and Other Strangers

• John Lott The Bias Against Guns

Line in the Sand: October 20

I've mentioned this before on social media, but this is the first time I've mentioned it here (sorry!):  I will be attending the Line in the Sand event (it's not a march or a protest, because that would require permits, so this is just an informal gathering) in Miami next Saturday, October 20.

We'll meet up at the 12th Street Garage at 10:30 am. After a quick flag raising and Pledge of Allegiance in front of the Miami Beach Police Department, we'll take a nice stroll down 10th or 11th St (Road construction dependent) and then head East onto Ocean Drive, continuing on along the beautiful beach to the South Pointe Pier where we will fish, relax, and enjoy some Liberty and Freedom.

If you plan to Open Carry (and don't feel like you must -- many of us won't be!), then you absolutely need to have the following:

• Valid Florida shoreline fishing license (available for free at any WalMart sporting section) 
• Fishing pole
• Handgun in a secure holster or slung long gun.

Florida Carry's lawyer, Eric Friday, will be present just in case the police decide to get nasty.

I hope to see you there!

My Appearance on Rifleman Roundtable Ep 2

Last night I recorded an episode of Rifleman Roundtable with Matt and Heinrich (2/3 of the Geeks, Gadgets and Guns gentlemen) and it's already been published!

Listen on the embedded player below, or go to their webpage to download it.



RR 2 Big Tent 2A - This week the roundtable consists of Matt, Heinrich, and Erin Palette. Discussing news of the week and expanding gun rights in the LQBT community.

Show Notes

• Steyr MonoBlock
• New Ruger Precision Rifle Magnum Calibers
• Ruger product page
• Remington Tac 13 Semi Auto 12ga
• New Springfield XD’s in 10mm
• Ruger American Pistol Safety Bulletin
• Deadpool Gun

What I've Been Up To Lately

Hey all, sorry I've been distant for the past few weeks. I've been exceptionally busy with both the new job (HBIC of Pink Pistols) and with a writing gig that I've only recently finished. So let's talk about this stuff!

Pink Pistols Merger
It took a while for the media machine to pick up on it (apparently publishing a press release makes things a lot more newsworthy) but I've gotten some very good press thanks to Jacki Billings' Guns.com article, to which a lot of other sites linked. Other positive press has come from John Boch's article on TTAG and Joseph Albanese's article on Range 365.

Most notable (and surprising!) was Dana Loesch mentioning us in a segment of Relentless this past Monday.



I was a bit surprised that my name wasn't mentioned at all in the entire segment, but I'm thrilled that my friend Nicki Stallard  is finally getting recognized for her hard work. Yay Nicki!

There were of course the usual internet trolls posting the usual playground insults, but to hell with them. I'm awesome, and they're not.

Writing Gig
A friend of mine is making an action movie role-playing game called Action Movie Physics and once again, I got a job because I have my feet in two separate camps and speak the language of each.

My friend wanted to know "What guns would you consider absolutely essential for an RPG based on Hollywood action movies?" and let's just say that I responded quite thoroughly, listing not just names but their calibers and why I included them. From there I ended up saying "You know, people might not know what these guns are. You should probably have capsule descriptions of them, so they know that the Glock 17 is what most police use and that the WW2 pistol is the 1911." He thought that was a great idea, so I ended up writing those descriptions for him in my usual informative-yet-quirky style.

Now that could have been it, but no. Oh no. You see, since I speak role-playing game, I noticed that some of the stats of the guns were odd and others were just wrong (for example, there was some confusion between the Glock 17 and 19, and the Saiga-12 wasn't even in the book). As it turns out, out of all the writers and the playtesters I have the most experience with firearms -- again, I'm probably not the best choice, but I'm the person who is there and who speaks the lingo of both camps -- and so I ended up researching the various guns to make sure the game mechanics reflected them as accurately as possible. I ended up doing about twice the work I was asked to do, but I take pride in my work and I wanted this game to be as accurate as possible while still being sufficiently  action-movie Hollywood style.

Which is to say "If you notice some oddities, it's probably because we're trying to model movie physics rather than real life." Hopefully my contribution helps the game avoid the really dumb Hollywood tropes while still ensuring some fun flavor between firearms.

The book is slated to be published later this month.

ACP Episode 026: Erin Isn't Wrong

In This Episode:

• Erin and Weer’d discuss what's going on with the merger between Operation Blazing Sword and the Pink Pistols;
• Weer'd Shares and interview he did with Laura Carno about FASTER Colorado;
• With all the talk about Judge Kavanaugh's personal life, Weer'd wants to bring us back to his record on guns with a Fisk of an NPR report on his past rulings;
• and on Yom Kippur, it’s traditional to think about the past. In this segment of Gun Lovers and Other Strangers, David reflects on some of his favorite firearms and how he got them.

Listen to the episode here.

Did you know that we have a Patreon? Join now for the low, low cost of $4/month (that’s $1/podcast) and you’ll get to listen to our podcast on Friday instead of Mondays, as well as patron-only content like mag dump episodes, our hilarious blooper reels and film tracks, and eligibility for our giveaway of a Hammond Cruiser folding knife by CRKT!


Show Notes:

Main Topic:

• Pink Pistol - Operation Blazing Sword Merger
• Guns.com article: LGBTQ organizations join forces in fight for gun rights
• VICE News article about GRPC
• Erin's FAU Presentation
• Erin's AMM-Con Speech
• Monash University shooting
• List of Australian Mass Killings
• Cases of arson-homicide in Australia almost double in 20 years, Australian Institute of Criminology shows

FASTER Colorado:

• FASTER Colorado
• FASTER Saves Lives

Weer'd Audio Fisk:

• NPR Kavanaugh Could Tip Supreme Court Against Gun Control Laws
• Women's March slammed for goof in statement on Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination
• California Proposition 65 (1986)
• Justice Thomas Passionately Argues That Convicted Domestic Abusers Need Easier Access To Guns

Gun Lovers and Other Strangers

• Megatron Walther P38

ACP Episode 025: Drunk Monkey at GRPC

In This Episode:

This episode was recorded live at the 2018 Gun Rights Policy Conference in Chicago Illinois. The audio quality isn't as good as our standard shows, but it allowed us all to get together and talk.

• On the show we have Weer'd and Erin, as well as the ACP House Dick Steve from Tales From the Trunk.
• Also starring are our special guests Matt and Heinrich from the Geeks Gadgets and Guns Podcast.
• We'll be talking about the Conference, fine liquor, fake breasts, and whatever else crosses our minds.
• We'll also discuss the HUGE announcement Erin teased us with in Episode 024!

Listen to the episode here.

Did you know that we have a Patreon? Join now for the low, low cost of $4/month (that’s $1/podcast) and you’ll get to listen to our podcast on Friday instead of Mondays, as well as patron-only content like blooper reels!


Show Notes:

• Geeks Gadgets and Guns Hotel Room Bar
• Dr. McGillicuddy's Apple Pie
• Blaum Bros. Hellfyre
• Motawator Mastectomy Grade Silicone Breast Forms 
• Erin grinning like a loon after her award
• A close-up of the award