You may have noted recently that in addition to their usual pants-wetting nonsense, that Leftists now hate (or are afraid of) the Catholic Rosary. It’s now “Right Wing Extremism” or some such twaddle. (Link goes to a related article so we don’t give those idiots at the Atlantic any clicks.)
Being personally a survivor of 12 years of Catholic education and now a somewhat lapsed practitioner (if not a downright agnostic at times), I should be the last person to be a Defender of the Faith. Nonetheless if it sticks in a finger in the eye of Anti-gun Lefties then I am all for any practice which does so. And if it advances one’s spiritual journey in the process then mores-the-better.
So it is in this spirit that I feel it necessary to provide today’s fun fact:
Saint Gabriel Possenti’s feast day is February 27. He is the (unofficial but proposed) patron of handguns because his marksmanship enabled him to rescue a woman about to be raped by a marauding gang of thugs at Isola del Gran Sasso, Italy in 1860.
After freeing a young woman from would-be rapists, St. Gabriel Possenti confronted the onrushing brigands waving revolvers. At that moment grabbing a revolver from one of the brigands, Possenti fired at a lizard that happened to be running across the road and dispatched it with one shot. Thus having demonstrated his excellent handgun marksmanship, he was able to take command of the situation and ran the now-frightened brigands out of town.
St. Gabriel Possenti performed this feat of courage without causing physical harm to a single human being.
If you are somehow put-off by a religious website as reference, here is the link to the Wikipedia entry.
This dead-eyed young man who defended the innocent with a handgun was canonized by the Church in 1920. That was over 100 years ago, lest some easily offended Lefty think this was some new act of nefariousness by feared religious extremists.
Although St Gabriel’s designation as Patron of Marksmen and Handgunners is unofficial, there is a society which is campaigning for such official recognition. Frankly, if there is an official patron saint of Artillery (Saint Barbara), and Armorers/Gunsmiths (Saint Dunstan), and Hunters (Saint Hubert of Liege) then why not Handgunners too?
Side note: If you’ve never heard of Saint Hubert then you’ve never paid attention to the logo on a bottle of Jaegermeister.
The story of Saint Gabriel and the lizard is almost certainly apocryphal, but what saint’s story isn’t embellished and somewhat the product of faithful fervor? Does anybody actually believe that George Washington chopped down his father’s cherry tree?
Urban Legend or Article of Faith, it hardly matters to me. Saint Gabriel Possenti is now on my list of “friends in high places”.
The well recognized clothing, outdoor, and tactical gear retailer is opening their 100th location. 5.11 has been making great strides in diversifying their product line to include more casual and everyday wear in recent years, starting to break them out of their mold as the slightly too tactical to be casual clothing provider while also trying to offer range and duty ready items like their Maverick belt and TacTec plate carrier system.
Their footwear, in my opinion, and their women’s apparel have been their explosive successes.
Irvine, Calif. (Aug. 23, 2022) –5.11 Tactical®, the global innovator of purpose-built apparel, footwear and gear, will celebrate the grand opening of its 100th company-owned retail store in Oxnard, California on Saturday, September 17. The store marks a major milestone in the brand’s retail expansion and growth since it introduced its first company-owned retail location in 2014.
“Strategic and aggressive retail expansion has been one of our top priorities in recent years and getting to 100 locations has been a major milestone for us,” said 5.11’s CEO Francisco J. Morales. “A larger retail presence allows us to offer the full 5.11 experience to existing customers while creating opportunities to introduce new customers to our outstanding products. We’re thrilled to reach 100 stores and excited to continue our growth into the future.”
Well-known for its technical apparel, footwear and gear that’s popular with public safety professionals and military personnel, 5.11’s full product offering provides items designed to keep outdoor adventurers, fitness fanatics and tactical enthusiasts equipped and ready for anything. The brand’s purpose-built product lines vary from workout equipment and apparel to everyday clothing options and much more.
“5.11’s approach to serving our consumers is to provide our consumers with optionality. From our robust e-commerce business, to the way our brand comes to life in our retail locations, as well as our many wholesale partners,” said 5.11’s Senior Vice President of Omni-Channel, Mark Parker. “Our focus has always been to serve our first responders, while welcoming new consumers to our brand, and 100 retail stores shows our commitment to achieve this across the U.S.”
Currently, 5.11 owns retail locations in 31 states with larger metropolitan areas serving as a hub for several convenient locations that offers customer easy access and additional shopping opportunities nearby. 5.11 Oxnard joins the ranks as 5.11’s 20th store in California.
“Whether it’s for everyday use, outdoor adventures, on-duty use by public safety professionals, or fitness training, we offer gear that is made to help users perform their best in all aspects of life, said 5.11’s CMO, Debra Radcliff. “At our retail locations, customers are able to find the right items for their needs and interact with our knowledgeable staff to find exactly what they are looking for.”
5.11’s retail locations provide an ideal opportunity for tactical professionals and outdoor enthusiasts to engage with the 5.11 brand and its knowledgeable staff. The stores feature a complete product offering tailored specifically to each region, including head-to-toe apparel and gear for men and women.
