jgradyc

Yeah, that was it.   Come to think of it, you might be able to draw with one hand... but that wasn't how the guy showed me how to do it. Like I said, it snagged on the inside of my belt welt every time I tried to pull the case up to present the weapon.

If you wear an IWB holster where the tucked in shirt covers the grip, then it takes two hands... one to tug the tucked in shirt out of the way and the other to draw the weapon. That's what I meant by needing two hands.   EDITED: The crossbreed supertuck requires two hands, for example, if you wear your shirt tucked in.

I did that, but I don't want to get junk. Jewellery is so small, you can't tell a lot about it from a picture. I thought most of the jewellery on eBay looked like something you'd get as a prize out of a gumball machine.   EDITED: Not saying it is junk... it might be beautiful. I just can't tell.

Hi, a guy here...   A female friend of mine wants a necklace with a firearm pendant on it. I went to the Nashville gun show and this weekend and didn't see any jewellery.   Does anyone have a suggestion on where to find this?  Frankly, I've never seen one.   EDITED: I'd guess that a handgun pendant would also be okay.

Everyone profiles... period.   The profiling allegedly done in the GZ case was racial profiling, but I submit that it is the total of everything we see that results in profiling.   Had GZ seen someone only from the back who was not walking with purpose, looking in windows, cutting across yards, wearing a hoodie, and wearing baggy pants, he would probably have reacted the same way.   Profiling is one of those words in the English language that has become "bad," but it really isn't bad unless the profile is based on discrimination based on race, ethnicity, etc.

I can't get too upset about anyone overpaying. No one forced anyone else to buy a gun.   With almost everything else in the retail world, the value drops by 15% to 50% when you walk out the door.  If you bought a mountain bike for $2,000 three months ago, you'd be lucky to get $1,000 for it now.   I am a bit ticked off that ammo continues to be unavailable and the a$$# selling ammo at jacked up prices on armslist. I was in Walmart a week ago and they had three boxes of 22WRM. I bought one box and left the rest for someone else. All this panic buying is going to jack up the retail price of ammo permanently.

I think they're called hybrids or city bikes.... straight handlebars, upright seating position, no front or rear shocks. It's going to be hard to find a comfortable bike seat. I don't think you'd be comfortable on a road bike until you've ridden a few months. Mountain bikes with their big knobby tires are hard to ride on paved bike trails, so that leaves hybrids. A beach cruiser would probably also be okay... too slow for my preferred style of riding, but they should be fine for an easy ride on paved bike trails.

I ride about twice a week... 17 miles or so each time... but one of the rides is pretty fast. The other is merely a social ride with a few one minute pick ups.    I'm looking for a used trail bike in a small... for a 5'5" guy. So far, I've only found medium and large. :down:

Everyone I've met from TSU have been the nicest people on the planet. The students all call me sir and are exceptionally polite. I think you'll find a well-behaved crowd with someone leading the group in prayer.   Let me just remind everyone that concealed carry is banned anywhere on the grounds of TSU.

I'm pretty sure this is NOT the take away for HCP carriers, neighborhood watch, and so on. The take away is DO NOT GET INVOLVED or the race baiters will trump up charges against you, withhold evidence, and far outspend you. I know I will think three times before coming to the aid of another person from now on. Basically, this case killed the Good Samaritan... see someone acting suspicious in your neighborhood? Better ignore them, or they might jump you and you might be on trial for a 30-year sentence. In the words of defense attorney West in post-trial press conference... this case has been a travesty.

Mistakes were made by all parties...   GZ: Never lose situational awareness. Don't follow suspect into a dark walkway. Identify yourself assertively, ie: I'm neighborhood watch, what are you doing here?"   TM: Don't let getting dissed or wanting to do something to brag to your girlfriend to cause you to do something really stupid. Don't start a confrontation.   Parents: Teach kids that actions have consequences. Ground your kid when he gets suspended. TM was suspended THREE TIMES. Take away his phone. Get both of you into a counseling program.  TM had missed 53 school days and it was only February... what kind of parent lets their kid get away with this?   Teach your kids when followed by a stranger.... 1) Run away  2) get to a safe place 3) tell an adult 4) tell a police officer 5) call 911 6) run home and lock the door and call someone.   There seems to be a huge amount of discussion about TM and GZ, while disregarding the role (a lack of) parenting played in creating this tragedy.

Geraldo Rivera interviewed one mom (at the protest, I guess) and asked her what she would tell her child to do if followed by someone. She said she didn't know.... SHE DIDN'T KNOW!!!!   Geraldo seemed incredulous and tried asking another way and she just went off on a tangent about justice.   I really don't have much hope for this woman's children.   How about telling them: 1) run away 2) tell an adult 3) tell a police officer 4) call 911  5) run home, go inside and lock the door. Don't call or text your friends, get away. There are bad people in the world; don't let your ego about feeling dissed cause you to take a fist into a gun fight or a knife fight.

