East_TN_Patriot

The guy was either on drugs, alcohol, or mentally ill. People don't run around naked shooting a gun otherwise.

Well, it was pretty dumb that he didn't immediately call the police to turn the firearm in, but hardly anything to fire a person over.

This is likely due to the reality that we can't effectively grow coffee in the United States and it must be imported from the coffee producing regions of the world that ranges between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. There are some websites that discuss home-growing your own coffee, but it appears that it requires a tremendous amount of effort, perfect growing conditions accomplished in a controlled environment, and a bit of luck. One site I saw said that out of 20 seeds planted only a couple actually sprouted at all; the rest rotted in the dirt. One successful person I saw grows them in a greenhouse and manages to get a few pounds of green coffee beans per year.

I tend to agree. I would like to see more viable political parties, but I suspect that the rise of the Libertarian Party would likely result in a split of the Republican party leaving both in a less desirable position. Unless there was a similar split in the Democratic Party, I'm fairly certain that the Dems would gain a lot of power. Even with the more liberal stance on social issues, I don't see many Dems leaving their party to join the Libertarians due to the focus on free-market based fiscal policy and reduction or elimination of social assistance programs. Unfortunately, the libertarians will have to change the Republican party, or grow in popularity enough to replace it completely, much like the Republicans did to the Whig Party back in the 19th century.

I'm not aware of such a law in Tennessee, but I am not a LEO here. I know about the Florida law because I was a cop there for 7 years (never charged anyone with it though).

Yeah, I'd love for a libertarian to be a viable candidate, but this isn't the year. The obsession with Ron Paul is likely to give us 4 more years of Obama. He's not a viable candidate, like it or not. Even the Rasmussen polls that is cited on Ron Paul websites show that Obama averages over an 8 point lead over RP, and I am actually pretty stunned that it's that close. At this point, Romney is the establishment candidate and there is no way for RP to get the Republican nomination.

Just thought I'd toss this out there FWIW. In Florida it is a FELONY to be in possession of a hidden handcuff key. Not sure about other states, but it's a commonly charged statute in many parts of Florida. And there is no way I'm going to pay $50 for something like that. Just put all of it in a plastic bag or Altoids tin and save about $40.

I had that happen with a factory new Colt revolver, so on never knows for sure.

I've known several cops who carried the Taurus PT-92.

Yes, and it's the immigrants who are caught in the middle of all of this. On one hand, I understand their desire to come to the US. Hell, how many of us are plotting our way out of here? However, we do have a process in place that should be simple enough to follow and enforce. We don't have it, and what we do have has not been enforced so now we have the mess we see now. At the end of the day, most of these people are decent law-abiding folks beyond their immigration status, many have been here for years, have children who were born here and know no other life, and work in our communities. The rates of criminal behavior in the immigrant community is actually lower than the native population ithe US and only equals the rates of native-born US citizens in the 2nd or 3rd generations of being in the country. Data shows that Hispanic/Latino defendants are only slightly more likely to skip out on a court date than other race/ethnic groups. In short, most of these people are simply caught up in our jacked up immigration policy in an effort to realize the American Dream. Also, never forget that these people are human beings and our Declaration of Independence is clear that rights are natural to all human beings, not just American citizens. I am as frustrated and unsure what the best course of action is to alleviate this problem as most others, but I am not willing to round people up and herd them off like cattle. That was the policy of Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia, and Jackson's Indian Removal.

I follow a similar process as the others, but also add the detail using a couple of boning tools I have. One was factory made plastic, another is buffalo horn (I think), and the third is one I made from an old toothbrush. As gregintenn mentioned, wet molding veg tan leather makes the leather stiff and hold its shape. I have heard some suggest casing the leather using a mixture of water and acrylic finish to make it even more stiff, but I never felt the need to try it.

