Why You Should Train With Both Hands

You never know when you might only have the wrong hand available.

I've done some work with off-hand pistol, just enough to feel it out and test out one-handed gun manipulation, but it's something I need to do more of.  It definitely takes practice, especially the "draw from concealment" part.  Speaking of which, if you aren't already practicing a basic drawstroke plus your draw from concealment, you really should be!

Since Chris and I both recently switched our shooting hands for long guns, we're both very ambidextrous when it comes to long guns.  It's been particularly handy, though I think we blew the RSO's mind at the range last weekend.  We were sighting in a handful of rifles and kept our new dominants with the lever and semi-autos but switched back to our previous dominants to run our bolt guns.

The Importance of Civilians to the LEO/MIlitary Training Market

Sebastian pointed out recently that by killing the shooting sports in NYC, anti-gun folks have also eliminated training opportunities for their LEOs.  I think this is quite true.

Heather and I have taken quite a few classes.  We've crunched the numbers on said classes.  There is no way that a legit, qualified, skilled master defensive pistol trainer can run his or her business on solely military or LEO business unless they are a salaried member of the department.

Don't believe me?  Just try to look at the numbers.

CASE ONE:  Established regional master trainer

Alaska Tactical runs several courses for $550.  That includes 24 hours of training over three days.  Courses are going to be run by one master trainer and around 4 line coaches for around a dozen students.  That means a gross of around $6.5K for the course.  Of course, the tax man is going to take a bite, as will insurance, administrative overhead, and other similar expenses.  That's going to reduce the gross by at least 20%.  Birchwood charges $15/day/person for visitor range fees; I don't know what they charge groups for the bay but it ain't free.  That's another $550 in range fees or so, most likely.  We're now looking at a net of closer to $4650.  If we assume the instructors do one hour of set up and one hour of tear down at the end of each day then we're looking at a net of $155/hour for the entire instructor crew.

Heather is an independent contractor so we are aware of what professionals get paid on an hourly basis.  A skilled artisan (like, say, a professional musician) is going to command a hundred bucks per hour or more.  Heck, a run of the mill tradesman like an auto mechanic is going to average around that too.  A professional like a doc, lawyer, etc is going to command $150+.  It is very reasonable to think that a master firearms instructor can reasonably command around $100/hour as well.  Realize that the master instructor plows a good portion of that income back into acquiring additional training experiences to grow and sharpen their own skills.  That leaves something around minimum wage to compensate the line coaches with.

AK Tactical runs courses regularly and teaches LEOs, military (individuals and units), and the general populace in an average American city (Anchorage).  Without the civilian traffic there is no way they could run the training they do without significantly increasing prices.  Nobody is getting rich off of this price model and it just wouldn't be sustainable without the civilian volume.


CASE TWO:  Established national volume trainer


Front Sight's math works out a little differently.  Based on a 2011 analysis, Front Sight manages to net around $40 per student per class after personnel costs.  That is clearly not a huge cash cow nor is it sustainable unless it is a volume business.  Again, without large numbers of regular citizens filling the lines, Front Sight could not offer training to individual LEOs and military at the low price point they do now.

Gunsite and Thunder Ranch appear closer to Case 1.  They have fewer students but charge substantially more.

CASE THREE:  Barebones new shingle-hanger with NRA Certs

Look at the numbers for your average guy who wants to hang out a shingle as a basic NRA instructor.

First they have to buy a decent gun with gear and a bunch of practice ammo to develop skills ($2K).  They need to take NRA basic pistol ($100).  They need to take the NRA Basic Instructor Course (probably ~$300+). They need NRA insurance ($300/year).  Then say that the individual attends a few classes like AK Tactical's to build their own skills ($2K).  They then attend the NRA Law Enforcement Instructor Development school ($525 tuition + per diem).

At this point our nascent instructor has well over $5K sunk into the endeavor.  Likely far more!  We have not even considered administrative overhead, which tends to be very high for small businesses.  There is no way you can make that back in a reasonable time much less turn a profit or support your family running a three-day initial training course and biannual certification for the average small town local police force.  As an example, Seward, AK has something like a dozen cops.  Even if they are required to shoot twice per year, and you get one newbie who needs a 3-day initial training course every year too, our trainer needs to charge around $100/day/officer to break even over after about three years.  That is not making a single penny of profit, either.  That's just the breakeven point.

Just doing the back of the envelope WAG lets you know that in order to have a healthy supply of professional, well qualified firearms instructors you need a larger pool of citizens to be students.  The LEO and military market is just too small to support it unless heavily subsidized by governments at all levels.  Proper training is not really a priority for most bureaucracies or government officials so that is not a great thing to count on.

Only Ones and the Lavaratory

Looks like the secret service left a gun in the lavatory.  A reporter found it.  That's probably a good place for the reporter to stumble across such a terrifying find, because they're already in the right spot to deal with some PSH.

Maybe they should have read Sebastian's post from last week.

RAND on NYPD Firearms Training

Sebastian blogged with a link to an unconfirmed online forum poster claiming that NYPD training sucked.

Well, RAND put together a study in 2008 that appears to confirm some of the issues.

Here's some info I put together:

POLICE ACADEMY

In police academy, recruits get 4.5 hours on "weapons."  It is unclear if that is actual training with their duty issued weapons or if that is about weapons charges.  They get 9 hours on "patrol procedures."  There are also 10.5 hours on "street encounters" and 9 hours on "use of force." They must pass a firearms and tactics course:

 Firearms and tactics: Passing means successfully completing all components of basic firearm course and tactical components. It includes handgun qualification with a minimum of 78 percent hits on a number of stationary targets from fixed firing positions

The academy also includes some use of a "shoot don't shoot" simulator.  I've used these before and they can be good training aids.  However, with large "companies" of 30 students in a policy academy class of 2000-4000 students, I suspect that time and access to the sims is limited:

...the Meggitt FATS simulator can still accommodate only a few students at a time, thus limiting how useful it can be in providing recruits with a robust tool to learn and practice these complex policing skills that may have direct consequences for the use of force.
 Typically, two students use the Meggitt FATS simulator at a time, with the remaining recruits observing. Each training event takes several minutes to set up, five minutes or so to run, and five minutes to critique. With 16 recruits in a class, it takes 1.5 hours for every member of the class to get a single opportunity to experience training on the simulator. At that rate, it is not possible to expose students to the widely varied scenarios that Meggitt has developed that now include judgment scenarios.

Range time is also limited:  "For example, twice a year, the range at Rodman’s Neck devotes 10 weeks 

to training recruits."  THere are 4000 recruits per year and 230 firing points are available at Rodman's Neck.  Even if we assume that 75% of the points are dedicated to recruit training, that means that there are only two range days per recruit.  I find that optimistic, as I assumed that during the 10 week period there were no missed training days and that range availability remains at 75% for basic recruits.

