Dang, I Never Get Anything This Cool Shipped To Me

The Detroit Free Press: Officers seize .50-caliber machine gun at Detroit-Windsor border

From the picture it looks like a beautiful example of a .50 BMG, too.

Quick hint to the importer and exporter, next time try "machine tools" instead of "gun parts" when you're trying to fast-track a .50 BMG through customs instead of doing all that annoying paperwork. Or do it legally next time and prevent the whole hassle.

Note well that it was coming from Canada to the US.

And you thought Canadians weren't both crafty and well-armed.

TSA's Airport Security Theater - Now Keeping The Audience Riveted

So some traveler leaves the secured area at Detroit Metro, apparently forgot something in the secured area and, instead of going through security decided to push his way back past the dreaded "Do Not Cross" red barriers.

Much insanity then ensues. They didn't just stop people from coming into the secured area at that point, they stopped everyone from leaving it.

The Detroit Free Press: Metro Airport lockdown lifts after 2½ hours; traveler arrested after forcing past security

“They lowered the gates where no one could go into the terminal,” Geiger said. “It looks like they’re not letting any flights board or leave.”

Geiger said he saw multiple TSA agents searching the perimeter.

. . .

Mary Coleman had already been waiting for more than a half-hour for her nephew to get off his flight from New Orleans.

"He's texting me and saying the concourse is completely shut down in between the gates and the baggage area,” Coleman said earlier in the lockdown. “He said they aren't being told what's going on."

Scott Warheit said he was sitting in a car outside of the airport waiting for his parents to exit the building.

“They are in a Delta terminal, caged in and unable to leave or get to baggage claim,” Warheit said. “I’m parked outside baggage claim. There’s lots of traffic.”

So the solution to someone breaking back into the secured area is to lock down the whole airport and stop people from leaving the secured area.

Anyone else think that leaves a whole bunch of potential victims locked in with a potential terrorist had this been a real incident? How does it enhance safety to leave people locked in the secure area rather than processing them out quickly and in an organized manner?

Remember this was due solely to

“A passenger, who was already on the secured side of the screened checkpoint, exited through the line and made the decision to turn back around and go through the secured side without being screened again,” he said.

From the description he was observed the entire time he left and then reentered the area, which wouldn't leave him much of an opportunity to cause a problem. If he had in fact been bent on mayhem, then having an audience locked in with him for his performance would have been a plus, and not in a good way.

It's not just inconvenient security theater, its downright dangerous and inconvenient security theater.

Anniversary Of A Forgotten Tragedy: The Centennial Of The Sinking Of The Empress Of Ireland

100 years ago today, the liner RMS Empress of Ireland sank in the St. Lawrence river, with a loss of 1,102 of her 1,477 passengers. That's a 75% loss of passengers and crew compared to the Titanic's loss of 68%, and only two years after the Titanic.

One of the main reasons why the Empress is not as well remembered is the conflagration that swept Europe that started two short months after the sinking, and whose casualty lists made the Empress' loss an historical footnote.

Losses included the all but eight of the 167 members of the Salvation Army band from Toronto that was on board.

The Empress also sank within 14 minutes after collision in fog with the Norwegian ship SS Storstad as opposed to the two hours and forty minutes the Titanic had after the iceberg. Some blame the Storstad for the tragedy, others hold that mistakes made by both ships, along with the heavy fog, created the conditions for the disaster to occur.

The Empress sank so quickly due to longitudinal bulkheads that allowed water to fill the side of the ship, causing it to list and then for even more water to enter through the open submerged portholes. Most did not escape the ship, and those who did faced hypothermia in the frigid waters.

Lying in 130 feet of water, the wreck is accessible to divers, except for the dark, cold water and heavy currents of the S. Lawrence river that make it a very challenging dive.

Here's a video that does a good job detailing the Empress of Ireland and showing how she looks today:

A good book to read about the tragedy and subsequent rediscovery of the Empress is Kevin McMurray's Dark Descent .

A 100-year-old nautical tragedy forgotten to most.

Hungary For Some Delicious Irony?

NPR: Leader Of Anti-Semitic Party In Hungary Finds Out He's Jewish

Heh. Gotta love it when that happens.

