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March 14, 2004

John Luering, a.k.a Ironpony, died Friday night in his sleep. John was a friend, contributor to The Sight M1911, events coordinator for South River Gun Club, charter member of The Polite Society, and all-around good gun guy. He will be missed.

Review: Dillon Precision HP-1 Electronic Hearing Protectors
 

February 23, 2004

PERSONAL NOTE: THE MOTHER OF ALL HARD DRIVE CRASHES
2 ½ weeks ago not one but both drives on my primary working computer suffered a simultaneous mechanical failure. I have never seen anything like that in 25 years of running PC’s. One, yes, but two at the same time? Needless to say, this caused my life enormous disruption from which I am just now recovering. Moral of the story: backup anything that’s important to you. Those of you who signed up for the newsletter between 1/15 and 2/7 need to send me another sign-up e-mail because there was a period there where my backup got corrupted.

I finally saw “Bowling for Columbine” and all of the rotten things you have heard about it are true. I wasn’t going to pay money to see it, but it finally descended to cable TV and I felt obligated somehow to sit through it. It’s interesting if for no other reason than to see the kind of raw sewage that passes for documentary journalism among the gun grabbers and nanny-staters. Of course, the blame for violence in America is finally laid on the elderly and infirm Charlton Heston and the NRA, after casting about for every other paper tiger in the woods – the military-industrial complex, poverty, racial diversity, etc., etc. I guess we should be thankful that people like Michael Moore are so devoid of intellectual rigor. While it shouldn’t have surprised me, it was surprising to see how poorly the points were made. The film isn’t an argument leading to a conclusion. It’s nothing but a series of stunts rendered in extremely bad taste.

November 28, 2003

Selecting a Holster for Concealed Carry By Syd

The Kimber Series II Firing Pin Block - Discussion and Diagram

November 18, 2003

Kimber Pro CDP II - by Syd
Review and survey of what's happened with the M1911 since 1905 (well, sort of...)

Colt Commander - Evolution and Development
Pictorial history of the Colt Commander

Background Information on the United States Pistol Caliber .45 M1911 - Development history of the M1911 .45 Caliber Automatic Pistol including the Thompson-LaGarde cadaver tests of 1904

November 2, 2003

If you have been near a television in the past two days, you have no doubt seen the remarkable film clip of a man trying to kill an attorney in front of the Van Nuys, CA courthouse. William Strier, a disgruntled and mentally ill man, shot Gerry Curry, counsel for a trustee of Strier’s special needs trust fund. Strier empties what appears to be a .38 Special snub nose toward Curry who tries to shield himself behind a small tree. Curry was hit several times in the upper torso and face but managed to walk away from the encounter to later collapse across the street. For more details and the video clip, you can go to http://www.courttv.com/trials/blake/103103_ap.html

I will forgo any cheap-shot lawyer humor here because I see no humor in citizens being terrorized by maniacs with guns. This kind of behavior is reprehensible and dishonorable. High profile gun crime like this makes life more difficult for responsible gun owners. I do think some important insights about surviving violent encounters may be drawn from this incident.

Curry, the victim, does one thing right and several things wrong. What he does right is to move away from the attacker and he tries to get behind the cover of a small tree. This move many have saved him from taking a center-of-mass hit which could have been fatal. What he does wrong is that the cover he chooses is inadequate and he stops moving, and thereby allows Strier to get close and land some hits. Fortunately, none of them turned out to be lethal. Had Curry just run away, the odds are good that he would not have been hit at all. Also, Curry is woefully unprepared, mentally and physically, to deal with this attack. Had Curry been armed, he could have defended himself from this attack. Had Strier thought that Curry might have been armed, there is a good chance that he would not have launched the attack in the first place. This, to my mind, is the most powerful argument for shall issue concealed carry: not that citizens can carry out gun battles in the streets (and they haven’t in any of the 36 shall issue states), but that the possibility that citizens may be armed creates a powerful disincentive for potential evil doers.

Another striking feature of this film clip is how little the multiple hits from the .38 seem to affect Curry. I’m assuming that the gun was a .38 since that is the most common chambering for snub-nosed revolvers. The muzzle flash also looks like a .38. It has much more flash than a .22. It appears that one bullet hit Curry squarely in the center of his forehead but did not penetrate into his skull. The wound to the forehead appears to be too large for a .22 based on photographs I have seen. The apparent lack of effect of this handgun stands in stark contrast to the Hollywood mythology which holds that handgun bullets strike like rocket propelled grenades and throw the victim back 50 feet on impact. Curry flinches when he is hit, but that’s about all. Minor caliber handguns may be lethal with perfect bullet placement, but they are seldom fight stoppers, and they require expert skill and tremendous luck to employ effectively. They are marginal as defensive weapons.

