Big Guns and Helicopters

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via Oliver Willis

Yes, you can buy a gun powerful enough to take out a helicopter. Without a background check. This is insane.

The Intimidation Factor

Punt Guns

via Neatorama

Punt guns were enormous shotguns used to hunt waterfowl in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. They were so heavy that they were normally attached to small boats called punts and the boats were then pointed as birds resting on the water’s surface:

Punt guns were usually custom-designed and so varied widely, but could have bore diameters exceeding 2 inches (51 mm) and fire over a pound (0.5 kilos) of shot at a time.

A single shot could kill over 50 waterfowl resting on the water’s surface. They were too big to hold and the recoil so large that they were mounted directly on the punts used for hunting, hence their name. Hunters would maneuver their punts quietly into line and range of the flock using poles or oars to avoid startling them.

Generally the gun was fixed to the punt; thus the hunter would maneuver the entire boat in order to aim the gun. The guns were sufficiently powerful, and the punts themselves sufficiently small, that firing the gun often propelled the punt backwards several inches or more. To improve efficiency, hunters could work in fleets of up to around ten punts.

The practice faded as wild waterfowl stocks were depleted. It was eventually banned in the United States, though I gather it is still legal in the United Kingdom.

Royal Navy Field Gun Competition

The Yankee Sage has the whole fascinating story.

The Census Taker

From FishyJay.

The Super Sniper

From FishyJay again. The Mail Online reports.

An army sniper has earned a place in military history by killing two Taliban machine gunners from more than a mile and a half away.

Craig Harrison's record breaking shots felled the insurgents with consecutive bullets - even though they were 3,200ft beyond the official range of his rifle.

The Household Cavalry veteran's kills from a distance of 8,120ft beat the previous record by 150ft.

He was using the British-built L115A3 Long Range Rifle, the Army's most powerful sniper weapon.

He was so far away that the 8.59mm-calibre bullets took almost three seconds to reach their target. Scores of Taliban gunmen h-ve fallen to the gun which has been nicknamed The Silent Assassin.

It is only designed to be effective at up to 4,921ft - just less than a mile - and capable of only ' harassing fire' beyond that range.

But Corporal Harrison took his record-breaking shots after his commander and Afghan soldiers were attacked during a patrol in Helmand in November last year.

His vehicle was further back on a ridge, with his sights trained on a Taliban compound. He said: 'We saw two insurgents running through its courtyard. They came forward carrying a machine gun and opened fire on the commander's wagon.

'

I don't mean to be too sceptical, but is something like this even possible? I honestly can't picture it. I realize the implication that there's a conspiracy to invent this guy as a hero is equally difficult to believe, but I just can't imagine a shot like that is possible, let alone two in a row.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Home Protection of the Future

Since laws restricting firearms ownership are in violation of the Constitution, I suggest our pro-gun friends pick up one of these. Illegal laws don't have to be obeyed, right? That's how the lawful gun owners all claim to never have broken laws. The reason you need one of these is you never can tell when that little bit of extra firepower will make the difference.

I Like Guns

FishyJay sent me this with the simple remark "you might have fun with this." Well indeed I did. I loved it. It helped me to clarify something too. I really can't accept the 2nd Amendment justification which I think is a manipulation and a distortion. Nor can I accept the self-defense one, which I see as paranoia. But, "I like guns" works for me. Why can't the pro gun folks just say that?