Dale Starr

Interesting comparison of two cities

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Interesting comparison – – Coupled with the only possible reason / conclusion for the pronounced differences between the two cities – – It’s quite obvious – – Don’t you think?

 

 

 

Stats can mean different things to different people….

 

 

A Tale of Two Cities

Chicago, IL Houston, TX
Population 2.7 million 2.15 million
Median HH Income $38,600 $37,000
% African-American 38.9% 24%
% Hispanic 29.9% 44%
% Asian 5.5% 6%
% Non-Hispanic White 28.7% 26%

Pretty similar until you compare the following:

Chicago, IL Houston, TX
Concealed Carrygun law no yes
# of Gun Stores 0 184 – Dedicated gun stores plus 1500 – legal places to buy guns- Walmart, K-mart, sporting goods, etc.
Homicides, 2012 1,806 207
Homicides per 100K 38.4 9.6
Avg. January high temperature  (F) 31 63

Conclusion:

Cold weather from global warming causes murder. 🙂

 

Note: In the future some of these stats may change because as all you knowledgeable gun people know during 2014 Illinois was forced by the courts to allow Concealed Carry in the state. So it may help the crime rates in the future there. We can only hope, but based on these Stats there is nothing really going to help them until this whole Global Warming cold weather thing goes away;-)

Take care and Stay Safe

S3

 

Dale Starr

Fun Days

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Good Morning World

Well yesterday was a blast (ok a lot of them;-) Went to the range to try out my new toys, a Remington model 700 in 30-.06 and a Marlin model 336 in of course 30-30. Of course took the family and a great friend along and we all got to play with them as well as our trusty Marlin model 60 in 22 L.R. (you know the kind that is really hard to find ammo for now days:-). But thanks to Cabello’s my 22 stock pile is being refreshed again after months of not being able to get any. So things are improving in a lot of areas in the Gun world finally.

Both rifles shoot very well the Remington looks like it will be a 1 MOA shooter once I get used to it. It probably is already and it is the trigger puller who is throwing it off at least for now.  Going to try it out at the 200 yard range next time just to see how well it reaches out that far and then beyond. Well who knows, what lies in the great beyond anyway. The Marlin seemed to shoot high for us, but after thinking about it last night I think the problem is probably not being used to the big old Buckhorn sight and probably not having the correct sight picture for it. Have to test my theory next week just to be sure. Ok just another reason to go play but hey that’s what being a gun guy is all about anyway.

Today I get to do my other favorite type of shooting and give my Canon camera a good workout. I will be photographing the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus Christmas concert today. The Cool Side of Yule. This is always a great concert and this will be the first year I get to shoot it, which to me even beats just listening too it. Which is awesome but to be even a small part of that incredible group is an honor and always a ton of fun for a photographer.

So truly fun days for sure.

Take care out there and stay safe this Holiday Season.

S3

 

another

Dale Starr

Pending legislation in Florida for Concealed Carry on College Campuses

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Florida Carry Action Alert
In light of the recent FSU shootings and sexual attacks at UF, Rep. Greg Steube and Sen. Greg Evers have filed companion campus carry bills.

Frankly, we have had enough. Recently, a deranged former student entered the Strozier Library on the campus of Florida State University and opened fire. Thankfully there were no fatalities however one student was left permanently paralyzed and a member of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus was shot in the leg; another student was grazed by a bullet, a fourth was saved by a book that stopped the bullet meant for him, and the fifth student was narrowly missed by a round that hit the student’s bicycle.

What has not been generally reported is that a combat veteran had an opportunity to immediately stop the shooter. The veteran, who wishes to avoid publicity, served two tours in Afghanistan as an Army Infantryman and qualified expert in rifle and pistol earlier this year. He had a clear shot at the attacker, but because of the prohibition on campus carry, was not allowed to carry on campus.
Of course, that law didn’t stop the shooter.

Recognizing that “gun-free zones” only disarm those who would obey the law, Rep. Steube and Sen. Evers have sponsored companion bills to remove college campuses from the prohibited places list for Concealed Carry Licensees.

