Lots of folks are having fun with the recently-released photo of Obama firing a shotgun (“just a sportsman like you, honest”). Many of them are promptly jumping to the conclusion that it’s faked or photoshopped, of course, mostly revealing their ignorance of shooting, photography, or both. The Swallowing For Obama activists are gleefully cheering their hero’s latest triumph over the unbelievers, based on their own ignorance of both (while still wishing he hadn’t sullied his hands with an evil gun).

The truth is simpler: it’s a staged publicity photo. He wasn’t shooting anything but air, with a camera perfectly positioned to capture a burst of images so they could pick the best shot. That’s why his stance is so static compared to photos of actual skeet shooters: he’s posing for a picture. That’s also why there’s no choke in the lower barrel: the handler didn’t install one because Obama was never going to fire a second shot.

The most likely reason the photo exists is that the manufacturer sent the gun as a gift, and the administration sent back a signed, framed photo showing him using it.

[Update: having now looked at the full-resolution image, with EXIF data intact, I have no doubt that the photo is real but has nothing to do with skeet or other sport shooting. His left sleeve is in crisp focus, but his left hand is slightly motion-blurred, with the motion increasing out toward the muzzle, precisely what you’d expect to see during the recoil from a shot. The escaping gas from both muzzle and porting is realistic for the lighting conditions and the 1/320 second exposure time. At the same time, his stance is an awkward attempt to shoot it like a rifle, he’s getting battered in both shoulder and cheek by the recoil, only the upper barrel has a choke in it (making it useless for skeet), and he’s shooting horizontally, something not commonly done in any shotgun sport. I say Browning sent him a Citori for his birthday, and got back a signed photo and a thank-you note.]

If there were any functional difference between scary evil assault weapons and acceptable civilian firearms, her big press conference wouldn’t feature a laundry list of names and numbers:

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…then run off in a huff when you call them on it.

[Update: he deleted the entire thread or marked it private; a bit sensitive to light, it seems…]

In 1889, John Moses Browning converted a lever-action rifle into an automatic weapon. This became the basis for the M1895 Machine Gun.

In 1910, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated with a .32-caliber semi-automatic pocket pistol, designed by John Moses Browning.

In 1911, the US Army adopted the service pistol they would use for the next seventy years, the M1911, still the sidearm of choice for many experts, and still parts-compatible with guns made today. It was, of course, designed by John Moses Browning.

In 1919, General John T. Thompson designed the sub-machine gun that bears his name, often called “the gun that made the Twenties roar”.

In response to Prohibition’s invention of organized crime, the Gun Control Act of 1934 severely restricted civilian ownership of automatic weapons, sawed-off shotguns, silencers, and sundry other items that scared the news media.

In 1935, Fabrique Nationale released a collaboration between Dieudonné Saive and the late John Moses Browning, the Browning Hi-Power, featuring Saive’s invention of the high-capacity double-stack magazine, holding 13 rounds of 9mm ammunition.

Everything since then has been materials engineering.

(and anyone who wants to discuss the feasibility of restricting the supply of ammunition and gunpowder is invited to google for the terms “handloading” and “meth lab”)

Quoting from my local paper, regarding recent incidents of police shootings:

Police said Dorado had pulled a loaded AK-47 out of his waistband.

Good advice, even in Engrish.

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(pressdemocrat.com, via Clayton Cramer)

A Potter Valley woman wounded herself and a man July 3 while attempting to kill mice with a .44-caliber Magnum revolver, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

The woman, 43, had drawn the gun from a holster under her left arm, intending to shoot mice scurrying across the floor of a small travel trailer on Highway 20 in Potter Valley, according to the Sheriff's Office.

A few notes:

• Concealed carry is illegal in California for mere mortals, unless you blow the local sheriff (financially or literally). If that's the case, I feel sorry for him, and hope he finds a better outlet for his frustrations soon. (if you only have it around the house, why the shoulder holster?)
• If you're adequately concealing a .44 Magnum in this weather, I hope it's stainless steel, because you're either overdressed or really, really large.
• Mice are very small and fast, .44 Magnum bullets are very large and fast. Both are good at passing through walls. Even if you hit the little bugger, you're going to do serious damage to your trailer. And quite possibly the neighbor.
• I'm just guessing, here, but what kind of jug wine goes with mouse-hunting?
• P.S. Get a hearing aid. You're going to need it after setting off a magnum inside of a trailer.

Step 1: friend announces imminent arrival of his new M1911A1.

Step 2: J remembers how to open the safe, verifies operational status of contents.

Step 3: J searches the house for “supplies”, finds a surprising amount of the stuff squirreled away.

Step 4: J re-reads friend’s email, realizes he won’t have the damn thing for another day (California).

Step 5: J contemplates the revolutionary concept of multiple range trips in one week (just like the good old days…).