East_TN_Patriot

In American politics, incrementalism is the rule of the day. Sometimes it is used to erode our rights and other times it is used to get them back. Most of us would love to see a massive legislative effort to reinforce our Second Amendment rights, just as others would love to see an equally massive legislative effort to completely do away with them. Neither is likely to happen. Small battles lead to small victories and those small victories add up to win the war.

Well done, sir! Go big or go home I always say! :hat:

I always carry with one in the chamber and the safety off if the firearm is so equipped, just like I did when I was in law enforcement. Just like Hoot says: http://youtu.be/bTalnzcO0xk       In all seriousness, I personally do not want to risk being caught with an unchambered firearm when I only have seconds to react.  If one does choose to carry with the weapon unchambered, then they need to practice very religiously with racking the slide before firing.  If you are one of those people who doesn't chamber a round, but doesn't practice chambering a round before every single string of fire - just like drawing from the holster and doing reloads - you are most certainly doomed to pull the trigger on an empty chamber should you need the weapon in a self-defense situation.  In my opinion, if one is that concerned about the safety of keeping a firearm around, they should really re-think their mode of carry and/or storage and/or proficiency.  

I too have learned something.  Glad you weren't more seriously injured. I've been planning to get a mat for my reloading bench anyhow, so I will take a look at one of those ESD mats.  I don't load black powder, but it sure couldn't hurt things plus I do some of my own computer repairs.  Unless they are outrageously expensive, it will probably be worth the cost.

It's different because the man had already been arrested, taken to jail, a complaint affidavit had been written, his name written into the jail log, and the sheriff showed up with the arrested man's brother who called him in the middle of the night.  You don't think that's evidence of inappropriate use of his authority?  Question, how many people do you think have the immediate ability to call the county sheriff in the middle of the night and have enough sway to get him out in the middle of the night to take a trip to the jail and unarrest a convicted felon who was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon?  

I understand your point about having all the facts, but the fact remains that the arresting deputy had already made an arrest, transported Mr. Parrish, completed a complaint affidavit, and Mr. Parrish's property had been collected and his info entered into the logbook.  That is booking unless there is some sort of definition of "booking" specified in Florida law that I am not aware of.  I have asked a local reporter to see if the sheriff had issued a memo or general order telling his officers to not enforce firearms laws, issued one following the incident, or if anyone else had been arrested and charged for a similar crime under his tenure that did not result in preferential treatment.   I am all for officer discretion under most circumstances, but that way of exercising discretion - if it was actually discretion - is simply inappropriate.  He should have gone to the judge or prosecutor and said his office no longer wanted to pursue charges on that case.  When I wanted to dismiss a traffic citation or a criminal charge (that only happened once) I had to go through those steps and submit paperwork explaining why I chose to dismiss the charges.  The law is supposed to be applied equally without personal favor and I really don't believe for a second this was simply a Second Amendment issue.  Again, do you also respect a law enforcement official's decision to NOT enforce immigration laws or drug laws?   This is an issue that is very simple in my book.  If you or I, or an ethnic or racial minority, had been caught under similar circumstances, would we have gotten the same treatment? I am confident the answer to that question is no.   In addition to trying to obtain information through a local news reporter I have started the process to obtain information under Florida's "Sunshine Law".

I have a 16G iPad 2.  The difference between the iPad 2 and iPad 3 is mostly in the screen.  At the time, I wasn't so much concerned with that so I went with the iPad 2.  At the time, I also didn't think I would use it nearly as much as I do, which is pretty much all the time when I am not sitting in front of a laptop or desktop for heavy computing tasks like dedicated word processing or graphic design.  As a result, I wish I had gotten the iPad 3 with at least 32G of memory.  I personally don't see much need for the cell wireless feature since I am usually places with free wi-fi hotspots and I have a hotspot feature on my cell phone.  I briefly considered the iPad mini, but I quickly decided I preferred the larger screen size of the regular iPad.  I do a lot of reading and annotating of PDF files on the iPad, so the larger screen was a big plus. I can't emphasize enough how helpful it is to get a Dropbox account.  It's free and it's great to have.  Here is a link to get one of their free accounts.  It's pretty easy to get additional storage tacked on for free, plus if you are a heavy user you can purchase 100G of storage for a modest annual rate.  I store a lot of stuff on my Dropbox account and have not needed to purchase an upgrade (yet).  There are a couple of other apps that I would suggest if you find that you need them.  First is Goodnotes.  It's a fantastic reader/annotation application and the developer is very responsive to customer input.  I suggested he add a touch to change pages feature similar to an e-reader and it was added with an update shortly thereafter (I would guess that others had suggested it as well).  Evernote is a good way to organize projects.  You can download a Kindle and Nook e-reader app so you can read e-books just like one of their proprietary tablets.  I bought Pages and Keynote, but find that I don't use them much since their functionality is very basic and it's a bit clunky to use on a tablet.   One accessory I highly recommend is a cover, especially the Apple Smart Cover since it attaches to the iPad with magnets and turns the iPad on and off when you open/close the cover.  I use that in conjunction with a leather sleeve I made (I do leather work as a side business so I have that luxury) and it keeps the iPad safe and sound.  I dropped an iPad once when I forgot to put it in the sleeve and quickly found that the device is not forgiving of being dropped on a hard surface.  Should you find that to be the case, you can get a replacement for $200 at the Apple store (not chump change, but much cheaper than buying a new one).  They don't repair broken iPads, but just change them out for a new/refurbished one.   One last thing.  It is rumored that a new iPad will be released in September or maybe October.  It's supposed to have a faster processor and be lighter/thinner.  If you want the latest and greatest, you'll probably want to hold off for a few weeks.  I am strongly considering making an upgrade at that point.