In an attempt at fear-mongering, opponents raise the spectre of drunk children flailing guns about carelessly and law enforcement being inept at determining who is the bad guy and who isn’t. Of course, this is pure propaganda being fed to the ignorant.
Except for trained current military and honorably discharged veterans, a licensee must be 21 years of age, all (even military) must also undergo state and federal background checks, provide proof of firearm safety training, and pay a licensing tax.

These are the very same adults who can legally carry practically anywhere else in the state. Statistically, they are the most law-abiding demographic that data is available for, even more so than law enforcement officers. Department of Agriculture statistics show that of the over 2.3 million licenses issued since 1987, only 168 have been revoked for a crime involving a firearm. That comes out to about 0.006%.

College campuses are no stranger to violent crime. This year UF suffered a string of attempted sexual assaults, the attacker has not been found. USDOE statistics tell us that year after year our defenseless students become victims of violent crime 5 days a week on average on Florida college or university campuses.

Florida Carry will do everything within our power to protect and expand the right of self-defense. College Campuses are no strangers to violent crime, Campus Carry is needed now.
Please help pass Florida House Bill 4005 and Senate Bill 176 by calling, emailing, and/or writing your senator or representative and expressing your support for self-defense on campus. Too many lives have been lost because of the illusion of safety and security associated with “gun-free zones”.

Dale Starr

Trunk or Treat

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28 October 2014

This past Sunday evening my church held our annual “Trunk or Treat” for the church kids and it is open to the community as well.  We had a great turn out.  I went through around 500 pieces of candy that night!  As usual, I also had my camera in hand and shot over 200 photos during the course of the evening for the church.  Being a photographer makes one a people watcher and Halloween always brings out the interesting folks even to a church sponsored event.

Watching the kids in their costumes is always a treat in itself.  And there were some parents who really got into the sprint as well.  Overall I think it was a good night for everyone!

Yesterday, while editing my photos, it dawned on me that there were a lot of super heroes in the mix this year.  Captain America and The Flash, were the top two among the boys.  The girls were represented by Princess Leia of Star Wars fame.  (Yes there were far more girls dressed as Princess Elsa from “Frozen” then Princess Leia.  And Elsa is the heroine in that tale as well.  But Elsa is not the warrior princess that Leia is in Star Wars)  So, over all it was definitely a night for the good guys and gals to win it and save their world.

This morning while thinking about Trunk or Treat and the kid’s costumes I got to wondering, “is it all Hollywood marketing and hype, or is there a deeper underlying reason for the reassurance of Super Hero’s today”?  Because, if you look into the history of the comic book super hero many of them were born, so to speak, during our country’s times of need.  Captain America and Sgt. Rock were two such super heroes of World War II.  Superman and Batman both have served our country since the depression, and through World War II, Korea, the Cold War, Viet Nam, and they are still fighting crime today.  So you have to wonder, “is the renewed popularity in super heroes really deep down, more about our country needing saved from today’s evil villains (or as they are called to today Terrorists)”?

If you stop and think about it, the sad truth is that every child in American today under the age of 13 has lived their whole life in a country at war!  Granted, at first glance, the good old U.S.A. does not appear to suffer much here on the home front from the war.  But I don’t think there is a town or community in this country today that has not felt the sting of this war in one way or another.  We have been sending our young men and women off to fight the “War on Terror” for over a decade already, with no end in sight.  Tens of thousands have bravely answered the call.  So, in fact, we are surrounded by heroes every day and don’t even know it!  We don’t recognize them because they don’t wear a super hero costume.  But, instead, they proudly wear the uniforms of our Country’s finest: the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and the Coast Guard.  Or, there are those who have hung up their uniforms and just quietly bear the scars of war.  Just going about their normal lives with very few people really knowing what they have done and sacrificed for their country.  We must also pay to tribute to all those who gave their lives for us here at home.

So, after this week’s Halloween fun and festivities, please remember the next holiday is Veteran’s Day on November 11th.  Take time that day to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served our country so that we can enjoy the little things in life. . .  like Halloween.

