Beyond the Cusp

October 8, 2017

Gun Controls Are On the Political Horizon

 

The Republican Speaker of the House, who was once upon a time the darling of the leading edge conservatives in the party and was a name to run for President, came out and claimed that Republicans are open and considering possible limitations on limiting accessories and possibly types of firearms. We have included the video below for your viewing displeasure or pleasure, depending on your views. Before you run to the video, allow us a few comments. Paul Ryan was accurate to some extent when he pointed out that fully automatic weapons have been banned for a long time, well, almost correct. Fully automatic weapons, like explosives and rocket launchers, require a Federal Firearms License (FFL) weapons permit which requires a series of steps depending on what types of weapons one will be dealing. So, they are not illegal, just very difficult to own and there are special fees and taxes involved in ownership or dealing in such weapons which can become onerous. But then Speaker Ryan states something interesting, namely that he was not aware of such things as bump stocks until this week. Well, allow us to admit that we too were ignorant about such accessories for rifles and other weapons. Speaker Ryan then expresses the idea that a bump stock can take a normal weapon and make it fully automatic fire rate. We did something that the Speaker of the House has apparently not done, actually bothered to read into bump stocks and what they actually do in aiding in the use of a firearm. Wikipedia defines “Bump Fire” as the resultant effect of using a bump stock thus allowing, quote, “The act of using the recoil of a semi-automatic firearm to fire shots in rapid succession, which simulates the ability of a fully automatic weapon.” That is they allow one to simulate, not actually become a fully automatic weapon fire. Now, before delving deeper, here is Speaker Ryan and MSNBC News.

 

 

Now, we looked a little further into bump stocks ourselves and what is about to be stated are our reactions and interpretations of what the use of a bump stock does and does not permit. First, if you are an amateur gun enthusiast whose main firearms use is plinking at targets once every month or so with some friends, then a bump stock will allow you to look ‘kewl’ shooting at the range. With some practice, it, along with the practice, allow you to be more accurate. With a whole lot of practice, it will also aid your rate of fire significantly. So, what exactly is a bump stock and how does it work. It is a recoil-absorbing tool which allows for better accuracy allowing the entire rifle to slide directly backwards when fired. The theory is if one can keep their finger exactly where the trigger-pull fires a bullet, then upon return another round will fire thus mimicking full automatic. This mimicking is exactly that, as you still must have trigger pull for each individual shot fired. Yes, you can, with practice, increase your rate of fire but will suffer a lower accuracy. With some patience, the bump stock can aid accuracy by absorbing recoil allowing one to remain on target between shots requiring less adjustment as recoil is absorbed by the stock as well as the normal recoil mechanisms of the weapon. The Las Vegas shooter was not as concerned with accuracy as he was firing at a mass target, the crowd at an outdoor concert. This means he was able to use the bump stock to fire more rapidly sacrificing any actual target acquisition. He was simply spraying rounds into a large mass of people and hoping for the worst. Firing from the thirty-second floor of Mandalay Hotel into the concert crowd spread out over an acre or more area. The people below were little more than dots running in every direction and he was likely not actually choosing targets with the majority of his shots fired. Military personnel have a name for such firing; they call it ‘spray and pray’ when one simply puts rounds out hoping to hit something, anything of the enemy or of his targets. But now let us talk about the CNN screenshot below used to announce Speaker Ryan’s startling readiness to consider some form of firearm control and especially the banning of bump stocks as they, he falsely claimed, can make a firearm fully automatic fire, remember, falsely stated.

 

CNN Gun Control and Paul Ryan

CNN Gun Control and Paul Ryan

 

The weapon they used in the graphic was deliberately chosen to frighten anybody who is completely devoid of any actual firearm knowledge. Let us count the ways the weapon depicted is illegal for the average firearm owner. There is one very nice sound suppressor, often referred to as a silencer, on the end of the barrel. It would be next to useless which we will explain in a little while. That stock is an adjustable stock which can be made longer or shorter in order to fit a person of any size. The scope is a military styled scope. But here is the clincher, the tube under the barrel would be a grenade launcher which would make the firearm a military weapon and definitely not legal to own without an FFL license (described above). The weapon pictured above is a wonderful weapon which if society ever fails I would love to have with me. It is also probably select fire rate including single shot, three round burst and full automatic. The M203 grenade launcher fires 40mm grenades including White Phosphorous, High Explosive, High Explosive Anti-Tank and Flechette amongst others (see image below).

