#& Ralphie cat: Roger

[chimeradrive]

Ben, lifting Ralphie into the air: This is our cat!

Kim, lifting Roger off the floor: And this is our keyboardist!

[thecoroutfitters]

Written by Wild Bill on The Prepper Journal.

Editors Note: I posted a contributed article from Jay Chambers of Minute Man Review on gun safety on another site back in September, and I will include a link to that posting at the end of this article. I want to sincerely thank Jay for that article and I respect his goals and reasoning for its content. I have re-written it here to bring it more in line with our audience as most preppers are very safety conscious with weapons and know the potential for accidents is always present. Knowing that is the very first step in being safe when handling guns.

I am stating clearly that I have some differing opinions on the issue of gun safety and I think it has relevance here and now especially when considering that, hopefully a lot of real-life Ralphie’s of the Christmas story fame, will find their first rifle under the tree next week, be it a Red Ryder or a hunting grade weapon after they have already demonstrated their responsibly in the use of their Red Ryder. 

I know my Red Ryder was and still remains my favorite Christmas gift from childhood and has been used to introduce a couple of dozen children of relatives, my own two as well, to guns. And it still shoots straight enough to reinforce my posted signs to the neighborhood birds that pooping on my pool deck is a capital offense. 

When it comes to weapon safety, it’s not child’s play. Weapons are dangerous objects that should be handled carefully by professionals or experienced safety-conscious citizens. However, there are still accidents happening from lack of proper attention and handling. Can any of this be attributed to the rise in immersion sports like paintball and air-soft and video games such as Call of Duty? Your call. It the distant past we were brought up on TV shows like Roy Rogers or The Rifleman, where the results of gunshots were a stinging hand, or a clutched shoulder with no bleeding. We don’t have a lot of leg to stand on to throw rocks at today’s youth over this from our glass house – OMG! Could I work one more cliche into this sentence?

If Hollywood has done anything right in the past 50 years it has been to take the work of Sam Peckinpah and add more and more reality to it.

Weapon security checks are conducted by professionals in the military in order to ensure that no unwanted incident happens when the gun is used. It is an important part of military training and brings home the reality of having to use guns as the tool of your chosen trade. But what are they and why might professionals need to do them?

What Is a Weapon Security Check?

Basically, being in charge of a weapon means you need to be responsible and vigilant at all times. A gun must be treated like it’s always loaded – having this mindset firmly ingrained may stop you from the improper handling of the weapon, and save someones life and a world of hurt for all involved. The NRA point out, and rightly so, that on every bullet fired rides a lawyer, and every lawyer is always looking for a payday. Never forget that.

Again, some handlers mistakenly believe that the weapon is empty or safe when the reality is different, and the weapon is actually ready to fire. Other accidents may occur due to mechanical failures.

In order to avoid these things from happening, you need to perform a professional-level weapons security check or have a trusted gun smith perform one for you, especially when you have pumped a lot of rounds through it. A lot of preppers are qualified to do this as they may have served in the military and received the training and they not only upgrade weapons, beyond adding a Picatinny Rail or attaching a weapons light, but build out 80% lowers and fine tune gas tube systems, but ask yourself, can you see whether there are worn or broken parts in the sear, trigger or hammer/striker?

  If these are worn or damaged, there is a chance they could give a weapon a very sensitive trigger.

How Do YOU Perform a Security Check work?

Here is how weapons should be checked to make sure they are secure:

Pointing it in a safe direction – ALWAYS

As expected, the gun needs to be pointed in a safe direction, ALWAYS. Basically, you need to ask yourself if someone would get hurt if they stayed in its range and it went off. If the answer is “yes”, then it should be pointed in another direction or the people in your inspection area should be removed, asked to leave while you do this.

Remove the Ammunition

All ammunition needs to be removed so there is no risk of getting hurt or harming someone else. A firearm that contains cartridges could have them in two possible places: the chamber and the magazine.

Check the chamber

Although you just emptied it, you need to make sure that the chamber is truly empty. Accidents occur when people don’t properly check the chamber, and they are harmed or die as a result. Don’t just assume it’s empty because you emptied it – check it again.

