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Have Gun[s], Will Travel [By Air]

Step 1: Check the local laws for where you are going and make sure you are 100% in compliance.

If you don't follow their rules, whether out of ignorance or otherwise, at a minimum you would be risking a significant and probably awkward delay. Worse, you might lose your guns for a significant period of time and cost yourself a lot of money attempting to recover them, and that effort might fail and then your expensive guns would be gone. And worst, you could be locked up, charged with a criminal offense, tried, found guilty, fined and even sent to prison. You don't want to do that. (And please don't email me claiming that innocent people don't get wrongly convicted. If you're that naive, you shouldn't be handling firearms.)

So check the laws where you are going and make absolutely certain you follow all the rules to the letter.

With that warning, now we can look at what's involved in travelling by air to Bullseye competitions.

Note that I'm going to present things in what some might call a reverse-chronological manner. This is because I've learned a lot of this "the hard way" and often found myself going backward to redo something before going forward to the next step.

So we start this at the baggage check-in where you are going to turn over your unloaded guns and equipment to the airline.

First, some of what you need won't be packed. You'll need it in your pockets to use or show at the ticket counter and/or at the checked-luggage security station -- you may have to hand these to someone who then manipulates the locks outside of your presence:

• Keys for padlocks, if any; and
• Written note with lock combination(s) for numbered locks, if any.

At the luggage check-in, you will say something like, "Hi, I need an 'unloaded firearms' tag." The agent will provide one, partially filled in, which you will complete and sign.

Ask them where the tag should go. Although the rules state the tag should go inside the locked case with the guns, I had one agent insist it belonged on top of the locked case. When I tried to show her the printed rules from her own airline, she called over her supervisor who got real snippy. "Do it like we said or leave the airport." (I did as they insisted.)

Most of the time, the airline wants me to stay with the luggage until after it has passed through TSA security. I say "most of the time" because more than once, they pitched my now closed (with gun cases locked) suitcase onto the luggage belt and away it went. When I asked what they would do if the TSA wanted to inspect the insides, they said, "We'll page you or something." Both times this happened, I found a seat close by and waited fifteen minutes before going on to passenger security and getting my own self through and onto the plane. And yes, my suitcase and guns always made it through OK.

At another airport, I walked with the ticket agent and my suitcase to the TSA luggage inspection station with my keys and combination ready. (TSA unlocks and inspects my guns about 50% of the time.) But on this occasion, the TSA agent picked up my bag, walked around the X-ray machine bypassing it completely and put it on the luggage belt for the airplane. As I stood there wondering what to do, the airline ticket agent came back and asked if my bag had been X-rayed yet. I told her what had happened and her eyes opened real wide!

"What does it look like?" she asked in a rush.

I described the bag and she took off at a run. Five minutes later she was back with the bag and, from her posture, it was clear she on the war path. She found the TSA supervisor, read him the riot act, and then stood there, hands on hips, and watched them run my bag through the X-ray machine. The TSA did not ask to unlock my gun case this time. I guess they figured the sooner me and my bag and the angry ticket agent were gone, then all the better.

When the bag was gone (again), the agent turned to leave and walking past me she said, "Thank you for having an easy to spot bag." Then, looking angrily back at the TSA agents, she muttered the name of an anatomical feature we all have, except she used the plural form.

But I digress. Back to how to pack things.

All items go inside locked containers which, in turn, go inside "well travelled" (but secure) suitcases. The goal is to not attract attention, especially at the luggage carousel where it is possible, but admittedly unlikely, that your suitcases will come sliding out for public grabbing well before you get there. If that happens, you don't want someone mistaking your bag for theirs and walking away with your guns.

Put big, obvious markings on your suitcases to individualize them. This will prevent someone grabbing one of your suitcases mistakenly thinking it is theirs. In this regard, I firmly believe that "ugly is better". Although my wife hates my black suitcase with spray painted safety-yellow spots, the fact remains that no one has *ever* taken it off the luggage carousel by mistake. On the other hand, I've had plain black suitcases that were "lost" for 24 hours or more after my arrival, more than once, probably because someone took it by mistake but didn't discover their error until reaching their hotel miles from the airport while leaving me at the "lost luggage" counter with no change of clothes until the next day.

Remember: Unique, ugly and worthless is a good look. People don't take bums home for that reason, and they probably won't pick up your crappy-looking suitcase.

