Massad Ayoob - A SILVER LINING

Back in the grim days following the Columbine High School atrocity, I pushed hard for the “Israeli model” of armed school personnel. After the Maalot massacre, an all-volunteer program was put together for school personnel and family members of students who were trained by Israel’s civil guard and reported to school with concealed handguns. It was fabulously successful in both stopping and deterring armed terrorist attacks on schools. The concept has much in common with the hugely successful FFDO (Federal Flight Deck Officer) program for armed airline pilots. (It matters not whether the “terrorist” in question is motivated by religious zealotry, politics, or madness. What matters is that a protector with a gun be in place to stop the evildoer with a gun.)

After the recent Sandy Hook atrocity, not only did the NRA come up with a plan for something similar here (while also pushing for more armed police assigned to educational institutions as SROs, or School Resource Officers), but we’ve seen similar plans actually implemented in places like Texas, Utah, and Arkansas. It is a solid, realistic approach to a genuine problem.

I call your attention to an excellent little book published in December of 2012, “School Administrators Guide To Practical Handgun Training.” The author is Richard Rosenthal, a retired lawman with an impressive 40-year career behind him. The first half of that was twenty years with the NYPD. There, he worked Homicide and Narcotics, served as a helicopter pilot, and spent many years teaching at the Firearms and Tactics Unit, which is where I first met him long ago. Retiring after putting in those twenty, he spent a like period as Chief of Police in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.

Having dealt with school administrators as a chief of police, Rich understands their thinking. His credentials make it clear to them that he’s not some sort of right-wing lunatic, and give him credibility in certain circles where gun enthusiasts simply will not be listened to by decision-makers. Rich is not only a master firearms instructor, but a shooting incident survivor himself. His advice on vetting and training armed volunteers and managing such a program is absolutely spot-on.

I highly recommend “School Administrators Guide to Practical Handgun Training.” It’s available for $19.33 plus shipping here.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - The Real Statistics

The pundits say that gun owners are a smaller-than-ever minority, and that a majority of American homes are “gun-free.” (I hate that phrase, “gun-free.” No, guns are not vermin. Anything which sounds that helpless as “gun-free” can’t be A Good Thing.)

Let’s look at some recent statistics, though. The National Shooting Sports Foundation reports their recent survey of gun dealers that in 2012, about 25% of their sales were to first-time gun owners.

My friend and colleague Dave Workman – such a solid resource that I find myself linking to his stuff more often in this blog than any other source – observes that some 15,000 new concealed carry permits were processed last month in his home state of Washington alone. The list of permit holders increased by more than 60,000 there since May of 2012. http://www.examiner.com/article/cpl-figure-skyrockets-15k-a-single-month.

Brother Workman quotes another outstanding source of solid information, Howard Nemerov of PJ Media, who in turn cites a recent Gallup poll showing that 47% of American adults have firearms at home. http://www.examiner.com/article/waning-gun-culture-u-s-may-be-myth?cid=db_articles . Sounds like a pretty substantial “minority” to me.

Obviously, density of gun ownership is a regional thing. You’ll have fewer guns in Manhattan high-rises, and more in rural farmhouses and on Western ranches, where guns are working tools as well as self-defense implements.

And, let us not forget, a whole lot of folks don’t want to tell strangers that they have guns, whether or not the stranger has identified himself or herself as a pollster. The media has, for decades, stigmatized gun owners. Besides, who wants to announce having in their house one of the very few things besides prescription drugs that thieves can peddle in the underworld for more than their intrinsic value, instead of pennies on the dollar?

We aren’t an overwhelming national majority, but we sure aren’t the weak and fading shadow the Prohibitionists wish we were.

Dave Workman ( left), Mas (center) and Tom Gresham (right) show how anti-gun media reacts to statistics favoring gun owners.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - Good to be Home

Pulled in to the driveway at 2 AM after not having slept in my own bed since the night before Easter. It was a coast to coast run: got my segments for the next season of Personal Defense TV filmed in California, taught a couple of 40-hour armed citizen classes, was in Houston for the whole three days of the annual NRA conference, and spent a week in Chicagoland for the annual conference of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors.

This month marks 39 years for me as a part-time but fully sworn police officer. (Doing it part-time staves off burnout.) I was an armed citizen before they pinned my first badge on me, and will be one after I leave The Job, and with one foot in each world I think I may have a pretty good handle on how the two actually interrelate.

At ILEETA, I was attending a course on interdicting active mass-murderers when it was announced that the universal background check bill sank in the Senate, and witnessed the audience of police instructors burst out in spontaneous applause. At the NRA annual meeting, I saw countless cops – many in uniform – on the floor in the conference center interacting with the gun enthusiasts. Across the street, where a relatively miniscule group of anti-gunners had gathered to protest, the cops seemed to keep their distance from those folks. NRA had a strong presence at the vendor expo at ILEETA, and one of the training presentations focused on a police department which provided NRA-based training to their community, with the tuition going toward the department’s own officer training budget. The “Brady Bunch” was, as usual, notable by its absence there. Oh, and the PDTV filming? We did the live fire segments on a police department tactical shooting range, thank you very much.

