Load a Traditional Muzzleloading Black Powder Rifle

1. Make sure the rifle is not primed! That means no cap on the nipple (percussion) or no priming powder in the pan (flintlock).
2. Make sure your rifle's bore is clean of fouling and oil. Run a few dry patches down the bore to wipe it clean of oil. (A small amount of fouling is acceptable when loading successive shots in the woods or at the range.) After patching it out, pop a few caps (percussion) or fire a few pans of powder (flintlock) to burn off any remaining oil.
3. Stand the rifle upright, with the muzzle up, keeping the muzzle pointed away from you and others at all times. Prop it in a safe place where it's stable and won't fall over, such as in the corner of a shooting bench.
4. Set your powder measure for the desired powder charge and pour the powder into the measure. Be sure to measure each charge consistently.
5. Pour the powder from the measure (never directly from a horn or flask) into the muzzle of the rifle. Tap the rifle's butt against the ground or rap the heel of your hand against the barrel, to help settle the powder.
6. To load a patched round ball, place a lubricated cloth patch onto the end of the barrel, centered. Try to keep the patch centered, and some folks say you should even keep the weave of the cloth going the same direction each time. Center the round ball on the patch, and if your ball has a sprue mark, it should be centered and facing upward.
7. To load a Maxi-ball or other conical bullet, first make sure you have lubricated it to the bullet manufacturer's specifications. Be sure the base of the bullet is clean and dry. Place the bullet on the muzzle and start it by hand, as much as the bullet will allow.
8. Start the bullet using your bullet starter. If possible, use a flat portion to push the projectile down flush with the bore, then push it slightly into the bore using the short portion of your starter. Next, if you have a longer section on your starter, push the bullet into the bore as far as your starter will allow. Be careful not to pinch any portion of your hand between the starter and the muzzle! It hurts - a lot.
9. Using your ramrod, ram the projectile down the bore until it contacts the powder charge. Seat it firmly but don't pound on it. Seat each bullet with as close to the same pressure as you can manage. You may want to mark your ramrod and use the mark to ensure that each load is seated to the same depth. Do not fire a muzzleloader unless the projectile is seated firmly against the powder charge!
10. It is recommended that if you have any doubt about your bullet's tight fit in the bore, you now turn over the loaded but unprimed rifle and tap the muzzle - hard - a few times on a block of wood. Then insert the ramrod and check with your reference mark (see step 9) to see if the bullet has moved. If it has not, you have a good tight load.
11. Prime your rifle. For percussion models, cock the hammer and place a properly-sized percussion cap onto the nipple. Carefully hold the hammer back with your thumb and pull the trigger, and gently lower the hammer until it almost touches the cap. Then release the trigger while still holding the hammer, and pull the hammer back until it clicks one time. This should place your gun at half-cock (safety position). For flintlocks, see below.
12. For flintlocks, open the frizzen and pour a small amount of FFFFg powder into the pan - usually enough powder to fill the depression in the pan. Follow the directions above for placing your rifle at half-cock, making sure you don't allow the flint to create any sparks.
13. To ready it for firing, fully cock the hammer (keeping your fingers away from the trigger) until it clicks into the full-cock (all the way back) position. The rifle is now ready to fire. Your rifle should not be cocked until it is pointed downrange at a target with a safe backstop, unless you're hunting. In that case, don't cock it until you need it (i.e. when your game is there in front of you).

Rendell unsure about expanding castle doctrine

Section 21 of the continuation's Declaration of Rights states: "The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned."

Rendell told reporters last week he's unsure about expanding the so-called castle doctrine, allowing lethal force in self-defense in places other than one's home.

"I support the castle doctrine. I support the right to use deadly force on an intruder in a person's home. I think that's in a totally different category. What this would do is expand the castle doctrine to outside the home, to a city street, for example, and eliminate the principle of law that we've had since English common law: the duty to retreat."

Why should Pennsylvanians outside their homes have to attempt to run away from someone threatening to kill, seriously injure, kidnap or rape them?

Certainly victims can try to retreat, but that's not always a viable option.

Law-abiding residents shouldn't be forced to become victims of violent criminals just because the governor doesn't believe they should be able to use a weapon to defend themselves outside their homes.

