Information, Tips, and Support for the Private Gun Owner
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We all run into situations we would rather avoid from time to time. Courage is not fearlessness, it is the ability to continue with necessary action when afraid -- even when terrified. We each go through a dozen "little couages" a day, but we tend not to notice them anymore, due to familiarity or practice.
Taking a new job is one of those little courages we each have done before, usually without a whole lot of trepidation, frequently with curiosity, and sometimes with excitement. But rarely have I had to examine a new job for danger.
This time, I did. It seemed innocent enough, a retail job at the local mall. A bookstore, one of my favorite places in the world. I worked in one when I was in High School, so it seemed tailor- made...except for a disturbing entry in the Employee Handbook.
This company, under the auspices of a "zero tolerance for violence" policy, forbids all weapons carried by employees on the premises. Of course, the assumption is that if one carries a weapon, one *must* be intending some nefarious deed with it!
Not only that, but all employees must submit to a bag check for any potential thievery every time they remove a purse or fanny- pack from the store. They supply employees with a locker, but they record the combination. Unless a weapon is *extremely* concealable, such as a pocket gun, it is impossible to carry there.
So what do I do? I don't want to be unprotected, but I need the job. I don't have a reliable pocket gun, The only weapon I have that would fit the bill is a little Jennings .22 auto pistol, but it really isn't reliable enough for self-defense, only for plinking. The ideal gun would be a Kel-Tec P-32 .32 acp pistol (www.kel-tec.com) with RBCD Performance Plus defense ammunition (www.rbcd.net), but that will have to wait for more pecunious times. A compromise is called for. So off to Wal-Mart I go, looking for a solution I can afford.
I was pleasantly surprised. I picked up a substantially-sized steel gunsafe with a cylindrical security key lock for less than $30. I secured it to the steel frame of the car in the trunk, and *voila!* I now have a place to put my gun while I'm in the store. I can fit my entire fanny-pack in there, making it unnecessary for me to go through a bag check.
The downside: I don't have my gun inside, or between the store and my car. But the upside is that I have my gun everwhere else, and *I* control my own security.
As in all things, your mileage may vary. You may feel comfortable concealing a larger weapon than I do, or may be willing to take a chance on a locker where your employer knows the combination, or you may simply trust a Jennings J-22 for defense. These are all highly individual decisions.
If I had a concealable gun I trusted, I would be taking *my* chances at being caught and fired. No job is worth my life...and while the company does have the right to tell me to leave, I have a permit, and have a right to carry. The most they can do is fire me. A bad guy can kill me.
--- Gwen Patton
The Range Bag
This month's product review is a bit problematic for me. Naturally, one likes to think that when you read a product review, that the person writing is knowlegable about the kind of product in use, and has tried several diffrent brands and noted that some are better than others.
So, it may be helpful to some folks to think of what follows not as a product review, but more like an experiences report. After all, since the products I report on here are bought for my use out of my pocket, I'd be highly pleased to *never* find out about inferior products.
OK, with that disclaimer out of the way, this month I'm going to talk a little about lubricants and cleaning, with special emphasis on autoloaders, since that's mostly what I shoot.
Friction is the enemy of reliability in an autoloader. Too much friction on the feed ramp can cause a failure-to-feed jam, where the nose of the bullet wedges on the ramp and prevents the slide from "going to battery", which is gun-guy talk for "going all the way forward. Too much friction in the chamber can cause an extraction or ejection failure, resulting in an empty shell case remaining in the breech and jamming the gun (sometimes called a "stovepipe" when the case sticks up vertically out of the ejection port. Excessive friction in the magazine can prevent the slide from picking up and chambering a fresh round, and can even result in fooling the slide into thinking the magazine is empty and causing it to latch open.
None of these events is something you want to have happen at a time when you're relying on your autoloading handgun to protect you "in gravest extreme". And once you have taken your weapon out to the range, gotten to know that it works reliably with the ammunition you will carry it with (you *have* shot some practice with your carry load, right?), you should be pretty sure that the bearing surfaces of the mechanism are of the right shape and smoothness for reliable operation.
It's your job to keep them that way, and that's where lubricants come in.
There are two lubricants I use in my Kel-Tec P-11 autoloader, and being new to the game I'm (mostly) following the oral tradition of the Kel-Tec Cult. The Owner's Manual doesn't talk about lubricating the gun at all; in fact it only mentions coating the external metal surfaces with oil after cleaning, presumably to prevent corrosion.
The results so far following the Lore of the Cult have been pretty good. According to Cult tradition, one vital lubrication point is the slide rails, the slots where the slide rides back and forth on the frame. Excessive friction here will risk to unreliable operation (if the slide is kept from it's full travel by excessive friction, it won't pick up the next round reliably off the stack and may jam) as well as excessive wear.
