Chainsaws And Sixguns
Both Are Important, Both Need Care And Cleaning
Dave says chainsaws and handguns have similarities:
Both need maintenance, and both can be handy in emergencies.
I used to run a STIHL 029 chainsaw with a 20-inch bar, until some dirtbag stole it, forcing me to shell out several Ben Franklins to replace it with a STIHL Farm Boss, also with a 20-inch bar. I took that loss about as hard as if someone had walked off with my vintage Model 19 Smith & Wesson with the 6-inch barrel and Patridge front sight.
Chainsaws, in my part of the country, are important pieces of equipment, along with reliable revolvers that shoot straight, fire a bullet that hits hard and deliver the goods. This is why I have a habit of cleaning my saw after bucking up logs, same as I scrub out the chambers and barrel of my gun when I get back from the range.
By the time you read this, with any luck I’ll have put away a couple of cords of stove wood, to spend the next six months drying out and seasoning. I’ll probably have run a bronze brush down the bore of my sidearm(s) as well, added a drop of oil here and there, tossed any empties I may have accumulated into the tumbler for my mid-summer lazy afternoon sessions at the bench, and taken a seat in the lawn chair just to admire my work.
Dave’s vintage Model 19 S&W never goes into the safe dirty.
It runs reliably because he carefully takes care of it.
At my age, I probably shouldn’t be wrestling with chainsaws as much as sixguns, but I really enjoy a warm fire in the winter, near which I can take a position in an easy chair and tinker with a good revolver. Or I will be sitting back examining different load recommendations for one of my firearms.
I grew up around guns, and around a grandfather who, when he was a young man, ran a logging crew. He lived in a different time, when getting through a Northwest winter involved a lot more than heating up a pre-packaged meal in a microwave oven and turning up the electric heat. I saw his woodshed as a much younger fellow, and it was never empty. The wood inside was dry, stacked floor to ceiling, and ready for use.
He was also a fellow who never had a dirty rifle or shotgun in his closet, in an era when retired folks could keep rifles and shotguns in their closets, and even leave their doors unlocked.
There’s nothing to compare with the roar of a saw or the muzzle blast of a handgun, since competence with both just might come in handy in an emergency. The saw doesn’t get put away dirty or dull. The sidearm doesn’t go back in the same coated with powder residue, and it doesn’t go back in the holster empty.
Light My Fire
Fire in the stove makes one kind of heat. Another kind is the type of heat generated by gun rights organizations with smart legal counsel and good cases.
At the end of last month — indeed, on the final day of March — two judges in separate parts of the country warmed things up quite a bit with rulings that caused consternation within the gun prohibition movement. By now, there will be either an appeal or resolution in one case, and an appeal in the other with an appeals court fight looming.
Pistols from virtually all top tier gunmakers can’t be sold in California
because they don’t have every feature required by the state’s “unsafe
Handgun Act.” But now that law may be in trouble.
In the first case, U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw issued an order granting a preliminary injunction against enforcement of sections of California’s “Unsafe Handgun Act” (UHA), a detestable piece of legislation designed ultimately to dry up the handgun market. The judge — a George W. Bush appointee — stayed his own ruling pending appeal or further hearing on the matter, whichever occurred first. A telephone conference was scheduled for April 14 and we’ll report on the outcome.
The case is known as Renna v. Bonta, and dates back to late 2020. It was brought by the Second Amendment Foundation, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, North County Shooting Center, Gunfighter Tactical, the Firearms Policy Coalition, San Diego County Gun Owners, and several private citizens, including Lana Rae Renna, for whom the case is named.
California anti-gunners adopted the UHA and added restrictions over the years, making it a real stinker. The law now requires semiautomatic handguns to have a magazine disconnect, loaded chamber indicator and microstamping, the latter which is not offered by any handgun manufacturer I’m aware of.
The second case, out of Minnesota, probably put some people into orbit. This one is known as Worth v. Harrington, and U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez struck down a state restriction limiting handgun carry permits to those over age 21. Translation: The law discriminated against young adults aged 18-20 and is therefore unconstitutional.
Citizens in that age bracket can vote in national elections, run for some public offices, join the military and maybe even get killed in combat, get married, enter into contracts, buy homes, start businesses and do all kinds of “adult” stuff. But, say anti-gunners, these same young adults are not mature enough to own and carry sidearms for their personal protection.
This is another SAF case, also involving the Firearms Policy Coalition, plus the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus and three young adults in the affected age group.
Most importantly, Judge Menendez noted, “The Supreme Court’s recent decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen … compels the conclusion that Minnesota’s permitting age restriction is unconstitutional, and Plaintiffs are entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
Florida will enjoy permitless carry starting July 1, so private
citizens will no longer have to meet requirements to get a carry license.
Florida Fury
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis quickly followed through on his pledge to sign permitless carry into law in the Sunshine State, and did so earlier this month just a couple of days after lawmakers in Tallahassee adopted CS/HB 543.
The gun control crowd is big on symbolism, and this was a huge symbolic victory for gun rights, since it tilted the nation off-center, bringing the number of states that no longer require a license or permit to carry a firearm in public to 26. Anti-gunners cringed, especially with a couple of other states appearing on the verge of adopting similar provisions.
The new law, which takes effect July 1, does not allow for open carry. That’s something to work on for next year or the year after. In the meantime, it’s up to Florida gun owners to demonstrate that permitless carry is not a problem.
The Chicago Way
Back in 1987, the late Sean Connery won an Academy Award for his role in “The Untouchables,” during which he uttered the famous line about “the Chicago way.”
Back on April 1, a would-be robber strolled into a Chicago auto parts store and “flashed a gun,” according to Fox News, and demanded money. The store manager had his own sidearm, plus a valid FOID card, and he drew and opened fire.
The result was a fatally-wounded outlaw transported to the University of Chicago Hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds.
Interestingly, Fox News noted, there have been 44 incidents in the city going back to 2020 in which armed private citizens have used their guns to thwart a crime of some sort.
