Guns and such – Splendid Isolation

Dept. Of Righteous Shootings

August 12, 2026 Kim du Toit Righteous Shootings

Whenever I’m talking about some scrote getting shot in the act of burgling someone’s house and threatening the homeowner, some bleeding heart always asks the question: “So you think that your TV is more valuable than someone’s life?”

The answer, of course, is that it’s not whether I think that; in fact, it’s the burglar who thinks that the TV is worth more than my life. So as we’ve established that someone thinks that a life is worth less than a TV, it might as well be me who ends the philosophical discussion.

I was reminded of this when reading this happy little tale:

A man who reportedly became angry after being denied alcohol entered a Riverton, Utah, convenience store Friday with a shotgun and was shot dead by a bystander.

Okay, that’s worth some applause all by itself.

However, when the full story is revealed:

KUTV reported the man entered the convenience store and was denied an alcohol sale because he did not have identification. He allegedly responded by confronting the clerk and was then coaxed out of the store by other customers.

KSL noted the man had become “argumentative” and “belligerent” before having to leave the store. He then got into his vehicle and drove around, only to circle back to the store and enter carrying a shotgun, according to the report.

The Gephardt Daily pointed out that an armed bystander engaged the man when he re-entered the store, fatally shooting him.

But wait! There’s MOAR!

One report indicated that two armed bystanders may have fired at the man.

Now go back to my original thesis. Think about it: This asswipe put the value of a bottle of hooch above the cashier’s life. (I know, I know: maybe he just wanted to scare the poor schlub into selling him a bottle of Old Rotgut 2-year-old; but maybe he was that angry and frustrated that he intended to blast the guy into Kingdom Come — we’ll never know.)

So Our Hero (or Heroes? O be still my beating heart) was quite within his rights to see him off; and Anger Boy found out, too late, that the booze wasn’t really worth it.

Scratch one more asshole off the list of Them Wot Needs Killin’.

Back From The Trenches

August 12, 2026 Kim du Toit The Gun Thing

From Insty, with my response:

I once had a chance to pick up one of these from a private collection, but the owner never turned his back on me, the cad.

Step Up To The Plate, Mr. President

August 10, 2026 Kim du Toit Anti-Gun Nannies, The Gun Thing

A lot of the time, politics is all about action: doing things that will make a difference, one hopes with a positive or good outcome.

But a positive or good outcome can also come from doing nothing, as Jenny Sensiba points out:

ATF just took a big hit in federal court. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix has ruled in Jensen v. ATF that the government can no longer enforce the National Firearms Act registry for things like suppressors and short-barreled rifles.

The legal logic is pretty straightforward, even in a world where case law often treats the Second Amendment like a second-class right. Last year, Congress zeroed out the $200 transfer tax in the One Big Beautiful Bill. Back in 1937, the Supreme Court only allowed the National Firearms Act to exist because it was a tax framework, barely keeping it within the theoretical powers of Congress.

With the tax now gone, the constitutional justification that anti-gun courts have had for fingerprinting you and making you wait months for a piece of paper is no longer there, leaving the court with no choice but to rule the NFA unconstitutional.

Don’t go out and assemble that SBR yet, though. Judge Hendrix put a seven-day hold on his ruling so the Department of Justice can appeal. And the ruling will only apply to the plaintiffs and their members.

But, here’s the part you might not know: The DOJ doesn’t actually have to defend the NFA. They’re under no obligation at all to appeal the ruling.

And as Sensiba points out:

Sure, career government lawyers usually file appeals automatically to defend federal laws. They see it as their job. But, the DOJ is part of the executive branch, and President Trump is the guy at the top. He’s the one who signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law that zeroed out the tax in the first place. Just as President Obama chose to have his DOJ decline to defend laws banning gay marriage, Trump can just as easily leave the NFA out in the legal cold and let it starve to death.

All it takes is one phone call to the [now confirmed] Attorney General telling the DOJ to stand down and decline to appeal.

With this satisfactory outcome:

In a week, if you’re a member or customer of one of the plaintiffs, you can order a suppressor or build that SBR or SBS. In two months, the ruling will become permanent and future administrations can’t appeal.

