Reno Automobile museum

While we were in Reno ,we decided to go have a look at thew Reno Automobile museum. Bill Harrah used to have a huge automobile museum in Reno, but when it was going to be sold off, a non-profit group formed to save as much of the collection as possible and keep it in Reno. They've done an admirable job.

This trike was on display in the lobby.

The workmanship on absolutely everything was amazing. I'm sure that some of the cars were actually "Over Restored" and were in far better condition than when they were new.

Big Daddy Roth's original Beatnik Bandit.

Engines don't get much better looking than that!

This engine was probably done by one of Big Daddy's great great grandfathers!

Here's a Renault in beautiful condition.

There were rows and rows of immaculately restored cars, bikes, off road vehicles, racers, salt flats machines, go carts, and more. I could have wandered around in there for an entire day.

A Gas Station on wheels.

There were more antique cars than you could even imagine. Some of them were even prototypes, and were the only one ever built.

The displays boggled the mind.

One of the babes we met sitting in the antique car.

JimmyB and I chatted up a couple of cuties while we were there. You could put on authentic coats and hats, climb into one of the cars there, and take pictures.

Mrs. JimmyB. smiles for the camera.

If you are ever in Reno and have a little time, be sure to go check out this automobile museum. You won't regret it!!

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Report - Part Three

Here's some more pictures from Range Day at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno:

KeeWee tries out a 9mm. AR. with Uncle supervising.

"Hey Chris! Where should I aim this 45 Long Colt revolver to hit that 1,000 yard target?" Chris Byrne, the Anarchangel.

KeeWee tries out Mel Byrne's mini-sized 1911 based .380 with Mel instructing.

Joe Huffman's shirt - Joe is the Boomershoot guy!

Chuck Ziegenfuss gives KeeWee some instruction.


Rob from The Kitchen and his rimfire lever gun.

"Dang! Is this this empty again...........?"
JimmyB, The Conservative UAW Guy.

KeeWee finds that the Thompson is fun, too!
That's Fodder from Ride Fast - Shoot Straight spotting.

All good things must eventually come to an end, and after a long day of sending lead down range we packed the toys and headed back to town.

Once we had returned to the Circus Circus, we cleaned up a bit, grabbed some clean clothes, and headed to the Mandalay Banquet room for our Rendezvous dinner.

I was busy at the banquet being the M/C and keeping everything sort of under control, so I didn't have much time for taking pictures, but KeeWee and some of the other attendees did. For a report on the banquet, check out KeeWee's post here.

The Rendezvous was an incredible amount of fun, lots of food, great conversations, and some of the most interesting people you could ever want to meet. It's time right now to make up your mind that next year you are going to be there too. Don't get stuck in the "maybe I will......" mode and end up waiting too long and missing the Rendezvous. The Rendezvous is unlike any other event in the world, and if you enjoy shooting sports and our freedom to shoot as much as we do, you really should consider attending. Unless of course, if as JimmyB says "You suck!" then don't bother, but if you are reading this it's highly unlikely that you do, so start planning now to join us next October in Reno!

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Report - Part Two

From all the pictures both here and on other blogs, it would seem that all we did was eat for three days, but that isn't exactly the case. I think I am safe in saying, however, that no one actually LOST weight in Reno! Actually the meals were one of the highlights of the Rendezvous, not for the food, which I enjoyed, but for the conversations underway throughout the meals.

All you can eat - YUMM.......

After lunch on Friday we gathered in the Hospitality room for an informal meeting with Glen Caroline and Ashley Varner from the NRA. We all enjoyed a spirited discussion on ways to best help shooters, 2nd. Amendment rights, and gun rights to continue making positive movements. We talked about the role of the NRA and the differences between the perceptions of the NRA and the realities, and ways to improve the perceptions.

Glen, in the green shirt, and Chris Byrne, discuss perception versus realities of the NRA. Ashley (the second best looking blond lady there) is on the right.

The NRA session was well received, and I think it was a major step in establishing communication and understanding between the NRA and the Gun Bloggers. Hopefully Glen and Ashley will be able to attend the Gun Blogger Rendezvous next year.

Larry Weeks from Brownell's.