Next, guns and ammunition should go in two different locked containers. Although most states don't require this, for the few that do (and also while locked in the trunk of your rental car), always using two containers just makes it easier to remember what goes where. (The Republic of Kalifornia is one such place.)

When packing the gun box, put everything else in first, then the guns last. That way, the guns will be on top when the case is opened. The ticket counter agent may (or may not!) want to visually verify that the guns are unloaded. And the checked-luggage security station may want to do it again. One TSA agent in Phoenix, after inspecting my guns, came out to ask if they were target pistols. I ended up giving him a five minute introduction to Bullseye at the end of which he seemed interested so I invited him to the Phoenix club for the regular Tuesday night league. You never know where you might make a convert!

Depending on the competition, I will take either of two "kits", minimal or maximum. (The minimal kit is shown above.)

For a minimal kit, I take only my 22 and ball guns, and both with just iron sights. I can shoot a full 2700 and leg match with just those, albeit with less than stellar scores -- but it *is* good practice, you know? These two guns and the associated "stuff" will all fit (barely!) into a Pelican 1400 case. I can pack that and the ammunition case and also a couple of days of clothing into the suitcase. (It is a tight fit and may push the suitcase weight limit -- you'll want to check the weight on your bathroom scale so you know what to expect at the airport. [Ticket counter agents do occasionally seem to forget to check the suitcase's weight when they have to do the unloaded firearm thing but you don't want to rely on that oversight.])

Note, however, there will be a minimum of padding in this "cramming". If your guns are pretty, you may want a bigger case. My guns aren't. They just shoot real good. (But I do fit scraps of padding around the guns where there is metal-to-metal contact [but which is not shown above].)

And when packing the suitcase, put your clothes on the bottom and the gun cases on top so they can be opened easily for the required inspections at the airport.

While a Pelican 1400 is good for one or two guns without red dots, for a "maximum kit" with four guns, some of which may have red dots, a Pelican 1550 case is required. (And you'll need a whole suitcase just to conceal the Pelican 1550 case with the ammo case going in a second case inside a second suitcase. As I said, most of the time I travel with the "minimal" kit and now you can probably understand why.)

Here is a detailed list of what I take in each of the two locked cases.

Locking case #1 (Pelican 1400 or 1550, for the "minimal" or "maximum" kit respectively) contains the following:

• Business or personal identification card (inside this container);
• 22 handgun as follows:
• S&W model 41 (with/without red dot);
• Folded zip-lock baggie large enough to contain S&W model 41 (in case of rain);
• Empty chamber indicator in place in S&W model 41;
• Two (2) magazines for S&W model 41;
• [Maximum configuration only] CF handgun as follows:
• Center fire handgun with red dot;
• Folded zip-lock baggie large enough to contain wad gun (in case of rain);
• Empty chamber indicator in place in wad gun;
• Two (2) magazines for CF gun;
• [Maximum configuration only] 45 "wad" handgun as follows:
• SA "Wadder" with red dot;
• Folded zip-lock baggie large enough to contain wad gun (in case of rain);
• Empty chamber indicator in place in wad gun;
• Two (2) magazines for wad gun;
• Ball handgun as follows:
• Ball gun;
• Folded zip-lock baggie large enough to contain ball gun (in case of rain);
• Empty Chamber Indicator in place in ball gun;
• Two (2) magazines for ball gun;
• Two (2) spare batteries for red dots;
• 22, CF and 45 snakes;
• Scoring overlays;
• 22 chamber brush (25 cal brush with right-angle bend);
• Ear plugs (custom or "foamies");
• Clip-board for score sheet;
• Roll of buff pasters;
• Personal score/training log book;
• Baseball cap;
• Clip-on, flip-down eye occluder;
• Spotting scope [NG 20x33] with eyepiece and primary lense covers in place;
• Legs for spotting scope;
• Pedestal for spotting scope;
• Shooting glasses;
• Toothpicks (for S&W model 41 bolt-face cleaning after the NMC);
• Stopwatch;
• Staplegun;
• Refill staples for staplegun;
• Small screwdriver to adjust sights (check fit to adjustment screws on all guns listed above);
• Tightly-closed bottle of gun oil; and
• Padlocks and key(s) or combination [with which to lock this case].

