There are those who think that civilians should be allowed anything the government/military has, including tanks, RPGs, and even up to and including nuclear weapons (if you can afford them). But would that include Rocket Cats? Or Dove Bombs? A military manual from the early 1500s shows illustrations of doves and cats that seem to have some sort of rocket pack or small cannon attached to their backs. The text, which is in German, helpfully advises military commanders to use them to “set fire to a castle or city which you can’t get at otherwise.” The author, Franz Helm of Cologne, Germany, suggests that the idea is to affix a burning sack to the back of local cat. . .
which would then hopefully run home and hide itself in a place where it could ignite other flammable materials, sending the whole castle up in smoke. University of Pennsylvania research Mitch Fraas could find no evidence that birds or animals were actually used in this way, which he says is a good thing, as it’s “very unlikely the animals would run back to where they came from. More likely they’d set your own camp on fire.”
Your Lockdown of the Day™ comes from San Antonio, Texas. Hidden Forest Elementary on the city’s North Side was placed on lockdown for about two hours on Tuesday due to a distraught woman in a home across the street who reportedly had a gun. According to police, she received some relationship-related news from a man she lived with, and the man then left the house, leaving her home alone. A family member reported to police that she had a gun and was suicidal, so the school was locked down, with no one allowed in or out. The lockdown also temporarily stopped voters from entering the school, which was being used as a polling place for the statewide primary election. It is unknown if any voters were trapped inside at the time. The woman was taken into custody after a two-hour standoff, and was held for a psychological evaluation. No criminal charges were filed.
Iowa is taking steps to legalize suppressors, which are currently prohibited to private ownership by state law. A bill just passed through the Iowa House by a vote of 83-16, and now needs to be approved by the Senate and the governor to become law. One of the representatives who voted against the bill in the House was Cindy Winckler from Davenport, who said, “When a gun is fired, the sound it makes is a warning signal to those around that weapon. And if we muzzle that sound, we have a chance to muffle that warning signal.” She used the example of a school shooting incident, where if an active shooter used a suppressor, she feared that not everyone would hear the shots and react to them. The bill’s sponsor, Matt Windschitl, said that not passing the law based on possible future crimes is dangerous thinking. He pointed to the 39 other states in which it’s legal to own a suppressor, and the lack of statistical data showing any increase in crime due to the ownership.
James at Montactical sent us this neat video of DIY Kryptek Camouflage for your AR (or anything else, really). He’s using an airbrush, and he says you can do it with rattle can, but I can tell you from experience that doing stuff like this with rattle cans is definitely something that will take a time or four to get solid, consistent results. Still, it’s pretty neat to see what you can do with a weekend to kill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_NojeJFlyY
The press release headline reads, Do Children Need Protection From Bullets? A New Indiegogo Campaign Will See. BulletSafe, whose products have appeared in these pages in the past, is floating the idea of bulletproof panels for children’s backpacks, and they’re using Indiegogo to gauge the interest. The panels can reportedly stop up to a .44 Magnum, and are made from the same materials as BulletSafe’s NIJ level IIIA Bulletproof Vest. They’re 12×10 inches and weigh 1.25 pounds. The eventual retail price of the panels will be $99 plus shipping, but you can have one for $89 through the Indiegogo campaign.
New from Trijicon is the VCOG (Variable Combat Optical Gunsight). The VCOG is a 1-6×24 first focal plane optic, illuminated by LED instead of the tritium used in the ACOG. It uses a standard AA battery, has an integrated base with large thumbscrews, and has a big meaty focus knob that looks like it’d be easy to manipulate with cold hands or gloves.
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FWIW, Hardwire LLC has had NIJ IIIA bulletproof backpack inserts for a while. They also make NIJ IIIA bulletproof clipboards, handheld whiteboards, and whiteboards that you can attach to a door, among other things. They even make really a bulletproof whiteboard that is rated NIJ III, although it’s quite expensive.
