2 Mar 11
Lubrication of serious rifles during serious use:
The current generation of high-tech lubricants available to us for gun maintenance are vastly superior to what was available just a few decades ago. Superior, both in terms of their ability to efficaciously lubricate moving parts and in their ability to continue to lubricate adequately in small amounts and over a wide range of temperatures.
Thus, particularly with the AR and other military rifles that may see continuous, heavy use in dirty environments, I am a proponent of running the gun wet, and letting the mechanism throw off the excess.
Yes, oil does carry grit and carbon, but it also keeps it all in suspension, and in motion, ultimately making it easy to wipe off. Grit and dust trapped in oil are much easier to wipe off and get rid of than are dry grit and dust that will tenaciously adhere to dry metal. Accordingly, this âlube/wipe cycleâ needs to be performed frequently during heavy use and in dusty environments.
Militech, Gibbs, TW-25B, BreakFree CLP, Eezox, Slip 2000 (EWL), Frog Lube, Weaponshield, and Shooterâs Choice FP-10 all run well and are recommended.
In this line of discussion I also have to mention ROBARâs NP3 coating, which I recommend for all working/moving internal parts. Wet or dry, grit, dust, and carbon will not cling to it nearly as doggedly as is the case with untreated, ordnance steel. And, NP3 is unaffected by variations in temperature.
/John
2 Mar 11
Rifle Magazines and Small-Arms Ammunition:
Not mentioned near often enough is the subject of rifle magazines.
Unlike the rifle itself, magazines should be left dry (with a few exceptions). NP3 coating of metal magazines solves just about all feeding issues.
However, even when dry, accumulated grit and dust within magazines can cause rounds to bind, creating insufficient upward pressure for reliable feeding. So, periodically remove floor plates, springs, and followers, and use a magazine brush (or equivalent) and get the grit and dirt out!
How often? Serious Operators with whom I have talked recommend magazine cleaning once per week, more often in sandstorms!
Corroded, dirty ammunition will not feed reliably, even through a clean magazine. Thus, leave ammunition sealed in cans as long as possible. Depending on moisture, temperature, and other factors, ammunition exposed to the elements will corrode to the point of non-functionality faster than most people think.
When assigned to the LPH (Landing Platform, Helicopter) Tripoli back in 1968, I personally witnessed ton after endless ton of small-arms ammunition thrown into the ocean, because it had been unsealed too long.
In our next fight, we may not have the luxury of such abundance!
/John
3 Mar 11
Additional on Rifle Magazines, from an Operator:
âRifle magazines are an integral part of your System, but also the most expendable. They are not nearly as durable as the rifle itself. During hard training, your magazines will get dropped, stepped on, maybe run-over. Donât fall in love with them!
Aluminum, even steel, AR magazines are not as durable as AK magazines. Never have been. In fact, AR magazines, particularly aluminum, are among the least durable of the genera. When you suspect a particular magazine is unreliable, mark it, test it, and, when it continues to fall short of your expectations, repair or pitch it! Keeping it around, even for âtraining purposes,â may cost you your life!
I like MagPul, Brownellâs, C-Products, Fusil.â
Comment: Have plenty of functional magazines for your serious rifles. Right now, acceptable AR, AK and other magazines are reasonably priced and generally available. With the stroke of a pen, that could all change… tomorrow morning!
A note to LEOs and those on active-duty: Donât depend upon your department/service-branch to supply you with â… everything you need.â Have a full complement of your own, personal weapons, accessories, ammunition, et al, over which you have control. Sooner than any of us think, you may well find yourself âon your own,â isolated, and with no ability to access your departmentâs supplies.
Don’t wait. Get what you need, while you still can!
/John
8 Mar 11
Rifle Shooting in TX:
We conducted an Urban Rifle Course in TX last weekend.
Well attended! We had one XCR in 7.62×39, several ARs (including my Double Star and BCM, which students were using), an LWRC in 308, several Bulgarian Kalashnikovs, and a SIG/556 in 22LR.
All ran fine, even the 22LR. All, at my suggestion, were wet for the duration.
