The Russians have been getting their asses kicked across Ukraine. Trying to find anything worthwhile in their equipment, tactics, and personnel is tough to do. Tough, but not impossible. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to the butt pad.
If you’ve followed the war, you’ve likely seen the butt pad. It’s that thing sticking to the butts of Russian soldiers right below their body armor. This is not butt armor. I promise Russian badonkadonks are not being protected by big square pads. Well, the pads do offer protection, but not from shrapnel, but from the cold.
What Are Butt Pads For?
Do you ever wonder how the Slav squat became the Slav squat? It looks uncomfortable, and why is it so closely associated with Eastern Europe? Because it’s cold there. The ground is cold, often frozen, and the Slav squat keeps their butts off the ground. The butt pad does the same thing.
Placing your body against the cold ground will suck the heat out of your body. It doesn’t matter if you are sitting, kneeling, or in the prone. If you do it against the cold or wet ground, you will be miserable and more prone to hypothermia. Thus, the butt pad provides you with a layer of protection and isolation from the ground.
We use Isomats for sleeping for a reason. It’s not because it is a pad that’s comfy. It’s because it keeps you warm and away from the ground and helps you retain body heat. Butt pads do the same thing, but do it as you move and groove through a battlefield…or a hunt…or a ruck…or whatever.
How To Make Your Own Butt Pad
I remember turkey hunting one year. I sat against a tree, my butt on the wet and cold ground. It was so cold. I was miserable, shivering, and completely distracted. I killed nothing that day and really wished I had a butt pad.
You might be in the same situation and also might be in the mood for GAT Daily’s guns and crafts hour. Making one of these butt pads is fairly simple. You’ll need one of the old-school Isomat/sleeping pads. These are fairly cheap and available across the internet and military surplus stores.
You can make your own!
One sleeping pad can create multiple butt pads. Measure out about 18 inches and then cut that portion off of the isomat. This will be the bones of your butt pad. These mats are not very water resistant, so you need to do a little waterproofing.
Good duct tape works. Stick to a more camouflage color than silver. Wrap a layer around the sides and then top to bottom. The tape waterproofs it and also keeps it from fraying and falling apart. As you apply the first layer of tape, create a 550-cord sling.
Or you can buy one
Wrap the end of the 550 cord up. Typically the butt pad would remain on or in your pack. However, if you are moving from spot to spot, it can be a hassle to place in and out of the pack. A good section of 550 cord makes it easier to move around with for short hauls.
Busting Out
The butt pad is perfect for sitting for extended periods of time, especially on cold, hard, wet, or snow-covered ground. It provides a layer of thermal insulation. You can use it when kneeling or even when in the prone. In an ambush, it acts as a way to isolate your upper body from the ground.
It’s simple, cheap, lightweight, and very effective. Heck, even at night, it can be a pillow, although watch which side you use for your butt and which side you use for your head.
The standard fixed sight MC35 is a good buy and has proved reliable.
I am not a marketing whiz. I know what I like and I know what works and I feel I am able to judge quality. A few years ago FN eliminated the High Power from production. Decreased sales and an ever increasing price point due to heavy manufacturing costs of this older design played a part. Springfield introduced a High Power clone and the next thing we know folks are buying the High Power again. EAA also introduced a High Power clone- and FN has redesigned their High Power. It is even more expensive and folks are clamoring. I don’t know but I suppose it is all a good thing. The EAA imported Girsan High Power is a faithful copy of the Browning MKII High power in most ways. There are good sights, an ambidextrous safety, good fit and finish, a 15 round magazine, compatibility with Browning High Power parts and magazines, and good reliability. The quality is good, for the price, at about five to six hundred retail depending on the model. It is worth the money and you may own a good shooting High Power for less than half the price of a ‘real’ High Power.
The trigger is heavy like the original with most models breaking at 8 pounds. A MATCH version with flat trigger offers a better trigger action and adjustable sights. The MATCH OPS also offers a light rail. These are very interesting handguns. The High Power is a pistol that fits most hands well and has a certain retro look many appreciate. With these modern improvements the pistol offers a good shooting experience. I tested the MATCH and MATCH OPS versions. The slide fits the frame with little lateral play. The ramped barrel is well fitted. The front sight is a bright red fiber optic. The rear sight is a compact but fully adjustable unit. The rear of the sight is serrated. The rear square notch offers a good sight picture. The ambidextrous safety allows a left handed shooter or right handed shooter in a jam a good option. The grips are a modern starburst similar to Wilson Combat types. The MATCH trigger breaks at six pounds, a pound lighter than a standard High Power. The flat trigger helps the action feel better and reset is good- not as fast as a 1911 but good for a High Power trigger.
Firing the pistol went as expected. The 9mm isn’t a hard kicker and a pistol weighing well over thirty ounces loaded isn’t likely to jar the teeth with recoil. An extended grip tang and a slight dip in the frame to lower the bore axis helps. I used Black Hills Ammunition 115 grain FMJ for most of the firing. The pistol was well lubricated before firing and never failed to feed, chamber, fire or eject. The 1911 is fast to an accurate first shot while the High Power may be even faster. Drawing from a Falco leather Crabhawk holster and zeroing in on the X ring I had good results at 5, 7, and 10 yards. The trigger isn’t my favorite but it would not be difficult to acclimate to the trigger. The pistol is supplied with one magazine. It is a quality MecGar type. I added several original FN magazines and the pistol ran well. I fired the MATCH OPS most and only a few rounds in a comparable MATCH pistol. In the end I found a pistol worth the money. As for absolute accuracy I benchrest tested the pistol with two load. The Black Hills 115 grain FMJ gave a five shot 15 yard group of 1.9 inch. The Black Hills 124 grain JHP grouped five shots into 1.7 inch. The pistol seems accurate and reliable. If you are looking for a High Power on the cheap this is the piece for you.
FINISH: BLUE/BLACK
CAL: 9mm
CAP: 15+1
BBL: 4.87″
OAL: 7.75″
WT: 1.8 lbs
The Girsan MC35 is a well made pistol with good features.A fully adjustable rear sight is a good feature.A combat light equipped High Power is a good home defender.A light rail is a first for the High Power.
POM Industries Pepper Spray has been the go to when it comes to self protection and concealability within a small pepper spray unit. Now POM has collaborated with On Her Own to give us a pack of Two Live Spray Bottles and an Inert Practice Unit.
On Her Own is created and ran by Annette. It is a large resource to use as a Female that not only wants to protect herself when she is truly On Her Own but wants help and support when it comes to fighting, mindset, and health and fitness.
“Welcome to On Her Own, A place for the woman who has herself together and is just messy around the edges AND the woman who aspires to be that woman”.- Annette OHW
So, why Pepper Spray? Let’s kill the misconceptions..
POM Safety and Draw
While I’m sure you will do your own research the big thing that will be mentioned here is that POM is really safe when in a concealed place. Many think that when concealing pepper spray in your pocket or purse it may accidentally discharge, especially since the spray hole is exposed. POM is designed for the user to HAVE to lift up on the back of the tube to access and press the spray button to discharge the pepper spray. It also is under spring pressure so it needs to be continuously lifted up as the tube is being used. It will not catch once on your bag and stay exposed. If the back is somehow caught it will immediately snap back into place over the button.
For more efficient draws the cap can be taken off and turned so that the clip can be oriented in a way that the bottle is immediately pointed at your target when drawn. The clip can also be removed and put onto the inert trainer.
Buying Options
When buying POM you can choose from a clip unit which is good for clipping into your pocket or over a flap in your purse. There are also two types of key units, both types unclip when pulled for fast acquisition. One clip unit is a key unit which is permanently affixed to the first key ring. The other key unit is a snap for snapping onto your key ring and unsnapping when you want to switch it to a different ring.
Pom x On Her Own Collaboration Purchase and see more info HEREIndividual Inert and Live units can be purchased as well.
My Own Perspective
I myself have been using POM for about a year now. I own both the clip type and the break away keychain. I keep the clip on my purse and the breakaway in my backpack attached to a zipper. The clip allows me to take it off of my purse and put it in my pocket if needed. The zipper allows me to keep it with me if I decide to forgo the purse and want it more concealed, say if I’m going through security..wink wink.
