A few thoughts on the Knock Out Game

The Knock-Out Game hits rather close to home, dead center in the "why GC carries a gun" bullseye. This sort of thing tends to defeat my preferred safety strategy of "be where the trouble isn't" and my fall-back of "run away, run away" has long since been defeated by health issues. It harks back to the bad old days when gay bashing was more common and when street violence was more of a realitya
and less of a rarity.

Here in Washington, rushing up to someone (in my lay opinion) and trying to knock them down with a single blow constitutes Assault in the 3rd Degree (good for up to 5 years, a Class C felony) and places the victim in reasonable fear for their lives (again, my lay opinion).

Oddly enough, these things matter. It happens they trigger several other intriguing statutes addressing the use of force and justifiable homicide under the Revised Code of Washington.

For those among us that are not legal wonks or hobbyists, I'll simplify. You play the knock-out game with the 400,000+ concealed carry licensees (and a fair number of others with in  other exciting tools and skill sets) in Washington, it may turn out far differently than you planned on - up to and including you getting a one-time be-all end-all opportunity to go home in a box or take up permanent residence in a wheelchair or hospital bed.

Those folks you see as victims, or safe targets? May not be...and if you do knock them down, may not get back up in a mood to play nice. And if you don't knock them down, they may not ask a lot of questions before doing something dreadfully final about you - and any of your buddies you brought along for the ride.

And in all likelihood, they not only won't go to jail (assuming they abide by the rules and don't get all over-enthusiastic) - they'll get public support AND if they are prosecuted and found innocent, the state will get to pay for their attorneys.

So yes, that fat old dude might just shoot your ass. Or so might that petite young lady, flaming nelly queen, or.... You'll never know till you start growing new holes in your person.

Think about it. Maybe you might want to take up another game, like chess.

Breakfast Casserole

 Ok. I've puttered around with this recipe a bit in my break from Fanny Farmer. Made up different versions, and will still play with it more. HOWEVER, it is time to share.

For two diners of moderate appetite, it's a two-day thing - enough left-overs for a second meal. I probably like the breakfast sausage version best, but I think I'll turn it up by using Jimmy Deans hot breakfast sausage option. We'll see.

In the meantime, make this at home and enjoy!

Source: Paula Deen (Modified)

Servings: 8 to 10 servings
Prep Time: 20 min, inactive: 10 min
Cook Time: 50 min
Difficulty: Easy.

Butter
1 pound ground maple pork sausage
6 slices soft hearty bread
One 8-ounce package shredded triple Cheddar cheese
8 large eggs
2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon seasoned pepper 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 13- by 9-inch baking pan (ceramic for the win).

In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat, stirring frequently, until browned and crumbly, about 10 minutes; set aside and drain well on paper towels.

Remove and discard the bread crusts. Cut the slices in half, and arrange in a single layer in the prepared baking dish, cutting pieces to fit as necessary to cover the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle first with the sausage and then the cheese.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, mustard, seasoned salt and pepper; carefully pour the mixture over the cheese.

Bake casserole until set and golden, about 40 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes: Breakfast sausage substitutes well, that said choose a spice level that suits your taste - chorizo, sadly, not so much. The maple sausage variant is a bit on the sweet side, but pleasantly different.

Battle Rifle Co AR-15 pattern rifle

I'm still early in my addiction to the AR pattern - I only own one, and while I lust after others, so far finance has prevented me from leaping. Further, I've never worked in a gun shop nor been certified as an armorer - and no, I didn't build out my AR all on my own either - so my perspective is that of an end user. I can just about get as far as "Is gun. Bang comes out THAT end." before I begin to run a bit thin on expertise.

With all that in mind, I agreed to do a T&E at Blogorado (and ask friends to do the same) on a rifle provided by the Battle Rifle company out of Seabrook, TX. A father and son operation, Battle Rifle is one of the growing number of small and hopefully growing shops cranking out AR pattern rifles in recent years. I had the pleasure of speaking with founder Chris Kurzadkowski in setting this up, and of meeting him while I was down in Houston on business - you couldn't ask for a friendlier variant on "Texas Gentleman" and he seems honestly dedicated to the notion of customer service and quality product.

In the T&E session I was involved in we didn't get the chance to test out the customer service end - because the gun just kept chunking away. I didn't experience (nor am I aware of anyone else experiencing) any sort of malfunction.

It should be noted that 35mph cross winds will affect the accuracy of any firearm, with the lighter the projectile the greater the influence. Shooting .223 with 55 to 70 grain projectiles under such conditions left me less able to quantify "how accurate is this rifle" and more able to discover "under cruddy conditions, what will this rifle do?"

Turns out, to my experience, that it'll do the job. I was running iron sights, but the installed choice of iron sights (MagPul) worked pretty well even in adverse conditions. Rifle consistently fed, barring one operator error induced failure to cycle (do not over stuff your magazines, kids...). I was able to reach out to, when the wind dropped for a moment, around 200 yards without difficulty and with a minimum of skill.

Overall, if you're looking for an AR pattern rifle in .223 I'd urge you to seriously consider the Battle Rifle Company. At my level of expertise it seemed a good solid AR pattern that would fit that need.

GC

Posts I wish I'd Written

Now and again you run across a post that you wish you'd written (sometimes an entire blog may fall under "Damn. I wish I could write like that").

This morning I ran across one of those posts.

Scribbler, of Scribblers Scrawls knocked out an *excellent* article pointing out to the gun community that eating our own might be.... counterproductive.

Go. Read. Now.

A few thoughts for dog owners...

I like dogs. Friendly dogs are really neat. However...

If I come into your business and your medium to large dog gives every indication that it's about to come flinging over the top of a 4' counter to savage me...it may not go well for Fido.

I won't run - both because at several levels I can't, at least not well enough to outrun any but the most feeble of dogs - but I will drop into a defensive stance as I reach for some tools of serious social interaction.

As it happens, had this occur over lunch today - stopped in at a vendor to talk about an order, and dobie-lab mix went simply ape that someone dared to enter their owners store. Can't say I was much amused.

Doggie-parents, if you are taking your "big enough to do real damage" doggie into public spaces...for the good of your dog, make sure they aren't going to put folks at reasonable fear of injury. We may not respond well.