Stupid Is As Stupid Does: A 22-year-old man was shot and killed by his
friend early Saturday morning as the two men were playing with handguns,
police said. Jason M. Brant was visiting his friend, Courtney L.
Robinson, at his home when Robinson pointed his gun at Brant and pulled
the trigger, said Officer Linda Galindo, a Tucson Police Department
spokeswoman. Robinson was booked into the Pima County jail on one count
of second- degree murder and one count of weapons misconduct... (The
charge of second-degree murder is most likely an attempt to negotiate a
plea to manslaughter. Second-degree murder would be an intentional
homicide without premeditation while, in this case, manslaughter would
be a homicide due to recklessness.)
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/256459
---
The Dog Ate My Weapon: A burglar who broke into a home just east of
Fresno rubbed spices over the body of one of two men as they slept in
their rooms and then used an 8-inch sausage to whack the other man in
the face and head before he ran out the house, Fresno County sheriff's
deputies said Saturday...After the man fled, the victims discovered the
home had been ransacked and that some money was taken, Burrimond said.
Burrimond said the money was recovered, but that the piece of sausage
used in the attack was discarded by the suspect and eaten by a dog.
"That's right, the dog ate the weapon," Burrimond said. "I tell you,
this was one weird case."
http://www.azstarnet.com/news/256442
---
From John Farnam:
31 Aug 08
>From my friend and colleague, Dave Spaulding, as only he can put it:
"I don't know how many times, over my thirty-plus-year LE career, I've
seen some company conjured up 'Karate-in-a-Can,' be it the PR-24,
Handler-12, ASP baton, OC-spray/foam/squirt, and now the Taser. All
were touted as THE answer to our challenges with dangerously violent
suspects.
"No longer would we need hands-on training in genuine fighting with
one's own hands and other body parts, which has now been watered-down to
'Response-to-Resistance' (I'm still not sure how some VCA, who is doing
his level best to throttle the life out of your scrawny neck, can be
accurately referred to as is 'resisting')
"Many administrators, buying into the manufacturers' own promotional
literature, now call for 'minimal-force,' on the assumption, of course,
that all this great stuff is going to work as advertised. In all
fairness, most of the time it does, but...
This caveat: In thirty years of careful observation, the one 'constant'
I observed is that all these gadgets work infinitely better on cops in
training than they ever did on real suspects in the street. All of
which makes me wonder if we, as trainers, were, and are, providing young
cops with (1) too much confidence in gadgets and (2) insufficient
training on what to do when all the machines die!"
Comment: "Smooth seas do not good sailors make!"
/John
(Food for thought - Cops wear duty belts with room for all this stuff,
albeit at the increased risk of back injuries. For the private citizen
it becomes a dilemma whether to devote limited space to less-lethal
weaponry or an additional handgun. Even handguns are not 100% effective.)
1 Sept 08
SIG 556 "Classic"
Friends at SIG tell me their existing 556 rifle, of which I have a copy,
will be upgraded over the next few months to what amounts to the
original 550/551 (with its wonderful iron sights and equally wonderful
folding-stock) that accepts M-16 magazines. This is a great move on
SIG's part, and I hope to be able to handle a copy at the 2009 SHOT
show. This new version will be dubbed the "Classic" 556.
As I've diplomatically pointed out, iron sights on the current 556 are a
joke, which is not a problem, as the full-length rail permits me to
replace them with LaRue's sights, that I have on most of the rest of my
rifles. The 556's ambidextrous, manual safety is also easily corrected.
I still like my current copy of the 556, as I've indicated. With a few
modifications, as noted in above, it is a purposeful, serious rifle, and
I intend to hang onto it. But, the "Classic" version will be even better!
/John
(I have seen but not handled or fired the original SIG semi-auto 5.56mm
rifle. I don't know if I would agree with John about the ambidextrous
safety - I don't agree with his dislike of ambidextrous safeties on
handguns. People drooled over the SIG rifle during the then-year period
in which it was banned for private purchase in the US. For those who
have the loose cash and like to invest in tangible assets, this might be
a good investment before the Democrats further "protect the right of gun
owners and sportsmen.")