With its roots in servicing the law enforcement, first responder and military communities, 5.11 prides itself on hiring former servicemen and women and veterans from the local area, whenever possible.
With offices around the globe, 5.11 works directly with end users to create purpose-built apparel, footwear and gear designed specifically to enhance the safety, accuracy, speed, and performance of tactical professionals and technical enthusiasts worldwide. 5.11 products exceed rigorous standards, which have allowed the brand to establish a reputation for innovation and authenticity, and become the premier choice for those who always have to be ready. 5.11 products can be purchased online, through authorized dealers and retailers, as well as at 5.11 company-owned retail stores.
Learn more about 5.11’s best-selling gear and accessories at www.511tactical.com. Find a full list of 5.11 company-owned retail stores at https://www.511tactical.com/locations/. Connect with 5.11 on Facebook, Twitter @511Tactical and on Instagram @511Tactical and #511tactical
5.11, Inc. is a subsidiary of Compass Diversified (NYSE: CODI).
5.11, 5.11 Tactical and Always Be Ready are registered trademarks of 5.11, Inc. All rights reserved.
Three years ago, China announced they were moving away from the bullpup platform of the QBZ-95 and adopting the more conventional QBZ-191. In a move that made me quite proud to be an American, China has moved from a bullpup to a quasi-AR 15 design. Well, it’s a short-stroke gas piston gun, so it might be more appropriate to call it an HK 416 clone than an AR-15. To be fair, it’s not like the HK416 isn’t based on the AR 15.
Let’s get out of the weeds and talk about China’s recent social media push. They’ve released a number of videos displaying the QBZ-191 in the hands of soldiers. One of their latest is a display of what’s described as an All Female SWAT team. They are wielding the new QBZ-191, and in a fairly hilarious video, they show this team clearing a shoot house and maybe showing the QBZ-191 isn’t quite ready for mass adoption.
The QBZ 191 In Action
This video first popped up on Reddit, specifically in the r/guns subreddit. It’s since been removed, and the account that posted it was deleted. I’m not sure of its origins, but I wisely did a download to capture the video before its deletion. There is a lot to talk about on the tactics side of the video.
Their room clearing is, well, interesting. It seems like they fail to hold security and meander into rooms without clearing corners. It looks like a rehearsed demonstration designed to appear tacticool. It’s like they learned room clearing from video games and movies and are trying to replicate that.
My favorite part was that they kept their QBZ-191 rifles in condition three and charged them as they entered the doorway with threats. That is like putting your helmet on right before you crash your motorcycle. Tactically, I’d love to see a CQB expert break down the video.
The QBZ-191 On Paper
What really grabbed my attention was their shooting skills and their results on paper. They are maybe 20 feet from the target on a good day and are barely hitting it. When they hit it is where we see a potential issue with the QBZ-191. Every round seems to be keyholing the target.
Keyholing is when the bullet is unstabilized and tumbles through the air. It decreases penetration, accuracy, and just generally, the entire effectiveness of a rifle. That is a serious issue with the rifle, or at least the one they show hitting the target.
What Could be Causing The Keyholing?
The projectile isn’t stabilizing, which is a task of the bore and rifling. The best excuse, at least for China, is that they are using some kind of odd training round. I’ve seen simunitions do some odd things in my time.
Another issue could be an unrifled barrel, and maybe it slipped through the QC department. Maybe the rifling doesn’t match the projectile weight? Maybe it’s an ammo issue, and that batch of 5.8 is smaller than normal. Some time ago, there was a batch of AKs imported with 5.56 barrels that were advertised as 5.45 guns, which led to similar issues.
Whatever the reason is this was not a great piece of propaganda to be released. It did not accomplish what the CCP thought it would, which is to showcase the readiness of their armed forces to fight ‘peer’ groups. It basically puts another brick on the scale that weighs China in as a paper tiger, like Russia has shown to be, and that if Taiwan kicks off we could possibly just pay for the win with Taiwan taking the brunt of the fight, like we are in Ukraine.
Say what you will about our taxes funding Ukraine, we’re kicking Russia hard for pennies on the dollar.
First released at SHOT Show 2022 and now finally reaching the first dealers shelves (Big Tex Ordnance), the Badger Ordnance C1 MAX mount took the simplistic and durable C1 design and ramped it up to meet the needs of precision rifle shooters. Badger added more meat to the scope rings for more surface area clamping. They also removed the mounting knobs and added crossbolts to ensure it stays put under recoil. It is truly the base that precision rifle shooters have been wanting from Badger. A scope mount that when it’s mounted it is not meant to be removed off that gun, and more even clamp force around these larger scopes.
Pros Of A Sling Bag – Increased Retention, Concealment & Accessibility
I’m not a fan of absolutes; sometimes, exceptions can be made in certain subjects. In the gun world, the subject of off-body carry is met with detriment. Most people who practice off-body carry don’t do it well, and we see stories about kids shooting their moms with guns left in their purses. That doesn’t mean off-body carry is always off the table. If done right, it can be a great means to carry, and the first step is finding the right bag. Today we are looking at my favorite, the Tactical Tailor Concealed Carry Sling Bag.