The Horror, The Horror.

At an ethnic food aisle in a grocery store, my eye caught something that caused my mind to do a double-take and the stomach a belly flop:

Yes, there exists Haggis, vegetarian, canned.

I can understand the cultural necessity of eating Haggis, even something as scary as canned Haggis.

But vegetarian Haggis? The mind boggles. How you could even make Haggis vegetarian considering that

Haggis is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and simmered for approximately three hours.

Take all the animal parts out and you've basically got a spiced oatmeal with onions that no one in their right mind would eat.

Vegetarian haggis. Ye got tae be kidding.

Let's go eat at a Scottish-Style Vegetarian restaurant said nobody, ever.

Wow. Many thanks to Tam for the massive Tamalanche that has happily fallen upon this post. Welcome to all, have a look around, and I hope you find this blog to your liking.

Memorial Day - St. Mary's Fair

Every year we go to St. Mary's fair, which is held every Memorial Day weekend. The largest high school fair in the country, its a great event indeed.

As usual, we got there just before the gates opened so it wasn't as crowded as it would become as the day went on. This meant less lines, more rides and less rowdiness.

The fair provides an interesting yardstick to watch the kids grow. From what feels like just last year when they could only do the little baby rides, they're now off and doing the bigger kid rides like Cliffhanger and Pharoah's Fury and Vertigo. It won't be long until they're doing the seriously major rides.

They did the dragon coaster on their own:

The kids would even go on these big rides alone, repeatedly. Just yesterday they were either too short to ride or if they were of size, you couldn't get them on the rides for love or money.

Amazing how time flies.

Both kids loved the Cliff Hanger

Last year Leah was too small to ride it, but this year she made the height cut-off and came with me and Abby so we had a whole hang glider just for us, and went on the ride twice.

They also loved Pharoah's Fury, and this was the first year for both of them:

That ride swings back and forth going higher and higher until it feels like you're 90 degrees away from where you started. Lots of funa nd they went again, and again, and again, and even put their hands up in the air while the ride went back and forth.

The view from the top of the ferris wheel gave a nice overview of some of the fair's attractions.

For lunch at the fair we had the by now traditional Polish Combo - Kielbasa, stuffed cabage, saukraut, pickle and rye bread and three pierogies. I also had a nice cold glass of Tyske beer to accompany the meal. It was a decent Polish lager, not a great beer, but cold and refreshing.

As every year, it was a great time and a nice tradition continued.

Memorial Day 2014

As we take this Monday off to enjoy the first long weekend after the retreat of winter, we should remember why it's called Memorial Day.

The following quote is from a speech made by James A. Garfield, an Ohio Congressman and future President of the United States, on the very first Decoration Day (now Memorial Day) at Arlington Cemetery on May 30, 1868:

"We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue."

May they be forever remembered for their bravery and sacrifice on behalf of this great nation, and indeed for their spreading freedom and lifting the veil of darkness that without their sacrifice would have descended and enveloped the world.

Dive 248 - Union Lake

So having not dove in over 4 months, I met up with Chad, Fred and Reichy for a scooter dive in Union Lake this morning.

On gearing up, I took time to put silicone lube on the scooter internal O rings, on the light's battery pack O ring and on the glove seals. Having not used the gear in for months, some fresh silicone grease was called for.

Adding it really helped - the battery went into the scooter body past the first O ring easier than it ever had, and the scooter body and tail went together easier than before as well. Should have done this back before my last dive in January.

So we geared up and hit the water.

The group is doing a mapping project of the lake, documenting where all the lines are, their lengths and bearings and noting important bottom features and depths for future reference. This will make it a lot easier to get around the lake considering may of the sunken boats have been moved and fishermen have ripped up a lot of the existing lines.

So we headed out on our scooters, zipping along out past the trolling motor boat and the A-Aron boat, and getting to the end of the first line and then Chad and Fred began measuring the distance back, recording compass azimuths and depth etc.

Here's Fred either taking some notes on the distance or writing me a prescription to get more diving in!

