Weekend Reading

• First up is a new newsletter from Jon Low at Defensive Pistolcraft.  One of the points raised in the newsletter is the concept of giving yourself permission to act in self-defense should the need arise. Quoting from an email from Jeff Boren:

     Every defensive encounter begins with a decision most people never 
consciously make.  

    Not the draw.  

    Not the shot.  

    Not even the recognition of the threat.  

     The first real action happens long before any of that.  It is the internal permission to act.  And if that permission has not already been granted, nothing else matters.  

     Tom Givens says it plainly:  “We carry a gun because we might have to shoot someone.”  That statement resonates because it forces honesty.  Carrying a firearm is not symbolic or theoretical.  It is preparation for a specific, unpleasant possibility.  

     Jeff Cooper described this as lowering the threshold for violence.  Not recklessness.  Not aggression.  A willingness to act decisively when action is required.  That willingness is not created in the moment.  It is a pre-made decision, declared long in advance.  

     Lance Thomas understood this.  After surviving multiple violent encounters, he said, “I refuse to be a victim of violent crime.”  That decision was not formed when the door opened.  It existed long before the first criminal ever walked into his store.  

     That is mindset.   

 You need to make the decision that you will resist a criminal assault even resorting to using a lethal weapon before the incident so you don't freeze if that moment comes. It gives you time to think of the moral implications and what you would be willing to do ahead of time, rather than having that internal debate when someone is breaking into your house, or attacking your wife or kids. This is only a selection from the whole email, so be sure to read the whole thing. 

A point that comes up a couple of times in Jon's newsletter is the importance of the first, cold shot. You draw or split times are meaningless if you are not adept at a cold draw and shot because that may be the only chance you have against an armed killer. One way to measure this is to test a cold shot, measure it, and see how you do. But, as asserted in an article he cites to--"Getting More Out Of 'Cold Performance' Assessments--if you are going to the range and know exactly what is going to happen and what drills you are going to do, is that really a "cold shot"? The author of that article suggests you "optimize the first run of the day by introducing some ambiguity into the evaluation by mixing things up" by, for instance, putting your drills on some 3x5 cards and mixing them up and doing the first one you draw as your "cold" assessment. He has a couple other ideas as well.

There is a lot more that Jon has in his newsletter, so be sure to check it out. For instance, he has compiled a list of upcoming armed self defense classes coming up. 

• Next up is a new Weekend Knowledge Dump from Greg Ellifritz at Active Response Training. Some of the links which caught my attention:
• An article on handheld tactical flashlights. It tells you what to look for in a quality tactical flashlight. Unfortunately, it does not address how to use the flashlight with a handgun. Not to worry, though: In my November 23, 2025 "Gun & Prepping News # 56" I included three articles on using a tactical flashlight with a handgun.  
• A detailed article on the "violin" reload for shotguns.
• An article discussing whether muzzle tape impact accuracy. The reason for taping the muzzle of a rifle (the author uses electrical tape) is to keep water and debris out of the muzzle. I've read in WWII, before one of the big Pacific landings, Marines were issued condoms to put over the muzzles of their rifles for the same purpose. It would probably work today assuming you could find some that were not lubed. Either Spain or Germany had muzzle caps that fit over the muzzle of a CETME or G3 that were designed to be able to shoot off the end if you fired it with the cap on. I bought one and discovered, completely by accident, that it worked exactly as intended. And in answer to the original question, the author found that the muzzle tape did not impact accuracy.
• The UK has selected the GLOCK GR-115 rifle as their official police carbine. Not sure why their police need select fire rifles since it is illegal for most anyone to own firearms. 
• A history of thumb opening knives. My first exposure to the idea of a knife with an attachment for opening with the thumb was a book on survivalism and prepping that mentioned using a "flickit" attachment to a Buck knife. Based on the article, the author's first exposure was similar--ads for those devices in Soldier of Fortune magazine.
• An article compiling the results of tests of the terminal ballistics of the .380. An excerpt that I found useful:

We have concluded that Full Metal Jacket .380 ammunition will always achieve at least 16 inches of penetration in gel with 4 layers of denim and will penetrate intermediate barriers better than .380 Jacketed Hollow Points. If a pistol will feed anything it will feed FMJ. It should penetrate the vital organs of a large man from almost any angle even if it must pass through his arm to reach his chest.

•  Moving away from self-defense and shooting, here is an interesting long read from The War Zone (TWZ): "Did A Mysterious 'Sonic Weapon' Really Aid Delta Force In Capturing Maduro?"
• And while not something to "read", Aeon has a video exploring the Roman road networks.  If the video is accurate, the main highways were much wider than I had imagined.