Following the NRA session, we went directly into show and tell. Here's a few pictures from show and tell:

Uncle shows off the newly developed stealth M-16. If it weren't for the attached Ko-Tonics 6.8SPC upper you wouldn't even know the rest of it was there.....

Kevin from The Smallest Minority showed of a nifty conversion for a 1911 where you can have it cocked, and still have the hammer down. Uncle showed off the Ko-Tonics 6.8SPC upper for the AR15.

Dirtcrashr from Anthroblogogy showed an antique (but good shooting) 30-40 Krag and a really neat antique .22 caliber top break single shot Colt Olympic pistol.

Dirtcrashr and his 30-40 Krag.

US Citizen from Traction Control showed the .50 caliber AR15 conversion and some other cool accessories for the AR's. Chris Byrne, the Anarchangel showed a number of neato handguns. In short, there was a ton of cool stuff at show and tell, and I'm still probably forgetting some of them! If I failed to mention your stuff, it's because of brain-fade on my part!

Friday night was serious "Hospitality Room" time, and the stories went on well past midnight. I can't really do justice to the night, words fail me. You just had to be there......

Saturday morning, after another big breakfast, we gathered up all the toys and headed out to the range for a day of brass emptying. I got to shoot lots and lots of really nifty stuff!

Larry from Brownell's sends a little lead down range.

Chuck with his M1-A.

US Citizen with his AR, capable of shooting either lead bullets or photon torpedoes.

We all spent the better part of the day shooting all sorts of stuff, and I've got a lot more range pictures still to post. I'll get those posted in Part Three....

......end of Part Two

GBR-II Report Part One

Everyone else who attended the Gun Blogger Rendezvous is way ahead of me as far as getting posts and pictures from the Rendezvous up on their blogs. None the less, better late than never.

This post will be short, as it's past 11pm., and I've got a pin shoot tomorrow at CWSA, so I am going to try to get a little sleep tonight.

On downwind for Reno's airport.

Reno sits down in sort of a big hole, surrounded by either big foothills, or small mountains, depending on where you're from.

Some of the gang piggin' out at breakfast.

In addition to all the other stuff going on, we also did a whole lot of eating. Breakfast buffet, all you can eat, unlimited bacon, everything from biscuits and gravy to cakes and pastries. I wanted to eat some of everything, and tried really hard to do so!

Some of the cakes and pastries.

We all enjoyed sharing several meals together, and the combination of the food and the conversation made meals one of the highlights of the Rendezvous.

End of Part One (I need sleep.....)

NRA and the Rendezvous

I just received this email from Ashley Varner, who, along with Glen Caroline, also from the NRA, met with the Gun Bloggers in Reno last Friday afternoon at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous:

I just wanted to thank you again for scheduling the happy hour meeting and being such a gracious host with introductions and beverages and allowing some time during your GBR for us to chat and get to know one another. Glen and I really enjoyed the happy hour with you folks, and we hope you feel the same way.

Just as the GBR gives you fellow bloggers a fantastic opportunity to meet and interact in person and make the community feel a bit smaller, it can hopefully have a similar impact on forming a relationship between NRA and the gun blogging community. Personally, I've enjoyed reading the blogs this week after having had personal interaction with of each of you. A small change, perhaps -- but a good development, certainly.

Thank you again for your hospitality and your time. We appreciate it and look forward to continuing the dialogue with you and the rest of the gun blogging community!

Take care and have a great weekend,
Ashley

Ashley N. Varner
National Rifle Association
Institute for Legislative Action
Public Affairs

Back From Reno

KeeWee and I have now returned from the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno, and in a word, we're exhausted! We had a fantastic time, stayed up way too late BS'ing with the other folks, got up way too early, ate way too much, and now we're paying for it. At the range I shot more cool guns in one day than you could shake a stick at. KeeWee even shot Chuck's M1 Garrand. For those of you that don't know, KeeWee is of a "smallish" stature, and the Garrand is a 30-06! WOW!