To use one of my old favorite bumper sticker phases “If you are reading this thank a Teacher, if you are reading this in English Thank a Veteran.”

To the brave men and women warriors of today, and the Veterans of the Global War on Terror, this old Army Paratrooper salutes you.

God Bless American

S3

Dale Starr

Brownells Glock 42 Giveaway | World’s Largest Supplier of Firearm Accessories, Gun Parts and Gunsmithing Tools – BROWNELLS

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Good Morning All

If you are feeling lucky follow the link below to register to win a new Glock 42 from Brownell’s and if I were you I would order there catalog as they have a lot of great stuff.

take care out there

S3

Brownells Glock 42 Giveaway | World’s Largest Supplier of Firearm Accessories, Gun Parts and Gunsmithing Tools – BROWNELLS.

Dale Starr

Magazine or Catalog?

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13 October 2014

Good morning out there in Cyberspace

Over the weekend I picked up my first issue of “Recoil” magazine which bills itself as a “Gun Lifestyle” periodical. It was Issue #15 the Nov/Dec. 2014 edition, currently on sale now if you want to check it out.  I have seen it on the magazine racks around town for a while and as I had $9.00 worth of coupons to use up at my local pharmacy, I picked one up.  By the way the cover price is $8.99 so I only paid sales tax for it.  For that price I got my money’s worth.

I got it home and quickly flipped through it.  And then the confusion set in.  My first impression was did I buy a magazine or a catalog?

So, later I sat down to really look through it and read some of the articles.  On page 14, I found what normally would be called the Editor’s page and read it as I usually do to get a general feeling for the magazine.  Within this editorial write up was the following statement: “The $9.00 you fork over every time you purchase RECOIL enables us to do that, as it means we’re not dependent on advertising revenue to keep the lights on – in fact, we deliberately keep our ad rates low, so that companies have less influence than our individual readership.”  Now that sounds really good to me, as many magazines seem to always talk about the good things when they do a product review and skip the not so good ones.

But if this is the case, why did I think this is a catalog and not a magazine?   So I thought I would dig a little deeper and investigate.  What I found is very interesting.

  1. The magazine shows it has 168 pages, plus a “Special advertising section” which adds another 10 pages inside the mag covers. By the way, 3 out of the 4 pages of the actual cover pages also have advertising on them.
  2. The front cover states that there are 2 buyers guides in this issue.
    1. First is on “Body armor” and it covers 11 pages.
    2. Second is on “Corrosion-Resistant Knives” which is 3 pages long.
    3. Total pages of official “Buyers guides” is 14 pages or 8.3% of the total magazine.
  3. When I counted the pages with ads on them it came to 79 pages or 47.03% of the magazines total pages.
  4. Now I am no math wiz in any way shape or form so my math could be off a percentage point or so. But when I add this up it comes to 168 pages plus the special add section of 10 pages plus 4 cover pages totaling 182 pages in total.
  5. Of the 182 total pages, 133 of them have some type of advertising on them! That equals  73.08 % of this magazine contains ads of some type.

 

So good readers, I ask you, would you call this a magazine or a catalog?  Please let me know what you think about this.  FYI, I am going to send this as a letter to the editor just to see what they have to say about it.  I will let you know if I get a response back.

Now for the record, I am not saying it is a bad magazine the few articles it does contain are well written and the photography is very good.  But I really wonder about their advertising policy and how it ties into the statement the editor made about not depending upon advertising revenues.  Because when you look at the numbers RECOIL is very advertising heavy for a magazine.  So I will buy at least one more, just to see if they are all this advertising heavy or not?  If they are, I probably won’t buy any more.  Because when I want a catalog, I will just get one.
Thanks all.  Take care out there in Cyberspace and here in the mean streets of reality.

 

another

 

S3.

Dale Starr

Things that make you go “Why now?”

