Giving No Space To Those Who Wish To Destroy In Detroit

Unlike Baltimore's mayor, Detroit's Police Chief handled protesters well and prevented the demonstrations from becoming a riot.

How did he do it?

By enforcing the law and clearly communicating that the law would be enforced.

The Detroit News: Unruly crowd confronting Detroit police caught on video

"They came real close to crossing the line and getting arrested," Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Thursday. "I got the call that officers were getting ready to make arrests; I said 'do it; if they commit a crime, I want an arrest made.'"

. . .

Craig said officers warned the protesters they would be arrested if things escalated.

"We told them we won't tolerate any acts of violence, assaults on police officers, or damage to police equipment," he said. "Once they saw the presence of the jail bus, they decided to comply with the direction."

Now that's how you do it.

Luckily In This Case, Some Detroit Criminals Really Can't Shoot Well

The Detroit News: Man OK after being shot at 50 times in Detroit

Fifty shots and the intended target is hit with only one non-disabling round to the ankle.

According to the account of the incident in the Detroit Free Press, The four shooters during this 1 am shooting used at least one AK-variant rifle.

Interestingly, the criminals pursued the man into the store, didn't harm anyone else in the store and left, which makes one suspect the wounded man was the sole target for some unspecified reason, and this may very well be criminals going after a fellow traveller.

Nothing much good happens around a Detroit gas station at 1 am folks. L. Brooks Patterson was quite right to warn off people from stopping at Detroit gas stations.

And you can't make this up - there may be no video of the attack because the gas station's video recording equipment had apparently been previously taken by police into evidence due to a prior murder there.

So, Will Detroit Be Next?

The Detroit News: Fed officer kills robbery suspect, probation violator

A 20-year-old armed robbery suspect was fatally shot Monday by a federal officer on the city's west side, angering residents who had to be placated by the city's police chief.

The Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team, a task force that included officers from the Detroit Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Marshals, were serving an armed robbery warrant in the 9500 block of Evergreen at the time of the shooting around 1:13 p.m., Detroit Police Chief James Craig said.

The thug apparently died from one of the most harmful activities a thug can do "doing nothin'":

One man in the crowd yelled: "The (ICE agent) shot that guy for no reason."

"No reason" translates to the armed robbery of a pizza deliveryman, felon in possession of a firearm and being a habitual offender, natch.

In addition, "no reason" apparently is equated to advancing with a hammer towards an officer . (Note that the linked story was updated and headline changed after I had originally posted this).

The crowd at the scene apparently started to get all whipped up and excited:

Craig said he was called to the scene by Assistant Police Chief Steve Dolunt after a crowd gathered and became agitated.

Television cameras captured officers holding back people as they tried to maneuver past yellow crime scene tape.

"They were very excited," Craig told The Detroit News.

The good news here, such as it is, is that the thug was killed by Black officer, and a federal one at that, thus reducing the racist outrage by the usual suspects.

It's a sad state of affairs indeed when we have to breathe a sigh of relief that it was a Black LEO that shot and killed a Black thug.

Who're Ya Gonna Believe? A Democrat Mayor Or Your Lying Eyes and Ears?

Baltimore's Democrat mayor is feeling the heat for her incompetence in letting the rioters run amok and giving them tacit permission in her speech on April 25th to do so. She has now stated on April 27 that

"I never said, nor would I ever say, that we are giving people space to destroy our city. So my words should not be twisted.”"

Well, let's see what she actually said on April 25, which luckily for the historical record, was captured on video:

“I wanted to give space to those who wished to destroy,” that is how Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake described her policy Saturday at a press conference.

So, Who're ya gonna believe, the digital record of her statement, or her denial that she ever said it?

Let's see if the MSM and her fellow travelers let her denial stand without challenge shall we?

The Ferguson Lawsuit Lottery

Some of you may have been expecting this, and sure enough, Michael Brown's parents are going to roll the dice and buy a ticket to play lawsuit lottery.

Findlaw: Michael Brown's parents sue over son's death

The parents of Michael Brown have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city of Ferguson over the fatal shooting of their son by a white police officer.

The Holder Justice Department's finding that there was a pattern of civil rights violations will no doubt be helpful to the parents' claims, even as the same department held (rather reluctantly, but properly and in the face of overwhelming evidence) that Officer Wilson's shooting of the thug trying to kill him was quite justified.

Will the City's insurance company rollover and pay them off? Or will it fight this out in court to prevent the unjust enrichment of the family of a criminal for his death caused by and during his final criminal act?

Any bets on outside pressure on the insurance company to go for the quick payoff?