I guess now we’ll see whether DJT actually does believe in the Second Amendment — part of that pesky Constitution thing he swore to uphold and defend, twice. Just one email (a phone call doesn’t cut it) to the DoJ to say: “Stand back and do nothing.” (One thought: if our new USAG is the man Trump has suggested he is, he wouldn’t need any assistance from POTUS — that would be an even better outcome.)

Of course, there’s going to be weeping and wailing, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments from the Usual Suspects in the Gun Control Industry. But hell, every time Trump does anything, there’s weeping and wailing, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments from some bunch of Lefties or other — so why should this be any different?

It’s time to get the “F” out of the ATF.

Dept. Of Righteous Shootings

August 10, 2026 Kim du Toit Righteous Shootings

From sunny south Florida comes this lovely story:

A delivery food driver in Miami Gardens, Florida, managed to pull his gun and fatally shoot an alleged armed robber in self-defense around 1:40 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

The driver claimed he was delivering food when he was targeted for an alleged armed robbery. During the course of the incident, the driver pulled his gun and shot one of the suspects. Responding officers and medical personnel attempted to save the suspect’s life but he died at the hospital.

And the other scrote?

The deceased suspect has not been identified but police described the second suspect in the alleged armed robbery as 28-year-old Jabari Thomas, who is being held on no-bond at the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Jail.

Too bad Our Hero didn’t get a twofer, but let’s not let perfection be the enemy of the good, shall we?

When It Absolutely, Positively

August 4, 2026 Kim du Toit Gratuitous Gun Pics, Hunting, The Gun Thing

…has to work every time it’s used, and not break, not ever.

I speak here of the dangerous game rifle — that final guarantee that the hunter won’t turn into his prey’s prey.

Now before I go any further, I need to back up a little. In the recent past, I’ve been somewhat scornful of “luxury brands” — you know what I mean: $100,000 watches, $2million Ferraris, and, in our gunny world, $200,000 (secondhand) Purdey shotguns… the list goes on and on.

Then you get a gun manufacturer who creates a piece that is admittedly expensive – horrendously expensive — but that expense is somewhat mitigated by the fact that what their product promises is actual infallibility. I speak here of J. Rigby’s “Rising Bite” double rifle, which is generally available only in super-manly chamberings like .416 Rigby Magnum, .470 NE (Nitro Express) and still larger diameters. (Excuse me, I need to go and pop an ibuprofen tab because my shoulder is starting to ache, just by thinking of these massive projectiles.)

Here’s what it looks like:

And here’s the “Rising Bite” itself:

Here’s an explanation of how it works, and why it’s necessary.

Here’s one in .470 NE that recently sold for about $35,000:

Note the Rising Bite:

Excuse me… .470 Nitro? I need another ibuprofen.

I should also point out that any proper double rifle is expensive (see this Karl Ferlach beauty here).

There is one last thing to be said, however.

While I yield to no man in my admiration for Rigby’s guns, I should point out that while their double rifles may well be worth the cost of ownership, I don’t think that’s necessarily true of their bolt-action rifles. Why?

Because Rigby’s bolt actions are built on that of the venerable Mauser 98 (link in pic):

It’s lovely, but honestly: at $25,000 secondhand? You’re paying for the brand. Me, I’d rather get a brand-new Mauser 98 for just over half the price (link ditto):

Same action, same durability and reliability… absent the desire to impress your hunting buddies when you uncase it at the hunting camp, it’s not really even a question. (And yeah, I’m a sucker for just about any Mauser over some fancy English trinket; go ahead and sue my ancient Boer ass.)

Honestly, no experienced PH is going to curl his lip when you take that bad boy out of the case to sight it in. (Incidentally,”sighting in” at a hunting camp is not only about sighting in your rifle to check that it hasn’t been damaged in transit, it’s also to reassure the PH that you know what the hell you’re doing.)

And finally: if anyone is thinking of doing an African safari anytime soon, let me know. I do have some small knowledge of the topic in question, but by now that knowledge is severely out of date (although I do know a couple of good Seffrican hunting outfitters.). Rather let me get the latest scoop from Mr. Free Market and Doc Russia, who are very experienced at the thing. Also, you may want to be on good terms with your bank manager… the cost of a decent rifle is not the greatest expense you’ll incur.