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rDigital

rDigital's Journal
rDigital's Journal
September 9, 2012

All newbies get in here! Oldbees too! - Strobist Lighting 101

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html
Learning how to light is incremental, creative and fun. There is almost no math involved, nor any difficult technical know-how. In fact, good lighting is less like math and more like cooking.

It's like, you taste the soup and if it needs more salt you add some salt. You'll see that when we learn to balance a flash with the existing, ambient light.


I stumbled upon this site a couple of years ago and it got me hooked on portable off camera lighting. I know there have been threads on this some time in the past. If you've seen it before, good. You know what you're in for then. I hope it helped you. Newbies? Prepare to be amazed.

This is a great resource for photographers of all skill levels. Learning how to master lighting is one of the most rewarding and fun parts of photography.

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September 8, 2012

Kansas supports suit opposing concealed-carry permit restrictions


Kansas has joined 13 other states in supporting the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment by agreeing that people don’t need to show why they want a permit to carry a concealed firearm.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Thursday he has added Kansas to a friend-of-the-court brief filed in the 4th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Richmond, Va. The appellate court is reviewing a decision by a Maryland district court that struck down a Maryland requirement that a person must show a reason for needing a concealed permit before one is issued.

“Citizens who qualify to have a concealed carry permit should not be required to clear the further hurdle of showing the government why they need to have a firearm,” Schmidt said. “The Second Amendment protects the individual’s right to keep and bear arms and does not allow the government to demand to know the reason why.”

Kansas is one of 39 states with a concealed-carry law on the books that doesn’t require a person to give a reason for needing the license, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/06/3800238/kansas-supports-suit-opposing.html#storylink=cpy


It's basically a given why someone would want to have a concealed carry license... it's for personal and family protection. What we are seeing is bureaucracy getting in the way of our constitutional rights.

I hate to bring up a touchy subject, but even if you aren't Pro-RKBA, try to think of it this way: Would you want someone passing a law requiring you to explain yourself and submit to extra-judicial scrutiny to have an abortion or any other personal procedure? It's no one's business, especially not the governments.

I'm all about more options, not less. Like a woman's right to choose, I support the choice to carry a personal firearm for protection and will so everything I can to keep it both legal and safe.
September 7, 2012

If you carry a firearm your victim will take it and use it against you

http://m.abc22now.com/news/Police:Woman_Raped,_Shot_Attacker_in_Face__?mobileredirect=true

SPRINGFIELD-- A Springfield man is facing rape and kidnapping charges after police said he raped a woman by gunpoint.  Investigators said  the victim fought back and shot her attacker in the face.
                
Duane Portman Sr. 44,  was  in a Clark County courtroom this morning, with bandages on his face.                  
 
Police said he raped  the woman Sunday morning at 3 am,  at the Labelz 4  Less store  on East Main.
  
Police said the woman was able to wrestle the gun away, and was able to shoot  Portman. 


It's not the object, it's the person. The only real weapon a person has is their own mind. Everything else is just a tool.

She used her brain to take his firearm and put it to good use. I think the encounter would have ended sooner if she had her own personal firearm, but it looks like she did everything she could to save herself.

She should be proud for putting up such a fight and triumphing over her obviously larger, stronger and armed attacker. I just hope the healing process has started for her already, knowing that her attacker is behind bars.
September 3, 2012

KY: 92 year old WWII Vet thwarts Home Invader

http://www.wlwt.com/news/local-news/news-northern-kentucky/Boone-County-homeowner-shoots-kills-intruder/-/13608792/16463942/-/b33lt6z/-/index.html

VERONA, Ky. - —
One man is dead and two more are behind bars after an attempted home invasion Monday morning.

Police said a man broke into the basement and entered the first floor of a Boone County home in the 15000 block of Violet Road in Verona just after 2 a.m.

The homeowner, Earl Jones, 92, was awakened by a noise in his basement and grabbed his .22 caliber rifle. When the intruder came through the door from the basement, Jones fired a shot, police said.

He immediately called his neighbor, who then called 911.


A .22? That's some pretty good shooting under stress. It also sounds like a one-shot stop to me. Pretty wild.