REFRESHER TRAINING

Straight from RAND:

Refresher Firearm Training and Requalification
The semiannual firearm requalification consists of three parts:
• Lecture: A two-part lecture to remind officers of current safety and tactical issues.  The first lecture consists of 38 overhead slides that review drawing the firearm, fundamentals of shooting, accidental discharges, firearm maintenance, and the basics of using OC spray. The second lecture covers epartmentwide firearm discharge reports, use of force, reflexive shooting, patrol tactics, dogs, and firearm
safety.
• Practice: An opportunity to fire 45 rounds of ammunition at stationary targets at 7-, 15-, and 25-yard distances. Practice is unscored on a tactical pistol course. 

 Requalification: This included firing 50 rounds at stationary targets at 7-, 15-, and 25-yard distances. A minimum of 39 hits is required to qualify.   

The current firearm-requalification program is less about making sure officers can  effectively use their pistols in real-life situations than it is about meeting legal requirements and professional standards. While the requalification course meets the standards required by the state of New York and is consistent with national norms, shooting at paper targets on a known-distance range is basically target practice. It does not  demonstrate that the officer has mastered his or her firearm and is ready for a shooting confrontation on the streets. In fact, the NYPD has several advanced ranges that better prepare officers for confrontations involving firearms, but logistical considerations prevent them from being used as part of the semiannual requalification program for the vast majority of officers, including patrol officers assigned to street duty. The NYPD is not alone in this. Morrison and Vila (1998, p. 510) made the point that [despite a nearly] universal acceptance [that] both the process and product of handgun qualifications . . . strongly [imply] that officers exceeding prescribed minimum performance levels are proficient . . . a consensus among police firearms trainers [is that such training does not] substantially enhance officer or community safety. . . . There are serious reasons to question the validity of police recruit and in-service handgun training activities.They argued that “[o]fficers are not truly qualified merely by firing a rote ‘qualification’ course since much more than this is required to produce the type and degree of preparation needed for armed encounters” (Morrison and Vila, 1998, p. 529). 

They concluded as follows:
It is difficult to reconcile demonstrated police handgun accuracy with the commonly held notion that the police are competent with their handguns by way of their participation in mandated recruit and in-service training. Since qualification implies competency, it is important to reconsider what, and how the police are taught, particularly since the handgun remains a primary defensive tool and will continue receiving the bulk of departmental firearms budgets, training time and effort. . . . Much more than [the rote qualification course] is required to produce the type and degree of preparation needed for armed encounters. (Morrison and
Vila, 1998, p. 529)
The firearm trainers are aware that static targets are not sufficient to meet the department’s needs and have been planning a new tactical pistol course. Unlike the static qualification course, it includes firing at moving targets, firing from cover and crouched positions, moving to different firing positions and distances and firing from each, firing in pairs, and firing after exertion. We observed one group of officers going through this course that is being implemented at the firing range. This is surely an improvement over shooting at static targets, but it is not scored, and, because of the scale of operations with so many officers having to requalify twice a year, we are not confident that it will be a much more meaningful training experience than officers currently receive with static targets. For example, without scoring the tactical pistol course, how can the Firearms and Tactics Section evaluate its effectiveness? Given the number of officers who must requalify each year, the objective seems to be to get the officers through as quickly as possible rather than to have them master the art of realistic shooting. For example, during one of our visits to the range, one instructor pointed out that the bullet-hole grouping of one officer indicated that she was improperly anticipating her shots. However, because the officer had achieved the requisite score, no remedial instruction was offered.

Ouch.

RAND also looked at equipment.  Of course, they did not consider the trigger pull issues.  THey did suggest spending money on lights/lasers in some cases.  They also highlighted issues with currently fielded holsters.

I got the impression that the RAND folks do not understand defensive pistolcraft.  Of course, that is not their job.  Their job is to crunch numbers and data.  Still, even they were able to identify significant issues with NYPD.

CONCLUSIONS

As for the competency of civilians vs. police...  It looks like best case a NYPD police recruit gets around two to four days at the range plus maybe up to 33 hours of classroom academics that could relate in some manner to weapons.  Every six months they get one day at the range and 95 rounds of ammo for practice on a scripted known-distance target practice style range.

Alaska Tactical's Defensive Handgun I course is 24 hours of instruction over three range days.  It also has pre-requisites, so applicants probably have some previous experience bringing them up to match or exceed the 33 hours at NYPD.  Finally, the class size is small with a good coach to student ratio.  Front Sight's basic defensive pistol course is 4 days with 32 hours of instruction.  That is clearly at least on par with if not exceeding the NYPD police academy requirements.  

Furthermore, any civilian who attends IDPA or USPSA matches once every six months or more is getting more refresher training than NYPD.  Heck, the civilian who goes to the range once every few months and puts a box or two of ammo through their pistol, along with maybe a little dry fire at home, is doing WAY more than NYPD.

The LEOs probably get more retention and hand to hand training.  They also likely get more use of force discussion.  However, the use of force decisions made by LEOs are somewhat more complicated in that LEOs have more force options (hands, batons, tasers, sprays, firearms) and are more prone to use them (due to expectations, immunity from prosecution or lawsuits, etc).

I feel pretty confident in saying that Heather and I have as much or more defensive pistol training as the average NYC beat cop.  Probably way more, honestly.  Such training is not particularly hard to acquire.  Many civilians have it.  That does not make me a cop, obviously -- I am much less likely to intervene in a public incident, and my firearm is for protecting me and my family, not the general public.  From a skills point of view though it is not hard to acquire skills that exceed those possessed by most NYPD LEOs.

Fatal Bear Mauling

In Denali National Park.

Denali does an excellent job of managing bear safety.  All would-be backpackers must undergo a learning session about bear contact, including a decent video.  Bear spray is highly recommended and use of bear-proof food containers is mandatory.  In the history of the park, this is the first bear attack fatality, and even non-fatal attacks are rather rare.  Really impressive given the concentration of grizzlies (at times, dozens over a few square miles) and the fact that this population of bears is not hunted.

That said, bears are still wild animals and massive carnivores.  If you roll the dice long enough, something is going to happen.  If you load the dice by travelling alone, unarmed, and then harass a large male bear for eight minutes at a distance of about 50 yards, that something is going to happen sooner rather than later.

Now, I have at times been well within the recommended 1/2 mile of a grizz, both in the park and elsewhere.  That is a cue to either put yourself in a vehicle if available, or back off (once, I even left a camping trip a day early because I was not comfortable with the behavior of a nearby bear).  Not to get closer to take better pictures.  I understand the lure of a camera and Alaska wildlife.  It's a powerful lure.  But it's not worth your life or the animal's life.  Get a good zoom lens!

A lot of people seem to be very upset that they ended up killing the bear.  These people are crazy.  Yeah, the guy made some stupid choices, but still.  I don't necessarily advocate killing a bear for a defensive attack on a person, but a predatory attack?  You just cannot have bears running around that think it's a good idea to kill and eat humans.  End of story.

"This is the Law of the Yukon, that only the Strong shall thrive;

That surely the Weak shall perish, and only the Fit survive.
Dissolute, damned and despairful, crippled and palsied and slain,
This is the Will of the Yukon, -- Lo, how she makes it plain!"

Zeroing

Yesterday was a day of zeroing at the rifle range.  Just so I don't forget what loads we used...  All holds are "center of mass" unless otherwise noted.

