Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube
Advertisement

Mass Casualty Attack in Fresno California

By
Keith Finch
-
Image via CBS News

An attack on a crowded backyard party has left 4 dead and 6 wounded, all adult males, in Fresno California.

About 35 friends and family at the home were watching a football game in the backyard when an unknown number of gunmen opened fire into the crowd, said Michael Reed, a deputy chief of the Fresno Police Department. The authorities received reports of the shooting around 8 p.m. local time.

The number of assailants and their motive are unknown at this time and no arrests have been made. Police are looking for surveillance video from the neighborhood and witnesses to try and establish suspects and gather details.

Three of the victims were declared dead on the scene and the fourth died at the hospital. The six injured were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

This is the second high profile shooting in California in less than a week. The highschool shooting last week Thursday that left two students dead, two injured, and the suspect committing suicide with the .45 caliber handgun the 16 year old brought in his backpack made national headlines with its suddenness and no obvious motive.

California holds arguably the strictest gun control policies in the nation, but that legislation is ineffective in curbing motivated violence or preventing effective access to means. California’s violent crime rate was 16th in the nation in 2017 at 451:100,000 and above the national average of 394:100,000. 59% of those were aggravated assaults, 8% sexual assaults, and 1% homicides. Remember that the difference between aggravated assault and homicide is, mostly, surviving.

And even as I finish writing this, another shooting is being reported at an Oklahoma Walmart. Three dead reported. Motive and Suspect status unknown.

On Active Shooters And Risk Management: Framing The Problem And Assessing Potential Strategies

By
A.C. Haskins
-
CBP Office of Air and Marine Pilots participate in an Active Shooter Scenario at an NATC facility to learn how to safely interact with other law enforcement communities in a dynamic enviroment to protect citizens and neutralize threats in a school based situation. Students and instructors move thru an abandoned school checking the role playing bad guy while training for the Active Shooter Scenario making sure to wear important safety equipment. Photo by James Tourtellotte

In my day job, I work with leaders in high risk industries to figure out how and why their systems and processes are going wrong and leading to negative outcomes, and how they can redesign said systems and processes to fix those identified problems. We consult in health care (patient safety, quality, and risk management), in transportation (accident avoidance, maintenance quality control), in gas and electric (employee safety, system reliability), in manufacturing (workplace safety, process improvement), and more. The reason we can work with such a wide variety of industries is that our reliability and risk management principles aren’t specific to any process or procedure, or even any desired outcome, but are universal concepts that can be applied to any problem, to help avoid any negative outcome of concern. In fact, one of my colleagues has demonstrated this universality to clients by building a model oriented around preventing the “negative outcome” of his son’s dog scratching his hardwood floors.

FRAMING THE PROBLEM

If you model any risk management problem as a line, beginning with the initiating action and ending with the negative outcome, there are essentially three potential places along that line you can attempt to intervene. First, you can try to prevent the initiating action itself. Second, you can try to put defenses in place between the initiating action and the negative outcome, so that even if the initiating action occurs it doesn’t cause a negative outcome. And third, you can accept that, despite your best efforts, sometimes the negative outcome will occur, and you can seek to mitigate the harm it causes. The best, most reliable systems will seek to do all three: they will include precursor strategies to reduce the likelihood of the initiating action, layered defensive strategies to stop or catch the initiating action before it can result in harm, and mitigation strategies to reduce the harm when a negative outcome does slip through the cracks. But in general terms, those are the three options available.

I’ve recently had several discussions on the topic of school shootings and other mass killer events, and it got me thinking of problem solving in the terms of these risk management principles. There are three types of strategies to solve the problem of active killer attacks.

PRECURSOR STRATEGIES

First, we can seek to prevent people from attempting such attacks in the first place. There are three elements that must align for this initiating action—someone planning and attempting an attack—to occur.  Someone must want to conduct an attack.  They must have access to the means to conduct an attack.  And they must have the opportunity to conduct an attack.  Without all three elements (the will, the means, and the opportunity), an attack cannot occur.  Thus, strategies that seek to prevent the initiating action do not have to address all three elements, but rather must only strive to ensure the three do not align. 

Potential strategies may include efforts to reduce the root causes of such violence through early identification and intervention: mental health reform, outreach efforts to disaffected youth and immigrants, etc.  These attempt to reduce the likelihood someone will want to conduct an attack in the first place. 

Other potential strategies may instead focus on preventing those who want to do harm from accessing the means to do so.  Gun control efforts usually fall under this category, under the belief that if only we could control access to firearms better, people wouldn’t have the means to conduct such attacks.

The problem is that there’s no evidence that’s true–the UK and Australia have still experienced multiple mass killer attacks despite outright gun bans, and France and Belgium have had multiple mass killer attacks despite relatively strict gun control compared to the US.  The third deadliest mass shooting in American history was conducted with two small caliber handguns, rather than scary “assault weapons.”  In fact, of the 23 mass shootings in America since 1949 that have claimed at least ten lives, 9 of them (~40%) involved no rifles whatsoever, only handguns and shotguns.  

Committed attackers will still conduct such attacks even without guns—the Nice attacker (who claimed more lives than any mass shooting in American history) used a truck, as did the recent New York City attacker; Chinese and British terrorists have killed dozens with knives; attackers in Belgium and Boston and France and elsewhere have used homemade explosives and other improvised weapons.

If someone is committed to attacking, gun control does not stop them, because there are simply too many different means to conduct an attack to prevent a committed attacker from getting access to them. No matter how good such efforts may be, they will never stop someone like the attacker in Las Vegas who had no identifiable motive and was clearly committed to his efforts—given his level of planning, if it weren’t a gun, he was just as likely to use something else.  And more problematically, while removing or limiting access to guns or certain types of guns demonstrably does not effectively stop mass shootings and other mass killing attacks, what it DOES do is severely limit other strategies to mitigate the harm from such attacks, as we’ll discuss later.

All of that said, that does not mean there isn’t anything that can be done to limit access.  Those clearly identified as potential attackers, generally through their personal histories of actual violence and/or violent mental health tendencies, can be denied easy access to the various means of attack, and this we already do.  Legal firearms purchases in the United States (with the sole exception of in-person private transfers between residents of the same state) require background checks—this process manifestly has flaws, given the Texas church shooter who was a legally prohibited person given his domestic abuse conviction but still passed the background check due to a communication failure in reporting said conviction to the database.  That’s certainly a potential area for improvement.  Similarly, explosives and chemicals that can be easily made into explosives are generally tightly controlled, to inhibit access to those who would do harm with them.  And so forth.  But, to reiterate, this is a difficult point at which to intervene, because most strategies to do so will be very resource intensive and not terribly effective.  There are just too many means to conduct a successful attack to prevent access to all of them.  Ask the Brits.

