Memorial Day 2010

Were it not for those who have gone before,
For those who wrote our Constitution,
This blog would be moot.

Our rights as we know them,
Would not exist.

Take time out today and remember our Founding Fathers.
Remember our soldiers who have fought and died for our Country.
For our Lifestyle.
For our RIGHTS and our CONSTITUTION.

For once we forget....
Their lives have been for naught.


My Dear Husband said it best:

Living veterans should be celebrated not just on Veterans day but EVERY DAY. Memorial day was set aside as a somber contemplative day to remember those men and women who gave all so we could live FREE in the greatest country in the world. To remember that freedom is not free and the price those individuals paid in blood made us who we are.

Amen.

Proper Gun Use

Lee Lofland over at Graveyard Shift has an amazing, thought provoking post up right now called "Shoot to wound?  No way!"

I suggest y'all head over to his place and read what he's got to say and remember what I tell my children and my shooting friends:  "Pulling a gun is not a threat - it's a promise that you are willing and able to take another's life."  The bill that has been introduced expecting Police Officers to shoot to wound is absolutely absurd.  You shoot to neutralize the threat and if neutralizing the threat means that the bad guy dies, then that's just a natural consequence of their behavior.

TAGGED!

GunDiva, thank you for posting for Mama Tink's tag!! Like you, I am somewhat breaking the rules on the photo op, since I have yet to get around to putting pictures in actual folders.

And since this IS a gun friendly zone, we needed to have some gun "porn", right?

So...

I dug through and found the eighth picture of Dear Husband's first custom job:

His Springfield Armory 1911 .45ACP.

(Pay homage to the Prophet, John Moses Browning!)

Changes:
Beaver tail
main spring housing
all springs
barrel
sights
trigger job
magazine release
added magazine well
added front strap
changed grips...

I'm thinking there was more, but for the life of me I can't remember all of them. When this project started, it was a plain jane, base model 1911.

Ended up kinda nice looking!


It did find a new home. Dear Husband plans on creating another one, and said he will gladly pimp himself out to customize for other folks.

One last note from Dear Husband:
"Attention All Shooters:

Keeping your booger hook OFF the bang button will keep you from NEGLIGENTLY discharging your firearm into the FLOOR! Placing the firearm on the table and asking for help (not sweeping me with a loaded weapon when you turn to ask for help) will keep YOU from getting shot with an INTENTIONAL discharge from MY weapon!!!!!

Y'all think about that one.....

We Got Tagged!

MamaTink tagged Mrs Mom and me with a photo challenge.  The challenge was to go into our eighth photo folder and choose the eighth photo and tell the story about it.  I bent the rules just a little bit...since this is Girls With Guns, I went into my shooting photos and chose the eighth photo.

I was pretty excited to see this picture actually.  This was taken in December in '06 or '07.  I was out with my brother, Deejo, and several friends for one of our legendary "marathon" shooting days.  We took out our handguns and shotguns.  Take a close look at the *cases* of clays by the truck.  We shot them all.

The shotgun I'm shooting is one I built from the receiver up and is the one I called my 12-guage flashlight.  Tara Janzen built one just like it and it appeared in a couple of her books as the "Skeeter Special".  It is a Remington 870 with an 18 1/2" barrel, extended mag tube, side-saddle, and SureFire forend.  It weighed in (unloaded) at a mere 12.5 pounds.

The black shotgun my brother is shooting (you can't see it well) is one I built for him for his Christmas present.  His shotgun also makes an appearance in one of Tara's books, as Red Dog's shotgun.  Deejo's shotgun is also a Remington 870 with an 18 1/2" barrel, extended mag tube and side-saddle.  He declined the SureFire forend, saying it added too much weight to the gun.  Whatever.

Who Is GunDiva? The End

Betcha thought I'd never get around to the end of this little who am I?  Let's see, I started it to give you some insight to how I became who I am.  Finally, after eight million posts, I'm getting there and it may be a little anti-climactic.

Even though I went around armed all the time, I hadn't really committed myself to using that little gun.  I thought I could, but I didn't know  I could.

One day, the kids and I were on our way to a soccer game and we pulled into a McDonald's drive-thru for a rare treat (remember, broke single mother - McDonald's for dinner was like steak and lobster).  I had noticed a car had followed us off of the highway and into the drive-thru, but I didn't think a whole lot about it because everyone stops at that McDonald's.

I pulled up to the order box and noticed that the driver of the car behind us got out of the car and my heart stopped.  Crazy B sauntered up to my car as I looked around for an escape.  There was a line of cars in front of me and his car parked behind; there was no escape.  I yelled into the order box for them to call the police.  They answered with a "what?".  I yelled to call the police a second time and then turned toward Crazy B.

His stalking in the past had been a major annoyance, but I'd never been truly frightened until that moment.  In that split second, I flipped from thinking I could kill someone to knowing I could do it.  The problem was that since I was going to play in a soccer game, I left the Noisy Cricket at home.  I couldn't play with it strapped to my hip and I sure the hell wasn't going to leave it unsecured in my soccer bag on the sideline.

