JAB

I seem to remember one episode a few years ago when he was particularly nervous and did have two cigarettes going at once. It seems like he lit one, placed it on the ashtray for some reason, forgot about it, lit another and ended up smoking them both. I could be misremembering, though. Maybe some of those 9 1/2 packs of cigs each day actually burned in the ashtray more than they got smoked?

THE SECOND OF MY LATEST HOLSTERS I sometimes carry my little NAA mini in .22 WMR as a weak hand BUG. There are features of the little fellah that I really like for that role. Normally, it goes in a pocket holster but I like options. A couple of weeks back, I took a chance on buying one of the IWB holsters made for them - and once again confirmed that IWB is not my preferred method of carry (although it may see occasional use.) Since I normally carry my primary OWB with a cover garment, anyway, I figured I'd make an OWB holster for the mini. I decided to go with a 'pancake' style just to keep it simple. With this style, I can wear it on either side although it will usually be on my weak hand side. This project also represents my first attempt at stamping a pattern. The basket weave work I did isn't perfect but I had to start somewhere. Once the holster was together, I wanted to change the color of the leather. I wanted a reddish-brown, sort of like what you'd see in dark cherry wood furniture. Rather than using leather dyes, etc. I decided to go with something simpler, easier to use and more readily available - shoe polish. There used to be a color of shoe polish called Ox Blood which was just about what I wanted. I used it to put a nice color on a pair of brown western-style boots I had, once. Unfortunately, I haven't seen that color in some time and certainly not at Walmart so I decided to do a little color blending. First, I applied three or four 'coats' of a color called Cordovan. It is a nice color for leather but I knew going into it that Cordovan was a little more red than I wanted. I used the polishing brush and cloth between applications of the 'coats' of polish. As I said, this was a little more red than I really wanted it to be. Also, I wanted more depth, dimension and richness of tone. To tone down the red and add a little complexity to the color, I then applied three or four 'coats' of plain, old Brown shoe polish. Again, I used the polishing brush and cloth between applications and tried to really polish it up when finished putting color on. I think the brown added a nice tone to the whole thing and made it look more interesting and less 'monotone'. To apply and polish, I just used common shoe polishing equipment. The final color, along with everything I used to achieve it as well as the mini that will be carried in it can be seen in this pic (I like how the color of the holster and the color of the grips look together - although I will be putting boot grips on the mini, eventually): And this is just a pic of the two latest holster attempts together:

Let me begin by saying that this is not an attept to sell holsters. At this time, making a holster here and there for my own use (or for family members, etc.) is a hobby. I honestly do not think that my skills/abilities are of a level [yet] that I would feel comfortable selling a holster for the price I'd have to charge to make it worth my time and effort. I'm posting this just to 'show off' a little and maybe give others some ideas for holsters they could make. THE FIRST OF MY LATEST HOLSTERS My preferred method of carry, especially for a primary, is OWB. I really do not like IWB and it doesn't work very well, for me. Generally, I use FOBUS holsters because they work well for me, are inexpensive, have good retention and are simple. However, I have a newer model Rossi 461 that I like to carry, sometimes. Sure, it's not a Smith and certainly not an Airweight, etc. but it fits my hand well, goes 'bang' when I pull the trigger, handles .357 SD loads just fine and is comfortable to shoot. Problem is, I couldn't find a FOBUS or any other holster I liked for it. I wanted a holster that is comfortable, has good retention and is easily removed from/put back onto the belt if necessary. I had a pancake holster that I had made but it didn't have the best retention in all situations and was not easily removed. So I made this one: This is the first holster of this type that I have made and, while I think it will serve me well, there are some things I would change if I made another (I'd have the support strap come off the main body of the holster at a lower position, for instance, and give the holster a bit more cant.) All in all, though, I am pretty pleased with this attempt. The brown leather was that color when I bought it (part of the reason I liked it.) The salesperson at the leather shop said it is English saddle leather or something like that. The black is from a scrap I bought for another (non-holster) project that didn't work out. It isn't vegetable tanned and is much like the leather you'd see in a motorcycle jacket, etc. As you can see, there are snaps on both the support strap: and the main belt loop: These make it easy to remove and put on. I sewed a small patch of scrap leather inside the holster to cover the metal on the other side of the snap so it wouldn't scratch up the revolver: I have been rolling the retention straps away from the main body of the holster so that when I unsnap the 'thumb break' snap, the straps move away from the revolver so they won't get in the way of presentation. I plan to do this each time I put the holster away after use to hopefully maintain that feature. A thumb break strap is usually not something I prefer. In this case, however, I wanted to make absolutely sure the revolver would stay in place in the holster unless I want it out. Honestly, the way this one turned out, just bumping the snap with my thumb during the normal process of placing my hand on the grip unsnaps it. I really don't think it will slow presentation of the weapon.

