Brits Take Note of Texas School-Carry Decision: Things just got even
tougher in Texas. The Lone Star state, which prides itself on its macho
Western cowboy image, is now to have the first school district in
America in which teachers can carry concealed guns. The tiny community
of Harrold, in the far north of the state, has recently approved a local
decision that allows its teachers to bring firearms to school to protect
against possible shootings. So when the school re-opens after the long
summer holiday, any of the college's 50 or so staff could bring pistols
to their classrooms. The decision is likely to provoke uproar in other
parts of America and will shock gun control advocates, who argue that
teachers with guns in class actually escalate the chance of a shooting.
(Haven't the Israelis been doing this for years?)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/17/usa1
---
Bear Attacks Have Anchorage Residents on Edge: Even in a city whose logo
is "Big Wild Life," the summer of 2008 is testing residents' tolerance
for large carnivores. The problem is bears, black bears and bigger
grizzlies. So far this summer, three people have been mauled in the
city. Some people say humans are to blame for the confrontations and
insist that no bears should be killed because of the attacks. On the
other side is a growing chorus of people like Devon Rees, who want
something done about the big bruins. "It is pretty much unsafe to walk
around at night," he said... (Alaska is a permit-optional state when it
comes to concealed carry. Short of being a prohibited possessor, there
is no reason not to carry at least a .44 Magnum in Alaskan bear country.)
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g0RCaMzubhWtkoo3Qtwu7FjevU3AD92JH4480
---
Arson Suspected at Home of BATFE Agent: Criminal investigators in Tucson
put up a wall of secrecy last week after a fire that police believe was
intentionally set damaged the home of a federal investigator who has
faced death threats since he infiltrated the Hells Angels motorcycle
club. Dawn Hanke, a Pima County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman,
confirmed that deputies are investigating a blaze at the residence of
Jay Dobyns, who is among the most celebrated agents in the history of
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Hanke said
detectives have not established whether the blaze was set by an
arsonist. She declined to provide additional information...Several years
ago, Dobyns penetrated Hells Angels clubs in Arizona by posing as a
criminal affiliated with another biker gang. The case, known as
Operation Black Biscuit, resulted in numerous indictments but mostly
fell apart in court amid defense allegations of wrongdoing by snitches,
investigators and prosecutors...
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2008/08/17/20080817dobyns0817.html
---
Rule One, Rule Two, Rule Three Reminder: A Sierra Vista radiologist died
after what appears to be an accidental shooting Friday at his home,
police said. Dr. Gary Forsberg, 61, was shot in the upper body when he
and his wife were handling the gun, according to a news release from
Tracy Grady, a Sierra Vista police officer. Beverly Forsberg called 911
to report the shooting, and her husband was pronounced dead shortly
after arriving at the hospital. Police are continuing to investigate the
shooting, and the case will be forwarded to the Cochise County
Attorney's Office, Grady wrote. (The rules:
http://www.spw-duf.info/safety.html)
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/253164
---
14 Survival Skills: Long ago I believed that survival meant having a
pack full of equipment that would allow me to make fire and build
shelter and trap varmints to eat in the wilderness. But then I kept
coming across cases in which someone had survived without any equipment
or had perished while in possession of all the right tools. Obviously
something else was at work here. After more than three decades of
analyzing who lives, who dies, and why, I realized that character,
emotion, personality, styles of thinking, and ways of viewing the world
had more to do with how well people cope with adversity than any type of
equipment or training. Although I still believe that equipment and
training are good to have, most survival writing leaves out the
essential human element in the equation. That's why I've concentrated my
efforts on learning about the hearts and minds of survivors. You can
start developing these tools of survival now. It takes time and
deliberate practice to change. But new research shows that if we adjust
our everyday routines even slightly, we do indeed change. The chemical
makeup of the brain even shifts. To make these lessons useful, you have
to engage in learning long before you need it - it's too late when
you're in the middle of a crisis. Presented here are 14 concepts that
have proved helpful to survivors in extreme situations, as well as to
people trying to meet the challenges of daily life...
http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2008/08/everyday-survival/laurence-gonzales-text
---
From John Farnam:
13 Aug 08
Springfield Armory XD/M
I've been carrying and using an SA/XD in 40S&W for a number of months
now, and I have no complaints. Even with minimal maintenance, I can't
get it not to run, and it effortlessly digests DPX and Gold-Dot, as well
as all varieties of garbage-ammunition I've fed it during Courses. It
is a thirteen-shooter (twelve, plus one), so with a single spare
magazine, I routinely carry twenty-five rounds. I now rank it in the
same league with Glock, SIG, Beretta, S&W, and H&K, and I have no
compunction about carrying it for personal protection.