Which btw, it has never been caught.
Many think that the POM is either a lipstick or hairspray. Nobody looks twice. The tube has attractive/feminine colors that don’t stand out.
Size of unit and removable cap compared to a tampon.
The recent surge in proliferation of full auto “switches” (particularly for Glock handguns) has Chicago city officials scrambling, occuring somehow despite all of the legislation banning them. These small, plastic or metal devices that replace, in the case of a Glock, the stock backplate on the slide grant the user select-fire capability. They can be purchased through the mail from places like Wish.com, or Alibaba, (though some of us may remember when they were advertised on social media alongside “solvent traps”) made in a home shop, or even 3D printed for the cost of a hunk of plastic.
However one acquires a switch, they are themselves considered NFA items, whether they are mounted to a firearm or not, and thus not legal to own without a tax stamp. Apparently, there is a large (and rising) number of Chicago citizens who have decided that the NFA is not relevant, and are purchasing or making them illegally.
Desperate for a way to bolster the gun ban idea they’ve so thoroughly bought into, in the face of the abject failure of anti-gun legislation to address or prevent teenage felons from acquiring pocket-sized machineguns, they have announced a new approach: banning guns. Yes, it’s a radical shift, but it’s so crazy it just might work: When your gun ban doesn’t work, the solution is clearly another gun ban.
Specifically, they’ve decided that since it’s a simple thing to add a switch to a Glock, that Glocks themselves should be banned as “easily converted” guns. How this addresses a problem that is fundamentally decentralized, in that anyone (literally anyone, a 10y/o can do this with funding and minimal instruction) can currently 3D print an MP5 clone with a couple hundred bucks and an internet connection, we certainly can’t say, but we’re very interested to hear their rationale, because guns have clearly won the war on guns.
I love the firearms community and industry. I really think it’s one that is unlike any other. It’s full of great people, hard-working people who love our rights. Sadly, on the flip side, it’s an industry and community that is full of cringe. We’re not the only ones, take 10 seconds looking at gaming and you’ll see plenty, but we have it. Not everyone, but plenty of people are out there making us all look cringy. Regardless of how you feel or what you think, all gun owners are representatives of other gun owners. So today, I’m taking a bite out of cringe…or at least trying to.
Editor’s Note: For our older readers less familiar with the lingo of the youths, cringe is the modern format combination of looking and acting both tacky and ignorant.
Ditch the Punisher Gear
I love the Punisher. Garth Ennis and his Punisher Max run rules, and so does Punisher: Born. I even enjoyed the Netflix series. However, the Punisher doesn’t belong on your gun. Unless you are a special ops veteran whose family has been murdered and you’re out seeking revenge, ditch the Punisher backplate. The internet ruined it.
Actually, go beyond the Punisher, you’re not Deadpool, and you’re not a Mandalorian either. I remember groaning when the “Weapons are part of my religion” line got spoken because I knew exactly how the cringe parts of the gun community would take it. I’m not saying don’t have fun. I’m saying stop making an overplayed meme your whole gun owner personality.
Stop Naming Your Gun
I was guilty of this. Once upon a time, I named my issued M240. In my defense, I was a young idiot. Naming your gun is one of those things you should grow out of quickly. It’s a gun, it’s an inanimate machine, it doesn’t have a personality, and it doesn’t need a name.
If you need to name something, go to an animal shelter, I’m sure they have a dog, cat, or iguana you can adopt and name. The exception is if it’s punny. Calling a Desert Eagle a Deagle or a Mosin a garbage rod is one thing, but calling your AR-15 Lucille is cringy, and you’re not Negan.
(The only exception is Gerry Blair naming his ten gauge Moose Dick.)
Stop Putting Melee Weapons on Your Gun (Except Bayos)
Bayonets are a natural extension of your long guns and have a long history of putting people into the ground. Outside of bayonets, ditch the melee weapons on your guns. Knuckle dusters as grips, Grip Knives, and stocks that double as axes are stupid. Be an adult and attach a flamethrower to your AR-15 as George Washington intended.
Stop Ruining Old Guns
Somewhere out there, right now, there is someone with an SKS, a Dremel, and a bad idea. The art of Bubba is nothing but cringy. A combination of a Dremel and Tapco has rarely done anything positive. I’m not some crazy historian, and sure there are a million garbage rods and SKS rifles out there, but you aren’t making them better.
If you aren’t Griffin and Howe, don’t lay your hands on an M1903 with a saw and Dremel thinking you can make it better.
Eliminate the Phrases ‘Just as Good’ and ‘Works For Me’
Finally, the greatest in cringy gun owner behavior comes from the blessing of the internet and social media. Phrases like just as good and works for me are used to justify substandard pieces of gear and tactics. Like carrying with an empty chamber or using a SERPA. I’m not an elitist, and if you can explain why you use a piece of gear or particular technique clearly, succinctly, and without obvious problems, then I can respect that.
If all you can say to a reasonable challenge to your gear or plan is ‘just as good’ or ‘works for me’, then you are just telling everyone you don’t know what you are talking about and you don’t care to. It is really cringy, and eliminating that kind of reasoning will help make you a better critical thinker.
Keeping It Cringy
If we want to be better as a community, we have to identify our weaknesses. Identify, address, and hopefully find a way to eliminate it. Being cringy isn’t the biggest problem the gun community faces, but it is one of the easier ones to deal with, and hopefully, I’m doing my part.
Again, I’m not the fun police and it is your money. That said, your $600 red anodized skeletonized AR better have been bought for the lolz.
This week the boys are feeling their age, as they wonder about certain trends in the firearms community and why they’re so old that they just don’t get them.
There has been a lot of talk about banned books as of late, and as someone with more Libertarian leanings, I’m against the entire notion of banned information. Interestingly enough, in the early 1990s, there was a book that fell victim to what the employee of the company who published it called ‘economic censorship.” The book was Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors.
The publisher, Paladin Press, was well known for its controversial subjects and numerous books that certainly walked the line. This would end up being their most controversial and was eventually linked to at least two murders. While the book is out of publication, it’s fairly easy to find. Out of curiosity, I found a copy online and wanted to do a bit of a review of what’s easily one of the most controversial books of all time.
Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors
As you can tell from the title, this book takes itself fairly seriously and advertises itself as a technical manual. The author, using the pen name, Rex Feral, sells himself as an experienced Hit Man willing to teach you the secrets of his trade. The manual walks you through a hit, from the time the hit man arrives in the state, fresh off a plane, til the moment the job ends and the assassin flees.
From there, the book dives into its manual aspect. The book provides some fairly basic high-level advice. Like, be in shape, and use newspapers to find potential clients, make sure you learn how to fight. It doesn’t teach you how to fight or tell you how to shoot a gun, just advises you to learn to do so. You should have fake IDs and credit cards, but the book doesn’t teach you how to get those.
A lot of the information is outdated, but what would you expect from a book written in 1983? Some of the advice is hilarious in hindsight. Specifically their advice for flying without needing an id. The line, “airlines don’t require identification for tickets paid in cash,” certainly didn’t age well.
One of my favorite lines is, “Sport karate can get you killed in the street.” I have to ask, is this the first utterance of something getting you killed in the street? What’s a meme these days was apparently hit man advice from the 1980s.
Going off the Rails
Advice like be in shape, don’t do drugs, learn how to use weapons is also fairly standard and certainly would apply to a hit man. It’s not exactly rocket science. When Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors tries to offer advice on how to do things, it dips into pulp fiction-like advice.
Advice like meet veterans. They can train you and get you machine guns! Attend a mercenary school! I wasn’t around in 1983, so I have to ask, were there mercenary schools? I would totally take out a student loan to attend Mercenary University.
You should use hollow points not just because they expand but because you can drop poison into the hollowpoint cavity. Speaking of poison, this book advises you to catch a pufferfish and cut out the poison bladder out and use the poison to kill your mark.
How about using a pellet gun with a poison dart? That’s some of the advice you find in this Technical Manual. The only time the advice seems solid is the construction of a disposable suppressor. Paladin Press wrote all about things like this. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a Copy/Paste from a different book.
The Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors says you should be an expert on the law and on firearms, and the writer is clearly neither. He mentions federal registration and calls magazines clips. At one point advised you to use garlic juice bullets, but I have no idea why.
A section with advice on women is pretty good. It comes down to if you involve your lover in a hit, don’t cheat on them. Solid advice.
The Controversy
The controversy came to be when Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors was in possession of a, well, hit man. Admittedly the man was caught. Still, he reportedly followed the advice of the book, including using an AR-7, a homemade suppressor, stealing a license plate, and apparently, a total of 22 pieces of advice were used by the murderer.
The murderer was caught and tried, and the surviving family sued Paladin Press. Paladin Press seemed to be perfectly fine with fighting, but their insurance company wasn’t. They settled out of court and promised to destroy their remaining copies and end the publication of the book.
Personally, I think this was silly, and Paladin Press was right to fight. The book doesn’t offer any real useful advice, and if it did, the real-life killer would have never been caught. It’s a silly book, apparently written by a woman in Florida who submitted a fiction novel. Paladin Press asked her to turn it into an instruction novel, and we got a silly book about it.
I think they were right when they said it was “Economic censorship.”
This title and link of an article posted by LI Herald, I believe from Stacker originally has the subheading goes thusly,
“Gun control is one of the most heated political topics in the United States. Stacker has compiled a list of 25 terms to help you understand the news, debate, and public conversation.”
It is noble and right to try and aid people in their understanding of a topic. There is just one, repeated, problem in this article.
The Herald keeps getting things confusingly, often egregiously, wrong. That or Stacker did and they are sharing it without comment, correction, or verification. This is perhaps the most often repeated and most fundamentally frustrating error gun control advocates, and some gun rights advocates, make in their arguments. They are armed (pun intended) with misunderstood, misremembered, inaccurate, or entirely fabricated information.
Definitions matter.
Words matter.
Understanding and comprehension matters.
Assisting your audience in understanding matters. What we cannot substitute, even as we give our opinions, is our opinions for the general understanding.
I won’t now and never will claim that my writings are without error, they are not. However, I make a genuine effort with every post, and my writers do as well, to have our facts straight and our opinions be clearly our opinions. When you are enumerating a list to better people’s understanding of a topic, at the least so they have reference points, those points must be accurate in the first place. The Herald and Stacker do not accomplish this.
The post goes on to call these 25 terms critical, and then fails at making these terms remotely understandable or accurate. They fail in a variety of ways, which at least adds flavor to the failure I suppose.
Before we get to the list, I want bring attention to this line in the opening few paragraphs. The line makes the token attempt to appear balanced, does a passable job at it even, but then becomes an early indicator they are under equipped to be dealing in this advice to begin with.
Gun advocates argue that more guns, not less, will help to prevent or stop shootings—and that stricter gun-control laws will only keep guns out of the hands of honest people.
This is a drastic oversimplification of several different arguments that gun controllers meld into a single inaccurate one that they assign to firearms rights advocates. I don’t know a single gun advocate, informed to any level I would deem worth listening to, who is just preaching “more guns” will solve the numerous criminal problems, mental health problems, and prevent mass shootings.
They, informed firearm advocates, do point out one or more of the following,
The proposed law or policy being discussed would not prevent the event it is in response to…
Current laws failed to prevent the tragedy, the tragedy wasn’t legally permitted under current law…
Hard security measures are most effective, but are only as effective as they are stingently applied and adhered to. This includes the decisions on armed staff and to what degree…
Disarming the law abiding at an event or place doesn’t make it safe…
In addition there is little evidence that it markedly improves safety…
Gun violence is complex and motivations should be the focus, not ineffectually curtailing ownership…
Gun control disproportionately negatively affects minorities and impoverished communities…
But all of these more nuanced comments get lumped into the “you just think more guns is the answer” pile of dimwitted hot takes. That is disappointing.
Continuing, the final informative paragraph gives us this…
In June 2022, just over a month after the horrific shooting at Uvalde, President Joe Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which incentivizes states to pass “red flag” laws,
“Red Flag Law” is known to be of dubious efficacy because it is a catch all term for a variety of pre-due process legal actions and is questionable under civil rights protections. Red Flag Laws must be nuanced and the system must have the capacity to quickly process them, our current systems boast neither capability.
expands background checks for those under age 21,
This is also of questionable merit and will likely face steep legal challenges. We may instead see certain records shift to public domain instead of being sealed and see a lowering the age of ‘adult’ culpability for certain crimes like aggravated assault and homicide. Making NICS more aggressively look at those between the ages of 18-20, those who have far more limited economic means and represent a far smaller portion of the gun buying public (as they buy less of every disposable income commodity) will not curb crime.
Oh that, the most overhyped non-win of the whole legislation. Close a loophole so niche that it probably won’t bother anyone.
Previous legislation had prevented those convicted of domestic abuse from owning a firearm; the new bill now includes dating partners under that restriction,
Say the whole definition or shut up about it.
Domestic violence can now include dating partners who specifically never resided with the person they have been convicted of harming and whose conviction doesn’t otherwise disqualify them from firearm ownership. Domestic abuse previously was tied to residing in the same domicile/residence/address but has been modernized under the BSCA to include a situation, that it in all honesty should include, with non-resident dating partners. Reminder that this is all at the misdemeanor level.
Problems still exist in defining ‘dating’ if both parties don’t acknowledge that they were dating, but it is a valid expansion of domestic abuse definitions. But it doesn’t expand it substantially. It is such a niche situation that someone would be convicted of abusing a partner they happened to have not lived with but that the conviction was also not another prohibitive one to firearm ownership that I would be curious to see how many people in a given year actually hit this category. I’m not kidding in the slightest when I say I believe it would be single digits, and there will be years nobody fits this specific conviction criteria.
in addition to spouses and former spouses.
Again, and any co-habitants. You don’t need to be dating, just have lived legally together. Roommates can be and have been convicted of domestic violence.
In some respects, this bill is a rebuttal to the Supreme Court’s ruling, which had been handed down just days before the signing of the bill, that effectively nullified New York state’s concealed carry law.
Yeah, we knew this was political not productive.
Seeing as gun control will continue to be a major legislative issue for years to come, here are 25 terms critical to understanding and participating in the conversation.
Critical. Critical! Yet they cannot be bothered to get them correct.
Observe.
Gun Control Act of 1968
Okay, decent start. This is one of the most defining firearms laws of the modern age and one with so many issues it had to be corrected in 1986. How do you define this substantial piece of legislation?
The Gun Control Act of 1968 set the legal precedents for the sale of guns in the United States. It determined licensing requirements, restrictions on who could purchase firearms, and regulation of interstate trading.
Huh, really swinging for brevity here without touching on any of the problem points. This lends an unconscious bias to an uniformed reader that the GCA was largely without problems. It was full of problems. The Firearm Owners Protection Act was a roll back of the GCA in many respects because gun owners had been bent over and hammered with the egregious GCA.
Firearm Owners Protection Act
Ah, that’s up next. How is it defined?
Enacted in 1986, the Firearm Owners Protection Act addressed aspects of the 1968 law that were seen by many as going too far. It loosened regulations of interstate transfers, some gun sales, and record keeping.
Again brevity. No detail on how or why.
I will give them credit that they link to the laws so the reader can see the whole thing, those links are preserved. But I would like to see more detail in the piece. Highlighting the legal purpose, problems, and scope of the laws themselves. Why did the FOPA need to counter the GCA?
In this telling it just feels like gun owners threw a tantrum and got listened to instead of their being massive and objective errors in the GCA’s approach. It treats legal proceedings like back and forth shouting matches that lack objective constitutional standards or data, that’s problematic.
Unless a reader takes the time to read the GCA, FOPA, and NFA, the terms do nothing to inform them in the debate. They are however given orientation on informing themselves by reading the laws and following up on available data about their implementation, errors in enforcement, and success in criminal intervention.
Title II, NFA weapons
By federal law, Title II and National Firearm’s Act weapons are heavily regulated. They include short-barreled shotguns and rifles, automatic shotguns, submachine guns, machine guns, rocket launchers, and grenade launchers. The acquisition of these weapons requires approval by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
I have no serious issues with this explanation, good job. Title I and Title II device definitions are often brought up as solutions to the ‘Assault Weapon’ problem. Silencers/Suppressors, which are Title II NFA Weapons, aren’t mentioned though and I think that is to avoid bring attention to the absurdity of having them on the NFA in the first place.
