Gun & Prepping News #100

Some links that may be of interest: 

• "Mexico’s Government Funds Gun Grabbing Group"--Battleswarm Blog. Noting that "[t]he organization, Global Action on Gun Violence, has documented connections to Democratic lawmakers. It featured Rep. Dan Goldman in a gun-trafficking discussion⁠ promoted in its May and June 2025 newsletters and endorsed legislation backed by prominent Senate Democrats."
• "Evaluation of Defense Shooting Skills"--The Tactical Wire.  Rich Grassi explains:

    If your only assessment is the state qual course and you do that 1-to-4 times a year, does that really make you qualified? It does check a box, but it’s a minimum standard. The scoring area is vastly larger than it should be, the time you’re allowed is too long and, on the whole, judgement and discretion are never evaluated. 

    So how would a different shooting course help? 

    It’s an attempt to measure basic needed skills with a time constraint as well as allowing the instructor to evaluate gun handling – a critical aspect of the job. 

    The 5x5 classifier can be downloaded as a pdf here. It doesn’t have to be the IDPA 5x5 classifier, that’s just an example. 

• "Practice on the Indoor Range"--The Shooting Wire. The author goes over what he did when he wasn't able to use his regular outdoor range:

    The first trip saw use of the Ruger Mark IV Target; 5.5” bull barrel, metallic sights, the rear adjustable for elevation and windage. The gun has Hogue, Inc. “G-Mascus Green” G10 stocks in place of the factory stocks. Otherwise, there are no modifications.

    The ammunition I selected, based on concerns about indoor ranges and lead ammunition, was CCI CLEAN-22.  While it’s geared more to prevent barrel fouling and making a suppressor easier to clean, I reasoned that it could be a bit more healthy than uncoated lead projectiles. 

    I’m still careful to make use of hand cleaning wipes that are made to remove contamination of this sort. 

    Using a B-8 repair center for each segment, I’d shoot a pair of stages right-handed, replace the target and shoot a pair left-handed. 

    When trying to learn a physical skill like shooting, it’s good to work “mirror image” to get back to being a complete duffer and to iron out bad habits. 

• "The 'Lost' Art of Revolver Reloading"--Guns Magazine. Brent Wheat not only gives detailed instructions on how to do speed reloads for revolvers, but also explains why to use the left hand to hold the revolver when doing so. The article also covers the different between speed reloads (i.e., when speed matters like in combat or competition and using speed loaders), tactical reloads (i.e., removing spent cartridges and replacing them from speed strips or loose rounds), and an administrative reload (when time is not a concern). Explaining why to use the left hand to hold the revolver:

    A revolver cylinder is a floppy thing when it isn’t locked into the frame. On a square range, with your feet planted and your hands working exactly as you command, it’s not much of a problem. But a defensive reload may happen while you’re moving, running, fighting or ‘merely’ trying to keep your balance on a loose, slippery or uneven surface. I can also guarantee you’ll be dealing with an adrenaline dump that might leave your hands shaking like a toy poodle on meth. Now you’ve got to line up a half-dozen fresh cartridges with a cylinder that is moving around at the end of your arm.

     You might be able to get a finger into the cylinder opening to stabilize it — or you might not, because keeping a semblance of a firing grip makes it awkward. Worse, the cylinder could even relatch itself while you’re trying to get everything lined up.

    This is also why the support-side reload was traditionally taught to police officers back in those days when we rode dinosaurs on patrol. It wasn’t because somebody decided it was the fashionable way to reload a revolver; instead, hard-won trial and error proved the technique provided a more stable platform for manipulating the gun under less-than-ideal circumstances.

• "Minimizing Defensive Shotgun Recoil"--Shoot-On.  The tips include (i) using reduced recoil rounds (although the author specifically recommends against using mini-shells); (ii) using a stock that properly fits you and has a recoil pad; (iii) use a gas-operated shotgun; and (iv) adding a recoil reduction system to your stock.
• Going from something with heavy recoil with something quite a bit less: "The Defensive .32 ACP – The Ammo"--The Truth About Guns. A couple tips. First, the author advises avoiding hollow-point ammunition for a couple reasons: (i) if the bullet expands, it will slow it down enough that you lose too much penetration; and (ii) the shorter overall length makes it more likely you will experience "rim lock". Second, he recommends sticking to European ammunition, explaining:

    The American SAAMI standard for .32 ACP specifies a maximum average pressure of 20,500 PSI. The European CIP standard is higher, at roughly 23,200 PSI. That doesn’t mean every European load is automatically hotter, but it does give European manufacturers more room to load the cartridge toward that higher pressure limit.

    If you’re using a European pistol designed for European .32 ACP, it might malfunction with the weaker American stuff. With that said, my various European-designed surplus .32s haven’t had any problems with American-spec .32 ACP from Remington or Aguila.  

    There is another reason I like the European-loaded .32 ACP. It has a much more aggressive bevel near the rim and a deep groove for the extractor. The aggressive bevel acts more like a ramp, helping prevent rimlock and improving extraction. 

• "The Shaw .350 Legend: A Custom AR With a Hometown Touch"--The Truth About Guns. An interesting build for an AR intended for deer hunting, including some product recommendations and using a wood butt stock and pistol grip.  
• "5.11 Tactical Double Pistol Case Review: Protecting Your Investment"--Gat Daily.  The author relates:

    ... It’s designed to carry two handguns along with spare magazines and accessories. The case is 8.75 inches high, 11 inches long, and 3.5 inches deep, which makes it big enough for full sized service pistols. It’s still relatively compact though and would fit inside a patrol bag, ruck or larger range bag. The case is made from 1050D nylon and is fully padded to help protect your firearms during transport.

    Each pistol has its own zippered compartment, and there are three elastic magazine loops on the outside of each compartment. 5.11 uses lockable YKK zippers that open on three sides so the case lays flat on the shooting bench, making it easy to get to your gear. Reinforced grab handles are provided for carry There’s also a name tape panel on the outside, although its a smooth strip so I don’t really know how that works. Maybe write on it with a paint pen? The double pistol case is available in gray or black and has an MSRP of only $40. It’s on sale for $30 on 5.11’s site at the time I’m writing this. 

• "How to Disappear | Modern Escape & Evasion"--Bone Tactical.  He has fifteen (15) rules or tips for disappearing. The first two of these:

    First, assess your situation. Who are you getting away from—and why? Is it an abusive ex, online harassment, a business rebrand, or you just need a hard reset? Rank the threat: capability, reach, motivation, resources, and timeline. If it’s criminal danger, consider involving an attorney and—where appropriate—law enforcement or a victims’ advocate group. If it’s reputational heat, you’re playing a different game. Hopefully you won’t have multiple governments and organized crime after you like I did but stay tuned for the full playbook either way. Step one is to identify the problem before you try to solve it.

    Second, assess your resources and skills. Disappearing means transition, and transitions incur costs. Cash buys time. Skills buy options. Can you work with your hands? Build? Fix? Cook? Drive? Speak another language? The more value you can offer quietly and locally, the less you need to advertise yourself to survive. If money is tight, lean on skills. If skills are thin, learn fast.

He also has some warnings of how people mess this up, including:

Let’s talk about mistakes that get people burned. Breaking routine to chase fun in high-signal places. Oversharing because loneliness bites. Letting anger write checks your freedom can’t cash. Reconnecting with the same crowd that caused the problem. Slipping back into old usernames, old numbers, old patterns. The little compromises add up. Don’t feed the trail. 