I’m a big advocate of choosing purpose-built tools for concealed carry tasks. If you carry off your body, go with a proper bag. A Concealed Carry Sling Bag embraces your gun and aids in retention, concealment, and your ability to access the weapon when necessary.
Tactical Tailor Concealed Carry Sling Bag Breakdown
I’m fine with off-body carry because it’s sometimes the best option. When I go for a hike or a long, off-road bike ride, or a trip in the kayak, I’m not carrying AIWB. It’s uncomfortable and doesn’t allow for the range of motion I need to succeed. The concealed carry sling bag from Tactical Tailor offers a rather compact design that offers effective concealment and enough room for carrying a wider variety of goodies.
The Tactical Tailor Concealed Carry sling bag offers two overt pouches. The main pouch is large and measures 8.5 inches wide, 17 inches tall, and 4.5 inches deep. Inside is enough room for all sorts of fun stuff. I carried my tablet, various chargers, a notebook, and a mini IFAK, and I still have plenty of room left for other fun goodies.
We have a pouch that’s 7 inches wide, 12 inches tall, and 1.5 inches deep. Inside sits plenty of loop material for mounting organizational pouches. The Concealed Carry Sling Bag includes a mini organizer to stuff a ton of extra goodies. You can carry spare magazines, a knife, pens, a light, and more without issue. It’s a handy organizer stuffed with potential and is removable if you don’t care for it.
The third pocket is hidden and is where you’ll stash your gun. The inside of this pocket is also coated with loop material and a universal holster that can be adjusted to fit most guns. This pocket is 7.5 inches wide and 15.5 inches tall. A set of ambidextrous zippers allow you to access to rig from either direction.
Comfort and Carry
Guns are heavy, spare ammo is heavy, and all your other jump is also heavy. With that in mind, a thin strap would be uncomfy quick, and the Tactical Tailor Concealed Carry Sling Bag comes with a big beefy strap fit with plenty of padding to add a layer of protection and weight resistance when carrying the bag and your go-to goodies.
The normal sling strap ties into a second strap that acts as s stabilizer. This keeps the sling bag from moving and grinding against the body. When you start moving, you can run, walk, jump, or whatever, and the bag stays put. The stabilizer strap uses a simple buckle system that can be quickly detached when necessary.
The key to success with off-body carry is keeping the treat the bag like it’s a holster. You don’t set it down and don’t remove it without having a safe place to store it. The comfort offered by the Tactical Tailor Concealed Carry Sling Bag makes that plenty easy.
Drawing and Engaging
Tactically a big downside to the sling bag is drawing your gun and engaging. Admittedly drawing from any bag is slower than drawing from any holster. However, drawing from the Tactical Tailor bag is simple, and you can train to be plenty quick with it.
The design makes drawing fast. Unbuckle the stabilizer strap, reach rearward, and grab the carrying strap across the top. Pull the bag over your shoulder, so it sits across your chest. Open the compartment, draw the gun, and get after it. This requires some proper setup and forces you to arrange the bag perfect for your needs.
You can draw from the Tactical Tailor Concealed Carry Sling Bag intuitively and quickly with a little practice. With your extra ammo in the front, it becomes a chest rig to keep your gun fed. Size restraints aren’t an issue, so a comped Glock 17 with a Surefire and a spare 33-round magazine isn’t out of the question.
Off-body carry and the Tactical Tailor Concealed Carry Sling Bag aren’t for everyone. It’s just another option and tool for you and your different situations. If you carry off-body, it’s tough to find a better option than this.
The legend surrounding Randall Knives is heady and well worth study. I am by no means an expert on Randall knives but I know something about quality. Quality doesn’t come cheap. There are a number of makers making very good knives based on the Randall design.
Then there is the real thing.
For some reason folks buy Randall knives and don’t use them but break them out occasionally to admire the fit and finish. That isn’t my idea of enjoying an exceptional knife, but to each their own. I don’t spend five to six hundred dollars on a tool not to use it! The original Randall knife designed by Bo Randall is the Model 1 Fighter. This knife was produced in the Randall Shop in Orlando Florida. The shop is still owned by the family. The Model 1 Fighter features a 7 inch blade and brass hilt.
The Randall Model 1 weighs 9.2 ounces, depending on handle material, and is right at 12 inches long. My six inch blade version is shorter. The supplied leather sheath is also handmade in the United States of America.
The Randall- let me get in this early- is currently on a five year back order. There are shops and businesses who order quantities of the knives on a regular basis and these Randall knives set you back what I feel is a reasonable premium to get the knife right now. If you are young- I am not- five years may fly by. There are Randall knives for sale with many options. I like Stag handled Randall knives. Any other grip material is still a Randall. The blade on my knife is tool steel. If you are genuine active duty military Randall has a process that shortens the wait to a few months. Have deployment papers and Army ID ready.