Assault weapons ban
The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act of 1994 aimed to get certain semiautomatic weapons off the streets. It expired 10 years later. Gun control advocates complained that the act was weak, marred by loopholes that allowed manufacturers to evade the law with minor changes, and failed to ban all semiautomatic weapons. Gun rights advocates said it infringed on their constitutionally guaranteed right to bear arms and did little to deter violence.
I would add that this is specifically the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and that state bans differ in scope and timeframe. This is a specific piece of legislation, not the generalized term.
Second Amendment
The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Seemingly endless debates revolve around its intent, what comprises such a militia, and the extent of its protection of individual rights to own guns.
We do, in reference to this debate, have several Supreme Court decisions, Heller, Chicago, and Bruen, which settle much of this debate. If states like California and New York would quit wasting time and tax money on fighting their unwinnable and illogically crafted legislative endeavors we could focus on more effective ways to curb criminal violence and suicides, at least from the legislative angles.
National Rifle Association
The NRA was founded following the Civil War by Union Army veterans to promote and encourage rifle marksmanship. The modern-day NRA claims 5 million members, and its lobbying arm fights for gun rights and against gun restrictions. The NRA spent more than $30 million to support Donald Trump’s bid for the presidency in 2016.
Nice Trump association play at the end there, because throwing $30 Million to the Clinton campaign would have made sense, being she is married to the man who signed the aforementioned Assault Weapon Ban? We could have just left it with the two sentences, which nicely summarize the organization, or commented on some of the current cases the NRA was or is involved in, but no we have to play the Orangeman card.
If you’re team Orangeman=Bad now you are also team NRA=Bad, no more thinking required.
March for Our Lives
Survivors of the 2018 mass school shooting created the March for Our Lives organization at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. It has called for a reduction in the number of firearms in civilian hands by 30%, a mandatory federal gun buyback program for assault weapons, an Internal Revenue Service investigation into the National Rifle Association, and a re-examination of the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing handguns to be kept in homes.
No mention of their political ties to Mike Bloomberg and Everytown for Gun Safety, which would be fine if they hadn’t just done otherwise for the NRA above with regards to Donald Trump. If we’re calling out political ties let’s do that evenly, shall we?
Gunowners of America
Founded in 1975, the Gunowners of America (GOA) calls itself the “no compromise” gun lobby. It believes that “gun control of all forms is ineffective and unconstitutional.” The GOA positions itself as a rival to the NRA which it claims is weak at protecting the Second Amendment. The GOA is suing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and is leading the legal challenge to a ban on bump stocks, an attachment sometimes used with assault weapons.
This is another succinct explanation of a term, in this case a group, proving they are quite capable of doing so. This could be referenced quickly by a reader. The GOA, FPC, and other smaller engaged organizations should be referenceable as peerage to the NRA-ILA, although sometimes taking on different cases and with differing immediate goals and leadership. The organization sizes also vary.
That assault weapon comment with the bumpstocks at the end is problematic, but only minorly compared to what is coming so we will move on.
Assault weapon
Take a look at the picture they use… Check the magazine, charging handle, and those .22lr ammo boxes on the table. Some “assault weapon” that is…
Hold on. You said Assault Weapon, not Assault Rifle. Assault Weapon is full of barrel shrouds, and pistol grips, and shoulder things that go up… You know, things absolute morons believe make weapons more lethal.
Now we’re talking about assault rifles? At least they have a fixed definition, I suppose.
Ok, continue.
can fire in fully automatic mode,meaning when the trigger is pulled and held down, the weapon will shoot continuously until the trigger is released or the gun runs out of ammunition.
…no.
You’ve screwed this one all up. First you changed terms from weapon to rifle and now you’re describing a fully automatic only machine gun instead.
An assault rifle is a select-fire rifle. This means selectable fire modes between semi-automatic and a burst, automatic, or both burst and automatic fire settings, chambered in an intermediate power rifle caliber. Intermediate calibers are those below something like 30-06, the full power rifle caliber of the first and second World Wars, but above pistol calibers like .45 ACP and 9mm NATO. The definition is fairly specific for assault rifle. Assault weapon just means some idiot who can’t be bothered to think further believes it to be scary looking.
Machine guns are assault rifles.
Again, no.
Reverse it, add context, and then yes.
Assault Rifles are Machine Guns, under the definitions of the NFA. Assault Rifles are Title II firearms. Remember the NFA, the third term of the 25 on this list? Assault Rifles are a machine gun by the terms of that 1934 law, so are all weapons capable of firing more than one shot per single action of the trigger. This covers everything from the likes of the very small VZ61 chambered in the tiny 32 ACP…
Via Military Times
…to the M2 .50 BMG Heavy Machine Gun
PS Magazine, M2A1
The National Firearms Act considers these above two guns identical. Yep, the under 3lb .32 ACP little machine pistol is legally the same as the 128lb behemoth that can poke the horizon.
You couldn’t even stay on the same term to begin with, but yes. Assault weapon is a politically charged term because anyone rubbing two brain cells together in the correct observatory direction can recognize they really want it to mean semi-automatic, but they can’t get away with something that overarching.
as major gun groups say it was made up by the anti-gun lobby and that guns don’t assault people.
Assault weapon was made up by the anti-gun lobby, they have admitted that. To the best of my knowledge no firearm has ever been charged with assault, aggravated assault, or homicide and been made to stand trial, the person using one, or any other method for that matter, has been charged. So no, firearms do not assault people.
Automatic weapon
They use this image from the US Air Force of an M249.
Okay, cool so far. The SAW is an automatic weapon, hence the title Squad Automatic Weapon.
Definition?
An automatic weapon loads another round mechanically after the first round has been fired.
Nope. That is an autoloading weapon. Automatic weapons are also autoloading, but please stop mixing your functions.
It can be semiautomatic, firing one shot per single pull of the trigger, or fully automatic, loading and firing ammunition until the trigger is released, the ammunition is exhausted, or the weapon jams.
That is a select-fire weapon, like the assault rifle I clarified above. An automatic weapon is one that can only fire in, or is primarily designed to fire in, fully automatic mode. The M249 SAW, shown as the example above, can only fire in fully automatic, completely contradicting the text that follows stating it can be fired semi-auto. It cannot.
The new XM250 has a semi-automatic mode, but is meant to be fired in fully automatic most of the time. The same goes for the M2A1, it has a semi-automatic mode for administrative functions but is designed to operate in fully automatic. The Negev 5 and Negev 7 machine guns follow this trend too, with a semi-auto selection setting for administrative or select situations but designed to be fired on fully automatic for normal operation.
Semiautomatic weapon
They can’t mess this one up, right?
M110 SASS, Semi Automatic Sniper System photo used in the article. Photo is at a demonstration day put on by the National Guard, a common event. It is a USANG photo.
The photo choice is interesting, but still accurate. They could have just as easily used something like…
But that decision might imply that semi-automatic weapons are… common everyday firearms and not ‘weapons of war’ upon our streets.
How about the definition? How did they do?
Semiautomatic rifles fire one bullet each time the trigger is pulled, automatically loading the next round from the magazine into the chamber. They also are called self-loading rifles or auto-loading rifles.
Actually, nothing to critique there beyond the fact they switch from semi-automatic weapon to semi-automatic rifle. Changing terms mid-explanation does not lead to good comprehension of these critical terms in understanding the gun control debate, yet they continue committing this error.
Caliber
Caliber is the measure of the internal diameter of a gun’s barrel and the outside diameter of its bullet. It is measured in hundredths or thousandths of an inch—.45 handgun has a barrel diameter of 0.45 inches. It also may be measured in metrics, such as a 9mm handgun.
That’s… close. However not close enough to be helpful. Caliber is indeed the diameter of the projectile and barrel, but it primarily denotes all the dimensions of a particular cartridge so that a standard for it can be maintained. For example 45 ACP and 45-70 are very different calibers (cartridges) but are the same caliber (diameter). Stating a weapon’s caliber is denoting its full chambering, all dimensions and safe pressure to operate, not merely its bore diameter. It states the specific type of ammunition the firearm can fire. This is critical for safe operation of the firearm.
