Garand

About 20 years ago I bought a Garand at a gun show.  I already had a .30-40 Krag and a 1903A3 Springfield rifle (supposedly "Match Quality"), so I thought I ought to bring myself up to World War II in my collection of military rifles.

I ordered a couple of boxes (40 rounds) of 150-grain .30-06 for the Garand.   Couldn't find any 165-grain ought-six, so I'll try this stuff out and see how well it functions in the M1.

I'm aware that the Garand really likes what it likes, and poops all over itself if it gets fodder it doesn't like (such as very hot loads, which hammer the whatchamaycallit thingie ... if you know what I mean, you don't care if I use the right terminology. )

 (What you DO care about is whether I refer to the M1 as a "gerAND" or a "GARund".   I pronounce it as it's spelled; so there!)  

SN 3568***

If I'm reading the chart right, the gun was built by Springfield Armory in October of 1944.  The gun is older than I am; and that's saying something.

I had originally wanted to buy an M14 (the civilian version, not the select-fire), but the price was out of my league; and the Garand is a by-Gawd real .30-06 instead of that wimpy .308 version.    Except that I liked the magazine feed of the M14, and I had trained on them in Basic back in 1968 at Fort Lewis.   (And fired a few rounds through the select-fire version in The Land Of Bad Things the following year.   CF: the story about The Chief, earlier this month.)

So I need to get some range time in with that rifle, now that I've found some ammo which will probably function reliably and will probably not damage the gun.

Anybody who knows more about Garands than I do, you're invited to let me know if I've made an error in judgement.  I really like the Garand; I just haven't fired more than a dozen rounds through it.  I have ten clips, which I also bought on the cheap at a gun show.

I even got the oiler kit, the web sling and the canvas gun case that goes with it.

I'm all set for an interesting day at the range.  I've not fired a rifle on the Main Range at my gun club for several years, so I've been reading the new 'terms of use' (safety and etiquette).   It gets kind of complicated.   I like trying new things ... or perhaps better called "old things that are new to me", so I have something to look forward to.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

"Practice!  Practice!   Practice!"

I've elevated my P3AT to my primary EDC because I don't like the difficulty of concealing a big chunk of iron.

Which means, of course, that I need to start practicing with the poodle-shooter.

What to do ... what to do ...  what to do?  

Bright idea ... I bought a case of .380 from Ammoman (Hi, Eric) and when it comes I'll be spending an extra hour every week working with the "minigun".

It's important that I know the little guy works with the kind of ammunition I expect to run in it.  I tried the cheapest practice ammo I could find a couple of years ago, and it fed like a ... well, like a well-oiled machine.

But then I tried some relatively expensive "defensive" ammunition ... and the little mutt didn't like it at all!   It acted as if the OAL was wrong (either too long or too short) and I had to manually feed the gun at least once in every magazine.   Or it just doesn't like hollow-point ammunition, I don't know.

So forget that!

I'll take the cheap stuff, if it feeds.

Into Thin Air .... almost

From Flipboard:

Czech rally car driver Tomasz Kasperczyk tested the limits of a guardrail in a terrifying accident during the first stage of the FIA European Rally Championship’s Rally Islas Canarias on Friday. In the clip, Kasperczyk can be seen driving his Ford Fiesta along a winding road conveniently located ...

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Why You Really Should Get A .22lr Handgun

Why You Really Should Get A .22lr Handgun:

There may be no more pleasing pistol to shoot than a .22 handgun. The shooting is easy and the ammunition is cheap…if you can find any. There may be no better tool in learning or sharpening shooting skill.

I agree, and I sincerely regret that I have allowed both of my .22 handguns to go by the way (I sold them for less than they were worth!) because I didn't realize how much I would miss them when they were gone.

But I have other options, and I thought I was cool with it until I decided to invite neighbors out for range days.

Example: I have neighbors who I value (actually, my landlord and his wife) and I have brought them to the range at my local club once ... and I'm in the process of bringing them back again.

