McMaster has already signed the bill into law, but this report prior to signing the bill is interesting.

Major Nunn said the grace period will be a time for law enforcement agencies to come up with ‘policies and procedures on how to deal with folks carrying hand guns openly.’

Here’s how you “deal” with those “folks.”  You ignore them, just as if they were concealing a handgun.  Pretend you can’t see it, because it will be legal.

I hope that helps.

Mike has a number of recommendations, and especially interesting is the links he provides at the bottom of the video.  I have my own preferences (e.g., for hatchets), and I notice no link for bush saws.  But there’s a lot of good recommendations for comms, med kit supplies, water filtration, and other needful things.

Ken, WiscoDave and I were just discussing this a few days ago.  If you have both of these guns, make sure you have your 300 BO magazines marked, taped or otherwise indicated so that your gun doesn’t blow up in your face.

News from South Carolina.

Gov. Henry McMaster said Monday he signed into law a bill allowing people with concealed weapons permits from the state to carry their guns in the open.

McMaster posted on Twitter that he was keeping his promise to sign any bill that protects or expands gun rights.

The proposal allows so-called open carry of guns for people who undergo training and background checks so they can keep guns hidden under a jacket or other clothing or in their vehicle anywhere there isn’t a sign prohibiting it.

The law takes effect in 90 days. Thus, in mid-August, South Carolina will no longer be with California, Florida, Illinois and New York to prohibit any type of open carry.

The law eliminates a $50 permit fee to get a concealed weapons permit and lowers the number of bullets that someone must fire at a target in an accuracy test to get a permit from 50 to 25 shots. Requirements remain that a permit holder be 21 or over, take eight hours of training and pass a background check that includes fingerprinting.

My S.C. Open Carry tag has dozens of columns, articles and commentaries, which I’ve sent around hundreds of times to fellow gun rights activists in South Carolina, S.C. members of the House and Senate, and readers.  Additionally, I’ve met people face to face to discuss this, sent other letters to politicians, both local and state, and sent letters to CLEOs to rebut their efforts to deny open carry to South Carolinians, pointing out in excruciating detail on every point how they were wrong and disloyal to the constitution.

This is a big win, a hard fought victory.  I’m celebrating tonight over this.

But the fight isn’t over.  They denied constitutional carry this time around.  We’ll go in baby steps as incrementalists.  I have no objections to incrementalism.

Open carry this year, constitutional carry next year.

If you’re ever attacked by someone wielding a knife, shooting the knife isn’t a good defensive strategy.

Unless you’re Col. Douglas Mortimer.

News from Oregon.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The first court test of whether local governments can ban police from enforcing certain gun laws is playing out in a rural Oregon county, one of a wave of U.S. counties declaring itself a Second Amendment sanctuary.

The measure that voters in the logging area of Columbia County narrowly approved last year forbids local officials from enforcing most federal and state gun laws and could impose thousands of dollars in fines on those who try.

Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions have been adopted by some 1,200 local governments in states around the U.S., including Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Illinois and Florida, according to Shawn Fields, an assistant professor of law at Campbell University who tracks them. Many are symbolic, but some, like in Columbia County, carry legal force.

[ … ]

The movement hasn’t yet faced a major legal challenge. The Oregon case was filed by Columbia County under an unusual provision in state law that allows a judge to examine a measure before it goes into effect. No timeline has been set for a court hearing.

“This will allow the court to tell us whether the county can actually decline to enforce certain state laws, and it will tell us how to abide by the will of the voters to the extent that we can,” said Sarah Hanson, who serves as counsel in the conservative-leaning county in deep-blue Oregon.

Prediction: they will lose.  Second observation: they have absolutely no concept of what it means to have been declared a second amendment sanctuary.

There will never be a single court ruling in favor of refusal to enforce federal or state gun control laws, and especially not the concept of legal penalties for those who do said enforcement.

That’s not the idea behind second amendment sanctuaries.  The idea is that the power of the chief law enforcement officer (CLEO, usually the county Sheriff along with his deputies) and if necessary, aided by the unorganized militia, to enforce by power of arms the will of the people as it pertains to gun control laws.

That is, you don’t ask permission of the courts.  Court rulings are irrelevant in this schema.  The mere asking of the court proves that the county officials aren’t taking this seriously, and the fact that the request has been made proves that there is no understanding of what has taken place.

This entire episode completely turns things on its head.

We covered this in a very interesting and informative video before with a competition shotgun shooter.  It may be useful to go back and watch his video.  He’s a winner, so what he says is worth listening to.

This analysis at Shooting Illustrated adds to the discussion.

