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If You Get The Outdoor Channel…

September 28, 2016 by 2 Comments

If you subscribe to the Outdoor Channel (or have a friend who does), you will want to see the Best Defense tonight. It will feature their mass casualty event reenactment modeled on the Paris music hall terrorist attack. The goal was to find ways for you to survive such an event.

I don’t have the Outdoor Channel but I understand that the show will eventually be rebroadcast on their new My Outdoor TV (Shooting Gallery Online) digital network.

From Michael Bane:

THE BEST DEFENSE: MASS CASUALTY EVENT TO PREMIER THIS WEDNESDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER, ON OUTDOOR CHANNEL, 8:00 PM Eastern
Masonville,
CO — The two scariest words in the English language are “what it?”
There have been a dozen terror attacks in the United States in 2016;
“what if” you or your family are trapped in the worst case you can
imagine?
Award-winning
producers of THE BEST DEFENSE, Michael Bane and Jeff Murray, decided to
tackle that question head on in a compelling, and terrifying, special
premiering on OUTDOOR CHANNEL at 8:00 PM ET Wednesday, September 28,
encoring November 2 (Time to be announced).
“‘What
if’ is a simple question with a hellish answer,” said Bane. “Literally
days before the San Bernardino attacks, Jeff and I began discussing an
idea to create the most realistic terrorist attack simulation possible,
then use the tools we’ve developed in THE BEST DEFENSE over multiple
seasons to help people survive.”   
The
producers’ number one goal was to create a scenario so realistic that
it was hard to turn away. Working from the basics of the Paris concert
hall attacks, Bane and Murray reached out to both law enforcement and
military counterterrorism experts and trainers who studied mass casualty
events, THE BEST DEFENSE training team of Mike Seeklander and Michael
Janich, paramedics specializing in first response and even renowned
mental health experts to build the scenario and capture as much as
possible the reality of being trapped in a mass casualty attack.
“We
made the decision to use FX to make the scenario more realistic,” Bane
said. “We were lucky enough to have the help of the Larimer County (CO)
SWAT team and local paramedics. The Mass Casualty Event is certainly the
most complex sim I’ve ever been involved with.”
A
film team headed by award-winning documentarian Brandon Green shot the
whole event in ultra-high resolution 4K. Green worked with the FX team
to make every shot fired as realistic as possible.
“Essentially,
this is the most ‘vetted’ scenario we could build. Every move, every
action taken is based in reality and run through some of the most
knowledgeable experts in the world,” Bane said. “Even the crowd reaction
is based on cutting edge research from Dr. William Aprill…as each
‘extra’ arrived, that person was given a card explaining how he or she
should react when the attack started. We were lucky enough to have
Michael Janich’s highly trained cadre of martial arts experts to create
an even more realistic sim. In fact, our main ‘terrorist’ served in the
Israeli Defense Force as a sniper and Master Breacher, and is an expert
in counterterrorism techniques.” 
On-screen
experts, in addition to the TBD Team of Seeklander and Janich, include
Ken Hackathorn, considered one of the top firearms trainers in the
world; Gabe Suarez, probably the most experienced trainer in studying
and dissecting mass casualty events and teaching civilian response; Dr.
Dan Olesnicky, SWAT team physician, a first responder in terrorist
events and one of the leading trainers of tactical medicine; Dr. William
Aprill of Aprill Risk Consulting, considered the national expert on
criminal and terrorist mindset; former SEAL Jimmy Graham, who also
served as Lead Instructor for elite Federal Government Protective
details in high risk environments and presently heads up the Active
Shooter Response Training Center in the Denver area.
“Our
team is tremendously proud of this effort, and we thank OUTDOOR CHANNEL
for putting this information in front of so many people,” Bane said.
“Since we began planning for this special, there have been 12 terrorism
events in the United States and literally one a day around the world. We
believe this information is critical, and we hope our viewers never
have to use it.”
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We Need Hand Registration!

September 27, 2016 by 7 Comments

If you were a kid growing up in the Sixties (or maybe any era), there were always playground myths. One of the ones I remember was that if you had a Black Belt in Karate you were required to register your hands with the police. I think earlier generations may have had something similar about champion boxers.

Of course this was just a myth based partly on the unknown. Karate was considered strange and foreign and imbued with super-human effectiveness. You didn’t have karate as an Olympic sport then and you certainly didn’t have dojos on every corner training little kids in the martial arts so as to teach them self-discipline.

I bring this up because I saw an article by AWR Hawkins on the just released 2015 FBI Uniform Crime Reports.

According to the FBI, approximately 252 people were killed with rifles in 2015. Nearly twice that figure–approximately 595–were killed with “hands, fists, or feet, etc.”


These numbers are not unprecedented. Breitbart News reported that the FBI’s 2014 Uniform Crime Report showed the number of people killed with a rifle that year was approximately 251. Over twice that figure–approximately 670–were killed by being beaten to death with “hands, fists, or feet, etc.”

Looking at the individual states, you see places like New York, California, Massachusetts, and Maryland which highly regulate “assault weapons” with ratios as high as 20:1 of deaths by hands or feet when compared to deaths where a rifle was used. I suppose the gun prohibitionists would make the argument that you see such high ratios because of how these states regulate these “killing machines”.