SHE is not happy because the ear muffs are too tight and they made her feel uncomfortable>  I have no solution other than to provide her with ear spikes ( the inner-ear style of noise reduction technology).

HE doesn't seem to care .. give him a gun, drop a ton of ammo on the counter ... he'll keep shooting until he had no more reloads, and then he'll ask for more.  *(my kind of guy.)*

Um ... I could get to like this guy.  He has a proper appreciation for the availability of ammunition.

She?  I have no idea what I can do to find her fitting earmuffs that won't clamp too tightly around her head.  Any suggestions which are not "off the cuff" would be appreciated.  I think the problem is that the spring steel binders (for lack of a better word) are generally designed for people who are less sensitive to whatever it is that presses the ear protectors against your head.  I'm about to suggest inner-ear plugs, but those are even more uncomfortable for most people.

Anybody have any idea about hearing protection which is .. umm .. "less something that makes you feel like your ears are glued to  your head"?

Why do gun control advocates seem like bottom-feeders after mass shootings?

Why do gun purchases spike after mass shootings? - CNN.com:

Nicole Hockley lost her 6-year-old son, Dylan, in the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. On the day of Dylan's memorial, the National Rifle Association issued a statement about the shooting that left 26 dead, mostly children. 

"The Only Thing That Stops A Bad Guy With A Gun, Is A Good Guy With a Gun!"


Don't buy it:  Read on.


The Rash.

People keep dying, and gun control advocates keep bottom-feeding on the worst of murders.  So why do the anti-gun organizations (all of which are tax-free foundations) keep making the most vocal declarations based on tragedy?

Because this is where the money is.

EVERYBODY denigrates the National Rifle Association (NRA), a self-declared political nosebleed organization which unabashedly survives because of its PACs in support of the right to keep and bear arms ..  but nobody talks about the anti-gunner Political Activity Committees which similarly live to provide fodder for it's anti-Second Amendment constituents.


 "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," said the association's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre.

That statement is widely poo-pooed by the Democratic community, but so far nobody has actually found a rhetoric which disproves the polemic.

And the sad fact is ... the Bad Guys With Guns community have nobody who can stop their horrific massacres ... not police, not FBI, not the Army,'

In the ultimate event, nobody stops the Bad Guy With A Gun except for the quiet private citizen who happens to be on the scene, has a gun, and perhaps had the nerve to pull the trigger on the Bad Guy to a well-deserved everlasting hell.

Although that's not always necessary, as we shall see.

We don't see it very often, but we see it often enough to quietly whisper:

 "I'm so glad he was there".

Admit it.  You said it to yourself, when "The Bad Guy With A Gun" was rampaging his way through a Thursday afternoon shopping mall, and the $6-an-hour mall guards were not to be seen, and the cops couldn't get there in time to stop the shooting, and this one little mouse guy just .... stopped it.

Right there.

It doesn't  happen often.  Not as often as we would wish.  But even once is enough.

Enough to let a mother go home to her kids, and hug them, and tell them "I'm all right".

Enough to let a clerk in an aromatherapy store go home to tell his own kids ... "I'm all right".

Hugs are important, and when you stop to consider that value, think about the clerks and jerks who don't  get to go home and tell their children .... "I'm all right"; often it's due to the presence of a Good Guy with A Gun.

..

Clackamas Town Center in December, 2012, Nick Meli pulled his pistol and set his sights on the shooter ... but did not pull the trigger because there were "too many people" in the area, and he was loath to fire downrange, at the risk of hitting an innocent with his fire.

No matter, the shooter saw that he was being aggressively engaged by an armed citizen, and rather than be shot by another he committed suicide by gun ... thus ending the massacre.

After action, Meli declined to exaggerate his role in ending the siege, only saying that he "didn't shoot", but did point his legal concealed carry pistol at the Active Shooter.