In general, dedicated shotgun-sports shooters (trap, skeet and sporting clays) take on a feet-close-together, straight-legged, weak-leg-forward stance, with the toes pointing 45 degrees to the target, 95 percent of the weight over the front foot. Such a stance allows wingshooters to swing the shotgun by more-or-less pirouetting on the front foot while using the toe of the rear foot as a rudder for balance. This tall, elegant stance is deceiving, because while it doesn’t look aggressive, most of the shooter’s body weight can be thrust into the shotgun at the shot, thereby counteracting the forces of recoil. However, there are obvious reasons why this stance isn’t the most practical for home defenders.

[ … ]

Some military and law-enforcement personnel are trained to shoot a shotgun much like they do a carbine, which is to say their feet are square to the target, shoulder-width apart, toes pointed toward the target, torso square to the target but leaning over slightly so the weight is divided 50/50 over the balls of each foot. This allows operators to maximize peripheral vision and to walk and move in any direction. The squared-chest orientation maximizes body armor’s protection. For most civilian home defenders, however, this stance can be disastrous.

First, most home defenders do not wear body armor. Second, a shotgun loaded with 00 buck has up to 10 times the recoil of a 5.56 NATO carbine, so recoil is a real issue. For all but the biggest, brutish shooters, three shots in succession from a square stance can rock a shooter so far backward that they may fall. (Try it for yourself.) I believe this stance was dogmatically taught to some military types to conform to other curriculum being taught at the time, such as dynamic entry, where moving smoothly and facing the enemy was paramount. These days, however, I see more shotgun-savvy military and law-enforcement shooters adopting a slightly more staggered, hybrid stance of 55/45 (front foot/rear foot) weight distribution. Even so, they keep the torso square to the target as much as possible.

[ … ]

The preferred shotgun stance of professional 3-gun shooters is offense-oriented. Most of these shooters assume a staggered stance where one foot is in front of the other, knees slightly bent, feet shoulder-width apart, torso bladed 40 degrees and bent forward at the waist so that 70 percent of their weight is forward. From this position, they can run, stop and fire multiple times while absorbing recoil and mitigating muzzle flip so they can get the maximum number of shots on target in the least amount of time.

However, there are a couple of significant differences between pro 3-gunners and home defenders: First, 3-gunners don’t have to consider retreating. This enables them to commit more to a weight-forward stance geared for shooting quickly, instinctively and accurately. Additionally, 3-gunners must focus on shooting 10 to 15 shots as fast as possible, mandating their weight be aggressively forward. But, this high-volume “running and gunning” is unrealistic for home defenders.

So then, the best stance for most home defenders—one that promotes a compromise between fast and accurate shooting while maintaining great balance and mobility—is one where the stance is slightly staggered, with the toe of the right foot in line with the heel of the left, feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart, toes pointing 30-degrees to the target, knees bent, chest slightly bladed 25 degrees and the torso bent forward at the waist so 65 percent of the weight is over the balls of the feet. However, during the actual shot, you may find that more weight should be shifted (shotgunners call it “throwing your weight”) forward as much as 80 percent to counteract recoil before being shifted back as soon as the recoil impulse is finished.

But, people, circumstances and shotguns are all a little different. The most important thing is to find and develop a shotgun stance that works best for you. Tactical guys say squared, wingshooters say 90-percent-weight forward, 3-gunners say bladed; I say use what works for you.

I don’t think it’s possible to stay “squared” (aggressive plates forward) and get off quick multiple shots with a 12 gauge shotgun on target.

I think he’s essentially saying what our professional shotgun competitor said in the video.  But it all requires practice.

News from South Carolina.

The House approved the Open Carry bill 83-34 on Wednesday and then signed off on the changes made by the Senate.

It now heads to Gov. McMaster’s desk where he will sign it “soon,” says a spokesman.

Why not today, governor?  What are you waiting for?

It never changes from year to year.  It’s always the same.  A Hiker goes out in the woods in California and is haunted by mountain lions for a long night.

A Man goes hiking in Tennessee hasn’t been heard from in a week.

Know your topography.  Carry a compass.  Have maps.  Carry a heavy rubberized poncho.  Carry a parka.  Use high quality hiking boots.  Carry cordage (I intend to purchase Amsteel cordage rather than 550 cord).  Carry a large bore handgun.  Carry plenty of water and a filter.  Carry energy bars.  Carry a knife, and carry a headlamp or tactical light.  Carry fully redundant, independent means of fire start.

Even if you’re going out for the afternoon.  One afternoon can turn into a week alone.

This is very long, but worth every second of it.  Ed talks about using things around you in innovative ways.  He has learned to improvise, adapt and overcome in the worst situations imaginable.