From the Heartland

This is my soap box, on these pages I publish my opinions on firearms and any other subject I feel like writing about.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Clan Gunscribe did our part

Yesterday, as mentioned in the previous post, was National Buy Ammo day.

I am pleased to report that between five of us patronized Scheels (No Victim Disarmament Zone signs) All Sports in Lincoln, Nebraska and we purchased 620 rounds of ammunition.

If you are in the Cornhusker State and you participated in the 6th annual National Buy Ammo Day/Week BUYcott leave a comment with the number of rounds and where you purchased them.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

The Great American BUYcott

Yes I typed that correctly .....

BUY-cott - 1)The act of buying something to make a statement or support a cause 2) as opposed to a boycott - 1) The refrain from buying something or 2) refusing to support a cause.

The 6th annual National Buy Ammo Day/Week is upon us.

Rather than wax eloquent on the subject I will let the founders of the movement explain;

November 19 is National Ammo Day.

It is a nationwide BUYcott of ammunition. You buy ammunition. 100 Rounds a person.

The goals of Ammo Day:

The goal of National Ammo Day is to empty the ammunition from the shelves of your local gun store, sporting goods, or hardware store and put that ammunition in the hands of law-abiding citizens. Make your support of the Second Amendment known--by voting with your dollars!

There are an estimated 75 MILLION gun owners in the United States of America. If each gun owner or Second Amendment supporter buys 100 rounds of ammunition, that’s 7.5 BILLION rounds in the hands of law-abiding citizens!

The gun/ammunition manufacturers have been taking the brunt of all the frivolous lawsuits, trying to put these folks out of business. Well, not if we can help it! And we CAN help it by buying ammunition on November 19!

Check out the National Ammo Day website and replenish a 100 rounds or more.

You don't have to break the bank to make a statement either, two 50 round boxes of .22 Long Rifle (everyone has a .22 don't they?) can be had for under 5 bucks.

Personally I have been holding off on buying some ammo for my Granddads ole' thutty tue Winchester in anticipation of Ammo Day. If you time it right you might get to see me at Scheels on the 19th.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Random Thoughts without the benefit of any factual data to back them up

Preface; I rarely comment on team sports, even Nebraska College sports. Most of the time I pay very little attention to them (team sports) college or pro. (Bowl game & the World Series excepted) I do not have any inside information, my crystal ball is less clearer than most. The following is just things that have for no apparent reason been ricocheting around the inside of my cranium the past few years.

In fact I can usually be seen wearing an OU hat. Not because I am a big Sooners fan, I am not. I have some personal connections to the state of Oklahoma so I wear the hat in reminder of them. Even though I am not a member of the rabid "The sun won't come up Sunday morning if they lose on Saturday" Cornhuskers Fan Club, I root for the home town team and hope they win none the less.

GO BIG RED

Given history and recent events I am prompted to clear my head of some things Husker.

The Osborne era ends

I am sure that due to his success Tom Osborne had a free hand to run the program the way he saw fit without interference. When he retired and Solich took over I believe that he was pretty much able to do the same thing.

Enter AD Pederson.

I got a bad feeling about the Husker Sports program in general when Steve Pederson was hired as Athletic Director. At the time I thought he breezed into the job admonishing;

"Okay I am the boss now, things are going to be run the way I want them run and if you don't like it you can get the hell out of here"

Pederson struck me right from the start as one who wanted to micro-manage the staff to the point of back seat "My way or the highway" coaching the football team. Pederson was hot for the "West Coast Offense" and Solich wouldn't or couldn't give it to him. Early on Pederson seemed to cultivate "Just shut up and give me your damn money I'll will tell you how it is going to be spent spent" ill will with the alumni. I heard some even quit donating.

Perlman can't admit a mistake

But then what can you expect from someone that thinks a Prime Time television show about a hard drinking dope smoking washed up entertainer turned amateur porn star pretending to attend UNL is a positive image for the School.