• AR -- Irons/small aperture:  Zero @ 25 yards w/ M193 ball (6 oclock hold)
• AR -- AIMPOINT:  Zero @ 25 yards w/ M193 ball
• Browning Xbolt 308 -- Optic:  +2.5" high @ 100 yards w/ Remington Recoil Managed 125 gr (MPBR of ~250 yards)
• Marlin 1895 45-70 -- Optic:  +2.5 to 3" high @ 100 yards w/ Hornady 325 gr...  Its hard to tell exactly where the zero is when the holes are half an inch across!
• Winchester 1894 -- Irons:  +2 to 3" high @ 100 yards w/ Hornady 160 gr (6 oclock hold)
• Savage 30-06 -- Optic:  +3" high @ 100 yards w/ unknown ammo...  Need to rezero or verify zero.  Heather threw out the box and didn't note what kind it was!

Deer & hogs beware!

The recoil managed stuff is really a pleasure to shoot.  For CXP2 light frame game I don't need full powered loads.  The 308 managed recoil is still pushing energy a bit better than the well-proven 30-30.  I feel like I could sit there and shoot the managed recoil loads all day, even out of my lightweight Xbolt.  The 308 feels a bit different out of a 6.5 lb bolt gun than it does out of a 10 lb FAL or M1A.

Doing Something

Alright, we are done complaining about our local range.  Time to take action.

After watching today's line boss spend his morning shooting, despite the range being packed with people waiting for a bench, with people doubled and tripled up on one bench, instead of policing the line, on the way out I stopped in the office and put in my application to be a volunteer.  This is a good time, as the whole place is under new management as of this week.  They were excited to have me sign up, as I've never seen a woman out on the line as RSO.  I also have much more training than most of them do.  In fact, while watching me fill out the "describe your training and qualifications" section of the application, the guy literally cried uncle and told me to just stop writing, that was fine.  I now have to spend 4 hours at the pistol range and 4 at the rifle range under the supervision of "someone who will tell you all the stuff you already know" (direct quote) and then I can work on my own.

It's volunteer, no monetary compensation, but I and my family will now shoot for free, I get a good parking spot, I can open carry (just wait 'till you see the new holster Dennis is making me!), and - this is the best part - on Saturdays after the range is closed to the public, the volunteers get to go out and do anything they want, including draw from the holster, rapid fire, and tactical courses.  These are the big things we really want to work on, and having this available nearer than an hour and a half away is huge!

Also nice - I mentioned the possibility of running an NRA class on Sunday mornings at the range and instead of all the verbal maybethis-maybethat I got from the last guy, they just printed me up a form to fill out whenever I wanted to run a class.  I'm feeling pretty good about this now.

VPC Slams NYPD

From a VPC press release regarding the Empire State Building murder earlier today:

Today's shooter reportedly used a 45 caliber handgun to end the life of a former co-worker, offering yet another example of how the ready availability of semiautomatic handguns that can be equipped with high-capacity ammunition magazines destroy lives and make everyone less safe.

Based on the video and forensic evidence reported thus far, it appears that the criminal using a weapon with a seven round magazine had put five rounds into his former boss, had one in the chamber, and had one ejected by the LEOs after he was down, it seems that the NYPD using high capacity magazines in their G17s and SIGP226s managed to mow down nine civilians and one bad guy (at the distance of approximately 3 meters).  Given that the VPC has access to Google and thus to the same news info I do, I assume that the VPC is dumping on the NYPD.  VPC has, after all, told me that those nasty semiauto assault weapon hicap magazines are only good for hurting and killing other people which is what the NYPD appears to have done.

I personally think that it is criminal that New York police officers -- and by extension the population they protect and serve -- are forced to deal with TWELVE pound triggers, marginal institutional training, and few to no off-duty training opportunities.  It is impossible for one to expect the average LEO to develop adequate proficiency with a sidearm under such conditions.  VPC apparently thinks the citizens of NYC would be safer if the police were limited to neutered 10 round magazines or maybe forced to use revolvers as semiautos "destroy lives and make everyone less safe;" I think the citizens of NYC would be safer with a properly trained police force allowed to use stock G17s.  Oh, and some sort of Constitutional Carry wouldn't hurt either, for those times when the elite NYPD Anti Terrorism Squad isn't available to respond in <60 a="a" bullets="bullets" by="by" crowd="crowd" into="into" landmark="landmark" major="major" murder="murder" near="near" occurs.="occurs." p="p" seconds="seconds" spraying="spraying" when="when">
If you needed more evidence of how far outside the mainstream VPC is, here you go.  They're basically calling for the NYPD to go back to the good old days of the 1970s and wheel guns.  While I think there's a certain legitimacy to the idea of not letting the police have weapons that the citizenry are not allowed to access, I think VPC is pretty far out in their own delusional universe here.

Safety Rule #6-Stop Touching It

Obviously everyone is familiar with the four rules of gun safety.  I also like Uncle's addition of "Never catch a dropped gun."

After reading about a negligent discharge at a gun show, where a seller was using their carry gun to show off their mad gunsmithing and duracoating skills and then pulled the trigger, sending a bullet through their own hand, I'd like to propose another rule:

Do not remove a sidearm from its holster unless (A) someone needs shooting or (B) there is a mandatory requirement to administratively handle the firearm (i.e. entering a victim disarmament zone, its the end of the day at home and you're securing your weapon, etc).

Mandatory requirement does not include, "Hey man, you're strapped and that's so cool, can I check out your gat?"  The chance of a negligent discharge is approximately zero so long as the sidearm remains properly holstered.  Stop touching it.

Ruger 77/357

Caleb over at Gun Nuts Media just wrote about the Ruger 77/357.  He is pretty excited about it as an all-around rifle.  If you've been reading here for awhile, you can tell that I'm a fairly big pistol caliber carbine fan.

However, I've got to say that I have not been using mine often, and let me explain why.

Hunting -- For small game, a shotgun is more convenient and a .22 destroys less meat.  The .357 works on game but I prefer something with more authority for most big game hunting.  The big advantage of the .357 is where you are hunting a mix of larger-small game (like porcupine sized, or maybe big arctic hares) and smaller-large game (maybe deer in the SE, or a smaller hog).  It is serviceable on both.  I like the lighter weight of the .357 carbines for spot/stalk or still hunting but with the Kifaru gunbearer I am fine with a somewhat heavier rifle.

Protection -- A bolt gun would be LOW on my list for protection.  Bolts are probably slower in rate of fire than levers and absolutely slower than a semiauto.  THe bolt has an advantage over the lever in that it can be used while prone, but most defensive shooting in a civilian context is not going to be done prone.  Moreoever, prone shooting is really for ranges in excess of 200 meters, and at those ranges you're going to exceed the .357's point-blank range just based on trajectory.

Expense -- Pistol ammo is about the same price as bulk .223 these days.  Both seem to run around 3 rounds per $1.  So there's no cost savings there.  Both are way more expensive than .22 LR.

The Ruger 77/357 is interesting.  However, I don't see how it beats out a good lever gun, even if you buy into the pistol caliber carbine.  THe biggest advantage is a detachable mag which is nice for hunting in tree stands and such.