Verify the Feed Path

The next step is verifying the path that the cartridge follows from the magazine to the chamber. On firearms with tubular magazines, you need to ensure that the magazine follower is visible at the end of the magazine tube. Semi-automatic handguns and rifles should be inspected for stuck cartridges after the magazine has been removed. Rifles in particular for an open bore, and locked open bolt and no magazine, not even an empty one so your view is clear.

Check the Bore for Obstructions

There’s huge pressure used to expel a bullet out of the barrel. As a consequence, the barrel may not allow the aerodynamic pressure build behind the bullet to safely be released. It can end in an explosive rupture.

There are some re-loaders that make squib rounds, reducing the powder charge so they can test or practice in the basement of their home, their yard or their workshop. I am not a fan for all the obvious reasons. A failure of the gas-tube in a semi-automatic rifle can be catastrophic. I have been lucky in weapons where I have installed the adjustable gas tubes that the first indication is the spent round does not successfully eject preventing the magazine from feeding the next round. BUT this is because I always start with the adjustable gas tube setting as low as possible and work it up until it is efficient. There is a fine line between seeing the flash of a round vs maximizing the energy to propel a round down range, lawyer on board and all. I like a little flash as a backup reminder that the chamber/barrel is clear.

Also, you should always examine the barrel’s full length by inserting a cleaning rod down the end, in order to prevent an explosive rupture from happening. You could also visually inspect it while the firearm is pointed in a safe direction, free of ammunition, and the bolt locked back.

Could Weapons Be Safely Stored?

There are several ways in which a weapon could be stored. It can either be locked somewhere safe, disassembled or have a lock.

  I am a big fan of gun safes for weapons not “on a mission” for two reasons, safety and theft. And by “on a mission” I mean my go-to weapon for home security, my back-up weapons in my BOB, which is secured and my EDC. But I live alone and secure these when I have expected visitors and unexpected visitors, especially if they include children.

As a home protection weapon you need to make your own call. Keeping all your weapons in a safe renders them less useful than harsh language or throwing the family cat at an intruder.

I keep my guns for shooting trap and skeet in a safe, as are my bug-out weapons and a number of handguns that are not my go-to self defense weapons. Here safety has to take into consideration the guns purpose, placement and the people who will have access to it, such as family members. Kids in the house – lock it up and keep the cat handy. Others coming and going like contractors, home care people, service people – chose wisely on on an individual basis.

And while storing a weapon disassembled could also prevent it from being used, especially if the pieces are stored in different locations, I am of the opinion that this is overkill. And of course there are certain locks that can be used to prevent the weapon from discharging. They come in several types: cable locks, trigger locks, smart guns, and chamber locks.

Trigger locks prevent the trigger from being manipulated, my experience is that getting a secure fit with one is more luck than skill as they designed for an array of weapons from a sales point and it you have changed to a competition trigger, or made any modifications you may not get the security you are seeking. Your experience may be different.

Most of the more modern weapons I have purchased came with Cable locks, and these generally work. All of my cable locks are in the weapons original box still, as I don’t add these to guns already in a safe. A personal choice, and a key ring that would look like I am the Key Master in a medieval adventure.

Chamber locks prevent the weapon from being loaded with ammunition. If you wonder how these locks can be removed in order to use the gun, don’t worry – they come without a key. I have seen many a video on the bio-metric locks that show how well they work. I also use one four (4) times daily to move in and out of work and it occasionally works on the first try. It is used by others so it gets a lot of fingers, not always clean ones, so maybe an unfair comparison, but it is my experience. I have people I trust who swear by them, people with small children at home. They are exercising their own good judgement.

Then there are the “smart” guns, which come with built-in locks, such as microchip implants, fingerprint recognition or magnetic rings (the Magna-Trigger system was developed by Joe Davis in 1975 for J-, K-, L-, & N-frame Smith & Wesson revolvers prevents the trigger from returning far enough to fire. It has proven reliable. This system will work ambidextrously, provided the magnetic rings used are worn on both hands). Many police agencies experimented with these as the fear of a suspect taking an LEO’s weapon and using on it on them is a real concern. Have you ever seen one in use? I worked on a grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) on transitioning Department of Defense technologies to the Public Safety sector for three years and never came across an officer that thought these practical. However, as a gun owner, it is something you should know exists and may provide you with another level of confidence.

