Gratuitous Innuendo

I ought to re-title this "Gratuitous Self-Embarrasement"; see the update below.

Just drop it woman. I have long since stipulated that the proclaimed wisdom of the blogospheric commentariat has pronounced on this distinction and declined further disputation, choosing to rely on the advice and counsel of those I had (also long since) previously retained to provide such instead. I don't suppose there's much hope of others doing the same, is there?

Just in passing, is it truly your position that my having objected to the suggestion of shooting someone in the back of the head as not quite rising to the level of "self-defense" is somehow equivalent to publicly and explicitly threatening to murder someone during the course of abusing the authority entrusted to those in public service? Wow, I never dreamed others found my poor erudition so lethal.

While I quite enjoy your extra-planetary fiction (I suppose an autograph for my copy of the book is right out), your more down-to-Earth delusions - at least as they involve myself - are becoming tiresome and quite rude. Please desist.

UPDATE 7/26/11: In comments, RobertaX has made clear that it was indeed another William her post made mention of. Apparently the fellow Mr. Harless so publicly abused is also named William.

I'd like to claim that it's been a more challenging year than usual for me, but that doesn't excuse my over-sensitivity anyway. I hope Roberta will accept my apology; I was out of line and out of order.

Market Forces In Practice

Like most gun owners, I've run the holster gamut. Already having a suitable pocket pistol, I've taken my time in deciding where to spend my money to best effect and satisfaction.

Reading reviews and product specifications are all well and good (and a necessary part of product research), but it was being able to listen to Dennis Badurina of Dragon Leatherworks interact with and describe his product process to the gun owners on Vicious Circle that ultimately decided me to buy this product instead of continuing to look.

Only after having completed the sale did Dennis and I exchange e-mails that concluded with the following:

That being said...the VC logo will be made available on the Quantums later this evening (when I finish up the first one and get to taking pictures of it...), so I'll extend you the offer to stamp the logo onto your Quantum, free of charge.

I accepted immediately, of course, and look forward with excitement to having the first Quantum VC holster! Dennis and I continue to discuss the second holster I wish to buy from him entirely due to his decent treatment of someone who he didn't know and had already gotten the money from. All of which is perfectly consistent with the man I listened to with such enjoyment over the past few weekend's podcast. With his patient explanations of the limits of his craft and materials, I'm certain we'll arrive at a mutually satisfactory version soon enough. Illustrative of that process, the following exchange between us is quoted in it's entirety (less address headers) with the authors' permission:

Hi Dennis,

So, I was just going to reward your earlier generosity by dipping into the savings and ordering a second, OWB fancy dress holster. Coming as absolutely no surprise to me, you don't offer what I really want. :)

A standard Flatjack in black leather, cut for a 2" belt that has the sanded Stingray (would love to read Labrat's review of that whole process; I was in the USN, I've heard Stingray's response - or it's generic equivalent*) material inset with the VC logo pressed into it, with the logo further highlighted by contrasting colored (maybe a light shade of blue?) stitching in the logo depressions. Call the basic design Alan's Consternation. The kicker is, I want it fitted for a Smith & Wesson 325 Night Guard, the "N" frame version of one of these:

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product4_750001_750051_765946_-1_757773_757767_757751_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y

JayG not being with us, the N frame is the largest of the four frame sizes S&W offers (J,K,L,N), so you'll have to arrange for a blue gun first (though I can't imagine there won't be a sample N frame you could do a trace-and-measure from available at the upcoming NE blogshoot - I'm reasonably certain both Weer'd Beard and JayG has mentioned owning an equivalently sized gun). From what I can see of the Flatjack design it shouldn't matter, but my gun has Crimson Trace sights fitted as the added grip width helps to alleviate some of the recoil impact along with the more usual laser sight benefits.

So, possible? My birthday is in late October so we have time to fumble around with potential problems/options. Assuming you've no objection to the above, what will my present to myself cost?

Bonus: mention all this on tonight's 100th VC show and hear Alan be sooo unimpressed.

Best regards,

Will Brown

******

Hey Will,

OK...a few things about what you are looking for....

The stamp for the VC logo has to be impressed on what is called *tooling leather*, or *carving leather*. Its the only leather that has gone through the tanning process in such a way as to accept embossing or hand-tooling.