The third necessary element is the opportunity to conduct an attack.  This one is the most difficult to address.  There is little realistic way to get rid of schools, or churches, or sporting events, or crowded parks, or any other public gathering that presents an opportunity for an attack.

As we can see, our ability to effectively intervene and prevent the initiating action is extremely limited by the nature of the problem, so we must not limit our efforts and focus all our resources to such strategies.  Instead, we need to look and see where and how else we can reduce the risk of such events.

DEFENSIVE STRATEGIES

Because there is no way to prevent ALL such attacks, the next strategy is to put defenses in place between the attacker and his intended victims. The first opportunity to do so consists of early efforts to catch them in the planning stages (such as the multiple school shootings which have been foiled pre-attack by alert parents and citizens reporting concerns to the police, who investigated and stopped the attacker before he ever fired a shot). Such efforts can fail (and did in the Parkland shooter’s case, due to the FBI not following up on the report they received), but they’re a viable option in general. We want multiple layers of defense precisely because any one intervention strategy can and will sometimes fail.

Next, if we can’t prevent the attack before it starts, we can seek to stop it before it reaches its intended victims through robust security measures.  In general, security for public sites and events in the United States is a joke, known among security and risk experts as “security theater.”  Things like barely-trained, underpaid, and unarmed staffers waving metal detecting wands over torsos and glancing into purses does absolutely nothing to stop a committed attacker, but it makes the ignorant feel better and more secure for a relatively low cost.  Even the TSA fails on most every test of their process.  If we instead want real security, it requires a legitimate investment of time, money, and resources.

There is, of course, a tradeoff that often makes good security less of a viable plan: no one wants to feel like they’re living or working or watching sports in a prison.  But there are ways to achieve reliable security that will stop most attackers from reaching their targets without being oppressive; we can learn quite a bit from Israeli airport and high threat site security practices, for example.  At schools, simple things like reinforced doors and windows, and actually locking them to ensure only one easily monitored entry point, can dramatically reduce an attacker’s ability to reach his target.  Armed security at the door, if well done, can keep the attacker outside and away from the vulnerable target—see the incident in Garland, Texas.

But even the best systems sometimes fail.  What happens when an individual with the will, the means, and the opportunity to conduct an attack manages to avoid early detection and gets past our security measures and other defenses?

MITIGATION STRATEGIES

Sometimes the shooter gets to the target.  Whether that’s a school, a mall, a church, or a sporting event, there are just too many opportunities to secure them all.  So in anticipation of such events, we need to seek to minimize the harm when an active killer reaches his intended victims. And, quite frankly, statistically the best way to limit deaths and injuries in active killer incidents is to confront the attacker with armed resistance. Greg Ellifritz over at Active Response Training has spent decades studying this very issue, and in his words,

“Statistically, the absolute best way to survive an active shooter event is not by running, hiding, or fighting with chairs and fire extinguishers. The best survival results for everyone involved occur when an armed citizen or police officer kills the active shooter…Active killers have historically stopped their attack as soon as they have been met with EFFECTIVE resistance. Although many folks have effectively resisted while unarmed, the most effective way to target an armed killer is to use a firearm.  [There have been] numerous incidents when armed citizens have stopped active killers…In each of these cases, the armed citizen was not harmed by the killer. Also, in each [case] the killer stopped his rampage without shooting another round as soon as he was confronted by the armed citizen. Having an uninjured citizen responder combined with no further casualties among the killer’s intended victim pool is the best possible outcome during a mass murder event. That rarely happens unless the courageous resisting citizen is carrying a firearm.”

There are multiple ways to achieve this goal, of confronting the active killer with effective armed resistance at the earliest opportunity.  One is to rely on the police.  However, police are rarely on site at the start of the shooting (and even when they are they cannot be relied upon as the only option—see the inaction of the Sheriff’s Deputies at Parkland for a reminder of why it’s better to have more than one option).  As of 2012, the average number of deaths in active shooter events when the shooter was stopped by law enforcement was 14. When the shooter was stopped by armed civilians, that number dropped to 2.5. The difference isn’t because armed civilians are better at stopping shooters. It’s because they’re faster, because they’re already there to confront the shooter with effective resistance, while the average police response time to an active shooter event is three minutes—longer than the time most shooters spend actually shooting.  Thus, to best mitigate active shooters and keep casualties as low as possible, a viable and effective strategy is to ensure there is a rapid armed response on site, ready to confront the shooter. 

Given the relatively high cost of armed security beyond a single School Resource Officer, one much more affordable option for schools would be to allow qualified, trained teachers and staff to carry concealed weapons (voluntarily, not mandatorily) as part of a school active shooter response plan.  Having teachers as auxiliary armed first responders who can protect their student bodies, even if only a handful of volunteers in any given school, means not having to wait three or more minutes for the police to arrive, and thus means fewer deaths and injuries.

This, by the way, is the other downside to gun control efforts that I mentioned earlier.  Beyond their inherent ineffectiveness at solving the “initiating action” problem, such laws and regulations also greatly limit the single best proven mitigation strategy to end a mass shooting with the fewest number of casualties, by disarming those who could otherwise respond and forcing victims to rely on the police response to end the shooting.  Even beyond mass shootings, estimates of lawful defensive gun uses in the United States range between 100,000 and 2.5 million events every year—people do effectively use guns to defend themselves from attackers every day.  Even those scary so-called “assault weapons” have a legitimate defensive purpose, as many expert defensive firearms trainers will readily state that a rifle is a far better choice for defending against home invaders than a handgun—a much more common occurrence than the still extremely rare mass shooting events that make the news.  Taking away that proven personal mitigation strategy in the name of reducing a committed attacker’s access to only one of many different potential means of conducting a successful attack makes no sense from a risk management perspective—it’s cutting off your nose to spite your face.