At the time I am sure the Alumni were also supportive of Solich. He was winning after all. That could mean only one thing Solich had to go.

Say what you want about Solich and whether or not he needed to go. Based purely on his record I think he was sacrificed at the alter of "I am the boss here and I'll prove it to you Solich is history".

Enter Bill Callahan

Callahan was suppose to come to Nebraska and turn the Big Red Machine into Pedersons personal "You will coach the way I order you too" West Coast Offense semi-pro dream team. I think that much of the problem with the football program the last few years can be attributed directly to Pederson's personal "I know what's best, it's my way" involvement.

Time will tell

Now that Pederson is history I do not know if Callahan can turn this team around. I tend to think he can if Osborne will let him. Are there some coaching changes that need to be made? Probably.

It is rumored that the Big Red will get a bowl game. I keep having this premonition that if they do, come game day Osborne will be leading the team out onto the field as interim Athletic Director slash born again Football Coach.

The Second Coming of Osborne

I think he misses it, I think he wants it and after his defeat in the primary election in his bid to be governor I think he needs the ego boost.

If that is the case then Callahan will not get the "free from Pederson oppression" chance to prove himself. And that may be the worst thing that will have happened at UNL since Tommy Lee audited a few of the Underwater Basket Weaving 101 electives for Prime Time Television.

There you have it, a swirling torrent of unconnected random electronic synapses pulsating across the brain cells of my thought process.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Please excuse the maintenance

Or; You probably didn't even notice

In the last few days I have purged my Blogroll of links that have apparently "Gone out of Business" or have not been posted to in a very long time.

I have also added some new ones that I have become aware of in the last year or so. What follows is a brief about the newly added ones. I am not embedding a link to them in this post as one already exists in the Blogroll on the side bar.

Joe's Crabby Shack

"Where 4 out of 5 Freedom Fiends and Second Amendment junkies come to get the skinny on the Nebraska Legislature"

I met Joe and his Father at a Shooting Competition some years ago. Even before that we had been commenting on some of the same message boards. It was a pleasure to see him and meet his blushing bride at the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky last month.

His blog is a great read and he, "a schooled journalist" has been a much more prolific writer on Nebraska Firearms issues lately than I have. Joe is also telling the truth when he says "get the skinny on the Nebraska Legislature".

During the time Concealed Carry was being debated Joe was updating at least one message board (2005-2006) and his Blog it sometimes seemed hourly. He truly put a herculean effort into covering the progress of LB454 and getting the skinny out there. His promptness in reporting helped many of us make timely phone calls to our elected leaders. I am positive Joe's effort went a long way toward passage of CCW in the Cornhusker state and he is owed a debt of gratitude from all Nebraskans who care about this issue.

Great Blue Whale

In the top right corner of his Blog is the pronouncement that Self-Defense is a Human Right and directly under that are the 4 rules of firearms safety that should be ingrained in anyone that accepts responsibility of owning a firearm. I would add a 5th though, "Always maintain control of your firearm", but that is just me.

I became aware of the Blue Whale while reading the Crabby Shack and immediately liked it. Since the Whale admitted to attending the Gun rights Policy Conference I am sure I met and likely had a "gun chat" with him.

The Ten Ring

"A blog by two self-described gun nuts. One who started as a liberal and the other who started as a conservative. We helped each other grow and thrive over the past nine years."

Follow along with Yosemite Sam and Denise as they delve deeply into the Second Amendment arena. Read through their archives and learn what it was that brought them to this point in their lives.

Their Blog is a wealth of information, including numerous reports on specific firearms they have acquired since their personal enlightenment.

Sadly lacking though is a field/history report on a Ruger 10/22.

Two of my favorite posts are their explanations, one by each of them on how they came to be such firearm aficionados.

It seems that the restrictive gun laws of a draconian New England state, enacted to discourage firearms ownership, did not prevent these two from owning guns; It encouraged them to learn about and acquire as many as suits them and their finances.