Some observations:
The 22LR, as I said, ran acceptably well. But, when shooting it at rifle-rated steel targets, one cannot tell when the shooter hits or misses, except at very close range. It was frustrating for the shooter, because she wanted the instant feedback that everyone else was enjoying, but was unable to hear her bullets impact. The rest of us couldnât hear them either. Shooting 22LR ammunition surely does represent a significant cost saving, and, on paper targets, it is okay. But, it is frustratingly deficient on steel.
The fastest, most deadly rifles there were Aimpoint-equipped! Our targets were 25m to 85m. Within that scenario, rifles equipped with a forward-mounted Aimpoint T1/H1were obviously faster than those with only iron sights.
The slowest of the iron sights were Soviet-style, found on most Kalashnikovs. Teenagers may be able to make them work, but, for those of us with ageing eyes, they are hard to use.
Aimpoints and EOTechs (we had one EOTech) were exceptionally well suited to shooting from awkward positions, particularly in low light. Students found themselves in various contorted positions in an effort to effectively use odd-shaped cover, but, the moment they got the dot on the target (however they accomplished it), the target was as good as dead. Nothing to âline-up!â
In TX, theyâre nervous these days! A physician from El Paso commented that he, and most of his colleagues, were becoming heavily armed, even naive Liberals , formally from the â… guns-are-ishyâ crowd.
Stark reality âconvertsâ even the stiff-necked.
âWhen a bad outcome is sufficiently grievous, the mathematical probability of it actually happening becomes irrelevant!â
/John
8 Mar 11
Kel-Tec RFB, 308 Bullpup Rifle
A student last weekend brought his copy of a KT/RFB. Iâve handled them at the SHOT Show, but this is the first opportunity Iâve had to shoot one.
âRFBâ stands for âRifle, Forward-Ejecting, Bullpupâ
As a bullpup, the rifle is compact, with most of its weight to the rear, a popular feature among the small-statured.
To address the ambidexterity issue that plagues the AUG and many other bullpups, the RAB features a âdischarge chuteâ for expended brass, along its left side, that is designed to funnel expended cases forward, eventually expelling them out the left-front of the rifle. Of course, they fall nearly straight down, creating a pile directly in front of the muzzle. Many military rifles are designed so that they fling ejected brass some distance form the shooter, so there is no tell-tail accumulation to betray the shooterâs position.
Iâm not sure if it is possible to cram enough mud and debris into the discharge chute to cause a stoppage, and that was a concern to me when I saw the way the ejection system worked.
However, in all fairness the copy I shot ran fine. It uses FAL magazines, which are generally available and, at least for now, reasonably priced.
On-going âdemandâ is anyoneâs guess, but RFBs are currently hard to find. In fact, Iâve never seen a copy on retail racks. And, at 1.8k, and change, it ranks with most other military 308s. When outfitted with sling, optic, an adequate complement of magazines, and co-axial light, the price will be well over 2k.
Frankly, I didnât want to like the RFB, but I have to admit that it is perfectly functional, handy, reasonably accurate, and Kel-Tecâs customer service has always been excellent.
With other first-rate 308s available from DSA, PTR, POF, Robinson Arms, LaRue, LMT, Springfield Armory, LRB, et al, I will be interested to see where the RFB eventually fits in!
/John
9 Mar 11
At long last, getting serious?
This from a University Criminal Justice Instructor in a neighboring state:
â… just returned from a training session at our State Police Academy, and immediately noticed a significant change from just a few months ago.
For the first time I can remember, all Instructors are now visibly armed, all the time!â
Comment: Maybe they know something we donât?
/John
10 Mar 11
Mob Violence:
Weâre currently witnessing, in WI, IN, OH, and several other states, atrocious, violence-laced rioting, at the state capitol, by state employees and an assortment of other radicalized, leftist activists, all over even the slightest reduction in benefits so long enjoyed by unionized, government workers (and few others). By any standard, the rioting and violence are ridiculously out of all proportion to the actual number of people affected and to the effects themselves.
In the process, much damage has been done to capitol buildings, and depraved threats of violence against conservative politicians and their families, all emanating from the left, have been rampant and are increasing. Can you imagine the analeptic fits them media would be having if the Tea Party were doing this?