This argument fails when  you see that virtually unregulated shotguns are used just as often as the murder weapon of choice as a rifle in those states. It has similarly high ratios when compared to deaths by hands and feet.

A quick glace at the state by state murder statistics tells me two things. First, the total number murdered in a state is highly dependent on the population of the state. Second, there are going to be states like Louisiana which are just outliers. They have a murder rate that is much greater proportionately than many other states. I don’t know Louisiana law but I’m thinking that great Southern rationale of  “he needed killing” might be a valid defense to the charge of murder there.

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Forget 1984 – I Feel Like It’s 1964 Again

September 26, 2016 by 1 Comment
I was seven years old and in 2nd Grade when Barry Goldwater and Lyndon Johnson faced off against one another. As historians and political junkies will remember, the campaign featured the famous (or infamous) “Daisy” ad which implied a vote for Barry Goldwater might result in nuclear war.
Fast forward 52 years to now. I watched an ad attacking Donald Trump that was eerily like that Daisy ad. It was produced and paid for by the pro-Clinton Super-PAC Priorities USA.

As much as things have changed over the last 52 years, there are some things that haven’t changed. Democratic presidential nominees and their surrogates just can’t help themselves when it comes to accusing Republicans of being warmongers. As things turned out, we can thank God that we didn’t have nuclear war despite the wide escalation of the war in South Vietnam under LBJ.

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“Don’t NYC My Maine Gun Rights”

September 24, 2016 by 1 Comment

My late father lived in Maine for many years after he retired from the Army. Even though he was a born and bred Tar Heel he was accepted by the locals. He lived in Medomak which is on Muscongus Bay.

I spent my (first) honeymoon in the Rangeley Region at a camp on Mooselookmeguntic Lake. Rosanne and I gave serious consideration to moving to Maine. We joined the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine and took a local paper. We never did make the move but I still love the State of Maine. I guess that is why I am so afraid for them with Bloomberg’s money trying to buy gun control there.

Ginny Simone does a good job of showing how Bloomberg and his money is trying to buy the election. I’m glad that there are organizations like the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine. politicians like Gov. Paul LePage, and others like my friend Genie Jennings who will be speaking at GRPC fighting this tooth and nail.

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Livestream Of 2016 Gun Rights Policy Conference

September 23, 2016 by 1 Comment

The Polite Society Podcast will once again be Livestreaming the content of the Gun Rights Policy Conference. Not only will each session be featured but there will be interviews with many of the speakers. The conference begins tomorrow in Tampa at 8:30am. Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) will be giving a welcome around 9am according to the preliminary agenda.

We will be using YouTube for the streaming video of the event. The links for Day 1 and Day 2 are below. Paul Lathrop, Rob Morse, Rachel Malone, Gary Daugherty, and myself will be handling the hosting duties.

Sponsors of the livestream include the Firearms Policy Coalition, Ammoland.com, LFD Research, and Geeks Gadgets and Guns.

I will be again presenting at the Gun Rights Policy Conference on using new media to advance gun rights. That session begins at 10:20am on Sunday. I’ve written my presentation and will be practicing and editing it a few more times before Sunday.

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An Example Of How Universities Waste Money

September 22, 2016 by 10 Comments

I decided this spring to enroll in a graduate certificate program at Kansas State University related to financial planning. I thought the four classes in the certificate program would allow me to provide my clients with better planning advice.

After I started the first class, I got the following note that said I had to take a 45-minute, online “course” dealing with sexual violence and healthy relationship.

Hello John,
Course Due Date
Think About It: Graduate Students 7/22/2016
We know you’re excited about being at Kansas State University. To help create a safer global, online and on campus environment for you and other students, you must complete an online alcohol and sexual assault course referred as Think About It: Graduate Studentsfrom CampusClarity. YOU HAVE 20 DAYS FROM TODAY’S DATE TO COMPLETE THIS TRAINING.

Think About It: Graduate Students is an innovative, engaging, and informative online course, created with students for students. In the course, you will examine the interconnected issues of sexual violence and healthy relationships through a variety of interactive, realistic scenarios and guided self-reflection. The course promotes a healthier and safer university environment for all global, online and on campus students.

Think About It: Graduate Students takes about 45 minutes to complete. You can work at your own pace from any computer. You can leave and return to the course at any time, and when you return, it will open to the page where you left off. You may visit www.ksu.edu/asap for more information about ASAP or call the KSU Health Promotion Department at (785)532-6595.

The content of the sexual violence education portion ofThink About It: Graduate Students may be triggering for some individuals. Please direct triggering concerns and requests for alternative student training options to the KSU Center for Advocacy, Response and Education (CARE) at (785)532-6444 or email KSUCARE@ksu.edu prior to the first day of classes in the upcoming semester.

Please bear in mind while reading this that I live literally 1,000 miles from campus and am doing all the coursework online. I am also 59 years old, happily married, don’t binge drink, act respectfully towards both men and women (politicians excepted), and have a wonderful 19-month old granddaughter along with two equally wonderful stepdaughters. My Fortune 50 company requires me to take annual sexual harassment training which I believe trumps anything dealing with binge drinking and hook-up sex.