I'm not sure that the older boy (Josh) is all that bad. He seems pretty reasonable. I think that Jake is the source of their conflicts. Also, just to point out, the reason Phil caught Jake stealing drugs is because he was feeling bad and went to get his pills. So, he was probably already having the stroke when he caught Jake.

My wife doesn't typically care for zombie movies. I talked her into going to see than one and she likes that movie as much as I do. In fact, we ended up seeing it three times in the theater and now own it on DVD. I also noticed that the pump shotgun seemed to have the 'unlimited capacity' mod until just the very moment that running out of ammo was convenient to add drama. That didn't make me go, "Hmmm" nearly as much as a petite woman firing a pistol grip 12 gauge with pretty quick shot recovery and showing no signs of being effected by recoil, however. Guess it was adrenaline. Still, it wasn't meant to be a documentary.

I've only caught the tail-end of one episode. I think I would like the show but can't keep up with when it comes on. If it is available on demand, then I will watch the episodes that way. Bear Grylls can be entertaining to watch but even with as little as I know about survival concepts I sometimes end up saying, "What?" Like when he expends umpteen calories trying to catch something like a single grasshopper to eat (expending more energy to catch the critter than the critter will provide.) I also think he sometimes just wants to 'show off'. Maybe he is ex-special forces and has years of rock-climbing experience but I'm not and don't. Showing him climbing a sheer rock face (and risking injury or death) isn't going to help me one bit in a survival situation. I liked Les Stroud (Survivorman) much better as I felt I could actually use/adapt some of his methods if I were ever in a survival situation. He didn't come across as some kind of superhuman the way Grylls is sometimes presented. I was a little disappointed when Survivorman ended but respect Stroud's apparent decision that he had done at least one show in pretty much every environment type so it was time to move on. I've been hoping there would be a similar show to take its place in my viewing lineup and maybe Dual Survival will be it.

I've only watched a few minutes of that show but if the above happens, I hope someone will give me a heads up. I want to be sure and catch that episode. I am all for protecting wildlife that needs protection - whales or otherwise. Those 'Sea Shepherd' pukes, however, just tick me off (and, yes, I realized that after only having seen a few minutes of the show.) The worst is their leader, the white-haired guy. He is a narcissistic putz who seems more than willing to risk other people's lives (but not his own - I guess that as the leader he is just too darned important) to joust at windmills.

Weren't XTPs originally designed as a hunting bullet that was later loaded in some SD loads? Aren't they supposed to give better penetration than most JHPs - with the trade-off that they don't always expand as rapidly or as well? If the hollow point cavity does become clogged with fur, what will that mean? That the round will simply behave like a FMJ? I guess it depends on what sort of critters you think you might run into. Around the yard/woods at home, I carry my single-action Heritage loaded up with .22 Magnum (shot shell first up and the rest JHPs.) Heck, sometimes I might just have my NAA, loaded the same, and don't worry because I truly believe that a .22 Magnum will deal with anything up to the size of a raccoon or even coyote at the ranges I'd be shooting. If there were a chance of running into anything bigger/tougher and I were limited to a handgun, I'd at least want one of my .357s. Since I am assuming (with the risks inherent therein) that your concern is performance on larger critters, you might look and see if any company makes hunting-specific ammo that would work in your pistol. For instance, I picked up some Buffalo Bore ammo loaded with 180 grain, hardcast lead, flat-nosed bullets to load in my Taurus 66 for when I go trout fishing, camping, etc. (where black bear are a potential - although pretty unlikely - threat.) Truth is, even camping, etc. the greatest threat could still likely come from two-legged varmints - but I figure that those 180 grainers would deal with that kind of threat pretty well, too.

