We’ve got to do something!
No, we don’t.
A rare editorial commentary.
In the wake of the recent ‘mass shootings,’ an amazing amount of rhetoric has arisen on both sides of the political spectrum and from the Venn diagram of those who bridge the continuum. Both sides are wrong. I’ll probably annoy some people with this commentary and lose some subscribers but so be it.
On one side, commonly referred to as the Left, we hear renewed call for various forms of gun control, ranging from Universal Background Checks to outright banning of ‘assault weapons.’ These calls are the continued extension of a propaganda campaign that would have made Nazi propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels proud. In numerical terms, the probability of being involved in a ‘mass shooting’ is so small a possibility that it’s not even worth considering in our daily lives much less for making public policy. There were more one-on-one homicide victims last year than in all the so-called ‘mass shootings’ of the 20th and 21st Centuries combined. I feel sorry for the victims of active killers but no more so than for the Dekalb County murder victims who annually outnumber ‘active killer’ victims but who get about one minute of news coverage every few days.
The whole ‘mass shooting’ thing is an invention of the mass media elites to boost their ratings and push forward the topic of gun control. Anyone who thinks that media personalities making millions of dollars a year care one whit about the plight of the average person is seriously naïve. What they care about is their ratings and how much money and power they can accumulate.
A Well Regulated Militia
The Bill of Rights
Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
There continues to be controversy about the meaning of the Second Amendment. Advocates of Gun Control maintain that it only refers to the National Guard. On occasion, even firearms owners will say that regulated means ‘trained.’
The Federalist Papers (#29 by Alexander Hamilton) gives this interpretation of a ‘well regulated militia.’
“Little more can reasonably be aimed at, with respect to the people at large, than to have them properly armed and equipped; [emphasis mine] and in order to see that this be not neglected, it will be necessary to assemble them once or twice in the course of a year.”
I.e., everyone should own an assault rifle, a basic load of ammunition and be required to show up for an inspection thereof at least annually.
Hamilton alludes to the difficulty of having the entire citizenry participate in military maneuvers sufficient to develop proficiency at a unit level. Any soldier who has been on a Field Training Exercise (FTX) can understand this. But having military weapons in the hands of the People seems to be a viable solution to him. Maintaining individual proficiency with those weapons isn’t something he speaks about.
James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 46:
“Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation … Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.”
Yet another reference to the value of citizens owning arms.
Madison also makes reference to “that the traitors [emphasis mine] should, throughout this period, uniformly and systematically pursue some fixed plan for the extension of the military establishment.” In a time when a member of Congress talks about using nuclear weapons against the American people, it’s even more important that the people at large possess military weapons.
Professor Eugene Volokh of the UCLA Law School provides some References to the Militia in The Federalist.
The Second Amendment has never been about hunting. That has always been a fiction. The intent of the Founding Fathers was for the people to able to resist a tyrannical central government.
Shooting Your Black Rifle book
http://shootingyourblackrifle.com
Shooting Your Black Rifle – The Book
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve finished my latest book – Shooting Your Black Rifle.
There are many books about how to shoot rifles in general, and Black Rifles in particular. This book focuses on applying the principles and techniques of those books to live fire and dry practice. The book contains numerous Courses of Fire applicable to training and practicing for Personal Protection, along with other useful information for Black Rifle owners. These Courses are drawn from POlice Patrol Rifle courses that involve shooting at 50 yards or less, so they are highly applicable to the needs of the Armed Private Citizen.
This book should be thought of as a guide for practicing the techniques that owners of AR-15s and other Black Rifles have learned or are interested in. Understanding a technique without repetitively practicing it will not yield particularly good results. The Courses of Fire provide a method for practicing what an owner has learned and evaluating what techniques work best for each individual.
Recognizing that many people do not have access to a readily available source of targets, Printable Targets that can be produced on any printer are included. Because many gunowners do not have access to a 50 yard range, reduced scale targets are included. These reduced scale targets can be used on ranges that are only 25 yards long to simulate longer distances.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Zeroing Your Rifle
- Patrol Rifle Qualification Courses
- Decisional Drills, Verbalization Drills, and Dry Practice
- Gun Safety, Serious Mistakes, and Negative Outcomes
- Bibliography
- Targets
This is an excellent guide for both new AR-15 owners and those who have owned one for a while but would like to practice with the rifle more effectively. For those who have taken a class about the AR-15, the book provides you with various shooting drills to help you maintain and sharpen the skills you learned. For those who have little or no training, the book gives you a structured way of learning and improving your skills.
It is available in downloadable format. The cost is only $7.99 and I think you will find it is well worth it.
Online Firearms Safety Course
I just completed the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan POlice Department Online Firearms Safety Training Course. It’s actually well done and informative. There are a few parts particular to D.C. laws but other than that, nothing odious. The animations are generally well done and informative for newcomers to firearms ownership. The course took me about half an hour to complete.
There were only two errors noticeable to me, one technical and one typographical. I’ll let the webmaster know about them.