Locking case #2, the ammunition box, contains the following [Winchester Pistol Case WGS-7701 with most of the foam removed]:

• Business or personal identification card (inside this container);
• Dillon hearing protectors and 4 replacement AAA batteries;
• 100 rounds of 22 ammunition in factory-original packaging;
• 100 rounds of CF ammunition in plastic reloading boxes;
• 100 rounds of 45 ACP "wad" ammunition in plastic reloading boxes;
• 50 rounds of 45 ACP "ball" ammunition in plastic reloading boxes; and
• Padlocks and key(s) or combination [with which to lock this case].

NOTE: This quantity of ammunition gets very close to the airline limit of eleven (11) pounds. Check the weight of the ammunition before leaving home and make any necessary sacrifices. You may be able to purchase the 22 ammo there but, if you're shooting something exotic, line up your source before going.

In summary, I usually travel with the minimal kit and shoot iron sights only. With the 22 and the ball guns in that configuration, I can shoot a full 2700 and a leg match. Ammunition goes in a second, locked case, and both locked cases (guns and ammo) then go inside (on top of clothes, etc.) an ugly, unique-looking suitcase.

When I open the suitcase, the gun and ammo boxes are on top. And when I open the gun box, the guns are, again, on top.

I've travelled on business trips and, on my own time, competed at local events while "out" quite a few times. I've always had a wonderful time. Bullseye shooters are always pleased to have someone from out of town. They know you've made an effort to be there and they appreciate it. They will want to see what you've got, talk about how things work at different clubs, ask if you're going to Perry or not this year, and on and on and on.

And here's one final tip: Keep a couple of hours open in your schedule for after the competition. I often find that's the most memorable time. I can remember some really nice times in Massachusetts, California, Texas and Florida that all took place after the guns were packed and we drove a couple of miles to a different place to relax. And I regret not having that same extra time to relax with the Bullseye shooters in Georgia and Illinois because I had to fly out right after the match.

I call the time after a 2700 and a ball match, "the 31st target."

Make time for that "31st target". It just may be the best part of your next business trip.

Backyard 600

First things first.

I called the City of Phoenix Police Department and asked if it was OK to shoot air pistols within the city limits.

"As long as you do so safely, yes it is," they said.

So I scouted out the backyard and found a good ISSF dimensioned air pistol range (basically a 35' long area) with a safe backstop (the 7' concrete block wall across the back of our property) and measured things out with dimensions from the web and a calculator:

	Metric*	US
Target face to firing line	10 meters	32' 9.7"
Ground to target center	1.4 meters	4' 7.1"

* See sections 6.3.8 and 6.3.9 at http://www.issf-shooting.org/rules/english/2006/23_technical_2005_2nd.html with some additional pistol rules available at http://www.issf-shooting.org/rules/english/2006/25_pistol_2005_2nd.pdf

I placed a small outdoor table with its rear edge along the firing line after making a permanent mark down low on the house's foundation so I can easily find the firing line again if the table is moved.

For the target holder, I use the Gehman Pistol Target Trap (see http://www.pilkguns.com/buildrange.shtml where you will find additional notes on range options). A while back, I also ordered 1000 Edelmann 10m Air Pistol targets (see http://www.pilkguns.com/masprlist.htm#edelmann) which is keeping me in good supply.

Double-check to be sure you get the pistol target holder and the pistol targets. Air rifle targets and their holder are a completely different size.

When the target trap arrived, I measured the box center to hanging screw hole and screwed a snugly fitting wood screw into the gap between two concrete blocks at the appropriate height. Hanging the target trap, I found the target center to be about a half inch low -- perfectly tolerable for a backyard range (in my opinion).

Also, since the target trap is about 2" deep, my firing line was now 2" too close. Okay, so I scooted the table back 2". Gee, that was easy to fix.

Then, to lessen the noise for my neighbors, I went to Home Depot and bought one package of "electrical putty" for less than a buck. This is basically a very sticky black clay which I smushed flat and stuck to the backplate inside the target box. It very effectively captures all the pellets and, more importantly, it significantly reduces the impact noise.

My range is along the north side of my home shooting eastward to the target hanging on the wall at the back of the property. My back is to the evening sun. The range is mostly shaded in the early evening by the roof overhang, two large queen palms (that occasionally drop dates into my AP box) and Moon Mountain that rises up a half mile to the west. Although it is hot in Phoenix in the summer, staying out of the direct sun often makes it tolerable. Such is the case for my backyard range.