A buddy of mine ordered some .223 ammo from them a few months ago and had no complaints with them. YMMV

Nope, it happens all the time. Now winning is a different issue since it really depends on the totality of the circumstances. When it comes to law enforcement misconduct, what other options would you have? Even if you are a criminal, you still have rights. In this case, had the police not presumably violated the woman's 4th Amendment rights, there would have been no way of the police to know she was breaking the law in the first place.

Yes, that's what the US Constitution and due process is all about. If we are willing to ignore it when it comes to situations we generally dislike, what happens when we become the targets of policy? Due process protects all of us, not the select few who have the money or power to secure the protections our laws provide. I understand the frustration, but that's exactly how our system is set up. The state is obligated to honor all due process rights for all people. If the police fail to do so, that's the price that is paid. Do we let a criminal go free? Sometimes yes, if all the evidence that was gathered was the result of a stop that was initially unlawful (except in certain unusual circumstances when it can be proven that the evidence would have been discovered through lawful means anyhow). Our system is set up on the belief that our rights are so sacred that they should be protected to the level that a guilty criminal may go free. I'm OK with that. What I'm not OK with is a law enforcement officer, agency, or prosecutor who thinks they can get away with ignoring the law or acted negligently in carrying out their duty. If we say that it's OK for the police to stop people without the legal standard of proof, then none of us are free.

I am friends with someone who is part of the group that sponsored the event where this woman spoke. After speaking to her, I found out that the reason she successfully sued was because there was evidence showing that the traffic stop that led to her arrest for no DL was the result of profiling. The law requires an officer to have probable cause of a crime or traffic violation to make a traffic stop and there was no documentation that such a situation existed when she was stopped. In other words, the lawsuit was a violation of the 4th Amendment, not for her treatment after being arrested. This is exactly the issue that the group is concerned about, and one place where I think many of us share some common ground. We live in a society of laws and these laws include due process protections for all people in the United States (not just citizens). It's not OK for the police to violate someone's rights, even if we agree with the overall outcome of the encounter. The ends don't justify illegal or unethical means. This is one case that the group is citing to justify their concern for the Knox County Sheriff adopting the 287(g) policy. There is concern that it will be used, either through accepted daily policy or understood practice, to profile people and conduct stops that are unethical at best and illegal at worst. The refusal of Sheriff J.J. Jones to even meet with the groups representative or address their concerns does nothing more than fuel the speculation of corrupt intent. Again, this is another piece of common ground I think we share. When our elected officials and law enforcement agencies refuse to be open about the policies they are implementing and how they intend to address potential abuses of power and authority, it should cause us all to stop and take notice. I may not agree with all of the points the group makes (I'm certain my friend and I disagree on many points), but I do agree that there is reason for concern here and that the Sheriff has an obligation to the community to be forthcoming and open.

I drink it for the taste and the caffeine. I also think it's a psychological thing since I really enjoy a hot cup of black coffee. I love the smell and the taste. I might try some of those just for the heck of it. I guess if the coffee supply dried up, I'd rather have a similar substitute for the psychological factor than be miserable without it. I've never been a tea drinker, but if that was around, I'd probably be as likely to switch to that as any of the coffee substitutes.

Hence the term "anchor baby."

It's easier to teach and learn the fundamentals in series than simultaneously (hence why the OP mentioned that he was talking about more advanced skills). When training a new shooter, it's tough enough to get them to practice the fundamentals of sight alignment and trigger squeeze much less trying to get them to do multiple skills simultaneously.

I happened across this a while back and thought it might be of interest to folks here. It's a brief list of coffee substitutes published in Southern newspapers during the Civil War when coffee was in short supply. I sure hope we don't ever see those days again. http://44tennessee.tripod.com/dutchman/jan0002.html

I assume that if things get so bad that we need a copy of the Constitution as a historical artifact to restore society, my phone will be useless. In fact, I generally plan on not having a phone when I put together any of my survival equipment. Phones are not water resistant, run on special batteries that need to be recharged, and work off of cell service that doesn't reach many rural areas and requires a healthy power grid to keep the network up. Also keep in mind that after 9/11, between the loss of cell towers on the World Trade Center and the millions of people flooding the network to make phone calls, cell phones were basically useless. It's a nice extra to have, but I don't put much hope in it being useful in a SHTF situation.

