Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 159: It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for 'em.

 

In This Episode

• Erin and Weer’d discuss the McCloskys pleading guilty to misdemeanors and what that might mean to Mark's US Senate campaign, as well as the Missouri police chief who resigned over his state becoming a Second Amendment Sanctuary;
• Weer'd fisks Terry McAuliffe and his gubernatorial campaign against the Second Amendment;
• David talks about the different types of finishes on guns;
• and Weer'd interviews Paloma Capanna about her new white paper on the events of January 6th, 2021.

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 and our hilarious blooper reels and film tracks.

Show Notes

Main Topic:

• Gun-waiving St. Louis couple plead guilty to misdemeanors, forfeit guns
• Viva Frei- Is McCloskey's Guilty Plea a HUGE MISTAKE? Viva Frei Vlawg
• Police Chief Resigns Over Gun Law He Says Will Help Anti-Police Activists 'Torment Law Enforcement' 
• Reno May - Police Chief RESIGNS Because of the Second Amendment Preservation Act!!!
• O'Fallon, Missouri police chief resigns, citing new Missouri law 'designed to harass and penalize'

Weer’d Audio Fisk:

• Giffords-Terry McAuliffe on Gun Safety
• Terry McAuluiffe Wikipedia
• McAuliffe signs gun control compromise into law
• Ouch, That Had to Hurt: McAuliffe Hits Bloomberg
• Why yearbooks keep revealing skeletons in politicians’ closets
• Violent Crime By State
• Dangerous states: Which states have the highest rates of violent crime and most murders?
• So how was the crime during the 2015 NRAAM?
• Virginia Beach shooting victim considered taking gun to work over concerns about colleague, lawyer says
• Ralph Northam Racist Campaign Ad

Gun Lovers and Other Strangers:

• Case hardening
• Turnbull Restoration: Color Case Hardening
• Bluing
• Chrome plating
• Nickel electroplating
• Electroless nickel plating
• Parkerizing
• Duracoat
• Cerakote
• Norrell's
• Hydro Dipping
• Anodizing
• Brownells: Metal Prep and Coloring

Paloma Capanna Interview:

• 2Am Patriot Publications (Offer Code BEARD)
• Biden claims Jan. 6 rioters killed Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick

My Letter to the Macomb County, MI Board of Commissioners

I was recently asked to write a letter in favor of making Macomb County, MI a Constitutional (not just 2A) Sanctuary. 

I believe that it's reasonable for anyone to want the law of the land be followed, rather than things that aren't part of the law of the land. In theory, we shouldn't HAVE to ask for a Constitutional Sanctuary, as the whole country should already be one, since the Constitution is the law of the land.

However, given the recent government overreach over the past few years, I see such declarations being necessary and I am happy to lend my voice where needed.

This is the letter which I wrote:

I am pleased to report that the measure passed 8 to 5. Macomb County is now a Constitutional Sanctuary! You can read more about it here and here (there's also video at the second link). 

Before anyone congratulates me for this: I can't claim any more than 1% of the credit for this, and probably less. All the praise and congratulations should go to Thomas Smith, who worked for two years to make this happen. 

If your city, county, or state is working towards becoming a Second Amendment Sanctuary or Constitutional Sanctuary, I would be happy to write a similar letter to aid your efforts. You may contact me at erin AT blazingsword DOT org. 

WNW: My Little Pony plays with Guns

 

Never forget to make your gun make the ch-chk noise, or else it won't gun properly.

For those curious, the audio is from a much longer (and much cringier) video here. 

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 158: Put a Thumb in It

In This Episode

• Erin and Weer’d discuss the controversy of Chris Cheng's appearance on the cover of Recoil Magazine, and Recoil's amazing response to complaints;
• Xander brings us his independent Thoughts on Mark Serbu's breakdown of Kentucky Ballistics' blown-up RN-50 rifle;
• David gives his thoughts on the ammo shortage and some of the potential causes for it;
• and Weer'd sits down again with Tom Kubiniec of SecureIt Tactical, who shares some of his thoughts on college.

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 and our hilarious blooper reels and film tracks.