Anything with a micro-chip can be tampered with, anything. As a prepper I see smart guns as back-door to implement gun control. Get them in every gun and then disable the chip when you take control. Nope.

Professional Weapon Security Check?

I say yes on the gunsmith review for possibly worn parts. Even though I have done a lot of my own gunsmith work and can recognize worn parts, I have had two guns in my inventory, both handguns and from manufactures with excellent reputations, that have malfunctioned repeatedly. Both were sent back to the factories and were returned in no better working order than when I mailed them and both have had a half-dozen professional gun smiths look at them as well. Too small to turn into anchors, two dangerous looking to make paper-weights – does anyone even need paper-weights anymore? Both now take up space in my safe and only serve as lessons learned when purchasing.

These weapons need to be disposed of properly, so they don’t injure anyone. But what does that mean? I would never “turn them in” to any buy-back program run by a government agency. My friends would disown me, and rightfully so.

Conclusion

Weapons are not toys, they are never not loaded until YOU yourself have inspected them, and they must never be pointed at anything you do not want to injured or kill. Simple rules but we can get caught up in the moment. I always try and think of a weapon as a live venomous snake that will bite anything it can touch with its business end. When hunting or at the range I am every bit as conscious of how others around me are handling their weapons. I have been barrel-swept far too many times at a number of ranges and I am a jerk about it.

Guns are tools. They have a purpose and a place in every law abiding citizens household. They provide food for the hunters table, safety for those paid to protect us, safety for we who can’t wait for others to save us, and serve as an equalizer when faced with larger threat. Yes, they should be kept out of the hands of many but to date, how to do that is still the stuff of political agendas as opposed to individual responsibility.

Be safe out there.

The original article: Weapon Safety: What Is a Weapon Security Check and Why Does a Professional Need to Do it?

Follow The Prepper Journal on Facebook! (even though this article would get me a cell in Facebook jail if I were to post it there.)

The post Weapon Safety: What Is a Weapon Security Check and Does a Professional Need to Do it? appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

from The Prepper Journal Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

[releasing-my-insanity]

Dear Chocolatier Letter

Hey guys, I’m participating in the chocolate box fic and art exchange and this is my letter. (Also good if anyone really wants to write me a fic. Haha) Under the cut ‘cause it’s LONG.

Hi author. I’m glad you decided to join this challenge. I’m sure I’ll love anything you want to write for me. Feel free to ignore any of my suggestions. I actually had some trouble thinking up any prompts for some pairings so if you’ve got an idea you really want to write, I can’t wait to read it.

General fic likes:

Stuff that applies to both romantic and platonic:

Fluff.

Humor.

Kindness and helping others.

Cuddles and snuggles.

Cozy scenes.

Bedsharing.

Casual touching.

Little soft and/or quiet moments between friends or significant others.

Characters sharing a love of music or movies or books or hobbies.

Pet owners.

Cute kids when those kids are canon children of requested characters.

Living together, either platonically or romantically.

People being really good at what they do and their friends/partners being impressed.

Characters who speak languages other than English slipping into those languages occasionally.

Teaching each other.

Communities supporting each other.

Everyone being accepting of the characters and their differences and/or relationships.

Women who get stuff done.

Bi and Ace-spectrum Headcanons.

Shippy stuff:

Soulmates (both common and creative varieties),

The Soulmate Goose of Enforcement,

Polyamory.

Friends to lovers.

Rivals to lovers.

Annoying each other constantly to lovers.

Established relationships.

Couples knowing each other really well and doing things the other one likes just because.

“Man I really love my wife” guys.

Asking before kissing someone.

Stopping a kiss or a touch immediately when asked.

Surprise kisses in an established relationship.

Weddings.

Platonic/familial stuff:

Becoming friends.

Insta-friends,

Friends who stay friends (they don’t become romantic and they don’t stop enjoying each other’s company).

Found families.

True companions.

Healthy families of origin.

DNWs:

Any sort of death (Exception under Highway to Heaven.)