I was just out and happy to be in the water getting back into the flow of things. This being my 4th dive with a scooter, more than half the fun is anticipating where everyone else is going, anticipating where you're going, keeping track of your depth changes and adjusting buoyancy on the fly to match the depth and trying not to silt up the place.

On the upside, I had some good buoyancy awareness and had a nice controlled ascent but I found I need to adjust my wing setup as I'm having a hard time reaching the rear release valve on the wing, which is a problem. Other than that a pretty good time overall.

Boat traffic was crazy this weekend, with tons of unskilled boat owners mucking about, and more and more boats were going over us during our dive. Dome boats were hammering it so hard you could feel the effect of their props from 40 feet underwater. The visibility wasn't fantastic but it got more serviceable as you got farther away from the dock.

We made it down to 53 feet, and the water is still pretty chilly. Even in the 38 foot range it was 48 degrees and dropped down to 45 degrees at 50 feet.

We finished with that line and headed back to our entry point. This was good as we were all getting kinda chilled after being in the water so long. At 20 feet we stowed our scooters, did our deco and then slowly ascended.

We ascended to even more boats around the boat dock area, so it was good that we didn't come up the dock but instead came up on shore near it. We arose just in time to see a DNR officer chewing out a boater for being an idiot at the dock and even more bopats were stacking up, so it was a good time to get out of the water.

Overall not a bad spring day dive, my suit had no leaks, everything was under control, and not a bad way to wash away the rust from 4 months of non-diving.

The Details:

Dive Time: 69 minutes

PSI used: 2000

Max Depth: 53 feet

Average depth 37

Water Temp: 45

So That "Disgraceful" Belle Isle Policing Is Having A Positive Effect

It's been so effective that Detroit police are setting up a parks detachment to watch other Detroit parks as the thugs leave Belle Isle due to the enforcement of law there and look elsewhere to commit crimes.

The Detroit News: Police boost patrols at other city parks with Belle Isle under state watch

In other words, it's working and the State Police and DNR officers are doing such a good job enforcing the law that the hoodlums are taking their trade elsewhere as a result.

With state officers strictly patrolling Belle Isle, Detroit police are concerned troublemakers who once flocked to the island during warm weather will seek other parks in which to drive drunk, use drugs and blast music.

This summer, Detroit police will beef up patrols in the city’s parks, with an emphasis on those on the east side near Belle Isle, Assistant Chief Steve Dolunt said.

“Everyone knows the state police and DNR are cracking down on Belle Isle, and we’re afraid some people will just find other places to cause trouble,” Dolunt said. “That’s why (Police Chief James Craig) started a new park detail: To get out in front of this before it becomes a problem.”

So if you enforce the law, and have an actual effective police presence, it encourages criminals to go elsewhere and not commit crimes in those areas? Whooda thunk it!

I daresay apologies are owed to the MSP and DNR by Councilwoman Brenda Jones (of the disgrace quote fame), City Clerk Janice Winfrey, and Ron Scott (Of the Detroit Criminals Rights Above Police group, oh sorry his falsely named Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality group, but he and his group are CRAP all the same).

Your Saturday Walmart Ammo Report, It's Raining 40, With a Continuing Drought of 9 and 22.

So in preparation for the planned gathering this weekend I went by Walmart to get some needed supplies.

I also checked the Walmart Ammo counter.

As usual no one was there and it took about 15 minutes before an associate finally showed up to unlock the ammo case after I, the third person to request assistance, asked for some.

On the upside, they had a massive amount of 40S&W in stock, the most I've ever seen them have, two entire shelves full of various manufacturers and packaging, a lot of 45 ACP and a ton of 5.56. They even had a few boxes of 357 Sig, which is the first time I recall this Walmart ever having that in stock. Hmm, now I might start thinking about a 357 Barrel for my 40 M&P....

On the downside - no 9mm and no 22 LR, as in zip, nada, none, not a single box of either. Hopefully more will appear soon as I'm starting to get low in my stockpiles of both.

Wow, An American Boko Haram Apologist

Remember, Walid wants to make sure you don't mention the I-word. Walid: Corruption, bad policy are part of Boko Haram equation

Not Boko Haram's corruption and bad policy, no. He's instead up for a game of blame everything but the stated reason for their existence - to establish an Islamic Caliphate with Sharia law.