From the link:   How long? Apparently for at least 8 months now.  Isn't it funny how InfoWars is the only place that gets these scoops of info from random anonymous people?  If I were a high level whistleblower, I know that Alex Jones is the first person I would contact.  "Wikileaks, schmikileaks. CNN?  FoxNews? NBC?  BBC?  How about the United Nations? Or maybe a big organization like the International Red Cross, Amnesty International, or the ACLU?  Nah, I'll call the goofy guy who runs an internet conspiracy site.  That'll give me lots more credibility!"   I know this should go without saying, but where is the transcript of this alleged email?  I did a little research and it seems there really is a contractor called Britam Defence and their files were hacked in January 2013.  This site alleges to have looked at the hacked data and states there is one email related to Syria with the following text:   I really wish more people would exercise some level of critical thinking instead of parroting the BS spouted by some alternative media hack that makes a living off the sheep who refuse to question what they are told, especially when that information confirms what they already wanted to believe in the first place.  

You do realize it is quite easy for others to say that about the United States and our ancestors from Europe, right?

This is basically my position.  I am generally opposed to intervening in other nations' internal problems, however I do think the GLOBAL community has a duty to intervene in cases of especially egregious aggression that violates international law (like the use of chemical weapons against a civilian population).  I think other nations need to pony up more of their resources instead of always looking to the United States.    

That's good to hear since I know you and trust your statement.  Perhaps I should just buy a tub and try it out.  I wasted more money on less interesting stuff.

I'm just not convinced that Frog Lube is any better than anything else out there.  I get the logic behind it, but I don't see how this stuff would be any better at penetrating the pores of the metal than any other lubricant.  I thought about making the switch, but I don't like the idea of being forced to use only that (a clever marking scheme in my opinion).  I'll stick to my petroleum based lubricants.  I clean with Hoppe's, use Break Free CLP, and Tetra Gun grease.

This is a fairly old story.  This happened near my old neck of the woods in Florida and I still have several friends down in that area including a good friend who is connected to law enforcement in Liberty County.  I've been told that there was no policy telling officers not to enforce the concealed weapon statute, that the Sheriff was good friends with the brother of the arrested individual, the guy arrested was a convicted felon, and the sheriff tried to fire the deputy for cooperating with the FDLE investigation.  Sheriff Finch arrived at the jail with Parrish's brother, told the booking officer to release Parrish, took the booking file, and struck Parrish's name from the booking log.  This claim that Parrish was not booked in is an important point due to the way the law is written and it sounds to me as if Parrish had been booked in.  The arresting officer submitted a charging document, a booking sheet had been filled out, his name was added to the booking log, his property had been collected, and he had been placed in a cell.  That is the booking process. I am actually in contact with a local newspaper reporter whom I've asked for more info, but at this point, I am convinced this is nothing more than a case of "good ol' boy" corruption and the sheriff is hiding behind the Second Amendment claim to shed heat.   I just can't help but wonder how many folks who see no problem with an elected sheriff choosing to ignore a law dealing with the Second Amendment are the same ones who will raise hell if an elected official chooses to ignore immigration or drug laws on similar ethical/constitutional grounds.

As the others have said, running a license plate only returns information about the vehicle the tag is registered to.  If the tag number has been entered as a stolen tag, stolen vehicle, etc., that info will also show up.  The officer will then run the DL of the driver and perhaps occupants.  I'm not sure how Tennessee is set up, but in Florida, you had to specifically query for a carry permit.  It's been almost a decade since I worked in Kentucky, but I'm pretty certain the carry permit info automatically comes up with a DL check.  The driving record and license class/status should come up automatically.  Wanted status would only come up if your name was specifically entered as wanted and most warrants are not entered into the state or federal databases (there's just too many of them).   Although I am empathetic to your complaints, a "California stop" is technically a violation.  I used to stop people for it all the time when I worked night shift because drunk drivers regularly roll through stop signs.  