 

40mm Grenade Rounds

40mm Grenade Rounds

 

The problem with a sound suppressor on that particular weapon is that, without special sub-sonic ammunition, the round leaving the weapon will exceed the speed of sound, thus making a distinctive and very loud ‘crack’ upon hitting the air and breaking the sound barrier. There is no means of preventing the crack made from breaking the sound barrier. Still, the weapon chosen resembles very closely the weapons shown on the pages linked to above which are all military weapons. The weapon shown in the CNN clip and probably in most broadcasts will largely be military weapons which are not purchasable at your neighborhood firearms dealership. They are the Lotus racecar of weapons. The one item which many of the reports are counting on is the ignorance of the average viewer. They are aware that the average person who resides within a metropolitan area, especially along the two coasts, probably has not fired a gun in a long time if ever. They are using this ignorance, the lack of in depth knowledge of firearms to show a firearm which they are fully aware is nothing at all similar to any firearm that one can purchase under the law without special licensing. But here is something nobody is likely to tell you about firearms. The scary-looking weapons may not be the more dangerous weapons. The first thing one needs to know is the military style weapon and the hunting rifle both fire one bullet for every trigger pull. Either weapon can be adjusted to take a bump stock but a well-trained weapons expert can use techniques to perform the exact same firing style which the bump stock is presumed to provide with a normal stock. The bump stock may make the rapid-fire rate easier for the lesser skilled marksman, it can be equaled through additional training. Now there are some differences which are due directly to the length of the barrel. The military styled weapons have shorter barrels than their hunting rifle variants. Both use identical bullets for the same caliber. The additional length of the barrel for the regular rifle allows for greater accuracy and a faster exit velocity for the projectile, the bullet. These two points are that the hunting rifle which in most instances has similar, if not identical bullet capacities, are actually more dangerous even in the average person’s hands who has a modicum of weapons training.

 

Finally, let us talk about what laws, which can make shootings like those which have plagued the United States, a thing of the past. We are talking about school shootings, church shootings, the Las Vegas mass shooting and the carnage such as experienced in the city of Chicago and other major metropolitan areas. The one item which would work if enforceable would be making bullets and firearms illegal. The problem is unless the energy entities from the Star Trek episode, “Errand of Mercy,” where the Organians disable all offensive weaponry by making them radiate extreme heat making them incapable of being touched, let alone used, we are stuck with what humans can do. Unfortunately, we doubt the Organians are real, but unless such beings do exist and the governments have kept contact a secret, then this attempt to end gun violence will be ineffective. The idea that if weapons such as firearms are made illegal, then only outlaws will have guns is valid if for no other reason than owning a firearm would make one a criminal. The meaning behind it is that criminals really have this habit of disregarding laws and thus would continue to use implements of crime such as firearms in their commission of crimes when helpful. Finally, the only means by which weapons controls could have any hope of working would be if they were universal and that would include disarming nations and their militaries. For reasons which we hope are obvious, this also could never work as there would be at the least a dozen or so nations which would make weaponry illegally and in as clandestine a manner so as to try and catch those nations silly enough to obey such a United Nations decree disarmed and conquer them. Oddly enough, the best means to prevent these mass murders and the straight criminal use of firearms would be counter-intuitive. The solution is to require everybody to take weapons training with refresher courses every year and qualifying and everybody who qualifies will be required to carry a firearm concealed everywhere they go, criminal, stock broker, salesman, parking attendant, stock clerk, accountant, lawyer, car salesman, rocket scientist, physician, physicist and anyone else. In this way there is likely to be an armed person capable of using their weapon close to any criminal use to end the shooting plus criminals would be suspecting that their potential targets would be armed thus crime would drop to the lowest levels in history. That is correct; arm everybody capable of controlling a firearm. Yes, it sounds crazy, but this is the only method which would work and this has been proven, guess where, Israel where the IDF infantry and other trained personnel carry their weapons in public. Shootings are often brought to an end very rapidly as a trained person with a firearm is often close at hand to bring the shooter to justice with great swiftness. But many would quickly claim that some things which work in Israel might not work as well outside Israel and we agree.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