The ammunition shortage, caused by panic buying which was in turn triggered by a White House- and media-driven full court press for meaningless gun legislation, has had a profoundly negative impact on police firearms training as well as on law-abiding citizens who own guns. Yes, there is much in common between our armed citizens and our cops, both of whom realize at a boots-on-the-ground level that the problem are criminals, not guns.

Now I’m home, in a community where both the Chief of Police and the County Sheriff recently stated on the front page of the local paper that they’re four-square behind armed citizens and against meaningless “gun control” legislation. I for one find that reassuring.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - The President Is A Sore Loser

When I heard the news that the Senate had failed to pass a Universal Background Check, I was at a police seminar on the topic of active shooters. The panelists had agreed that “active shooter” was a poor descriptor, one noting that some attackers use other weapons, such as the blade-wielder in the recent Texas case. (And, of course, the Boston Marathon bombing was fresh in everyone’s mind.) Another panelist, a retired SWAT lieutenant who has responded to such things for real, pointed out that an active SHOOTER is what it takes to stop an active MURDERER.

When a retired police chief on the panel announced that he’d just received a text that the UBC had failed to make it through the Senate, the police audience erupted into applause. So much for the idea that cops all want to restrict your gun ownership. The real cops know where the problems are, and that they ain’t coming from people like you.

Alas, the White House is out of tune with that reality.

A very angry Chief Executive declares that Senators who see reality and prevent what’s best described as “the tyranny of the (uninformed) majority” have somehow subverted the process. He then manages, with practically the same lungful of air, to spout bogus statistics and simultaneously accuse those who told the truth of willful deception.

My favorite part was watching Vice President Biden’s face, in the Senate chamber during the vote and at the President’s side during the above-mentioned press conference shortly thereafter. The man does one hell of a good Grumpy Cat impersonation, and one “safu” on the Internet has come to the same conclusion.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - From the CNN - Giffords Perspective

Late last January, a Fox commentator noted that CNN had turned into a 24/7 “gun control” telethon. And now, on the evening of April 9, I sit here watching what CNN has called a two-day special devoted to exactly that topic.

It is focusing on background checks. No surprise: the gun prohibition movement nationwide has lasered in on the exact same thing. They’ve been doing it for a while, ever since they realized that both the “assault weapon ban” and the “high capacity magazine ban” are being increasingly recognized as illogical and meaningless…as, indeed, they were proven to be the last time they were enacted.

The “opening shot” of the “two-day blast” (puns intended) centered on Gabby Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly. Before she was shot by psycho Jared Loughner, Rep. Giffords was a conservative Democrat who staunchly supported gun owners’ civil rights. She owned a Glock 19 pistol exactly like the one Loughner used, and to their credit, her husband admitted that. He also admitted that he and his wife owned a slightly larger capacity version of the same gun, the Glock 17, which he fired obligingly at a backyard plinking range for the CNN cameras.

The Glock 19 pistol holds 15 rounds in its standard magazine, and the Glock 17 contains 17 rounds when its standard magazine is full. Each will take one more round in the firing chamber when fully loaded. Kelly made a big point of the fact that Loughner had used extended 33-round magazines in the weapon he used in the massacre.

Interesting, that, though Giffords and Kelly have now become icons in the “gun control” movement that wants to limit everyone to 10-round magazines (and New Yorkers to only 7), neither seems to have even symbolically given up their standard capacity magazines “evil high capacity assault magazine clips.”

“Sean AZ” commented in the last blog entry below this one that it looked to him as if the backstop Kelly was shooting at on CNN was unsafe. And in a previous entry here I commented on the disingenuous hypocrisy Kelly demonstrated recently in his purchase of a “high capacity assault rifle,” to wit the SIG version of an AR15. (The gun shop where he bought it refused to complete the transfer. When I am next in Tucson, I want to shake the hand of the gun shop owner who made that decision.)

So far in this particular stage of the “we gotta have universal background checks” CNN marathon, it appears that folks think we gun people want it to be legal for criminals to buy guns on the street, or have their girlfriends buy guns for them. Nothing could be further from the truth. That’s already against the law, and has been for a very long time, and it’s us gun people who rage against the Obama/Holder Justice Department’s failure to prosecute more than a token number of criminals who do so. So far, even Anderson Cooper, the point man on this particular CNN blitz, doesn’t seem to be aware of the quicksand of creating felons out of a husband who leaves a gun at home with his wife, or parents who bequeaths a family heirloom gun to heirs, which lies in some of the currently suggested “background check” legislation passes. (Please see the blog entry below this one.)

To Cooper’s credit, while he’s obviously not “pro-gun,” he’s trying to show both sides like a professional journalist, in stark contrast to his fellow CNN denizen, Piers Morgan. Having been forced out of his journalism career in England by a hoax he perpetrated as a journalist, and a phone-tapping scandal, Morgan gets about half the ratings Anderson does. Anderson has already, honestly, brought out the fact that Loughner PASSED a background check when he bought the gun he later used that terrible day in Tucson.

My heart goes out to Gabby Giffords. It pains me to see what the brain damage inflicted on her by a monster has done. I can only wish she’d been carrying her own Glock 19 on that day, and seen the evil little monster in time to stop him.

In recent days, we’ve seen a senior proponent of the full capacity magazine ban reveal that she didn’t have a clue how either magazines or stripper clips worked, and neither apparently did her research assistants.