Podcast list
I was the guest on another podcast last night. Knowing that many people like to listen to podcasts, I compiled a list of the podcasts and topics that the hosts have been so kind to invite me to join.
Eye On The Target – Book philosophy and Dry Practice drill, July 14, 2019
http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/071419-one_146861
P(rimary) &S(econdary) 168 – Mouse Guns, October 14, 2018
https://www.spreaker.com/user/primaryandsecondary/p-s-168-mouse-guns
Safety Solutions Academy – Decision Making, September 20, 2018
https://safetysolutionsacademy.com/441-claude-werner-the-tactical-professor/
Ballistic Radio – The Neediest of Pre-Needs, July 8, 2018
Ballistic Radio – Dear Instructors, Get a Real Job, February 11, 2018
Civilian Carry Radio – December 28, 2017
Ballistic Radio – Whose Standards?, May 7, 2017)
Ballistic Radio – 50 Shades Of Werner, September 25, 2016
Ballistic Radio – The Boyd Part About The OODA Loop, February 7, 2016
Handgun Radio 118 – SHOT Show 2016 Handgun Preview, January 5, 2016
https://firearmsradio.squarespace.com/handgun-radio/118
Gun Guy Radio 189 – LAPD Use of Force Reports, November 10, 2015
https://firearmsradio.tv/gun-guy-radio/189
Handgun Radio 102 – Handgun Comparison Testing Protocols, – July 14, 2015
https://firearmsradio.tv/handgun-radio/102
Ballistic Radio – Training, Practice, and Shooting Standards, May 10, 2015
Ballistic Radio – Negative Outcomes 101, Part 2, March 15, 2015
Ballistic Radio – Negative Outcomes 101, March 1, 2015
Ballistic Radio – The Rise of the Sentinel (Event), September 16, 2014
http://ballisticradio.com/2014/09/16/the-rise-of-the-sentinel-event/
Ballistic Radio – Threat Management For The Armed Citizen, August 24, 2014
Ballistic Radio – Gunfight Analysis, Understanding the Threat YOU Are Most Likely To Face, April 20, 2014
http://ballisticradio.com/2014/04/21/podcast-season-2-ballistic-radio-episode-58-april-20th-2014/
Ballistic Radio – The Efficacy of Pocket Guns, Misconceptions, June 30, 2013
http://ballisticradio.com/2013/06/30/ballistic-radio-episode-17-june-30-2013/
Two-legged Cheeseburgers
A few days ago, I did some grocery shopping. Since I only had a few items, I went to the Express Czechout line.
There were two ladies in front of me in line. They were engrossed in a conversation about their pets. The first lady in line had put her items onto the conveyor and placed a yellow marker stick behind them. The second lady (directly in front of me) was so busy talking with the first that, even as the belt advanced, she didn’t put her items on the belt.
When there was plenty of space on the conveyor for her stuff, I put another yellow stick down and unloaded my items onto the belt behind it. Their lively conversation continued but the lady in front of me still didn’t put her items on the belt when it stopped at the first lady’s stick. Then the lady in front of me removed the first lady’s stick, talking all the while. Doing so let my items advance to the cashier.
After the first lady paid her bill, the two ladies continued their nonstop talking. The cashier removed my stick and started ringing up my items. The second lady was still talking and standing there with her items in her basket.
Getting more out of your Snub’s Sights
#wheelgunwednesday
If you can’t see the sights on your snub, you can’t use them. While there are some ways gunsmiths can put better sights on a snub, careful application of paint and perhaps Magic Marker can go a long way to improving your ability to see the sights. Most snubs’ sights are not of a color to contrast against the target. The lack of contrast makes it difficult to pick up a quick visual reference. Fire trucks and school buses aren’t painted blue or silver for a reason. Silver generates glare easily and blue doesn’t contrast against a dark target nor in limited visibility.
Colored nail polish or paint is an old trick to increase the visibility of the front sight. If you paint the sight first with white paint as an undercoating, the color will stand out much better. Degrease the sight before applying paint to ensure the paint sticks. Let the white paint cure completely and then apply the color paint over the white.
The Process is the Punishment
#tacticaltuesday
Here’s a good example of “The Process is the Punishment.”
Trial judge overturns guilty verdict in Bellingham self-defense case | Bellingham Herald
“Kamuran Daniel Chabuk, 30, shot his neighbor, Joshua Mark Kiener, the night of May 11, 2013, outside the front door to Chabuk’s apartment at 2633 Nevada St.”
Note: May 11, 2013 was the date of the incident.
I ran across the incident while going through my database yesterday, so I decided to follow up on it.
His trial was 2 1/2 years later in November of 2015. He was found guilty of assault; Mr. Kiener was injured not killed. BTW, Kiener is also suing Chabuk civilly.
In April of 2016, 5 months [during which I assume he had to sit in jail or prison] after his conviction, a judge ordered that he be given a new trial. The prosecution appealed the trial set aside.