September 28, 2016

Debate One; Hillary the Destroyer

 

Hillary Clinton probably won the first debate hands down. She managed to make Donald Trump be on the defensive from the word go through to the concluding remarks. She used innuendo, smear, accusations and a steady diet of calling him a liar, cheat and some old favorites such as ‘bait and switch’ and ‘fact check’ this, that and the other. And where were we to go to fact check these presumed lies? Well, to Hillary’s web site where she had real fact checkers who were unbiasedly giving out the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. There was no way these fact checkers were from her campaign staff or that they might also need fact checking as they labeled everything Donald likely said, including the, ‘a’, ‘and’, ‘the’ and ‘good evening’ as being false. What was wrong with good evening, well it was not necessarily good and it was not evening everywhere the debate was being watched, it was 4:00 AM where I watched it and I have to agree that it was not good, I would much rather have continued sleeping. And I watched it again the past afternoon just to make sure no biases played a role in critiquing this as this is an editorial site, not the New York Times, which actually is also an editorial site. Hillary basically was a bulldog who had just been given a Donald Trump chew toy soaked in gravy.

 

Donald appeared startled by the initial assaults and the torrents which followed. He appeared to have believed the debate would be civil. He was the obvious non-political hard-nosed attack drone. He was also the obvious target of exactly that. He tried defending himself and was often reminded it was Hillary’s turn to defame and he should take it like a good little chew toy. Trump missed almost every opportunity to attack Hillary and often to do so with substance. On cyber security her e-mails hardly were mentioned. On policy there were slight mentions on her foreign policy disasters and her lack of fixing anything in her thirty years in politics, though much of those thirty years she had accomplished being her husband’s defense against charges of severe womanizing and even rape and of having attacked viciously any woman who claimed any improprieties. Trump never mentioned Benghazi and stuck mostly to Libya and Syria and did accuse her and President Obama of setting the stage for the formation of ISIS and then remaining inactive when it could have been destroyed early on. She blamed George W. Bush for setting the date for their pulling out the troops and Iraq for not delivering on demand at the twelfth hour guaranteed protection of American servicemen and women which they simply accepted without any form of argument or rebuttal demanding or even pleading, they simply responded, OK, we will leave if that is what you and your Iranian minders desire as we would not desire to impede Iran in taking over most of Iraq as we are actually Iranian Manchurian candidates and work for them. On Iran, Donald Trump did hit Hillary on that deal which was not entirely true as the final mess was more attributed to John Kerry, her successor, and President Obama.

 

When All You Have is Some Simple Slogan, that's it!!

 

The theme for the night was largely Trump is a liar and not allowing him the latitude or grace granted Clinton. She was granted far wider interruption rights and running over on her two minute limit, or it seemed so while Trump was more often remanded for interrupting and being informed it was Hillary’s turn and he need be quiet before he would be made to go sit in the corner. The moderator remained otherwise fair until the closing moments when Lester Holt joined in with Hillary Clinton in demeaning Donald Trump accusing him of womanizing, spookily hanging around beauty pageants, and calling one contestant a ‘pig’ and a variety of other misadventures and attacks, verbal in nature, against women and general debasing women. This came conveniently soon after accusing Trump of racial segregation in a housing project and being taken to court over the racial profiling and rejection of minorities. What was removed was context. Donald had just been given these properties to manage, he settled the case, ended all such profiling across the board and has never shown any racial, religious or other such improprieties in anything he has done his entire career even when advised it would make business sense to do so. Both accusations were low blows and the womanizing came when he would not be allowed a rebuttal and to have such come from the facilitator of William Jefferson Clinton’s career womanizing and proven improprieties was beyond surreal.