That was enough to end the fire.  The Bad Guy With A Gun shot himself rather than to face the fire of a Good Guy With A Gun ... whether out of remorse or determination, nobody knows.

No further shots were fired; it was sufficient that the Good Guy with A Gun was present, and actively engaged in the exchange.

So, Silly ass Liberal Commentators ... comment on that.

A good guy with a gun CAN prevail on a bad guy with a gun.

Nick Meli is just one example of what a responsible Concealed Carry person can do to make his community stronger than it was ... yesterday.

You don't even have to scare the children;sometimes you just have to be there, and be bold enough to be willing to do the very difficult job.

The good news is that you ARE powerless! (Just so you understand that)

Why do gun purchases spike after mass shootings? - CNN.com:

(CNN)Nicole Hockley lost her 6-year-old son, Dylan, in the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. On the day of Dylan's memorial, the National Rifle Association issued a statement about the shooting that left 26 dead, mostly children. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," said the association's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre.
 Hockley said LaPierre's comments come from the "false rhetoric" that often follows mass shootings. "How do you recognize who the good guys are?" she asked. "How does arming ourselves with more weaponry make us a safer society?"

Dear Nicole;

There is no way to ensure that we have a "safe society".
As long as bad men are bad, and as long as nobody opposes them in their determination to Be Bad ... your people and my people will be victims to their villainy.

You may feel powerless.  You have family at risk (and had family at risk) and you never realized that there was nobody ... nobody in the world who could protect your innocent against men who are determined to do evil to your children.

Here's the Bad news; you ARE without power.

The good news is ... oh.  There is no "good news". As long as you do not find someone to project power in defense of the people you love, you will never have power.

But I will tell you how to recognize who "the good guys are".

They're the people who not only want to keep your children from being murdered, but they are willing  to put THEIR lives on the line to protect them.

Simplistic?  Yes.

Does it help you to feel better?  No, it does not.

There must be someone, some group of people who are willing to put their lives on the line to protect the people you love.

I don't know how to help you identify these people.  I'm sure they 're out there, but you may not be prepared to meet them.''

You will assuredly not find protections from your Liberal friends; they think that your best bet is not to challenge an armed person to help you protect your family.

Why do gun purchases spike after mass shootings? *What better time?*

Why do gun purchases spike after mass shootings? - CNN.com:

Now a voice for gun violence prevention through her organization, Sandy Hook Promise, Hockley said that the families of mass shooting victims have responded very differently. "I don't think I've ever had a family who's lost someone (in a mass shooting) ... say, 'we need to have more guns available so that we can protect ourselves,' " she said

Thank you for the invitation.  Allow me to introduce myself:  I think we need more guns.  Because they may possibly stop murderers.

In 1988, my wife and her mother were murdered in my home.  The killer was my step-son .. my wife's son by her former husband.   After almost 30 years, I still can't get it out of my mind.

He walked into my home while I was at work, pulled a Dan Wesson .44 Magnum Revolver, and shot my wife (his mother) in the head.  Her brains were scattered over the cedar panelling wall above the fireplace which we had so lovingly rebuilt.

Her mother, my mother-in-law, was in the kitchen washing dishes at the time.  When she heard the shots, she dived for the back door ... but it was locked, so she turned and ran down the stairs to the basement;

dead end.

Literally.

She didn't get halfway down the stairs until her grandson ... "Chad" caught up with her and shot her through the back of her head with his pistol.

She crumpled at the foot of the stairs, quite dead.

I think I can make a case that I have had a family murdered by firearms.

My stepdaughters came home from school, found the bodies there,  went to the next door neighbors, and eventually the eldest phoned me at work from my next-door neighbor's house::

"Daddy, come home ... Mommy is dead!" she said.

My wife's SON ... my mother-in law's GRANDSON, murdered them both  for no better reason than that he could.

So, if I carry a pistol in my pocket at home, when there is no better reason than that  "I Should" ... don't call me paranoid.   Just because I'm paranoid, that doesn't mean that someone wants to kill me.