New Batman movie and emergency reloads

The missus and I went to see the new Batman movie tonight.  Yes, we chose a theater which permits CCW and of course we carried (like we do when we go anywhere carry is legally permitted).  There's a nicer theater but they're posted so why give them my money?

The movie was ok but towards the end both of us saw an act of egregious gun handling and we spontaneously giggled in the middle of what was supposed to be a dramatic climactic fight.  The police are throwing themselves at the Forces of Evil in a stupid human wave attack against bad guys with longarms and armored vehicles with crew served weapons (seriously, guys -- the tactic should be closer to Blackhawk Down, not Braveheart).  Some high mucky-muck police officer actor in his service dress uniform has his slide lock to the rear on his sidearm as he's in the middle of the fight with a bunch of thugs with AK-47s.  The actor then tries to rack the slide.

Cue chuckles from DW and I.

Someone should have taught that guy about emergency reloads.  Racking the slide ain't going to fix it if its locked to the rear.

Riding Shotgun and Abandoning the Streets

In Detroit:

Has it come to this? Yes it has, according to Joan McKenna, whose son Tim McKenna, 19, was shot while delivering pizza in Detroit. 

In the wake of the shooting, a Jets Pizza franchise in Dearborn ruled it will no longer deliver to Detroit after dark. Before the shooting, they sent two drivers to every nighttime Detroit delivery, one of whom was armed, Joan McKenna said. 

“They usually send somebody with a guy … who carries a gun,” she said. “Usually they have two go into Detroit after dark, if they have a delivery … One guy has a legal, he can carry a gun.  That night, Timmy was the only one left, they had this one run to do, he said ‘yeah, I’ll do it.’ He’s a kid, he doesn’t think anything’s going to happen to him.”

First off, riding shotgun (literally) for a pizza delivery business seems like something I'd want to make more than minimum wage plus tips for.

Second, what do pizza drivers in places like Chicago, New York, Newark, and other jurisdictions where it isn't legal to carry a gun do?  I wonder how many other city streets are being quietly abandoned by law abiding folks, first at night, then during the day?  Kind of fits in with a post from Tam the other day.

Moped and Commuting

Today I filled up my tank and really winced at the expense.  Gas has been fairly expensive.  I've seen some other folks commuting to work on mopeds and motorcycles and have been thinking about the option.  It'd be very nice to save on the gas money and basically use the savings to pay for a fun "road toy" as well.  Something like the Ruckus looks like it capable of light off-roading on decent trails, which we have some of.

I know a moped is not that sexy but the nice thing about them is that if they are under 50CC many states do not require registration (which is expensive).  Alaska considers the smaller bikes to be "motor driven cycles" and the tag fee is $15 with a registration of $60 every other year which is pretty cheap.

My commute right now can pretty much be done all on smaller roads with speed limits of 30 MPH or so.  There'd be one short stretch on a two-lane divided highway but it is only about 100 yards after a protected turn so I think it'd be ok.  That seems do-able with a 50cc class bike.

The issue is that the math doesn't really work out great.

• A new quality Honda moped runs around $2-2.5K.
• Currently with gas at around $3.70 I pay around $0.176 per mile to commute in my larger car.  I also figure my car will last around 150,000 miles and will cost around $30K to replace for a depreciation of around $0.20/mile.
• A moped would get around 100 MPG for a cost of 0.037 per mile.  It looks like with proper maintenance they will last 20K miles or more.  That is a rough depreciation of around $0.1/mile.
• That is a total savings of $0.239/mile.
• My commute is about 12 miles round trip and I tack on another 4 miles or so for lunch about twice a week.  Sometimes I have to make two trips in to work as well each day (double shifts with a break in the middle).  That'd be almost 100 miles per week.  Then again, I would not want to ride every day if the weather is bad, if I needed to haul stuff in a trunk, etc.  All told I think I'd probable be likely to put around 50 miles per week on the moped.

I'd have to put 10.5K miles on the moped to make it pay for itself at just over a dime per mile ($2500 / $0.239 per mile).  At 50 miles per week that'd be 210 weeks or 4 years of commuting.

I am hesitant to get a cheap cruddy moped with maintenance issues although a used quality one wouldn't be a bad deal.  I suspect the $600 scooters from China cost that little for a reason and won't hold up to regular commuting miles.  As someone who is not particularly mechanically minded I appreciate a good warranty and no headaches.  Then again, the breakeven point on a $600 scooter is around a year, which is much faster.

Then again, the Honda warranty is good for five years.  So I'd be basically guaranteed to break even assuming I enjoy riding on a regular basis.  Even if it totally breaks down I'd be able to get it fixed with basically no out of pocket expense.  The Chinese bikes have ZERO warranty.

Not anything I'm going to pull the trigger on soon but could be fun in a few months.  We'll see.

We're Winning

...Or maybe it's just the South?

Today was the annual fall "Get All Employees Together For Motivational Speeches" day.  There was also a silent auction fundraiser.  Included in the silent auction fundraiser were four certificates for CWP classes and more than four self defense class certificates.  By about half way through the self defense classes all had one to three bids and the CWP classes had even more.  Most of the CWP class bids ended up pushing (or even exceeding) the listed value.  I took home one of the self defense certificates, figuring I sure need to work on my hand to hand!

Words Mean Things: "Buyback"

Quote of the day:

How many shootings? How many deaths? NONE! It is time we speak as a single voice to ban guns -- all guns -- from our country. How? A buy back. If there are 350,000,000 guns in this country, and we buy each one back for $1,000, that would cost $350 billion. Wow, that's a lot of money! Or is it? To eliminate guns in our society and reap all the rewards from that, we'd spend about half of the Pentagon's budget for one year. Or one half of the Medicaid budget. And health care costs would drop as there are fewer and fewer gun shot victims. Plus, all that money plugged directly into people hands would do more to stimulate the economy than all the fancy schemes put forth by Wall Street economists.

- "Sam" (warning:  link goes to anti-gun blog territory)

First off, I think that Sam is confused about the meaning of a few words.  I suspect he is describing a confiscation scheme where armed government officials seize personal property and offer you either (A) a $1000 gift card or (B) a few ounces of 5.56 in you, your dog, and your family members.  This is not a voluntary exchange of goods and services.  It is simply coercion.

Next, I think Sam has grossly miscalculated the cost of this program.  The pre-requisite to confiscation is weapons registration -- you have to know where the guns are before you can seize them, right?  Joe Huffman crunched the numbers and estimated that it would take about $3.5 billion dollars per year to run a registration program.  I suspect that you'd need mandatory registration for at least a decade to get any sort of reasonable compliance rate; the Canadians had their registry for almost twenty years and only had a compliance rate of around 30%.

Even if you postulate highly effective registration, it is going to cost more than $1K/gun to confiscate and destroy them.  For those who "come along quietly" and show up to a police station to turn in the gun, you need the $1K for their check, you need to pay the police who are now wasting their time processing stacks of guns (probably accountable by serial number), you need warehouses and trucks to run a reverse distribution network, and you need to destroy them -- likely retaining a chain of custody throughout to ensure weapons are not simply diverted by crooked cops to the black market.  That process is not free.  For those who require more coercive measures, even gentle ones like mailed notices, knocks on the door from Officer McFriendly, etc that will increase the costs.  And finally, for the hard cases, there will be LOTS of expenses for SWAT teams, mobilizing the national guard, and so on.