 

Here is our advice for Hillary. Try appearing more human and that smile does not have to be there all mechanoid-like as if it is programmed onto your face. Do not be so stiff in your movements as if you are constantly running through facts and figures looking up your next line to speak and what defamations from a list fit the subject to lead off with and which one to close with as there must be an attack at the front and back of each segment to prevent Donald from refuting both or if doing so not being able to give his positions any fleshing out in his allotted time. Relax some and use different meters when talking otherwise you may start rumors you were home with pneumonia and that was an advanced attack drone or android in your place. Furthermore, the world is not your enemies with the only trustable people are those paid to take your side. Try a smidge of humor every now and then as that is what a normal person does and most politicians attempt to emulate normal human beings. Lastly, breathe between sentences as otherwise we are back to the robotic android appearance. We can live with the never let up and always attack, attack, attack until the target resembles pancake batter. Continue stressing your plan to tax the rich and give to the rest claiming the Robin Hood award for generosity (though Robin Hood stole from those who were ruling and taxing the poor and gave it back to the taxpayers, not exactly your plan but most people are unaware of this and only know the song where he took from the rich and gave to the poor never mentioning the rich were the government of the time).

 

Here is our advice for Donald. Spend less time on defense and more on attack. Hillary has more faults than California and some of them can and will cause the BIG One. Bring these faults up regularly with one somewhere within each segment and they can and should be repeatable and used more than once. Benghazi, that is one of the most touchy. Always mention and remind people that Hillary’s tax the rich includes households making a combined income of over fifty-thousand dollars and that the middle class to her are those making under twenty-four thousand a year households which pretty much rules out all married couples where both work. Allude to the fact that should she raise the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour that that would make a household with two minimum wage workers borderline wealthy and that it will cost around half a million in lost minimum wage jobs. Point out how you will be best served should the minimum wage be increased to $15.00 an hour to replace as many minimum wage workers with automated systems and thus have zero minimum wage employees and that Wendy’s and other fast food restaurants are already heading in that direction out of fear of such a minimum wage increase. Pound her berating Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for over half an hour demanding he surrender to President Obama’s disastrous plan to make the entire West Bank into another Gaza and give the land away without a single guarantee except that President Obama and Hillary promises that the Palestinians would behave nice, despite Mahmoud Abbas promises to do the exact opposite and continue the terror attacks. Bring up her disgraceful defense of President Clinton and his known sexual escapades and mention Monica Lewinski, Gennifer Flowers, Eileen Wellstone, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broaddrick, Dolly Kyle, Sally Perdue, and Elizabeth Ward Gracen. You have played the gentleman, now play the respectable man who is simply telling truths and not attempting to hurt this poor, innocent, defenseless woman. Use facts and invite people to fact check your accusations themselves and not rely on your or Hillary’s so-called fact checkers as they are paid employees, both yours and hers. Take a slight hit to give an even bigger one and take away her check my fact checkers as they are honest to the last dollar spent on them. Remember the disasters such as ISIS, Benghazi, Libya in general, Syria, the Red Line fiasco with chemical weapons with Bashir al-Assad, demeaning the Israeli Prime Minister, the Iran Deal, and of course the e-mails, their erasure when a court ordered them turned over, and how any regular citizen would be spending life in prison if they skirted justice and flaunted her refusal to obey the court and get away with it.

 

“What difference, at this point, what difference does it make?”

 

Our advice to the American People is for them to watch all the debates, even the Vice-Presidential debate and choose wisely as more than the United States rests in the balance of their choice. There is a force reawakening and the last time it awakened it almost conquered Europe if not for two battles in different times and places, one in Tours on October 10, 732, where the hero was Charles “The Hammer” Martellus (Martel) and the other two hundred years later give or take at Vienna on September 12, 1683, where the hero was King of Poland John III Sobieski. Now Europe is almost lost and if they are to make a comeback it will require a number of dedicated changes and new leaders in the mold of the Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders, actress Bridgette Bardot and others and once again the great assistance from the standard of freedoms, the United States. Yes, America will likely be called to save the western Liberal World once again and hopefully this one will be the last though that may never be possible.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

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