Happy Birthday to Me!

Okay, so it’s not my birthday – yet.  Friday, April 8th is.  I am turning 30 and this birthday is quite different than any that I’ve had previously.  When I was younger, even just 10 years ago, I’d imagined that I’d be so much “further along in life” than I am right now.  Initially I felt frustrated with my perceived lack of progress in life.  But then I decided to take stock of my accomplishments and blessings and life is actually treating me pretty well.  Here is a short and incomplete list:

• I’m married to the most wonderful woman in the world and we recently celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. 
• I have two beautiful and smart children.  Two boys that I love more than I can describe.
• I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Utah in December 2009 and am very close to being accepted into a graduate program at Gonzaga University. 
• I live comfortably.  Our bills are paid, there is food on the table and clothes on our backs.  We have enough for simple comforts and even a little to put into savings. 
• I live in the greatest country that has ever been created on the face of this planet.
• I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I know who I am.  I know God’s plan.  I’ll follow Him in faith.

But now on to the big news – my birthday present!

Last year I broke the pinky finger on my right hand, as described here, which led to me purchasing a Ruger LCP for carry until my finger healed.  No longer having a need for Elsie Pea, other than for discreet carry when the XD is just too big, I decided to sell her off and search for something better. 

Ah yes, “better.”  That’s a tricky word for gunnies.  What does “better” mean?  Well, that depends on who you ask.  For me, better meant a Sig Sauer P238. 

Introduced at the SHOT Show in 2009, the P238 is Sig’s remake of the Colt Mustang.  Chambered in .380 ACP and holding six in the magazine plus one in the chamber, the P238 packs plenty of firepower for a pocket pistol.  It’s the perfect compromise of size, firepower and discreet concealed carry, I feel.

I hope to get out and shoot her this weekend and with a snow storm blowing in I’ll most likely be forced into an indoor range (I prefer outdoor). 

I have to give a super big THANK YOU to my sweet love for giving me the green light on my birthday present.  So far, my 30th birthday has been the one causing the most stress.  I mean, I’ve never been this old!  Now I have the perfect gift to memorialize it.

 

This Will Be Interesting

Ron Paul Appointed Chairman of Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee

 

 

Top Shot

A show that’s been getting some buzz on the gun blogs is Top Shot, on the History Channel.  I watched the first episode today via Hulu (since I don’t have cable).  Even if you’re not a shooter – Go. Watch. Enjoy.

 

Tea Parties

Not so astroturfy.

 

Iron Man 2

The new trailer was recently released.  Oh MAN!!! May 7th cannot come soon enough.

 

McDonald Follow Up

Okay, so the oral argument for McDonald vs. Chicago was earlier today.  Click here to read the transcript.  To put things simply, incorporation seems forthcoming via the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment.  The justices didn’t really get on board with Gura’s argument for incorporation via Privileges and Immunities.

Privileges and Immunities was a long shot because the argument focused around enumerated rights, but also on constitutionally protected unenumerated rights (such as the right to self defense; rights to contract; etc).  SCOTUS, and all U.S. Courts, will try to rule as narrowly as possible and P&I might contain too much gray area.

Gura, however, had a great rebuttal for the gray area – that constitutional law is based around the text of the constitution and America’s history and traditions.  Thus federal judges would not have free license to simply claim anything to be an protected unenumerated right.

Read the transcript.  I learned a ton!  It will be interesting to see what decision is handed down.

________

Update: Caleb at Gun Nuts Media points to an hilarious summary of McDonald vs. Chicago.  Warning, contains some adult language.

 

Updates

For live tweeting of McDonald vs. Chicago, see Sebastian and Bitter.

 

Tomorrow

McDonald vs. Chicago oral arguments will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court tomorrow.  Joe Huffman points to an article by Alan Korwin where he explains, in simple terms, why this court case is so important.  Trust me, it’s more about civil rights and less about guns than you may have previously thought.

 

Utah State-Made Firearms Protection Act

SB 11 was signed into law by Governor Gary Herbert today.  Hippies and Democrats all over the state are crying.

 

While We’re All Watching the U.S. Supreme Court…

… the Washington State Supreme Court rules that the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution is incorporated and applicable to the states via the 14th Amendment’s due process clause.

Remember, oral arguments for McDonald vs. Chicago will be held on March 2, 2010.

*H/T – Eugene Volk via Uncle.

 

Utah’s House Tells the EPA to Stick It!

HJR 12 passed Utah’s House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee on February 4th and has since passed the House in a 56-17-2 vote.

This resolution urges the United States Environmental Protection Agency to immediately halt its carbon dioxide reduction policies and programs and withdraw its “Endangerment Finding” and related regulations until a full and independent investigation of the climate data conspiracy and global warming science can be substantiated.

It’s now sitting in the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee.

Hat tip to Uncle.