He gets out of Prison in a few years, with "good behavior": , and who knows who friends he may have made and who are willing to kill me as the last surviving adult member of the family.

There IS someone out there, who wants to kill me.
 I testified at his trial.   He probably has "friends". from prison.


I've said  this before: I'll say it again, every year..

I'll carry to my dying day, and I don't much care who thinks I'm paranoid.

Oh, yes; there were guns in the home, locked in the closet, and everyone knew where they were, when my wife and her mother were murdered with a Dan Wesson .44 Magnum.

They didn't do any good for the people who didn't know they had to defend themselves against a loved Family Member.

Who can you trust?
Nobody.

Oregon Senate passes gun-control bill

Oregon Senate passes gun-control bill – KOBI-TV NBC5 / KOTI-TV NBC2: \\SALEM, Ore. – A bill that would prohibit certain individuals from owning “deadly weapons” passed through the Oregon Senate Monday. Senate Bill 719 passed with a 17-11 vote and will head to the House of Representatives for a first reading. Supporters say the law will get guns out of the hands of people who could hurt themselves or others, but pro-gun groups say it violates constitutional rights. 

Um  .. yes.  It will definitely allow the State to confiscate guns from otherwise law-abiding owners.

It will also allow disenfranchised family members to wreck their wrath on gun owners that they do not like.

It's difficult to imagine any proposed law which would be more likely to provide a disservice to the public, but the Democratic Senators in Oregon have exceeded all expectations.

This "bill" (soon to become "this law", I have no doubt), serves no purpose but to enfranchise mean people to screw family members that they don't like.

It would/will allow anti-gun politicians to step aside with clean skirts, while they watch families break apart under the guise of law.

The purpose here is to remove firearms from the possession of otherwise law-abiding citizens; it serves the purpose of only those who have no faith in the Second Amendment, to pursue their anti-constitutional agenda while teasing one's own family to act as the agent of The State.

Or at least, unpaid agents provocateur of the politicians who do not like the Second Amendment.

People who love the Constitution will soon discover that this bill, if/when enacted, is the tool for revenge and retribution, serving the purpose only of the disaffected family members with a serious bone to pick.

It does not serve any Constitutional purpose; it does not provide for the Public Safety.

Instead, it enlists the aid of families who feel anger, and gives them a tool by which they can express their ire.  They do not need to define the reason why they think their cousin should be denied his/her Constitutional Rights.

In stead, it provides a safe and easy tool to "take down" someone they just ... don't ... like.

In a perfect community we would embrace the various means of expression which the Constitution offers.  Instead, in this imperfect community, our own elected representatives have proposed this evil bill which will put one cousin against another, and undermine the rights of one with no need for justification on the part of the other.

We all know sick families; it's no less sick when our elected representatives take advantage of this familial dissatisfaction to further their presonal political agenda.

I had thought that politicians could not possibly sink lower on the scale of humanity.

Well, I guess I was wrong.

The OTHER "other Reason to Carry a Spare Magazine": Malfunctions

The OTHER Reason to Carry a Spare Magazine | Jerking the Trigger:

The OTHER Reason to Carry a Spare Magazine by Matt on May 3, 2017 in EDC “If you need more than X rounds, you shouldn’t be there in the first place!” “If you can’t solve the problem with X rounds, you shouldn’t be carrying a gun!” “What do you need all that ammunition for?”

I started competing in IPSC match in 1983 ... which is perhaps earlier than some readers may have been born.

I had crappy equipment:

• a 1911 army surplus pistol (not a 1911A1 .. it was built in 1918, according to the serial number).
• Army Surplus ammunition'
• Army Surplus holster
• Army Surplus magazines
• Army Surplus ... well, everything was Army Surplus; even the shooter.  (ME!)

The first thing I learned was that the way to be competitive was not to be a good shooter, but to have good, reliable equipment.

Good gun, good holster, good magazines, good ammunition.