I start shortly after dinner, no later than 7:00PM. I shoot six (6) 10 round targets for a normal men's AP competition and finish about 8:00PM which is just when the failing light would force me to stop anyway. (Adding two lights, one on the target and the other on the firing line, will be a later project.)

At the moment, I have the trigger on my IZH-46M cranked up to several pounds as I work toward a reasonable degree of trigger control. Yes, I'm intentionally choosing to shoot a difficult trigger. I have it set such that I can release shots cleanly, but only by doing everything right. Any flaws in grip, wrist, elbow or trigger finger pressure/movement direction or the dreaded "spasmo" jerk results in an obviously thrown shot. But when everything is right, the shot goes where it should.

"There, that's just like me. I can do this," I tell myself when everything works.

My normal shooting companions include a gecko that lives inside the block wall and eats crickets and black widow spiders, a Cactus Wren whose nest and chicks are in a hole near the top of the Saguaro cactus three feet to the left of the target trap but 25' up, a noisy black bird that sits high up in a tree and makes heckling-like squawks all through my practice which I've learned to accept as a test of my concentration, and the occasional neighborhood "mouser" (cat) that patrols my yard hunting for field mice. All these creatures are safe for various reasons although that bird does try my patience but seems to be smart enough to avoid standing in front of a safe backstop.

If you're in the neighborhood, give me a call. Bring your AP and target trap and I'll put another screw in the wall creating a firing point to the left of the Saguaro and then we'll shoot a 600 side-by-side.

You're welcome to come early for dinner, too.

See you in the backyard!

Cheap Glasses

I'm cheap.

The less I spend on other things, the more I have for bullets. And as any Bullseye shooter will tell you, to get good, you have to push a lot of lead downrange and, as most of you know, lead is not cheap anymore. Gone are the days of three or four cent heads. Today, you're probably looking at eight to nine cents for a 200 grain LSWC, and if you buy in 5000 unit quantities, that's not small change.

So when I get a chance to save some significant bucks, I do it.

I recently came across what has to be just about the cheapest place for glasses. Not surprisingly, it is in the People's Republic of China and everything is handled through the web. You choose your frames and lenses through the web, enter your prescription through the web, and you order and pay through the web. And then about two weeks later, your glasses arrive ... via the postman.

The place is Zenni Optical (http://www.zennioptical.com/) and I decided to order a pair of glasses for iron sights both to see the quality of their work and so I'd have something specifically for shooting.

Since I would be entering the numbers into their website for my prescription, I didn't want to spend a lot of money only to discover I had done something wrong. This would be a "test pair" to see if the system, mostly me, would work.

A pair of single-vision glasses in Zenni's cheapest frames would be $8.00 plus $4.95 shipping, or $12.95. That's what I would try.

Of course, I needed an accurate prescription and that's not something I can do. For that, I needed a professional and, as luck would have it, not very long ago my work had taken me to the bay area and I made an appointment with Dr. Norman Wong who happens to also be a Bullseye shooter. If anyone knows what a shooter needs for his eyes, Norman is the very best in the world. (He let me shoot his Masaki 1911 a few days later at the Sunnyvale club, but that's another story.)

At Dr. Wong's office, after the most thorough eye exam I've ever had which included the fine tuning of my prescription on both iron and red dot sights "shooting" out the front window of his store, I had three prescriptions, one for my daily use (the progressives), another for a lense for use with a red dot and Knoblock frames which I said I was going to buy someday, and the third for shooting iron sights. (I shoot with my right eye even though I am left-eye dominant. Again, that's another story.) Here are the prescriptions (O.D. = right, O.S. = left):

Progressive

		Sph.	Cyl.	Axis	Prism	Base
D.V.	O.D.	+125	-100	90
D.V.	O.S.	+125	DS
N.V.	O.D.	+200	ADD
N.V.	O.S.	+200	ADD

Red dot for Knoblock shooting glasses

		Sph.	Cyl.	Axis	Prism	Base
D.V.	O.D.	+150	-100	90

Iron sight

		Sph.	Cyl.	Axis	Prism	Base
D.V.	O.D.	+225	-100	90

The shooting glasses I wanted would have single vision lenses only with the left eye focused at distance and the right eye focused on the front iron sight. I used the left eye progressive prescription without the "ADD", and the right eye "Iron Sight" prescription as follows.

