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Not here.

Here. JayG has a summary of most of the Blog Bash posts around the blagowebs so far. He’ll be at Charlotte next May and I hope to meet him and others there.

I got to handle a lot of guns this weekend, and I was very impressed with the product of every company except one. . .

The firearms at the Colt booth were very disappointing to me. I don’t really hang out at gun shops or gun shows, and I don’t think I’ve ever handled a Colt before. When I had the opportunity, I immediately sampled a range of Colt’s 1911s at their booth. I was struck by a discouraging realization that Colt’s product sucks. The triggers on their 1911s did not break cleanly or consistently. Their actions were not smooth. The finishes on the display guns were scratched and dirty, even for having been handled by thousands of hands. As I inspected the 1911s of other manufacturers, I was universally impressed by their quality. Each company had clearly picked the best of their product to showcase. In contrast to the excellent firearms on display by Springfield Armory, Kimber, and Smith and Wesson, it really felt like Colt was phoning it in. Colt is such an iconic company, and after this weekend I wouldn’t buy one of their new production weapons. It felt like I had met a beautiful and famous model, only to find out that she was dying of syphillis.

Some things I learned from the NRA convention:

• Take more than one picture. Some of the photos I took didn’t come out the way I really wanted them to, but in order to avoid being an obstacle to other convention-goers I kind of snapped quick shots and moved on. I also didn’t get all the shots I wanted of some of the cooler displays. This is the wrong thing to do. Take the time and the shots necessary to get it right.
• Take the time to wait in line for events you want to see. You’ve got all weekend. I really regret not meeting R. Lee Ermey personally. I only saw him in passing and let the line deter me.
• If you blog anonymously, put your nom-de-blog on your press credentials. I prefer to be called by my real name face-to-face, but even fewer people knew who the hell I was because I made it more confusing than it had to be. Like LabRat said on day one: our blog identities are a significant part of who we are.
• Make business cards. Even if you’re just giving them to other bloggers who already know you by reputation, business cards help you make an impression. I actually already designed and ordered business cards for my blog from FedEx/Kinkos this evening. I will not be unprepared next time.
• Don’t be afraid to just hang out. Don’t feel like you need to be on the convention floor all day.
• Speak up. Introduce yourself to people. Given my extremely introverted nature, I feel like I didn’t do too poorly at this, but there is definitely significant room for improvement.

Since this is the last big post I’ll be making about the Blog Bash, I’d like to thank some of the folks who made it what it was:

• Insight Tech Gear, Crimson Trace, and Tactical Solutions for providing cool swag and product demos
• Michael Bane and Cam Edwards for hanging with the bloggers, showing us how it’s done, and generally being great guys
• Patrik Jonsson, for his excellent article in the Christian Science Monitor about our event and gun bloggers in general, and for getting it right.
• The representatives from ASRPA, CRPA, and PAFOA for meeting with us and answering our concerns.
• Dick Heller for showing up at the meet-and-greet on Thursday.
• The other bloggers. The event wouldn’t be worth going to if not for the other publishers and readers at the event. I now have a new section at the top of my blogroll: Bloggers I’ve Met. Each and every one of them is a stand-up individual.
• Bitter for organizing this whole thing from the new media end.
• Last, but definitely not least, a huge thanks to the NRA Public Affairs team for making this all possible and for recognizing all the publishers as press.

This morning I was planning on sleeping in, until Sebastian mentioned last night that Crimson Trace was going to be presenting for us at 9:30AM. We went down to their booth and got to demo some of their products unimpeded by the usual crowds. Crimson Trace has an admirable mission statement: Simply to build products that save lives. They, among other gun companies, have founded a new organization to “help the healing and re-integration of disabled combat veterans back into normal American life through participation in outdoor events.”

The Crimson Trace representative asked us for one thing with regard to the organization: simply to refer disabled veterans who would be interested in such an event to them. They have the ability to help people, but they know that there are hundreds, probably thousands, of wounded veterans who may be interested in such a program that they don’t know how to contact. The organization is HAVA: Honored American Veterans Afield and it sounds like a great program.

Yesterday afternoon I won an Insight Tech Gear M6X Tactical Laser Illuminator in a door prize drawing. This evening I had a chance to sit and examine it in detail and it is an extremely nice piece of equipment.

