I don't know how you celebrated Juneteenth or even Kwanza, but here at the Compound it just seemed right to clean a couple of shotguns which had cleverly swum back from their watery grave in the mighty Brazos.
And what filthy beasts they were! You see, it's all very well to have guns but if you don't clean them they don't work, they jam, seize up and fail. Just the other day I watched a friend unleash his Remington 870 on a clay. Boom, smoked it, and then what?
Nothing, the gun failed to extract, and all because the chamber hadn't been cleaned in a years worth of Sundays. Net result? Shell stuck in chamber, gun useless except as Zulu style club. And we all know spear chuckers can be deadly but properly functioning firearms deadlier still, so set about those guns with Juneteenth fervor. Let's see 'em shine, inside and out.
And shine they did. Excited, I texted a friend in England who had been in the Army (TA) and he asked if it brought back memories. It did, of course. Weapons cleaning, running, endless shaving and ironing, a Sergeant directing our parade attention to a "Colour" ambling largely along the edge of the Square, "Look at that, boys. Too fat to F***ing fight. Get OFF MY SQUARE. YOU'RE F***ING TILTING IT."
"That story," remarked my pal, "has stuck with me, indelibly." And same here, but of course I was there, back in the mists of time. Text convo over, Eduardo tipped up on the porch, he runs a chicken operation behind the Compound and has bad English, "Mi Padre, favor?" he asked, eyeing gleaming shotguns. "Car no good, drive to liquor store?"
Off we went, and he bought a case of beer for Fathers Day. Well done that man. And with that, all three of you gentle readers, all was well with the world on this great, awesome, holy and wonderful holiday that is... Juneteenth. Gun rights.
Your Pal,
LSP
Reminds me, I need to drag the home defense shotty out from behind the door and clean it...
ReplyDeleteNormally I would expect you to eat fried chicken and watermelon in honor of the day in addition to shooting snipe or whatever.
ReplyDeleteJune what? From over at Proof Positive--
ReplyDelete"Juneteenth is the perfect Democrat holiday. Out of ignorance, freed slaves were kept slaves and celebrate the day they discovered the deception."
I did not clean guns today. I got them dirty. My youngest son works tomorrow, so called me today around noon from work. "I get off at 2:00. How about a trip to the range after?". Bully! So off we went to Shoot Point Blank just down the road. Shot my Ruger 22 Mk 1 pistol, Cimarron Model P in 44-40 (my handloads) and my Springfield Armory Range Officer 1911A1.
I was most keen to go as this was my first range trip since my cataract surgery/lens replacement in early April. Shooting the 1911A1, one hand (I shot bullseye competition for years) 10 rounds 230 gr ball, at 10 yards, all 10 rounds inside a 2-inch square post-it note. Without prescription glasses for the first time since my teens. Hooah.
Then my son took me to a new to me place--
https://jrbentleys.com/
--where I had a half pound Angus burger and fries washed down with Deep Elum Dallas Blonde--
https://deepellumbrewing.com/beer/dallas-blonde/
One of the best burgers I've since we've been here.
It was a good day.
NFO, let we forget... seriously, there's this myth that shotguns are somehow self-cleaning and always work. Not the case. My "door gun," a Mossberg pump, had a serious FTW (failure to work) the other month. Go figure, I hadn't bothered to clean it in, ahem, far too long. It works now.
ReplyDeleteYes, LL. I failed to mention the delicious fried chicken and refreshing melon, but don't worry, it featured. Yum.
ReplyDeleteHappy Juneteenth.
What a great day, RHT.
ReplyDeleteAnd glad the surgery went well. 2"? Nice, good shooting.
Bentley's! Haven't been there in ages, my dad always liked it, btw.
As a native Houstonian. I have to point out that Juneteenth has been a thing here for decades. Mostly Blues music festivals. I even drug my old Dobro across the street to the park and played. After an hour I'd collected 85 cents in tips, and 2 citations for smoking cigarettes and drinkin' likker.