Of course all this is done with Other People's Money (the best kind of money) so Sam doesn't care how much it really costs to fulfill his pipe dream fantasy, which will likely have none of the results he intends.

I propose a simpler solution.  Sam can start his own buyback program, right now, today.  He -- or any other anti-gun activist -- can send me a money order for $1000.  I will then mail one of my firearms to an FFL of his choice.  Heck, I'll even chip in $50 for the FFL fee and cover S&H because I'm a nice guy like that.

Anyone interested?

Intellectual Authority of the Anti-Gun Press

Fareed Zakaria plagarizes anti-gun column, is suspended.

I actually heard about this first on NPR.  I'm surprised they reported it.

Well That's Cool

I apparently have a reputation around our local range.  In a good way.  Today's RSO (whom I've never actually met) had me covering for him when he needed a bathroom break or what have you.  He also really wants me to run a class at the range.  I've been holding off since we're getting admitted to a private club about an hour away who will let me use their ranges and classrooms for free, but apparently there's a fair bit of local interest as well.  Unfortunately, the gentleman in charge of the range is getting a new job which means I need to start back at ground zero once someone new is in place as far as regulations and whatnot.  Apparently no one has ever asked to run classes at the range before!

There are two big problems with the local range as far as classes go.  One, there's no classroom.  Not even some picnic tables to sit at.  The other is the hours.  I can only use the range from 8am-12pm on Sundays.  That's a hard time to get people out, especially in this neck of the woods.  We'll see how it goes.

New Shooters

We took two new shooters to the range today.  One had some basic M9 (mis)training from the military.  His wife had fired a gun once before.  Both are thinking about getting a handgun for home defense.

I took the husband and we did some fundamentals to start.  His groups were excellent.  He was comfortable in a sort of modified weaver stance; he'd done some martial arts.  While it wasn't perfect he was getting good results and he was comfortable and stable so I didn't mess with it.   Satisfied that the fundamentals were good I went through reloads, malfunctions, and after-actions, all on the Beretta platform.  Gun safety was a big issue throughout, had to reinforce muzzle discipline, finger on trigger, etc.

Meanwhile Heather worked with the wife.  This new shooter had a big confidence builder of a day, learned a lot of good safety practices, and was shooting nice groups by the end of the morning.

They were able to shoot a GP-100 w/ .357 mag and .38 special, the S&W M&P, the Beretta 96, and a nice 1911 platform.  That's basically a round robin of quality defensive combat handguns:  the 4" service revolver, the wonder hicap polymer, the 90's style DA/SA, and the classic single stack.  Not a bad tour of platforms if you're thinking about buying.

When they started out they were 80% sure they wanted a revolver because it was "simpler" and because the .357 magnum is such a powerful round it will kill a grizzly bear with a single shot (at least according to the marketing stunts of Major Wesson from the 1930s...).  After trying all of them I think they are leaning way against the revolver.  The husband is a leftie and they realized gun manipulation with the revolver is tricky for lefties.  He also thought the revolver was much more durable; I told him to google "Glock Torture Test" when he got home and prepare to be surprised.

The wife also commented, "Well, the revolver only holds 6 shots, right?"  Heather replied in the affirmative.  The wife then continued, "And the M&P holds 15 rounds in a mag, and you can have more mags ready to go, right?"  Heather again replied in the affirmative.  After a thoughtful pause, the wife pointed out that the revolver seemed kind of stupid.  Heather concurred.

Don't get me wrong, I like revolvers for (A) hunting and (B) snub nosed hold out guns (I think a .38 sp revolver is a lot more reliable than a tiny .380 semiauto) but I think you can do much better in 2012 for a combat service handgun.  My default suggestion is a full-size S&W M&P or Glock in 9mm (Heather still likes .40...) but I don't think you can go wrong with any of the platforms they tried today.

Again, nothing beats taking folks to the range.  They're even somewhat politically interested in the issue now; I pointed out that GCA prevents them from buying hand guns across state lines when they talked about picking up a handgun when they visited parents and they thought that was retarded.  I concurred.

AimPoint Pro

A care package from one of my favorite E-Tailers just showed up.  It had an Aim Point Pro in it which I got for a very attractive price.

It mounted on the rifle in seconds and was co-witnessed with my BUIS right out of the box.  I'm looking forward to taking it to the range.

Stop Making Us Look Bad

Out in Columbus area, a few folks are facing prosecution for falsifying training documents for carry permits.

What really jumps out at me here is that those who were duped by these folks have only 14 days to respond before potentially facing felony charges.  14 days is not a long time.

Obviously, none of this would be a problem if the state didn't require permission slips to exercise constitutional rights.

Cornered Cat's Instructor Tip for today is as follows: Instructor tip: When you teach defensive firearms classes, you are asking your students to literally bet their lives on the quality of your information and your skill in delivering that information to them. Instructors who take that responsibility seriously do everything in their power to learn more, every chance they get -- they read, they study, they listen, and they take other instructors' classes.



Some people just give us a bad name.

Gas Rotation

I just rotated our gas supplies over the last few weeks.  As the car runs down due to normal commuting, I fill it with 5-10 gallons of storage gas, then top off the storage cans.  It'd been about 8 months.  I figured in the hot climate, even sta-bil treated 10% ethanol might have some stability issues so it made sense to rotate the stock.  It probably would have been ok for a few more months, but oh well.

No issues, no apparent impact to the MPG.

It is nice having enough gas around to basically top off all the cars twice.  Both of our parents were hit by severe weather over the last 12 months and their gas stations were either entirely out of gas or down to the last few dregs of premium.  Meanwhile, we have enough to top off the cars (even if they are almost empty) AND refill the tanks.  I figure that gives us enough range to get out of any sort of disaster area.

Too bad my gas cans all suck.  I should get some of the nice NATO ones but they are expensive.

Quote of the Day: International Whining

From HuffPo discussing gun buy backs:

A soft version has already been tried in several cities. Boston offered residents $200 gift cards to Target in exchange for a gun. As Steven D. Levitt pointed out in the "Journal of Economic Perspectives" in 2004, it's failed for a variety of reasons. The most obvious is that the buy-back program wasn't compulsory. The vast majority of people didn't exchange their guns for gift cards, and when they did, they sent in old models not often used in crimes. Because of lax gun laws, moreover, it was relatively easy for people to purchase replacements.

Ok, so they're saying gun buy backs don't work unless they involve confiscation.  I seem to recall that the government tried weapons confiscation in Massachusetts at one point and it didn't go very smoothly.

They're also claiming that Boston -- yes, that Boston, the one in Massachusetts -- has lax gun laws.

Are you kidding me?  This is the same Massachusetts that scores in the "strongest" category, a bright green, by the Brady Campaign Against Gun Ownership.

Oh yeah, and the HuffPo writers squee-ing over Australia's confiscation scheme should probably head over to Sean's blog and search "Australia" or "Rebecca Peters."

