This news article details how some lowlife in Austin, Texas tried to kidnap little girls in a library.

(Picture Source.)

Looks like a real charmer, doesn’t he?

Anyway, the suspect first tried to make off with an 11 year old girl, who wriggled out of his grasp before running to find her father in the library.  The father kept the potential victim near, but didn’t call the police.  When Dad and daughter were in the self checkout line, the suspect came up to the girl and grabbed her by the hand, declaring that the child was coming with him.  Dad told the suspect to let the girl go, but did not call the police again!  The father and daughter checked out their reading material and left for home.

Why didn’t the father call the police?  What does he think they are for, anyway?

Later on, the suspect was found with a partially disrobed 8 year old girl in the bathroom.  Library patrons, unrelated to the little girl who had been assaulted, called the police (at last!) and detained the suspect until the authorities arrived.

Kudos to the faceless, nameless library visitors who did right by the victim.  Shame to the Dad who didn’t care if the suspect went on to assault little girls he didn’t personally know.

I wrote some time ago about how there are extended magazines available for some autoloaders.  These enlarged magazines allow for more rounds to be fired before having to reload.

This particular essay was in response to a reader who stated that they wanted to increase the firepower of their main defensive arm.

All of that is well and good, but I have since received a small number of missives from my readers insisting that having more shots doesn’t increase the firepower of a weapon.  The only way to do that is to switch to a gun that is chambered for a more powerful round.  Having more rounds to shoot isn’t firepower, but a gun that is more effective with each shot fits the bill.

The gun on top is a revolver chambered for the potent .357 Magnum cartridge, while the one below is chambered for the 9mm Parabellum cartridge.  The revolver fires a mere six rounds before requiring a reload, while the autoloader uses magazines that hold fifteen rounds each.  If you judge firepower by how much shooty, then the autoloader wins.

But hold the phone!  The .357 Magnum has ammunition available that is more then twice as powerful as the 9mm Parabellum offerings.  If you think of firepower as meaning hard shooty, then the revolver is a clear winner.

So which side is correct?  Is firepower how many times, or how hard?  That mainly depends on where you live.

It has been my experience that those who dwell in the northern areas of the United States mainly insist that firepower depends on how many times you shoot, while those from southern states prefer to think of firepower in terms of how effective each round turns out to be.  Up north they think of fire, while down south they think of power.

It all comes down to personal preference.  Choose whichever you prefer.

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I came across a picture I liked.  This was it.

This prompted Steven den Beste to ask the following.

“There’s something down there next to the AR-15 that looks like submachine gun. What is it?”

Can’t say for sure because I don’t own the guns myself, but it looks to me like a Short Barreled Rifle.  (SBR)

(Picture source.)

The ArmaLite firearm company has always been interested in standing out, making something new.  The AR-15, which went on to be adopted by the US military as the M-16, is kinda-sorta modular.  What I mean by that is you really can’t take one rifle and simply swap out a few parts to make a completely different gun with distinct handling characteristics and capabilities, but the basic design does lend itself to customization pretty well.

Civilian firearm enthusiasts in the United States are always looking to push the envelope, Lord love ’em!  Someone got the bright idea of acquiring the shortest barrel possible, with the teensiest of shoulder stocks, and making a really compact rifle.

Okay, so you get a really small rifle.  What is it with this SBR stuff, anyway?

Well, if the gun has too short a barrel, or if the overall length of the weapon is too compact, then the firearm has to be registered with the US government.  A special fee of $200 USD (£150) has to be paid before taking possession of the gun.

All of this applies to guns which were built with shoulder stocks.  What happens if you build a cut down AR from scratch that never felt the taint of a shoulder stock?

Oh, that is just a pistol.  You know, a handgun.  Special fees and registration with the US government is not necessary.

Be careful, though!  I’m just belting out a brief outline of the law, and you could get in real trouble if you miss a detail or fail to follow a fine point.  If anyone reading this wants some of this nifty hardware, then I strongly suggest that they hire a lawyer who specializes in Federal and local firearms law in order to keep out of trouble.  You can get a little more in depth info by going here or here, but those two links are no substitute for professional advice.  Best to hire the lawyer and make sure all bases are covered.

Work sent me out of town for a week.  Ten minutes after I get back home, I turn on my computer and it dies a painful death.

I had to wait until my next paycheck to get a new one, hence the absence.

It’s good to be back!