It was a moment of absolutely monumental cluelessness. It’s as if a denizen of Capitol Hill was pushing legislation to limit how much fuel you could have in your vehicle’s tank, and to limit your family car to low speed…and you discovered that the legislator had never driven an automobile and didn’t know a steering wheel from a spare tire. Not long before that gaffe, we saw Governor Cuomo push through the SAFE Act in New York State, not only limiting the public to seven cartridges in the magazine but crafting the legislation so sloppily that he and his minions didn’t realize they had written it to apply to police as well. This sort of thing reflects a level of ignorance on a par with the politician who, last year, made it clear he thought an island would tip over if too many people were located on one side of it,

or the candidate last year who declared that women’s bodies had some magic mechanism that kept them from getting pregnant if they were raped.

Such things should be taught in civics classes, as a warning to the electorate.

In the wake of it all, thankfully, more middle-of-the-road citizens are re-examining the whole “assault weapons/high capacity magazines” propaganda blitz, and seeing the mendacity and futility hidden therein. Yet pundits still tell us that the shining hope of the gun prohibitionists is “reasonable, common sense universal background checks.” Here, stalwart gun owners’ civil rights activist David Kopel explains all the bad stuff that hides in the proposed legislation: National Review.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - A Good Cause

If the name Keith Jones rings a bell with you, you’ve probably traveled in circles that involved officer survival training or armed citizen training. A Vietnam veteran who saw heavy hand to hand combat, Keith came back to the USA to become a police officer in a major city for some four decades. During that time, he won half a dozen gunfights himself and studied many more. The lessons he imparts have kept a lot of good people alive.

If you haven’t listened to one of his lectures, you can catch him on the Pro-Arms Podcast at no charge, here.

Keith’s lovely wife Kathy was recently diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer of the pancreas. Friends are working to help. Ashley Gibbons at Sand Burr Gun Ranch is kicking off with an auction for one of my 40-hour Massad Ayoob Group classes. Or, simply send a donation to the fund listed at the end. Ashley explains it below:

What: MAG 40 with Massad Ayoob:

Where: Sand Burr Gun Ranch Rochester, IN

When: June 20-23, 2013

MAG and SBGR are offering for auction to the highest bidder the tuition for one MAG 40 student.

100% of the proceeds go to Kathryn Jones, wife of Keith Jones to aid in medical expenses as Kathy fights pancreatic cancer.

How the auction works::

Bids for the auction will be accepted by calling Sand Burr Gun Ranch at 574-223-3316.

The winning bidder will be contacted at the end of auction by Sand Burr.

Winning bidder must meet the same requirements as all MAG students.

Auction starts March 22 @ 10 am EST auction ends May 1@noon

Opening Bid $500.00

Sand Burr Gun Ranch will post current top bid amounts on their Facebook page.

Course details can be found at http://massadayoobgroup.com

www.sandburrgunranch.com

Bid often and Good Luck.

If you want to help without placing a bid::

Kathryn L. Jones Cancer Relief Fund

c/o Huntington National Bank

3460 N. High School Rd

Indianapolis, IN 46224

Donations can be mailed in or deposited to any Huntington National Bank branch office.

Massad Ayoob

In this video from the Cato Institute, Massad Ayoob draws on his decades of experience to critically examine so-called "Stand Your Ground" and "Castle Doctrine" laws.

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

NOTE: To share or email this 'Specific' article, you must click on the Title of the article.

Massad Ayoob - “VIGILANTE,” MY BUTT

So, this hefty mammal is stomping the crap out of a woman he once claimed to love, and a passerby who has fought for his country stops to help. The Creature From the Testosterone Lagoon decides he’ll stomp him into jelly, too. Ordinary size military vet with concealed carry permit from Wisconsin basically says, “Uh, no” and draws his 9mm pistol and takes the woman -beater now assaulting him at gunpoint. Woman-beater decides not to push the matter.

Street-savvy cops arrive, sort things out, can tell good guy from bad guy. Bad guy arrested, good guy is recognized as such, and gets accolades from the sheriff, as seen here:

HuffPost, not exactly what you’d call a pro-gun entity, gives him props. Cool so far.

Read all the way to the bottom, to where Huffington Post compares him to other “vigilantes.” In a bizarre twist of journalism, they include a high profile case not yet adjudicated in Florida as an example of “vigilante justice,” along with Jack Ruby and some guy who threw marbles at a traffic control camera.

Uh…does anyone who writes for HuffPost understand words like “research”? Do they understand that “words mean things”?

The term “vigilante” comes from “vigilance committees,” folks on the nineteenth-century American frontier who gathered together without benefit of government authority – in a time and place where there WAS no such thing to speak of – and became judge, jury, and occasionally executioner of those they felt were wrong-doers.

In the instant case, we have a man who fought for his country and carried a pistol to protect himself, his loved ones, and others within what the law would call “the mantle of his protection.” He made, essentially, an absolutely appropriate citizen’s arrest, and kept a helpless woman from being beaten to death.

“Vigilante,” my ass.

The words you were groping for, HuffPost, were “Good Samaritan.” Or, if that’s too many syllables for your current generation of reporters and editors, maybe just…”Hero.”

