jgradyc

I wouldn't take it. You can't carry it, so the only time it could possibly be useful is in your cabin. There really isn't much tactical advantage indoors between, say, a Glock and an AR-15. In fact, there are some tactical disadvantages. Once the bad guys leave the cabin, you really can't shoot them. It's no longer self defense, so there's no advantage there.   The risk of having it stolen or seen in a traffic stop or accident is far greater than actually needing it.  Cops might understand, but they're equally likely to cuff you until they can sort out why you're carrying an AR-15 in a tourist area.   On the other hand, if TEOTWAWKI occurs while you're on vacation, you're undergunned. Take a .308 at least. :rofl:

As I type this, the witness who made one of the 911 calls in the Zimmerman case is describing the fight and the yells for help.    What should a responsible person do in that situation?  As a woman, she was probably right to call 911 and not get involved, but as a man, I'd feel responsible to DO something.   What would be the right, responsible thing to do?

Angela Corey was up for reelection in 2012, so when she was appointed special prosecutor for this case, she took the politically expedient step of indicting Zimmerman to curry favor with voters. She was reelected. She has also kept a really low profile since the case started. Probably, she doesn't want to be associated with it since it is going so bad. If the prosecution wins, she'll pop up and start doing press conferences again.

Okay, one more post and I'll quit hijacking your thread. :wave:   Home Depot sells a LED flashlight called the Defiant 3C for $24.95. It throws a beam over 500 feet. It's about the size and weight of a MagLight 3 C-cell battery light, which means its too big and too heavy for any practical application. It's way too bright to use indoors. The brightest part of the beam is also pretty narrow.

Here is a link to a Hong Kong website I trust. It shows several pressure switches. I've also bought several flashlights from them. http://www.fasttech.com/search?pressure%20switch   Over on BLF (Budget Light Forum) you can read reviews for the various LED lights. BLF is for flashlight hobbyists.    Here's a link to the batteries. http://www.fasttech.com/category/1420/batteries Most of the lights use 18650 batteries, but you can also use two CR123A batteries instead. Unfortunately, these lights are so bright that they chew through batteries in minutes. I'd suggest you stick with Sanyo, Panasonic, or Trustfire Flames (the black label with flames on them.) The labels on the Sanyo and Panasonic batteries doesn't matter. It's just shrink tubing.   For battery chargers, consider the Miller or NiteCore brands on the same sight. I would not skimp on the charger. See below.   CAUTION: As a novice, only buy protected batteries. Unprotected batteries can explode with the force of a cherry bomb if overcharged. A good charger will have overcharge protection and a protected battery will have its own overcharge protection... just in case one of the two circuits fail.

I'll try to find a link for batteries as well. These Li Ion batteries cost $8-$14 apiece, but they are rechargeable. A quality charger costs about $20.  There are a lot of counterfeit batteries on eBay and on the overseas websites. You'll want genuine Sanyo or Panasonic. A step down but still excellent are the genuine Trustfire Flames. Most everything else is junk.

Hey TankerHC, I'll post a couple of mail order sites for good, inexpensive LED flashlights. Some come with pressure switches for gun mounting. Give me a few minutes... EDITED: Here is a photo of a couple of my lights. These lights are good to about 300 feet to tell a dog from a deer. They both use 18650 Li Ion rechargeable batteries. The one on the left has a pressure switch that I have taped to the flashlight so I can use it in the Harries Technique carry. It has high, low, and strobe. I keep it in strobe and I've practiced enough at night that the strobe doesn't bother me, but it is distracting as heck when you're on the receiving end. I think it cost $21 less the cost of batteries. The one on the right does not have a memory so you have to cycle through the modes... not good for tactical use. It cost $14 and is a bit brighter because of the bigger head and better LED. I'll see if I can find them on the internet and post a link.

I suggest the OP get a better flashlight.    I have several LED flashlights powered by 18650 Li Ion rechargeable batteries. I use what I call the dog versus deer to determine what light I carry outside. Most of my lights throw enough beam to tell the difference between a dog and a deer over 300 feet away... most reach 400 feet and the big one reaches nearly 600 feet.

Found this as a good lesson for parents. Monitor your child's social media activity for warning signals.   www.Safetyweb.com will monitor your child's online activity and texts for "flag words," what numbers they are calling/texting, texting in the middle of the night, texting when they should be in class, etc.  It does more as well. Cost is $100/year.   Having seen TM's tweets online, the red flags should have been flying at high mast.

Since the prosecution has rested its case, most everyone has made up their mind on guilt, so let's turn to the lessons we (and everyone, frankly) should learn from this tragedy... from the different perspectives. VERY IMPORTANT: It's not necessary to KNOW what happened to learn something from what MIGHT have happened. Each side of this case has important lessons learned.   GZ: Never lose situational awareness. GZ: Never put yourself in vulnerable position when the police are on their way. GZ: Be prepared to be authoritative... and quickly.  "You got a problem with me?"   "I'm neighborbood watch captain; what are you doing here?" GZ: Do not do anything illegal when watching suspicious persons. (Not saying he did. It's just a good take away lesson for everyone if he did.)   TM: If a child is chased by an unknown person at night, get to a safe place. Find an adult or police. Call the police. Call a parent. For goodness sake, don't get distracted by talking to another teenager on the phone. TM: Never confront an unknown, suspicious person. You might be carrying fists into a gun fight. TM: As a kid, never get into an altercation with an adult. The authorities are going to believe the adult.   S. Fulton: Parents, for goodness sakes, give your kids some tough love if they get suspended. Teach your kids that actions have consequences. Set a curfew. Take away the phone for a week. Suspend phone service. Suspend internet service. It took a 5-minute google search to come up with these ideas, so there's probably better actions, but this is a start. S. Fulton: If your kid is doing something wrong, monitor their texts, tweets, emails, and facebook to see what the kid is up to.   I'm sure there are a lot more lessons we can learn from this. What are your thoughts?

