sorry, was fully fleshing out the idea...I've made adjustments.
figmentPez
Staff member
Okay, that maybe covers the US, but what about some hypothetical other country bound to this treaty. Do you think the US would consider it honoring the treaty if any other signatory allowed private citizens to own WMDs?
Now, notwithstanding my post above, that the constitution gives full weight of law to international treaties, the US government hasn't really taken that view in modern times, and the supreme court has opined in the past that treaties "in its nature, a contract between two nations, not a legislative act."
Some interesting reads:
www.yalelawjournal.org
www.law.cornell.edu
Some interesting reads:
Defining and Punishing Offenses Under Treaties
One of the principal aims of the U.S. Constitution was to give the federal government authority to comply with its international legal commitments. The scope of Congress’s constitutional authority to implement treaties has recently received particular attention. In Bond v. United States, the...
treaties-as-law-of-the-land
GasBandit
Staff member
Dangit, I was gonna point that out, heh.
A boy scout DID make a radiological device, though he was trying to make a reactor, not a bomb. They did take away his fissile material (and everything it had gotten close to, including his mom's back yard's soil).
But he did make eagle scout!
And died at age 39, his mother committed suicide, etc.
Fun fact: at the time he was doing these shenanigans, I was living about 10mi from there.
--Patrick
I was actually asking in the context of Gas pointing out that it's not the device that's illegal, it's it's "ammunition"... aka the radioactive stuff.
Kind of like making gunpowder illegal, but letting you own as many guns as you want.
Do countries actually have laws against owning the mechanical parts of a nuke, or are al of them counting on the fact that the dangerous radioactive stuff is already banned?
figmentPez
Staff member
If you're actively contemplating the purchase of body armor, then I'm of the opinion you need to evaluate your current situation and whether staying in it is still worthwhile.
That said, isn't the plated stuff more to stop AP munitions? And part of the reason for its design is that once a plate has soaked up an impact, it will need to be replaced with a fresh one. A vest offering "ballistic" protection is designed to catch expanding (i.e., lead) projectiles carrying high kinetic energy BUT you can't automatically assume it will be effective in a stabby knife fight unless it explicitly says so.
It's a lot like buying a case for your phone. Some cases protect better against impact, intrusion, liquid, infiltration, etc. But unless you know ahead of time exactly which one you're going to need, there's always the chance you're going to end up bringing a ballistic vest to a knife fight.
--Patrick
That said, isn't the plated stuff more to stop AP munitions? And part of the reason for its design is that once a plate has soaked up an impact, it will need to be replaced with a fresh one. A vest offering "ballistic" protection is designed to catch expanding (i.e., lead) projectiles carrying high kinetic energy BUT you can't automatically assume it will be effective in a stabby knife fight unless it explicitly says so.
It's a lot like buying a case for your phone. Some cases protect better against impact, intrusion, liquid, infiltration, etc. But unless you know ahead of time exactly which one you're going to need, there's always the chance you're going to end up bringing a ballistic vest to a knife fight.
--Patrick
Mostly I'm after protection from impact munitions. The feds are not yet using live rounds and I hope to hell they don't get to that point, but the chances are good that eventually I'm going to find my way to the front line of somebody's protest, and someone's going to put out a call for the white shield, and I'm going to wind up where I belong - on the line between the black protesters and the feds. So far we have half-face ventilators with exchangeable cartridges, padded and slightly cut-resistant mechanics gloves, OTG impact resistant goggles, silicone ear plugs, and knee pads. Originally, I was just going to go with bike armor like you see the X-games athletes wearing, but the cops have rapidly changed from batons to impact munitions, so that's probably not going to provide enough protection.
Are you trying to conceal carry the body armor? Plate carriers (and plates) are harder to hide AFAIK. However, they're also way more versatile, since you can upgrade/add plates piecemeal to fit your needs. A ballistic backpack (i.e. one you can fit a plate inside of to use as a shield/chest protection) is another concealable possibility.
Very dependent on the type of plate. Soft and hybrid plates are very much a thing.
