The FAIL boggles the mind

From ABC15 in Phoenix:

They say the 17-year-old boy accidentally shot his friend while riding in a pickup truck around noon Monday with two other men.

Police say the boy was a passenger behind the driver's seat and was handling a handgun when it discharged.

I guess the 4 rules of gun safety get in the way when cruisin' the 'hood.

But it also raises so many questions:  Did the driver with the gunshot in back NOT crash?  If the two 18YOs are fingered with tampering with evidence by trying to hide the gun, it suggests they probably didn't call police from the scene.

Did these geniuses think they'd come up with a story that explains their dead friend?  That even Barney Fife would trace the hole in their friend's back to the hole in his seat and note the powder burns/unburnt powder embedded in the back of the seat? 

What evidence supports the 17YO as the trigger man?  What are the odds surveillance video from the area surfaces showing the 17YO in the front pax seat? What are the odds it was one of the 18YOs that convinced him to take the fall on the basis he's a juvenile?  Maybe he didn't count on that "charged as an adult" thing.

*shudder*

Update:  KPHO has more:  Apparently they were able to control the truck, drive to a location to stash that gun plus one more.  Two hours later they took the shot driver to the hospital. Which brings up the obvious question, would prompt medical intervention have saved the driver?

Range Report

Where I took exactly 5 shots:

Not a great grouping particularly at only 25ft. (iron sights, standing unsupported AR-15)

The point of the range trip was to evaluate some reloads, not accuracy.  The only accuracy I was interested in was avoiding the target carrier!  (Hence the shots low on the target).

Last time I reloaded some .223 it wasn't pretty.  Bullets were pushed back into the brass on attempted loading.  The SCQueen had asked for some special loads where I adjusted the dies.  The follow-ons didn't feel right.

I went back to the reloader's original die settings and ran a new batch.  The point of the range trip was to test the chambering of the newly pressed rounds.  5 rounds told the story:  All successful.

The guy behind the desk was a bit surprised when I emerged from lane just a few minutes after checking in.  I explained when I buy a year of range time all at once, I don't need to get my hour's worth on every trip!

Next trip... to test a 9mm carbine we built.. Midway made me an offer on a 9mm upper flat top I couldn't refuse!  Of course that meant I had to buy a bunch more parts to complete the carbine.   Stay tuned for the build and range reports!

Stand by!

I won the lottery Part Deux

The SCSon and I visited the local range today.  Reason #1 was to try out the CMP USGI 1911 I scored in the lottery.  Patterns were nothing to write home about.  Now is that because I'm not a 1911 shooter?  Because I haven't shot pistol in > 1 yr or because these are clapped out rattle trap 1911s.

Personally, I first blame the "nut behind the wheel".  I don't consider myself a stellar pistol shooter.  So I blame me.  Still I'm glad to score a CMP USGI 1911.  Don't bother to ask, it's not for sale!

The secondary mission for the trip was to let the SCSon try out some small concealable pistols.  We started with a Glock 23 which IMHO simply doesn't have enough grip to hang onto.  Traded that out for Glock-19.

He tried a couple others, Kahr CW-9 & Baretta Nano.  He came to the conclusion that small "concealable" pistols are hard to shoot well.

Some lessons have to be learned via 1st hand experience.

And that's why we practice.  To gain this experience.

BTW... I called the RO over at one point to ask if I could relcaim my brass.  His attitude was "Hey it's  your brass and less work for me!  Win-Win!.  Fair enough

So it was a bit of a surprise when he came back a few minutes later saying "But you can't be drinking water here in the range."  He went on to say it's an OSHA reg.  OK. 

Missed it by that much!

The SandCastle Queen noticed her CCW had expired.  She called DPS to find out what happened to her expiration warning and what will it take to get it renewed.

Turns out they sent the reminder to the old SandCastle address and now she is 9 days past the "renewal" process and back to "new permit process".  She doesn't have to retake the class nor requalify but she needs a new fingerprint card and the renewal costs a bit more.

Fortunately an old neighbor is in the business and hopefully can fix her up.

Losing a pet....

... Always sucks.

In this case it was a 16 YO cat the SCSon named "Lear".  I need to find a picture to import here.

She had always been somewhat sickly.  Shortly after adoption she needed some serious intervention to cure "intestinal bugs".  We got her as a rescue and I'd like to think we gave her a good home for the past 16 yrs.   More recently the SCQueen secured special dietary feed and the cat had lost a lot of weight.  She was pretty much skin & bones :-(

Now that Arizona is in our cold season, She spent her time in the "Warm Spots" she found in the house.  Some times that was following sunbeams through the South facing windows, but also the corner of he refrigerator where heat is exhausted.

Lately she had pretty much lost control of her bowels, leaving calling cards all over the house.  Fortunately most of the Sand Castle is tiled so cleanup is relatively easy compared to other flooring systems, even if messy and inconvenient.

Today she succumbed to her ails at home, in comfort and accompanied by the SCSon.

Still sucks to lose a pet.

Well that was fun...

NOT....

3+ hours in the dentist chair.  Popped a crown flossing after lunch.   I could not get comfortable in the chair and my back muscles are still tense hours later!  The visit also wiped out the annual Health Care Savings Account :-(  My bad I should have estimated better. 

OTOH, I got a broken filling & old crown replaced with a temporary... I hope it lasts.

And I took in most of the Killer Elite via NetFlix on the office ceiling (my choice).  Jason Statham, Robert Dinero, Clive Owen. 

I've caught the end of the movie in the past but it was nice to get [most of] the first 80%.

Watching the flick, I kept wondering "When was this released" and "How old is this flick"  given the landscape limited to '70's era cars.  "Hey that Merc' was my first car!"   2011?  Holy cow where'd they find all those early 70's cars to abuse?

So, How was your Tuesday Matinee?  Hope it was better than my ride in the Dentist Chair!

The other question is how long will the temporary last.  My over/under is 4 days:-(

edited to add...  The temp crown lasted ~29 hours.   I made it through 3 meals but midrats of chips & beandip I caught my self using that molar too late :-(  Next question... Can I survive the next 12+ days with a partial temporary crown?

Nicely Done!

The SCQueen and I went out to dinner at a local Mexican fast food type restaurant (we had a gift card).    Over in the corner were about 8 kids doing what 5-7 year olds do, exercising their lungs.  Dad yelled out "Gunner, knock it off!" as the SCQueen was filling her soda.

She turned around and asked "Excuse me, what did you call him?"  "Gunner".  "What a cool name" She gushed!

After dinner she stopped by their table again where they introduced their other kids Dillon and Barrett.  (Subtle - I like it!)  Mom noted all three names have double letters.

I think the SCQueen was a bit sad that we hadn't thought of it first :-(  That would have really set off my anti-gun relatives (If they figured it out :-).

Nicely Done.