All of that said, using teachers to supplement response plans isn’t limited to using them as armed auxiliaries. A very easy strategy to implement, that wouldn’t cost very much money, would be to ensure every teacher and school staffer is trained in immediate trauma casualty care, and there is a basic trauma kit in every classroom with a tourniquet, a compression bandage, gauze, medical tape, and chest seals. We already teach CPR. The American College of Surgeons’ “Stop the Bleed” campaign recommends that basic first aid training be supplemented with bleeding control training for trauma (and they offer Bleeding Control certifications), because rapidly controlling hemorrhagic bleeding can keep victims alive long enough for them to be treated and saved at the hospital. This has the added benefit that it doesn’t just apply to active shooter events–the same training can apply for any traumatic injury, regardless of the cause. We will reduce casualties if the teachers and staff know how to keep the victims alive until the ambulances can arrive.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Like I said before, the best risk management systems implement strategies in all three areas: seeking to prevent the initiating action, adding layers of defense between the action and the outcome, and mitigating the harm associated with the outcome when it occurs. There is no reason our approach to school shootings and other active shooter events should not follow the same principles. We absolutely should seek to prevent attacks in the first place, sure. But we can’t prevent them all, so we also need to defend against them reaching their intended victims as much as possible, and mitigate the harm when those efforts are unsuccessful.

Henry Pays Homage to the Lone Star State

By
Keith Finch
-
The Henry Texas Tribute Edition rifle features a deep black stain on the wood stocks and inlaid metal stars.

BAYONNE, NJ – November 15, 2019 – Henry Repeating Arms recently unveiled their Texas Tribute Edition rifle with a surprise appearance at the Texas Motor Speedway, where it was presented to NASCAR Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick for his pole qualifying win before the AAA Texas 500. Now available nationwide, the new rifle is the latest addition to Henry’s diverse Tribute Edition product line and the only edition dedicated to a specific state.

Anthony Imperato, President, and Owner of Henry Repeating Arms, explains, “The idea of making a special gun for Texas is something that we’ve been working at for quite some time, and we have looked at so many different designs in the process.” Imperato continues, “Texas loves guns, and we wanted to make sure that this rifle captures that unique Texas magic with a look that no one has ever seen before on a Henry. I think we nailed it.”

NASCAR Cup Series driver, Kevin Harvick was awarded with a Henry Texas Tribute Edition rifle for his pole qualifying win at Texas Motor Speedway on November 2, 2019.

NASCAR Cup Series driver, Kevin Harvick was awarded with a Henry Texas Tribute Edition rifle for his pole qualifying win at Texas Motor Speedway on November 2, 2019.

The Henry Texas Tribute Edition is a .22 S/L/LR caliber lever action rifle built on Henry’s Golden Boy platform, which features a 20” blued steel octagon barrel, a Brasslite receiver cover, a brass buttplate and barrel band, and fully adjustable sights. Most notably, the wood furniture is finished with a deep black stain to provide a stark contrast to the gold highlights throughout the gun. Both sides of the rifle are studded with inlaid metal 5-pointed stars, with 4 on the right side of the buttstock, and a lone star on the right side of the buttstock. The forestock is further embellished with the word “TEXAS” engraved in a classic Western typeface and filled by hand with gold paint. The buttstock engraving depicts the state of Texas filled with a “Lone Star Flag” motif, which is also hand-painted in gold.

The new Texas Tribute Edition rifle has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $960. For more information, visit https://www.henryusa.com/rifles/texas-tribute-edition/.

ReSpEct MA AuTHOritY! – The Lesson of Colorado

By
Keith Finch
-

“Bad” laws do many things, but perhaps their most egregious offense is their erosion of overall respect for authority. Bad laws prove that a governing body doesn’t know what they’re doing. It proves that they’re inept in their positions and that anything they say, any judgment they make, and any rule they create is suspect.

The Colorado High Capacity Magazine ban is a perfect example of a rule that has eroded the respect for authority to the point that quite literally nobody gives a flying…

Colorado’s Large-Capacity Magazine Ban Is a Colossal Failure – Reason

In 2013, the Colorado legislature passed House Bill 13-1224, which prohibits the “sale, transfer, or possession of an ammunition feeding device that is capable of accepting, or that can be readily converted to accept, more than [15] rounds of ammunition or more than [8] shotgun shells (large-capacity magazine).” This was a year after James Holmes used a semiautomatic rifle equipped with a 100-round drum magazine (among other weapons) to kill 12 people in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. The bill grandfathered in old large-capacity magazines that gun owners already had in their possession but forbade new sales or transfers. Then-Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signed the bill into law on July 1. The law was intended to erase the market for new large-capacity magazines.

This caused Magpul to leave their beloved Colorado homes, along with several other firearm related businesses, and has done both ‘jack’ and ‘shit’ for the safety of Colorado regarding the risk of mass killers. Some areas honor the letter of the rule but sell standard capacity magazine “kits” instead of magazines, a magazine like a PMAG is 5 pieces. Others just ignore the feckless rule altogether based on the opinion of their elected Sheriff.

“I’m a little stunned about how open it is and how blatantly they’re saying, ‘You know, this is a stupid law, but this is the way you can get around it,'” state Sen. Rhonda Fields (D–Aurora), one of the bill’s sponsors, told 9News. “The whole goal, when I ran the bill in 2013, was to limit that capacity.”

And you failed, Rhonda. You totally, completely, and utterly failed to heed the reality that magazines are durable goods, like the firearms that use them, and already exist in the hundreds of millions. You failed to exercise good judgement in either crafting the rule effectively (if entirely unconstitutionally) to ban magazines outright (which would still leave the hundreds of millions in circulation and how to remove them) or realizing just what a waste of effort this was. You expected, because “mA AuThOrity!!”, that 2A supporters, who are tired of being the scapegoat for every mentally deranged, unhinged, or distraught individual who uses violence as their outlet, would just take the turd sandwich again and eat it because you claimed it was their responsibility to do so.

The longer preposterous half measures are allowed to stand the further the erosion of legitimate authority will slip. The more these rules pass the more they will be ignored. Bump stocks aren’t gone. High capacity magazines exist in every locale where they are prohibited. The banned features on “assault weapons” are just as likely to be ignored now as the rest of these in regions where they are illegal.

Bad laws, in violation of the second amendment, have gone and irreparably harmed the authority of these legislative and governing bodies. Every rule is under the highest scrutiny because no faith is to be found in them to make well reasoned decisions. Second Amendment supports are rightly well and done with the nonsense. Internationally even, things aren’t looking good. New Zealand is set to illustrate what a ban and heavy handed treatment of firearms ownership looks like. They’re failing. And with tools of communication that is the internet we can watch these failures in real time, we can compile the data, we can cross reference what is said in comparison to plausible reality and find out just how wanting prohibition is as a solution.