Show Notes

Main Topic:

• Recoil Magazine Addresses Controversy Over LGBT Advocate, 'Top Shot' Winner Chris Cheng Cover
• Recoil Magazine Response

Independent Thoughts with Xander Opal:

• Kentucky Ballistics - My 50 Cal Exploded
• Mark Serbu - Kentucky Ballistics' RN-50 Blow-up: First Look
• Kentucky Ballistics- My Final Update 
• "Put a Thumb in It" shirt
• M1903 SLAP Round

Gun Lovers and Other Strangers:

• NICS Firearms Background Checks Month/Year
• First-Time Gun Buyers Grow To Nearly 5 Million In 2020
• Taking Stock Of Record-Setting 2020 Firearm Year
• Gun Sales Reach Record Highs In 2020
• Ammoseek.com
• A Message From Federal, CCI, Speer And Remington President Jason Vanderbrink On Ammo Demand
• Jason Vanderbrink, President of Federal, CCI, Speer and Remington Addresses Your Questions
• It's Federal Season Podcast #18 - Ammo Shortages

Interview Tom Kubiniec:

• SecureIt Tactical
• An Ivy League Education: Is it Worth It?

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 157: Whole Lotta Geekin' Goin' On

                                  

In This Episode

• Erin and Weer’d discuss the recent Federal Court ruling on California's Assault Weapon Ban by judge Roger Benitez, as well as the ATF's proposed reclassification of pistols with stabilizing braces;
• Xander brings us his Independent Thoughts on Gun Geekery and how it's perceived by less experienced people;
• David gives us a deep dive on the history of the striker-fired pistol;
• and Weer'd sits down with Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons again, this time to talk about the origins of his company Headstamp Publishing.

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 and our hilarious blooper reels and film tracks.

Show Notes

Main Topic:

• The Wizard of Paws Is Back on the Road Helping Pets Walk Again and 'Making Families Whole'
• U.S. Judge overturns California’s ban on assault weapons
• Court Decision PDF
• ATF Pistol Brace Proposal

Gun Lovers and Other Strangers:

• Forgotten Weapons: Schulhof Model 1887
• Forgotten Weapons: Passler Model 1887
• Forgotten Weapons: 1896 Bittner
• Glock History - Wiki
• Glock History - Glock
• Glock Firing Pin Spring
• Wolff Striker Spring
• Colt 1908 Mainspring

Ian McCollum interview:

• Pistols of the Warlords: Chinese Domestic Handguns, 1911 – 1949
• Forgotten Weapons
• Headstamp Publishing

OBS-PP in Edge Media

I was interviewed by Finbarr Toesland of Edge Media last month about, in his words,  "LGBTQ gun groups growing in the face of escalating threats and bigotry." We had a long and productive conversation, and this article is the result. 

It's annoying that firearm prohibitionist group GAG got the top picture, but the article immediately delves into the pro-gun side of things, which is both unusual and a pleasant change of pace. 

It's also refreshing to see that queer gun ownership is beginning to be seen as valid and part of the mainstream, and no longer some weird fringe position held only by a few.

My Toons, Let Me Show You Them: Suffolk Punch

 It's been a long time since I last talked about City of Heroes. Now that the "renegade" servers are public and are (apparently, hopefully) in no danger of being shut down, and now that I've gotten back into playing CoH in my copious free time [/sarc], I figured I'd share some more of my character creations with you dear readers. 

I'm going to start off with something that is so very, very me: a character that is essentially one big My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic reference. 

This is the Mysterious Mare Do Well from the episode of the same name. The costume is very much of two-fisted (two-hooved?) pulp style of The Shadow, and I was curious if the versatile CoH character creator could do a credible anthropomorphization thereof. 

The answer is "Yes, and quite a good one too."

You could say that the resemblance is downright... re-mare-kable. 

But just having an MMDW tribute toon wasn't enough, because I wanted an explanation for why she was human, and I wanted a good punny name, and I wanted a pony reference without just straight-up copying the character. So I named this character Suffolk Punch. 

The Suffolk Horse, also historically known as the Suffolk Punch or Suffolk Sorrel, is an English breed of draught horse. The first part of the name is from the county of Suffolk in East Anglia, and the word "Punch" is an old English word for a short stout person. It is a heavy draught horse which is always chestnut in colour, traditionally spelled "chesnut". Suffolk Punches are known as good doers, and tend to have energetic gaits. -- Wikipedia

Since Mare Do Well got her physique from Applejack, I knew I wanted a punchy-kicky type of character, so I picked "Street Justice" as a primary and let me tell you, she kicks like a horse. (Heyooo!) I chose Super Reflexes as her secondary because it was the closest representation to Pinkie Sense that I could find (plus the power icons for SR are pink, so it fits). I also made her a Brute, for reasons I'm not entirely clear on; I just feel like it better captures the character, both as the embodiment of Applejack's physique and as a two-fisted pulp brawler. 