A number of the other Rondy attendees are getting up a lot of good posts with lots of pictures, so here's a short list of posts to check out about the Rendezvous:

Kevin at The Smallest Minority:
http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2007/10/gbr-ii.html

JimmyB The Conservative UAW Guy:
http://theconservativeuawguy.blogspot.com/2007/10/and-good-time-was-had-by-all.html

Dirtcrashr at Anthroblogogy:
http://anthroblogogy.blogspot.com/2007/10/gunblogger-rendezvous.html

US Citizen at Traction Control:
http://tractioncontrol.well-regulatedmilitia.org/?p=682
http://tractioncontrol.well-regulatedmilitia.org/?p=683

Fodder at Ride Fast - Shoot Straight:
http://ridenshoot.blogspot.com/2007/10/gunbloggers-at-range.html

KeeWee at KeeWee's Corner:
http://keeweescorner.blogspot.com/2007/10/reno-day-four.html

Sebastian at Snowflakes in Hell:
http://www.snowflakesinhell.com/?p=1700

Chuck Ziegenfuss at From My Position - On The Way....
http://tcoverride.blogspot.com/2007/10/pretty-good-time-after-all.html

There are some other attendees planning Rondy posts and pictures, and I'll try to add them to the list as I come across them.

Oh yeah, I need to put some posts together, too............

Short Update

We've been so busy here at the Rendezvous that I haven't had time to do any posting, but US Citizen has some range pictures posted from yesterday's range day.

Gun Blogger Range Day Pictures

There will be lots of reports and pictures posted all this following week.

More later, but we're off to go see the car museum and the river front park for now.......

Gun Blogger Rondy - We've Arrived in Reno!

So far everything has gone smoothly, the shuttle to the airport was on time, the flight left on time, and it even arrived on time. It was cloudy all the way, so only got a couple of pictures from the airplane, coming in to Reno. The wireless internet signal is much improved this year over last.

Everyone else should be arriving over the next several hours......

Stay Tuned!

Last Post Before The Reno Rendezvous

I've got the bags packed, (thanks to KeeWee's help) and there's going to be a lot of very nice door prizes at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous dinner on Saturday night. Uncle will be bringing along that Ko-Tonics 6.8SPC upper for us to shoot on Saturday out at the range, and at the banquet the upper will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. These uppers normally go for about $700 bucks, and the minimum bid will be $400. ANYTHING over $400 will go to project Valour-IT, so here's a chance to pick up a 6.8 SPC upper, save some money, and help out a very worthy cause, all at the same time!

See you in Reno!

Nevada Changes CCW Laws For Gun Blogger Rendezvous!

Well, no, not really, but they DID add reciprocity with eight other states. It sure did come at a convenient time, though, and it's a big step in the right direction I'd say. Actually, here's the straight story, taken verbatim from the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Beginning Oct. 1, the state of Nevada will recognize permits from eight other states that allow people to carry concealed weapons, the Nevada Department of Public Safety announced.

Those states are Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Tennessee and Utah.

The 2007 Nevada Legislature passed a law that allowed concealed carry permits from other states to be used in Nevada. The Department of Public Safety, with the help of the Nevada Sheriffs and Chiefs Association, reviewed the laws from other states. It found 16 other states that had an electronic database accessible 24 hours a day that identifies valid permit holders. Of those 16, only eight had concealed carry permit laws that were as stringent or more stringent than Nevada, the Department of Public Safety said.

It will review the list of approved states every year, the Department of Public Safety said.

Here's the same article on the Reno Gazette-Journal's own website, if you'd like to read the original.

I don't see Washington on the list, but maybe one of these days......


Thanks, Rob, for the heads-up on this!

Gun Blogger Rendezvous + NRA = COOL!

We've got some great news about the upcoming Gun Blogger Rendezvous!

Thanks to the efforts of Sebastian at Snowflakes in Hell, we will be having a very special "NRA Happy Hour" event at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, and best of all, Glen Caroline, the Director of NRA Grassroots Division and Ashley Varner, of the NRA-ILA Public Affairs Division, will be there "showing the flag" for the NRA. This will be a fantastic opportunity for the gun bloggers to meet and share ideas with the folks from the NRA in a small and informal setting.

For you folks planning to attend, give some thought to what questions you would ask, and what suggestions you might have to help the NRA be even more effective. We’re very pleased to have them come by and spend some time with us!

