Divemedic

I just wanted to say  that I do not claim to be an expert on 1911s. I didn’t even own one until about 2 years ago. I always thought that it didn’t make sense to buy a pistol that requires hundreds or thousands of dollars in gunsmithing to work properly. I want a weapon that is reasonably accurate and reliable without a lot of work. Hearing how fickle 1911s were with ammo and reliability, I put off buying one for quite a long time.

I  am not nearly the pistol expert that Tam (who knows more about guns and is a better shooter than I will ever be) is, but I have my own opinions on what works for me, and that is what I base my opinions on. Having only started buying 1911s less than 3 years ago, my opinion stands: you don’t and shouldn’t need to spend gobs of money for a reliable, reasonably accurate pistol.

Pistols, at least the ones you carry, need only be accurate to a point. I do not see myself needing to take 50 yard headshots with a handgun. To me, the requirements for a carry handgun are simple:

1 It must be reliable above all else. A gun that jams every 50 rounds, or even every 500 rounds is just not going to cut it when my life depends on that weapon’s proper function.

2 I must be comfortable shooting it AND carrying it.  A gun that is uncomfortable to shoot or carry will likely be left at home, and a gun at home does not help you much when you need it away from home. This is a good reason for NOT carrying a Desert Eagle.

3 I must be able to rapidly score multiple hits in a short amount of time, using that particular handgun. Not every gun is best for every shooter. As far as I am concerned, I think Glock makes a fine handgun, but I just don’t shoot as well with them as I do others. I despise the Taurus Millennium, because it feels like the trigger is dragging an iron plate across a gravel parking lot. Others like that handgun. To each his own.

4 It must be in a caliber that will be an effective defense round. I have decided that a primary defense gun should be 9mm or larger for autos, and .38 Spl or larger for revolvers.

5 With that being said, I have tried out a lot of pistols. I have owned, or do own the following: Glock 26, 27, 19, 17; S&W 59, 5906, 4506, 4566, 637; Beretta 3032, 92; Ruger P85; Taurus PT92, PT945, PT-111, Sig 220, 226, 229 (in 9mm and .357 Sig). Colt 70 Combat Commander, Kimber Pro Carry, Eclipse Custom, Pro Carry, Ultra Carry. ( I am not including non-defense pistols in this list, such as .22’s or even backup guns)

6 I carry each gun as situations dictate. There are times when I can carry a full sized gun, and times when I will not. I do not trust the Colt, it is a jam-o-matic. I don’t carry a revolver much, but that is my personal preference. My mom carries a .38 revolver. I don’t prefer the Glocks, but my wife does.

My preferences are:

For a compact SA pistol, my favorite is the Kimber Ultra carry. It is small, powerful, and reliable. Mine is fitted with Crimson Trace laser grips.

For a full sized SA, my preference goes to the Kimber Eclipse Custom. Due to its size, I rarely carry a full sized pistol. This one has TruGlo tritium fiber optic sights. I may put a set of them on the Pro carry, and carry that one as a mid sized SA. I don’t know- maybe some XS Ashley sights. I haven’t decided.

For DA pistols, I prefer the Sig 229 in .357 Sig. That pistol just seems to seek out the target every time. I have even shot a few IDPA matches with it, and it has won me a few trophies.

I like guns that shoot, and shoot well. I don’t need to tinker with them, I don’t need to spend gobs of money fixing them up. What I need os for them to go ‘bang’ every time I pull the trigger, and I need them to make the bullet go where I was pointing the gun. That’s it.

The Phoenix Suns announced that they will honor hispanics by wearing jerseys that say “Los Suns.”

The Phoenix Suns will wear “Los Suns” on their jerseys Wednesday for Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals, owner Robert Sarver said, “to honor our Latino community and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona, and our nation.”
The decision to wear the jerseys on the Cinco de Mayo holiday stems from a law passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer that has drawn widespread criticism from Latino organizations and civil rights groups that say it could lead to racial profiling of Hispanics. President Barack Obama has called the law “misguided.”

Lets call this what it is: This is a step to honor MEXICANS. Cinco de Mayo is a MEXICAN holiday, not a hispanic holiday, unless you want to claim that all hispanics are Mexican. Heck, you can’t even make the claim that all Mexicans are hispanic. Mexican is not a race. Mexican is a nationality.

The secret here is that the law in Arizona has nothing to do with race, and everyone knows it. This is just another example of race-baiters opposing something they don’t like by using the “racism” boogieman.