Brady Wish List

I recently strayed into Joan Peterson's blog again and found her venting in frustration about the political impotence of the gun control movement.  She writes about her wish list for gun control she'd enact if she were king.  I assume that this represents at some level the views of Brady Campaign leadership, as she is on their Board.  Here's the summary so you don't have to hurt your brain visiting her site:

• Allow the US military to enforce strong gun control schemes on service members and their families, including registration or prohibition of privately owned weapons possessed by dependent family members (not the active duty member) which are kept off base.
• Ban private sales of firearms.  Require all sales to go through an FFL.
• Resurrect the assault weapons ban.
• Allow the attorney general to put people on a classified (i.e. secret and unobtainable) watchlist with no or limited right of appeal and no effective judicial oversight which then bans them from purchasing weapons.
• Push UN Small Arms Trade treaty to prevent civilians all over the world from having weapons.
• Ban standard capacity magazines.
• Ban "deadly ammunition."  I'm not sure what this is.  She may be ranting about hollow points, or standard lead ammo, or something else.
• Eliminate "shall issue" concealed carry laws.
• Eliminate "stand your ground" laws, essentially changing centuries of common law tradition.
• Prevent domestic abusers from getting guns.  It is unclear how she intends to do this.  It likely involves some sort of violation of rights against unreasonable searches and seizures, and I doubt it involves due process (i.e. a silly "conviction" is probably far too high of a bar -- something like "allegation" is likely sufficient for her to justify a SWAT team kicking in your door and seizing your property).
• Eliminate national parks carry.
• Eliminate the NRA, or at least, eliminate its ability to petition the government or of its members to freely associate.

A few things are striking.

First is her obvious willingness to piss all over a wide variety of rights.  Due process, first amendment freedoms to petition the government/freely associate/speak publicly, fourth amendment rights about searches and seizures, fifth amendment rights about due process -- all of them are on the altar of Right to Safety for Joan.  This is not a mainstream position in America (yet).  While many Americans do suffer all of these indignities (TSA invasion of privacy, TSA interrogations, secret no-fly-list, etc) to fly on an airplane, and while the drug war has gotten out of control, I suspect that most typical middle class Americans would draw the line if such measures were imposed in their homes.

Next is the lack of originality.  None of these ideas are new.  AWB?  Yawn, so 1990s.  This is not creative, original thought about how to deny people's civil rights like MAIG engages in.  The most substantive "change" in a position is that instead of whining about the "gun show loophole" the Brady Bunch now actually refer to it as the "private sale loophole" which I actually think is more honest.

Finally, she's on the defensive.  Most of what she is bleating about is for the REPEAL of progress gun rights advocates have made.  She wants to get rid of shall-issue, parks carry, etc.  She wants the AWB back.

All of this supports the idea that the Brady Bunch are circling the drain.  This is a dying organization devoid of serious intellectual thought or critical analysis.  While still dangerous, like a cornered animal, and capable of lashing out at the battered residents of a few bastion states and cities, the Brady Bunch don't seem to be a serious, credible threat as a broader movement.

This is not to say that gun control is dead.  On the contrary, I think groups like Mayors Against Illegal Guns are much more clever, insidious, and dangerous.  Sebastian and Bitter have written about this multiple times.

How to use this information?

First, I think it is necessary to remember that the hard core inner cadre of gun control like Joan can never be reasoned with or converted.  They are True Believers and many of them are impaired and cannot function in a rational discussion involving facts. 

What can be done is to separate the auxiliaries, financiers, and mass base from the movement.  I think it is particularly useful to highlight how the gun control folks want to shred ALL rights, not just the 2A, and highlight how that is way out of the mainstream.  Make the Brady Bunch as politically toxic as the Klan and you will separate Joe Sixpack.

It is also helpful to highlight the lack of originality and the defensive rearguard nature of what they're doing.  Most people don't want to give time or money to a dying cause.  This is probably more effective with the financiers and more active supporters.

Now is the time to convert fence sitters and passive supporters of gun control.  The Brady Bunch will likely eventually run out of funding and die as a group, and then we lose the ability to use these outlandish statements to run up the score when talking to actual adults.

National Root Beer Float Day

Is today.

How did I not know about this amazing holiday before now?  As it also happens to be Sonic happy hour, and Sonic is right next to the Lowes (and face it, you always need something at Lowes), I'm going to get myself a float!

Hypocrisy and Ugliness

Bitter over at PAGunRights has been doing a good job of keeping track of the ugliness on display directed at Alaskan olympian (and medalist!) Coreg Cogdell.  If you haven't been following it, essentially a bunch of Euroweenies and anti-hunting Americans have been posting death threats and other incredibly hateful things towards the awesome Team USA shooter who also happens to be a hunter.

This makes me wonder about the base hypocrisy displayed.  I see only a few possibilities.

• Meat Eaters:  These posters, like most human beings, exercise their rights of being at the top of the food chain and eat meat themselves.  They just prefer their meat to be slaughtered out of sight in ginormous evil factories where the animals are maltreated and abused for their entire short, brutish, nasty lives.  Because the animal slaughtering happens out of sight, it is out of mind -- its like a six year old who lacks object permanence.  If you can't smell the rank hypocrisy then your nose must be stuffed up.
• Organic Meat Eaters:  Because they are Environmentally Conscious, these individuals Buy Organic.  Certainly at some organic type places the animals are probably treated better.  Still, there's no getting around the fact that animals are being slaughtered for your personal enjoyment.  There's also wide variations in what constitutes "organic," with standards that could at best be called "flexible."  Plus, even if the farm raises and slaughters the animals humanely, how is this any better than hunting wild game?  Wild game is the ultimate organic food.  It seems kind of hypocritical to attack someone for basically cutting out the middleman (the organic farmer) and harvesting their own organic game.
• Vegetarians:  It is possible that some of these ugly Internet Bullies are actually vegetarians who don't eat meat at all.  However, even their delicious veggies are likely covered in the blood of innocent animals.  Almost every state allows farmers and other land owners to apply for depredation permits that allow hunting of pest animals out of season, often with "unsportsmanlike" methods not allowed to regular hunters.   Many farms either employ some form of lethal pest reduction strategies to remove rabbits, deer, wild swine, and other animals that destroy crops, or they benefit from hunters who reduce the population of such animals to non-nuisance levels.  Farmers with chickens or other valuable livestock also likely benefit from the "slave labor" of working/herding dogs (sarcasm -- I'm obviously ok with dogs having jobs as long as they're treated humanely), as well as employing lethal reduction strategies to remove predators like wolves, bears, coyotes, etc.

I'd imagine it is a very rare self-sufficient individual who has complete control over their personal food chain and can verify that no animals were killed to produce that delicious salad.  You'd need to have a large garden yourself, or a close relationship with a small-scale grower who has invested an inordinate amount of money into fencing and other defenses from pests.

I can't stand the hypocrisy of folks who will chow down on a McDonald's hamburger from a cow that lived an awful, crowded, disease ridden life being force fed corn laced with antibiotics in a feedlot and then criticize an Olympic athlete who chooses to eat free range animals that lived awesome lives in the wilderness before being quickly and humanely harvested.

