From the Daily Mail: "Violence erupts between right and left-wing protesters in Spanish city days after socialist government approved plans to give 500,000 migrants legal status." But is not all: "Immigration offices across the country this week threatened to strike next week in protest at Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's mass amnesty program for undocumented migrants."
Friday, April 17, 2026
VIDEO: Ideas For An SPR Setup
The YouTuber that made this video had apparently released an earlier video about creating a lightweight SPR style rifle which was (sans scope) supposed to cost less than $1,000. But there were some things he did not like about the set up. This video goes over what he changed to make it more usable and changes to the scope.
VIDEO: "The 2026 Civil Defense SPR. What Changed?"
Black Flag Civilian (15 min.)
Strait of Hormuz Open ... For Now
The New York Post reports that the "Strait of Hormuz ‘completely open’ as Trump celebrates tumbling oil prices, says Iran removing all sea mines." From the article:
Iran’s foreign minister announced Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is now “completely open” for all commercial ships — as President Trump said the US would take all of Tehran’s leftover nuclear fuel.
“In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire,” Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a post to X.
The cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon went into place on Friday and is scheduled to last 10 days.
President Trump is also indicating that Iran will be turning over all of its enriched uranium.
Update: Now that the U.S. has forced Iran to lift its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the UK Prime Minister announced a "joint plan with France and other international partners to protect freedom of navigation" without tolls or restrictions on routes. However, that hasn't sit very well with President Trump, who has warned them to "stay away". While Iran has agreed to let ships sail through the Strait, the U.S. blockade of ships traveling to or from Iran remains in place until a full and final deal is reached with Iran.
Weekend Reading #52
Some longer and more involved reading for the weekend:
- "Handgun Ergonomics" by Karl Rehn. Earlier this week, Greg Ellifritz collected blog posts from firearms trainers that had attended and/or presented at Tac Con 2026 (link here). One of these was from Karl Rehn who essentially published his presentation on handgun ergonomics. He looks at both grip strength and hand size, including length of the trigger finger. And he acknowledges something that almost sounds like heresy: the Glock 19 is not the best gun for everyone. In fact, he states:
In an earlier era, the single stack 1911 pistol, with its skinnier frame and shorter trigger reach, actually fit more shooters better than the “everyone must have a Glock 19” approach that followed the end of the 1911 era in training.
From his research and experience, he has broken down trigger finger length into 4 general categories with associated firearms that would work for that person:
XL – 3.50″ or longer – any gun
L – 3.25-3.50 – Glock 17/19 or similar
M – 3.00-3.25 – Glock 48, Hellcat Pro, Shield X, SIG 365, 1911
S – less than 3.00 – EZ 380, Springfield EMP, S&W Shield, Glock 42, S&W Bodyguard and others
Most of the “Small” guns end up being single stack .380s, because the shorter cartridge length of the .380 results in a shorter trigger reach. I see a LOT of students show up for class with Glock 19 sized guns who really need the medium sized guns due to hand size.
It is a detailed article, so be sure to read all of it. And he has a Part 2 that discusses ergonomics and manipulation.
- Jon Low has a new Defensive Pistolcraft newsletter. Lots of links, excerpts and commentary as always. Something to keep in mind:
Email from Joe Shahoud --
I just watched a guy break into a house in 12 seconds.
He didn't pick the lock. Didn't kick down the door. Didn't even try.
He walked up to the front door, smashed the little glass window next to it, and reached inside to unlock the deadbolt. All that money spent on fancy locks? Useless. See, most people think about securing their doors. They buy expensive deadbolts. They use longer screws. They do all sorts of stuff to make their door harder to break down. But they completely ignore the glass.
And here's the thing . . . thousands of homes have glass right next to their front door. Side lights. Glass inserts. Windows within arm's reach of the lock. It's like putting a steel door on a paper wall.
So what's the solution? Security film. It's a clear film that goes on your windows and makes them nearly impossible to break through quickly. Even if someone hits it with a hammer, it holds together.