I like both the Model 1 and the Model 14 but there are reasons I prefer the Model 1. The Model 1 features a top choil which makes for better stabilization when you are using the knife as intended, as a fighting knife. The Model 1 features a slight arch in the grip I find comfortable- or maybe comforting. The Model 1 simply feels lively in the hand as Bo Randall intended. The difference is slight and if you find a Model 14 at a good price then you should grab it! Literally and figuratively- but if you have a choice then think hard about the decision. I think perhaps the reach of the seven inch blade may be superior as a fighting knife. For me the knife accompanies me on the trail often. Knives make poor crowbars but otherwise the Randall is a fine edged tool that won’t let you down.
I have my email inbox set up just right. Different emails are routed to different boxes. My promotion box rarely gets checked, and occasionally I’ll see an eye-grabbing headline. That’s what happened when I saw an email from Raven Concealment advertising the return of the ModuLoader Shotgun Shell Carrier.
As a shotgun fan, I’m always looking for new and improved ways to carry ammunition, and the ModuLoader seems like the perfect compromise between on the gun and on the belt ammo. On the gun tends to be quicker and more accessible, but on the belt provides more room to mount more ammo. The ModuLoader Shotgun Shell Carrier is a system that offers both.
After years of being discontinued, it’s been brought back to the delight of shotgunners both far and wide. The way it works is simple. It’s a multi-piece system that consists of a belt platform built by Raven Concealment Systems and shotgun shell cards built by Ares gear.
Inside the ModuLoader
Here is how it works. Elastic shot shell cards acting as side saddles are nothing new and are the core of this system. The ModuLoader package comes with two five-round shotshell cards. Included is a hook platform with a sticky rear to attach to your shotgun. This base allows you to attach the shotshell card to the gun.
On the flip side, the belt mount comes with a section of hook attached to it as well. You can attach your shotshell card to the platform and carry it on your belt. You have one on the gun and one on the belt.
The ModuLoader allows you to reload from the side saddle until it’s empty. Once empty, you can then remove the empty shot shell card and replace it with your spare kept on the ModuLoader panel.
It’s simple and effective. It allows you to carry spare ammo with ease and keep it exactly where you want it. Raven Concealment Systems offers the ModuLoader, two shotgun cards, and the sticky hook panel for 50 bucks, which is not a bad deal.
The ModuLoader in Practice
The ModuLoader fits on most basic and duty belts. There are three points of adjustment to add or cut some slack from the soft loops. The panel is slightly flexible but not floppy by any means. The hook and loop provided are high quality, and it grips the shotshell cards with force. They won’t just fall off.
Swapping panels isn’t difficult. Grab the thing, peel it off and let it fall, or pocket it. Then grab the shotshells off your ModuLoader panel and attach them to the gun. It’s simple and clean to do and doesn’t require much effort or skill. This can be used when you’ve expended all the ammo in your side saddle, but that’s not the only use.
Shotguns tend to be low-volume weapons do their power and the ranges in which they are effective. It’s unlikely that you’ll fly through 10+ rounds of ammo in a gunfight with a shotgun. Possible, but unlikely.
That doesn’t mean the ModuLoader loses any usefulness. One side saddle can contain buckshot and other breaching rounds, or slugs, or whatever you might need. This way, you can swap ammo types on the fly.
The Ares shell cards hold the shotshells firmly and keep them locked in place so they don’t slide around much. It’s still just elastic so drawing out a round isn’t difficult for the user. I ran reloads from both the side saddle and from the card mounted to the ModuLoader with ease.
One isn’t Enough
I purchased one just to check it out, and now I need a couple of extra ModuLoader panels. My goal is to make the best shotgun battle belt out there with the ModuLoaders and a minimalist battle belt. The nature of the device makes it easy to use with various shotguns. If you want to get your hands on a ModuLoader, now is the time. Who knows if Raven Concealment Systems will discontinue them again?
Maybe it feels rude to edge away from the weirdo, but that’s exactly the kind of scenario we’re talking about when we say it’s okay to be rude. You have permission to just move or leave, or keep an extra eye out to be ready for trouble. You can tell them i said so. pic.twitter.com/C9VhVrtcsd
Intuitive thinking, commonly known as “Gut feelings” is an undervalued thought process in today’s society. I say “thought process” because despite the nickname, and common perception as a potentially reckless motivation to action, it comes from your brain just as much as analytical thinking does. Even though it gets a bad rap, intuitive thinking is often the first indication that something is wrong, or will soon be wrong, in the world around you. Listening to gut feelings might force you to behave unusually in public, but if you’re weighing “someone I’ll never see again thinks I’m strange/rude/stupid” against “I really think something bad is about to go down”, it should be pretty obvious which direction is the wisest. But lets get back to thought process, and how that gets us to decide whether to act on feelings in public.