A 92 year old stands no chance against anyone in a stand up fight of any kind, even with a can of beans/soup in tow. 3 able-bodied young men broke into his home and he did what was necessary. The firearm is the equalizer for the physically weak. Gun controllers would have this honorable veteran at the mercy of the thugs that broke into his home. I'm sad that the intruder has perished, but I'm happy the homeowner lived through the experience unscathed.

What's more Progressive than giving power to the weak at the expense of the strong? In this case, firearms were a tool of equality.
September 3, 2012

Home invasion suspect shot by homeowner in Conway

http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/19354355/home-invasion-suspect-shot-by-homeowner

Catina Hipp, spokeswoman for the Conway Police Department, reports the home invasion occurred just before 6 a.m. on Tuesday, August 21 at a home on the 1600 block of Ninth Avenue.

Hipp explains that the homeowner was asleep in his bed that morning when he awoke to find a man standing over him with a machete.

The homeowner claims the suspect tried to assault him with the machete but he was able to block the blow, receiving a small laceration to his hand in the struggle.

The victim then retrieved a firearm he stores under his pillow and shot the suspect in the abdomen.


That's not the way I'd ever want to wake up. A man standing over me with a machete? My cats would probably alert me before he got that close, but then again they aren't that helpful.

I can't agree with keeping the gun in the bed and under the pillow, but it appears that his choice was effective in these circumstances. Normally, I'd recommend leaving the gun on a nightstand (house with no kids in it ever) or in a SpeedSafe on a nightstand (house with children or visited by children).

Another life saved by taking personal responsibility for your own safety. When seconds count (macheteMan standing over you!), the police are only minutes away. If I could afford ARMED 24/7 security like Bloomberg and other 1%ers I'd have it too, but I can't. My family is precious and irreplaceable. So, I have a personal firearms that I use for protection of my family and I.
September 3, 2012

Home intruders get more than they bargain for in Atlanta

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/home-intruders-get-more-than-they-bargain-for-in-a/nR2Sd/

Two suspects in an Atlanta home invasion were arrested Saturday night after being shot and beaten by the homeowner during the invasion, according to police.

Marques Hurley and Jabril Meyers were charged with burglary, armed robbery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, cruelty to animals and aggravated assault, according to Atlanta Police spokeswoman Kim Jones. The homeowner’s dog was shot during the invasion.
.....
The police followed a bloody trail to a house on McDill Avenue where they found a dog in a cage with gunshot wounds, two semi-automatic weapons and the homeowner Braddon Robbins and two friends. Robbins told police he was outside his home earlier that evening when he was approached by a man he knew as “Curly” who asked him if he wanted to buy a television. Curly was later identified as Meyers. Robbins offered to give Meyers $150 for the TV. Meyers said he needed more and Robbins went inside his home to get the money. When he came back to the door, Meyers was holding a gun through the door and told Robbins to open the door or he would kill him. Meyers and Hurley then entered the home. Robbins said he got the gun away from Meyers and ran to the back of his home. Meyers grabbed another gun from his bag and began firing at Robbins. Meyers then shot Robbins’ dog . Robbins responded by shooting Meyers. He then yelled at Hurley to drop his gun, when Hurley did Robbins began beating Hurley. The two suspects later fled in a Green Ford Taurus which ended up in an accident. Robbins’ friends corroborated his story.


This is pretty sad, one of the assailants even shot the homeowner's dog. I'm sure there are those who would be happy to see this homeowner disarmed, helpless & depending on the police to protect his life.

However, that's not the case. Mr. Robbins decided to take an active role in the defense of his person. He wasn't carrying on his person, but he made sure that his firearm was accessible to him in an emergency such as the one that he encountered. Maybe, he will think about getting a concealed carry license and carrying on his person. He got lucky this time and hopefully there never is a next time.
September 2, 2012

We need a Pro-RKBA group on DU

Those who support the RKBA are harassed and intimidated by those who do not here in the RKBA group. This is especially true for newbie posters who are scared out of the pond by the "big fish". It would be a good place to further discussion and share info with each other in a peaceful friendly manner without all of the personal insults and harassment.