We all know the score!
On the federal level, and in just about every state capitol, we have borrowed ourselves into oblivion. For decades, politicians have blithely made promises that they, and everyone else, knew could not be kept. Even now, the national debt ceiling will have to be raised again, within another week. The moment it is, the President and Congress will promptly forget about cuts, and a host of new spending programs will be introduced. The whole cycle will begin again. Neither Congress, nor the President, have the will to curb this lethal whirlpool. The nation is going over the fiscal waterfall. Even now, the national debt is way beyond any possibility of repayment, and everyone knows it!
The question is, with what weâve already seen in WI, when even insignificant cuts are proposed, what will we see when major portions of the population, living substantially, or entirely, on the dole, have their âgovernment benefitsâ precipitously cut off, because the government can no longer write checks? What kind of monumental civil disruptions will we see, here in the USA, and over most of Western Civilization?
Over here, police departments are quietly preparing for this eventuality, without so much as a whisper, of course. Chiefs of police, and everyone else who is paying attention, can see what is coming. In fact, in WI, and a few other states, one might say it has already started!
Who individually weather this storm will have to be prepared, in depth, and supremely self-reliant. Widespread, sporadic rioting may go on for months. Violence, often random, will be common. The ability of police and other emergency services to protect the innocent will be extremely limited and frequently discontinuous, much as is the case in Mexico right now.
Civil war? States seceding from the Union? Who knows? But, I think most of us agree that this civilization is headed, inexorably, toward substantial, irreversible changes. The money has finally run out. We will never go back to âthe way it was.â
The partyâs over!
/John
14 Mar 11
Iâve received many comments from intermittent students, whom I see from once a year, to once every five years, who say theyâre amazed at how much has changed in our training doctrine and methods since âthe last time.â
I respond that we are not only trying to âpreserveâ our Art, but, even more, we are, during our short lifetimes, relentlessly advancing it, defining it, refining it. I consider that the Charge of all who call themselves âInstructors.â
Heaven knows the majority of Americans would rather sit around watching Survivor on TV than lift a finger to participate in their own survival! But, a few among the thoughtful and enlightened do come to us to learn these critical skills. We, while trying not to take ourselves too seriously, do take seriously our duty to our students, our Art, and to history.
The greatest danger confronting Instructors is allowing ourselves to believe that our doctrine and methods are so adequate, absolute, and unblemished that we shall never have to improve them. At that point, our philosophy becomes ossified, and the mere suggestion that it be changed becomes unthinkable. In the process, we ourselves become inordinately defensive, often rationalizing the ridiculous in the process of maintaining our outdated thinking, and our self-indulgent determination to cling to it.
I tell my students that what theyâre learning in our Classes represents, we believe, the State of the Art, but then suggest that even better methods probably exist. We just donât know them yet! During my lifetime, I may never know them, but we keep searching, evaluating, and analyzing, never completely satisfied with where we are, what we do, nor the way we do it.
Ever forward! That is our Charge.
Beware of motionless âperfection!â
âLess-than-perfect forward progress is always better than âperfectâ stagnation!â
Harry Truman
âBetween Truth, and the search for Truth, I opt for the second!â
Bernard Berenson
/John
16 Mar 11
On the subject of corrosive ammunition, from a colleague in FL:
âI cleaned my rifle after our Course here last January. When I went to use it several weeks later, it was locked up! I had to have my local gunsmith take it apart and clean it.
Damage was done to the gun from corrosive ammunition. It was Hungarian, brass cased. It ran fine, but the words âcorrosiveâ did not appear anywhere on the packaging.
Even after initial cleaning and lubricating, corrosion grew, like a crystal-farm!
My advise: If the words,ânon-corrosive,â appears nowhere on the box, you can bet it’s corrosive!â
Comment: The foregoing applies mostly to foreign-made ammunition, and mostly to 7.62×39.
âCorrosiveâ primers were the standard in small-arms ammunition through the early 1950s. The percussion compound, when it burned, produced potassium chloride, which, like sodium chloride, is a salt and attracts moisture, generating salt-water, which is highly destructive to anything ferrous.
