Gun-Banning Hypocrites: Among famous prohibitionists who have concealed-weapon permits are Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Diane Feinstein (D-CA). (Kouri is mistaken when he says that most states prohibit private citizens from carrying concealed firearms. There are two states with no permit requirement, 35 that are shall-issue and nine that are discretionary-issue, including New York and California.) http://mensnewsdaily.com/blog/kouri/2005/09/second-amendment-hypocrites-senators.html --- L.A. Times On The GRPC: The Los Angeles Times provides a fairly innocuous mention of the Gun Rights Policy Conference being held in that city this weekend. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-guns25sep25,1,3643513.story?coll=la-headlines-california --- Strange Incident In Tucson: After an incident of domestic violence, a Tucson man broke into two homes, then eventually committed suicide-by-cop. There are two lessons to be learned from this account: Suicidal people can still be violent toward others and keeping a firearm in the home is no good for protection if it's not readily accessible (i.e., on your person). http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/news/94916.php --- Warning Shots Deadly To University Police Officer: Details are still a bit sketchy but it appears that an undercover University of Central Florida police officer was fatally shot by an Orlando police officer after the former fired some warning shots into the air to break up an altercation in the parking lot of the Florida Citrus Bowl. http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20050925-9999-1s25briefs.html http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-scene2505sep25,0,3671318.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-orange --- Not Completely New Information But...: Article from England about US military use of Israeli ammunition (old news) raises an interesting question: When a ratio is calculated for the number of rounds fired to inflict a single casualty, are training rounds being counted? The growing ratio, in America's wars, was reputedly part of the rationale for the switch to the M16, which allowed a soldier to carry more rounds than the M14, which used a larger, heavier cartridge. (Note that this article speaks of rounds fired for each rebel killed. Earlier studies have looked at casualties, which include wounded.) http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article314944.ece --- Responsible Gun Ownership Backed in Philippines: A city councilor is sponsoring a shooting match, calling for the government to deputize responsible gun owners in emergencies, and for journalists to be licensed to carry firearms. (Filipino journalists are often targeted when their reports expose corruption.) http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pam/2005/09/25/news/dad.backs.arming.journalists.html --- Off Topic: This is not about firearms but has bearing on some of the material from John Farnam about recent natural disasters. We should view them as incentives to prepare for major terror attacks. http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=4846 --- Off Topic: This is relevant only because we all use the internet. The National Security Agency has received a patent on a process designed to physically locate internet users. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46501 --- From John Farnam: 19 Sept 05 On training Accidents, from a friend in Nuclear Security: "We have the same fear-mongering attitude here. It drives everything 'management' wants us to do. We are supposed to maintain our pistols, but neither opportunity nor facilities are provided, and we are not allowed to take them home and clean them there. Thus, no maintenance is ever preformed. Even rifles carried by 'tactical responders' are always unloaded with no magazine inserted. Magazines are kept in a zippered bag, which is never opened, and magazines are seldom checked to see if they are fully charged. Signs glibly listing Four Basic Rules of firearms safety are posted everywhere. They are nearly as ubiquitous as 'clearing barrels.' If spite of all our anal, fear-induced 'safety procedures,' last night I watched one officer inadvertently point his rifle at a shift supervisor and a radio operator, all in one, smooth, fluid motion. He was, of course, oblivious, because all guns here are always 'unloaded.' So, instead of developing confident, competent, independent operators, we have careless, naive, neglectful oafs who 'feel good' about themselves. But, few of them will stand and fight, because, deep inside, they know the truth. They know, as does management, they have no real skills. It's all just 'let's pretend.' Thus, we will continue to have gun accidents here, and, in a real emergency, most armed guards will panic and run when the first shot is fired. Every time there is a gun accident, management first does a Curly, Moe, and Larry imitation, then scurries for cover, then finally admits they are completely 'mystified.' Nothing changes, and we go back to where we ere. Management's reply to us is that our concerns are 'overstated.'" Comment: Loosely translated: "We don't care. We don't have to." /John (This is very reassuring as I live in the state with the nation's largest nuclear power plant. However, I cannot say that it shocked me to read it, having worked with a couple of nuclear-plant security officers in Tactical Shooting Instructor Development School a few years ago.) 19 Sept 05 Gun Handling Story, from a student: "After a day at the range, I took my G32 out of its holster in order to unload it, so it could be cleaned. My backup pistol, of course, remained in its holster and fully loaded. Holding the G32 in my master grip, I turned the gun ejection port down and pulled the magazine out of the gun. I then racked the slide backwards and let it go, then locked it to the rear. A single, live round dropped out from the magazine well. I guessed it was the one from the chamber. I was wrong! Adhering to procedure, I then checked the magazine well, bolt face, and chamber with my little finger. It was then that I felt another live round, this one still in the chamber! Apparently as I pulled the magazine out, the top round came loose and fell out into the magazine well. As I subsequently racked the slide back, the extractor evidently failed to pull out the round that was actually chambered. Fortunately, there is sufficient redundancy built into our unloading procedure, including tactile verification, that, even with this unrepresentative sequence