First, lets define the two channels of thought: Intuition is a much more ancient process than analysis, a valuable remnant of our evolutionary past that nearly all animal life shares with us. It rapidly and subconsciously processes incoming information, comparing it to all of your collective life experience, and any instinctual thoughts or feelings you might have, then uses that to predict what is most likely to happen next. Because of this, things you are more experienced with will grant you stronger gut feelings, and will usually turn out to be correct more often. Usually intuition presents itself to you not as a conclusion you’ve arrived at, but increased muscle tension, a sudden sense of unease, or a burst of anxiety. In this way, intuitive thinking is the keener, wiser end of the “Fight or flight” knife that cuts through all the BS and gives you a direction. This presentation as a literal feeling has led to both the name “gut feeling” and the disrespect it’s acquired vs analytical thinking.
The downside of intuition is that your life experience may not have prepared you for the exact situation at hand, or your own cognitive biases may jump into the middle, and dilute your intuition to a degree that limits its usefulness. Imagine seeing a nervous, shifty guy who is well-groomed and wearing a $5,000 suit at Safeway, fidgeting with his waistline and looking around anxiously. Your intuition may tell you in less than a second that he’s behaving strangely, and might present a threat, but then maybe your brain jumps in and reassures you that dudes who wear suits that cost more than your mortgage aren’t violent in public. In this way, your life experience and both cognitive and cultural biases are working against you trusting your intuition that this guy might go all “Falling Down”.
Analytical thinking is a slow, deliberate process that takes in all available information and presents it to you for you to mull over, compare various elements for competing validity, and consciously arrive at a conclusion. In the above example, someone with a lot of experience with criminal offenders, or just an active self-defense mindset might observe the fancy man pacing around, fiddling with his belt for a minute or two, and through active situational analysis, arrive at the conclusion that the guy is seconds away from mag-dumping in the cereal aisle.
The reality may just be that this poor bastard just lost his wife in a car accident and he’s losing his shit while trying to make sure his kid has their favorite breakfast tomorrow, but the takeaway here is that moving away from him, perhaps behind cover, or exiting the building entirely, is not a crazy move. Your intuition can clue you in, but it can also be wrong. Your analysis might derive the truth, or lead you away from it by leaning on conformation bias like “nobody shoots up a Safeway, least of all a rich guy”. The decision is still yours to make, no matter what thought process leads you to it, and if you are more worried about seeming rude, or weird yourself, you won’t actually make a decision. Instead you coast through alarm bells that could just as easily make random strangers think oddly of you, or wind up saving your life.
But the thing about their “fact” sheet, they’re facts in only the most literal and non-contextual of interpretations. Let’s talk about it.
States that received an “F” grade based on the strength of their gun laws—according to the latest scorecard from the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence—saw the highest homicide rates:1
Ah, yes. Giffords should be relied upon as an unbiased source for legal standings and effectiveness. That’s why Chipman’s association with them tanked his nomination to the ATF in a congress held by the Democrats with a sitting Democrat President. We should absolutely be using their scale.
What follows is the typical oversimplified and out of context analysis blaming the fact that a place doesn’t have a magazine capacity ban for it’s marginally higher homicide rates (always expressed in percentages to confuse the issue further).
But let me take a giant steaming dump in their logic train here.
The two states with the lowest homicide mortality rate in 2020 were New Hampshire and Vermont, per the CDC. What were their Giffords grades? Must be A’s, right?
Wrong.
Vermont is at a C- and New Hampshire, with the lowest homicide mortality rate in the nation for 2020… is an F.
But surely that must be because they’re small states, right? Maybe, but CAP didn’t saying anything about accounting for size. They just start throwing phrases around like “associated with” and “F grades saw a 61% higher homicide rate that A grades”
Okay, let’s keeping going down the list.
Maine. 3rd lowest homicide rate. F from Giffords.
Idaho. 4th. F.
Massachusetts. 5th. A-.
Utah. 6th. F.
Rhode Island. 7th. B.
So of the seven states with the lowest homicide mortality rates in the nation, only one has an A rating on their gun laws, an A-, and it is behind three F rated states. Of the 10 lowest homicide mortality rates, only two A- states, 6 F states.
Weird.
Almost like these grades don’t mean anything.
So it’s pretty clear the CAP is just picking two states that give them the ratio they want and going with it.
If we pick the top 5 states for homicide rate in the nation for 2020, we get a all F grades. Arkansas, Missouri, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. But if we expand that to top 10 we add a C rating, New Mexico, and two A- ratings, Maryland and Illinois.
We have 6 F’s and only two A- ratings in the top 20% of states, and 7 F’s and again two A- ratings in the bottom 20%.
California is ranked highest by Giffords, an A, 1st, strongest gun laws. But the CDC puts them 20th in homicide rate and number one it total homicides.
“But, Keith! Their population..”
Ah, so their population matters? So too should the regional populations, cultures, economic statuses, criminal recidivism rates, and any number of other factors beyond the Giffords rating of their gun laws.
The whole CAP article is the old take a metric and make it scary, but without being factually incorrect. If you take enough context away you can correlate nearly anything to anything else.
Yes, the highest murder rate state, Mississippi, has an F rating. The unmentioned is that the lowest murder rate state, New Hampshire, also has an F rating. So it obviously isn’t the F rating.