Because we didn’t learn that constitutional lesson last time apparently.

Santa Clarita CA, What we know…

By
Keith Finch
-
Image via CBS People wait for students and updates outside of Saugus High School after reports of a shooting on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019, in Santa Clarita, Calif. MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/AP

We know that at approximately 7:40 am local time at Saugus High School, Santa Clarita California, a student open fired on his classmates.

We know that the student, who turned 16 that morning, brought a .45 caliber handgun in his backpack to the school where he pulled it and fired at five other students, killing two and injuring three, before putting the final round into his own head. Last reported, the teen was on life support, possibly until his organs could be harvested as a registered donor. That report seems to indicate the self inflicted wound was catastrophic.

We know the attack lasted a total of 16 seconds.

What we don’t know…

We don’t know why.

We can speculate on several probable motives. The obvious one is bullying, but quite simply we do not know. Any number of factors could have motivated the teen to so violently put his suicide on display and take school mates with him. This was a statement, but for what purpose? It was a murder suicide and was pretty clearly intended to be from the offset, not a suicide of convenience at the end of an attack or killed in a gun battle.

If the students killed and injured were deliberate targets, which as of now they do not appear to be, this could be a statement against a specific bully or a response to a specific perceived offense. If the five students shot were just the closest this is much more likely a general statement of anguish against the high school, or maybe the high school was just the medium of outlet.

But ultimately, again and still, we do not know. The complicated emotive and rationale process the sixteen year old went through is ultimately only known to him, and he is in critical condition from the self inflicted GSW to the head.

It’s a long series of questions that may remain forever unanswered. Why? Did someone say something to him? Did he watch something? Was it social media? Was it his classmates? Was it teachers or the school in general? Was it depression? Was it medication? Was it any of these at all? Was it mom or his deceased father? Was it…?

The one who knows doesn’t look likely to live… and sadly violence rarely requires a rational motivation. It doesn’t require logical reasoning. It just requires ‘a’ motive, not a ‘good’ motive or an ‘understandable’ one.

STREAMLIGHT® LAUNCHES TLR-7® A RAIL-MOUNTED WEAPON LIGHT

By
Keith Finch
-

EAGLEVILLE, PA, November 15, 2019 – Streamlight® Inc., a leading provider of high-performance lighting and weapon light/laser sighting devices, has introduced the TLR-7® A with ergonomic rear switches featuring a low or high position to match users’ shooting styles. The exceptionally lightweight and compact new light delivers 500 lumens for a variety of tactical uses.

“Our newest weapon light features ambidextrous on/off rear switches with low and high positions to suit user preference, and a rail clamp that attaches and detaches easily from the side of compact and full frame weapons,” said Streamlight President and Chief Executive Officer Ray Sharrah. “Like the original TLR-7, it is designed to maximize visibility and targeting capability in a variety of home defense and tactical applications.”

The TLR-7 A features a power LED that delivers 5,000 candela and 500 lumens over a beam distance of 140 meters. It offers two lighting modes, LED only or LED strobe, each with a run time of 1.5 hours. The light is energized by a single 3 Volt CR2 lithium battery.

Securely fitting to a broad range of weapons, the new TLR-7 A features a one-handed, snap on and tighten interface that keeps hands away from gun muzzles when attaching or detaching them. The light also includes a Safe Off feature, locking it so it cannot be turned on accidentally. A key kit is included to securely fit the light to the broadest array of hand guns of any light on the market.

Constructed with 6000 Series machined aircraft aluminum with a black anodized finish, the TLR-7 A weighs 2.40 ounces and measures 2.58 inches in length. 

With extensively live-fire tested, impact-resistant construction, the new model features an IPX7 rated design, making it waterproof to 1 meter for 30 minutes.

The new light is packaged as the TLR-7 A FLEX that comes with a High switch mounted on the light plus an included Low switch. It has an MSRP of $225.75, and comes with Streamlight’s Limited Lifetime Warranty.  

About Streamlight

Based in Eagleville, PA, Streamlight, Inc. has more than 45 years of experience making tough, durable, long-lasting flashlights designed to serve the specialized needs of professionals and consumers alike. Since 1973, the company has designed, manufactured and marketed high-performance flashlights, and today offers a broad array of lights, lanterns, weapon light/laser sighting devices, and scene lighting solutions for professional law enforcement, military, firefighting, industrial, automotive, and outdoor applications. Streamlight is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company. For additional information, please call 800-523-7488, visit streamlight.com or connect with us on facebook.com/streamlight; twitter.com/Streamlight; instagram.com/streamlightinc; https://www.linkedin.com/company/streamlight-inc./; and youtube.com/streamlighttv.          

Mossberg and DeSantis GEAR UP

By
Keith Finch
-

North Haven, CT – Consumers can “gear up” with Mossberg’s MC1sc pistol promotion. Subject to promotion details outlined below, purchase any Mossberg MC1sc (subcompact) 9mm pistol and receive a DeSantis® Slim-Tuk holster FREE! This limited time offer is for qualifying purchases on MC1sc 9mm pistols made between 11/15/19 and 3/31/20 with redemption postmarked or submitted online by 4/30/20. The value of the free DeSantis Slim-Tuk holster is $39.99.

Mossberg introduced the MC1sc pistol, earlier this year, in celebration of the company’s 100th anniversary. Encompassing three years of research and development, the MC1sc combines superior ergonomics, innovation and engineering expertise. These subcompacts feature a stainless-steel slide (bead-blasted or DLC coated) over a matte-black polymer, glass-reinforced frame and have aggressive multi-angle serrations; are equipped with dovetail-mounted, low-profile white 3-dot sights; and 3.4-inch barrel. Optional cross-bolt safety is available on select models and is reversible for right or left-handed shooters as well as optional sighting systems – VIRIDIAN® Laser-Equipped and TRUGLO® Tritium PRO™ Sights.

Other standard features include a flat-profile trigger with integrated blade safety; short, tactile reset; reduced overtravel; and a 5 to 6-pound trigger pull weight; oversized trigger guards; reversible magazine release; and flush 6-round and an extended 7-round single-stack Clear-Count™ magazines. And completing the MC1sc is our exclusive, patent-pending Mossberg STS™ (Safe Takedown System), which unlike competitive products, does not require the user to pull the trigger to disassemble for routine cleaning or maintenance. 

