13 Hours, 45 Minutes, Redux

After an enjoyable evening in good company, I retired at about 11:00PM last night so I could get a reasonably early start this morning well-rested.

So much for that plan! About 2:45AM the ringing of my hotel phone woke me, but when I finally got the receiver to my ear, there was only a dial tone. I tried to go back to sleep, but just a few minutes later came a knock on my door. Maj. Zeigenfuss was in need of his backpack, which had disappeared from the unlocked Hospitality room, and since I was the only attendee he knew both the first and last names of, I was obviously the place to start! It only took a few minutes (and waking a few more people) before the backpack was found, but the interruption meant that the alarm clock was NOT a welcome sound this morning!

I hit the road at 8:30AM, and walked in the door of Casa Minority at 10:20PM after three refueling stops, one stop at McD’s for a breakfast sandwich in Carson City, and a stop at a Rite-Aid for some aspirin at one wide spot in the road or another. I had fun! Worth every minute, and I’m looking forward already to GBR-V!

Thankfully, I took tomorrow off too, so I have a day to recover.

And the Winners Are . . .

The $2,000 Front Sight training certificate: Scott Warren of Mississippi

The Para GI Expert: Sean Brzozowzski of Minnesota

Congratulations! Emails outbound!

(And Robb Alan Allen [sorry Robb – I was damned tired last night] and Thirdpower should be kicking themselves for not attending. There was another Para being given away.)

Ron. . . Ran. . . Run. . . Gathering

Apparently more than a few people have a hard time with the word “Rendezvous” (damned Froggies):


That’s the sign the hotel put up outside our hospitality room.

We thought we’d struck gold Friday night when we found out who had the rooms just two doors down:


“NorCal Lefties!” We can walk next door, introduce ourselves and our very presence will make them cry!

But no, it was deceptive advertising. They were all left-handed, not politically Leftist.

Here we are Friday morning heading out to breakfast before the range session:


And I’d like to introduce you to the winner of the “traveled the farthest to get to GBR” award, reader and commenter Phil R., who came all the way from London.

Yes, the one in England:


He’s studying for a PhD in Linguistics at Oxford, and until yesterday had never shot a handgun.

We fixed that.

Here are some of the guns we brought to the funshoot this year:


Mr. C’s race guns.


The obligatory EBRs

Some Boomershoot long-range pistols.


SayUncle’s 6.8SPC AR. He sells those, you know.


The Byrne and O’Connor Spring ’09 Handgun Collection
And there was some Old School stuff as well that I’ll post when I get some more time, plus some videos that don’t want to upload for some reason.

Here’s a shot down the firing line at the end we occupied:


Good turnout!

The raffle dinner is later this evening, and I’ll try to liveblog it. I’ll also try to get more photos, including some of Alan Gura, who is much younger than I imagined.

I’ll post about this again, but last night SayUncle asked a question about donating toward the legal fight for our rights, mentioning that he’d received emails from people saying they’d tried to donate during the Parker/Heller litigation and had been refused. Alan said that there had been a deliberate decision to take that case all the way without outside aid of any kind, which is why offers of assistance had been politely but firmly declined. However, all the current litigation, such as the Chicago incorporation suit and many others, are being paid for by the Second Amendment Foundation and CalGuns. If you want to help now, that’s where your money needs to go. I’ve been receiving solicitations from SAF for a while, but i did not know that they were the financiers of these efforts. They’ll be receiving donations from me in the future, and I hope from you as well.

It’s almost 4:00PM as I write this, so it’s time to head downstairs for dinner and the raffle. More blogging later, I hope.

Quote of the Day

I still don’t know what “the shoulder thing that goes up” is. – Alan Gura

Still too busy to blog. It’s closing in on Midnight, and I have to get up at 7AM. Alan Gura gave about a 45 minute talk tonight beginning about 8:30, and then started taking questions. He may still be at it.

I’m glad he’s on our side. I have a lot more to say, but I have no idea when I’ll ba able to do it. Maybe Monday, from the looks of things.

Good night.

Too Busy to Blog

It looks like about half of us have arrived, and I’m already meeting new people, like Cap’n Bob and the Damsel, the crew from Reasonablenut, D.W. Drang of The Clue Meter, and the guy who runs the official Cheaper Than Dirt blog – imagine that, getting paid to blog.

Today the early arrivals took a guided tour of Scheels in Sparks. It opened about this time last year. Essentially it has everything that Cabela’s had in our tour last year, plus two HUGE aquariums – one freshwater, one salt, and a 60′ Ferris Wheel in the middle of the store. Cabela’s would fit inside this place with room to spare.

And they had AMMO! AND powder! (But no primers.) Pretty impressive place. Reno must be an outdoor recreation mecca to support both a Cabela’s and Scheels.

About 16 of us went to dinner more-or-less together at the Buffet in the El Dorado casino. They tried to seat us close together, but there was a limit on what they could accomplish. Afterward we retired to the hospitality room and joined up with those who had gone gambling and the new arrivals. I’ll try to get photos posted tomorrow, but it’ll be late, since we’ll be at the range most of the day.

It’s 10:30 as I write this, so I’m going to call it a night.

In Honor of My Drive Through the PRC

A repeat of last year’s post:

Do you know what happened this week back in 1850, 159 years ago?

California became a state!

The State had no electricity.

The State had no money.

Almost everyone spoke Spanish.

There were gunfights in the streets.

So basically, it was just like it is today, except the women had real breasts and the men didn’t hold hands.

I think maybe I ought to drive home through Nevada.