But, hey, I’m an old dinosaur who thinks in the Old Ways.

What do you, reading this, think?

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - Recharging the Batteries

Recently got home from the 2013 Polite Society event, a/k/a National Tactical Conference, in Memphis. A symposium like this allows you to recharge your batteries and remember what you fight for. There were roughly 150 attendees – 25 of them teaching – and damn near all of them were carrying loaded guns the whole time. The name of the conference comes from a Robert Heinlein quote popularized by armsmaster Jeff Cooper: “An armed society is a polite society.” One quick translation of that is, creatures with fangs and claws do not see other creatures with fangs and claws as prey…and unless it’s a mating issue or a turf issue, they generally leave them the hell alone.

There were too many fine presentations to relate here, though each is discussed on an upcoming ProArms podcast that four of our crew who attended were able to record in the car on the way home. Yes, the drive of eleven hours each way was more than worth it for what we got out of the conference. It is not “up” yet, but should be soon; patience appreciated.

Many of the presenters and attendees alike were cops or retired cops. Across the board, there was unanimous agreement that the current trend toward private citizen disarmament was deplorable and wrong-headed. Host Tom Givens, the founder of the program, made a telling point: real-world analysis of violent crime indicates about a one-in-thirty chance that any individual American will face it at some time in his or her life. (Virtually ALL of the presenters had come face to face with it already, one reason they were selected to teach.) Tom pointed out that over the years, sixty or more of his civilian graduates have been involved in lethal force encounters. All but two prevailed and survived. The two who didn’t prevail, died. Not coincidentally, those were the two who were unarmed when it happened. Tom reminded us all of the advice of Jeff Cooper’s acolyte Mark Moritz, a gun-wise attorney: “The first rule of gunfighting is, Have A Gun!”

The eclectic program encompassed emergency first responder trauma care for gunshot wounds, stabs and lacerations, and blunt trauma injury, taught by MDs. It included a veteran psychologist on one side and a homicide investigator on the other delineating how human predators think and act. There was hand-to-hand work, and knife awareness, and recognition of assaultive behavior cues. There was aftermath management: the blocs I taught revolved around lessons learned in some of the more recent homicide trials I’ve been involved in, including one a month ago, all of which were killings done in defense of self and/or others. (And yes, in each case the jury agreed.) The veteran cop who talked about “active shooter” scenarios deplored the fact that this has become the terminology, since human monsters such as those should be considered “active killers” or indeed, “active mass-murderers.” He had been involved in two such incidents himself, both of which ended in the quick death of the monsters as soon as they were confronted with lethal force resistance, and he quite pointedly noted that some of the cases under discussion were ended by armed citizens who saved countless lives.

Time with people who understand the ugly reality of having to stop murderers, is time well spent for those who may have to one day face such murderers.

And “those who may have to one day face such murderers” includes everyone reading this, and indeed, everyone, period.

Thanks to Tom Givens and his team for making this top-tier level of training available to law-abiding private citizens, as well as the many cops who were in attendance. Next year’s program will be held on February 21-23, 2014 in Memphis, and you can get more information from the Rangemaster Website.

The RangeMaster complex in had room to train 150 good people.

Jon Hodoway gave an excellent lecture on the survival capabilities that can be found in an ordinary smart phone.

Ever heard of SouthNarc? He’s retired from police work now, so I can finally publish his picture…and I’ve long recommended his street-wise training.

Here, I’m briefing the audience on lessons learned from recent homicide trials. On screen is the Ruger .45 used in a self-defense shooting.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - Been A Helluva Week

Sorry to have been away from the blog so long, but from the afternoon of Sunday, February 3 to the early morning hours of Saturday, February 9, I was involved in the premeditated murder trial of an armed citizen who killed a man who violently attacked him. On Friday, the jury came in with a complete acquittal. At least one happy ending for an otherwise ugly week.

On the larger front, news was much grimmer. We learned that the madman who murdered Navy SEAL hero Chris Kyle and another man, both of whom were trying to help the slayer cope with PTSD, had been set loose on society after threatening murder and suicide last September. In the rush to symbolically pillory gun owners, media and legislators largely ignore the real problem: homicidal maniacs who need to be institutionalized, and aren’t.

At this writing, Christopher Dorner remains at large. This extremely dangerous fugitive, who claims to be very heavily armed, is a fascinating study of good, evil, and madness. His Facebook artifacts show he had a lot of ego investment in being a member of two forces of good, the United States Navy and the Los Angeles Police Department. Feeling wronged when he failed at both, he embarked on a murder spree that is the very antithesis of the heroes he identified with. Once a designated, uniformed protector of the innocent, he now murdered two helpless people: the daughter of a cop he didn’t think had done enough for him, and her fiancé. Nothing less than absolute evil. He then opened fire on police officers from cowardly ambush, murdering one, and fled when they returned fire. Dorner’s actions set the stage for a tragic mistaken identity shooting subsequently by police.

Dorner sent a “manifesto” to CNN, damning the private ownership of AR15 rifles, “high capacity” magazines and the like, and praising Piers Morgan and the White House for their anti-gun efforts, while committing murder with the same type of weapons. He apparently feels his hurt feelings justify the murder of those who’ve done him no harm, and that of course is madness, as seen through the prism of common sense if not through that of the M’Naghten precedent.

