John, The Head

A friend asked an interesting question the other day.

“So at a movie screening they sometimes use metal detectors on all going in.  How   does that effect my carry status?”

In this situation there is no posting compliant with 30.06 of the penal code, however we still have an obligation to maintain concealment.  As a rule, concealed means that nobody knows you have it.  More in keeping with the law, however, a person commits an offense if he INTENTIONALLY fails to conceal a handgun.

There are four states of criminal culpability which are, from greatest to least, intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence.

PC 6.03(a) states:

A person acts intentionally, or with intent, with respect to the
nature of his conduct or to a result of his conduct when it is his
conscious objective or desire to engage in the conduct or cause the
result.

According to the letter of the law a CHL holder who allows himself to be wanded and his firearm discovered would, probably, at most, be in the Knowing mental state.  This does not meet the required culpability of “intentionally”, therefor I would say that it would not be an offense under Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon by a License Holder (UCWLH).  It might, however, be considered an offense under the disorderly conduct statute, as it would probably cause a disturbance when the security guard finds the weapon.

In fact, you are intentionally submitting to the search, so a UCWLH charge may stick.  Otherwise, you’ll plea it down to disorderly conduct, and loose your CHL anyway.

Are we talking about hard jail time here?  No.  But what we are talking about is probably loosing your CHL, and a lot of legal expenses, not to mention a nice matching set of bracelets and a free ride downtown.

Has anyone been convicted of that, specifically?  I don’t know.  Can they be?  It depends on how much the jury likes you.  Should they be?  Quite probably.

Granted, the purpose of having someone with a metal detector out front is generally not to detect law abiding citizens who have elected to equip themselves with tools of defense.  It is more likely that they are there to prevent some form of actual miscreant from entering their property.

Does it make complete and total sense?  No.  But guess what?  It’s their property, they get to decide what goes on there.  If they wish to bar the legal and responsible possession of firearms on their premises, that’s up to them to decide.  I think I’ve heard more people complain about that than I have heard people complain about being told to turn their cell phone off in a theater.  At least there are laws to support them barring CHL carry…

Just my $0.02…

-Head

Those that know me well know that I just picked up a Sig P229 .40 S&W.  It was actually a great deal because one of my favorite gun shops gave me an even trade for a rifle I had that I wished I hadn’t had (which I also bought there).  I’m really loving this gun more than I ever though I would.  For some reason, it feel really good to have it on my hip.  Range tests went well, and I’ve already torn it completely apart and fiddled with the action a little (more to be done still though).

I was, however, disappointed to find that one of the three mags that came with the weapon was out of spec.  There was an inspection tag on the trigger guard, though, which had a toll free number for Sig and substantially stated, “If anything is wrong with this thing, give us a call.”

Having dealt with several different gun manufacturers over the years, I figured I could call them up and they would let me buy a replacement at a reduced cost.  That was not the case.  I was asked for my name and address, and told that another would be sent out to me.  I was pretty impressed.  I asked about extra mags, and I was told that, if sent to my duty address, I could purchase them at a nice discount.  I provided him a CC number and the address to the PD, and sometime in the next week or two I should have plenty of mags for my new piece.

With ordering the replacement and ordering the three spares, the phone call lasted less than five minutes.  No voice mail, no holding, no mind numbing music on hold, no computer.  Just a guy with a phone who has been empowered to make customers happy.  Doesn’t get much better than that.

I haven’t had to send this thing in for service, so I don’t know how well that works, but I can only imagine it would be pretty smooth…

My hat goes off to Sig on this one.

Cheers
-Head

So, the national media has again painted the great state of Texas as the last holdover from the wild west.  I can neither completely disagree with what the national media says, nor can I find offense in it, for indeed, it is merely a portrait of reasonableness.  In an article by Reuters Texas signs new self-defense by gun law - washingtonpost.com it is stated that individuals no longer have a statutory requirement to retreat before using deadly force in certain situations, and also mentions the ubiquity of firearms in the Great State of Texas.

Since articles never really impress me–Often it seems that reporters know very little about ANYTHING on which they report, I decided to finally find this new bill. 

80(R) SB 378 - Enrolled version - Bill Text

To summarize the meat of this document:

1)  This adds the presumption to the law that force is reasonable if you know or have reason to believe that the person against whom you are using force is unlawfully and with force entering or attempting to enter your occupied habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment, or they are unlawfully and with force attempting to remove you from your habitation, vehicle, place of business or employment, AND you did not provoke the person against whom you are using force AND you are not otherwise engaged in criminal activity other than Class C misdemeanors against the traffic code.

2)  Specifically states that a person who has the right to be present at the location where the force is used and who has not provoked the person against whom the force is used and who is not engaged in criminal activity is not required to retreat before using force.  It goes on to state that a “finder of fact” (judge or jury) may not consider whether the actor failed to retreat.

3) Amends the civil immunity section of the CPRC to state that a person who uses force or deadly force that is justified under Chapter 9 of the Penal Code is immune from civil liability for personal injury or death that results from the defendant’s use of force or deadly force.