It’s very well-made, sturdy, and bright. I can’t wait to test this thing on the range, except for one problem. I don’t own a gun with rails on the underside of the weapon. I guess I’ll have to buy a new stock for my M14 or a new 1911 or something .

As I sit here writing I am listening to ViciousCircle episode 9, recorded at the Blog Bash by the usual conspirators. It’s a great summary of events down here and I recommend it. I had a wonderful time at the convention and I’m definitely glad I went. It’s great to be able to put a face to the names and voices of some of my favorite bloggers and podcasters. I’m not really a crowd/people person, but my experience here has convinced me to attend PAX and probably the Reno GBR later this year. I haven’t decided if I’ll attend the Blog Bash in Charlotte next year, but I’m leaning toward “yes.”

Bottom Line: Loved it. Super tired. Thanks Bitter. Good night.

I’m not kidding about that title. That’s what the banquet was called. On the whole it was definitely worth going. I have heard reports that there were over 6200 people in attendance, making it the largest dinner ever in Arizona. As Denise and Kevin have noted, we kind of got stuck at the end of nowhere, but given the company I didn’t mind. The food was decent, the drinks were pricey, and the speeches were excellent; standard banquet fare.

John Stossel’s speech was excellent. He spoke on the evils of capitalism socialism and government regulation. Stossel is the only person in the media with a spine, and here’s why. It impresses me that he was willing to tell a socialist politian that he’s an idiot. Stossel was presented with a muster roll from the American Revolutionary War, which is indescribably awesome.

Oliver North’s speech was focused on the military and Armed Forces Day (which was yesterday). He’s an incredibly passionate speaker; I wasn’t sure what to expect from North but it was a very engaging speech that made one proud to be an American. North was presented with a custom flintlock rifle, with which he promptly imitated Charlton Heston, shouting “from my cold dead hands!” to a standing ovation.

After dinner we headed to the Hyatt hotel bar and bullshitted for a few hours before heading to bed. I talked with Sebastian about local politics and got some great insights from someone who’s been at this a hell of a lot longer than I have. Overall it was a great night.

There was all sorts of cool tech-geek stuff at the convention, but despite my love of gadgets the most interesting booths at the convention were the ones with a story to tell. Take this collection, for example: (click for embiggenment on any pictures in this post)

As you can see from the signs, this is part of a collection from the Miniature Arms Society. None of the firearms in the photo are full-sized. They are mostly 1/2, 1/3, or 1/5 scale. A fellow at the booth explained that the final test of some gunsmith apprentices or journeymen was to construct a firearm in miniature because the difficulty of crafting a working firearm at 1/3 scale is significantly greater than crafting a full-size weapon. All of the firearms in the case are functional, with working safeties, rifling, and the works. With scale ammunition (or in some cases 2mm rimfire) they will feed, fire, extract, and eject rounds  in exactly the same way as their larger siblings. The craftsmanship on these weapons is exquisite. The rifle in the lower right of the picture and the one obscured by the case are crafted with actual gold, not gold plating. When viewed without any context, they are indistinguishable from full-size rifles.

This is the M1 rifle presented to John C. Garand upon his retirement from Springfield Armory, with serial number 1,000,000. It is an absolutely beautiful rifle. The stock is tiger maple and you can see that the cartridges and the enbloc clip have been polished until they shine like mirrors. The rifle below the M1 is a primer actuated rifle designed by Garand during an unsuccessful bid to replace the M1903 rifle. He was eventually successful in this bid with the rifle that would become the M1 that we know and love.

This is one of the last 80 weapons of its kind, a Smith & Wesson 1940 Mark II, commissioned by the British Army during World War II. Also in the collection was a Mark I. The weapons were plagued by malfunctions due to the fact that they were designed to be operated with 9mm Parabellum ammunition, a lighter round than was used by British forces at the time. Smith & Wesson attempted to correct the problems of the original design with the Mark II, but were unsuccessful. All but 80 of the weapons have been destroyed.

Sebastian (via Kevin): “I’ve never seen so many people open-carry, and nobody cares!”

This is why I can’t really grok the “scaring the white people” factor that some people see in open carry. In Arizona, no one cares if you’ve got a gun or five. Even having them on your person doesn’t make you special.