Where do you get the idea that these people are hippies or nudists?  Have you actually watched the show?  The point is to place two survivalists (many claim to be former military special forces and/or survival instructors) into a survival situation where they are completely vulnerable and lacking the most basic resources available to us.  They come to the location fully dressed and remove their clothes right before setting out on their experience.  I've done some reading about the show and it seems the two people are pretty much on their own for 21 days except for the film crew and some emergency medical personnel who are on hand to deal with injuries and illness (like the guy who got sick after drinking untreated water).  I have been surprised at how poorly these people are doing.  Perhaps I am extremely delusional about my abilities to survive, but I am always baffled about how these folks don't put much focus on basics like water, shelter, and fire immediately upon starting out.  They seem to wait until they are worn out before they put much effort into these basics.  I've not seen many try to trap or forage for food to any significant extent.  I am also surprised how so few have tried to craft footwear or clothing (perhaps they are discouraged from doing so by the producers).  I think it's an interesting show.  It's hard to lose 20 pounds in three weeks by faking it.

My super compact pistol is a Seecamp in .32ACP, but they also make one in .380.  My primary carry is a Walther PPS 9mm, which is basically the size of a Glock 26 except super thin.  An Airweight Smith & Wesson revolver would be a good option as well.

    I had the unfortunate opportunity to stop at a Wal Mart in Destin, Florida a couple of days ago. I figured since I had to darken the door of that business that I might as well see if they had ammo.  Big shocker, the shelves were bare.  I asked the sporting goods manager who happened to be there if they had any under the counter.  He gave me exactly the same story I've gotten elsewhere.  They don't know when ammo will be delivered, but when it arrives, there are over a dozen people waiting in line to buy every single box the moment it hits the sales floor.  It's the same people every time.   That's the story I've gotten from Academy, Gander, and local gun shops as well.  There continues to be a small number of people who are creating an artificial shortage and it's not just in Tennessee.

Even that website says this has no chance of getting passed.  It's good to pay attention, but no point in getting riled up over it at this point.

Another Magpul BUIS user.  I have the rear on both of my AR rifles and the front sight on my mid-length upper.  I was very pleased with the Magpul when I used it in conjunction with the A2 front sight on the carbine upper.  I run an Aimpoint PRO on one and I have an EoTech on the way for the other rifle.  Both of those rifles have 16 inch barrels, so I don't see a need for an actual scope.  If I ever get to finish my varmint upper, I'll likely use one of the Nikon 223 scopes to start with and change it should I find I need something better.

I spent 8 years in Florida and you quickly learn to watch for fire ants. One time we were working a hit & run traffic crash. The car rolled over and the driver was unconscious for a few minutes. The car landed on a huge fire ant mound and the left side of his face laid on that mound (we could see what looked like a face and ear impression in the dirt). When we found the guy later, the entire side of his face was covered with dozens of ant bites and was very swollen. Another time a fellow officer stopped a guy and had him handcuffed on the shoulder of the road for DUI. After a couple of minutes,he started jumping around and said, "Sir,I know you said not to move, but ants are biting my nuts!" Those little buggers are nasty!

And the million dollar question is: do you really blacksmith while barefoot?  I always preferred wearing my steel-toed flip-flops.

If it's only one rifle and it needs to be a bolt rifle, then I too would vote for a Remington 700 in .308 caliber.  For your budget, you can get a very nice basic rifle and a suitable scope.  Aftermarket parts are easy to come by and offer a wide variety of options.  The models with the hinged floor plate are more desirable in my opinion because they make it easier to unload and get into the rifle to clean.  You can also buy a conversion kit that allows the use of detachable box mags should you ever choose to go that route.  The Ruger Scout was mentioned, and there is something to be said about it.  It's a rifle I'd like to add to my collection, but I'm not sure if I'm sold on it as a good all-around rifle for your needs.  The short barrel makes it handy, but would definitely increase the recoil.  I have also heard mixed reviews on the scout scope option.  You need a specific long-relief scope and if it's a TEOTWAWKI situation, I'd like the option to grab any scope available if my original optic was damaged.  Again, I've never actually owned or shot one, so YMMV, but those are my thoughts from handling the rifle and reading about it.  Perhaps I can buy one in the near future and give a first hand account.  :dirty:

IIRC the funding comes through a special grant fund at the USDOJ and departments who sponsor an event also get support, usually food donations and the like, from local businesses.

Some family fun. You get desensitized to the idea of every city in America having an armed military style assault team ready to kick in your door, shoot your dogs, and hold your family at gun point over nothing. Also, unless things have changed, these NNO events are paid for through federal grant dollars.

  I was originally going to pass on responding, but I just can't.  The logic you are demonstrating here is irresponsible and illegal.  Are you *seriously* arguing that you can run people over on the highway because they have infringed on your "liberty" to drive on the street and make you "uncomfortable"?  Really?  Is that your standard for deciding whether to kill another human being - a fellow American?  I guess in your mind if it's someone whose skin color or political leanings are different than yours, what's the problem, right?