International gun control
Other developed nations have far more stringent gun laws than the United States.
The term ‘developed’ is usually an indicator that they have cherry picked a selection of high income western countries that they are going to hold up as an example for us to emulate without further denotation of differences is size, demographics, culture, criminality, economics, or history. Also why is ‘International Gun Control’ a term? Why isn’t a specific law like the GCA, but in Canada or Germany, being used and not just a vague ‘other nations have rules too.’
Oh, right. My bad. This list is already irredeemably erroneous so why should I expect it to get better going international.
It was already prohibited that handguns be used for anything other than target shooting at approved ranges, you weren’t even legally allowed to defend yourself with your legally owned handgun in Canada and yet somehow firearm crimes and violent crimes have still been a problem, to include a selection of mass shootings. One such shooting involved the impersonation of CMP Officer in the commission.
But I’m sure a ban will make it right, look what it did here for alcohol. Prohibition works always.
The United Kingdom bans handguns,
And has a rising knife crime problem, but at least you’re getting stabbed with sharp metal instead of fast metal?
while purchasing a gun in Japan is allowed only for hunting, professional use, and gun competitions.
The Japanese suicide rate (the majority of our gun deaths in the US are suicides) parallels our own, so that majority of deaths is independent of method. And those are pretty much the reasons to buy a firearm in the US too. Self defense could easily fall under the heading ‘ Professional Use’ but that’s just my .02.
Gun owners must document where their weapon and ammunition are stored and may not fire their guns except for the reasons they obtained them.
In the United States it is also only legal to discharge a weapon for lawful reasons. I’m not certain what they’re trying to imply here. They’ve basically summarized it that international gun law also states you can only do things that are lawful.
Russia, Mexico, and Brazil also have more stringent gun control regulations than we do, most nations do. We have the 2nd Amendment. Results of that stringent regulation vary wildly and cherry picking ‘developed’ nations defeats the purpose of the comparisons. There are numerous studies on why comparing the United States laws on firearm regulations to Europe is pointless, not the least of which is that most studies on firearm regulation in general were pointless.
Brady Law
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, known as the Brady Law, imposed a five-day waiting period after a person applies to purchase a gun. It was passed after then-White House Press Secretary Jim Brady was shot and badly wounded during an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Now, the waiting period is streamlined to take just minutes under the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
This explanation leaves out several crucial details about the system, specifically its flaws and limitations. Firstly, times can vary wildly depending on how quickly NICS processors are working, or if the system is working at all. Secondly, delays are common which take days to resolve and are often reported in the media as purchase denials, which they are not. Thirdly, there is a transfer date the FFL can use that if NICS does not complete the check by, the purchaser may pick up their firearm. Fourthly, not all background checks are completed. Not just within the Brady Transfer Date given by NICS, but ever. Some just remain open with no resolution, leaving a citizen in permanent limbo if it weren’t for the Brady Transfer Date portion of the law.
Gun control advocates will talk about removing the Brady Transfer Date from the law, arguing that a background check must be ‘completed’ and closed by the FBI before a transfer/sale is completed. As stated above this would leave people in limbo and deny them their constitutional rights unless a mandated time frame and mandated accuracy of records was enforced upon the FBI. They won’t accept those provisions and congress won’t force it upon them, hence the Brady Transfer Date.
National Instant Criminal Background Check System
The National Instant Criminal Background Check System, mandated by the 1993 Brady Law, is a database containing information to determine if a buyer is eligible to purchase a gun. It is used by licensed dealers before ringing up a sale. More than 1.3 million sales have been denied under this system, according to the FBI.
And over 434,836,997 checks have been performed, according to the FBI, making the national denial rate about 0.29%. Only 1 in every 334 people checked were denied their purchase. Among those that passed are several very notable killers who went on to commit mass shootings, like in Las Vegas.
So for those crowds shouting ‘Background Checks Work!’… do they?
Gun show loophole
The so-called gun show loophole refers to the legal exemption that allows private sellers, such as gun show vendors,
STOP! I’m tired of this.
to sell weapons without conducting background checks. While federally licensed gun sellers must run background checks, not all sellers must be licensed.
Vendors, those who set up a booth and are selling firearms at a show all have FFLs because you MUST have an FFL to sell firearms for profit and FFLs are required to do background checks. What you’re talking about is when private citizen A is walking around with a gun at the show, not a professional vendor, and private citizen B wants to buy it and they agree. Citizen A, again not a professional vendor, might even have a price tag on the gun they’re selling. Certain gun shows have amended their rules and disallowed this behavior, requiring them to pay for a background check at a willing vendor to do the transfer at the show.
To sell guns as a business you must have an FFL, conduct checks, and mark the paperwork for the gun show you are participating in. You cannot legally be in the business of selling firearms without an FFL and running NICS. You can, as a private citizen, sell your stuff to other private citizens. I cannot say for certain, but I would imagine most gun shows require you to be an FFL to sell guns at your vendor spot. They might not, nor are they required to if they are your private firearms unless local regulation states you must have an FFL to sell at a gun show. This necessitates more and more work arounds like parking lot sales and driving briefly away from the show to “sell” the firearm and then returning.
Those sales are known as the secondary market.
So not vendors as in businesses. Not people in the business of selling firearms for profit. A private individual selling from their private collection.
Just like the law does not make a distinction between the tiny machine gun and the massive one, the law does not make a distinction between a private citizen transfer when they happen to be standing at a gun show and one that takes place in a parking lot a block away, at a police station, or at someone’s home.
This is because the Gun Show Loophole (private sales) like the ‘boyfriend’ loophole (non-cohabiting dating partner) is a small niche circumstantial method to acquire a firearm and has no reliable data showing it is a remotely significant source of firearms transfers that end in serious criminal activity. Firearms that are stolen (and the ATF themselves have lost thousands) are a significantly larger and more blatant problem. The boyfriend loophole was closed purely for political points, not efficacy, and the gun show loophole is the same snake oil. It will pass if and when the legislature needs a gun control win or else.
Strawman purchase
Considered a loophole in gun control,
A loophole? It’s a Federal Crime.
Gun stores are encouraged to deny sales to anyone theysuspect of straw purchasing, like someone being denied a purchase but then their buddy or their girlfriend suddenly wants to purchase it instead.
with a strawman purchase, someone who is ineligible and seeking a gun can use someone eligible to obtain the weapon. Prosecutors say it’s difficult to prove the intent of a strawman not to keep the gun, and few states have laws regulating secondhand purchases.
There’s that secondary market again. It is difficult to prove intent, but knowingly selling or transferring a firearm to someone who you know is ineligible to own one is also a crime. There are prosecutorial options, not perfect ones but they exist. But a straw purchase isn’t a loophole, its very illegal to do even if it is done anyway.
Mass shootings
The United States has more mass shootings than any other developed nation. Among the most horrific was in 2012, when a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. A shooting in 2016 at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that left 50 dead, was the deadliest until the following year when a gunman killed 59 people at a Las Vegas music festival. In 2018, a gunman killed 17 people at a Parkland, Florida, high school, and 22 people were killed in August 2019 at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
I notice here they aren’t defining mass shootings, they’re listing the most horrific ones that also qualify as a public mass casualty attacks or terroristic attacks.
While these deadly events were less frequent during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 has seen more than 650 mass shootings as of late October,
That’s easy when you lower the definition to include nearly every criminal incident involving a gun where multiple people are injured. Even amid this ‘pandemic’ of mass shootings, our criminal and homicide rates are very middling worldwide. They could be better, they could be significantly worse. We’re the third largest nation on the planet and much of our homicide is geographic, urban, and criminally connected, this includes our ‘mass shootings’.
the deadliest of which was at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, which left 22 dead and another 18 injured. It took place just 10 days after a gunman opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 people.
Okay… what is the definition of mass shooting?
They never actually state it in their ‘understanding crucial terms’ post. They never give you the definition.
Allow me, it is most commonly any event involving a firearm where four or more people are injured or killed as a result. They do not all have to be injured or killed by gunfire. This can include the perpetrator of the event.