• "How Long Can You Store Water? The Ultimate Safety Guide"--SHTF Preparedness. According to the author, "[c]ommercially bottled water, when sealed and kept in a cool, dark place, can remain safe almost indefinitely, while stored tap water is typically recommended to be rotated every 6 to 12 months." But the type of material for the storage container, the environment that the water is stored in, and handling (or mishandling) can effect how long it can be stored. For instance, if a water container is opened, there is always the risk of introducing contaminants which might encourage bacterial or algae growth. 
• "How to Stay Warm Indoors When the Power’s Out (& It’s Freezing Outside)"--More Than Just Surviving. Obviously, if you have alternate methods of heating, you will have an easier time than someone with more limited options. For instance, I have both a large kerosene heater and a carousel fireplace in a relatively small house, so I know from experience that I can keep my home comfortable even in the coldest of weather if, for some reason, the central heating fails. But what if you don't have these advantages? The primary point from the article is forget about trying to heat your entire residence, but instead focus on keeping a small area warm:

    If everybody’s in one room with the door closed and that room has got as many blankets, jackets, coats, pets, and whatever else you have at home to keep y’all as warm as possible, you’re going to have a lot easier of a time trying to stay warm by comparison to trying to heat multiple rooms.

    When it comes to sleeping, you don’t need to share a bed if you don’t want to, but if it’s not something you mind, why not? If you’re not into sharing a bed, drag extra mattresses or sofa cushions into your room of choice and have everyone sleep separately, but by being in the same room, you’re making sure none of your individual bodies’ heat production is going to waste – it’s helping to keep the room warm.

And if you don't have alternative heating methods, the author recommends that you go further and set up a tent in your "warm room" to further make it easier to keep an area warm. He also recommends staying in sub-zero rated sleeping bags and lining your tent with Mylar emergency blankets. He has some other tips, so be sure to read the whole thing. 

• Civilizational collapse: "You Don’t Realize How Far L.A. Has Fallen Until You Come Back"--PJ Media. An excerpt:

    I wrote in January about how, after moving out of L.A., where I lived for the first 30 years of my life, I've been able to see the city's decline more clearly whenever I go back for family visits or appointments every few months. I noted that "just as friends who haven’t seen your kids for a while recognize how much they’ve grown — much more than you, who are with them every day — whenever I drive into Los Angeles once every couple of months, the deterioration of the city is more evident. Many parts truly feel third-world."

    In that article, I focused on L.A.'s homelessness crisis, which can be seen under freeway underpasses, in city parks, and even in reports of homeless people getting into strangers' cars to sleep. This is not only visually disturbing but also anxiety-inducing. You never know how dangerous a homeless person might be, whether high on meth or suffering from severe mental illness. 

[snip]

    Comedian Bridget Phetasy, who recently returned to Los Angeles after years away, described a similar sensation to the one I feel upon returning: "It's like when you see someone and they've, you know, lost a lot of weight and they don't see it because they see themself every day and you see them and you're like, whoa. Right. That's how it feels."

    Phetasy used the word "unsettling" to describe "how much commercial real estate is empty." And she chose as an example a place where I spent many a happy day in both my childhood and young adulthood: Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. The three pedestrian-only blocks were a favorite destination for so many in the '90s who wanted to catch a movie, grab dinner, shop, or watch street performers. 

    A California Post report earlier this year noted that the Promenade’s vacancy rate is now 25% and that the popularity of the destination began to decline because of the homelessness crisis, then fell further during COVID and the looting inspired by the “Summer of Love” following George Floyd’s death. 

The 5th Generation Invasion Of Europe

Matt Bracken (h/t Vox Day) discusses "The 5th Generation Warfare Invasion of Europe." He begins by noting how the West is still fighting its enemies primarily using traditional mass warfare which rely on bases and supply points that are vulnerable to attacks from missiles and drones. But he suggests that Islam is doing something quite different:

    On the other hand, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom are being invaded by entire “divisions” of fighting-age men from hostile nations, many being driven and motivated by a religion based on violent conquest. (~10,000 troops = one division.)

    But they are not assembling the way Western military thinkers are accustomed to seeing. There are no bases full of armed men in uniforms, marching with weapons and maneuvering in military vehicles, getting ready to board ships in North Africa or the Middle East. 

    No, the foreign future fighters are being infiltrated into Europe 10 or 100 at a time, “flying below the radar” of conventional military doctrine. Unseen and apparently unnoticed by European leaders. While Macron and Bernham discuss sending their own conventional military forces to Saudi Arabia, their own nations are being invaded.

    The most difficult part of this 5th Gen invasion is transporting entire future brigades and divisions of men, without rousing local fear and anger to the boiling point. Not only must the invasion force be transported across Europe to the English Channel, then provided with dinghies so they can be “rescued” by the traitorous RNLI, they must be continuously fed and housed in former hotels and on military bases. This “troop deployment” is being done in plain sight, finally raising considerable local resentment and resistance.

    But make no mistake, when the time is right, probably when nationalist anger results in politicians being elected who are serious about forced “remigration” on a massive scale, then their guns will come out. Compared to transporting, housing and feeding tens of thousands of fighting-age men, arming them will trivial. 2,000 AK-47s will fit in a 20-foot container that can roll down any street on a tip-off truck to be delivered and stored anywhere. Unlike 2,000 men, these containers can sit patiently for years.

    When the time comes, the men won’t need military training. Many already have combat experiences in their own wars, and in any event, a man with an IQ above 80 can be shown how to load and fire an AK-47 in a matter of minutes. Their accuracy won’t matter, not at close range against helpless unarmed victims.

    Bands armed with such weapons, in nations with unarmed populations, will rampage like rabid wolves among tame sheep. Local police and even militaries will be overwhelmed. These armed bands will be able to commandeer cars and buses at will for transportation. Who will stop them?

When that day arrives, it will be bloody, but it may not be as clear cut as Bracken suggests. 

    In 2012, J.D. Tuccille published an article at Reason Magazine entitled, "Gun Restrictions Have Always Bred Defiance, Black Markets." The point of the article was how ridiculous, yet ineffectual, were New York's restrictions on people legally obtaining firearms. But he also noted this:

In fact, New York City's situation with guns is mirrored in Europe, where countries with tight restrictions also find themselves awash in illegal firearms without any clear parallels for the relatively liberal laws of Virginia or South Carolina to blame. According to the Small Arms Survey (PDF) at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland:

Contrary to widely-accepted national myths, public gun ownership is commonplace in most European states. It may appear to some outside observers—especially Americans—that Europeans have blindly surrendered their gun rights (Heston, 2002). The reality is that the citizens of most European countries are better armed than they realize. …

Regulations tightly control gun ownership in only a few European countries like the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom. In much of the rest of the continent, public officials readily admit that unlicensed owners and unregistered guns greatly outnumber legal ones. …

"Greatly outnumber?" Just how greatly?

Well, says the Small Arms Survey, a research outfit established by the Swiss government, the United Kingdom, with just shy of 1.8 million legal firearms, has about four million illegal guns. Belgium, with about 458,000 legal firearms, has roughly two million illegal guns. In Germany, the number is 7.2 million legal guns and between 17 and 20 million off-the-books examples of things that go "bang" (a figure with which the German Police Union very publicly agrees). France, says the Survey, has 15-17 million unlawful firearms in a nation where 2.8 million weapons are held in compliance with the law.

Even those numbers may understate the case. While the 2003 Small Arms Survey report put the number of legal guns in Greece at 805,000 and illegal guns at 350,000, just two years later, the Greek government itself nudged those figures up, just a tad, to one million legal guns and 1.5 million illegal ones.

So New Yorkers aren't alone in being armed to the teeth outside the law.

It's not that governments haven't tried to grab those guns. One government after another has implemented schemes for registration, licensing, and even confiscation. But those programs have met with … less than universal respect.

In a white paper on the results of gun control efforts around the world, Gun Control and the Reduction of the Number of Arms, Franz Csaszar, a professor of criminology at the University of Vienna, Austria, wrote, "non-compliance with harsher gun laws is a common event."

Dr. Csaszar estimates compliance with Australia's 1996 ban on self-loading rifles and pump-action shotguns at 20 percent.

And even that underwhelming estimate gives the authorities the benefit of the doubt. Three years after Australia's controversial ban was implemented, when 643,000 weapons had been surrendered, Inspector John McCoomb, the head of the state of Queensland's Weapons Licensing Branch, told The Sunday Mail, "About 800,000 (semi-automatic and automatic) SKK and SKS weapons came in from China back in the 1980s as part of a trade deal between the Australian and Chinese governments. And it was estimated that there were 1.2 million semi-automatic Ruger 10/22s in the country. That's about 2 million firearms of just two types in the country."

