Brownells on AR gas and buffer systems.

Eh, okay, whatever.  I accept what they’re saying for nominal applications, but for fine tuning I think there is more to it than that.

On another but very interesting note, Brownells is assisting in the Covid-19 analysis.

Brownells, an 80-year-old, Iowa-based online firearm, and firearm accessories supplier has joined forces with Folding@Home to lend its excess computing power to help combat the COVID-19 virus sweeping across the globe.

Folding@Home is helping with an international effort to understand the molecular structure of the virus in hopes of finding ways to defeat it. Folding@Home has called on individuals and companies with excess server space and computing abilities to help execute computer modeling simulations to help speed up an otherwise huge and lengthy task.

“Our IT team learned about the Folding@Home project and their work using computer modeling to better understand the molecular and protein structure of the virus,” said Brownells IT Director Curt Graff. “We are committed to helping protect our country by virtue of our personal protection and sustainability products, but we see this as a way to support the international community in a time of significant need.”

Brownells anticipates it will donate at least 1,300 hours to the project and run approximately 200 simulations on behalf of COVID-19 research.

Okay, so this is really cool, and some of you may be confused, so I’ll do my best to explain this.

Processor speed hasn’t significantly increased for many years, but the ability to utilize threaded calculations has.  Many PhD theses have been written on “massively parallel” computing, and most high performance computer codes today (that require billions of calculations) are written to be able to utilize thousands of cores (written, of course, for HPC, or UNIX High Performance Computing clusters).  In my recent work, I’ve used more than 1400 cores for approximately 20 wall clock-hours for each simulation.  That requires a lot of computing power.

Why on earth would Brownells have this kind of computing capacity, you might ask?  I suspect, but I don’t know with certainty, that Brownells has these capabilities because of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and FEA (finite elements analysis) for ballistics and bullet design.

Someone could prove me wrong by calling Brownells and discussing this with them, or I can.  It might be interesting to find out.  If they don’t have it for those reasons, they have it for some other reason, and it would be interesting to know.  A number of large corporations who do advanced computing have access to thousands of cores, as do the national laboratories (who have the largest computers).  It was a bit surprising to me that Brownells has access to the kind of computing power that these computer codes will need.

But I think it’s cool.  Does some reader want to call Brownells and let us all know?

Either way, it’s nice to see that a firearms giant is helping in the battle against Covid-19.  Hey, if Brownells helps find a treatment, do the gun controllers promise not to use that treatment?  After all, they wouldn’t want to be in bed with the gunners, would they?

Tyrants.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell (D) has joined Champaign, Illinois Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen in exploiting the Coronavirus crisis to ban the sale and transfer of firearms.

GPM reported earlier this week that Feinen had issued an executive order declaring a coronavirus emergency in the city she governs and which has not confirmed a single case of the virus. The ordinances, The New York Post reports, “let (Feinen) ban the sale of firearms and ammunition as well as booze.”
Feinen told WAND-TV:

“So many of those powers, I have had from the beginning. All we have done is enumerate them and now the public is aware of them. So, I am the liquor commissioner. I can shut down bars yesterday, I could have shut them down two years ago. Nothing has changed with respect to that, it is just that we have laid it out, so people are aware of that. In respect to the other items that are listed in the attachment, they have been listed in the city code for 15 years.”

In a similar move, Cantrell announced she is “empowered, if necessary, to suspend or limit the sale of alcoholic beverages, firearms, explosives, and combustibles.”

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), however, is telling Cantrell, “We sued once, we’ll do it again.”

Yea, they really care about your jackass lawsuit, SAF.  They’ll only be dissuaded from their tyrannical ways when free men disobey and/or cops get shot trying to enforce unconstitutional laws.

Ammunition will be rolled in with firearms and explosives.  But I also have to comment that if you waited this late to buy firearms and ammunition, you waited too late.

What is wrong with that city anyway that they keep electing horrible people like this?

The ammo shelves are empty except for the low quality stuff (and some very expensive match grade stuff, going for more than $1 per round for 5.56/.223).  9mm PD rounds are also completely unavailable, although .45 PD ammunition can still be found.  But it’s not even a safe bet that you’ll get a gun if you try.

Sales of guns and ammunition are soaring across the US as fears of possible social unrest amid the coronavirus crisis are prompting some Americans to turn to firearms as a form of self-protection.

On the west coast, long lines of customers were queueing up outside gun stores to stock up on deadly materials. At the Martin B Retting gun shop in Culver City, California, the queues stretched round the block throughout the weekend.

One customer told the LA Times: “Politicians and anti-gun people have been telling us for the longest time that we don’t need guns. But right now, a lot of people are truly scared, and they can make that decision themselves.”

Larry Hyatt, owner of one of the country’s largest gun shops, Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, North Carolina, told the Guardian that the scenes of mass buying at his store were virtually unprecedented. “This is only the second time in my 61 years of business that we’ve seen anything like this,” he said, adding that the first occasion was the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut in 2012.

“We are experiencing a massive rush to buy guns and ammunition as people feel the need to protect themselves and their families.”

Hyatt said that the type of guns being bought was reflective of the fear prevalent among customers. There was almost no interest in hunting rifles. Instead, people were opting for target guns and there was big demand for AR-15 semi-automatic assault-style rifles.

Asked why he thought the spike was happening, Hyatt replied: “Financial meltdown, pandemic, crime, politics … you throw it all into the pot, and you have one hell of a mess.”

Sales were especially pronounced in North Carolina and Georgia, which experienced a leap of 179% and 169% respectively. Other states with large increases included Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, Illinois and New York.