But then, the same hypocrisy – take things away from law-abiding citizens, because monsters use them to murder those self-same law-abiding citizens – is shared by supposedly sane people in positions of power. I’m told that some of the media have soft-pedaled the spree-killer’s praise for the anti-gunners, but you can read the whole manifesto HERE.

Dorner’s murderous spree is unlikely to end well. I see a possibility, though, that he’ll turn himself in to one of his heroes, perhaps Piers Morgan; there’s enough narcissism in his “manifesto” that he might want to live to praise himself longer and more publicly, like the recent mass-murderer in Norway, instead of dying in a sick “blaze of glory.” Time will tell.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - Why Good People Need SemiAutomatic Firearms and “High Capacity” Magazines

Within roughly the same timeframe as the Newtown Atrocity, a criminal armed with a crowbar broke into the home of a young mother who was there alone with her nine-year-old twins. When she and the kids had retreated as far as they could and the intruder still kept coming, she opened fire with a .38 caliber revolver.

When her gun went empty, five of the six shots had struck the intruder. Whether it’s drunkenness, drugs, or desperation, some violent criminals can be harder than others. In this case, the intruder was still up and running. The smart and courageous young mom bluffed him at the point of her now-empty six-shooter, telling him in essence that she would finish him off if he kept attacking.

The bluff worked. He fled, running out of steam later, though he is still alive to face criminal charges.

Anyone who is not blind from rabid anti-gun sentiment can see that this would not have ended well for the mom OR her young twins if the suspect had been just a little tougher and more resolved…or if he’d had an accomplice.

American Rifleman, the monthly magazine of the National Rifle Association, carries a regular column titled The Armed Citizen. It documents cases of good people using guns to protect themselves and other innocents from bad people. This continuing feature has run for decades, so old that one of my grandfather’s self-defense incidents is in its archives.

The Armed Citizen section in the current issue of the Rifleman, warrants our interest. Bear in mind that a real life self-defense shooting is not a “Dirty Harry” cinematic fantasy in which every shot fired will both strike, and instantly blow away, a bad guy. Real life is more like a zombie movie: if the first bullet doesn’t short-circuit the central nervous system, you have to keep shooting until the skeletal support structure no longer holds him (and his weapon) up where he can hurt you and yours, or until his cardiovascular system has run out of oxygenated blood for his brain. The latter mechanism’s effect can often be better measured in minutes than in moments.

Traditionally limited to a single page, the Armed Citizens column in the February 2013 issue contains seven incidents “torn from the headlines” as the dramatists like to say, all documented by the local news media where the incidents took place.

In EACH of those incidents, only ONE of the intended victims was armed and capable of fighting back.

A mere two of those seven documented incidents were “one on one” confrontations. In each the Good Guys were actually Good Gals: A 35-year-old woman in New Mexico and Jill Stucker, 64, of Florida had to deal with only a single attacker apiece.

Three of the people saved by their guns were up against two-to-one odds: An unidentified farmer in West Virginia, store owner Roger Webster of Maryland, and an 83-year-old lady with a “walker” in Tennessee.

And two of the seven documented cases – A 35-year-old woman in the New Orleans area and a Pennsylvania man – were each up against a gang of at least FOUR home invaders.

In a world where the Good People With Guns often have to deliver several hits to neutralize even one Bad Person With Deadly Weapons, and in which there is often more than one attacker, anyone applying logical thinking can only end up shouting one three-word
mantra: DO THE MATH!!

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - BLACK VOICES ON THE GUN ISSUE

As we prepare to observe the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, it seems timely to remember that the first “gun control” in this country was focused on oppressing African-Americans in the wake of the Civil War. See “The Racist Roots of Gun Control”

If you’re not familiar with the work of my friend Kenn Blanchard, one of our most articulate spokesmen for gun owners’ civil rights, go to his website here, read what he has to say, and order his books.

I recently read “Sworn and Examined: Witnesses to Suwannee Valley Reconstruction Violence in Florida’s Third Judicial Circuit,” by Wilburn Bell (Instantpublisher.com, 2012). In one transcript, a black witness describes how a murder by night-riders came to an abrupt end before it could turn into mass murder… because a black victim shot back:

Witness: …The party rushed up to the door, and shot this man down dead; he did not speak but once or twice.
Question: Did the others return the fire?
Witness: There was one colored man who returned the fire, and it was believed he wounded one of them.
Question: Did that disperse them?
Witness: Yes, sir.

One of the loudest voices for gun ownership restriction is Obama crony Rahm Emmanuel, mayor of Chicago, where there were more than 500 homicides last year. Do some digging, and you’ll find out that the victims were overwhelmingly African-American. In 2011, Chicago murder victims were 75.3% black, 18.9% Hispanic, and only 4.6% white (stats from Chicago Police Department Research and Development Division). It was African-Americans’ vulnerability to such things that led Otis McDonald and Colleen Lawson to join in the lawsuit that, in the US Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in McDonald, et. al. v. City of Chicago, struck down that city’s unconstitutional decades-long ban on the mere ownership of handguns by its law-abiding private citizens. You can hear them tell their own stories on the ProArms Podcast: Colleen, Otis, downloadable free to your computer or iPod.

