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Archive for the ‘politics’ Category

Use Your Manners When Shooting in Public

Nov 16, 2011 Firearms, News, politics

I’ve been disappointed on countless occasions to pull up to my favorite shooting spot on BLM land and see it littered not just with brass, but shotgun shells, wood crates, glass bottles, televisions, computers, water heaters and all sorts of other trash left behind by people too lazy to pick up after themselves.

I see it as a privilege to be able to shoot on that land without range fees and without the need to follow someone else’s rules. Apparently others see it as an invitation to leave the manners at home and litter openly—in most cases to a severity they would never even consider doing on the side of the road or in their neighbor’s back yard.

When I go to this area, I take garbage sacks with me and when we’re done shooting, we spend a good 20 minutes cleaning up other people’s garbage (in addition to our own) in the hopes of dispelling the reputation that shooters are so often labeled with. I encourage you to do the same.

If getting rid or improving that stereotype weren’t enough, maybe the threat of being banned from shooting on BLM lad will be. Check out this article:

Obama Pushing Shooters Off Public Lands

“Gun owners who have historically been able to use public lands for target practice would be barred from potentially millions of acres under new rules drafted by the Interior Department, the first major move by the Obama administration to impose limits on firearms.”

From the proposed policy:

“When the authorized officer determines that a site or area on BLM-managed lands used on a regular basis for recreational shooting is creating public disturbance, or is creating risk to other persons on public lands; is contributing to the defacement, removal or destruction of natural features, native plants, cultural resources, historic structures or government and/or private property; is facilitating or creating a condition of littering, refuse accumulation and abandoned personal property is violating existing use restrictions, closure and restriction orders, or supplementary rules notices, and reasonable attempts to reduce or eliminate the violations by the BLM have been unsuccessful, the authorized officer will close the affected area to recreational shooting.”

Let’s all work together to keep the freedoms we enjoy—in this case, I don’t believe it’s so much about politics as manners and a common sense.

Sad News in Brasil Shootings

Apr 7, 2011 Firearms, News, politics

People stand outside a school in Rio de Janeiro where children and adults were reportedly shot to death on Thursday.

A gunman opened fire in a Brazil school today killing 11 and injuring twenty or more before turning the gun on himself. If you’re interested, you can read the full article here, but it got me wondering about gun control in Brazil. I don’t know anything about the motivation behind the shootings, but my heart goes out to the families and all those affected.

In case you’re interested, I’ve copied a few points I found interesting below from Wikipedia’s article Gun politics in Brazil:

Because of gun politics in Brazil, all firearms are required to be registered with the state; the minimum age for ownership is 25 and although it is legal to carry a gun outside a residence, extremely severe restrictions were made by the federal government since 2002 making it virtually impossible to obtain a carry permit. To legally own a gun, the owner must pay a tax every three years to register the gun, currently at R$ 60, and registration can be done via the Internet or in person with the Federal Police.

Although Brazil has 110 million fewer citizens than the United States, and more restrictive gun laws, there are 50% more gun deaths; other sources indicate that homicide rates due to guns are approximately four times higher than the rate in the United States.

The total number of firearms in Brazil is thought to be around 17 million with 9 million of those being unregistered.