The anti-gun elements in the media constantly regale us with tale, after story, after anecdote, after theory, after “expert” on how dangerous the AR-15 and its ilk are to our modern and peaceable society. The power of each round of 5.56 would seem to be just shy of what the USS Iowa could produce.
Pretty much an AR-15
But, looking at well sourced data is how we should draw conclusions. We know gun control studies are largely bogus because their methodology is less than stellar, they either hunt the desired result or recognize their is no result to find since not enough data exists and factors cannot be controlled for.
But there are assuredly things we do know and things we can extrapolate to relatively accurate effect, one of those is how dangerous the AR-15 is. Not theoretically, in the real world and to our real society.
In any given year, for every person murdered with a rifle, there are 15 murdered with handguns, 1.7 with hands or fists, and 1.2 with blunt instruments. In fact, homicides with any sort of rifle represent a mere 3.2 percent of all homicides on average over the past decade.
Given that the FBI statistics pertain to all rifles, the homicide frequency of “assault-style” rifles like the AR-15 is necessarily lesser still, as such firearms compose a fraction of all the rifles used in crime.
This study uses an adjusted number based on the FBI’s methodology. The FBI collects a fair number of undisclosed firearm homicides in their data. To account for how many of those are rifles they were divided up, the undisclosed number proportionately distributed to the disclosed numbers of handguns, rifles, and shotguns.
So if handguns accounted for 80% of firearm homicides of disclosed/identified firearms they got 80% of the undisclosed firearm pile added. The same with rifles and shotguns.
According to a New York Times analysis, since 2007, at least “173 people have been killed in mass shootings in the United States involving AR-15s.”
That’s 173 over a span of a decade, with an average of 17 homicides per year. To put this in perspective, consider that at this rate it would take almost one-hundred years of mass shootings with AR-15s to produce the same number of homicide victims that knives and sharp objects produce in one year.
Which suggests it isn’t the number of dead we are upset it about, it is the unique circumstance of them all dying at one time to a firearm.
Oddly specific.
The fact is that we are, or at least some of the population is when examined critically, more okay with people being murdered by vehicle. This is likely due to the fact that far more vehicle deaths are accidents than deliberate rather than the comparative lethality of deliberate vehicular homicides, because mass killings involving vehicles can and have taken a staggering death toll.
The target for many activists remains the firearms however, not the motives.
With an average of 13,657 homicides per year during the 2007-2017 timeframe, about one-tenth of one percent of homicides were produced by mass shootings involving AR-15s.
To expand on that, all rifle types account for about 32 of every 1,000 homicide victims.
While mass shooting events produce a terrifying number of casualties, looking at the individual events show that any common firearm can, and has, produced a 10+ casualty event. Additionally multiple firearms can be used and the lethality of events is tied to the power disparity between the attacker(s) and the unarmed and unprepared victims. Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and Pulse in Florida were examples of this involving rifles. Virginia Tech is another example, only involving handgun this time. Timothy McVeigh’s attack involved a vehicle and HME (Homemade Explosives). Nice, France and Waukesha, Wisconsin are examples involving vehicle ramming attacks, which while less frequent a method than firearms are far from uncommon.
Saying an AR-15 is dangerous is a statement of the obvious. Saying an AR-15 is especially dangerous is not borne out in any data we can sample, save the rather obvious one that an especially popular category of firearm, magazine fed semi-auto rifle, can also be misused and deadly when it is. It is not unique in its ability to cause casualties, it isn’t even the highest casualty cause in mass casualty events by individuals or small groups. We won’t comment on large group or governmental massacres, they’re numbers are astronomically more terrifying than the lone wolf mass shooter totals.
Conclusion.
The conclusion we end up with is the one we gun owners have been saying for a long time, The AR-15 and like products are disproportionately held aloft as talismans of fear by the uninformed towards the even less informed. Removing the AR-15 does effectively nothing to impact means or motive for mass casualty events. The disproportionate and misplaced fear generated by media attention towards the terror attacks with AR’s undoubtedly encourages the repeated behavior because it is assured attention. Their more frequent use in other crimes is a side effect of their astronomical increase in popularity in the past three decades, in no small part fueled by the attempt to ban them, and their affordability. As an example of that. I am staring at an ad for 2 firearms, a cheap Glock clone and a cheap AR for a combined price of $750.
Ultimately, because the rifle is both of some notable risk and has been made into the scary media demon, it is able to be leveraged as threatening much more effectively than a cheap small handgun, despite the numbers saying that 15:1, it is the handgun that will be used against you if a firearm is. This media fearmongering also encourages their use in attacks purposely planned for drawing attention.
The more we say the AR-15 is terrifying the more often it will be sought out by those who want to be terrifying.
The Air Tractor AT-800 series is famous in the agricultural world. It’s a large, powerful, efficient workhorse that can do the job of several smaller aircraft (elsewhere, it’s famous for being voiced by Dane Cook in the animated movie “Planes”). Mainly detailed to spray pesticides on commercial fields or retardant on wildfires, the platform boasts low stall speeds, short takeoff distance, high range, and massive potential payload. While these are all major factors in the AT’s success flying over forests and cornfields, these very same capabilities have caught the attention of US Special Operations for their needs on battlefields. SOCOM just spent two decades in Iraq and Afghanistan looking for a bridge between drones and traditional Close Air Support (CAS) platforms. It seems Ol’ Dusty (or rather the L3 Harris Technologies warfighting variant named “SkyWarden”) is who they’re going with, after some significant upgrades.