Now, I have a copy of SA's new XD/M! It is a half-inch longer than my
XD, but all other dimensions are essentially the same. It is smoother
and less cluttered than the XD, and sharp corners and edges have been
essentially eliminated. The slide is no longer blocky. It is now
nicely rounded. The XD/M's slotted rail easily accommodates my
Safariland Rapid-Light and my Surefire Weaponlight.
Other new features include variable grip-geometry. This feature,
pioneered by S&W with their M&P pistol, is extremely popular with chiefs
of police, as the pistol can be instantly "customized" with regard to
hand-size. The XD/M comes with three inserts. I have the smallest of
the three installed on my copy.
Trigger take-up is slightly stiffer than on the XD. Break is the same,
but the XD/M's link is less deep, allowing for a quicker reset.
The most significant improvement, in my opinion, is capacity. The XD/M
is no wider than the XD, and the grip is the same length, but the XD/M
is a seventeen-shooter (sixteen, plus one)! With the pistol and one
spare magazine, I'm now carrying thirty-three rounds of 40S&W/DPX,
rather than twenty-five. That represents a substantial advance!
The XD/M's magazines are slightly wider than the XD's, and the two,
although they look similar, are not interchangeable.
The XD/M comes apart the same way. No dry-fire required.
The XD/M is comfortable, smooth, slick, and high-capacity. SA deserves
a lot of credit for making all these improvements and introducing this
new pistol. I'm now comfortably carrying it concealed in a Comp-Tac
Minotaur Holster. I'll be giving it a thorough workout at a Course in
WA this weekend. More to follow.
/John
(List members and others have asked my opinion of the XD for a few years
now and I had none to share, never having handled one. Recently, a
friend acquired one in .45 ACP, which I had the chance to dry-fire. It
felt fine although the reset did not seem very "precise." John's report
suggests that this feature has been improved in the XD/M version and I
am a big fan of interchangeable back straps or "variable-grip geometry,"
as John calls it. The usual caveat applies - let other people be the
guinea pigs for at least the first year of production of any new firearm.)
14 Aug 08
Second Battle of Adobe Wells, Texas Panhandle, 27 June 1874 (Saturday)
By the 1870s, commercial buffalo hunters were invading Oklahoma and
Texas as once-massive buffalo herds in Kansas and Colorado thinned out.
Buffalo robes continued in high demand in Europe, still in the grip of
the "Mini-Ice-Age."
Area Indians, mostly Comanche, looked upon the arrival of buffalo
hunters in Texas as the beginning of the end of their free-roaming
existence. There had heretofore been scant accommodation between
Comanches and stubborn Texas settlers, and, after countless violent
encounters, there was no chance that any species of "peaceful
co-existence" was possible. Armed conflict was inevitable, unavoidable,
and relentless until one side or the other was defeated decisively.
Sometimes, that is just the way it is!
In 1864, Colonel Kit Carson had led a small contingent into the area and
had fought an inconclusive battle with Comanches at an abandoned trading
post near present-day Borger, TX, called Adobe Wells. That was the
"First Battle of Adobe Wells." Adobe Wells had been an
on-again/off-again commercial settlement since 1845, and Comanche Indian
attacks had been more or less continuous ever since. As a result, the
outpost had been abandoned and resettled numerous times.