In the living memory of many of us, the Civil Rights efforts of the 1960s were largely a history of blacks using guns to defend themselves against murderous Klansmen and their cohorts. Groups like Deacons for Defense and Justice armed themselves and banded together to protect black communities from the night-riders. Order the made for TV docudrama about it, “Deacons for Defense,” from Netflix, or get a quick history fix - click HERE: The Deacons were allied with CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality. I never did get to meet the late Ralph Connor, head of CORE, but you can hear him state his thoughts here:

I did have the pleasure of meeting Roy Innes, another leader of CORE, who was always a strong voice for the right to keep and bear arms.

More recently, we have read the balanced logic of Professor Walter Williams. Read his recent column, “Are Guns the Problem,”

Younger folk, “Shooter Gen 2.0” are well represented by a law student who calls himself Mr. Colion Noir, on his Website and YouTube channel.

And it’s clear from his record that our highest ranking African-American jurist, Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court, understands what the Second Amendment is about, too.

Dr. King kept guns in his home to protect himself and his family. After firebombing and numerous death threats by racists, his application for a permit to carry a gun was denied by the “may issue” white power structure in that time and place. Let the holiday that celebrates this man’s life include some reflection on the importance of the Second Amendment.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - AND IN TODAY’S NEWS 1-14-13

The SHOT Show, our largest firearms industry trade show, is underway today. Glock just announced their new 30S .45 caliber pistol. It combines the wide-body short frame of the Glock 30SF with the narrow slide of their model 36, in the same caliber. It was reportedly created at the request of LAPD detectives. It’s a cool little gun: I’ve had my pre-announcement sample since November, and it has run hundreds of rounds with perfect functioning. I even won an IDPA match in the CDP division, shooting against full size 1911 .45s, with it in Jacksonville, Florida last month.

And, in accompanying news, if you live in New York you may never actually see one unless a policeman shows you his or you go out of state, because it’s designed for a ten-shot magazine and accepts the thirteen-round magazine of its big brother model in the same caliber, the Glock 21. Today’s newswires announce that the NY state legislature is about to be willingly ramrodded by longtime anti-gun Governor Cuomo into passing a law that will restrict magazine capacity to seven cartridges. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/14/gun-laws-may-soon-be-even-tighter-in-new-york-get-the-details-on-states-tenative-gun-control-deal/.

It’s the most Draconian gun law – and more so, in some ways – since the handgun bans of Chicago and the District of Columbia, both of which stood for a very long time before being struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in Heller v. District of Columbia in 2008 and McDonald, et. al. v. City of Chicago in 2010.

There are still details of the new legislation to be seen and analyzed. But, in the name of stamping out evil, high capacity, high-powered “assault weapons” this legislation will take away the great majority of semiautomatic pistols and rifles. It can in theory take away every .22 rifle except single shot models, since the tube magazine versions all hold more than ten of the stubby little .22 cartridges, and the box magazine types are all capable of taking a more-than-seven-round magazine.

The old, retired GI’s or Marine’s 1911 .45 service pistol is now banned: they all accept commonly available eight-and ten-round mags, and longer ones that go back to World War I. More recent generations of American armed service personnel who bought the Beretta 92, the civilian version of the M9 service pistol they were trained on, are SOL; no less-than-ten-round magazine has ever been manufactured for that gun in its standard configuration, and they can all accept the longer ones.

In an ironic highlight to the cluelessness that has so long driven the gun-banning movement, we have the picture here of vehemently anti-gun New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg holding one of the AR15s he and the Governor want to ban their constituents from owning. He apparently thinks it’s the epitome of the super-lethal death-dealing assault weapon.

Look carefully at the ejection port and compare it to the Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 pictured below.

The rifle Bloomberg is holding has an ejection port far too short to handle a .223/5.56mm rifle round, itself so weak that most states forbid its use for deer hunting. The Bloomberg AR15 appears to be chambered for .22 Long Rifle, a target-shooter’s cartridge generally considered so feeble as to be inhumane for hunting anything much bigger than a squirrel, a rabbit, or a close-range groundhog.

…and here, note standard S&W M&P15 with proper ejection port and bolt for .223 caliber/5.56mm. It appears that Hizzoner’s exemplar of a deadly assault rifle is in fact chambered for the little .22 rimfire cartridge.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - Gun Control - Understanding Both Sides

The “gun control” debate has, from its beginning, been a battle fueled by emotion and symbolism on the banning side, and by logic and common sense on the side of the responsible gun owners. The fires of emotion flare brightly, but they burn down with time, particularly when dampened by logical public discourse.

I suspect this is why POTUS is moving so quickly on his long-promised gun banning legislation, which he has said he wants to see on his desk by sometime next month. It is why he appointed to lead a supposedly impartial fact-finding commission none other than long-time gun ban advocate Joe Biden, which is rather like appointing the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church as chair of a committee to study gay rights.

Leading the charge are “journalists” who’ve abandoned all pretense to impartiality and fact finding. CNN has become “all gun control, all the time” over the past week. One needs only witness Morgan’s vicious personal attacks on such invited guests as Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America, here.

I thought Larry stood up to him admirably, as Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation did earlier in the week, here.