Promotion Details: Offers are limited to stock on hand; no rain checks are available. Offer is only valid for MC1sc 9mm pistols. Qualifying purchases must be made between 11/15/19 and 3/31/20, and redemption must be made by 4/30/20 to qualify. Offer may not be combined with any other sale, promotion, discount, code, coupon and/or offer. Promotions have no cash value. Offer cannot be sold, transferred, or otherwise bartered. Some qualifying models may not be available in all jurisdictions. This promotion is subject to any and all applicable laws, including but not limited to federal, state, and local laws. Void where prohibited, taxed or otherwise restricted. Returns of any portion of the qualifying purchase will require equal forfeiture of offer or amount equal to offer. Mossberg reserves the right to end or modify any promotion at any time. Other restrictions may apply. Offer valid in United States only.  Further, CA residents are not eligible for this promotion. All submissions subject to review and approval by O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc. If submission is incomplete or unclear, additional proof of purchase may be requested. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery from time of confirmation email. 

TO REDEEM BY MAIL: Send your name and mailing address to: Mossberg MC1sc Offer; 7 Grasso Avenue; North Haven, CT; 06473-9844.  You MUST include your store sales receipt and gun box end panel label which displays the product serial number and SKU number as your proof of purchase.  TO REDEEM ONLINE: please visit http://offers.mossberg.com/MC1scoffer.  

DeSantis® is a registered trademark of Gunhide Properties, LLC. Viridian® is a trademark of Laser Aiming Systems Corporation. TRUGLO® and Tritium Pro™ are trademarks of TRUGLO, Inc.

About O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc.

Founded in 1919, O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc., is the oldest family-owned firearms manufacturer in America, and is the largest pump-action shotgun manufacturer in the world. Celebrating 100 years of innovation, Mossberg leads the industry with over 100 design and utility patents to its credit and stands as the first ISO 9001 Certified long-gun manufacturer. Complete information on commercial, special purpose, law enforcement and military shotguns, rifles, handguns and accessories are available at mossberg.com or by calling 1-800-363-3555. Mossberg can also be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

5.11 Norris boots – Tactical Style

By
Travis Pike
-

I’m not sure when the tactical community decided to stop looking like Operators from the 1990s with their big baggy button shirts, cargo pants, hat with the American flag patch, and combat boots but it’s a welcome change. Not only has the tactical world integrated into fashion, but the fashion world has integrated with the tactical world. From the useless Black Multicam to plate carriers becoming part of streetwear we’ve seen a mix of cool, useful, and… questionable. The Norris Sneaker from 5.11 are trying to be both cool and useful.

The Norris sneakers are what happens when you take a pair of Chuck Taylors and give them to a tactical company. The name alone is one of the better puns. Think about it, they take the classic high top sneaker design that was popularized by Chuck Taylors, improved them, and called the Norris sneakers. Chuck freakin Norris lives on as a meme.

The Norris Sneakers do have a very classic look to them, and they certainly don’t look outwardly tactical in any way. By tactical looking I mean they don’t look like a pair of Bates boots, or MOABs. They look like shoes, but they pack a ton of features you’d find in boots.

The Norris Sneakers – Feature Filled

The Norris Sneakers come equipped with a Vibram Marbrani outsole with XS Trek built-in. XS Trek is a no marking compound that helps prevent scuffing when working indoors or over nautical environments. The material also helps provide low profile traction. Vibram soles are known for their extreme durability and are the go-to standard for high-quality boots.

The Norris sneakers have climbing grade rubber toe protection for increased traction. On top of that, the sole is ASTM certified for puncture resistance. You can cruise the streets of San Francisco and not fear the syringes laying everywhere.

The Ortholite upper cuff gives an excellent fit and keeps the shoe in place. It also provides excellent ankle support.

While these are still just sneakers they have enough boot like features to make them an excellent hybrid design. If sneakers are cars and boots are SUVs then these are a crossover.

On the Streets

Admittedly the only downside to the Norris Sneakers is that they a while to break in. For the first week or so they rubbed my pinky toe on either foot. Not enough to blister but enough to feel relief when you weren’t wearing them. After a good break-in period, they comfied right up.

The Norris Sneakers are slightly tighter than normal boots, but it’s more of the way a glove embraces a hand than a set of tight shoes. They don’t slip on and off by any means and like boots they are best worn tightened down.

Impressively enough the tread is great with wet terrain, including mud, concrete and yes boats. While it might be Fall in the rest of the world it’s currently cooler summer in Florida so boats are part of my equation.

Speaking of boats, there isn’t much water protection. They will shed gentle splashes and resist it okay. Should you submerge your Norris sneakers don’t expect much water resistance.

What you can expect is a comfortable and very lightweight option. They give most of the protection of boots with the weight of shoes. It’s hard to beat the overall design and the blend of both boot and sneaker.

I’ve put many a mile on these shoes in various circumstances. This includes running sprints, weightlifting(especially deadlifting), walking on trails, in the wild, and just normal life. The shoes hold up and the 5.11 design is rock solid. The quality is evident and 5.11 used some beefy stitching and thick materials.

The Norris Sneakers are robust and discrete. I loved the 5.11 jeans and these sneakers are the shoe variant of that. They are light, discrete, comfortable and rugged. Perfect for daily wear with all support you need without the distinct boot-like appearance.

“It’s the way we’ve always done it.”

By
Keith Finch
-

Probably not actually.

Bloke on the Range and British Muzzleloaders go over some of the evolving equipment of the late 19th century and early 20th century British soldiers and how, based on experiences in the conflicts they had learned hard lessons within, equipment decisions and technologies were adapted and adopted.

For instance. Despite having internal magazine fed rifles prior to 1900, the design didn’t lend itself to high volumes of fire outside of “emergency” situations. The rifles were fed with loose cartridges over top the full magazine which would not be initiated to feed until that emergency. Compared with stripper clip fed designs, which would remain as primary arms through WWII, the rifles exhibited slower rates of fire, clumsier handling, and overall were less than ideal.

This was part of the slow evolution into modern arms away from musketry. While soldiers weren’t lining up in neat little rows to be cut down by machine guns, the rifles were still functionally the single shot of that era combined with a self contained cartridge. The interesting thing is there was plenty of evidence starting to accumulate that fire rate mattered a lot, and there was tech around to support higher fire rates.

Perhaps the most poignant example of that was the M1 Garand, from a practical standpoint the bolt actions it was put up against were peer rifles if you base the comparison on caliber. Everyone was using a “.30” caliber, roughly, during WWII. But the Garand’s rate of accurate fire was astronomically higher, and that was highly effective given its peer group.

