SayUncle reports the company seems to believe its job is to impose California law on everyone. Apparently now they are enforcing California law that’s not even law anymore, when it comes to firearms accessories. I never use eBay because of their anti-gun policies.
Year: 2011
Turning Gamers into Side Income
While I’m mired in the suck of unemployment, the wheels have been churning. My previous job consumed enough CPU cycles to keep my mind pretty thoroughly occupied, and what was left over, I dedicated to shooting, the Second Amendment, and blogging about shooting and the Second Amendment. Shooting is now an expense, so I’m not doing much of it these days, and blogging was never more than a part time job. So that leaves me with what to do between rounds of looking for work, and doing interviews.
In my free time I’ve been doing some more flight simming, and involving myself more in that community. A few people have made games revolving around flight sims, but those have mostly involved Virtual Airlines, and Virtual Air Traffic Control. The problem I have with all of these ideas is that they are essentially extensions of simulations, and as games go, I think that caters to more of a niche audience.
I’ve always believed that the primary purpose in any gaming community is being able to compare yourself to other people. That’s true whether you’re a video gamer, or your game is competitive pistol shooting. If you don’t look at the people under you in a ranking, and think “Heh, I’m better than all those guys,” and look at the people above you on the ranking and think, “For now, I’ll learn from you, because you are better than me, but one day, one day, I’m going to totally pwn you,” then you’re not really endowed with the competitive spirit, and may even lament what I’m talking about. A true gamer prides himself on his competence in his craft, but in order to understand the bounds of that competence, comparison is necessary.
In order to compare yourself, you have to have a pretty good social understanding of the community in which your operating, which requires an active social element, where people know and interact with each other. In my college days, I was a high wizard on a MUD. A good MUD needed to have a balance of both these elements on order to succeed; you needed to know your fellow players enough to divide them into rivals and allies, and you also needed a way to measure your skills in relation to others.
Competition is an excellent driving force, but you can not make the path to masterdom easy, lest the view from the top of the mountain seem uninspiring. You also cannot make it too difficult, for then the sensible path is just to surrender to the mountain and turn back. In my experience with competitive Silhouette shooting, competence is too difficult, and that discourages beginners. I think practical shooting is more popular today because it has the right balance of difficulty to master, but still offers enough early reward to keep it interesting for beginners.
Fantasy is another important element in any game. At the risk of offending people, this is another major appeal of IDPA and IPSC that other, more traditional shooting sport lack. Both try to be simulations of defensive handgun situations. This translates to the flight sim community as well, which feeds pretty exclusively off fantasy. Flight sims cater to aviation enthusiasts who don’t have the time, money, or good health to do the real thing. Whether you’re an actual pilot who still dreams of flying large airliners, or a diabetic who can’t get a medical certificate to fly a Cessna, the community has something to offer you. But to go back to the shooting analogy, imagine an IPSC or IDPA competition essentially boiled down to a match director scoring everything up, and going down the line at the end of the match, “You lived, you died, you lived, you lived, you died,” etc, etc. You’d probably still have people who’d be interested, but who are the winners and losers? Who is better than the next guy? Sure, you want to live, but this is a game! It has to be to keep people interested long term.
If you can combine the fantasy with community and competition, I think you have something really appealing. This is the thought that’s been obsessing me for at least the past five days. I’ve been playing a game that’s a plugin to the two major flight sims, that almost has the right idea, but it’s a poorly thought out and shoddy implementation too focused on simulation rather than social networking and gaming. I think I know how to do it much better. To top it off, Microsoft largely got out of the flight sim business, and that industry is about to be upheaved with the arrival of X-Plane 10. All I keep thinking about is, if I could get 2000 people to pay me 15 bucks a year, that’s real money. If I could get 4000 people a year to pay me 15 bucks a year, that’s almost a job. This community is willing to pay money for entertainment, and a lot of folks have made money on third party add-ons. Even if I got 500 people t pay me 15 dollars, it’s decent money versus the effort. It’ll boost my skills at software development and integration, which can’t hurt for a job. My ideas will tax my skills in Python, C++, PHP, SQL and systems administration skills such that I’m having a hard time seeing a downside to doing this. At worst I keep working with some important jobs skills, and at best I make a few bucks on the side. This is one of those times when I feel a lot of things coming together. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but I think this could help me out, and provide some people with entertainment, and perhaps contribute to another community that has a tough time recruiting new members.
Vindicated
At my last job, I was pretty adamant, as the person who implemented Internet policy, that we should leave things relatively free, and not do any filtering or monitoring of our employees. Except for a few instances, I never had much of an argument from executive management, though I once had to threaten to quit to maintain my policy. Now I’m glad to see my philosophy vindicated.
If you’re in a knowledge business, it is simply not possible to be focused on work for eight hours straight. Anyone who believes, in a knowledge or research field, you can spend eight hours straight focused on a singular mental task is delusional, and probably, to be blunt, not smart enough to ever have done that kind of creative work. Designing a drug is not even remotely anything like assembling a car in a factory.