Saturday afternoon bloggers had a chance to sit and chat with several leaders of state-level organizations. It was a great opportunity for us to learn what exactly they do, what challenges each organization is facing, and where they see themselves in the future. On the panel were Landis Aden, president of the Arizona State Rifle and Pistol Association, Daniel Pehrson, founder of the Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association, and a fellow from the California Rifle and Pistol Association^[1]. ASRPA and CRPA are both traditional NRA-affiliated state-level organizations, while PAFOA began in 2006 as a discussion board which has since branched into other areas of political action and new media.

One of the interesting contrasts between the traditional associations and PAFOA was that both organizations reported difficulty in reaching new members, while PAFOA signs up approximately 1000 new members per month. However, there is no fee associated with an account at PAFOA, whereas membership in the other orgs costs ~$20 per year. PAFOA has been working with established gun-rights organizations in Pennsylvania to harness the potential for activism from its members. As Daniel related at the forum, if you can send a message that reaches 100,000 people, if even 0.01% of the recipients call their representatives you can affect significant policy changes.

ASRPA’s situation was of particular concern to me, as a member. There are currently only about 1700 ASRPA members and they are aging rapidly. ASRPA made a step into the new century last year when they significantly overhauled their website, but partly due to the lack of an internet-savvy core of members they are not reaching as many young shooters as they would like. I want to encourage everyone in Arizona who loves liberty and the Second Amendment to join the ASRPA. As Arizona grows we are attracting transplants from California, New York, Illinois, and other less-than-free jurisdictions. We’re going to have a fight ahead of us to keep a culture of individual freedom and individual responsibility alive in Arizona and we need to be as strong as possible now rather than later. I encourage everyone to join and contribute to state-level organizations because these are the folks fighting the battles at home so that the NRA can focus its attention on the big fights.

Another state-level org in Arizona worth looking at is the Arizona Citizens Defense League. Their legislative alerts list can help you keep up-to-date on the progress of pro-gun and other pro-rights bills in the Arizona legislature. AzCDL has an impressive list of legislative accomplishments.

1. I can’t recall his name, and CRPA doesn’t have their officers listed on their website [↩]

Saturday I woke up late and headed over to the convention around 10AM. I skipped the Member’s Meeting and met up with my friend Mike to wander the floor. This is going to be a photo heavy post so check below the fold for the good stuff.

Update: I went through and made all the images link to their original counterparts. You should be able to enlarge any image by clicking it.

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Friday was the first official day of the NRAAM, and first on my agenda for Day 1 was the Grassroots Workshop at the Sheraton. I arrived a bit late and missed Dick Heller’s speech. Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox spoke, but the stars of the show were the NRA Grassroots Coordinators. They covered topics such as contacting your elected representatives, writing letters to the editor, election activism, and getting involved in the community as a pro-Second Amendment activist. They asked each attendee to join the NRA FrontLines, a group of volunteers who work with their local Election Volunteer Coordinator “to advance ILA’s legislative and political agenda.”

After the workshop I headed over to the convention center, where I was greeted by this line. As Sebastian says, the line was much worse than it looks in the photo. Registration for the meeting is below street level, and the escalators were unable to keep up with the traffic, so their use was rationed to prevent them from breaking down under the strain. This is the new Phoenix Convention Center’s first big con, so I suspect that this was simply a case where someone forgot the five Ps: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Words to live by.

Avoiding the line, which seemed to be nearly static, I hung out in the press room with the other bloggers. Most of us hadn’t eaten all day, so as soon as TD showed up we headed to lunch at Kincaids. After lunch (which was excellent) I headed down to the exhibit floor to check things out. The line had subsided and the downstairs area was readily accessible again. My good friend Mike will be here this afternoon to wander the floor with me, so Friday was mostly a scouting expedition. I did see Todd Jarrett give an impressive demonstration on gun safety, laser grip use, and drawing and reloading from his Serpa Blackhawk! holster. He was able to complete a draw, fire, reload, and fire sequence in 1.60 seconds. I spotted a lot of “tacticool” weapons out there, it seems like everything this year has rails, lights, and lasers attached to it.

I was travelling light yesterday, so I won’t have pictures until tomorrow.

Edited to add: This is my first post from my new EeePC. So far it’s pretty awesome, but tomorrow I will definitely remember to bring my full-size mouse with me. The touch pad est no bueno for long-term use.