Experimenting with color fill

So I stumbled across some YouTube videos of people adding color to the engravings on their guns and I thought that was a pretty cool way to add a little personalization to a handgun.

My first attempt was using the nail polish method which turned out ok on my XD40

I had to apply several coats and I'm still not 100% satisfied with the results but close. I think some of the engraving on the Springfield is so fine that the color isn't really getting into it. 

Next up is my Ruger LCP where I'm using model paint like demonstrated in most of the videos I watched. I used a flat tan color and have only applied one coat so far. I'm not sure if I want to apply more yet or not because I do like the subtleness of it. 

The ".380 auto" was not filled. It looks like it but that is the factory look. 

I'm currently working on my XDs .45 and having the same issue with some spots of the engraving not taking color. 

The first photo is before (I forgot to take before pics of the other pistols) so you can see the difference. 

Here is the after shots. 

The videos make it look much easier than it actually is. It's not a difficult job by any means but the videos make it look effortless and only 1 shot at doing a perfect job. So far I've had to do multiple coats and still having some spots not taking the color. 

I am excited about the aesthetics that the color fill provides and it adds a bit of customization and personalization to a firearm that you can do yourself. 

The war on our Second Amendment

I am a very strong supporter of our second amendment and gun rights. I believe that if open carry was allowed by law abiding citizens in every state that there would be a dramatic drop in crime. I also believe that the age limit for owning and purchasing a firearm and ammunition should be 18 as long as the individual has recieved approved training like military, NRA safety course, or hunter safety. At age 18, these young adults are entrusted with voting to choose our elected officials and serve our country and possibly fight and die for our country. So why are they not entrusted to lawfully carry a firearm or purchase ammunition if they've recieved proper training?

Our right to keep and bear arms has always been under attack but until December 14, 2012, it was on the back burner. After the attack at Sandy Hook, our 2nd amendment became the biggest news headline pushing more important things to the back burner like the Bengahzi investigation/cover up. The attack on our 2nd amendment has all but made Sandy Hook and Adam Lanza disappear, the only time you hear about them is when Obama and other liberals refer to them as a reason for more gun control.

Most responsible gun owners have engaged in a vocal campaign to their elected officials demanding that our right to keep and bear arms not be infringed, myself included. I have sent numerous emails to Sen. Rubio, Grayson, and Nelson. Sen. Rubio has stepped up and defended the 2nd amendment, Sen. Grayson and Nelson not so much. Another weapon against gun control that I have employed is the NRA. I joined as an easy pay life member. I should have done this years ago but for various reasons I didn't. The important thing now is that I am a member and my voice will be heard. I encourage anyone who is not a member to join NRA here.

More recent news is a planned armed march in Washington DC. While I understand why Adam Kokesh is doing this, I feel that it is not in our best interest. I don't think it will have the desired outcome and may actually be a setback for gun rights. On the other hand though, it will be a lose situation for our government as well because they will be denying citizens not just one but two rights, the 1st amendment and the 2nd amendment. If Kokesh and his limited supporters went unarmed, they would likely meet little resistance. The fact that he intends to go fully armed to a location where it is illegal to carry firearms to do a "peacefull" protest though is counter productive and will not end peacefully.

I support now and always will, the right to lawfully own and carry firearms. I do not and will not support any politician that does not support the second amendment 100%. I will not relinquish my guns. I do not fear our government, it is our responsibility, our duty, to make the government fear us.

I will end this blog with a few quotes:

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." 
   -- Benjamin Franklin

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
   -- Edmund Burke

"Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny."
   -- Edmund Burke

And finally, one of my favorites:

"When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."
   -- Thomas Jefferson.

Boston Marathon

The terrorist attack in Boston on Monday is a tragedy no matter which angle you view it from. It could have been a foreign terrorist, a domestic terrorist, a former city employee, an individual trying to make a point, or from way out in left field, it could be a government "false flag" to distract us from something else. Whatever it was, it is a tragedy. People died and many people were injured.

The media is all over this. Constantly showing pictures and videos of the carnage. This is what I find very disturbing. Why do all the news outlets have to show this over and over and over again? This is desensitizing us to events like this. The attack on 9/11 was the same way, the same pictures and videos playing on a loop. All the big news channels are trying to be the first to show "breaking news" and they all claim to be the first to show it but it's the same footage no matter which channel you're watching.

Some of the reporters are interviewing victims and/or families and the questions are absurd, things like "Were you scared?" and "Did it hurt when the shrapnel tore through your leg?" What the hell kind of questions are these? Of course they were scared and you're damned right it hurt.

One of the 3 people who died was a Chinese national who's family doesn't want her name released and they don't want to be hounded by American media. I give her family kudos for wishing to mourn in private. This doesn't mean I don't respect the families of the other victims, we're used to our media exploiting tragedy to gain ratings.