The KSU Center for Advocacy, Response and Education (CARE) had a prior name. It was the KSU Women’s Center. I would love to know how much it cost to develop this “course”, how much it costs to administer, and how much it costs the university to nag me about it.
I respectfully declined to take this “course”. I was referred to the Associate Dean and Director of Non-Violence Programs. This dean is the person who can make an exception to this federal mandate and works with “these students” as I was referred to in the e-mail chain.
I have made my request and am waiting to hear from the Associate Dean. In the meantime I received another missive stating that a “no enrollment hold” has been placed on me until I complete this “course” which has utterly no relevance to me or how I lead my life. To make sure I got the message, they included this all-caps line.

THIS HOLD WILL PREVENT YOU FROM REGISTERING FOR FUTURE CLASSES UNTIL YOU COMPLETE THE REQUIRED TRAINING.

I have already registered and paid for the fall course so this would only impact the final two courses for the certificate.
Frankly, I do not plan to cave or kow-tow to these social justice warriors in bureaucratic garb. Since this is a “federal mandate”, I figure a letter or call from the offices of my senators and congressman might make them back off. It doesn’t hurt that Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) is on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee or that Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) is the Chief Majority Deputy Whip. I would hate to have to resort to that but you have to do what you have to do.

UPDATE: I discussed an exemption this morning by phone with the dean in question. My request for an exemption was summarily dismissed. I have made the decision to withdraw from the program, get my money back, and raise all holy hell over this nonsense. I entered the program as I wanted additional training with which to help my clients. It looks like any additional training will be on my own.

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US Sniper Rifles From WWI And WWII

September 18, 2016 by 3 Comments

Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons has recently published a series of videos on the sniper rifles used by the US Army and US Marine Corps in World Wars One and Two. One of the more interesting observations was that the Army had to start from scratch in WWII while the Marine Corps, who supposedly never throws anything away, pulled stuff out of storage.

From his WWI description:

The United States had two primary types of sniper rifles during World War One, although both were based on the M1903 Springfield rifle.


The most common optic used was the Warner & Swasey “Telescopic Musket Sight”, a rather clumsy prismatic optic mounted on the left side of the rifle, on a detachable rail. The model 1908 W&S offered 6 power magnification, which was reduced to 5.2x in the 1913 model in an effort to increase field of view. These optics were also used on the M1909 Benet-Mercie light machine gun.


The second type is the Winchester A5 scope, an excellent commercial scope available at the time. Although usually associated with the US Marine Corps, several hundred of these were also issued by the Army. The A5 was a much more tradition type of optic, mounted centrally above the bore and preferred by competitive marksmen.


The third rifle we are looking at in this video is a very interesting example of a competitive rifle from the pre-WWI period. It is a 1903 Springfield fitted with a commercial A5 scope and Mann bases. This is the sort of rifle that would have been used by the career military shooters for competition, and would likely have accompanied many such men overseas in the American Expeditionary Force. Woe to the German who found himself in the sights of such a man with a rifle like this!

From the bolt-action sniper rifles of WWII:

The primary sniper rifle used by the United States in World War II was the M1903A4 Springfield, a version of the exisiting 1903A3 with the iron sights removed and replaced with a Weaver 330C scope (adopted by the military as the M73B1). This was a low-power optic, but was centrally mounted on the rifle to avoid and of the windage issues caused by prismatic scopes.

The 1903A4 was the US’ first truly mass-produced sniper rifle, with more than 28,000 being manufactured during just two years of the war (1943-44). The rifle was taken out of production when the M1C sniper adaptation of the Garand was formally adopted, although production of the M1C would be delayed until the end of the war. The 1903A4 would remain in service after WWII, with later scopes being approved as replacements for the M73B1 (in this video, we will take a look at one equipped with an M84, the optic adopted for the later M1D).

The US Marine Corps, of course, had to be a bit different, and adopted their own sniper rifle variant in 1941, a 1903A1 fitted with an 8 power Unertl scope. These scopes were a tradeoff, being significantly more fragile than the M73B1, but also being much better for long range precision shooting. The USMC, taking much pride in their culture of marksmanship, was happy to make that trade, and the rifles served well throughout the war.

While the Army did adopt the M1C Garand semi-automatic rifle for sniping in 1944, according to Ian it never saw action during the war. It would make its debut in action during the Korean War.

Thanks to Ian for doing these histories of US sniping rifles as used during the world wars. If you want to help support the work he does, he has set up a Patreon account which can be found here.

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This Ad Was Obviously A Failure

September 16, 2016 by 1 Comment

I came across this video from Bloomberg’s Everytown this morning. I thought in light of the Missouri General Assembly overriding Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of constitutional carry, it would be fun to show this waste of advertising dollars. It is obvious to me that the legislators listened to their own constituents rather than to Bloomberg.

Given that Shannon Watts (then Shannon Troughton) got her start after graduating Mizzou working for as a PR flack for Gov. Mel Carnahan (D-MO), you might be forgiven for thinking she would have a better feel for politics in her former state of residence.