Gun blogs and politics

I only regularly follow three kinds of blog: art blogs, book blogs, and gun blogs.  Once upon a time, I used to read a fair number of political blogs, but I don’t bother much anymore. My politics run towards pretty traditional hard-left anarchism, which puts me squarely in the minority; if I chose to do so, I could probably waste a lifetime arguing back and forth with both liberals and conservatives. But I burned out my tolerance for political flame wars a couple of years ago and I don’t argue politics online anymore, unless there’s some practical reason for doing so.

That said, most gun blogs are political, and their politics most assuredly ain’t mine.  They pretty universally come with a conservative/libertarian viewpoint. But, to be honest, I find more to agree with from them than from your average mainstream Obama-head. See, the crux of my political worldview is a deep, fundamental distrust of state power, and a wholehearted belief in the rights of the individual. And, though I do tend towards anarchism, I also happen to believe that a good seventy-five percent of all my quarrels with the world could be resolved if the US just abided by its own Constitution.

I’m just sick of the picking and choosing horseshit that seems so prevalent in what passes for political debate in this country. Libs like the First, hate the Second. Cons like the Second, hate the First. A pox on both their houses, as the saying goes. As far as their core mandates go, I’d be a happy supporter of both the ACLU and the NRA, if, y’know, I could stand being affiliated with either the left or the right.

I guess all I’m trying to say is that I like gun blogs and I’ve learned a lot from them. Yeah, I may not agree with a lot of the bloggers on a whole range of shit, but who cares? I don’t agree with anybody on everything. And, as far as the internet goes, I’d rather concentrate what I can learn from than enter into rounds of pointless debate about nothing.

So, here’s a few good ones, off the top of my head and in no particular order:

Hell in a Handbasket.  This one’s run by an Ohio self defense instructor by the name of James Rummel, who specializes in training the elderly and disabled.  His advice is always pragmatic and usually aimed at those of us who want to protect ourselves but don’t have the expendable income to buy Wilson Combat custom carry guns. Representative post: Rotate For Freshness

Xavier Thoughts.  He’s a Louisiana nurse with a gun who started blogging out of anger at the firearms confiscation programs attempted in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He’s particularly good on the 1911 platform which he unabashedly prefers over all others. Representative post: Choosing Your First 1911

Massad Ayoob on Guns.  Massad Ayoob is pretty much a legend, and his posts are as good as you’d expect: down to earth, knowledgeable, and practical.  Representative post: The Guns of Winter.

View From The Porch. This one’s run by a very snarky and very knowledgeable competitive shooter out of Indianapolis. For pure wit, this is my favorite, hands down. Representative post: Crazy, but just a little bit

War on Guns.  Penned by David Codrea who writes for Guns and Ammo, Handguns, and Guns. Absolutely priceless, especially for his “The Only Ones” series, where he provides a mass of evidence as to why government enforcers are “the only ones” trained and professional enough to carry firearms. Representative post: We’re The Only Ones . . .

Anyway, these are just a few of my favorites. I read a bunch more, and you’ll see me linking to them as I’m posting throughout this project. And, please, if anyone has recommendations, let me know.