 

Winchester SXP Update (Part III)

I was googling around today wanting to see if I could find more info on the Winchester SXP.  I found it at Field and Stream:

The SXP is the Turkish-made reincarnation of the old 1300, an underappreciated, lightweight, inexpensive gun made in the old New Haven factory before it closed. Winchester announced the SXP last year but it wasn’t until this year that they actually received guns from their Turkish vendor in sellable quantities.

Turkish-made?  It was time for another call to Browning.

Rick, one of the customer service agents with whom I’ve spoken several times concerning the SXP, confirmed that the manufacturing was being done in Turkey but did not remember the name of the factory/company.  FN (the Browning/Winchester parent) of course has complete QC oversight and testing is being done in here in the U.S. at the Browning factory in Morgan, Utah.  Apparently, FN uses a lot of Turkish manufacturers for their shotguns (thus quality should not be an issue).

As mentioned previously, they are still on schedule for a June, 2010 release date.

 

More SHOT Show Goodness

SHOT Show Day 1 Roundup from Pistol-Training.com

 

Scott Brown Wins!!!

Read it here.

Reactions from around the blogosphere:

You saw it here first.

The Scott heard ’round the world!

The Boxer Rebellion.

 

2010 SHOT Show

The annual Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show, or SHOT Show, got underway today in Las Vegas.  I’m not even going to try and cover what is being flung all over the interwebs concerning new guns being released at shot.  Here are some that I found the most interesting.

Taurus:  Taurus is trying, I think, to bill themselves as the most progressive and innovative firearm manufacturer in the world.  Last year they introduced 10 new products, and this year they introduced 14!  This year they’ve introduced a polymer framed revolver and have expanded they’re “Judge” line to include a polymer frame and, can you say “Raging Judge?”  Take a spin through their 2010 New Product Catalog.

Smith & Wesson:  S&W has new J-frames with 2.5″ full lug barrels, and a scandium framed 386 in .357 mag and 329 in .44 mag (the scandium reduces the weight on the 329 from 49.5 oz to 33 oz).  Check out their 2010 New Product Catalog.

However, S&W is playing catch-up in two areas this year.  (1) Everyone has been waiting for them to jump into the .380 pocket gun market (see the .380 auto section of this chart) and they’ve finally done it.  Introducing the S&W Bodyguard 380.  It is ugly enough to have been spawned by a Taurus Millennium Pro. The integral laser will price it above and beyond it’s competitors which, unless it gets rave reviews, might keep people away.  Did I mention how ugly it is?  The Outdoor Wire already has a review: 

The S&W Bodyguard 380 is a compact double action only 6-shot .380 Auto. Measured at ¾” thick, the little gun is hammer fired, has a second-strike capability and an Insight laser aimer installed inside the dustcover.

The Bodyguard 380 was quite thin – very flat. The safety – it has a manual safety – is small, cannot be knocked “on” by accident. In fact, I never did get the safety on.

(2) The S&W Bodyguard 38 is Smith & Wesson’s first foray into the polymer framed revolver market.  Ruger was first last year with the LCR.  The Smith is more traditional looking than the LCR, and is also just a little bit larger.  Here is The Outdoor Wire’s review: 

This is not grand dad’s j-frame. This is a new gun, the biggest leap in S&W’s DA revolver history. Taking a look at it, it appears to be a revolver with a couple of protuberances. Simply, it’s a sub-two-inch .38 Special, rated for +P ammo. It’s a hammer-fired double action only revolver. It weighs around 14 ounces, is around 1.4″ thick, has a stainless steel barrel liner and a stainless steel cylinder – the latter is dark PVD coated.

The frame is a one-piece aluminum alloy upper with a steel-reinforced polymer lower frame.

The new gun has a one-piece rubber stock, a notch in the top-strap rear sight and a pinned black front blade.

Still not excited? Well there’s not a single part of the new gun currently in use in any S&W handgun. The cylinder latch thumb-piece is no longer where it was. It’s atop the frame accessible to either hand – an ambidextrous cylinder release.

An Insight Technologies laser is a part of the gun. With a top mounted switch, the laser has a constant beam, a pulse laser. The third press of the switch turns it off. With constant beam, the laser, powered by 2 Energizer 357 batteries, has a run time of 3 hours.
…
The Bodyguard 38 has a smooth trigger, correctly noted as “better than a typical J” by a tenured S&W representative. Using first the laser then the standard sights, I was able to keep representative 125 grain JHP ammo by Hornady as well as remanufactured ammo in tight groups — bullet holes touching at around 7 yards without any difficulty. I noticed that, while loud, the gun didn’t seem to particularly “kick hard.” Figuring the top-mounted latch to be a boondoggle – you have to compromise your grip to get at it, I reasoned – I found it easily reached and ideally located. It’s well thought out. This gun has lots of promise.

This looks like a sweet addition to the S&W line-up.  But again, I feel that the laser sight will price this far and above the Ruger LCR (which has an optional laser grip) and the Taurus Protector Polymer (which, like most Taurus products, is hideously ugly).

More to come as SHOT continues tomorrow!