He tried talking to me and I calmly and clearly told him to leave me alone, then turned to the order box and very clearly stated that I was being stalked and that they needed to call the police.  I knew that they weren't going to do it if I was screaming hysterically at them, so I issued it as an order.  They still didn't do it.  (Too busy consulting their manager for permission, I suppose.  Oh, who am I kidding?  They didn't want to get involved.)

I became a broken record, refusing to get pulled into a conversation with Crazy B.  I just kept repeating that he needed to leave me alone and go away.  The kids were absolutely silent and, I'm sure, terrified. 

He finally turned and left, backing out of the drive-thru.  I placed my order and drove to the pay window, still shaken up, but managed to not kill the kid working the drive up for not calling the police.  I couldn't get out of there and to my game fast enough.  I made sure that he didn't follow us onto the highway as I sped off to my game.

Crazy B laid low for a few weeks before showing up at my front door (we'd moved and I hadn't forwarded anything, so he should not have known where I lived).  I met him at the door with the Noisy Cricket and told him on no uncertain terms that he would NOT be bothering me or the kids again and that the next time he showed up, I would kill him.  I meant it, and he knew I meant it.

In retrospect, he did me a favor by trapping me in the drive-thru.  He made me, in that moment, commit to defending myself.  Through that terrifying episode, he gave me the confidence I needed to protect myself and the heathi.

What Would You Do.....?

The other day ago, a very dear friend of mine related a story to me that was humorous, because I know her, but also fairly alarming to me.

She had gone to WallyWorld (Oh Boy! It's our favorite place for scary encounters!!) to fill a prescription for her young daughter. There was to be a substantial wait, during which time Gramma offered to take Daughter to the truck so she could rest. Upon asking- again- when the script would be ready, my friend decided to go and gather other supplies at another store, and return in an hour to get the medication.

Now, let me describe my friend to you. She is six feet tall, lean, strong as an ox, and known to be incredibly creative, determined, and take NO crap from ANYONE. She walked on out of the store, into the parking lot- with an expression of determination/ stress/ tiredness/ etc on her face.

And some crazy dude (he had to be crazy. Who in their RIGHT MIND would approach a six foot tall woman who looked pissed off?) accosted her- stepped directly in her path of travel, got all too close to her, and asked, "Are you a Democrat or a Republican?"

Remember when I said my friend was creative?
Her reply to Crazy Man was, "I'm a convicted felon." She also slid her hand into her purse, as if putting a hand on her pistol.

Now after I got done busting a gut laughing at her convicted felon line, (she isn't,) I thought about the story some more and found a few things to be quite alarming.

1) If someone is THAT DETERMINED to approach you, He Has A Purpose and May Not Be Operating Alone. A quick check of your surroundings is well in order.

2) She was unarmed. I am quite uncomfortable with a bluff. This time, that and her answer and physical bearing served her well to back the Creepy Determined Man off. But what if she had been a 5' 4" tall, soft looking blonde, who also tried the bluff and it didn't work?

3) Purse Carry. I. Hate. It. If you are going to carry, carry it ON you. Where you can get your gun with speed. (But to be fair, I also detest purses and refuse to carry one.)

(Again- WalMart corporate policy is allow carry, but prefer it concealed.)

I know what *I'd* have done in this instance-- but I'd like to see a bit of discussion from readers on YOUR plan of action.

-Would you stop? Keep going? Go faster?
-Do you look around?
-Have cell phone in hand to speed dial 911?
-Go back to the store and request an escort?
-Tell the encroaching potential threat to f*ck off?
-Report to management that there is a nut in the parking lot accosting shoppers?
-Wait for the "security" car to drive by?

(I SO have issue with the "security" patrols provided here. Don't know about the rest of the Wallyworld shopping populace, but if someone is providing SECURITY, please--- do not be 300#. Do not sit in vehicle, with windows rolled up, BluTooth thing jammed in your ear, radio going, driving about looking as if you were Lost In Space. Do I feel "secure" with you chumbawumbas "protecting" me? HELL NO! Which would be why I choose to protect MYSELF.)

Come on folks- let's hear what YOUR plan would be. Let's get a good educational discussion going.

Winner, Winner!

I know it's been a week since I posted the contest and I haven't posted any winners.  I'm so sorry.  But.  It's finally done.  Using a Random Name Picker from classtools.net, I chose two winners; one for each book.

• GIFT OF FEAR goes to Linda Medrano
• PROTECTING THE GIFT goes to Michelle Pixie

Winners, please email me (tel835@hotmail.com) with your physical addresses and I'll get these out in the mail to you ASAP.

As a side note, shortly (like the day after) the random name picker chose Michelle, she received some bad news about her little one, Monkey.  Jump on over to her site, Momma's Pixie Dreams, and send her some bloggy love and prayers.