Since then, a charismatic Comanche warrior (actually a half-breed),
named Quana Parker ("Parker" was his White mother's maiden name, she
having been captured by Comanche as a child) emerged at a powerful
chief. Like Little Turtle, Pontiac, and Tecumseh before him, Parker
possessed eminent diplomatic acumen, a rare talent among Indians. He
had decided to forcefully oppose further incursions of his territory,
but in an organized way. His persuasive powers, along with those of his
spiritual councilor Isa-tai, insured that Various sub-tribes were all
behind him.
By the 1870s, Adobe Wells was serving as an intermittent rendezvous
point, and supply base, for itinerant buffalo hunters and their
entourages. In the summer of 1874, persistent rumors of yet another
Indian attack had caused most Adobe Wells' residents to flee. On
Saturday, 27 June 1874, there were only twenty-eight occupants, nearly
all of them heavily-armed, hard-bitten, individual hunters, including a
young Bartholomew ("Bat") Masterson and crack-shot, Billy Dixon.
Parker descended upon Adobe Wells at dawn on Saturday with several
hundred mounted warriors. Their sincere intent was to wipe out the post
and massacre everyone in it. The siege lasted four days, but the
heavily-armed buffalo hunters, with plenty of ammunition, held out the
entire first day, inflicting hefty casualties on the Indian force with
their Sharps Buffalo Rifles (50-70, 50-90, 44-77). Because of their
exceptional accuracy, the hunters were able to establish an expansive
"stand-off" zone that Indians were unable to successfully penetrate.
Thus prevented from getting close enough to inflict damage, the Comanche
were slowly defeated in detail. By the end of the second day, due to
critical loss of warriors and horses, the assault was substantially
crippled. By the forth day, with reinforcements arriving at the post, a
dejected and despondent Parker abandoned the siege.
The contingent of beleaguered hunters suffered four fatalities, one the
result of an AD! Indian fatalities probably totaled fewer than
one-hundred, but many more irreplaceable horses were also killed.
The Battle is most famous for a single, long-range shot made by a young
buffalo hunter, named Billy Dixon. Using his Sharps Rifle, probably
fifty-caliber, Dixon fired the shot at a group of Indians on horseback
on a distant hill. The Indians, naively confident they were out of
range, were stationary. The single bullet literally fell from the sky
and struck one of the warriors, knocking him off his horse, probably
fatally injuring him. His comrades were dumbfounded and horrified!
They dragged his body off and withdrew. The range was in excess of
one-thousand meters, and even Dixon himself later admitted it was a
"lucky shot." However, added to the rest of the deadly-accurate fire
nrelentingly emanating from the post, this event broke the spirit of the
attackers.
Three years later, Parker surrendered what remained of his Tribe to the
US Army. The continuing threat to settlers that he represented, ended
forever. However, Parker himself, adopting well to his new
circumstances, became a financially successful "reservation Indian" and,
like Sitting Bull of the Little Big Horn, a successful politician. He
died i of natural causes in 1911.
Bat Masterson would go on to gain notoriety in Kansas as a lawman, and
later, in New York, as a newspaper sports-writer!
Several months after the Second Battle of Adobe Wells, an ever-heroic
Billy Dixon, along with five others, held off yet another Indian attack,
this one at the famous "Buffalo-Wallow," for which he was awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor.
Billy returned to Adobe Wells years later, by then a bustling town, and
settled down, becoming Postmaster and eventually Sheriff. He died in
Oklahoma in 1913.
The foregoing heroic deeds, along with many others from the era, are
mostly forgotten today. It was a wild time indeed, and the dauntless
heroes of that age remind us all today (at least some of us) of our
wondrous warrior heritage, and of the unpredictable course of world history!
Lessons: Accurate rifle fire is absolutely indispensable,
irreplaceable! There is no substitute for it, and, without it, wars
cannot be won. In order to win decisively, enemy soldiers must be
gunned-down, one at a time, by courageous and superlatively competent
marksmen, who are up front, using real rifles. Accomplished and
supremely confident individual riflemen thus represent the cornerstone
of all victorious armies, and always will!
As a civilization, we de-emphasize their importance, and the importance
of the Art of the Rifle, at our peril!
/John
(There is a saying among shooters that the more you practice, the more
lucky shots you will make.)
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