My Combined Order

		Sph.	Cyl.	Axis	Prism	Base
D.V.	O.D.	+225	-100	90
D.V.	O.S.	+125	DS

Because these would be my shooting glasses, I wanted to be sure they would also function as safety glasses. I emailed Zenni Optical to ask about the materials they use. Here is their reply:

Dear Mr/Ms. Skinner,
All of our Single Vision, Bi-Focal and progressive bi-focal lenses are premium quality high index Polycarbonate composite polymer high impact resistance lenses with full UV protection, special strong anti-scratch coating.
Thank you for your interest in Zenni Optical.

That sounds good.

The last thing needed was my inter-pupillary distance, the distance between the centers of my pupils when looking far away. Zenni Optical's website recommended having someone make this measurement for you. It's not something you can easily do for yourself. I found a metric ruler since they wanted the measurement in millimeters and had my son do it and we followed the instructions on Zenni Optical's website. We measured 64 millimeters. (Later, I had the optical department at CostCo repeat the measurement. They came up with 66 millimeters, close enough to 64 that the difference does not matter, especially for the single vision lenses I was ordering.)

My Order

		Sph.	Cyl.	Axis	Add
D.V.	O.D.	+2.25	-1.00	90	0
D.V.	O.S.	+1.25	0		0

I entered my Pupillary Distance as 64 in the order for single vision lenses, no coating, no tint, and in the $8.00 frames. That went to the P.R.C. along with my credit card information on May 1st (2008).

My glasses arrived by USPS on May 13th. They came in a plastic case with a cleaning cloth, in a rip-open, marginally padded mailing envelope. The return address was in San Rafael CA which, I presume, is where my shipment entered the mail after arriving from China (by unknown means).

Of course, I immediately tried them on, showed my wife who then wanted Zenni Optical's web address so she could see what frames to get for her new pair of reading glasses, and I got out my 1911 -- checked to be sure it was unloaded -- and dry-fired a dozen shots to check the right-eye focus. Yep, the front sight was crystal clear, exactly as I wanted.

Since then, I've used the new glasses on the line a couple of times. The front sight continues to be clear as a bell in my right eye, and after a shot with the 45, I can peek around the blinder I wear on the bill of my baseball cap to spot the hole down in the 50 yard target through the left lense. Yes, I still use my spotting scope but as often as not, the left distance-focused eye is sufficient with the LSWC 45 rounds.

My next order from Zenni Optical will be for my walk-around progressives. Probably rimless but with the best frames Zenni has. For less than $50, it's going to be hard to go wrong.

But I must add that, by "off-shoring", I am continuing a trend that makes it hard on some Americans. I know because I've been on the dirty end of this same stick. Indeed, in 2002-2003, I was out of work for almost a year because the software industry in which I had been employed for 20+ years was deserting the United States. My job, and that of almost all other software engineers in the United States, was going to India, Russia, the People's Republic of China and a dozen other countries where engineers are paid significantly less.

Yes, I know all about off-shoring. But there comes a point when you have to ask, "What do I need to do to take care of my family?" And after a year with practically no income, I had to find that answer. I won't bore you with the details but, suffice it to say, there were some changes that I had to accept. And there were some realizations in the industry that helped somewhat as well.

Today, I'm still employed in the software industry but with some significant differences. And today, when and where I can, I spend each buck a lot more carefully.

So, now it's time to order some 200 gr LSWCs.

Yikes! Have you seen the prices?

In Recognition, Memorial Day 2008

From those of us who have ...

... never known the horrors of combat,
... never had to find the courage to stay and fight,
... not seen the limp corpse of a friend who was just himself 10 seconds ago,
... not had to put our lives on the line "here and now",
... all our body parts intact,
... never been struck by a blast wave,
... never heard a bullet pass by,
... never had to stop -- kill -- someone who was trying to kill us,
... not been afraid to think of going home for what that thought might cause,
... and most deeply, from those of us who, in our extreme ignorance, simply have no way of imagining what you have gone through and for what you have given us,

We am truly, profoundly, grateful.

It is only through the sacrifices that you made, that the ignorance we enjoy, has come about.

Thank you.

Finesse the Trigger

See that stack of rocks?