The pronouncement of the Cult elders seems to be that *grease* is the lubricant for this job, and I was delighted to learn I already had in my range bag one of the known and recommended synthetic lubricants: Tetra Gun lubricant. I apply this to the frequently neglected surface on the underside of the slide where the hammer rides as the slide moves to the rearmost position. Owing to the novel design of the P-11 hammer mechanism, there is no cocked position of the hammer, so every time the slide is racked the full force of the hammer spring presses the hammer into the slide. Tetra Gun Lube is viscous enough that it (mostly) stays where I put it, and it really doesn't take a lot to do the job; my one ounce bottle is still quite full. I also use Tetra Lube on the bearing surfaces of the slide when it meets the frame rails, although this may be a minor heresy since my gun is an everyday carry piece, and Cult tribal wisdom calls for an oil rather than grease in when the gun is carried rather than stored to reduce dust pickup.
In fact, the word is that, far from being critical, almost *any*
grease can be used in this role. If I ever use up my bottle of
Tetra Gun Lube, I'll probably switch to some high-temperature
brake caliper grease I have left over from lubing the drum wheels
I had to replace in my clothes drier.
Another, more oil-like product is "Militec Weapons Grade
Synthetic Based Metal Conditioner", and I have been using it for
all other lubrication points in the gun. This product is one of a
number of various synthetic lubricants that claim to form a more
intimate bond with the metal surface (especially when the metal
is heated) than an ordinary mineral oil would, and seems to have
gained quite an underground reputation in some law-enforcement
and military circles. While I'm not in a position to do any sort
of objective test of the stuff, both Gwen and I have observed
that our gun bores seem to come clean more easily after we've
been though several cleanings after practicing with our carry
weapons. I apply it to the bore of my P-11 barrel, although
it's probably not necessary for corrosion prevention, since the
barrel is machined from a block of stainless steel.
Anyhow, that's my lubrication story, and I'm sticking to it.
The Kel-Tec Cult (actually, the Kel-Tec owner's group)
http://www.ktog.org
GoldenLoki's detailed lubrication guide for the P-11:
http://www.goldenloki.com/guns/keltec/care2.htm
Tetra:
http://www.tetraproducts.com/
Militec:
http://www.militec-1.com/
Okay, you know the difference between 'em...how do you FIND the
consarned things? They hide them. You can't see 'em from the
street these days. Your best bet is in the yellow pages,
on the Internet, or by word of mouth.
Gun clubs cover a lot of ground, and tend to be in more rural
settings, in wooded areas. They don't have much in the way of
signs, and if they did, you can't go in there anyway unless
you're a member, and if you did go in anyway, there probably
wouldn't be anyone there to see most of the time anyhow. You
need to call or write to a gun club first and talk to someone in
charge of new memberships, and fill out a membership form.
Look for phone numbers on their signs, if they have them, and
write them down. When you call, say you are interested in
becoming a member. Some clubs will send you a form in the mail,
some will want to interview you in private, and some will simply
ask you to attend a club meeting and apply to the group at that
time. Since these are usually run as true clubs, there will
likely be two fees up front -- the initiation fee and your dues.
The initiation fee will be a one-time charge, and may be
substantial. The dues will likely be smaller, and may, in many
circumstances be pro-rated based on the time of year that you
apply. Applying in the Fall can save you some money the first
year!
Firing ranges are notoriously hard to find, because zoning laws
tend to put them in fairly industrial areas where the structures
are stronger than your typical storefront. They need concrete
walls and floors, and special insurance, and lots of places won't
let them move in. So they tend to be in out-of-the way places,
such as industrial parks and behind strip malls. These places
are hard to advertise with signs at street level, so you're not
going to find them that way. You will need to find them in the
phone book, on the Net, or be told where they are by someone
who has been there...but once you find them, they're easy to
join.
Firing ranges are more like businesses, and will simply have you
fill out a form and charge your credit card or take a check for
your fee. It isn't a club, you're paying what amounts to a
subscription, though some ranges will call it a "club" to give
it a taste of camaraderie. They'll call it a "membership",
and even have discounts on merchandise and everything. But
it isn't really a club unless they have meetings and by-laws
and stuff like that -- it's more like a shopping club like
Sam's Club or Costco. You pay your fee and you get your goods.
In the Yellow Pages, the key words to look for are "Rifle &
Pistol Ranges" first, then under "Guns" next. Some online Yellow
Pages have a "Gun Safety & Marksmanship Instruction" category
that usually includes firing ranges, since they frequently sell
training courses. Some gun clubs will also put themselves
in that category because they have training available, so
keep this point in mind.