Boko Haram, like its pseudo-Christian brethren the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which has caused mayhem and bloodshed in Central Africa, should be viewed along the lines of a cult. Nigerian Islamic organizations, mainstream American Muslim organizations to ultra-conservatives in Saudi Arabia have condemned Boko Haram as being un-Islamic even prior to this latest act of treachery.

That's of course because the Kony's LRA has massive affiliation and support from fundamentalist Christian terrorists worldwide, just like Boko Haram has with Al Qaeda...Oh, wait, try another false equivalence Walid, you're on a roll.

Of course, contra Walid, American Muslims have not all been very quick to condemn Boko Haram: US Muslim Groups Won’t Move To Excommunicate Boko Haram

Ok, Dawud then blames US government policies for Boko Haram, rather than you, know it's stated motivation, Islam.

What has been missing, though, from many discussions on television and the hashtag campaign #SaveOurGirls is a discussion of the environmental factors that gave birth to Boko Haram and whether U.S. government policies in Nigeria actually helping its people or contributing to problems.

Yep, wherever you go, it's always the US's fault for the acts of Islamists. Funny how the view is in Dawud's world.

Dawud then throws out the poverty canard:

Boko Haram has waged a brutal campaign of terror in an attempt to overthrow the central government’s authority in Northern Nigeria in part due to many legitimate grievances. Nigeria is one of the largest oil producers in the world, yet lacks in education, economic opportunities, healthcare and security problems are rampant, especially in Northern Nigeria were Boko Haram operates.

Any excuse beside the actual stated motives of Boko Haram as stated by Boko Haram are fair game for Walid.

So Walid jumps from oversimplified strawman to strawman without substantiation, trying to hide the elephant in the room, while demanding that:

What we can do, however, from our side of the pond, besides pray, is make sure that we are not oversimplifying complex geopolitical issues and promoting misinformation about Nigerian Muslims and Islam in general.

No Dawud, we leave the "promoting misinformation about Nigerian Muslims and Islam in general" to you, and you're doing a bang-up job of it.

One day, even the average Western sap is going to stop believing the "poverty and the west causes these poor misunderstood Islamic fellows to commit acts of terrorism instead of the reasons they themselves state for their actions" canard.

Michigan's Bumpy Road Paradox

As everyone hits the roads here in Michigan for the Memorial Day long weekend, they can ponder the great Michigan road paradox.

Michigan has the sixth highest fuel taxes in the nation, but has some of the worst roads and lowest investments in road infrastructure in the United States:

Michigan ranks 33rd among states for the amount of investment per lane-mile of road; 47th for investment per vehicle mile driven, and dead last among the 50 states for investment per driver.

The Detroit Free Press: Why Michiganders pay among highest gas taxes - to drive on crummy roads

Part of the reasons is that much of the taxes collected on fuel is never used to improving or repairing roads at all but is instead siphoned off into the general fund.

Of course, the Detroit Free Press thinks this can be solved by making Michigan residents pay more taxes for road repair, rather than properly allocating the taxes already reaped from the sale of fuel.

Yet another example of the faults in the blue state model in general - high taxes, low effective services.

That Michigan, the state with the claim to fame of putting the world on wheels had such lousy and often impassable roads is a disgrace.

Detroit's Population Continues To Dwindle

Detroit's population continues to decline, dropping below the 700,000 mark.

The Detroit News: Database: Suburbs gain while Detroit population drops below 700,000

The 60-year exodus from Detroit is continuing but may be slowing, as the city’s population has fallen under 700,000 residents, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. The government pegs the city’s population at 688,701 as of summer 2013, down nearly 10,000 residents from 2012. The rate of decline, though, has slowed to an average of 7,500 per year since 2010 compared with 24,000 per year in the 2000s. Suburban counties — Oakland, Macomb and Livingston — gained about 1 percent in population, while Wayne County lost about 1 percent, the records show. Its decline is fueled largely by Detroit, which had 1.9 million residents in 1950 and is now smaller than it was at any point since before 1920.

They already had to amend the law that allowed Detroit to levy its own income tax in 2012- they reduced the minimum population to 600,000 to make sure Detroit could still levy its pernicious income tax.