Do the math. Two million illegal firearms of just two types, and only 643,000 guns of all types were surrendered …

Tolkien wrote that "evil will oft evil mar" and it may prove the case here. Right now, the Muslims are on track to replace the Europeans by dint of out reproducing them. But if the Muslims were to actually take up arms as suggested by Bracken, that would result in an immediate and probably violent backlash--a type of "The Beginnings," for those familiar with Kipling's poem. The powers that be don't want that because it would upset their grift. But it is likely necessary for the European peoples to survive. 

RPG Saturday: Beginning Adventures for Call of Cthulhu

Seth Skorkowsky has reviewed a lot of Call of Cthulhu adventures over the years, but in this video he finally gives a brief run down of what he considers to be the best published adventures for new players and/or referees, plus a couple runner-ups. That is, these are not necessarily the best Call of Cthulhu adventures overall, but are ones that he considers good ones for introducing players to the game and setting. As you might expect, a few of these have shown up as introductory adventures in the rule books or starter sets over the years.  

As a spoiler, though, his #1 pick is an adventure entitled "The Dare" which uses a rules-lite system apparently intended for kids (which rules are included in the adventure booklet). The adventure, itself, is set in the 1980s, with the players taking on the roles of kids that are dared to stay overnight in a haunted house. The adventure was first published in 1996--and that appears to be the version that Skorkowsky discusses--but there is an updated version based on the latest edition of Call of Cthulhu (the 7th edition) available on Drive-Thru RPG either as a PDF or print-on-demand (which you can currently purchase as a bundle with the PDF for no extra cost over just buying the physical copy). I also see that there is a similar adventure set in the same series entitled "The Horror" which takes place at a kid's summer camp. "The Horror" is available individually as a PDF through Drive-Thru RPG or as a PDF bundle with "The Dare". 

The main advantage to these is likely the simpler character creation and limited skills--the characters are just kids so it's not like they are going to have a detailed background or huge list of available skills--which will make it easier for the players to figure out what to do without being overwhelmed with all the options in the full rule set. My oldest son runs a gaming group and, as a change from the normal D&D, had tried a Call of Cthulhu adventure; and he commented to me that the players seemed to struggle with the busy character sheet and all the options they needed to track on top of it being a different game system. Thus, it seems to make sense to have one or two adventures using a rules-lite system as an introduction to both the genre and the rules. 

That said, the core rule books (for whatever edition) generally include one or two very short, but simple adventures, and the starter set generally includes a longer introductory adventure.  

VIDEO: "Top 5 Beginner-Friendly Adventures - Call of Cthulhu"
Seth Skorkowsky (19 min.) 

More Winning As Trump Removes Funding To Help Illegal Aliens

The New York Post reports that "Trump cancels nearly $1B in funding for illegal immigrants and race-focused programs in new ‘pocket’ rescission," when he ordered the cancellation of $810 million in congressionally appropriated funding which was unspent and deemed unneeded. The article indicates that this is only the second pocket rescission in the past 49 years. Among the items cut:

• $567 million appropriated for HHS to provide social services to illegal aliens, including through grants to non-government organizations.
• $70 million allocated to fellowships and grants for foreign academics and students in the US. 
• $56 million earmarked for a Department of Housing and Urban Development program for outside organizations that provide housing counseling, "which instead allegedly fueled 'DEI-centric' agendas of Democrat-linked racial advocacy groups such as UnidosUS and the National Urban League."
• $25 million allocated to a Department of Education migrant students initiative, "which funded organizations that allegedly encouraged participants to avoid law enforcement."
• $15 million from a DHS program that subsidized cultural orientation, healthcare and legal advice for illegal aliens and asylum seekers, along with $10 million from a separate DHS program funding legal services for illegal aliens. 

This will likely spawn lawsuits from various traitors and grifters.  

Another Leftist Lie About Guns Debunked

A persistent lie from the Left is that 99% of women with guns will be disarmed and the firearm used against them. But in "The '99 Percent' Myth About Women and Their Guns," the author digs into the statistics. The most relevant portion:

    The best place to look for this kind of question is the National Crime Victimization Survey, or NCVS. It’s the country’s main source for how often people get hit by crime, paid for by the Bureau of Justice Statistics within the Department of Justice and run by the Census Bureau. The survey doesn’t just count crimes reported to police. Researchers gather accounts straight from those who were victimized, covering incidents whether or not police ever heard about them, plus facts such as the victim’s gender, any weapons that came into play, and whether the person was hurt.

    A study in the Journal of Criminal Justice by Lawrence Southwick — “Self-defense with guns: The consequences” — analyzed that NCVS data to see what happened when crime victims tried to defend themselves. Southwick’s core finding on women is that women who resisted an attack without a gun were about four times more likely to be seriously injured than women who resisted with a gun. Slone’s own read of the Southwick data goes a step further: among women who used a firearm defensively, she calculates that 98.75 percent were not injured, for an injury rate of just 1.25 percent.  

So, as usual, the Left have inverted the facts: it being that 99% of women who use a gun defensively will not be injured.  

The Male Pelvis Is Especially Adapted To Bipedal Locomotion

The article, "The Wonders of the Male Human Pelvis," discusses research analyzing and comparing 91 modern human pelvises (both men and women) and two Neanderthal pelvises, noting that the modern male pelvis has some unique features from the Neanderthal or female pelvises:

    Walking has been described as a series of controlled falls. When you walk, you destabilize your center of gravity, then interrupt an embarrassing trip to the ground by swinging your leg forward to catch yourself, and so on. During these controlled falls, your body drops downward, which both stresses your joints and requires energy to recover from. 

    Per the team, the unique architecture of the human male pelvis means we do a better job of dealing with both of these issues. Because our legs are positioned slightly more forward, our quads both absorb the shock of stepping and spring our bodies back upward. This more energy efficient gait may give men an advantage over long distances. Because they were constrained by the demands of childbirth, women’s pelvises weren’t able to develop these modifications, researchers say. 

VIDEO: Houses In Ancient Egypt

An interesting video describing three common types of houses found in ancient Egypt (and remaining relatively unchanged up to the Roman period). The three are: (i) small row houses built for workers and craftsman; (ii) a town house; and (iii) a rural or suburban home for the wealthy. 

VIDEO: "ANCIENT EGYPT HOUSING: How a house revealed your place in society"
The Order of Architecture (11 min.)

Weekend Reading #74

Some longer or more involved reading:

• For those interested in gun and self-defense topics, Greg Ellifritz has a new Weekend Knowledge Dump available. Some of the links that caught my attention in particular:
• First up, it looks like Trump has come through again with the DOJ now taking the position that the ban on the sales of handguns to 18-20 year olds being unconstitutional. This is a great start to nibbling away at the Gun Control Act of 1968.
• A piece from SWAT Magazine on lubricating the AR.
• A video from Spyderco with advice for left handed people (some 10% of the population) about selecting and making use of folding knives with, obviously, an emphasis on Spyderco products. 
• Just because I have posted about this topic in the past, a Q&A with Giles Stock about the Scout Rifle and what Cooper intended. Interestingly, he recommends against anyone trying to custom build one today "as the Steyr Scout does it better out of the box."
• A great article from Guns Magazine on the use and practicality of using a strobing flashlight, including the history of the strobing technique. Notably, the original technique was not built around a strobing light; rather, it was two or more officers taking turns to quickly turn on and off a flashlight to distract a suspect while allowing the other officer to move. 
• A video with tips on hardening your doors.
• A couple articles on the importance of concealed carry guns needing to be truly concealed--i.e., no printing or inadvertently peeking out at times. 
• Attaining combat accuracy, with "a good standard to aim for; 4" group at 25 yds with a pistol and 4 MOA at either 100 or 200 yds. with your carbine."
• And an article that argues that locked classroom doors don't have any effect on reducing the number of victims killed in school shootings and may actually make things worse, with the author noting:

    During the two high fatality school shootings of the past decade, lockdowns and locked doors made the situation worse. In Parkland, students were trapped in the hallways with the gunman because they couldn’t get back into their classrooms after the doors locked behind them.