Nope. Not rotting. Not if they were embalmed through a modern embalming process. Bodies so treated do not rot. They might dessicate (dry up) eventually but they will not rot. In fact, they probably looked much like they did the day they were buried - just as if they had been resin-impregnated. Just for example, on my visit to the Body Farm there was one corpse from South Carolina (iirc) that had been embalmed before the funeral home realized that no one was going to claim it - so they called Dr. Bill and asked if he wanted it. At the time I saw it, the corpse had been lying, fully exposed, on the ground for close to a year. Due to dessication, the eye sockets were empty (eyeballs are mostly water.) The face was starting to look a bit leathery but the hair, including the beard and mustache, were still in place. The torso was full (like a living person) but not swollen or distended (i.e. no gas build-up from decay.) The skin in places also had a bit of a leathery appearance and was a bit transluscent in places (due to the lack of blood giving color to the skin) - some small blood vessels were clearly visible under the skin but the fingernails, toenails, etc. were all still in place. In fact, had you known the person in life, you would have instantly recognized him. There was not a sign of a maggot, etc. on the cadaver (unlike the non-embalmed cadavers nearby.) The only part of the cadaver that had been 'compromised' was the left arm - the flesh, muscle, etc. were missing from a small patch on the forearm, near the wrist, so that the radius and ulna were clearly visible. Someone asked Dr. Bass if that was the start of decay and he replied, "No - this body will never decay. That's just where the groundhogs have been gnawing on him." See, there are more than the forces of decay that work on a corpse in the woods of East Tennessee - and being able to study those things is valuable, too. In fact, Bass showed us slides once of some Civil War era crypts that had been broken into. He had been called in because the local authorities thought that someone had been murdered more recently and the body hidden in the old grave. In the slides, the corpse was whole from the waist up - at least the torso and head were, along with the arms and part of the hands - but it was just cut off below the waist. Bass said that this was because of the embalming methods of the time. They used gravity to push the blood out and embalming fluids in. The body would be in the basement of the funeral home, etc. while there would be a hole in the ceiling, as well as in the ceiling of the main floor, to allow a tube to go up to a container of embalming fluids in the 'attic'. Openings would be made (or a tube placed in a main blood vessel - I can't remember all the particulars) and gravity would help the embalming fluid push the blood out and replace it. Due to this, the torso and upper body would be well embalmed (and preserved) but there wasn't enough force to push the blood out and embalming fluid into the lower extremeties - so that the corpse would be preserved (pretty much forever) from the waist up but not from waist, down. Now, because their methods, etc. weren't as good as modern methods, the preserved parts of the corpse had turned black and looked quite leathery and sort of mummified but they had not 'rotted'. Ever hear of Rosalia Lombardo? She died ninety years ago and her embalmed body still looks like she is just sleeping - as you can see in the pic included in this Wiki article and other pics you can find on the 'Net. Of course, there are indications that the body is finally beginning to show signs of decomposition (after all, the techniques used were from nearly a century ago and she has been in a glass topped coffin), but you get the idea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalia_Lombardo So, when the zombie apocalypse comes and all those corpses crawl out of the grave, don't expect to get away simply because they are decaying and falling apart. They won't be. Oh, and for the record, I don't think I would have eaten the pie, either.

Before we carve a likeness of this judge on Mt. Rushmore, are we really so sure that this case was judged on the basis of protecting the Second Amendment? Maybe the judge supports the Second Amendment, maybe he doesn't - I really don't see anything in the article that gives any indication, either way. Honestly, it really sounds to me like it hinged much more on the First Amendment. Basically, the judge appears to simply have said that, as an elected official sworn to uphold the Constitution, the Sheriff couldn't deny Mr. Dorr something that is available to other citizens based solely on Mr. Dorr's excercise of his First Amendment rights. That 'something' is probably immaterial to the judge's decision and could just as easily have been a driver's license, a burn permit or a building permit. In other words, the judge couldn't have ruled against Mr. Dorr without striking at least a minor blow to the First Amendment. Because carry permits are legally available in the state and there was no other, valid reason to deny (other than the fact that the applicant had used his First Amendment rights in a manner that others in the community did not like) the only way to support the First Amendment was to support Mr. Dorr's bid to get his permit reinstated. That doesn't mean the judge supports the 2A. For all we know, he 'held his nose' and rendered a decision that pained him because he didn't want to be in a position of arguing against the 1A (which even most antis seem to hold dear.) Notice, in fact, that the judge ordered the Sheriff to take a class on the Constitution that includes - at least in part - a discussion of the First Amendment. The judge didn't set out any requirement that the class have any discussion of the Second.