You need some mental relief from the day. In tech, I’d take a break when I could no longer make headway on a problem. You get to a point where you kind of hit a wall, and you need to step away from the problem a bit. When you come back to it, often the answer is obvious. I’ve had more than a few cases where I’d step away, go read an article on an unrelated subject, then come back and see the error of my ways immediately.
Were NRA & Manufacturers Complicit in the Gun Control Act of 1968?
“The patent on the M1 carbine was owned by Western Cartridge Co. and David “Carbine” Williams, and still in effect when Penney and Arnold wanted to begin manufacturing M1 carbines in 1958. Penney and Arnold contacted Winchester-Western and offered them a percentage per carbine manufactured, in return for permission to manufacture the M1 carbine. John Olin, owner of Winchester-Western, refused. Olin, Winchester-Western, and more than a few other American manufacturers were opposed to all of the surplus weapons being returned to the United States, where they were being sold at prices the manufacturers couldn’t compete with. This opposition eventually led the manufacturers and the National Rifle Association to support the Gun Control Act of 1968, which, amongst many other things, prohibited the importation of U.S. military surplus.“
I’ve tried, at various times, to do some research on the historical arguments surrounding the Gun Control Act and the National Firearms Act, but there’s difficulty without spending some very serious time or buying articles. Dave Hardy is also probably more of an expert on this than I am, given he’s done quite a bit of this kind of research. Generally speaking, I’d want to rely on period accounts rather than modern accounts. Examination of the Congressional Record would also be important. My concern is that there’s a lot of bullshit in this issue, and plenty of people willing to twist the truth to help fit their preferred narrative.
Some of what I’ve found has been surprising. For instance, while it would seem too good to be true that the Gun Control Act was modeled after Nazi gun control laws, as best I can tell this is at least partially true, in that Senator Dodd, who was the act’s architect, did have the 1938 German law translated to English, and some aspects of the German law made it into GCA ’68.
Another legend was that the manufacturers were complicit in the Gun Control Act’s passage. I can find no direct evidence of the manufacturers supporting the Gun Control Act in contemporary press accounts of the time, though there are news accounts speculating on it. You also find accounts of other manufacturers howling about the new restrictions. While it’s true that three major gun manufacturers were located in Connecticut, the anti-gun New England states have never paid much heed to their interests, so it’s not very hard for me to believe they didn’t give much of a crap back then either.
Was NRA complicit in GCA? Most of what I’ve found from news accounts at the time would appear to refute that. There was even a nefarious gun lobby that controlled Congress in 1968. One story speaks of Dodd denying that he directed the FBI to investigate NRA for lobbying activity. If NRA was complicit, I doubt this would be a story. I doubt you’d see news accounts like this either.
I’ve found some modern accounts that suggest the NRA had a hand in drafting the legislation. I would certainly hope so. If you know you’re going to get something shoved down your throat, and you don’t have the votes to stop it, only a foolish organization would reject an opportunity to clean up language and prevent legislators from inadvertently doing something really stupid. I’ve also found modern accounts that suggest NRA supported it at first, but under pressure from membership, reversed course and began to oppose GCA ’68. Pretty much everyone seems to agree that NRA’s opposition to GCA was disorganized and half-hearted. After the GCA it was also certainly true that a faction of NRA leadership wished to get out of politics and move to Colorado Springs, to permanently remove itself from the debate in DC. I would not expect that kind of internal squabbling to show up in the newspapers, but we certainly have those arguments today, so I don’t see why we wouldn’t have been having them in 1968 too. By 1977, the faction of NRA that represented political engagement had won the battle, though internal quibbles continued until fairly recently.
I would like to see an account of NFA and GCA, using primary sources, much like Dave Hardy did with the Firearms Owners Protection Act. Most of what’s worked its way into the modern accounts of both NFA and GCA have been twisted to suit the ends of modern narratives.
Another example is the National Firearms Act. It is not quite true that NRA supported the NFA. It is true, however, that they had a hand in drafting the machine gun provisions. Originally NFA was modeled after the Uniforms Firearms Act, which was model legislation introduced in the 1930s and taken up by a number of state, including Pennsylvania. That’s where we got the name for our modern gun control statutes that have evolved greatly, both for better and worse, since. But it was also more thoroughly adopted by Washington D.C. which shows in their their whacky definition of a machine gun:
(10) “Machine gun†means any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily converted or restored to shoot: (A) Automatically, more than 1 shot by a single function of the trigger; (B) Semiautomatically, more than 12 shots without manual reloading.
This was cribbed straight out of the UFA model legislation, and was also the language initially adopted for the National Firearms Act. The original NFA also covered handguns under the same $5 transfer tax as any other weapon. It was due to NRA and the United States Revolver Association (the President of the former was Vice President of the latter) that the handgun provisions were removed, and the law altered to only cover automatic weapons.
Did NRA, in 1934, throw machine guns under the bus? Yes. But largely to save handguns and semi-automatic rifles. The same thing played out later in the century. I would argue that culturally, we’re probably in better shape in this issue than we have been since the beginning of the 20th century. Most of that period, from 1934 to 1968, were nothing but slowing the rate of loss. We gained back a lot of ground in 1986, but also did lose some with the Hughes Amendment. We had two serious setbacks in the 90s, and a few minor ones, but since then it’s been nothing but improvement. We have to keep driving the cultural change, because that’s what drives political change in the long run. It’s not a quick process, but it wasn’t for our opponents either. It takes relentlessness, and you can’t count on the leaders in this issue to do everything for you. Ultimately the power of NRA, or really any other gun rights organization, comes from the people who get behind it.