    In Uvalde, students and staff who were following lockdown procedures instead of evacuating from the campus were hit by bullets that went through the walls and doors. Just the idea that the classroom door was locked cause police officers to wait outside for more than an hour. 

There's more, so be sure to read the whole thing. Also, Greg has a recent post linking to some free (at the time, at least) Kindle e-books from Amazon.  

• "Cheap Prosperity Or A Logistics Trick? Time Will Tell."--Wilder, Wealthy & Wise.  A look at supply chains and fragility. For instance, John points out:

Right now, gasoline and diesel demand are dropping because their costs are going up in a painful way.  This is impacting the cost of every physical good, from water to steak, and not in the good way.  There are only two results from this situation:

1.     Recession, or,
2.     Inflation.

We have gone far beyond the time when politicians will allow a recession.  At any sign of those, the money printer goes brrrrrrrrr.  The result?  Huge inflation in things like wheat in poor countries, which leads to revolutions and uprisings.  People can’t eat, governments can’t govern.  

• A brand new report from Pew Research: "Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S." An excerpt:

    Several of Pew Research Center’s surveys dating back to 2007 have found that Latter-day Saints are, on average, among the most religious adults in America.

    For example, about seven-in-ten Latter-day Saints surveyed in the Center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS) say that religion is very important in their lives. This is roughly on par with evangelical Protestants and members of historically Black Protestant churches – and far higher than the shares of U.S. Catholics (44%), Jews (27%) and Buddhists (21%) who say religion is very important to them.

    Latter-day Saints also have remained overwhelmingly attached to the Republican Party over the past several decades. About three-quarters of the church’s members identify as Republican or lean toward the Republican Party, as of 2023-24.1 Previous Center surveys conducted in 2007, 2011 and 2014 also found that Latter-day Saints were, on the whole, among the country’s most politically conservative groups when asked about their ideology.

    Amid these signs of stability, however, are indications of change within the church. ...

Some of the areas of change noted in the article is that the Church--in the U.S.--is becoming more ethnically diverse, slightly less religious, and "modestly" more liberal. However, some of the declines stopped over the past 5 years. 

VIDEO: Old School Street Fighting Techniques

Techniques of distraction, deception, and surprise--things to look for, or perhaps even use.  

 VIDEO: "7 OLD-SCHOOL Street Fight Tricks That Still Work"
Fight SCIENCE (6 min.)

Canada's Cost Cutting Measures

"Assisted suicides now makes up more than 1 in 10 deaths in parts of Canada — and rates are rising," reports the New York Post. In some areas, it is even higher: "Lanaudière — a mountainous region of Quebec just north of Montreal — had 13.4% of its deaths come from Canada’s medical assistance in dying program (MAID) in 2025, official records showed." 

This Is The Future If Dems Win The Mid-Terms

Being a bar that caters to mentally unhinged, woke leftists is not a good business model per this New York Post article, “Massachusetts lesbian bar nearly bullied out of town after lifting mask mandate — for one night a week." The gist of the story is that a lesbian bar--The Last Ditch--has been struggling financially, with the owners in debt and having difficulty paying themselves or their employees. So, in order to try and boost business, the bar--which up to now still required patrons to wear the stupid Covid face masks--announced it would go mask-optional one evening per week. The patrons went berserk:

    Some critics dramatically likened the decision to a “mass disabling event,” a “eugenicist” attack and a host of other hot-button terms that escalated to threats of violence.

    “I hope your venue gets firebombed for robbing my fellow immunocompromised people of their Saturday plans just to scrape extra revenue from ablists [sic],” one commenter wrote on the western Massachusetts bar’s post announcing the change, the Boston Globe reported.

    “People like you kill disabled people in the name of your own leisure and convenience,” wrote another, while a third said, “Just say you’re being complicit in a mass disabling event and get it over with.”

There's more, but you get the drift. On top of this, a group of patrons organized a boycott of the business.  

    The business soon found its divey barroom bare on what used to be busy nights, as irate customers banded together to boycott.

    Sales had already been slumping due to the bar’s floundering business model that includes rules like, “Nobody will be barred from entry due to lack of funds,” and “Poor and unhoused people are welcome in the space.”

 [snip]

    Metallian [one of the owners] has fallen behind on rent, and the bar’s landlord was demanding $3,900 by the end of September.

    And the fateful mask-optional Saturday nights haven’t helped, with the barroom all but empty each weekend despite drink deals and DJs that used to attract dozens of customers. 

 So, soon, the disaffected will have no where to go when the bar shuts down and the space becomes filled with another vape shop or pay-day loan business. But consequences don't matter to liberals. 

     The problem for normal people is that the people destroying this bar are cast from the same mold as those increasingly running the show for the Democrats. Which is why a poll from the Center for Strategic Politics recently conducted a poll showing that 59% of Democrats support a military coup against Trump,  68% believe we need “more immigrants”, and 69% want the Democrats to pack the Supreme Court. But they won't be just going after Trump, as the author continues:

     All of these are proxies for you personally, Dear Reader. When they say they want to see Trump die on television, when their rank and file celebrates the anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s brutal livestream assassination, it’s just a proxy for Republicans more generally. Given the opportunity, they’ll fill the gulags with Wrong Thinkers like you and me, take our wealth, and give it to an army of third world immigrants.

    I don’t think Curtis Yarvin was even slightly exaggerating when he forecasted what a 2028 loss to Democrats would look like during a recent appearance on the Michael Malice podcast.

    “Number one, they’re going to do a full January 6 assembly-line prosecution of everyone. There will be some random bullshit charge,” he said. “Everyone they can find, just massive, massive prosecutions.”

    “And then you’re going to see mass migration,” he continued. “8 figures and up. Per year. Very very easy to work the system so they’re allowing 20 million third worlders in every year.”

    “Of course they won’t be citizens right away, but then the Democrats are going to be doing everything possible to facilitate ballot stuffing and all of their favorite little, undiscoverable things.”

• Related: "Leftists’ masks are coming all the way off — revealing the ugly truth"--New York Post.

Article: "Your Qualification Score Doesn't Predict Gunfight Performance"

In its article "Your Qualification Score Doesn't Predict Gunfight Performance," Tactical Science digs into the statistics showing the qualification scores don't measure whatever it is that makes you effective in a gunfight. The reason? According to the article:

    The data here and in other places suggest that firearms qualification does not relate to performance in the field. In science terms, firearms qualification is not a valid measure of field shooting performance.

    This is not surprising given that this is a case of far transfer. Meaning that we are practicing something very different from the thing people are expected to do in the field. The research here is very clear and consistent. Far transfer essentially does not exist. Some of my firearms trainer audience is already grumbling, but let me explain.

    In the field, an officer must interact with people, use movement and spacing to keep a tactical advantage, attempt to de-escalate, decide that force is needed, implement that force in a way that is effective and legal, assess the outcome, alter course if needed, and then deal with the aftermath.

    On the range, a trainee hears a timer beep or sees a target turn, and then fires a set number of shots at a piece of paper, which often only vaguely looks like a person, in a certain amount of time. Then they have to swivel their head because maybe the instructor is walking behind them holding up a random number of fingers.

    You should be able to see that while a gun is used in both environments, the perceptual cues that control the use of that gun and the actions surrounding that use are very different. As I have discussed in depth here before, perception and action are so intimately linked that if you change the perceptual cues, you automatically change the action. This means if you are not practicing with cues that are close to the real thing, then the actions you practiced will not show up in the field. 

Although the article is aimed at law enforcement, the conclusions should apply to civilian defenders as well. I don't take the article as saying that you don't need to train or practice on a square range--obviously you need to learn how to handle and use your firearm--but that you also need other training or practice.  