If you were thinking about attending, IT'S STILL NOT TOO LATE to get in on the fun. Contact the Circus Circus Hotel IMMEDIATELY and you may still be able to get in on the group discounted room rates. (If not, the rooms are still very reasonably priced.)

To book your accommodations, telephone Circus Circus reservations at 1-800-648-5010 and give them the group code of

IGUN07

You also need to register for the Rendezvous. The registration form is HERE in a PDF file. Download the Registration form, print 'er out, write out a check, and mail it in! Since any profit from the Rendezvous will be going to Project Valour-IT, there is also a place on the registration form where you can make a donation to them, along with your registration.

You don't have to be a gun blogger, or even a blogger to attend. If you read the gun and military blogs, are interested in the content found on those blogs, and you would like to meet some of those bloggers in person, you too are welcome to attend!

Time is running out, so get your reservations and registration in today!

We'll see you in Reno!

Rendezvous Event Schedule

Here's the basic schedule of events for the upcoming Rendezvous:

Thursday: A number of bloggers will be arriving during the day on Thursday. Some of the attendees will be having dinner together at one of the local restaurants.

Thursday evening the hospitality room will be open from approx. 6pm. until whenever.

Friday: Everyone not already in town arrives sometime on Friday. Friday morning groups of bloggers will head out for breakfast together.

After breakfast Friday morning is open for sight-seeing, hitting the liquor store, buying munchies, gambling, whatever anyone wants to do.

2pm. through approx 4pm. is tentatively set for conference/meeting with some NRA folks (if we can get it arranged) in the Hospitality room.

After the session various groups of bloggers will probably get together and head out for dinner.

At 6pm will be the Show & Tell/soapbox/discussion session until maybe 7:30? Whenever it winds down, then social hour begins in earnest, and will probably go into the wee small hours for the hard core among us!

Saturday: Saturday morning we will probably get breakfast together, then car pool it out to the range, about 20 miles out of town. Range time from approx. 10am. through approximately 3pm. Then back to town to get ready for the banquet.

Attendees not interested in going out to the range will probably go shopping, gambling, sight-seeing, and just generally taking it easy!

The Banquet, fun raiser raffle, and drawing for door prizes will be at 6pm in one of the Mandalay Banquet rooms. After dinner we will head back to the hospitality room for more socializing, until whenever.

Sunday: Sunday morning some will meet again for breakfast, and start heading home.

Some folks are staying Sunday night, so there may be some other activities on Sunday, including a possible range trip, or whatever they feel like doing.

There will be lots to do, and yet plenty of flexibility for activities not on the schedule. There will be something for everyone, and if it's like last year, it's over WAY too quickly

Looking forward to seeing you there!

GBR-II News Update

Photo Credit To Fodder at Ride Fast - Shoot Straight

Things are cookin' right along on the Gun Blogger Rendezvous front. Someone left a comment that they were buying a couple of hundred dollars worth of Boomershoot items to bring to the Rendezvous as prizes. Although they left the comment anonymously, since Joe Huffman, the brains and brawn behind the Boomershoot Festival will be coming to the Rendezvous, I suspect Joe had something to do with it. It's looking like there will be a lot of really neat prizes, and some great items, including the Hi-Point pistol, in the fund raiser raffle at the banquet.

The Show & Tell session on Friday night is going to be expanded a bit to include a "Soap Box" session where anyone there can have the floor to discuss anything they feel relevant to our interests. Just like the Hyde Park Soap Box Sessions in London, though ,we reserve the right to agree, disagree, join in, and/or heckle, as we like! All in good fun, of course!

One of our blogger attendees (who will remain unnamed for the time being), is trying to arrange for a major rep. from a "Really Big Shooting Association" (also unnamed for the time being) to attend at least part of the Rendezvous, to speak to us, listen to us, and answer our questions. If, and that's still a big "IF", this comes together, we will set up a special session for this, most likely after lunch on Friday.

Keep your fingers crossed on this, as this could prove to be a highlight of the Rendezvous.

