All Nine Yards

Last weekend I headed off to the range intent on getting the new rifle broken in a bit and zeroed.

Having already eyeballed a bore sight in my back yard and with the assistance of another shooter who offered to spot for me getting the initial adjustments only took two rounds. A few rounds more at the dirt and a quick swab of the barrel then another 40 rounds to get some copper in the bore.

Then it was time to get a solid zero.

At 0.68 MOA I’ll take it for a first outing. However, the range session made it clear that I had a problem. I could have a good steady cheek weld or I could look through my scope; not both. I was also spending a lot of time getting my rear bag readjusted for each shot, it was just setup too loose.

The bag is a minor inconvenience that was easy to correct with the help of Uncle Ben and his famous rice. This has the added benefit of making me ready to augment any wild jambalaya I may find in the field. (It could happen)

The absence of cheek weld is a major issue. So, Bradley Adjustable Cheek Rest to the rescue.

When I initially ordered my cheek rest I goofed up the order. So I called and spoke to Bradley. Super nice guy and a true second amendment supporter. He threw in two more of his superb adjustable rests for Florida Carry to raffle off. We’ll do that soon.

The cheek rest went on without a hitch and on the first try it put me dead on the scope with a relaxed and natural, but solid, cheek position. I cringe when I think of all of the polly sleeping pads I butchered and taped to get a just passable position on the stock of an M24… This is great!

I also picked up an Accu-Shot Monopod, just in case I eat the rice.

Between all of the work necessary for the legislative session and prepping all of our recent lawsuits, not to mention the administrative duties and doing the job that pays me, I really have not had enough time to get out on the range much or do any flying since October. With the legislative session over and a few month until the elections get really hot, it’s time to have some fun.

In a couple of weeks I’ll get back in the cockpit. This weekend, well…
There is this new rifle that needs to be sighted in.

The last time I had to ask myself whether or not to bed (insert noun), I was a young single man.

Resigned to the fact that factory rifle actions are not usually micrometer true, I sat down in front of my new Remington 700P with the new scope base rail, thin feeler gauges, some paper, paydoh, kiwi polish, JB Weld, and a torque driver ready to get to work bedding the base.

Snugged down the front of the base, and nothing fit under the back. Crap, going to have to bed the front and loose a little bit of my 20 MOA… Right?

Pulled the front screws and snugged down the back of the rail. Neither paper nor my smallest gauge would go under the front either.

Could it be true? The receiver is completely true?

So I just torqued all of the screws down to spec, payed with my playdoh for a while, shined some neglected boots, and put everything else back in the tool box.

Did I miss something?

It has been quite a while since I did any long range shooting. There was a time when I was considered to be a pretty darn good intermediate to long range shooter. While stationed at Ft. Benning in 1994 I got to attend training put on by the Army Marksmanship Unit meant to extend the range of regular old infantry grunts like me. After that I was usually assigned a secondary role as a Designated Marksman in all of my line units (Active and Nat. Guard) until I got out of the Army Guard in 2001. This allowed me to get pretty good at shooting tuned M16s with a scope slapped on and sometimes some pretty nice M14 rifles at extended range. It also got me some experience with the M24 sniper rifle but I only occasionally got to use the bolt gun.

But I liked it.

The range where I’m a member allows for shooting out to 1,200 yards. My 5.56 M4gery rifles are obviously not up to that task. So, I have a new project.

My new Remington 700 P in .308 with 26″ barrel is the blank slate I’m starting with.

This is going to be fun.

Florida Sheriffs Association Trying to GUT the Right to Bear Arms in an Emergency

Tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday April 8th 2014), Senate Bill 296 by Sen. Brandes will be before the Florida Senate Community Affairs Committee.

This is the bill that the Florida Sheriffs Association (FSA) has been using to fight against the very core of your right to bear arms.

At the request of the FSA, two amendments have been filed that would gut the bill’s protections of your right to bear arms during an emergency evacuation. An almost identical North Carolina law to the one that the FSA is trying to keep on the books in Florida was ruled an unconstitutional violation of the Right to Bear Arms in federal court.

Watch the video, then ACT!