More On Possible Threat To Estonia

Another article from PJ Media on Estonia and Russia: "Will the U.S. Send Troops to Die for Estonia? Putin Doesn't Think So." A few points from the article:

    It's eerie how Putin appears to be rerunning Adolf Hitler's playbook of bombast, bluff, probe, and testing the adversary before unleashing his armies. Like Hitler, he has spent years conducting a "shadow war" or hybrid/gray-zone warfare to weaken NATO's resolve. This has included directing arson attacks against warehouses, defense production plants, and logistics hubs servicing supply chains to Ukraine across Poland, Germany, Britain, and the Baltics, as well as the physical disruption, arson, and signal tampering along critical transport corridors, such as Polish rail lines transporting aid and civilian traffic. Russia is also suspected of severing undersea cables and sabotaging underwater pipelines.

    There have been Russian airspace violations of Poland, Lithuania, and Romania. There have been strategic overflights, "accidental" missile or drone crashes near border areas, and fighter jet incursions testing NATO air-defense response times. NATO's feeble responses have emboldened Putin to the point that he now appears ready to stage the ultimate test in the alliance's 80 years.

    Putin now has 100,000 troops massed on Estonia's border and will attempt to call up another 300,000 reservists. Putin has manufactured a crisis about "ethnic Russians" being oppressed in the border city of Narva. He wants Estonia "to grant regional autonomy to the “Narva People’s Republic” — a breakaway statelet purportedly declared by Estonia’s Russian minority, but which in reality has been invented by the Kremlin, then mercilessly promoted on social media," writes UnHerd's Michael Kranz.

[snip]

    Like any good performer, Vladimir Putin has read the room and already knows NATO's response. Donald Trump is not going to ask American boys to die for Estonia, no more than he asked American boys to die for Ukraine. He will not send troops to defend Poland, Lithuania, Romania, or any European country, seeing the defense of Europe as a European matter. 

Although the U.S. is looking at pulling 25,000 troops from Western Europe, I suspect that Putin may have misread the room. It is notable that Lithuinia is receiving a new rotation of American troops--an armored battalion, so not a huge number--but not nothing. Nevertheless, the Russian threat is likely more nuanced than a full-out invasion of the whole country. Rather, as Stars & Stripes, reports, "Russia could test NATO’s bedrock collective defense pledge by sending a small number of troops to seize a sliver of Estonia, forcing allies to decide whether they want to risk taking it back, a new assessment says."

     The aim would be “breaking the alliance by causing it to fail to activate and act appropriately on its Article 5 commitments,” the Institute for the Study of War said in an analysis published Monday. 

    According to NATO’s founding charter, an attack on one member country is considered an attack on all of them. Invoking Article 5 is designed to trigger a collective military response by the other 31 countries in the bloc on behalf of the one under attack. 

    “A number of NATO states will likely be very hesitant to invoke Article 5 over a limited incursion, fearing the consequences of appearing to launch the alliance into a full-scale war with Russia,” the report said. 

    Such an operation around the Estonian border city of Narva could unfold without the major buildup that NATO might expect before an invasion, according to the Washington-based think tank. 

    Instead, Russia could position drone units inside its own territory while operatives seized key locations in Narva and declared a breakaway enclave.

I Can Believe This

Yesterday's Anonymous Conservative news brief linked to this Daily Mail article: "I investigated 700 UFO abductions. I started believing in God after survivors claimed two words saved them from 'demonic' entities." Key part: "Jordan told the Daily Mail he has investigated roughly 700 abduction cases, finding that those who called out to either Jesus or God claimed the supernatural incident immediately ended without further harm."

    I used to have a great deal of interest in UFOs and the like until I read a book that went into more detail on abduction cases than most accounts, and I realized that almost all of the accounts made some reference to the "abducted" person having involvement or interest in the occult. Sometime thereafter, I happened to pick up a book collecting myths of fairies and dwarfs and I noted a lot of similarity between the stories of people that encountered fairies and close encounters with UFOs, but with the odd recurrent mention that fairies could not abide the name of Christ nor being reminded that they did not have souls that could be saved. Thus, if UFO abductions are the modern versions of fairy stories, then it makes sense that mentioning God and Jesus would be just as upsetting to the "aliens".  

Immigration As War

As you may know already, an ICE agent shot and wounded an illegal alien in Austin, TX, on Sunday after a vehicle chase. Although Austin police said the shooting took place after a foot pursuit, that does not appear to be correct. The illegal was identified as 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan, who entered the country illegally during the Biden Administration and was still here despite an order of removal.

    Interestingly, although there are references to protests following the shooting, the reporting has been rather muted as though the media knows it will reflect badly on the liberal narrative. However, a local ABC affiliate--KVUE--relates:

    What began with a handful of people gathered across the street from the scene grew into a much larger crowd over the course of several hours.

    People held signs, chanted and called for answers about what led to the shooting. Many also demanded that local authorities have a role in the investigation.

    “As someone who lives in the neighborhood, this is a violation of our human rights and our constitutional rights," Austin resident Ben Suddaby said. "The clear demands that I'm hearing from everyone in English and Spanish is for a local investigation. There's no confidence in the federal government to investigate itself. We are demanding that our local resources be used to protect our local residents." 

[snip]

    As the crowd grew Sunday evening, the scene began to change.

    KVUE crews saw water bottles being thrown at law enforcement as people crossed the street and moved closer to police tape. Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers began putting on gas masks, while Austin police officers lined up nearby in what appeared to be riot gear.

    Law enforcement then used chemical agents to push the crowd back.

    Later, law enforcement pulled back from the immediate area, and the crowd moved into the street, blocking traffic as the protest continued.

    At one point, KVUE crews saw some people throw rocks at a car that was trying to drive through the area.

    As the night continued, the protest also expanded beyond the shooting itself, with people speaking out against ICE and immigration enforcement actions across the country.

The Texan has this about the protests:

The shooting prompted protests Sunday night at the scene in north Austin near the intersection of Anderson Square and Highway 183, and in other locations around the city. Some protesters waved Mexican and Guatemalan flags, while throwing rocks at law enforcement in some instances. Austin police officers deployed pepper balls to disperse the crowd from the street and investigation area.  

Rep. Greg Casar, whose district does not even include where the shooting took place, as reportedly described immigration enforcement as "war" and called for ending immigration enforcement. It is a war because the mass immigration is an invasion which has and will result in population displacement and replacement. Just look at at what happened in southern California. 

A Good Example Why A Red Dot Is A Bad Idea For Concealed Carry

The other day I started watching the video, below, which was showing the difference in speed between drawing and shooting a handgun with a round chambered versus drawing and shooting a handgun with no round chambered, requiring you to have to rack the slide as part of the draw ("Israeli carry"). But the concealed handgun being used sported a closed emitter red dot sight, and during the test, it became caught up in the tester's t-shirt on the draw at least twice that they showed in the video. Something to think about if you are using a red dot on a concealed carry pistol.  

VIDEO: "Israeli Draw | The Worst Way to Carry"
Charlie Coks (15 min.)

World War III?

With Russia's conflict in Ukraine still dragging on with no end in sight, there are signs that Russia might consider taking parts of Estonia soon. From "Who Had 'World War III Starting in Estonia' on Their 2026 Bingo Card?" at PJ Media:

    Which brings us to today's news and Estonia, nicely summarized on X by Eric S. Raymond.

    "There are intelligence reports that Russia has been building hospital facilities" on the Estonia border, while "Russian border guards have been spotted shoring up the banks of the Narva River in exactly the way you would expect if you thought they were going to throw expedient military bridges across it."

    "Russian border guards have also removed a set of buoys in the river marking the Russian-Estonian border, sparking a formal protest from the Estonian government," Eric added, literally muddying the waters between the two countries.

    But here's where it gets truly disturbing: "The city of Narva, Estonia, sits at the Russian border, on the Narva river, opposite the zone where the Russians have declared a curfew for its inhabitants and a no-go zone for people who don't already live there."