Summary of learnings:

1. When going to a gunfight, take a gun.
2. Take enough gun to do the job.
3. A pistol is a tool used to fight your way back to your gun. (Clint Smith)
4. Movement, distance and cover are your friends.
5. Mental preparation and tactical awareness can save your life.

October 27, 2003

I watched the Democrat presidential debate from Detroit last night. Damn near as funny as Saturday Night Live. I was encouraged to hear a gun grabber finally say something I could agree with. In his closing statement, Sen. Kerry said, “I support the Assault Weapons Ban. I support the Brady Bill. I support gun c…c…c….SAFETY.” I have always liked a safety on a gun. It makes me feel just a little more relaxed when I’m thrashing through the woods. Guns like my old 30-30 that don’t have a safety have always made me just a bit uneasy. My 1911 has three: the grip safety, thumb safety, and the brain between my ears. A gun safety is a good thing.

Seriously, does the Democrat high command think we are so stupid as to not be able to see through this utterly transparent re-packaging of gun control rhetoric? They have sent their pollsters out and the pollsters have returned with the message, “Gun control is a loser.” (Forget about principles; polls are the only thing that counts.) So the high mucky-mucks said to themselves, “If gun control is a loser, let’s rename it ‘gun safety’ and that way no one will know what we’re talking about, and we can pander to everyone: the Million Mom March and the NRA.”

They still don’t get it.

October 18, 2003

While the rest of the world has been obsessing on Conan the Governor, Kobe and Rush’s problems, and WMD’s in Iwreck, the front in the crusade for gun rights has moved to Missouri. A fierce battle is going on around the new Concealed Carry legislation passed earlier this year. To recap a bit, the legislature passed a concealed carry law that overturned a prohibition on concealed guns that dates back to the 1870’s. Governor One Term Holden vetoed the law, and the legislature over-rode the veto. Then, just as the law was about to go into effect, the big city mayors and a coalition of nanny-state clubs won a court injunction which blocks the new law. The injunction has bounced up to the Missouri Supreme Court which is populated by Democrat appointee judges. The injunction is based on an unfortunate appendix in the Missouri constitution which says “the right to bear arms does not justify the right to carry concealed weapons.” In my opinion, this is ludicrous. It’s like saying you have the right to bear arms as long as you only wear them on the top of your head, unloaded with the firing pins removed. In the mean time, Gov. One Term has issued an executive order barring concealed guns from all state buildings and properties. Gov. Patton in Kentucky attempted a similar ban by executive fiat back in 1997 when the Kentucky CCW law went into effect, but the Kentucky Coalition to Carry Concealed was successful in getting the executive order rescinded. These are familiar tactics: using “executive orders” and activist judges to thwart the will of the people, a will that has been clearly expressed. If the Missouri Supremes have even one iota of personal integrity, the constitutional challenge should not hold up, but given the circumstances anything can happen.

You would think that the gun control crowd would love concealed carry legislation because it gives them so much of what they claim to want: a de facto registration of owners, training in safety and law for gun owners, and extensive background checks for licensees. An additional bonus for the firearm-phobic is that they don’t have to see our ugly guns. (Some hard-core Second Amendment people object to most CCW legislation for these reasons.) Of course, this presupposes that the gun control crowd wants what they say they want, a supposition about which I have serious doubts.

I just see no reason that a responsible, law-abiding citizen should be prohibited from carrying a gun if that citizen judges that it is prudent to do so. It is our right to carry weapons for our own self defense. The police cannot be everywhere, and I don't think I would want to live in a country where the police were everywhere, nor could we afford so large a police force. In this age when we face a terror war that can suddenly appear anywhere, it makes even less sense to disarm the law abiding citizens of this country. The police cannot be everywhere, but we can be. The 9-11 attack would have been impossible had legally armed citizens been on those airplanes.

Two great experiments have taken place since 1987. In England, the government has attempted to disarm its citizens and their violent crime rate has doubled since 1997. In the United States, 33 states have affirmed the rights of citizens by passing shall-issue concealed carry laws, and our violent crime rate has declined. To my eye, that should tell the story to anyone who wanted to see.

Rights are like muscles: they get stronger when they are exercised and atrophy when they are neglected. It is important that we exert those rights for their own sake, and it's also the most responsible decision for personal and national security.