They also almost had to amend the law allowing Casinos to be built in Detroit. Luckily for Detroit, some legislative assistant had some foresight and drafted the law to say that a city may have a casino if it was a city defined as:

(l) “City” means a local unit of government other than a county which meets all of the following criteria:

(i) Has a population of at least 800,000 at the time a license is issued.

(ii) Is located within 100 miles of any other state or country in which gaming was permitted on December 5, 1996.

(iii) Had a majority of voters who expressed approval of casino gaming in the city.

Yes, only Detroit qualified in 1996 when the law was passed, and it wouldn't qualify today.

It probably also doesn't help that Detroit's abortion stats are way out of proportion to the rest of the stat eif not the country. Almost one third of all pregnancies in Detroit are aborted or 37.9 per 1000 women, compared to the rest of the state's rate of 11 per 1000.

The stats are described as third world, and yeah, that sums up the D all right. Detroit has a third-world culture complete with corruption, disregard for human life and a nihilistic outlook and until that changes were not going to see a real recovery in Motown.

FIAT Losing Money On Every 500e Electric Car

It seems that Chrysler's Italian savior has adopted the Big 3 policy of losing money on cars they sell but making it up in volume.

The Detroit News: Marchionne: Fiat loses $14K on every electric 500

So why are they selling the 500e when every car is a $14k hit to the bottom line?

Basically it's due to perverse environmental incentives and regulations with which the company must comply.

Marchionne last year had estimated the company would lose about $10,000 on each subcompact 500e, which went on sale last summer and was created to comply with California’s zero-emissions vehicle rule. Fiat will expand sales to Oregon this summer.

Without the regulation, it's unlikely FIAT would willingly produce a loss-leader car like the 500e.

The Fiat 500e, has a starting price of $32,300, but can be purchased for as little as $19,300 when accounting for tax credits and incentives.

In other words, the rest of the US via the electric vehicle income tax credit is subsidizing California car buyers picking up electric vehicles for below cost. The vehicle is only environmentally (and that's only if you don't look to where the electricity in the electric car comes from) but not economically viable.

On top of losing on the 500e, FIAT must also buy emissions credits:

FCA — which has had to buy emissions credits to comply with U.S. guidelines

FIAT has found itself fouled by government fiat.

Pro-Criminal Element, Hand-Wringers, Shocked At Detroit Police Chief's Courage.

Yes, Detroit Police Chief James Craig actually had to hold a news conference for making the cover of NRA's magazine for the temerity to publicly favor the concept of law abiding citizens having firearms for their own protection.

The usual suspects were not pleased.

The Detroit Free Press: Detroit police chief on NRA article: 'I'm pro law-abiding citizens staying alive'

Detroit Police Chief James Craig’s stance on residents using guns to protect themselves is garnering national attention after landing him on the cover of a gun rights magazine. He reiterated his views today at a news conference, saying armed, law-abiding citizens can be a deterrent to violent crime. “I’m pro safety. I’m pro life. I’m pro law-abiding citizens staying alive, having the ability to protect themself in a dangerous situation,” he said.

He then pointed out what is obvious to those of us living in reality:

“Police officers cannot and will not be on every corner, in front of every house, every business in the city,” he said. “That’s just not realistic.”

Meanwhile the criminal coddling Ron Scott, of Belle Isle protest fame had this to say:

Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality spokesman Ron Scott called Craig’s comments “incendiary.”

“This is a public safety and community issue, not simply a Second Amendment issue,” he said in a statement.

He also called on police to find ways to “de-escalate the violence spawned by the Stand Your Ground principle,” in which citizens can use justifiable force if they feel their life is in imminent danger without any obligation to retreat.

In other words, citizens should surrender to criminals and hope they're not hurt. Mr. Scott, you're outta your element on this one as no "police brutality" is implicated by law abiding citizens defending themselves form attacking thugs. Go find your 5 minutes of fame elsewhere, you're done.

I am really liking this police chief. The man has shown he's got integrity, has shown he'll stand up for an unpopular but factual opinion and actual can call it like it is. He also will put himself on the line, and actually go after criminals unlike his predecessors.