Loss of an Icon
Joey Vento, the proprietor of Geno’s Steaks in Philadelphia, died of a heart attack. Wyatt Notes:
While he was definitely old school in his views, Joey was a terrific man. He always went out of his way to support the city’s police officers and firefighters, and loved this city very much.
I still remember meeting Wyatt and Rightwingprof at Geno’s a few years ago, before Rightwingprof passed away from cancer. While the news is certainly sad, if my main business were peddling cheesesteaks, I can’t think of a more poetic way to go. Better than cancer, to be sure, which I’ve seen enough people die from to think much of.
Locusts are Next
No sooner do we get done with the “Earthquake of the Century”, and we’re facing the “Hurricane of the Century.” The battery that feeds my backup sump pump rendered itself into toxic waste in late June. I’ve been putting off replacing it until a job comes my way. Now I might have to do it sooner rather than than later. A battery is only fifty bucks, but the deductible on my homeowners policy is 20 times that. Better to buy the battery, when a pump is the only thing separating me from having a new indoor pool in the finished basement.
This could seriously interfere with my plans for smoking the Boston Butt. I know my dad reads sometimes, so Thursday is probably better than Friday now for the BBQ plans.
No Guns for the Stupid
That seems to be the new Brady policy.
Who gets to decide who is too stupid to own a gun? Is there another constitutional right that we can condition on an IQ test? Is this really the best they can come up with these days? This isn’t a public policy statement, it’s juvenile. This is CSGV level stupid, which Brady seems to be rapidly descending into.
Speaking of Hysterics
Olympic authorities in London apparently don’t know how to stand up to hysterical ninnies:
London schoolchildren are eligible for 125,000 Olympic tickets but these will not include any featuring guns, as Games organisers and City Hall fear a backlash from the anti-gun lobby.
The proper way to deal with these losers is to let them hew and haw, mock them, taunt them, then ignore them. People who would balk at the idea of children watching an olympic sport, because it happens to involve guns, are borderline disturbed, if you ask me. Our anti-gun groups can’t get serious political traction here, and that’s a very good thing, because this is what we’d be facing if that were not the case.
Georgina Geikie, 26, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and Olympic pistol hopeful, said she was “horrified”, adding: “This is a chance for children to look at guns in a different way. They are taking away the opportunity for the sport to blossom. How do we educate people that it is a sport if they cannot watch it?”
That’s the whole idea, Georgina. They’ve won. Your government has listened to, and bought into the hysterics of raving, disturbed people. They can’t risk that being undone.
But Danny Bryan, founder of Communities Against Gun and Knife Crime said: “I agree with Boris. It is good kids should enjoy the Games but there’s no way we should glorify guns.”
This is where to make a stand. I very much doubt the majority of the British population shares a view this hysterical. If I were the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, I might commission a poll. They are a long, long way from making any inroads, but you have to turn it around somewhere. This is where I’d pick, if I were trying to preserve the shooting sports in the UK. At some point, your opponent will reach too far, and it’s critical to be able to capitalize on the backlash. Our opponents did that in the 90s. It took the better part of two decades, but we turned it around and beat them back. The goals have to be small… being able to practice olympic pistol in your home country might be a worthy early goal.
Earthquake! We’re All Gonna Die!
I was sitting here a few minutes ago, suddenly felt a jolt, like someone dropped something heavy on the house. Then everything started rattling. Not very furious, but I could tell it was an earthquake because of that initial P-wave hit, then the shaking. Looks like it was centered between Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginia. Pretty big for this area. Looking to be around 6 magnitude. Wow. Never experienced that before. Bitter’s mom said it was pretty noticeable down there. I would have slept through it here, but being awake, I definitely felt it.
My California readers can feel free to laugh at me, marveling at the novelty of a little earth movement. Now we’ll watch the news media descend into hysterics at the “Earthquake of the Century!”
UPDATE: Here some pictures of the devastation that has descended on DC.
UPDATE: Since quakes are rare around here, I wasn’t sure what it was at first. If you checked the sky for mushroom clouds, just in case, raise your hand. Reports are the quake released about 10 kilotons of energy. That’s about a terrorist sized nuke, if you didn’t notice the flash.
UPDATE: A strong spirit from DC residents as they deal with the shock and horror “We Will Rebuild”
UPDATE: Marko reminds us of the important questions during this crisis.
We’re Winning
Colleges in Pennsylvania are offering shooting lessons as part of the curriculum. Right now it’s only curriculum for wildlife biology students, but it’s a start:
“With this class, if one of these students becomes a pheasant biologist, for example, they know what the hunting end is all about. If someone asks them, ‘Have you even fired a shotgun before?’ they can actually say yes.”
I just like seeing colleges presenting the topic in a manner that doesn’t involve fanning the flames of hysteria.