Will the storekeeper and clerk intervene and sue the estate for damages caused by Michael Brown during his strong arm robbery which led to his fatal confrontation with Officer Wilson?

Stay tuned.

The Glock 21 SF

One of the pistols I had brought to the range with me yesterday was the Glock 21 SF.

The Glock 21 SF is a refinement of the Glock 21.

The SF stands for short frame - while the width is the same, the distance between the backstrap and trigger is shortened, making it much more comfortable to hold, less blocky, and a far better fit for my hand. The change removes 5 millimeters in length from the gun, reducing it from 209 (8.22 inches) to 204 mm (8.03 inches). It doesn't sound like much, but it makes a very noticeable difference. Even with the short frame it certainly is the largest Glock in my collection.

In .45 ACP it certainly has an impressive looking bore.

This Glock 21SF was already used when it was purchased by me, but you certainly can't tell from the condition of the pistol. It looked practically new when purchased and still looks practically new now.

As for how it shoots, the trigger does feel a bit crunchy, but the first magazine through it showed it was no barrier to good shooting. Ten plates were downed in ten shots and the three remaining rounds in the magazine went right into the A-zone of a cardboard target. Not bad for the first shots. 87 further rounds followed the first 13 and fired with no issues. Everything about this pistol is just right on, which isn't really a surprise.

Recoil was very minimal, and it felt perceptibly less than a 1911. The gun handled very well indeed with follow-up shots and transitions from plate to plate being very easy to make. You could say the purchase of this gun was indeed Justified.

Saturday Range Day

After a long winter, I finally got to the range yesterday, and took the kids with me.

They each wore the identical shirts I had bought them at the NRAAM, even though it was cold enough they had to wear them under their sweatshirts and jackets on the range. The shirts are pretty large on them considering the smallest size available was adult small, but they'll grow into them.

And shoot like a girl they both did. 

Leah was ok with the M&P 15-22 though it is still too large for her to shoulder comfortably, and she really enjoyed shooting the Ruger Mark II more than the M&P rifle. The Ruger though is still a bit too heavy and fatiguing for her with its bull barrel. She did get both the Dad barrel rest and arm support as necessary.

I'm thinking an M&P 22 compact will be my next purchase, and soon.

Using the Caldwell Orange Peel Targets, it made it easy for both kids to quickly spot their hits. That kind of quick feedback is happy-making for young shooters. Next time I think I'll bring along some balloons as well.

Abby liked the Ruger ok, but she really came into her own with the M&P 15-22 rifle.

She really enjoyed knocking the plates down, and the M&P 15-22 delivered just enough energy to knock them down most of the time.
The kids both were safe, had fun, and truly enjoyed themselves and want to come back which  makes it a great day in my book.

The M&P 15-22 ran like a champ this outing, mainly because I had first cleaned and then lubricated the bolt very well with Slip2000 EWL as I noticed it was pretty dry before taking it out.  Don't run your M&P 15-22 dry and you'll be a lot happier. Properly lubricated it had no stoppages whatsoever and ran very nicely indeed, noticeably more reliable than with the pittance of lubrication I had used previously.

As for me, I got a bit of shooting in between supervising them shooting, typically I got to shoot while they were behind the line reloading their magazines.

I shot my M&P 40c. On beginning to shoot it and starting with a round of Dot Torture, I noticed that the rear sight had drifted almost fully rightward, throwing precision shots off to the right by a noticeable amount. Noticeable enough to have a great group perfectly centered but just outside of the circle #1 on the right side. With other guns I was dead center so this really was due to the sights. On getting it home, I undid the set-screw which took quite a bit of force to remove with its red Loctite coating from the factory still visible.  The sight even with the set screw removed would still not be drifted back leftward to center up for love, money nor banging on it with a brass punch. I now need to buy a new punch. 

I finally got it to move after some advice from Murphy's Law and some further lubrication and hammering.  Sheesh.

The other two guns I brought along to shoot will each get and deserve their own post as I was very happy with their performance today indeed.  In short, it was a great day at the range.  Also suffice to say, I need to get to the range more.

Howdy Howdah

Dixie Gun Works at The NRAAM had quite the large bore pistol for sale:

It's a reproduction of the Howdah pistol.

The Howdah pistol was carried in the eponymous Howdah, the platform used for deluxe travel mounted on the back of an elephant.

It was carried as a "Get Outta My Howdah" pistol by British colonials hunting from their Howdahs. The pistol was there as a last-ditch weapon to stop wild animals in India and Africa that had the temerity to be so impolite as to enter the Howdah while they were busy hunting game, traveling or what have you.

This finely crafted reproduction is in 20 Bore, or .625 in diameter, and it was one of the more unusual firearms at the show.