Corrosive primers, though extremely reliable, were thus abandoned in favor of ânon-corrosiveâ lead-styphnate primers, which represent the standard today (although there is currently much interest in âlead-freeâ primers).
Small-arms ammunition with corrosive primers, in any caliber, has not been produced domestically for several decades, but there is still some laying around, here and overseas. For obvious reasons, its use is not recommended.
However, you may be forced to use it some day, even in a modern gas-piston or Stoner-System rifle, so be aware that you have to thoroughly clean everything the gas touches, repeatedly. Hot, soapy water usually does the best job of dissolving and carrying away salt. Ammonia-based Windex is also recommended, as it will neutralize corrosive salts.
Afterward, all metal surfaces need thorough drying and then the application of a continuous, substantial coat of oil. Otherwise, the rifle will rust-shut in short order, and metal surfaces will be permanently pitted, particularly when you live and operate in a damp climate.
/John
21 Mar 11
Urban Rifle:
We conducted a Urban Rifle Program in Upstate NY last weekend. A few hiccups from ARs, but not many. We had one SIG/556 which ran for two days without a single interruption. This kind of stellar performance weâve come to expect from the 556. We also had a POF gas-piston rifle that went down the second day. A live round somehow wedged on top of the bolt, and we couldnât get it out. That student switched over to my BCM, which, of course, ran without a catch.
One EOTech and several Aimpoint T1s. No problem with any of them.
A number of students used old, aluminum AR magazines that were just worn out, and that was the source of multiple stoppages. Plastic P-Mags (Magpul) run with the fewest problems. Steel magazines from C-Products run well too. Iâm to the point now where I no longer recommend aluminum AR magazines!
One real advantage with P-Mags is the snap-on âcapâ with which they are supplied. The ostensible purpose for the cap is to depress the top round slightly, relieving pressure of the lips. Iâm sure it does that, but what I really like about them is the fact that TSA thinks theyâre just fine! For someone who flies commercially as much as I do, that feature is a real convenience, as TSA considers ammunition within magazines acceptable for air-transport, so long as both ends are capped.
So, I cap my fully-charged AR magazines as they go in my luggage. When I arrive at my destination, I take the caps off and conveniently secure them to the bottom of the magazines for storage while the magazines are in active service. That routine has become my SOP when I fly with an AR or XCR. As a matter of personal policy, I donât travel without a military rifle and an adequate reserve of fully-charged magazines!
Muzzle discipline is a real issue in many places, but particularly the Northeast. Hot ranges are new to many, and many are far too accustomed to carelessly handling what they ever-assume to be sterile guns! For these people, all guns are perpetually in a âuselessâ condition. For such poorly-prepared students, routinely carrying loaded pistols and rifles safely, requires extensive re-programming! Sloppy gun-handling must be nipped in the bud!
The non-serious âEmpty-Gun Crowdâ had done, and continues to do, much damage.
As if to illustrate the point, on the expansive outdoor range where we were training there was some kind of pistol-match going on simultaneously next door. We didnât pay much attention to them, as the two ranges were separated by a twelve-foot, earthen berm. But, several of their participants came over to see what we were doing. Of course, we run a hot range. Rifles are always loaded, on and off the line, and we do a good deal of running, dodging, and shooting from awkward positions. All participants also carry at least one pistol (also constantly loaded), as we do a number of transition drills. Every drill starts, and finishes, with fully-loaded guns!
Several from the âEmpty-Gun Crowdâ were aghast upon watching us, and a delegation approached me and announced that moving with, or carrying, any loaded gun was prohibited in their âsport,â as they consider all loaded guns to be âdangerous.â
I replied, âYouâre not in Kansas anymore, Toto!â The conversation ended, and they abruptly departed.
There was a time when I was much more diplomatic!
âOriginality does not always go well with expediency!â
Kalashnikov
/John
22 Mar 11
My legendary colleague, Tom Givens:
Tom Givens, director of the yearly Polite Society event, has his headquarters at the famous Rangemasters Indoor Range in Memphis, TN. Tom and I have been friends and professional colleagues for many years.