    Narva is 87% ethnic Russian, a result of Russian colonization efforts in the Baltics, both during the Czarist and Soviet era. "Putin has claimed the right to intervene militarily to protect 'oppressed' ethnic Russians in the near abroad," Eric posted. "The invasion and annexation of Crimea [in 2014] was justified on these grounds."

I don't believe Putin would be doing this unless he believes that the U.S. blew its wad, so to speak, on Iran and would not be in a position to defend Estonia--which is a member of NATO--and is convinced that Europe would be incapable of defending or retaking Estonia. A paper from the Atlantic Council in February 2026, "Putin’s next move? Five Russian attack scenarios Europe must prepare for," similarly observes (footnotes omitted):

    The accession of Sweden and Finland as NATO’s newest members has fundamentally altered Russia’s security calculations in the Baltic and Nordic region. Should the war in Ukraine evolve into a prolonged frozen conflict, Russia will rearm its military in pursuit of Vladimir Putin’s imperial ambitions. He will seek opportunities to rebuild Russian prestige and recover former or disputed territories, improve Russia’s strategic posture, and test NATO’s resolve in Article 5 scenarios in which he assesses the chance of a robust Alliance response is low, or the chances of success at acceptable cost are high. As one expert notes, “Russia wants to expand its military and political opportunities in the face of the West and considers a direct clash with the West highly probable, if not unavoidable.”

    The potential rewards for continued and successful Russian aggression in Europe include enhanced prestige for Putin’s regime, an improved geostrategic position along Russia’s periphery, delivery of a damaging and perhaps fatal blow to NATO, and the severing of the transatlantic link—all of which are powerful incentives. .... 

In the case of most European countries, Putin's assessment is probably correct. In fact, a lot of British men are saying they would not even be willing to fight to defend the U.K. (watch this Asmongold TV video), echoing what a 100 year old British WWII veteran said last year when he stated on British national TV that the sacrifice of him and his comrades and WWII was not worth it. That is the consequence when you import so many third world invaders that social capital collapses. 

    The country that should give Putin pause is Poland. Not only does Poland have greater military capabilities than Ukraine, but considerable public support for protecting Baltic allies--78% of Poles would support military action to protect the Baltic states from Russia according to a recent poll. 

VIDEO: Can A Steel Bow As Described By Tolkien Work Against Orc Armor?

The host focuses on a line from one of Tolkien's unfinished tales describing the men of Númenor using hollow steel bows.  Steel bows have occasionally been tried through history (as late, apparently, as the early 20th Century) but there are reasons they have never caught on including their propensity to break, which is discussed in the first part of the video. The rest of the video tests arrows roughly the size described in the text against soft steel armor (to stand in for the iron armor used by Orcs).  

 VIDEO: "Can A 'Steel Bow' As Described by Tolkien Actually Work?"
Dash Rendar (18 min.) 

VIDEO: The Biblical Origin of Feminism

This explains so much. Funny enough, this meaning of God's curse on Eve is common, but I've never heard it taught this way in my church. 

 VIDEO: "The Curse of Eve: The Biblical Origins of Feminism"
Basic Logic (5 min.)

Gun & Prepping News #99

Some links that may be of interest: 

• "Sling Manipulation for Home Defense: Making Slings Work Around Corners"--Ammo Land. The author begins: 

    A rifle sling is often treated as little more than a carrying strap. For a gun owner relying on a rifle, shotgun or pistol caliber carbine for home defense, that is a mistake.

    A properly set-up sling helps retain the rifle, frees a hand when necessary, and gives the shooter more control in hallways, doorways, and other confined spaces. A poorly adjusted sling can bind the rifle, slow a shoulder transition, or leave the gun swinging around when the shooter needs both hands.

    In a recent training video, Travis Haley of Haley Strategic demonstrates how sling configuration affects shoulder transitions, body exposure around corners, and the shooter’s ability to keep a rifle in action after an injury. Haley discusses those techniques primarily through the lens of close-quarters operations, but several of the underlying lessons have direct value for civilian gun owners who keep a carbine for home defense.

• "Close Encounters of the Revolver Kind"--Revolver Guy.  A look at concealed carry in the Old West with an emphasis on revolvers, including what some famous (or infamous) gunfighters used. An excerpt:

    All the same, most 19th century Westerners weren’t pistoleros by circumstance or experience and didn’t have the need or ability to tote large hog-legs for personal protection. Even so, the Western society of that era expected men to defend themselves against nutjobs and violent bullies. Thus, it was common for many Westerners, including some women, to be discreetly armed. Added to this was the dominant Western belief that a man’s personal honor and safety should be backed up by lethal force. 5

    Among the first to take advantage of these concealable arms were gunfighters on both sides of the law who wanted compact firepower in addition to their full-sized revolvers made by Colt, Smith & Wesson, Remington and other companies as backup heaters. Moreover, some boomtowns’ politicians forbade carrying firearms, especially open carrying such hardware. Therefore, many folks who worked in higher risk jobs carried small hidden firearms for self-defense. In those bygone days such weapons were known as hideout guns, cutdowns, pocket guns, vest pocket pistols, and bicycle guns. Today, our modern versions are called belly guns, snub-nosed revolvers, snubbies, micro pistols, backup guns and so forth. 

    So, a lot of Westerners who worked in mercantile stores, banking, gambling, bar tending, prostitution and stage coach transportation sought small equalizers that could be inconspicuously carried or stashed nearby. Quite a few manufacturers, both domestic and foreign, recognized a lucrative market and produced an assortment of small revolvers, some well-made and others clearly substandard. 

And you might find this note about the homicide rates interesting:

 In current-day America, 35 murders per 100,000 people is considered extremely high. Yet those figures pale in comparison to homicide rates in the Wild West. Adjusting for population densities, boomtowns Bodie, California, and the five main cattle Kansas cattle towns sported murder tallies that ran from 116 to 317 per 100,000 inhabitants. As bad as these statistics are, in the early 1850s the Pueblo of Los Angeles’s murder rate was 1,250 per 100,000 people. Historian John Bosessenecker believes that was by “far and away the highest homicide rate in American history.” Volunteers formed the Los Angeles Rangers to subdue the criminality.

• And some more firearms history: "The Beretta M1935: A Classic .32 Caliber Pistol"--The Shooting Wire. The author relates:

    The Beretta M1935 isn’t a fancy gun by any means. It’s a direct descendant of the Beretta M1934. The M1934 was a 9mm Corto (.380 ACP) Italian service pistol that served with the Royal Italian Army. The difference between the two is the caliber. 

    The M1935 is a direct-blowback .32 ACP pistol that feeds from a single-stack magazine. Like most guns of the era, it’s a hammer-fired, single-action-only pistol with a manual safety and heel-mounted magazine release.  

    The magazine holds eight rounds, which is one more than the M1934. The Italian Army already had the M1934, but the Navy and Air Force chose the .32 caliber M1935. The .380 had a bit more bite and nearly twice the free recoil of .32 ACP, so I imagine forces less focused on ground warfare wanted a little less oomph. 

    Beretta probably also had an eye on sales to police and external military forces. The .32 ACP was a popular cartridge amongst European police and military forces, and offering both made a lot of sense. Finland, Japan, and Nazi Germany all fielded the M1935. You didn’t have to redesign the gun to swap from .380 to .32. 

• And on to something more modern: "Meet the HK VP9CC: The New Micro-Compact With a Familiar Family Name"--The Truth About Guns. One thing that HK does now (not so much in the past) is get the ergonomics down (unlike another company whose name rhymes with "lock"). The author notes:

    Heckler & Koch did not skimp on the total package for the new pistol. The custom H&K-branded pistol bag includes six interchangeable backstraps, more than most other handguns on the market, to ensure you can get the exact grip you want on the VP9CC. The backstrap plays an important role in how you grip any handgun. If the backstrap is too elongated, it can prevent smaller-handed shooters from reaching the trigger.

    If the backstrap is too thin, it can give you “too much” trigger finger, where you’re having to curl your trigger finger uncomfortably outward to make a proper trigger pull. If shooting fundamentals have taught me anything, it is that building a good grip is the foundation of pistol shooting. If the backstrap makes or breaks a good grip, then you need the right one for your hand size.   