When It All Goes To Pot - Dopes on Both Sides Of A Robbery and Shooting

In both Wisconsin and Michigan, you're not allowed to use deadly force solely to protect your property.

This is doubly so when the property in question is an illegal substance.

The Detroit News: Michigan man charged with shooting at pot thief

A 22-year-old Michigan man is accused of firing two shots at a 19-year-old Green Bay man who tried to rob him during a drug deal.

Benjamin Hubbard of Menominee is charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree recklessly endangering safety with a dangerous weapon and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

The Green Bay man told police that he and a friend arranged to buy two ounces of marijuana from Hubbard with the intention of stealing it.

A criminal complaint says Hubbard pointed a gun at the man after his friend ran off with one of the bags. It says the man returned the second bag, but Hubbard fired twice at him as he drove off in his vehicle.

Note that Hubbard fired at them as they were driving away after taking the stash, and thus not presenting a threat to his person.

Note also that it appears the robbers called police on the guy they had robbed after he took a shot at them in their fleeing vehicle. Robbers, in possession of a prohibited substance, calling the cops on the seller of the substance from whom they had just stolen it.

Methinks all three of them are going to have an educational interaction with the Wisconsin criminal justice system.

This is part of the reason it's called dope.

Deadly Force Is Not Authorized When McDonald's Twice Screws Up Your Order

You can't fix stupid, but you can put it in jail for awhile.

The Detroit News: Woman gets 3-7-years for bacon-less burger shooting.

You cant make up how stupid people can be sometimes. After a McDonald's in Grand Rapids, MI messed up her order by failing to put bacon on her burger (twice), Shaneka Torres decided to express her displeasure by not just displaying a firearm but cranking off a round at the McDonald's. Thankfully no one was hurt by this nitwit.

Shaneka Torres has now found out that a combination of poor anger management, carrying a firearm concealed without a permit, and then shooting with it at a building has severe and quite appropriate consequences. Her sentence is two years for use of a firearm in a felony and one to five years for shooting at the occupied building.

This winner was also driving on a suspended license and actually put a hole through her own vehicle's window with the shot:

WZZM13: Woman convicted in bacon-burger brouhaha at drive-thru

It's just as well that she'll be out of general circulation for awhile.

Points Of Parental Pride

I just got some news that every parent cherishes - finding out that one's progeny has been recognized for excellence.

Abby has been on the school newspaper and some of her articles were up for awards for excellence in scholastic journalism with MIPA, the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association.

It turns out that she won awards for two of the articles she and her co-author wrote:

1st place along with her co-writer in the Informative Feature category; and

2nd place along with her co-writer in the Alternative Story Form category for an article on the issue of texting and driving.

To say that I am very proud of all the hard work she put into those articles, and the quality that resulted is an understatement.

Mother Nature, About That Drinking Problem Of Yours....

Clearly, Mother Nature needs an intervention.

That's because after an almost summer-level warm day last Saturday, it's snowing today:

Somebody find me some global warming, please, and be quick about it.

Milford Progressives Scared Of, And Object To The Mere Representation Of A Gun

A statue memorializing veterans in Milford, Michigan faced opposition from progressive idiots.

Milford has approved plans for a veterans memorial that earlier raised concerns in part because it included a depiction of a gun.

Yes, sadly the objection was seriously made because the statue depicted an M4 with a helmet resting on its stock and its barrel pointing down and its bayonet in the "ground" at the base of the statue.

As seen in the Detroit Free Press which has an image of the quite unobjectionable memorial.

Milford Village Council voted Monday to approve construction of "The Battlefield Cross" in the Veterans Memorial portion of the community's Central Park. The statue depicts combat boots with a rifle dug in the ground and a helmet resting on the rifle.

Let's hear it for sanity winning out over unjustified hand-wringing and unfathomable fear at the mere depiction in bronze of an inanimate object.

When Is An Uzi Not An Uzi?

When the media reports claim a gun is an Uzi of course.

At least they didn't label it a Glock, so we'll give them partial credit.

The Detroit News: Woman carjacked in Roseville by man with Uzi (at 9:14 am)

The article goes on to claim:

Police soon spotted the suspect in the area of Gratiot and 10 Mile where they arrested him without incident. Officers recovered a fully loaded Uzi submachine gun.

By 11:14 am the story changes a bit - The Detroit Free Press: Man with Uzi-style gun tries to carjack Roseville woman

While the headline changed in the Freep to Uzi-style the article itself says:

Police said officers found a fully-loaded Uzi sub-machine gun was found nearby after they arrested a suspect in a failed carjacking attempt this morning.