How exactly can the Suns honor the diversity of their league? Can anyone name a single hispanic player in the NBA?

How does the NBA honor white people? That one is easy. A team wishing to honor whites simply loses to the Celtics.

I am sitting here listening to my collection of MP3s from the 80’s. Right now, The Outfield is performing Say it Isn’t So. Am I missing the 80’s, or am I becoming an old man who is missing his youth?

I mean the Hutaree. Like I said before, maybe they didn’t do anything. The judge thinks the Government has a weak case. Of course, that doesn’t stop the FedGov from using their unlimited resources to side step the issue.

There are so many lies out there about the new law in Arizona, I figured I could set a little of the record straight:

The pertinent part:

B. FOR ANY LAWFUL CONTACT MADE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY OF A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, A REASONABLE ATTEMPT SHALL BE MADE, WHEN PRACTICABLE, TO DETERMINE THE IMMIGRATION STATUS OF THE PERSON, EXCEPT IF THE DETERMINATION MAY HINDER OR OBSTRUCT AN INVESTIGATION. ANY PERSON WHO IS ARRESTED SHALL HAVE THE PERSON’S IMMIGRATION STATUS DETERMINED BEFORE THE PERSON IS RELEASED. THE PERSON’S IMMIGRATION STATUS SHALL BE VERIFIED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PURSUANT TO 8 UNITED STATES CODE SECTION 1373(c). A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE MAY NOT SOLELY CONSIDER RACE, COLOR OR NATIONAL ORIGIN IN IMPLEMENTING THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS SUBSECTION EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY THE UNITED STATES OR ARIZONA CONSTITUTION. A PERSON IS PRESUMED TO NOT BE AN ALIEN WHO IS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES IF THE PERSON PROVIDES TO THE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER OR AGENCY ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
1. A VALID ARIZONA DRIVER LICENSE.
2. A VALID ARIZONA NONOPERATING IDENTIFICATION LICENSE.
3. A VALID TRIBAL ENROLLMENT CARD OR OTHER FORM OF TRIBAL IDENTIFICATION.
4. IF THE ENTITY REQUIRES PROOF OF LEGAL PRESENCE IN THE UNITED STATES BEFORE ISSUANCE, ANY VALID UNITED STATES FEDERAL, STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT ISSUED IDENTIFICATION.

Here is the actual text of the law, if you are interested.

I have responded to at least 3 car accidents in the past 2 weeks where an illegal immigrant was the driver. One of them was drunk and got arrested for his third DUI. The way it stands now is that local and state police cannot enforce immigration law, that is left to the Feds, who are not doing the job.

Arizona’s new law simply allows the local and state cops to do the job that the Feds are not. The law says that the cops must have a reasonable suspicion to ask for identification, which by the way is the same level of suspicion that allows them to ask for your identification already.

Wow. This tape sounds like the Soviet Union.

Official: “We don’t need any grounds.”

Shopper: “Well, that’s ridiculous.”

Official: “That’s the United States. I’m sorry. I don’t know what to tell you.”

Shopper: “You don’t need any grounds for your actions?”

Official: “Absolutely not.”

Official: “We catch 3 terrorists a day at this border crossing.” (either this guy is full of shit, or we are to believe that they are catching ALL of them)

official: “Stop shaking your head. You’re a Canadian citizen?”

Shopper: “what are you going to do? Shoot me?”

Official: “Was that a threat?”

“You’re in a lot of trouble. You ever hear of obstruction of justice? … As soon as you pulled away, that’s assault. Do you understand how much trouble you are in right now? You’re going to jail.”

Fortunately, the Canadian man — identified only as “qtronman” on YouTube — had recorded the incident, and he later uploaded the recording, so we know the border agents are lying.

The couple were on their way to a mall in Niagara Falls, in the United States, when they were ordered out of their car by a U.S. border guard — apparently because they didn’t care for the Canadians’ impatient tone when they couldn’t name the specific stores they’d be visiting.

Throughout the exchange leading to the arrest, the Canadian man comes across as exasperated but cooperative — not out-of-line for a person dealing with other adults he considers to be acting in an abusive and irrational way. He didn’t bow and scrape, though, which may have antagonized the border guards.

The officials, on the other hand, sound provocative, and even as if they’re enjoying their use of authority.

I always wondered what it was like to live in a country as it became a dictatorship, always wondered how the people there could be swept up by a Mussolini, a Stalin, a Hitler. Now I know. I don’t like where this country is headed. The groundwork is there for a police state- all we need is the dictator to pull it all together.