And look at the arch to the backstrap. You shouldn't be shooting low and left with this weapon.  

• "Concealed Carry Corner: Keys to Success"--The Firearm Blog. The first point the author raises is to know your limitations. He explains:

    One of the biggest issues I’ve seen with people in the concealed carry space is the concept of forcing a handgun to work no matter their body type or carry style. Some people are hell-bent on carrying a specific handgun, whether it's a full-size 1911 or even something larger like a Desert Eagle. There was an individual I met in the Detroit area who carried a Desert Eagle in 50 AE by having it in an OWB leather holster. I saw him walk into an indoor range where he proceeded to almost miss the target, hitting the D Zone 5 out of the 7 shots he fired. 

    If a firearm's too heavy to easily carry all day long and you can't shoot it accurately under pressure, why are you carrying it? ... 

• Think twice before getting involved: "Good Samaritan, 21, trying to stop robbery is shot three times before staggering down bloodied Seattle street where passersby refused to call 911 and FILMED him instead"--Daily Mail. From the lede:

    A 21-year-old man was shot three times while trying to stop a robbery in Seattle, and was left staggering through the streets as heartless passersby filmed his ordeal and his friend was left dying on the street.

    Matthew Lanske had just finished dinner with his friends in the city's Belltown neighborhood on September 6, when they witnessed an illegal street takeover, his family said.

    When Lanske and his friends then crossed the street near the intersection of 3rd Avenue and Clay Street, a man and two women tried to rob his friend, Isaac Elijah Rios, 20, at gunpoint. 

    Lanske immediately jumped in to help, bravely trying to grab the gun from the man, when he was shot three times – twice in the stomach while the third shattered his pelvis and struck a major artery, his sister Rebecca Garberding said. 

• "Why Boomers Grew Up Loving Guns"--The Truth About Guns. The author posits:

    The world these children grew up in was saturated with firearms long before any toy Colt reached their hands. World War II left behind enormous quantities of military arms and industrial capacity. As veterans returned home and factories shifted back to civilian production, the American firearm market absorbed both the surplus and the influence of wartime design. Affordable surplus rifles and handguns introduced many civilians to firearms, while Winchester, Colt, Smith & Wesson, Remington, Ruger, and Savage repositioned themselves for a peacetime market built on hunting, target shooting, home defense, and outdoor recreation.

    Popular culture reinforced the connection without needing to invent it. The number of American households with televisions jumped from a handful to more than nine in ten between 1946 and 1964. Westerns filled those living rooms with images of Colts, Winchesters, lawmen, and frontier justice. Even when the stories were fictional, they tied firearms to history and identity in the minds of the audience. So a Boomer child grew up with a father who may have carried a rifle in the war, a household that owned a hunting shotgun, and a television that ran cowboy dramas after dinner. The replica toy was a small part of a far larger picture.

The author also theorizes that the Cold War had its own impact on the Boomers. But the culture is an impact: I do not believe anyone could deny the impact that video games and GWOT had on Gun Culture 2.0.

• A different type of boomer: "Big boomer guns"--Backwoods Magazine. Massad Ayoob discusses the large magnum or express rifles, handguns and shotguns. An excerpt:

    I never did go after elephant intentionally, but being in elephant territory and knowing horror stories of humans crushed to doll rags by the giant mammals, it was reassuring to have a .375 and a .458 along. I later acquired a .416 Rigby caliber Ruger Model 77 Express rifle.

    Machismo value? About 9 out of 10. Practical value if you live in the “lower 48” United States and don’t have to worry about humongous bears of the Polar and Grizzly variety? Well, probably close to zero. But the ability to shoot these monstrously hard-kicking guns fast and straight? Well, in Macho Guy Terms, the value is probably incalculable.

    You’ll see alongside this article my friend Justin Schortmann shooting his brother-in-law Caleb Gunter’s .470 Express double barrel elephant rifle. Watch the muzzle rise. Watch the body rock backward. I can only say—YEE-HAW!

    If you aren’t in elephant country, do you need an elephant rifle? Well, heck, if you’re in a country with a 70 mile an hour speed limit, do you need a car that can race at over a hundred miles an hour? In a free country, it’s about what you want, not just what you need. Me, I kinda go with a point that Ross Seyfried first made when he was a professional hunter in Africa. I’ve owned .375, .416, and/or .458 caliber elephant rifles when I lived in New Hampshire, and when I lived in Florida.

    During all that time, no elephant has ever attacked me or my neighbors. One can only conclude that there is a deterrent effect at work here. You’d think my Yuppie neighbors in the New England suburbs would have appreciated more than they did, the fact that I, alone, obviously kept herds of elephants from trampling their Volvos into their rock gardens.

• A good argument for not allowing Flock cameras or similar automatic monitoring systems: "FBI’s Secret NICS Monitoring Tracked Lawful Gun Buyers"--The Truth About Guns.  From the article:

    For years, the FBI ran a program that let federal agencies watch what guns you buy — even when you’re perfectly legal to buy them. It’s called NICS Monitoring, and on September 15, 2026, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed it exists.

    The confirmation came during a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing. Sen. Ted Cruz laid it out plainly. Gun Owners of America, he said, “discovered a secret FBI program called NICS Monitoring, used to track firearm purchases of Americans who were legally eligible to buy a gun but were suspected of a crime. Is that right?” Patel’s answer: “Yes.”

    That one word ended a five-year fight. GOA has been suing the ATF over the program since a 2021 FOIA request first surfaced records the government has tried to bury under redactions and gag orders ever since. 

• Speaking of a police state: "Texas police department shut down for failing to provide ‘public benefit’ after arresting mom over dirty water Facebook post"--New York Post.  The woman was arrested because she made a post critical of the city's mishandling of the municipal water system. Apparently the State of Texas can shut down local law enforcement agencies, and did so in this case.
• The Conference of Catholic Bishops urge the Supreme Court to leave Americans helpless in the face of violent crime. One of the key groups that aided and abetted the invasion of the United States under Biden now urges the Supreme Court to uphold local and state AR15 bans. 
• "Unconventionality Reigns Supreme with the CRKT Mah-chete"--Gat Daily. So this is one of those blades that tries to provide the utility of a machete with a smaller blade--in this case, a 12 inch blade--giving you something big enough to chop, but small enough to serve other knife roles. The author reviews the tool and ends with this:

Not only does the CRKT Mah-chete perform like a true powerhouse outdoors, but it also offers a coolness factor that cannot be denied. Its untraditional design allows it to perform like a traditional machete, while accomplishing a lot more. It can slice and dice for meal prep, split wood like an ax, and puncture like a spear. The Mah-chete retails for only $80.00 and when weighing quality versus price, it’s no contest. The Mah-chete pays for itself with its unrelentless performance in the field. 

The blade shape and curve is very much like that of a parang, except with a more pronounced point; and the handle is slightly offset above the line of the blade which would, IMHO, increase the power of the cutting stroke.  Very similar to the now discontinued K-Bar Swabbie or Schrade's Decimate Parang. I have a Schrade Bush Sword (now called the Decimate Brush Sword) which is a similar concept (albeit with a longer blade) which I have found very useful around my yard. 

• If the grid goes down in the winter, you might not be able to do your business in a heated bathroom. "Pooping In The Cold"--Blue Collar Prepping. The author links to a video on YouTube. As the author notes, "While this video is about using outhouses in cold weather, the same principle applies in the woods; just find a log to sit on." And one of the comments notes: "Replace the toilet seat with a piece of rigid foam insulation with an appropriate hole. You will think the seat is heated!"
• "The Potato Hole"--Backwoods Magazine. A mini-root celler, if you will:

    We had talked of putting in a regular root cellar, but digging one by hand on our property would have been a daunting task. Just below the meager layer of topsoil which grew wonderful vegetables was a gigantic layer of solid concrete-like clay. So we got by with storing potatoes with the canned goods in the basement where the temperature hovered in the 50s. Unfortunately, sprouts were plentiful by spring.

