Disarm the Harmless

It is not often you see an arguement this well written. I would like to make it avaiable to my readers.
Reprinted from
George Jonas, National Post · Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011
It was predictable for anti-gun activists to surface after the Tucson tragedy of Jan. 8. Some are the same opportunists who tried blaming the attempted assassination of U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on Sarah Palin and the Tea Party, but others aren’t political. They’re simply gun-shy. It’s a condition, I suppose, or at least a phobia, beyond the reach of reason.
Gun-shy folk have this much in common with gun-enthusiasts.
Guns are loved and hated irrationally. Some people admire firearms, collect them, fondle them, all but have sex with them. Others abhor guns, consider them pornographic, react to them as Victorians did to risque remarks. Both types are equally alien to me, but they aren’t equal.
Former Toronto mayor David Miller was gun-shy. (I imagine he still is.) He tried making Toronto a gun-free zone, or said he would. He wanted Torontonians to have no guns, gun clubs, gun collections or shooting ranges within the city limits. He himself had no guns, presumably, or any interest in shooting.
Had the former mayor been a gun enthusiast, much as he may have collected guns and visited shooting ranges himself, I doubt if he would have tried obliging his fellow Torontonians to do so.
Here’s the difference. Those who love guns rarely demand that you share their admiration, but those who hate guns demand that you share their aversion. Firearm-philiacs make no attempt to persuade, let alone oblige, anyone to have a love affair with guns, but firearmphobiacs use the law at every turn to make their hatred obligatory. Gun-lovers understand something about freedom; gun-haters understand only coercion. In the gun debate, the peaceniks are the bullies.
What about the merits of the debate? Immaterial. Love and hate are beyond debate. Ex-mayor Miller, for instance, used to talk about pubic safety. He and I may not have shared many soft spots, but I’d defy anyone to have a softer spot for public safety than me. I pose no threat to my townspeople, and I prefer my townspeople to pose no threat to me. Yet the same goal — public safety — would lead Miller and me to entirely different policies. His instinct would be to control guns; mine, to control crime.
Gun-control advocates would disarm the harmless, and leave them defenceless against the harmful they can’t disarm. If I couldn’t disarm the harmful, which would be my first choice, my second choice would be to arm the harmless, or at least encourage them to arm themselves.
Disarming the harmless is easier, of course. Passing a law is all it takes. People who don’t much shoot people pay attention to laws. Many even pay attention to bylaws. Pass a bylaw that says “give up your guns, please” and by golly, they’ll give ‘em up.
In contrast, disarming the harmful may be impossible. They’re scofflaws. They don’t obey.
Politics, as they say, is the art of the possible. Mayors are politicians, practical people, favouring practical solutions. Passing laws for the law-abiding is practical because they’ll generally abide by them, while passing laws for the lawless is impractical for they will rarely do so.
For politicians, the matter seems simple. Only impractical people advocate measures that depend for success on compliance by the lawless — they say — when with the same effort they could put laws on the books that depend for success on compliance by the law-abiding. What’s the use of passing laws that people don’t obey, such as “thou shalt not kill?” We’ve hundreds of such laws on the books. “Don’t carry illicit handguns; don’t peddle illicit drugs; don’t shoot up the neighbourhood.” They’re all laws that cost a mint to enforce, to little avail. The practical thing is to pass laws that people do obey, such as “no shooting ranges within Toronto city limits.” Switching from low-compliance-rate laws to high-compliance-rate laws is the ticket.
It’s a ticket, all right — but a ticket to what? If the destination is public safety, gun collectors aren’t in the way, either in Toronto or Tucson. Citizens using guns in self-defence aren’t in the way, either. They aren’t making our cities unsafe. What makes our cities unsafe is drug-dealing youth gangs shooting at each other and hitting passersby. Or deranged individuals hearing voices that urge them to shove people in front of subways. Or the authorities defending shoplifters against shopkeepers more keenly than shopkeepers against shoplifters, as they did in Toronto last year.
Outlawing shooting ranges within the city limits won’t change that. No passer-by has ever been shot at a Toronto shooting range. Threats to public safety don’t come from insufficient laws but insufficient people: teenage mothers, drug culture, youth gangs, mental illness. The problem? Try political correctness, self-censoring politicians, irresolute courts, hamstrung police. People obeying good laws reduces crime; good people obeying bad laws reduces only freedom.
One cannot restrict the defiant by constraining the compliant. A law that obliged everybody within Toronto city limits to breathe would bring 100% compliance from the living and no significant change of behaviour from anyone else.

Gun review, Savage .17 HMR 93R TR

.17 Hmr Savage 93R TR

Posted January 11, 2012

As I sit here I can hear the coyotes to the north past the tracks. It is a beautiful sound but also sinister. Some calling is in order this weekend…..
The rifle I will review today is the Savage Arms 93R TR .17 HMR. I ordered it this past spring and finally received delivery a week after Christmas. Apparently these are a hot item.
 
