FN 509
15 Aug 17 FN 509 I got my hands on an FN 509 today, at a local retailer. I’ve carried its predecessor, the FNS, and still like it. Both the FNS and 509 are modern, striker-fired, Glock-like pistols, but the 509 has a slightly shorter grip (which means magazines are not backward-compatible with the FNS) […]
“Inner Peace”
14 Aug 17 Islamic Terrorism Never Ceases: Yesterday, in Ouagadougou, capitol city of the former west-African French colony of Burkina Faso, a group of Islamic terrorists burst into an upscale restaurant, popular with foreign tourists, and systematically murdered everyone they were able to, using AK rifles. Death toll is at least eighteen. Many others wounded. […]
NYC
9 Feb 17 “The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws” Tacitus Guns in NYC! I conducted a Defensive Handgun Course recently for a group of students, all of whom live and work in NYC. We did the Course itself at an outdoor range in NJ. Several of my students (via past political […]
American Airlines
9 Aug 17 American Airlines I flew out to the East Coast last weekend. Back to CO yesterday. I flew on American Airlines. One connection on each leg of the round trip. In all fairness, flights were comfortable and mostly on-time. There was one problem: AA now insists on putting a bright, red tag on […]
Words!
5 Aug 17 The Meaning of Words: In our litagaphobic civilization, liability has become an object of morbid fear on the part of anyone, particularly any business entity with sufficient assets to attract the attention of sleazy, erstwhile-unemployed lawyers. This civilization is in desperate need of comprehensive tort reform! Until that day, pitiable causalities are, […]
(no subject)
1 Aug 17 Accessories: I am regularly asked about after-market “accessories” for production pistols, rifles, and shotguns, weapons that we recommend for serious use. The vast majority of after-market add-ons do not enjoy my recommendation, and I advise students that reputable guns come from the factory in eminently useable condition, and adding things to them […]
“Alternate” History!
26 July 17 If the amphibious assault on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France on Tuesday, 6 June 1944, had failed (as it nearly did): “I don’t know what you saw in Africa and Italy, but I know what I saw in Russia and Poland. We made a cemetery a thousand miles long and a thousand […]
Californians Kiss Their Rights Goodby!
24 July 17 “Our pathetic “Two-Party System:” 1) Democrats: Amoral and unprincipled, but shrewd, frighteningly ambitious, and disciplined, and who, when given a chance to seize power to which they are not entitled, will do so instantly, boldly, and without restraint 2) Republicans: They run for election proclaiming good and laudable intentions, but once in […]
Persistence!
23 July 17 “Knowledge defeats fear. Preparation defeats failure. Discipline defeats panic” Michael Lang Aspiring Operators! I trained a stalwart group of enthusiastic students of our Art last weekend. Some were new to gun ownership, but all were acute students! I do my best to remind them that persistence and icy determination are far more […]
Civil Defense?
17 July 17 Nukes! The last time “civil defense” was so much as mentioned, even in the Republican Party Platform, was in 1984! Pushed by the likes of Carl Sagan, who was wedded to the dogma of unilateral nuclear disarmament on the part of the USA, a blatantly false narrative was pressed upon the American […]
Self-Deception!
14 July 17 “You can fool yourself, you know. You’d think it’s impossible, but it turns out it’s the easiest thing of all.” Jodi Picoult Holsters! A good friend and maker of kydex holsters recently sent us an IWB appendix holster for Vicki’s G42. It was wonderfully made, but would not allow smooth re-holstering. The […]
Docternal Change!
13 July 17 “Our ordinary response to atrocities is to banish them from consciousness. Certain violations of the social compact are too terrible to utter aloud: this is the meaning of the word, ‘unspeakable.’ Atrocities, however, refuse to be buried. Equally as powerful as the desire to deny atrocities is the conviction that denial does […]
Old Sins in New Ways!
12 July 17 “The most expensive four words in the English Language: ‘This time it’s different!’” John Templeton On North Korea, from a friend in the System: “Until recently, all Swiss border-tunnels and bridges were mined, and could be blown within hours. Add this to the high survivability of their people, equipment, and tactical air-assets, […]
Pistol Sights!
10 Apr 17 “There are two ways to be fooled: One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is.” Kierkegaard Pistol sights: My esteemed friend and colleague, Tom Givens, recently made the excellent point that the practice of shooting pistols from postures other than at eye-level came about […]
Fatal Fantasies!
7 July 17 “A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance, when the need for illusion is deep.” Saul Bellow It represents enormous conceit to believe that police can do anything to stop crime, particularly violent crime. What we do is deter/displace it. We discourage it at a particular moment, and thus move […]
Weekend in Chicago!
6 Feb 17 Exciting Holiday Weekend in Chicago: At least 102 people shot in Chicago over the holiday weekend! At least eighteen gunshot fatalities. We can only guess how many were shot-at, but not hit, or wounded, but never reported. Shootings were largely confined to south and west sides of the City, despite the deployment […]
Holocaust!
5 July 17 “Be careful not to mistake insecurity and inadequacy for humility! Humility has nothing to do with the insecure and inadequate, just as arrogance has nothing to do with greatness!” C JoyBell In an article of 3 July 17, Sky News crowed about a single seizure of illegal guns (“illegal guns” is a […]
Cruise Ships
2 July 17 Eternal Father, strong to save, Whose arm doth bind the restless wave, Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep Its own appointed limits keep; O hear us when we cry to Thee, For those in peril on the sea! First stanza from the “Naval Hymn,” authored by William Whiting in 1860, inspired by […]
Peruta
26 June 17 Supremes: It is truly said: “Where you stand depends on where you sit!” Today, our Supreme Court cynically declined to hear the Peruta V CA Case. Justices Thomas and Gorsuch magnificently dissented! I can’t put it more eloquently: “The Constitution does not rank certain rights above others, and I do not think […]
Less than optimal!
25 June 17 “Life! What inscrutable card shall ye throw next upon the soft felt of our days?” Colson Whitehead Quoting Musashi, we often warn our students of the hazards associated with having “favorite weapons.” Because we know, as Musashi did, that a “favorite weapon” (or its curious, but consistent, absence) will invariably become a […]
Gun industry legends Dave Spaulding, Massad Ayoob, Mike Boyle, and John Farnam join Fernando Coelho to dive deep into the history of the gun industry, shedding light on how firearms and firearms training have transformed over the decades. They discuss the dramatic shift from traditional print reviews to the digital age of internet forums, social media influencers, and YouTube personalities of the industry.