The hearing before the Appeals Court was scheduled for January of 2019. So far, I am unable to determine the outcome.
So, about 6 years with the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head. Just to get a new trial, not to be found Not Guilty or have the verdict set aside with prejudice.
Just imagine what his legal bills and bondsman’s fee are for this whole process. While the State of Washington reimburses lost wages and legal fees in self-defense cases when a Not Guilty verdict is received, that doesn’t apply if the charges are dismissed prior to a Not Guilty verdict.
What was the proximate cause of the whole incident? Going outside to investigate some sounds he heard. The platitude goes, “If you wouldn’t go there without a gun, why would you go there with a gun?”
Although I generally try to refrain from using platitudes, in this case it applies. Would he have gone over to the fight without his gun? Call 911, stay inside, and be a good witness. There is rarely any good reason for a Private Citizen to leave their home to do an investigation. The potential for a Negative Outcome is high and there is no upside for doing so.
I hated guns
My friend Ralph Mroz wrote the following in his book Defensive Shooting for Real-Life Encounters.
I hated guns (no, I’m not joking). In my mind they were for fat, lazy rednecks without the ambition or self-discipline to sweat in the dojo! Then one day, about 10 years into the [martial] arts, I had an honest conversation with myself:
“OK, you’ve got 10 years of training. You get into a fight with someone without much training or experience. What are your odds?”
“Good.”
“Right. Now this guy has training and/or experience. What’re your odds now?”
“50/50?”
“Close enough. Now there’s two guys, both without training, but mean. Odds?”
“I dunno, probably less than 50/50, in all honesty.”
“Right. Now two guys with training.”
“My odds suck.”
“One guy with a knife?”
“Oh shit!”
The conversation went on for a few more steps, but you get the idea.
The next week I was looking for a pistol…
The entire book is available for download https://thestreetstandards.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/defensive-shooting-for-real-life-encounters-text-bw1.pdf on his blog The Street Standards.
It works both ways, though. People who think that owning a gun without having any degree of physical skills are not setting themselves up for success, either.
Independence Day
Independence Day is the holiday when we in the United States of America celebrate our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776. It is probably the most significant date in our great Nation’s history. I never use the colloquial term ‘Fourth of July’ because I think it dilutes the memory of what the holiday’s meaning is.
We should keep in mind that July 4th is not the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed nor is it the date that the Founding Fathers declared our independence from the British Empire. Rather, it was the date that The Continental Congress approved the final wording of the declaration that had been decided two days earlier on July 2nd. https://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-declaration-of-independence/fourth-of-july/
Something else we should keep in mind is that Independence Day does not commemorate the start of the American Revolution. That was 14 months earlier in April of 1775 when ‘the shot heard around the world’ was fired in Lexington, Massachusetts on the 19th of April. The Battle of Lexington and two days later in Concord were the start of the American Revolution. The Battles were the result of the British Army trying to seize and destroy the Colonists’ cache of arms and ammunition. Whenever politicians try to remove weapons from the populace, it means they have something unpleasant in mind.
In political science, there still is no universally accepted definition of ‘government.’ There are indicators, though; one of the principal criteria being the ‘monopoly of force.’ In the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln said the object of the Civil War was “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.“ Using the criterion of the monopoly of force, when the people do not possess arms, we might have government OF the people and perhaps, in a benevolent autocracy, FOR the people but certainly not BY the people.
I will be shooting with friends today and I hope you will be, too. The firearm I’ll be using to commemorate the date is a Marlin Model 60, a modern day equivalent of the simple firearms many of the colonists began our Revolution with.
A sidenote about today’s post:
Vet (verify) your sources.
As part of this blog post, I wanted to include the reference to “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” from Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. I think the phrase has strong implications in the arena of the controversy of about the Right of the people to keep and bear arms.
The question has arisen as to whether Lincoln actually coined the phrase himself or whether he had another inspiration. Many generally reputable sources claim that Lincoln actually was inspired by the 1397 General Prologue to the Wycliffe1382 Bible translation from Latin to Middle English. Even the Washington Post published this theory in 2017.
A question was whether the original phrasing was ‘The Bible is for the government…’ or ‘This Bible is for the government…’ I wanted to be sure of the wording I was going to quote so I did a little research. However, in looking through several different sources of the General Prologue, I was unable to find anything remotely resembling the phrase. More research uncovered the fact that this has puzzled numerous people and no one is able to find the phrase in any reading of the General Prologue.
So the idea that Lincoln lifted the phrase from somewhere else seems to be pure poppycock that has been repeated for decades without actually being verified. In the days before we had a free and near instantaneous repository of most of the knowledge of human history, this might be forgivable. Now, there’s just no excuse for it.
Don’t be a parrot. Czech your sources. It doesn’t take long and it’s really not that difficult.
FTC note: I bought the Marlin 60 with my own money and receive no compensation for mentioning it.
tacticalprofessor 
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