    But one day a few years back, we decided we had had enough of a 15-foot chokecherry bush that was sending suckers into the garden several yards away, so my husband cut it down then dug the roots out — a task that required the pickax, saw, and shovel. The resulting hole looked like it wouldn’t take much to make it big enough to sink the 2 foot by 30 inch (inside diameter) concrete riser we had on hand. “Then,” I said, “we could store potatoes in it.”

Trump Obtains Big Military Deal Over Greenland

PJ Media reports: 

The United States, Denmark, and Greenland signed a permanent agreement Friday that hands Washington lasting military rights across the island while permanently shutting out China, Russia, and every other non-NATO adversary. The deal gives the U.S. permanent access, basing, and overflight rights in Greenland, along with the authority to build new military installations there whenever it decides it needs to, according to a senior U.S. official who briefed Fox News Digital.

This will make it easier for the United States to maintain dominance over the North Atlantic. 

RPG Saturday: Expedition To The Barrier Peaks

 

My well worn original version on the left and, on the right, a reprint from Goodman Games from 2019.

TSR, the publisher of the old basic Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, released adventure "modules" with letter series code and numeric volume code, e.g. (as we are looking at in today's column) S3--the "Special" or "S" series, and the third volume in that series.

    Typically there would be some connection between the volumes in a series, where the first adventure would naturally lead to the second, and so on. However, there are some series that simply collect modules used as one-shot adventures at conventions with no story connection between the two. The "S" series is one of these, although I understand that there was a later attempt to collect the first four "S" modules into one volume and introduce connections between them (still available through Drive Thru RPG). 

    S3 was entitled "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" which is a location in Gary Gygax's Greyhawk  setting, although it could be dropped into a mountainous area in any campaign or setting. It was released in 1980 and I probably purchased it then or within a year or two.  

Inside cover on adventure booklet. 

     The basic background to the adventure is a series of attacks by strange monsters in a particular duchy with our heroes being hired to discover the source of this scourge. The characters journey into the mountains and ultimately follow clues to a valley or canyon high in the mountains where they discover two entrances to caves--a larger cave blocked by a large metal door and some distance above it, a smaller opening. This is all background in the original adventure, as the playable part of the adventure begins with the character cresting a rise and spying the cave entrances, the larger opening sealed by the metal door and the upper entrance standing dark and open. The intention is that the characters enter the upper entrance which is the starting point for the underground "dungeon." 

    What makes this adventure unusual is that the "dungeon" is actually the remains of a large starship that was afflicted by some mysterious plague that had killed the crew, and which subsequently had crash landed and been buried under rubble and stone although occasionally robots will clear the doors to the ship and, at the same time, eject alien creatures ("monsters") onto the general area. 

    Going through the small entrance, the characters begin on the uppermost level of the starship and, hopefully, will work their way down through the rest of the accessible portions of the ship. The levels described in the module are clearly not the whole of a starship, which suggests that their could be additional levels that could be added if a game master wanted to expand on the adventure.

 

    With that said, the original adventure had six (6) levels, which were apparently part of the living quarters of the ship. Access between the levels is by four lifts evenly spaced around each level (one per quadrant) or, on lower levels, by ramps or staircases.  The uppermost level contains crew and passenger quarters, below which was a maintenance deck--basically just access to pipes and conduits. The third level was mostly an open area with a walkway overlooking a large botanical area on a lower deck, with the outside edges taken up with lounges, cargo holds, and a few other miscellaneous locations. The fourth level (which is also by far the tallest) is the level with a now overgrown and out of control botanical garden and surrounding storage and recreation areas. Unlike the prior levels, this one includes stairways to the sixth level since there does not appear to be direct lift access to the sixth level. The fifth level is another maintenance level. The sublevel 5 is labeled "atmospheric ballast" and inaccessible save by some magical means. And, finally, the sixth level is a combination recreation level and cargo level, with gymnasium, swimming pool, theater, and auditorium, as well as several cargo holds, including the one with the large door that exits at the bottom of the ship. 

 

    As the characters proceed through the ship, they will encounter mutated creatures and monsters, as well as several different types of robots and androids. On top of that, the characters have to deal with the technology. And while some of the technology may be obvious to the players on how to operate or use it, it would not be so with the players' characters. To address those issues, the adventure booklet contains rules to allow for the characters to figure out how to use equipment or other technology. This takes the form of several flowcharts representing increasing difficulty to figure out an item. Depending on dice rolls, the character will follow one or other paths between the nodes in the chart, which can lead them to various results ranging from figuring out how to use the weapon, to wasting an energy charge from a battery, to destroying the item, to some disastrous result resulting in injury or death.  

 

    The original module came with two booklets. The adventure booklet is 32 pages and contains the background information for the players and the game master, the location descriptions, statistics for the various monsters unique or introduced in this adventure, and some miscellaneous information.   

     At the time this module was published, the publisher (TSR) was publishing a few adventure modules with a booklet containing drawings or prints illustrating locations and objects that the characters might encounter. The one for this module is probably the largest example of this, with 64 illustrations including several printed in color. I thought these were very useful, particularly where it would otherwise be hard to convey to the players an accurate description. 

A few drawings to show the characters at certain locations.

 

A couple of the color illustrations.

    The Goodman Games book is 400 pages. As usual to other similar books from Goodman reprinting old adventure modules, this book starts out with several articles and an interview going over the history of the writing and introduction of this particular module. Next, it contains a reprint of the original module including the artwork (with all color illustrations reproduced in color). Finally, it contains a version that has been updated to not only be compatible with 5th edition D&D--the version that was current at the time Goodman published its book--but correcting any errors or inconsistencies in the original adventure. Goodman has also expanded the adventure module somewhat, adding an additional Level 7 to the ship (with additional illustrations for the players), providing some additional illustrations for the game master, adventure expansions and and alternative background and ending, expanding encounters for inside the ship, and details (and mini-adventures) for the region around the crash site. In short, if you want, they have turned the adventure from a quick tournament exploration through the ship into something that could be its own small campaign with much more to do both inside and outside the crashed starship.

The Goodman Games' book reproduces the illustrations from the original.

 

    I really enjoyed this adventure as a youth, but there is a significant issue for game masters who don't exercise strict control over what the characters can remove from the starship. In particular, there are some weapons--blasters, lasers, etc.--on the ship that are powerful and can upset game balance if brought out of the ship and into the more general game world. The way to deal with this is to either have something happen to prevent the characters from leaving the starship with a working example and/or a very limited number of power charges. 

    If I were to use this adventure again, it would not be as a one-shot adventure, but as the culminating adventure to a campaign. I understand that D&D is a fantasy game, but when I review the monsters in the Monster Manual and Fiend Folio, I have to wonder how humans could ever have survived against such creatures let alone build settlements and develop civilizations. But if you take the position that the monsters are extremely rare and artificially introduced into the environment, rather than something natural to the environment, it makes more sense. 

    And what could introduce monsters to an environment? They could be the product of a mad wizard or alchemist, an angry deity, or have wondered through some sort of inter-dimensional rift or gateway. But why not periodically expelled from an alien starship? Thus, this would make a great campaign with the players' characters becoming involved with fighting creatures that have mysteriously appeared leaving ruin and death in their wake. And as the characters progress, they gradually track the infestation back to a particular location which happens to be the starship. 

    A game master could also easily expand the size of the ship. For instance, the top level is quarters for the crew. But why not additional levels for passengers and/or colonists? Or bridge or engineering decks? Or decks that are just cargo and material? Of perhaps this portion of the ship is merely one of several nearly identical modules arranged around a central hub containing the bridge, fuel and engines of the craft?

    In closing, this is a fun adventure for higher level characters if it is handled correctly. It could easily be the capstone adventure to a campaign, or further expanded into a mega dungeon. The Goodman Games version is out of print and quite expensive if you can find it; but, as noted, you can still find a book with the original adventure on Drive Thru RPG.