For links to news stories on the Missouri CCW fight, click the search button and and enter "Missouri"

July 28, 2003

Kimber Custom II in .45 ACP by Deputy David L. Wood - A lawman's view of the pistol

Para-Ordnance C7.45 LDA Companion Issue Update By Jason

Eating Away at the Fabric of Freedom By Dave Kopel - Why gun rationing is wrong, unconstitutional, ineffective, and a threat to our civil rights

July 14, 2003

Frustrated with the Para-Ordnance Model P14-45

Wilson CQB by Geno Benelli - A professional firearms trainer rates the CQB

July 4, 2003

Happy birthday, America. On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was ratified by the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall). Sometimes it seems to me that the fight for human liberty that started on that day so long ago has never really ended. I guess, in some ways, it must go on. If I were asked today if we are better off than our revolutionary forbearers, I would be hard pressed to give an unqualified affirmative. With things like the “USA Patriot Act,” The Ministry of the Interior (oops, I mean the Department of Homeland Defense), 20,000 useless gun laws, and “permits” to exercise our constitutional rights, I’m afraid that the founders might shake their heads sadly at the current state of affairs.

Fox News did a “man on the street” segment asking the simple question, “Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?” No one got it right. Answers included John Hancock, Abraham Lincoln, and George Jefferson. And, to add insult to injury, these idiots laughed at their own ignorance as if it were cute that couldn’t cite the author of this document that is so significant to human history as to be almost sacred. My blood boiled.

I have a strong sense that the crux of the issue, especially as it relates to gun rights, rests here. People just don’t know. We don’t remember our history. Our children are not being taught an honest picture of the American Revolution. How many 9th grade history students are taught that the reason the British marched on Lexington was to seize the Patriot’s guns? They’ll teach the Boston Tea Party but sweep under the rug that it was about taxes, taxes far lighter than those we suffer with now. It is as if we take the statement that we “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” to mean that the blessings of liberty that we enjoy are somehow automatic and guaranteed, and we need do nothing more than bask in the luxury of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Even the most cursory reading of our own history will smash this idea for the pathological delusion that it is. Liberty is hard to gain and hard to keep. This much hasn’t changed.

In practical terms, I would urge you to pay close attention to what is being taught to your children about American history in the schools, and when you find it lacking as you surely will, fill in the blanks. Give them the straight story. Make them remember it like it was yesterday.

The Real Meaning of Independence By Sen. Mark Hillman

June 27, 2003

Personalizing the Colt Combat Commander by Syd

June 15, 2003

Springfield Armory Compact 1911A1 . 45 ACP By Rev. Bill Sladek

Making the Rock Island Armory .45 1911 Pistol Reliable By Jason

May 12, 2003

The Rock Island Armory Guns By Bob Campbell 

April 27, 2003

Range Report: Custom Colt Commander .45 ACP by Stephen A. Camp

Inertial Discharge of the M1911 Pistol By John De Armond
Testing the myth

Arpil 17, 2003

The Marine MEU(SOC) in Iraq - It's a less-than-closely-guarded-secret that the Marines never have liked the Beretta M9 9mm pistol. Here is the pistol that they built for the Marine Expeditionary Units.

March 10, 2003

Auto-Ordnance 1911PKZ by Phil Masters
User Review of Kahr's rework of the M1911A1

March 3, 2003

Examples Of Armed Citizens Coming To The Aid Of Officers In Peril
There is NO evidence to support the assertion that law enforcement officers are put at risk by law-abiding citizens carrying concealed firearms in their car. We can, on the other hand, offer numerous examples of armed citizens coming to the aid of officers in peril. more...

February 21, 2003

Blueprints for the M1911A1 Pistol - Scans of the Springfield Armory government blueprints for the M1911A1

February 16, 2003

The Para-Ordnance LDA 7.45 Makes the trip to Novak’s By Scott Smith

The Nineteen Eleven Effect - L. Neil Smith reflects on the stupidity and futility of gun control

February 7, 2003

Living with the Les Baer Thunder Ranch Special By Scott Smith

Going to War without France
is like going deer hunting
without an accordion player.

January 5, 2003

So long, Smokey Joe
In memoriam, Gen. Joe Foss

It was one of those creepy moments of synchronicity that didn't really mean anything but felt like it should. I had just finished flying Joe Foss's mission of October 23, 1942 in Combat Flight Simulator 2. Having gotten my turn and burn fix, I closed the game and checked the news wire. General Joe Foss had died. Foss had been one of the primary consultants in the development of the game and he had designed that particular mission, and while computer games are just computer games, playing the mission gives you an idea of the difficulty and lop-sided odds these guys faced.

Gen. Foss was a true American hero. He was the first Marine aviator to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor with 26 kills over Guadalcanal in those dark early days of the war in the Pacific. He had a particular fondness for cigars, hence the nickname, “Smokey Joe.” Unlike many war heroes who have trouble adjusting to peacetime, Gen. Foss didn't miss a beat. Stateside, he formed his own flying service, established a Packard dealership, organized the South Dakota Air National Guard, was elected to Congress and then governor of South Dakota, and became president of the fledgling American Football League and the NRA. The last time Gen. Foss was in the news was last year when he was prevented from getting on an airplane with his Congressional Medal of Honor because some dimwitted security person at an airport decided that the sharp edges of the medal might be used as a weapon by the 86-year-old man to hijack the airplane. That, to me, was one of the most bitter ironies of the post-911 hysteria.