Detroit hasn't had such a stand-up chief in over a decade, and the city may just have a chance with him at the helm of the Detroit Police Department.

Kudos to Chief Craig, and may his appearance on the cover of America's First Freedom be only the first of many magazines where this stand-up cop gets featured on the cover.

Oh, What Media Bias?

Two headlines in the Detroit News today that just leave you shaking your head at their sheer inanity.

The First: Detroit police chief's stance on arming residents lands him in NRA's sights

Really? An article by the NRA praising (and justifiably so) the police chief's sensible yet highly and sadly atypical pro-self-defense stance is negatively presented as the chief "being in the NRA's sights". Generally, if you're in someone's sights, that's not a good thing, and you know the headline writer knows that.

Nice way to get an unwarranted dig at the NRA in there Detroit News.

The second even more inane headline: Armed visitor shoots, injures Detroit homeowner through front door

What!?! A pair of home invaders shooting through a door is now described by the media as an "armed visitor"? Drafting a headline to make a deliberate criminal act appear like a careless use of a firearm by a permitted visitor to the premises is pretty damn pathetic.

Apparently the MSM will use every opportunity, no matter how ridiculous and inappropriate to cast firearms and firearms owners, and the NRA in a bad light.

The Grey Man Vignettes - A Darn Good Read

I just finished The Grey Man: Vignettes (Volume 1) , by none other than the Real Most Interesting Man In The World Himself, Old NFO.

In short, its a darn good read, fast paced, solid plot, good character development and one of the protagonists has a damn fine first name.

If you like to shoot and like books that get details about shooting right, get the book.

If you like well-written action novels, with a you-are-there flavor, get the book.

If you like books that get military details right, get the book.

If you want to support a fellow blogger par excellence, get the book.

If you want him to write a sequel, and considering Amazon has it titled as "Volume 1", buy it to encourage him to write Volume 2 so, get the book.

Heck, just go get the book and read it already. You won't be sorry.

WECSOHA Range Results

So I took kids, and packed the M&P9 with its new Apex RAM installed and the M&P40 with its new Apex Sear and Apex RAM installed, along with the trusty Ruger Mark II and headed to the range.

The M&P9 with the new RAM installed this morning worked flawlessly - here's the first magazine shot through it rapid to try and work the reset:

Then it was the M&P 40's turn, again very rapid:

The kids had their own targets for shooting with the Ruger Mark II, each of which had 2 balloons on them for their shooting enjoyment.

Abby's color choice had a distinct MSU Spartan flavor:

Leah got up and popped her two balloons with her first magazine.

Abby missed with her first magazine, but got them with her second.

I kept putting rounds through the M&Ps, first running a  box through the M&P 9, then a box through the M&P 40, doing magazine changes with each and trying to really wring them out to make sure the WECSOHA hadn't been a Wreck-So-Ha!

All mods worked, the guns worked 100% and function better than they did before. The trigger pull on the 40 is so much nicer than it was originally, and the reset on both guns are now very nice indeed. I can highly recommend the Apex sear and RAM as very useful modifications to enhance your shooting of the M&P.

The kids took turns using the Ruger Mark II and loading the magazines for it. Both had a lot of fun and were very safe while doing so.

The kids ran my shot timer for me and I did a few FAST drills with the M&P and a few other drills.

They were really getting into running the timer.

Then Abby wanted to give it a go with Leah giving the range commands:

Coming soon to a USPSA match near you.

A fun time had by all, then we headed to lunch at Smashburger and had some tasty burgers, and then home.

A great range trip indeed.

WECSOHA: The Apex RAM And The M&P9

This morning was WECSOHA time.

WECSOHA of course meaning the Willie E. Coyote School Of Home Armoring. Genius I tell you, Sheer armoring genius. Note it's not gunsmithing as I'm not a gunsmith. I can take pistols apart and install parts but I sure can't make parts for them or do other gunsmithing kinda stuff.

Today I was going to install the Apex Tactical Specialties RAM on my S&W M&P to improve the reset.

Step 1. Check and make sure the pistol is unloaded.

Step 2. Check and make sure the pistol is unloaded.

