That was a lovely weekend.

Friday, after work, we packed up the truck, hitched up the new-to-us camper, and headed a short jaunt away to the KOA in Hagerstown, MD. Stayed until check-out time yesterday, then trucked home.

Observations:

• Sleeping in a popup is interesting.  I mean, it's a tent.  On wheels.  With AC and a fridge.  Luxury tenting FTW!
• This particular KOA is nice and small, staff is friendly, and the little restaurant on-site makes the best (and biggest) chocolate chip pancakes I've ever had.  Each was about .25" thick and as wide as a dinner plate...and they give you THREE.  
• This weekend was expensive, but most of that went to outfitting the camper.  We have a couple more things to buy and we're golden, I think.  Our goal is to get it outfitted to the point where we just need to throw clothes in a bag, food in a cooler, and go.  This is a hard transition for two tent campers to make. :D

We spent the weekend, relaxing, cooking, hanging out by the fire, and fishing.  I could think of far worse ways to spend a couple of sunny days...

(borrowed from here)

Not dead, not missing, just lacking material.

Life's kept us busy, and I'm too disheartened about Maryland's political situation to have much to talk about.

Some folks seem to be questioning why Maryland SB281 is so problematic for people who are legal gun owners or want to be a legal gun owner in Maryland.

So here are some key parts of the bill that's headed to the governor to be signed into law.

The parts of the bill that dealt with punishments for those who break the law have been gutted, so this isn't even useful legislation. Governor O'Malley and his cronies DO NOT want us here. I hope they're ready to lose a crap-ton in tax revenue from Beretta, because it's likely they're packing up their stuff and moving elsewhere. Way to go.

I'm ashamed of my legislators.

Maryland truly doesn't deserve to be called the "free" state anymore.

And now for a laugh.

The next time you get into a gun debate with someone online, and the subject matter turns toward "assault" weapons, send them this:

This isn't democracy.

This is pretty disgusting. No matter your thoughts on guns, this isn't how voting should happen.

This needs to stop.

People from states other than Maryland - your assistance is needed!

A while back, shortly after the Newtown shootings, my friend Kizz asked for some help. Before she got involved in the gun debate, she wanted to be more informed about the laws regarding firearms, specifically AR15s (since that's what's been in the news lately). I offered to help. I saw this as a great way to educate myself as well as a more liberal-minded friend.

And then lots of stuff happened, and life got in the way, and I found myself overwhelmed with everything that involved more brain power than the absolute basics like showering and eating.

So we're asking for your help. We've got Maryland covered, but if you live in a state that isn't Maryland, we need your input. To quote Kizz,

If you can distill what you learn into a paragraph ... then I'll put up a post with all our paragraphs. You can give us the heads up that you're doing a state by saying so in comments below. I believe we can get this information on the internet and without too much difficulty.

Please, feel free to share what you know and/or can dig up here or over on her blog. And please, be polite. This is an opportunity for those of us firmly on the pro-gun side to educate those who really don't know the laws. Kizz has a decent readership, and she's willing to learn. Please don't just link to your state's laws - we want the basic information.

Thanks for any assistance you folks are willing to provide!

Speculation: building a 300 Blackout SBR.

I'm starting to research putting together an upper. Not sure if I'm going to go through with it - I'm in the brainstorming stage. Chris suggested I look at going for 300 Blackout, since I've also entertained getting a suppressor.

The problem I'm encountering right now: what in the world is the deal with buffer weights? I don't care quite as much about the tube length - I'm still getting an adjustable rifle stock for it. Lead the blind, will ya? Do I need a lighter weight buffer, or can I stick with the standard weight?

I'm still doing my research, but dang there's a lot of conflicting information out there. My brain hurts. :)

Oh, does anyone know anything about this item?


Expect more questions as I attempt to navigate through planning this build. I'm an idiot when it comes to this sort of thing, and I suspect I'll come across more mental roadblocks.

I HATE being part of the rumor mill...

Especially when there's nothing to substantiate the rumor.

That said, over on Arms and the Law, there's been an update on the Woollard case. And really, it sounds like we're screwed.

If anyone comes across a source, can you let me know? I'm unable to comment over there and any email attempts have been ignored in the past, so I'm unable to ask him for his source.


ETA: Substantiated. Dammit.