 So using AJ as a base and an English name, you can guess where this is going. Here's her in-game bio:

(Translated from the thickest, most incomprehensible English country accent ever heard):

Nae, it's na Suffolk, it's SUCKER! Sucker Punch! Look, Oi lives on a farm wiv me Granny Kidney, me big bruvver Falcon and me li'l sister Rabbit. Wha koinda punch issa Suffolk? It makes nae bleedin' sense!

Ye've already entered th' name in th' registry? Well bleedin' CHANGE  IT, then! 

What d'ye mean "Oi can't change it?" 

Bloody bureaucrats. Foine. I'll be "Suffolk" Punch, then, an' Oi'll Suf-folk yer roight up if yeh cross me agi'n.  

I regret nothing!

Streets of Fire

Through an odd confluence of events I don't understand (perhaps the dread algorithm in play?), lots of people on Facebook are suddenly talking about Streets of Fire, the 1984 cult classic which spawned a hit song even though the movie itself wasn't very successful at the time. 

Streets of Fire is a very odd film, which is probably why it isn't more widely known. It's a very 1980s film, a sort-of-but-not-quite rock opera, but it's set in an era that could be anywhere between the late 40s and early 60s. It's a period piece without a discernable period, at least to my eyes. A friend of mine called it "a western set in the rust belt", but I disagree; I would summarize the plot as "The Little Soldier Boy and the Leader of the Pack fight for the heart of the Homecoming Queen." 

It also stars a shockingly young-looking Willem Dafoe, which is curious since he was also in 1986's Platoon where he managed to look a decade older. 

But for me, the most interesting thing about Streets of Fire is that one of its songs -- and in my opinion, the best song of the whole movie -- is Nowhere Fast, as lip-synced by Diane Lane.

 

Also, if you're a fan of 1980s anime you can see how it inspired parts of Bubblegum Crisis. Priss and the Replicants are a Japanese cyberpunk Ellen Aim and the Attackers, and you can definitely hear how 1984's Something Fast inspired & influenced 1987's Konya wa Hurricane. 

I don't really have any great point to make, other than that I like both songs and it's neat to see the link between them. 

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 156: The Oblate Spheroid Table

                                 

In This Episode

Erin and Weer’d are joined by Oddball, David, Xander, and Adrian for a Round Table episode where we discuss:

• Being a good ambassador for the Second Amendment;
• David Chipman's Senate hearing for ATF Director;
• Several recent shootings;
• A story where an armed teacher saved the day;
• Ian McCollum's wildly successful Kickstarter Campaign for his book Pistols of the Warlords;
• And of course the usual unscripted shenanigans!

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 and our hilarious blooper reels and film tracks.

Show Notes

• ATF Director Nominee David Chipman Ripped Apart by Pro Second Amendment Senators
• Key Senators Mum on Biden ATF Nominee After Contentious Hearing
• Press Release: We Oppose David Chipman's Nomination as ATF Director in the Strongest Possible Terms
• Contact Your Senators in Opposition to David Chipman as ATF Director
• Gunman ignores California gun laws, kills eight others before police next door can arrive
• Police: 2 dead, 20+ injured in Florida banquet hall shooting
• Mass Murder Stopped by Man Armed with Rifle in Arkansas
• Armed school employee stops alleged attempted kidnapping in Ogden
• School Carry Utah
• Update: A Million Dollars - and a Worldwide Booksigning Tour?
• Pistols of the Warlords Kickstarter
• Protesters in Portland attack man suspected of being Andy Ngo

I'm Doing My Part

I don't know about you, but I mailed my two Senators along with Minority Leader McConnell urging them not to confirm David Chipman as ATF Director. 

In addition to printing out the OBS-PP press release, I wrote this message on every letter:

I also enclosed two business cards per envelop. Ideally, the Senators will keep one and pass the other to someone on the Hill who may be interested in learning more about us. I don't know what the chances of that are, but I had to try. 

If you haven't contacted your Senators, there's still time! Contact details are here.