I bought a first generation P3AT a few years ago. It was a 'problem child' and was never really 100% - I'd address one issue and another would come up. Finally, when the hammer spring broke, I sent it back to the factory. Of course the P3AT is now in its second generation and there have been many changes/improvements/upgrades since the first gen. Basically, just about the only thing left of my original gun when it was returned to me was the frame - Kel Tec built me a brand new, second generation P3AT on my frame and (from what I can tell by the work order that was returned with it) pretty much replaced all the internals. All this was free of charge, under warranty. The 'new' one has functioned 100%, so far, right out of the box. I will say this - Kel Tec is notorious for not communicating well via email. When working with them, often a phone call is the better way to go. As far as shipping via Fed Ex, etc. I don't know - my LGS owner sent it back for me. I figured it would be easier to pick it up at the store than to worry about someone being home to sign for it (I've heard that an adult has to sign for a firearm delivery but don't know from personal experience.)

It's actually a pretty straightforward process once you get started. It seems like everybody and their uncle are offering the classes, now. As others have said, look around to find a place you think you would be most comfortable taking the class. Also, be aware that instructors and classes must meet certain state requirements but the instructors are 'independant' - meaning that some charge more than others and some seem to charge significantly more than others for a class that meets the exact, same requirements as another class will meet for less $$$. That isn't to say that the quality of all the classes will be the same and some might offer a bit more/better instruction for the money, I don't know. BTW, in TN we don't havea CCW. Here, the permit is an HCP (Handgun Carry Permit.) I'm not trying to be nit-picky but the difference is significant. CCW refers to a Carry Concealed Weapon (or Concealed Carry Weapon) permit. My understanding is that in states that have a CW, this usually means that either a) open carry is legal without a permit but concealed carry requires a permit or open carry is illegal, period, a carry weapon must remain concealed and a permit is required to legally do so. In TN, however, open carry and concealed carry are both legal with an HCP but an HCP is required in order to legally do either.

My wife took her HCP class a few months ago (I've had mine for about two years, now) but hasn't really carried, yet. She passed the class with a snubnosed .357 loaded with .38 Special ammo but that gun is too bulky/heavy for her to carry comfortably. She can't handle the recoil of my Kel Tec P3AT but tried out my mom's recently purchased P32 (I talked my mom into getting her HCP earlier this year, too) and handled it just fine. My wife has trouble racking the slide on most semiautos but was able to do so on the P32, albeit with some difficulty. She said that she thinks that with some practice she'd be able to master it and I believe that she could. She also tried it out in a leather IWB holster that I made for another of mom's pistols and said it felt good - and with her build it disappeared completely under just a t-shirt (but she isn't exactly a petite, skinny-minnie type.) It's looking like the next gun purchase in our house will be a P32 for her. Owning a P3AT and having shot mom's P32, I'd have to say that the .32 has a good bit less felt recoil. It is also slightly lighter (6.6 ounces unloaded opposed to the P3AT at 8.3 ounces unloaded.) The loaded mags weigh the same (2.8 ounces) but the P32 mag holds one more round than the P3AT mag. The P32 is 5.1 inches long while the P3AT is 5.2 inches long. The P32 is .75" wide while the P3AT is .77" wide so the P32 is ever so slightly thinner and shorter. Both have a height of 3.5". Both have a fairly long, five pound trigger pull which helps make them safe for carry (neither has an external safety.) All of the height/weight info comes from the Kel Tec website. One other thing is that the P32 holds the slide open once the last round is fired while the P3AT does not (presumably to shave weight off of the larger caliber pistol.) Some folks don't trust .32acp for self defense. Some don't even trust .380 for self defense. Me, I don't think any of us are unarmed with either. As for the Elsie Pea (LCP) I haven't fired one. They'd probably be just about as good as a P3AT as (although they deny it) Ruger basically ripped off the entire design from Kel Tec. Beretta also makes/made a couple of pocket pistols in .32 which have 'tip-up' barrels. You literally tip up the front of the barrel and insert the first round rather than having to rack a slide. My wife isn't a 'pink pistol' kind of girl (she has said so, herself) and will probably get one of the more 'standard' models (they make models with black/blued slides and some with hard cromed slides with a few, different colors for the polymer grips.) My mom, being a little more 'in' to pretty guns, got the 'Lady .32' model - which is a factory model sold through only one distributor if my understanding is correct. Mom's pretty much looks like this (the pic is from the 'Net, this one isn't mom's) :

Too bad that elections usually don't seem to be one of those things. Maybe it will be different this time around, though.

This is weird but is it really any more weird than folks who keep their dead loved one's ashes in an urn in their home, etc.? Who or what was she hurting? It isn't like she was doing weird rituals with the corpses, eating parts of them or anything like that. It isn't like she was killing people and keeping their bodies around the house to keep her company. Heck, it isn't even like she failed to report a death or deaths by natural causes. If some weirdo 'artist' can display flayed corpses in various poses and call it 'art' then I really don't see the problem with an old lady wanting to keep her beloved husband and sister close by. It isn't something I'd want to do but I don't see what she's hurting. Of course, I visited the Anthropological Research Facility one fine, Spring morning while in a class with Dr. Bass then went directly to have a late breakfast so I guess my view of such things is a little different than others.