Memphis is, with all due respect, a sewer! Itâs claim to the title of âthe most violent/dangerous city in Americaâ has rarely been challenged. Rates of violent crime in Memphis are far and away above even places like Los Angeles, CA and Gary, IN.
Not surprisingly, Tomâs students, of whom there are thousands, have been subsequently involved in more fatal, self-defense shootings than have those of any other instructor I know of, including me! These lethal incidents took place, of course, through no desire on the part of Tomâs students. Like mine, they have all been advised to be experts at minding their own business. But, when you insist on living, and working, in Memphis, it goes with the territory!
In any event, Tom presents a wonderfully instructive lecture, wherein is describes and analyzes ten recent shooting incidents in which his charges have been directly involved. In all ten, his students were victorious, but each was unique and extremely exciting, as you might imagine!
Iâve attended this lecture several times, and Iâve shamelessly stolen many of Tomâs instructional points!
Now, this famous lecture is available on DVD, through Rob Pincusâ PDN Network. You can get a copy by contacting Tom directly at rangemaster.tom@gmail.com.
Recommended!
/John
23 Mar 11
Hoarding:
I encourage my students, after going through our training, to prepare a personal/family âdisaster plan.â
What I recommend, at a minimum:
Food. Balanced, nutrition-rich, diverse, and not requiring refrigeration. MREs are hard to beat! Also include Tabasco and BBQ sauce, sugar, salt, dried milk, camp-stove.
Drinking water. Also, filtration equipment that can make safe supplies from âopenâ sources.
Cash. It may become worthless, but having a supply on hand is still a good idea, particularly when credit cards are unusable.
Medications. Including liquid/spray disinfectant, trauma kits (IBDs, tourniquets), dietary supplements (vitamin/mineral pills), broad-spectrum oral antibiotics, cold/flu medication, pain-relievers
Guns/Ammunition. Military rifles and an adequate reserve of magazines are particularly important. Several thousand rounds for each caliber weapon on hand is none too much!
Vehicle. Keep your car gassed-up, well-maintained, and with good tires. Ever-prepared for a long trip.
Personal Sanitation/Comfort. Tooth brushes, shaving gear, combs and hair-brushes, toilet paper, paper towels, soap, detergent, deodorant, lip-balm, small mirror, cigarette lighter, flashlights, para-cord, blankets, duct-tape, multi-tool (eg: Leatherman Tool), shovel (E-tool), tent, sleeping-bags, warm clothing, binoculars
Fire Extinguishers. Remember, there will likely be no electricity, no gas, no telephone, no cell phone, no water pressure, no internet, no police, no fire department.
Magnetic Compass. Necessary when you are compelled to walk significant distances.
Emergency (Crank) Radio. May be your only source of news!
There are many other items that can logically be included, but being able to get by for several weeks/months in the wake of an wide-spread disaster, where ânormalâ commercial and public/governmental services are unavailable will be the difference between life and death for many.
Now is the time to take unilateral action. Donât put it off!
A friend said this to me yesterday:
âIn view of current world events, my wife came to me today and indicated she was apprehensive about the future and wanted us to begin logical preparations for disaster. She has never, during our entire married life, mentioned this subject before!
During our conversation, she announced that she wanted to know which of my/our rifles was going to be âhers.â After handling several, she settled on my S&W/M4.
Itâs âhersâ now!â
Comment: âWhere there is doubt, there is no doubt!â
âThe measure of success is not that you have a tough problem, but whether it is the same problem you had last year!â
John Foster Dulles
/John
23 Mar 11
Ammunition Trends:
I just got off the phone with friends at Cor-Bon. Some interesting information:
Top seller right now is high-performance 380Auto ammunition (DPX). It is currently outselling even 9mm!
This is a direct reflection of the popularity of the many, small, 380Auto pistols currently being manufactured by Kel-Tec, Ruger, Kahr, S&W, Beretta, and Taurus. Their best role is that of back-up, but many who have recently made the personal decision to go armed use them as their main gun, usually their only gun!
Large numbers of former VBCs (Victim, by Choice) have made this move, even since the first of the year, and the current spike in ammunition sales is a tell-tale sign.