I bought a good gun ... a brand new Kimber 1911 in.45 ACP   for under $300.  (I should have bought two of them, but The Beloved Kimber is still my "go to" gun for many applications; I still use in competition even though I've run over 30,000 rounds through it.   I had the trigger assembly replaced) last year, because the yoke broke.)   I understand that many people consider the Kimber to be no better than "entry level" equipment.

As long as I did the maintenance, and replaced parts as they became worn, it works for me.  

When I didn't perform the maintenance, it failed me; with catastrophic (thankfully, only competitively) results 

I bought good magazines. 

 I put a Smith & Alexander arched mainspring housing in the pistol, because I have big hands. 

 I bought several magazine carriers which I didn't have to "unsnap" to reload.

Holster .. one which was cut-away so the pistol was always presented in a good 'quick draw' profile, but retained the pistol under the worst conditions.

 I bought a heavy belt which would support the weight of the loaded magazines

I learned to replace the magazine springs, also the recoil spring, on a regular basis. Mainspring .. not so often.

Why did I do all this stuff?  Because I was getting HEAVY usage out of the gun and it's accouterments, and I learned the hard way that if you don't do maintenance, and keep your equipment fresh, a gun that won't function is just a club; and it's too damned short to go you any good.

And I bought a LOT of magazines, and bought magazine springs by the dozens.

Now, you may not be impressed by the way that Competition drove my drive to 100% reliability, but the lessons learned in Competition transfer smoothly to Self Defense.

A gun that doesn't work 100% of the time is a short club.
Ammunition which doesn't feed reliably is suicide.
Magazines with weak springs are suicide.
A gun that jams during a magazine change is suicide.
Your personal inability to perform a magazine change quickly, smoothly and reliably is suicide.

You unwillingness to use your defense gun on a regular basis (at least once a month .. preferably more often) may not be suicide; but if you care enough to consider personal defense a priority, don't you care enough to practice the skills you need?

FIND A TESTING PROTOCOL AND MILK IT:

I just made a date with my neighbor and his wife to go shooting at my local club.  They're not "shooters", but they enjoy a trip to the range to shoot my gun and my ammunition.   We've done this every couple of years, and it's something which all of us enjoy.

I don't make them pay for the ammunition.  I figure, if they can make the guns work every time, all the time, they the guns will probably work for me.

My landlord's wife is a charming lady and very very small.  She has a hard time gripping the gun hard enough to make it work.  I've got a P3AT which needs to be tested by her, so I can be sure that (weighing 100 pounds more, and 19" taller) it will work for me, too.

Wall Street Bails On Guns

Investors Target Gun Stocks as Instant Background Checks Drop - TheStreet:

U.S. gun stocks came under fire on Monday after the latest National Instant Criminal Background Check System data from the for handgun background checks showed that almost 400,000 fewer checks run in April than in March. 

The "Market" likes a stock when it seems volatile; it doesn't like a stock that seems humdrum.

What's good for America isn't always good for Wall Street.

Fewer NICS check indicate a declining market to stock brokers;

Fewer background checks = fewer sales = falling market.

"Call my broker!  SELL S&W" they cry

The investors are looking at the numbers, and ignoring the culture.  Guns aren't Pork Shares.

The BULLS love it, because that means they can buy stocks while the price is low, and then sell high when the crisis is over

The BEARS love it, because they can buy futures while the price is low and then sell high when the crisis is over.

Oh!

Or is it the other way around?

I admit, I don't understand The Stock Market.   But it's either one or the other.

Or ... possibly ... both.

All we can be sure of is that there are people who will make a profit based on a product which may or may not be more highly regulated in the future.

Or ... not.

All we can say is, there's a profit to be made based on the future/conjectural decisions by the President, and whether NICS determines that more people are buying guns ... or less.

Some days, it's more fun to be An American than other days.

This is one of those 'other days'.  But I doubt that S&W is going to go out of business this week.

That's why they call them "The Feebs"

Here's why one Federal Employee will never again have to worry about his paycheck.