Here's the pic of the gun that accompanies the article:

That's not an Uzi. it's either a MAC-10 or MAC-11 clone and my bet is it isn't even full auto but a semi-auto considering the difficulty involved in obtaining a Class II firearm. It perhaps could be an illegal conversion or illegal home-built. But, you can't make out the markings in the picture to be sure.

Unsurprisingly, this isn't the felons first go-round with the law:

The suspect is expected to be arraigned later on numerous felony charges, including attempted carjacking and felonious assault, police said. He is already wanted on carrying a concealed weapons warrant out of Detroit in a different case, Berlin said.

Also interestingly, the gun does not come up as stolen:

Police are trying to determine the owner of the machine-gun pistol, which is not listed as stolen, Berlin said.

Since pistols need to be registered in Michigan, it's surprising they can't find the registered owner - or perhaps the criminal didn't obey the law and register it after acquiring it elsewhere - who knew that could happen?

Update: The Detroit News has changed its headline on the story to: Man charged with using Uzi-style gun in carjacking. they also added that its a MAC-11 but still seem to be calling it a machine gun. I halfway bet that before the week is out they'll get around to stating its not a machine gun after all.

A Tour Of Historic Jewish Detroit

This morning, my synagogue had a tour for 5th Graders, and optionally their parents, of Detroit historic Jewish locations. The kids are studying Jewish migration and patterns of living in Michigan.

We decided to come along on the tour.

The first stop was the riverfront to commemorate Jewish history in both the abolitionist movement and the Civil War.

We stopped at Hart Plaza and the Gateway to Freedom Statue.

The statute marks the underground railroad, across the river you can see the city of Windsor, Canada, where a companion statue, The Tower of Freedom can be found.

In the Civil War the 151 Jewish families in Michigan (about half of whom lived in Detroit) sent 181 men and boys off to fight, with 38 never to return home alive. Jews similarly served in excss of their proportion to their numbers of the population for both the North and South.

Next on the tour was Belle Isle - the Jewish connections include both the design and funding for the aquarium and the island's location as the first Fresh Air Camp in the area.

The aquarium is the oldest aquarium building still being used in the US. Built in 1904 and designed by Albert Kahn, it stayed open during both World Wars, and it was the oldest continually-operating aquarium in North America, only to be shut down in 2005 during the mayor-ship of the corrupt Kwame Kirkpatrick which ran the city out of money to operate it. Reopened in 2012 it is beginning to come back to its former glory bieng operated by volunteers.

The aquarium has its original green tile and skylights to give the impression of being in an underwater tunnel:

The view-ports for each tank are smaller than one would find in a modern aquarium, more small house-window sized rather than the massive and large tanks seen today.

Many of the tanks are still empty with much yet to be restored. Here's one tank without water but with items as a place filler:

After that, we headed to Chicago and Lawton Street, the location of the Fifth Shaarey Zedek synagogue (the prior ones being a home where the first congregation met and both it and the later buildings 2-4 having been destroyed over time and not accessible to visit). The Synagogue building is now turned into a church.

You can still see much of the Synagogue's original artwork and images untouched and well cared for since the buildings conversion into a church.

The menorah and inscription at the building's entrance:

The stained glass windows

The bima at the front of the sanctuary including where the ark used to be located:

The menorahs inside the sanctuary:

The bishop and church-goers had courteously let us tour the sanctuary before the start of their services and were warm and welcoming.

Then we went to another very historic Jewish area in the 1940s-1950s at Dexter and Davison streets. The area is far different today.

This Do Not Enter sign has multiple meanings:

A boarded up Masonic Temple:

This abandoned house bore a clear warning on its boarded-up windows:

The area is but a shadow of its former glory and most if not all traces of Jewish life there are gone.

It was a very interesting tour and I'm glad we could accompany the students on the tour.

When Your Wife Says You're Rakishly Handsome

What she really means is: "Pick up a rake and do the yard spring cleaning."

Aching now I am, yes.

The yard is looking better but there's much more to do out there.

To Detroit's Eastern Market

This morning Tash wanted to take her mother-in-law is visiting us, and the kids and me to the Eastern market.

The market is one of the oldest public markets in the United States. While the market itself is generally considered okay area it is in a rather spotty area.

We got there and it was very very busy and parking took awhile to find.

Once parked, we started touring the various sheds where the produce is located and offered for sale by a variety of vendors.

The produce was varied and at very good prices.

We bought meat, veggies, and plants, and tried many samples and bought small snacks as we went from booth to booth.

Not a bad way to spend the morning.

Fine Bloggers I've Newly Met At NRAAM

At NRAAM I had the chance to meet up with some bloggers that I had previously not had the pleasure of meeting.

