Category: The Gun Thing

Not just the guns, but all the stuff that goes with them

Turning Blue

Anti-Gun Nannies, The Gun Thing

Gotta say that I never thought I’d see the day when Virginia turned into Illinois:

A bill banning AR-15s and other popular semiautomatic rifles, as well as magazines holding more than 15 rounds of ammunition, cleared the Virginia legislature Monday and is headed to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s (D) desk.

The legislation, SB 749, states that “importing, selling, purchasing, or transferring a prohibited firearm would be a Class 1 misdemeanor,” Ammoland News noted.

It also “restricts the sale or transfer of certain large-capacity magazines defined in the statute.”

WRIC reported that SB 749 also bans a number of semiautomatic shotguns and certain semiautomatic, centerfire pistols.

SB 749 takes effect July 1, 2026.

So to sum up:  the party of Thomas Jefferson has passed an un-Constitutional gun control law in Jefferson’s home state.

Note that this does not effect existing owners of said Eeeevil Implements Of Death:

If you have an assault rifle, you can keep it. If you have an assault pistol, if you have one of these pistols with a silencer on it and a pistol grip in the front. A really big, big pistol…you want to have one with a telescope on it or lasers or whatever else you want, that’s okay. You just can’t buy a new one and you can’t sell it to anybody. If you want to have a magazine with more than 15 bullets, you can keep that, too. You just can’t buy a new one. — Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell

…but I bet that whatever the numbers of those AR owners are at present, there are going to be quite a few more before July 1, 2026.

And in the future, there’s going to be some serious traffic congestion every time there’s a gun show in West Virginia or North Carolina.

Hey, it’s the Will Of The People, right?  After all, Virginians voted this bunch of scumbags into office.

Other gun-friendly states need to take note, especially the ones recently infested with refugees from California, Illinois and New York.

Normally, I say something very rude at this point, but I’m off to the range.  I think I’ll shoot off some “high-capacity” mags with my AR-15, just for the hell of it.

As y’all know, it was with considerable misgivings that I got the poodleshooter;  but as more and more people seem to want to ban them, I’m kinda glad that I did. if for no other reason than:

Ammo’s cheap, too.

Quick Note

Friends and Family, The Gun Thing

I went to the Sooper-Seekrit mailbox on Saturday, and found several entries for the Parker-Hale drawing, in the form of papyrus checks, cuneiform tablets and some cash (sent by people who still trust the USPS[!]).

Fear not;  all of you were entered in the drawing, which I did the next day (Sunday).

One attached note was particularly touching:  “If I’m too late for the drawing, just send the money on to the Widow Irish anyway.”

I have the best Readers on the Internet.

And by the way:  I spoke to her yesterday and she sends her joyous thanks to everyone here.

We Have A Winner

Good Stuff, The Gun Thing

O Sage One, please call your office so that we may send you your “new” item of gunny goodness.

Congratulations to you, and many, many thanks to all who participated.  Thanks to your generosity, the Widow Irish will be getting $1,000 in her account tomorrow.

Short-Range Zero

Advice, The Gun Thing

Ron Spomer tells you how to sight in your scoped rifle when you don’t have access to a long range.  (You may sometimes need a buddy to help you, I think — Ron does.)  And I have to tell you

Here’s my take on this.

A vast preponderance of shots are made at what I’d call short range:  less than 150 yards.  And if you do most of your hunting in any kind of woodland, it’s likely to be less than that — think 50 yards.  So if you’re doing this kind of shooting, then a 30- or 50-yard zero makes a lot more sense.  (Frankly, if you’re shooting at about 50 yards or less, I seriously question whether you need a scope at all.)

I think the longest shot I ever took back in South Africa was a measured (by pacing off) 325 yards, and I have to tell you, had I been more experienced a hunter back then, I probably would have backed off and not taken it.

Now?  If I were to go hunting at all (which is highly unlikely), I’d set my limit at 100 yards, and probably less than that.  I’d use a low-power scope (maximum 5x) if indeed I used a scope at all — and I’m pretty sure a red-dot scope would do the trick, instead of a crosshair or mil-dot reticle.

Remember that most of the time, you’re shooting at a side plate-sized target, and as such, a 3-MOA sighting group would be more than adequate.

Leave the sub-1″ stuff to the target professionals, and let’s not even begin to talk about the ultra-long distance 1,000 yard shooting.  That’s sniper-grade accuracy, and 99% of all riflemen aren’t snipers or even close to being snipers.  Hell, at my very best I wasn’t a sniper, mostly because of my crappy eyes.  But I was quite a competent hunter.

Know your limitations.

Last Call

The Gun Thing

Yes, it’s time for me to end the suspense and announce the winner of the Parker-Hale / Widow Irish thing.

I’m going to be pulling the winning ticket from the hat* over the weekend, witnessed for its veracity by New Wife and anyone else who happens to be in the house at the time.

So if you haven’t got yourself a ticket but still want the chance, get it done by Saturday midnight (03/07/2026) so that you can be included in Sunday’s drawing.

One quick favor:  a number of you did not include your email addy with your entry, and I may have missed a couple as well;  so please could all participants send those to kim – at – kimdutoit.com, along with your full name so I can link the names/emails with the tickets.  It’ll just make notification all the easier for me.  (Yeah I know, I’m an idiot;  but it’s been a long time since I last did something like this #OldFartMemoryIssues.)

Good luck, everyone.

*that’s not quite true, there’s no hat involved:  each ticket entry is given a number, and then I run an @RAND(x,y) function on the spreadsheet to pick the winner.