He won't get another one.

Hope the hooker that kept him up  awake until 2am gets a good price for his .380.

Hope she was worth it.

FBI agent loses loaded gun in taxi | New York Post:

An FBI agent told cops he lost his loaded gun in the back of a livery cab in Brooklyn over the weekend, authorities said Monday. The G-man, 43, said he had his .380 semiautomatic weapon inside his pants holster on his right side when he got into the taxi outside 7509 Third Ave. in Bay Ridge around 2 a.m. Saturday. The address comes back to The Salty Dog sports bar. The FBI agent said he then took the cab home and went to bed, according to cops. When he woke up in the morning, he realized the pistol was gone, he said.

Bottle Control

N.Y. liquor store owner beaten to death with wine bottle in heist - NY Daily News:

A Rochester liquor store owner was beaten to death with a wine bottle during a heist that occurred inside her shop, police say. Mother-of-three Charlotte Lahr, 46, was found lying unconscious inside South Ave. Wine and Liquor Thursday when a customer called for help to the scene. Authorities’ efforts to revive the woman were unsuccessful. Local parolee Kevin Quander, 59, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and robbery the next day, thanks to surveillance footage of the crime and fingerprints that investigators were able to retrieve from the scene.

The problem isn't Gun Violence.

It's Violence.

This tragedy didn't have to happen.   You have to be desperate, or an idiot (or both) to commit such a heinous crime.

The Snake

Why do gun purchases spike after mass shootings? - CNN.com:

"the world seems to suddenly be a more violent and disturbing place than people thought," said public health expert David Studdert, a professor of law and medicine at Stanford University.

Here's a thought:  the world has always been a "violent and disturbing place", even in our fantasy literature.

Here's another thought:    We are potentially importing violence. We are making ourselves more vulnerable, but in our naivete' we refuse to protect our core values.

 Peter Pan, Eliot Ness and Superman

We have iconic "defenders" in our culture,  We like to think that, when the going gets tough, someone will magically appear from the background to defend us.

The rest of us don't have super powers, we're not bullet-proof, We don't have a pixie sidekick.

But we still have pirates, REAL Pirates. Even "Land Pirates".   They use guns, and violent intimidation of their victims is their stock in trade.   The potential for violence has been firmly grounded in our American culture since the Revolution of 1776.

Who you gonna call?  Ghostbusters?
They don't exist.

Are you going to call the police?
They have no legal obligation to protect you against violence.  It's in the book; look it up.

When people are newly awakened (again!) to the fact that Bad People Exist, and they live on your block, people tend to look around for someone to protect them; and they find ... nobody home.

Eventually some folks realize that the person responsible for your own personal protection is...
... yourself.

People are beginning to arm themselves, to learn the techniques of self-defense, and to carry a gun.  Because there's nobody out there to rescue you.  There's only yourself.

 Nobody else.


ON A NATIONAL SCALE:

Now the main-stream media have roused themselves just enough to bemoan the "fact" that the world is becoming a more dangerous place.   They haven't figured out that it has always been dangerous, and is becoming more violent .... because of liberals!

In this "Kinder, Gentler" World, we accept into our community people from a much more violent culture; from countries where racial, religious and economic paradigms are much different from our "kinder, gentler" society.   (Although, in many ways, Americans are neither "kinder", not "Gentler".)

We expect immigrants to immediately understand that the societal "norms" are different in their new home.

But they don't assimilate; they bring their hatreds and their violence with them.

Germany is learning that lesson today, because in their Gestalt of Guilt the Germans offer themselves as sacrificial lambs; and they are confused when their new neighbors not only refuse to accept their Angst, but take advantage of the naivete they find in their new home.  They accept the sanctuary, but they do not accept the culture:

Sexual violence in Germany has reached epidemic proportions since Chancellor Angela Merkel allowed into the country more than one million mostly male migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.(link above)

Obviously, the new citizens in Germany are not willingly "assimilating".   And why should they?.