Abuse of any sort.

Anything that AO3 has under major warnings.

Unhealthy relationships.

Character bashing.

Explicit sex (implied or referenced sex between consenting adults is fine).

Mpreg.

Non-canonical pregnancy.

Discrimination or bigotry unless in the context of characters working to end it.

Unhappy ending.

-

Fandom Specific:

Enchanted Forest Chronicles:

Pairings Requested: Cimorene/Mendanbar, Daystar/Shiara, Morwen/Telemain

Tumblr Tag for Fandom: Enchanted Forest Chronicles

Fandom Specific Likes: Mentions/Appearances of Alianora. Morwen’s cats being snarky.

Fandom Specific DNW: A story where the focus is on the time between Calling On Dragons and Talking To Dragons.

Optional Prompts by pairing:

- Cimorene/Mendanbar: We don’t get to see very much of their married life so I would love to see some fluff taking place after their wedding but before Book 3.

- Daystar/Shiara: I nominated these two specifically so I could suggest this prompt. In an AU where they found some way to rescue Mendanbar sooner and Daystar grew up as the prince knowing both of his parents, how does this effect his and Shiara’s first meeting? Do they get along better or worse? Why is Daystar out in the forest at the right time to find her?

- Morewen/Telemain: I am down for basically anything with these two as long as it’s fun. Growing up together. Being classmates in magic school. Quests/adventures. Spending time together between adventures. Married life. Anything that appeals to you.

How exactly did they manage to get engaged? I would love to get the story of what conversations happened that we aren’t shown.

-

Harry Potter:

(I put ship names on these so it’s easier to read)

Pairings Requested: Ginny/Harry/Hermione/Luna/Neville/Ron (Sixpack), Alicia Spinnet/Angelina Johnson/Fred Weasley/George Weasley/Katie Bell/Lee Jordan/Oliver Wood (Quiddich OT7)

Tumblr Tag for Fandom: Harry Potter

Fandom Specific Likes: Everybody lives. The Room of Requirement being a romantic place. I didn’t request her, but I kind of love the idea of Katie’s friend Leanne dating Katie and one or more of her partners as well.

Fandom Specific DNW: Not exactly fandom specific but no incest. The siblings in these relationships are just dating the same people.

Optional Prompts by pairing:

- Sixpack: Helping each other recover from everything that happened to them after the end of series.

The six of them having some nice downtime when there’s nothing they need to be doing right that moment and just enjoying each other’s company.

Trying to work out parenting when there’s six parents.

- Quiddich OT7: I am so starved for content for this ship that I don’t even have interesting prompts, I just want content. But here are my thoughts:

Celebrating after a win.

Hanging out playing Exploding Snap or something. Studying together.

Feeling down after a loss and Fred and George decide to cheer up their partners by doing silly things and maybe the others joining in.

- Applies to either or both: Trying to visit the Burrow with all of their partners and things getting crowded.

-

Highway to Heaven:

Pairings Requested: Jonathan/Jane | Jennifer, Jonathan & Mandy

Fandom Specific Likes: Jonathan is an angel but sometimes he’s still painfully human. (E.G. Getting too emotionally involved with an assignment, his crisis of faith in We Have Forever, his reaction to Mark getting hurt in Going Home, Going Home.) I just really like that Jonathan isn’t perfect and makes mistakes and has strong emotions just like the rest of us.

Exception to no character death: I’m okay with it in relation to Jonathan and Jane, but I don’t want it to be the focus or the ending. I need to see them as angels afterwards if their deaths come up.

Fandom Specific DNW: Not a hugely important thing, but I would prefer Jonathan and Jennifer not sleep together (except literally) since he doesn’t know that she’s Jane.

Optional Prompts by pairing:

- Jonathan/Jane: I am down with basically any story for these two that you want to tell.

How they fell in love. Scenes from their marriage. Missing scenes between the two in Keep Smiling.

What it was like for Jane to become Jennifer and be given the first assignment of helping her husband regain his faith? A missing scene from their two months together.

Something where they meet again later, either between assignments, sharing an assignment, or being reunited in heaven when they’ve both earned their wings.