Another popular pistol is the sub-compact 9mm, also made by Kahr, Kel-Tec, Ruger, S&W, Beretta, Kimber, Glock, SIG, Rohrbaugh, and Taurus. With their short slides and heavy, compound recoil springs, these pistols tend to be finicky eaters! Incomplete feeding is a common issue, particularly with hollow-point ammunition in general, and ammunition with aggressive hollow cavities in particular. Most of this ammunition feeds just fine in bigger pistols.
Reflecting this trend is the fact that Cor-Bon 9mm âPowerball,â with a polymer ball implanted in the tip of the bullet, is currently at number two in sales figures.
Powerball is +P, high-performance, controlled-expansion ammunition, but the bullet itself resembles hardball in profile. Thus, Powerball will feed reliably in any pistol. In fact, when a pistol wonât feed Powerball, it wonât feed hardball either!
Therefore, many owners of these small, 9mm pistols, who have experienced feeding issues with conventional, hollow-point ammunition, have ultimately gravitated to Powerball. Once again, sales figures reflect this phenomenon.
By the end of last year, ammunition shortages (that characterized most of 2010) were gradually eliminated. All calibers have continued to be generally available, until several weeks ago. With the recent, confused military action in Libya, sales of guns are, once again, surging. Shortages of certain calibers of ammunition are following.
/John
25 Mar 11
I wonder whose side theyâre on!
A week ago, in the Boulder, CO University District, an armed robbery resulted in the shooting death of one of two victims. The couple was walking late at night, returning home from a party.
A single suspect has since been arrested and charged.
In response, the University PD has promulgated the following predictable advice to students and staff:
When confronted by a robbery suspect, we are all advised to:
â…cooperate and do not challenge an assailant.â
Really?
Are we to âcooperateâ when the assailant wants to sexually assault us?
Are we to âcooperateâ when the assailant wants to kidnap our children?
Are we to âcooperateâ when the assailant wants to maim/murder us?
PDs that put out this kind of âadviceâ need to think it through beforehand!
Loosely translated, this is the real message:
âYou insignificant peons are too stupid to participate in your own survival. Never make a decision for yourself. Never take unilateral action. Just give up. Your lives are not important anyway.â
A local city council member has now stepped forward and offered a âsolution:â She has proposed that âpermitsâ be issued for parties! She, naturally, failed to explain how her proposal could possibly have had an effect on the outcome of the 18 Mar 11 event. To politicians, that is apparently never important, so long as they are perceived at âdoing something!â
Conclusion: We had all better understand that we are on our own! The real solution is:
(1) personal preparedness,
(2) personal alertness, and
(3) personal lifestyle changes that make confrontations with dangerous people unlikely.
In case you missed it, the âSystemâ does not exist to protect you personally!
/John
25 Mar 11
What is the world coming to?
In AZ, during the ongoing debate over concealed guns in public buildings, Senator Ron Gould recently said of ubiquitous âno guns allowedâ stickers at the entrances of government buildings,
â… stickers donât protect anybody!â
He continued,
â… you and I both know that (such âno guns allowedâ stickers) do not really keep a criminal, nor a psychotic, from walking into this meeting and shooting each and every one of us dead.â
Wow!
I thought such spontaneous displays of common sense were no longer allowed during public debate, particularly from the lips of politicians!
Whatâs happening?
/John
25 Mar 11
LET (Law Enforcement Targets) is now producing a new paper target, called the DTI/19.
You can see it at
http://www.letargets.com/estylez_item.aspx?item=DTI-19
We designed it to encourage trainees to consistently make effective hits on human torsos.
It represents the new Standard!
/John
26 Mar 11
The M1 Carbine and Eleven-Year-Olds!
My eleven-year-old grand-daughter is currently using my Kahr M1 Carbine. It is equipped with a forward-mounted Ampoint H1 on a LaRue Quick-Release base, Vickers Sling, and Streamlight Weaponlight mounted forward on the right side.
The Ultimax rail is low enough so that the rifleâs iron sights are useable when the Aimpoint is removed, which can be done instantaneously via LaRueâs mount.