These are all great people, with some great blogs which have been duly added to my blogroll and are well worth your perusal:

Tom of DaddyBear's Den - If you haven't read his Tales of the Minivandians, you really, really need to do so, now.

I'll have a full review up once I'm done, but I'm too darn busy laughing at the tales and enjoying the fine writing style of the book.

LawDog of The Lawdog Files. Another fine gentleman who gave of his time to make the Shooter First Aid Seminar a success.

Peter and his charming wife of Bayou Renaissance Man

JB of JB on the rocks. Yet another fine gentleman who gave of his time to make the Shooter First Aid Seminar a success.

John of No Lawyers - Only Guns and Money

It was an honor and a true pleasure meeting all of you, and I hope to do so again at the 2016 NRAAM if not before.

Sebastian of Shall Not Be Questioned. How I had failed to put him in my blogroll previously is quite an oversight.

NRAAM First Aid For Shooters

This year Kelly of Ambulance Driver Files along with help from Murphy's Law, EMS Artifact, and Jeff B, gave his most excellent First Aid for Shooters class. The class was followed by a presentation from LawDog, who gave a short (due to room booking limitations only we could have stood to sit and gain much more wisdom from him had there been time) but very informative talk on Critical Incident stress.

Here's Kelly demonstrating the right way to do CPR, and yes he has "Staying Alive" queued up in his iPhone and ready to play should the need arise.

Quality slides helped keep the presentation moving along, and his suggestions as to what works and what's derp in the first aid realm was very helpful:

Boys! Tourniquet! - We learned how to both self-apply tourniquets and apply them on other people to stop arterial bleeding:

Here's LawDog giving his talk:

If you have an opportunity to take this class, Do It.

Kelly and his assistants are great instructors and the vital info and hands-on practice under their expert eyes may one day save your life or the life of another.

As I had taken the class last year it was a great refresher and the additional first aid kit will be put to good use as well.

Hopefully LawDog's portion of the class can be enlarged as he was very much worth listening to and I expect we would learn much, much more had there been time.

The class was also a great opportunity to give The Most Interesting Man in The World the shirt I had mentioned that was a secret:

Yes it says "The Most Interesting Dinosaur In The World". Click to embiggen and read the rest of the shirt.

Detroit Policeman Does What?

While Drive By Shootings are know to occur in Detroit and environs, it is rather rare when one is committed by a Detroit Police Officer.

The Detroit News: Detroit officer suspended after shooting in Macomb

he Detroit officer is accused of firing five shots from a .40 caliber handgun after his wife became involved in a dispute with the homeowners, Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said in a press release.

The officer's wife provides in-home medical care to a female resident of the home, Lt. John Michalke said. The woman lives at the home with her husband.

"There was some sort of dispute between the (residents) and the female caregiver, and the caregiver went home and had a conversation with her husband," Michalke said. "He got in his car and drove over there and fired shots out of his vehicle into the front of the home."

Based on that description, there's no chance of a defense of self or others claim here. Deliberately traveling to engage in a confrontation and then firing shots at a dwelling from a moving vehicle is pretty darn hard to well-nigh impossible (think well-nigh impossible) to defend as justified.

It also may be that he used his service weapon for the shooting considering that the DPD carries .40 cal Smith and Wesson M&Ps.

Sigh. At least IMPD only drives their cars around drunk when they misbehave, DPD steps it up Detroit-style and shoots from them.

Remington R51 Redux

The R51 is back and is claimed to be better than ever, which given its lackluster showing last year, shouldn't be all that hard to believe.

It certainly felt better than ever and the fit and finish certainly looked better than last ywear.

They also had the new RM380 if you're in the market for a smaller .380 with a 2.9" barrel and all-metal construction weighing in at 12.1 ounces and a magazine holding 6 shots.

In a bright move, they're offering some with a Crimson Trace lasergrip already attached right from the get-go.

Cool Century Arms Swag

Yes, for many having thew words Century Arms and Cool in the same sentence would be regarded as an oxymoron.

However, they did have some cool swag indeed:

An AK ice cube maker.

In Russia, your drink freezes at sight of gun!

Radoms At NRAAM

What is likely the largest collection of Radom VIS pistols, including rare prototypes was on display at the show:

Consecutive serial numbered pistols made just prior to World War 2:

One of only five surviving Radom VIS prototypes:

Radom in addition to the VIS pistol also made K98s for the Polish Army:

The gentleman pictured is the owner of these many Radoms and is wearing the uniform of the Polish army from the pre-war and World War 2 period. Being Polish himself, he's traveled back and forth to Poland and over time has amassed quite a fantastic collection.