If you haven't got your reservations and registration in for the Rendezvous, there is still time, but not much! The hotel is doing their best to hold it open for us for the special rates, so CALL THEM TODAY AND MAKE YOUR ROOM RESERVATIONS! If you miss the discount deadline, you can still book a room and attend the Rendezvous, but it will cost a little bit more for your room. Mind you, the room rates at the Circus Circus are very reasonable as hotels go anyway, but why not save a few bucks if you can! The Registration for the Rendezvous itself also has to be sent in right away so I can tell the hotel how many dinners we will need, and how large of a dining room.

Don't spend the next year wishing you had attended this year's Rondy! Get off your "smallish Horse like animal" and get your reservations made with the Circus Circus, and your Rondy Registration sent in.

If not, KeeWee will kick your butt..........

(Really! She can do it, too!)

In Search of the Second Amendment

Thanks to the efforts of Uncle at Say Uncle, David Hardy has donated four copies of his outstanding documentary "In Search of the Second Amendment" to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous for prizes and for helping to raise money for Project Valour-IT.

We really appreciate David's generosity, and Uncle for helping to arrange the donation. If you are unfamiliar with the documentary, check out the documentary's website for a lot more information.

From the website:

"The TRUE story of the American right to arms is told by some of the greatest names in American constitutional law -- professors at Yale, UCLA, Fordham, George Washington University, George Mason University, and other institutions, as well as by lifelong scholars of the Second Amendment, such as Steve Halbrook, Dave Kopel, and Don Kates. "

Here's the trailer for documentary:



If the video doesn't play, here's the Youtube link.

If you aren't going to be at the Rendezvous, you may still want to consider buying yourself a copy, or maybe two copies, one for yourself, and one for your local library, club, or school. All the information to buy your own copy is on the website.

Coming to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno and winning a copy would probably be a lot more fun than just ordering one online, though........

Hi Point Donates Pistol To Gun Blogger Rendezvous

Charlie Brown, head of MKS Supply and Hi-Point Firearms, has generously donated a Hi-Point pistol to be raffled off at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in order to raise money for Project Valour-IT.

The Hi-Points are American made, and have a lifetime guarantee. I have had a Hi-Point 9mm. Carbine for several years, and have found it to be not only reliable, but great fun to shoot, particularly when you are on a tight budget.

Thanks, Charlie! We, and Project Valour-IT, greatly appreciate your generosity!

Gun Blogger Event Added

An additional event has been added for this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. At 6pm. on Friday night, October 12th. in the Rendezvous Hospitality Room we will be having a "Gun Stuff Show & Tell" session. (There's probably a much more clever name for it, but you get the point.)

Larry Weeks, from Brownell's (you DO have a Brownell's Catalog, don't you?) will be bringing along a number of cool items to fondle and drool upon. He will be bringing a sample of Brownell's new AR-15 magazines which they are manufacturing right here in the good old U.S. of A. Larry will also have the inside story on a number of new things, including some info on gun lubricants, neat tools, and more.

Uncle, from Say Uncle will be bringing along a KT68 6.8SPC upper from Ko-Tonics for us to see, too. On Saturday (Range Day) we will get a chance to see it in action, and possibly even shoot it, too!

For those of you planning to attend, drop me an email or leave a comment if you have something cool for "Show & Tell" and I'll get that into this post, too.

After "Show & Tell" the plan is to spend the rest of the night, or until the last one of us fades out, munching munchie stuff and drinking cool refreshments of various types, while discussing anything and everything, and listening to Og The Neanderpundit's storytelling, as only he can do it!

If you missed last year's Rendezvous, you missed a great time, and this year's Rondy is shaping up to be even better!

Clearly the blogosphere's social event of the year...............

GBR - II Attendees - Just Updated

(UPDATED 09/07/2007)

Get your reservations and registration in ASAP, as in TODAY, so you get the best hotel rates. The rates go up in about a week. Our special group rate is even lower than the Military Rate!

You don't have to be a Gun Blogger, or even a Blogger, for that matter, to attend. If you are a shooting sports enthusiast (gun nut?), if you READ gun blogs or Mil Blogs, or anything along those lines, you are most welcome to attend.

Who might you meet there? Here's an updated partial list of some of the folks planning to attend. If you are planning on attending, please leave a comment and I'll get you added to the list.

