Getting Serious

On By Tom LindsayIn Competition, Practice, Safety, USPSA

Let’s face it, none of us is getting any younger. Without details, let me say that if I were a pro golfer I would be on the Senior circuit. So the time has come for me to decide – am I going to move forward, or continue where I am and accept a gradual decline into the sunset?

I’m moving forward.

Fortunately, I have some experience to draw on in my quest for improvement.

Once upon a time, when Old Tom Morris was a kid, a friend gave me an old golf bag and set of irons. I went and played, and I was hooked.

In the next three years, I went from nothing to a 14 handicap. How? Immersion, practice and dedication.

I got involved. At first I traveled around our area, playing public courses, but soon I joined a club. I took lessons, bought good equipment, and practiced, practiced, practiced. And my scores got better. I learned new techniques. What was difficult before got easier.

Then I learned how to build golf clubs from parts. I also fitted clubs for others, and I still play with wedges and a putter that I built. Now, this is one area where my shooting has already paralleled my golf, because I am a Certified Glock Armorer, and I am well into learning how my other guns work and are put together,

What was the theme that tied all these improvements together?

Investment

There are several things I can invest in for my shooting future. First, I have always shot matches as a guest of the club where I was. This also means, when I want to practice, I have to go pay a daily fee at a range. So, I plan to join a club, so I can practice more, and have access to lessons and instruction. I am now looking at my options and hope to report something soon.

Next would be to invest my time in practice. I’ve written about this here before, but I am going to establish a real regimen, and stick to it.

Next would be in equipment. Fortunately, my equipment isn’t an issue right now. Yes, there are better guns out there, but, to borrow an analogy from my golf game, by the time a $1,000 driver would do my game any good, I wouldn’t have to buy them because a sponsor would give them to me. It’s the same here. I’m not limited by my gun, and by the time I shoot better than my gun, Glock or Smith or somebody will offer to give me one, provided I don’t remain anonymous.

Next would be involvement, and I’ve already taken some steps in this direction, by sending in my application and money to take an RO training class here in the Atlanta area this summer. Frankly, I think I am long overdue. In golf, I found that knowing the rules backward and forward helped my game immensely. I know it will here too.

I will invest in some coaching, too. There are a number of good shooters around here who teach.

So, look for future posts on my practice regimen and other plans.

Tell Colorado What You Think

On By Tom LindsayIn Self Defense

Kudos to Tom Gresham at Gun Talk, for linking to a form for sending messages to the Colorado Tourism Office.

Here is what I sent:

Because of recent legislation your state has enacted, essentially banning all ammunition magazines for guns, I will no longer consider visiting your state for vacations, and I will seriously consider turning down business there.

Please let your legislators and governor know that passing onerous laws that have no effect on personal safety does have an effect on your state’s tourism income.

Yours,
T*******
Kennesaw, GA

Gun Free Zone Resources

On By Tom LindsayIn Gun Free Zones, Self Defense

GunFreeZone_Flier_Small

If you’ve followed this blog for any time you know how I feel about Gun Free Victim Zones. These areas make warm and fuzzy sense to those who ride unicorns to work – if we just make Places Where Guns Are Off Limits then no one will bring guns, and we will all be safer.

The problem, of course, is that the only people who obey these zones are law abiding people. Criminals, who by their nature break the law, see no problem ignoring one more law, especially since they know this is one place they won’t have to deal with pesky armed potential victims.

Well, Jim Scoutten, host of Shooting USA on the Outdoors Channel, now provides some resources to help you let your local owners of Gun Free Victim Zones just how you feel about it.

Click over to his site and you will find flyers and cards you can hand out both to Gun Free Victim Zone purveyors, and to those who choose to continue to allow us to protect ourselves.

Check it out.

Magpul Sets The Bar

On By Tom LindsayIn Gun Rights, Politics

Magpul noBy now it’s no news to the shooting community that Magpul Industries is leaving Colorado because of the onerous gun control legislation being passed there, chiefly the ban on standard capacity magazines.

It is one thing to say, as a company, that you will not sell to police or government in states that prohibit the sales of your product to their general citizens, as 136 companies have said the the state of New York. But Magpul is setting the standard even higher. It will certainly cost Magpul a lot of money to move its operations, but they are willing to do that, so they can operate somewhere that their own employees can buy their products.

Now the onus is on us, as gun owners and citizens, to make sure Magpul’s efforts are not in vain. I’m not saying to buy Magpul because of that they do, although I think buying one magazine would be a great symbol. I am saying that we can’t let them be the only company to take a stand. Other manufacturers in Colorado and elsewhere need to take the same action as Magpul.

What all this comes down to is respect. The Colorado legislature doesn’t respect its citizens, and they are showing that. After all, there is no logical reason, much less evidence, why lower magazine capacity makes anyone safer. Yet, the legislature and the governor are telling the citizens of Colorado that they know best. Further, they don’t respect the companies who pay the taxes and provide the jobs in their state.

Now, I know companies like Smith & Wesson and Colt have been in their locations in Massachusetts for a long, long time. They have a connection to the area. But the government of Massachusetts doesn’t respect them either, and it’s time for them to take a stand, and take their business to a state where they are respected.

As for the rest of us, we need to continue to take a stand. Speak out. Never let disrespect go unchallenged. A government of the people only works if the people are involved.