But anyway, I am blathering on. Enjoy the video of the arms period evolution. Give the Bloke and BML likes and subscribes too.

Breaking: Shooting at CA High School, Multiple Injured Reported

By
Keith Finch
-
Image via CBS People wait for students and updates outside of Saugus High School after reports of a shooting on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019, in Santa Clarita, Calif. MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/AP

Multiple sources are reporting a shooting at the Saugus High School in California.

CBS Report

The current information suggests five injured students or staff and the shooter is being reported as a teen who fled the campus. The shooting began prior to full classes being in session.

The sheriff’s department described a suspect as an Asian male wearing black clothing who was last seen at the school. The shooting suspect has remained unnamed and custody and containment is not known at this time.

UPDATE:

Bushnell Military VIP Program

By
Keith Finch
-
Bushnell Elite Tactical

Military and Veteran Purchase Program Now Available on Bushnell.com

OVERLAND PARK, Kansas – Bushnell, an industry leader in high-performance optics, is pleased to announce that a new VIP Purchase Program is now available for all members of the U.S. Military.

The new Bushnell VIP Program, open to all military personnel from all branches of service – active, retired, and veterans – provides everyday discounts on any Bushnell product. Whether used for personal or duty use, the new program enables special VIP pricing for the men and women of the U.S. Military.

“It is both an honor and a privilege to be able to offer members of our U.S. military with a discount program that offers significant year-round savings on any Bushnell product,” said Vishak Sankaran, President of Bushnell. “Every day, these men and women go to extreme measures to keep our country safe and to protect the freedoms we enjoy. While we can never fully repay them for all the sacrifices they have made, we are proud to support them through our VIP Program.”

Prospective applicants can apply for the program starting November 11, 2019 by visitinghttps://www.bushnell.com/military-program. Once verified, members can immediately begin placing orders. For questions on warranty, returns, and customer service please utilize the Support tab link on https://www.bushnell.com/. All VIP orders must be submitted online. Buyers are encouraged to review the offers’ full terms and conditions for details.

Bushnell, is one of the most recognizable and trusted names in precision hunting, tactical and recreational optics and accessories. For more information on the new VIP Program or to view any of the company’s product, visit https://www.bushnell.com/.

About Bushnell

Bushnell, a Vista Outdoor brand, has been the industry leader in high-performance sports optics for more than 65 years. Our guiding principle is to provide the highest quality, most reliable and affordable sports optics products on the market. And, our commitment to outstanding customer service and strong retailer partnerships is unmatched. Bushnell boasts leading market share in all of the sports optics categories, and our products have consistently won design and performance awards. Our product lines enhance the enjoyment of every outdoor pursuit from spectator sports, nature study, hunting, fishing and birding to stargazing. For news and information, visit www.bushnell.com or follow us on Instagram at www.instagram.com/bushnell_official and Facebook at www.facebook.com/bushnell.

Guns and (Relative) Risk Management

By
A.C. Haskins
-
Peanuts Classic

I am a risk management professional. For real, it’s what I do for a living. So listen up for a second.

According to David Roeik and George Gray of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, in 2001 the average person in America stood approximately the following chances of dying from:

-Homicide: 1 in 240
-Motor vehicle accident: 1 in 88
-Cancer: 1 in 7
-Diabetes: 1 in 53
-Heart Disease: 1 in 4
-Suicide: 1 in 120

Yes, the exact numbers have changed somewhat over the past 18 years, but not by enough to change the relative risks.

So what does that tell me, as someone interested in preserving my own life? Well, all of these are preventable or manageable deaths to some extent (yes, there are completely untreatable cancers, but they’re fairly rare—most are quite treatable if caught early). That tells me that if my goal is to avoid premature death, I should prioritize “carry a gun to avoid getting murdered” well below “get a yearly physical that includes cholesterol screening,” “get screened for any cancer for which I’m at an elevated risk to assist with early detection,” “eat a balanced diet to avoid Type II diabetes,” “get in shape to stave off heart disease,” “get help if any mental health issues arrive,” and “wear a seatbelt.”

But let’s say you DO keep yourself reasonably healthy and fit, you see the doctor once a year, you have a good diet, you’ve got any mental health issues under control if applicable, and you always wear your seatbelt. Does it then make mathematical sense to know how to defend yourself, or is that just Tactical Timmy fantasies about burning down a mugger in an alleyway?

Well, there were an estimated 706,000 robberies and 963,000 aggravated assaults in the United States in 2015, per the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Assuming they were evenly spread across everyone in the country over the age of 12, that would equal odds of approximately 1 in 161 of any given person experiencing an aggravated assault or robbery.

Now, we know that number isn’t accurate, because it’s just an average: a teenage boy of a racial minority in a high crime gang-ridden inner city neighborhood has a significantly higher chance of being the victim of violent crime than a suburban white upper-middle-class housewife, and neither is anywhere close to the “average.”

While robberies and aggravated assaults by definition don’t kill you (then they get reclassified “homicide,”), they can do anything up to that point: an attempted murder where the victim’s life is saved at the hospital is an aggravated assault. They can be extremely injurious incidents that we are right to want to avoid for the same reason we want to wear a seat belt: it both keeps us alive AND minimizes the chances of severe injury in the event of a crash. So the average is a useful baseline against which to compare annual risks of other potentially severely injurious incidents.

Per the National Center for Injury Prevention, in 2015 the average American faced the following chances of nonfatal injury from:

-Accidental fall: 1 in 34
-Accidental cut or piercing: 1 in 160
-Motor vehicle accident: 1 in 122
-Unintentional poisoning: 1 in 216

Remember, the odds of being the victim of a potentially injurious robbery or aggravated assault (ignoring simple assaults entirely) were 1 in 161 for the same year. In fact, non-sexual assaults (simple and aggravated) were the eighth leading cause of nonfatal injuries leading to an emergency room visit that year, so a significant number of those encounters WERE injurious: 1.23 million, in fact.

Again, the odds of a given individual experiencing a robbery or aggravated assault may differ wildly from the average, but the same can be said about the odds of being injured in a motor vehicle accident, or of falling, or of getting badly cut, or of being poisoned.

