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Brazil Votes Today: The Christian Science Monitor provides a recap of
the contending sides in the Brazilian referendum to ban legal sales of
arms and ammunition to its citizens.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1021/p01s03-woam.html
Polls Predict Defeat For Referendum:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17008211%255E1702,00.html
---
Food For Thought In Wisconsin: A reporter, who claims to have no
position on licensed CCW for the state, describes the training course
that he believes would be a model if the current bill passes.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=58862&ntpid=2
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Arizona Reminder: Effective Tuesday, Arizona residents will no longer be
able to carry concealed legally in Arizona with Utah Concealed Firearm
Permits. Out of state holders of Utah CFP's will not be affected, so
long as they are in Arizona "temporarily." At this time, DPS is using
the definition from the Transportation Code, which means that an
individual would have to spend an aggregate of less than seven months a
year in Arizona to be considered "temporary."
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=local&story_id=102205a4_brf_ccw
---
From John Farnam:
16 Oct 05
State Patrol Qualification, from a friend and SP Trooper:
'Yesterday, I went to our range in order to meet with others on our
instructor staff. We were preparing for our upcoming, bi-annual pistol
training and qualification. I had been told that our range masters had
just been to a big meeting and that lots of new, beneficial changes
would be forthcoming. Silly me for allowing myself to believe anything
'good' might come from this incognizant group!
Off to the range we went, with everyone (except me) carrying an empty
gun. That was the first clue! We started with 'speed drills.' Draw
and fire as fast as you can at a ten-inch circle at five meters. I
looked at targets to my right and left. Most hits were not within two
feet of the circle. Many missed the cardboard entirely! The phrase I
kept hearing was, 'Speed to Accuracy.' I was told, 'Just shoot as fast
as you can. Accuracy will come. The most important thing is to get
your rounds off fast!'
Well, accuracy didn't come! Accuracy never arrived for any of them.
When I asked about it, I was told that several of our folks recently
attended a course where this motto is taught. When I asked who put on
this 'course,' everyone suddenly suffered from amnesia.
What consumed most of the day was instructors competing against one
another. On my first bout, I put two hits, dead-center in the circle.
My challenger got off his second round an instant faster than mine, but
he completely missed the circle, by over a foot, with both rounds. The
winner? He was, for being 'faster!' I commented that I was under the
impression that 'winning' had something to do with hitting the target.
'That's old-fashioned,' was the reply.
Of course, during the entire day of 'training,' there was not even
mention of such subjects as movement, use of cover, tactical
communication, reloading, stoppage reduction, patrol rifle, rifle/pistol
transition, et al. It was the ubiquitous 'match mentality' that, as
always, dominated what is supposed to be a day of teaching and learning
life-saving skills.
John, I, for one, and weary one of spending valuable time in the company
of people who have 'display-orientated' personalities (to phrase it
politely). Their shallow superficiality invariably leaks into the
broader context of the event, degrading courses of fire and curriculum.
I ask myself, is any benefit I may glean from this fiasco worth the
revolting moral cost of keeping company with such clueless lightweights?"
Comment: Rubbish like, "speed to accuracy" rears its ugly head every few
years. It lasts only as long as it takes for its promoters to amply
demonstrate that even they themselves can't hit anything, nor can they
train anybody to hit anything! They cling to the political notion,
popular among the current generation of neo-Marxists, that "results" are
unimportant. Only "intent" counts! As long as your intent was "good,"
your miserable failures are forgiven. Clueless lightweights? The terms
hardly does them justice!
/John
(These comments emphasize the danger of excessive emphasis on speed, at
the cost of accuracy. Conversely, I have seen students who were too slow
because they wanted their targets to have the smallest groups on the
range - excessive accuracy, for the circumstances, at the expense of speed.)
22 Oct 05
Feedback from the Front:
We've been working at a large military base all last week, and I had
several discussions with people who are processing and collating
feedback on equipment and training doctrine from the current war zone.
What I find most interesting is:
Current M9 pistol (Beretta 92/F): Dissatisfaction with the M9 is
unanimous. The M9 may end up with the dubious distinction of having the
shortest tenure of any issued pistol in the history of American military
service. We'll see a successor shortly. Issues are:
Caliber: All pistol rounds are poor fight stoppers, but 9mm hardball is
near the bottom of the list, the worst of the worst. If
high-performance bullets are off the table, larger calibers are the only
solution. When pistols are used for close-in protection, 9mm hardball
fails consistently.
Magazines: M9 magazines, supplied by a number of aftermarket vendors,
are, and continue to be, incompetent. Feeding problems abound.
Beretta OEM magazines work well, but they are in the minority.
Admonitions from those up the food chain to "solve" the problem by, for
example: charging magazines with only ten rounds, are seen as trite and
thoughtless by those who are forced to actually use the pistol.
Durability: Keeping M9s running is a problem. Constant breakage of critical
parts keeps a large number sidelined.
Size and shape: The M9 is wide, long, and clunky. Concealment is
difficult. Draw is slow. Grip is too fat for those with small hands.
Operating system: The last thing Marines need on a pistol is a two-stage
decocking lever! Valuable training time that is currently consumed with
teaching students how and when to manually decock could be better spent
teaching them how to draw quickly and hit precisely.
M4: The M4 is popular because it is light, short, and handy, a good
rifle for the confined nature of fighting in built-up places. With anal
maintenance, it works reliably. It may not be the best system in the
world, but it is far from the worst. A conventional, gas-piston rifle
would probably work better and will probably supercede the AR-15 system
some day. The more immediate issue is caliber.
The 223 round has been pushed as far as it can go, and it is still
inadequate, any way one looks at it. With any bullet, from 55gr to
77gr, range and penetration are still unsatisfactory. Bullets may go
500m, but there is nothing there when they arrive. Even at close range,
223 bullets will not penetrate most layered barriers the enemy uses for
cover.
The 223 lacks penetration for combat, and every attempt to remedy that
has fallen short. We're wasting our valuable time trying to make
believe this round can be magically converted into anything but what it
is. We need to stop kidding ourselves. A heavier rifle and caliber are
desperately needed. Infantry rifles need the power to shoot THROUGH
things! When did we forget that essential axiom?
/John
(I thought that the .38 Long Colt revolvers had the shortest tenure in
US military issue - I am open to correction by anyone who cares to check
the dates. As to the .223/5.56mm cartridge, the very characteristics
that make it unsuitable for long-range warfare enhance its utility for
home-defense and urban law enforcement, particularly with the lighter
bullets and slower-twist barrels.)
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