Bump stocks
A bump stock is an attachment designed to make a semiautomatic rifle fire faster. It replaces the weapon’s stock—the part held against the shoulder—freeing it to slide back and forth rapidly and harness the recoil energy. A dozen of the rifles used by the gunman in the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting were modified with bump stocks, allowing him to fire over 1,100 rounds in 11 minutes. Bump stocks are illegal for almost all U.S. civilians; despite suits filed by gun rights groups to reverse this law, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the federal ban on bump stocks in August 2022.
While 100 rounds a minute is very doable in regular semi-auto, it would make the finger tired. Don’t @ me or email me with your pet Vegas theory either, please. Occam’s Razor applies here. We may not like that there is no known motive, he was wealthy enough for full on automatics to be in his budget, or that it seems implausible to you that Surefire 100’s and bumpstocks would work as well as they did. But the long and short of it is that the most plausible answers are that they did work, he did what he did, and there is nothing that necessitates a crazy person having an understandable or known motive just because we are used to seeing manifestos, social media posts, videos, or other explanations for the extreme behavior.
Him shooting into the concert crowd, because ‘why not?’, is still the most plausible answer. A highly dissatisfying answer, but the best in our possession. It must therefore be taken as the most likely. I’ve heard a few alternatives that get my gears turning too, but nothing that passes Occam’s enough to be worth portraying as ‘the truth’ of the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay shooting. Facts remain that it was amateurly executed, thankfully, and resulted in a much lower casualty count than it could have had explosives and better aimed fire been used. We are lucky this guy had far more money that terroristic sense, because a trained AQ operative with his resource pile in that position would be absolutely terrifying.
Anyway, the bump stock definition itself is fair; is an attachment designed to make a semiautomatic rifle fire faster. It replaces the weapon’s stock—the part held against the shoulder—freeing it to slide back and forth rapidly and harness the recoil energy.
Binary trigger
Like a bump stock, a binary trigger increases a weapon’s firing speed. Unlike a bump stock, it is legal in many states.
This is for a very simple reason. It fits the textbook definition of semi-automatic firearm. One shot per action of the trigger. Binary triggers merely take advantage of an action that most triggers do not, the forward motion. The bumpstock got squeaked in as a machine gun in one of those times ‘something needed to be done’ about the gun violence.
A binary trigger allows the firearm to shoot one bullet when the trigger is pulled and one when it releases. Using a binary trigger, a 30-round magazine can be emptied in about three seconds.
Harkening back to the bump stock commentary, rate of fire is not correlative to casualty rates. This is demonstrable over, and over, and over again, how fast a weapon can shoot is not how fast a weapon can kill. The injury rates in many mass casualty shootings are 1:1 or 1:2 with the death rates. Per every person shot and killed, one or two people are injured. In Vegas it was closer to 1:10 despite the astronomical amount of ammunition fired and the devastatingly effective killing field that a packed outdoor concert represents. Casualty counts are much more dependent upon how many people are close to the start of the attack, how effectively they can flee that space, and if the shooter encounters effective resistance.
Pistol grip
Why is this on the list?
A pistol grip is considered a defining feature of an assault weapon.
By the brain dead.
It is used to improve stability against a weapon’s recoil.
It is used to hold onto the gun in reasonable comfort
Gun control advocates say a pistol grip helps shooters who are spray firing from the hip,
These people have watched Commando, Predator, and a number of other action movies and taken them as indisputable fact while mixing this up with a tactic carried from WWI, ironically from a weapon (the BAR) that didn’t have a pistol grip.
and the feature was prohibited under the assault weapons ban,
No it wasn’t, it was one of the absurdly asinine features used to determine if a rifle was an assault weapon or not. An AR-15 was perfectly fine if it didn’t have a threaded on muzzle device or a stock that was adjustable, it could have a pistol grip. It could also have a perfectly functional non-pistol-grip, like these…
Via TFB, these looked really cool in Tomorrow War. Hera Arms furniture.
but since the ban expired, this type of grip has been difficult to regulate.
This is because the asinine regulation of a feature is stupid, it doesn’t influence the lethality of a weapon. Pistol grips don’t add +2 deadliness, this isn’t a video game.
Flash suppressor
I’m convinced at this point the author said 25 and then ran out of more relevant things to get wrong, define poorly or incompletely or skip defining entirely, or was given 25 by someone else and couldn’t change the number. They are now just picking anything to keep the list going.
A flash suppressor also is a feature of assault-style weapons. It allows hot air and gas to escape from the gun barrel, creating a smaller flash as the bullet is fired. It is designed to improve visibility for the shooter.
Hey! Full points on this one. That is what a flash suppressor does. Bummer that they can also be found on bolt action rifles.
High-capacity magazine
Definitions vary, but generally a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition is considered high capacity. The gunman in the August 2019 Dayton, Ohio, mass shooting that killed nine people had a 100-round magazine. Using high-capacity magazines is legal in many states. Gun control advocates say that while restrictions on magazine size may not stop mass shootings, they may limit the carnage if the shooter must pause to reload.
This premise has been disproven in any multitude of ways by subject matter experts and in the evidence we have from mass shootings. The third most lethal mass shooting in the US is still Virginia Tech, where two limited capacity handguns were used. Reloading didn’t limit anything. Reloading is a task that takes a bare handful of seconds and can have no meaningful impact on the lethality of an incident. A remotely competent shooter with a low capacity pump action shotgun can kill the same nine people or more. Capacity, as with caliber or weapon type, is a very poor indicator of lethality in a mass shooting.
Open carry
Guess what flattering type of photo they use for this one…
That’s right! Overweight white guy! Stereotyping is fun.
Five states and Washington D.C. forbid the open carry of handguns in public places.
Except by the police and uniformed security.
Thirty-one states allow open carry without any license or permit, although in some cases the weapon cannot be loaded. Forty-seven states allow the open carry of a long gun, such as a rifle or shotgun, although some states do not allow the weapons to be loaded.
Except by police or uniformed security. I sure hope cops have never done anything wrong, deliberately or accidently, with firearms and that nobody around them is in the ACAB group and terrified and traumatized by their presence. That would suck being near those open carriers with arrest and detainment powers, wouldn’t it?
Background checks
Under federal law, background checks are required to buy guns from a licensed vendor, which includes retailers. Among those ineligible to buy a gun are felons, those dishonorably discharged from the military, and people convicted of domestic violence. A background check is not federally required to buy a gun from a private, unlicensed seller, including online and at gun shows.
Be certain you tie all of those back to private seller, however this is also usually within a state’s borders. The rules change when you cross state lines, if you use an FFL to mail a firearm you sold, if you use an FFL to help sell a firearm, if you are selling for profit at a gun show or if the gun show requires you use an FFL to complete private sales at the show, and any number of other ways background checks can become involved.
Gun control advocates want background checks expanded,
So we can deny/delay more constitutional rights in the vain hope we deter a monster from committing mass murder? The 0.29% of denied sales almost never result in a follow on criminal prosecution, why would more checking not continue that trend of inaction? Eroding the confidence in the law is the result. Does it matter that it is illegal to try and buy a gun as a certain type of convict? If trying to make the purchase doesn’t result in being prosecuted criminally I’d argue it doesn’t matter. The super majority of denials are never recommended for further action because they are not deemed a pressing threat of any kind. Additionally we know that many mass killers passed their background checks. Others stole their weapons. So what are background checks doing if over 99.7% of people always pass and less than 1% of the less than 1% of people who fail the check ever end up in a courtroom over it, to say nothing of convicted of a crime?
while the NRA opposes expanded checks, saying they would not stop criminals who obtain weapons through theft, the black market, relatives, or friends.
Joe Biden’s son is known to have violated this law, blatantly, admitted. Hunter Biden is an illegal possessor and lied on his background check. We have evidence of him in the commission of multiple federal crimes regarding substance abuse, prostitution, and firearm possession.
He probably won’t be convicted of it. Just like the 99+% of people who should be (because its the law, right?) and aren’t prosecuted for lying or trying to illegally possess a gun, it isn’t actually that big of a deal the vast majority of the time according to law enforcement.
So, again, what are background checks doing?
