Gun & Prepping News #13

 Just some articles that caught my attention for one reason or another:

• Greg Ellifritz has a new Weekend Knowledge Dump. Some of the articles include training when you use both big pistols (for competition or training) and small pistols (for concealed carry); the effective range of buckshot; 9mm+P versus .357 Magnum in snubs (spoiler: you are no better off with .357 Magnum in that short of a barrel); the "mythology of the 'bad guy'"; and more. In the latter article, the author's aim is to disabuse us that there is something observably different that you can use to tell a criminal from a anyone else. That is, there is no "mark of Cain" or bright yellow or orange stripes as nature provides as a warning sign on some insects and animals. But I would also caution that the other extreme--the general idea that "we're all just the same inside"--is also incorrect.  There is plenty of evidence concerning the difference between people that are sociopaths or psychopaths and normal people. There is also plenty of research showing that Western peoples are very different from non-Westerners in fundamental ways:
  

 In The Weirdest People in the World, Joseph Henrich says that western people are WEIRD—Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic. They tend to have certain features in common—an individualistic sense of identity and purpose, weak ties to extended family, a universal sense of morality with guilt as a means of social control, less obedience to elders and tradition, not marrying blood relatives, and more trusting of people outside your own family.  He argues that this is an unusual state of affairs in the history of the human race, as most societies were and still are what he calls ‘kin-based’. Features of kin-based societies include an overwhelmingly corporate sense of identity with strong family ties, a tendency to marrying cousins, being loyal to one’s tribe or family, using shame as a means of social punishment, distrusting people outside one’s clan, having respect for elders, and conforming to the group norms. In fact Henrich uses ‘cousin-marriage societies’ as almost an interchangeable term for kin-based societies.

• "7 Ways Good Guys Can Screw Up in Armed Self-Defense Situations"--Shooting News Weekly. The seven ways he lists are: (i) chasing, pursuing or shooting at fleeing bad guys; (ii) forgetting that the threat must be imminent (i.e., once the threat is over, you can't then deliver a coup de grace); (iii) thinking your home is your castle (i.e., thinking that you can use unreasonable force just because someone is in your house); (iv) using deadly force to defend property; (v) not keeping the proper mindset (yes, Virginia, there are evil people in the world); (vi) using force when it can be avoided; and (vii) not having an attorney present before you answer questions from the police. 
• "Ruger Expands 10/22 Line With Lightweight Models"--The Truth About Guns. Ruger has released a new lightweight model 10/22 that uses a carbon fiber wrapped barrel and a Magpul stock to bring the weight down to 3.5 lbs. 
• "Dead for Defense"--Guns & Ammo. A look at some cartridges that seemed to have a promising future when they were first introduced, but never quite seem to catch on (at least in the United States) or have lot their appeal: the .357 Sig; .327 Federal Magnum; .32 ACP; .45 GAP; .40 S&W; and .30 Super Carry. Everyone likes to dump on the .40 S&W, but there are so many in circulation that I I doubt we will see this cartridge disappear anytime soon. 
• On a related note: "Five Forgotten Self-Defense Cartridges"--Guns & Ammo. Some cartridges thought to be dead, but which the author claims are seeing a revival: .25 ACP; .32 ACP; .32 H&R Magnum; .357 Sig; and .44 S&W Special. So two of these--the .32 ACP and .357 Sig.--were also on the list of cartridges dying off. So which is it?
• "HIP GRIPS, CLIPDRAW and NPE CARRY, WITH THE DARRYL BOLKE MOUSEGUN MINDSET"--Civilian Defender. 

 It really dovetails nicely into the mission of the Civilian Defender…we aren’t raiding the castle or hunting escaped fugitives…we are just trying to live our lives and go home safely at the end of the day. Lots of people forget this! Your local police might carry a Glock 45 with a RDS, and three spare magazines on their belt. They carry that pistol and that much spare ammunition because they are ACTIVELY moving towards the sound of gunfire, and they are charged with the duty of (hopefully) opting to effect an arrest or seizure of bad guys. We aren’t doing that! And military special operations personnel are responsible for directly engaging the enemy to complete some sort of tactical objective. Thus, they carry box magazine fed weapons that allow them to achieve that goal and they don’t have to care about the same things that the Civilian Defender does. We, as responsible Civilian Defenders are charged with avoiding trouble at all costs, but when it comes to us, we launch some sort of definitive counter ambush to force the bad guys to break contact with us. We aren’t trying to apprehend them like the police do, and we aren’t trying to destroy them with overwhelming firepower like the military does. We win 100% of the fights we don’t get into, and thus it is incumbent on us to keep our eyes and ears up and open and stay one step ahead of the opposition. Our mission is different…and the MOUSEGUN MINDSET fits right into that.

• "Prepping for Trauma"--Handguns Magazine. How to be prepared for dealing with a gunshot wound including policies and procedures, equipment, and the basics of applying a tourniquet. 
• "‘Mystery volcano’ that erupted and cooled Earth in 1831 has finally been identified"--CNN. From the article: "According to the analysis, the mystery volcano was Zavaritskii (also spelled Zavaritsky) on Simushir Island, part of the Kuril Islands archipelago, an area disputed by Russia and Japan. Before the scientists’ findings, Zavaritskii’s last known eruption was in 800 BC."
  
• "Preparing for a pandemic that never came ended up setting off another − how an accidental virus release triggered 1977’s ‘Russian flu’"--The Conversation. An excerpt:

    ... Going into the 1976-77 winter season, the world waited – and prepared – for an H1N1 swine influenza pandemic that never came.

     But that wasn’t the end of the story. As an experienced infectious disease epidemiologist, I make the case that there were unintended consequences of those seemingly prudent but ultimately unnecessary preparations.

    What was odd about H1N1 Russian flu pandemic

    In an epidemiological twist, a new pandemic influenza virus did emerge, but it was not the anticipated H1N1 swine virus.

    In November 1977, health officials in Russia reported that a human – not swine – H1N1 influenza strain had been detected in Moscow. By month’s end, it was reported across the entire USSR and soon throughout the world.

    Compared with other influenzas, this pandemic was peculiar. First, the mortality rate was low, about a third that of most influenza strains. Second, only those younger than 26 were regularly attacked. And finally, unlike other newly emerged pandemic influenza viruses in the past, it failed to displace the existing prevalent H3N2 subtype that was that year’s seasonal flu. Instead, the two flu strains – the new H1N1 and the long-standing H3N2 – circulated side by side.

    Here the story takes yet another turn. Microbiologist Peter Palese applied what was then a novel technique called RNA oligonucleotide mapping to study the genetic makeup of the new H1N1 Russian flu virus. He and his colleagues grew the virus in the lab, then used RNA-cutting enzymes to chop the viral genome into hundreds of pieces. By spreading the chopped RNA in two dimensions based on size and electrical charge, the RNA fragments created a unique fingerprint-like map of spots.

     Much to Palese’s surprise, when they compared the spot pattern of the 1977 H1N1 Russian flu with a variety of other influenza viruses, this “new” virus was essentially identical to older human influenza H1N1 strains that had gone extinct in the early 1950s.

    So, the 1977 Russian flu virus was actually a strain that had disappeared from the planet a quarter century early, then was somehow resurrected back into circulation. This explained why it attacked only younger people – older people had already been infected and become immune when the virus circulated decades ago in its earlier incarnation.

    But how did the older strain come back from extinction?

The author doesn't point fingers at any particular country--it was called the Russian Flu simply because that is where it was first detected. But it could have been the result of research by any country with sufficient facilities.