Why aren't these media outlets searching for the many heroes that acted immediately to help the victims? Not all of them were police or medical personnel. In some of the photos, I've seen other runners trying to aid victims. A couple of National Guardsmen moving debris to get to victims. People coming to the aid of other people. Why isn't this a story?

My thoughts go out to the victims and their families.

Someone is censoring my blog

I was just looking at my blog and discovered that a portion of my last entry was blocked out. Here is the original post as seen in my editor:

And here is what it looks like on my page:

I am curious if Google is doing the censoring or if DHS is doing it. I have the right to exercise my First amendment as much as I have the right to exercise my second amendment. Censorship of the first just adds to the whole Gestapo theory.

I am expecting to be harrassed at any time by law enforcement, be it local, state, or government level or perhaps all 3.

It is a shame that our country is going down this path. I spent almost 12 years serving my country and I went to war for her. I did all of this thinking I was defending the Constitution and now look what is happening to it.

Luck

I'm not crazy superstitious but I do have some beliefs. I don't believe that walking under a ladder is bad luck. I don't believe that breaking mirrors is bad luck (although that might explain a lot now since I used to install mirrors and have broken enough to last my family for several generations). I do believe black cats crossing my path is bad luck because something has happened every time one has crossed my path.

When I deployed to Iraq in 2003, my best friend had some dog tags made for me for good luck and I put one on my chain with my issue tags and kept it on my person at all times. My then 7 year old daughter had sent me a small purple ribbon and a Pokemon card for good luck and they went right in my wallet and stayed on my person the entire year I was deployed.

I believe these "charms" got me home safe as well as my men.

Moving forward to the present day now, my daughter (now 17) and I were enjoying a 2nd amendment appreciation day yesterday at my parent's house and shooting my XDs .45. My backdrop is an old wood pile and I was 10-15 feet away. My daughter had fired about 3 magazines and I had just fired the last round of my 4th mag when right after I squeezed the trigger I caught a quick glimps of something coming right at my head just before it made impact. It knocked my hat off and almost knocked me on my ass. I caught my hat and immediately felt my forehead checking for blood and there wasn't any. I looked at my hat to see if there was a hole and there wasn't
one. We had been recording each other with my flipcam so after making sure I wasn't dead or in danger of dying, I looked at her and asked if she was taping. Unfortunately the answer was no. She still hasn't realized what happened yet until I told her and she got a little freaked out.

We started looking around for the bullet that almost took me out but couldn't find it and I told her that it had to be somewhere behind where we were standing and would likely never find it. We began policing up the brass and she points at something on the ground and asks "what's that?" I looked and said "that my dear is what could have made things a lot different now."

The ricochet grazed the top of my forehead above my right eye, had it been an inch lower and made a direct hit on my head, I may not be here to write this. I don't think it had enough velocity left in it to penetrate but it could have cracked my skull for sure and I'd probably been in the hospital.

After going and inspecting the wood pile, I realized that some of those oak logs were hard as rock. I wasn't ready to stop shooting yet but I knew it was no longer safe to use the wood pile as a target trap and I didn't want to push my luck. I need to talk to my stepdad and see if I can get a load of dirt to use as a trap, if he doesn't want a mound of dirt back there, I don't know what other options I have other than going to a range and have to start paying fees.

Conspiracy theories.

I have been watching a lot of "tinfoil hat" kind of stuff on YouTube lately but it's not my first time seeing or reading about them. Some times, probably most of the time. I think these people are bat-shit crazy. There are some notable people though that do bring up valid points that would cause you to take a step back and go hmmm.

There is a very large group of people that believe 9/11 was an inside job. They have some pretty compelling evidence that can point it in that direction. However, there is also compelling evidence debunking those very theories. I don't think I would put it past the government to try and pull off a false flag attack like this but the biggest evidence I believe that makes this nothing more than a conspiracy theory is that our government can not keep a secret. There would be way too many loose ends and somebody would have leaked it by now.

Something I was enlightened to recently was that our birth certificates and social security cards are being traded on the stock market. I started googling that information when I got home and what I found was a lot of information trying to steer people into believing this. There was indeed a number in red ink on the back of my BC and a number on the back of my SS, but the numbers were not the same. I realize that the stock market can be manipulated and whatnot but two different entities cannot own the same property. If we were actually being traded on the stock market as collateral for money the government borrowed, I think the numbers would match.

One of the more scary theories I've stumbled across is the FEMA death camps. This one I'm not real sure about. According to what I've read and watched on YouTube though, there are hundreds of these camps all over the country. However, after trying to find a few of these camps using google maps, I was unsuccessful in doing so. I'm not ruling this out though since FEMA does fall under the Department of Homeland Security and that office is acting very shady.