Their new hosts are being nice, they are welcoming their 'new neighbors' with open arms.  The German People provide refuge, sustenance, comfort and acceptance to these people who so need a new home.


Bah!

They/we could learn from Al Wilson:

About the Berkeley Riots ..

About the Berkeley Riots ..

You realize, of course, that there is one time-honored practice which has always undermined civil unrest during student riots.

A Sweet young thing standing off to the side with a pony keg tap in her hand, whispering breathlessly:

"Free Beer".

Trust me, they will hear her.  Gravitate to her side,     Forgetting all of their anarchist theology, they cleave to their true inner priorities.

Sex. Booze and Rock 'n Roll.

Okay, so you gotta add a Fillopino trio to the mix, playing "Inna-Gadda-Da-Vido (badly).

It's a toss-up, but marginally better than a riot.

(Below: 17 minutes of The Real Thing!)

England: "Violence Has Been Embedded In Our Culture"; but not for the victims

 Violent gangs are now "embedded" in our culture, experts have warned after six people were stabbed to death in the capital in seven days. The comments come after figures released this week show knife crime increased by 14 per cent year on year in 2016 to levels not seen since 2011. 

What capital?
Sounds like Washington DC, Chicago, Philly, Baltimore ... what's you're guess?

Never mind ... you're wrong.

It's ... LONDON!

 The debate surrounding knife crime was thrown again into the spotlight after six people aged between 17 and 48 were killed in London between April 22 and Friday afternoon, with at least one believed to be gang related.

Oh, the Brits are so quick to denigrate America (as are all Europeans ... we must provide a service to them by providing them someone to criticize for not being as "civilized" as they are!) that it feeds my personal sense of Schadenfreude to report that ... Gun Violence is not the only source of violence in the world.

In fact, after the government of Great Britain decreed the GUNS (Evil!) would no longer be allowed to be owned by private citizens, the number of deaths by "Gun Violence" has certainly been reduced (but not yet to "ZERO"), the country continues to reel under the level of violence.

Most of the violence is arrogant propterty damage or theft, or Assault .. which doesn't necessarily end up in murder.
In England, there's little reason for the YOBs not to assault you; they know you cannot defend yourself against two or more of them.  And there are always more of them, because the worst they have to fear, if caught in the act, is that they will be assigned an ASBO ... an Anti-Social Behavior Order.

Consider it a traffic ticket; they do.

Well, we have the same problem; but the difference is that America acknowledges that its CITIZENS have he right to defend themselves.

Not so in Jolly Old England.

HOW CAN THIS BE?

Don't the Brits have all these gun laws, meant to eliminate violent gun crime?

Doesn't work, does it?

We have had this conversation before; my ASBO opponents have supported the position that ... okay, so they have a lot of violent assaults (because their citizens are essentially disarmed, they can't fight back), but the number of assaults which end up in a death are 'fewer".

That only means that the violent felons can more easily intimidate their victims ... who are powerless to resist an assault by two or more assailants.

Or even a single assailant, who knows that the worst that can happen to HIM, is much less than the worst that can happen to YOU!

And the beat goes on.

We just called him "Chief"

42 years after the fall of Saigon | laststandonzombieisland: At the National Native American Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the wind still whispers in remembrance.

One of the members of my platoon in Vietnam was a Native American.   Everybody just called him "Chief" (we all had nicknames, his was a natural) and I have since lost my list of the real names of all the members of the platoon ... so no disrespect is intended when I call him by his nickname.

About the first thing he did when I joined the platoon was to tell me that he wanted to walk point.

I asked him why.

He said "I'm good at it, better than anyone.  I don't follow any man's footsteps."

So I found him an M14, and put him on point.

He was right; he was better than anyone.