Off the top of my head, this would have to be in the running for the oddest thing I own: It's an '89 Bronco II with front and rear axles from an early Explorer sitting on 12.5X33 tires. No, I didn't build it. I have, however, met a guy through one of the Bronco II forums who helped one of the previous owners do the suspension work. He told me something that makes this Bronco II 'unusual'. Seems the guy who owned it before the one who did the suspension work was a computer whiz and he burned a custom, one of a kind chip for the ECU. The fellah who was telling me this has lots of previous experience with Bronco IIs. He had actually driven mine before it was mine and said that, because of that chip, mine has the most powerful 2.9 liter engine of its type he has ever encountered - said it was quite remarkable how much stronger it is than the 2.9 liter engines in other Bronco IIs. I was using it as a bad weather daily driver for a few years but now it will mostly be a fishing/camping vehicle since I got an '01 Dodge 4WD pickup last year.

Kel Tec P11's come with a plastic guide rod. You can get a metal replacement but I have seen warnings (with pics) from other owners that a metal guide rod will wallow out the hole in the front of the slide that the guide rod passes through under recoil. The plastic guide rod works just as well and will not wallow out the hole.

I noticed in the 'Carry Prohibited Locations' thread someone posted that Cheddar's in Alcoa has the old 'Misdemeanor' sign posted. I'm not sure I would consider that a 'posted' restaurant or even an attempt at 'posting' under the new law. That sign has been posted in most restaurants that serve liquor in at least one place for years (although places that served only beer were pretty 'lax' about posting it, making it difficult to tell if some of them served or not - which was one problem I had with the old law.) I think that was just 'standard procedure'. Further, those signs remained up last year during the short time that we could legally carry under the first restaurant carry law because they still applied to everyone else, just not HCP holders. As Cheddar's opened before the new law went into place, it would be reasonable to think they would have posted that sign just as a matter of the aforementioned 'standard procedure'. I don't want to (and spend money) where I am not wanted so I wouldn't carry past a 'No Guns' sign as that is an obvious (although not legally posted) attempt to keep HCP holders out (well, our firearms, anyway - which, to me, means keeping me out, too.) The intent behind posting the old 'Misdemeanor' sign, though, might have nothing at all to do with that and simply be part of normal practice for all restaurants that serve liquor under the old law. I'm bringing this up because that sign has been and still is posted in many restaurants that serve but I don't think the intent is necessarily the same as posting a circle/slash or properly worded sign (or even a 'No Guns' sign.) Thoughts?

Well, most everyday - there are days here and there when I don't get online: TGO thektog.org (a forum for Kel Tec owners that is not affiliated with the company) gunslingerforums.com (a forum for Heritage firearms owners - also not affiliated with the company)

If ever there were a handgun that is virtually begging for faux-pearl grips, that is it (or maybe faux-ivory with a pair of dice or a 'dead man's hand' - aces and eights - engraved into them. But, dangit, OS, I had talked myself completely out of getting one of those and here you come along and start shaking my resolve.

Could be - but my guess would be that some of the people working in some Walmart Sporting Goods departments simply don't know that much about firearms and don't realize that '.22 Long Rifle' ammunition will work in some pistols, too. After all, it says 'Long Rifle' right there on the box. I've called various Walmart locations looking for ammo that is generally used more in handguns than rifles (9mm, .38 Special, etc.) and when they had it in stock they have told me so. Of course, it could also be something that is specific to certain Walmart locations - or even to the politics of certain Sporting Goods employees and nothing to do with Walmart policy. BTW, your thread got me thinking about a pepperbox, again, so I started looking to see what might be available. This kit, available from Dixie Gun Works, looks interesting and for $127 might not be a bad place to start: http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_162_194&products_id=867 The blurb says that the kit is skill level 1 or something like that so I am assuming that means it is one of the easier kits to assemble. Of course, we all know what happens when we assume.

I've always kind of wanted a little two-shot 'Derringer' type pistol and the pricing on the Cobras makes them tempting. In fact, just yesterday I was looking for info about them on the 'Net - specifically the .38 Special model as that is the one I think would be the most interesting, to me. I figured that, if nothing else, I could carry it in the woods with shot shells. Well, I ended up finding a .pdf of their manual. I didn't care much for what I saw in it. For one, it said in two or three different places to never carry one of these with a live round in the chamber. What's the use in that? Another thing was that it said you can use shot shells in the 9mm and .22 WMR versions but not the .38 Special version. Not very useful, IMO. Another thing that turns me off of them was something I found out when my grandfather-in-law looked at buying one of the .22 WMR versions a year or two ago. The person at the counter was telling him that when you load it you have to look and make sure that neither of the firing pins are protruding (which, apparently, they sometimes do) or it could fire when you are closing the action. No, thanks. Back around Christmas, I bought a used NAA .22 WMR revolver with the 1 5/8 inch barrel in really good shape (as in looked almost new) for $160. Not as powerful as a .38 Special and certainly not a long distance shooter but with practice I can keep all five in the head/face area of a standard silhouette target at five yards with my weak hand (when it gets carried, it is in my weak side pocket.) It is smaller/less bulky than those Cobras but has three more shots. It also has safety notches between the cylinders for the hammer to rest in so (with a pocket holster) is safe to carry fully loaded. I tested some CCI shot shells out of mine a couple of weeks ago and was impressed with the results. The only advantage the Cobra might have is that the grip might fill my hand a little better - but I'm planning to order some boot grips from NAA (better grip than the little birdshead but not as bulky as the big rubber grips like on the Black Widow) which will make that a non-issue. With what I already knew about the Cobras in addition to what I found in that electronic version of their manual, yesterday, I think I'd spend about the same amount of money and get another NAA mini - maybe a different model like the PUG or the Black Widow - before I'd buy a Cobra. This is the link to the manual that I found: http://www.cobrapistols.net/pdfs/Products/Cobra-BigBoreDerringer-Manual.pdf

I agree. I personally do not like Glocks - no slight against their quality, etc. but I just don't like the way they fit/feel in my hands. I have a Ruger P95DC (I'm not sure they still make a decocker only model and mine is pre-rail) that I really like, though - and the darned thing is the proverbial Ruger tank. It's pretty heavy but I have actually carried it comfortably in a belt slide holster in cooler weather when clothing options allow me to more easily conceal it and the weight makes it a little easier to shoot than a lighter pistol, IMO. I also like that it is a DA/SA pistol. Mine runs clean, it runs dirty and before I learned to be more diligent in the care and maintenance of my pistols it went for three years of occasional use with no cleaning or lubing with nary a hitch nor hiccup (no, I don't treat my firearms that way anymore.) It has eaten just about any type of ammo I have fed it. The only ammo that ever gave it any problem was some that I believe was supposed to be for SMGs - had red around the primer. The primers were pretty hard so a couple of them didn't fire on the first strike but even those fired on second strike which simply required pulling the trigger, again.

I think I remember seeing some blackpowder handgun kits at Walmart back when I was a kid. In fact, unless I am mistaken, they had some full-sized revolver kits. Of course, that was when they still sold modern handguns, too. I the time when Walmart was Walmart and wasn't trying to be Kroger. I always 'fantasized' about getting one and building it back then. I still think I probably will try putting together some kind of blackpowder gun from a kit one day - maybe soon. Not sure if it will be a revolver or muzzle-loading pistol, though. Oh, and as for spell checkers, I kind of like the saying, "Spell checkers don't know shirt."

Except that those same babies are not allowed to own firearms until they reach a certain age. Aren't allowed to vote until they are 18, either. So the argument could be made that their rights under the 2A and other parts of the Constitution are not being protected, already. In other words, fine - when the kid hits 18 then he/she becomes a full citizen and at that time or any time thereafter he/she can choose to come to America with full citizenship rights with no restrictions and no red tape (except there are still some restrictions on their buying handguns, etc. - right?) If he/she is married and/or has children then his/her spouse and kids are viewed the same as if a lifelong U.S. citizen went to another country, met someone, was married and had kids. Until they are 18, however, their parents' citizenship is what counts and they can all go back to the parents' country of origin. IMO, that would actually be more in line with the way other Constitutional rights seem to work than the current, "The kid gets to stay and his illegal parents can stay, too." Another idea (and I have thought about this for a while but have seen it suggested elsewhere, too) is that the child, as a U.S. citizen, gets to stay as a ward of the state and the parents get sent home. That way, at least we are only paying government benefits to one person and not the whole famn damily. Of course, the parents are free to choose to take the kid back to their country of origin with them - and the kid is free to come back with full citizenship rights when he/she hits 18.