That's Steve Reiter, national champion Bullseye shooter many times over.

I call him a "stack of rocks" because if you finish your Slow Fire early and sit down to watch, he looks like an utterly immobile stack of rocks that's been like that for a couple of millenia. Nothing moves. The wind blows but nothing moves. A cloud hides the sun, nothing moves. A bird flies across the range but nothing, not even a muscle in his beefy, farm-boy arm moves.

Eternity.

Now there's no way I'm going to be able to stand that still. While I do have my better days when the wobble nearly stops for a second or two, when that happens, I so dearly want the gun to go "Bang" but, invariably, if I will it, I jerk it.

Years ago, Coach Pat had me hold the gun and do everything except pull the trigger. He did that. As a team, we shot a ten, two nines, an eight and a seven with five shots. Coach's lesson was that my "hold" was the seven ring even though my shooting (by myself) had a lot of fives and sixes.

He said, "Your problem is trigger control. Move the trigger straight back."

"Level and smooth," he would croon as I would try to follow his teaching.

So, I've learned to do a lot of dry-fire and to watch and see what the front sight does when the hammer falls. And recently, I've been seeing the front sight take a little bob downward. Sometimes I put the gun down, rest a moment and try again and it goes away. But other times, it's still there and ultimately I decide to stop because I'm obviously teaching myself to do the wrong thing. But what am I doing that causes it?

Not long ago, our car had a slight pull to the left. To compensate, we drove with a slight pressure to the right, not much, just enough to offset the left pull. The car goes perfectly straight as long as you keep up the pressure.

Pressing the trigger back on the 1911 and holding the gun really tight can end up in a similar situation. If your trigger pressure isn't perfectly straight, a strong grip can exert a counter-pressure and end up holding the gun perfectly straight.

But unlike the car, at some point the trigger hooks release the hammer. At that instant, the trigger floats free for a fraction of a second before bottoming out on the over-travel adjustment. During that fraction of a second, whatever unaligned force your trigger finger was adding is suddenly removed and the compensating force from your grip that was previously offsetting the crooked trigger pressure is released, and the nose of the gun twitches out of alignment.

Bang!

I once asked the members of the Bullseye-L emailing list how long it took, with everything in place and all lined up, from the time they committed to firing a shot to when the gun went off. Answers varied but the norm seemed to be somewhere between a half and a couple of seconds, no more than 2-3.

But when I watch Steve Reiter, I think it's longer, much longer.

Same with John Zurek. I know because I asked him what he was doing for the 30+ seconds I watched him routinely hold.

John said, "Movin' the trigger straight back."

Here's an interesting observation: The harder you grip the gun, the more it will mask a mis-aligned trigger pull, and you'll only know it when the hammer drops.

Oops, too late!

With a very strong grip, mis-aligned trigger pressure can't be seen before the hammer falls.

A gentler grip, on the other hand, will immediately show poorly directed trigger pressure; it will push the front sight away from alignment. Long before the shot breaks, you'll see the sights being pushed out of alignment.

Brian Zins says he "steers" the front sight with his trigger finger. He calls the sights his "trigger purity indicator."

A word comes to mind: finesse.

BassPro.com says finesse refers to "slowing down and using smaller lures, line, and rods."

And in Bullseye, perhaps it can mean using a less-than-crushing grip and finer "control" of the trigger.

Finesse the trigger.

Shiney Brass, More Xs

Shiney brass makes for more Xs.

It works like this. A shiney piece of brass will press a smoother surface onto the sides of the bullet. When such a bullet is then fired, it becomes subject to external forces and one of those is the impact of photons being reflected from the target face.

The white outer rings, being white and therefore reflective, put pressure on the bullet in flight and tend to push the bullet toward the center of the target where the black center is exhibiting a lesser or, if you will, a "sucking effect" by its absence of reflected photons.

Shiney (smooth edged) bullets are affected more uniformly than dull (bumpy edged) bullets and, hence, bullets made shiney by shiney brass are more likely to strike the X ring.

Interestingly, the white of the "X" in the center of the X ring does, however, tend to deflect shots. That's why hitting the *exact* center of the "X" is so rare.

This is nothing new, however. The Lone Ranger knew of this property and, therefore, reserved his famous silver bullets for bad guys whom, as we all know, wear black and therefore attract shiney bullets.

Simple.

---

Hey, it's a joke!