The fact of the matter is that mathematically, the chances of “average” people in the United States needing to defend themselves from a robber or other violent attacker in any given year is in the same order of magnitude as the chances they’ll go to the emergency room from a motor vehicle accident, and is almost identical to the chances they’ll suffer a severe accidental cut or piercing. Yes, prioritize wearing a seatbelt, but that doesn’t mean “be able to defend yourself” is unimportant.

(Though I’ll point out that if you’re carrying a gun to protect yourself against the 1 in 161 chances of a robbery or aggravated assault, but don’t carry bleeding control equipment—i.e., tourniquet, compression bandage, gauze, etc—to protect yourself against the 1 in 160 chances of severe bleeding injuries, you’re probably an idiot.)

If you genuinely want to manage risk in your personal life, my advice to you would be the following, in order of priority:

1. Get in shape.

2. Don’t eat like an asshole all the time. Have some veggies and lean meats.

3. See a doctor once a year.

4. Wear your seatbelt every time you’re in a moving vehicle.

5. Take care of your mental health.

6. If you ride a motorcycle or operate other risky equipment that might leave you bleeding, wear all appropriate protective equipment every time.

7. Carry medical equipment for emergencies (bleeding control + anything related to your own medical conditions like a EpiPen or glucose, etc) and know how to use it.

8. Learn how to defend yourself.

I’ve lost count of the number of patently unhealthy men and women I’ve met who don’t wear seatbelts and don’t carry medical equipment, but insist carrying a gun is what they need to do to protect themselves. Okay. You do you. There’s an argument to be made that you don’t want anyone else to kill you before you finish the job yourself, and that’s fine. Your life, your decisions. But I suspect that gun will be small comfort when you’re lying on the sidewalk dying from a heart attack or an arterial bleed that you could have prevented by focusing on actual risks versus carrying a gun-shaped safety blanket.

Everyone Knows The M1

By
Keith Finch
-

The M1 Garand Rifle, greatest battle implement ever made. Right?

For the time, pretty damn much. The M1 could lay down a volume of fire unmatched by any other general infantry rifle of the day. It had every meter of effective range of the other rifles too. It was even logically similar with the en bloc clips feeding the 30-06 (and later some .308s) the 8 rounds effectively into the system.

Magazine fed weapons of WWII were limited mostly by the number of available magazines. It was one of the reasons the early M16 magazines were considered, and to a certain degree are modernly still considered, a disposable part. Weapons hadn’t been designed with the magazine change as well thought out part of feeding the weapons nearly as much as we have them today. But the Garand used a variant on decades old stripper clip design with the en bloc.

While by today’s standard the M1 is obsolete, for the time it was the battle implement of choice. That didn’t stop myths from making it into our modern “common knowledge” index however. Bloke on the Range takes on several things people ‘know’ about the M1, most of which were considered negatives and don’t actually exist. I took on the other end of the spectrum about the ‘legend’ of the Garands infallibility in the article linked above.

The M1 was a damn good rifle for its era, but it was what it was, and it was not several things people thought it was.

Enjoy. Also, welcome to the BotR rabbit hole. You’re stuck in here with me now.

10,000 Rounds and the Hellcat

By
The Armory Life
-

HELLCAT KILLS 10K ROUNDS

OP: The Armory Life

Let’s be honest, how often is the average person going to shoot their chosen EDC pistol? A few hundred rounds to make sure it works, and then stuff it in a holster and not think about it again? Maybe even less?

How about we turn that on its end and hold that gun you’re staking your life on to a higher standard? Instead of just viewing it as a gun that has to shoot a few hundred rounds to be “proven,” how about we hold it to the standard of a full-size duty pistol? What kind of test would that be?

Thousands of rounds of 9mm dwarf the tiny Hellcat pistol.

Ridiculous Extremes

Well, if your chosen EDC pistol is (or will be) the Hellcat, let’s throw all our preconceived notions about CCW pistols out the window. And why shouldn’t we? The Hellcat did the same with all the rules for what we should expect from a deep-cover carry pistol. Despite its tiny size and light weight (around 18 oz. and sporting a short 3″ barrel), the 9mm +P-rated pistol packs in 11+1 rounds with a flush mag and 13+1 with an extended one. Bump up to the OSP version (for a mere extra $30), and you get the ability to direct-mount an optic on the pistol that co-witnesses with the excellent U-Dot tritium/luminescent sights.

Basically, you are getting duty pistol capacity, performance, and adaptability in a gun that can be carried concealed easily all day. So how about we apply full-size durability standards to it that we wouldn’t normally to a gun this size? How about 10K rounds through it over two days, with only basic maintenance and care? Crazy? Possibly. Should we try it? Why not?

Clay and his team put the Hellcat through its paces during the 10K ammo test.

What we’re talking about here is not only reliability, but also durability. Will an average shooter ever shoot a Hellcat this amount? I doubt it. But, when a new CCW firearm comes to market, I always want to know how durable it is. Now, we could wait months for real-world beta testing, getting some feedback from owners that adopted early. But many times, designs that should have worked according to AutoCAD don’t hold up to expectations. I don’t know about you, but I’d find it pretty comforting to find out if the gun I would stake my life on as a CCW pistol can deliver when it counts.

Rules of the Game

Fortunately for all of us, I do have some experience with overkill (click here to see my 10K test of the Springfield Armory XD-M 10mm). And I knew just the guys to ask for help when it was time for mad scientist gun-testing hour. Federal Ammunition, never a team to back down, donated 10,000 rounds of American Eagle 9mm. The ammunition we used was 115 grain, with an advertised velocity of 1,180 feet per second. That isn’t quite +P, but it is certainly no powder puff. Also, we had Action Target provide us several excellent steel targets for the test. So, with this and a standard Hellcat pistol along with 35 13-round magazines, we had the ingredients for a real test of what the Hellcat could do.

Clay used a thermal imager to gauge the temperature of the Hellcat during the testing.

Since this was a durability test of the gun, I decided to ask Springfield Armory what they would recommend for a maintenance schedule for the pistol during the test. They suggested a five-minute compressed air cool down every 100 rounds, a wipe down and oil at 500 rounds and a full cleaning at 1,000 rounds with a full cool-down period at that point. They also recommended a recoil spring assembly change at 2,500 rounds due to the heat during a test like this. They said no other parts should need replacement during the test.