of events, I still didn't endure the embarrassment of firing a round into my Safe Direction Bag while inside my condo! As gun carriers, we handle weapons a lot. If the chances of an unforeseen circumstance, such as described above, are only one in a thousand, we are going to run into that event within a single year or two! Manual verification of a 'cleared' weapon is thus a must, and I'm glad that this has been hammered into me." Comment: Here we have the real crux: the gunfighter whom you will become during a true "reckoning" is probably not the person with whom you are most familiar. He is instead a developing entity within your primitive brain. All your training is solely in building up this inner, evolving warrior. Correspondingly, anything you do to undermine him will come back to cost you when the true test comes, and the true "test" may not be a fight. It may be an accident avoided when doing something as simple and routine as unloading a pistol you've carried around all day! /John (John and his student make a good point about redundancy in safety procedures. However, I do not understand the value of turning the ejection port down to remove the magazine; in fact, I wonder if this might not require a third hand. I counsel my students to turn the pistol upside down when racking the slide, as this shortens the path for a round that failed to fire or a case that failed to eject to fall free of the pistol, and, if you always follow the same procedure, you'll gain this advantage if you have to clear a stoppage in an emergency.) 20 Sept 05 With the full extent of the damage inflicted upon New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina just now becoming evident, and Hurricane Rita promising something similar for the Texas Coast, my friends in the retail gun business tell me sales of guns and ammunition, particularly serious rifles and pistols, is brisk indeed! The promise that government, at any level, will provide people with meaningful protection is now seen as a hollow myth by an ever-more-nervous American citizenry. The Second Amendment is finally emerging in the minds of Americans as something vastly more important than what it has been in the idyllic past, ie: merely a disconnected topic of casual conversation. Wherever you live, "ANARCHY" IS ONLY SEVEN MISSED MEALS AWAY! /John 20 Sept 05 Excellent comments from one of our instructors: "There is always more than one perspective. Once the amoral get past the superficial and obvious social implications of anarchy, they apply the excellent Chinese proverb, "In confusion, there is opportunity." That's all looters do. They are just amoral opportunists, albeit low-class ones. Those of us who are a little more moral and a lot smarter and who live (comfortably) to a ripe old age, plan in advance. We solve problems before they become problems. Thus, people who have waited until the wind started to blow to buy guns and ammunition are a late into the game. Besides, they are thinking defensively, and we know that never works." Comment: As Werner Herzog said, "'Civilization'" is a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness." /John 21 Sept 05 Interesting comment from a student who is a labor lawyer: "Workman comp laws in almost all states make it far less expensive for employers to simply 'pay off' the family of a murdered employee than risk liability and litigation costs to third-party plaintiffs. This is why Seven-Eleven won't allow employees to be armed on their premises. If an armed-robbery suspect is injured by a Seven-Eleven employee, liability exposure to the employer is vastly higher than if the employee is simply murdered by the VCA. They'll never discuss it publicly, but the state, with the all-too-willing cooperation of most employers, has inadvertently declared all employees 'expendable!'" /John 22 Sept 05 >From a psychologist and student, on the subject of preparedness: "'Innocence' is usually used in the same sentence with words like 'harmless' and 'helpless.' Innocence implies blissful ignorance, unpreparedness, and denial. Innocence, in an adult, is crystallized self-indulgence! Innocence may be trendy, and it is certainly government-approved, but the price of innocence is sudden death! For its victims, calamity seeks the unprepared, particularly those in denial. Denial slows the OODA loop to the point where any kind of rapid, effective response is unlikely. On the other hand, personal preparedness, including planning, equipping, and training yourself to effectively cope with any threat, requires a bona fide commitment. It is the physical manifestation of the doctrine personal responsibility. It requires one to give up his belief in Santa Claus, repent of his infantile 'innocence,' and start thinking of himself as 'dangerous' and, yes, even 'harmful.' For example, when you carry a pistol, be sure you can work the gun and make it hit where necessary in order to quickly stop a fight. You and your pistol can be effective out to twenty meters. The pistol IS designed to do this, but you have to practice with it to the point where you are convinced you can do it, on demand, not just on a balmy, sunny afternoon at the range, but in a cold, muddy ditch, at night, in the rain! Don't, on a whim, decide to take an untested pistol out on the street! Think it through. Make sure you are genuinely prepared, 'dangerous' if you will. Be ready. Yes, be 'harmful.' It will save your life!" Comment: Well said, my friend! /John (The OODA loop is the combat sequence of Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act, as developed by USAF ace John Boyd.) 23 Sept 05 >From a friend on duty on the Gulf Coast: "Just got back from eight days in New Orleans providing police support. I carried an MP-5 (ready to go, of course), my duty SIG2340, and my G27 backup in an ankle holster. National Guardsmen, to my horror, were issued only ten rounds each for their M16A2s (no matter how many magazines they had) and were under standing orders not to chamber even one of them unless 'threatened!' They asked me to go with them, since they knew all my weapons were hot. I persuaded some of them to ignore such a stupid order and load their rifles and keep them that way. None had pistols. Few even had blades." Comment: Once again, senior "management" knows weapons training provided to these NG troopers is poor. They don't trust their own training, and they don't trust the men themselves. Like 7/11 clerks, they're cannon fodder! And these guys are supposed to be ready for real war? /John -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .