Bitter, Clingy Gun Owners: I'm a bitter/clingy gun owner - and I'm happy
about it! Obama, the great healer of America, the hope of our nation,
came out last week and whizzed on millions of Christians and firearm
fans calling us bitter Cling-Ons to religion and guns. I, personally,
wasn't insulted because I really like God and my rifles, and I make a
good living off my rage...As the old adage goes: "With guns, we are
citizens. Without them, we are subjects." Therefore, I'll cling to my
gun because I really enjoy being a free bird and truly hate kissing
someone else's backside, but that's just me...
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DougGiles/2008/04/26/bitter,_clingy_gun_owners_of_america?page=full&comments=true
---
New Hampshire Professor Bans Empty Holster: A University of New
Hampshire student who was told by a professor that he could not wear an
empty gun holster in her class as part of a protest responded by posting
the correspondence on the Internet, which earned the professor several
angry e-mail from strangers...Ham, an active National Guardsman who
works at Pease Air National Guard Base, said he told each of his four
professors about the demonstration beforehand and asked to speak briefly
with fellow students to explain what he was doing. All but one granted
his request, while a fourth, sociology teacher Priscilla Reinertsen,
sent him an email that specifically forbade him from wearing a holster.
(Any bets on whether Reinersten considers herself an advocate of
academic freedom?)
http://www.theunionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Gun+rights+protest+puts+heat+on+UNH+prof&articleId=c53b45fb-faed-4dd2-8669-950ec16a481c
---
Oops, Wrong Burglar: A Phoenix homeowner has been arrested after police
determined that he used unjustified force when he shot someone suspected
of an auto burglary during a car chase. Investigators found the force
used by Terrell Andy Moore was not reasonable under the circumstances of
the case to justify a claim of self-defense, police said. Moore, 28,
fired several rounds early Friday in an area containing businesses and
apartments although nobody else was struck, police said. He was booked
into a Maricopa County jail on two counts of aggravated assault and one
count of unlawfully discharging a firearm.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/114895
---
Do As I Say, Not As I Do: Mayor Richard Daley said Saturday Chicago
police officers will he armed with high-powered assault rifles when
they're on the streets fighting gangs and other criminals. "Many times
they're outgunned, to be very frank," Daley said at an event in the
Englewood neighborhood. "When they come to a scene, someone has a semi
fully-automatic weapon and you have a little pistol, uh, good luck." (A
"semi fully-automatic weapon" appears to be a semantic one in Daley's
ongoing battle to disarm honest citizens.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-chicago-police-assault-rifles,0,2104512.story
---
While Down on the Border...: Some U.S. Border Patrol agents along the
Mexican border are packing paintball rifles, but they're not being used
for games. Agents in the patrol's Tucson, San Diego and Yuma sectors
have been armed with guns that launch pepper spray and paintball
projectiles and are trained to fire paintballs when they come under
attack along border fences. Splattering paint on rock throwers at high
velocities is intended to dissuade them and to combat what has become a
sharp increase in the number of rockings and other assaults on agents
along the Mexican border.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/83623.php
---
From John Farnam:
22 Apr 08
Full-auto 1911!
Last weekend, at a Pistol Course we were doing in KS, a student brought
an expensive 1911 pistol from a well-known, custom pistolsmith. These
monstrosities go for between two and three thousand dollars/copy. Its
trigger was between two and three pounds, much too light for a serious gun.
I allowed him to use it, after explaining that, in my opinion, such a
light trigger was unsuitable for a concealed-carry pistol.
It was a mistake! His pistol started doubling. Normally, when that
happens, I let it go the first time, thinking it might just be a quirk.
When it happened for the third time with this pistol (the second time I
was unaware of), I pulled the pistol out of the Course! The student
used a borrowed 1911 for the duration, which ran fine.
I know I keep bringing this subject up, but it is difficult to me to say
enough unkind things about the vast majority of the hyper-expensive,
custom 1911s we see in our Courses! They are, nearly without exception,
tight, temperamental, unreliable, maladroit clunks. For all that
money, one gets a pistol that is a good deal less reliable, and less
practical, than plain-vanilla ones costing a third as much!
Two-pound 1911 triggers are way to light for any down-to-earth purpose.
In addition, they are inherently unsafe, as we can see.
Highly not recommended!
/John
(Many people know that I consider the 1911 to be an obsolescent platform
- most modern pistols have replaced the swinging link with a cam cut and
the internal locking lugs with the Pedder system, in which the entire
barrel hood locks into the ejection port. The 1911 is a great design for
its original purpose but is prone to problems when used as a sow's ear
as the basis to create a silk purse.)
22 Apr 08
Kahr (Auto-Ordinance) M1 Carbine
I finally get the opportunity to wring-out Kahr's M1 Carbine last
weekend. It is hard to beat!
It comes with fixed, flip-up sights, and it is dead on, right out of the
box. It gobbled up several different brands of ammunition, and it was
popular with everyone who shot it.
It is a 100m rifle that is light, short, and easy to carry. My copy is
equipped with a Vickers sling from Blue Force Gear. As a car-gun, it is
second to none.
Whatever start-up problems Kahr may have had with this weapon are no
long gone. For M1Carbine-o-philes, this one is an excellent choice.
Recommended!
/John
(One can only hope that John is correct about Kahr having debugged the
Carbine. Among other attributes, the M1 Carbine is an excellent choice
for the small-statured, so long as it is recognized as being best suited
for distances no longer than a city block.)
22 Apr 08
Developments!
This observation from a friend in the Philippines:
"The.45ACP is a desirable personal-defense, pistol cartridge, and, when
one is limited to hardball, it makes great sense! While we may live in
a 9mm world, dare I say a Glock-9mm world, the .45ACP refuses to die.
For a long while, when one wanted the terminal effect of the 45ACP, only
the 1911 pistol was versatile enough to fit a wide variety of hand sizes
and still provide good usability and handling. We've tried 45ACP
double-columns, SIG P220 and the G21/30, but only those with large hands
can run these pistols well.
Enter the 'new' 45s!
The XD45 looks like a clunk from the outside, but it is sleek where it
counts. The grip is genuinely usable for small handed folks. Durability
has been excellent.
S&W's M&P45 is another slick piece of kit. Grip circumference and
trigger reach can be adjusted to accommodate just about any hand size.
Accuracy and reliability are exceptionally good.
Both the XD and the M&P hold a few more rounds than your standard
single-stack, yet remain concealable and legitimately operational.
Where I live, these new pistols are breathing new life and interest into
the 45ACP cartridge. I am not surprised to see many die-hard 1911 folks
retire their steel pistols and invested in these new handguns."
Comment: Over here, we also see 45-o-philes taking a significant
interest in these pistols. The 1911 will be around for the foreseeable
future, but one can't ignore the genuine advancement these two pistols
represent.
/John
(Without going into a treatise on the concept of "expansion ratio," it
is my opinion that the ballistic advantages of the .45 ACP, when one has
access to hollowpoint loadings, start falling off when barrel length
starts dropping below four inches.)
23 Apr 08
Good advice, from a friend in SA:
"We all teach our students to scan constantly, looking for potential
threats, but also for cover and disengagement/exit routes. At the risk
of contributing to 'scan-overload,' I suggest adding one item, and
dropping another:
To add: When you shoot an attacker, and he subsequently turns into a
body by falling down, his involuntary assumption of the horizontal is
actually excellent therapy for the blood-pressure loss that caused him
to fall down in the first place! We thus need to emphasize to our
students to include in their scan a continuous sweep across the 'body,'
lest the 'body,' unnoticed, becomes reanimated and passionately
re-enters the fray!
To delete: When shooting cardboard targets, students quickly,
unconsciously acquire the habit of lowering their firearm and scanning
the paper target to see where the last round hit. The habit is a poor
one that results in inconsistent, slow shooting. In a real fight, of
course, those nice, neat holes that our student is accustomed to seeing
on paper will be invisible amongst various layers of clothing worn by
the VCA. And, we can expect resultant double-take/hesitation on the
part of our student when what he expected to happen is not happening.
All Operators know to hesitate is to die. Accordingly, we need to teach
our students NOT to scan for bullet holes. Rather, they need to assess,
while moving laterally, behavioral changes on the part of the VCA which
will indicate whether on not additional shooting is necessary. This is
the best strategy for ending the fight quickly and simultaneously
keeping entry wounds out of 'Sunday-School-Johnny's' back!"
Comment: Adding steel targets, such as Safe-Direction's wonderful
"Rotators," to your training program is excellent therapy for the
annoying "shoot-and-gawk" syndrome, described above.
/John
(Unfortunately, in many schools, students are taught to scan while
remaining stationary, in the position on the firing line from which they
have just fired. While this may reduce the risk of students crossing
their fellows with muzzles, it violates the crucial principle of "shoot
and scoot." By use of the "safety circle," students can be taught to
move safely without endangering each other. For those unfamilar with the
concept, it, and the related "navel postion" with the handgun, are
described in my book.)
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