It's a circuit judge with the tactical stock. but it's been photoshopped... by me... to cut off part of the buttstock. Here's what it really looks like. I have this gun with a small laser on the rail in front.

Geesh, the trial is in recess for less than 24 hours and with no trial going on now we're bickering over a book! Legal Insurrection is the best source of news about the trial on the entire internet, in my opinion. I've tried CNN and Fox, but they seem to only hit the emotional stuff and skip a lot of the really important details. Thanks, Andrew. Everyone else, take a deep breath. Celebrate the 4th of July with something like this. :stunned: :stunned:

I wonder if the MEs statement when the jury was out that TMs THC levels could have affected him... and the judge's ruling that this could not be introduced as evidence... could be grounds for appeal or mistrial if Z is convicted. Although I doubt he will be convicted.

NEVER lose situational awareness in the minutes after you think an incident is over. NEVER put yourself in a situation like GZ did, walking down a dark dog walk behind buildings in the dark.

I'm not a knife guy, but since you'll have your knife back in a few weeks, you might consider the Kershaw 1920 multitool. It's my carry around the house because I'm always needing a screwdriver. It opens one handed with a thumb stud and wrist flick. I have the model with the black blade. It looks a little better than the stainless look in this picture, in my opinion. The blade is pretty good... not great... but excellent for a $20 knife. The blade is 8Cr13Mov.

I missed this.  I'd think the defense would call another expert to testify to get this in front of the jury. It would discredit the ME.   Oh, and nice avatar!

I don't OC. I recall reading a tactical book... can't remember which one... that promoted being gray. In this case, gray meant don't stand out. Don't draw attention to yourself with dress or mannerism. OC definitely draws attention to yourself.   OC means losing the tactical advantage of surprise. OC means that if a bad guy starts shooting, you'll be shot first.   Sometimes, though, I've stopped to gas up late at night and noticed people eyeing me. I've casually uncovered my OWB holster so it was clearly visible. I've done that once is a supermarket parking lot as well and the guy suddenly swerved away.   Now, if anyone wants to OC, I'm fine with it, but it's not for me.... color me gray.

Regardless of how this trial works out, this mom will have to live with her actions that contributed to this tragedy.   TM had been suspended 3 times. Did she ground him? Take away his phone and computer? Did she go to the school and talk to the principal? Did she even know that they found jewelry and buglary tools in his locker? Wouldn't a responsible parent take some pretty strict steps then to show TM that his actions have consequences?   Did she know that TM had missed 53 days of school... 53 days!?  What would a responsible parent do if their child had missed 53 days of school?   The mom failed TM. The dad failed TM. The school failed TM by not teaching him that actions have consequences. What's really sad is that lots of other kids are being ignored the same way... and that will lead to disaster for a lot of them.

I've watched most of the trial live online or on tape.   So far, only the prosecution has presented its case. All the defense has done is cross-examined, yet the testimony overwhelmingly supports Zimmerman's position.   What should be worrisome for us with HCP permits is that the prosecution is almost solely basing its questioning on emotional reactions and in many cases, completely distorting the law. For example, the prosecution attempted to portray carry with a round in the chamber as somehow supporting the claim of second degree murder. Of course, some jurists wouldn't know one way or the other, so this is really deceptive.   Someone with a law background help me out here. Assume I'm on a jury. When the prosecution suggests that the law reads one way and the defense suggests its something else, how can a jurist find out what the law really is? Is it in their jurors' notebooks?

I've had three head injuries in my life. One required emergency treatment. One left me with headaches and dizziness for weeks. The other left me briefly unconscious. Not one of these three caused injuries as visible as those on Zimmerman's head. Only one of these even bled.   This medical "expert" is a friend of the DA, lives in Jacksonville like the DA, and never saw Zimmerman's injury in anything other than pictures.    Her testimony smacks of shopping around to get the answer the DA wanted. Regardless, there is NO requirement that Zimmerman suffer a life-threatening injury in order to justifiably claim that he used deadly force be cause he reasonably believed it to be necessary to PREVENT great bodily harm.    Florida law does not requite that there be an injury. It requires only a reasonable belief that such an injury MIGHT occur without the application of deadly force.

I went through Fort Benning jump school in the summer of... let me think... 1969 or maybe 1968. We had a guy in our class who had never flown before. By the end of class, he had flown 5 times in a plane, but never landed in one. :rofl:

Is this Plaxico Burris' gun?

Holy cow! This is the most stunning testimony yet.   Chief Investigative Office Chris Serino interviewed GZ several times. Several times in several ways, O' Mara asked if Zimmerman was ever evasive. Serino: No   Finally, Serino conducted a challenge interview. You can hear about it beginning at 29 minutes in this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJBJild06VU Serino said there was a good chance that TM's phone had videotaped this entire incident. (He was bluffing.) He told Z things would go very bad for him if that video showed something different from what he said. O' Mara: What did Z say? Serino: He said, Thank God, I was hoping someone would videotape it. O' Mara: What would that indicate: Serino: Either telling the truth or pathological liar. O' Mara: Any evidence in any of your interviews that he was a pathological liar? Serino: No O' Mara: Think he was telling the truth? Serino: Yes Judge: Let's recess for the day.

Thanks, it never occurred to me that eggs could grow in size. I wonder how big they are when first laid.

Okay, apparently this is a five lined common southeastern skink. Their eggs absorb moisture from the soil and continue to grow in size after they are laid. Amazing that a creature this small could have eggs that are larger in diameter than her body.