I tend to follow MacGyver's logic as well. I have different levels of packs that I am putting together: a pocket survival kit, a small go bag, and a larger BOB that I keep in my car most of the time. I have made my pocket kit using a GCB Mini Mess Tin. It's a bit bigger than an Altoids tin, but small enough to fit in a cargo pocket. I decided to go with this for a couple of reasons. The most obvious reason is that it can hold a few more items than the Altoids tin. I opted for a metal tin over a pouch because the tin can be used to boil water if necessary. Third, this tin has a rubber gasket that helps keep it water tight unlike an Altoids tin. I am planning to hunt down a small nylon pouch with a spring clip for it as well in case I want to just clip it to my belt, pocket, or bag. Plus, if I end up needing the tin for cooking, I can put the contents in the pouch. These are not sold in the US, but are very common in the UK. I ordered mine from this seller on eBay and got it in about a week: http://compare.ebay.com/like/350534500317?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y&cbt=y I included a Tool Logic Survival Card SVC2 in it, which is a handy little addition to any PSK. It has a small knife, a whistle, an LED light, a firesteel, tweezers, and toothpick. There is another version that has a small button compass instead of the LED, but I read some mixed reviews on the quality of the compass so I opted for the LED. The one downside to this little gem is that it is just a tad too big to fit into an Altoids tin. http://www.amazon.com/Survival-Card-Red-Translucent-Black/dp/B0018EIDEM In addition to the Survival Card, I included a signal mirror, a Streamlight 73001 Nano, about 10 feet of duct tape, 2 pieces of Write in the Rain paper, a small golf pencil, some foam ear plugs, a small Bic lighter, some water purification tablets, some cotton soaked in petroleum jelly for tinder, a pack of GI matches from an MRE, some Kevlar cord, a P38 can opener, some adhesive bandages and ointment, a CRKT Eat N Tool, a button compass, a razor blade, some heavy duty leather needles and some regular sewing needles, and few other little odds & ends as I come up with them. I figure this, along with the Victorinox knife I carry all the time would be enough to get by for a couple of days in a situation like your friend encountered. I have a several more items I include in a Maxpedition Fatboy Versapack that I usually carry while hiking including 2 SOL Emergency Bivvy sacks (one for me and one for my wife - I figure our little one can cuddle up with one of us), a Katadyn water bottle with a filter, a stainless steel cup, my firearm, an ESEE Izula with survival items on the sheath, some 550 cord (about 30 feet or so), and other odds & ends.

I was perusing some websites and videos last night and ran across a video where a fellow had included a copy of the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence in his BOB. At first I was stumped and he didn't really explain why; just pointed it out as if this was a common mainstay of everyone's BOB. The more I have thought about it, I think I kind of like the idea. If we see the EOTWAWKI, one would have the two main inspirations for our society on hand. I might include one of those little Gideon Bibles as well since maintaining hope is part of the survival process. Thoughts?

I was under the impression KC Leatherwerks was getting out of the retail business completely. Am I wrong?

Here's another one I made for my Beretta Stampede. It was the first cowboy holster I made. I made this to sell on eBay for some quick cash and ended up making about 5 or 6 more for losing bidders. I got started the same way you have.

I was considering picking up a Ruger piston AR, but saw a few comments and pics on the web of people who had experienced a lot of major wear in the buffer tube from the bolt. Seems the piston causes the bolt to cycle at an angle that was just enough to wear deep grooves in the buffer tube. I don't know if that problem is common to all piston ARs, but after seeing that, I just decided I'd stick with the DI rifle I have.