Here is what I know as truth:

The Obama administration and many of his liberal stormtroopers wants to take our guns. This is no secret and it has been in the news (the liberal lame stream media). Obama is using the tragedy at Sandy Hook, exploiting the deaths of these children (which by the way is another conspiracy theory) to push his gun control agenda. Obama knows and has admitted that banning the so called assault weapons won't stop another mass shooting or even reduce crime, what he wants is to strip our ability to defend ourselves from his tyrannical agenda. There are bills being presented to allow a third term for him and just the other day I read about a senator pushing a bill to allow Obama to be president for life. That would officially make him a dictator.

The Department of Homeland Security has purchased nearly 2 billion rounds of ammunition, 7000 personal defense weapons (which in case you didn't know, that's what they say are assault weapons when in the hands of law abiding citizens), and nearly 4000 armored vehicles.

Congress has asked Janet Napolitano, the head of DHS, for an explanation of these purchases and she replied with "The DHS doesn't have to tell you anything." Are you kidding me? The DHS is allowed to operate outside of the government? Every time I hear "Department of Homeland Security" I immediately think of Hitler's Gestapo. Maybe Obama is using DHS as his Gestapo.


I have some friends that believe in some of the conspiracy theories I mentioned and I'm not poking fun at them or even saying it is or isn't the truth, I just haven't seen enough evidence that convinces me. I do not trust our government, especially the current regime.


Do some research and come to your own conclusion.

Guns save lives

Taken from the American Rifleman:

Bryan Lee, owner of the Almond Avenue Pharmacy, had no choice but to fire his .45-cal. pistol when a 31 year old male entered his store firing a similar model. The gunman entered the store and immediately fired multiple rounds striking Lee's mother, Sophie Lee, in the leg. Bryan Lee returned fire, causing the man to flee. He collapsed a block away and later died at a local hospital. Lee was unharmed and his mother was expected to make a quick recovery. Lee said, "We just did what we had to do to survive." (The Fresno Bee, Madera, Ca. 1/11/13)

It never ceases to amaze me

It really does surprise me how many people in this country can be so ignorant when it comes to the second amendment. It seems their biggest argument is: "They didn't have AR15s with 30 round magazines when they wrote the constitution." That is the only statement they make that is true, these weapons did not exist when our founding fathers wrote the constitution.

What they fail to realize is that the second amendment doesn't make mention of any specific type of arms or magazine capacity. This is because at the time our constitution was written, the citizens and the tyrannical government they were fighting had equal firepower, single-shot flintlock rifles and cannons.

Fast forward to the present and we the people have AR15s and 30 round mags while the government has M16s and 30 round mags. The only difference between the 2 rifles is the M16 has a 3 round burst function while the AR15 is semi only.

Our liberal government has somehow brainwashed part of the populace into believing that we don't need these semi-auto rifles with high capacity magazines and that we don't need pistols with more than 10 round magazines (7 rounds in some states). Some of these tyrants have even said they don't think citizens need any firearms.

Thankfully the AWB and mag capacity law died before it even got to the floor but these tyrants aren't going to stop trying to take our guns. They continually tell us that if these guns and mags are banned then the crime rates will go down. This is a blatant lie and it has already been proven that it doesn't work. The truth is, these tyrants don't want to lower crime, they don't want to stop another mass shooting, they don't want to save the lives of innocent children, what they want is total and absolute power and our guns are the only thing standing in their way.

Good news

The good news is that the threat of an "assault weapon" ban has been downgraded. Second amendment win

With this win, hopefully the cost of AR15's will drop to a more affordable price (pre Sandy Hook) and ammo will be more abundant.

We had a gun show this past weekend in central Florida that I attended with the hopes of finding a good deal on an AR15 but those hopes quickly diminished. They had some cheap rifles for a little over $800 but they were exactly that, cheap rifles and I didn't like them. I contimplated for a couple of hours and returned several times to the booth but couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of hard earned cash on something I didn't like just because there was a threat of them being banned. I am glad I held off on that purchase and now hopefully over the next couple of weeks, the prices will drop. The only thing I ended up buying from the show was a new case for my Mossberg. I couldn't even find an IWB holster that I liked, I guess I'll have to order one online.

Speaking of ordering online, about a month ago I ordered a 7 round mag for my XDs and I recieved it today. I don't really like how the gun looks with the extended mag and since I haven't recieved my CCP yet, I don't know how it will affect the concealability of the pistol.

I own 2 Springfield handguns, an XD40 that I purchased about 3 days after returning from Iraq and an XDs .45 that I purchased last month. I really like the XD line of pistols but I'm already thinking about my next purchase and I'm considering a Glock just to see what all the hype is.