Summary
This list is a bust. If you knew nothing going in you would know nothing of worth coming out. You could get into fights with people who know far more and those who know less but feel some type of way with equal aplomb. Nothing here would better assist you in understanding firearms in the US.
NYC is something of a meme when it comes to their attempts to nerf the second amendment. From their draconian policies throughout the 20th century banning essentially all lawful gun ownership, their elimination of all but two gun stores (those holdouts are in Manhattan, obviously), their blaming of Virginia for most of their gun crime, and perhaps most notably their Stop And Frisk campaign: Meant to find illegal guns, but apparently mostly good at harassing people doing nothing wrong.
But if there’s one thing we must surely all have assumed would always be sacred, it’s Nerf guns. That staple of the childhood toybox, one of a precious few remaining gifts that ensures a child gets any sort of exercise away from a screen, and fun for all ages, has apparently fallen afoul of the anti-gun movement.
Attempting to obey the absurd gun laws of his home city, the above redditor, recognizing that the permit to buy spring and air powered guns doesn’t actually exist, sent a message to the police commissioner asking what it was he was supposed to do in order to comply with the law in purchasing a Nerf gun. The response he got was, I think most would agree, literally insane: he was told to apply for a concealed carry permit. To be clear, if you look at the message he sent, it included a photo of the single shot, spring-powered Nerf gun in question, with the relevant foam darts. This is not simply a misunderstanding, as anyone with eyes who was presented with the question he sent would understand there is not a firearm, pellet gun, or even airsoft gun at play here, just a nerf pistol, and the cheapest one they make at that.
On November 10, 2022, U.S. Marines around the globe will celebrate 247 years of success on the battlefield and a legacy defined by honor, courage and commitment. This year, the Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David H. Berger and the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Troy E. Black reiterate to the force that Marines are warfighters first and foremost, in any clime and place. Drawing on the strength and service of those who wore the Eagle, Globe and Anchor in years past, Marines today are standing ready to fight and win.
Marines, raise one to us. Raise one to each other. Raise one and raise some hell for the fun of it.
Sometimes I feel like I’m the only Marine who joined the infantry without the desire to be a sniper. I appreciated snipers, respected their craft, and when I worked with them, they were impressive performers all around. I never got the bug to sit in a hole for days on end, hoping for a shot. Still, their craft is interesting. I stumbled across the very provocative title – Fry the Brain: The Art of Urban Sniping and its Role in Modern Guerrilla Warfare.
Fry the Brain is a great title. It was interesting enough to grab my attention. The entire subject is fascinating. As someone who was in the conventional military force who fought guerillas, it’s interesting to take a look behind the curtain To observe, learn, and see how urban guerillas snipe. However, my feelings about the book are a bit mixed. Let’s dive into why.
Fry the Brain – The Good
The author, John West, is not afraid to be unconventional. He is not afraid to suggest things that sound silly to someone who has only been exposed to conventional sniping tactics. For example, he identifies the strengths of using a shotgun with slugs for sniping. It’s not the best weapon, but in places with strict gun control, shotguns tend to be common.
He even advocates for using pistols and revolvers as sniping weapons since urban sniping can be done at fairly close ranges. Fry the Brain isn’t afraid to be unconventional, but the reasons are often fairly expanded on and explained correctly.
My favorite parts of the book are the dive into the world of urban guerilla snipers around the world. There are some fascinating portions written in regard to different sniping techniques and tactics used by the IRA, the Iraqis, the Bosnians, and many more. There is a fairly solid focus on the Russians in World War 2, which is probably one of the more brutal examples of urban sniping.
Everything in the book is also well explained, easy to understand, and illustrated well. The author gets his point across rather succinctly.
The Annoying
Fry the Brain and the author seem to have a bit of a knowledge gap in regard to the civilian firearm industry. The author is a Special Forces soldier, retired, I believe. When they discuss different firearms for sniping, he doesn’t seem to know that threaded barrel variants of common bolt action rifles exist and that getting a barrel threaded is also pretty simple.
Fry The Brain states that a custom suppressor would need to be made for a Weatherby rifle that’s chambered in .223, .204, etc. As we know, that’s not true, and commercial cans are widely available. The author seems to think that suppressors have to be produced for a specific rifle. As if the same can used on an M4 couldn’t be used on another .223 rifle as long as the threading or mounting device is the same.
The author describes using homemade suppressors, and if you can machine an improvised can, you can thread a barrel. In discussing magnum revolvers, he mentions a downside is that not many companies produce suppressors for revolvers.
While there are revolvers like the Nagant or the Knight’s Suppressed Sniper revolver, and other niches and specialized designs exist, the problem isn’t that companies don’t produce suppressors. It’s that suppressing a modern revolver would be insanely difficult. Also, if you can find a way to build a 686 into a suppressed weapon as an urban guerilla, you can find a way to thread a rifle barrel.
He also names the SVD as an AK variant. The SVD or Dragunov is not a Kalashnikov variant. It’s a short-stroke gas piston gun. Perhaps the author was thinking about the Romanian PSL.
The Bad
I don’t know what happened the day Kennedy was shot. Maybe conspiracy was afoot, and if this was a book about conspiracies, then that’d be fine. However, this is Fry the Brain: The Art of Urban Sniping and its Role in Modern Guerrilla Warfare. There are 23 pages dedicated to a conspiracy theory about the Kennedy assassination.
It doesn’t fit the theme of the book and feels like wasted space. Additionally, there is an early chapter that brings up the famed duel between Vasily Zaitsev and the German ‘wolf’ sniper. He spends a few pages debunking it. I won’t argue that this was Soviet propaganda, but this feels odd to randomly toss in the book.
When the book loses focus, it drifts away, and that’s the worst part of it. It’s still fairly interesting and worth checking out if you see a copy. I would love the author to go more in-depth with specific tactics. The IRA sniping was gripping, and I’d read a book about those tactics alone. If you can get past a few distractions and some inaccurate information on weapons, it’s worth a read.
With season 5 of Yellowstone premiering next week all eyes have been on Taylor Sheridan’s cowboying and script writing. Many know that he is not only a Filmmaker and actor but also a real life cowboy. Within those roots is a lot of the same interests that he brings to Yellowstone, Native American heritage within the wild west. Not only has he brought those roots to Yellowstone and had major success but he has brought it to other current TV shows and movies without many even knowing yet enjoying in the same regard.
TV Shows
Yellowstone: Taylor Sheridan both created and starred in Yellowstone. This greatly successful show goes over the current day Cowboying, the fight for land in Montana, and the appreciation of this world and it’s animals. It has a beautiful balance between both sides of the coin, the white peoples American Dream and what they bring to the world, and the Native Americans loss of land and continued battles. Season 5 premiering Nov. 13, 2022. NEXT WEEK.
Taylor Sheridan actually starred in 1883 as Charles Goodnight. Photo: Decider.com
Yellowstone Spin off 1883 and the new Sequel, 1923: Ah yes, 1883. Small Pox and white people moving West. This show was gritty, bloody, and again showed both sides of the coin. 1923 has now been announced and will have the same vibes. Premiering Sunday, Dec 18th 1923 is the Origin story of Yellowstone and will be split into two seasons. It will focus on the Drought, Great Depression, and the End of Prohibition within the Duttons world.
Alaska Daily starring Hilary Swank Photo: ABC.com
Special MentionAlaska Daily: Premiering recently on Oct 7th, 2022. While this show is not written by Taylor Sheridan it continues the story that largely needs to still be talked about, the uninvestigated kidnappings, rapes, and murders of Native American Women. The same premise that Taylor Sheridan’s “Wind River” went over.
Alaska Daily features Hilary Swank, a Journalist that left NY after getting her story snuffed, and travels to Alaska to work for The Daily Alaskan. There she learns about the culture of Alaskans and Native Americans, meanwhile investigating crooked cops and the rapes and murders of Native American Women.
Movies
Jeremy Renner and Gil Birmingham in Wind River Photo: MovieStillsDB.com
Wind River: Directed by Taylor Sheridan featuring Gil Birmingham and Kelsey Asbille, both from Yellowstone, and Jeremy Renner. This movie is another take on Snowy Wyoming, Whites working there and the American Indian Reservations. Jeremy Renner is set to investigate the death of Kelsey Asbille, an American Indian who’s body was found miles from any buildings or people. The father of Kelsey Asbille being Gil Birmingham, another Taylor Sheridan favorite.