This Wall Street Journal column reads like my own history. I had been single since my divorce from my first wife in 1999. Child support was high, and I didn’t have a lot of money, so I rented. That was OK by me, because I was left with little money at the end of the month, and renting fit my bachelor lifestyle just fine.

That was until three events occurred that would shape my financial future far more than I ever knew. The first was that my ex-wife threw our 16 year old son out of the house in 2004. It seems that he was getting more expensive to take care of than the child support was giving her, and at 17 years old, his tax credits would no longer be available to her.

The second factor was that I got engaged, and my new wife to be (and her cat) moved into the house in preparation for the upcoming nuptials. Then, my daughter was thrown out of the ex-wife’s house for the same reasons that my son had been tossed out. All of a sudden, there were four people and a cat living in a two bedroom apartment.

It was obvious that we had to get a place to live that would better suit our family. The wife to be and I planned ahead, and decided that a three bedroom home would be good for us now, and then when the kids moved out, would still be small enough to be manageable. I thought about renting, but EVERYONE from financial experts to family told us that buying was the way to go.

We shopped around and found a 1500 square foot house with three bedrooms and two baths on a quarter acre lot for the low asking price of $250K. At the time, the median home in the Orlando metro area was selling for $255K, so we were NOT being greedy, especially considering that we were making a combined $110K a year. We made an offer, and after some back and forth, we settled on a price of $236K. Everyone I knew said that I had gotten a great deal. The following paragraphs are from the article, but it is like the author was at my closing:

Because we were plunking down only 7% or so on the down payment, we were faced with a steep insurance fee. I was naively insulted by this PMI–the idea that we were risky borrowers out of the box. So we opted for a “piggyback” loan, a second loan that would cover the rest of the down payment and allow us to avoid the PMI. We would pay about the same per month, and when our home’s value rose, we would refinance and combine the two loans into one. A lot of the people I turned to for advice were recent homebuying colleagues facing similar questions, or longtime owners who were doe-eyed by low interest rates. I don’t recall anyone saying “Dude, wait a few years.”

We negotiated a bit on the price and closed the deal in May [2007 for about $232,000] at a 6.12% rate. At the time, I didn’t know that the second loan was a de facto home-equity line of credit. I knew it would be a higher rate–a little more than [2] percentage points higher. But the loan amount paled in comparison to the main mortgage, so I wasn’t overly concerned.

On signing day I thought I was prepared for the blizzard of paperwork. I wasn’t. This is apparently a rite of passage not exclusive to any era. There was at least one big reveal: Our piggyback loan was actually a balloon loan. In 15 years, we’d have to pay a big chunk, in the thousands, in full. I was taken aback by this–how could I have missed this detail? I’m not a financial luddite.

 Zillow now estimates my house to be worth about $110K. That may be high, as Zillow estimates that the home 2 doors down is worth $145K, and it just sold for $110K. The tax assessor values it at $99K. That’s right- my home is worth about 45% of what I currently owe on it. (If you want to read how that happened, and how the banks profited by it, read this)

To make matters worse, both my wife and I have taken reductions in salary. We are making 14% less now than we were when we bought the house in 2007.

One thing the Fitzgeralds in the article failed to really appreciate is this: I owe $125,000 more on my home than it is worth. In 15 years, I will still be underwater on this home, but I can rent a comparable home for $700 less than my monthly payment is now. Even including the mortgage tax deduction, that comes to $500 a month. In 15 years I will have paid $90,000 more for this home than I would have paid to rent, and I will still be underwater. That is $90,000 more that could be in my retirement fund.

No thanks. My decision has been made.

The lead FBI investigator can’t remember any details about the investigation she was heading up, the tapes that supposedly prove that the Hutaree were planning to kill cops are unclear, and they still haven’t figured out if the weapons confiscated were illegal to possess.

It takes over a month to run a serial number to see if it is stolen, measure the barrel length, and see if a gun is full auto? This is starting to look more and more like the Hutaree are being used, as is the rest of the RKBA crowd, as a strawman for the Obama administration’s ineptitude.

Edited on 4/29/2010 to add:


The judge doesn’t think they did it, either.

Arthur Weiss, a lawyer for Thomas Piatek, 46, of Whiting, Ind., said disgust with the government as recorded by the undercover agent is similar to what’s said daily by radio and TV talk-show hosts Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity.
“Millions of people” are talking about “taking our country back,” Weiss said.