I’ll have to give Larry a wink and a nod the next time I see him for always being the one interviewed on this sort of thing.

Just before Obama’s administration when the issue of gun control came up right after the November election, the Saturday before Christmas Larry’s shop sold over 1000 ARs in a single day to people lined up outside.  He armed the equivalent of a Marine Corps infantry battalion in a single day.

Two months ago you could have gotten them for a fairly reasonable price.  I’m sure those days are gone now.  They may return, but if you waited for whatever reason to buy guns and ammo to protect your family for the near future, you waited too late.  You didn’t listen to me and my readers on this.

What I know is that I know very little about this topic.  If I get into it very deeply, I’m going to have to get a mentor.

Reason.

I regret to inform you that we have always lived in a country in which political officials can order private businesses closed.

[ … ]

This general background of police powers underwrites myriad routine restrictions that state and local governments put on social life. It is what allows local governments to authorize health inspectors to examine the kitchens of restaurants and order them to close if they discover problems. It is what allows fire marshals to limit the number of people who can occupy a public venue. It is what allows police officers to arrest people for urinating in the street. It is what allows government officials to prevent you from just accumulating mounds of garbage in the backyard of your suburban home. It is what allows government officials to tell you that you cannot keep a Bengal tiger as a pet in your house.

This case is extremely unconvincing.  Public laws against urinating in the streets or letting trash build up IS NOT THE SAME THING as a public curfew.  Nor is it the same thing as shutting down businesses.

Via Tamara Keel.

Handwaving Freakoutery@Freakoutery

Yea, these have been my thoughts lately.  Actually, there is more.

So before we begin let’s get the obvious out of the way.  Regular readers know that I haven’t jumped on the conspiracy bandwagon by saying that this was all planned.  I do believe (based on what evidence is available to me) that this virus is weaponized.  I also believe that it was most likely an accidental release from the Chinese bio-weapons facility.

But that doesn’t mean the FedGov (and all other levels of government, from city to state) hasn’t glommed on to see just how far this can be pushed.  And you can rest assured that the JTTF Fusion Centers are watching very carefully.

Roger Kimball notes this.

It also, it is worth noting, plays right into the hands of power-hungry politicians who like nothing better than to forbid whatever it is they have neglected to make mandatory. These are the folks who stand to benefit by the ill wind of the Wuhan virus. Anyone who doubts this should ponder the case of Champaign, Illinois, whose city council just voted itself emergency powers to deal with the crisis, or “crisis.”

My friend David Horowitz likes to say “scratch a liberal and you’ll discover a totalitarian screaming to get out.” The evolution of the reaction and overreaction to the Wuhan flu is a textbook case illustrating the truth of that observation.

The Feds have shot their wad at the coming potential recession, and have no more ammunition.  The mayor of Champaign, Illinois has declared a town emergency over the Wuhan coronavirus that includes a potential ban on the sale of firearms and ammunition.  The mayor of Austin, Texas, has forbade gatherings of more than 100 people, placing in jeopardy the livelihoods of people who make their living doing just such things, like wedding planning, musicians, and so on.  New Jersey communities have imposed mandatory curfews (so did the British Army in colonial America, one of the complaints by the colonists, of course ending with American independence after a long and bloody war).

Of course, this is all unconstitutional.  The constitution doesn’t recognize “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” and right to freedom of association (recognized by the courts) .. except … uh oh, when the .gov declares it null and void because they are concerned about you or others you might happen to affect and can get a doctor to sign on to their plans.  It doesn’t work that way.

Unless it does and the American people let them get away with it.  I’m not suggesting of course that there aren’t benefits to remote work.  I have worked remotely for the last seven months and have done just fine with it, being even more productive than I would have been driving to work and sitting in a stale office.  I’m suggesting that no governor, no mayor, no president, and no legislator, has the authority to tell congregants that they are not to worship on Sunday or any other day.  No one has the authority to tell free men when they will be outside their homes.  And no mayor has the authority to tell gun owners that they can’t purchase more guns or ammunition.

David Codrea.

“Why are ‘Conservatives’ Throwing Michelle Malkin Under the Bus?” a cautionary analysis by Jose Nino on Big League Politics asks. “Second Amendment Activists Would be Wise to Not Dismiss Michelle Malkin’s Immigration Discussions.”

Apparently, advocating America should place its interests ahead of any other country’s, including Israel’s, was enough for Gun Owners of America’s Director of Outreach to brag on Twitter about having Malkin excluded from speaking to a Republican group.

“Bethany Mandel, editor of the conservative website Ricochet, penned an article titled ‘The Fall of Michelle Malkin’, which questioned Malkin’s recent controversial statements on immigration and why U.S. taxpayers subsidize Israel to the tune of billions,” the article explains. Except, to paraphrase Bill Clinton, that depends upon what the meaning of the word “conservative” is.

Read the rest of it.

Let me tell you something about Michelle Malkin.  When I was first starting out as a blogger, Michelle knew my son was deployed in Iraq.  I don’t think she wanted us to be there any more than I did, but she was truly compassionate for my plight (the turmoil military parents go through).

She gave me copious links, as well as actually exchanged email with me.  I have no regard or respect for folks who won’t exchange email with you.

Michelle Malkin is a decent and good woman, and a smart analyst.

We covered the behavior of the cops in Olmos Park, Texas, and the open carry rally there.  There is development.  This video was shot soon after the rally.  Watch all of it.  The cops run like scared rabbits when the light of photography shined on them.  Cops don’t like photography.  It tells the truth, unlike them.