Nah, not much concern for hiding the armor. No one seems to care if you're wearing body armor to a protest, as long as you hold your phone in the air while doing so.
And they're doing wonderful things with non-newtonian solids these days.
Fortunately, I am not in a position where I need to do much comparison shopping.
--Patrick
I'm sure this is something I really don't need to be concerned with. But it's a fun little mental exercise and it could come in handy at some point in time. But no, I don't live anywhere that I even feel the need for more than my mask, a pair of basketball shorts, and sandals to be out on the streets. Maybe a hat, if the sun's out. Don't want to get skin cancer. This is more for if I just happen to be visiting my sister in law in Portland while this is all still going on.
Don't think that's the sort of protection you want, then--or, if it is, it's way overpriced. You'd want the sort of body armor that's meant to (just) absorb blunt trauma, not dissipate piercing projectiles.
Might want to look into making a shield... Aircraft aluminum, recycled street signs, or any other sturdy and semi-light metal works well. There's plenty of guides online by SCA folk. Ditto for the rest of your body--rigid bike gear would be my next go-to if I couldn't just have rigid SCA armor. Pretty price-effective vs. blunt trauma, and there's fairly concealable and affordable gear these days, both for sale and as plans to DIY from various materials/tools.
And this could be something as simple as coiling bike lock cable into a space-filling curve over the surface of a moving blanket that you've basically cut into a chasuble to wear under a jacket, or attaching a couple short lengths of rebar or conduit with heavy-duty duct tape to a pad made of cork board to wear on a forearm or thigh. It's really not that hard to improvise effective blunt-force armor from items commonly found at a hardware store.
--Patrick
So, here's some of the stuff we're looking at having shot at us by federal officers and cops in our state.
Impact munition fired through 1/2" thick wooden shield. Reportedly from an FN303.
40mm Foam "baton" rounds.
Stinger grenades.
CS tear gas canisters that expired in 2012.
Triple Chaser Grenades.
40mm Skat Shells.
Some new type of tear gas canister that lands, explodes, then pops additional canisters from the top and sides so that it can't be contained easily, like with a traffic cone, a la Hong Kong.
I don't think coiling some bike lock cable in a blanket is going to cut it.
Impact munition fired through 1/2" thick wooden shield. Reportedly from an FN303.
40mm Foam "baton" rounds.
Stinger grenades.
CS tear gas canisters that expired in 2012.
Triple Chaser Grenades.
40mm Skat Shells.
Some new type of tear gas canister that lands, explodes, then pops additional canisters from the top and sides so that it can't be contained easily, like with a traffic cone, a la Hong Kong.
I don't think coiling some bike lock cable in a blanket is going to cut it.
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Every day we will march until change happens. No meaningful change has happened in Portland. So, no. Also, the feds and the local cops are working together, they're not fighting against each other.
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I liked it better when you thought baton beatings was the worst you would have to weather.
--Patrick
Me too. Pickle barrel armor is easy enough to make that every half-decent SCAdian fighter should have a set. Wooden shields from plywood with plastic or leather wrapping for the edges? Also pretty easy. Impact munitions though, those are something else. Also, apparently when CS gas breaks down due to age it breaks down into even more lethal gasses, phosgene, and other VOCs, so using 16 year old gas with a shelf life of 4 years on your own populace? Nasty.
I'll say this: going in with a shield will make you a target for a quick takedown. As in, expect the cops to rush you if things go bad and to end up in the hospital as a result of it.
Hong Kong taught us a lot about modern protesting. What are you doing for head protection? Construction helmets work well, but again make you a target. They've actually started making ball caps with protective plates in them for protest use.
Hong Kong taught us a lot about modern protesting. What are you doing for head protection? Construction helmets work well, but again make you a target. They've actually started making ball caps with protective plates in them for protest use.