That being said, the only tooling leather is Cowhide or Horsehide, and the tanning method must be vegetable tanning, not chemical or chrome-dipped. All my holsters are made from veg-tanned leather (as are almost all holsters, regardless of manufacturer), and during the process of making the holster, I take steps, after the dyeing and stamping, to stiffen the leather so that it will properly support the pistol.

Ergo, the logo cannot be embossed onto stingray (or anything else that isn't veg-tanned cow or horse). Stingray skin has calcium deposits on it. That's what makes stingray skin so tough once its tanned. The Japanese Samurai used Stingray skin as an armored layer atop a softer hide, because stingray skin is practically indestructible. A razor-sharp sword WILL NOT slice through stingray. (I should know...I have to actually cut all my stingray pieces by hand with a pair of sheet metal shears, the damned stuff is so frigging hard....all my regular leather cutting tools don't even mar the surface of stingray.)

As for stitching into the depressions of the logo, it would take a very fine needle (too fine to punch through stingray), and to do decorative stitching, the stitches need to be very close together. What happens in veg tanned leather is that the stitching perforates the leather so badly, the leather literally falls apart when you try to stretch it around the gun during the molding/boning process. Chrome-dipped or chemical tanned leathers, either calfskin or another such supple leather, can take the fine needlework, but not the veg-tanned leathers I use in my holster making.

Lastly...I've yet to be able to find an *N* frame model...the best model-maker out there is BlueGuns, but the stuff they do is LEO-based, or military-based weaponry. They have J and K frame models, no L or N. There is another modeler called Duncans Customs, but their models aren't of the quality and exacting standards of BlueGuns. I've used their models before in holster making, and had to refund the money to clients because the holsters were too loose, even though I used the exact same technique as with my BlueGun models, where all the holsters made off BlueGuns are balls-on-perfect for fit. I have also tried using tracings, but the fit, again, isn't exact, and will wind up too tight or loose, and a refund gets made. So, I now stay away from using tracings...if I don't have the actual gun or a BlueGun model, I politely decline the work.

So...there's the reasons you see limits on what I offer. Part of it is a physical or technical impossibility, and other (such as more of a gun selection) are because the best models made are only offered in a limited amount of popular LEO/Military model handguns.

I like the way you're thinking, though...a holster like that would be unbelievably cool. :-)

Warmest Regards,

Dragon Leatherworks

Since my N-frame wheel gun is apparently out, it's back to my Commander. Maybe the sanded Stingray as highlight trim for the VC logo in some (contrasting to the holster) shade of dyed cow/horse hide but without the stitched highlighting of the logo itself. Have to think on it some more.

This post is characterised as a "product review", but it's really more of a producer review. Go see for yourself.

*Edit to add: Begins with "Fuck ...", features "... gonna need a whole lotta help ..." and concludes with "... will not live to see the results!", or words to the same effect. Feel free to insert pretty much whatever combination of obscenity, slang, curse or insult (added points for anatomically unlikely combinations) anywhere in the discourse you think most entertaining/pertinent and you'll pretty much capture the spirit of the response I think.

The Butler May Have Done It

But apparently the maid didn't.

The Frog may indeed hop in and out of lots of ladies beds, but it seems he in fact does ask first.

I Wonder ...

Gov. Rick Perry signed Senate Bill 321 (the one allowing people to keep guns locked in their cars in company parking lots) yesterday, how long will it take my employer to try and weasel out of compliance in some way? I'm confident that they will make the effort and that at least one of my fellow assailants of the bastions of Capitalism workers will not actually comply with the law as written in some obvious fashion giving the company all the "justification" it needs.

And maybe not; if we make it through September without incident everybody should adjust happily enough. I hope so.

In any case, well done to Rick Perry and those members of the states legislature who supported this effort. Now, about that idea to remove the word "concealed" from Texas' handgun legislation ...

Words Mean Things

It seems my viewpoint on what actions rise to the level of self defense, but not exceed it, differs in significant degree from other's (see comments).

'Nuff said.

For the record though, there is a recognised and established standard for matters such as these despite the severe lack of snarkiness in their expression:

self-defense n. the use of reasonable force to protect oneself or members of the family from bodily harm from the attack of an aggressor, if the defender has reason to believe he/she/they is/are in danger. Self-defense is a common defense by a person accused of assault, battery, or homicide. The force used in self-defense may be sufficient for protection from apparent harm (not just an empty verbal threat) or to halt any danger from attack, but cannot be an excuse to continue the attack or use excessive force. Examples: an unarmed man punches Allen Alibi, who hits the attacker with a baseball bat. That is legitimate self-defense, but Alibi cannot chase after the attacker and shoot him or beat him senseless. If the attacker has a gun or a butcher knife and is verbally threatening, Alibi is probably warranted in shooting him. Basically, appropriate self-defense is judged on all the circumstances. Reasonable force can also be used to protect property from theft or destruction. Self-defense cannot include killing or great bodily harm to defend property, unless personal danger is also involved, as is the case in most burglaries, muggings or vandalism.