Last week, my wife asked our grand-daughter to demonstrate her skill with the unit. Without hesitation, she moved, shot with astonishing precision, used cover, and reloaded, all with nary a wasted motion! She effortlessly hit steel targets out to eighty meters. We were pleasantly astonished!
For a young girl her size, an AR is still too big, but the M1 Carbine is just right. Yet, it is still a serious rifle.
Combined with Cor-Bon 100gr DPX ammunition, the little M1 Carbine is a serious rifle indeed. My wife has used hers, and DPX, to take sheep and goats up to 100lbs.
The M1 Carbine is a 100m rifle, but it is short, light, handy, virtually recoilless, and lacks the concussive blast characteristic of the 223 and heaver military calibers. For kids learning about our Art, it is just about ideal, and Kahrâs rendition is reasonable, robust, and reliable.
When theyâre ready to move on from a single-shot twenty-two rimfire, an M1 Carbine is the next, logical step.
Recommended!
/John
27 Mar 11
â… and I wonder, still I wonder, whoâll stop the rainâ
From âWhoâll stop the rain,â written by John Fogerty in 1970. Sung by Ceedence Clearwater Revival in the 1978 film by the same name, staring Nick Nolte.
From a friend in Canada:
Heaven save us from this!
âHere in Canada our government does not have a monopoly on justified self-defense, but they sincerely believe they should have a monopoly all effective tools of self-defense!
While we ostensibly have here the legal mechanism for the carrying of a pistol to be allowed, only fourteen such âcarry permitsâ have ever been actually issued in the entire country, with a population of over thirty million! Virtually all such applications are arbitrarily rejected by isolated bureaucrats, with never an explanation.
There are some permits issued for âwilderness carry,â but only to licensed guides, and, even then, they have to endure their own bureaucratic circus.
For us peons, one not only needs a licence to possess a ârestricted firearm,â a category which includes all pistols and many rifles (all ARs, for example), the applicant must, in excruciating detail, chronicle to the government such irrelevant facts as his personal romantic history and also go through an interminable approval process prior to taking delivery of the gun.
Still with me? Weâre not through yet!
He must also be a member, in good standing, at a âclub,â and be vetted for an âauthorization to transport,â which allows him to take his pistol between his house and the range âvia a direct route,â unloaded, and secured in a double-locked box.
The most minor, insignificant infraction or paperwork glitch, your fault, their fault, doesnât matter, and you will find yourself charged with a criminal offence. Your home will be invaded, all your firearms will be seized, and the crown attorney will enforce a lifetime firearms prohibition against you, even when you are found not guilty!
After all that, getting your guns back from the police is nearly impossible, even with a court order. When you do finally re-claim them, they will be little more than a pile of rusted junk!
Even carrying a knife can make one vulnerable to charges of âweapons dangerous to the public peaceâ or âcarrying a concealed weapon.â
OC is prohibited, at least for the purpose of use against humans. It may be carried for use against animals. Here, it is always called âdog repellent,â by law.
Tasers and other ERDs are strictly verboten.
Our gun laws are, in fact, based on fat politicians, sitting safe and secure behind an army of personal bodyguards (all heavily armed), intently watching cheesy Hollywood movies! In fact, many firearms are prohibited by âorder in council,â and, when you read the list, it is painfully obvious that such prohibitions are based solely on appearance. That is why we can’t have AKs, FALs, ARs, and AUGs, but XCRs and Tavors are okay, at least for now, since theyâve come on the scene relatively recently.â
Comment: The foregoing is the kind of âreasonableâ measures liberal politicians constantly push for. They never get specific, of course. Autocrats never do! But, this is the practical result of their never-ending assault on our personal freedom. When they canât prohibit the private ownership of guns outright, theyâll, in effect, have the same practical result through bureaucratic regulation.
They love to hypocritically talk about our âright to personal, unilateral, self-defense,â but then deny us any possibility of exercising that right!
They live to lord it over people. That is the only thing that really motivates them, and ever has!
/John
28 Mar 11
My Canadian friend continues:
âHowever, there is some good news:
We are turning things around up here!
The draconian, failed-at-every-level, âsystemâ we currently have in place was put there by governments of the 80s and 90s, consisting mostly of elitist, geriatric, flower-children who, like Socialists/Communists everywhere, never earned an honest dime in their lives!