There are many 2nd amendment supporters and firearms owners here that would support an additional non-battleground group (safe haven)

September 1, 2012

Packing Heat: Meet a Concealed Carrier

http://www.citylimits.org/news/articles/4616/packing-heat-meet-a-concealed-carrier

Shawn Dodson carries a gun in part because he doesn't ever again want to have to defend himself with soup, as he did several years ago. He was at a grocery store with his family when he saw a fight break out. He intervened, angering one of the participants, who left the store and returned with a group of friends. "Next thing I know I have half a dozen guys in my face. The police were so slow to respond. I was about to get my ass kicked," Dodson recalled. "I actually armed myself with a couple cans of soup."

Nowadays Dodson, a Florida resident who used to hunt with his father and worked in military law enforcement during his time in the Navy, packs something more powerful than Progresso or Chunky. Like hundreds of thousands of Americans, he carries a concealed handgun. "I carry as often as I can," Dodson says, "I don't like to leave it in my car because I think that makes it vulnerable. To me it's like a seatbelt. It's like if you're going to carry, you carry all the time."

It’s hard to say whether Dodson is representative of the typical concealed carrier. It is, however, very easy to conclude that the ranks of people who pack heat are growing.
....
A City Limits survey of the 45 states that permit concealed carry (Illinois does not) and require a permit to do so (Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming do not) finds the number of concealed carriers swelling—although differences in the manner and timing of reporting among states make it difficult to generate national statistics. Florida boats 956,000 permit holders, Utah some 380,000 and Washington 233,000. Other states report smaller totals but significant growth in their concealed carry population. New applications in Arkansas tripled from 2005 (4,800) to 2011 (16,000). Iowa saw the number of permits leap from 40,000 to 95,000 from 2010 to 2011. Ohio had 22,000 new issuances in 2007 and 50,000 last year.


In other word gun sales are bonkers right now and concealed carry has been steadily gaining steam. I personally didn't like the tone of this article over all, but it contains some good info regardless.

There are only 2 mainland U.S. places without CCW now: Illinois and Washington D.C. The momentum of the concealed carry movement shows no signs of waning any time soon. Please remind your local congress critter that gun control is a hot stove.

September 1, 2012

Cleveland Heights Must Pay Ohioans for Concealed Carry's legal fees for lawsuit

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/08/the_lawsuit_that_ohioans_for_c.html


The concealed-carry group had already won victories over two other Ohio municipalities when it filed suit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
The goal here was to bring Cleveland Heights' 1985 gun-control ordinances in line with the state's 2006 uniform gun law. Among other things, the state law said people with proper permits could carry firearms in parks.
The state law, which has been upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court, blocks communities from passing laws that are more restrictive than state code.
....
Finally in February, the city agreed to pay the group's legal expenses. Gibbon does not remember the exact amount but called it nominal. The city also agreed to pay court costs of $208, according to court records.


Cases like this are why state wide preemption, with teeth, of local firearms laws are needed. Else we get municipalities trying to create a patchwork quagmire of different laws in every town in the state. States need uniformity when it comes to carry laws. It's sad to see that Cleveland Heights was put in their place, but they made their own bed.

Numerous attempts were made to end the issue before the lawsuit was even filed, but the city council turned their noses up at OFCC. Bad idea, now the residents are left to foot the bill for their elected officials hubris.
September 1, 2012

America still fighting back, in Everett and elsewhere

When a 76-year-old employee of an Everett real estate firm shot a burglar Thursday morning at the office, he joined a growing fraternity of legally-armed Americans who have found themselves in the position of first responder to a crime, and they acted.

Any day of the week, a visit to TheGunWire.com will find stories about self-defense shootings and armed intervention. In the Everett case, it could easily fit into a book this writer did a couple of years ago with Alan Gottlieb titled America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age .

According to KOMO , the real estate worker called police at about 9:15 a.m. but before they could get there, the suspect and his captor tangled. In the confrontation, the suspect threw some equipment at the older man, who then fired and hit the bad guy in the leg. That man was later arrested at a nearby private residence where he was hiding in a back yard.
....
More than 8 million Americans are licensed to carry, and more than ten times that many own firearms. That is gradually stacking the odds against outlaws who used to enjoy fairly risk-free working conditions. But the tide has shifted, and people are not giving up their hard-earned property, money and definitely their lives without a fight.


More stories from around the country. Shall issue concealed carry is gaining steam. Hopefully, more criminals take notice and start looking into other, less violent, professions.

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