Why a crop duster? As mentioned above, the things that make the AT-800 platform a great agricultural tool are exactly the sorts of things SOCOM wants to support small teams in the field. Drones excel at long term observation, with high range and loiter time, low stall speeds, but generally carry small, specific payloads, and may not have the punch or flexibility needed. Standard CAS platforms like the A-10, and various ground-attack models of fighter jets can deliver incredibly punishing volumes of fire, in all 31 flavors, but have to move much faster, can’t stay on station for as long, and with all that speed, may more difficulty hitting small, unarmored targets with no radar cross-section. Compare the A-10 Warthog’s 1.7hr loiter time, with the AT 802U’s 10+ hours (and thats without drop tanks), while carrying over 1 ton of payload. Not only that, it can do so much more quietly than the ‘hog’s twin turbofan engines could ever allow.
While it’s true there’s no 30mm rotary cannon on an 802U, they can haul an impressive array of weaponry including a pair of GAU 19/A 3-barrel gatlings, dual M260 7-shot rocket pods, Mavericks, 500lb bombs, and more on between 9-15 wing and fuselage mounted hardpoints. Combine that punch with ground-to-air comms, modern sensor and surveillance packages with real-time encrypted video downlink and SatCom, armored cockpits, and the ability to operate from improvised positions, and takeoff and land on dirt roads, and you’ve got the makings for an A-Team’s best friend.
AT-802U Derivative “IOMAX Archangel”, employed by the Royal Jordanian Airforce in a precision strike role. Photo credit – IOMAX
If you’re still not sold, consider that USSOUTHCOM has been using them with apparent success against drug cartels in Central and South America for years, and several smaller militaries have deployed the 802U, or developments thereof. Whether you are into or not, SOCOM expects to start seeing its $3 Billion turn into combat aircraft starting sometime in 2026, with the 75 planned aircraft to be built in L3 Harris’ Tulsa Oklahoma facility.
When I was handed an ACOG at the School of Infantry, I was instantly impressed. I came from the A2 at boot camp to the M16A4 in the School of Infantry and felt like a high-speed commando. It didn’t take me long to embrace the 4X magnification, but at first glance, I wondered how the hell I use this thing for CQB. Before I left Camp Geiger, I’d have that question answered and would be a pro at the concept of occluded shooting.
This is something that tends to still pop up around gun forums and in the comment section anytime a prism-style optic is mentioned. Not everyone goes to the Camp Lejeune School for Wayward boys, so today, we are going to learn about occluded shooting.
Occluded Shooting Origins – The Armson OEG
The Armson OEG isn’t your traditional red dot, but it does use a red dot to aim. These were designed and produced in South Africa and were imported by Armson USA. Armson USA would later become Trijicon. The OEG is a reflex sight that uses tritium and fiber optics in its construction. This mix generated a red dot that you used for aiming.
Unlike our modern red dots, you don’t look through the optic. You keep both eyes open, generating a sight picture in which you see the red dot and the target.
If you close your non-dominant eye, you’ll see a big black circle with a dot in the center and likely won’t see much of your target. If you close your dominant eye, you’ll see the target, but not the dot.
This is occluded shooting. I’m sure it was taught in one manner or another with other optics or sights, but the Armson OEG was designed around the concept of occluded shooting. As long as you keep both eyes open, the optic will essentially disappear, and the dot and target will remain. Your brain is taking the view from both eyes and merging it into one sight picture.
Biology!
How This Applies To Modern Optics
The Armson OEG can still be obtained if you want one, but what does occluded shooting have to do with the ACOG and other prism-style sights? Occluded shooting allows you to use a magnified optic up at super close ranges with great efficiency.
Outside of the prism optics, you can use this same technique with LPVOs, and magnified scopes. As long as it has magnification and an illuminated reticle, you can use the occluded shooting method for close-quarters shooting. Like everything in the gun world, it takes some practice to be efficient.
You might ask why you need this with an LPVO when they typically have 1X settings. This assumes you’ll always have time to swap from one setting all the way down to 1X. A threat or target might approach or appear before you can move the magnification ring, so being able to transition from a magnified view to a 1X view might be impossible, and occluded shooting might be the solution.
How to Get On With Occluded Shooting
Occluded shooting requires a bright reticle that’s easy to see. When you raise the rifle, keep both eyes open and focus on the target. This should create a sight picture where your illuminated reticle is superimposed on your target.
This won’t be the clearest sight picture you’ve ever gotten, and you might find it tricky at first not to focus through the scope. Our Combat Instructors had us all stand in line with a target twenty yards away. The instructor would yell “Ready! Up!” and we’d practice acquiring an occluded sight picture on our target and dry fire.