Upon learning of Gen. Foss's death, South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow said that the aviator "spurred an entire nation into a resolve that we would win the Second World War and make the world a safer place." He added, "All the things that he accomplished pale in comparison to the fact that back in the deep, dark days of the early 1940s, when America needed a hero, Joe Foss was there."

The Battle for Guadalcanal was a legend maker like no other in the Pacific theater. It was as pivotal as Midway and far more desperate. By all rights, the American forces should have been crushed, but guys like Joe Foss just weren’t going to let that happen, and when we’re singing the praises of the celebrity warriors like Foss, Edson, Basilone and Boyington, we need to remember that there were many more who strapped themselves into Wildcats or shouldered a Garand and gave as much or more but didn’t get the recognition lavished upon the stars. They were the vertebrae in America’s backbone, and we owe them a tremendous debt whether or not our politically correct history books choose to remember them.

I think I’ll find an empty runway someplace and smoke a good cigar.

For quotes, links, and stories on Joe Foss, Click Here

January 1, 2003

Raging Against Self Defense:
A Psychiatrist Examines The Anti-Gun Mentality

December 7, 2002

9TH U.S. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS ABDUCTED BY ALIENS… JUSTICES REPLACED BY MINDLESS NEO-FASCIST CLONES OF SARAH BRADY… CONSTITUTION RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL… COURT ACTIVATES STATE MILITIAS… MICHAEL BELLESILES GIVEN NOBEL PRIZE FOR HISTORY

Well, that’s not exactly what happened, but the truth is just too unbelievable.

Those fun-loving comrades at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco have just ruled that the Second Amendment does not guarantee the right of individual citizens to own firearms and only applies to the right of states to form military units. This is the same band of merry pranksters who recently ruled the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because it mentions that politically incorrect supreme being who allegedly created the heavens and the Earth. That wild and crazy master of comedy, Judge Reinhardt, cited the discredited and unemployed "historian" Michael Bellesiles, author of the fraudulent book, Arming America, as evidence that guns were rare during the writing of the Constitution. It’s reassuring to see that hizzoner knows good research when it bites him in his brief. This decision virtually assures us that the individual right to keep an bear arms is headed for a showdown at the Supreme Court. more...

November 24, 2002

The Springfield Armory Micro Compact By Ray Rios

November 18, 2002

THAT OLD RIFLE
My grandfather gave it to my father and my father gave it to me – a humble Winchester 30-30 saddle gun. I took my first deer with it forty years ago, and Saturday, my son, Alex, took his first deer with it. I was really proud of him. He had studied the arcane lore of stalking deer: how to mask your own scents, work the wind, track, and use a tree stand. I had coached him on how to shoot the deer for a quick, humane kill. He listened and accomplished it with a perfect shot through the heart. The deer didn't run a foot. It was a good deer, a six pointer that the guys at the packing plant estimated at 140 lbs. For Alex, the excitement and sense of accomplishment was profound. Two days later, he's still walking about six inches off the ground. For me, it was one of those moments of time compression in which the lives and times of four generations of my family came together coalescing upon the symbol of that old rifle. Lots of good old memories of hunting with my father and grandfather.

Now, I will be the first yell at the top of my lungs that the essence of our struggle for the right to keep and bear arms is not about hunting, but at the same time, hunting is an integral part of our tradition of firearms ownership. There has long existed a sort of psychological divide in the firearms community between hunters and the self defense group with each group showing a lack of interest for the concerns of the other. We all need to increase our awareness that we face a common adversary which does not distinguish one whit between hunting guns, “sniper rifles,” self defense weapons, “Saturday Night Specials,” “assault weapons,” and military collectibles. Our adversary wants to take them all away.

RKBA is about self defense and liberty's teeth, but it's also about that old rifle and a father teaching his son how to safely and lawfully handle a firearm and how to track a deer through the woods.

November 9, 2002

Newsletter Archive
Archive of our electronic newsletter

October 18, 2002

Useful resources to counter the "ballistic fingerprinting" lies
Let's put this baloney to bed

September 28, 2002

Some MEU's still carry proven M1911 .45's  - Not everyone in the U.S. military carries Beretta’s M-9 9 mm handgun. A small group of Marines still carry .45-caliber pistols — but they’re a far cry from Grandpa’s World War II gun.

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