Sicario: Written by Taylor Sheridan. We all know the premise. Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin star in this take on a Government Task Force pursuing a drug lord on the border of the United States and Mexico.
Hell or High Water: Written and starred in by Taylor Sheridan this Western has guns, robberies, and cowboys. Nuff said.
He Also likes to Use the Same Actors.
Gil Birmingham: Wind River, Hell or High Water, Yellowstone
Kelsey Asbille: Wind River, Yellowstone
Kelsey Asbille Photo: SuperStarsBio
Tokala Clifford: Wind River, Yellowstone
Ian Bohen: Wind River, Yellowstone, Sicario
James Jordan: Wind River, 1883, Yellowstone
James Jordan Photo: Imdb
So, if you like Yellowstone..you will probably like the above listed TV Shows, Movies, and Actors
The S&W Equalizer is the next iteration of their popular EZ line of handguns. Following the trend of micro hi-caps, the Equalizer has upped their capacity while retaining the easier to use slide and recoil reducing features of the original EZ pistols. These pistols have been wildly popular with those weaker and compromised hand strength or dexterity, often due to age or injury.
It has been a reliable modern semi-auto for folks who traditionally could not physically use one.
Now with more bullets, optic compatibility, and a name I would normally credit Springfield Armory for.
From Smith & Wesson,
SPRINGFIELD, MA., (11/08/2022) – Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select: SWBI), a leader in firearm manufacturing and design, introduces the all-new S&W® EQUALIZER™.
Level the playing field with our best-performing micro-compact to date. Next-gen EZ technology, low recoil impulse, and versatile magazine capacity all in a compact footprint, make the EQUALIZER™ an ultimate CCW. This 9MM offering provides the perfect balance of power and capacity across 10, 13, and 15-round magazines. The EQUALIZER™ features a single-action trigger that allows for a short take-up, clean break, and fast reset to make follow-up shots quicker. The slide operates using easy-to-rack technology to cater to a wide variety of needs and the frame includes a picatinny-style rail to mount lights or lasers for any defense scenario. A new optic cut pattern allows the user to mount their choice of sight for enhanced accuracy and the 3.675” barrel gives a longer sight radius for increased iron sight precision. The EQUALIZER™ also features a new grip texture and pattern designed to give you more control when firing and more comfort when carrying.
“The EQUALIZER™ is a total package micro-compact pistol. Its multi-purpose design allows for a variety of setup options for use at the range and/or for personal carry, while not compromising on firepower or comfort,” said John Myles, Senior Manager of New Products.
Get the big performance you need in a small, versatile handgun. Smith & Wesson is proud to introduce the S&W® EQUALIZER™.
I love shotguns, likely more than most people, and loving shotguns means learning about the wide variety of loads available. The simple, large, smooth bore nature of shotguns allow them to utilize any number of practical and more impractical load. Some are fun, like Dragon’s Breath, and some are just silly. Today we are looking at one of the sillier ideas to shove down the barrel of your shotgun, a flechette load.
What’s a Flechette?
A flechette is a sharpened steel dart with a fin to stabilize the round. Flechettes have been used in a number of different weapons since the first world war. Flechettes have been loaded into recoilless rifles, artillery shells, and even shoulder-fired small arms. We are addressing the latter here.
Flechettes have been loaded into experimental rifles, like the Steyr ACR, as well as rifles and handguns designed to be used underwater, like the HK P11. For the average gun owner, the only real example of a flechette round comes in the form of shotguns.
Courtesy Worthpoint
Various companies produce exotic shotgun loads. Most are silly but seemingly promise sky-high performance. That’s where flechette rounds fall into play. They’ve become one of those things that are often seen as some secretive, exotic option that is somehow both superior to standard buckshot but also not widely used or produced.
Do flechette shotgun rounds really offer superior performance to your standard buckshot round? Has the ammunition world conspired to make buckshot more popular even though flechettes are seemingly superior?
The Origins of Shotgun Flechettes
Flechettes in shotguns go back to the Vietnam war. The idea was to add more range to the shotgun as well as greater penetration. Shotguns and their capability to fire a handful of projectiles per trigger pull made them excellent for jungle warfare. A shotgun round full of little, fin-stabilized darts seemed promising.
Western Cartridge Company produced the shells, and this specific load utilized 20 projectiles grouped into a very long shot cup. This shot cup would stay with the projectiles until they left the barrel to prevent damage to the barrel. Buffer material was added, and the flechettes were backed by a metal ring to support the flechettes.
These rounds were issued to troops on a limited basis, and then they weren’t. Why? Well, because they didn’t work very well.
Real World Performance
The main problem with flechette rounds is that they often don’t fly straight. Once they leave the shotgun cup and the barrel, they begin to tumble in the air. Some go head over head, others spin horizontally, and some just fly sideways or backward. When around does fly straight, it does okay.
In ballistic gel testing, they often suck. Some penetrate less than three inches. When a flechette enters the gel tip forward, it does better, but that is so rare that the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. All those projectiles hitting sideways and backward are useless.
You can buy flechettes by the pound (Courtesy SARCO)
The spread is often also rather absurd, especially compared to modern buckshot. It spreads wider and faster than any load of modern buckshot. If you get fancy and use Hornady Critical Defense or Federal FliteControl, you are beating the pants of flechette-based rounds.
Do They Offer Any Advantages?
Oddly enough, yes, they do. Shotguns suck at defeating armor. Standard pistol armor can resist buckshot effectively. A sharpened, pointing projectile does a much better job of penetrating soft armor than a spherical ball of ammunition. These rounds can chew through soft armor if one of the many sharpened little darts is flying correctly through the air.
That sounds cool…but do you know what else can penetrate soft armor? Any rifle round. If you are using a long gun, then you might as well use a rifle if piercing soft armor is a concern. Even after it pierces armor, the flechette isn’t sailing too deep into the threat, whereas a rifle round will continue to reach appropriate depths to stop the threat.
(Courtesy Kosher Surplus)
In the Texas Tech Vietnam Archive, I did find an on-the-ground story from a soldier armed with a shotgun and flechette rounds. He didn’t have any testimony in regards to shooting the enemy with the weapon, but he did shoot a ¾ inch board. He said the rounds chewed right through it. Flechette shotgun rounds can penetrate hardcover and even soft armor, but it isn’t as effective as an intermediate caliber rifle.
Just Say No
For serious defensive or duty use, just say no to flechette rounds. As they sit right now, they are just a fun novelty. They are an interesting part of shotgun history, but there is a reason they were experimented with and promptly forgotten about.
4v1 fights generally don’t end well for the victim. Even with a high degree of martial arts proficiency, fighting four people is still long odds. Thankfully, armed self defense is legal in much of America. With the expenditure of some money and free time, an individual armed with a handgun, and a modicum of training can level the playing field, even against long odds. For a 5’6″ 140lb man like Liam Hughes that’s exactly what happened when he and a friend exited a bar in Southampton Twp. Pennsylvania late Friday night.
Despite multiple head wounds, including a split lip and a concussion, Hughes fought through two successful attempts to drag him from his vehicle and beat him to the ground. On the third, he managed to lunge inside his vehicle to reach the handgun he had concealed inside. Dragged from the vehicle, he found himself on the ground again, multiple attackers looming directly over him. undeterred by Liam shouting that he had a gun, they advanced a final time. Armed self defense made the difference.
After being beaten repeatedly by numerous, larger assailants who seemed unbothered by the fact that their victim was armed, Hughes finally resorted to lethal force, discharging 8 shots, killing two of his attackers and hitting a 3rd in the arm before recognizing that the threat had ended and the two remaining attackers had fled. Hughes ceased fire, and almost immediately called 911.
In a press conference, the District Attorney cited Hughes’ attempts to defuse the situation, announce his armed status prior to resorting to self defense, and generally calm, cooperative behavior with both the dispatcher and police as causal factors in his decision not to charge him. The video of the incident is available here, and is unfortunate testimony to the fact that, while violent assaults are not commonplace, armed self defense is the best method of surviving pulling that short straw.