The Military and Privately Owned Firearms

The latest media blitz in the post-mass shooting media frenzy we find ourselves in is bleating from MSNBC about how the military cannot take steps to prevent suicides due to the terroristic NRA.  They're trying to paint the military as duking it out with the NRA.  The issue stems from the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, which states in part:

SEC. 1062. PROHIBITION ON INFRINGING ON THE INDIVIDUAL RIGHT TO LAWFULLY ACQUIRE, POSSESS, OWN, CARRY, AND OTHERWISE USE PRIVATELY OWNED  IREARMS, AMMUNITION, AND OTHER WEAPONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection (c), the Secretary of Defense shall not prohibit, issue any requirement relating to, or collect or record any information relating to the otherwise lawful acquisition, possession, ownership, carrying, or other use of a privately owned firearm, privately owned ammunition, or another privately owned weapon by a member of the Armed Forces or civilian employee of the Department of Defense on property that is not—
(1) a military installation; or
(2) any other property that is owned or operated by the
Department of Defense.
(b) EXISTING REGULATIONS AND RECORDS.—
(1) REGULATIONS.—Any regulation promulgated before the date of enactment of this Act shall have no force or effect to the extent that it requires conduct prohibited by this section.
(2) RECORDS.—Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall destroy any record containing information described in subsection (a) that was collected before the date of enactment of this Act.
(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Subsection (a) shall not be construed to limit the authority of the Secretary of Defense to—
(1) create or maintain records relating to, or regulate the possession, carrying, or other use of a firearm, ammunition, or other weapon by a member of the Armed Forces or civilian employee of the Department of Defense while—
(A) engaged in official duties on behalf of the Department of Defense; or
(B) wearing the uniform of an Armed Force; or
(2) create or maintain records relating to an investigation, prosecution, or adjudication of an alleged violation of law (including regulations not prohibited under subsection (a)), including matters related to whether a member of the Armed Forces constitutes a threat to the member or others.
(d) REVIEW.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall—
(1) conduct a comprehensive review of the privately owned weapons policy of the Department of Defense, including legal and policy issues regarding the regulation of privately owned firearms off of a military installation, as recommended by the Department of Defense Independent Review Related to Fort
Hood; and (2) submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives a report regarding the findings of and recommendations relating to the review conducted under paragraph (1), including any recommendations for adjustments to the requirements under this section.
(e) MILITARY INSTALLATION DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘military installation’’ has the meaning given that term under section 2687(e)(1) of title 10, United States Code. 

For those who are unaware, the military tends to be a rather anti-2A organization.  This is apparently a historical issue and nothing new, as the NRA was actually founded to preserve core marksmanship skill t hat were being lost by the military. Another blogger nicely summarizes the reasons why this provision was needed.

The issue arose out of a controversial policy on Ft. Riley that mandated that troops register all privately owned weapons on post regardless of whether they were located on or off base. Many troops choose to live off post to avoid having to report this information or keep their weapons in unit arms rooms. The regulation also required military families to register firearms. Ft. Riley and other posts expressly prohibited its troops from carrying weapons regardless of being licensed to do so. It was sort of ironic considering the nature of our mission as a troops to know, understand, and use weapons. Some posts even set limits on the types of calibers troops were allowed to own. These limits varied from post to post and also included limits on how much ammunition troops could own. Naturally, this forced some troops to pay more for ammunition because they weren’t allowed to buy in bulk.

Of note, US Army Alaska also had an unreasonable policy that prohibited soldiers from concealed carrying off post in civvies on their own time while off duty (although nothing was said about Open Carry).  So these policies were widespread and impacted many soldiers.

Now some retired officers and docs are complaining about how the law prevents "discussions."

"I am not allowed to ask a soldier who lives off-post whether that soldier has a privately owned weapon," [said] Chiarelli, [the Army’s former Vice Chief of Staff.]

The trouble is, the law doesn't say that.  Commanders can discuss firearms safety with their troops.  The law does, however, state that commanders cannot DEMAND, collect, or retain information about privately owned weapons.  There's a difference between a voluntary discussion during a counseling or mentoring session, and a direct order with punitive UCMJ consequences attached if the soldier fails to obey requiring all firearms by all troops to be registered or stored in a unit armory or something.

The NDAA also has a specific exemption allowing information to be collected if a bona fide investigation reveals that a service member is a threat to themselves or others.  Given that commanders can refer a troop to mental health and require them to talk to a mental health professional, it seems rather straightforward to initiate such an investigation.  This is not a really high bar to meet nor is it a difficult process given the broad authority that military commanders have.

There is simply no substitute for the involvement of leaders at all levels in the welfare of their followers.  This is true in any type of organization.  All the rules and policies in the world won't impact suicide significantly.  Actual caring leadership and timely referral to mental health services can actually help.

Dog Names

I think it'd be awesome to get a Rottweiler and name it Javert.

Book Review: The Road to Guilford Courthouse

It is time for another Book Review!

After shooting an Appleseed event in the deep south, I started to get more interested in Revolutionary War history.  I was familiar with many of the big events in the North but really had no idea of what happened in the South.  I had some vague ideas about a place called King's Mountain and knew that Charleston was important, and I had seen The Patriot, but that was about it.

I started hunting down some books and picked up The Road to Guilford Courthouse:  The American Revolution in the Carolinas by John Buchanan as a good secondary source survey of the broad campaigns in the South.  And boy was I in for a treat!

THE GOOD

John Buchanan has succeeded in producing an incredibly readable tale about the Revolutionary War in the South.  Like any master storyteller, he begins by throwing us into the heat of the action during the first British attempt to seize Charleston in 1776.  During a desperate fight, the outgunned Colonial rebels threw back the British in one of the first major substantive rebel victories of the war.

After this exciting and well-written prologue, Buchanan then steps back in time to give a brief survey of American colonization in the Americas, focusing on factors that will become relevant during the 1776-1780 military campaigns.  Understanding the background social, ethnic, religious, and political factors in the Carolinas really helped set the stage for what is really a tale of a vicious "brother's war" (civil war), with Tories pitted against their Rebel neighbors.

We then dive into a riveting tale of the British campaign in the Carolinas, 1780-1781.  From the lows of the seizure of Charleston and the disastrous rebel loss at Camden to the highs of Cowpens, Buchanan traces the whole campaign.

More importantly, Buchanan avoids the trap of reciting historical accounts as a dry parade of names and places across a timeline.  This author instead provides interesting personality sketches of all of our primary characters.  He avoids whitewashing the participants, instead showing them as humans with strengths and flaws.  The characters are interesting and you find yourself rooting for some and reviling other villains.  Here is a quote that illustrates Buchanan's writing style and willingness to render judgement upon the cast:

"If he was one of the Revolution's more unlikable heroes, as a soldier a poor tacticiation and strategist, as a subordinate guilty of insubordination that imperiled operations, let it also not be forgotten that at the very darkest time in South Carolina, he, unlike so many others, scorned parole, took the field in what appeared a hopeless cause, and raised a standard that inspired men to sacrifice and others to emulate him.  Cornwallis paid him his finest tribute when he described the Gamecock as his greatest plague."  -- Buchanan's afternote for Gen Thomas Sumter, "The Gamecock" (now of USC fame).