We gun folks aren’t the only ones who’ve picked up on such empty, malevolent ranting on the “ban” side versus the plain facts put forth by the “rights” side. Peter Wehner at Commentary nails it, here.

The general consensus of cops and criminologists is that a decade of the Clinton Assault Weapons Ban proved absolutely meaningless as a “crime-stopper.” That law was in full sway when the Columbine High School massacre was perpetrated. Wasn’t it Einstein who said that the definition of insanity was to keep doing something that didn’t work?

Some of us who actually work in the threat management/public safety field have been recommending an armed security presence, including trained volunteers among the teaching and admin staff, since the 20th Century. Had that been in place in Sandy Hook, it would likely have prevented or at least mitigated the slaughter. The idea is now gaining traction in the wake of the Connecticut atrocity. We realize, as do the Washington Examiner and the FBI, that in 2010 more murders were documentably committed by bare hands and stompings (745) than with rifles (358) of all types.

More timely reading to share in hopes of informing the public: http://pjmedia.com/blog/gun-control-its-the-software-stupid-not-the-hardware/ .

And this morning, Wayne Lapierre and his NRA team absolutely served up a healthy dose of reality at their press conference, available in transcript here.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - Thanksgiving 2012

When you get to be my age, one of the things you give thanks for is having survived to celebrate another Thanksgiving.

My brother geezer Bill Goldstein sent me this cool 1950s “car show game.” It challenges you to identify various makes and models from the 1950s. http://www.americantorque.com/game/car-show-50s/

I scored 100%.

I dunno if that’s a bad thing or a good thing.

Hell, I was alive when all of ‘em were new. I remember as a tyke sitting on my dad’s lap as he drove, “helping him steer” his 1950 Oldsmobile 88. I remember learning to drive on his 1955 Pontiac. (That car had the glove box in the center of the dashboard, equally accessible to driver and passenger. Why the hell didn’t THAT handy feature survive to become an auto industry standard?) I remember my sister’s sleek 1957 Buick Roadmaster, and how it started: you turned the ignition, then punched the accelerator to fire up the engine. It seemed quaintly out of place even then. And I remember my very own first car, a ’58 Dodge with push button transmission and, yes, humongous tail fins.

Well, I hope at least that I haven’t (yet) turned into this driver:

On Thanksgiving Day, I’ll join the sweet cookie-baking grandmother with whom I share my life in a quick trip in the geezer van Urban Assault Vehicle to eat and spend much of the day with good friends. Friday will see us helping out at a shooting event for some wounded warriors, and over the weekend, we’ll compete in a pistol match. It should be relaxing and fulfilling.

We wish you all a similarly happy and restorative Thanksgiving.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - Home Invasion Plan

If the layout of your home allows, pick a centrally located room near all or most of the bedrooms where everyone in the household can gather quickly and safely in the event of an intrusion. Ideally, this room should have reinforced doors and deadbolt locks. Keep a fully charged cell phone and a flashlight in the safe room.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - Reflections On The First Obama/Romney Debate

I was about 12 years old when I raptly watched the Kennedy/Nixon debate. Sold me on Kennedy, to tell you the truth. It wasn’t until much later than I learned that those who listened to it on the radio mostly thought Nixon had won, while we who saw it on TV saw Kennedy as the clear winner.

More than half a century later, something similar (but different) just occurred. I was listening to the first Obama/Romney debate live while driving between Atlanta and Valdosta the other night, and while it was clear to the ears that Romney had dominated, it was those who SAW it who delivered the overwhelming collective decision that Romney had absolutely CRUSHED his incumbent opponent.

“Déjà vu all over again.”

Watching it subsequently on computer video, I could see the dramatic difference. I could understand why Obama supporters SEEING IT LIVE (not just listening to it at home) were tweeting each other in despair that the President was getting his butt kicked. One pundit said that if it had been a boxing match, the referee would have stopped the fight.

As someone who has for a long time done more public speaking than most folks, and engaged in his share of debates, I can only say: CUE THIS FIRST DEBATE UP ON VIDEO, TURN OFF THE SOUND, AND JUST WATCH THE BODY LANGUAGE.

A huge amount of human communication is not just in the words put forth, but in the posture, the stance, the hand gestures, and the facial expressions that accompany it all. Watch it on split screen where you can see each debater react to the other in the same time frame. Romney stays focused on what his opponent is saying, but when Romney speaks, Obama keeps looking downward like a shamed child in the presence of an accusing parent. Obama takes a punch at Romney, and Romney smiles as if to say, “Is that all you’ve got?” Then Romney takes a punch at Obama, and Obama frowns and all but winces as if to say, “OW! That hurt!”

As you go through the vast trove of pundit commentary, notice how many Obama supporters admit their guy got his butt kicked, and the total absence of Republicans saying the same of their candidate. Notice how many excuses put forth for Obama (the YOUNGER guy couldn’t handle the high altitude lack of oxygen, but the OLDER guy COULD?!?) and that virtually no excuses had to be offered for Romney.

Neither man scored 100%. There were smiles that were taken as insultingly condescending on both sides, but I saw far more of those from the Republican candidate (one reason I can’t give him 100%). I was amazed at how many pundits saw Romney’s frequent smirks positively as patiently tolerant “polite smiles.”