I had this stuff installed on my house after doing some research. Found out 3M makes the best stuff. Got it done by a local company called Mr. Tint. Now my glass windows are actually secure.
If you've got glass near your door (and most people do), you might want to look into this. Especially if you have one of those smart locks that unlocks from the inside. Because what's the point of a smart lock if someone can just reach through broken glass to unlock it? Not very smart, right?
All this said, of course it's a no-brainer to have a deadbolt without a thumb turn knob if you can. This way there's nothing to unlock if they break the glass.
One of the common links between Greg's Tac Con 2026 post, above, and Jon's newsletter was on tactical anatomy was a piece by Jacob S. Paulsen discussing the importance of tactical anatomy--where to shoot to stop a threat--because it is not enough to just shoot center of mass. Jon offers his own thoughts:
My recommendations:
To the front of the head - the center of the triangle defined by the eyes and nose (cranial-ocular). Because the eyes are soft and the bone behind the eyes is thin, and the nose is soft cartilage and there is no hard bone behind the nose.
To the side of the head - ear hole (external auditory meatus) or the neck (carotid artery, vagus nerve, spinal column).
To the back of the head - spinal column at the base of the skull.
The skull is the hardest strongest bone in the body. It is unlikely that you will penetrate it with pistol bullets. So you must shoot through an existing hole.
To the front of the torso - the center of the triangle defined by the nipples and notch at the top of the sternum (high thoracic). Or you can think of it as the intersection of the center line of the body and the line connecting the armpits.
To the side of the torso - the armpit (which means your bullet may need to penetrate the upper arm, that's why your self-defense ammo is +P and designed to defeat barriers).
To the back of the torso - the spinal column between the shoulder blades.
If the bad guy is wearing body armor and helmet with ballistic face shield, consider the neck below the helmet / face shield and above the body armor, the inboard side of the arms (brachial arteries), inboard side of the thighs (femoral arteries).
From below, consider inside the jaw and up into the brain, or inside the pelvic girdle and up into the torso.
If you know what to aim for, you will aim carefully for that target. If you don't know, you'll be spraying and praying. Because you won't be able to figure it out during combat, no matter how good your medical training. I recognize and appreciate your medical school, internship, residency, and post grad work. But you still need to think about your targets ahead of time, decide, and practice (visualize, dry practice). Otherwise, you won't be able to execute under stress.
It helps to use anatomical targets for your practice showing the location of the spine and vital organs. I use the ones offered by Sage Dynamics which show the vital information without being so detailed that they are distracting. When printing on standard 8.5 x 11 inch paper, the thoracic vitals target should be touching the bottom of the cranial vault target. Unfortunately, they don't offer targets showing the anatomy from the side. But Kit Badger has some basic black and white ones from the (left) side that are available for download for free.
And speaking of free of charge, Jon notes:
American Rifleman and American Hunter are now online free of charge.
These aren't the web-sites, but electronic versions of the physical magazines. It is not uncommon for articles available on the websites to be shorter or leave out photos or text from the print editions, so this is nice to have.
And be sure to check out the detailed instructions Jon gives on cleaning your handgun (or other firearms) and magazines.
- Greg Ellifritz has a new "Weekend Knowledge Dump" at his Active Response Training blog. You will note that he has reposted the "Handgun Ergonomics" article listed above because he thinks it is so important--so if you skipped it, go back and read it. And some others that caught my attention in particular:
- Massad Ayoob goes over the issue of carrying more ammo noting that the risk has changed: larger groups of criminals working together; more criminals using bullet resistant vests; the doped up criminal; and criminals better trained or experienced on tactics and use of cover. Something I saw FerFal discuss in his book, The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse, was that certain people because of their wealth or jobs are more likely to attacks by organized groups, e.g., a courier who transports valuables (jewelry or cash), or a wealthy person targeted by kidnappers, and that they will need to carry more ammunition than the average person whose biggest threat might be a street mugging.