Step 3. Check and make sure the pistol is unloaded.

Why three times? Because of the 3 Cs - Carelessness, Complacency, and Catastrophe. If you check it three times, the chance of one of them biting you becomes vanishingly small. Check only once, or even worse forget to check, and someday you will get bit.

Step 4. After checking, remove the slide from the frame. Using the Apex Armorer's Block helps keep the frame in one place and protects it when you start removing the roll pin.

Step 5. Then take a #4 roll pin punch and remove the rear roll pin from the frame, hammering from the left side towards the right.

Step 6. Then remove the sear block from the frame by pulling up on the rear rails, this becomes easier if you pull the trigger while doing so. Expect the ejector to fall off while you're doing this. That's normal, but don't lose it.

Now's a good time to clean the sear block, trigger bar, ejector, and other areas you don't usually get to cleaning.

Step 7. Then put the spring on the RAM, have the RAM with the flat spot and hook facing upwards and place in the hole in the middle of the sear block.

Step 8. Put the trigger bar back into place on the side of the sear block, pressing in on the right side of the RAM so the tail of the trigger bar fits into place right in the flat sport on the RAM and with the pointy tail resting back in the sear block.

Step 9. Put the sear block back halfway into the frame, then put the ejector back on the sear block, then push down until it drops into place and then hammer the roll pin back into place.

Step 10. Check for function, and you're done. The trigger reset is now seriously improved.

Now off to the range to do a full check.

The whole process took about 15 minutes, including chasing around parts that fell off the bench. Quite an easy upgrade to perform. Overall, the Glock is much easier to work on and only needs the Glock tool, unlike the M&P which requires a few different pin punches to fully take down especially if you replace the sear. But, with a little care and perseverance, the M&P is not that difficult to work on.

Michigan Dems Introduce Bill For Firearms Registration And Then They Go Full Stupid While Doing So

In a bill that will likely go nowhere considering we have a Republican majority in the House and Senate and a Republican Governor here in Michigan, the usual Democrat representatives are up to their typical anti-gun ways.

Why they want to rile the pro-gun base up in an election year is rather questionable, perhaps they know they're not going to pickup any pro-gun vote and are just playing to their base to show they're doing something and hoping for campaign donations for Bloomberg et al?

House Bill 4774 was introduced by Reps. Townsend, Schor, Barnett, Hovey-Wright, Lipton, Irwin, Robinson, Durhal, Zemke, Singh, Roberts, Stallworth, Talabi, Hobbs, Tlaib, Dillon, Slavens, Rutledge and Oakes.

Quite a rogues gallery of Dems there, some with rather interesting backgrounds.

The bill would require a license to purchase any firearm and that all firearms are to be registered, not just pistols as is currently (and annoyingly) the case in Michigan.

But wait, there's more.

Understand that these legislators don't really understand current Michigan firearms law, so they merely went through and changed the word Pistol to Firearm in existing law regarding purchase transport and licensing (registration). This creates some major problems and lots of stupidity.

If this law is enforced as they have written it, then no one from outside the state could bring a long gun into the state unless they were licensed by their their state to posses the long gun and have that license with them (see Section 2(8)). Since most if not all states don't do this, kiss all revenue from out-of-state hunters and shooters coming to Michigan good-bye, considering they can't legally bring a firearm into this state. Ooops.

The bill gets even dumber as there's a definite error in it that negates the actual registration of long guns as it only requires the paperwork be done on them but then the law as badly written as it is does not require the form to be sent in to the State Police so it conceivably just sits around for no purpose, except if you fail to keep a copy as a buyer, you have no way to prove you complied with the law - that's a trap if there ever was one.

In short, it's a perfect example of a stupid law, with unintended and intended bad consequences that likely will go nowhere and is being introduced just to play to the anti-gun base. Now, if there was a Democrat governor and the Democrats held a majority intbeh House I'd be worried, as it is, this bill should go nowhere.

But do tell me again how urging Republicans, conservatives and pro-gun people to vote for a known anti-gun Democrat for governor will lead to pro-gun nirvana in Michigan.

Thanks to NRA-ILA for the email alert regarding this bill.