Please send an email RIGHT NOW to ask these committee members to SUPPORT SB-296 with NO AMENDMENTS

IN THE SUBJECT LINE PUT:
SUPPORT SB-296 With NO AMENDMENTS

Copy and Paste these email addresses into your email’s “TO” box:

[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]

The Florida Sheriffs Association (FSA) claims that concealed weapons and firearms license holders will be able to evacuate with their firearms during a locally declared emergency. This is an outright lie.  The bill that the FSA opposes, HB 209, creates an exception to the automatic ban on firearms possession in public (even with a concealed carry license) for people who are complying with a mandatory evacuation order.

This is the unconstitutional law that the FSA is trying to protect:

870.044 Automatic emergency measures.—Whenever the public official declares that a state of emergency exists, pursuant to s. 870.043, the following acts shall be prohibited during the period of said emergency throughout the jurisdiction:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/05/3976544/fred-grimm-one-size-fits-all-gun.html

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/ruth-guns-on-campus-what-could-go-wrong/2168937

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/cerabino-guns-in-florida-university-dorm-rooms-is-/ndF83/

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”- Ben Franklin

OR….

Knowing that my roommate may own a gun stowed away in his or her car would cause me to worry for my own safety. Universities should not promote students to fend for themselves with firearms, but instead enhance security on campus to create a safe environment.

via Guns endanger students – Sun Sentinel.

The University of North Korea may be more to your liking but I think we’ll keep our individual rights here in the USA.

I spoke about it the other day, Eastern Florida State College Ignoring State Law | All Nine Yards.  We’re moving forward to protect student’s rights.

https://www.floridacarry.org/index.php/litigation/21-flcourts/95-florida-carry-v-eastern-florida-state-college

On February 3rd, 2014 Florida Carry, Inc. filed a lawsuit against Eastern Florida State College (EFSC), seeking a permanent injunction to protect the rights of students, faculty, and the public from the college’s illegal and unconstitutional regulations prohibiting firearms and weapons on all college property. Since 1987 the Florida Legislature has preempted firearms law and issued state-wide licenses to carry for self-defense.  In December Florida Carry won a similar case against the University of North Florida (UNF).  In Florida Carry v. UNF the First District Court of Appeal ruled that “The legislature’s primacy in firearms regulation derives directly from the Florida Constitution… Indeed, the legislature has reserved for itself the whole field of firearms regulation in section 790.33(1)…”

Florida Carry sues the University of Florida for illegal ban on guns and other defensive weapons in cars and homes

Friday, January 10, 2014
For Immediate Release

Gainesville FL – Florida Carry, Inc. has today filed a lawsuit against the University Florida (UF), seeking a permanent injunction to protect the rights of students, faculty, and the public from the university’s illegal and unconstitutional regulations prohibiting firearms and weapons on all university property. Since 1987 the Florida Legislature has preempted firearms law and issued state-wide licenses to carry for self-defense.  In December Florida Carry won a similar case against the University of North Florida (UNF).  In Florida Carry v. UNF the First District Court of Appeal ruled that “The legislature’s primacy in firearms regulation derives directly from the Florida Constitution… Indeed, the legislature has reserved for itself the whole field of firearms regulation in section 790.33(1)…”  No public college or university has any authority to prevent students and the public from having a functional firearm in places that are constitutionally protected or permitted under state law.

The University of Florida has failed to comply with the court’s ruling by doing nothing more than adding an “Intent” footnote to one of its illegal policies. Florida Carry Executive Director Sean Caranna reached out to UF President Bernie Machen in an attempt to avert the need for legal action.  Mr. Caranna’s call was returned by the university’s General Counsel who refused to take our concerns about UF’s illegal policies and regulations seriously and was dismissive of our plea that they work with us to craft a legal set of regulations.  Florida Carry was left with no choice but to file this case.

Any public college or university which attempts to restrict the statutory and fundamental right to keep and bear arms in Florida is subject to enforcement actions by organizations such as Florida Carry. In addition to enforcing the clearly established right of students to lawfully store firearms in their personal vehicles on campus, Florida Carry seeks to protect the right to possess firearms and other defensive weapons in the home.  In the landmark 2008 Heller case the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that bans on the possession of functional arms in the home are unconstitutional.  Nationwide, millions of adult university faculty, students, and their families live in university owned housing.  The fact that state housing facilities run by Florida Universities continue to deprive law abiding adults of their fundamental right to keep and bear arms in their homes, years after the clear decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court that such bans are unconstitutional, is unconscionable.

Read the Complaint Here

The following is the letter we sent to Broward County this morning. An almost identical letter was sent to the City of Tallahassee. Many more of these will be going out statewide this week as we continue to pursue local government and state agency violators of the Right to Bear Arms.