The governor's logic also seems to fly in the face of the Pennsylvania Constitution.

But under current law and the governor's reasoning, the right to bear arms to defend oneself is being questioned.

Even under the bill overwhelmingly approved by the Senate and House, there are limits to when lethal force can be used to protect from abuse. But it would extend that same protection one has inside his home to defend himself to his yard, patio, garage, vehicle or other place where he is lawfully present.

The legislation also provides people who use lethal force legally in self-defense from being sued civilly by the attackers.

Another important part of House Bill 1926 is closing a loophole in the state's Megan's Law on the registration of sex offenders.

The measure will require sex offenders who are homeless and those who move here from another state to notify police of their presence. The need for such provisions is evident after a sex offender moved from Florida to Johnstown and refused to register with police.

As Rep. Bryan Barbin, D-Johnstown, was quoted by Capitolwire as saying, "If someone tells me that it's not important tonight to deal with the sex-offender problem that we have in this state because out-of-state offenders have found out about the loophole, then tell that to the people on Horner Street."

Expanding the ability of Pennsylvanians to defend themselves against violent criminals and to make sure sex offenders don't use a loophole to avoid registering with police are important aspects of public safety.

Chicago City Council fails to protect Citizens from gangs:

Orders citizens to lock up guns.

On Monday, June 28, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment Constitutional "right to keep and bear arms" applies equally to the federal, state and local governments. The justices gave a narrow 5-4 vote that included five conservative justices in favor of gun rights, and four liberal justices opposed.

Friday, July 3,the Chicago city council approved a gun ordinance to remove a 28-year-old handgun ban; the 45-0 vote was made just days after the US Supreme Court ruled that the ban was unconstitutional. 

The new ordinance would allow one firearm per household, and the owner would be required to have a state permit; any other guns in a household are required to have a gun lock or be locked up. Weapons will also need to be registered with the Chicago police department. Each owner will be required to take a four hour classroom training, and one hour of firing range training. 

Mayor Daley said, "Either we enact new and reasonable handgun laws in Chicago to protect our residents -- as the council has done -- or we do nothing and risk greater gun violence in our streets and in our homes."

Chicago gangs shot at least 52 people were shot over the weekend in Chicago following the City Council's and Mayor Daly's "efforts to protect our residents." Seven of the people died. Police blame gangs for most of the widespread incidents.  Another bulk of violence occurred late Sunday into early Monday morning--when at least 18 people were shot.

The Second Amendment Under Attack

In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court indicated that a limited number of gun control restrictions are permissible under the Second Amendment -- provisions such as "prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms." In McDonald v. Chicago (2010), the Court said that its Heller ruling applied not just to Congress and federal enclaves, such as Washington, D.C., but nationwide as well.

Nevertheless, earlier this year, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and his police commissioner, Ray Kelly, proposed new regulations designed to give the NYPD the power to deny a firearm license to anyone, for reasons that most Americans would consider not nearly serious enough to warrant the suppression of a fundamental individual right.

These reasons -- grouped under the heading "lack of good moral character or other good cause" -- include an applicant's "poor driving history," termination from employment due to "lack of good judgment or lack of good moral character," failure to pay debts, or having ever been arrested for anything more serious than a traffic offense, even if no charges had been filed, charges had been dropped, or the applicant had been found not guilty in court. For individuals whose license applications cannot be denied for those reasons, the proposal would also allow the police to deny a license to anyone about whom "information demonstrates an unwillingness to abide by the law [or] a lack of candor toward lawful authorities," or when there is "other good cause."

Insulting the intelligence of anyone who can read the proposal, the mayor and commissioner announced it in a press release which focused on how their plan would streamline the gun license application process and reduce license fees -- all of which will be meaningless to people whose license applications will be denied. Only in the next to last paragraph did the release note that "NYPD will add to its regulations to offer more detailed examples of eligibility standards for a permit," without giving examples of what those "examples" might be.

With the public comment period on the proposed regulations having ended in mid-September, and city bureaucrats working out the new regulations' final language, on October 19th Bloomberg appeared on CNN's "American Morning" program, saying that it is the NRA that is "totally unreasonable."