I also saw an interesting holster. It's attached to a cell phone case and fits inside the waist band at the 11 o'clock position. To draw, you 1) Insert right hand into pants at the zipper palm facing in until the thumb is near the belt line and pull outwards. 2) Lift up on the cell phone case with the left hand, pulling the holster up until the grip of the gun presents beside the thumb. 3) Slide right hand over to the grip and draw gun.   Pro: 1) Very comfortable, even while sitting down.         2) Reasonably quick to draw when it worked.         3) Fits inside the thigh so it doesn't print nearly as much as a front pocket holster.   Con:  1) I'm a skinny guy who wears pants my size, not a size bigger. I've never tried on an IWB holster I liked. This one would hang up when pulling the cell phone case up with my left hand. It seemed like the belt clip was hanging up on the... I don't know the word... I'll call it the welt of the belt material inside the waistband. I tried more than once and it hung up every time. There was no hook on the belt clip. It's held in place by the weight of the gun rather than clipping around the belt so I couldn't tell what it was hanging on.   Con: 2) It requires two hands to draw. I realize this is common with a lot of IWB holsters.   In short, it's a creative idea that completely conceals the handgun and it comfortable to wear. If you can draw it and you don't mind using two hands to draw, it's a decent holster.

I went to the gun show at the Nashville fairgrounds today and black rifles were available in abundance.  I'm not sure about the prices, but many were below $1,000 so I guess the draught of sporting rifles is over.   I didn't see a lot of AKs and SKSs, but there were a few there.   There seemed to be a reasonable supply of ammo as well, but I didn't check prices.   I bought a used NCStar 4x lighted scope with laser for... well... it seemed like a decent price.  Now, I'm not sure what to put it on. I may have to go back tomorrow to get a rifle.  :rofl:

776.032 Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force.— (1) A person who uses force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in using such force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force, unless the person against whom force was used is a law enforcement officer,

No, they cannot bring a successful civil suit. Florida statute 776.032. I'll post it in a minute....

I suspect that the more informed jurors have requested the evidence list to patiently show a low information juror that the evidence does NOT support a guilty conviction.   Even though the information presented to the jury clearly does not support a guilty verdict, I'm still really outraged at how much pertinent information has been withheld from this jury.  How can you say a kid's prior interest in fighting and participation in fighting is NOT pertinent to whether he may have started a fight?  <head slaps> :rant:

Oh, and I forgot to mention...   Allowing the prosecution to change the charge after the presentation by both sides has finished. This should not have been allowed. The charge of murder two OR manslaughter should have been made at the start of the trial. Otherwise, the defense has had no chance to present an argument against a new charge.

  This case has scared the cr*p out of me. Legal experts have said they have never seen in twenty years anything like this case. This trial should have never happened.   I had assumed the prosecution must have had some major evidence not publicly known in order to indict GZ. The prosecution had nothing... NOTHING except speculation as to what happened. That was evident when the prosecution rested.   What really scares me is:   1. The continuing attempts by the prosecution to distort the LAW.  For example, by strongly implying that following is illegal. That drives me nuts. Following is NOT stalking. 2. The judge disallowing significant evidence from being presented to the jury about TM's fighting, others asking TM to teach them how to fight, drug use, toxicology report, multiple suspensions, punching a bus driver, texting that he wanted to see blood by punching people in the nose, pictures of him getting ready to fight, possession of jewelry and burglary tools.

Z had a flashlight, but the batteries were dead.   My point was threefold.   1. Z was stupid to follow/look for TM in a dark area with no lights. It's too easy to get jumped. He should have stayed in the light on the street. Not saying that following was illegal... just tactically stupid. I wouldn't do it.   2. TM would have been less likely to try to sneak up on someone with a bright flashlight.  It's harder to do.   3. If, big if here, if GZ's story of hearing TM say you got a problem with me is true, bringing the light to TM's eyes would have blinded him temporarily and probably stopped the attack. No one is going to try to sucker punch someone else if they can't see them.   Anyway, the takeaway for me is own and carry a bright LED flashlight that is NOT going to be dead when you need it and think about the flashlight as a tactical device to gain the upper hand or gain a few seconds of time so you can either run or prepare to defend yourself.

What... no Sci Fi fans here? Okay, no one got this, apparently.  Lady Amalthea is the name of the unicorn in The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle. It was rated as one of the top 100 scifi books of all time.

Zimmerman was apparently quoted at one time as saying, "I had a flashlight, but it was dead." I'm just asking, but don't you think that having a working, tactical flashlight might have made a difference here?   Apparently, there were no lights in that center "dog walk" behind the townhouses and it was very dark. A decent LED Li Ion powered flashlight could have lit up the entire area. It would have been harder for someone to sneak up on you.   Plus, it could have blinded a potential attacker. My wife has inadvertently pointed her LED light at me while walking the dog for only a second from less than 20 feet away and I saw spots before my eyes.   It would be much harder for someone to jump you if you had a bright flashlight. It's also likely that a brilliant light in the eyes would have dissuaded Martin from attacking (if in fact that is what happened).   I always carry a small keychain light, but I'm thinking I'll start carrying a small tactical light when I'm out at night.

Way back in the 1970s, Montgomery, AL had a really bad crime problem. The mayor said, shoot'em.  It seemed like every week you'd hear about someone robbing a convenience store and getting shot while running away.   Crime dropped.

Named Lady Amalthea.

Hey, how about posting blog-type updates of your trip. I just sent an email to a half dozen friends and suggested we spend a weekend in GSMNP so I'd like to know more. I'd like to camp, but if the girls go, we might have to get a couple of motel rooms.