ReplyDeleteNice one, JC.
DeleteHappy Juneteenth folks, it’s the day when Blacks in Texas learned that they were free, June 19, 1865 in Galveston.
ReplyDeleteBut what does today mean?
It’s the day when Blacks found out that the first Republican President had signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing them from the physical bondage of the Democrat Party. It was two years later, on July 4th 1867, that 150 of those same Black men met in Houston and established the Republican Party of Texas. The Democrats, in response, established the Ku Klux Klan.
Today, the Democrats are economically enslaving Blacks and have turned inner city communities into modern plantations of welfare and economic dependence.
Juneteenth is a celebration of why the Republican Party was established in 1854, the abolition of slavery. Only a flaming incompetent, delusional, walking Vegetable, and a WORLD KNOWN IDIOT would give the party of the Jack Asses any credit for Juneteenth .
Well said, AR!
DeleteMighty handsome shotgun. You might even tempt the fantastic Adrienne with that one sir.
ReplyDeleteJuneteenth? It fits don't it. Bad English combined with yet another day to honor those who on occasion, fail to honor themselves. I look forward to when every single day of the year glorifies something about black people. It's only fair.
As the comedian Bill Burr points out, the blacks have February as their month, a lousy 28 days in winter, while the homos have June, 30 days in summer. It just don't seem right. What can be done about this ?
It shoots like a champ, Kid. Then there's Juneteenth. We will not rest till every town across the land is renamed after George Floyd, America's Angel.
DeleteIn celebration of the day, as well as being stuck in Arkansas over the weekend, I shot a little club rifle match in Hot Springs and had a pretty good time.
ReplyDeleteAdoption as a federal holiday, while quite cute and fluffy, amounts to cultural appropriation of a Texas national holiday, to which I object most strongly. Anyway, why not celebrate the date of the Emancipation Proclamation itself, or the ratification of the 13th Amendment on December 6th, 1865 which freed ALL the slaves, not just those in areas of rebellion as the E.P. most hypocritically accomplished, or perhaps failed to do.......
Maybe I should just shut up before somebody decides to make a federal holiday out of all three of them?????
Congrats on the match, WWW. But now look what you've done, TWO MORE federal holidays!
DeleteWe need a national George Floyd day too, obvs.
Before the Lightbringer's Administration, who had ever heard of Juneteenth?
ReplyDeleteI certainly hadn't, WSF.
DeleteAh Juneteenth. The day blacks found out that white Republicans had freed them. Well, we can't have that fact being spread around now can we? Might upset the narrative.
ReplyDeleteGetting close to peak absurdity, Infidel.
DeleteI agree with the reader that said that we should be celebrating the OFFICIAL Day of Emancipation Proclamation that was signed by the first GOP President and one of our GREAT Presidents, Abraham Lincoln! As well, the 13th, 14th & 15th Amendments made it official in the US Constitution, one of our founding documents!! I had heard of Juneteenth years ago; but if memory serves (and it's a bit rusty these days!), the word itself was coined by an uneducated black person who somehow couldn't spit out the entire phrase, "June Nineteenth; so it became "Juneteenth!" No problem with that, but, IMHO, that's a rather dubious thing to be celebrating (or, at least a way to NAME that celebration!).
ReplyDeleteI agree, Joy.
DeleteA comment on my blog:
ReplyDeleteJune 17 is the REAL Juneteenth. Know that one? "Twas June upon the 17th day" 1775, Breed's Hill, Boston.
"Tis thought they lost 5 to our one. Although our men were forced to run, they bought the victory so dear it did not much increase our fear."
Good call, Ed.
DeleteKid: " It just don't seem right. What can be done about this ?"
ReplyDeleteThey took one away from the "gays" and gave it to the BLM.
Yes, Ed. And the unicorn stamps its hooves.
Delete