Back then, gun owners did not have a strong voice. The by-word in Ottawa was âsocial engineering,â as they attempted to smother the life out of us with interminable new laws and âregulations,â enforced by an army of erstwhile unemployed bureaucrats who worried infinitely more about keeping their jobs than they ever did about doing them.
Things have changed! Debate about the private ownership of firearms has become the most polarizing issue in our current political landscape. Our side is now politically active, alert, and has excellent communication. We are now a powerful symbol for the new direction in which our Country is heading.
Virtually all current Leftists in government are still overtly in favor of yet additional restrictions on private gun ownership, in spite of its amply-demonstrated failure to reduce violent crime, and, for that matter, even to be administered intelligently.
Last Friday, these very Leftists were toppled in a non-confidence motion, which automatically triggered an election. This spring, we are likely to see a Conservative majority government that has promised to turn Canada away from the Liberal/Socialist/Communist trend that began in the 1970s.
We have promised to hold their feet to the fire!â
Comment: The biggest problem Leftists have, no matter where they are, is personal vanity and arrogance! They invariably think they deserve to be kings, and that we peons exist only to serve them. They just canât live unless they have someone to perpetually lord it over.
They canât admit to themselves that theyâre wrong, have always been wrong, and have never been anything but wrong. They naively, doggedly, adolescently cling to the hoax that Communism really works. Itâs just that the âwrong peopleâ have been in charge so far!
They will accept no species of correction. The are absolutely incapable of repentance. They would rather die.
Personal vanity, once wedded to some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last!
/John
30 Mar 11
Go-Bags!
A number of companies make, âgo-bags,â or âbug-out-bags.â Iâve seen many, and I have even attempted to assemble a few, but the one currently at the top of the list is from Uncle Bobâs Go Bags.
Itâs a back-pack, so you can throw it on quickly, and it already contains a water bladder. It comes pre-packed with an impressive, comprehensive, and well thought-out list of emergency supplies, including the ingenious âKelly Kettle,â used by Scandianian ice-fishermen.
It will enable you to get though a week or more when you canât access the normal supply system.
My copy is in my car, so we always have it with us when we travel.
See it at www.unclebobsgobags.com
Recommended as part of everyoneâs emergency planning!
/John
30 Mar 11
“When a murderer comes for you, strike him down first.”
Talmud Sanhedrin 72a
This refreshing news from a friend in MI:
âWe had a condo-association meeting here tonight with our local chief of police, after a recent âhome-intrusionâ in our neighborhood.
Our chief said to us:
âPrivate ownership of guns, and the unilateral use of deadly force in legitimate self-defense, are legal here.
But, you need training.
My officers train and qualify regularly, and yet even our accuracy during actual shooting incidents falls short of what I consider even acceptable, much less good. However, I donât teach my officers to shoot felons in the leg. Shooting someone, and achieving the desire effect, requires multiple hits to center-mass (… he said as he put his hands over his chest), and they usually die as a result. That’s okay, and you shouldn’t feel bad about it. At least you’re safe.â
One of his captains then took center-stage and directed us to several competent trainers who run Courses locally.
Having never met him before, I was astonished! I talked with him afterwards and thanked him for being the first police executive in thirty years Iâve heard articulate the unvarnished truth about self-defense.
âThatâs my job,â he said, as he laughed softly.â
Comment:
âThere is no truth existing which I fear, nor would wish unknown to the whole worldâ
T Jefferson
How is it that weâre supposed to solve a problem, when weâre prohibited from even mentioning the problem?
From use of deadly force, to race relations, to question of religion, no forward progress is made until we communicate bluntly and frankly. While not wishing to deliberately offend anyone, we can never hesitate to speak with uncluttered clarity, and, like the chief above, we need not apologize!
Mumblers, mealy-mouthed, and users of weasel-words, are at once, a colossal bore and a catalyst for confusion. Far too many chiefs, mayors, and presidents ever-fall into that category!
What ceases to be controversial, ceases to be interesting, and any idea that is not âdangerousâ is unworthy of the title.
/John