1 Sept 08
Serving two masters? This from a friend and instructor in PA:
"I attended Practical Rifle Match last weekend. It was well
put-together, with reasonable challenges between twenty and
three-hundred meters. Movement over rocky terrain was involved, and
various demanding shooting emplacements added to the requirement for
exigent problem-solving acumen on the part of all.
"Shooters showed up mostly with AR-15, but Kalashnikovs were also well
represented, along with FALs, Garands, M1-As, XCRs, and even M1
Carbines. Lots of Aimpoints, EOTechs, and iron-sights. Some rifles
were equipped with ill-chosen, bulky, high-magnification scopes, which
were, without fail, precariously mounted. Nearly all came loose, and
some fell off. In this forum, they were all but useless anyway, as
their owners discovered, to their chagrin.
"I saw two classes of participants. (1) Gamesmen, and (2) Operators.
"I am an Operator, but I was squadded with a group of the first
category. They were mostly capable marksmen, but high-strung and
paranoid! Their weapons were all tight, temperamental, impractical,
prima-donnas! I witnessed one stoppage after another, including
numerous auto-ejecting magazines. Several, in order to gain some
imaginary advantage, were using forty-round magazines, which made
shooting from prone all but impossible. These were the same people
whose rifles were equipped with high-magnification optics mentioned above.
"From the beginning, and to a man, they whined and sniveled incessantly
over scoring and rules, to the point of extreme annoyance. They made
progressively distasteful company.
"I was there to exercise my serious rifle skills and learn new things
from other shooters. My "score" was of only casual/pedantic interest.
Conversely, gamesmen in my group cared about their individual scores (in
excruciating detail), and absolutely nothing else!
"We were all there for our own reasons, I suppose, but the experience
reinforced in my mind the impregnable divide between Operators and
gamesman, between people who have weapons, and those who have toys!"
Comment: I know this is a touchy subject, but my friend nailed it! I
know few people who can serve two masters and do justice to both, and I
wish they wouldn't try! I know I can't.
"Choose your seat, and sit down!"
/John
(John and his associates tend to capitalize words such as "Operator." I
regard myself as an operator, with a small "o." I probably spend more
time and thought on these issues than at least 80% of the list members
yet I would hope that most list members would regard themselves
similarly. Over the years, several list members have commented that they
do not consider it realistic for most Americans who arm themselves for
self-defense to view themselves as "Operators" or "Warriors." Either
way, there is still a difference between those of us who are serious
about safeguarding our well being and what Mr. Obama calls "sportsmen,"
whether the "sport" involves taking game or hitting paper, cardboard,
clay or metal targets. The comments about "gamesmen" ring true to me.)
6 Sept 08
Lessons from our Warrior ancestors:
"For the uncontrolled, there is no wisdom, nor for the uncontrolled is
there the power of concentration, and for him without concentration,
there can be no peace; and, for the unpeaceful, how can there be happiness?"
- Bhagvad Gita
In Japanese, the word "do" means "the Way." Budo is thus "the Way of
the Warrior." It embraces attitudes, beliefs, character, and the heart
of what we call an "Operator," and it was acutely necessary in feudal
Japan, where life was a strenuous challenge and, for the unprepared,
ended abruptly! In the intervening twelve-hundred years, the world has
changed a good deal less than the naive among us have deluded themselves
into believing!
Risk is inherent to all human activity. Oh, how we try to factor out
all the unknowns before making decisions! But, in the end, we are
compelled to confront the fact that nothing, not even tomorrow, is
guaranteed. The essence of life is not to avoid risk, but rather to
maximize opportunity. And, where do the richest opportunities lie?
Exactly where risks are greatest! Who vainly peruse the illusion of
"safety," squander their lives.
While the mind dithers, the body dawdles. We die in the gaps!
Don't keep asking, "Why?" Instead, say, "Why not?" Go forward boldly,
never looking back!
"The fields of history are littered with the silent bones of those who,
at the dawn of victory, paused to rest, and resting, died."
- Hwrang Do aphorism
/John
(See my prior comment. If this stuff works for you, use it. If it does
not, regard it as potentially useful for the 1% who qualify as
"Warriors." With approximately 560 people on the list, that could be as
many as half a dozen recipients.)
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