Maj. Chuck Ziegenfuss of
From My Position... On The Way! and Project Valour-IT
Chuck is also our Guest of Honor


Fodder and the Commandress from
Ride Fast & Shoot Straight


Uncle from
Say Uncle


JimmyB and Mrs JimmyB from
The Conservative UAW Guy


KeeWee of
KeeWee's Corner


US Citizen from
Traction Control


Chris & Mel Byrne of
The Anarchangel


Og, the
Neanderpundit


Kevin of the
Smallest Minority


Dirtcrashr from
Anthroblogogy


Dave Durringer from
World Examiner


John Donovan from
Castle Arrgghhh!


Beth Donovan from
She Who Will Be Obeyed


Joe Huffman of
The View from N. Central Idaho
Boomershoot


Sebastian of
Snowflakes in Hell


Rob from
The Kitchen
(On a Blogging Break)


Larry Weeks from
Brownell's
(Not a blog-but where would we be without Brownells?)


Mr. Completely of
Mr. Completely


"Very Likely to be There!" List:


Retired Geezer AKA 'Doc Peabody' &
Mrs. Geezer from
Blog Idaho


No Word either way yet:


Robb of
Sharp As A Marble


Benjamin from
The Reasonable Nut

There are also some other bloggers of note that are planning on attending if they can. It's looking like a "Who's Who" of gun blogging! Very cool.........

If you are planning on attending, or are going to try to be there, leave a comment and I'll get you on the next update of the list.

Hope YOU can be there, too!!

GBR-II -- Will Bob Dylan be there?

Click Here to play the video.
(If that doesn't work, Click Here)

Time is running short to get your reservations in for this year's Reno Gun Blogger Rendezvous and still get the special reduced room rates. If you miss the deadline, coming up in a little over a week, you can still register and attend, but you miss out on the special Circus Circus room group rates.

To help get the word out, we contacted a small advertising agency in Hibbing, Minnesota, and asked them to put together a short video promoting the Rendezvous. It's just off of Highway 61, and has a reputation for doing great work. I think they did a fine job!

So go to the Gun Blogger Site, as everything you need to know about reserving your room and registering for the Rondy is there. This is going to be the Gun Blogger's event of the year, and you don't want to miss out, and you DON'T have to be a blogger to attend, just someone interested in shooting sports, 2nd. amendment issues, and so forth. If you are reading this post, you probably are already someone who would enjoy the Rendezvous.

Come to Reno and The Gun Blogger Rendezvous, don't think twice, just get your registration and reservations in NOW, you don't want to miss out!

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Guest of Honor

As you know from a previous announcement, the recipient of the money raised by the Gun Blogger Rendezvous will be Project Valour-IT. Project Valour-IT collects money to buy voice actuated laptop computers for injured and recovering servicemen and women with injuries that prevent them from using a conventional computer keyboard. With the voice actuated laptops they can contact friends and family by email. Project Valour-IT has purchased and delivered over 1,200 laptops so far, and they're still getting more!

I wanted to have our Guest of Honor be someone representing Project Valour-IT, and my first choice was Major Chuck Ziegenfuss, and the stars have all aligned and Major Ziegenfuss will be our guest of Honor! In fact, he will be there for the entire Rendezvous, staying at the Circus Circus with us, and getting in some range time on Saturday with us too!

If you would like to learn more about the Major, check out this post, particularly the lower part where Major Ziegenfuss is addressing a number of convalescing military folks at Walter Reed.

He is also a blogger, and you can read his blog "From My Position - On The Way!" HERE. If you'd like to Meet Major Ziegenfuss, meet a great bunch of bloggers, and help a fantastic cause, plan on attending the Gun Blogger Rendezvous this October in Reno. Get your hotel reservations in and your registration sent in right away

You won't regret it!

Nevada Gun Laws

If you are planning to attend the Gun Blogger Rendezvous and are wondering about the firearms laws, and particularly CCW laws in Nevada, the Nevada State Rifle and Pistol Association has a section on their website that answers most of your questions.

They also DO have a disclaimer that laws may have changed since their latest post on the gun laws, so if in doubt, there is a link at the bottom that takes you to the state laws.