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Good Afternoon out there in Cyberspace

Here in reality I just got my copy of Handguns magazine for December/January and yesterday I got my Guns magazine for December.  Now maybe the publishing world uses a different calendar then the rest of the world, like Mayan maybe?  But anyway, mine says it is October.  So my pondering question of the day is, why pre-date the magazines by 2 or 3 months?  I am sure somewhere, way back when, some supposed marketing genius came up with the bright idea of moving the dates forward so they would appear to be the competition. ,Ok, maybe that worked for awhile.  But I really don’t think anyone was fooled for long, at best.  So the question of the day is why are they still doing it?  In this day and age of electronic publishing and the web there does not appear to be any logical reason to continue this misguided old fashioned idea.  So why continue?

Now to go one step further along this rabbit trail, let’s ask the same question of automobile manufacturers?  Why bring out next year’s model 3 to 6 months beforehand?  For that matter, why do they have to change the cars and trucks every single year?  Why not do it every other year?  That way the designers could work on real improvements.  Like improving the reliability of the component parts?  Or increasing the overall efficiency of the vehicle?  Not to mention in the second year of production of any given model they should be able to reduce the production costs and then cut the retail price to John Q Car Buying Public.  WOW!  I know!  Radical ideas that make sense to regular working class people.  So why can’t the big wigs in the auto industry in Detroit and Tokyo figure it out?

I could go on and on asking “Why?” about these types of things.  Like Christmas trees in stores before Halloween? etc. etc.

To make you wonder even more, this type of moving the calendar/clock forward does not cross all industries.  For example, the shooting world of the firearms industry and supporting accessories don’t normally bring their new products to market until the SHOT show.  Held each year in January.  So a new 2014 model comes out in 2014.  What a really practical concept, when you stop and think about it.  It simply makes sense!

So why are publishers and car makers trying to be different?  There are more guns and shooting accessories sold each year than cars?   Maybe they should learn something from our industry.

Just food for thought for today 😉

Take care and be safe out there in Cyberspace . . .  and especially in this crazy world we call reality.

S3

another

Dale Starr

The Top 5 Combat Rifles of All-Time an article from Cheaper Than Dirt’s blog. But what would General Patton say today?

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Well a good Monday morning to you all out there in Cyberspace.

Ok, ok, I know good and Monday morning makes as much sense as Military Intelligence and Politically Correct do. But hey what can I say, it got your blood flowing just thinking about it and that is the point when I am about to ask you a philosophical question so early in the week.

The link to the article below from this week’s Cheaper than Dirt’s news letter leads you to an interesting article about what the author beliefs are the “Top 5 Combat Rifles of All-Time”.   Dave Dolbee published on October 4, 2014 in Firearms and reprinted  in The Shooters Log ..

While it is a good article it got me thinking and from thinking to questioning. The toughest question that I came up with is, what would General George Patton have to say about this list and it’s choices if he was still alive today. General Patton is often quoted for saying “The M-1 Garand rifle is the best battle rifle ever made.” Well that was then at the peak of WWII and this is now, 2014 and the choices are truly many.

Would the General agree with the article’s author that the AK-47 is the world’s best combat rifle? Or would he opt for another approach? As a Tanker the General loved heavy duty firepower, so I don’t think he would have chosen a M-16 with it’s 5.56 (223) caliber because the caliber does have some limitations in both sheer knock down power and in long range engagement capabilities. Which are true enough as the history of the last 50 years of it’s use has shown. That is why today the M-14 a derivative of the M-1 is still in use with our troops in Afghanistan today. Because it can reach out and knock them down at 500 yards plus. But the M-14 like it’s predecessor the M-1 it is big, heavy and bulky so it is not a rifle for everyone today.

The General moved fast and he got in close to his enemies with his tanks and when he committed his infantry to the fight  it was up close and personal but he gave them all the firepower his armored units could provide. Which leads me to think that he might have liked a heavy hitting carbine design such as the original AR-10 in 7.62 MM (308 cal.) or perhaps he would have went with one of the Bullpup designed guns? Or maybe he would have agreed with the article’s author that the AK is the best there is in the world. I don’t know but my gut tells me he wouldn’t agree because as a great American he just wouldn’t admit that a Russian designed gun was better than any of ours. So what do you think?