- Jonathan & Mandy: Arthur | Jonathan being a good father to Mandy. Reading to her, playing with her, singing to her, whatever you like. Just all around being a good dad.

What was going through Jonathan’s mind when the only opportunity he had to interact with his daughter in 40 years was by being as obnoxious and dislikable as he could?

What was going through Mandy’s head when she thought that her mother, who had never moved on from her father, was planning to marry a much younger drummer who would probably spend all her money? Does Mandy remember her dad at all? What sorts of stories has Jane told her about him?

-

I Dream of Jeannie:

Pairings Requested: Jeannie/Roger/Tony, Amanda Bellows & Jeannie

Tumblr tag for fandom: I Dream of Jeannie

Fandom Specific Likes: Roger and Jeannie both being bi, Tony being biromantic and demisexual. Amanda being the voice of reason. The Bellowses’ marriage being built more on steady love than passion.

Fandom Specific DNW: None.

Optional Prompts by pairing:

- Jeannie/Roger/Tony: I’ve pretty well written all of my ideas for this pairing myself, I just want content not written by me. Maybe some established relationship fluff.

Or something where Roger and Tony are together first and then Jeannie joins their relationship. Maybe Jeannie realizes that Tony and Roger have feeling for each other and decides to set them up, and then they fold her into their relationship after she succeeds.

- Amanda & Jeannie: I just really want to see more of Amanda being a mother figure to Jeannie. Amanda helping Jeannie pick out her wedding dress would be delightful.

If you wanted to write something more involved, I keep imagining something where after "Ride 'Em Astronaut," Amanda helps Jeannie take the organizers of the rodeo to court for trying to use her as a prize for the winner.

-

Magic School Bus:

Pairings Requested: Arnold & Carlos & Dorothy Ann & Keesha & Phoebe & Ralphie & Tim & Wanda, Ms. Frizzle/Mr. Seedplot

Tumblr tag for fandom: Magic School Bus

Fandom Specific Likes: Ms. Frizzle being open to dating many different people, not just Mr. Seedplot. The kids all being close friends and no matter how many arguments they have they always make up quickly. Appearances by Mikey.

Fandom Specific DNW: Romances between the kids. I don’t mind occasional references to crushes, but I don’t want shipping with them.

Optional Prompts by pairing:

- The Kids: How did they first become friends? Phoebe transferred in, but have the other seven always been classmates? Was it hard for Phoebe to fit in at first or did they all make her feel welcome? Did they used to have other classmates before Ms. Frizzle’s class? What do they like to do for fun when they’re not in school or doing science?

A favorite headcanon of mine is that after college, the eight of them chip in and buy a house to use as home base. And they all travel around researching in their respective fields, but sometimes they just stay right there and do science. I would love any sort of story set in that world.

- Ms. Frizzle/Mr. Seedplot: How did they first meet? What happens after Liz brings Ms. Frizzle the flowers and note? Do they go on a date? Do the class ship them?

-

Sesame Street:

Pairings Requested: Bob/Linda, Linda/Maria, Harriet/Mr. Hooper, Gordon/Susan, David/Luis/Maria, Bob/Susan/Gordon, Bob/David/Linda/Luis/Maria/Olivia

Tumblr Tag for Fandom: Sesame Street

Fandom Specific Likes: Mr. Hooper lives. The characters making sure to sign for Linda so that she knows what’s going on. Miles and Gabi being best friends. Bob and Maria being metamours and having a very sibling-like relationship. Mr. Hooper refusing to tell anyone what his orientation is. Big Bird basically being everyone’s child. Bob being in both of the above polyamorous relationships at the same time.

Fandom Specific DNW: Anything involving the death of Mr. Hooper. Making Linda hearing instead of Deaf.

Optional Prompts by pairing:

All of these pairings I’d be happy with anything you want to write but here are a few thoughts.

- Bob/Linda: If they had gotten married, what would their wedding look like?

What kind of dates do they go on?

According to episode summaries on The Muppet wiki, Bob writes songs for Linda and she teaches him American Sign Language. I would love to see either or both of those things.

- Linda/Maria: When Linda first arrives on Sesame Street, Maria is the person who’s the most fluent in ASL and that leads to her and Linda becoming friends quickly.