Florida Carry has been made aware of multiple ordinances enacted by Broward County which continue to be promulgated in violation of Florida Statute §790.33 and/or §790.06(15) and Article I, Section 8(a) of the Florida Constitution. In order to resolve this violation of civil rights in an expedient and cooperative manner, we are contacting you to ascertain the official position of the county on the matter prior to our taking any further action necessary to ensure compliance with the statutory and constitutional preemption of the right to bear arms. We hope that this continued violation constitutional and statutory rights was an oversight and we would like to see an expeditious resolution of this matter.

Recently the Florida First District Court of Appeal ruled, in relevant part:

The legislature’s primacy in [the regulation of arms] derives directly from the Florida Constitution. Article I, Section 8(a), of the Florida Constitution provides:

The right of the people to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves and of the lawful authority of the state shall not be infringed, except that the manner of bearing arms may be regulated by law.

The phrase “by law” indicates that the regulation of the state right to keep and bear arms is assigned to the legislature and must be enacted by statute. Cf. Grapeland Heights Civic Ass’n v. City of Miami, 267 So. 2d 321, 324 (Fla. 1972) (considering the enactment clause language of article III, section 6, of the Florida Constitution and interpreting the constitutional term “law” in the phrase “authorized by law” to mean an enactment by the legislature not by a city commission or any other political body).

Florida Carry v. Univ. of N. FL, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 19600; 2013 WL 6480789, en banc (Fla. 1st DCA 2013)

As such, any measure directed at the public regulating the possession or use of a defensive firearm, knife, baton/billie, defensive electronic device, tear/pepper gas or other classes of arms commonly used for self-defense is in violation of the constitutional preemption of the right to bear arms in addition to the possible violation of statutory preemptions in Sec. 790.06 and 790.33, Fla. Stat. We, of course, would prefer to avoid litigation and seek only to gain compliance with state statutes and our constitution.

As a Florida registered non-profit organization representing the interests of defensive weapons and firearms owners who lawfully carry throughout the state, Florida Carry has the necessary standing to initiate legal action on behalf of our membership with regard to this issue should we deem it necessary to insure compliance with state law and the cessation of the violations of fundamental civil rights. Millions of Floridians lawfully carry defensive firearms and weapons every day to protect themselves and their families. We will see to it that they not face a patchwork of regulations that are impossible for them to keep up with as they traverse our great state.

We request a prompt reply to this communication, stating any corrective action which has been, is being, or will be taken to come into complete compliance with Florida Statutes §790.33 & §790.06(15), and the Florida Carry v. UNF ruling on Art. I Sec.8(a) of our Florida Constitution. Delays or failure to respond within 15 days will be viewed as intent to continue to violate the civil and statutory rights of Floridians. In such case, Florida Carry will pursue any necessary recourse, including legal action, to secure compliance. Your earliest response is most appreciated.

Sincerely,

Sean Caranna

Executive Director

Florida Carry, Inc.

FloridaCarry.org

This morning my wife was treated to the sight of me sitting in my Florida room with my S&W AR15 clamped to the coffee table in a vice.  She rolled her eyes and started cooking bacon.  I installed a new Geissele SSA-E trigger with plenty of time left over for me to clean up and put away tools before I needed to butter the toast and plate the bacon.  I’ve got to say…  This trigger is nice!  Can’t wait to get it to the range.

If you, a layperson, mention to your Florida lawyer that you have “a constitutional right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” you can usually expect to receive a dismissive eye-roll, a chuckle, or perhaps an earnest explanation that you have conflated the Declaration of Independence with the U.S. Constitution.  If this happens your lawyer has failed you and is need of remedial education on the Florida Constitution.  In our constitution, these are amongst your most basic fundamental rights.

ARTICLE I – DECLARATION OF RIGHTS

…
SECTION 2. Basic rights.—All natural persons, female and male alike, are equal before the law and have inalienable rights, among which are the right to enjoy and defend life and liberty, to pursue happiness, to be rewarded for industry, and to acquire, possess and protect property; except that the ownership, inheritance, disposition and possession of real property by aliens ineligible for citizenship may be regulated or prohibited by law. No person shall be deprived of any right because of race, religion, national origin, or physical disability.

Art. I Sec. 2 is also the core protection of Florida’s self-defense and property protection rights.