A quick number crunch told me that cooling for five minutes every 100 rounds would result in eight hours of just cooling, should the Hellcat make a full 10,000 rounds. Not only did I not have time for that, I’m not a Nancy. I decided to make it a much harsher test cycle. We shot the first three cycles at 300 rounds, non-stop. After checking with a thermal imager to ensure we were not at a temperature likely to induce cook-offs, we switched to 500-round non-stop cycles. For those unfamiliar with cook-offs, it’s absolutely one of the limiting factors in how hard a gun should be run. At a certain chamber temperature, which experience has taught me is hit between 450 and 600 rounds fired quickly, a chambered cartridge can actually get hot enough to ignite.

The Hellcat was lubed every 500 rounds, and given a light cleaning every 1,000.

Diving In

Upping the round count per cycle also ups the internal temperature of the gun, which then takes longer to return to normal temp. I have things to do besides shoot a pallet of ammo. So, blasting forced air down the barrel between 500-round strings, and considering the ambient air temperature was 25 degrees when we started in the morning, this was not nice for the Hellcat. The quicker you cool in cycles like this, the harder it is on the metal. Having 50 mph winds on a red-hot barrel is not something you will see recommended in any owner’s manual, but it does take a gun from 250 degrees to 30 degrees inside of five minutes.

Even with the cleaning at every 1,000 rounds, the Hellcat picked up a lot of gunk and grime during the test.

We re-lubed every 500 rounds, and did a light cleaning every 1,000 rounds. For a CCW gun, I would think that’s a prudent and fair number. Not many of us would ever go that hard on our life-saving gun without a wipe down. The one recommendation from Springfield that we followed precisely was changing recoil springs every 2,500 rounds.

After-Action Report

How’d it do? Click the video at top to watch the whole thing for yourself. The bottom line? This gun can rock. We ended up at the end of the test with a fully functional gun that had eaten all 10K rounds and was ready to keep going. The Hellcat made it through the entire test with no parts breakages, and could be dropped into a holster right now and be carried for CCW.

Despite the 10,000 rounds run through the pistol, wear on its parts was very minimal considering how much ammo it was fed.

Over the course of the 10K rounds, there were only four failures to fire. For those of you doing the math out there, that’s just 0.04% of the total 10,000 rounds of FMJ training ammo that was used and well within any standard of range ammo shooting I would expect. On the four rounds that didn’t ignite on the first strike, I tried all of them for a second strike and they all fired.

And during the test, we had a wide range of shooters try out the pistol. These ranged from young to old, experienced to newbies — basically, a very broad cross-section of shooters handling and firing the gun.

Clay Martin (second from left) and his core team of testers that did the bulk of the 10,00 round test. Some additional range visitors ran the gun during the test as well.

Conclusion

Was I impressed? Hell yes. We took a tiny little gun designed for EDC and put it through a Hell-and-back test that I think some full-size duty guns might fail. We held the Hellcat to an unbelievable standard, and it beat it. Handily. My impressions of the Hellcat after this? I think it’s pretty safe to say you could trust your life to this gun, and we pushed this gun to a round count practically nobody is ever going to run it. It’s nice to know it can do it, though, right?

Flying With Hunting Gear

By
Dr LateBloomer
-

I just got back a day or two ago from a Gal Pal Pheasant Hunt Weekend (with article to come), and now I’m leaving in a few days for a Ladies Doe and Hog Hunt in Texas.  I’ll be flying with my gun and gear and let me tell you that this packing thing is causing some brain strain.

I’ve flown with a handgun a couple times, but never with a long gun, ammo, and associated hunting accoutrements before. Maybe this is old hat for some of you, but I’m getting a little stressed. I printed out the TSA and Southwest Air regs to make sure I wasn’t going to get any hassles about which bag the magazines and ammo etc needed to be in, how much of each I’m permitted, and what kind of locks I can have on the case.

I’m taking my Aero Precision M5 that I built this spring, in a Pelican case, and I’m also bringing my Black Hills Ammunition .308 ammo. I’ll also need magazines, at least minimal cleaning supplies, ear and eye protection, a knife (or two), my pack, water bottle, etc. But I’ve gotta figure out where to put everything!

Cleaning out my hunting pack in order to keep TSA happy for a carry-on was a job in itself. Making sure the knives and ammo are out of Every. Single. Crevice. takes some attention to detail. Then, there’s the stuff that I keep in there for when I’m alone on the property in case of emergency, that I won’t likely need on a fully-guided hunt on a private ranch in Texas.

You wouldn’t believe how many pockets there are where carry-on contraband can hide.

Compass? Okay that’s staying just for the principle of it. But the local maps can go, and so can the grocery bags for picking up litter (or picking berries). The 3 year old granola bar? That can go. Headlamp and flashlight are staying. Range finder? Nah, they’ll probably have all that. Binoculars? Yeah I’ll probably want those. Mini trauma kit? Definitely staying. Holy Cow, there are pockets in this bag that I didn’t even know existed!

How about the no trespassing signs, stapler and extra staples? Yeah no. Tarp, paracord, camo duct tape, two boxes of matches and magnesium fire starter? Not likely needed. Shemaugh and fluorescent trail markers? Ummm no.

Sheesh, no wonder that pack is so heavy. It’s not like I go into the back country or anything, so holy cow do I over-prepare for the unexpected. That pack is like my outdoor purse or something.

Next I had to decide just how much wool under layer, camo, hats and other outdoor wear I’m going to need. The beauty of the lightweight wool base layers is that they can be rinsed in the sink and hung to dry overnight (or not, since wool doesn’t stink like poly). I even found a couple merino wool sports bras online. (no hardwear to dig into the shooting shoulder, and no straps always falling down under multiple layers) Men just cannot appreciate how much a good bra makes a difference in the outdoors. (Is that TMI?)

The final challenge will be to make everything fit into a single suitcase and daypack, since the gun case will already be one checked bag. Fortunately, Southwest allows for two checked bags. 

The gun case was another story, as I originally cut the foam for a different gun from a few years ago. But replacement foam costs an arm and a leg, so with some creative steak-knifery I made it all work. I also marked the case with the name of my quartet in a lame attempt to make it look like a musical instrument instead of a gun. We’ll see if that fools anybody.

Why yes, it IS an instrument I play with!

I scheduled a non-stop flight so there is less chance of the airline screwing up where they send the gun. That honestly has been my biggest source of stress leading up to this trip. Well, that and how much it’s gonna cost me to process and ship meat from Texas if I have success on this hunt. But – first things first – I have to finish packing and actually get there! 

Wish me luck! After Action Report to Follow!

1...277278279...404Page 278 of 404
© All rights reserved © 2023 GAT Daily. Designed by GAT Marketing