All of this, in essence, makes the law a little more friendly to the law abiding citizen.  I will be covering this statute in greater detail in my CHL Instructor renewal class this year.  This statutory change goes into effect on Sept 1st.

In summary, after this law takes effect, a person will no longer have a duty to retreat in the above mentioned situations, and, additionally, a person who uses force or deadly force, and that force or deadly force is justified under the penal code, is immune from civil liability.

Previously, a person who uses force/deadly force is required to retreat “if a reasonable person would have retreated”, and is afforded an affirmative defense to civil liability if their conduct was justified (specifically) under PC 9.32.

This broadens the use of force doctrine in this state.

All in all, this is not a really big change, but it is a good change.  I can’t say that they should have changed more, nor can I say that the good of society was hanging in the balance on this one legislative change…

Oorah,
-Head

Okay, so after fighting with my old gateway, (2.5 years old.  2.5 HARD years mind you, and to a normal user it probably would have lasted twice that), I decided on a MacBook Pro.  It’s kind of a whole new ballgame.  It’s like going from a Ford Taurus to a Lincoln…  Sorta…  Except the MacBook Pro is SMALLER.  1.0″ thick.  Doesn’t weight much.  BEAUTIFUL non-glare display.  (I think they are available in a glare display, ehem… Uhm… Glossy display…)  The keyboard even feels better than any other laptop’s keyboard I have used, and it’s quieter.

The chain of command was apprehensive because of the whole “Apple” thing.  It was put to me like this:  “We’ve invested so much over the years in Microsoft products.  We can’t just switch horses in mid stream.”  I then went into a littany of why buying a mac doesn’t mean that.  I told her that I could install Windows XP or Vista on it without a problem, even though my real plan is to keep it running OS X primarily, and to try to run XP through Parallels’ Desktop for Mac.  We’ll see.  I don’t have a windows disk with me right now, so I can’t play with that until I get home.

At any rate.  The greater majority of my IT related stuff can be done from a Mac.  Microsoft was “kind?” enough to put out a version of RDC for OS X.  Something that surprises me.  Everything else is generally going to be done by HTTPS…

As far as business applications, our original accounting system was made to run on a 486, so I think it’ll work with XP in a VM environment.  The contact management software is made to run on like a P3 with 256mb RAM.  I fail to see how that could possibly tax the portion of my Core 2 Duo machine with 2gb RAM that will be allotted to the VM.

My only problem is, when she sees this thing, she’s probably going to want one.

All that aside, I think this is probably the most well thought out machine I’ve ever seen.  My opinion of Apple keeps going up.  The machine is powerful, compact, yet it doesn’t have that “Cramped” feel that a “compact” notebook normally has.  It has plenty of room for it’s comfortable keyboard (which, mind you, looks EXTREMELY PIMP when it lights up) and the touchpad is pretty big.  The only downside I saw at first was the fact that the touchpad doesn’t have a “scroll” region, nor does it have a means by which you can right click.  I turned out to be wrong on both counts.  With a little configuration in the mouse and keyboard settings you can right click by clicking with two fingers, and you can scroll (both vertically and horizontally) by using two fingers.  Now, if you ask me, that’s pretty cool.

I’m still getting used to it, but it’s not taking long…

The included power adapter comes with both a built-in AC plug and an AC power cord.  This potentially minimizes the amount of stuff you have to carry around.  The DC power connector is what Apple calls “Mag Safe”.  The male connector has a ferrous tip with pogo pins that hit contacts on the machine.  The machine has a (strong) magnet that holds the connector in place.  I assumed this was going to be kind of a weak connection, but decided it wasn’t a big deal.  It is, in fact, a pretty strong connection.  This does a couple of things.  1)  It is just kinda cool.  2)  If you trip on the cord, it should just yank out, and leave your expensive laptop where you left it, as opposed to tumbling down on the floor.  3)  It places the most likely point of failure (the pogo pins) in the least expensive part (the power supply assembly).  4)  It eliminates from the machine a power connection with moving parts that are subject to stress and that put stress on the main board.  Impressive…

The machine includes the Apple Remote, which some people may never use.  I actually use the one for my Mac Mini quite a bit, so I could see using this one from time to time.

The case of this machine appears to be alloy.  I could be mistaken, but I don’t think that I am.  I’m not ready to drop check this machine to see how it stands up to abuse, but I’ve seen a lot of MacBooks over the years that have had rough lives and still continued with their ticking.

Well, that’s going to be all for tonight.  I have another wonderful day ahead of me in Southern Mississippi tomorrow.  I’ll tell that frustrating story later…

Oorah
-Head

In order to truly understand the wheel, one must reinvent it…

This is a picture from Western Division Matches in 2002.  Can you tell which one is me???

Recently I have been getting back into digital photography.  My problem is, I have three computers–Two are windows, and the third is Mac.  In addition to that, I’ve got a web-site.

On my main Windows PC I’ve got Picasa 2, on my web site I have Gallery 2, and on my Mac I, of course, have iPhoto.