On the Internet, you can use a search engine such as Excite or
Google to look for 'Firing Range' or 'Gun Club' and the name of
your nearest large city, or you can go to a large shooters'
portal site such as Shooters.com and look through their directory.
You can find both firing ranges and gun clubs this way,
frequently interspersed in the same set of listings.
One extremely good directory of both ranges and gun clubs can be
found at www.wheretoshoot.org. Their database is extensive, and
can be limited by zipcode or by area code. They claim to be able
to limit the search by the type of facility -- airgun, handgun,
rifle, shotgun, archery, and/or hunting oriented -- but my test
of this feature was dubious in result. The range I frequent only
came up when I chose the "all" option in this section of the
search. Choosing "handgun", "rifle", and "shotgun" -- or any
combination therof -- did not locate my range, even though I know
they provide these services. I would resist the tempatation to
use that part of the search, and simply limit it to location
searches, then go by name.
Another relatively new listing is at www.rodandgunclub.com. They
are so new, they don't have very many private clubs or ranges
listed, but they do have a lot of the State-run game lands and
park ranges listed. I suspect that they will acquire more
private range listings as time goes on, so keep an eye on them.
A clue to tell the ranges from the clubs is if you see a
reference to "Rod and Gun" in the name. If you see this, you can
pretty much be sure it is a gun club and not a firing range,
because they support fishing and other sporting activities.
One last suggestion is to not discount the word of mouth in
finding a good place to shoot. Talk to the people at your local
gun shop and find out where THEY shoot. Talk to the other
shooters, and find out what they think of the local clubs. Some
of the clubs may require the sponsorship of another member to
get you in the door, and having someone to vouch for you may
be just what you need. It also might help you find someone
to shoot *with*, something that never hurts!
So, now you know what kinds of ranges there are, and you know
how to find them. Go on out and practice, practice, practice!
http://www.shooters.com - Shooters' Directory & Portal Site
Nepalese Man Arrested at O'Hare
-------------------------------
Subash Gurung, 27, a Nepalese citizen who is in the United States
on an expired student visa, was arrested Saturday, November 3 for
attempting to carry a total of 9 knives, a stun gun, and a can of
pepper spray onto an airliner in his carry-on luggage.
Private security workers of the Atlanta-based Argenbright
Security Inc., which operates the screening operations at
United's terminal, did not notice that Mr. Gurung was carrying
two folding knives in his pockets, nor did they discover the
seven other knives and other weapons in his carry-on bag. The
items were discovered at the gate when his bags were searched by
United Airlines employees.
Two more knives, one with a seven-inch blade, were packed in his
checked baggage. At first, Gurung was arrested under Illinois
State misdemeanor charges of attempting to board an airplane with
weapons, but when he was released on bond and attempted to
reclaim his luggage at O'Hare International Airport, FBI
officials placed him under arrest on Federal felony charges. So
far, law enforcement officials have found no indication that
Gurung was involved in any terrorism, and he claims he owned the
knives and other items for protection and mistakenly packed them
in his carry-on bag instead of his checked luggage.
"The investigation does not seem to reveal an illicit, suspicious
or nefarious intent about his trip to Omaha," said Randall
Samborn, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.
In total, Argenbright Security has suspended eight employees as a
result of this incident, and investigations are continuing.
Well, no one has submitted a story for me to publish this month,
so I will instead just publish an impassioned entreaty for some.
If you have personal stories about how guns have played a part in
defending your life or the lives of your loved ones, please
write it up and submit it to Household Gunowners' Digest! I
would love to publish it here, and unlike other columns, there
is *no* length limitation to "Home Front" articles. So dust off
the word processors and get typing, folks! I'm sure someone out
there has a tale to tell!
All I ask is that it actually be *your* tale to tell. In order
for me to publish it, you have to have the right to grant me the
right to print it. The best, easiest, and most straightforward
way to accomplish that is if the story is your own. So personal
accounts only, please! Feel free to pass along this request to
someone *else* you know who has a story, though, if you think
they would like to submit it. That would be okay. *grin*
Thanks!
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Revolution Earth Press
Editor-in-Chief: Gwendolyn S. Patton
http://revolutionearth.wmnsnetbiz.com
Feature: How to Find a Place to Shoot, Pt 3 of 3
by Gwen Patton
Helpful Web Links
http://www.wheretoshoot.org - Database of Ranges & Clubs
http://www.rangeinfo.org - Firing Range Information
http://www.rodandgunclub.com - New Gun Club Site
http://www.google.com - Excellent Search Engine
http://www.superpages.com - Online Yellow Pages
Political Aims
News from the Home Front
Gwen Patton
The Range Bag
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Copyright 2001 Gwendolyn S. Patton, Jeffersonville, PA.
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