I saw someone on youtube run a test on one of the clipboards. They shot 18 rounds of 9mm ammo into it as well as 5 shotgun shots (slugs IIRC). The board was pretty $@#%ed up, but none of the rounds got all the way through.
All of that said, some competition is not a bad thing.
Need… some… aspirin.
My understanding is that Volokh is not a liberal goo-goo, and is actually pretty spot-on in his assessments. I do wonder about his failure to address the strict-scrutiny “must advance a compelling state interest” standard. The interest is certainly compelling, but Volokh’s own article pretty well dismantles the idea that magazine limitations would materially advance it.
That rifle would look awesome in the back of the H&H edition Overfinch Range Rover…
He bad, bad Rosko Rock, baddest man on the whole damn block.
I’m more impressed that this is a two barreled bolt action than the ingraving. The engineering that went into figuring this out and the machining involved s of the highest order. It would take the skills of a watchmaker. without the photos, I wouldn’t have believed that this existed.
Cats with flaming backpacks?! What madness is this, arming an animal that’s notorious for devouring the corpse of its owner when hungry?
Can’t we just get back to catapulting diseased cows? LET LOOSE THE BUBONIC BOVINES!
The armored backpacks is a good, if not unoriginal idea. I was the under the impression several companies are offering backpacks that are carrying bullet-resistant panels of varying construction and weight… though back when I was in high school, our bullet-resistant gear was called “AP HOMEWORK”.
There’s some kind of sight device on that beautiful weapon? Didn’t notice.
I want him dead. I want his attorneys dead. I want his house burned to the ground, and I want to p*ss in the ashes.
Is his victim dead? Yes. Did he kill her? Yes. Did he intend to pull the trigger without knowing his target, or worse yet, WAS she his target? Yes, and most likely yes.
Oh, yes, give him a ‘fair trial.’ Followed by a first-class hanging.
Some of the coverage (you know what I mean) has been sensationalist in a way
That seems beneath TTAG. I first started coming here a few years ago because I liked how often you references fact or debunked false claims made by antis. All this “saber-rattling” is obnoxious.
Concerning bullet proof back packs. Relaying a observation, if a backpack has books, would that slow or stop a bullet?
There’s an internet, slo mo video test. How many books stop what round?
I find it funny that they are so upset since the story of David and Goliath is a classic story of self defense.
In addition, according to Wikepedia, David has become a symbol of the defense of civil liberties in the Florentine Republic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo)
From the Italian article, the Superintendent of Museums in Florence said:
“To take advantage of the promotional David, as well as any other work preserved in our museums, require an assessment of the adequacy of the image, you must respect their dignity culture. In the past, advertising campaigns for Italian companies have been authorized by evaluation of the director and the decision of the superintendent. “
I always find it fascinating how other cultures and countries treat and protect speech for both commercial and private enterprises.
Also, scroll down to the comments. Somebody posted a picture of the Monna Lisa with a Beretta AR70/90.
Will I join a militia if it were formed today?
Where do I sign?
Since I learned what the militia was supposed to be I wanted the return of militias. I’m not opposed to fewer professional lawmen and more community involvement. How about only having paid sheriffs who are elected, and making his deputies all volunteers from the militia?
But I think everyone should have to serve in the militia for a short time at least. Say one year, right out of high school plus training (or right after whenever you drop out). That way we can teach people armed and unarmed self-defense, teach them some things about the law, and change this culture of “me, mine, and right now” to “us, our community, and some patience”.
There is the actual racism of the SYG law in Florida. It costs $200 plus to get the required training and licensing fees for the Florida concealed weapons and firearms license. Which is not easy to come by for poor minorities who would need it. It is easily fixed by allowing constitutional carry of both open and concealed with no license provided you are allowed to purchase a firearm from an FFL, which they would never support
The best plan would be to order a box full and give them away to all your friends, family, coworkers, etc. Yeah I ordered 100, but good luck tracking them down.
Did the ATF actually get a list of Ares’s customers or not? From what I’ve read I’m not sure at this point.