I would say that of all the options I’ve happened across so far, I like iPhoto the most.  It’s not the most efficient as far as storage, but it seems to do okay at pulling my photos off of the card and putting them someplace.  I haven’t spent much time fiddling with much as far as organization features, but that’ll happen soon enough.  I need to clear up some HDD space, though.  I don’t know where all of it went, but I am down to like 6gb free, of an 80gb HDD.  I think I’m going to be taking a large HDD home of some sort and putting it in a USB enclosure.  That should help out some.  But what of redundancy?  *sigh*

The problem is, I have a computer at work, a laptop, and my Mac Mini at home.  I wish there were some reasonable way that I could make everything mesh.  Oh well.  I think I’m going to stick with archival of all personal photos on my mac, and have the mac import them to Gallery 2.  There’s a plugin out there called iPhotoToGallery that I think I’m going to give a shot.  It looks to be written for iPhoto 5 though.  I am sure I could get a .Mac membership and have a lot of photos online that way, but I really don’t want to spend money on that if I don’t have to…

Well, we’ll have to see what happens.  Start checking my Photo Gallery to see what I’m talking about, though!

I was once, and for a long time, a Surefire man.  I carried Surefire products without fail, and was opposed to anything else.  As I mellowed, I decided to pick up my first Streamlight.  It was a Stinger, which is an excellent rechargeable light.  Soon therafter, I picked up a Strion, which is a Surefire sized rechargable light.  This light goes with me most everywhere.  Why do I like it so much?  It seems to be as bright as my Surefire light, but it doesn’t cost me $6.00 to use it for an hour.

Recently I was at Cop Stop and saw the new (or at least pretty new) Scorpoin LED.  This is a 6V lithium light with a 1W super high-flux LED with a 10,000 hour life.  It boasts 47 lumens typical output and 1.75 hours runtime at full intensity, and 2 hours additional with declining intensity.  This appealed to me because it is a long runtime, it is bright, it is sturdy, and the batteries have a 10 year shelf life.  I picked it up for my “oh shit” bag.  The 47 lumens is a little misleading.  LED lights tend to put out light over less of the visual spectrum.  The “white” LEDs tend to be a bit on the blue side.  For some reason, it seems like it is easier to see with the blue tinted light.  The light is bright enough to be uncomfortable when shined in the face during the day.  This is often a good indicator of a tactical light that is bright enough.

All in all, at $59.95, it’s a great deal!  I just wish Streamlight would get on the ball and make me an integrated vertical foregrip light for less than the ballpark of $700…

I recently picked up an M7X Matrix for my Glock 27 from Cop Stop.  I decided that I needed another holster for my Glock 27, because I only have two, and my DeSantis Leather Holster just wasn’t cutting it for me. 

Priced at a low $23.95 or therabouts, I kind of classed the holster in the area of a Fobus or Uncle Mikes.  I would say that the quality, fit, and finish is definately on par with those manufacturers–It’s not pretty, but it works and works very well.  The main thing that I love about this holster is the belt attachement method.  It attaches with plastic wraparound loops with pull-dot snap closures.  When I tried it, I noticed that it was surprisingly stable.  It holds the weapon close into my body, which is exactly what I want a concealment holster to do.  I’m back in the business of COMFORTABLY carrying a concealed handgun in the summer.  Wouldn’t it have to be the end of the summer before I discover this?  Oh well…

The retention of the holster is great.  Holstering requires minimal effort, and unholstering requires a positive upward snap.  While the tension is not adjustable, it is sufficient, if not a little on the heavy side.  Once the trigger-guard retention is cleared, the weapon draws free and clear, with no drag that I have noticed.  All in all, it is a pretty fast holster.

I have noticed that over the years I have started to move further and further away from leather.  Sure, nothing looks quite as good as a $1000+ 1911 in a $200+ holster with matching belt and magazine carrier, but for the sheer utility of a holster, plastic is about as good as it’s going to get.  There will be no sweat soaking, shrinking, or stretching.  This is a definate bonus for me, as, at times, I tend to sweat a lot…  Something I am sure my few readers are dying to know about me.

I digress…  I think this holster is an outstanding peice of gear, and worth every bit of what I paid for it.  It’s not a “fine” holster, but it’s a damned good one.

Okay, so I was on my way back to the office from picking up computer parts…  I realized that I needed a small 10/100 switch and three CAT 5/6 cables.  So, I swung into Best Buy.  About the only non crappy cable (I’m not a fan of the Dynex Brand, which was about $1.00 cheaper), I could find was the “Geek Squad” cable, at 19.99 for a 7′ long cable.  I gritted my teeth and grabbed three, along with my $30.00 Linksys switch.  I get back to the office, and as I am removing one of the cables from the packaging, I noticed what was printed on it:

“-  CAT 6-7′  -  GEEKSQUAD.COM  -  THE LENGTH OF THIS 7′ CABLE IS ROUGHLY DOUBLE THE APPROPRIATE DISTANCE OF THE IMAGINARY BUBBLE OF PERSONAL SPACE ONE USES AT THE ATM.  -  1  800  GEEK  SQUAD  -  (C)  2004  GEEK SQUAD  -”

So, I paid about an extra $16.00 for a smartass comment?

Thanks.  You truly are God’s gift to the IT world.  Where would we be without the geeksquad, and their quippy remarks?