[My bold]

I see no advantage in providing any potential courtroom adversary with free material to use against me should such a circumstance ever confront me, especially in a vain effort to convince another of their "error". Sufficient to acknowledge that opinions differ on what activity rises to the level of self defense and confine my efforts to matters closer to home.

And that's my final word on this topic on anyone else's blog.

Uncomfortable Question

In the opening minutes of his shows third hour segment today, Rush Limbaugh asks, "What would a modern Paul Revere be warning about?" He goes on to posit that it wouldn't be "the Chi-Coms" or the Russians coming, so who would be the object of such a warning given Limbaugh's viewpoint on the current US political climate?

Ask yourself, who do "the authorities" send in to register their displeasure with the "inappropriate behavior" of We the People?

That's right, James Carville's "imminently possible" civil unrest will be directed at the cops, 'cause you can bet it won't be Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid or Barack Obama on the streets asserting control over the "extremists" nor their Republican accomplices either.

Kinda doubt this was the answer Rush was looking for.

That Weiner - What A Wag

And that's pretty much all I have to say about Congressman Clown Pants.

Adapting Strategy

Weer'd Beard writes today about the Taliban's recent effort to promote jihad in the US by encouraging American Muslims to purchase weapons at gun shows and indiscriminately using them on the rest of the American populace. Weer'd easily disproves the validity of the information, but kind of surprisingly may have overlooked the general usefulness of the strategy as I pointed out in comments:

Another possibility might be a conscious effort to emulate the Brady’s and Joyce Foundation mouthpieces; make the (however erroneous) case of ease of access to firearms to their local audience and then cite any criminal use of firearms as an example of “jihad in America” to same. This “proves” the universal nature of Islam and Jihad, doesn’t it?

They’re misogynistic* (sp?) predators, but they’re not stupid. They are also reported to be well established in the UK university system, so access to modern western (US) political philosophy and policy tracts is readily available to jihadi supporters.

Weer'd Beard regularly posts on Joyce Foundation efforts to manipulate news reports of criminal use of firearms in his "gun death" series of posts. This gun show effort by Al Qaeda/Taliban leadership strikes me as being almost identical in both practice and intent; lie about the state of American gun ownership and manipulate crime news reports to destabilize American social and political structures so as to better advance an opposition alternate viewpoint. The strategy offers the minor possibility of changing US domestic law/policy as well as serving to validate leadership credentials within the Taliban/Al Qaeda organizational structure and the general Islamic populace outside the US.

EDIT: SAILORCURT reaches a similar conclusion by a different contextual structure. Well worth a read.

*Spelling errors corrected.

Wait A Minute!

There was a contretemps on the gunblogs this weekend over the recent Lucky Gunner.com sponsored "Ammo Girls" ammo handlers at the Memorial Day Weekend shooting event. As part of that back-and-forth, the most exciting bit of gunblogger-related news ever released on the web was revealed:

(And accusing somebody who's posed for nekkid photos of "prudery" is good for a horse laugh.)

If ever there was a time for universal insistence upon the forum diktat of "didn't happen without pictures", this is that time!

What's wrong with you people? Who cares whether or not some hypothetical female is or is not repelled by another's bared arms; join me in proclaiming the hot issue of the 21st Century and demand digital revelation of TamaraK in all her bared-arms glory!

Later: Edited to fix a bad link.

Failure To Grok

I keep reading about unemployed people "giving up" looking for work; Instapundit links to yet another example here, full story from Yahoo! News here.

What the fuck? How does any grown person give up looking for a means to keep feeding him/her self short of seppuku? You'd think that some of those reported 244,000 "added jobs" Yahoo! mentions would have been filled by some of those people previously filing unemployment claims, but the story makes no mention of any of that;

Others have probably just given up looking for work.

So where did they physically go? I understand they no longer exist as part of the "labor force", but does that mean they get physically deleted too?

It's a modern quandary ...