Well we will never know one way or the other, this question will remain one of those great philosophical questions of the gun world for now and ever more. Or maybe not, it all depends on the simple fact does anyone out there in Cyberspace really care or even think about such things? Besides me.  Well if you have an opionion on this please let me know.

Either way read the article by following the link below and enjoy.

Wanna Fight? The Top 5 Combat Rifles of All-Time. If the link doesn’t work for you cut and paste the text link below into your browser and you should be good to go.

http://blog.cheaperthandirt.com/?p=70356/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=ddolbee&utm_campaign=20141004-chronicle1004-top5combatrifles

Take care and be safe here in Cyberspace and out there in the real world of Reality

S3

Dale Starr

The .30-30 Deer Rifle — An American Classic

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Hello out there in Cyberspace here is another article from the Cheaper Than Dirt newsletter. If you like deer hunting and lever action guns this is a good read for you.

take care and stay safe on the web and safer in reality

S3

 

The .30-30 Deer Rifle — An American Classic

By Dave Dolbee published on September 16, 2014 in Firearms

 

.30-.30 Deer Rifle

 

When it comes to deer hunting, one of America’s classics has always been the venerable .30-30 lever-action. Many deer hunters took his or her first buck with a Winchester Model 94 or a Marlin 336, or any of a dozen other similarly styled rifles. The .30-30 cartridge has the reputation of having killed more deer than any other cartridge. It’s been around for more than 100 years, so the rumor is likely more fact than fiction. In fact, some would even wager that to this day it still kills more deer than any other cartridge.

Why is the .30-30 such a popular deer cartridge? And what is it about the lever actions chambered in .30-30 that makes them so potent for taking deer? Initially created by Winchester for its 1894 lever-action, the .30 Winchester Center Fire was one of the first modern small-bore centerfire cartridges designed to use smokeless powder. Marlin also developed its own lever-action, the 336, but renamed the round the .30-30 so as not to have the name “Winchester” in Marlin’s cartridge designation. Both rifles are short, lightweight, and easily portable through heavy woods and brush. The light recoil of the round and quick lever-action provides the ability for rapid follow-up shots if necessary.

When it was first introduced, the .30-30 was known as a very flat shooting cartridge. Of course today we’d consider it a very short-range cartridge that fairly arcs in towards the target. But considering that the hunting cartridge of the day was the black powder .45-75, the .30-30 was extremely flat shooting by comparison.

But why does the popularity of the .30-30 persist to this day? Surely modern cartridges such as the .243 or .270 are much better deer rounds. They have a much longer effective range, and shoot much flatter than the .30-30. One answer is that the Marlin 336 and Henry Repeating Rifle are inexpensive rifles by comparison, making them popular entry-level guns. In addition, .30-30 ammunition is significantly less expensive than most modern hunting cartridges. What’s more, most deer are shot in the woods at distances that rarely exceed 75 yards, a range at which the .30-30 excels. Finally, the .30-30 has extremely light recoil, making it popular among women and younger inexperienced hunters.

Despite its long and successful history, many still question the effectiveness of the .30-30 round on deer. I think the millions of deer taken with the .30-30 is sufficient evidence of the cartridge’s adequacy at dropping most medium-sized game. Heavier 150-170 grain .30-30 bullets have more than enough energy to drop a deer out to 200 yards, provided the hunter is capable of making such a shot. While the .30-30 isn’t suitable for heavier game such as elk or grizzly, more than a few hunters have been successful taking large North American game with the round.

So, if you’re looking for a light, accurate, and effective deer gun that is perfect for use in the woods and thick brush where deer encounters are up close and personal, don’t overlook the good ‘ol .30-30. Whether you use a Winchester Model 94 or Marlin 336, iron sights or a simple 1-4x scope, you’ll find that the .30-30 is a great soft-shooting deer gun that is still able to hold her own against modern hunting cartridges.

via The .30-30 Deer Rifle — An American Classic.