The substance of it? Do the flip side of “watch them in silence” and just read the written transcript, and while you can make arguments on either side, I have to agree with the general consensus that Romney still won. He had done his homework and prepared himself better with facts and figures. Obama had reportedly done his debate prep with John Kerry, which is a little like sparring with Richard Simmons when you’re preparing to fight Muhammad Ali in his prime for the world championship.

We are creatures of inflection. Our confidence and our credibility are reflected in our posture, our facial expressions, and our gestures, not to mention our vocal pace and tone and emphasis.

But, hey…what’s YOUR take on this topic?

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - THE DESPAIR OF THE ONE-ISSUE VOTER

I try to stay out of politics. Ain’t my job. Here at Backwoods Home, I’m the resident gun guy, and because I’m the only staffer who also works in the criminal justice system, I sometimes go there too.

A hugely important Presidential election looms upon us. The next four years will see new appointments to the United States Supreme Court, with obviously great implications for those of us who believe in the Constitution and have sworn an oath to uphold it. As has been discussed here before, the one-issue voter isn’t necessarily wearing blinders. Rather, he or she recognizes that no citizen can be on top of every critical issue in our society, but our leaders must be. Therefore, we pick one issue we DO know inside and out, and use that as the litmus test to determine the candidate’s reasonableness, fairness, and logic in the other matters we will vote to entrust to him or her.

This is not to say that we don’t have other issues which are important to us. I am sadly watching the Republican Party, whose platform is much closer to my One Combined Issue of the civil rights of gun owners and the right to self-defense, walk perilously close to the cliff of unelectability on other issues. 47% of people voting for Obama so they can suck on the public teat? I know a lot of taxpayers who are very productive to our society who are going to vote to re-elect the current President for other reasons.

It’s not my place to talk about those things here. It is my place to talk about my corner of the Backwoods Home blogs. In those areas, the choice is starkly clear.

The Democratic Party has chosen to support a reinstatement, presumably permanent this time, of the totally failed and Draconian “assault weapons ban” dumped on us for a decade by Bill Clinton when he was President. Don’t believe me? Look here: http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform

The Republican Party, on the other hand, isn’t buying that crap and instead, is for the first time endorsing national reciprocity for concealed carry, that is, the right to carry a loaded, concealed handgun in every state to protect yourself and your family when you’re traveling. Don’t believe me? Look here: http://www.gop.com/2012-republican-platform_home/.

Yeah, I know: “the lesser of two evils.” There are two ways to look at that. One, of course, is that “the lesser of two evils is still evil.” Cynical pragmatist that the decades have made me, I go with the other view: “the lesser of two evils is still…LESS EVIL.”

For the one issue voter, if the issue is gun owners’ civil rights and the right to protect self and family, Romney is the indisputable choice.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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Massad Ayoob - The Sound Of Cricketts

If you live in the country or anywhere near it, you know the sound of crickets. It’s pleasant, and soothing.

That’s distinct from the soft “crack, crack” of Cricketts, which I for one find pleasant and reassuring.

The Crickett™ is a scaled down .22 rifle designed for kids. A single-shot bolt action, it’s today’s answer to the Chipmunk rifle of a generation ago, made light and with a very short stock for children’s arms. Military small arms expert Peter Kokalis said the Chipmunk was the most important rifle of its time, because it was designed to get The Next Generation into the safe appreciation of responsible firearms ownership. I have to concur. The Crickett carries on the tradition. It comes in plain grayish black, or camo for hunting, and even in pink, which my gun dealer friends tell me actually does appeal to little girls and those who buy guns for them.

A week ago I was at the Enfield Outing Club in Enfield, New Hampshire. In recent weeks, this extraordinarily civic-minded shooting club had hosted an Appleseed event and a shooting match to benefit Wounded Warriors, one of my favorite charities. They hold firearms safety courses for the public there on a regular basis. EOC exemplifies how a gun club can be a community asset.

While I was there, Dickie Crate dropped by with his eight year old son Owen, both on bicycles. Crate is Chief of Police in Enfield, a solid professional much appreciated by both his officers and his citizens. He and Owen get by the club often, and Owen enjoys shooting his own Crickett rifle there.

In talking with the grown-ups, Owen allowed that he’d like to try a telescopic sight on his .22. One of those present was Russ Lary, who retired three years ago after many years as chief of police in neighboring Grantham. He and Chief Crate had a short discussion, and Russ left with young Owen’s rifle.

When he met Dickie and Owen on the range again a couple of days later, the rifle had been to Rody’s Gun Shop in nearby Newport, one of my favorite places of its kind. Proprietors Bill and Henry Rodeschin had mounted one of Crickett’s own four-power scopes, and bore-sighted it. They did an excellent job: Owen’s first shots from a standing position centered spot on in the little “X” that Dickie and Russ had taped to the center of the target. Owen was one happy kid.

The crickets may be relaxing, but Cricketts gladden this old shooter’s heart…and so do the fine young men and women who shoot them, and the responsible parents who buy Cricketts for them. Info is available at http://www.crickett.com.

Owen Crate gets the feel of his newly-scoped Crickett.

From left: Chief Lary (ret.), Owen Crate with Crickett, and Chief Crate.

Massad Ayoob

Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.

Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.

Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.

http://massadayoobgroup.com/

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