Remember your eyes work as a pair, one isn’t going to focus through the scope while the other is target focused. What you are doing is training at picking your target focused eye that isn’t looking through the optic, the one that is behind the optic can still see the brightly illuminated center point is not focused to look ‘through’ the scope. But your eye and will eat up light to give you information, thus the bright center reticle.
We repeated this for what felt like hours, but I will say I walked away a pro at acquiring that occluded sight picture. It might take hundreds of reps, but it’s still a relatively easy skill to learn. On every up drill gain that occluded sight picture and dry fire. You might not have a Combat Instructor to yell at you, so a timer works well.
Don’t expect the same type of pinpoint accuracy you’d get with a red dot. Your group might not be super tight, and it might not be dead on where you want it, but it will be close enough to stop a close-range threat.
Not For Everyone
This is a bit of a niche skill. We live in a world where piggybacked red dots are fairly common. That being said, it’s a simple skill that still seems like it’s worth learning. If you have a gap in your training schedule, try it out.
This episode is brought to you by @PHLster and the Enigma! Today, the guys are all discussing non-traditional methods of concealed carry, such as pocket carry, ankle carry, and even shoulder holsters!
“What are you doing? You’re gonna have a malfunction if you rest the magazine on the deck!” I wish I had a running count of how many times I heard that as a Marine. If I was running a range with a rifle instead of a machine gun, I liked to dig that magazine into the dirt. I used it as a stabilizing point for my rifle. Over and over, I heard the same variation of the popular urban myth that using a rifle magazine as a monopod will cause malfunctions.
To this day, it seems that this myth lives on. I see it in comment sections of the articles every so often. I’m surprised it’s had this kind of staying power. It was a myth still commonly spread throughout the military as of 2013, so why not?
The Magazine Monopod Myth
The magazine sticking out of your AR just naturally begs to be rested on the ground. It can be used to provide further stabilization to your shooting position. Resting the magazine on the deck turns it into a monopod. It’s a great way to squeeze out a little more stability from your gun. The myth states that doing so will cause your rifle to malfunction.
In reality, that’s not true. At least not in 2022, and since the Johnson administration. I’ve been doing it since the rifle range at boot camp. Coincidentally that’s where I first got yelled at for it. At the time, I took the PMI’s advice as gold. As I spent more time in the Marine Corps, I started to figure out that my rifle won’t malfunction when I rested the magazine on the deck.
Oddly enough, no one ever yelled at me when I rested my magazine on the windowsill of a building. I’m not the only one with this experience. Throughout the world of shooters, you’ll see a number of pro shooters, 3-gunners, and more who dig that magazine into the dirt for all the extra support possible.
There is a company called Mag-Pod that replaces the base plate of your PMAG with a little foot to make the practice even easier. I have one around here somewhere, and I’ll be the first to tell you they work fairly well.
Where the Myth Came From
If the Johnson administration was any kind of hint, this myth originates in Vietnam. Although, to be completely fair, this myth wasn’t a myth then. The first generation of M16 magazines would malfunction when used as a monopod. This was likely quite frightful for a Soldier fighting in the jungles, and the myth became part of the great mythos of the M16 and, therefore, the AR 15.
Luckily, we live in an age where the AR 15 magazine has evolved significantly. Unless you are using an extremely low-quality magazine, resting it on the ground isn’t going to be an issue. If you are already using that bad of a magazine, you likely have other issues to deal with. So slam those mags into the dirt, turn them into monopods and let it rip.
After two years of generalized chaos, and an uptick in violent crime including murder rates, leading back to 2018, 2022 is on track to see a noticeable and welcome decline in murders for the first time in those 4 years. There are plenty of speculations as to why, though the waning effects of the Covid response are high on the list. Those who weren’t up in arms over police use of force were equally upset over state and federal institutions regulating daily life, and erosion of faith and trust in institutions is a seemingly relevant point in the discussion on why people were apparently more lawless on the balance after 2020.
Public announcements by police that they were unable or unwilling to pursue many non-violent crimes is another angle with some weight to it. Whatever the cause, (likely some combination of the above and more) the numbers paint a picture of a relatively large spike in violence, particularly murder rates, which rose above 6 per 100,000 residents for the first time since the late 1990’s. Still below the early 90’s peak of 9 per 100,000, it is a welcome sign that 2022 is so far on pace to see a decline. Much was made of the murder rate increase in the media, with many furiously drawing links between the phenomenon and the much more massive spike in gun sales.
2020 was a record-setting year for NICS (National Instant Check System) background checks for gun purchases at 21 million, and, one must assume, equally large spikes in person-to-person sales that do not require the crown’s permission, which was an easy target for gun control proponents. In a world where something as complicated as crime rates can be boiled down to a single factor, this makes some sense, but that world is not the one we live in. Illustrating this perfectly are the NICS stats for the following 2 years. Gun sales continue to spike with over 38 million in 2021, and 2022 is on track for a slightly lower 31 million amidst efforts to enact a new “assault weapons” ban. Seeing these trends occur concurrently with the ongoing drop in murder rates, puts paid to the simplistic concept that “more guns=more crime”.