Things changed this morning. This is no longer just a protest. The Federal Agents have stepped up their tactics to literally kidnapping people off the streets, throwing them in unmarked civilian rental-vans, and disappearing into the pre-dawn darkness while throwing pipe-bomb looking devices out of the doors. They're preparing to sweep the park across from the federal building, and the snipers on the roof have been carrying live ammo for days now. Despite demands from the Mayor, the Governor, our Senators, and our Congressional Reps, the feds refuse to leave. In addition, the federal government is threatening to step up their involvement by sending elite CBP agents to all sanctuary cities. This is no longer a protest. This is an invasion.
For head protection, we're going to go with the helmets that press and international observers wear into war zones. For armor, we're going to be going with plate carriers and level 4 plates, because that's what the medics are wearing. For eye protection, we have over-the-glasses impact-rated Honeywell safety goggles, and we have half-face respirators with OV cartridges. Add in knee and elbow pads, padded and cut-resistant mechanics gloves, steel-toed work boots, and moto-X lower-body armor, with additional improvised protection for fore-arms and potentially neck/throat coverage as well. Everybody has shields. There's a shield builder that made 36 of them yesterday alone. They're actually considering painting big letters on them and playing scrabble with them, and seeing if breaking the official rules will constitute a riot. For right now, since we're hours away from Portland and raising a new hatch of ducklings and can't leave for long periods of time, we're only openly monetarily supporting the civilian response to this invasion; but once we can travel, we'll likely be in the streets, on the line - and depending upon how badly things have gone by then, may be open carrying as well.
With that in mind, is Ruger a reputable maker of 22LR semi-auto rifles? Cabela's has a great sale on them right now; $230 for a semi-auto, but I'd have to buy a sight for it. Also, how difficult is it to install a gun sight accurately?
GasBandit
Staff member
I love my Ruger pistols. I haven't tried any of their rifles, however. Dialing in a scope isn't too hard. You'll just need some sandbags or something similar like that to rest the gun on and aim at a target downrange, try to make sure the gun doesn't move, aim the crosshairs at the middle of the target and fire 5 to 10 rounds. then move the crosshairs to the center of the grouping of where the bullets actually hit. The adjustment is usually made by a couple of Allen screws.
Awesome. Our county sheriff still isn't processing handgun licenses, so it's all long-arms for us.
The Ruger 10/22 carbine is one of THE best-known, most widely-owned .22cal rifles in existence. It's like asking if Honda is a reputable maker of hatchback cars.
Installing it isn't that difficult. Training it is what will take the most time.
This is excellent advice. Just make sure to do your training at (or close to) the distance you intend to shoot AND make sure to do it on as windless of a day as possible. A standard .22 projectile only weighs just a little over 2-1/2 grams (about a tenth of an ounce) so it is extremely susceptible to wind, impact with raindrops, etc. So-called "hyper-velocity" ammo is even lighter. Keep in mind that using a scope means you will not be able to use your iron sights for close-range shooting as it will obstruct their use. You can buy elevated sight rings that hold your sight up high enough to peer below your scope for iron sight usage, but the increased elevation of the scope means the firearm's overall profile will be higher and harder to fit in cases and such, and the added height also slightly reduces the precision of your scope due to the increased parallax.
Disclosure: I own both a Ruger 10/22 and also a Ruger Model 44.
--Patrick
Nothing wrong with Ruger, but I’m partial to savage rifles. I love their accu-trigger, and it’s about that same price for the A22.
www.savagearms.com
A22 | Accurate Semi-Auto 22 LR Rifle | Savage Arms
The A22 features a straight blowback action, rugged composite stock, and AccuTrigger for precise 22 LR shooting. Semi-auto with 10-round rotary magazine.
Marlin is another name that was good back when I was still looking.
No worries, friend. Nobody can know everything. This is the same sort of thing that happens to me when I ask stuff like, “I’ve never seen Avatar: The Last Airbender, is it any good?”
EDIT: “Marlin,” not “Martin.” DYAC
—Patrick
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The 10/22 it a great little rifle. Especially for training.
If this will be for self defense, might look at a pistol caliber carbine.
If this will be for self defense, might look at a pistol caliber carbine.
Good to know.
Thank goodness. Forty snuck up on me and I am suddenly very cognizant of the amount of things about which I need to know more.