THE BAD

The flip side of being willing to render judgement is, of course, the possibility of disagreement.  Buchanan takes strong stances on controversial characters like Horatio Gates and Bonastre Tarleton, men around whom controversies swirled during the war and who can find ardent defenders as well as fired up detractors both in the 18th century as well as today.  Still, Buchanan does a good job of citing his sources (including an excellent annotated bibliography) and seems to have been fairly even handed, including opposing view points in most cases where he is particularly hard on a character.

Additionally, while the introductory lead up to the campaign itself was a valuable political and social history of the Carolinas, there ran a risk of getting bogged down in the first few chapters.  I stuck with it and stayed the course.  One can imagine the book as a slow burning fuse, where a boiling pot of revolution simmers for several years and chapters before the main story breaks out in earnest.  Buchanan walks a fine line between including too much detail in the "slow boil" part of the story.  I think he pulled it off -- barely -- but those with shorter attention spans and less interest in political intrigue and social dynamics may get bogged down in the first few chapters.

THE UGLY


The worst thing about The Road to Guilford Courthouse was the dearth of maps.  While we are treated to some excellent portraits and illustrations, there are only a handful of contemporary maps included.  I would have at least liked more primary source maps, but even more helpful would have been a few modern sketches of the more important battles.  While Buchanan does describe the relevant deployments fairly clearly, I had to read carefully to build a good mental picture of the scene -- and I studied history during my undergrad and am an extensive student of military history in particular.  I think someone reading less carefully would probably get the big picture but some details might be lost in translation.

I think in military history one good map is worth a thousand words, and Buchanan would have been well advised to include a few.  Of course, in today's world of rapid google searches and Wikipedia, it is relatively trivial to search and cue up a map.

I also would have liked to see a Kindle edition.

Finally, the book was lengthy.  At 452 pages of large size filled with small text, including index and appendix, it can take some time to run through this for a casual reader.  Still, I found it a "page turner" and had trouble putting it down.  Luckily each chapter is of manageable size and chapters are subdivided.  The paragraphs are well written in professional nature and a student could "speed read" with common techniques (reading opening/closing paragraphs, topic sentences only, etc) and get the gist.

FINAL VERDICT

What we have in Buchanan's work is a very readable, well sourced, and engrossing history about a part of the American Revolution I had never really known much about.  We cover a lot of ground including personalities, social/ethnic dynamics, backwoods politics, and military battles.  Buchanan paints a picture of a desperate struggle, the outcome uncertain to the end, with a distinct tint of an ugly "petit war" or partisan guerrilla civil war struggle.

Even more shockingly, the cost is very reasonable.  I picked my copy up for <$15.  This is a great deal -- many history books on a relatively niche subject with limited distribution are much more expensive.

On the balance, I wholeheartedly endorse Buchanan's "Road to Guilford Courthouse."  If nothing else, for me at least the annotated bibliography is worth the price of admission.  The story itself was fascinating and well told.  Bravo -- five stars!

Blackhawk -- Making it Right

Earlier this summer I ordered a 10/22 Blackhawk "Knoxx Stock." We already have one and are very happy with it.  They make great stocks for 10/22 "Liberty Training Rifles," especially because as they feature collapsible stocks either Heather or I can use the same rifle fairly easily.  

The problem is that the adjustable buttstock on the item I received did not properly engage.  Thus it slid around without engaging at any of the positions.  There is a small screw-type piece on the moving part of the buttstock which is supposed to engage into the fixed holes on the fixed portion of the stock, but it had worked its way out.  The screw-thing is not threaded and does not easily turn so I couldn't fix it myself despite attempts with pliers and screwdrivers.

I contacted Blackhawk and initially asked them to send me a new buttstock part.  They sent a part but it was the wrong color (did not match) and I couldn't do a fix on my own.  I ended up sending everything back to them for a replacement.  They provided a label for free shipping so I just had to pay a few bucks for a box (I'd gotten rid of the original packaging).

The replacement showed up about a month later via UPS and works just fine.

I'm happy that Blackhawk made this right.  Their customer service was easy to work with.  While the item was brand new, never once did they ask for a receipt or require product registration or anything to invoke the warranty.

The only downside is that it was SLOW.  It took a month after I shipped back the defective stock before they shipped the next.  All in all it took about two months to fix.  Now, to be fair, I was not in a huge hurry and said, "Oh, there's no rush."  And I'm not really peeved.  While it would have been nicer to resolve this faster, it ended up working out just fine.  Had I called or emailed and pushed for faster action they probably would have moved faster.

Overall this was a positive interaction.  It is nice to work with a company that has decent customer service and which stands behind their products.

Yes, a Bat is a Deadly Weapon

ADN has the story.

The Glenn Highway has been pretty much shut down since o-dark-thirty this morning, creating quite a traffic jam.  For those not familiar, there is no alternate route between the Mat-Su valley and Anchorage.

Seems like the cops attempted to pull someone over for failing to signal a turn.  This person decided to lead the police on a road chase.  After losing a tire to spike strips and having his car catch on fire, he then decided it would be an excellent idea to charge three officers with a baseball bat.  They used tasers (no effect) and ended up having to shoot him to avoid getting their heads cracked open.

Of course, there are the usual folks in the comments section whining about how bats aren't deadly weapons and shouldn't the cops have done something else (apparently the taser doesn't count this time).  I wouldn't be surprised to find some sort of drugs involved.  Most people do not lead cops on a highway chase until their car catches fire, then walk through a taser to take on multiple cops with a bat over an unsignaled turn.

Ooops.

Seems to be a common theme these days.

NFA Bug

I've recently really had the NFA bug.  I want a few things:

• Suppressed SBR "house gun."  I mean, a shortie AR with a can would be awesome for home defense and for plinking at the range.  The problem is that apparently 5.56 doesn't suppress well as it is a supersonic round so I may need to find something different.  And I'm already pretty well vested in 5.56 (less so in 7.62x39 and 7.62 NATO) and have little desire to add a wildcat cartridge like 300 BLK.
• Carbine conversion kit for one of my carry handguns.  I regularly have to park in gun free zones as part of my work so I can't put a carbine in the trunk all the time as I'm afraid I'd forget about it.  A kit, however, would not be a "firearm" and thus it could be left in the car 100% of the time.  I feel much better about having something with a shoulder stock and an AimPoint on it, even if its in a handgun caliber, then I do about just a handgun.  Trouble is most of the conversion kits create SBRs.  A can on this would be sweet as well.
• Suppressed .22 LR.  With a can it should be about as loud as an air gun with subsonic ammo.  That'd be perfect for plinking with new shooters, and may even allow the ear pro to be skipped.

The trouble is that we'd need to do a trust for a few reasons.  And I don't trust the Quicken/Willmaker DIY route when serious felonies are involved.  So that means ~$400 for the trust, $200-400 for tax stamps to build even one of those items, $100 or so for engraving, and then all the actual kit itself (probably close to a grand for any of the builds, except the .22 LR one).  That's pretty hefty.

I'm a little concerned about moving to a non-NFA friendly state, but not too much.  These days, pretty much any state which is non-NFA friendly is also going to have issues with my semiautos and standard capacity magazines so I already have an issue that would require renting a storage unit across the state line back in America.