Here I am shooting my XD40 at dusk

Here I am with my XDs and my brother with our mother's Sig

The only gun control we need

 The only gun control we need is education. Gun safety when taught to children at a young age carries over into adulthood.

 My grandfather started teaching me gun safety at a very early age. I can't recall the exact age but I know it was earlier than 10 years. I used to put on his pistol belt with a Colt 1911 (unloaded of course) and run around the house playing Army.

 He taught me to always point the gun in a safe direction and never at anything or anyone I wasn't planning on shooting.

 He taught me that if I must shoot another human, shoot to kill.

 After instilling safety in me, he believed it was time to take me to the range. The first gun I ever shot was his High Standard .22 pistol. In one of our next visits to the range I was upgraded to his Walther PPK .380. The gun I wanted most to shoot though was that Colt 1911 but he didn't think I was ready to handle the recoil yet.

 After much begging and pleading, I was allowed to shot that coveted weapon. This was the gun that just a couple years earlier I had played Army with and now I was being allowed to actually shoot it. It was a fantastic day at the range. I don't remember if I actually hit the target or not with my first few shots but that wasn't important, all that mattered was I could handle shooting "the big gun".

 Not too long after that, I graduated to a shotgun and my very first time skeet shooting I got a perfect score. On my 14th birthday, the Winchester model 50 20ga that I had used that first time was given to me as a present by him. At 14 years old I was now a gun owner. I had a shotgun in my closet and always had a box of shells at hand just in case.

 I still have that Winchester today. There are only 2 ways it will ever leave my possession: When they pry it from my cold dead hands or I pass it down to my son or grandson.

Freedom isn't free

 Freedom isn't free. It has a revolving payment plan of blood, sweat, and tears. Our freedom was fought for and granted in 1776 and has been continually fought for ever since.

 Abraham Lincoln said, "At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."  Somewhere along the line it was shortened and made easier to understand and read like this: "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." It essentially means the same thing.

 I love this country, The United States of America. I am ashamed of it's governing officials and the people that support them. I served this country for 11 1/2 years and went to war for her when asked. I fought for our freedom and I have friends that gave their lives for our freedom. I took an oath to defend the constitution from all enemies, both foreign and domestic. Just because I no longer wear the military uniform does not mean I abandoned that oath.

 Our constitution is under attack as I write this by officials that were voted into office by misguided and misinformed citizens. The target is our second amendment.

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

 This single amendment is the right that guarantees all of our other rights. Without this right, we have no means to defend ourselves from tyranny. Ladies and gentleman, we have a tyrannical "leader" in The White House right now.

 Last year there was a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School where 20 children and 6 adults were murdered by a deranged individual who obtained the firearms by killing his mother and taking them. He had 2 handguns and a semi-automatic rifle that the liberal media calls an "assault weapon." He did not use the rifle, you can see the police taking it from the trunk of his car after he killed himself.

 Obama and the media have exploited this tragedy to attack our second amendment right. The liberals keep lying to us and saying he used an "assault rifle" to kill these children and therefor must ban and confiscate them. The truth is, pistols were used.

 They keep bringing up the shooting in Aurora, Co as well saying the shooter killed 17 people with an "assault rifle" when in fact, the rifle jammed on him early on in his attack and he switched to pistols. Another piece of information the media won't tell you about that shooting is there were 3 other theaters closer to the shooter's home but they had no restrictions on concealed carry, he chose the theater based on the fact that it didn't allow law abiding citizens to carry firearms.

 The liberals also keep lying to us about Gabby Gifford being shot with an "assault rifle" when in fact, the shooter used a pistol.

 The liberals and the media are constantly and blatantly lying to the American people to try and push their gun control agenda. They say we don't need AR15s for recreation or self defense. They say we don't need magazine capacities of more than 10 rounds (some states like New York have a 7 round magazine limit). They want you to believe that the second amendment is only there to protect our right to hunt or defend our homes from burglars. They want you to believe that they (the government) will keep you safe. They would like you to believe that the police will keep you safe. They would like you to believe that if all the law abiding citizens turned in their guns, violent crime will go down.

 I'll say it again; we need the second amendment to protect us from tyranny. We need to have the choice of owning an AR15 with 30 round magazines so we can have equal fire power to the government.

 The police very rarely have the opportunity to prevent a violent crime from taking place, they show up after the crime was committed.

 Violent crime actually went up under Clinton's "assault weapon" ban so it has already been statistically proven that it won't work.

 Cities and states that already have strict gun control laws have higher violent crime rates than those that allow some form of legal carry. This is another statistical fact that Obama and the liberals chose to ignore.

 The government cannot and will not take care of you. They cannot keep you safe.

 Gun control isn't about guns at all. It's about control.