Linda learning some Spanish sign language so she and Maria can both speak Spanish.

- Harriet/Mr. Hooper: Based on reading the Muppet wiki, I got the feeling that David’s Grandma Harriet and Mr. Hooper are quietly dating and I would love to see more of that.

In season 11 Mr. Hooper and his friends Mr. Macintosh and Willy took Harriet to a dance. How did that go? Did they start dating after that?

- Gordon/Susan: I would dearly love some fic about how they met and fell in love.

Or a fic about how they decided that they were ready to be parents and that they wanted to adopt.

Maybe something with them geeking out together over science.

- David/Luis/Maria: The only logical solution to the Maria/David, Maria/Luis relationships. I actually shipped David/Luis before I shipped Maria/David, so I definitely view this as a full triad.

How do they get together? Are two of them together first and then the third joins them? Or do they become a triad all at once?

What do their dates as a triad look like? Do the three of them ever go dancing?

How do they decide to get married? To become parents? Does it matter which of Maria’s husbands is Gabi’s biological father or do they only know for medical history reasons?

- Bob/Susan/Gordon: Did they know each other before Sesame Street or did they meet there? When did they get together?

One thing I really like is the idea of them having gone to college together and getting up to hijinks. I would love to see some of that.

How involved is Bob in parenting Miles?

- Bob/David/Linda/Luis/Maria/Olivia: The ship of my heart. My personal perspective is that every part of this relationship is romantic except for Bob and Maria. Bob and Maria adore each other but their relationship with each other is platonic.

Do they ever manage to all share a bed comfortably or are there too many of them and someone ends up on the floor?

The six of them go out on date and are mistaken for being three couples so they try to see how obvious they can make it that it’s all six of them.

Is it ever hard to parent Gabi when there are six parents?

-

Star Trek: The Original Series:

Pairings Requested: Chekov/Sulu, Chekov/Sulu/Uhura, Scotty/Uhura, Chekov/Sulu/Scotty/Uhura

Tumblr Tag for Fandom: Star Trek TOS

Fandom Specific Likes: Raising a family on the Enterprise. Demora being from a surrogate mother rather than a one-night-stand. Annie Rand living. Scotty and Uhura having the kid from this art (I named him Mzuzi). Random future tech. Using the hollodeck/recreation deck for dates.

Fandom Specific DNW: Anything that involves people’s consciousness being separated from their body. Anything that could be considered possession.

Optional Prompts:

I don’t really have any specific prompts for any of these pairings. I would love to see anything with Chekov and Sulu raising Demora together. And I LOVE Uhura being showered with affection by her partners. I also really like seeing people learning each other’s first languages so they can talk to each other in them.

-

The West Wing:

Pairings Requested: Abby/Jed/Leo

Tumblr Tag for Fandom: The West Wing

Fandom Specific Likes: The three of them basically being parental figures to the senior staff. Mallory thinking of the Bartlett daughters as her sisters and vice-versa.

Fandom Specific DNW: Smoking. Health problems, canon or not.

Optional Prompts: I love fic where Leo finds excuses to spend the night in the residence (AKA Jed and Abby’s bed).

An AU like Triad Verse in which Jed is literally married to both Abby and Leo and its known by everyone.

Fic where Leo lives and the three of them just retire to the farm in New Hampshire together.

-

WordGirl:

Pairings Requested: Becky/Tobey/Scoops/Violet, Johnson/TJ

Tumblr Tag for Fandom: WordGirl

Fandom Specific Likes: Tobey realizing that he’s loved. Tobey’s robots being sweet.

Fandom Specific DNW: Angst. These are children so I’d prefer they not show affection with anything more than a handhold or maybe a kiss on the cheek, unless they’re aged up.

Optional Prompts: I’m happy with any kind of cute content for either of these pairings. I would especially like to see a get together.

I also read a fic once where Becky and TJ were allowed to invite their friends on a Botsford family trip to a cabin on a lake. Scoops and Violet couldn’t go in the fic, but I keep wondering what it would be like if they did and Becky was there with her mutual crushes and TJ was there with his.