- An article with tips shooting with your "weak" hand.
- An article on the utility of using a stout walking stick in defending against an aggressive dog. While it lacks the mass of a good wooden walking stick, the lightweight hiking pole can also be used to fend off a dog, although it would make a poor club if more force were required. Pepper spray can be effective although it suffers many of the same problems against dogs as bear spray against bears.
- The article on situational awareness that motivated Greg's article on why keeping your head on a swivel was stupid.
- And now for something completely different: "New Measurement Deepens the Mystery of 'Hubble Tension,' Suggesting Physics We Don’t Understand"--The Debrief. An excerpt:
The findings, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, place the expansion rate at about 45.7 miles (73km) per second for every 3.26 million light-years. The uncertainty is just over 1%, making it one of the tightest constraints ever achieved.
What makes that result striking is not just its precision. It also reinforces a mystery that refuses to go away. Measurements of the nearby Universe continue to show a faster expansion rate than predictions based on the early Universe. The gap has now grown too large to dismiss as a simple calibration error or statistical fluke.
Instead, the consistency of these independent measurements increasingly points to the conclusion that the standard model of cosmology is missing a key piece of the puzzle, whether that involves the behavior of dark energy, unknown particles, or even subtle changes to the laws of gravity themselves.
Nature Selecting For Red Heads
From Live Science: "'Human evolution didn't slow down; we were just missing the signal': Large DNA study reveals natural selection led to more redheads and less male-pattern baldness." From the lede:
Over the past 10,000 years, evolution in West Eurasia has been selecting for light skin, red hair and resistance to HIV and leprosy in humans, according to a new study.
Many leaders in the ancient and classical world were red heads: e.g., Ramesses II (Ramses the Great), Queen Tiye (the wife of Amenhotep III and mother of Akhenaten), Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, many of the Roman officials and emperors, King David of Israel, etc.
Cue The World's Smallest Violin
"A Venezuelan family followed the rules to enter the U.S. After being arrested and detained for a month, they’re leaving."--Texas Tribune. Making an appointment under Biden's CBP One cellphone application was not following the rules--it was taking advantage of an illegal program intended to bypass existing laws and rules.
Army Receives First Shipment Of XM8 Carbines
The Firearm Blog reports that the Army has received its first batch of XM8 carbines, although the number of carbines received has not been disclosed. However, the article states that "the Army has now confirmed that 'the XM8 Carbine is set to replace the M4A1 carbine for Soldiers in the Close Combat Force.'" "Close Combat Force" refers primarily to infantry, cavalry scouts, and combat engineers--the very people that were supposed to get the M7. Thus, it sounds like the M7 is on the way out and the XM8 will be issued instead. The article also mentions that the Army has been referring to its optic for the weapon as the "M157" rather than the "XM157" suggesting that it has officially been adopted.
Ayoob On Cross Draw Carry
Massad Ayoob discusses cross draw carry of handguns. The first half of the video goes over the history of cross draw carry from the early handguns, to the cowboy, and its use by law enforcement into the 1970s. Starting about the 6:15 mark, he transitions into why you might want to consider cross draw carry today specifically mentioning helping relieve sciatic back pain, that it may be easier to draw for people with limited range of motion in the shoulder, or ease of access from a seated position. Finally, he discusses different cross draw positions because, just like strong side hip, there are different places you might place your holster.
Some of the reasons mentioned by Ayoob for using cross draw were reasons that I've used cross draw at times: primarily relieving right sided sciatica and easier access because much of my time is sitting, either at a desk at my job or sitting in a car while commuting.
VIDEO: "Cross-Draw Setup: The Concealed Carry Most People Get Wrong"
Massad Ayoob - Facts and Firearms (11 min.)
Thursday, April 16, 2026
TFB Has More About The New S&W Bodyguard 2.0 Revolver
Article here. It has pricing as well as noting that there is the option for picking one up with a factory installed laser aiming module.
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