 The rifle arrived via UPS in very good condition. Good job UPS. When unpacked I instantly loved it. I was a bit worried about the fit as I have arms like a monkey and I bought it without ever holding one, but it feels great. TR stands for tactical rifle hence the look. All black, except for the top of the clip which is red to show the magazine is empty. The fluted
bull barrel is very cool and accurate.
The stock is made of wood with a matte black finish which allows excellent grip in any shooting position. I am very happy with the overall appearance and mechanical fit of the rifle, action is smooth and after 100 rounds is feeding flawlessly. I topped it with a Bushnell Dusk till Dawn 3-9X illuminated reticule scope I had in the cupboard. When funds allow a Mueller
4-12X tactical scope will be added. A Harris Bipod and a sling rounded her out. The ballistics of this rimfire cartridge is very hot.
This is an amazing 100 -150 yard varmint rig. In my opinion this means anything smaller than a coyote. Some people say it is sufficient, but too each there own. It will likely work but not as well as a .223.
  Left Winchester 20 gr hollow point / right Remington 17gr Boattail
Load Data
Name: .17 Cal, Rem Boat tail              Ballistic Coeff: 0.127                                                                                  
Bullet Weight: 17gr                               Velocity: 2550
Target Distance: 75yrd                         Scope Height: 1.000 in
Ballistic Data
Range  Elevation  Velocity   Energy     ETA         Drop      Max Y  10mph Wind Deflect 
0 yds   -1.00 in  2550 fps   245 fpe  0.000 sec    0.00 in  -1.00 in    0.00 in
25 yds   -0.26 in  2387 fps   215 fpe  0.030 sec       .17 in  -0.36 in    0.15 in
50 yds    0.09 in  2230 fps   188 fpe  0.063 sec    0.73 in  -0.21 in    0.72 in
75 yds    0.00 in  2078 fps   163 fpe  0.098 sec  1.73 in   0.06 in    1.69 in
100 yds   -0.58 in  1933 fps   141 fpe  0.135 sec    3.21 in   0.49 in    3.05 in
125 yds   -1.75 in  1794 fps   121 fpe    0.175 sec    5.29 in   1.09 in    4.96 in
150 yds   -3.62 in  1664 fps   104 fpe  0.219 sec    8.08 in   1.93 in    7.50 in
175 yds   -6.25 in    1540 fps    90 fpe  0.266 sec   11.62 in   3.03 in   10.55 in
200 yds   -9.80 in    1426 fps    77 fpe  0.316 sec   16.07 in   4.46 in   14.24 in
As you can see, when sighted to zero @ 75 yards this rifle can be held dead center of most game out to 150 yards, with only slight hold over required past that. The wind is another thing though as the bullet is so light and very susceptible to a breeze or gust.
My best grouping so far are about 1 in @ 100 yards. This could be tightened up with a better scope and a warmer day. Experienced shooters report sub MOA groupings with this cartridge. It can be quite a tack driver.
Pop cans and plastic bottles filled with water and left on the porch to freeze overnight are great targets and cheap, great way to recycle, before they hit the blue box. The targets explode easily at 100 yards and make a great show. It has to be fun or what is the point.
Other stock options are available for this rifle including some beautiful wood grain thumbhole models. I chose this model as it looked durable and I expect to be using it often in the field. There are certainly enough choices to suit almost anyone.
I think this is an excellent rifle and cartridge combo. I would definitely recommend adding a Savage .17 HMR to your vault. Visit your local dealer and check one out for yourself.
Shoot safe and often
Bullseye

Bull's eye Shooting Sports

Welcome to Bullseye Shooting Sports. As an introduction I have been hunting and target shooting for 30 yrs . Being raised on a beef farm in a rural area certainly helped me enjoy my hobby and firearms were a fairly common sight in pick up trucks back then. The rules have tightened up and the attitude of the public has changed over the years so that many people have an uneducated opinion that firearms are evil and ALL guns are equally bad. In an effort to promote safe firearm ownership and use, I have started a new venture in Trenton Ontario to introduce  people to the sport of target shooting. Many people have never even handled a gun let alone shot one. I believe allowing folks to see for themselves how fun and safe it can be to do some plinking on a Saturday afternoon and what a great inexpensive hobby shooting can be for the family.
I plan to review some of my favourite and not so favourite rifles and shotguns in future posts as well as cover any local gun or hunting related events. Posts on different topics may be suggested so feel free to email or leave a comment. I will also start a list of public areas to shoot in the Quinte Belleville area. if anyone has some suggestions for a legal safe shooting area let me know.
Thanks for reading
Bullseye
barginbuyersltd@gmail.com