Went to the club last night and much to my surprise we had taken second place from the week before.

Why is a national sales tax unfair? Ok here's why. Say a doctor makes 200 grand a year. Right now his income tax would be 35% of that or about $70,000. Say he typically spends around $100,000 a year on his purchases and bills. Under the national sales tax he would pay 30% on those, or about $30,000 in tax. Even if he spends all his income he would pay no more than $60,000 in taxes. On the other hand a single mother making $20,000 is in the 10% bracket, and pays about $2000 in tax under the current system. Under a national sales tax though she would pay a sales tax of 30% on her purchases, which for her is usually the entire amount she makes, or about $6000. So in effect the doctor's taxes goes from $70,000 to $30,000 while the single mom goes from paying $2000 to $6000. Does anyone think that is fair? Well I don't.

I am more convinced than ever that a major recession is coming. The closing price of crude oil set an all time high Friday of $56.72. The economy is slowing and interest rates continue to rise. Soon the housing market will pop which is what has been supporting the economy for quite a long time now. All the major indexes are down for the year, with the Nasdaq being down the most. Inflation is being controlled somewhat by all the cheap goods from China and abroad but gasoline and medical costs, as well as education costs, continue upwards. There is a lot of talk about a national sales tax with the Republicans pushing hard for it. Of course it's unfair to the poor but they don't care. They have done nothing but pass legislation favoring the wealthy for the last 5 years. Bush's tax cuts, the push to privatize Social Security, and now this national sales tax have made the richest americans just that much richer. It should be a national disgrace but the Republicans have no pride. My warning to all is to get out of US stocks while you can. A big crash is coming soon. All for now.

This is a Polaris Predator. I may just have to have one of these little hotties.  

An old Oliver row crop tractor. 

A McCormick Deering oldie. 

An old rope making machine. 

A really nice old Avery. 

How about this sweet Model A! 

This is an old steam engine powered tractor. It was huge! 

This is a high flying pancake from Chris Cakes. Breakfast was free at the Roth Tractor Show in Larned.

This is a 1951 Allis Chalmers CA with an Allis Chalmers combine behind it. It still works too as it was used to cut wheat last year. This was one of many tractors on display at the Roth Tractor Show in Larned Kansas. 

The spring league started last night. Looks like we will have 11 teams of 5 members each. I am on Frank O'Brien's team. As soon as I have the standings I will post them. 

I just couldn't resist taking this shot. 

This is from Boy's head. A deer jumped out in front of us Wednesday night coming home from the trap club.This is why you should always wear your seat belts in Kansas. 

Had a near disaster coming home from the trap club Wednesday. A little deer was on the side of the road and decided to jump out in front of me. I had to hit my brakes so hard Boy's head broke the windshield! Luckily he wasn't hurt and I missed hitting the deer. 

This is Frank O'Brien. He is a FFL and the treasurer of the club. He is also quite knowledgeable of the gun business and of firearms, as are many of the club's members.

This is Larry Skelton. He is one of the club directors. 

This is Mary O'Brien, Frank's wife. She keeps tab on the ammo sold and does a lot of the accounting. Keep up the good work Mary!

This is Dave Osborn. He was the bravest of the group and was
the first to let me take his pic.

History of the Kinsley Gun Club

According to legend, Mr. K.A. Little, of Kinsley traveled to Chicago in the summer of 1901 on business. While there, some friends took him to the local gun club to try the new sport of shooting at clay targets.
When he got home he and twelve friends organized the Kinsley Gun Club on July 5, 1901; to have a place to shoot clays and to "preserve the game resource".
According to club records the charter members were: Lou F. Beal, J.E. Brelsford, Monroe DeTar, J.B. Donnell, Henry J. Draut, A.C. Dyer, Dave L. Heath, S.G. Leonard, Kirby A. Kittle, Al M. Merryman, P.H.Moletor, Wilbur Oliphant, and F.E. Taylor.
Following is a reprint from the July 21, 1901, issue of The Sportsman's Review. (Forerunner to Trap & Field) "A gun club has been organized at Kinsley, Kansas, with the following officers and members: M. DeTar, president; J.L. Brelsford, secretary; S.G. Leonard, treasurer. Members - F.E. Taylor, W.T. Watson, H.J. Draut, Hinkle, L.F. Beal, R.W. Bidwell, D.M. Lewis, A.C. Dyer. The principal object of the club is to protect the game from market gunners."
You will note that some of the names are different. Notably absent from the Sportsman's Review clipping is Mr. Little. According to a history of early Kinsley residents, he moved here in September 1901!
We really know very little about the early days. None of the records except the membership list survived. We were unable to find any account of the founding of the club in local 1901 newspapers. We don't even know the first location of the club, or when it moved to it's second location near the west end of the present football field just west of the present club.
Thanks to Mrs. Gloria Breitenbach; whose father was Fred Brodbeck, we have a newspaper account of a big shoot held at the club in 1923. They awarded $187 worth of merchandise prizes and $65 in GOLD! Mr. Brodbeck was quite a fellow...and a fine shooter...he broke 94x100 at the big shoot in 1923 and was Kansas singles runner-up in 1924. He joined the club in 1915 and served as president.
Mr. Wilbur Oliphant lived north of Offerle and had a rifle and shotgun range on the farm. At the club's 50th anniversary shoot in 1951, he a fellow charter member Henry Draut broke 20 and 21 of 25!
The Later Years
Our Club has always drawn shooters from a wide area. Over the years, there have been trap-shooting clubs at many of the surrounding towns. We know of old clubs as Offerle, Rozel, Larned, Great Bend and others that started, flourished for awhile and then folded, but Kinsley managed to survive. How did that happen?... Probably just a lot of hard work and sacrifices by the members and officers. We know very little of them until after the 2nd World War.
The club moved to it's present location in 1948. We don't know who did the work, but we feel sure that Herb Wetzel, Ted, Joe and Herman Schaller and Clint Little were included. By 1964, when Mr. Little started keeping good records, they were joined by Arthur and Alphons Stiebe, Gilbert Herrmann and many others as officers and hardworking members.
The club was very active in the years after the war and local shooters enjoyed a lot of success in registered game even though no ATA targets were shot at Kinsley. Two local shooters have won the Kansas State Hanidcap, Herbert Wetzel in 1948 and Herman Schaller in 1956. Both men shot scores of 100 straight! In the late 1960's, THE shoot in this area was the Mile-Hi at Denver. Two of our members, Ted Clinesmith and Larry Schmidt won the main handicap and in 1968, five area shooters, all Kinsley members, won about all the awards at that shoot.

The above history is taken from the Kinsley Gun Club web site (www.kinsleygunclub.com). For more photos and to learn more about the club please visit their web site.