We initiated a night ambush right after Christmas that year (I've mentioned it before), and after the Claymores went off and I put a parachute flare in the air with my M79 Grenade Launcher, and after the M60 had swept the area with a couple hundred rounds of 7.62, and after we had completed our Mad Minute, we all but the 'rear guard' got up and did a sweep of the kill zone,

There were a few bodies on the ground, and I thought they were all dead; but as I approached the nearest body it (a woman) started to squirm like a Dying Cockroach.

Before I had a moment to react, I heard this BLAAAAT beside me; Chief  was watching my six, from the left side, and when he saw her moving he dumped an entire 20-round magazine, full-auto, from his M14 into her.   She turned into a dead cockroach, DRT.

Then he reloaded with a fresh magazine, jacked a first round into the chamber, and caught up with me on the assault line.

There was no time to discuss it, so we moved on.  When we were through securing the two remaining survivors, and assuring that all the rest of the bodies were no longer a threat, we searched the bodies.  We were looking for documents even while a thin 'security line' was guarding against the return of the platoon we (eight of us) had just decimated.

We found a Makarov pistol on the wench.  It was in her hand.   She was three feet from me, and if Chief hadn't done his job better than I had done mine, she could easily have shot me.

When things settled down and the adrenaline rush had died away, I said "Thanks, Chief".

He grunted.   I interpreted that as meaning :"Sarge, you're such an asshole, do I gotta be watching out for you every day and all night too?"

He was right, and I never thanked him again for saving my life.   Nothing personal, he was just doing his job.


A couple of months later, Chief tripped a booby trap.
It was just one of those things; we snagged our boots on Wait-A-Minute Vines a hundred times a day; this time there was a grenade wired to it.  We didn't know anything was wrong until we heard that horribly distinctive sound of a grenade going off.

The rest of that story has already been told here.   This is the first time I've talked about The Chief.

Chief was in hospital for about two weeks, on reduced duty for a while more, and then came back to the field with us.

I never asked him to walk point again.

He never volunteered.

If it had been up to me, I would have sent him home to his family, right then.
I still owe him, Big Time.

A few months later, the Big Red One was pulled out of Viet Nam, and I was transferred to another Division, Chief had already met his DEROS and was back inThe Land of The Big PX.

That's where I sincerely hope he has found a wonderful woman, fathered fat happy children, made a zillion bucks in the stock market, and is living High, Wide and Handsome with not a care in the world.

Thanks, Chief.  I still owe you.

Walther CCP pistols recalled for Safety Issues

The Gun Blog Black List: Walther Recall!!!

If you have a Walther CCP pistol, you should be aware that there is a Product Safety warning posted by the manufacturer.

For information how to submit your Walther CCP pistol to the manufacturer (and whether you need to), go the the link at the top of the page.

The FBI Knew

The FBI Knew about plans to attack "DRAW MOHAMMED" event in Garland

60 Minutes investigates first ISIS-claimed attack in U.S. and what the FBI knew - CBS News:
(March 26, 2017)

The terror attack in Garland, Texas, two years ago was the first claimed by ISIS on U.S. soil.

But the FBI had an "agent" (note: probably "paid informer") watching as the two men stormed past the security gate.    There was apparently no other FBI presence at the scene.

More than 100 people were gathered inside and the event was ending when two terrorists drove up to a checkpoint manned by a Garland police officer and a school security guard. This grainy image shows both law-enforcement personnel standing next to an unmarked police car seconds before the attack. Bruce Joiner, the security guard, was unarmed.

Bruce Joiner: It’s like they pull up, stop, and the doors open.

Anderson Cooper: Do you remember seeing the weapon?

Bruce Joiner: Oh, yeah. Definitely saw their weapon. And that’s when I locked onto his face ‘cause he’s got this smile.

Anderson Cooper: He was literally smiling?

Bruce Joiner: Yeah, like, “I got ya. I got ya.”  

The two terorrists (sic) opened fire with automatic rifles. Joiner dove for cover, but was shot in the leg. Officer Greg Stevens, returned fire with his handgun. Police nearby ran toward the scene.

The informer drove away.